Check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain news, including an RSS feed - already online! Headlines from the 23 July edition of the news include: Cybersquatters ride on Sochi's Olympic success | Is IT losing the battle against DNS attacks? | au: Web of confusion between domain names and trademarks | The Web: Are You Truly Master Of Your Domain? by David M. Kelly (Boston Business Journal)(reg req'd) | The Most Expensive Web Addresses The domain name news is supported by auDA. Don't forget to check out my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for daily updates in between postings. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Scam targets domain name holders http://techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsID=9518 The Fragility of DNS http://networkcomputing.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=201001838 us: Government, contractors hit in targeted attack http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/17/Government-and-contractors-hit-in-targeted-attack_1.html DNS Security Problems Widespread and Poorly Understood: Study http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001880 Australia should lead way on IPv6 by Philip Argy http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22083788-5013038,00.html Scarcity of IPv4 Addresses by Patrik F?ltstr?m http://www.circleid.com/posts/scarcity_ipv4_addresses/ Chinese Internet Population Reaches Higher http://www.chinatechnews.com/2007/07/19/5652-chinese-internet-population-reaches-higher/ Chinese users flood the Internet http://variety.com/article/VR1117968776.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 A Domain Name Worth $100 Million http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/a-domain-name-worth-100-million/ in: Put some farmland and Internet domain names in your investment portfolio http://indiadaily.com/editorial/17585.asp New gold rush: Internet domains snagging huge amounts of money (AP) http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--domainnames0715jul15,0,5859427.story ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** OECD Communications Outlook 2007 The OECD Communications Outlook 2007 presents the most recent comparable data on communication sector performance and provides information on policy frameworks in OECD countries. The report also provides detailed time series data of up to 10 years for a number of key indicators. In addition, for the first time, the 2007 edition includes analysis of the communication sector in five large non-OECD countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The report includes information and statistics on on internet subscribers, internet hosts, domain names, web servers, secure servers, national and regional internet development and peering. The report is in pdf format and is 319 pages, or over 5mb in size. https://www.oecd.org/document/17/0,3343,en_17642234_17642806_38876369_1_1_1_1,00.html ********************** - DOMAIN SECURITY ********************** Domain name scammers target uk.biz Domain name scammers are once again targeting UK firms. Typically, the scam, which is still under investigation, starts with calls to domain owners warning them that a variant of the domain they own has been bought by a third party. Prospective marks are invited to outbid these third parties by placing higher bids with domain registration entities that falsely claim to be partners with Nominet, the UK registrar. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/17/domain_name_scam/ Scam targets domain name holders A new scam has come to light using publicly available "whois" data to rip off domain name owners. The scam, like many other increasingly targeted attacks, uses contact information available in the publicly available "whois" database to direct its emails, according to industry newsletter Domain Name Wire. The emails claim to originate from a company called Domain Renewal, which operates a professional-looking site and offers to renew users' or companies' domain names. http://techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsID=9518 The Fragility of DNS A recent study conducted by Mazerov Research and Consulting suggests that despite a multitude of costly and elaborate efforts to keep Domain Name Systems (DNS) protected, companies are still suffering from a barrage of denial-of-service, pharming or cache poisoning attacks. http://networkcomputing.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=201001838 http://weblog.infoworld.com/zeroday/archives/2007/07/dns_attacks_hit.html http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070717/20070717005635.html us: Government, contractors hit in targeted attack Computers belonging to the U.S. government, contractors, and companies in the transportation industry were hit by a targeted computer attack in July that yielded password information for hundreds of Internet and intranet Web sites, a computer security vendor said Tuesday. http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/17/Government-and-contractors-hit-in-targeted-attack_1.html DNS Security Problems Widespread and Poorly Understood: Study Nearly half of IT and business professionals surveyed by Mazerov Research reported a security compromise of their Domain Name System servers, despite spending money on overlapping security products. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001880 http://itnews.com.au/News/56671,dns-security-problems-widespread-and-poorly-understood-study.aspx http://techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsID=9538 Over Here or Over There, Server Protection Is Key This distressing story from Government Computer News focuses on government servers, but there seems to be no reason to assume what is happening isn?t a danger to corporate servers as well. Tools available to Internet browsers, the writer points out, are becoming more adept at identifying questionable Web sites and stopping phishing attempts. That?s great. But it?s also true that the malware community is clever and never at a loss for what to do. Its response, according to the story and the Symantec release upon which it is based, is to find loosely protected government servers and use them to host phishing sites that attack that government. http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/top/?p=155 Cyber Extortionists Reappear, Attack U.S. Companies Online extortionists have resurfaced, breaking into users' systems, encrypting their data, and then holding it hostage until a $300 ransom is paid. A cyberblackmailer tormented users in Russia between 2005 and 2006. Now the extortionists have reappeared, according to researchers at Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab. And it also appears they've branched outside Russian borders. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001837 Bots Driving Click Fraud Bot nets are driving up click fraud, according to Click Forensics, a click auditing company. "This is a growing problem for the industry and one that's getting worse and not better," said Tom Cuthbert, president and CEO of Click Forensics, Inc. The company's findings are based on data from its Click Fraud Network, which attempts to identify and track pay-per-click advertising fraud across over 4,000 online advertisers and ad agencies. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201002161 ********************** - IPv4/IPv6 ********************** Australia should lead way on IPv6 by Philip Argy Philip Argy says he has often commented on the need for Australia to identify and develop expertise in technologies or areas that offer the potential for us to create competitive advantage or innovative products and services that the rest of the world will need or want. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22083788-5013038,00.html Scarcity of IPv4 Addresses by Patrik F?ltstr?m Patrik F?ltstr?m writes, "My friend Kurtis writes in his blog some points he has been thinking of while discussing 'when we run out of IPv4 addresses'. In reality, as he points out so well, we will not run out. It will be harder to get addresses. It is also the case that unfortunately people that push for IPv6 claim IPv6 will solve all different kinds of problem. Possibly also the starvation problems in the world." http://www.circleid.com/posts/scarcity_ipv4_addresses/ za: All Systems Go for IPv6 in SA At the end of June AfriNIC ratified a long-discussed policy that allows the allocation of ?Provider Independent? address blocks of the next-generation Internet Protocol (IPv6) to certain end-user organisations, most notably our registry in South Africa, Uniforum, which manages co.za domain names. http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/661.html ********************** - (cc)TLD NEWS ********************** Australian broadband among world's worst: OECD The OECD has passed judgement on Australia's broadband in a study calling it among the slowest and most expensive in the world, however, Communications Minister Helen Coonan claims it was a "strong report card" for the nation's infrastructure. ... Communications Minister Helen Coonan, however, preferred to concentrate on the upside of the report, such as Australia's relatively high level of domain name registrations per capita. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Australian-broadband-among-world-s-worst-OECD/0,130061791,339280104,00.htm us: DoC seeks manager and operator of .us The Department of Commerce is seeking to procure the services of a Contractor to manage, maintain, and operate the usTLD under NTIA?s supervision. The DoC is seeking to acquire centralised management and coordination of the registry, registrar, database, and information services for the usTLD. The usTLD provides a locus for registering domain names and serving the Internet community in the United States. As such, the DoC intends the usTLD be available to a wide range of registrants. The DoC is seeking proposals to achieve a number of objectives which are outlined on their ?synopsis?. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/vendors/usTLD01_070707.htm Chinese Internet Population Reaches Higher The latest report from the China Internet Network Information Center shows that as of June 30, 2007, there were 162 million Internet users in China, which made the country rank second in the world next to the United States in terms of Internet population. ... The report shows that about 44 million Chinese users use mobile phones to surf online, which was 2.6 times higher than last year. In addition, .CN domain name websites reached 810,000, increasing by 137.5%, and the number of .CN websites exceeded that of .COM for the first time. http://www.chinatechnews.com/2007/07/19/5652-chinese-internet-population-reaches-higher/ http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90781/6219100.html http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/18/content_6395741.htm Chinese users flood the Internet China has 9.18 million domain names and 1.31 million websites. http://variety.com/article/VR1117968776.