[APPLe list] general internet news - April 7

[David Goldstein <goldstein_david@yahoo.com.au>]

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Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/

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Don't forget to check out my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for daily updates in between postings.

And see http://www.telconews.com/ for news and information on the telecommunications industry.


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Think You Know Your Web Traffic? Think again. The scramble for online measures
http://www.cjr.org/on_the_job/think_you_know_your_web_traffi.php

Australia key to Facebook safety guide [AAP]
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/03/1206851098469.html

Cellphones carving deep into landline business
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36798/118/

Older Adults Shifting To Mobile Phones From Landlines
http://www.informationweek.com/news/telecom/voice/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207001937

Will Microsoft Deliver Windows 7 Next Year? [IDG]
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144152/article.html

The evolution of CyberCrime Inc.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/business/worldbusiness/07cyber.html

nz: Extra cyber defence team considered
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4468208a28.html

Internet Fraud Loss For 2007 Tops $239 Million in US
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207001919

The Already Big Thing on the Internet: Spying on Users
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/opinion/05sat4.html

uk: 'Illegal' ad system scrutinised
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7331493.stm

Every Click You Make - monitoring internet users in the US
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040304052.html

UK ISP fires shot across bows of music industry on piracy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/04/internet.technology

Andrew Keen on New Media: Telling children what to do is not the best way to protect them
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/comment/andrew-keen-on-new-media-805349.html

UK sex offenders face website bans
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sex-offenders-face-website-bans-804638.html

Microsoft Sets Deadline for Yahoo to Make Deal
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06soft.html

Companies struggle as Safari pops up on networks [IDG]
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/04/Companies-struggle-as-Safari-pops-up-on-networks_1.html

Kordia in deal to build NZ-Aust fibre cable
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4468328a28.html

Southern Cross upgrade lifts capacity to 860Gbps
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/F0D6F61E327FDBD7CC2574220033F19C

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RESEARCH PAPERS
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A New First Amendment Model for Evaluating Content-Based Regulation of Internet Pornography: Revising the Strict Scrutiny Model to Better Reflect the Realities of the Modern Media Age by Patrick M Garry [Brigham Young University Law Review]
Abstract: ... Part I of this Article outlines the case against the Court's current use of strict scrutiny. This approach hinges on a single factor: whether or not a regulation of speech hinges on a content distinction. Once such a distinction is found, the law is almost always struck down, regardless of the speech burdens actually imposed by the law, whether the subject speech is in plentiful supply in other media venues, or whether the laws would result in a banishment of certain ideas from the public discourse. This myopic focus on content discrimination is outmoded in today's multimedia world and prohibits regulations of speech even when the burdens imposed by the law are slight and the speech remains available and accessible in the broader marketplace of ideas. Part II of the Article proposes a new judicial model for evaluating content-based laws regulating media programming that is not political speech. This new model examines the actual burdens
 placed on the subject speech. It also considers perhaps the most vulnerable freedom in the current media environment - the freedom of the unwilling recipient to avoid unwanted and offensive media speech. Furthermore, the new model - a variation of the intermediate scrutiny approach now used for so-called content-neutral regulations of speech - takes into account and incorporates the realities of the modern media world. It does so by recognizing that there is a vast array of media channels through which any one type of speech can flow, and that a restriction of speech in one venue may not rise to the level of an unconstitutional censorship.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1115344

Omniveillance, Google, Privacy in Public, and the Right to Your Digital Identity: A Tort for Recording and Disseminating an Individual's Image Over the Internet by Josh Blackman
Abstract: Internet giant Google recently began photographing American streets with a new technology they entitled Google Street View. These high-resolution cameras capture people, both outside, and inside of their homes, engaged in private matters. Although the present iteration of this technology only displays previously recorded images, current privacy laws do not prevent Google, or other technology companies, or wealthy individuals, from implementing a system that broadcasts live video feeds of street corner throughout America. Such pervasive human monitoring is the essence of the phenomenon this Article has termed omniveillance. This threat is all the more realistic in light of projected trends in technology, and the path of future Internet developments. This Article proposes the right to your digital identity, a tort to balance privacy rights with free speech, and provide a remedy for victims of omniveillance.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1116776

