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********************************************************** Don't forget to check out www.auda.org.au/domain-news/ for today's edition of the complete domain news, already online! And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for daily updates in between postings. *************************************************** The domain name news is supported by auDA *************************************************** ********************** INTERNET USE ********************** Women 'using web for abortions' where abortion restricted (BBC) Some women in countries where abortion is restricted are using the internet to buy medication enabling them to abort a pregnancy at home, the BBC has learned. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7500237.stm Fears over internet sales of DIY abortion pills Women living in countries where abortion is restricted - including Northern Ireland - are using the internet to buy medication enabling them to perform an abortion at home, it emerged today. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/fears-over-internet-sales-of-diy-abortion-pills-865302.html When the Phone Goes With You, Everyone Else Can Tag Along ... Consumers for years have been able to carry portable electronic devices that can pinpoint where they are on a map or a mountain trail. But yesterday's launch of the iPhone 3G signals the growing sophistication of an industry -- demonstrating the power of marrying precise location technology with the reach of the Internet on mobile devices. Merchants can use this information to target ads, malls to entice shoppers, insurance adjusters to calibrate premiums, employers to catch moonlighters and parents to keep an eye on children. But what many users may not realize is that by sharing this information, they are creating often permanent records that can tell not only wireless providers, but also social networking sites, other users, and potentially law enforcement and civil attorneys every place they are and have been, as long as their phone and tracking device are on. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071103296.html Switch on a chip to boost internet speed A new ultrafast optical switch on a chip could help speed up the internet in Australia by more than 6,000 per cent, say researchers. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/10/2299688.htm us: Congress Opens Debate on Behavioral Advertising On Capitol Hill today, two opposing sides fired the first shots in what promises to be a heated debate over whether or not Internet service providers and other businesses should be allowed to track users' behavior in detail as they travel across the Web. http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=158549 FTC Testifies on Behavioral Advertising [news release] In testimony on behavioral advertising, the Federal Trade Commission today told the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that "the issues surrounding this practice are complex ... the business models are diverse and constantly evolving, and ... behavioral advertising may provide benefits to consumers even as it raises concerns about consumer privacy." http://ftc.gov/opa/2008/07/behavorialad.shtm The Mobile Web Hasn’t Arrived, But It’s Getting There Will the iPhone change the way we surf the mobile Web? The U.S. is often thought of as a laggard when it comes to browsing the Web from mobile phones. But Americans finished at the top of a new Nielsen study of mobile Internet penetration. Just under 16% of Americans access the mobile Internet, according to the study, topping the 13% of Britons and 12% of Italians that do so. (Japan, the country that we would have guessed has the highest penetration, wasn’t included in the study.) http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/07/11/the-mobile-web-hasnt-arrived-but-its-getting-there/ ********************** SOCIAL NETWORKING ********************** Firms 'miss' social site success Businesses are missing out on the huge potential that social networks present, a leading information technology company has warned. Researchers for Gartner found that huge opportunities for improving the management of large firms exist. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7501073.stm Gartner Says Business Potential of Social Networking Web Sites Remains Largely Untapped [news release] Most users of social networking Web sites are motivated mainly by personal needs and a desire for entertainment, rather than business and practical objectives, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. Gartner said that although the potential of such sites for business remains largely untapped, they will become increasingly important to the competiveness of large enterprises in the future. “Social networking software holds enormous potential for improving the management of large enterprises,” said Nick Ingelbrecht, research director at Gartner. “However, work in this area is still immature and in the meantime enterprises should be aware of what is happening in the world of consumer social networking and implement appropriate usage policies for employees’ use of services such as Facebook and MySpace on company time.” http://gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=718107 ********************** NEW TECHNOLOGIES ********************** ITU responds to industry call to accelerate work on cleaner and greener environment Responding to an industry call, ITU has set up a new group to work on standards related to the impact of ICT on climate change. The new group will focus in particular on the reduction of ICT emissions and how ICTs can assist in cutting emissions in other industry sectors such as energy, transportation and buildings. http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2008/20.html ********************** SPAM ********************** 'Spam King' to be sentenced The lineup of people to testify in the sentencing of the 28-year-old so-called King of Spam is so long that it will require an unusual two-day hearing beginning Friday in federal court. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/370341_spamking11.html Should 'spam king' Soloway pay the price for worse? Notorious spam king Robert Alan Soloway is scheduled to be sentenced Monday by the U.S. District Court in Seattle after pleading guilty to single counts of mail fraud, e-mail fraud and tax evasion. Judge Marsha Pechman, who is presiding over the case, has scheduled a two-day hearing starting today to allow prosecution and defense to get their final arguments before the court. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9109598 http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071108-should-spam-king-soloway-pay.html ********************** DIGITAL DIVIDE ********************** Vietnam to narrow digital divide Rural Vietnamese people will have the opportunity to gain access to telecom services as the Ministry of Information and Communication has decided to increase investment in public telecom services in rural areas. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/07/793180/ ITU and Servei de Telecomunicacions d’Andorra join forces to connect least developed countries and Small Island Developing States [news release] The International Telecommunication Union and Andorra’s telecommunications operator, Servei de Telecomunicacions d’Andorra (STA), have signed a non-exclusive partnership cooperation agreement to help boost access to telecommunication and information and communication technology (ICT) services in least developed countries and Small Island Developing States. In particular, the two parties will work together to develop and implement projects that aim to improve rural or outer island communication infrastructure; provide basic telecommunications, as well as high-speed Internet services; strengthen local capacity in information technology skills; and enhance ICT capacity, especially for emergency and disaster preparedness and management. http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2008/NP06.html ************************** ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL ************************** The right to peer inside your iPod The heads of the G8 governments, meeting this week, are about to ratify the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta), which - it's claimed - could let customs agents search your laptop or music player for illegally obtained content. The European Parliament is considering a law that would lead to people who illicitly download copyrighted music or video content being thrown off the internet. Virgin Media is writing to hundreds of its customers at the request of the UK record industry to warn them that their connections seem to have been used for illegal downloading. Viacom gets access to all of the usernames and IP addresses of anyone who has ever used YouTube as part of its billion-dollar lawsuit in which it claims the site has been party to "massive intentional copyright infringement". http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/10/intellectualproperty.law The US Government and Your Laptop The Department of Homeland Security is routinely searching laptops at airports when Americans re-enter the United States from abroad. The government then pores over or copies the laptop’s contents — including financial records, medical data and e-mail messages. These out-of-control searches trample the privacy rights of Americans, and Congress should rein them in. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/10/opinion/10thu3.html In Which We Explore the Federal Laws that Apply to Cyberstalking Robert Cannon Tragedies frequently result in flurries of legal activity. Last years witnessed the Myspace tragedy in which a 13 year old girl committing suicide. Unfortunately stalking laws have been clumsy tools that are difficult if not impossible for law enforcement officials to wield. Where existing laws respond poorly to tragedies, the option behind Door Number One is to enact a new law, and the option behind Door Number Two is to argue for a reinterpretation of current law that would somehow miraculously shoehorn the tragedy into the law. Unlike game shows, legal contestants can pick both doors -- which is what happened in this case. http://www.circleid.com/posts/87103_explore_laws_that_apply_cyberstalking/ us: ACLU and allies file lawsuit to challenge surveillance law [IDG] The American Civil Liberties Union and several other groups have filed a lawsuit in an effort to strike down a new law allowing the U.S. government to intercept the phone calls and e-mail messages of people with suspected ties to terrorism. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9109198 http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1347541021 http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071008-aclu-files-lawsuit-to-challenge.html Bush Wins Warrantless Wiretapping War President George Bush has signed into law a measure that overhauls wiretapping rules and grants immunity to telecom companies that cooperated with a secret warrantless wiretap program. The administration established the spying operation after Sept. 11 to gain greater flexibility in eavesdropping on suspected terrorists' conversations. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/Bush-Wins-Warrantless-Wiretapping-War-63765.html Mystery NZ blog accuser faces defamation case The US chapter of the IT Service Management Forum has filed a defamation lawsuit against a former executive director, alleging that he attempted to discredit and damage the organisation via comments posted on a New Zealand-based blog under a fictitious name. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/mgmt/D14A4020D4E725EBCC257482007696C6 Syria software pirate lives by own code of ethics Abdul-Rahman Mahaini says he hacks into programs because U.S. sanctions block their sale in his country. But he is not above helping Western clients: Small, thin and pale, with a reddish beard, Abdul-Rahman Mahaini estimates that he has stolen millions of dollars' worth of software, hacking his way into the most complex programs in the world. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-hacker11-2008jul11,0,1272897.story Terrorist websites hosted by Canadian company: researcher A Canadian researcher says the militant organisations Hamas and Hezbollah had websites hosted by Canadian internet servers until recently, despite both being designated as terrorist groups by the Canadian Government. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/12/2302040.htm ************************** PRIVACY ************************** US Senate considers advertising versus privacy The US Senate Commerce Committee is hearing the case for greater privacy protection for internet users in a review which could make or break some internet advertising firms. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2221206/senate-considers-advertising Legal Implications of Online Behavioral Advertising Practices: Collection of Internet Content from ISPs May Violate Federal and State Wiretap Laws [news release] The Center for Democracy & Technology today released an analysis questioning the legal standing of a new approach to online advertising being considered by Internet Service Providers and Internet advertising networks. http://cdt.org/press/20080708press.php Privacy Falls into YouTube’s Data Tar Pit As a big lawsuit grinds forward, its parties engage in discovery, a wide-ranging search for information “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” (FRCP Rule 26(b)) And so Viacom has calculated that scouring YouTube’s data dumps would help provide evidence Viacom’s copyright lawsuit. http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/archives/2008/07/04/privacy-falls-into-youtubes-data-tar-pit.html ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ uk: 100,000 kids join CBBC social network The BBC has said its social networking site for young children, MyCBBC, has reached 100,000 registered users in four months, as the corporation addresses demand for safe social media tools for younger children. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/10/digitalmedia.web20 uk: Ringtone websites are ‘exploiting’ children Investigation finds over 90% of websites selling ringtones to children are misleading them with confusing information http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/consumer_affairs/article4322724.ece au: Sexting: fears as teens targeted An explosion of teenage sex texting is alarming teachers, police and youth counsellors. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/07/10/1215282979671.html au: Australia bans video game "Fallout 3" over drug use Australian officials have banned the sale of "Fallout 3" due to the use of drugs in the post-apocalyptic, action video game which has won accolades as one of the year's most anticipated releases. http://in.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idINIndia-34469020080711 nz: Winston wants ban on violent games New Zealand First is calling for a ban on violent video games as part of a new anti-gang policy. They want R16 and R18 games off the shelf in a bid to stop them influencing young people. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1902462 Counter cyberbullies with compassion - Let's focus on those who use the Net for good. Stories of online cruelty are easy to come by these days. JuicyCampus, a gossip site, has brought the kind of public scrutiny and humiliation usually reserved for celebrities into America's finest colleges and universities. Chat rooms about college admissions feature high-strung 17-year-olds unleashing their own deep-seated fears on one another in a torrent of "there's no way you're getting in" spew. At its very worst, we find that online viciousness can even lead to suicide, as it did in the case of a teen in St. Louis who was bullied on MySpace. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0710/p09s01-coop.html ISPs to Board Up Big Chunk of Usenet in Child Porn Crusade Two more Internet service providers have joined New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's crusade to block access to online child pornography at a key distribution source. AOL and AT&T have joined ISPs Verizon, Sprint Nextel and Time Warner Cable in this agreement, in which they cut off server access to Web sites that contain child porn and -- perhaps more controversially -- access to large swaths of Usenet that may have nothing to do with the subject. Cuomo announced the first agreement with the three providers in June. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/ISPs-to-Board-Up-Big-Chunk-of-Usenet-in-Child-Porn-Crusade-63782.html Kansas Attorney General promotes Internet safety Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six on Thursday launched a new Web site geared toward giving Kansas kids, parents and consumers tips and tools to make their Internet experience as safe as possible. http://www.kansascitykansan.com/articles/2008/07/12/news/news3.txt us: ISPs Join to Block Child Porn AT&T Inc. and AOL LLC have joined three other major Internet service providers in eliminating access to child pornography newsgroups, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Friday. In June, Verizon Communications Inc., Time-Warner Cable and Sprint Nextel Corp. signed an agreement with Cuomo to shut down access to two major sources of child pornography. http://www.pcworld.com/article/148295/isps_join_to_block_child_porn.html ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** MEPs discard plan for single EU telecoms watchdog A proposal to create an EU telecoms authority with broad regulatory powers was dealt a heavy blow by the Parliament's Industry Committee, which voted instead to upgrade an existing group of national telecoms regulators with more limited powers. http://euractiv.com/en/infosociety/meps-discard-plan-single-eu-telecoms-watchdog/article-174068 Sarkozy looking to build national media champion ... As of Jan. 1, 2009, the state-owned channels France 2 and France 3 will no longer be allowed to run commercials after 8 p.m.; by the end of 2011, all remaining advertising has to go. To make up the revenue, Sarkozy has proposed levying a 0.9 percent tax on mobile phone operators and Internet providers, an unprecedented measure that would yield an estimated €4 billion in subsidies a year. And he announced that beginning next year the Élysée would appoint the president of France Télévisions, reversing a decision in 1982 to assign this task to the broadcasting regulator. http://iht.com/articles/2008/07/13/business/sarko14.php ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* Yahoo! opens up search in bid to unseat Google Yahoo! yesterday stepped up its efforts to forge ahead as an independent company with a bold move to open up access to its search technology. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4311734.ece Yahoo Again Spurns a Microsoft Offer Yahoo said Saturday night that it had rejected a renewed proposal by Microsoft, together with the activist investor Carl C. Icahn, to buy the Internet company’s search business. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/13/technology/13yahoo.html Yahoo rejects Microsoft proposal, seeks bid for entire company [IDG] Yahoo late Saturday night rejected a joint proposal from Microsoft and investor Carl Icahn that called for a restructuring and the sale of Yahoo's search business to Microsoft. The Internet company that had fought Microsoft's hostile bid for months has now suggested that its suitor make an offer to acquire all of Yahoo. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9109718 ********************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ********************** NZ Telecom in unintentional breach The Telecommunications Commissioner has written to Telecom saying it has breached its undertakings to separate the business. Ross Patterson says Telecom has failed to consult and provide information to Telecommunications Minister David Cunliffe and the Commerce Commission. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1901623 Telecom NZ breaches separation rules Telecom New Zealand has breached its operational separation undertakings for the first time, the NZ Commerce Commission said this morning. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Telecom-NZ-breaches-separation-rules/0,130061791,339290539,00.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (c) David Goldstein 2008 --------- 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 Start at the new Yahoo!7 for a better online experience. www.yahoo7.com.au _______________________________________________ APPLe mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.apnic.net/mailman/listinfo/apple
