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://GoldsteinReport.com/ - for daily updates in between postings.


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The domain name news is supported by auDA

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Request for Comments on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority Functions
http://icann.org/en/correspondence/beckstrom-to-alexander-25mar11-en.pdf

ICANN 42 in Dakar, Senegal
http://blog.icann.org/2011/03/icann-42-in-dakar-senegal/

ICANN Suggests Moving Internet From US Control
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2011/03/27/icann-suggests-moving-internet-from-us-control/

India Seeks To Block .XXX As Pre-Registrations Pass 500,000
http://goldsteinreport.com/article.php?article=14111

Expert: IPv4 addresses could soon be valued at $200 apiece by Bill St. Arnaud
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/72501

IPv4 address transfers must meet policy, ARIN chief says
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9215091/IPv4_address_transfers_must_meet_policy_ARIN_chief_says

Microsoft spends $7.5m on net addresses
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12859585


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GOVERNANCE
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The Future of the Internet: Will the Web have a place in a world full of apps? This essay is part of Farhad Manjoo's continuing series on the future of innovation
Last summer, in a much-read cover story, Wired proclaimed that the Web is dead. Chris Anderson, the magazine's editor, argued that loading pages in a browser is pass?. The future, Anderson wrote, is in downloadable apps, which have several advantages over the Web. They're fast, they can be customized for specific purposes, and?perhaps most importantly?people seem to have no problem paying for them, which means that software and media companies have an incentive to keep creating more. Few of us, meanwhile, pay for Web content?and our reluctance, Anderson argued, spoke volumes about what we really want from our computers: "Much as we love freedom and choice, we also love things that just work, reliably and seamlessly."
http://www.slate.com/id/2289342/

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DOMAIN NAMES
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**********************
 - ICANN
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Request for Comments on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority Functions
ICANN welcomes the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) request for public comment on potential enhancements to the performance of IANA functions. ICANN agrees with NTIA that now is an appropriate time to undertake the first ?comprehensive review of the IANA functions contract since the award of the first contract in 2000.?
http://icann.org/en/correspondence/beckstrom-to-alexander-25mar11-en.pdf

ICANN 42 in Dakar, Senegal
Three times each year ICANN hosts an international public meeting in a different geographic region of the world. The third meeting of 2011 is scheduled for Africa on October 24-28, and I am delighted to confirm that Dakar, Senegal, will be the site of ICANN?s 42nd Public Meeting.
http://blog.icann.org/2011/03/icann-42-in-dakar-senegal/

ICANN Suggests Moving Internet From US Control
Comments on the future of IANA ? which makes the underlying changes to the internet ? are slowly trickling in at the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), with five days to go to the end of a consultation period. In its comments, the body managing the IANA functions for the United States suggests moving control of those functions out of longstanding, singular US control.
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2011/03/27/icann-suggests-moving-internet-from-us-control/

ICANN asks the US to cut it loose
ICANN has officially requested the loosening of its contractual ties to the US government.
http://domainincite.com/icann-asks-the-us-to-cut-it-loose/

ICANN registrars aid Japanese domain customers
Most ICANN registrars are members of the Registrar Stakeholder Group (RrSG), their official representative body. Although membership is not compulsory for ICANN-accredited registrars, it does carry several advantages.
http://stephanevangelder.com/archives/363-ICANN-registrars-aid-Japanese-domain-customers.html

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 - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS
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China Trademark Emails. It's A Scam!
Earlier this year, in a post entitled, "China Domain Name Scams. It's A Scam!" I wrote of how companies have been receiving emails alerting them to how someone just sought to register "their" domain name in China. I wrote of how this is virtually always just a scam and described how to handle these:
http://www.chinalawblog.com/2011/03/china_trademark_scams_its_a_scam_1.html

A new legal framework for domain names in France
On 22 March 2011, the President of the Republic promulgated a law to bring various French legislative provisions on health, labour and telecommunications into line with EU law.
http://www.afnic.fr/actu/nouvelles/278/a-new-legal-framework-for-domain-names-in-france

