[APPLe list] general internet news - 18 December

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

Hi all, 

Just a short note to say this is the penultimate scheduled general news for 
2008, with a further edition next Monday or Tuesday. 

I will be monitoring the news over the christmas and new year period and 
if, like last year, there is a lot of news about, I will post a news 
then so the first news back is not too unwieldy. 

The next scheduled news is for the week commencing January 5, but I will 
be posting regularly to my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - so 
you need not miss any of the more important or interesting news! 

If anyone has any comments or suggestions on the news, feel free to send 
them through and I'll see how I can incorporate your ideas. You never 
know it could be something that a lot of people would like! 

Thanks for your support through 2008 and I look forward to continuing to 
send you all the news through 2009. 

Cheers 
David


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The domain name news is supported by auDA

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Obama's Online Opportunities: What Our Research Suggests about where President-elect Obama's Technology Policy May Lead
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/268/report_display.asp

The Guardian's 100 top sites for the year ahead
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/18/internet-websites

COMMENTARY: How long can newspapers keep delivering the news?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-onthemedia17-2008dec17,0,5954741.story

Mobile phones to be primary Internet device by 2020, experts predict
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/752E5200370A65E7CC2575220007A654

Browsers fail password-management security tests
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39578379,00.htm

iiNet to fight piracy claims
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/12/17/1229189665528.html

700,000 Swedes involved in Internet file sharing: study [AFP]
http://news.smh.com.au/technology/700000-swedes-involved-in-internet-file-sharing-study-20081218-70wz.html

Gartner: Mobile phones to overtake landlines in business by 2011
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9123733

Secretive North Korea launches restricted mobile phone service
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/16/mobile-phones-north-korea-restricted

Personalized spam rising sharply, study finds [AP]
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10548738

German Journalists Worry 'Big Brother Law' Will Kill Press Freedom
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,596807,00.html

us: The Fed Who Blew the Whistle: Is he a hero or a criminal?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/174601

Cisco: Cybercriminals Hiding Behind Legitimate Websites, Email Accounts
http://www.darkreading.com/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212500417

Cisco: Cyberattacks growing, looking more legit
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/121508-cisco-report-cyberattacks.html

Cisco Report Spotlights Worldwide Cyber Security Threats [news release]
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2008/prod_121508.html

Cybercrime: The 2009 megathreat [CSO]
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9123731

Hasbro drops lawsuit against firm behind Facebook game Scrabulous
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/16/hasbro-drops-scrabulous-lawsuit

Yahoo Limits Retention of Personal Data
http://nytimes.com/2008/12/18/technology/internet/18yahoo.html

BT set to go ahead with Phorm
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2232681/phorm-trial-ends

China Is Said to Restore Blocks on Web Sites
http://nytimes.com/2008/12/17/world/asia/17china.html

http://www.itworld.com/internet/59256/australia-sees-rallies-against-internet-filtering-plan

Editorial: Mr. Obama’s Internet Agenda
http://nytimes.com/2008/12/16/opinion/16tue3.html

Follow Scandi broadband model, says InternetNZ
http://www.itbrief.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3150&Itemid=808

NBN alternatives: NZ does the homework Australia should have done
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22324/1095/

A plan for faster broadband
http://www.netguide.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=838&Itemid=16

No more aces up his sleeve as Trujillo caught bluffing by Michael Sainsbury
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24805136-5013584,00.html

Trujillo and team play with fire
http://business.smh.com.au/business/trujillo-and-team-play-with-fire-20081215-6z2o.html


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RESEARCH PAPERS
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The Future of the Internet III
A survey of internet leaders, activists and analysts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, artificial and virtual reality become more embedded in everyday life, and the architecture of the internet itself improves. They disagree about whether this will lead to more social tolerance, more forgiving human relations, or better home lives.
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/270/report_display.asp

Obama's Online Opportunities: What Our Research Suggests about where President-elect Obama's Technology Policy May Lead
There is no shortage of suggestions to the incoming Obama administration about what to do about communications policy in the United States. The body of research from the Pew Internet Project, dating to 2000, indicates that online Americans might have one more suggestion: Make sure the internet remains a place where users define what it means to be digitally connected.
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/268/report_display.asp

