Don't forget to check out www.auda.org.au/domain-news/ for an archive of the last 3 months of the news! And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for daily updates in between postings. *************************************************** The domain name news is supported by auDA *************************************************** US: We Will Not Give Up Oversight Of Internet Domain Name Root Zone http://ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1185 Olympic organisers agree to China blocking 'sensitive' internet sites http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4431162.ece DNS patches cause problems, developers admit http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111001 With Security at Risk, a Push to Patch the Web http://nytimes.com/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.html Asia Pacific Internet Community to descend on Christchurch - NZ to host APNIC 26 [news release] http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/apnicevent ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** ********************** - ICANN ********************** US: We Will Not Give Up Oversight Of Internet Domain Name Root Zone The Bush administration has no intention of giving up United States oversight role of the management of the central root zone of the internet domain name system (DNS), the essential database storing information on how to reach domain names on the global internet. http://ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1185 U.S. Intends to Remain in Full Control of Internet Root Zone, Says Letter from NTIA In a letter sent by bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to ICANN, the department has made it clear that despite recent discussions in Paris meetings, the U.S. department intends to remain in full authority over the Internet root zone. http://www.circleid.com/posts/87315_us_in_control_of_internet_root_zone/ Public Comments: Improving Institutional Confidence in ICANN Dear Chairman Dengate-Thrush: On June 16, 2008, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) posted for public comment a series of interrelated documents prepared by the President?s Strategy Committee (PSC) regarding improving institutional confidence in ICANN. The Department of Commerce (Department) takes this opportunity as a member of the community and ICANN?s partner in the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) to offers its views on such an important topic. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/comments/2008/ICANN_080730.html ICANN Publishes 2008 Semi-Annual Contractual Compliance Audit Report ICANN's Contractual Compliance Department publishes its second semi-annual Registrar and Registry Contractual Compliance Audit Report. This report summarizes ICANN's audit activities from October 2007 through June 2008. During this period, ICANN conducted three registrar contractual compliance audits and one registry contractual compliance audit. ICANN conducted each audit by following consistent audit procedures established before each audit commenced. This report contains details regarding the audit methodology, findings, observations and conclusions. http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-30jul08-en.htm ICANN Opens Comment Forum on .COOP and .MOBI Proposed Contract Changes to Allocate Single-Character Names ICANN is today opening a public comment forum on proposed amendments to Appendix 6 of the DotCoop and DotMobi Sponsored TLD Agreements. http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-28jul08-en.htm Egypt / ICANN meeting [news release] The Government of Egypt has the honor to host, in Cairo, the next ICANN meeting, from 2 to 7 November 2008, at InterContinental CityStars Hotel. The ICANN meeting was previously hosted in Cairo in March 2000, by the Egyptian Ministry of Communications, the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) and the Internet Society of Egypt. http://appablog.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/egypt-icann-meeting-2/ ICANN To Offload Domains from De-Accredited Registrar When RegisterFly lost its ICANN accreditation, GoDaddy swooped in to take over the registration of RegisterFly clients? domain names. It was a nice pickup for GoDaddy of nearly 1 million domain names. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/31/icann-to-offload-domains-from-de-accredited-registrar/ ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** Olympic organisers agree to China blocking 'sensitive' internet sites Olympic organisers 'regret' agreement to restrictions but China claims censorship will not affect reporting of Beijing 2008 ... Chinese officials said the censorship would not hamper journalists in their job of reporting the Games. A BOCOG spokesman Sun Weide said that the plan had always been to provide ?sufficient? Internet access for foreign reporters. Sites run by the Falun Gong religious sect remain inaccessible, as do most with the word Tibet in their internet address. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4431162.ece Personalize your domain using .ME The .ME Registry officially opened for live, real-time registrations and was met with huge international demand. .ME after .com, .biz, .eduis spreading around the world with more than 50,000 new domain names with the first "live" name registered being: yusu.me. http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Enterprise-Tools/News-Reports/Personalize-your-domain-using-ME/30708108447/0/ Barack Obama Goes .Mobi United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama is leveraging the mobile web to get his message out. His campaign is using ObamaMobile.mobi. And unlike most popular .mobi domain names, it actually resolves to a .mobi domain rather than just forwarding to a mobile version of a .com we site. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/barack-obama-goes-mobi/ Dot-na Doman Remains Hot Potato THE controversy surrounding Namibia's Internet domain name (.na) is not likely to die down soon, given the recent formation of a new Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. http://www.namibian.com.na/2008/July/national/081AFB7980.html http://allafrica.com/stories/200807310688.html InternetNZ selects web advocate board members InternetNZ has appointed four members to its executive board, formed earlier this year as part of a structural review of the society in order to act as an advocate for internet users. http://www.itbrief.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2464&Itemid=808 The WashBiz Guest Blog: A Day At .ORG Welcome to Day 2 of our little experiment in guest blogging, something we hope captures a small slice of Washington at work. All this week we plan to run posts from Adam Palmer, policy counsel for .ORG, the Public Interest Registry based in Reston. Adam works on policy issues dealing with Internet governance, cyber security, and e-commerce. Today, he talks about what one actually does at .org. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washbizblog/2008/07/the_washbiz_guest_blog_adam_pa.html UCC abandons attempt to control Uganda domain name The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) says it is not interested in taking over control of the Uganda country code, .ug. The country code is registered to and controlled by Charles Musisi, an Internet entrepreneur who has managed Uganda domain names over the past 12 years. http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=736&Itemid=2946 Number of domains in the UZ zone exceeds 7,000 The number of domains registered in the .UZ zone exceeded 7,000 as of 25 July, the administration of the .UZ domain zone said. According to the statistics, the number has grown by about 22% from 5,766 since the beginning of the year. http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=58005 ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** DNS patches cause problems, developers admit Patches released earlier this month to quash a critical bug in the DNS (Domain Name System) have slowed servers running BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain), the Internet's most popular DNS software, and crippled some systems versions of Windows Server. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111001 http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/29/DNS_patches_cause_problems_developers_admit_1.html http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/EA56EA85FA872164CC257496000F71E7 Apple skewered over missing DNS patch Apple has come under fire for failing to patch the critical Domain Name System (DNS) flaw which prompted a (rest of) industry wide response earlier this month. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/29/apple_dns_patch_mia/ With Security at Risk, a Push to Patch the Web Since a secret emergency meeting of computer security experts at Microsoft?s headquarters in March, Dan Kaminsky has been urging companies around the world to fix a potentially dangerous flaw in the basic plumbing of the Internet. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.html http://iht.com/articles/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.php Hackers start DNS attacks, researcher says Hackers are now actively exploiting a critical flaw in the Domain Name System, but they're not using any of the already known exploits, said a researcher who crafted the first attack code to go public. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111098 Internet providers in Vietnam battle DNS flaw Local internet service providers (ISPs) say they are taking action to overcome a serious flaw inherent in the Domain Name System (DNS) that could allow an attacker to re-direct unwilling web users to dangerous sites. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/07/796258/ ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** Asia Pacific Internet Community to descend on Christchurch - NZ to host APNIC 26 [news release] Next month, InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) and the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) will jointly host APNIC 26, one of the most important meetings in 2008 for the local Internet community. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/apnicevent InternetNZ appoints Executive Board members [news release] InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to announce it has appointed Peter Dengate-Thrush, June McCabe, Miki Szikszai, and Judy Speight as members of its recently-established Executive Board. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/execboard InternetNZ launches Liz Dengate Thrush Foundation [news release] InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to announce the launch of an Internet entrepreneurship foundation established in memory of Liz Dengate Thrush, a former Councillor of the Society. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/ldtf Barack Obama Goes .Mobi United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama is leveraging the mobile web to get his message out. His campaign is using ObamaMobile.mobi. And unlike most popular .mobi domain names, it actually resolves to a .mobi domain rather than just forwarding to a mobile version of a .com we site. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/barack-obama-goes-mobi/ Why We'll Never Replace SMTP by John Levine John Levine An acquaintance asked whether there's been any progress in the oft-rumored project to come up with a more secure replacement for SMTP. Answer: No. Truly, spam isn't a technical problem, it's a social one. If we could figure out some way to make mail recipient networks and hosts willing to shun known bad actors, even at the cost of losing some real mail for a while until the bad actors cave, it would make vastly more difference than any possible technical changes. http://www.circleid.com/posts/replacing_smtp/ Emirates airline website plummets offline in A380 excitement Dubai's government-owned airline, Emirates, forgot to renew its domain name this week, sending its website crashing offline on the same day it was trumpeting delivery of its first Airbus A380 superjumbo. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/31/emirates_domain_loss/ ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** Find an Undervalued Asset. Fix It Up. Flip It. (Now It?s Web Sites, Not Houses) Dave Hermansen did not own a bird or a cage when he bought bird-cage.com, an online store, for $1,800 three years ago. He simply saw a Web site that was ?very, very poorly done,? and begged the owners to sell it to him. He then redesigned the site, added advertising and drove up traffic. Last December, he sold it for $173,000. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/29/technology/29flip.html Matt Bentley Leaving Sedo Sedo Chief Strategy Officer Matt Bentley is leaving the company, Sedo announced today. The move is effective the end of this month. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/matt-bentley-leaving-sedo/ Imminent Domaining: The domain name market is a hot investment opportunity for entrepreneurs. One hundred domains. Sounds like a good, round, impressive number. And 100 felt like a lot for Howard Hoffman, who began snapping up domains like HealthWater.com and SportsWater.com to help redirect web surfers to his bottled water company's site, taking advantage of what's called "type-in traffic," when users just enter words or a guessed-at domain into the browser address bar. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25932453/ Moniker/Snapnames accidentally sell the wrong domain Imagine the following scenario: A registrant owns a .NET version of your .COM domain and decides to list it with SnapNames. However he mistypes the domain by entering the .COM version in the spreadsheet he sends to his account manager. http://www.domainnamenews.com/registrars/monikersnapnames-accidentally-sell-the-wrong-domain/1783 Crash Course Guide to Domain Name Appraisals Ever looked for new domains to buy in auctions, pending delete, or expired? I?m sure all of us have some difficulty appraising the value of domains. The process is both easy and hard at the same time, especially when considering the long term value and not necessarily the present value. Grabbing a domain name now that holds a potential-value in the future is a real-niche and requires some strategy. Though the remaining names market and especially the gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domain Extensions, e.g. .COM/.NET/.ORG) is saturated and sometimes impossible to get a nice ones but there are some techniques to grab excellent and superior names using some technique we had successfully put on trial and lead us successfully to acquire many domains such as EVERNET.com and PreLanding.com. In this article, I will be highlighting some quick techniques to evaluate domains for the present or near-future resale value. http://www.dotsauce.com/2008/07/31/domain-name-appraisals/ Google makes 6 Figure Offer for KNOL.com For a vacuum cleaner reseller from Dordrecht in the Netherlands, Europe, this week may very well be the time of their life!. The family Knol have been the owner of the domain name knol.com for many years and it looks like Google is interested in purchasing the domain! Google has reportedly offered "a sum of five zeros." http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/google-makes-a-5-figure-offer-for-knol.com.html ********************** INTERNET USE ********************** Operators 'put brake on growth of mobile internet' It was meant to be a key part of a new age of mobile telecommunications, giving consumers the same benefits that they could get from their computers at home, but yesterday mobile phone operators were told that Britain?s failure to embrace the internet via mobile phones was their fault. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article4419524.ece UK Mobile internet use up 25 per cent in two years Around 16.5m people in the UK accessed the internet through their mobile phone in May 2008, according to the latest quarterly data report from the Mobile Data Association (MDA), 25 per cent more than in May 2006. http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news/2222841/mobile-internet-per-cent-two NZ net revolution leaves dial-up users behind The gulf between dial-up internet users and those with broadband is greater than that between dial-up users and those with no internet access at all, says the leader of an international internet survey. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1501833&objectid=10524274 NZ broadband use lagging New Zealand's provision and use of broadband needs improvement to realise the full potential of the Internet, the NetSafe cyber safety conference in Queenstown heard this week. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-lakes/15825/nz-broadband-use-lagging Tepid response to rival search engine launched by ex-Googlers A Californian start-up co-founded by engineers who helped create Google's market-leading technology launched a rival search engine yesterday. It claims to scan three times as many web pages as Google but met with a lukewarm response. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/29/searchengines.google Cuil: Another Google Challenger Launches--to a Cool Reception Just weeks after the last highly touted Google challenger, Powerset, was snapped up by Microsoft, a new one is launching Sunday night. Cuil (pronounced ?cool? and previously sporting an additional ?l?), boasts a Web index three times the assumed size of Google?s (though I?m not aware of Google admitting to a particular index size lately), a management team with an impressive pedigree (several people from Google), a different set of algorithms that in part analyze the content of pages, and a radically different presentation of search results. http://businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2008/07/cuil_another_go.html Amazon takes on eBay with PayPal rival Amazon has set out to take on eBay by unveiling an online payment service which will compete directly with PayPal. The new service, called Checkout by Amazon, will give online retailers the option of having Amazon manage their payments and allow them to avoid having to register customers afresh. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4428952.ece You've got too much e-mail ... According to a growing number of academics, "technologists" and psychologists, our dependence on e-mail -- the need to attend to a constantly beeping in-box -- is creating anxiety in the workplace, adversely affecting the ability to focus, diminishing productivity and threatening family bonds. The problem has become so severe that a new crop of entrepreneurs has sprung up with antidotes -- which sometimes involve creating more e-mail. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-email31-2008jul31,0,4411744.story Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise: McKinsey Global Survey Results [reg req'd] Companies have adopted more Web 2.0 tools this year than in 2007, sometimes for higher-value purposes, according to McKinsey?s second annual survey on the business use of Web 2.0 technologies. Some 21 percent of the respondents are very satisfied with the way their companies use Web 2.0 tools, which are changing management practices and even organizational structures. http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Information_Technology/Management/Building_the_Web_20_Enterprise_McKinsey_Global_Survey_2174_abstract ********************** SPAM ********************** nz: Fighting off the great spam attack The internet is under attack like never before, with spam accounting for 80 per cent of all emails sent worldwide, many of them money-making scams run by criminal gangs. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/85/story.cfm?c_id=85&objectid=10523672 Spammers change tactics to beat security Spammers are getting wise to the publicity and attention generated by their creations, security experts warned this week. Security firm BitDefender said that a malicious message which promised nude pics of Angelina Jolie has again been repacked and updated to beat spam filters and antivirus software. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2222828/spammers-change-tactics ********************** DIGITAL DIVIDE ********************** Mobile Phones and the Digital Divide [IDG] Whether you're building an application for the 3G iPhone in the United States or trying to figure out how to deliver health information via SMS (Short Message Service) to a rural community in Botswana, the mobile space is diverse and exciting in equal measure. http://www.pcworld.com/article/149075/2008/07/mobile_phones.html ************************** ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL ************************** Game over for Scrabulous on Facebook Scrabulous, the popular Scrabble-based game on Facebook, has been taken down from the US version of the social networking site. The makers of Scrabulous said today that they had agreed to a request from Hasbro, the toymaker which owns the rights to the board game in the US, to remove their application from Facebook. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4425311.ece Scrabulous pulled from Facebook in US and Canada [AFP] The creators of online Scrabble knock-off Scrabulous say they have pulled their application from US and Canadian Facebook pages due to a lawsuit filed by game-making giant Hasbro. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/30/2318616.htm Scrabulous suspended on Facebook The developers of the popular Facebook application Scrabulous have suspended the game for some users following legal action by toy maker Hasbro. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7531669.stm Scrabble owner sues Facebook play-a-like The popular Scrabble-like Facebook game Scrabulous has been suspended on the social networking platform. The game has been the subject of a fierce rights battle but had stayed available on the site until now. http://out-law.com/page-9308 Scrabulous returns to Facebook as Wordscraper Less than two days after it was pulled from Facebook after a lawsuit, the popular online version of Scrabble - Scrabulous - has returned. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4437370.ece Scrabulous game back on Facebook Scrabulous is back on Facebook but the popular word game has a new name, new rules and circular tiles. Developers suspended the game for users in US and Canada on Tuesday, after legal action by Hasbro, the makers of Scrabble. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7536173.stm au: eBay fraud probe could take months It could be months before police can unravel the spectacular collapse of one of the biggest Australian sellers on eBay, which left hundreds of users out of pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/07/30/1217097299827.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/07/30/1217097299827.html PayPal to reimburse Aussie eBayers The Australian division of eBay subsidiary PayPal has confirmed it will reimburse customers left out of pocket by the collapse of local eBay seller EBS International. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/PayPal-to-reimburse-Aussie-eBayers/0,139023166,339290954,00.htm 'Bumbling nerd' who broke into Pentagon computers loses battle against extradition A British hacker who broke into the Pentagon's computer systems said he was disappointed and angry after the House of Lords yesterday dismissed his appeal against extradition to the US. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/hacking.hitechcrime Gary McKinnon ? 'world's most dangerous hacker' ? to be extradited A British man who hacked into computers at the Pentagon will face trial in the US after the law lords ruled that he should be extradited. At the House of Lords this morning, Gary McKinnon, 42, was told that his appeal against extradition would not be granted. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/30/gary.mckinnon UK Hacker vows to fight extradition A Briton accused of hacking into top-secret military computers has vowed to fight extradition to stand trial in the US after losing a court appeal. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7533916.stm Gary McKinnon, British computer hacker, loses appeal over US extradition A British man accused of the biggest military computer hack in history is facing extradition after losing his last-ditch appeal in the House of Lords today. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4428270.ece Lords reject NASA hacker's appeal against extradition NASA hacker Gary McKinnon has lost his appeal against extradition to the US. Five Law Lords have unanimously rejected his argument that plea bargaining by US prosecutors undermined his human rights. http://out-law.com/page-9311 FBI warns of new Storm Worm attacks A rash of complaints prompted the FBI to issue a warning of a new round of spam e-mails bombarding the Internet to spread the malicious Storm Worm. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111094 http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;366488583 Symantec: New Attitude on Security Needed [IDG] Government agencies and private companies need to move their focus away from single-point security solutions to more holistic, information-based security, Symantec officials advised. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/149209/symantec_new_attitude_on_security_needed.html ************************** PRIVACY ************************** Legal Opinion: Privacy on parade in Fleet Street and the law courts What is our nation coming to, when Fleet Street is censored for publishing clandestinely obtained, intimate details and images of sexual activities, carried out on private property between consenting adults? The privacy action brought by the Formula One boss Max Mosley, over the publication of details, images and footage of his S&M sessions with five dominatrices, has had tongues wagging. But, according to Mr Justice Eady ? the judge who heard the case and who has been criticised openly as the media-unfriendly foe of Fleet Street ? this was not a "landmark case". http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/legal-opinion-privacy-on-parade-in-fleet-street-and-the-law-courts-880269.html UK watchdog clears Google's street cameras Google's controversial Street View service - which will offer ground-level pictures of every UK street online -can finally be launched in Britain, after a privacy watchdog said it had no complaints about the service. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/google.civilliberties ********************** ONLINE TV & MUSIC ********************** Comcast Illegally Interfered With Web File-Sharing Traffic, FCC Says A majority of the Federal Communications Commission has concluded that cable operator Comcast unlawfully disrupted the transfer of certain digital video files, affirming the government's right to regulate how Internet companies manage Web traffic. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902077.html IFPI, Italian police take down "Italian Pirate Bay" A popular torrent tracker in Italy closed up shop today, handing the international music trade group IFPI another victory against P2P. Colombo-BT.org now points to a page that says, "Access denied in execution of an Italian Court Authority injunction." The shutdown came after action was taken by the Guardia di Finanza, an Italian police force that operates under the Italian Armed Forces. Unsurprisingly, the IFPI applauded the move and took it as a sign of progress against piracy online. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080729-ifpi-italian-police-take-down-italian-bittorrent-tracker.html Illegal filesharing: A suicide note from the music industry This month's announcement of a back-room deal between ISPs and the big record companies to spy on suspected copyright infringers and reduce the quality of their internet connections is just the latest paragraph in the record industry's long, self-pitying suicide note, and it's left me wishing they'd just pull the trigger already and stop beating their chests and telling us all how unfair it all is. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/29/internet.digitalmusic ********************** CENSORSHIP ********************** IOC to investigate apparent internet censorship The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will investigate apparent censorship of the internet service provided for media covering the Beijing Olympics, press chief Kevan Gosper said on Tuesday. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKPEK8771220080729 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/29/2318112.htm IOC loses control as Beijing orders freedom of speech to take a hike What is happening in Beijing is a disgrace. World press freedom is being dictated by a totalitarian Government that censors free speech and jails anyone who disagrees with the ruling Communist Party. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24104567-5013404,00.html Outrage over internet great wall of China China's vow to open up its country to the world through the Olympic Games was in tatters last night as an International Olympic Committee member, Kevan Gosper of Australia, apologised to the global press for misleading them about access to the internet. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/07/30/1217097331441.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/07/30/1217097331441.html Beijing unblocks BBC Chinese site The BBC's Chinese-language website appears to have been unblocked in China ahead of the Olympic Games. An International Olympic Committee spokesperson called it a "good sign", after complaints about internet access. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7535280.stm IOC to challenge internet censorship in Beijing The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is planning to lobby the Chinese Government to improve internet access after the Chinese Olympic Committee declared it will censor the internet during the Games. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/30/2318963.htm China 'spying on Olympic hotel guests' China has installed internet-spying equipment in all the major hotel chains serving the Olympics, a US senator said overnight. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/30/2318309.htm Olympic organisers agree to China blocking 'sensitive' internet sites The International Olympic Committee disclosed yesterday that some of its officials had struck a deal with Beijing organisers, allowing the Communist authorities to block sensitive internet sites. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4431162.ece Olympic organisers agree to China blocking 'sensitive' internet sites A deal with Beijing has allowed the Chinese authorities to block sensitive internet sites, the International Olympic Committee has disclosed. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4431162.ece Web curbs for Olympic journalists Journalists covering the Beijing Olympic Games will not have completely uncensored access to the internet, Chinese and Olympic officials say. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7532338.stm China to Limit Web Access During Games The Chinese government has confirmed what journalists arriving at the lavishly outfitted media center here have suspected: contrary to previous assurances by Olympic and government officials, the Internet will be censored during the upcoming Games. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/31/sports/olympics/31china.html http://iht.com/articles/2008/07/30/asia/olymedia.php ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ au: Critics warn Govt's porn filtering trial set for failure A glowing report on the government's national Internet content filtering scheme has again outraged telecommunications providers and privacy advocates who declared the results bias and worthless. http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;172683411 http://pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;172683411 au: Report gives tick to filtered Internet The government's clean feed Internet scheme has been buoyed by glowing results from tests into the effectiveness of Internet Service Provider (ISP) content filters. http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;937690115 http://pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;937690115 Critics claim govt's porn filtering will fail A glowing report on the government's national Internet content filtering scheme has again outraged telecommunications providers and privacy advocates who declared the results bias and worthless. http://www.csoonline.com.au/index.php/id;172683411 Sysadmins slam ACMA web filtering study The System Administrators Guild of Australia has criticised the Australian Communications and Media Authority's report on ISP-level content filtering, questioning its relevance to real-world conditions. A major objection is that the ACMA tests did not align with the actual bandwidth expected and demanded by today's Internet users. http://www.itwire.com/content/view/19763/53/ ISPs encouraged to self-regulate ? NetSafe and InternetNZ [news release] NetSafe, New Zealand?s cybersafety organisation, and InternetNZ have called on New Zealand telecommunications firms and Internet Service Providers to implement a full self-regulatory framework for the good of the Internet and its users. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/inznetsafe NetSafe, InternetNZ call on industry to self-regulate [reg req'd] http://telecom.paper.nl/news/article.aspx?id=224522 Kiwis well protected from child porn websites New Zealanders were some of the best protected citizens in the world from online child pornography, the Netsafe '08 conference in Queenstown was told yesterday. http://stuff.co.nz/4636528a28.html http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/4636528a26834.html nz: Internet safety worries parents The world of chatrooms and instant messaging is foreign to many adults, but a British advocate for children's cyber safety says they need to understand its importance to young people. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/15332/internet-safety-worries-parents Netsafe ends with many questions The Netsafe '08 conference in Queenstown finished yesterday with just as many questions raised as answered. Described by Netsafe executive director Martin Cocker as "an evolution in thinking rather than a revolution in thinking" , the conference discussed issues that had been raised at previous meetings. http://stuff.co.nz/southlandtimes/4637443a6570.html Kiwi kids become online sex victims New Zealand children as young as 12 are willingly sending inappropriate images of themselves to adults contacted on the internet, a conference has been told. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10524554 nz: Naming abusers complex issue Naming people charged with child sex offences can pressure them into reoffending, a psychologist specialising in rehabilitating cyber-sex criminals told the Otago Daily Times. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-lakes/15824/naming-abusers-complex-issue NZ children 'complicit sex victims' on net New Zealand children as young as 12 are willingly sending inappropriate images of themselves to adults contacted on the internet, a conference has been told. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10524555 nz: Children as young as 12 seeking sex on the Internet New Zealand children as young as 12 are actively seeking sexual contact with adults on the Internet with little idea of the ongoing consequences of their actions. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-lakes/15661/children-young-12-seeking-sex-internet uk: YouTube videos should be given '18' certificate, MPs say Films posted on video-sharing websites such as YouTube should carry age certificates and those with pornographic or violent content should be subject to a television-style "watershed", MPs say today. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/youtube-videos-should-be-given-18-certificate-mps-say-881387.html uk: Video websites 'must vet content' YouTube has been criticised by MPs, who say it must do more to vet its content. In a review of net safety, the Culture, Media and Sport select committee said a new industry body should be set up to protect children from harmful content. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7533543.stm UK MPs tell internet firms to police 'dark side' of web The internet industry must take more responsibility for protecting young people from the "dark side" of digital content relating to abuse, violence and suicide, according to a committee of MPs. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/internet.youtube UK Government consults on web video regulation The Government has published plans on how it might regulate the video on demand industry. It has also said that it is reluctant to relax rules on product placement on television. http://out-law.com/page-9312 uk: Protect children from 'dark side' of net, report urges WEBSITES should do more to protect children from the ?dark side? of the internet after fears some sites are promoting violence and self-harm, MPs say today. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/07/30/protect-children-from-dark-side-of-net-report-urges-91466-21436731/ Comcast, NetZero agree to block Internet child porn Internet service providers (ISPs) Comcast Corp and United Online Inc's NetZero have agreed to block access to child pornography, the New York Attorney General's office said on Tuesday. http://in.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idINIndia-34735920080729 ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** MPs, step away from the internet You know what the internet lacks, which drives MPs of a certain age mad? Bodies. To be precise, centralised bodies which you can invite to lunch and drop hints to, and which you can then rely on to promulgate your thinking to the wider world ? particularly the worlds that those bodies control. Top-down control, urging, nudging ? it's how MPs like to think the world works. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/31/internet.censorship Internet in New Zealand explored The first real picture of how New Zealanders are using the Internet can be seen with the release today of the World Internet Project New Zealand data produced by AUT University. http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20080108-17732.html ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* InternetNZ launches Liz Dengate Thrush Foundation InternetNZ is establishing an internet entrepreneurship foundation in memory of Liz Dengate Thrush, a former councillor of the society who was killed in a car accident two years ago. http://www.itbrief.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2467&Itemid=808 ********************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ********************** Aussies rush to mobile over fixed line Australians are moving from fixed lines to mobile phones en masse, but using a mobile phone over a WiFi network is still a pipedream for many. http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/118363,aussies-rush-to-mobile-over-fixed-line.aspx Fixed-Mobile Covergence in Australia The substitution of mobile services for fixed line is established and growing in Australia, according to research released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. However the prospects for convergence of fixed-line and mobile services into a single seamless service - apparent in some overseas markets - are low in the short term. http://cellular-news.com/story/32768.php ********************** MOBILE/WIRELESS ********************** NZ follows Europe for ultra wide band licence regime The Ministry of Economic Development will create a General User Licence (GUL) regime, along the lines of that used in Europe, for the allocation of ultra wide band (UWB) spectrum, it announced today. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/1DD458BBFC6AAC69CC2574970017BF9C ********************** VoIP ********************** What are critical issues with VoIP service? VoIP services are rapidly becoming the bread and butter of enterprise voice networks, as roughly 72% of all enterprise voice lines shipped by vendors in 2007 were IP-capable. Now that companies are definitively moving away from the traditional Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) voice networks and into Session Initiation Protocol-based (SIP) VoIP networks, we examine the VoIP industry's most pressing issues, including SIP interoperability, TDM-to-SIP transition services and VoIP security issues. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/073108-burning-voip.html ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN ********************************** nz: Publication powerful deterrent, judge says Publication of a certain type of offender's photograph could have a more powerful deterrent effect than a court sentence, a Dunedin District Court judge said yesterday. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/15659/publication-powerful-deterrent-judge-says au: Child pornography arrest at Elizabeth North AN Elizabeth North man has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography. http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24105802-2682,00.html au: Teacher jailed for child porn [AAP] A SENIOR teacher from an exclusive northern NSW school has been sentenced to at least 15 months in prison after being found guilty on child pornography charges in a Sydney court. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24107709-1242,00.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (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 Find a better answer, faster with the new Yahoo!7 Search. www.yahoo7.com.au/searchReceived on Thu Jul 31 2008 - 18:28:32 UTC
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