Don't forget to check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for a more recent edition of the complete domain news, including an RSS feed - already online!
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/ ********************************************************** When YouTube is a threat http://iht.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/youtube.php uk: Net firms 'could do more' to fight viruses http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2060511,00.html Yahoo! sued over torture of Chinese dissident http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article1678306.ece The web is dead; long live the web:As the internet evolves, the backlash begins. But is it really going to destroy our civilisation? http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1673425.ece Devices and desires: Is lascivious online content, traditionally on top, losing its lustre? http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9040354 uk: Wi-Fi: Children at risk from 'electronic smog' http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2472133.ece >From GooTube to GoogleClick - Is Google's latest string of deals a sign of >strength or weakness? http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9040227 Mobile phones represent next frontier for search http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10435683 Google - How Much More Should It Be Allowed to Grab? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/21/AR2007042100115.html *********** CENSORSHIP *********** Robert Fisk: Caught in the deadly web of the internet: Any political filth or personal libel can be hurled at the innocent Taner Akcam is the distinguished Turkish scholar at the University of Minnesota who, with immense courage, proved the facts of the Armenian genocide - the deliberate mass murder of up to a million and a half Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish authorities in 1915 - from Turkish documents and archives. His book A Shameful Act was published to great critical acclaim in Britain and the United States. He is now, needless to say, being threatened with legal action in Turkey under the infamous Law 301 - which makes a crime of insulting "Turkishness" - but it's probably par for the course for a man who was granted political asylum in Germany after receiving an eight-year prison sentence in his own country for articles he had written in a student journal; Amnesty International had already named him a prisoner of conscience. But Mr Akcam has now become a different kind of prisoner: an inmate of the internet hate machine, the circle of hell in which any political filth or personal libel can be hurled at the innocent without any recourse to the law, to libel lawyers or to common decency. The Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was misquoted on the internet for allegedly claiming that Turkish blood was "poisonous"; this total lie - Dink never said such a thing - prompted a young man to murder him in an Istanbul street. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2469270.ece When YouTube is a threat As YouTube, the Internet video-sharing service, generates millions of new fans in far-flung countries, it is making enemies of some of their governments. Many are putting pressure on the company to tailor, or self-censor, its site to take account of local sensibilities, analysts say. So far, YouTube, which Google acquired in November for $1.6 billion, has refused to back down in its standoff with the military-appointed government of Thailand, which recently cut off access to YouTube over a video that denigrated the country's king, Bhumibol Adulyadej. But Thailand is only one of a growing number of countries that are worried about the power of Internet video, which cuts across linguistic borders and allows individuals anywhere to publish dissident tracts, sexually risqué films or other undesirable "user-generated content." http://iht.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/youtube.php Rights group urges Egypt to free Islamist blogger A U.S.-based human rights group pressed Egypt on Friday to release a prominent Muslim Brotherhood activist, blogger and journalist, calling his detention a blow to free speech. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL207817120070422 ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ New book untangles web of Internet child porn As Julian Sher found while researching his new book "One Child at a Time: The Global Fight to Rescue Children from Online Predators," today's child porn is so much more than creepy guys hunched over computers in their basements, staring at pictures of undressed girls. Sher calls the trade in child porn the new face of crime in the 21st century. "It's a crime that lives and breathes on the Internet, in the wires in your computer," Sher told Canada AM. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070419/Sher_book_070419/20070420 Concern about Wi-Fi health danger spreads to NZ from British schools A British furore over wireless internet technology - Wi-Fi - use in schools is raising similar concerns in NZ. Britain's top health-protection watchdog wants the network, which emits radiation, to be full investigated because of the concern for students' health. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=137&objectid=10435649 ca: Majority of Canadian teens in survey report being bullied online Cyber-bullying is disturbingly common among Canadian teens, with a majority who responded to an online survey saying they have been bullied online, according to a report released Wednesday. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/04/18/cyber-bullying.html The Marshal Of MySpace Just like the Real world, MySpace.com (NWS ) needs an enforcer. The man trying to bring order to the planet's biggest social networking site is a former federal prosecutor named Hemanshu "Hemu" Nigam. He was hired a year ago to keep MySpace's largely youthful denizens safe from predatory grown-ups--and from one another. For MySpace owner, News Corp. (NWS ), patrolling the virtual streets is not simply a matter of keeping kids safe, it's also crucial if the company is to attract sufficient advertising to help boost profits. "I am humbled by the sense of responsibility," says Nigam, who spent three and a half years at the Justice Dept. helping put child molesters behind bars. "As a company, we have to forge the way for an entire industry." http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_17/b4031092.htm us: Principal sues ex-students over MySpace profiles A Pennsylvania school principal has filed a lawsuit against four former students, claiming they falsely portrayed him as a pot smoker, beer guzzler and pornography lover and sullied his reputation through mock MySpace profiles. http://news.com.com/2100-1030-6174506.html us: Attorney General looks ahead to the critical expansion of CyberCrime - Florida Legal Issues (news release) Attorney General Bill McCollum today praised both the House and Senate for passing the CyberCrimes Against Children Act of 2007, a measure that toughens penalties for those who use the internet to sexually prey on children. This bill now positions Florida as a national leader in the legal fight against child pornography and internet solicitation of children. The new legislation increases penalties for the possession or distribution of child pornography online and creates a new, separate penalty against internet predators who communicate with a child online and then travel to meet that child for the specific purpose of further sexually abusing him or her. http://lawfuel.com/show-release.asp?ID=11792 nz: NetSafe Newsletter - first issue for 2007 This issue celebrates the release of the 2007 NetSafe Kit for Schools and takes a look at the new NetSafe research which is uncovering exactly how young people use technology in New Zealand. It introduces NetSafe’s newest staff member, and the training he is taking around New Zealand in 2007. There is also a range of columns and tips to keep you up to date with the latest in cyberspace including a new Spam and Scams column. http://cybersafety.org.nz/newsletter/current_newsletter.php au: MySpace clues to teen death pact At just 16 Jodie Gater and Stephanie Gestier appear to have made an unimaginable pact. On her MySpace web page Jodie had written: "let Steph and me b free." Yesterday, a week after they disappeared, the bodies of the two girls were found in bushland on the outskirts of Melbourne. It is understood Jodie and Stephanie had hanged themselves, after first posting apparent farewell messages on the internet. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/23/1177180493150.html http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21603808-2,00.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/23/1177180529637.html us: ISPs blamed for child porn Anti-Linux SCO boss Ralph Yarro is leaning on Utah lawmakers trying to get Wireless Service Providers to be held responsible for child porn on the Internet. http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39054 *************************************** CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY *************************************** uk: Net firms 'could do more' to fight viruses Internet providers could be held responsible for the spread of viruses on private computers, one of Britain's leading experts has claimed. Giving evidence to the House of Lords science and technology committee, Jonathan Zittrain, professor of internet governance and regulation at Oxford, said that holding broadband companies accountable for dangerous online traffic could help solve some security problems. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2060511,00.html Yahoo! sued over torture of Chinese dissident A Chinese political prisoner sued Yahoo! in a US federal court, accusing the internet company of helping the Chinese government torture him by providing information that led to his arrest. The suit, filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, is believed to be the first of its kind made against an American internet company. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article1678306.ece http://ecommercetimes.com/story/57011.html uk/it: In London, a Trial Over an Anonymous Blog Mr. Martin Sorrell, chief executive of the WPP Group, the advertising and marketing company based in London, is suing two Italian advertising executives, Marco Benatti and Marco Tinelli, for libel, contending that they are the authors of an anonymous blog that refers to Mr. Sorrell as a Godfather-style figure nicknamed Don Martino. Mr. Benatti and Mr. Tinelli are also accused of distributing an e-mailed image of Mr. Sorrell and Daniela Weber, the chief operating officer of WPP Italy, that their legal team described as “grossly offensive.” http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/business/media/27adco.html?ex=1332648000&en=e325357310edb4b4&ei=5088 http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070328/wpp_ceo_libel.html UK businesses flooded with porn Twenty-six percent of 10,000 business PCs scanned in a recent UK-based test were found to contain ‘inappropriate images’, porn-filtering company PixAlert reported. http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?NewsID=8609 us: Google DoubleClick buyout attacked in complaint filed with FTC Three privacy groups have filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission saying the acquisition of DoubleClick by Google will injure consumers by invading their privacy and harm the public interest. Google and DoubleClick, however, claim that their respective data sets cannot be combined to gain more information on consumers. http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/11490/53/ http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN2040687820070421 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6177819.html us: Microsoft to Shell Out $180M to Iowa Consumers Microsoft agreed Wednesday to pay Iowans up to $180 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company had a monopoly that cost the state's citizens millions of dollars extra for software products. The $179.5 million settlement means individuals in Iowa who bought certain Microsoft products between 1994 and 2006 will be eligible for cash. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/56967.html us: Ticketmaster reportedly sues eBay, StubHub The world's largest ticket retailer, Ticketmaster, has sued eBay Inc. and its StubHub subsidiary, alleging that the online auction leader violated the company's contractual rights. http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/19/news/companies/ticketmaster_ebay/ http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6178001.html us: Internet key in probe of Va. Tech gunman Computer forensics are playing a key role in the probe of the Virginia Tech gunman, with investigators revealing he bought ammunition clips on eBay designed for one of two handguns used to kill 32 people and himself. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-04-22-tech-tragedy_N.htm http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VIRGINIA_TECH_SHOOTING_INTERNET http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=16&articleId=9017419 ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** us: Cyberattacks at federal agencies draw House scrutiny As new details emerged about cyberattacks against networks at the State and Commerce departments last year, politicians on Thursday said they're concerned many federal agencies are ill-prepared to fend off such intrusions. http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6177783.html ca: Conservative MP Introduces 'Clean Internet Act' by Michael Geist Conservative MP Joy Smith yesterday introduced the Clean Internet Act. The private member's bill would establish an Internet service provider licensing system to be administered by the CRTC along with "know your subscriber" requirements and content blocking powers. Just about everything associated with this bill is (to be charitable) rather odd. Smith introduced it by warning against the use of the Internet to support human trafficking and added that "the bill would address the fact that child pornography is not okay to put on the Internet throughout our nation," though the Criminal Code already does that. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1884/125/ ***** SPAM ***** us: FTC To Host “Spam Summit: The Next Generation of Threats and Solutions” The Federal Trade Commission will host a two-day public event, “Spam Summit: The Next Generation of Threats and Solutions,” in Washington, DC on July 11 and 12, 2007. The summit will bring together experts from the business, government, and technology sectors, consumer advocates, and academics to explore consumer protection issues surrounding spam, phishing, and malware. http://ftc.gov/opa/2007/04/spamsummit.shtm ***************************** INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE ***************************** The web is dead; long live the web:As the internet evolves, the backlash begins. But is it really going to destroy our civilisation? The web is dead; long live the web. The dead web is Web 1.0. It had dial-up connections, dot-com crashes and some of the worst business plans since Napoleon marched on Moscow. The live web is Web 2.0. It has broadband, enormous interactivity — or “user-generated content” — and Google, a faith-based operation whose employees proclaim “Thank Google it’s Friday” at the end of the working week. Web 2.0 makes money and owns the future. The downside is that Web 2.0 may be destroying civilisation. That, at least, is the view of Andrew Keen, a Silicon Valley-based British entrepreneur and author. He has written The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet Is Killing Our Culture (due out in June), which argues that the web is an antienlightenment phenomenon, a destroyer of wisdom and culture and an infantile, Rousseau-esque fantasy. “It’s the cult of the child,” he says. “The more you know, the less you know. It’s all about digital narcissism, shameless self-promotion. I find it offensive.” http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1673425.ece Devices and desires: Is lascivious online content, traditionally on top, losing its lustre? When the internet took off in the 1990s, it was demonised as a steaming cauldron of porn. It has certainly made pornography more widely and easily available than ever before. The online porn industry is difficult to measure, but was valued at $1 billion in 2002 by America's National Research Council. Google, which publishes its “zeitgeist” list of top search queries, redacts sex-related terms from the rankings for fear of causing offence. But the popularity of pornography is clear from figures compiled by companies that track user “clickstreams”. Last year about 13% of website visits in America were pornographic in nature, according to Hitwise, a market-research firm. For comparison, search engines account for about 7% of site visits. Yet the Hitwise data suggest that sex sites are now being dethroned. http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9040354 Staff use of social media is an unseen threat, says security firm Over one third of businesses do not monitor their employees' internet use, according to a survey carried out by an information security firm. The research found that companies are underestimating the data risk posed by so-called Web 2.0 sites. http://out-law.com/page-7972 uk: Wi-Fi: Children at risk from 'electronic smog' Britain's top health protection watchdog is pressing for a formal investigation into the hazards of using wireless communication networks in schools amid mounting concern that they may be damaging children's health. Sir William Stewart, the chairman of the Health Protection Agency, wants pupils to be monitored for ill effects from the networks - known as Wi-Fi - which emit radiation and are being installed in classrooms across the nation. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2472133.ece uk: Danger on the airwaves: Is the Wi-Fi revolution a health time bomb? It's on every high street and in every coffee shop and school. But experts have serious concerns about the effects of electronic smog from wireless networks linking our laptops and mobiles: So far only a few, faint warnings have been raised, mainly by people who are so sensitised to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobiles, their masts and Wi-Fi that they become ill in its presence. The World Health Organisation estimates that up to three out of every hundred people are "electrosensitive" to some extent. But scientists and doctors - and some European governments - are adding their voices to the alarm as it becomes clear that the almost universal use of mobile phones may be storing up medical catastrophe for the future. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2472140.ece Participation on Web 2.0 sites remains weak Web 2.0, a catchphrase for the latest generation of Web sites where users contribute their own text, pictures and video content, is far less participatory than commonly assumed, a study showed on Tuesday. http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN1743638820070419 Stop the press: the internet is now the first draft of history Blogs and mobile phones captured the drama of the Virginia massacre. James Robinson writes on how the power of the citizen journalist can enhance the role of the 'old media' http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2062568,00.html Wireless: Case of the disappearing bees creates a buzz about cellphones The headlines were catchy, the subject compelling and, in some cases, the newspapers well respected. "Cellphones linked to honeybee deaths." "To bee or not to be near mobile phones." "German study links cellphones to drop in honey bee population; Radiation said to interfere with homing ability." "Are mobile phones wiping out our bees? Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees." http://iht.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/wireless23.php USFE seeks new friends on MySpace The US Futures Exchange is 99 years old and male, at least according to its new MySpace page, in what market experts view as the first move by the derivatives sector into the world of social networking. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/efa72752-ef68-11db-a64e-000b5df10621.html Wii have a problem The Wii is a must-have for the gamer generation — but it may be giving them aching backs, sore shoulders and even “Wii elbow” http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article1661085.ece “.TV Showcase” to Serve as Media and Entertainment Model for the Future of Digital Content Distribution (news release) VeriSign and Lionsgate have teamed to produce an online showcase to demonstrate the next generation of entertainment distribution, tying together a seamless consumer experience across TV, online and mobile devices. Featuring quality motion picture and television content produced by Lionsgate, the new showcase is powered by VeriSign’s highly scaleable and secure digital infrastructure. In addition, another VeriSign partner, Organic, Inc., a digital communications agency, produced the creative and compelling user interface. A beta version of the showcase is available for viewing at the VeriSign NAB booth and at www.verisign.tv. http://www.verisign.com/press_releases/pr/page_041986.html How internet booksellers are killing art of browsing The joy of stumbling on a captivating book of which you were previously unaware is being undermined by the internet, one of the world’s most highly regarded authors, Margaret Atwood, believes. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1690435.ece *************** DIGITAL DIVIDE *************** Microsoft aims to double PC base Microsoft software will sell for just US$3 in some parts of the world in an attempt to double the number of global PC users. The firm wants to bring computing to a further one billion people by 2015. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6571139.stm Microsoft aims to bridge global digital divide Microsoft said Thursday that it would build on existing efforts to bridge the digital divide worldwide and announced several new ventures, including a $3 software package for governments that subsidize student computers. http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-micro20apr20,1,4503592.story Tackling the Digital Divide From a Regional (East African) Perspective The digital divide between urban and rural areas in East Africa -- and between rich and poor -- continues to loom large, highlighting the need for initiatives that will enable all to benefit from information and communication technologies (ICTs). http://allafrica.com/stories/200704220191.html ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* >From GooTube to GoogleClick - Is Google's latest string of deals a sign of >strength or weakness? Another month, another string of victories for Google, the internet's emerging superpower. With the most popular search engine and the most efficient system for placing text advertisements alongside the results, Google already dominates the lucrative market for “paid search” advertising (where advertisers pay only for mouse clicks). On April 13th Google announced that it would pay $3.1 billion—making this its biggest acquisition ever—for DoubleClick, the web's largest independent broker between online publishers and advertisers in the market for “branded” or “display” advertisements (where advertisers pay each time the ad is displayed). According to some estimates, this market segment, although smaller, is now growing faster than paid search. http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9040227 Mobile phones represent next frontier for search "Mobile, mobile, mobile" were the words of Google chief executive Eric Schmidt this week when asked what technologies are most intriguing to the computer Web search leader. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10435683 http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN2025896920070420 Google: Still Going Gangbusters First-quarter profits sailed over most analysts' optimistic predictions, and not much is likely to slow the search giant down http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070420_545044.htm Google - How Much More Should It Be Allowed to Grab? Google is the quintessential business success story. Two bright young guys started with an idea, built a company around it and grew it into a $150 billion juggernaut that now dominates the Internet. It nudged aside rival Yahoo, challenged traditional media giants and frustrated the Web strategy of the once-invincible Microsoft. And it did it all fair and square. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/21/AR2007042100115.html Why the world has lost interest in IPTV services Comment: While doing the research for the very first issue of Faultline, one IPTV specialist (who shall remain nameless) told us "you can't send video across the web", and proceeded to lecture us on the finer points of Quality of Service protocols. In a way he was right, but what he was saying lacked vision. The very next day at Faultline we were watching US made video over the internet, streamed from a German website to us in the UK. It seemed to work fine back then in 2002, and it's working better and better as people apply tiny improvements in technology to make it easier and cheaper to do. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/22/iptv_services/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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. For information on subscriptions to the domain name and/or general internet news please contact me. For archives of postings to the list, see http://lists.technewsreview.com.au/pipermail/technewsreview/. Also see http://technewsreview.com.au/ for recent 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