Data Mining and Internet Profiling: Emerging Regulatory and Technological Approaches by Ira Rubenstein, ronald D Lee and Paul M Scwartz [University of Chicago Law Review]
Abstract: ... This Article begins by examining governmental data mining. In Part II, this Article reviews widely held views about the necessary safeguards for the use of data mining. In Part III, this Article considers dataveillance by private corporations and how they have compiled rich collections of information gathered online in the absence of a robust legal framework that might help preserve online privacy. This Article then discusses some of the techniques that individuals can employ to mask their online activity as well as existing and emerging technological approaches to preventing the private sector or government from linking their personal information and tracing their activities. This Article concludes by briefly considering three topics: (1) whether and how to regulate the potential impact of identity management systems on counterterrorism efforts; (2) the requirements of transparency and understanding of the underlying models used in either
 data mining or identity management systems as a necessary prelude to the creation of rules on appropriate access and use; and (3) the need for research in several further areas.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1116728

MySpace is Also Their Space: Ideas for Keeping Children Safe from Sexual Predators on Social-Networking Sites by Susan Duncan [Kentucky Law Journal]
Abstract: A growing number of disturbing incidents involving minors as victims of sexual solicitation, assault and even murder have been traced to a fairly new type of Internet communication, social networking sites. These sites, hugely popular with teens, provide unique and largely independent and unsupervised channels of self expression and socialization for children. Yet the sites also present real dangers to today's youth, the most serious being child victimization by sexual predators. ... The Article concludes by offering additional solutions for keeping children safe based on current research. A multi-faceted approach is necessary based on different causes of risk taking. Social networking sites should be encouraged to segregate different age groups but the burden should not be theirs alone. To further promote segregating age groups, children and adults should be punished for misrepresenting their age when registering on social networking sites.
 Record companies used a fear of punishment strategy when deciding to sue individual file sharers for copyright infringement. Only when the risk of punishment outweighed the benefits of the peer-to-peer sharing option did behavior change. These results offer hope that a similar strategy with social networking sites may be effective in changing teens' behavior.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1114203

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INTERNET USE
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Revealed: secrets of choosing an online dating name
What’s in a name? Quite a lot, it seems, if you are internet dating. New research has found those looking for love online should take care what screen name they use to maximise their digital appeal.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3677778.ece

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop
They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html

Chinese Rural Internet Has Huge Potentiality for Development and Its Annual Growth Speed Exceeds That of the City by Three Times (CNNIC)
On March 28, 2008, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released the "Survey Report on Internet Development in Rural China", one of the 2008 serial reports on the development of the Internet in China. The Data by December 31, 2007, the number of rural netizens in China was 52.62 million, and its annual growth rate reached 127.7%, far higher than that of urban netizens, which was 38.2%. It benefit from Chinese economy development and the primary support policy of government for rural Internet development. The rural Internet has demonstrated good potentiality for development.
http://www.cnnic.net.cn/html/Dir/2008/04/01/5038.htm
http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=4507

Think You Know Your Web Traffic? Think again. The scramble for online measures
If you hopped into a time machine that spat you out sometime between 1996 and now, you could almost pinpoint the year by the words used to describe an organization’s Web traffic. Hits? That would be 1998 or so. Page views? 2003-2005. Unique visitors? 2006-2007. Odds are that 2008-2009 is going to be the year of “time spent,” as in, “an average user spends four minutes and thirty-five seconds on our site.”
http://www.cjr.org/on_the_job/think_you_know_your_web_traffi.php

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SOCIAL NETWORKING
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Australia key to Facebook safety guide [AAP]
Australian authorities have welcomed new international guidelines for the safer use of social networking internet sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/03/1206851098469.html
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=472649
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/new-guidelines-for-social-websites/20080403-23hf.html
http://news.smh.com.au/new-guidelines-for-social-websites/20080403-23hf.html

Safe Internet guidelines ignore Aussie feedback
New international guidelines aimed at improving the safety of youngsters using social networking sites will be released today -- but privacy advocates are concerned that no young Australians were consulted.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Safe-Internet-guidelines-ignore-Aussie-feedback/0,130061744,339287942,00.htm

ACMA welcomes release of international guidelines for safer online social networking [news release]
New international guidelines for safer use of social networking services, such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, will be launched today in the UK Parliament’s House of Lords in London. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has been an important contributor to the development of the guidelines to help providers of social networking services everywhere.
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_311043

Web gets safer
New international guidelines designed to make social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace safer for children were launched in Britain's parliament overnight.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23482800-5013040,00.html

