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Hackers target core internet computers
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2007757,00.html

DNS Attack: Only a Warning Shot?
http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=116685&WT.svl=news1_3

The time to plan for disaster is now
http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/43101-1.html

VeriSign to spend over $100M on upgrade
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/ces2005/2007-02-08-verising-upgrade_x.htm

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GOVERNANCE
*****************
Internet Governance forum to hold stock-taking
session, Geneva, 13 February (UN news release)
Following the first-ever gathering of the IGF a
special stock-taking session will take place next
Tuesday, 13 February, at Geneva?s Palais des Nations
where Forum participants will assess the achievements
of the inaugural meeting and pave the way forward to
the next phase of the Forum taking place in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, from 12 to 15 November.
http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/9345

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DOMAIN NAMES
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Hackers target core internet computers
Hackers last night mounted the most significant attack
since 2002 on the computers that direct traffic on the
internet, it emerged today. The hackers, believed to
be from Asia, bombarded the 13 computers, or root
servers, that serve as the internet's central address
books.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2007757,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6338261.stm

Hackers hit key Internet traffic computers (AP)
Hackers briefly overwhelmed at least three of the 13
computers that help manage global computer traffic
Tuesday in one of the most significant attacks against
the Internet since 2002.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/02/06/internet.attacks.ap/index.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/06/AR2007020601563.html
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3658551

DDoSers bombard Military root server (and more)
At least three DNS root servers, including one
maintained by the US Department of Defense, were
flooded with data for about 12 hours in an attack that
was notable more for its audacity than any noticeable
degradation of internet traffic.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/07/root_server_attack/

DNS Attack: Only a Warning Shot?
An attack on the Internet infrastructure yesterday may
signal a hint of bigger things to come. The
distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack that
temporarily crippled -- but didn't take down -- two of
the Internet's 13 Domain Name System (DNS) root
servers was likely a test-run for a potentially larger
and more disruptive attack, researchers say.
http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=116685&WT.svl=news1_3

The time to plan for disaster is now
As the RSA security conference was getting under way
Tuesday, a massive denial-of-service attack was being
directed at three of the Internet?s root Domain Name
System servers. 
http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/43101-1.html

Hackers Launch Massive Attack on Internet DNS
Hackers on Tuesday attacked at least three of the root
servers that maintain the Internet's domain name
system. However, the 12-hour-long attacks were largely
unsuccessful, as most Internet users didn't notice any
impact. The system's resilience is largely due to
robust protection and a high degree of redundancy
built into it.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/55626.html
http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-6156944.html
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/983215
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21193231-1702,00.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/06/AR2007020601563.html

Root Server Attack Fizzles
An attack, apparently intended to get the attention of
the security community, failed in its attempt to bring
down, or even slow down, the Internet, analysts say.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2091782,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594

Internet Attacked! (Did Anyone Notice?)
Tuesday marked the fourth anniversary of "Safer
Internet Day," a 40-country effort to raise awareness
about computer and Internet security. But the day
probably didn't feel too safe for the dozens of
unheralded technologists responsible for defending the
World Wide Web against one of the most concerted
attacks against the Internet's core since a similar
assault in 2002.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/02/internet_survives_major_attack.html

VeriSign to spend over $100M on upgrade
VeriSign Inc. said it will spend more than $100
million in a massive infrastructure upgrade to combat
a new wave of computer attacks and manage a surge in
online activity.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/ces2005/2007-02-08-verising-upgrade_x.htm
http://iht.com/articles/2007/02/08/business/net.php
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/technology/08net.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2007/02/05/daily73.html
http://technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=18160&ch=biztech

VeriSign invests in DNS improvements (IDG)
VeriSign Inc. plans to invest US$100 million over
three years to expand tenfold the DNS infrastructure
it operates for the .com and .net top-level domains.
http://infoworld.com/article/07/02/08/HNverisigndns_1.html
http://www.itworld.com/Net/2572/070208verisigndns/

Click Fraud: A Growing Nuisance for Web Advertisers,
Part 1
Online advertisers pay the search engine company
hosting their ad a set amount of money each time a
computer user clicks on the ad. Click fraud occurs
when an individual or group of people, either manually
or through a computer program, repeatedly clicks on an
ad to inflate the payment owed the publishers.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/55606.html

us: Sixth Circuit Censures Cybersquatting (reg req'd)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld
a district court?s award of summary judgment,
injunctive relief and attorneys? fees in favor of Audi
AG, holding that Defendant Bob D?Amato infringed and
diluted the world-famous AUDI, AUDI FOUR RING LOGO,
and QUATTRO marks (the "Audi Trademarks"), along with
the distinctive trade dress of Audi?s automobiles, and
violated the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection
Act (ACPA).
http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=46186

