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And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for regular updates in between postings. ********************************************************** Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre Nanyang Technological University, Singapore http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/ ********************************************************** Agence France-Presse, Google settle copyright dispute http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6174008.html Google-AFP Deal Unclear http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130498-page,1/article.html nz: Bazley report targets Police email and internet abuse http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/F0D91B62511E62C9CC2572B4000A52D2 O'Reilly Proposes Blogging Code of Conduct http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130522-c,internetnetworking/article.html Gadgets blur work and home balance (Reuters Life!) http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKSCH93983720070409 *********** CENSORSHIP *********** Robert Fisk: The true story of free speech in America This systematic censorship of Middle East reality continues even in schools: Laila al-Arian was wearing her headscarf at her desk at Nation Books, one of my New York publishers. No, she told me, it would be difficult to telephone her father. At the medical facility of his North Carolina prison, he can only make a few calls - monitored, of course - and he was growing steadily weaker. Sami al-Arian is 49 but he stayed on hunger strike for 60 days to protest the government outrage committed against him, a burlesque of justice which has, of course, largely failed to rouse the sleeping dogs of American journalism in New York, Washington and Los Angeles. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2430125.ece There is climate change censorship - and it's the deniers who dish it out This article on censorship of climate change scientists, by George Monbiot in The Guardian, around the world and in particular the USA, is not specifically on the internet. But it does show how censorship can happen. On internet censorship, it does have this to say: "The guardians of free speech in Britain aren't above attempting a little suppression, either. The Guardian and I have now received several letters from the climate sceptic Viscount Monckton threatening us with libel proceedings after I challenged his claims about climate science. On two of these occasions he has demanded that articles are removed from the internet. Monckton is the man who wrote to Senators Rockefeller and Snowe, claiming that their letter to ExxonMobil offends the corporation's 'right of free speech'." http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2053521,00.html th: YouTube clip deleted but ban stays The creator of a video that mocked the king of Thailand has deleted the clip, but Thai authorities say site ban remains http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1617749.ece http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/09/1175970979870.html http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKBKK17066320070409 Malaysia rejects regulation of bloggers Malaysia has rejected a proposal to order local bloggers to register with the government, saying that existing laws are enough to deter internet users from posting malicious content. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1634326.ece http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view_article.php?article_id=59103 http://www.todayonline.com/articles/182008.asp ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ ru: Putin Tightens Internet Controls Before Presidential Election President Vladimir Putin has already brought Russian newspapers and television to heel. Now he's turning his attention to the Internet. As the Kremlin gears up for the election of Putin's successor next March, Soviet-style controls are being extended to online news after a presidential decree last month set up a new agency to supervise both mass media and the Web. http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=a2Zf7wMQnNQ4 uk: Websites urged to act on bullies Web giants like YouTube are being urged to get tough with the cyber-bullies that use their sites to make pupils' and teachers' lives a misery. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6539989.stm Internet Safety Training Module in Germany Since there is a need in Germany for fundamental training of educators in the area of internet safety, and since there is no tested programme for such training up to now, klicksafe.de and WebPILOTS developed an internet safety training module. http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/0307/de.htm us: Bills seek to protect children while online Lawmakers were asked Friday to give police and prosecutors new authority to go after adult sexual predators who lure children, particularly through the Internet. http://statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/STATE/704070325/ *************************************** CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY *************************************** Agence France-Presse, Google settle copyright dispute News agency Agence France-Presse has entered into a licensing deal with Google, ending the dispute between the two over AFP's articles appearing on Google News. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6174008.html http://ecommercetimes.com/story/56765.html Google-AFP Deal Unclear Analysis: The resolution of Agence France-Presse's lawsuit against Google closes a two-year litigation process but opens many questions, primarily because the companies provided few details about their settlement and licensing agreement. For example, it's not clear whether the licensing agreement involves Google paying AFP for the right to use its material in Google News. Consequently, all outsiders can do is speculate about which company gave more in settlement negotiations that put an end to the copyright-infringement lawsuit AFP filed in March 2005. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130498-page,1/article.html Did Google copy Chinese rival Sohu's input system? Although Google has fought copyright battles with French news agencies and Belgian newspapers, the latest accusation that Google has been copying comes from Chinese search engine rival Sohu. http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/11178/53/ us: Free Speech Battle Over Online Parody of 'Colbert Report' The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a federal court today to protect the free speech rights of MoveOn.org Civic Action and Brave New Films after their satirical send-up of "The Colbert Report" was removed from YouTube following a baseless copyright complaint from media giant Viacom. The video, called "Stop the Falsiness," was created by MoveOn and Brave New Films as a tongue-in-cheek commentary on Colbert's portrayal of the right-wing media and parodying MoveOn's own reputation for earnest political activism. The short film, uploaded to YouTube in August 2006, includes clips from "The Colbert Report" as well as humorous original interviews about show host Stephen Colbert. In March of this year, Viacom -- the parent company of Comedy Central -- demanded that YouTube take "Stop the Falsiness" down, claiming the video infringed its copyrights. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1728 us: Employee web use a major security risk for companies Social networking sites are not only biting into workplace productivity -- they can also pose a major security risk, new research shows. In a national survey of more than 800 employees across a range of industries, more than half said they spent at least an hour a week accessing blogs, chat rooms http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10433436 How does Poker Qualify in French Gambling Law? Only games of chance are concerned by the prohibition Act n° 83-620 of 12 July 1983. The French Supreme Court has decided that poker is a game of chance, when played for money. However, a new provision allows casinos to hold poker games and to organize international poker tournaments. The 1959 Act which governs casino games is being amended to include “stud poker”. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1726 Porn suit is reinvigorated by US appeals court Silicon Justice Perfect 10 makes porn. (We're sorry - "adult entertainment.") The company also sues like a jackrabbit in order to protect its copyrights in said pornography. These litigious purveyors of print and online smut, you may recall, recently won a landmark suit against Google in which they claimed that Google's thumbnail renditions of their images repeatedly violated their dirty pics copyrights. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/10/perfect10_fights_on/ us: Court: MySpace Postings Are Free Speech A judge violated a juvenile's free-speech rights when he placed her on probation for posting an expletive-laden entry on MySpace criticizing a school principal, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/10/1175971082567.html Netherlands Distributes Most Animal Pornography The Netherlands is the biggest distributor of animal pornography worldwide. Of an inventory of 1,500 films, over 80 percent came from Dutch distributors, according to Algemeen Dagblad. http://www.nisnews.nl/public/070407_2.htm uk: European Court of Human Rights: Personal calls and Internet usage from work are (maybe) protected A Welsh university employee has successfully sued the UK government in the European Court of Human Rights over surveillance that was conducted while the woman was an employee at Carmarthenshire College. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070409-european-court-of-human-rights-personal-calls-and-internet-usage-from-work-is-maybe-protected.html ca: Internet Video, Internet Regulation, and Canadian Content by Michael Geist My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the growing push from the Canadian broadcasting community to revisit the CRTC's 1999 New Media decision, in which Canada's broadcasting regulator took a hands-off approach to the Internet. The support for greater regulation is often couched in Canadian content terms, but I argue that the current changes have the potential to dramatically alter Canadian content production from one mandated by government regulation to one mandated by market survival. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1847/135/ us: Fake web advert strips home clean Everything including the kitchen sink was stripped from a rental home in after an advert on Craigslist invited people to take whatever they wanted free. The landlord of the house in Tacoma, Washington State, says the ad, posted last weekend was fake. “It said come and take what you want. Everything is free,” Laurie Raye told Seattle’s KING-TV. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1622232.ece http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21513778-2,00.html First iPod virus discovered Security researchers have found what they believe to be the first proof-of-concept attack designed specifically to infect Apple's popular iPod portable multimedia devices. http://weblog.infoworld.com/zeroday/archives/2007/04/first_ipod_viru.html us: Teen accused of Web escort service (AP) A teenager once arrested alongside her mother in a prostitution case has been accused of running an escort service out of her suburban Chicago home using the popular website Craigslist. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-04-09-craigslist-escort_N.htm http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ONLINE_PROSTITUTION nz: Bazley report targets Police email and internet abuse The report of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct, released last week, highlights concerns about Police use of the internet and email. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/F0D91B62511E62C9CC2572B4000A52D2 ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** us: The fight against online porn Another federal judge has struck down the Child Online Protection Act. Had it taken effect, the 1998 law would have done one simple thing: require Internet pornographers to verify the age of customers through the use of adult-access codes or credit cards. http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxMDQ4MzkmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky Zambian ICT Policy 'Fails to Address Key Issues' Zambia's new information and communication technology policy could benefit some farmers and rural villagers, but it does not go far enough to address key issues for the country as a whole, say critics. http://allafrica.com/stories/200704050492.html ***************************** INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE ***************************** Social networking - Joined-up thinking: Social-networking sites are not just for teenagers. They have business uses too The most avid users of social-networking websites may be exhibitionist teenagers, but when it comes to more grown-up use by business people, such sites have a surprisingly long pedigree. LinkedIn, an online network for professionals that signed up its ten-millionth user this week, was launched in 2003, a few months before MySpace, the biggest of the social sites. Consumer adoption of social networking has grabbed most attention since then. But interest in the business uses of the technology is rising. http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8960555 Howls of protest as web gurus attempt to banish bad behaviour from blogosphere Opinion divided over code of conduct meant to rid postings of offensive and abusive comments: Perhaps it was inevitable. When two leading internet pioneers came together this week to propose a set of guidelines that would filter out offensive and abusive comments from blogs, they were met by a torrent of offensive and abusive comments. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2053278,00.html O'Reilly Proposes Blogging Code of Conduct On the heels of the posting of death threats against prominent blogger Kathy Sierra, technology publisher Tim O'Reilly has released a draft code of conduct for blogging that calls for an end to anonymous comments and a commitment to online civility. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130522-c,internetnetworking/article.html Bloggers debate need for code of conduct Is it too late to bring civility to the Web? The conversational free-for-all on the Internet known as the blogosphere can be a prickly and unpleasant place. Now, a few prominent figures in high technology are proposing a blogger code of conduct to clean up the quality of online discourse. Last week, Tim O'Reilly, a conference promoter and book publisher who is credited with coining the term Web 2.0, began working with Jimmy Wales, creator of the communal online encyclopedia Wikipedia, to create a set of what to many would be common-sense - though already controversial - guidelines to shape online discussion and debate. http://iht.com/articles/2007/04/09/news/blogs.php http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/technology/09blog.html Readers 'need warning on content' Readers should be warned about blogs that may contain "crude language", a draft blog code of conduct suggests. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6540385.stm Hermione Eyre: A foul trap for all the cyber-innocents I woke up on Easter Sunday, and checked my email. I found some MySpace friend requests, which I felt I should reply to, and then checked my profile on Facebook, where I saw I had been invited to join Twitter, so I clicked on the link and then ... Well, by the time I logged out it was almost Easter Monday. Christ had died and risen and all I had done was approve a few friend requests and deleted an inane message from a man from Oregon. And lo, I was filled with a great hatred of the online networking community. Joining Facebook is a bit like applying a leech to your lifeblood. http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2437272.ece uk: Are you surfing away your life on random searches? A survey shows that millions of Britons are wasting swaths of their lives surfing the web without any real purpose.The research by YouGov found that seven in ten of Britain’s 34 million users fall into the habit of Wilfing — What Was I Looking For? — both at work and at home. One in four internet users spends nearly a third of internet time Wilfing — equivalent to spending an entire working day a fortnight randomly browsing the net. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1632715.ece Weblog universe divides as expansion slows: study Online weblogs mushroomed to more than 72 million this year, but growth of the increasingly divided blogging world slowed, an Internet search engine company said on Thursday. http://www.todayonline.com/articles/181671.asp How the web became a sexists' paradise Everyone receives abuse online but the sheer hatred thrown at women bloggers has left some in fear for their lives. Jessica Valenti, editor of Feministing.com, reports. http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2051394,00.html China moves to tackle Internet gaming addiction China's growing band of young Internet gamers will face virtual penalties if they stay online for more than three hours, under a new set of rules to combat cyber addiction published on Tuesday. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/10/1175971074576.html Denmark Climbs to the Top in the Rankings of the World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2006-2007 For the first time, Denmark tops the rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2006-2007’s "Networked Readiness Index", as a culmination of an upward trend since 2003. Denmark’s outstanding levels of networked readiness have to do with the country’s excellent regulatory environment, coupled with a clear government leadership and vision in leveraging ICT for growth and promoting ICT penetration and usage. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/newslog/Denmark+Climbs+To+The+Top+In+The+Rankings+Of+The+World+Economic+Forums+Global+Information+Technology+Report+20062007+.aspx China to curb online addiction by docking credits (Reuters) Internet game operators in China must deter young people from playing more than three hours a day to combat online addiction, according to a circular issued by eight government departments on Monday. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKT29847420070409 What do you want to watch? Technology alone will not decide the future of Mobile TV (news release) The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) today, in response to the report of the European Mobile Broadcasting Council, emphasised the need for European policy to consider all the issues which will drive the take-up of new digital services, such as mobile television, and said that it is vital for all players to work together. The EBU urges the European Commission to take account of the following factors which are crucial to the development of the new services market: interoperability and open standards, spectrum and content and copyright. http://www.ebu.ch/en/union/news/2007/tcm_6-50240.php Gadgets blur work and home balance (Reuters Life!) Staying in touch constantly by using laptops, BlackBerrys and other wireless devices has blurred the line between a person's professional and personal life, according to a new survey. Seventy five percent of people questioned in a survey by Yahoo! HotJobs said they used their wireless devices equally for work and personal reasons. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKSCH93983720070409 Porn could be the key to next-generation DVD war (Reuters) In the battle over next generation DVDs, pornography could prove to be the XXX factor that helps determine a winner. Thirty years ago, VHS toppled Betamax in part because of the adult film industry, and now some see blue movies playing a key role again as backers of HD-DVD and Blu-ray maneuver to make their formats the standard. http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN0435538720070408 >From Three Dads, a Kid-Oriented Cellphone Service Daniel Neal scoffs at the notion that children are too young for cellphones. "Kids are using more advanced mobile devices than even their parents," said Neal, co-founder of a new cellphone service geared specifically toward 8- to 16-year-olds. "They're adept. They're swimming in technology, and they're comfortable using it." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/01/AR2007040100683.html Virtual world, real money Whole new worlds are taking shape in cyberspace. But is it really just a case of second lives, same old messes? Matt Philp investigates. http://stuff.co.nz/4019154a28.html uk: Prince's latest grumble: DVDs Prince Charles has found something new to grumble about: he doesn't like DVDs. Like many another middle-aged man struggling with new technology, he has confided his difficulties in getting the things to work. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2051619,00.html ************ SPAM ************ au: Telstra, Google in spam spat Telstra slams Google's spam fighting credentials, claiming it is not proactive in monitoring outgoing Gmail spam. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/10/1175971083629.html ************ FILE SHARING ************ Microsoft set to unlock EMI songs The software giant is on the verge of a deal similar to Apple's with EMI to sell tracks without DRM http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article1618585.ece Apple sells 100 million iPods (Reuters) Apple Inc. has sold its 100 millionth iPod in just over five years, boasting on Monday that the digital device was "the fastest selling music player in history" that appeals to both young and old. http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKWEN622620070409 Clips thrown off the Tube 'only a small portion' Videos removed at the behest of copyright owners accounted for only a small percentage of viewership on top online video service YouTube, according to a study published last week. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10433332 ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* Taming the World Wide Web A rising tide of companies are tapping Semantic Web technologies to unearth hard-to-find connections between disparate pieces of online data http://businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070409_248062.htm The Future of the Web The next big thing in data management takes skill, time, and experience. These tips should help you get the most out of the Semantic Web http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ceo_tipsheet/2007_4.htm Q&A with Tim Berners-Lee The inventor of the Web explains how the new Semantic Web could have profound effects on the growth of knowledge and innovation http://businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070409_961951.htm us: McClatchy's Deal With Yahoo Opens Doors Many newspaper publishers still consider major Internet companies to be a threat, but a deal announced last week to bring foreign news and commentary to Yahoo Inc. from correspondents at McClatchy Co. newspapers could open the way to even more cooperation between print and online media. http://www.latimes.com/technology/ats-ap_technology13apr05,1,5593851.story Firefox browser aims to open up the web The key developers behind forthcoming changes to the Firefox browser reveal their plans for how the popular program will change. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6528849.stm First Look: Mozilla Thunderbird 2 If you like Thunderbird 1.5, you'll love version 2, now available as a near-final release candidate. Like the new Firefox 2, Thunderbird 2 doesn't introduce any radical changes. But it does introduce inherently useful upgrades that will boost your productivity, particularly if your inbox overflows with e-mail. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130448-c,email/article.html ******************* TELECOMMUNICATIONS ******************* Good Morning, High-Tech Vietnam The Indochinese nation is fast emerging as the next Asian country to give China and India a run for global investors' money http://businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2007/gb20070409_175032.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 2007 --------- 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