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INTERNET USE
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The Guardian's 100 top sites for the year ahead
Two years after we last picked the web's cream of the crop, our latest selection finds that location-based services, work-anywhere collaboration and video are prominent
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/18/internet-websites

COMMENTARY: How long can newspapers keep delivering the news?
This might go down as the week that they took paper out of the newspaper business. Detroit's two daily newspapers announced Tuesday that they plan to reduce home delivery to just three days a week. And the trade organization for newspaper editors scheduled an April vote on whether to drop "paper" from its name.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-onthemedia17-2008dec17,0,5954741.story

Mobile phones to be primary Internet device by 2020, experts predict
By 2020, mobile phones will be the primary Internet devices for most people in the world, according to a panel of experts, who also predict that Web technologies will probably not lead to increased social tolerance.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/121508-pew-report.html
http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/271074/
http://computerworld.com.au/article/271074/
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/752E5200370A65E7CC2575220007A654

Browsers fail password-management security tests
Google's Chrome browser and Apple's Safari have received poor marks in a new set of tests evaluating the security of password-management features in five popular Web browsers.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39578379,00.htm
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62049375,00.htm

Programme to monitor real time web use
When Elie Khoury, a self-confessed “computer guy” since the age of 12, started a website about playing the guitar, he struggled to find an analytical programme to give him timely data about who was looking at his website and what they were looking at.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1f266496-cb8d-11dd-ba02-000077b07658.html

uk: Virgin unveils next-gen broadband
Cable firm unveils details of its much anticipated 50Mbps broadband service.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7776139.stm

Britain's fastest broadband service
But almost a quarter of UK internet users won't be able to receive the highest-speed services due to inadequate infrastructure.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/technologynews/3775894/Virgin-Media-launch-Britains-fastest-broadband-service.html

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SOCIAL NETWORKING
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Computer hackers selling stolen Facebook accounts to gangs for 89p
Computer hackers are selling stolen Facebook social networking accounts to gangs for only 89p.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/3778807/Computer-hackers-selling-stolen-Facebook-accounts-to-gangs-for-89p.html

Cyberscams Slide onto Social Networks [CSO]
A warning to those who love such social media sites as Facebook: The bad guys are coming for you.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/155448/.html

'Facebook for Kids' slammed by security researchers
A new social network website claiming to be a "Facebook for Kids" is riddled with security shortcomings, security researchers at Cambridge University have warned. The site - School Together Now - said that it took security seriously and promised to review the findings of the Cambridge researchers.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/12/school_together_now/

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CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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How to make child-porn blocks safe for the internet
Last week, an obscure quasi-non-govermental agency called the Internet Watch Foundation was catapaulted into the spotlight on the news that they'd classed an image from Wikipedia as child pornography and that as a result, the page was blocked for 95% of the internet users in Britain. That's because the IWF is charged with creating a secret blacklist of child-porn URLs that it distributes to subscribed ISPs, who then block those links for their users.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/16/cory-doctorow-wikipedia

How To Keep Kids Safe Online
Every parent worries about the power of the Internet to expose kids to online predators. Less often discussed: tech's power to expose kids to their own bad judgment.
http://www.forbes.com/security/2008/12/15/online-safety-kids-tech-security-cx_ag_1215kids.html

au: Policing essential for cyber-safety [news release]
Today's Australian Federal Police (AFP) crackdown on internet child abuse imagery demonstrates the importance of online law enforcement, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy said today.
http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2008/095

Impact of Net filtering overstated, claims agent
The vendor supplying internet filtering software to the NZ Department of Internal Affairs says Australian ISPs and civil liberties lobbies are overstating the likely impact of filtering on the efficiency of website access, in response to plans by the Australian Federal government to trial ISP-based filtering.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/B19B97FFCABDB41FCC257520001096CF

