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********************************************************** Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre Nanyang Technological University, Singapore http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/ ********************************************************** Chinese tighten internet grip http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1695591.ece Malicious code rise driven by web http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6591183.stm uk: Telegraph versus Google: the key debate http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2007/04/telegraph_versus_google_the_ke.html us: The Best and Worst Internet Laws by Eric Goldman http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=717374&rl=1 Experts: U.S. Vulnerable to Major Cyberattacks http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131217-page,1/article.html Search Engine Shoot-Out http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130979/article.html Maturing British cheese becomes Internet star (Reuters) http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL2523249820070425 jp: Researchers set net speed record http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21619026%5E16123%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html Broadband Subscriptions Continue to Rise Worldwide http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625675 Nearly 2 Million New Zealanders Spent an Average of 20 Hours per Person on the Internet in March (news release) http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1406 *************** RESEARCH PAPERS *************** OECD Broadband Statistics to December 2006 Over the past year, the number of broadband subscribers in the OECD increased 26% from 157 million in December 2005 to 197 million in December 2006. This growth increased broadband penetration rates in the OECD from 13.5 in December 2005 to 16.9 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants one year later. http://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,2340,en_2649_37441_38446855_1_1_1_37441,00.html Internet traffic prioritisation Internet traffic prioritisation is an increasingly important policy issue as bandwidth demands increase and Internet applications require higher levels of quality of service to function well. Debates about traffic prioritisation, particularly in the context of “network neutrality” discussions, have been divisive. The study provides background for national debates by examining the role of traffic prioritisation in networks and highlighting associated policy and regulatory issues. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/63/38405781.pdf *********** CENSORSHIP *********** Chinese tighten internet grip Chinese officials have been told to make the internet more civilised and less decadent, state media reported yesterday. At a meeting of Communist Party leaders chaired by the President, Hu Jintao, officials were told to build “an internet culture with Chinese characteristics” and to “curb the spread of decadent and backward ideological and cultural material online”. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1695591.ece http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/24/1177180634230.html http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6178405.html China aims to tame Internet (Reuters) Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday launched a campaign to rid the country's sprawling Internet of "unhealthy" content and make it a springboard for Communist Party doctrine, state television reported. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKPEK8130920070425 2,300 items of porn online information blocked in 2 months China detected and blocked more than 2,300 items of porn on the internet and filtered nearly one hundred million other hazardous bits of online information during the first two months of 2007. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/25/content_860092.htm A lone voice fights Chinese censorship As China’s censors pronounce ever more draconian edicts against writers, newspapers and even amateur pop singers, one middle-aged woman has staged a vociferous fight-back. Zhang Yihe, a historian whose latest banned book was a collection of biographies of Peking Opera singers, has sent a flood of open letters and petitions to the government demanding a change to censorship laws. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/25/wcensor125.xml cn: Beijing's chief censor sidelined in reshuffle The deputy director of the mainland's press watchdog, Liu Binjie, will be elevated to the post of chief censor, replacing his sidelined boss, authorities announced yesterday. http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=68478 ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ au: Parents should monitor children's web use: PM Monitoring children's internet use is the responsibility of their parents, Prime Minister John Howard said following the deaths of two girls who discussed suicide on their websites. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/24/1177180631795.html au: National Youth Week 2007 - Launch Yourself (news release) NetAlert is proud to support National Youth Week (NYW). NYW is the largest celebration of young people in Australia and takes place from 14-22 April 2007. http://netalert.net.au/03859-National-Youth-Week-2007---Launch-Yourself.asp nz: Teens expelled over YouTube video Four students charged for the filming of an attack on a schoolmate in Hastings and posting it on YouTube have been expelled. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/1082714 http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.aspx?id=72505 us: Reports to National CyberTipline Exceed 475,000 Child Pornography Tops the List (news release) The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) today announced that it has just received its 475,000th report to its CyberTipline. These leads and tips have led to the arrest and successful prosecution of thousands of offenders. An estimated 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be sexually victimized in someway before they reach the age of 18. The CyberTipline provides a vital reporting mechanism to get leads into the hands of law enforcement. http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=3142 uk: Is Operation Ore the UK's worst-ever policing scandal? The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) didn't like The Guardian's lead story last week exposing the faults that run through the Operation Ore investigations - namely, that the police didn't investigate sufficiently whether credit card transactions on a pornography site were really made by the owners of the credit card, or just by website owners operating fraudulently with stolen details. The CPS wrote a letter for publication claiming Duncan Campbell's investigation was "wrong", but offered no statistics or detail. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2065090,00.html uk: School's anger at cyber-bullying A Cornish school is fighting to remove offensive comments about two pupils and a teacher from internet social networking site Bebo. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/6586735.stm us: Online child safety - Parents have a major challenge ... A recent UN study on violence against children found that such abuses (like stalking/bullying children online and using the Internet to network for child sex tourism/trafficking) was not only pervasive, causing deep and lasting physical, psychological damage to the child victims but it outstripped the resources of law enforcement agencies. According to a team of researchers at the Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, over 40 per cent of the 1,500 Internet users aged 10 to 17, surveyed last year, reported being exposed to online pornography, though most claimed they were not looking for it. Two-thirds of those who were exposed felt it was “unwanted”. Most often, such exposure took place while using file-sharing programmes to download images. http://organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=181&page=18 *************************************** CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY *************************************** Cutting edge security technology on show >From criminal gangs intend on stealing credit card details to zombie >computers, innocently sending out spam and viruses, the world of computer >security has hit the headlines in recent times. The BBC News website has been >on the ground at the InfoSecurity Europe conference, walking the miles of >stands on your behalf in order, to track down some of the interesting products >and companies touting their wares in an effort to counter the bad guys. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6592673.stm Malicious code rise driven by web The number of new pieces of malicious software has doubled in the last year with the web being used increasingly to distribute the code, a report says. In the first quarter of 2007, security firm Sophos identified 23,864 threats, up from 9,450 on this time last year. In the same period the firm said it was identifying 5,000 web pages per day infected with so-called malware. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6591183.stm uk: Extremists used internet to urge Muslims to follow Bin Laden and join holy war, court told Three British-based men used the internet to spread extremist propaganda and seek recruits for an international holy war, a court heard yesterday. http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2064155,00.html uk: Al-Qaeda’s ‘British propagandists’ Violent al-Qaeda propaganda, including footage of the beheading of hostages, was distributed around the globe by computer by young men sitting in their bedrooms in Britain, a court heard yesterday. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1695718.ece uk: Telegraph versus Google: the key debate Is the Telegraph group about to follow Belgian media companies into the lists against Google? That certainly seems to be the implication of remarks by Daily Telegraph editor Will Lewis while delivering a speech on behalf of his ceo, Murdoch MacLennan, at the Ifra newsroom conference in Paris. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2007/04/telegraph_versus_google_the_ke.