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 daily updates in between postings. ********************************************************** Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre Nanyang Technological University, Singapore http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/ ********************************************************** us: Google Renews Call For Govt. To Stand Up To Censorship http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JSUIWRAQ0N5FCQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=200000230 The MySpace dilemma http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JSUIWRAQ0N5FCQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=199901284 We know what you clicked last night http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/20/1182019175799.html Google Is Watching You http://businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2007/tc20070622_338015.htm ch: Internet Terrorism Trial Highlights Web Open Info Access Dilemma http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199906002 BP: Cyberterrorism threat is increasing http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39287647,00.htm nz: Internal Affairs probes paedophile, porn and spam company with Wellington links http://m-net.net.nz/1711/latest-news/latest-news/internal-affairs-probes-paedophile-porn-and-spam-company-with-wellington-li.php EU Probe to Look at All Search Engines (AP) http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/14/1181414391048.html Informed opinion says IT screens are not glowing green http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article1974975.ece uk: Teenagers prefer mobiles to sex http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/21/digital_life/ Web Traffic Overtakes P2P as Largest Bandwidth on the Network http://www.circleid.com/posts/web_traffic_overtakes_p2p_bandwidth/ Experts oppose video game addiction designation (Reuters) http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-6192969.html The Vista Problem: Can Microsoft Fend Off Another Legal Onslaught? http://ecommercetimes.com/story/57975.html nz: e-Kiwis invited to enter World Summit Awards http://m-net.net.nz/1703/latest-news/latest-news/e-kiwis-invited-to-enter-world-summit-awards.php *********** CENSORSHIP *********** Survey of Government Internet Filtering Practices Indicates Increasing Internet Censorship Twenty-five countries around the world out of 41 countries surveyed block or filter Internet content, indicating a global trend towards Internet censorship, according to the first year of a global survey of Internet filtering techniques by governments released today by the OpenNet Initiative, a partnership among groups at four leading global universities: Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and Toronto, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9302 Release of 'Manhunt 2' Game Suspended Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. said Thursday it was temporarily suspending the release of the violent title "Manhunt 2" because of an ongoing ratings controversy in the United States and a ban in Britain and Ireland. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GAMES_MANHUNT_2?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-06-21-19-30-25 au: No ban on Virginia Tech game Australian authorities are powerless to ban a computer game inspired by the Virginia Tech massacre. http://portmacquarie.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?story_id=592508 au: Backing for porn industry The adult industry's key lobby group, the Eros Foundation, has criticised calls by the Australian Christian Lobby for a ban on pornography in the Northern Territory to be extended to Canberra. http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/25/1960603.htm us: Google Renews Call For Govt. To Stand Up To Censorship In a post on Google's Public Policy Blog on Friday, Andrew McLaughlin, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, revisits his company's efforts to encourage the U.S. government to address censorship as a trade barrier. "To industries that depend upon free flows of information to deliver their services across borders, censorship is a fundamental barrier to trade," said McLaughlin. "For Google, it is fair to say that censorship constitutes the single greatest trade barrier we currently face." http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JSUIWRAQ0N5FCQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=200000230 http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-06-22-google-censorship-fight_N.htm http://www.examiner.com/a-794215~Google_Asks_Gov_t_to_Fight_Censorship.html http://redorbit.com/news/technology/977415/google_asks_govt_to_fight_censorship/ Egyptian Court Refuses Judge's Request to Block Websites There have been promising developments in the case against judge Abdel Fatah Murad, who has filed multiple fabricated charges against the Hisham Mubarak Law Center and HRinfo, as well as bloggers and human rights and news websites, report the law center and HRinfo. The State Commissioner Committee has released a report on the request by the judge to block 51 human rights and news websites and blogs that allegedly abused the state's dignity and threatened its interests. Rejecting the request on the ground that the judge lacked the authority to invoke such an action, the committee nevertheless accepted the judge's lawsuits against the targeted institutions, but not those against the justice and social liability ministers http://allafrica.com/stories/200706220510.html zw: Parliament’s lower house approves bill for intercepting communications Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today about the Zimbabwean House of Assembly’s approval on 13 June of a draft law that would allow the government to intercept mail, phone calls and email without having to seek a court order. The government submitted a similar bill to parliament last year but withdrew it after complaints from national and international organisations. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17623 ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ au: How a Sydney journalist drew pedophiles into my internet trap by Martin Foley As an experienced investigative journalist I admit to a feeling of disgust when dealing with any form of child abuse. It is not news that the internet is the favoured medium of pedophiles and sexual predators to target children and communicate among themselves. But the reality of the ease and sinister grooming techniques I discovered among pedophiles was shocking. Among those who fell into my online trap were people trying to have cyber sex with someone they believed to be a teenage Sydney school girl, and a man who identified himself as a Sydney architect. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/22/1182019367379.html au: Urgent call to tame cyber delinquents Children as young as eight are being bullied in internet chat rooms and primary schoolers are sending pornographic pictures on their mobiles as the menace of cyber bullying reaches a new legion of younger victims. Experts are calling for radical action to try to halt the increase in "shocking" behaviour by some children and teenagers in chat rooms and on mobile phones and websites such as YouTube and MySpace. http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21961419-2702,00.html The MySpace dilemma The anonymity and anything-goes nature of the Internet is a lure for sexual predators. We need to reconcile this with our children's growing passion for online social networking. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JSUIWRAQ0N5FCQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=199901284 http://itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=54809 au: ACMA issues content filtering tender for ISPs The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released a request for tender to conduct a trial of content filtering products in Tasmania at the ISP level. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;795187057;fp;16;fpid;1 http://infoworld.nl/idgns/bericht.phtml?id=002570DE00740E1800257302001E2968 ACMA releases tender to conduct trial of content filtering products at the internet service provider level (news release) The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released a request for tender to conduct a trial of content filtering products in Tasmania, at the internet service provider level. http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD//pc=PC_310393 eu: Protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse The sixth meeting of the Committee of Experts on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse (PC-ES) took place at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, from 26 to 30 March 2007. The Committee adopted the draft Convention and its Explanatory Report. The Italian Minister for the family, Mrs Rosy BINDI, addressed the Committee notably to express the support of the Italian government to its work. Professor Pinheiro, an independent expert appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations to lead a study on violence against children, expressed his support for the drafting of a Council of Europe convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse during an exchange of views with the Committee of Ministers on 12 July 2006. http://www.coe.int/T/E/Legal_Affairs/Legal_co-operation/Fight_against_sexual_exploitation_of_children/ Kaiser Study On Parental Computer Monitoring Shows Little A new survey of over 1,000 parents by the Kaiser Family Foundation seems, on its surface, to indicate that parents are gaining more control over what their kids see in the media, including the Internet. Pardon me, while I yawn. I have seen these sorts of surveys before. They aren’t very useful. As a parent, I can only imagine how I might fill out one of those surveys and how well my answers might reflect reality. http://businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2007/06/kaiser_study_on.html uk: Research reveals that trainee teachers urgently need E-safety education Children’s internet charity, Childnet International, announced today the publication of a research report entitled ‘E-safety: Evaluation of Key Stage 3 Materials for Initial Teacher Education’. The report details the work and findings from a four month research project undertaken by academics from leading initial teacher training institutes in England. The research which was initiated and c-ordinated by Childnet with funding from the Training and Development Agency for Schools and Microsoft, aimed to identify if and how e-safety education could be incorporated into the current initial teacher education. http://www.childnet-int.org/news/articles/190607.html ie: Arrests won't stop sick dealings in child porn on Net THE news that the police in Britain have infiltrated a global child sex abuse network run by a 28-year-old man in Suffolk, was warmly welcomed last week by child protection agencies. http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/arrests-wont-stop-sick-dealings-in-child-porn-on-net-742606.html Paedophilia in Britain: the victim's story The smashing of an internet ring sheds new light on a dark secret. ... Take Timothy Cox, who last week was convicted for running a global internet ring which traded horrific images of child abuse. It was the first time police had broken into a peer-to-peer site, a secret area on the web run by a host that can be accessed only after a strict vetting process by his "lieutenants". http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2701068.ece uk: Inside the mind of the paedophile - and the wife standing by him Many will find this article deeply disturbing. But as a paedophile ring is smashed, one man jailed for child porn offences gives a brutally honest insight into his warped desires... and his wife reveals why she's standing by him. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=463179 ca: OPINION: Arresting pervs is not enough The good news is police in Canada and around the world are becoming experts at infiltrating and breaking up child pornography rings that use the Internet. The bad news is that once arrested, child pornographers, at least in Canada, seldom do hard time. http://torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Goldstein_Lorrie/2007/06/23/4283787.html *************************************** CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY *************************************** We know what you clicked last night Personal identity has taken on a new meaning in the digital age, where basic facts like your name, address or age are far less important to some people than the collected records of what you were looking at online. Technologies for monitoring and interpreting internet habits as a predictor of future behavior cropped up at the start of this century, but only now are gaining momentum as the newest gold mine for websites and their advertisers. Known as behavioral targeting, the premise is to follow the sites you visit and build a picture of what products may interest you, then deliver related advertising in time for you to choose your purchase. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/20/1182019175799.html Google Is Watching You Kevin Bankston didn't think anyone would notice his little cigarette break. His family didn't know he sometimes snuck a smoke. So Bankston was surprised when a photo of him smoking outside his San Francisco office appeared online several years ago on Amazon.com's now-defunct A9.com map service. He was even more shocked when, in May, he found out he was caught again on candid camera—possibly smoking—this time by Google's new "Street View" map service. http://businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2007/tc20070622_338015.htm Smoking gun of internet privacy No man is a hero to his search engine. Viagra, hair loss, busty European blondes, garden gnomes, the list of search terms we freely pump in to Google and its rivals says an awful lot about us. And often an awful lot we don’t want to say. Take the case of Kevin Bankston. Bankston, a lawyer for the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, was a secret smoker, hiding his habit from his family until a photo of him appeared on the web showing him smoking outside his San Francisco office. The picture appeared on Amazon.com's now-defunct A9.com map service. Then, in May, Bankston was outed again, this time by Google's new "Street View" map service. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article1977868.ece Swiss trial convicts two Muslims accused of supporting terror on Internet A Swiss court on Thursday convicted two Muslims for supporting a criminal organisation by running websites that posted statements from al-Qaida-linked groups and showed executions. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/22/1182019295846.html ch: Trial Begins for Alleged Al-Qaeda Web Site Operators A North African man and his wife went on trial Wednesday on charges they ran Web sites that supported Al-Qaeda-linked groups with videos of people killed by terrorists and information on how to make bombs. Moez Garsallaoui, a Tunisian who is based in Switzerland, and Malika El Aroud, the Belgian-born widow of an Al-Qaeda suicide bomber, pleaded innocent on the first day of their trial. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/57962.html ch: Internet Terrorism Trial Highlights Web Open Info Access Dilemma The case is the second this year in Switzerland focusing on Islamic terrorism, but the first-ever terrorism case there involving the Internet. A husband and wife charged with running Web sites that supported terrorists by providing them information on how to make bombs went on trial in Switzerland Wednesday. Moez Garsallaoui, a 39-year-old Tunisian based near Fribourg, in western Switzerland, and first detained in February 2005, is accused of running Internet discussion forums used by terror groups to share information and to publicize claims of responsibility for attacks and threats against Westerners. Swiss prosecutors demanded two years of prison for Garsallaoui, six months of which would be suspended. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199906002 BP: Cyberterrorism threat is increasing BP has warned of an increasing terrorist threat to the critical national infrastructure: As businesses move away from proprietary networks onto increasingly web-based systems, they are increasingly becoming targets for terrorist attacks, according to security chiefs at the oil company. Rob Martin, manager of digital security services, said: "Terrorism will increase. There's been a lot of hype about cyberterrorism, and, in a sense, it's been dismissed as a threat — but we have to look at how society has changed. Young terrorists have grown up with computers, and we've seen society become reliant on technology. They will use this against us." http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39287647,00.htm us: Cyber attack on Pentagon e-mail A hacker has managed to penetrate one of the Pentagon's e-mail systems, leading officials to take up to 1,500 accounts offline. The e-mail system did not contain classified information relating to military operations, a spokesman said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6229188.stm http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/22/1182019315625.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,133301-page,1/article.