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The domain name news is supported by auDA. And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for regular updates. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for regular updates. '.XXX' Name Faces Fight (AP) http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/24/1174597921741.html Questions on '.xxx' bid and domain names http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/24/1174597924574.html ICANN speaks out for registrar reform http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/22/icann_registerfly_reform_registrar/ ICANN New gTLD Policy Up for Debate in Lisbon: Censorship and National Sovereignty at Issue http://ipjustice.org/wp/2007/03/22/icann_gtld_policy_problems/ ca: Whois Policy Reform Advances by Michael Geist http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1821/125/ Interview with ICANN president and CEO Paul Twomey http://blog.icann.org/?p=69 President’s Strategy Committee Report http://icann.org/psc/psc-report-final-25mar07.pdf Sabine Dolderer resigns from Denic http://domainnews.com/general/2320070323/sabine-dolderer-left-denic/ European Web Sites Go For Long Addresses (AP) http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/24/1174597915892.html eu: Official version of the .eu registrar Code of Conduct now available http://eurid.eu/content/view/196/33/lang,en/ Number of Russian domain names grows to 800,000 http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/26.html?id_issue=11698650 CNNIC Pushes China's Youth To Use .CN Domain Names http://www.chinatechnews.com/2007/03/22/5153-cnnic-pushes-chinas-youth-to-use-cn-domain-names/ Vietnamese domain names provided free of charge http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2007/03/676316/ Luxury retailers go after alleged cybersquatting--again http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6170192.html *************** RESEARCH PAPERS *************** Evolution in the Management of Country Code Top-Level Domain Names This document quantifies ccTLD registrations and demand; trends in administering ccTLDs; current and ongoing policy and technical issues such as internationalised domain names, Whois, or security, and ccTLD managers' institutional relationships. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/18/37730629.pdf ***************** GOVERNANCE ***************** The WSIS Stocktaking: New Call for Entries and Up-dates 2007 The WSIS Stocktaking is a continuous process and the database remains open for all new submissions. During the WSIS process, stakeholders expressed their wishes that this publicy-accessible database of WSIS-related implementation activities should be further maintained (see Tunis Agenda, para 120). It should become an effective tool for the exchange of information on the projects fostering development of the information society, structured according to the 11 WSIS action lines. All WSIS stakeholders were encouraged to continue to contribute information to this public database. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/newslog/The+WSIS+Stocktaking+New+Call+For+Entries+And+Updates+2007.aspx ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** '.XXX' Name Faces Fight (AP) Online pornographers and religious groups are in a rare alliance as a key Internet oversight agency nears a decision on creating a virtual red-light district through an ".xxx" Internet address. ICANN, which has already rejected similar proposals twice since 2000, planned to vote as early as next week on whether to approve the domain name for voluntary use by porn sites. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/24/1174597921741.html http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/23/financial/f112547D81.DTL http://christianpost.com/article/20070324/26510_Vote_on_'.XXX'_Internet_Address_Nears.htm http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INTERNET_PORNOGRAPHY Questions on '.xxx' bid and domain names ICANN is nearing a vote on creating a voluntary ".xxx" domain name for pornography sites. Questions about the proposal and domain names in general: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/24/1174597924574.html http://nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Internet-Pornography-QA.html http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/23/ap/hightech/main2601763.shtml http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INTERNET_PORNOGRAPHY_QA Pornographers May Get Domain Address ICANN will vote next week on the proposal to add the address to the list of approved extensions for websites. The proposal has been voted down twice in the past, and Internet pornographers hope it will happen again. http://associatedcontent.com/article/189026/pornographers_may_get_domain_address.html Why I Support .XXX by Bret Fausett The proposal for a new .XXX top-level domain is on the agenda for next week's meeting of the ICANN Board, and it's sure to be a topic of discussion at the ICANN meetings in Lisbon, Portugal. I talk about why I support it. It may not be for the reasons you think. http://blog.lextext.com/blog/_archives/2007/3/23/2829691.html Recent COPA Ruling Shedding Light on Usefulness of XXX as Voluntary Self Regulatory Vehicle? ICM Registry applauds the decision of Judge Lowell Reed of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in ACLU