Don't forget to check out http://www.auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the 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 *************************************************** ICANN Should be Reformed Before "Privatization", Says New Study http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090317_study_icann_reform_before_privatization/ Mormons demand ICANN plugs net smut hole http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/18/mormons_icann/ African telecoms policy makers, regulators meet in Mauritius http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/african-telecoms-policy-makers,-regulators-meet-in-mauritius-2009031723817.html .TEL Launches on March 24 http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=7565 Pentagon Official Warns of Risk of Cyber Attacks http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/17/AR2009031702715.html WIPO's Misleading Release http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090317_wipo_misleading_release_domain_disputes/ ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** ********************** - ICANN ********************** Things you didn?t realize were on the ICANN site: Part 3 Back in November, we outlined ?more mechanisms for transparency and accountability? which flagged up the Dashboard that you can access from the front page of the ICANN website, but which also spoke of an ?operational scorecard? where the work that ICANN does is clearly identified and tied to the organization?s operating plan and budget. http://blog.icann.org/2009/03/things-you-didn%e2%80%99t-realize-were-on-the-icann-site-part-3/ Mexico City Fellowship Program Reached Successful Conclusion 17 Fellowship participants attended the 34th ICANN International Public Meeting held in Mexico City earlier this month. 23 candidates were chosen from a pool of 105 applications. 6 of the participating fellows were alumni of a previous fellowship program, 4 were first-time fellows who had attended at least 1 ICANN meeting previously, and 7 were first-time ICANN meeting attendees. http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-17mar09-en.htm ICANN Should be Reformed Before "Privatization", Says New Study The Technology Policy Institute (TPI), an IT and communications policy think tank, has just released a paper proposing that "ICANN's governance structure should be dramatically reformed to make it more accountable before the current tie with the U.S. Department of Commerce is allowed to expire." http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090317_study_icann_reform_before_privatization/ Study: Reform ICANN Before Privatizing It A new study, to be formally released Wednesday, suggests that ICANN must be reformed before its ties with the U.S. Department of Commerce are severed. The Joint Project Agreement between ICANN and the Department of Commerce concludes in August. http://domainnamewire.com/2009/03/17/study-reform-icann-before-privatizing-it/ ICANN to review plan for regional Africa office ICANN's promise to open a regional office in Africa has been deferred for years, but the Internet authority will take another look at the idea soon, according to CEO and President Paul Twomey. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2009/03/18/icann-review-plan-regional-africa-office Mormons demand ICANN plugs net smut hole Mormon anti-pornography activists led by SCO Group chairman Ralph Yarro III are calling on ICANN to give more political clout to those who want to kick porn off the web. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/18/mormons_icann/ gTLD - Is Your Brand Up for a New Domain? [sub req'd] Following a consultation period, ICANN has confirmed that it intends to introduce new generic top-level domains in 2010. http://www.linexlegal.com/content.php?content_id=83965 ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** African telecoms policy makers, regulators meet in Mauritius African telecommunications policy makers and regulators are meeting in Mauritius 17-19 March to discuss key Internet governance issues with focus on ccTLDs. http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/african-telecoms-policy-makers,-regulators-meet-in-mauritius-2009031723817.html Mauritius-Africa-Internet-forum African policy makers and regulators are debating key Internet governance issues focusing on country code top level domains in a three-day forum in Pailles on the outskirts of the capital Port Louis. http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=92086 IDN Registration to Open for .AR (Argentina) Before next March 23, NIC Argentina will have completed sending notifications about the services entered during the sunrise period. http://www.domainpulse.com/2009/03/17/idn-registration-to-open-for-ar-argentina/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/idn-registration-opens-for-.ar-argentina.html SWITCH, Swiss & Liechtenstein Registry, Warns Against Bogus Offers SWITCH, the registry for Swiss and Liechtenstein domain names, is warning against bogus offers for domain names. http://www.domainpulse.com/2009/03/17/switch-swiss-liechtenstein-registry-warns-against-bogus-offers/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/switch-swiss-liechtenstein-registry-warns-against-bogus-offers.html