HKIRC Officially Launches Full Chinese .?? Domain Name Encouraging Response during Soft Launch Indicating Need for .?? Domain in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) today announced the official launch of the full Chinese .?? Internationalised Country Code Top Level Domain (.?? domain name). HKIRC has received positive response during the half-month soft launch period, with about 20,000 .?? domain names activated. This encouraging feedback shows the great demand for the .?? domain name among businesses and in the community.
https://www.hkirc.hk/company_info/pressrelease.jsp?item=425

ictQATAR Launches Qatar Domains Registry
The Internet is one-step closer to being more accessible to speakers of Arabic in Qatar and around the world with the official launch of the Qatar Domains Registry (QDR), which was officially unveiled to the public this evening by the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR). QDR, which will be managed by ictQATAR will begin making Qatar-specific Internet domain names in Arabic and Latin-scripts available to select organizations in Qatar immediately, with general domains available to the public by August of 2011.
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20110303054244/

uk: Nominet faces criminal liability over websites
Nominet, the independent registrar for the .uk internet domain, could face criminal liability if it refused to take down websites that allow criminal activity, says a specially commissioned report.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2011/03/24/246047/Nominet-faces-criminal-liability-over-websites.htm

India to oppose .XXX domain for porn sites
India will seek to block the internet's newly-formed red-light district after a global agency governing the web approved .xxx suffix for pornography websites last week, a senior government official said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/india-to-oppose-xxx-domain-for-porn-sites/articleshow/7777691.cms

India Seeks To Block .XXX As Pre-Registrations Pass 500,000
India has joined the Free Speech Coalition, the adult entertainment industry lobby group, by coming out publicly and saying they oppose the introduction of the .XXX sponsored Top Level Domain as pre-registrations are now approaching 520,000.
http://goldsteinreport.com/article.php?article=14111
http://www.domainpulse.com/2011/03/25/india-seeks-to-block-xxx-as-pre-registrations-pass-half-million/

India Is First To Announce Blocking of .XXX - How many more will follow ... including the U.S.?
Against staunch opposition from the adult industry, ICANN nonetheless approved the creation of the ".xxx" domain last Friday, and one country has wasted no time in vowing to take advantage of the move by announcing that it will block all access to the domain within the country.
http://news.avn.com/articles/India-Is-First-To-Announce-Blocking-of-XXX-430005.html

Why the ICANN .XXX Domain Extensions Might Not Be Such a Good Idea
ICANN recently decided that they'd finally allow an all-new domain extension made specifically for porn and adult websites; .xxx domains.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7880578/why_the_icann_xxx_domain_extensions.html

India to oppose .XXX domain for porn sites
India will seek to block the internet?s newly-formed red-light district after a global agency governing the web approved .xxx suffix for pornography websites last week, a senior government official said.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/business/107-international/39224.html

FSC Launches Anti-.XXX Campaign: Just Say NO! Many in adult industry echo FSC: .XXX?It's a bad investment
Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announced today that it is launching an anti?.XXX campaign and urges adult online businesses not to buy into the newly-approved .XXX sTLD.
http://news.avn.com/articles/FSC-Launches-Anti-XXX-Campaign-Just-Say-NO-430172.html

ICANN Approves Dot XXX Again by John Levine
At Friday's board meeting, ICANN once again narrowly approved the contentious .XXX domain intended for pornography. What this vote primarily shows is that ICANN's processes have been broken for a long time, and aren't getting fixed.
http://jl.ly/ICANN/xxx11.html

.xxx reservations pass half a million
ICM Registry has now taken over 500,000 reservations for .xxx domain names.
http://domainincite.com/xxx-reservations-pass-half-a-million/

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 - DNS SECURITY
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Cyber security summit signs UK-US university deal
A conference on cyber security has ended with a university deal to train a new generation of experts in fighting off criminal and terrorist IT attacks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12854531

Iran accused in 'dire' net security attack
Hackers in Iran have been accused of trying to subvert one of the net's key security systems.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12847072

