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********************************************************** Don't forget to check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for today's 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. *************************************************** The domain name news is supported by auDA *************************************************** The digital embrace: rival British broadcasters unite to avoid fate of music industry http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/28/television.bbc Study: Europeans switching to mobile phones [Reuters] http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6220270.html French are Europe's top bloggers http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=4150795 U.S. not up to speed on broadband http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-broadband28nov28,1,6119085.story Nintendo, Microsoft and Philips flunk toxic test [news release] http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/greener-electronics-ranking-6-291107 Global hackers threaten net security in cyber warfare aimed at top targets http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/nov/29/hacking.news Online criminals targeting networking sites: expert http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/28/2103966.htm nz: Worldwide web of intrigue http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1467807 us: Anguish for mother of suicide girl as 'cyber-tormentor' escapes the law http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2216603,00.html us: Internet hoax that turned fatal draws anger but no charges http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/28/america/28hoax.php New studies show cyberbullying among US children is on the rise, but mostly mild [AP] http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/28/1196036939348.html Teens take bullying to the Internet, study finds [Reuters] http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN2750833620071127 nz: Telecom's rivals deride split plan http://www.stuff.co.nz/4288779a13.html ********************** INTERNET USE ********************** The digital embrace: rival British broadcasters unite to avoid fate of music industry They have traditionally scrapped for audiences, tussled over key talent and furiously briefed against one another. But Britain's biggest broadcasters united yesterday to unveil a new video-on-demand download service designed to take on the US giants, such as Apple, and the bedroom pirates alike, offering thousands of classic programmes at the touch of a button. By offering the massive online library, with everything from mainstream hits to niche interest and cult classics, the BBC's commercial arm, ITV and Channel 4 hope to help maintain their relevance in the digital age. They also hope to avoid the fate of a music industry, which was brought to its knees by piracy and left to rely on digital giants such as Apple and its iTunes service for survival. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/28/television.bbc ITV, Channel 4 and BBC to launch online TV Britain’s three most popular broadcasters will next year launch a joint television over internet service in an attempt to compete with the likes of YouTube for online audiences. ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC’s commercial division are each planning to take a one-third stake in the “Freeview online” venture, and will make available current and archive programming to watch over the internet on demand. The supply of ITV and Channel 4 programmes promises to be comprehensive, although the BBC plans to keep separate programmes released in the past seven days. These will instead be released through its iPlayer software. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article2954506.ece Study: Europeans switching to mobile phones [Reuters] Almost one in five European Union households has gone wireless, cutting off their landline cables to use a mobile telephone only, a study by the EU statistical office showed on Tuesday. Eurostat said that last year 18 percent of households had mobile phone access only as subscriptions for wireless handsets soared to 95 per 100 habitants in 2005 from eight in 1996. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6220270.html French are Europe's top bloggers French Internet users aged between 12 and 24 are Europe's keenest bloggers, according to a study by Forrester marketing consultancy. But Swedish youngsters out-paced all others in terms of daily Internet use, with 88 percent in the 12 to 24 year age bracket consulting the web every day compared to an average 79 percent in the seven European countries researched in the third quarter this year. http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=4150795 Prospects of next generation Internet application in China Since the beginning of this century, the robust growth of broadband access technology and service has pushed the development of the Internet in China onto a fast track. By September 2007, China's Internet subscribers had grown to 172 million, with a penetration rate of 13 percent. Thanks to the open access policy adopted by the government, the number of Internet service providers has been increasing dramatically in the past few years, reaching 14,446 by June 2007, among which 9,791 are service providers based on mobile Internet. Internet-related revenue, already totalling more than 100 billion yuan, is growing by 35 percent annually. Telecom carriers are mainly engaged in providing Internet access and information service, IDC and WAP services. The size of China's Internet market amounts to approximately 30 billion yuan, or about 9 percent of the country's total telecom revenue. http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/233297.htm U.S. not up to speed on broadband The federal government's latest annual report on the availability of high-speed Internet service throughout the country contains 19 pages of detailed data -- pie charts, bar graphs, maps and column upon column of numbers and percentages. The Federal Communications Commission considers any Internet connection faster than 200 kilobits per second to be high speed, even though that's too slow to effectively watch streaming video and download large files. And if broadband service is available to one home in a ZIP Code, the FCC assumes it to be available to everyone in that area because it lacks any more detailed data. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-broadband28nov28,1,6119085.story http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-broadband28nov28,1,2389351.story News Web Sites Seek More Search Control [AP] The desire for greater control over how search engines index and display Web sites is driving an effort by leading news organizations and other publishers to revise a 13-year-old technology for restricting access. Currently, Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and other top search companies voluntarily respect a Web site's wishes as declared in a text file known as "robots.txt," which a search engine's indexing software, called a crawler, knows to look for on a site. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SEARCH_ENGINE_ACCESS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-11-29-00-14-28 ********************** NEW TECHNOLOGIES ********************** Nintendo, Microsoft and Philips flunk toxic test [news release] The latest edition of our quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics assesses for the first time TVs and the rapidly growing games consoles market. Nintendo completely fails to show any environmental credentials and Microsoft and Philips do little better. The Greener Electronics Guide is our way of getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste. We want manufacturers to get rid of harmful chemicals in their products. We want to see an end to the stories of unprotected child labourers scavenging mountains of cast-off gadgets created by society's gizmo-loving ways. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/greener-electronics-ranking-6-291107 Greenpeace Slams Microsoft, Nintendo [AP] Greenpeace gave Microsoft and Nintendo abysmal rankings Tuesday on their efforts to phase out toxic chemicals from their game consoles. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/28/1196036921013.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/11/28/1196036921013.html For Toddlers, Toy of Choice Is Tech Device Cellphones, laptops, digital cameras and MP3 music players are among the hottest gift items this year. For preschoolers. Toy makers and retailers are filling shelves with new tech devices for children ages 3 and up, and sometimes even down. They say they are catering to junior consumers who want to emulate their parents and are not satisfied with fake gadgets. Consider the “hottest toys” list on Amazon.com, which includes the Easy Link Internet Launch Pad from Fisher-Price (to help children surf on “preschool-appropriate Web sites”) and the Smart Cycle, an exercise bike connected to a video game. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/technology/29techtoys.html ********************** SPAM ********************** Spam Kings: Book Review (Part 1&2) by Terry Zink A few months ago, Terry Zink purchased the book Spam Kings, but only recently managed to get around to reading and finishing it. In case you've never read it, it chronicles the stories of some spammers and the anti-spammers who fought them. These anti-spammers are not people like myself in industry; rather, they are users who have received spam who hunt down the source of the spam and work to bring them down. http://www.circleid.com/posts/711269_spam_kings_book_review_1/ part 1 http://www.circleid.com/posts/711269_spam_kings_book_review_2/ part 2 Spammers Giving Up? Google Thinks So Bill Gates was wildly optimistic when he said in 2004 that the problem of spam would be "solved" by 2006. The volume of junk e-mail transmitted worldwide is still enormous. But a remarkable trend is underfoot, according to Brad Taylor, a staff software engineer at Google: The number of spam attempts -- that is, the number of junk messages sent out by spammers -- is flat, and may even be declining for the first time in years. Google won't disclose numbers, but the company says that spam attempts, as a percentage of e-mail that's transmitted through its Gmail system, have waned over the last year. That could indicate that some spammers have gotten discouraged and have stopped trying to get through Google’s spam filters. http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/11/google_spam ********************** DIGITAL DIVIDE ********************** Politics 'stifling $100 laptop' A lack of "big thinking" by politicians has stifled a scheme to distribute laptops to children in the developing world, a spokesman has said. Walter Bender of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) said politicians were unwilling to commit because "change equals risk". But, he said, there needed to be a "dramatic change" because education in many countries was "failing" children. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7094695.stm ************************** ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL ************************** Global hackers threaten net security in cyber warfare aimed at top targets A "cyber cold war" is developing as international web espionage and cyber-attacks become the biggest threats to internet security, according to a report. The computer security firm McAfee said governments and government-allied groups were engaging in increasingly sophisticated cyber spying, with many attacks originating from China. Some 120 countries could be developing the capacity for such activities. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/nov/29/hacking.news Online criminals targeting networking sites: expert Law enforcement officers from around the world are in Canberra to discuss the rising tide of online crime. The Australian Federal Police are hosting the forum on 'tech' crime examining issues from identity theft to large scale service denial and extortion. The head of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre says online crime is on the rise with people becoming more careless with their personal details. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/28/2103966.htm nz: Worldwide web of intrigue America's crime hunters, the FBI, are on a worldwide computer-crime chase that has brought them to New Zealand. They are looking for a hacker who has headed up a global group using other people's computers as a vehicle for cyber crime. Since June last year, the group is thought to have attacked more than a million computers, ripping off victims to the tune of nearly $20 million. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1467807 ************************** PRIVACY ************************** Private email is not always hush hush by Michael Geist This past September, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency launched "Operation Raw Deal," an initiative that targeted people purchasing raw steroid materials through the Internet from China and repackaging the steroids as drugs for domestic sale. Tyler Strumbo, a 23-year-old California resident, was among the 124 people arrested. http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/279786 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2410/159/ ********************** CENSORSHIP ********************** ir: Asking the Persians to roll out the red carpet Nigel Chapman, director of the BBC World Service, travelled this month to the annual Asian Broadcasting Union Conference in Tehran. It was a rare chance to meet key advisers in the Iranian government and discuss the arrival in 2008 of the BBC's Persian TV service http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3194273.ece ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ us: Anguish for mother of suicide girl as 'cyber-tormentor' escapes the law A small US town is up in arms after a mother used MySpace to victimise her daughter's friend: Police rarely need to patrol the small suburban town of Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. Its affluent residents are mainly law-abiding professionals whose children play safely behind the picket fences of smart houses in upmarket roads. 