NetAlert filters not given a chance: Webroot
The Rudd government has served an injustice on Internet users by prematurely cutting the previous government’s NetAlert family-side filter program and replacing it with an ‘unworkable’ plan for ISP-level net filters, according to security company Webroot.
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/NewsStory.aspx?story=91359

NetAlert filters not given a chance: Webroot
The firm’s managing director for its Asia Pacific operations, Charles Heunemann, accused the Federal government of being ‘so hell-bent on discrediting the previous government’s scheme that it overlooked the portions of the scheme that may have worked’.
http://www.securecomputing.net.au/News/131309,netalert-filters-not-given-a-chance-webroot.aspx

sg: Cyber bullies turn vicious [The Straits Times]
A 16-YEAR-OLD girl here created fake profiles on popular social networking sites MySpace and Facebook with a single-minded purpose: To befriend those she disliked in school.
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southeastasia.asp?parentid=102200

Free broadband plan stirs debate on filtering [AP]
M2Z Networks' proposal to build a free wireless broadband network is not the only controversial part of its business plan. Just as contentious is its intention to filter the content delivered over that network to block any material deemed inappropriate for children.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/14/AR2008121401354.html
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/16/apworld/20081216121804&sec=apworld

Anti-porn cyber laws in India set to change
Anti Porn Cyber Laws in India were first passed in 2000 through Section 67 of the Information Technology Act 2000 (ITA 2000). Now the ITA 2000 amendment bill 2006 has been introduced in the Parliament on December 15th.
http://www.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/Anti-porn-cyber-laws-in-India-set-to-change/161208113815/0/

Mobile phones may be banned in Japan to stop bullies
Mobile phones may be banned in Japanese schools in a bid to stem soaring levels of bullying. Nearly 6,000 incidents of mobile phone-related bullying were reported in schools last year, a rise of more than 1,000 compared with the previous year, according to government statistics.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3810633/Mobile-phones-may-banned-in-Japan-to-stop-bullies.html

Australien: Kritik an geplantem Internet-Filter wächst
Die Kritik an den Plänen der australischen Regierung, die einen Internet-Filter einführen will, wächst. Bereits 85.000 Menschen haben eine Online-Petition unterzeichnet, die sich gegen das Vorhaben ausspricht. Auch die australischen Internet Service Provider (ISP) stehen der Idee des Kommunikationsministers Stephen Conroy äußerst kritisch gegenüber. Dieser will die Provider im Rahmen eines groß angelegten Cyber-Sicherheitsplans verpflichten, tausende Internetseiten mit Kinderpornografie oder terroristischen Inhalten zu sperren. Ein Testlauf des Filterprogramms wird noch diesen Monat starten, berichtet die New York Times.
http://www.zdnet.de/news/tkomm/0,39023151,39200282,00.htm

"Wir verbannen Kinderpornografie wieder unter den Ladentisch"
"Die Sicherheit im Lande und Ordnung in den Städten schaffen", nennt die Homepage des niedersächsischen Innenministers Uwe Schünemann als Hauptziele. Mit seinem gestrigen Vorschlag geht der CDU-Mann noch einen Schritt weiter. Er will die Monitore auf bundesdeutschen Computerbildschirmen sauberhalten: "Wir verbannen Kinderpornografie im übertragenen Sinne wieder unter den Ladentisch", so Schünemann gestern gegenüber der Presse in Hannover.
http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/8/120474

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ONLINE TV & MUSIC
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iiNet to fight piracy claims
In a landmark case set to rock the internet industry, iiNet has until early February to file its defence against claims by movie studios that it willingly permitted its customers to download movies illegally.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/12/17/1229189665528.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/12/17/1229189665528.html

700,000 Swedes involved in Internet file sharing: study [AFP]
Nearly 700,000 Swedes regularly used peer-to-peer file sharing programmes at the beginning of 2008, 38 percent of young men engaging in such often illegal Internet activities, according to a study published Wednesday.
http://news.smh.com.au/technology/700000-swedes-involved-in-internet-file-sharing-study-20081218-70wz.html
http://news.theage.com.au/technology/700000-swedes-involved-in-internet-file-sharing-study-20081218-70wz.html