Pentagon seeks $3.2 billion for revised cyber budget
Protecting military networks in fiscal 2012 would cost nearly $1 billion more than the Pentagon publicly reported last month, an increase that reflects the growing number of programs being re-categorized as cybersecurity-related, agency officials said.
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110324_2474.php

nz: Internal Affairs website down; no evidence of DoS attack so far
Speculation that Anonymous hacker group is to blame is premature, Department says
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/internal-affairs-website-down-anonymous-blamed

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 - DOMAIN DISPUTES
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Facebook Tries To Squash 21 Squatted Domain Names
Facebook is trying to gain ownership over 21 domain names that include the term ?facebook?, including KillFacebook.com, FacebookStuff.com and FacebookSafety.com.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/24/facebook-tries-to-squash-21-squatted-domain-names/

Facebook files 21 domain name complaints
Facebook has filed a UDRP complaint covering 21 domain names that include its trademark.
http://domainincite.com/facebook-files-21-domain-name-complaints/

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 - IPv4/IPv6
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Expert: IPv4 addresses could soon be valued at $200 apiece by Bill St. Arnaud
There has been a lot of buzz in the press about the recent news of Nortel selling some of its address space to Microsoft for $7.5m which works out to $11.25 per IP address. This is not an actual sale yet, but only approval by a bankruptcy court to proceed with a sale, ultimately subject, of course, to ARIN?s compliance process. However it does underscore the fact that there is now a market value for IPv4 addresses.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/72501

IPv4 address transfers must meet policy, ARIN chief says
The chief executive of the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) said today that any transfer of IPv4 addresses from one organization to another will need to be compliant with established ARIN policy.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/381114/ipv4_address_transfers_must_meet_policy_arin_chief_says/
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9215091/IPv4_address_transfers_must_meet_policy_ARIN_chief_says
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/032511-ipv4-address-transfers-must-meet.html

Microsoft spends $7.5m on net addresses
Microsoft has offered to pay $7.5m (?4.7m) for net addresses from bankrupt telecoms firm Nortel. The 666,624 IP version 4 (IPv4) net addresses were put up for auction as part of the sell-off of Nortel's assets.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12859585

Microsoft Pays Bankrupt Nortel $7.5m For 666,624 IP Addresses
With IPv4 addresses becoming scarce, prices are booming. One consequence of this is Microsoft recently agreeing to buy almost two-thirds of a million IPv4 addresses for $7.5 million, or $11.25 per address, through a Delaware bankruptcy court from Nortel. The announcement came in the 23 March edition of the Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Report writes Milton Mueller on the Internet Governance blog.
http://goldsteinreport.com/article.php?article=14115
http://www.domainpulse.com/2011/03/25/microsoft-pays-bankrupt-nortel-75m-for-666624-ip-addresses/

Microsoft pays Nortel $7.5 million for IPv4 addresses
Microsoft this week offered to pay Nortel $7.5 million for 666,624 legacy IPv4 addresses. The sale is pending approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware as part of Nortel's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/72498

Microsoft pays $7.5m for IPv4 address stash
The value of IPv4 addresses is set to rise as companies look to snap up remaining addresses ahead of the switch to IPv6, according to academics.
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/366286/microsoft-pays-7-5m-for-ipv4-address-stash

Microsoft spends $7.5m on IP addresses
It?s official, IP addresses are now more expensive than domain names. Nortel Networks, the bankrupt networking hardware vendor, has sold 666,624 IPv4 addresses to Microsoft for $7.5m, according to Delaware bankruptcy court documents.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/24/microsoft_ip_spend/
http://domainincite.com/microsoft-spends-7-5-million-on-ip-addresses/

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 - MISCELLANEOUS
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ARIN says "No!" to competing registries, independence of legacy space holders by Brenden Kuerbis
While last week's IG news was dominated by the ICANN meeting in San Francisco, including the Board's watershed moment approving .xxx, other important IG decisions were occurring elsewhere.
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2011/3/25/4778257.html

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INTERNET USE
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Creating a digital public library without Google's money
Google's settlement with authors and publishers has been tossed out, shining a spotlight on copyright law. Maybe we shouldn't entrust that kind of project to a corporation anyway.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20110325,0,770127.column