Government Moves To Control Facebook, MySpace & Bebo
New international guidelines for safer use of social networking services, such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo were released in the UK today, in a move some say is a harbinger of things to come in Australia.
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Comment/G6C4S8N8

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NEW TECHNOLOGIES
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Cloudy Judgment: Web-based applications are all well and good, but there's still no beating the desktop computer.
I had just finished a Photoshop how-to for Wired when the software's maker announced a new free online version, Photoshop Express. Great, I thought: Instead of telling readers to spend 100 bucks, I can point them to the free, no-installation-required version. After a few minutes of noodling, though, it was clear that Photoshop Express couldn't perform the basic vacation-shot-enhancement tricks I'd written up. Neither can Picnik or Phixr, two other popular Web-based photo editors. As of yet, no Web-based photo manipulation tool is even as sophisticated as Photoshop Elements 5, the previous PC edition. Buy a copy on eBay for $40—you'll thank me the next time your Web connection conks out.
http://www.slate.com/id/2188015/

Cellphones carving deep into landline business
Harris Interactive today published comprehensive survey results on the use of cellphones. For the very first time, more people are using cellphones than landline phones. The market research firm concluded that new technologies are likely to reshape the telecommunications landscape within the next decade as most 18-29 year olds have dropped landlines already and use cellphones and the Internet as their only communication tools.
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36798/118/

Older Adults Shifting To Mobile Phones From Landlines
The number of people without traditional landline phones is increasing, as a growing number of U.S. adults use only mobile phones, a market research firm said Friday.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/telecom/voice/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207001937

Aussies buy almost 10 million mobiles a year
In 2007, 9.64 million mobile devices were shipped to Australia and 3.55 million of these shipped in the fourth quarter, the highest quarter on record.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;366950171;fp;2;fpid;1

Will Microsoft Deliver Windows 7 Next Year? [IDG]
Microsoft hints that the next version of its Windows operating system will arrive in 2009. Microsoft has dropped two strong hints in the past two days that the next version of its Windows operating system will arrive in 2009, shaving up to a year off previous expectations.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144152/article.html
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/04/Will-Microsoft-deliver-Windows-7-next-year_1.html
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9075018

Gates: Windows 7 may come 'in the next year'
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Friday indicated that Windows 7, the next major version of Windows, could come within the next year, far ahead of the development schedule previously indicated by the software maker.
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9911470-56.html

Windows 7 in 'next year or so', says Gates [Reuters]
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says he expects the new version of Windows operating software, code-named Windows 7, to be released "sometime in the next year or so."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10502471

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DIGITAL DIVIDE
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us: Miami tries to bridge its digital divide
In the basement of a Catholic church, a woman loudly shouts the word "three," and a chorus of seniors repeats the word several times as part of their regular English lessons. A few yards a way, a small flea market features a display of clothes and other items. But next door to the flea market is the crown jewel of the Gesu Senior Center: its computer lab.
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9912320-56.html

my: Internet connectivity to be top priority in rural Sabah, Sarawak
The government is to give top priority to internet connectivity, 24-hour power and treated water supply to rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak to provide quality living for rural folks.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/NewsBreak/20080405164004/Article/

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ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL
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The evolution of CyberCrime Inc.
Electronic crime is maturing, and with its evolution, criminals are adopting conventional approaches like supermarket-style pricing and outsourcing to specialists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/business/worldbusiness/07cyber.html
http://iht.com/articles/2008/04/04/technology/cybercrime07.php

US Cyberwarfare Prep Includes Offense [AP]
U.S. military officials seeking to boost the nation's cyberwarfare capabilities are looking beyond defending the Internet: They are developing ways to launch virtual attacks on enemies. But first the military will have to figure out the proper boundaries.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/06/financial/f103540D82.DTL
http://www.thestate.com/technology-wire/story/367523.html
http://news.smh.com.au/us-cyberwarfare-preparations-include-offensive-measures-not-just-defense-of-networks/20080407-245b.html
http://news.theage.com.au/us-cyberwarfare-preparations-include-offensive-measures-not-just-defense-of-networks/20080407-245b.html

nz: Extra cyber defence team considered
The New Zealand government is considering establishing a national Computer Emergency Response Team to plug a gap in cyber defences. The Government Communications Security Bureau says its role would be to improve the security of Internet and computer networks. Teams have been set up in many countries, including Australia, Britain and the United States. Their functions include identifying and addressing cyber threats, issuing alerts and receiving incident reports. An Asia- Pacific cert coordinates the activities of teams in the region.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4468208a28.html