Sexy content may get dedicated home in cyberspace
A controversial proposal to create a special domain
for pornographic content on the Internet -- dubbed the
.xxx domain -- appears to be gaining momentum after
years of on-again, off-again negotiations with the
Internet's technical coordinating body.
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;1943934025;fp;2;fpid;1
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1943934025;fp;2;fpid;1

Dot-XXX and Tiered/Differential Pricing: Permitted? by
George Kirikos
As folks will recall, there was a big debate about
tiered/differential pricing in the .biz/info/org
contracts. Eventually those contracts were amended to
prevent that. However, if folks read the .XXX proposed
contract, Appendix S, Part 2, under ?delegated
authority? (page 66 of the PDF), appears to give the
Registry Operator total control to make policy
regarding pricing.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/dot_xxx_tiered_differential_pricing_permitted/

Sexy content may get dedicated domain
A controversial proposal to create a special domain
for pornographic content on the Internet - dubbed the
.xxx domain - appears to be gaining momentum after
years of on-again, off-again negotiations with the
Internet's technical coordinating body.
http://www.digitmag.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=7144

cn: Copyright campaign an 'everyday' affair
Online copyright violations are "still rampant"
despite the first nationwide campaign to crack down on
the activities, China's top copyright official
admitted. ... For websites which continue to flout
rules by adopting new domain names, the intellectual
property rights (IPR) administration will work with
the public security forces to take the operators to
the criminal court, he said.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-02/09/content_805368.htm

th: Mother of the Internet is gloomy
In 1987, when the first issue of Database was being
put together, Dr Kanchana Kanchanasut of the Asian
Institute of Technology was busy registering a domain
name with ARPA's then new and ground breaking ARPANET.
But it was not just any domain name -- it was the .TH
top level domain.
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southeastasia.asp?parentid=63276

Protection of Personal Names in Domain Names by Martin
Schwimmer
David Pecker is the chairman of American Media, Inc.,
publisher of, among others, National Enquirer and
Weekly World News. 'Mr. Ferris' registered the domain
name DAVIDPECKER.COM, had a PPC company host it, where
it was keyed to ads for porn, because, according to
the registrant, the word PECKER was in the domain
name. Mr. Pecker brought a UDRP. Although 'Mr. Ferris'
(as he is identified in the decision) did not seem (to
me) that he could establish a bona fide intent to use
the name in conenction with an offering of goods or
services, and altohugh there seemed to be plausible
evidence of bad faith, the UDRP was denied.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/protection_personal_name_domain/

Country star Keith Urban sues over rights to
keithurban.com
What?s in a name? Well, ask Keith Urban. Both of them.
The Keith Urban you have likely heard of last week
filed a federal lawsuit against a New Jersey man named
Keith D. Urban over the use of the Internet domain
name www.keithurban.com.
http://nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=9&screen=news&news_id=54493
http://stuff.co.nz/3954090a4500.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20070207-012559-1451r.htm

MGM floored over Wargames.com
The owner of Wargames.com - a website dedicated to
selling, well, wargames - has won the right to retain
the domain name despite the best attempts of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to wrest it from him.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/07/domain_dispute/
http://redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=21154

Network Solutions about to be Aquired by General
Atlantic?
General Atlantic, a private equity firm, are allegedly
acquiring domain name registrar Network Solutions,
Techcrunch.com have stated.
http://webhostdir.com/news/articles/shownews.asp?id=19319

Is Expired Domain Registration Still Profitable?
After the dot com crash, expired domain names and
expired domain name traffic have been a source of
potential income. It is important to inexpensively
obtain the automated tools required to track the
thousands of domain name registration and abandoned
websites that are removed from the domain registry and
become available for purchase.
http://market-day.net/head_54484/20070208/Is-Expired-Domain-Registration-Still-Profiotable.php

USAuto.com Motors to the Top of the Weekly Domain
Sales Chart
In Domain Name Journal's weekly chart of top sales,
the top sale for this week was for SAuto.com at
$40,001.
http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2007/domainsales02-06-07.htm

dotMobi ramps up mobile content drive
Free software tools are being offered to dot-mobi
website developers to improve the quality of content
behind the mobile top-level domain name.
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,61987785,00.htm