CO.NL Landrush Opening on March 17th [news release] The CO.NL Operator is glad to announce the opening of the CO.NL Landrush phase that will run for 14 days, starting today at 2:00 pm GMT and ending on March 31st at exactly the same time. http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/co.nl-landrush-opening-on-march-17th.html http://www.domainpulse.com/2009/03/17/conl-landrush-opens-on-march-17/ .TEL Launches on March 24 A new top level domain, .tel, launches on March 24 to the general public following sunrise and landrush periods. Telnic, the operator of .tel, is reminding businesses and individuals they have less than one week to pre-register their preferred domain names. On March 24, domain names on a first come, first served basis to and prices drop substantially. http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=7565 http://www.domainpulse.com/2009/03/18/tel-launches-on-march-24/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/.tel-launches-on-march-24.html Social Media Revolution Will Be .Tel-evised A new top-level domain, .tel, is preparing to launch, but it's not your typical Internet domain. It doesn't rely on hosted Web pages; rather, it uses the domain name system to store and communicate contact data and associated keywords. It also incorporates security and privacy features. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/66510.html New .Tel Domain Will Lead To Increased Cybersquatting Issues For The Unprepared A huge rush to for the latest piece of internet property is set to commence when premium fees associated to .tel domains are removed at 15:00 GMT on Tuesday 24 March. http://www.domaininformer.com/news/press/090318-New-Tel-Domain-Will-Lead-To-Increased-Cybersquatting-Issues-For-The-Unprepared ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** Pentagon Official Warns of Risk of Cyber Attacks The head of the Pentagon's Strategic Command warned Congress today that the United States is vulnerable to cyberattacks "across the spectrum" and that more needs to be done to defend against the potential of online strikes, which could "potentially threaten not only our military networks, but also our critical national networks." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/17/AR2009031702715.html Trend Micro Annual Threat Report: Cybercriminals are Working Faster Than Ever [news release] Malware exploits moved at unprecedented speed and volume this past year but 2009 may bring increasing cooperation among security vendors and law enforcement agencies to bring down criminal enterprises, according to the annual Trend Micro Threat Roundup & 2009 Forecast. http://trendmicro.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=700&WT.mc_id=2008HP_News DNSSEC Industry Coalition Meets with Google?s Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf and Internet Researcher Dan Kaminsky (2009-03-18) The DNSSEC Industry Coalition (www.dnsseccoalition.org) comprised of 20 organizations streamlining the rollout of DNSSEC worldwide, gathered on Friday, March 13, 2009, to share best practices in deployment and meet the urgent challenge to secure the Internet's domain name system (DNS). Approximately 50 people attended the meeting and 3 presentations were scheduled with a lively Q&A following. Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, Vint Cerf, provided a keynote speech on the pressing need to sign the root zone and the importance of efforts to implement DNSSEC. http://pir.org/index.php?db=content/News&tbl=Press&id=19 Is Your Domain Name Ownership Information Safe? Last month ICANN sent a breach notice to domain registrar Parava Networks. Among several serious breaches, one of Parava?s faults was not escrowing its registrant data. ICANN?s Registrant Data Escrow (RDE) program requires domain registrars to escrow customer information with a third party provider. If the registrar fails or loses its accreditation, ICANN can tap the escrow data to ensure the safe transfer of domains to another registrar. http://domainnamewire.com/2009/03/18/is-your-domain-name-ownership-information-safe/ ********************** - DOMAIN DISPUTES ********************** WIPO's Misleading Release The World Intellectual Property Organization put out a release yesterday trumpeting an eight percent increase in domain name disputes handled by WIPO. In 2008 there were 2329 complaints filed with WIPO, the most ever. WIPO uses the increase to raise questions about the possible increase in the number of available generic top-level domains. http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090317_wipo_misleading_release_domain_disputes/ Domain disputes rise, but could rocket under ICANN plan says WIPO The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) ruled on more domain name disputes last year than ever before but has warned that disputes will rocket if a plan to allow the creation of infinite numbers of domains goes ahead. http://out-law.com/page-9885 U.N. Agency: Cybersquatting On The Rise New data from the World Intellectual Property Organization, as well as from MarkMonitor, highlights problem of brand abuse online http://www.darkreading.com/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215900755 Cybersquatting