New York considers taxing iTunes downloads
New York wants a share of iTunes' money. The state is staring at a $15.4 billion deficit so Gov. David Paterson is proposing an "iPod tax" as part of his state budget. Under the plan, New York would charge state and local sales tax for "digitally delivered entertainment services," according to a story in The New York Daily News.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10125089-93.html

Gov. David Paterson unveils dire New York State budget that includes new taxes, layoffs and cuts
... Trying to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, Paterson called for 88 new fees and a host of other taxes, including an "iPod tax" that taxes the sale of downloaded music and other "digitally delivered entertainment services."
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/12/16/2008-12-16_gov_david_paterson_unveils_dire_new_york.html

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MOBILE/WIRELESS
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Gartner: Mobile phones to overtake landlines in business by 2011
Pointing to a trend expected to profoundly affect how businesses plan and pay for telecommunications services in North America, an analyst firm says mobile phones will outnumber wired lines and desktop phones in the office by 2011.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9123733
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/155652/.html

Secretive North Korea launches restricted mobile phone service
A mobile phone service has been launched in North Korea, one of the world's most secretive and tightly controlled states, the official news agency has reported.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/16/mobile-phones-north-korea-restricted

N Korea launches 3G phone network
A giant Egyptian telecoms firm has launched the first hi-tech mobile phone network in North Korea. Orascom telecom says it is investing $400m (£262m) in the service over four years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7784211.stm

North Korea launches 3G cellular service [IDG]
A 3G cellular service was launched in North Korea by Cheo Technology, a company in which Egypt's Orascom Telecom holds a majority stake.
http://computerworld.com.au/article/271024/

Who Will Use North Korea's 3G Network? [AP]
Egyptian firm Orascom Telecom has launched a 3G wireless network in North Korea, a country with one of the most restrictive governments anywhere. It's unknown who might be allowed to use the network -- general Internet use is currently a privilege enjoyed only by the country's elites. The country briefly had a working cell phone network, but it was shut down shortly after a 2004 train disaster.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/65519.html

EU mulls mobile phone duty plan
The European Commission is planning to start taxing a number of high-end mobile phones, a move which would mean higher prices for consumers, the wireless industry said.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKTRE4BG4D820081217

U.S. cell-only households keep climbing
Nearly 18 percent of households in the United States have no traditional telephone and rely on wireless services only, which is up several percentage points from a year earlier, the government said on Wednesday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKTRE4BG5GH20081217

Estonia to use mobile phones to simpify e-voting [IDG]
A decision in the Estonian parliament has opened the door for mobile phones to be used for authenticating voters in its 2011 election.
http://computerworld.com.au/article/270982/

Mobile phone market to shrink in 2009
Mobile phones sales will shrink next year at their fastest pace ever as consumers cut spending, a Reuters poll showed, with analysts increasingly concerned about unsold phones piling up in stores.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKTRE4BF3EN20081216

Every Two Persons Has One Phone In Tibet
According to just-released statistics from the Bureau of Statistics of Tibet, by 2007 the number of fixed-line and mobile phone users in Tibet had reached 1.443 million, which means every two persons in Tibet had one phone.
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/12/16/8262-every-two-persons-has-one-phone-in-tibet/

Middle East mobile subscription rates set to hit 15 percent growth in 2009
The Middle East region represents one of the world’s fastest growing mobile subscription markets with a 47% year-over-year increase in 2008, even as the world economy struggles and slows, according to figures from Informa Telecoms & Media at this year’s GSM 3G Middle East Conference in Dubai.
http://www.menareport.com/en/business/238654

Mobile subscription to grow in Gulf states
Despite the global economic slowdown, the mobile telephony subscription market in the world is expected to grow further next year, driven by the growing demand in the Middle East region, according to data released at the GSM 3G Middle East Conference held in Dubai.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=December2008&file=Local_News200812176230.xml