National Arbitration Forum Issues Three Decisions on
Internet Trademark Domain Name Disputes (news release)
The National Arbitration Forum recently issued
decisions on three separate domain name disputes filed
by Magic Johnson, MGM Studios and New Pig Corporation.
http://prweb.com/releases/2007/2/prweb503308.htm

Nazareth Associates Announces the Sale of
jazzandblues.com (news release)
Nazareth Associates has Announced that the Undeveloped
Domain Name jazzandblues.com is up for Sale for
US$10,000
http://webhostdir.com/news/articles/shownews.asp?id=19333

us: GoDaddy Claims Success With Super Bowl Ad
GoDaddy.com saw its market share increase 75 percent
on February 5, the day after the Super Bowl according
to Hitwise. Their commercial was rated as one of the
?least favorite? but the site still managed to attract
more new customers and saw improved sales.
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/02/07/godaddy-claims-success-with-super-bowl-ad

.Eu a hit with users, but a mystery to others
A large majority of British businesses with a .eu
domain name believe it to be an effective business
tool in a recent survey, while a separate survey found
that half of UK businesses do not even know what the
.eu domain stands for.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/05/dot_eu_perceptions/

us: Candy company sues over domain name
A Red River Valley candy company is suing a Fargo
woman for an alleged trademark violation.
http://www.kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=92583
http://sharewatch.com/story.php?storynumber=316875
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/02/05/ap3396396.html

Tucows reports continued strong results for the fourth
quarter and year end fiscal 2006 (news release)
Tucows reported its financial results for the fourth
quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2006.
http://earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,58107.shtml

us: Ad firm snags Internet domains
A Sanford Health business partner has quietly
registered dozens of Internet domain names using
variations of the word "Sanford," according to
Internet registry site whois.com.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070205/NEWS/702050321

**********************
OTHER INTERNET NEWS
**********************
Blogs come under Olympic scrutiny
The IOC is examining what to do about blogs posted by
athletes during the Olympic Games.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/08/1170524216063.html

at: Vienna busts huge child porn ring
Austria has uncovered an international child
pornography network involving more than 2,360 suspects
from 77 countries, the interior minister said. 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6338125.stm

Child Pornography on Vienna Computer Prompts Worldwide
Hunt
Austrian authorities have gathered information on more
than 2,360 individuals from 77 countries who tried to
view child pornography through a Russian Web site
stored on a Vienna computer, the country?s Interior
Ministry said Wednesday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/world/europe/08austria.html

uk: Crackdown on paedophiles' internet aliases
Internet paedophiles could be forced to register all
their online nicknames and email addresses with the
authorities as part of a new crackdown, it was
revealed today.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2007095,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6333673.stm

Double-take on Net pornography study
A two-year-old study on teens' exposure to online
pornography went far and wide in the news Monday--much
further than last summer, when the study's findings
were first announced by the University of New
Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center.
http://news.com.com/2061-12645_3-6156470.html

Rising number of kids exposed to online porn
More children and teens are being exposed to online
pornography, mostly by accidentally viewing sexually
explicit websites while surfing the internet,
researchers say.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/05/1170524016988.html

Net safety day marked worldwide
Efforts to make the net less risky for children are
being marked by the fourth Internet Safety Day on 6
February.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6332619.stm

au: Safer Internet Day - educating young people across
the world
Australian Internet users are set to make online
history this week when they participate in the second
worldwide Blogathon as part of Safer Internet Day on
February 6, 2007.
http://netalert.net.au/03828-Safer-Internet-Day---educating-young-people-across-the-world.asp

Google's Schmidt pitches 'self-governing' Net
Google CEO Eric Schmidt's nightmare scenario for a
future Internet looks like this: As billions more
people go online, those in power are so "freaked out"
about the misuse of personal information that they
suffocate the Web with stifling regulations.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6156821.html

Deal ends Beatles' Apple battle
Technology giant Apple reaches a deal with the Beatles
to end the dispute over the Apple name.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6332319.stm
http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6156158.html

Gates says technology's biggest challenge is keeping
data secure
Keeping information secure in this age of
laptop-lugging workers is the tech industry's most
formidable challenge, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill
Gates said Tuesday.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/16637223.htm

German police attack ban on computer surveillance
(Reuters)
German police on Tuesday attacked a court ruling
banning them from secretly monitoring computers,
saying electronic searches were essential to hunting
down terrorism suspects.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2007-02-06T135853Z_01_L06152618_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-COURT-SPYING.xml

