Hi all, As mentioned in the 14 December edition of the domain name news, next week will be the last news for the year, and it will recommence in the week commencing 8 January. As usual, feel free to get in touch if you've got any suggestions and comments on the news.
And if you or your company is interested in subscribing to the news, do get in touch. My aim is to keep the news free for individuals, but if you get some commercial benefit from it, it would be appreciated if you'd discuss some form of paid subscription. Don't forget to check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the complete domain news, including an RSS feed - already online! And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for regular updates with RSS feeds. Cheers David ********************************************************** Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/ Sponsored by EuroDNS and AsiaDNS - for your domain name registration http://www.eurodns.com/?refid=57d25a87c8bffdc565a16a5bf01e8825 ********************************************************** nz: Warning on dangers of text messages http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=93&objectid=10415501 us: NY pension funds press big Web companies on rights (Reuters) http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2006-12-15T134302Z_01_N14455406_RTRUKOC_0_US-INTERNET-RIGHTS-FUNDS.xml nz: InternetNZ welcomes passage of Telecommunications Amendment Bill (news release) http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/AmendmentBillPass uk: Major decision edges towards privacy law http://out-law.com/page-7581 U.S. Charges 21 People in $5 Million Internet-Auction Fraud (Bloomberg) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aW0BfG7F3Ofo&refer=us Virtually Addicted http://businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2006/tc20061214_422859.htm ****************************************** CENSORSHIP, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ****************************************** us: NY pension funds press big Web companies on rights (Reuters) New York City employee pension funds are calling on two top Internet companies to do more to protect free speech in repressive countries, joining a year-old campaign by human rights groups. http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2006-12-15T134302Z_01_N14455406_RTRUKOC_0_US-INTERNET-RIGHTS-FUNDS.xml **************** CHILD PROTECTION **************** uk: Ban on possession of child abuse images planned The British government plans to ban the possession of computer-generated images of child abuse. http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1971270,00.html nz: Warning on dangers of text messages Police are urging parents to warn children of the dangers of text messaging after the arrest of a Central Otago man charged with sexual grooming. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=93&objectid=10415501 nz: Parents warned over cell phone use A warning has been issued from internet safety groups after an Alexandra man was charged with sexual grooming of a 14-year-old via text message. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411416/934234 http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.aspx?id=68578 *************************************** CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY *************************************** uk: Major decision edges towards privacy law The UK is edging towards having an effective privacy law following a landmark ruling in the Appeals Court. Folk singer Loreena McKennitt has successfully thwarted an appeal from the author of a book that McKennitt said violated her privacy rights. http://out-law.com/page-7581 U.S. Charges 21 People in $5 Million Internet-Auction Fraud (Bloomberg) Twenty-one people were charged with running a fraud that netted $5 million from users of Internet auction sites, including the largest, EBay Inc. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aW0BfG7F3Ofo&refer=us Virtually Addicted A lawsuit against IBM is reviving debate over whether Web overuse may be classified as an addiction. The answer will have big implications for business: By his own admission, James Pacenza was spending too much time in Internet chat rooms, in some of them discussing sex. He goes so far as to call his interest in inappropriate Web sites a form of addiction that stems from the posttraumatic stress disorder he's suffered since returning from Vietnam. Whatever it's called, Pacenza's chat-room habit cost him his job. http://businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2006/tc20061214_422859.htm Quiz: Are You a Net Addict? How do you know if you're already addicted or rapidly tumbling toward trouble? Find out by taking the Internet Addiction Test http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/12/1214_internetquiz/index_01.htm Israeli Police Hunt Down Online Casinos Confusion over the legality of Internet gambling in Israel is causing heated legal debate between the AG and police authorities, the state lottery monopoly and legal advisers to online gambling operators in the country. http://www.onlinecasinonews.com/ocnv2_1/article/article.asp?id=12353 ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** fi: Changes to Act on Protection of Privacy in Electronic Communications postponed The Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications has during 2006 prepared a draft Bill to amend the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Electronic Communications (516/2004). The aim of the contemplated law reform has been to specify and clarify the rights of companies to process e-mail identification data. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1633 ***** SPAM ***** Startup Makes Spammers Pay If you've ever wished you could bill spammers for the time spent reading and deleting unsolicited e-mail pitches, your day has come. A new e-mail-forwarding service hopes to make senders pay for access to your eyeballs, and is offering you a piece of the action. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72288-0.html us: Oklahoma Anti-Spammer Loses Big in Court In November, Mark Mumma, who runs a little design firm at webguy.com, lost an appeal in the Fourth Federal Circuit. He'd filed suit against cruise.com and their parent Omega World Travel under CAN SPAM and an Oklahoma anti-spam law. Omega countersued for defamation. The court threw out Mumma's case, and allowed part of the defamation case to proceed. At first blush, this looks like a big win for spammers. http://www.circleid.com/posts/oklahoma_anti_spammer_loses/ Microsoft wins ruling to ban spam list sales Microsoft has stopped a man from selling lists of email addresses which were being used for spam. A court has granted a summary judgment against Paul Martin McDonald, stopping him from selling the lists. http://out-law.com/page-7580 ***************************** INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE ***************************** au: Broadband take-up takes off Broadband take-up by Australian households is rising rapidly, with the number of connections almost doubling in the year to June 2006, according to the ABS. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/12/15/1165685879522.html au: Household Use of Information Technology (news release) In 2005-06, 60% of Australian households had home Internet access and 70% had access to a home computer. During 2005-06, whilst the proportion of households with access to the Internet increased by 4 percentage points, in the same period, the proportion of households with access to a computer increased by 3 percentage points. http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ProductsbyReleaseDate/ACC2D18CC958BC7BCA2568A9001393AE Firefox Share Gains Slightly in Study (AP) Mozilla's Firefox Web browser edged up slightly in usage at the expense of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer, commanding nearly 11 percent of the U.S. market on a typical weekday, according to research by WebSideStory. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BROWSER_SHARE http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/16241144.htm Firefox 3.0 to renew assault on Microsoft Revamped Firefox 3.0 expected next year, as figures show 2.0 has 22% of European market http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2503196,00.html Firefox 3.0 to renew assault on Microsoft Mozilla, the non-profit software group that is taking market share from Microsoft, has unveiled plans to release a radically revamped version of its Firefox internet browser as early as next year. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20411-2503196,00.html ************ FILE SHARING ************ China tightens control over online music (AP) China is tightening control over its online music and game industries, ordering distributors to submit all imported products for approval by official censors, the government said Tuesday. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/16223497.htm German court rules SanDisk MP3 player seizure lawful A German court has ruled that local Public Prosecution officers were right to seize SanDisk digital music players at the IFA consumer electronics show held in Berlin last September. SanDisk's players are accused of incorporating without permission technology owned by a number of European firms. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/12/15/german_court_rules_on_sansa_snatch/ ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* Bitten By The Google Spider Google giveth, and Google taketh away. Kris Jones' shopping-review Web site, MarketShareBuilders.com, used to earn $15,000 to $20,000 a month by drawing traffic with Google advertising and linking customers with online merchants. Then one day last July, Jones got an unpleasant surprise: Google hiked his advertising price rates from about 35 cents per click to $10. http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/06/internet-advertising-search-tech_cx_ag_1207google.html ******************* TELECOMMUNICATIONS ******************* au: Free-to-air copping a download AUSTRALIA'S $3.5 billion free-to-air commercial television industry is being threatened by the internet more quickly than expected, with a new online study showing 53 per cent of respondents regularly download TV shows from the internet, most of them illegally. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,20922899%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html nz: InternetNZ welcomes passage of Telecommunications Amendment Bill (news release) InternetNZ today welcomes the 119-2 vote in Parliament today to pass the Telecommunications Amendment Bill, and congratulates all parties who voted for the measure for their support of a better regulatory framework for telecommunications in New Zealand. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/AmendmentBillPass ***** VoIP ***** VoIP: Is it Worth the Hype? With new standards emerging, VoIP now has its associated share of buzz and pitfalls. In this article we delve into this technology to explore all the hype http://www.ciol.com/content/developer/enttools/2006/106121302.asp Small companies embracing VoIP Small companies are keen to embrace VoIP, but still aren’t seeing the real advantages of convergence. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/13/orange_bathwick_smes/ ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN ********************************** ca/uk: Canada porn suspect's new charges A man being investigated over internet child porn allegations which involve girls from Canada and west Kent has had 19 further charges brought against him. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/6177385.stm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain news, including an RSS feed - already online! The domain name news is supported by auDA. See http://lists.technewsreview.com.au/mailman/listinfo/technewsreview for an archive of recent newsletters and to subscribe to the domain name and general internet news. Also see http://technewsreview.com.au/ for recent news updates. Sources include Quicklinks <http://qlinks.net/> and BNA Internet Law News <http://www.bna.com/ilaw/>. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (c) David Goldstein 2006 --------- 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) "Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the problem. Every time you forgo fossil fuels, you're being part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ apple mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.apnic.net/mailman/listinfo/apple
