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And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for regular updates. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Power-Grab: ICANN to Become Internets Word Police (NCUC news release) http://www.bloggernews.net/14882 Eurid invites comments on registrar code of conduct http://infoworld.com/article/07/02/23/HNeuridcodeofconduct_1.html A domain just right for mobile Web surfing http://iht.com/articles/2007/02/25/business/wireless26.php In China, Google grapples with Gmail domain dispute (Reuters) http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6162072.html Cybersquatting and Geopolitics Heats Up by Brenden Kuerbis http://www.circleid.com/posts/cybersquatting_geopolitics_heats_up/ Brawling RegisterFly partners in fight to the death http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/d805653303cbbba8/id/230159/cs/1/ ICANN rides to the rescue in Registerfly meltdown - Touched by an Ombudsman http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/23/icann_registerfly_accreditation/ ***************** GOVERNANCE ***************** Power-Grab: ICANN to Become Internets Word Police (NCUC news release) ICANNs Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) submitted a proposal to protect freedom of expression and innovation in the introduction of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). ICANNs policy council, the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), is currently developing policy recommendations to regulate the introduction of new top-level domain names on the Internet. http://www.bloggernews.net/14882 ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** Eurid invites comments on registrar code of conduct The European Registry of Internet Domain Names (Eurid), manager of the ".eu" top-level domain, is accepting public comments on a draft code of conduct for domain registrars. http://infoworld.com/article/07/02/23/HNeuridcodeofconduct_1.html .eu Registrar Code of Conduct open for public review (news release) Having launched the draft version of the .eu Code of Conduct amongst its accredited registrars, EURid, the registry for the Internet top level domain .eu, now also invites members of the public to submit their comments on the document. http://www.eurid.eu/content/view/195/33/lang,en/ A domain just right for mobile Web surfing Help is on the way for Internet surfers who have steered clear of the wireless Web because text, photographs and icons seem to find their way to the most random of spots on their phone's small screen. ... The dot- mobi sites have fewer graphics, photos and overall content than their sister sites that are accessed from a computer. More than 375,000 dot-mobi domain names have been registered, and about 25,000 are operational, the company said in Barcelona at an industry conference this month. The first site went online in September. http://iht.com/articles/2007/02/25/business/wireless26.php In China, Google grapples with Gmail domain dispute (Reuters) Google, fighting to consolidate its trademark globally, faces an obstacle in the world's second largest Web market--China's www.gmail.cn, which is refusing to sell its Internet address to the U.S. giant. http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6162072.html http://boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/02/27/google_may_face_gmail_dispute_in_china/ http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/26/news/international/bc.google.china.gmail.reut/ http://www.ciol.com/content/search/showarticle1.asp?artid=94782 http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=46494 http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKSHA22047620070226 Cybersquatting and Geopolitics Heats Up by Brenden Kuerbis Cybersquatting is so 2000, or so we thought. The UDRP at WIPO, a process that was hashed out in ICANNs early days (see Muellers Ruling the Root), has been chugging along for several years now, methodically determining if complainants IP rights have been violated and reassigning ownership of domain names. Typically, the cases are fairly boring. But some recent developments in the world of 800 lb search gorillas, Google and Baidu, suggests that the regime could be faced with substantial pressure in the near future. http://www.circleid.com/posts/cybersquatting_geopolitics_heats_up/ Brawling RegisterFly partners in fight to the death The extraordinary unraveling of embattled domain registrar RegisterFly.com has continued into the weekend. The two principal shareholders John Naruszewicz and Kevin Medina at the weeks-end were still trading verbal blows, while ICANN stepped in to the fray after nearly three years of complaints. Whilst most focus has been on the failure of the company's support systems, allegations of fraud and corruption were flowing freely Friday, not only from the principals involved, but from ICANN. http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/d805653303cbbba8/id/230159/cs/1/ ICANN rides to the rescue in Registerfly meltdown - Touched by an Ombudsman A lawsuit against the recently ousted CEO that alleges corporate spending on such sumptuous perks as escorts and liposuction, not to mention a Miami Beach penthouse, has shone a harsh light on the inner workings of the failing company, and left increasingly desperate and angry domain holders with nowhere else to turn. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/23/icann_registerfly_accreditation/ ca: Privacy Commissioner ruling - Registrar collects personal information to combat domain name hijacking The complainant, who operates a web site connected to an organization he runs, claimed that the company (a domain name registrar) that provided domain name registration and management services to his web site was attempting to collect more personal information from him than required in order for him to make a change to his web site registration information. The domain name registrar was asking the complainant to provide a copy of his drivers licence or passport in order to change the administration e-mail address for the web site domain name. http://www.privcom.gc.ca/cf-dc/2006/363_20061214_e.asp Reserved Domain Names in the Italian Legislation According to Italian Law, in article 3.4 of the Rules of Assignation of Domain Names, some domain names are reserved, and so, they are not assignable or they are assignable only to predetermined subjects. The rules refer in particular to geographical names of regions, provinces, municipalities, and their two-letter abbreviations, including the translation of such names in English or other languages different from Italian. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1691 Domain Names and Your Company's Giant Sucking Sound A gripe site (the older cousin of opinion blogs) is a web site that contains unflattering comments about a company. Oftentimes, a consumer will take your company name and append the word sucks to it in a web site (YourCompanyNameSucks.com). In an effort to keep these sites out of angry customer hands, some companies proactively gobble up potential gripe site domain names by the dozens. http://www.smartbiz.com/blog/entry/1982 Poacher turned gamekeeper BBCs Click radio programme looks at the appointment of Kieran McCarthy, interviewing Kieran, allowing him to give his views on his new job and what he wants to achieve, especially given his previous criticisms of ICANN. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4849402.stm VeriSign Calls Plan 'Biggest Build Up Of The Internet To Date' VeriSign wants to expand the capacity of the global Internet infrastructure by 10 times by 2010, enabling it to handle 4 trillion queries a day. http://www.optimizemag.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=197008929 GoDaddy Launches Discount Club GoDaddy has launched a membership club called Discount Domain Club that offers reduced pricing. The club costs $89.95 per year and provides a number of discounted services. The fee might make sense for you if you are a GoDaddycustomer who owns many domain names, or someone trying to consolidate domains that would prefer the security of GoDaddy compared to, say, RegisterFly. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/02/26/godaddy-launches-discount-club/ TRAFFIC Conference Sold Out, Auction List Released Next months TRAFFIC domain name conference is sold out and Moniker has released the auction list for its live auction. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/02/26/traffic-conference-sold-out-auction-list-released/ Domain group to .xxx-amine a spot for porn XXX has been used as the universal symbol for pornography on everything from bookstores to movie houses to video outlets. But for the Internet, the moniker has become a bit of a scarlet letter, as global Net supervisors have struggled over whether to use XXX as a domain for pornography. http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5285459 Sex.com hijacker pleads poverty Stephen Michael Cohen was released from prison in December so he could surrender assets to Gary Kremen, the online entrepreneur who registered the domain name in 1994. But Cohen told U.S. District Court Judge James Ware that he's jobless and broke. http://www.sharewatch.com/story.php?storynumber=339007 http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/02/26/ap3464611.html Sex.com hijacker pleads poverty after fleeing to Mexico A man who siphoned millions of dollars from a pornography Web site and fled to Mexico and asked a federal judge in San Jose today to erase the $65m he owes the rightful owner of Sex-dot-com. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/27/1172338597678.html http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6145427 us: Governor Eliot Spitzer Goes After EliotSpitzer.Com Former Attorney General, known for going after Wall Street, is now making a challenge for his name. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/02/26/governor-eliot-spitzer-goes-after-eliotspitzercom/ http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/02/23/eliot_spitzer_w.php ********************** OTHER INTERNET NEWS ********************** uk: Worlds apart - poll finds parents out of touch This Guardian/ICM poll and resulting special report shows parents knowledge of what their kids get up to isn't that great. Regarding the internet, "Of children who say that they have looked at pornography online, 60% of their parents think that they have not done so, or did not know either way. The poll shows that 15% of children say that they have talked about sex online. Only 3% say they have met a stranger they encountered on the internet - but of those, only 1% of parents are aware of the meeting." http://www.guardian.co.uk/britain/article/0,,2020068,00.html nz: Cafe safety code sinks for lack of funding A plan to create a voluntary code of practice for internet cafes is dead in the water, after Standards New Zealand couldn't find anyone to cough up the required $50,000. http://stuff.co.nz/3972193a28.html au: Aust police set up cyber sting for terrorists The Australian Federal Police, assisted by the military's signals intelligence arm, is setting up bogus jihadist websites to track extremists who use cyberspace to recruit followers and plan attacks. http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/3976009a28.html Web supplies prescription drug addicts The rise of internet pharmacies has been blamed for an epidemic of prescription drug addiction in a report by the United Nations. The study warns that easy access to powerful sleeping pills, antidepressants and painkillers is leading to heart attacks, blindness and even deaths. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1434664.ece Cyber crime soars in Japan JAPANESE police have pledged to improve their technology to battle cyber crime, which shot up 40 per cent last year. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21273740%5E15331%5E%5Enbv%5E15306-15319,00.html ch: Google locked in legal rumbles over Gmail in Europe Google this week lost an initial attempt to gain sole control over the Gmail trademark in Switzerland, but the search giant said the ruling would not force it to rename its e-mail service there. http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6161865.html us: NY Youths in Plea Deal in MySpace Case (AP) Two New York men accused of trying to extort $150,000 from MySpace.com by developing code that tracked visitors pleaded no contest Monday to illegal computer access in a bargain with the prosecution. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/27/1172338589873.html EC Sues Germany Over High-Speed Internet Law The European Commission said Monday it was suing Germany over a law allowing Deutsche Telekom to keep rivals off its high-speed Internet networks. A letter "of formal notice" was sent to Berlin after it ignored repeated warnings not to adopt legislation that could grant Deutsche Telekom a de facto monopoly on a new broadband network. The German parliament on Friday passed the telecommunications law, exempting Deutsche Telekom's high-speed network from regulation. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/55956.html Wireless users 'do more online' People who use the wireless net "show deeper engagement with cyberspace," says a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. While 54% of internet users check e-mail "on the typical day," 72% of wireless users check daily. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6396665.stm Red-light district on a tiny mobile screen Whether it's on a mobile phone or at a newsstand, sex sells--and as more people get access to high-speed wireless networks, cell phones could be a hot platform for porn. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6161930.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- List policy, unsubscribing and archives => http://dotau.org/