German police barred from secretly searching computers
over Internet (AP)
Police cannot secretly search suspects' computer hard
drives over the Internet, a German court ruled Monday.
The decision of the Federal Court of Justice in
Karlsruhe bars police from using software to search
through remote hard drives unless parliament passes a
law explicitly allowing the technique. Police,
however, still will be allowed to seize evidence from
PCs when conducting searches in person.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/16628932.htm
http://out-law.com/page-7737

Singaporean jailed for illegal wireless access, bomb
hoax (AP)
A Singapore man was sentenced to three months in
prison Wednesday for illegally accessing wireless
Internet networks and posting a bomb threat, becoming
the first person in the city-state to be jailed for
logging onto someone else's wireless Web account.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/16645313.htm

us: Senator to propose surveillance of illegal images
A forthcoming bill in the U.S. Senate lays the
groundwork for a national database of illegal images
that Internet service providers would use to
automatically flag and report suspicious content to
police.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6156976.html

us: GOP revives ISP-tracking legislation
All Internet service providers would need to track
their customers' online activities to aid police in
future investigations under legislation introduced
Tuesday as part of a Republican "law and order
agenda."
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6156948.html

nl: Dutch spammer fined $97,000 for sending 9 billion
unwanted e-mails (AP)
A spammer whom authorities say e-mailed more than 9
billion unwanted advertisements for products like
erection pills faces a hefty fine: If he needs
headache medication or debt relief there's probably an
unsolicited ad in his own inbox.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/16608875.htm

Firefox claws away at Explorer
MORE than a fifth of Australians now use the Mozilla
Firefox web browser, even though site compatibility
issues mean it sometimes must be used in conjunction
with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, researcher Nielsen
Net Ratings says.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21176120%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Aussies bid to share the video wealth
Three Australians to take on the YouTube video-sharing
giant with a site of their own.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/08/1170524213679.html

us: NY Senator Wants iPods Out of Crosswalks
New York pedestrians could find themselves on the
wrong side of the law just for crossing the street
while chatting on a cell phone or listening to an iPod
if state Senator Carl Kruger gets his way. The New
York lawmaker plans to introduce legislation to make
it illegal to use portable electronic devices such as
a BlackBerry or PlayStation Portable game console
while crossing the street. The legislation comes after
the deaths of two pedestrians in Sen. Kruger's
Brooklyn district within the past five months.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/55652.html

I hate Macs
Unless you have been walking around with your eyes
closed, and your head encased in a block of concrete,
with a blindfold tied round it, in the dark - unless
you have been doing that, you surely can't have failed
to notice the current Apple Macintosh campaign
starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, which has
taken over magazines, newspapers and the internet in a
series of brutal coordinated attacks aimed at causing
massive loss of resistance. ... I hate Macs. I have
always hated Macs. I hate people who use Macs. I even
hate people who don't use Macs but sometimes wish they
did. Macs are glorified Fisher-Price activity centres
for adults; computers for scaredy cats too nervous to
learn how proper computers work; computers for people
who earnestly believe in feng shui.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2005931,00.html

Gmail now a free-for-all
Service ready to accept all comers after
invitation-only phase.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-02-08-gmail-for-all_x.htm
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1352352.ece

New Energy Star ratings for PCs on the way
Standards for energy-efficient PCs are about to take a
step forward for the first time in more than a decade.
http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6157317.html

Will MySpace ever lose its monopoly?
Aristotle distinguished between friendships based on
communal interests and those of soulmates who bonded
out of mutual affection. The vast majority of people
signed up for MySpace, Rupert Murdoch's phenomenally
successful networking site, fall into the former
category. But on present showing that won't stop its
continuing expansion which, as the MySpace generation
goes into employment, could eventually extend
Murdoch's influence in ways that would make his grip
on satellite television seem parochial.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2007709,00.html

au: Man sentenced for importing child porn
AN Austrian man has received a six-month suspended
jail sentence and fine for importing child pornography
into Queensland.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21194000-1702,00.html

au: Child porn accused prosecutor quits
A SENIOR prosecutor facing a possible jail term for
possessing child pornography has resigned from the
Office of the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions
(ODPP).
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21192653-29277,00.html

au: Man in court over child porn
A SYDNEY man will face court today charged with
possessing child pornography.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,21196880-1702,00.html

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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 &#167;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

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