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SOCIAL NETWORKING
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More than half of US adults use Facebook: study [AFP]
More than half of US adults use online social networking service Facebook, according to an upcoming study.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/more-than-half-of-us-adults-use-facebook-study-20110326-1cafu.html
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/more-than-half-of-us-adults-use-facebook-study-20110326-1cafu.html

MySpace loses millions of users in a few weeks
Latest statistics suggest attempts to kick new life into MySpace may be failing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12862139

Mark Zuckerberg?s 650 Million Friends (and Counting): Facebook dominates the world?s most popular social networks.
Back in June 2009, the globe?s potpourri of social-networking sites was dazzlingly diverse: Google?s Orkut dominated India and Brazil; Central and South America preferred Hi5; Maktoob was king in the Arab world. The Vietnamese liked Zing, the Czechs loved Lid?, South Koreans surfed Cyworld.
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/06/mark-zuckerberg-s-650-million-friends-and-counting.html

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CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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A Girl's Nude Photo, and Altered Lives
One day last winter Margarite posed naked before her bathroom mirror, held up her cellphone and took a picture. Then she sent the full-length frontal photo to Isaiah, her new boyfriend. Both were in eighth grade. They broke up soon after. A few weeks later, Isaiah forwarded the photo to another eighth-grade girl, once a friend of Margarite?s. Around 11 o?clock at night, that girl slapped a text message on it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/us/27sexting.html

Child pornographers use online social networks to foil investigators
The raid started out as routine. Investigators had heard that a convicted sex offender in Seattle was talking to others about sexually abusing a child.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/child-pornographers-use-online-social-networks-to-foil-investigators/2011/03/18/ABWGfXJB_story.html

nz: Software lets parents monitor kids' calls
New spy software has gone on sale in New Zealand to allow parents to monitor their children's text messages and cellphone calls.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10714812

nz: Schools urged to prevent online bullying videos
Schools are being urged to take a lead in tackling the trend in bullying videos being shared online.
http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/schools-urged-prevent-online-bullying-videos-4089143

nz: To fight or not to fight
The months of verbal and sometimes physical abuse and death threats on Facebook are over but Michaela Blaauw still finds it hard to sleep at night.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10714958

au: Facebook fear for schoolkids
Parents of boys at a Sydney private school have been urged to monitor their sons' use of Facebook, with a warning that any mistakes they made in teenage years could be permanently recorded on the internet and catch up with them later in life.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/4817298/Facebook-fear-for-schoolkids

au: Bullying: protecting kids is all cheques and no balances
What protection is there for children when their parents succumb to the temptations of chequebook journalism? At present, the answer would seem to be very little.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/03/24/bullying-protecting-kids-is-all-cheques-and-no-balances/

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ONLINE TV & MUSIC
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E-books: New bounty for Internet pirates
Internet piracy has dealt heavy blows to the music industry over recent years. Now book publishers are complaining that the rapid spread of illegal electronic books threatens the overall commercial viability of e-books.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14914028,00.html

au: AFACT v iiNet: Case moves to High Court
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) will lodge an appeal with the High Court as part of its ongoing allegation that Perth-based internet service provider iiNet had allowed its users to infringe on the copyright of the film studios the body represents.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/380889/afact_v_iinet_case_moves_high_court/

AFACT to take iiNet case to high court
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) announced that it will continue its legal battle against internet service provider (ISP) iiNet over copyright infringement, seeking leave to appeal its case to the High Court.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/afact-to-take-iinet-case-to-high-court-339311928.htm

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MOBILE/WIRELESS
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It's Tracking Your Every Move and You May Not Even Know
A favorite pastime of Internet users is to share their location: services like Google Latitude can inform friends when you are nearby; another, Foursquare, has turned reporting these updates into a game.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/media/26privacy.html

Swiping Is the Easy Part
The cellphone has been more than a cellphone for years, but soon it could take on an entirely new role ? standing in for all of the credit and debit cards crammed into wallets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/technology/24wallet.html