'Small and quaint' is how it describes itself. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2216603,00.html us: Internet hoax that turned fatal draws anger but no charges Megan Meier died believing that somewhere in this world lived a boy named Josh Evans who hated her. He was 16, owned a pet snake, and she thought he was the cutest boyfriend she ever had. Josh contacted Megan through her page on MySpace.com, the social networking Web site, said Megan's mother, Tina Meier. They flirted for weeks, but only online — Josh said his family had no phone. On Oct. 15, 2006, Josh suddenly turned mean. He called Megan names, and later they traded insults for an hour. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/28/america/28hoax.php au: Man pleads guilty to YouTube school threat A 30-year-old man has pleaded guilty to making a threat against a western Sydney high school on the YouTube video sharing website. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/27/2102721.htm Cyberbullying on the Rise As many as one in three U.S. children have been ridiculed or threatened through computer messages, according to one estimate of the emerging problem of cyberbullying. Another new study found the problem is less common, with one in 10 kids reporting online harassment. But health experts said even the lower estimate signals a growing and concerning public health issue. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1688432,00.html New studies show cyberbullying among US children is on the rise, but mostly mild [AP] As many as one in three U.S. children have been ridiculed or threatened through computer messages, according to one estimate of the emerging problem of cyberbullying. Another new study found the problem is less common, with one in 10 kids reporting online harassment. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/28/1196036939348.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/11/28/1196036939348.html Teens take bullying to the Internet, study finds [Reuters] Hateful text messages, abusive e-mails and cyber-gossip are giving bullies new power over their victims -- even in the supposed safety of their own homes, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN2750833620071127 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10478835 http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1465810 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22840745-1702,00.html http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6220495.html In child pornography, fight harder [AP] Millions of children around the world are being sexually abused and molested. Billions of dollars are changing hands as part of a growing crime wave of child pornography. This is anything but a victimless crime. Children -- some as young as infants -- are being barbarically assaulted for the sexual gratification of their abusers and those who view their photos. http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/article/265613 ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** uk: Summit to tackle high speed broadband access in the UK [news release] Key telecom figures from around the UK were yesterday brought together for a broadband summit chaired by Competitiveness Minister Stephen Timms, aimed at moving forward the debate on rolling out ultra fast broadband in the UK. http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=333772&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True ********************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ********************** au: Labor flags telecoms shake-up LABOR will move within a week to reconstitute a panel of experts to review Australia's telecommunications industry and structure. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22823424-15306,00.html nz: Telecom's rivals deride split plan Telecom has less than two weeks to present a final operational separation plan to the Government after its draft plan was derided by an industry advocacy group as "death by a thousand cuts". http://www.stuff.co.nz/4288779a13.html Additional NZ undersea cable essential - InternetNZ [news release] InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) welcomes the announcement by the Minister of Communications David Cunliffe that the Government will look at subsidising an undersea fibre optic cable to provide additional international connectivity for New Zealand. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/mediareleases/underseacable EU telecom lobby group blasts regulatory laggards [IDG] Poland, the Czech Republic, Greece, and Belgium have the worst telecommunications regulators in Europe, according to a study carried out for the European Competitive Telecom Association (ECTA), an industry group that promotes the interests of new entrants into the market. http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/11/28/EU-telecom-lobby-group-blasts-regulatory-laggards_1.html ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN ********************************** Spanish woman seeking baby info breaks child porn ring [Reuters] A woman who stumbled on evidence of child abuse while looking for information about babies on the Internet helped Spanish police break a child pornography ring. Police made 13 arrests in different parts of Spain after detecting thousands of images of child pornography following the woman's tip-off, the interior ministry said Tuesday. The woman called police after she found files with names suggesting pedophilia on an Internet file-sharing site. Investigators discovered that the files contained images of two adults sexually abusing a child. http://news.zdnet.com/2110-9588_22-6220265.html http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10478851 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 Make the switch to the world's best email. Get the new Yahoo!7 Mail now. www.yahoo7.com.au/worldsbestemail _______________________________________________ APPLe mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.apnic.net/mailman/listinfo/apple