US ISPs Hog Rights in Fine Print [AP]
In their subscriber contracts, some Internet providers explicitly absolve themselves of obligations that, it seems, no one would imagine they had in the first place. For instance, Verizon Communications Inc. makes broadband subscribers agree that the company assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of things they may read on the Internet, or receive in e-mails. So don't complain to the company if that Wikipedia entry on wombats misstates their gestational period.
http://news.theage.com.au/isps-hog-rights-in-fine-print/20080405-23ui.html
http://news.smh.com.au/isps-hog-rights-in-fine-print/20080405-23ui.html
http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/I/ISP_FUNNY_PRINT

New FTC Videos Help Consumers Spot Phishing Scams
The Federal Trade Commission has released three 60-second videos to help alert consumers to phishing scams. Phishing uses deceptive spam to trick consumers into divulging sensitive or personal information, including credit card numbers and other financial data, through an email or a link to a “copycat” site. The goal of the videos is to offer practical, useful, and memorable messages.
http://ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/vids.shtm

ca: Internet Jurisdiction In The Global Age: Desjean v. Intermix and the Adaptation of the Real and Substantial Connection Test: Desjean v. Intermix [sub req'd]
The last decade has witnessed two important developments that are quickly reshaping Canadian society. On the one hand, the Internet revolution has changed the way that we access information, communicate with one another, and trade goods and services throughout the world. On the other hand, the proliferation of class actions, which can group together thousands and even millions of consumers into a single lawsuit, has radically transformed the legal landscape. In Desjean v. Intermix,1 a class proceeding filed in the Federal Court, these two phenomena — the emergence of the Internet and class action litigation — intersect in a compelling way. The issue raised by the case is a relatively novel one: Can an individual who acquires a web product sue the provider in the forum where that product was downloaded? What test should be applied to determine whether a Canadian court can assert jurisdiction?
http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=58648

Men fall harder than women for Internet fraud, study finds [IDG]
When it comes to being taken in by Internet fraudsters, men have a knack for losing cash, according to a new report from the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9074839
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/7D248D25D41A3725CC25742100183DC7
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144129-c,scamshoaxes/article.html

UK media agencies attack Google's trademark plans
Google is planning to allow any online advertiser to bid for trademarked names on its UK and Irish search sites, in a move that has been attacked by digital media agencies as a cynical attempt to raise revenues that could ultimately confuse consumers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/04/google.google

Internet Crime Report: The FBI's Top Scams of 2007
In 2007, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received 206,884 complaints, leading to a reported dollar loss of nearly $240 million, an all-time high.
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/april08/ic3_report040308.html

Record amounts being lost in internet scams [AFP]
Fewer Americans fell for internet fraudsters last year but those who did parted with a record $US239.09 million, an annual report by the FBI said Thursday. Just under 207,000 complaints of online fraud were reported to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2007, down from 207,492 complaints the previous year and more than 231,000 in 2005, the report said.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/04/1207249412902.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/04/04/1207249412902.html

Internet Fraud Loss For 2007 Tops $239 Million
The dollar loss reported from Internet crime reached an all-time high in 2007, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center's (IC3) 2007 Internet Crime report.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207001919

Reported Dollar Loss From Internet Crime Reaches All Time High [news release]
According to the 2007 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 206,884 complaints of crimes perpetrated over the Internet during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses. This represents a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006. All complaints received by IC3 are accessible to federal, state, and local law enforcement to support active investigations, trend analysis, and public outreach and awareness efforts. “The Internet presents a wealth of opportunity for would be criminals to prey on unsuspecting victims, and this report shows how extensive these types of crime have become,” said FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director James E. Finch. “What this report does not show is how often this type of activity goes unreported. Filing a complaint through IC3
 is the best way to alert law enforcement authorities of Internet crime.”
http://ic3.gov/media/2008/080403.htm

Deutsche Telekom Faces Massive Lawsuit by Shareholders
Deutsche Telekom is the dock from Monday in a landmark lawsuit filed by 16,000 shareholders who feel cheated by the former public phone company and are suing the telecoms giant for up to 80 million euros ($126 million).
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3248422,00.html

Number of viruses to top one million by 2009
The total number of viruses will reach one million by year's end, according to security experts. Malware writers have been forced to create new types of viruses and exploits more regularly as businesses and individuals improve security practices, the experts said.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9075118