European emergency number 112 now works in all EU Member States [news release]
People can now reach emergency services from anywhere in the EU, simply by dialling 112, the single European emergency number. Now that 112 can be called from any phone in Bulgaria, it has achieved complete availability just before the Christmas period when thousands of people travel between EU Member States to visit family, hit the slopes or look for winter sun. It also crowns the combined efforts of the European Commission and EU Member States to make 112 fully available everywhere so that Europeans will always have a lifeline in the EU.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1968

3G standards body gives the green light to 100Mbps data standard
Prospects for 3G cellular networks delivering data at tens of megabits per second improved significantly this week when the global 3G standards body, 3GPP agreed to include specifications for long term evolution (the standard for data over cellular beyond the HSPA deployed in networks today) in the upcoming release 8 of the 3GPP standard.
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22356/127/

How to use public Wi-Fi safely
OPINION: Sandwich chain Pret A Manger became the latest venue to announce free wireless internet access this week. But while public 'hotspots' are growing in number, free bandwidth comes with an element of risk, warns security specialist David Hobson.
http://out-law.com/page-9661

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SPAM
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Personalized spam rising sharply, study finds [AP]
Yes, guys, those spam e-mails for Viagra or baldness cream just might be directed to you personally. So, too, are many of the other crafty come-ons clogging inboxes, trying to lure us to fake Web sites so criminals can steal our personal information.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/17/financial/f142932S93.DTL
http://www.thestate.com/technology/story/624697.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10548738

90 per cent of email is spam [AFP]
About 90 per cent of all email sent worldwide is spam, according to a Cisco report released today.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24808797-5005961,00.html

About 90 percent of all email is spam: Cisco [AFP]
Armies of hijacked computers are flooding the world with spam as hackers devise slicker ways to take over unwitting people's machines, according to a Cisco report.
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/292788.asp

Nine in ten emails now spam
Nine in ten emails are now spam with an estimated 200bn junk mail messages a day clogging up the internet, according to a new report by networking and security giant Cisco.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/16/spam_plague/

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DIGITAL DIVIDE
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Millions of Britons left in slow lane as Virgin broadband shows up web divide
It is the digital dream: an internet service fast enough to download a film in seconds. However, it remains an aspiration, rather than a reality, for millions of online customers as Britain becomes increasingly divided by access to broadband.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article5349124.ece

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ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL
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German Journalists Worry 'Big Brother Law' Will Kill Press Freedom
A new law working its way toward passage in Germany has journalists worried. Certain provisions, they say, could eliminate the ability for reporters to protect their sources. Still, the measure is likely to go into effect early next year.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,596807,00.html

us: The Fed Who Blew the Whistle: Is he a hero or a criminal?
Thomas M. Tamm was entrusted with some of the government's most important secrets. He had a Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance, a level above Top Secret. Government agents had probed Tamm's background, his friends and associates, and determined him trustworthy.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/174601

Behind the legal fight over NSA's "Stellar Wind" surveillance
The most recent edition of Newsweek confirms a few long-held suspicions about the National Security Agency's controversial post-9/11 surveillance activities—such as the identity of the Justice Department lawyer who first tipped off The New York Times about the administration's warrantless wiretapping and the basis for the internal showdown that led to a now-infamous face-off at the attorney general's hospital bed. It also provides a few new revelations—including the classified name of the program: "Stellar Wind."
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081216-behind-the-legal-fight-over-nsas-stellar-wind-surveillance.html

Cisco: Cybercriminals Hiding Behind Legitimate Websites, Email Accounts
It's getting harder to tell the good guys from the bad: Sophisticated cybercriminals are increasingly taking cover behind legitimate Websites and email domains to lure their victims, according to Cisco Systems' annual security report, released today.
http://www.darkreading.com/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212500417

Cisco: Cyberattacks growing, looking more legit
Internet-based cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and specialized as profit-driven criminals continue to hone their approach to stealing data from businesses, employees and consumers, according to a Cisco study released this week.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/121508-cisco-report-cyberattacks.html
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9123466
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/155457/.html
http://pcworld.idg.com.au/article/270999/