Australians buy 1 million mobile phones monthly: IDC
Australians' love affair with mobile phones shows no sign of abating with more than 1 million units purchased each month last year. This means just over 34,000 mobile phones were sold every day in 2010.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/telecommunications/million-mobile-phones-sold-each-month-in-australia-idc/story-fn4iyzsr-1226027430823

Radiation app rejected by Steve Jobs
Want to monitor your iPhone's radiation levels? So far, not to be found at Apple's App Store.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/radiation-app-rejected-by-steve-jobs.html

Taliban Cuts Cellphone Service in Helmand
President Hamid Karzai surprised some people this week when he announced that his forces would take over security responsibilities from international forces in the city of Lashkar Gah, capital of the volatile southern province of Helmand, this summer.
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/taliban-cuts-cellphone-service-in-helmand/

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SPAM
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Spammers sought after botnet takedown
The Rustock botnet, which sent up to 30 billion spam messages per day, might have been run by two or three people.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12859591

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ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL
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The Great Language Land Grab
When tech companies engage in legal squabbles about who gets to use our everyday words, what are ordinary speakers of the language to make of it all?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/weekinreview/27zimmer.html

Google, Yahoo, Skype targeted in possible 'state-driven' hack from Iran
Possible "state-funded" hackers from Iran may be behind an unsuccessful Web-based attack that almost left Google, Yahoo, Skype and Mozilla open to impersonation, according to an Internet security company.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/iran-hacker-google-yahoo-skype.html

Just for once, Google has been given a bloody nose
Last week, a US judge in Manhattan made a landmark decision. As to what it means, opinions vary. Some see it as arresting the cultural progress that began with the Enlightenment; others are celebrating Judge Denny Chin's ruling as the blocking of a predatory move by a giant corporation to control access to the world's cultural heritage. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/27/google-digitising-books

Good and Bad in Google Book Search Settlement Decision
Yesterday?s decision rejecting the proposed settlement in the Google Books case, Authors Guild v. Google, got a number of things right. For starters, as we wrote shortly after the decision was announced, we?re glad that the court acknowledged the importance of the privacy concerns we helped to raise.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/good-and-bad-google-book-search-settlement

Google Books Decision: "The Privacy Concerns are Real"
A federal district court in New York today issued a long-awaited ruling in the Google Books case, Authors Guild v. Google, rejecting the proposed settlement between the parties.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/google-books-decision-privacy-concerns-are-real

Judge Chin shoves the Google settlement toward sanity
The Google book settlement has been grinding through the courts since the Authors' Guild and Association of American Publishers (AAP) sued them in a class action in 2005, and they came to a tentative settlement in 2008. Yesterday Judge Denny Chin once again rejected the proposed settlement, with a strong hint about how to fix it. Fortunately for the American public, Judge Chin is an excellent judge with a deep understanding of the issues, and his opinion makes it clear what all the problems with the proposed settlement are.
http://jl.ly/Copyright_Law/googrej.html

Google, Authors, Will Need To Rethink Digital Book Settlement
Google?s efforts to resolve questions of copyright infringement in its digital library project did not yield the hoped-for result as a district court judge yesterday rejected the agreement. But the judge left open the possibility that the parties could come back again with revisions.
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2011/03/23/google-authors-will-need-to-rethink-digital-book-settlement/

Cyber security summit signs UK-US university deal
A conference on cyber security has ended with a university deal to train a new generation of experts in fighting off criminal and terrorist IT attacks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12854531

Iran accused in 'dire' net security attack
Hackers in Iran have been accused of trying to subvert one of the net's key security systems.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12847072

Pentagon seeks $3.2 billion for revised cyber budget
Protecting military networks in fiscal 2012 would cost nearly $1 billion more than the Pentagon publicly reported last month, an increase that reflects the growing number of programs being re-categorized as cybersecurity-related, agency officials said.
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110324_2474.php

ACMA targets PC virus telemarketers
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has announced that it is ramping up its fight against telemarketers who try to convince customers that their computers are infected by viruses and then charge a fee for removal.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/acma-targets-pc-virus-telemarketers-339311931.htm