cases hit record in 2008 Companies and celebrities ranging from Arsenal football club to actress Scarlett Johansson filed a record number of "cybersquatting" cases in 2008 to stop others from profiting from their famous names, brands and events, a United Nations agency said. http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/cybersquatting-cases-hit-record-in-2008-2560448 New UDRP Domain Arbitration Search Engine Launches A new UDRP search engine, UDRPsearch.com, has launched. The web site allows you to search cases at both National Arbitration Forum and World Intellectual Property Organization without going to both sites. This is helpful for researching particular keywords, complainants, respondents, etc. http://domainnamewire.com/2009/03/18/new-udrp-domain-arbitration-search-engine-launches/ ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** Melbourne IT accepts blame for domain hijack [IDG] Melbourne IT has acknowledged that it was partially responsible for a Web domain hijacking that left a New York Internet hosting company without an Internet address over the weekend. http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/3741/ Canadian privacy rights buried in the fine print by Michael Geist Scott McNealy, the former CEO of Sun Microsystems, has achieved considerable notoriety for having warned Internet users 10 years ago that "you have no privacy, get over it." ... The disclosure issue is not limited to ISPs. Similar questions arose last year when the Canadian Internet Registration Authority crafted its "WHOIS" policy, which governs public access to domain name registrant information. CIRA initially adopted a position that would have required a warrant for all access to such personal information, but intense pressure from the RCMP and Industry Canada led to an exception for law enforcement access without court oversight. http://www.thestar.com/article/602772 http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Technology/Michael+Geist+Canadian+privacy+rights+buried+fine+print/1396531/story.html PCs, websites to decipher all Indian languages soon By the end of September this year, the Department of Information Technology (DIT) will have readied software tools and fonts which can help personal computers (PCs) and websites decipher content in the country?s 22 languages recognised by the Constitution. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/pcs-websites-to-decipher-all-indian-languages-soon/352277/ ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** Three Six-Figure Sedo Sales in February February saw some sizeable sales of domain names through Sedo with the top sale going to top.com for ?357,500 followed by forums.com which sold for US$399,990. Third biggest sale for the month was flatrate.de (?160,000). http://www.domainpulse.com/2009/03/16/three-six-figure-sedo-sales-in-february/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/february-sees-three-six-figure-sedo-sales.html REDC Acquires Domain Name Auction.com for $1.7M REDC, a leader in real estate auctions, announced they acquired the domain name, auction.com, for US$1.7 million, the company Chairman Robert Friedman announced today (18 March). http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/redc-acquires-auction.com-for-1.7m.html Securing the domain name Toys.com was not child?s play for Toys ?R? Us When it comes to operating a successful online business, a concise and explicit domain name can be worth quite a lot. That?s literally the case with Toys.com. http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=29788 ********************** INTERNET USE ********************** European consumers want unrestricted Internet access Nine in 10 people expect their Internet service providers to offer open and unrestricted access to the Web, a survey showed on Wednesday. The survey, commissioned by Google, Yahoo and Web telephone company Skype, came as the European Parliament and EU states hold talks on a joint deal to reform the bloc's telecoms rules to boost competition. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKTRE52H4Z820090318 http://in.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idINIndia-38577020090318' Twenty years of the world wide web: What's the score? Science inspired the world wide web. Two decades on, the web has repaid the compliment by changing science: ?Information Management: A Proposal?. That was the bland title of a document written in March 1989 by a then little-known computer scientist called Tim Berners-Lee who was working at CERN, Europe?s particle physics laboratory, near Geneva. Mr Berners-Lee (pictured) is now, of course, Sir Timothy, and his proposal, modestly dubbed the world wide web, has fulfilled the implications of its name beyond the wildest dreams of anyone involved at the time. http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13277389 Google to host ads by European news agencies Google is ramping up its efforts to make money from its controversial Google News service by striking deals with eight European news agencies, and launching a contextual ad service to display adverts around their stories. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/16/google-news-adverts-agencies au: Home phones shunned as young talkers take to naked broadband More Australians are choosing to go naked every day, but it's not what you think. Rather than shedding clothes, internet users are shedding home telephones by signing up to so-called "naked" broadband plans that do not require a phone line or the monthly rental fee that goes with it. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25201011-23272,00.html ********************** SOCIAL NETWORKING ********************** Facebook Users Get Privacy Controls How much Facebook privacy do you want? Facebook is giving its users greater control over just how private they want their profile, updates, photos and videos to be. Want to keep your latest endeavor between you and your network of Facebook friends? Done. Want to open your pages up to public viewing? Well, now you can do that too. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9129808 http://www.pcworld.com/article/161425/.html http://computerworld.com.au/article/295894/ http://pcworld.idg.com.au/article/295894/ Twitter growth explodes in a year New figures just out show that the number of people using Twitter in the UK has gone through the roof over the last year. It's not just the public using the site either - celebrities like Barack Obama, Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand have all jumped on the bandwagon. http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7948000/7948092.stm ********************** NEW TECHNOLOGIES ********************** Ericsson claims 500Mbps speeds over copper Ericsson has successfully demonstrated data-transfer speeds of more than 500Mbps over copper, the communications company said on Monday. The data-transfer rates were achieved using a version of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology called 'vectorized' VDSL2, Ericsson said in a statement. The technology, also called 'crosstalk cancellation', provides such high transmission rates through a twisted pair of copper cables by reducing the noise coming from other pairs in the same cable bundle. VDSL2 has traditionally offered speeds of around 100Mbps. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-279180.html New life for twisted-pair? 500Mbps over copper wiring Telecom equipment maker Ericsson says the unthinkable is now the possible: 500Mbps transmission speeds over ordinary copper wiring. Looking at the details, though, it's not clear that the news will give Verizon any reason to rethink its hugely expensive fiber-to-the-home strategy... or that such speeds will be coming to a DSL line near you anytime soon. http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/03/ericsson-500mbps-over-copper-wiring.ars ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ PEGI promotional activities and a mystery shopping test in Austria On Safer Internet Day the Austrian node Saferinternet.at presented promotional activities for PEGI and the results of a mystery shopping test. http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/0309/pegi.htm Study: Child porn possessors likely abusers People convicted of possessing child pornography are likely to have sexually abused many children, a study has found. The Journal of Family Violence published in December a study that examined 155 inmates convicted of child pornography possession with no indication during trial that they had inappropriately touched children. Through the course of treatment, however, 131 inmates admitted to having at least one hands-on sexual offense. http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/41444222.html British children work round web controls British parents grossly underestimate how much time their children spend on the net, suggests a report. Written by security firm Symantec, it found that UK parents believe their children are online for 18.8 hours per month. The true figure is 43.5 hours. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7948187.stm Web watchdog changes tack after blacklist leak The communications regulator has been forced to change its internal processes after the address of a prohibited anti-abortion web page in its top-secret blacklist was widely distributed on the internet. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,25196505-5013041,00.html http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,25196505-15306,00.html ?Embarrassed? ACMA forced to change ways The Australian communications watchdog has modified its complaints handling process following the forced removal of a link to a prohibited Web site. http://computerworld.com.au/article/280492/ http://cio.com.au/article/280492/ http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/280492/ http://pcworld.idg.com.au/article/280492/ http://techworld.com.au/article/280492/ au: Banned hyperlinks could cost you $11,000 a day The Australian communications regulator says it will fine people who hyperlink to sites on its blacklist, which has been further expanded to include several pages on the anonymous whistleblower site Wikileaks. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/17/1237054787635.