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! Headlines from the May 19 edition of the news are: Cairo Selected to Host ICANN's 33rd International Public Meeting | NIST Tool Helps Internet Master Top-level Domains | ICANN reforms threaten voice of IP owners | Gov'ts Must Intervene to End IP Address Shortage, Says OECD And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for daily updates in between postings. *************************************************** The domain name news is supported by auDA *************************************************** Do We Need Two Internets? by Bill Thompson http://www.circleid.com/posts/do_we_need_two_internets/ The U.S. Congress and "free speech principles on the Internet" [cough] by Milton Mueller http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/5/11/3685901.html CEOs warned: Wake up to cyberthreats [Video] http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39415295,00.htm Algorithm Helps ICANN Manage Top-level Domains http://ddj.com/web-development/207603282 A Place for African ccTLDs http://www.sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=1722 ICANN Unanimously Approves RegistryPro Proposal to Expand .Pro [news release] http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/05/14/icann-unanimously-approves-registrypro-proposal-to-expand-pro/ The State of Cyber-Security: Forbes special report http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/05/14/security-privacy-cyberspace-tech-security08-cx_ag_0514security_land.html Nato allies agree to cyber defence unit http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/14/nato VeriSign wins patent for Internet typo redirection [AP] http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/14/financial/f151531D02.DTL ********************** GOVERNANCE ********************** Do We Need Two Internets? by Bill Thompson Jonathan Zittrain's recent book, The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It, has spurred a lot of discussion both online and offline, with blog posts lauding his insights or criticising his over-apocalyptic imagination. The book itself makes fascinating reading for those who have watched the network grow from its roots in the research community into today's global channel for communications, commerce and cultural expression... One of the reasons that Zittrain puts forward for the growing popularity of closed or, as he prefers 'tethered', devices, is that they are less vulnerable to hacking, security flaws, malware and all the other perils that face any internet-enabled system. http://www.circleid.com/posts/do_we_need_two_internets/ Book review: Keeping door open for Internet innovation Jonathan Zittrain's book "The Future of the Internet -- and How to Stop It" prescribes a set of remedies to keep the Web open and vital. If asked to pick a favorite piece of consumer technology, who wouldn't choose an iPod over a personal computer? It does the thing it is designed to do -- play digital music -- very well. It's not like the PC, which may be endlessly adaptable but is not optimized for any single use, is difficult for the nontechnical person to control, and may be exposed to spam, viruses and cyber-criminals. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-books12-2008may12,0,5523274.story us: A surfeit of network neutrality legislation Largely due to the continued dumb statements and actions of a few apparently PR-challenged carriers, the network neutrality issue is alive and well in the United States. Since any issue like this seems to create a legislative void that must be filled, we now have at least two network neutrality related bills for Congress to consider. If one liked legislation-based solutions, merging these bills and tossing out a bit of Federal Communications Commission make-work would not be too bad, but there would still be some questions left unanswered. http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2008/051308-bradner.html Internet father speaks up for municipal networks [IDG] Municipal broadband networks could help boost the availability of high-speed Internet access and even help to ensure Net neutrality in the US, said Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google. http://techworld.com/networking/news/index.cfm?newsID=101463 http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9084992 ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** ********************** - ICANN ********************** The U.S. Congress and "free speech principles on the Internet" [cough] by Milton Mueller A subcommittee of the U.S. Congress on Telecommunications and the Internet has expressed opposition to any move by the Commerce Department to alter its unilateral oversight of ICANN. The letter comes in response to growing lobbying, from ICANN and others, regarding the future of Commerce oversight and ICANN's independence. Representative Edward J. Markey, the supposedly liberal Democrat from Massachusetts who chairs the Subcommittee, was joined by rightwing conservative Charles Pickering and 14 other members of the committee in the May 6 statement. The members expressed their opposition to ?any change that threatens the important U.S. role in promoting U.S. commercial and free speech principles on the Internet,? and implied that free speech principles would be threatened if NTIA ?abandoned? its role ?now or in the near future.? http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/5/11/3685901.html CEOs warned: Wake up to cyberthreats [Video] Paul Twomey, chief executive of ICANN and member of the British-North American Committee, advises chief executives of the risks to business from cyber-espionage and how to deal with them. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39415295,00.htm CEOs underestimating security risks: ICANN president launches new best practice guide for business leaders Business leaders are grossly underestimating their firms' reliance on the Internet and the risks of web-based threats, according to Paul Twomey, president of internet oversight body ICANN. http://www.techcentral.ie/article.aspx?id=12063 Algorithm Helps ICANN Manage Top-level Domains At the request of ICANN, Paul E. Black, a computer scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed an algorithm that may guide applicants in proposing new top-level domains. As new top-level domains are added to the familiar .com, .info, and .net, the algorithm checks whether the newly proposed name is confusingly similar to existing ones by looking for visual likenesses in its appearance. Having visually distinct top-level domain names may help avoid confusion in navigating the ever-expanding Internet and combat fraud, by reducing the potential to create malicious look-alikes: .C0M with a zero instead of .COM, for instance. http://ddj.com/web-development/207603282 ICANN