Cisco Report Spotlights Worldwide Cyber Security Threats [news release]
Cisco today released a security report that warns that Internet-based attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and specialized as profit-driven criminals continue to hone their approach to stealing data from businesses, employees and consumers. In the 2008 edition of the Cisco® Annual Security Report, the company identifies the year's top security threats and offers recommendations for protecting networks against attacks that are propagating more rapidly, becoming increasingly difficult to detect, and exploiting technological and human vulnerabilities.
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2008/prod_121508.html

Cybercrime: The 2009 megathreat [CSO]
The 2009 Security Mega Trends Survey was conducted by Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Lumension Security Inc. to better understand if certain publicized IT risks to personal and confidential data are, or should be, more or less of a concern for companies. We asked 577 IT security practitioners to consider how 10 security megatrends affect companies today and to predict their impact during the next 12 to 24 months. The opinions of these experts, we believe, will be helpful to companies that are struggling to understand how they should allocate resources to the protection of data during these difficult economic times.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9123731

Prof: IP law only needs tweak to encourage open standards
Intellectual property and open standards are often portrayed as contradictory approaches to technology but, according to Berkeley Law professor Robert P. Merges, that isn't necessarily so. In his view, competition will solve the IP world's ills, and open standards can be encouraged with minor tweaks to existing law.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081217-prof-ip-law-only-needs-tweak-to-encourage-open-standards.html

Kaspersky: Interview with a virus-hunter
We recently got the opportunity to interview Eugene Kaspersky, the man behind Kaspersky Anti Virus. Here's what he had to say about the evolution of malware, the future of cybersecurity, the problems with the internet, and more.
http://pcworld.in/india/news/5800181/Spyware__Security/If_Kaspersky_were_God
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/121508-eugene-kaspersky-on-malware-the.html

au: Lawyers to serve notices on Facebook
Canberra lawyers have won the right to serve legally binding court documents by posting them on defendants' Facebook sites.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/12/16/1229189579001.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/12/16/1229189579001.html

Why an emoticon won't get a trade mark in the EU :-(
A Russian businessman says that he has trade marked the emoticon and that commercial uses of punctuation marks to convey a wink will require a licence costing over $10,000. A trade mark attorney said that his demands will be irrelevant to uses in the EU.
http://out-law.com/page-9657

Hasbro drops lawsuit against firm behind Facebook game Scrabulous
Games giant Hasbro has dropped its lawsuit against the developers of the hit Facebook game Scrabulous after they made changes that distanced their applications from the original and trademarked Scrabble game.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/16/hasbro-drops-scrabulous-lawsuit

Hasbro dropping suit against makers of Facebook game Scrabulous [AP]
Hasbro has dropped its lawsuit against the makers of a popular online version of board game Scrabble.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_11238093
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/web20/65514.html
http://nytimes.com/aponline/2008/12/15/technology/AP-Facebook-Scrabble.html

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PRIVACY
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Yahoo throws down personal data retention gauntlet
Search engine Yahoo is to cut the time it stores personal data from 13 months to three. It is hoping its decision will provide a benchmark for industry. Currently Google stores data for nine months and Microsoft for six months.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7787846.stm

Yahoo Limits Retention of Personal Data
Yahoo said Wednesday that it would limit to 90 days the time it holds some personally identifiable information related to searches to address growing concerns from privacy advocates, policy makers and government regulators.
http://nytimes.com/2008/12/18/technology/internet/18yahoo.html
http://iht.com/articles/2008/12/17/technology/18yahoo.php

Yahoo to scrub personal data after three months [IDG]
Yahoo will anonymise most of the data it collects about people's web searches after three months, a move that could put further pressure on competitors Google and Microsoft to do the same due to privacy concerns.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/5CD9D807AF497725CC257522006DBA38
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9123700
http://www.pcworld.com/article/155610/.html