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/24/google_vs_telegraph/ uk: Specialist lawyers say tech firms failing on IP In the run-up to World Intellectual Property Day on 26 April, technology law specialists at international law firm Pinsent Masons have warned that UK technology companies do not know how to value their IP and that they are not doing enough to exploit the value of their IP portfolios. http://out-law.com/page-7987 cn: CBRC vows to sever capital flows of porn websites A spokesman for the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said Tuesday that the CBRC and other banking institutions will take action to stop pornographic websites from using banks' settlement platforms and payment tools. http://en.ce.cn/National/Politics/200704/25/t20070425_11157748.shtml us: Washington State: Online Poker is no Longer a Felony in Homes Washington State legislators last week passed Bill 1243 to correct excessive felony charges for online poker or online gambling when done in the privacy of a primary residence for recreation and not for organised profit. http://pokerpages.com/poker-news/news/washington-state-online-poker-is-no-longer-a-felony-in-homes-29674.htm Crash Course on Pay-Per-Click Arbitrage If you've spent any time on pay-per-click (PPC) forums or in the blogosphere, you've probably heard about PPC arbitrage — the ill-reputed practice that drives bid prices up and makes life more difficult for advertisers. So, what exactly is it, and how can it affect you as an advertiser? http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/460/Crash-Course-on-Pay-Per-Click-Arbitrage/ Beware Of Online Legal Advice I get a report every day of many of the important judicial decisions relating to Internet and ecommerce law. I have to review a court’s decision in detail before I begin to understand the ruling, the facts and the law as applied. Judges are oftentimes only as good as the briefs submitted by the lawyers. In other words, well briefed and well argued issues facilitate good decisions. Sometimes a court relies upon the wrong law, or fails to consider other interpretations, and that leads to a bad decision. Sometimes the facts before the court can cause a judge to decide a matter without due regard of the law. “Bad facts make bad law” is a principle every law student hears over and over again as professors try to explain judicial mistakes. The third variable in trying to understand court decisions is human nature. Areas of the country look at matters differently, and the opinions and beliefs of the public often are mirrored by judges, particularly those elected by the public or appointed by a representative body. Certain states are pro-consumer, others are pro-business and judges often reflect those attitudes. http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/410/Beware-Of-Online-Legal-Advice/ Protecting Intellectual Property: How copyrights and patents affect your ebusiness You may not realize it, but you deal with intellectual property (IP) every day. If you own a website, that website is your intellectual property. The way you deal with IP - yours and others - can directly impact the success of your business. http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/377/Protecting-Intellectual-Property/ ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** us: The Best and Worst Internet Laws by Eric Goldman Over the past dozen years, the lure of regulating the Internet has proven irresistible to legislators. For example, in the 109th Congress, almost 1,100 introduced bills referenced the word Internet, and hundreds of Internet laws have been passed by Congress and the states. This legislative activity is now large enough to identify some winners and losers. In the spirit of good fun, Eric Goldman offers an opinionated list of personal votes for the best and worst Internet statutes in the United States. http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=717374&rl=1 NZ govt spends $1.7 billion on ICT The New Zealand government spent $1.7 billion on ICT in the 2006 financial year, according to a Statistics New Zealand survey. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/AC88A9BDCC9EF0CECC2572C70002A25C Experts: U.S. Vulnerable to Major Cyberattacks The U.S. government needs to take action now to avoid crippling cyberattacks that could shut down major communications systems nationwide, a group of cybersecurity experts told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131217-page,1/article.html ***** SPAM ***** us: Major Anti-Spam Lawsuit to Be Filed in Virginia A company representing Internet users in more than 100 countries is expected to file a lawsuit in Virginia on Thursday seeking the identity of individuals responsible for harvesting millions of e-mail addresses on behalf of spammers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042503098.html ***************************** INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE ***************************** Search Engine Shoot-Out PC World's verdict: Google is indeed the best search engine, even though two other services (AlltheWeb - my personal favourite too - and AltaVista, both owned by Yahoo) topped it--barely--in our text-search tests. Google's index proved to be the most accurate, comprehensive, and timely of the bunch. It also bested the majority of the specialty-search sites we tried, meaning those that focus on a category or file type, such as videos, images, news, blogs, or local info delivered on a mobile phone. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130979/article.html Maturing British cheese becomes Internet star (Reuters) A large English cheddar cheese has become a star of the Internet, attracting more than 1 million viewers to sit and stare at it as it slowly ripens. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL2523249820070425 jp: Researchers set net speed record A group of researchers led by the University of Tokyo has broken two internet speed records in as many days. Operators of the high-speed Internet2 network announced that the researchers sent data at 7.67 gigabits per second, using standard communications protocols. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21619026%5E16123%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/25/1177459749183.html Broadband Subscriptions Continue to Rise Worldwide The number of subscribers to broadband services increased by 26 percent in year-over-year growth from December '05 to December '06. The growth rate describes the subscriber base in the 30 countries tracked by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625675 NZ nudges up rank in uptake of broadband New Zealand has edged up one place to 21st in the OECD table for broadband uptake. http://stuff.co.nz/4037183a13.html New Zealanders keen on frequent internet use A study released today shows New Zealanders have taken to the world wide web in a big way. If you're an "average" user, according to the survey by comScore, you went online about every other day, spending a total of 20 and a half hours on the internet during the month. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10436211 Nearly 2 Million New Zealanders Spent an Average of 20 Hours per Person on the Internet in March (news release) In March 2007, 1.9 million New Zealanders age 15 or older used the Internet, viewing 3.6 billion pages of content. The average Internet user went online every other day and spent a total of 20.4 hours online during the month. http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1406 au: International sting in tail for free Qantas wireless service Telstra's recent decision to drop usage charges for its wireless network for Qantas Club members has been welcome news for business travellers, but international flyers aren't quite so lucky. http://itwire.com.au/content/view/11572/1101/ Are mobile phones and Wi-Fi to blame for the world's ills? Sure, say Kate Bevan and Charles Arthur, if you believe the world's crops are going to fail because, allegedly, mobiles kill bees, and Wi-Fi will make people ill. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2065074,00.html uk: Switch on for Square Mile wi-fi The City of London has fired up its first mesh wi-fi network, promising net access from just about anywhere in the Square Mile. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6577307.stm Leap the lifestyle barrier online The disabled are among the people who find it much more convenient to start up a business online, writes Andrew Stone http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article1687153.ece The question: Is Wi-Fi bad for you? No one knows. And that, say some groups, is the problem. The near-ubiquity of wireless networks has led to concerns over an "electronic smog" of radio waves that stretches from the home to Starbucks and the classroom; anywhere, in fact, that a computer can connect to the internet without wires. The rapid spread of the networks has been accompanied by negligible research into the potential risks. Last night, the Professional Association of Teachers wrote to Alan Johnson, the education secretary, requesting a scientific inquiry into the potential health risks of Wi-Fi networks, and recommended that schools stop installing them until research declares them safe. Eight out of 10 secondary schools and half of primary schools have the equipment. http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2063977,00.html News analysis: Deadly games - They're bloody. But can they make you a killer? No, says a major new report, but one mother still blames them for the murder of her son. So what does virtual slaughter do to the brain? The article goes on to say "'Some research in the US appears to support the hypothesis that playing video games can make people more aggressive,' says the BBFC, whose job it is to evaluate and certify the goriest. But while players may lose track of time and become 'zombie-like' after hours in a fantasy world, the BBFC believes they are unlikely to want to kill anyone for real." http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2472070.ece Google search service tracks your online habits Google has introduced a new service which critics say allows the company to more easily collect data on its users' web surfing habits. The new feature, called Web History, allows users to look back in time at the websites they have browsed and search them for specific lines of text. Ostensibly, Google's goal was to provide greater personalisation for its users and deliver more targeted search results. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/23/1177180549441.html Irish kids' literacy hit by txts The fatal attraction between Irish young 'uns and mobile phones poses "a significant threat to writing standards in English", according to the chief examiner of Eire's Department of Education. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/25/txt_threat/ http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/26/1177459813270.html Wii have a problem with injuries: British experts Nintendo's Wii console is as effective as more traditional videogames for burning calories, but players are running the risk of injury by not warming-up properly, according to British experts. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/26/1177459838854.html ************ FILE SHARING ************ Yahoo! China loses case over illegal music downloads Yahoo! China lost a lawsuit filed by music industry giants including Warner Music for allegedly playing and providing links to unlicensed music, state media reported Wednesday. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/26/1177459838846.html http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_5740481 http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/04/24/yahoo.china.reut/ us: Activist groups drop lawsuit against Viacom over removal of parody on YouTube (AP) Activist groups dropped a federal lawsuit against Viacom Inc. on Monday after the parent of Comedy Central acknowledged it made a mistake by asking YouTube to yank a parody of the cable network's "The Colbert Report." http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_5733218 ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* 'Google is the world's top brand' Google is the most powerful brand in the world, according to a survey that takes financial muscle and consumer sentiment into account. Google overtook Microsoft, formerly the world's top brand and which fell to third, and General Electric moving into second position. http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/story/0,,2062362,00.html http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070423.wbrands0423/GIStory/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/24/wbrands24.xml Read all about it on the website, so why buy the paper? Think of the time and cost of establishing a successful restaurant. Then picture yourself as a regular customer who goes to your favourite table, enjoys the meal, settles the bill and then spots on the way out a notice that if you'd eaten on the terrace everything would have been for free. The assumption must be that the restaurateur has gone mad. Yet that was the analogy drawn by multimedia journalist students at Bournemouth University when setting out to analyse the reciprocity between national newspapers and their websites. Because they established that there is no such thing. http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2472426.ece This Internet TV Program Is Brought to You by ... Joost, the Internet television service, has lined up several blue-chip advertisers as it prepares for its introduction. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/business/media/26adco.html?ref=technology Yes, it's real: Blogger & Podcaster magazine Technology blog: The bubble could be about to burst, if the arrival of a print magazine for aspiring new media titans is any indication. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/archives/2007/04/24/blogger_podcaster_magazine_its_not_a_joke.html ******************* TELECOMMUNICATIONS ******************* au: Telstra fires up $1.5b network TELSTRA has switched on its new $1.5 billion internet protocol network for businesses but has refused to reveal a timetable for when it will shutdown the mass of legacy systems the Next IP platform is intended to replace. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21624186%5E16123%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html za: SA's Internet community continues to organise SA’s Internet community continues to organise in pursuit of its objective of liberalising the local telecoms market. Figures supplied by the Internet Service Providers' Association of South Africa (ISPA) reveal that membership grew by 23% between February 2006 and February 2007. http://www.ictworld.co.za/EditorialEdit.asp?EditorialID=28709 ***** VoIP ***** The dial-through fraudsters using VoIP to outwit detectives Telephone switchboard hacking is not new, but criminals are now using the latest technology to cover their trails. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2065092,00.html uk: Mobile phone giants accused of 'crippling' free voice start-up A telecoms row has broken out after a fledgling start-up provider of free voice calls over the internet accused mobile phone giants of crippling its service. Truphone is claiming that Vodafone and Orange have released a version of the Nokia N95 mobile phone handset with its VoIP capability disabled. http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2486659.ece Can VoIP Help My Business? Many businesses making the switch, but questions remain Major telecommunication companies and start-ups alike are trying to establish themselves in the rapidly expanding VoIP marketplace. That hasn't escaped the notice of many people within the Internet telephone business, who anticipate 2007 could be a banner year for the technology. http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/398/Can-VoIP-Help-My-Business/ ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN ********************************** au: Prosecutor's hoard of child porn exposed The double life of Dr Patrick Power, SC - the former deputy senior crown prosecutor caught with thousands of images of gay and child pornography - was exposed by a glitch in his computer. It had crashed, so he took it to work to ask a technician to look at it. When the technician at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions backed up files, one caught his eye. Its title explicitly and profanely described a 10-year-old boy in a sexual act with his father. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/24/1177180652779.html http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21617389-2702,00.html http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21622219-5001021,00.html uk: Open Wi-Fi proves no defence in child porn case A man has been found guilty of possessing child pornography despite arguing that his open wireless internet network meant the case against him could not be proved. The case was triggered by an explicit image of a child which was sent over Yahoo!'s instant messaging network. http://out-law.com/page-7991 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/25/open_wi-fi_child_porn_case/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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