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/03/17/1237054787635.html http://www.watoday.com.au/technology/banned-hyperlinks-could-cost-you-11000-a-day-20090317-90k2.html http://www.prisonplanet.com/banned-hyperlinks-could-cost-you-11000-a-day.html Australia's Internet filter ruled by a single bureaucrat The accountability of the federal government's Internet content filter has been called into question following revelations that the decision to ban Web sites lacks consultation and can be made by a single staffer. http://computerworld.com.au/article/295977/ http://pcworld.idg.com.au/article/295977/ First rule of Internet censorship: Hide the block list Like many countries, Australia currently runs a blacklist of child porn sites. And like many countries, it doesn't want that list published. It doesn't even want other countries' lists published, and is in fact banning such links. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/first-rule-of-internet-censorship-hide-the-block-list.ars Rundle: there is no bigger issue than net censorship With the news that communications watchdog ACMA has put some pages of Wikileaks on its list of banned links -- and threatened linkers with five-figure daily fines -- the fight against the compulsory internet filtering enters a new and vital stage. http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20090318-Rundle-Conroys-attack-on-free-speech-gears-up.html ********************** ONLINE TV & MUSIC ********************** EU Telecom Industry Tries to Boost Legal Music Downloading [IDG] Telecommunications companies are trying to encourage subscribers to turn to legitimate ways of downloading music, movies and TV shows, but the music industry wants them to take more direct action to prevent illegal file sharing. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/161390/.html http://computerworld.com.au/article/295859/ Irish ISPs reject music industry's file-sharer demands Irish internet service providers (ISPs) have rejected claims that they are responsible for users' copyright infringement. They have said that their operations are protected by law. http://out-law.com/page-9887 Irish ISPs rally against record label anti-piracy threat A coalition of Irish ISPs has rebuffed the music industry's attempts to force a "three strikes" disconnection policy on all of Ireland's major internet providers. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/17/irish_isps_rally_against_irma_threats/ ********************** MOBILE/WIRELESS ********************** comScore: Mobile Internet Becoming A Daily Activity For Many [news release] comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported that the number of people using their mobile device to access news and information on the Internet more than doubled from January 2008 to January 2009. Among the audience of 63.2 million people who accessed news and information on their mobile devices in January 2009, 22.4 million (35 percent) did so daily; more than double the size of the audience last year. http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2752 Mistrial by iPhone: Jurors? Web Forays Are Upending Trials Defense lawyers in the federal corruption trial of Vincent J. Fumo, a former Pennsylvania state senator, demanded that the judge declare a mistrial after a juror may have posted updates on the case online. http://nytimes.com/2009/03/18/us/18juries.html ********************** SPAM ********************** Spam Delivers Fake News of Bomb Security firms are sounding the alarm about spam messages purporting to report a bomb explosion in order to get victims to click on a fake Reuters news video and download malicious code to their computers. http://www.pcworld.com/article/161374/.html http://computerworld.com.au/article/280430/ Security experts warn of 'terror attack' spam A new malware scam is using fabricated reports of a terrorist attack to infect users. Researchers from several security firms, including McAfee and Sophos, said that the attacks are being sent out as spam messages which contain hyperlinks. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2238593/malicious-terror-attack-spam http://www.infomaticsonline.co.uk/vnunet/news/2238593/malicious-terror-attack-spam Scammers customize news to deliver you malware Security experts warned on Monday of a new insidious e-mail scam that features false information about a bomb explosion in the recipient's hometown and leads to a malicious Web site. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10197279-83.html ************************** ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL ************************** Pentagon Official Warns of Risk of Cyber Attacks The head of the Pentagon's Strategic Command warned Congress today that the United States is vulnerable to cyberattacks "across the spectrum" and that more needs to be done to defend against the potential of online strikes, which could "potentially threaten not only our military networks, but also our critical national networks." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/17/AR2009031702715.html nz: Special internet security units wanted Netsafe is urging the Government to set up special security units to monitor the internet for hacking attacks. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/03/18/1245a4452bd5 au: Nigerian student gets 19 years jail for Internet scam [AFP] A Nigerian student has been jailed 19 years for swindling an Australian woman out of 47,000 US dollars (36,000 euros) through an Internet scam, the country's anti-graft agency said Tuesday. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/nigerian-student-gets-19-years-jail-for-internet-scam-20090318-915v.html http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/nigerian-student-gets-19-years-jail-for-internet-scam-20090318-915v.html http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/2269156/Internet-scammer-gets-19-years Privacy vs protection: Police and the right to hack Australia's state police have been upping the ante on criminals who use technology to protect their activities, but is it the right way to go? The governments of Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) have moved to boost covert search and telecommunication interception powers that police can use in the fight against crime. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39628948,00.htm U.N. advises governments how to stop Internet drug peddling The U.N. narcotics watchdog on Tuesday issued guidelines on how to crack down on Internet drug peddling at the request of governments struggling to contain growing abuse of prescription drugs. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKTRE52H1AJ20090318 Google/Louis Vuitton legal battle resumes Google today entered the latest stage in a four-year legal battle against luxury brand Louis Vuitton which accuses the US internet giant of selling trademark search terms relating to its products to rivals. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/17/google-louis-vuitton-legal-battle Google in court over Vuitton row Lawyers for Google are to appear in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a row over its use of trademarks. LVMH, the company behind Louis Vuitton luggage and other brands, has accused Google of selling search words such as "vuitton" to the highest bidder. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7947864.stm Google, LVMH Clash Over Keyword Rights at EU Court Louis Vuitton told the European Union?s highest court that Google Inc. doesn?t have the right to sell trademark-protected names to advertisers that trigger ?sponsored links? when the name is used in an Internet search. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aOBW4hX8zVOs Google accused over designer fakes Louis Vuitton has accused internet giant Google of helping to promote fake designer goods during a court battle over the use of trademarks. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/5006723/Louis-Vuitton-accuses-Google-of-helping-promote-fake-designer-goods.html Getty Images sues removal firm over website image Getty Images is suing a removals firm for the alleged use of a copyright-protected image on its website. The global picture company is taking action against a removals and haulage firm based in London, JA Coles. http://out-law.com/page-9880 Italian judge dismisses initial Google defense argument The judge in the Google bullying video case Tuesday rejected a defense argument that lawyers acting for the principal plaintiff did not have a valid mandate. Milan judge Oscar Magi took almost two hours to consider the argument put forward by Google lawyers Giuseppe Vaciago and Giuliano Pisapia before ruling that a lawyer representing the Vivi Down association had been legitimately appointed. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/031709-italian-judge-dismisses-initial-google.html Trend Micro Annual Threat Report: Cybercriminals are Working Faster Than Ever [news release] Malware exploits moved at unprecedented speed and volume this past year but 2009 may bring increasing cooperation among security vendors and law enforcement agencies to bring down criminal enterprises, according to the annual Trend Micro Threat Roundup & 2009 Forecast. http://trendmicro.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=700&WT.mc_id=2008HP_News BBC Botnet 'Reckless,' May Inspire Copycats Security company Sophos has lashed out at the BBC for commandeering some 22,000 computers earlier this month, claiming the move was a reckless breach of privacy that could inspire a wave of vigilante copycats. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/161312/.html Experts blast BBC over botnet stunt Security firms around the world are criticizing the BBC for its conduct in a recent episode of the computer programme Click. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2238682/experts-blast-bbc-botnet-stunt Africa: Cybercrime can wipe out development gains of a nation- experts There appears to be growing concern on the dangers of Cybercrime and Cyber security as the ugly trend is becoming so colossal that it has the capability of wiping out development gains of a nation and retarding her growth fortunes by many decades _ in terms of GDP, if proper steps are not taken.Such nations, IT experts warned, may fall victim to organized cyber security threat and invariably become a digital colony to electronically unbreakable nations! http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/31293/51/ ************************** PRIVACY ************************** U.K. to monitor, store all social-network traffic? The U.K. government is considering the mass surveillance and retention of all user communications on social-networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo. Vernon Coaker the U.K. Home Office security minister, on Monday said the EU Data Retention Directive, under which Internet service providers must store communications data for 12 months, does not go far enough. Communications such as those on social-networking sites and via instant-messaging services could also be monitored, he said. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10199107-83.html Privacy Group Asks F.T.C. to Investigate Google The Electronic Privacy Information Center formally asked the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday to investigate the privacy and security safeguards of Gmail, Google Docs and other so-called cloud computing services offered by Google to consumers. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/privacy-group-asks-ftc-to-investigate-google-cloud-computing/ FTC urged to investigate security of Google services [IDG] An online privacy group is calling on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Google is making deceptive claims over the security of data stored in cloud-computing services such as Gmail and Google Docs. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/031809-ftc-urged-to-investigate-security.html http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9129916 ********************** CENSORSHIP ********************** Google's Nicole Wong calls for united front against web censorship Google has called on other internet companies to help it "hold the line" against governments and others who want to censor content on the web. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5930576.ece Wily Tibetan messengers outfox censors of 'Great Firewall' of China In a simple office overlooking the Himalayan foothills of India a young Tibetan man sits at a computer, trying to succeed where the Dalai Lama has failed for 50 years ? by talking to the Chinese. Every day, Sonam and ten other Tibetans ? all fluent in Mandarin ? surf social networking sites in search of Chinese people to talk to about their homeland. It can be painstaking work. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5927557.ece ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** Sweden's Pirate Party Stands in EU Elections The Swedish Pirate Party is to stand in this summer's European elections to battle for the freedom of information. It's one of a growing number of parties in Europe that believe private citizens should be able to download books or music for their own use. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,613820,00.html NZ ISPs want regular audit of S92A detection methods ISP Association chief Jamie Baddeley has accused Campbell Smith, CEO of the Recording Industry Association of NZ (RIANZ) of being ?economical with the truth? in his statement to Computerworld that ISPs registered no objections to the copyright-breach detection procedures planned by RIANZ in pursuit of the Copyright Act?s controversial Section 92A (Computerworld, March 16). http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/CF2DAB400DEFB4E0CC25757B007E758A Online video regulation structure outlined by UK Government Media regulator Ofcom will take over the regulation of video on demand services, but will delegate it to an industry-formulated co-regulator, the Government has said. http://out-law.com/page-9881 ********************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ********************** One small step for G?ANT, one giant leap for the Black Sea region [news release] The Commission today increased the internet capacity available across the Black Sea to researchers in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) by switching on the region's largest computer network for research and education. The EU-funded regional research and education network Black Sea Interconnection (BSI) links the South Caucasus countries and connects them to the high bandwidth, world-leading, pan-European G?ANT network that already serves 30 million researchers. This new connection will enable researchers and students to collaborate with their European peers in 40 countries, by sharing large amounts of data over the network. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/407 ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN ********************************** au: Sex offenders caught with internet child porn Two convicted sex offenders living on the grounds of Ararat prison in western Victoria have been charged with possessing child pornography. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/16/2517685.htm nz: Former ACT candidate, teacher, guilty of child porn A 60-year-old former teacher and Act Party general election candidate from North Canterbury has been found guilty on 24 child pornography charges. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10562475 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (c) David Goldstein 2009 --------- 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 Stay connected to the people that matter most with a smarter inbox. Take a look http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/smarterinboxReceived on Wed Mar 18 2009 - 16:58:45 UTC
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