Check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain news, including an RSS feed - already online! The domain name news is supported by auDA. And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for regular updates. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cybersquatting remains on the rise with further risk to trademarks from new registration practices (news release) http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2007/wipo_pr_2007_479.html Cybersquatting complaints rise 25 percent, U.N. says (AP) http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/13/1173722427174.html Domain name chaos needs measured response http://opinion.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002208,39286281,00.htm 'Cybersquat' threat to trademarks http://www.ft.com/cms/s/62a5d2ae-d109-11db-836a-000b5df10621.html McAfee Reveals List of Riskiest Country Web Sites for Malicious Downloads, Browser Exploits and Unwanted E-Mail (news release) http://www.siteadvisor.com/studies/map_malweb_mar2007.html Study shows .info domain is a Net ghetto http://www.pcpro.co.uk/security/news/107158/study-shows-info-domain-is-a-net-ghetto.html Profitable mistakes - typosquatting http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/corporate/article1515229.ece Coming to terms with the language of cybersquatting - an FT handyguide to terms http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e2356676-d17f-11db-b921-000b5df10621.html U.K. Secondary Domain Name Market Sees a Growth of More than 150% in 2006 - Growth in .co.uk domain value exceeds that of .com (news release) http://www.sedo.co.uk/presse/presse_130307.php4?tracked=&partnerid=&language=e ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** Cybersquatting remains on the rise with further risk to trademarks from new registration practices (news release) The number of cybersquatting disputes filed with WIPO in 2006 increased by 25% as compared to 2005. In a related development, the evolution of the domain name registration system is causing growing concern for trademark owners, in particular some of the effects of the use of computer software to automatically register expired domain names and their 'parking' on pay-per-click portal sites, the option to register names free-of-charge for a five-day 'tasting' period, the proliferation of new registrars, and the establishment of new gTLDs. The combined result of these developments is to create greater opportunities for the mass, often anonymous, registration of domain names without specific consideration of third-party intellectual property rights. http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2007/wipo_pr_2007_479.html http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2007/wipo_pr_2007_479a.pdf Cybersquatting complaints rise 25 percent, U.N. says (AP) WIPO saw cybersquatting complaints increase 25 percent in 2006. WIPO received 1,823 complaints in 2006 alleging abusive registrations of trademarks as Internet domain names. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/13/1173722427174.html http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16888915.htm http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/13/1173722464147.html Domain name chaos needs measured response Imagine a Wild West town where the street signs can be hired by the year. For that year, the hirer gets to say where they point ? but if they don't renew quickly enough, someone else can nip in and swing them around. Follow the sign to the town library, and you'll end up at the liquor shop ? the shopkeeper has more money than the librarian, and has a gang of kids wandering around nabbing old signs and putting up new confusing ones as quickly as they can. It would be frustrating chaos, and you'd soon be looking for a saner place to live. Yet that's not so far from the way internet domain names are currently managed, with predictable results documented by WIPO. http://opinion.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002208,39286281,00.htm Cybersquatting cases rose 25% in 2006 WIPO has reported that cybersquatting incidents have increased 25 percent to 1,823 complaints in 2006. http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view_article.php?article_id=54550 'Cybersquat' threat to trademarks Trademark owners face a disturbing new "cybersquatting" threat from internet developments that enable automatic registering of website addresses, WIPO warned on Monday. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/62a5d2ae-d109-11db-836a-000b5df10621.html Do Speculative Domains Threaten the Internet? (Reuters) The Internet's key site identity system is in mounting danger from new techniques that could cause havoc by turning it into a free-for-all market, the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO warned on Monday. http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39166311,00.htm http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/3991579a28.html http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=137&objectid=10428563 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39286280,00.htm Domain name system in danger from speculators, cybersquatters, says U.N. agency (Reuters) The Internet's key site identity system is in mounting danger from new techniques that could cause havoc by turning it into a free-for-all market, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) warned yesterday. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=13&articleId=9012989 McAfee Reveals List of Riskiest Country Web Sites for Malicious Downloads, Browser Exploits and Unwanted E-Mail (news release) McAfee, Inc. announced the results of their SiteAdvisor research report that creates a global road map of the riskiest, and the safest, places to surf and search on the World Wide Web. McAfee analysed and ranked 265 TLDs based on McAfee's Web safety tests for spyware, spam, exploits and scams. The report, "Mapping the Mal Web," revealed surprisingly large differences in safety from one domain to another. This global portrait estimates that each month, Internet users make more than 550 million clicks to risky Web sites and that even relatively safe domains like .de or .uk account for millions of risky clicks. The safest 10 TLDs are .gov, .fi, .ie, .no, .is, .se, .au, .co, .sg and .si. http://www.siteadvisor.com/studies/map_malweb_mar2007.html Study shows .info domain is a Net ghetto The .info domain is the online equivalent of an unsafe neighbourhood, according to a new SiteAdvisor report from McAfee. McAfee said there was a 73.2 per cent chance of receiving spam after registering an email address at a random .info domain. This domain was also the most unsafe top-level domain with 7.5 per cent of sites labelled 'risky'. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/security/news/107158/study-shows-info-domain-is-a-net-ghetto.html McAfee names most risky domains Ireland has the second least risky country domain name (.ie), according to a new report by McAfee. The report found that internet users make more than 550 million clicks to risky websites a month. http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single7940 http://businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=1664497 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0313/breaking74.htm Vikings Best, Polynesians Worst In Domain Safety SiteAdvisor has completed an extensive scan of 265 TLDs on the Internet, ranking sites by the percentage of malicious code found in visiting the site. The survey found that 4.1 percent of all Web sites pose some sort of risk to a visitor, whether it's viruses, adware, spyware, phishing or some other form of malware. http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3665441 http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/03/12/web-domain-risk-tech-security-cx_ll_0312mcafee.html East European domain names pose most risks to users (Computeract!ve) People who surf on sites with Romanian and Russian domain names are more likely to fall victim to scammers than those who access websites from Japan and Australia, a report has found. http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/news/2185379/russian-romanian-domain-names http://www.whatpc.co.uk/computeractive/news/2185379/russian-romanian-domain-names Internet Map: Here There Be Malware Where are the Web's most dangerous neighborhoods? Security firm McAfee analyzed and ranked 265 top-level domains to find out. It released its findings Monday. The most risky country domain names belong to Romania and Russia, with China rapidly ascending. Least risky are Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Ireland. http://www.technewsworld.com/story/56252.html Dot-gov safest domain around, says McAfee The safest websites on the internet end in dot-gov, according to McAfee. McAfee found no risky websites within the domain for US government agencies, it said in a report. In contrast, one in 10 sites that end in dot-tk, the domain for the tiny island of Tokelau, either spread malicious software or warrant a warning because of pop-ups or other nuisances, McAfee said. http://software.silicon.com/malware/0,3800003100,39166312,00.htm http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6166564.html McAfee publishes statistics on dodgy domains McAfee have released research to provide consumers with a global road map, which uncovers the riskiest and the safest places to surf and search on the Internet. http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/6995/8019/mcaffee-publishes-dodgy-domain-statistics.phtml http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012921 Profitable mistakes - typosquatting We all make mistakes when typing website addresses but a new breed of online fraudsters ? known as "cybersquatters" ? are generating huge profits from illegal businesses set up to exploit our errors. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/corporate/article1515229.ece Coming to terms with the language of cybersquatting The Financial Times provides a handy guide defining cybersquatting, typosquatting, domainer, dropcatcher, domain tasting and domain parking. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e2356676-d17f-11db-b921-000b5df10621.html Microsoft hits 'cybersquatters' Microsoft is pursuing five alleged UK-based cybersquatters in its battle against firms and individuals who have registered variations or misspellings of its key brands, such as Xbox. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6449363.stm Microsoft files lawsuits against cybersquatters Microsoft has filed two new lawsuits against companies it accuses of registering domain names similar to certain Microsoft trademarks. It has also settled three similar suits with other companies, it said Wednesday. http://infoworld.com/article/07/03/14/HNmssuescybersquatters_1.html Microsoft to sue 'cybersquatters' over related web domain names Microsoft Corp. said it plans to file a new round of lawsuits in the U.S. and Britain this week against people it says are profiting from registering Internet domain names that contain the company's trademarked terms. http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=133607&type=Daily http://www.ft.com/cms/s/fbddb398-d19e-11db-b921-000b5df10621.html http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21385687%5e15306%5e%5enbv%5e15306,00.html http://news.com.com/2110-7355_3-6167004.html http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198000845 Microsoft pursues UK "cybersquatters" (Reuters) Microsoft Corp. took its fight against so-called "cybersquatters" overseas, seeking a payment of damages from five U.K. companies for registering Web site domain names that infringe on its trademarks and brand, Microsoft said on Tuesday. http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-03-14T152207Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-290891-1.xml Google finds itself stymied by cybersquatters Google, which should be one of the most internet savvy companies in the world, has recently been struggling with a rash of cybersquatting. The internet search company is facing several obstacles as it tries to secure rights to domain names for its Gmail internet e-mail service around the world. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c1934d34-d17f-11db-b921-000b5df10621.html The Real Problem with dot-XXX by Michael Roberts ... So what we have, stripped down to essentials, is a moral contest. On the one side are the free expression advocates, such as Milton, who see the greater good in the avoidance of any form of censorship, accompanied by a laissez faire economic conviction that markets will solve most any problem in sight. On the other side are those who wonder how ICANN could have gotten itself entangled in a tawdry business that not infrequently preys on innocent youngsters and enjoys a lot of profit at the same time. How could any amount of rational sounding registry approval process be used as insulation from the downright evil acts which seek cover under the First Amendment? http://www.circleid.com/posts/real_problem_with_dot_xxx/ ICANN RegisterFly update: March 13, 2007 This shows the number of domains transferred away from RegisterFly.com for the dates of March 9, 10, 11, 2007, these being 1,114, 707 and 345 respectively. http://blog.icann.org/?p=47 RegisterFly update: March 12, 2007 After discussions today with RegisterFly it seems clear that RegisterFly now has no technical impedements to do what?s necessary to service its eNom customers, including obtain auth-codes. http://blog.icann.org/?p=46 Two RegisterFly Sites Online as Ousted CEO Returns ICANN is continuing to press RegisterFly to repair its management systems so domain owners can manage their names, but is now dealing directly with company founder Kevin Medina, who has been awarded control of RegisterFly by a New Jersey court. ICANN met Saturday with Medina to demand immediate action on RegisterFly's failure to provide adequate WHOIS information and make critical transfer codes (known as auth-info codes) available to customers. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/03/12/two_registerfly_sites_online_as_ousted_ceo_returns.html International Domain Names May Be Introduced By 2008 ICANN is running tests to see if spelling Internet domains with non-English characters like Chinese or Arabic will affect the Net's efficiency. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006729310 Recent Submissions by Proposed ICM Registry in Support of Sponsorship Criteria Adopted by the Board http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-13mar07.htm ICANN: Anycast And Communication Foiled February's Root Server Attack ICANN's evaluation analyzes what happened during the attack on the root servers, which ones were hit the hardest, and what kept them running. http://informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198000575 GoDaddy Makes Reporting Invalid Whois Easy Want to report an invalid whois record? Just click the link. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/03/13/godaddy-makes-reporting-invalid-whois-easy/ Whirlpool gives IP address management a spin While Whirlpool focuses on the business of making kitchen and laundry appliances, lead network engineer Gregory Fisbeck keeps his eye on thousands of IP addresses. With some 80,000 employees and 200 locations worldwide, Whirlpool network staff has always had its hands full managing multiple DNS zones and thousands of IP addresses. But last year's acquisition of Maytag increased Whirlpool's eight or nine DNS zones under management to some 16, shining a spotlight on a much-needed operational upgrade, Fisbeck says. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1806000247;fp;2;fpid;2 http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1806000247;fp;4;fpid;78268965 U.K. Secondary Domain Name Market Sees a Growth of More than 150% in 2006 - Growth in .co.uk domain value exceeds that of .com (news release) Annual statistics for 2006 compiled by domain marketplace Sedo and DNJournal reveal a surge of 153% in the value of all published .CO.UK domain sales worldwide, in comparison to a growth of 79% in 2005. Already one of the world?s most expensive online addresses with an average sales value of ?2,062.15. The increasing scarcity of quality .CO.UK domains, and the continued recovery in the UK online industry, have steadily driven prices higher in the past years http://www.sedo.co.uk/presse/presse_130307.php4?tracked=&partnerid=&language=e Hundreds of Thousands of .mobi Domains Registered Over 400,000 .mobi domains have been registered since the domain for mobile devices was launched last October, according to dotMobi?the organization charged with managing .mobi, which includes the allocating of top level names. http://www.psionplace.com/articles/2007/3/2007-3-9-Hundreds-of-Thousands.html Topix.com Sells for $1M An article in the Wall Street Journal confirmed that the domain name Topix.com was purchased for $1M in January. The new owner is Topix.net, which receives 10M visitors per month. The company understood the user confusion of not owning the .com version of the domain and negotiated the purchase. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/03/13/topixcom-sells-for-1m/ Domain Sales Explode as Buyers Brush Off Signs of a Slowing Economy What a roller coaster ride the past couple of weeks have been. Last week we witnessed one of the slowest domain sales weeks we've seen in some time. Yesterday former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said we may see an economic recession by the end of the year and today (Feb. 27) the stock market plunged a breathtaking 416 points in the biggest drop since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. So, does that mean the domain market's steady ascent is about to end? From the numbers out this week, we can only say "Forget about it!" http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2007/domainsales03-06-07.htm Net copes with key character test Tests are carried out to see how the net's addressing system copes with international character sets such as Chinese and Arabic. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6441093.stm IP owners face growing domain name danger (reg req'd) WIPO received more complaints about cybersquatters in 2006 than in any of the previous five years, prompting calls for policy makers to consider how to respond to the problem http://managingip.com/default.asp?page=9&PubID=198&SID=679530 ********************** OTHER INTERNET NEWS ********************** Web censorship spreading globally Internet censorship is spreading rapidly, being practised by about two dozen countries and applied to a far wider range of online information and applications, according to research by a transatlantic group of academics. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1dbb5faa-d268-11db-a7c0-000b5df10621.html Repressive governments widen stifling techniques Repressive governments no longer limit themselves simply to blocking access to websites they want to keep from their citizens. Increasingly, experts on internet censorship say, they are turning to a range of other techniques, from methods developed for ?cyber-warfare? to the filtering-out of specific content deemed undesirable. In the process they have been relying on private companies, many from the US and other liberal regimes, to supply the technical know-how and, in some cases, act as their eyes and ears in cyberspace. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/775d5b9e-d268-11db-a7c0-000b5df10621.html China ramps up blog censorship China will intensify controls of the growing numbers of bloggers using the internet to lay bare their thoughts, politics and even bodies, the country's chief censor has announced. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/13/1173722436034.html Indonesia to tighten Internet surveillance (AFP) Indonesia plans to tackle Internet crime by tightening the supervision of web surfers, an official said Tuesday. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/14/1173722532227.html Egypt court rejects blogger appeal (AFP) An Egyptian court on Monday upheld a four-year sentence against a blogger convicted of insulting religion and defaming the president, a verdict condemned by rights groups as a threat to free speech. http://www.todayonline.com/articles/176866.asp http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2885&iArticleId=3728721 Egyptian judge wants more websites gagged (AFP) The Egyptian judge, who chairs the court that is to hear a blogger's appeal against a four-year jail sentence that drew criticism from around the world, is seeking to gag 21 websites, a judicial source has told AFP. http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2885&iArticleId=3726888 au: Game site skirts censors' ban A legal loophole has enabled a major local computer software distributor to sell downloads of a game that was banned in Australia last year because it promoted vandalism. And Australian authorities may be powerless to prevent the ban from being circumvented. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/14/1173722550955.html au: Porn penalties 'minor' SOUTH Australians prosecuted in the nation's biggest child pornography crackdown have received only "very minor penalties", police have revealed. http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21384168-2682,00.html MySpace Kicks Out Phony Cops MySpace.com says some of the profile pages representing police or sheriff's departments on the popular Internet networking site are fakes. While MySpace has encouraged police to have a presence on the site as a way to deter online sexual predators, at least six of the 16 law enforcement profile pages on MySpace were bogus. MySpace also has closed down pages claiming to represent the New York Police Department profile and five other police departments. http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/section/internet/?init=11 The unsung guardians of the internet An army of 'digilanti' - unpaid loners at their PCs - are trying to keep the web free of spam and scammers http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2033503,00.html Google to erase information on billions of internet searches Google will erase personal information on billions of internet searches in an attempt to secure the privacy of its users, the company has announced. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2034172,00.html Google Changes Policy on Search Records Google said it would start to make search logs anonymous after 18 to 24 months. Under current practices, the company keeps the logs indefinitely. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/technology/15googles.web.html us: Google and YouTube to be sued Entertainment giant Viacom Media says it will sue Google and video-sharing website YouTube for $1bn. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6446193.stm http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article1509555.ece http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2355971.ece http://www.guardian.co.uk/Media/site/story/0,,2033399,00.html Google confident YouTube protected by strong law (Reuters) Google Inc. is confident its popular video-sharing site YouTube and other Web services Google offers have strong legal protections under current copyright law, company attorneys said. Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. ended six months of thinly veiled threats of legal action against YouTube http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10428914 YouTube's fate rests on decade-old copyright law Whether YouTube suffers the same fate as Napster may depend on the wording of a nearly antique law written long before video-sharing Web sites were envisioned. http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6166862.html WhoseTube? Viacom Sues Google Over Video Clips Since it bought YouTube last October, Google has been chasing deals that would give it the right to put mainstream video programming on the site. Just a few weeks ago, Google?s chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, seemed confident that this courtship of old-line media companies would prove fruitful. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/technology/14viacom.html http://iht.com/articles/2007/03/14/business/viacom.php The effects of a ?happy slapping? epidemic: European governments crack down on the recording and distribution of violence online Several years ago, the United Kingdom noticed a disturbing pastime among a segment of its youths ? ?happy slapping?. Individuals or groups found amusing the slapping or striking of strangers while accomplices filmed the assaults using mobile phones. The images were later showcased on the Internet. In recent years, the ?happy slapping? virus has spread into France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, among other European countries. And governments have had enough of this cruel and sometimes lethal form of entertainment. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1707 Yahoo! dissident case is abandoned The authorities in Hong Kong have decided that there is not enough evidence to prove that Yahoo! Hong Kong provided private information that helped to convict a Chinese reporter accused of leaking state secrets. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1514012.ece Informing case against Yahoo is dropped in Hong Kong (AP) Investigators said there was not enough evidence to show that Yahoo's Hong Kong branch provided private information that helped convict a Chinese reporter accused of leaking state secrets. http://iht.com/articles/2007/03/14/business/yahoo.php au: Tax office hunts dodgers on eBay eBay has handed over the personal and financial details of hundreds of its top customers to the Australian Taxation Office as part of an investigation into GST compliance. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21372166-2,00.html Cracking Google's 'secret sauce' algorithm Google rules all in the online world, and businesses live or die on its search rankings determined by a secret algorithm. Everyone is trying to crack the code, and some people might pay $10 million or more to anyone who does. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012943 kr: Illegal Organ Trades on Internet Rampant The trade of human organs over the Internet is still rampant despite police clampdowns, according to a lawmaker Tuesday. http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200703/kt2007031319253310230.htm us: Cyber-Criminals and Their Tools Getting Bolder, More Sophisticated Robert Hoyler thought hackers who broke into his computer stole only his bank account information. But it turned out that the thieves also left something behind: a hidden software virus that recorded his every keystroke. So when Hoyler's bank issued him new account numbers and passwords, the hackers got all that information, too. His health insurance, online shopping and Social Security data went into a file in a master database at a Web site controlled by the attackers, stashed among personal information on more than 3,220 U.S. residents. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301522.html uk: Internet scams dominate UK card fraud losses Card fraud in the UK fell three per cent from ?439.4m in 2005 to ?428m last year, according to figures from payment association APACS released Wednesday. Overall, card fraud has dropped ?80m from a record high of ?504.8m in 2004. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/14/uk_card_fraud_trends/ us: Democrats grill FCC about neutrality, surveillance, more Democratic members of the House of Representatives criticized the Federal Communications Commission Wednesday, complaining that the agency hasn't investigated government spying on telephone and Internet conversations and hasn't taken a strong stand for network neutrality. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=13&articleId=9013144 us: Federal agencies ban Windows Vista As Microsoft is out touting the "wow" of Windows Vista, two federal agencies are among those saying "whoa." http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-6166868.html us: CDT Opposes Bill Expanding Pentagon Domestic Data Mining CDT and other civil liberties groups are urging Congress to reject legislation that would exempt the Department of Defense from a key provision of the Privacy Act. The little-noticed amendment, already included in the Senate version of the Intelligence Authorization Act, would permit government agencies to disclose information on US citizens to the Defense Department. Such language could pave the way for entire databases of information to be transferred to the Defense Department without a clear purpose -- in turn opening the door to greater data mining by military agencies. http://www.cdt.org/security/20070308intelligenceletter.pdf Internet Addiction, a Worldwide Crisis Some countries like China, India and United States present a high rate of internet addiction cases, especially among the young male population. Indeed, some internet addiction treatments are being developed by psychologist and research teams at medical schools. Even internet addiction boot-camps have been created in Asia to combat this concerning trend. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1705 in: Computer curfew after student suicides An elite Indian Institute of Technology restricted access to the internet in an attempt to make whiz-kids more sociable http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1511445.ece The End User: Getting mobile on the Web The British arm of the online technology news service Cnet recently ferreted out a handful of tasks that even you can do with your phone that proves the value of accessing text on a cellphone. We're not talking mobile spreadsheets here. Without actually saying so, Cnet has put its finger on the combination of factors that has by and large eluded mobile services that have tried so hard to win us over: give us something simple, cheap and useful. http://iht.com/articles/2007/03/14/business/ptend15.php 'Gahooyoogle' your way around the Net A Web site that allows Netizens to conduct searches using both Yahoo and Google concurrently has been unveiled. Dubbed Gahooyoogle, the site includes a search bar for users to enter search terms, which will be parsed to both search engines. Results are displayed on a single screen within the Web browser. http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/personaltech/stories/172990.html 'Bandwidth hogs' finding the Internet has its limits Amanda Lee of Cambridge, Massachusetts, received a call from Comcast in December ordering her to curtail her Web use or lose her high-speed Internet connection for a year. http://iht.com/articles/2007/03/14/technology/btny.php us: Pew: Latinos Less Likely to Be Online (AP) Latinos are not going online as much as non-Hispanic whites and blacks, even at younger ages where Internet use is far greater, according to a report released Wednesday. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LATINOS_ONLINE http://clickz.com/stats/sectors/demographics/article.php/3625244 Top 10 Search Terms in 10 Categories, February 2007 The top 10 search terms in IT and Internet; automotive; movies; Internet advertising; food and beverage; pharmaceuticals and medical; blogs and personal Web sites; broadcast media; shopping; and travel. Clickstream data are collected by Hitwise. http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625229 Music Industry Tightens Squeeze On Students The recording industry is dusting off an old tactic in its never-ending effort to crack down on pirated music: Target the college kids. So far this year, the music industry's trade group has sent out hundreds of complaints to students, pressured school administrators to take tougher anti-piracy measures and tried shaming colleges into doing better by putting out a list of the top offending schools. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030801895.html First legal ?download to burn? film service One of the last barriers to convenient film distribution via the internet fell yesterday with the launch of the first legal ?download-to-burn? service in Britain. Customers will be able to sign up with Lovefilm.com to create high-quality DVDs direct from their computers. Previously, customers could rent or buy films digitally but could not then transfer them to the DVD format. Hollywood has struggled to adapt to the digital revolution, which it has regarded traditionally as a threat to the box office. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article1511642.ece 20 must-have Firefox extensions These plug-ins give you souped-up functionality, better look and feel, and streamlined development tasks. And some are just plain cool. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011975 Blogging for dollars raises questions of online ethics Payments by advertisers to bloggers for writing about their goods, critics say, blur the line between opinion and product placement. http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-bloggers9mar09,1,6615834.story 50 Largest Telecommunications Service Providers for 2006 The Eastern Management Group has released the names of the World's 50 Largest Telecommunications Service Providers for 2006. Topping the list as the world's largest service provider in 2006 was Japan's NTT, with revenues of US$95 billion. Verizon ranked number two among service providers worldwide, followed by AT&T. The smallest company making the list of the 50 was Italy's Wind Telecomunicazioni, with revenues of US$6 billion. http://www.cellular-news.com/story/22574.php au: Regional ISPs thrown a $20m bone THE federal Government has allocated an extra $20 million to its Broadband Connect rural subsidy scheme in a bid to honour a rash of last-minute claims for the final scraps of the rapidly-depleting fund. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21380112%5E16123%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Broadband_Connect_gets_another_AU_20m/0,130061791,339274247,00.htm cn: Regulator moves for convergence of voice, data and cable-TV services The mainland's telecommunications regulator aims to converge voice, data and cable-television networks into a single internet platform in a move that will pave the way for telecommunications firms to run broadcasting services. http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=65749 us: Convergence With AT&T's Global IP Plans AT&T is accelerating its embrace of convergence with a new $750 million investment in its global Internet infrastructure. The move represents an even bolder step by the telecommunications provider to offer a bundle of networking services that are IP-based, as well as leverage its Cingular Wireless assets. http://www.opticallynetworked.com/news/article.php/3665331 Norwegian telecom firm accuses Russian rival of smear campaign Telenor, the Norwegian cellphone company, charged that a Russian telecommunications company paid journalists in Ukraine to publish negative articles about Telenor in the midst of a business dispute. http://iht.com/articles/2007/03/14/business/telenor.php E-commerce and the Telecommunication Sector in Brazil According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Brazil boasts the most advanced Internet and e-commerce industry in Latin America and the fifth largest telecom infrastructure worldwide. This is due to privatization of Brazilian telecom services and associated advancements. between 1998 when the Brazilian telecom system was privatized, and the year 2000, telecom investments advanced an average of 1.36% GNP per year, a rate well above both Brazilian and Latin American historical levels. Thus, in record time the privatization of the Brazilian telecom system succeeded in revolutionizing the national communications industry, which in turn promoted national development of e-commerce. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1706 Regulation of VOIP services in the European Union In order to encourage competition between Internet carriers of telephone traffic and traditional telephone the European Commission favors an EU-wide light touch approach to VoIP services. The European Commission launched a consultation on the treatment of Voice over VoIP services under the EU regulatory framework. Based on the conclusions reached in this consultation, the European Commission expressed its intention to promote the development of VoIP services rather than develop detailed guidelines for VoIP. Moreover, VoIP providers often face difficulties to provide guaranteed access to emergency services due to technical limitations. However, rather than impose strict obligations, the European Commission has encouraged market players to collaborate on possible solutions for the provision of emergency access services. http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=articles&id=1E181FF9-9B49-4C77-9700-FC3DB5E6F3E4 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sources include Quicklinks <http://qlinks.net/> and BNA Internet Law News <http://www.bna.com/ilaw/>. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (c) David Goldstein 2007 --------- David Goldstein address: 4/3 Abbott Street COOGEE NSW 2034 AUSTRALIA email: Goldstein_David §yahoo.com.au phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home) "Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the problem. Every time you forgo fossil fuels, you're being part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.comReceived on Mon Mar 19 2007 - 02:44:59 UTC
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