v. Gonzales to permanently enjoin enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act ("COPA"). ... “These findings fully support the approval by ICANN of the .xxx domain,” Lawley said, “because doing so would improve the accuracy of voluntary filters and would put in place ‘best practices’ by adult websites.” He added, “Not only could a .xxx domain help filters block access by minors to adult content, it could help reduce the rate of overblocking that the court identified.” http://www.circleid.com/posts/copa_ruling_on_xxx_self_regulatory/ http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-23-2007/0004552411&EDATE= http://earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,79615.shtml ICANN ponders registrar crackdown ICANN is planning to review how it accredits and disciplines domain name registrars, after the fiasco at Registerfly.com that has put tens of thousands of web sites at risk. In a strongly worded statement released yesterday, ICANN president Paul Twomey called for decisive action to reform its standard Registrar Accreditation Agreement, to help protect domain customers. http://cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=0C3BCAD7-899C-4BDB-BB1A-09A53C95F40A ICANN speaks out for registrar reform As Registerfly fades into oblivion, ICANN has at last taken it upon itself to address many of the questions raised by the company's precipitous collapse. ICANN issued a statement on its website today detailing a variety of issues to be addressed at the upcoming ICANN conference in Lisbon. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/22/icann_registerfly_reform_registrar/ ICANN New gTLD Policy Up for Debate in Lisbon: Censorship and National Sovereignty at Issue ... Recommendation 6 in the draft proposal still reads “Strings must not be contrary to generally accepted legal norms relating to morality and public order.” But now, instead of any 1 country being able to block a string on a subject it didn’t like, any group of countries objecting to a string would be able to kill the application. Why would the ICANN Board want to give this kind of control and censorious powers to the Governmental Advisory Committee? ICANN should stick to its technical mission and remain content-neutral in the allocation of new top-level domains and leave the politics out of the formulations. http://ipjustice.org/wp/2007/03/22/icann_gtld_policy_problems/ ca: Whois Policy Reform Advances by Michael Geist The Canadian Internet Registration Authority announced that it has completed its consultation on implementing whois reform in Canada. The CIRA reforms would push Canada far ahead of ICANN, by removing the mandatory public disclosure of the personal information of individual registrants. It would also include a unique system that would allow people to contact a registrant via CIRA without obtaining the registrant's personal information. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1821/125/ http://www.circleid.com/posts/whois_policy_reform_advances/ CIRA announces the results of WHOIS consultation (news release) Members support proposed implementation procedures to the new CIRA Privacy Policy for the dot-ca domain name WHOIS registry. http://cira.ca/news-releases/198.html New top level domains by Susan Crawford "Top level domains" are things like .com, .net, .de. Historically, we haven't had very many of them, and the process for creating new non-country-code domains (.de and .fr are country codes) has been slow and often inexplicable from the outside. The policy advice arm of the generic top level domain world within ICANN is called the Generic Names Supporting Organization. (Generics are domains other than country codes, in general. Generically.) That group has a leadership council called the GNSO Council. http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/3/24/2830958.html Interview with ICANN president and CEO Paul Twomey In an effort to provide interested observers with some up-to-date information on what is happening with ICANN, the organisation’s general manager of public participation interviewed ICANN’s president and CEO Paul Twomey. The interview will be the first in a series with Dr Twomey outlining what has just happened, is soon to happen and is coming up on the horizon through the eyes of ICANN’s CEO. In this interview, he covers a presentation he gave to the ICC in Paris earlier that day, new generic top-level domains, the RegisterFly issue, IPv6 and .xxx. Any and all feedback is welcomed. http://blog.icann.org/?p=69 President’s Strategy Committee Report Introduction: ICANN’s President’s Strategy Committee was established to provide observations and recommendations concerning strategic issues facing ICANN, and contributing to ICANN’s strategic planning process, which occurs in consultation with the community. In the Board resolution approved at ICANN’s December 2005 meeting, the Board emphasized the importance of the bottom-up ICANN processes and noted that the ICANN community could also 'benefit from the advice of a group responsible for making observations and recommendations concerning strategic issues facing ICANN.' In this same resolution, the Board approved the appointment by the President of a President’s Strategy Committee to fulfill this purpose. http://icann.org/psc/psc-report-final-25mar07.pdf ICANN Updated Contractual Compliance Program ICANN's updated Contractual Compliance program, which includes ICANN's Contractual Compliance philosophy, vision and operating plan, has been published to provide clear, transparent information regarding contractual compliance. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-24mar07.htm ICANN Releases Beta-3 Version of TLD Verification Code ICANN has issued a new version of code intended to assist software developers and application providers whose work assists others in using the DNS. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-22mar07.htm Draft ICANN Operating Plan For Fiscal Year 2007-2008 Now Available For Review ICANN is posting the draft version of its fiscal year 2007-2008 Operating Plan for review. The review process will commence at the ICANN Lisbon meeting, and a public forum for comment will be set up shortly. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-22mar07.htm The .com Alternative You don’t need to register your domain name in the .com extension in order for your online presence to be a success. The extension I speak of is the .cc cctld. This extension was originally the country code top level domain for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, but since the islands sold their rights to the .cc extension to boost their economy, the .cc is available to anyone, anywhere in the world. Like the .com, the .cc is a universal domain name extension. http://tools.devshed.com/c/a/Online-Business-Help/The-com-Alternative/ Sabine Dolderer resigns from Denic A posting on Domainnews.com notes Sabine Dolderer, Director and member of the Executive Board at DENIC, has resigned from Denic, citing in an email on 23/3/07 “The board and I did not agree anymore so both decided to seperate”. http://domainnews.com/general/2320070323/sabine-dolderer-left-denic/ European Web Sites Go For Long Addresses (AP) What's in an Internet domain name? Sixty-three characters max. The group managing the European .eu domain said Friday that six people last year registered the longest Internet addresses allowed, ranging from the tongue-twisting name of a Welsh village to the first 63 numbers that make up the mathematical constant pi. One German user was firmly tongue in cheek when registering thisisthelongesteuropeandomainnameallovertheworldandnowitismine.eu - which doesn't live up to comic potential since it links to a site saying it is being held for a client. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/24/1174597915892.html http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/23/ap/hightech/main2604173.shtml http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_LONG_INTERNET_NAMES eu: Official version of the .eu registrar Code of Conduct now available After having reviewed the comments on the .eu Registrar Code of Conduct Charter and the Rules and Procedures submitted by the public over the last 2 months, the Secretariat to the Council of Conduct now makes the revised and final versions of both these documents available on the Code of Conduct website. http://eurid.eu/content/view/196/33/lang,en/ Fewer Ads Result in More Revenue for Domain Name Owners By way of legendary domain investor Frank Schilling’s blog, I came across a story about Google on its search results pages. Google is showing fewer ads on its search pages because it has found that showing fewer ads boosts click through rates. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/03/23/fewer-ads-results-in-more-revenue-for-domain-name-owners/ Number of Russian domain names grows to 800,000 The number of domain names registered in the .ru zone (www.name.ru) has reached 800,000, the company RU-Center, the largest registrar of Russian domain names, told Interfax. http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/26.html?id_issue=11698650 CNNIC Pushes China's Youth To Use .CN Domain Names China Internet Network Information Center is making great efforts to promote the use of .CN domain names by young Chinese Internet users. http://www.chinatechnews.com/2007/03/22/5153-cnnic-pushes-chinas-youth-to-use-cn-domain-names/ Vietnamese domain names provided free of charge As of March 20, the Vietnam Network Information Centre (VNNIC) allows owners of .vn domain names to register one Vietnamese domain name free of charge. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2007/03/676316/ Luxury retailers go after alleged cybersquatting--again Shortly after settling a cybersquatting lawsuit with domain name registrar Dotster, luxury department stores Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman have hit out at another set of registrars. http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6170192.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17762760/ http://kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=6272433 Cities not paying for website names Sex.com. Cameras.com. Business.com. These obvious and popular web addresses are worth the price of a Beverly Hills mansion. But coopercity.org? Not so much. Domain investors seek out and buy coveted Internet website names, then sell them at huge profits. They have had success with names that are popular and easy to remember. Others, however, can be duds. Just ask Larry Lowenthal of Cooper City. http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/51409.html NeuStar Launches Chinese and Japanese Language Domain Names in .BIZ TLD (news release) NeuStar, Inc. announced that it has deployed IDNs for both the Chinese and the Japanese languages in the .BIZ top- level Internet domain. Interested registrants will be able to secure .BIZ domain names using these characters as of April 21, 2007. http://www.circleid.com/posts/neustar_chinese_japanese_domain_names_biz/ ICANN Formalizes Relationships with ccTLD Manager for Libya ICANN announced today that it has signed an accountability framework with the ccTLD managers for .ly — Libya. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-25mar07.htm IPv6 – Ready for Prime Time? Part III: Testing the New Protocol The first tutorial in this series considered the history and requirements for IPv6, and our second installment looked at the enhanced capabilities that the new protocol brings to the market. But except for the daring few, most of us would rather let someone else be on the forefront of a new technology, and be content to observe their trials and tribulations before we jump into the fray ourselves. http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/networking/features/article.php/3667346 Everything you need to know about IPv6 by Iljitsch van Beijnum When the ARPANET was designed in the late 1960s, it was outfitted with a Network Control Protocol that made it possible for the very different types of hosts connected to the network to talk with each other. However, it soon became clear that NCP was limiting in some ways, so work started on something better. The engineers decided that it made sense to split the monolithic NCP protocol into two parts: an Internet Protocol that allows packets to be routed between the different networks connected to the ARPANET, and a Transport Control Protocol that takes a data stream, splits it into segments and transmits the segments using the Internet Protocol. On the other side, the receiving Transport Control Protocol makes sure the segments are put together in the right order before they're delivered as a data stream to the receiving application. An important implication of this approach is that unlike, for instance, a phone connected to a wired or wireless phone network, a host connected to the ARPANET then and the Internet now must know its own address. http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/IPv6.ars RIPE NCC Hosts Comcast DHCPv6 Bake-Off The Comcast interoperability workshop on the DHCPv6 server software recently released by the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) was held at the RIPE NCC offices in Amsterdam on Friday, 16 March. http://ripe.net/news/dhcpv6_bakeoff.html Global Industry Leaders Join dotMobi Advisory Group (news release) The dotMobi Advisory Group (MAG) announced that 10 leading mobile and Internet companies have recently joined the group. MAG - a dotMobi-accredited, independent not-for-profit industry forum - welcomed Go Daddy (USA), Sony (Japan), Carlson Marketing (USA), Instant Access Technologies (UK), Bango (UK), Telecom Italia (Italy), Firstserver (Japan), ooober (Canada), Nubiq (Ireland) and Millennial Media (USA) as group participants. http://www.advisorygroup.mobi/news_lisbon.htm us: Williamsburg business sues company for name Noted culinarian extraordinaire John Gonzales, the owner of "A Chef's Kitchen" in Williamsburg, has a beef and it's stewing in Chesapeake courts. ... The lawsuit also seeks to have the Chesapeake business abandon its Internet domain name and place corrective advertising in any medium it used under the name "A Chef's Kitchen." http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/southofjames/dp-4532sy0mar25,0,7941553.story ******************* OTHER INTERNET NEWS ******************* OECD Information Technology Outlook 2006 Information technology and broadband are major drivers of economic change, restructuring businesses, affecting skills and employment, and contributing to growth and consumer benefits. This volume describes recent market dynamics and trends in industries supplying IT goods and services and offers an overview of the globalisation of the information and communication technology sector and the rise of ICT-enabled international sourcing. The OECD Information Technology Outlook 2006 analyses the development and impact of the changing global distribution of services activities and the rise of China and India as significant suppliers of ICT-related goods and services. ICT skills across the economy are also examined to provide insights into the dynamics of job creation and international sourcing. The 2006 edition also looks at the increasing importance of digital content in selected industries and how it is transforming value chains and business models. The potential of technological developments is examined: ubiquitous networks, location-based services, natural disaster warning systems, the participative web and the convergence of information technology with nanotechnology and biotechnology. Finally, this volume analyses changes in IT policies in OECD countries and the emergence of new priorities to meet new challenges. http://www.oecd.org/sti/ito Wikipedia's Not the Net Police The online encyclopedia says it will verify contributors' credentials, but the job of monitoring Internet honesty belongs to all of us http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2007/tc20070321_174505.htm us: Judge overturns US web porn law A US federal judge has overturned a law designed to protect children from viewing internet pornography, saying it violated the right of free speech. The law made it illegal for websites to provide children access to "harmful" material, but it was never enforced. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6481873.stm http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1554275.ece us: Future of Internet Porn Fight Hazy In the wake of this week's federal ruling that threw out the 1998 Child Online Protection Act, advocates on both sides of the issue are unsure what the next step will be. In light of the ruling, COPA supporters want the government to demand a court appeal or move new legislation to Congress for a vote. http://technewsworld.com/story/56486.html uk: Bullies use iPods and networking sites to wage hi-tech campaigns Playground bullies are deploying iPods and social networking sites such as MySpace and MSN Messenger to wage increasingly hi-tech campaigns against victims, according to new research. http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article2381056.ece uk: Girls are main target of ‘cyberbullies’ Bullying of girls by text or e-mail is on the increase with up to a fifth claiming to have been sent nasty messages last year http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1550626.ece uk: Police hunt chatroom users over web suicide ‘goading’ About 100 internet chatroom users who witnessed a British man kill himself online were this weekend being traced by detectives http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1563933.ece Many net users 'not safety-aware' Fewer than half of net users believe it is down to them to protect personal information online, a UK survey suggests. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6472723.stm nz: 'Average Kiwis' use child porn The typical man trading internet child pornography is an Auckland Pakeha, aged in his early 30s, according to new research from Internal Affairs. He is most likely a student or working in the IT industry. In other words, such traders appear to be average Kiwi blokes. http://stuff.co.nz/4005099a11.html nz: Inside the mind of an internet porn addict He was an ordinary man with an ordinary interest in soft porn. But when Alex began to search online for child pornography, he began a 15-year descent into degradation that ended with a knock on his door from police. He talks to Ruth Laugesen. http://stuff.co.nz/4005164a11275.html http://stuff.co.nz/4004461a6619.html YouTube May Have Met Its Match With friends like News Corp., who needs YouTube? Not NBC Universal, apparently. Ditto for AOL, Microsoft, and a who's who of other Internet giants throwing their weight behind a News Corp.-NBC video-sharing service that could prove to be a potent alternative to Google's YouTube. http://businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2007/tc20070323_690765.htm Belgian company loses lawsuit against Google A Belgian court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a company that said a feature for Google Inc.'s search engine offers up password-cracking tools and serial numbers to unlock their software. http://infoworld.com/article/07/03/23/HNgooglebelgiansuit_1.html http://out-law.com/page-7901 Kroes: Microsoft abusing position Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner, threatened Microsoft with punitive fines again yesterday, accusing the world's biggest software group of continuing to abuse its dominant position. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2040984,00.html EU Approves Penalties on IP A proposal for the EU's first-ever directive harmonising criminal law in all member states has been backed by MEPs as they voted for a draft report on criminal penalties - including imprisonment - for crimes breaching intellectual property rights. http://businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2007/gb20070322_828919.htm us: FCC to study need for more Net neutrality regulation The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that it will study whether stronger language is necessary in its policy on protecting Net neutrality, but consumer groups and Democratic commissioners criticized the move for not being bold enough. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6169719.html Bulk of Asian email is spam - study (AFP) Almost 70 percent of all electronic mail from Asia is "spam", or unsolicited advertisements, an anti-virus firm said. The Philippines had the worst record with spam making up 88 percent of all emails, Symantec said in excerpts of its Internet Threat Security Report released here. http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2883&iArticleId=3749954 nz: New Anti-Spam Legislation (reg req'd) The New Zealand Government has recently enacted legislation that will affect any organisation which uses email or text messages as a marketing tool. Substantial penalties apply to those who breach the new law. It will therefore be important for businesses to take action to ensure that their email practices and databases comply. http://mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=46986 Many Americans see little point to Web (Reuters) A little under one-third of U.S. households have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN2323460320070323 http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=48460 uk: No link between watching too much TV and obesity, study finds It is a sight that can make parents despair: their teenage offspring idling away the best years of their lives in front of the TV screen. But, according to new research, watching a lot of television and playing computer games does not automatically make your child a couch potato. An analysis of the activity diaries of 1,500 12 to 16-year-olds by Loughborough University found the time that youths spent in front of the box or on the net was a poor indicator of their overall levels of activity. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2387861.ece Wireless: Tracking what people do on their cellphones M:Metrics is set to offer a service that tracks continuously how and when cellphones are used - to send e-mail messages, play games, access the Web, or make calls - data the company says could unleash the phones' advertising potential. http://iht.com/articles/2007/03/25/business/wireless26.php India, Commonwealth to bridge digital divide India's efforts to bridge the digital divide in the Commonwealth will get an impetus at an international e-partnership summit here on Friday that will be attended by Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/India_Commonwealth_to_bridge_digital_divide/RssArticleShow/articleshow/1790395.cms us: TV networks plan rival to YouTube NBC and Fox are to create a portal for TV shows and movies to hit back against video sharing sites. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6480949.stm The very model of a modern creative society? I don't think so The problem with copyright we have now is that a gross imbalance has been allowed to develop between the legal privileges of rights holders and society's need to facilitate innovation and creativity. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2041938,00.html Wiki wars One of the internet's greatest success stories is under constant attack from cyber vandals. Now Wikipedia is fighting the information saboteurs - but can it stem the damage? http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2042231,00.html Google's expansion is coming at a price: it's losing its popularity Is Google becoming the new Microsoft? On one level, the question is preposterous, as the two companies do different things. Google is the most widely used internet search engine and dominates online advertising. Microsoft rules the world of computer operating systems: its ubiquitous Windows powers most of the world's personal computers. In addition, Microsoft has a commanding position in basic office software, such as word-processing and spreadsheets. But increasingly, the two technology giants are treading on each other's toes. For instance, Microsoft is building a search engine business, while Google is launching products that allow users to tap into Google-branded word processing and other web services. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2041921,00.html us: VoIP and the law: An overview The United States has some laws and restrictions on the books that pertain to VoIP, but more are likely on the way. Deb Shinder offers an overview of legislation that affects VoIP services and discusses what the future may bring. In many respects, the Internet has been the last frontier of freedom. In a world where governments increasingly control more and more aspects of our lives, cyberspace was the one "place" where one could come and go without being subject to much regulation. http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-1035_11-6169960.html us: Feds claim VoIP for their own A US appellate court ruled this week that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) acted correctly in pulling the rug out from under state regulators in their attempts to establish rules for VoIP providers in individual state markets. This decision is bound to help VoIP services (at least for the moment), as it will eliminate the cost of complying with 50 different sets of state regulations. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/23/us_voip_court_victory/ UK Security Worries Over VOIP Rollouts When it comes to rolling out VoIP, the top priority for businesses is call quality, according to a silicon.com reader poll. But security issues also make a strong showing on techies' radars. http://businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2007/gb20070322_124821.htm Operators face continue decline in enterprise voice revenue A new study has warned that mobile network operators will have to work hard to slow the decline in enterprise voice revenues in the face of technology that allows companies to bypass their more expensive services. http://telecomasia.net/article.php?type=article&id_article=4066 VoIP phreakers establish thriving black market Telephone systems hackers have established a thriving black market in reselling stolen VoIP minutes. Hackers are breaking into gateway servers used to connect a carrier's phone network to the internet and reselling this access to smaller, unscrupulous operators, sometimes via web-based wholesale minutes markets. Wholesale purchasers of the purloined access are often small telco operations who resell access to ordinary punters via printed phone cards. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/22/voip_fraud/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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/