UK man wins record Internet libel damages
A British property executive won record Internet libel damages from a court on Thursday, in one of the country's first cases stemming from online harassment by a business rival.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSPAR35799720080403

Straight or gay? U.S. court says Web site can't ask [Reuters]
A roommate-finding site cannot require users to disclose their sexual orientation, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday, in the latest skirmish over whether anti-discrimination rules apply to the Web.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN0347688720080404
http://www.news.com/2100-1030_3-6236605.html
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6236605.html

us: Craigslist hoaxers arrested after house looted
The perpetrators of a hoax online classified ad that led to a man's house being looted as he watched helplessly have been tracked down and arrested. Police say the incident, far from a malicious joke, stemmed from an attempt by two thieves to cover their tracks from an earlier robbery.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/04/03/1206851064915.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/03/1206851064915.html

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PRIVACY
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The Already Big Thing on the Internet: Spying on Users
In 1993, the dawn of the Internet age, the liberating anonymity of the online world was captured in a well-known New Yorker cartoon. One dog, sitting at a computer, tells another: “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Fifteen years later, that anonymity is gone. It’s not paranoia: they really are spying on you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/opinion/05sat4.html

uk: 'Illegal' ad system scrutinised
Technical analysis of the Phorm online advertising system has reinforced an expert's view that it is "illegal". The analysis was done by Dr Richard Clayton, a computer security researcher at the University of Cambridge.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7331493.stm

BT 'allowed customers to be spied upon'
The telecoms giant BT is under investigation for alleged privacy breaches after it secretly allowed a company to monitor the web activities of thousands of broadband customers.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/04/nbt104.xml

Privacy: What should Google do?
Public interest groups, academics and members of the press have hammered Google for its lax privacy policies. The criticism has mostly focused on the log deletion practices and browser cookie policies at the search giant. Google claims that search quality and user privacy are a zero-sum game: deleting log data makes it more difficult to improve search results. Perhaps the company is right. However, there are several other pro-privacy steps that Google could take to significantly protect its customers--which it has not done, and continues to reject.
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13739_1-9909637-46.html

Every Click You Make
The online behavior of a small but growing number of computer users in the United States is monitored by their Internet service providers, who have access to every click and keystroke that comes down the line. The companies harvest the stream of data for clues to a person's interests, making money from advertisers who use the information to target their online pitches.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040304052.html

us: Google sued for invasion of privacy
A couple in the US state of Pennyslvania are suing internet company Google for invading their privacy by showing pictures of their home on the 'Street View' website.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/05/2208794.htm

ca: Watchdog probes Net hijack claims
Canada's privacy office is looking into allegations that federal human-rights investigators tapped into an unwitting woman's Internet connection to post messages on white supremacist websites, a spokesman said Friday.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2008/04/04/5197256-cp.html

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FILE SHARING
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UK ISP fires shot across bows of music industry on piracy
TalkTalk, the internet service-provider owned by Carphone Warehouse, has flatly rejected demands from the music and film industries that it should "police" the internet and cut off some broadband customers in an attempt to stem the flood of illegal file-sharing. The record industry, in the form of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), has suggested persistent illegal file-sharers should be warned by their service providers and then be cut off under a "three strikes and you're out" rule.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/04/internet.technology

Carphone Warehouse will not be 'internet police'
Charles Dunstone, the chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, has said that he would refuse to disconnect internet users caught illegally downloading copyright music and other items.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article3680998.ece

Carphone Warehouse stares down BPI and UK.gov on three strikes
Carphone Warehouse has called the government's bluff by stating that it will not cooperate with the record industry to clamp down on copyright infringement over peer-to-peer networks.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/04/arphone_bpi_three_strikes_rejection/

Policing internet 'not ISP's job'
The head of one of Britain's biggest internet providers has criticised the music industry for demanding that he act against pirates.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7329801.stm

The Record Labels' Digital Future
On Apr. 3 the recording industry sent a clear signal about its changing attitude toward the Internet. The social networking site MySpace and three of the four major record labels unveiled MySpace Music, which will let fans listen to music online for free and buy songs for download, along with merchandise and concert tickets. Warner Music, Sony BMG, and Universal Music, the three labels that signed up for the deal, say the joint venture is an important evolution of their business model. "We think of ourselves as undergoing a very fundamental transformation from being a CD company to a multirevenue stream, multibusiness company," says Thomas Hesse, president of Sony BMG's global digital business.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2008/tc2008043_871448.htm