Yahoo outdoes Google, will scrub search logs after 90 days
Yahoo is trumpeting its commitment to privacy today after agreeing to anonymize its log files after 90 days. That moves it ahead of Google and Microsoft, and Congress has already taken notice.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081217-yahoo-outdoes-google-will-scrub-search-logs-after-90-days.html

BT set to go ahead with Phorm
BT has concluded its trial of the Phorm online advertising programme and is set to go ahead with its wide-scale deployment.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2232681/phorm-trial-ends

BT finishes trial, expects to use Phorm
BT has finished its third trial of behavioral ad-serving technology from Phorm, and has announced that it will probably go ahead with deployment.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39578006,00.htm
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,62049320,00.htm

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CENSORSHIP
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China Is Said to Restore Blocks on Web Sites
The Chinese government has quietly begun preventing access again to Web sites that it had stopped blocking during the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, Internet experts said on Tuesday.
http://nytimes.com/2008/12/17/world/asia/17china.html
http://iht.com/articles/2008/12/16/asia/china.php

China defends latest web censorship
Chinese government officials have defended their decision to block several foreign news websites, including the BBC, as the country moves away from its pledge for uncensored internet access during the Beijing Olympics.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/16/china-defends-latest-web-censorship

China says within rights to block some websites
China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday the country was within its rights to block websites with content illegal under Chinese law, including websites that referred to China and Taiwan as two separate countries.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKTRE4BF2WY20081216
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKTRE4BF2QA20081216

au: Internet filter protesters aim for Canberra
THE group responsible for last weekend's protests against the Government's internet filtering scheme now plans to take its fight to Canberra.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24804682-15306,00.html

Australia sees rallies against Internet filtering plan
Protests erupted across Australian capital cities on Saturday in opposition to the government's A$70 million national clean feed Internet scheme, which will impose blanket content filtering for all Web connections.
http://www.itworld.com/internet/59256/australia-sees-rallies-against-internet-filtering-plan
http://webwereld.nl/articles/53984/
http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/feature/3C6A578DB08781D2CC257520000FB252

Big Brother ALP seeks to censor internet
On December 13 hundreds of people rallied in all Australian capital cities to protest against the federal Labor government’s plan to censor the internet.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/777/40118

Internet filter may spark 'adult-shop explosion'
Sex shops will inundate Queensland if the Federal Government filters internet pornography, an industry expert has warned.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/12/15/1229189511827.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/12/15/1229189511827.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4793612a27483.html

Protest rally against Australian government plan to censor broadband
A new, left-of-center politician seizes power in a wave of change against an unpopular right-winger who supported the war in Iraq. With him comes sweeping new policies that could change the fabric of society. But this isn't America.
http://www.betanews.com/article/1229370317

Aussie web censorship will trigger sex shop resurgence
PORN SHOPS might spring up like dandelions down under, if the federal government goes forward with plans to filter the Australian Internet, according to an adult industry executive.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/034/1050034/aussie-web-censorship-will-trigger-sex-shop-resurgence

The lies of the internet censors: Your. Filter. Won't. Work.
Gloves-off time. The purveyors of pervasive internet censorship -- handful that they are -- have burned their goodwill. It's time to call them out on their lies and demand to know why they're not advocating the real solutions to child s-xual abuse.
http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20081217-The-dishonesty-of-internet-censorship-proponents-.html

Australia's web censorship plan could threaten freedom of speech
Australia's government has taken a step backward by attempting to set up a national censorship system for the Internet.
http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d8c8b73003001b&sectionId=65

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GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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Editorial: Mr. Obama’s Internet Agenda
President-elect Barack Obama recently announced an ambitious plan to build up the nation’s Internet infrastructure as part of his proposed economic stimulus package. Upgrading the Internet is a particularly smart kind of stimulus, one that would spread knowledge, promote entrepreneurship and make this country more competitive globally.
http://nytimes.com/2008/12/16/opinion/16tue3.html

InternetNZ Releases Briefing To Incoming Ministers
InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc) has today released its briefing paper for incoming Ministers, outlining the major ICT issues InternetNZ sees facing the country over the next year.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/internetnz-releases-briefing-incoming-ministers/5/6776