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/22/department_of_defense_email_hacked/ us: Cybercrime Fighters To Gather Next Week Law enforcement officials, including all 92 assistant U.S. attorneys, will meet to coordinate efforts against zero-day vulnerabilities and other online threats. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JSUIWRAQ0N5FCQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=200000120 us: Defamation lawsuit seeks to unmask anonymous cowards They should've known better than to flame law students. Two female law students at Yale University have filed a lawsuit in a federal district court in Connecticut against an operator and several anonymous users of AutoAdmit.com - "the most prestigious college discussion board in the world," according to its own billing. The plaintiffs in the suit allege that some less-than-prestigious lewd comments and sexual threats directed at them by the anonymous users caused them psychological and economic injury, including the loss of a summer job. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/24/autoadmit_libel_case/ Everyone's a celebrity in this post-privacy age (Reuters) Move over, Paris Hilton. We all have celebrity issues in an age when anyone can create an online profile, post confessional videos on YouTube, or make snarky online comments about other people. The latest generation of Web sites--which attract tens of millions of users daily to share words, photos and videos about themselves and their friends--make a virtue of openness at the expense of traditional notions of privacy. http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6192373.html Porn sites serve up Mpack attacks Several hundred pornography sites are surprising unwitting users with a smorgasbord of exploits via Mpack, the already notorious hacker tool kit that launched massive attacks earlier this week from a network of more than 10,000 compromised domains. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9025578 us: US general laments Google Earth capability The head of US Air Force intelligence and surveillance says data available commercially through online mapping software such as Google Earth poses a danger to security but cannot be rolled back. http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/22/1958740.htm?section=justin au: US jails Aussie internet pirate Australian Hew Raymond Griffiths, leader of the world's largest international internet piracy group, gets a 15-month jail term. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/23/1182623714013.html au: Sydney host cuts Perez Hilton Sydney web host parts ways with the popular perezhilton.com celebrity gossip website after receiving a flood of copyright complaints. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/22/1182019330623.html http://ecommercetimes.com/story/57986.html nz: Internal Affairs probes paedophile, porn and spam company with Wellington links A Wellington company has been duped into providing cover for an internet spam, fraud and pornography ring that is likely to also be involved in paedophile websites. http://m-net.net.nz/1711/latest-news/latest-news/internal-affairs-probes-paedophile-porn-and-spam-company-with-wellington-li.php uk: Internet law leaves shoppers confused The millions of shoppers who buy from auction websites such as eBay suffer from inconsistent laws that fail to protect their rights fully, a Government consumer watchdog warns today. While people buying from internet businesses often enjoy far greater protection than if they were shopping on the high street, those rights do not apply to auction websites. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/19/nemail219.xml ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** EU Probe to Look at All Search Engines (AP) A European Union probe triggered by concerns over how long Google Inc. stores user information has widened to include all Internet search engines. The EU's panel of national data protection officers said it's now concerned over the retention of data that the companies use to deliver more relevant search results and advertising. Some fear the data could be targeted by hackers and governments. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/14/1181414391048.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/21/AR2007062101143.html http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GOOGLE_PRIVACY_PROBE?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-06-21-19-13-42 E-vote 'threat' to UK democracy British democracy could be undermined by moves to use electronic voting in elections, warns a report. The risks involved in swapping paper ballots for touch screens far outweigh any benefits they may have, says the Open Rights Group report. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6229640.stm http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39287669,00.htm ***************************** INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE ***************************** Informed opinion says IT screens are not glowing green For all the talk of a paperless offices and workers ditching cars to work from home, the IT revolution’s green credentials are actually rather poor. IT accounts for about 2 per cent of CO2 emissions, according to Gartner, the analysts – the same proportion as the aviation industry. PCs account for 40 per cent of that. “Always-on” computing has made for a snappy IT industry sales phrase, but it does little for the planet or for companies’ bottom lines. Fujitsu Siemens, the IT group, estimates that Britain’s 200 largest companies collectively could save £123 million a year if they turned computers off at night. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article1974975.ece CONFERENCE: Life in Cyberspace This symposium is organized by the Austrian Chapter of the Club of Rome in co-operation with the German EU-Presidency and the Information Society and Media Directorate General of the European Commission. During the event, contributions of virtual activities to social capital will be discussed. Social capital can be defined as the sum of formal and informal contacts between individuals, companies and organisations. Enhanced networking activity will result in an increase in social capital, but questions are raised on the quality of online contacts, on codes of conduct and ethics, and on the impact of our virtual contacts on real life. http://www.clubofrome.at/events/2007/cyberspace/index.html uk: Teenagers prefer mobiles to sex One in three people would want £1m to give up their mobile, and those aged between 16 and 24 would prefer to give up sex for a month than do without their handset, according to Carphone Warehouse's Mobile Life survey. Mobile Life, a six monthly survey, this time also convinced 24 people to give up their mobile phones for a month. Unsurprisingly, most of them found life more relaxing, they got more done, but they also had to be more organised about it. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/21/digital_life/ http://www.mobilelife2007.co.uk/ Love in the Time of Technology ... Finally I admitted to my best friend that breaking up on Facebook was almost harder than breaking up in real life, expecting her to laugh. "Oh, changing your online status is the most devastating part of a break-up," she said. "Absolutely." Then a friend of mine from college confessed that he'd cringed when he saw that his old girlfriend -- who he had dumped -- had changed her Facebook profile from "in a relationship" to "looking for whatever I can get." Whatever she could get? Really? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ashley-parker/love-in-the-time-of-techn_b_51843.html The Human Touch That May Loosen Google’s Grip Once upon a time, the most valuable secret formula in American business was Coca-Cola’s. Today, it’s Google’s master algorithm. In the search business, however, there’s no rival to play the role of Pepsi. Yahoo is the closest but still a distant No. 2, and Google earns more profits in a single quarter than Yahoo does in a year. This may have had a bearing on the recent departure of Yahoo’s chief technology officer, its chief operating officer and, last week, its chief executive. Microsoft, an even more distant No. 3 in the search competition, can’t keep up with Google, even with $28 billion of cash in its pockets at the end of March. The fumbling of Google’s largest challengers, however, has not dampened the enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists for entering the search game. The combination of low start-up costs and potentially huge profit makes it seem a reasonable bet. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/business/yourmoney/24digi.html Internet Video: A Stream Becomes a Virtual Deluge The computer appears to be well on its way toward total entertainment domination in the home. As evidence, look at new data from comScore Inc.: more than 70 percent of Internet users streamed video online in March this year. Television, movies, music and more — it’s all there in that box, awaiting full integration. http://nytimes.com/2007/06/24/business/yourmoney/24count.html Web Traffic Overtakes P2P as Largest Bandwidth on the Network After more than four years during which peer-to-peer (P2P) applications have overwhelmingly consumed the largest percentage of bandwidth on the network, HTTP (Web) traffic has overtaken P2P and continues to grow says a report released by Ellacoya Networks. These findings are based on usage data of approximately one million broadband subscribers in North America. http://www.circleid.com/posts/web_traffic_overtakes_p2p_bandwidth/ New Book Gives Teachers Ideas For The Digital Age Instead of thinking of iPods and laptops as distractions, teachers should embrace the digital age and use technology as a classroom tool, according to a University of Missouri-Columbia education professor. However, many teachers just aren't sure exactly how to do that. A new book from the professor outlines technology based social studies lesson plans for grades kindergarten to 12. The book covers everything from podcasting in the classroom to using digital movies to study history. http://medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=74340 Irish internet users living secret lives online As many as 17 per cent of Irish males and 13 per cent of females claim to be secretly ashamed of things they have done online, a new study indicates. According to research carried out by BT Ireland, 56 per cent of Irish adults now use the internet each day, with a further 30 per cent of males and 26 per cent of females going online every second day, or twice weekly. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/22/internet_use_survey/ ie: Broadband gains over 84,000 customers More than 84,000 new broadband subscriptions were added between January and March 2007, the highest number of quarterly net additions since the launch of broadband in Ireland in 2002. http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/broadband-gains-over-84000-customers-740549.html MySpace plans tactics to take over the world Chris DeWolfe, founder and chief executive of MySpace, has set out plans to exploit the huge popularity of the social networking site, which attracts more than 69m users every month and has been credited with launching the career of singers such as Lily Allen. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/06/18/cnmyspace118.xml Don't get caught up in your own web profile The perils of the online profile: From lawyers to lawnmowers, rock stars to politicians, retirees to preteens, these days everyone has an online profile, and most of us find the harmless pastime of messaging friends, posting pictures and uploading trivia about ourselves a welcome diversion. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/24/1182623722251.html Experts oppose video game addiction designation (Reuters) Doctors backed away on Sunday from a controversial proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder akin to alcoholism, saying psychiatrists should study the issue more. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-6192969.html http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN2425415820070624 Is game addiction a mental disorder? (AP) The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends, family, even food and a shower, while grades plummet and belligerence soars. The culprit is not alcohol or drugs. It is video games, which for certain kids can be as powerfully addictive as heroin, some doctors contend. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/22/1182019344317.html Hello stranger, are you sick enough for me? Australian lonely hearts with health conditions such as cancer, herpes, irritable bowel syndrome and allergies are turning to a specialised online dating service in their quest to find love. The website Prescription4Love is the brainchild of American Ricky Durham, 46, who was inspired by his late brother Keith's struggle to meet new people while he suffered from Crohn's disease. Keith died in 2004. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/23/1182623782226.html http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4107528a28.html It's the 'dot calm' era as web sales slow THE surge in internet shopping may have peaked in the US, as consumers seek a return to the traditional retail experience where they can take an outing to the shops and touch the goods. Over the last year, online shopping, which has been seeing sales increase by 25 per cent a year, slowed sharply, the 'New York Times' reported. Web sales of goods such as health and beauty products and computers dropped dramatically while the trade in books and tickets also tapered off. http://www.independent.ie/world-news/its-the-dot-calm-era-as-web-sales-slow-704575.html >From backbenches to the bedroom, the BlackBerry is taking over According to the emerging etiquette of the online era, it's the height of rudeness to take out your handheld device and check your emails while friends or colleagues are talking. But what if they've been talking for seven hours? "If you're a new MP, and you want to make a speech in a debate, you just know you're going to get called last, so we're not talking about waiting around in the chamber for just half an hour here," said Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat member for East Dunbartonshire, who at 27 is the youngest person in parliament. "And when someone's saying over and over again what they could have said in five minutes ... well, multi-tasking really becomes very important then." ... Research commissioned by RIM suggests that using a BlackBerry turns an hour of "downtime" into working time each day, increasing some users' efficiency by 38% as they manage to cram in extra work on the train, at home, or in the debating chamber. But research on the broader topic of electronic workplace interruptions offers an alarming alternative possibility: that connectedness is rendering us less effective. One landmark study, based on observations of workers at two American technology firms, found that people interrupted in the middle of a task took an average of 25 minutes to return to it - if, indeed, they returned to it at all. Edward Hallowell, a US psychiatrist, has identified a condition in some frequently interrupted workers which he labels "attention deficit trait". http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2109457,00.html Facebook challenges MySpace as place for the cool set to hang out Helping people stay in touch with friends online has become the latest battleground for moguls: "I've added you as a friend on Facebook..." This plaintive introduction to the web's fastest growing social phenomenon has been appearing with growing frequency in email inboxes across the world as what started life as a way for American college friends to stay in touch has become one of the internet's hottest properties. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2107627,00.html Cyberchurch Helps Porn Addicts (AP) Brian McGinness had an insatiable appetite for porn. Day after day, for more than eight years, he spent countless hours surfing the Web for it, usually on a computer that he used after business hours at his old job. http://redorbit.com/news/technology/978236/cyberchurch_helps_porn_addicts/ ***** SPAM ***** au: Watchdog hits local spammers ACMA has imposed its heaviest fine for beaches of the Spam Act, dishing out over $15,000 in penalties. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said Pitch Entertainment Group, which trades as Splash Mobile in Australia, was fined $11,000 for sending out over one million commercial text messages without a functional unsubscribe facility. http://australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,21949015-15306,00.html Microsoft sues more alleged Hotmail spammers Microsoft has filed lawsuits against alleged spammers for sending pornographic and debt-relief pitches to Hotmail users http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/F981DE06F23ACB5CCC2573040073C26F ************ FILE SHARING ************ Apple Now Third-Largest U.S. Music Retailer iTunes is now the third-largest music retailer in the United States with 10 percent market share, overtaking Amazon.com in the first quarter, according to a new survey. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JSUIWRAQ0N5FCQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=200000273 ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* The Vista Problem: Can Microsoft Fend Off Another Legal Onslaught? Earlier this month, it looked for a while as though there might be another wave of multi-jurisdictional investigations against Microsoft reminiscent of the antitrust saga that began in 1998. Google had been complaining -- first behind the scenes, then publicly -- about the lack of access for third-party search engines in Microsoft's latest operating system, Vista. Antitrust authorities on the state level were starting to sniff around. On Wednesday, though, Microsoft announced it would make changes to Vista that would satisfy Google's concerns. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/57975.html Google Wants Even More Vista Changes Search giant wants federal and state regulators to press Microsoft to make more changes to Windows Vista's desktop search and indexing tool. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,133210-page,1/article.html Bill Gates' Legacy: Tech Titan Or Tyrant? Microsoft's co-founder and chairman has been a polarizing figure in the computer industry. As he eases out of day-to-day management, the debate begins on how he will be remembered. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JSUIWRAQ0N5FCQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=200000168 nz: e-Kiwis invited to enter World Summit Awards Kiwis are being invited to submit entries for the World Summit Award, a global initiative launched in 2003 during the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society to promote the world's best e-Content. http://m-net.net.nz/1703/latest-news/latest-news/e-kiwis-invited-to-enter-world-summit-awards.php Apple sells one of every seven notebooks The May boost put Apple's laptops in fourth place, behind Hewlett Packard, Toshiba, and Gateway, says analyst http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/A3346058855AC14DCC25730400746B4A ******************* TELECOMMUNICATIONS ******************* Tech Execs See Convergence Lifting Broadband Demand (Reuters) Top telecommunications executives attending an industry conference this week forecast wireless, video and Internet services would increasingly converge, bolstering demand for Internet network capacity. Cisco Systems Inc. Chief Executive John Chambers, speaking at the NXTcomm communications conference in Chicago, said demand for bandwidth would likely grow 300 percent to 500 percent each year in the next several years, a trend that will likely lift Cisco's sales of routers. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2149166,00.asp http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6192339.html au: Tick for 'gold-plated' Labor broadband scheme With broadband speed turning into an election issue, Telstra's head of public policy, Phil Burgess, has put his seal of approval on Kevin Rudd's approach to telecommunications over the Government's. Mr Burgess said Labor's plans to invest $4.7 billion in fibre networks delivering minimum speeds of 12 megabits a second was superior to the Federal Government's $1.9 billion rural broadband plan. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/06/24/1182623742076.html ******* MOBILE ******* au/nz BlackBerry certification not what it seems French concerns about the use of BlackBerry devices in government, which erupted this week, are shared in Australia and New Zealand. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/46A62C34FBD539EFCC257301001BEF6D Wi-Fi gets onboard Asia's trains Public train operators in Asia are warming to the idea of implementing Wi-Fi networks, which could benefit passengers as well as rail staff http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39287673,00.htm American Wi-Fi gets off to a bad start While the problems in San Francisco are largely political, many networks have encountered basic technical difficulties. Wi-Fi signals can be blocked by buildings and trees, so developers have found that they need around double the number of antennas per square-kilometre that they originally planned for to ensure adequate coverage, says Ash Dyer, wireless network programme manager for Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is running two pilot projects with a view to installing a city-wide network. This has led to time-consuming network redesigns. http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn12119 ***** VoIP ***** Norwegian group rings VoIP changes Vyke Communications, a small Norwegian telecom group, is using the latest technology to take on the mobile industry. Its voice-over- internet-protocol network lets users make cheap internet phone calls from mobiles as well as PCs. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f184f15e-2126-11dc-8d50-000b5df10621,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2Ff184f15e-2126-11dc-8d50-000b5df10621.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Falltheweb.com%2Fsearch%3Fadvanced%3D1> ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN ********************************** au: Man arrested for online 'grooming' An American man accused of grooming an Australian child for sex over the internet has been arrested upon arriving at Sydney's international airport. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/24/1182623714851.html au: Turf war as US sailor arrested on cybersex charge NSW police will fight an attempt by the US military to take control of the prosecution of an American sailor arrested after a police sting caught him trying to procure a teenage girl for sex on the internet. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/24/1182623748441.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/06/24/1182623714851.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo!7 Mail has just got even bigger and better with unlimited storage on all webmail accounts. http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/unlimitedstorage.html _______________________________________________ APPLe mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.apnic.net/mailman/listinfo/apple