Digital music firms pay heavy price for labels' support [Billboard]
A stark truth facing any aspiring digital music service these days is that working with record labels is going to carry a hefty price.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN0548272020080405

Norwegian ISPs refuse to finger P2P users for movie biz
While copyright holders once told consumers, "Don't copy that floppy," the Norwegian Consumer Council has a new message: "Don't sign on the dotted line." Late last week, it came to light that Internet users who have been picked out for distributing movies are being asked to sign a letter admitting guilt and making a pledge not to engage in illicit file-swapping again (no word on whether a blood oath is required). The NCC is telling people not to sign, however.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080403-norwegian-isps-refuse-to-finger-p2p-users-for-movie-biz.html

iTunes 'biggest US music seller'
Apple's iTunes has overtaken supermarket group Wal-Mart to become the largest music retailer in the US, an independent study has said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7329886.stm

ITunes records a sales milestone [AP]
Apple Inc. has surpassed Wal-Mart to become America's No. 1 music store, the first time that a seller of digital downloads has ever beaten the big CD retailers.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-itunes4apr04,1,4873885.story

MySpace Music Buddies Up With Record Labels
MySpace announced Thursday a joint venture with three of the world's four largest record companies -- Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Music -- to launch a new online music service. The service will add new features to the social network's existing music portal, MySpace Music.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/MySpace-Music-Buddies-Up-With-Record-Labels-62435.html

MySpace Music: Here comes the latest iTunes killer
Imagine digital music without Apple as the marquee act. That's what the music labels want. For years, they have wished for a legitimate challenger to wrest away some of the bargaining power Apple has wielded as the No. 1 online music seller. So, here we go again: it's another iTunes killer.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9910931-7.html

MySpace announces plans for iTunes rival
MySpace, the world’s largest social networking group, has announced plans to set up a music downloading service to rival Apple’s iTunes.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3678203.ece

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CENSORSHIP
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Iranian Blogosphere Tests Government’s Limits
Troll through the Iranian blogosphere and you can find all manner of unexpectedly harsh critiques denouncing the government of the Islamic Republic, from reformists who revile it as well as conservatives who support it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/world/middleeast/06iranblog.html

Yahoo's Yang: No easy answers in China Net-censorship debate
The last time Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang was called from Silicon Valley to the nation's capital, politicians lambasted him as a moral "pygmy" and subjected him to multiple hours of grilling about the company's role in the conviction of a Chinese cyberdissident.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9910846-7.html

China allows access to English Wikipedia [Reuters]
Chinese authorities appeared to have lifted a block on the English-language version of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, but politically sensitive topics such as Tibet and Tiananmen Square are still off limits.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKPEK8634220080405
http://www.news.com/2100-1028_3-6236737.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144187-c,sites/article.html

Olympic Committee accepts China's Internet-access assurances [IDG]
China is progressing well toward the Olympic Games with fewer than 130 days remaining, and organizers have given assurances that Internet and media access will meet Olympic standards, an International Olympic Committee official said yesterday.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9074920

Indonesian Internet providers start blocking Dutch film: report [AFP]
Indonesian Internet providers have started blocking websites or blogs posting an anti-Islamic film that has sparked widespread protests, a report said Saturday.
http://news.smh.com.au/indonesian-internet-providers-start-blocking-dutch-film-report/20080405-23xc.html
http://news.theage.com.au/indonesian-internet-providers-start-blocking-dutch-film-report/20080405-23xc.html

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CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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au: Young, savvy - and the bane of online predators
Jessica Negus, just 18 years old and a few months into her career with the federal police, is already playing a pivotal role in some of the biggest and most complex investigations being undertaken by the force. The daughter of a federal police officer and a graduate of St Clare's College in Canberra, Negus was hired as the AFP's youth adviser under a program devised by the Commissioner, Mick Keelty.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/04/04/1207249460465.html

Andrew Keen on New Media: Telling children what to do is not the best way to protect them
Let me be unfashionably authoritative and award grades for the Byron Review's Safer Children in a Digital World report. It gets an A+ for its schmooze, an A- for its wisdom about video gaming, a B+/C- on its understanding of the internet and a D for its inappropriate title.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/comment/andrew-keen-on-new-media-805349.html

UK sex offenders face website bans
Paedophiles will be banned from social networking websites such as Facebook, under measures announced by ministers today. Convicted child sex offenders will be forced to disclose their email addresses to police, who will then pass the details to websites to block access.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sex-offenders-face-website-bans-804638.html