ACMA sets crosshairs on virus-removal telemarketers
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) today announced a "targeted compliance campaign" targeting businesses that offer virus removal and technical support.
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/380873/acma_sets_crosshairs_virus-removal_telemarketers
http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/380873/acma_sets_crosshairs_virus-removal_telemarketers/

ACMA takes on computer virus telemarketers
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has threatened telemarketers attempting to pass off fraudulent virus protections schemes with fines of up to $110,000.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/380994/acma_takes_computer_virus_telemarketers/
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/380994/acma_takes_computer_virus_telemarketers/

The ACMA targets computer virus telemarketers [news release]
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is ramping up its fight against computer virus telemarketers who try to convince a consumer that their computer has a virus they can remove for a fee.
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_312488

ACMA goes after phony malware telemarketers
Consumers are still being seen as a soft target for telemarketers peddling fake tech support for computer users they try to convince that their system has been infected with malware. According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, many of the unwanted telemarketing calls are being made to consumers on the Government's Do Not Call Register.
http://www.itwire.com/it-policy-news/government-tech-policy/46050-acma-goes-after-phony-malware-telemarketers

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CENSORSHIP
**********************
China and Google: A detailed look
After weeks of frustration from Gmail users within China, Google has finally come out to accuse the Chinese government of being behind the interference that has prevented users from accessing the site.
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/asia/2011/03/23/china-and-google-detailed-look

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GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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Advertisers in Europe May Face Limits in Use of Keywords
An adviser to the highest European Union court recommended Thursday that some restrictions be placed on the rights of advertisers to use the names of rivals as keywords to generate sponsored links on Internet search engines.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/technology/25iht-keyword25.html

Brand owners could stop keyword triggers that benefit from their reputation, says ECJ advisor
Owners of trade marks with a reputation could stop other companies using their brands as triggers for Google adverts if the use is an attempt to benefit from the reputation of that brand, an advisor to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said.
http://out-law.com/page-11837

us: Apple CEO Steve Jobs ordered to speak to lawyers in digital music monopoly lawsuit
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been ordered to answer questions from lawyers representing consumers who, in a class-action lawsuit, are alleging that the tech giant has built a monopoly in the business of digital music downloads. ... In their complaint against Apple, a group of consumers argues that Apple has created a monopoly with iTunes and the iPod music and video players by not allowing certain formats of music to play on iPods and limiting music from iTunes to playing only on iPods as well.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-has-been-ordered-to-answer-questions-from-lawyers-representing-consumers-who-in-a-class-action-lawsui.html

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MISCELLANEOUS
*********************************
Is It a New Tech Bubble? Let?s See if It Pops
Banks pouring money into technology funds, wealthy clients and institutions clamoring to get pieces of start-ups, expectations of stock market debuts building ? as Wall Street?s machinery kicks into second gear, some investors with memories of the Internet bust a decade earlier are wondering whether this sudden burst of activity spells danger for the industry once again.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/is-it-a-new-tech-bubble-lets-see-if-it-pops/

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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nz: Lobby groups push for changes to Telecomms Amendment Bill
InternetNZ, Federated Farmers and TUANZ have written to the chairman of Parliament?s Finance and Expenditure Committee, Craig Foss, proposing major changes to the Telecommunications Amendment Bill.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/lobby-groups-push-for-changes-to-telecomms-amendment-bill

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ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR ONLINE CHILD PROTECTION
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au: Child porn Facebook troll gets 3 years
A Brisbane man has been sentenced to three years' jail for defacing internet tribute pages set up for two slain children.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/25/3174106.htm

Facebook vandal jailed
A man who vandalised Facebook tribute sites for two dead children has been jailed.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/technology-news/facebook-vandal-jailed-20110325-1c9mq.html

Jail for man who 'trolled' tribute sites for slain children
A MAN who used child pornography and offensive messages to deface online tribute pages for two slain schoolchildren has been sentenced to a year in prison.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/jail-for-man-who-trolled-tribute-sites-for-slain-children/story-e6frg6nf-1226028342267

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(c) David Goldstein 2011


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David Goldstein

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"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