InternetNZ publishes briefing for incoming ministers
Global internet leadership and technical standards such as IPv6 and Enum also feature. Concerning broadband, InternetNZ strongly supports the National ...
http://telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=650182

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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NZ's telecommunications future - the five options
Knowing where to invest capital is a complex decision at the best of times. But when the world's largest bank is on the cusp of collapse, a 150-basis-point drop in the OCR is just another day at the office, and our currency has dropped by 35 per cent in six months, investment decision-making starts to look downright impossible.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10548475

InternetNZ: deliver broadband through electricity companies
Extending Telecom’s network is not the only way to deliver broadband to every door, says InternetNZ. The lobby group says electricity companies would be a faster, cheaper option for building the new government's proposed fibre optic network.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/internetnz-deliver-broadband-through-electricity-companies-39099

Follow Scandi broadband model, says InternetNZ
Following the lead of Denmark and Sweden and using utility companies to deploy high-speed, fibre-based broadband is the best option for New Zealand's own broadband future says InternetNZ.
http://www.itbrief.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3150&Itemid=808

NBN alternatives: NZ does the homework Australia should have done
Amid all the controversy surrounding Australia's National Broadband Network, let's not forget that the promise of at least 12Mbps to 98 percent of the population for around $9b was basically an ALP 'back of the envelope' calculation. Thanks to InternetNZ, a much thoroughly researched approach has been taken across The Ditch.
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22324/1095/

A plan for faster broadband
A high-speed fibre-based broadband network could be established faster and cheaper in New Zealand with the help of electricity lines companies, according to a report prepared by the Internet watchdog group InternetNZ.
http://www.netguide.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=838&Itemid=16

Telstra to fight bar on broadband bid
Telstra is preparing for war with the federal Government, marshalling its lawyers for legal action and gearing up to go it alone with a high-speed broadband network after being tossed out of the tender process for a $15billion publicly backed national network, reports The Australian.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24806005-2702,00.html

au: Chinese spy fears on broadband frontrunner
NATIONAL security concerns about Chinese espionage could threaten the new frontrunner for Australia's $15 billion publicly backed national broadband network.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24817536-15306,00.html

Conroy right to back panel's NBN call
Although Stephen Conroy gains nothing by dropping Telstra from the bidding process for his broadband network he had little choice over the weekend but to call the company's bluff.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/8B9BF21FCA3E4321CC257521006E97E9

No more aces up his sleeve as Trujillo caught bluffing by Michael Sainsbury
Sol Trujillo and his amigos like to play cards. Gin rummy in private and high stakes poker on the gaming tables of Las Vegas. To be any good you've gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em. And how to bluff.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24805136-5013584,00.html

Trujillo and team play with fire
Forget its much lauded five-year turnaround plan. For the past few years, ever since Sol Trujillo was installed as chief executive, Telstra has employed a three-step strategy to muscle out any competition. It can be neatly condensed into three words: Bluster, Belligerence and Obfuscation.
http://business.smh.com.au/business/trujillo-and-team-play-with-fire-20081215-6z2o.html
http://business.theage.com.au/business/trujillo-and-team-play-with-fire-20081215-6z2o.html

Telstra loses $6bn in NBN hit
The investment community delivered a savage vote of no confidence in the management of Telstra yesterday after the telco was dramatically kicked out of the tender for the federal Government's $15 billion national broadband network.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24807150-5013041,00.html

Telstra quiet on NBN legal action
Telstra has not ruled out seeking legal action over its exclusion from the bidding process to build a $15 billion national broadband network.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24801170-5013040,00.html

Telstra loses $6bn in NBN hit
THE investment community delivered a savage vote of no confidence in the management of Telstra yesterday after the telco was dramatically kicked out of the tender for the federal Government's $15 billion national broadband network.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24807150-5013041,00.html


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David Goldstein
address: 4/3 Abbott Street
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AUSTRALIA
email: Goldstein_David @yahoo.com.au
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