UK sex offenders face website bans
Sex offenders' e-mail addresses are to be passed to social networking sites like Facebook and Bebo to prevent them contacting children. Under government proposals, offenders who do not give police their address - or give a false one - would face up to five years in jail.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7328170.stm

Paedophiles face curbs on internet use
The home secretary will today outline plans to increase protection for children surfing the web, including new jail terms for convicted paedophiles who use social networking websites.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/04/ukcrime.childprotection

Paedophiles to be forced to disclose e-mail addresses
Paedophiles will have to disclose their e-mail addresses to police when they go on the sex offenders register as part of measures to increase online safety.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3680392.ece

uk: Paedophiles forced to register email details
Convicted child sex offenders will be forced to give their email addresses to police as part of a drive to stop them "grooming" children online, the Home Office will announce today.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/04/npaedo104.xml

us: Virginia first state to require Internet safety lessons, tells students to beware online [AP]
On a screen at the front of a classroom, Gene Fishel flashed an online social-networking profile of "hotlilflgirl," which said she was 15, enjoys being around boys and wants to meet new people. The next image revealed the real "hotlilflgirl" _ a mug shot of a 31-year-old man who was convicted of sexually abusing 11 children he met online and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
http://news.smh.com.au/virginia-first-state-to-require-internet-safety-lessons-tells-students-to-beware-online/20080407-245e.html
http://news.theage.com.au/virginia-first-state-to-require-internet-safety-lessons-tells-students-to-beware-online/20080407-245e.html

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COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
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Microsoft Sets Deadline for Yahoo to Make Deal
Microsoft warned the board of Yahoo on Saturday that if a merger agreement was not completed in the next three weeks, Microsoft would make its offer directly to Yahoo shareholders, probably at a lower price.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06soft.html

Microsoft gives Yahoo three weeks
Microsoft has given Yahoo a three-week deadline to respond to its offer to buy out the internet company for US$44.6bn (£22.3bn).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7332916.stm

Microsoft sets 3-week deadline in Yahoo takeover bid
Microsoft Corp. today gave Yahoo Inc. three weeks to accept a 2-month-old takeover offer worth about $40 billion, warning that it might otherwise try to win control of the Internet company by running a slate of directors that shareholders could elect to the board.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-microsoft6apr06,0,6541025.story

Microsoft gets cold feet on $42bn Yahoo! bid
Microsoft is seriously reconsidering its US$42bn (£21bn) bid for Yahoo! in light of the search engine's continued rejection of its takeover offer.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/05/cnmicro105.xml

Lines Drawn for Microsoft and Yahoo, and Neither Is Ceding Ground
The standoff between Microsoft and Yahoo appears to be growing more tense. A meeting of senior executives from the companies this week to discuss Microsoft’s hostile takeover bid was icy from the start and ended with no progress, people briefed on it said. Microsoft and Yahoo both declined to comment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/technology/05yahoo.html

Stop Wasting Time, Microsoft Tells Yahoo!
After waiting more than two months for a response to its bid to acquire Yahoo!, Microsoft has given the Internet portal three weeks to accept its buyout bid before it launches a proxy fight and possibly lowers its offer price.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/04/05/yahoo-microsoft-deadline-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0405yhoodeal.html

Companies struggle as Safari pops up on networks [IDG]
Network administrators are complaining that Apple's recent decision to offer users its Safari Web browser as part of an iTunes and QuickTime update has made their lives harder, as they struggle to remove the software from PCs on their networks.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9075138
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/04/Companies-struggle-as-Safari-pops-up-on-networks_1.html

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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Keeping patchwork of telecoms regulations will cost EU billions of Euros [news release]
Europe’s economy could benefit by as much as 1,300 billion Euros over the next 20 years with the development of seamless pan-European electronic communications services, according to a new study released by Indepen Consulting.
http://www.btplc.com/news/articles/showarticle.cfm?articleid=%7b2f555100-3b39-463a-9381-35edbaf6db3f%7d

New trans-Tasman cable coming
Kordia has signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia’s Pipe Networks to build a new, private fibre-optic cable that will link New Zealand and Australia.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/D5B1F34357E507C9CC25742400006EF2