recommendations could significantly increase new generic top-level domain names [p.10] There was a time when companies only concerned themselves with the ?.coms? and ?.nets? of the world as part of their trade-mark and domain name strategies. But now, with specialized generic top-level domain names (gTLDs) like ?.travel? and ?.pro,? it may be time for companies to re-examine their domain name portfolios. Indeed, with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) moving forward with the potentially dramatic expansion of gTLDs, this re-examination may become more pressing. http://www.mccarthy.ca/pubs/TLQ_Vol4_Issue1_E_OnlineFile.pdf Stamping out domain tasting The sharp increase in speculation over domain names is causing a backlash. As every CIO knows, a company's domain name is a treasure, but havoc can be caused by typo-squatters--those who create and register websites with misspelled variations of company names. http://www.fiercecio.com/story/stamping-out-domain-tasting/2008-05-12 ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** A Place for African ccTLDs With the .ASIA domain landrush in late February of this year and the 2006 launch of the .EU extension, there begs room for speculation if a .AFRICA extension will ever be created. The odds are not in favor of it based on the current economic and humanitarian crises troubling the African continent. Don?t be caught putting all your eggs in one basket any time soon. http://www.sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=1722 asia: Helping firms occupy more 'Yellow Pages' Edmon Chung is a firm believer in auctions. Well, not any kind of auction. The CEO of DotAsia, the registry operator of the '.Asia' generic top-level domain (gTLD), reasons that having an open auction for domain names that have more than one application attract potential owners with genuine interest. http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,62041277,00.htm Clock is ticking on .me domain names Trademark-holders have until May 20 to register their company and product names under the new .me domain, which is being marketed as a generic top-level domain by the country of Montenegro. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/051308-me-domain.html http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1325950843 http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1325950843 Apple files for .me domains Apple has filed multiple domain name registrations for the .me domain offered by Montenegro. The .me registry says it has received thousands of domain name registrations in the first week of availability. Applicants include tech industry leaders such as Apple -which registered apple.me, ipod.me and itunes.me - as well as Microsoft, Skype and Digg. Other multinationals that have registered .me names include MTV and BMW. http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm?newsid=21323 Shorter .my domain names Malaysian individuals and companies can now opt for the shorter ?.my? website addresses ? instead of the traditional ?.com.my,? says Mynic Bhd. http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2008/5/13/technology/1186496&sec=technology Possible now to have .my without the .com Malaysian Web site owners can now choose to end their URL addresses with ".my" only, instead of ".com.my". http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/msiaexplorer/0,3800011234,63003653,00.htm ICANN Unanimously Approves RegistryPro Proposal to Expand .Pro [news release] RegistryPro, the exclusive operator of the .Pro TLD, has received approval from ICANN to greatly expand the scope and availability of the .Pro TLD. The newly ratified terms of service increases the number of professionals who are eligible for the TLD, extends the availability globally, and streamlines the registration process. http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/05/14/icann-unanimously-approves-registrypro-proposal-to-expand-pro/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/icann-unanimously-approves-registrypro-proposal-to-expand-.pro.html http://registrypro.pro/pressreleasses/2008/0514.html RegistryPro Expands the .Pro Domain The .pro domain ... will be loosening its restrictions, according to an announcement from the registry's operator. http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/051408_RegistryPro_Expands_the_Pro_Domain.cfm More professionals to be allowed .pro domains The organisation behind .pro has received approval to make the top-level domain available to a wider range of users. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39417170,00.htm sco: MSPs consider Scots web domain plan Moves to create a Scottish web domain are being discussed by MSPs. The politicians will consider a public petition to replace the familiar "co.uk" internet address with ".sco". http://www.carricktoday.co.uk/latest-scottish-news/MSPs-consider-Scots-web-domain.4075530.jp http://www.guideandgazette.co.uk/latest-scottish-news/MSPs-consider-Scots-web-domain.4075530.jp ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** Nato allies agree to cyber defence unit Seven Nato members signed a deal today to provide staff and funds for a new research centre designed to boost the alliance's defences against cyber-terrorism. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/14/nato Estonian cyber defence hub set up Seven Nato nations have backed a new cyber defence centre in Estonia, which last year blamed Russia for weeks of attacks on its internet structure. Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy and Spain will staff and fund the hub in the Estonian capital Tallinn. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7401260.stm NATO nations back cyber defence centre Seven NATO nations gave their backing on Wednesday to a new cyber defence centre in Estonia, the ex-Soviet state which last year faced weeks of attacks on its Internet structure after a row with Russia. http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKL149828020080514 Stung by cyber warfare, Estonia, NATO allies to sign deal on cyber defense center [AP] Estonia and six NATO allies will sign a deal this week to provide staff and funds for a new research center designed to boost the alliance's defenses against cyber terrorism. http://news.smh.com.au/technology/stung-by-cyber-warfare-estonia-nato-allies-to-sign-deal-on-cyber-defense-center-20080514-2dwx.html http://news.theage.com.au/technology/stung-by-cyber-warfare-estonia-nato-allies-to-sign-deal-on-cyber-defense-center-20080514-2dwx.html The State of Cyber-Security: Forbes special report We live in what the economist Fritz Machlup called in 1962 an "information society." Data and information fuel corporate competition, separate the haves and have-nots and even define political power. Bits and bytes have truly become a battleground. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/05/14/security-privacy-cyberspace-tech-security08-cx_ag_0514security_land.html When Cyber Terrorism Becomes State Censorship One year ago, hundreds of thousands of bogus requests for information poured into Estonia's data networks, knocking government, media and banking Web sites offline. Local officials were quick to point fingers at the Russian government, declaring its country the first victim of cyber warfare. Now, a year of analysis has shown that it was nothing so straightforward. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/05/14/cyberattacks-terrorism-estonia-tech-security08-cx_ag_0514attacks.html Where The Web Is Weak Tolstoy wrote that happy families are all alike, while every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Something like the opposite might be said for Web sites. Many of the Web's millions of insecure pages can be hacked with just one or two tricks. But patching the bugs in each of those vulnerable sites requires a unique solution. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/05/14/web-hacking-google-tech-security08-cx_ag_0514webhack.html uk: Computer Misuse Act changes are delayed further Denial of service attacks will not be criminalised in England and Wales for another six months despite measures lying unused in existing laws since 2006. Changes to the Computer Misuse Act will not be activated until October. http://out-law.com/page-9109 Preparing for cyber warfare: US Air Force floats botnet plan Back in the Cold War era, the military's plans for developing the next generation of war-fighting capabilities were always a closely guarded secret; programs for developing cutting-edge bombs and missiles were highly classified, and you certainly didn't need the public's permission to invent new ways to roast the enemy. But in the Internet era, the technical realities associated with carrying out cyber warfare on a largely civilian network infrastructure dictate that if you build a massive military botnet aimed at shutting down enemy networks with distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, then you can expect that the public will find out what you're up to sooner or later. And they may not be all that happy about it. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080512-preparing-for-cyber-warfare-us-air-force-floats-botnet-plan.html Hackers hijack a half-million sites in latest attack More than half a million Web sites have been compromised in a new round of attacks that hacked domains in order to infect unsuspecting users' PCs with a variety of malware, a security researcher said today. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;18994984;fp;2;fpid;1 Are Botnets Run by Spy Agencies? A recent story today about discussions for an official defense Botnet in the USA prompted me to post a question I've been asking for the last year. Are some of the world's botnets secretly run by intelligence agencies, and if not, why not? Some estimates suggest that up to 1/3 of PCs are secretly part of a botnet. The main use of botnets is sending spam, but they are also used for DDOS extortion attacks and presumably other nasty things like identity theft. http://www.circleid.com/posts/botnets_spy_agencies/ us: OMB to agencies: Lock down those DNS servers The Office of Management and Budget will soon require agencies to configure their Doman Name System (DNS) servers to the security specifications set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46262-1.html Non-tech criminals can now rent-a-botnet Online fraudsters that aren't highly skilled in the arts of cyber crime can now rent a service that offers an all-in-one hosting server with a built-in Zeus trojan administration panel and infecting tools, allowing them to create their own botnet. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;502221889 ********************** - DOMAIN DISPUTES ********************** us: Call Girl Goes After Girls Gone Wild For Cybersquatting Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the reported mistress of former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against MRA Holdings, producers of the popular Girls Gone Wild videos. Among the many allegations, the filing cites violations of the Lanham Act including cybersquatting domain names. Other Lanham violations include profiting from trademark infringement, false designation of origin, false represenation and false description of goods. http://www.domainnamenews.com/miscellaneous/call-girl-goes-after-girls-gone-wild-for-cybersquatting/1576 California Court of Appeal stays the taking of ahrc.com In a dramatic, last minute ruling, a California Court of Appeal has stayed the takeover of AHRC.com. In a terse order, the Court of Appeal stayed the trial court's order to takeover AHRC.com pending further briefing. Network Solutions was scheduled to turnover AHRC.com to the law firm of Peters and Freedman and Palacio del Mar Homeowners Association within a few hours. http://ahrc.com/new/index.php/src/news/sub/article/action/ShowMedia/id/4469 Jurisdiction Over Foreign Cyber Squatters: In AtlasCopco v. AtlasCopcoiran.com In AtlasCopco v. AtlasCopcoiran.com, et al. a Virginia District court held that under section 1125(d)(2)(A) of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), a court can exercise authority over an entity, rather an individual. They can assert this type of jurisdictional standard, known as rem jurisdiction, to cyber squatters located in foreign countries as long as the plaintiff can confirm the following: http://www.sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=1724 ********************** - IPv4/IPv6 ********************** One small step: Google officially supports IPv6 According to a post on the Official Google Blog, the search company is "pleased to let you know that Google search is also available over IPv6." http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080514-one-small-step-google-officially-supports-ipv6.html Looking towards IPv6 We care a lot about the health of the Internet. Recently, we've become increasingly concerned that IPv4 addresses ? the numbers that computers use to connect to the Internet ? are running out. Current projections place IPv4 address space exhaustion somewhere in late 2011, and while technologies such as Network Address Translation (NAT) can offer temporary respite, they complicate the Internet's architecture, pose barriers to the development of new applications, and run contrary to network openness principles. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/looking-towards-ipv6.html Google sets sights on IPv6 Google announced Wednesday on its official blog that Google search is now available over an IPv6 connection. What? http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9943822-7.html ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** VeriSign wins patent for Internet typo redirection [AP] The company that runs many of the Internet's core directory systems has won a patent for its controversial service that helps Internet users find sites even when they mistype addresses. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/14/financial/f151531D02.DTL http://www.thestate.com/technology-wire/story/405161.html http://news.smh.com.au/technology/verisign-wins-patent-for-internet-typo-redirection-20080515-2eg8.html http://news.theage.com.au/technology/verisign-wins-patent-for-internet-typo-redirection-20080515-2eg8.html MYOB moves into domains, hosting Accounting software vendor MYOB has launched an online services business offering domain registration and Web hosting services. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1599277168;fp;2;fpid;1 Australian chosen to head WIPO Australian patent lawyer Francis Gurry won a tight ballot overnight to take over later this year as head of the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/14/2243938.htm Website Magazine Ranks ?Domain Registrars? Website Magazine is a great free resource for domainers looking to develop their domains. But don?t turn to the publication for good advice on domain names. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/05/13/website-magazine-ranks-domain-registrars/ How GoDaddy Domain Name Backorders Work Before GoDaddy launched its domain name aftermarket TDNAM, I used to backorder a number of domains from the registrar. They were fairly good at grabbing expired domains, especially non-.coms. But then the company started sending its own expired domains to auction at TNDAM, which seems to conflict with placing a backorder. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/05/14/how-godaddy-domain-name-backorders-work/ What?s in a domain name? NIST has an answer Everyone knows how frustrating ? and embarrassing ? it can be to mistype a URL into your browser. (Remember the snickering you used to hear if you went to ?whitehouse.com? instead of ?whitehouse.gov?? The .com address is now a political news site, by the way.) The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) plans to launch a new round of proposals later this year for generic top-level Internet domains and is looking for a way to help avoid confusion and fraud as the number of domains increases. http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46261-1.html ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** Think a gallon of gas is pricey? GasPrices.com to be auctioned starting at $200k: Other domain names offered for sale: Koran.com, Israel.com, Jackpot.com and BlueRay.com If it takes a killer Web domain name to create a profitable Web site, then online entrepreneurs might want to peek at the latest round of topical domain names being offered at auction by online vendor Moniker Online Services LLC. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9085600 http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1740509340;fp;2;fpid;1 http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1740509340 http://thestandard.com/news/2008/05/14/gasprices-com-be-auctioned-starting-200k Inside Your Domain Portfolio Perhaps you?ve been managing a domain portfolio for years or maybe you?re just getting started with your plans to build a portfolio. We?ve seen a lot of changes in the domain industry over the last year, some positive, some challenging. Whether you?re an old pro or just beginning, this spring is a great time to take inventory and make sure your domain business is on the right track for success this year and beyond. http://www.sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=1728 Sedo's New Brokerage Application: Have you ever wanted to buy or sell a domain or a portfolio Have you ever wanted to buy or sell a domain or a portfolio of domains but just didn?t have the time to market it, manage and negotiate the best possible price? With Sedo?s new brokerage application tool, you can now request this premium service for the opportunity to work with an experienced Sedo domain broker, to help sell or acquire the domains you really want. To increase the communication between you and your broker; Sedo has also implemented a comment tool and status update to make sure that our clients are kept up to date and notified throughout the process. http://www.sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=1726 Howzat! Premium ?Cricket? Domain Names Up for Grabs A list of 50 domain names, described by the owners as having the ability to ?control cricket in the future around the World? when developed into websites are up for sale. http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/05/14/howzat-premium-cricket-domain-names-up-for-grabs/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/howzat-premium-cricket-domain-names-up-for-grabs.html Moniker Unveils Additional Domain Names Available at Upcoming T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East Event in Orlando Moniker.com, an Oversee.net company and provider of Domain Asset Management(R) services, today announced the availability of additional premium domain names for purchase via a live and online domain name auction at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East conference in Orlando. http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/05/14/moniker-unveils-additional-domain-names-available-at-upcoming-traffic-east-event-in-orlando/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/moniker-unveils-additional-domain-names-available-at-upcoming-t.r.a.f.f.i.c.-east-event-in-orlando.html Prescription for Success: Domains Made Dr. Kevin Ham Incredibly Wealthy But He Says His Life's Work Has Just Begun Dr. Kevin Ham - everyone in this industry knows the name but only a handful of people really know the man. When you run a domain business that reportedly generates well over $1 million a week from various domain-related ventures and a portfolio of approximately 300,000 names, it is easy for the statistics to overshadow the human being behind them. Especially when that person is as humble and self-effacing as the 37-year-old Canadian doctor from Vancouver. http://dnjournal.com/cover/2008/may.htm au: Fairfax in internet search advertising joint venture Fairfax Media is hoping to snare a slice of the burgeoning internet search market by acting as a middleman between the search engine companies and small advertisers. http://business.theage.com.au/fairfax-in-internet-search-advertising-joint-venture-20080514-2ecz.html http://business.smh.com.au/fairfax-in-internet-search-advertising-joint-venture-20080514-2ecz.html Frank Schilling?s Defensive Patent On April 24, 2006, domain name portfolio owner Frank Schilling filed a patent application for ?Generic top-level domain re-routing system? with the help of attorney John Berryhill. This patent, if granted, could end up being very important to the domain name industry. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/05/14/frank-schillings-defensive-patent/ Surviving the ?Dot-Crunch? It?s a funny thing how domainers always expect their stank to rise?and continue rising. Funny because if you?ve been in this business long enough you?ve likely weathered, or not, a few industry tempests and cycles. We?re hardened sailors who have seen tough squalls and lived to tell the tale. http://www.domainnamenews.com/featured/surviving-the-%e2%80%98dot-crunch%e2%80%99/1573 Is Harmony.com Worth $5 Million? Shortly after Fund.com raked in $10 million, reportedly a record-breaker for a straight domain price, Jay Westerdal, the 30-year-old CEO of Name Intelligence, Inc., put up Harmony.com at the starting bid of $5 million, a sale that went live officially today. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/05/12/is-harmonycom-worth-5-million TRAFFIC Does Disney Domain name conference lands at Disney World next week. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/05/12/traffic-does-disney/ Google China Formally Launches New Ad Product Google China has formally released its new online advertisement product Google AdSense for Chinese small and medium enterprises. http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/05/15/6745-google-china-formally-launches-new-ad-product/ ********************** INTERNET USE ********************** Searching for success in a digital age ... The preoccupation with Google as the "frenemy" and those tedious arguments over the indexing of copyrighted material have given way to a more constructive attitude. Times Online's editor-in-chief, Anne Spackman, said that the relationship was now more symbiotic than competitive. Sixty per cent of her traffic comes from external links and from search engines, and 27% of that from Google. Times Online's search specialists are among her most valuable staff, she said, and would be involved in every editorial project. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/12/5 Africa fastest growing market in communication technology, says UN [news release] Africa has been the fastest growing market worldwide in communication technology over the past three years and will continue to emerge as an important market for the industry, according to the head of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU). http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=26639 http://allafrica.com/stories/200805130001.html Google's website passes Yahoo's in popularity [AP] Google has surpassed Yahoo to become the most popular website in the U.S., according to Internet tracking firm ComScore Inc.'s rankings by the number of unique monthly visitors. http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-google15-2008may15,0,3546953.story eBay's Aussie PayPal-Only Policy Raises Hackles eBay has irked users yet again -- this time with plans to require that all transactions on its Australian site be done through its subsidiary, PayPal. A PayPal-only policy won't surface in the U.S., said company spokesperson Nichola Sharpe; however, it may happen in other countries. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/62970.html US takes up Aussie broadband speed breakthrough An Australian-developed signal processing technology has been licensed to a US company to deliver faster internet speeds with longer distance capabilities. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23687354-15321,00.html ComScore pegs UK papers' traffic at 15m Nearly 15 million UK internet users visited newspaper websites during March, according to the latest figures from web measurement firm ComScore. Sun Online was the most visited site, according to ComScore's metrics, recording 4.268 million unique users, with guardian.co.uk in second place at 3.619 million. Telegraph.co.uk had 2.754 million users and Times Online 2.6 million. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/13/digitalmedia.pressandpublishing The Sun Ranked as the Most Widely Read Online Newspaper in the U.K. in March [news release] comScore released a study summarizing the usage of websites for major daily newspapers, based on data from comScore Media Metrix. The study revealed that 14.8 million people in the U.K. visited a newspaper site in March, viewing a total of 448 million pages of newspaper content over the course of the month. The Sun Online was the most popular online newspaper in the U.K., attracting 4.3 million visitors in March and accounting for nearly 30 percent of all pages viewed in the newspaper category. Guardian.co.uk had the second largest audience with 3.6 million visitors, followed by Telegraph Group Ltd (2.8 million visitors), and the Times Online (2.6 million visitors). http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2225 Survey: 20% of Americans have never sent an email Roughly one-fifth of all US households are disconnected from the Internet and have never used e-mail, according to research firm Parks Associates. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/051308-e-mail-use.html http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1603000633;fp;2;fpid;1 http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1603000633;fp;2;fpid;1 20 million US households have no web access: One-fifth of household heads has never used email Some 20 million US households are without internet access, forthcoming research will reveal. Parks Associates' National Technology Scan will report that just seven per cent of these 20 million "disconnected" homes plans to get an internet subscription within the next 12 months. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216571/million-households-web-access http://www.infomaticsonline.co.uk/vnunet/news/2216571/million-households-web-access ********************** SOCIAL NETWORKING ********************** Google helps the web to go social Google has joined the drive to make the web more social by introducing tools to enable people to interact with their friends. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7397470.stm Google Wants to Help Web Sites Make New Friends If you run a Web site, you may have a lot of new friends. Last week, site owners learned they could add information about their users from MySpace and Facebook. On Monday, Google introduced its take on the same phenomenon, Google Friend Connect. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/google-wants-to-help-web-sites-make-new-friends/ Google to Connect Friends Across the Web To socialize these days, hundreds of millions of people every month visit networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. But what if the Web itself operated as a social network? Google announced yesterday another step in what its engineers see as that inevitable evolution. A new, free service from the Mountain View, Calif., tech giant will allow any Web site to become a social site. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051200823.html Google brings Friend Connect to the masses As expected, Google has unveiled a preview of Friend Connect, a way to add social features to a Web site without programming. http://www.news.com/8301-13953_3-9941411-80.html Welcome to the social mess? Google Friend Connect, Facebook Connect, MySpace Data Availability, OpenID, DataPortability: Managing a bunch of different log-ins and passwords suddenly seems easy and straightforward. http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9941984-36.html ********************** NEW TECHNOLOGIES ********************** Japanese Internet satellite hits 1.2Gbps [IDG] Engineers testing a recently launched Japanese data communications satellite have succeeded in establishing a two-way Internet link running at 1.2G bps (bits per second) each way, they announced this week. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1595487774 Mobile phones more important than wallets More than one-third of workers would choose their mobile phone over their wallet, keys, laptop or digital music player if they had to leave the house for 24 hours and could take only one item, a new survey has found. http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN1336793620080513 http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4526377a28.html ********************** SPAM ********************** MySpace wins $230m payout from spammers MySpace has won a record $230m (?118m) legal judgment over junk messages sent to its members by a team of notorious American internet spammers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/may/15/myspace.socialnetworking MySpace wins bumper spam payout MySpace has won a $234m (?120m) legal judgement over junk messages sent to members of the social networking site. Victory in the case was awarded to MySpace after Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines, the men behind the junk mail, failed to show up in court. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7399868.stm MySpace wins $230M spam judgment believed to be largest ever; defendants include 'spam king' [AP] The popular online hangout MySpace has won a US$230 million (?148.65 million) judgment over junk messages sent to its members in what is believed to be the largest anti-spam award ever. http://news.smh.com.au/technology/myspace-wins-230m-spam-judgment-believed-to-be-largest-ever-defendants-include-spam-king-20080514-2e1q.html http://news.theage.com.au/technology/myspace-wins-230m-spam-judgment-believed-to-be-largest-ever-defendants-include-spam-king-20080514-2e1q.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR2008051302301.html Spam King does a runner after $306m fine MySpace.com, the social networking website owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, has won $234 million (NZ$306m) in damages over junk email sent to its members, in what is believed to be the largest anti-spam ruling ever. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10510354 ********************** DIGITAL DIVIDE ********************** my: Conquering the divide WCIT 2008 Is enough being done to bridge the digital divide? Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC), ?caretaker of the MSC Malaysia initiative, shares its views on the issue as WCIT 2008 rounds the corner http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2008/5/13/itfeature/1194713&sec=itfeature Africans Change the Face of Mobility [IDG] Mobile money transfers, payments, how to charge customers and e-health are some of the areas where the rest of the world can look to Africa for inspiration. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/145851/africans_change_the_face_of_mobility.html 1bn Africans to Get Satellite Connectivity One billion Africans located in under-served rural and urban areas across the continent are set to benefit from an initiative powered by a non profit association of the international satellite industry called Global VSAT Forum to double the number of earth station terminals operating in Africa by 2012. http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=111536 ************************** ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL ************************** How Your Cellphone Can Stop Cybercrime As devices like the iPhone have demonstrated, a phone today is more than a phone: Beyond simple calls, handsets play music, take photos and serve up Web video of skateboarding dogs. Now banks and security researchers are hoping to squeeze another function into the wireless devices that people all over the world now carry: putting an end to identity theft. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/05/13/identity-theft-gadgets-tech-security08-cx_ag_0514idtheft.html Hacker Posts Chilean Government Data on 6 Million [IDG] An anonymous hacker has posted personal data about 6 million Chilean residents on the Internet, highlighting wider privacy problems in the country. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/145789/hacker_posts_chilean_government_data_on_6_million.html us: Actors don't want to lose grip on Web clips Few things are more precious to actors than control over their images. A stark reminder of that came last week when the studios suspended contract talks with the Screen Actors Guild after three weeks of negotiations. A cause for the logjam: Actors balked at a studio proposal that would allow the studios to sell or license excerpts of TV shows and movies for use on the Internet, cellphones and other new-media devices -- without the actors' consent. http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-clips15-2008may15,0,2261497.story eu: Consumers: 50% of misleading airline websites corrected [news release] EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva today published the mid term report on an EU wide enforcement investigation - involving 15 EU national authorities as well as Norway ? against misleading advertising and unfair practices on airline ticket selling websites. The report shows that there are "serious and persistent consumer problems" throughout the airline industry as a whole. 1 in 3 websites surveyed (137 out of 386 originally checked by the 13 reporting countries) have had to be followed up with enforcement action over the last 7 months for breaches of EU consumer law. Over 50% of those websites have been corrected during this time. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/722 us: Craigslist?s Countersuit Criticizes eBay?s Tactics Craigslist, the online classified ad company, filed a countersuit Tuesday against its minority owner eBay, accusing it of unfair competition, false advertising, trademark infringement and diluting the value of the Craigslist trademark. http://nytimes.com/2008/05/14/technology/14ebay.html Craigslist countersues EBay over alleged unfair practices [Reuters] Online classifieds leader Craigslist.com filed a countersuit Tuesday against business rival EBay Inc., alleging that EBay had used its minority stake in Craigslist to steal corporate trade secrets. http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN1333683520080514 http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-craigslist14-2008may14,0,2075410.story Silver lining in report on software piracy Software piracy cost global businesses $47.8 billion in lost revenue last year, up 20 percent from 2006, according to a study to be published Wednesday by an industry trade group. But the rate of unauthorized copying actually declined in more than half the countries measured, including some previous pirate havens like Russia, as the authorities took steps to crack down on the practice. http://iht.com/articles/2008/05/13/technology/piracy.php eu: One in three airline sites breaks consumer laws One in three European airline ticket websites is breaking consumer protection laws, the European Commission has said. It said that almost 60% of investigated sites published misleading pricing details. http://out-law.com/page-9113 Website design was stolen, says US jury A man has been found liable for stealing a company's website design in order to then pursue that same company's customers. A US court found the man liable for copyright infringement and in breach of contract in his property business. http://out-law.com/page-9116 ************************** PRIVACY ************************** au: ACS supports privacy laws, calls for e-mail safeguards The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has called on government to enforce rigid privacy laws on organisations which intercept employee e-mails. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;54868354;fp;2;fpid;1 http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;54868354;fp;2;fpid;1 eu: Google blurs the privacy issue Google is hoping to avoid a fight with European privacy campaigners as it prepares to launch its controversial Street View service this side of the Atlantic later in the year, by introducing new technology that blurs the faces of people its cameras inadvertently snap while scanning the streets. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/may/13/google.digitalmedia ********************** ONLINE TV & MUSIC ********************** Piracy growing as fewer fans buy downloads Record labels are losing their battle with digital piracy as the number of people who regularly download songs legally falls back, research will claim today. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/may/15/piracy.digitalmusic UK software piracy rate declines For the first time in three years the amount of pirated business software on UK computers has fallen. The Business Software Alliance's (BSA) annual survey shows a 1% drop in UK piracy rates to 26%. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7400260.stm NZ rated third best for software piracy The use of pirated software dropped in 67 countries, according to new research http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/AFA133C53145BA07CC25744A001476AD How Apple is changing DRM As more stores and record labels abandon digital rights management, Apple may have an alternative plan for subscription services, writes The Guardian's Tim Anderson: When Apple approached record companies about selling their music digitally five years ago, they "were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied", according to Steve Jobs's recollection of the process. That meant using digital rights management (DRM) - a software wrapper - to protect songs from unlimited copying. Jobs says it is crucial to the contract: "If our DRM system is compromised and their music becomes playable on unauthorized devices, we have only a small number of weeks to fix the problem or they can withdraw their entire music catalog from our iTunes store." http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/may/15/drm.apple ********************** CENSORSHIP ********************** We're watching the 'oppressors': ITU boss The head of the world telecoms body said on Tuesday that oppressive regimes are increasingly using their control over the Internet to deprive citizens of information but that those governments are being watched as well. http://news.theage.com.au/technology/were-watching-the-oppressors-world-telecoms-boss-20080514-2dxi.html http://news.smh.com.au/technology/were-watching-the-oppressors-world-telecoms-boss-20080514-2dxi.html Appealing to Google - fight Chinese censorship Google has just held its annual stockholders' meeting at its corporate headquarters in California. And Amnesty International?s US section used the meeting to put forward a shareholder motion calling for the company to do more to fight censorship in China. http://uncensor.com.au/uncensor/blog/appealing_to_google/ 10 ways the Chinese Internet is different from yours James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, has experienced "The Great Firewall of China" firsthand, an experience people from around the world will share this summer when the Olympics comes to that country. This article summarizes 10 key differences in the way China's internet is operated and controlled compared to North America (or most places on the planet). http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/news.asp?id=48400 ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ Australian budget tackles online safety THE Rudd Government has committed $49 million to cracking down on child sexual exploitation on the internet as part of new budget measures announced yesterday. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,23696923-15306,00.html au: ISP filtering to get Fed Govt subsidy: Budget 08 Internet Service Providers will be granted a one-off Government subsidy towards the cost of installing filtering technology, as part of the Rudd Government's AU$125.8 million Cyber-safety plan. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/ISP-filtering-to-get-Fed-Govt-subsidy-Budget-08/0,130061744,339288964,00.htm Budget provides policing for internet safety [news release] The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today announced a targeted plan to create a safer online environment for Australian children. ?Although the internet has opened up a world of possibilities and benefits to Australian children, it has also exposed them to continually emerging and evolving dangers that did not previously exist,? Senator Conroy said. http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2008/033 Great Wall of Australia: Industry cops sanitised Internet [IDG] Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has pushed ahead with the controversial national content filtering scheme with a $125.8 million budget allocation announced today. http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1437589201 http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1437589201 http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;1437589201 $129m to keep Australian children safe from cyberporn The Federal Budget has allocated $128.9 million over four years "to create a safer online environment for Australian children." Law enforcement alone will get $49m and the government will press ahead with its controversial ISP filtering plans, but has stopped not confirmed earlier suggestions that this would be mandatory. http://www.itwire.com/content/view/18206/127/ Consultative Working Group to improve Cyber-Safety [news release] The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today announced the members of the Cyber-Safety Consultative Working Group as part of the Government's $125.8 million program to improve online safety for children. http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2008/035 EFA decries money wasted on Internet Filtering [news release] Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) today expressed its disappointment at the Federal Government?s decision to fund its mandatory ?clean-feed? Internet in the 2008-09 federal budget. http://www.efa.org.au/2008/05/15/efa-decries-money-wasted-on-internet-filtering/ Q&A with Parry Aftab: A passion for protecting kids Parry Aftab wants to make the Internet safer--one social network at a time. Founder of Wired Safety, a global Internet kids-safety nonprofit, Aftab is turning her passion for protecting kids online into a consulting business for the fast-changing world of Web 2.0 widgets, social networks, and virtual worlds. In July, she plans to launch Wired Trust, an Internet security business and certification program designed to act like an insurance policy for social sites. http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9942447-7.html Penguins offer safer surfing The founders of Club Penguin, Lane Merrifield, Lance Priebe and Dave Krysko, are possibly some of the nicest guys in the internet business. They give millions of dollars a year to children's charities and are fierce advocates of family values. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto051120081332533409 ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** British Agency Shifts Microsoft Antitrust Complaint to EC A British government agency has complained to the European Commission about the lack of interoperability in some of Microsoft's applications, but regulators are reportedly not opening a new formal inquiry on the complaint. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/British-Agency-Shifts-Microsoft-Antitrust-Complaint-to-EC-62993.html New York State seeks Internet violence law [AP] A proposal in New York would make a felony of committing violent acts for display on Internet video sites. The state Senate's Republican majority on Tuesday is expected to introduce a bill that would make a felony of violent acts like the brutal beating of a girl in Florida and subsequent attack of a 12-year-old in Indiana. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/05/12/2008-05-12_state_seeks_internet_violence_law_.html U.S. bill would require captioning for Internet video Nearly two decades after the U.S. government began requiring television networks to provide text captions for hearing-impaired viewers, there is a move afoot to set the same standard for Internet video. http://iht.com/articles/2008/05/13/technology/captions.php ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* Icahn Is Said to Weigh a Proxy Fight at Yahoo Carl C. Icahn is said to have asked about new merger talks. Carl C. Icahn, the billionaire investor and activist shareholder, is considering a proxy fight for seats on the Yahoo board in hopes of pushing the company to restart talks to sell itself to Microsoft, people who have held discussions with him said on Tuesday. http://nytimes.com/2008/05/14/technology/14yahoo.html ********************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ********************** Rivals can't follow Telstra's map Progress towards the federal Government's circa $10 billion fibre network is likely to be delayed while Telstra is told to improve the details on its existing network map. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23701823-5013038,00.html ********************** MOBILE/WIRELESS ********************** Kuala Lumpur the wireless online metropolitan With the launch of the Kuala Lumpur wireless metropolitan project at the City Hall headquarters yesterday, the entire capital city will be covered by a wireless broadband access network in the near future. http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/5/13/central/21227814&sec=central Big China quake takes out mobile network in Chengdu [IDG] An earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter Scale knocked out mobile phone service in the western Chinese city of Chengdu, although fixed-line networks remained up and running, Chinese state television reported today. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9084982 http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/2F71772C040774CECC25744700774B27 http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;798050759;fp;2;fpid;1 WiMax vs. Long Term Evolution: Let the battle begin A long-term battle is brewing between two emerging high-speed wireless technologies, WiMax and Long Term Evolution (LTE). Each would more than quadruple existing wireless wide-area access speeds for users. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9085202 ********************** VoIP ********************** Identity fraud hits net telephony A new type of identity fraud, which sees hackers tapping into voice-over IP telephony accounts, has been highlighted by a VoIP equipment maker. Usernames and passwords from voice-over IP (VoIP) phone accounts are selling online for more than stolen credit cards, Newport Networks has found. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7398676.stm VoIP to dominate SME use by 2010 A recent Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) report found that a majority of businesses still use a fixed-line phone service as their main form of voice communication, but one observer has claimed that VoIP will be prevalent across SMEs by 2010. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/VoIP-to-dominate-SME-use-by-2010/0,130061791,339288858,00.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (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 Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address. www.yahoo7.com.au/y7mailReceived on Mon May 19 2008 - 00:52:49 UTC
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