Kordia in deal to build NZ-Aust fibre cable
A new trans-Tasman subsea cable providing an alternative link for internet traffic between New Zealand and the rest of the world will be built by state-owned enterprise Kordia and Australian-listed submarine cable operator Pipe Network.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4468328a28.html

Pipe dreams come true with new trans-Tasman fibre link
The news is just in that state-owned broadcasting and telecoms provider Kordia is to build a fibre-optic link between New Zealand and Australia in conjunction with Australian network infrastructure player Pipe Networks.
http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/griffins-tech-blog/2008/4/7/pipe-dreams-come-true-new-trans-tasman-fibre-link/?c_id=5

Internet cable upgrade means faster, cheaper web for Kiwis
A New Zealand state owned enterprise and an Australian telecommunications company have teamed up to bring faster, cheaper, safer internet to New Zealand through a new submarine cable to be laid across the Tasman.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=137&objectid=10502559

Southern Cross upgrade lifts capacity to 860Gbps
The Southern Cross Cable Network is supporting the move to high speed broadband in Australia and New Zealand with the completion of the first stage of a big capacity upgrade.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/F0D6F61E327FDBD7CC2574220033F19C

InternetNZ calls for debate on fibre investment vehicle [sub req'd]
http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?id=209963

Cellphones carving deep into landline business
Harris Interactive today published comprehensive survey results on the use of cellphones. For the very first time, more people are using cellphones than landline phones. The market research firm concluded that new technologies are likely to reshape the telecommunications landscape within the next decade as most 18-29 year olds have dropped landlines already and use cellphones and the Internet as their only communication tools.
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36798/118/

Nigeria - Leading Communications Revolution in Africa
In this report, Efem Nkanga looks at how Nigeria can leverage on its growing importance in the global economy especially in the light of its emergence and recent official endorsement as the largest telecoms market in Africa.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804030653.html

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MOBILE/WIRELESS
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An Auction That Google Was Content to Lose
Google had little desire to own a premium slice of the nation’s airwaves, but a week into a federal auction for wireless licenses, it found itself at risk of being the winning bidder for the coveted spectrum.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/technology/04auction.html

Mobile Phone Industry Takes Aim at the iPhone
Last year, the wireless industry obsessed over the iPhone. This year, the industry is buzzing about how to beat it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/technology/04phone.html

CTIA - Mobile video getting bigger everyday
The continued growth of video content and video advertising on wireless devices is a popular theme at CTIA Wireless 2008 this week.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1015805725;fp;2;fpid;1

CTIA: Mobile Web Still Faces Interference
After a couple of years of hype, the mobile Web of the future was on display at the big CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas this week. Intel, Motorola, and WiMax startup Clearwire gave journalists rides in a GM SUV equipped with a high-speed 2 Mbps WiMax connection. And companies from Microsoft to Nokia showed off technology and services to give mobile consumers and workers the full, rich experience of the fixed Internet over mobile devices -- anywhere, anytime, and at any speed.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207001410

After the hype, where are the Mobile Internet Devices? [IDG]
For all the fanfare surrounding the recent launch of Intel Corp.'s Centrino Atom chip set, there was a notable shortage of new products based on the chips, apart from a few concept designs rolled out for the occasion.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9074598

Intel Says Ultra Mobiles Will Rival PC Market in 5 Years
With Intel Corp. betting so heavily on the mobile Internet device market exploding in the next several years, industry analysts are wondering if the fledgling business can live up to the expectations. Intel this week unveiled its new low-power Atom processors, which are aimed at the embedded and mobile Internet device markets that Intel has heavily targeted. And they're betting big that it will quickly become a major business.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144131-c,systems/article.html

AT&T Jumps on Board with Google's Android [IDG]
AT&T was absent from the initial list of mobile service providers that said they'd sell phones with Android, Google's open source mobile operating system, but the operator is changing its tune after a recent meeting with the search giant.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144099-pg,1/article.html

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VoIP
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Russian officials forced to use Skype
CNews found out the Russian state agencies were considering the possibility to use Skype as an internal standard. Market participants ascribe the given innovation authorship to the most IT advanced officials not naming them. However, the final decision will be made in May, when the president and government are replaced in Russia, not to agitate the ministers before they leave their posts.
http://eng.cnews.ru/news/top/indexEn.shtml?2008/04/01/294897

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(c) David Goldstein 2008

 
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David Goldstein
 address: 4/3 Abbott Street
           COOGEE NSW 2034
           AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David @yahoo.com.au
 phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home)


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