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 http://varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/1708/1/ Swedish internet domain introduces minority language letters for the Net The Swedish internet domain .se has introduced new letters that include the minority language alphabet. Since 2003 it has been possible to register SE. domains with ?, ?, ?, ? and ?. Now, the coverage has grown from 42 letters to almost 200, covering all the letters from Sweden?s minority language alphabets. http://eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2925 DOT TK - a new approach to make a whole TLD free of illicit content Dot TK ? the Internet registry for .TK domain names, announced the launch of the latest version of WatchDot, the content filtering system used to check newly registered websites for illicit content, such as adult entertainment, messages of hate and other websites that do no comply with Dot TK?s content policy. http://dot.tk/en/press_jul16-07.pdf 11,111,111 .de domains In the early afternoon of July 12, 2007, the German domain registry DENIC processed the registration request for a special .de domain. With ?pressious.de? the ?schnappszahl? of 11,111,111 domains was reached. The domain holder is the owner of a printing shop in Westphalia. No more than one year ago DENIC eG celebrated the registration of the ten millionth .de domain. http://www.denic.de/en/denic/presse/press_83.html http://www.denic.de/en/denic/news/news_51.html EU NameSpace is Dead? by Michele Neylon The European Union's .eu TLD sunrise and landrush has probably been discussed to death, but what is the landscape like over a year later? A lot of industry insiders were right to express their doubts about the stability of .eu following on from the high profile squats that have been discussed here at length. Of course any discussion on a new TLD would have to wait until after the first wave of renewals. That happened in April, so now, in July, it's a good as time to take stock of the situation. http://www.circleid.com/posts/eu_namespace_is_dead/ New Internet domain starts: dot-asia Any individual, business or organisation based in Asia will be able to apply for a website address in the ".asia" domain starting on Tuesday, organisers said. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=120232 http://www.indiaenews.com/asia/20070717/61082.htm http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Internet__Telecom/Applications_start_for_asia_domain_name/articleshow/2209685.cms http://nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=30041162 http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southeastasia.asp?parentid=74062 za: Telkom wins domain dispute Telkom has become the first company to win a domain name dispute in terms of the new arbitration procedure that oversees local domain name disputes. http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2007/0707161040.asp?S=Legal%20View&A=LEG&O=FPTOP ********************** - DOMAIN DISPUTES ********************** India TV wins Internet domain case against US firm Rajat Sharma's India TV has won an Internet domain case against a US-based firm with the Delhi High Court restraining the latter from using a web address to broadcast Indian TV programmes in its original form. http://www.indiaprwire.com/businessnews/20070717/23492.htm http://newspostindia.com/report-7717 http://www.indiaenews.com/business/20070717/61173.htm http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1110441 http://siliconindia.com/shownews/36451 ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** us: Democrats split over Terre Haute mayor's race prompts Net action A campaign committee bought four ?Democrats for Duke? Internet addresses the day after someone publicly announced the group?s creation to support Republican mayoral candidate Duke Bennett. But the committee making the purchase supports Bennett?s opponent. http://tribstar.com/news/local_story_198221029.html ********************** - DOMAIN MONETISATION ********************** Search Optimization: SEO Myths Every professional field has its own set of "myths" -- things that people either within or outside the profession (or both) take to be true about it. SEO is no exception. If anything, the field is a little more prone to myths because something that worked last week, last month, or last year may no longer yield results. In this article, we take a look at some of the more common SEO myths. http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-Optimization-Help/SEO-Myths/ ********************** - DOMAIN SALES ********************** A Domain Name Worth $100 Million It may just be the most expensive domain name so far. The Answers Corporation, which runs Answers.com, just announced it has paid $100 million in cash to buy Lexico Publishing Group, a privately held California company whose main business is running the Dictionary.com site. Dictionary.com is Lexico?s greatest asset. The site attracts 11 million users a month, and 85 percent of them come from people typing one of its domain names into their browsers. Lexico also runs Thesaurus.com and Reference.com. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/a-domain-name-worth-100-million/ in: Put some farmland and Internet domain names in your investment portfolio The best investment over the next ten years will be the farmlands across the country and Internet Domain Names. http://indiadaily.com/editorial/17585.asp New gold rush: Internet domains snagging huge amounts of money (AP) Inside a midtown hotel, Larry Fischer is on his cell phone with a financial backer as his partner Ari Goldberger does quick research on a laptop computer. They are bidding furiously at this auction of Internet domain names, with hopes of snagging megayachts.com. The duo won't be deterred. They want this name. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--domainnames0715jul15,0,5859427.story http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1184576789648 http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/120317.html http://www.sunjournal.com/story/221032-3/Business/Internet_domains_snag_big_bucks/ First GreatDomains Domain Name Auction Starts Thursday Online auction to feature premium dot.com domains. Sedo acquired GreatDomains last month and immediately announced plans to use the site for premium auctions. Its first premium auction will start this Thursday, July 19 at 2:00pm EST. GreatDomains? premium auction events will be held once per month and last seven days. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/07/17/first-greatdomains-domain-name-auction-starts-thursday/ Big Deal for Dollars.com Tops This Week's Domain Sales Chart Rick Latona of DigiPawn.com, who has long been associated with this domain, decided to let it go when buyer Virtual Network SA of Switzerland weighed in with a $650,000 offer. This is the 6th biggest sale reported so far this year. http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2007/domainsales07-17-07.htm ********************** RESEARCH PAPERS ********************** OECD Broadband Statistics to December 2006 Over the past year, the number of broadband subscribers in the OECD increased 26% from 157 million in December 2005 to 197 million in December 2006. This growth increased broadband penetration rates in the OECD from 13.5 in December 2005 to 16.9 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants one year later. http://www.oecd.org/sti/ict/broadband OECD Communications Outlook 2007 The OECD Communications Outlook 2007 presents the most recent comparable data on communication sector performance and provides information on policy frameworks in OECD countries. The report also provides detailed time series data of up to 10 years for a number of key indicators. In addition, for the first time, the 2007 edition includes analysis of the communication sector in five large non-OECD countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The report is in pdf format and is 319 pages, or over 5mb in size. https://www.oecd.org/document/17/0,3343,en_17642234_17642806_38876369_1_1_1_1,00.html ********************** OTHER INTERNET NEWS ********************** Web censorship is failing, says Chinese official The internet and mobile phones have undermined attempts by China?s secretive rulers to control the news, a senior Communist party official admitted today. He accused local governments of being ?too naive? by continuing to suppress damaging information about corruption or about disasters, and urged party members to be more open with members of the public. Wang Guoqing, a vice minister with the cabinet?s information office said: ?It has been repeatedly proved that information blocking is like walking into a dead end.? http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2086419.ece China clamps down on teenage Internet gaming (AP) The Chinese government has launched a campaign to clamp down on underaged Internet gaming, requiring operators to install software that discourages teenage players from spending more than three hours online. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559793511.html http://iht.com/articles/2007/07/17/business/chinet.php Should Germany Republish 'Mein Kampf'? A leading historian wants 'Mein Kampf' to be republished in Germany. Copyright issues have kept it off the shelves since World War II, but in 2015 it will enter the public domain. Then, anyone will be allowed to print it -- including neo-Nazis. ... Contrary to popular belief, the book is not actually banned in Germany. Instead, the copyright is held by the state of Bavaria, which took over the rights of the main Nazi party publishing house Eher-Verlag -- including the rights for "Mein Kampf" -- after the end of World War II as part of the Allies' de-Nazification program. As copyright holder, the state has since refused to allow the book to be published, on the grounds that it would promote right-wing extremism. The German Foreign Ministry has also repeatedly recommended that the book not be published, for fear of damaging Germany's image abroad. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,494891,00.html us: A Debate on Child Pornography?s Link to Molesting Experts have often wondered what proportion of men who download explicit sexual images of children also molest them. A new government study of convicted Internet offenders suggests that the number may be startlingly high: 85 percent of the offenders said they had committed acts of sexual abuse against minors, from inappropriate touching to rape. http://nytimes.com/2007/07/19/us/19sex.html au: Mobile scheme failing teens The federal Government has conceded that its regulatory scheme governing premium mobile content providers had not met community expectations. At a telecommunications conference yesterday, Senator Helen Coonan said that premium mobile content providers would face tougher regulations following a review of the co-regulatory scheme governing the industry scheduled to go ahead in October. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22094068-16123,00.html http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,22094481-3122,00.html http://arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;1680680976;fp;2;fpid;1 au: Dark cloud with silver lining Police Life?s Sarah Campbell visited the squad that is detangling the world wide web of crime. Shocking the nation in October 2004 was news of Australian police agencies running Operation Auxin, an investigation into a world-wide online child pornography ring. Hundreds of Australians were investigated for child sex offences, many who had daily access to children, unveiling the nation?s biggest police campaign against child pornography. http://police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=11664 8 nations plot ways to combat child porn Experts from eight countries, including the Philippines, yesterday opened a four-day special training on how to combat child pornography and exploitation of children through the Internet. http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics4_july17_2007 Google yields to privacy campaign Google is to begin deleting private information it stores on the computers of millions of users, Google announced. The company currently stores cookies - small pieces of information which help identify users - on computers for more than 30 years. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2128398,00.html http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2093752.ece Google cookies will 'auto delete' after 2 years Google has said that its cookies will auto delete after two years. They will be deleted unless the user returns to a Google site within the two-year period, prompting a re-setting of the file's lifespan. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6901946.stm http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559746220.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559749088.html Google's cookie cut may not be enough for EU EU data watchdog has welcomed Google's announcement of a two-year cookie lifespan but says its major concern is server log data use http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39288097,00.htm http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-6197397.html au: Vanishing up each other's google by Alan Kohler If you google the phrase "Alan Kohler", the top link in the main, unpaid search results is one of my articles on smh.com.au. Next is Eureka Report. But above that, against a beige background, there are two other links - one is to Eureka Report and the other is a link to Australian Stock Report, one of our competitors. ... In essence the ACCC claims two things: a business's competitors should not be allowed to "buy" its name and muscle into its search results page; and the "sponsored links" are not sufficiently distinguished from the main, unpaid, results in the middle of the page. The ACCC is not saying this, but I think it would accept a settlement based on the latter point, and not press on the first. In other words, Google could probably end the case with more prominent signage on its sponsored links. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559788867.html au: All eyes on ACCC THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission action against Google and Telstra's classified advertising business, Trading Post, will be watched intently by other players in the $22 billion online search marketing sector. At the very least, rivals will be hoping for insight into the business model that has boosted Google to a $US162 billion ($185 billion) Goliath, largely through sponsored advertisements tied to search results. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22084061-15306,00.html OECD governments to help consumers OECD Member countries have agreed common principles aimed at providing consumers with effective mechanisms to resolve their disputes and obtain redress for economic harm resulting from transactions with business. The new framework, which applies to disputes arising in both a domestic and cross-border context, is aimed at strengthening consumer trust on-line and at helping them benefit from e-commerce advantages. http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,3343,en_2649_37441_38960053_1_1_1_37441,00.html 30 countries move to protect online consumers Spurred to find ways to protect consumers as online shopping grows, the 30 countries belonging to the international economic and social-development group Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) announced Monday an accord on dispute resolution. After two years of wrangling over the policy document, the Paris-based OECD said its 30 members -- which include the European countries, Australia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the United States and the United Kingdom among others -- have signed off on a legal framework intended to lead to better policing and resolution of consumer complaints, particularly in cross-border disputes involving e-commerce. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;379697135;fp;2;fpid;1 http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/13544/53/ au: New online link to plotters Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef was in frequent and extensive contact with two men at the centre of Britain's car-bomb plot on the eve of their failed terror attacks. The Australian understands online communication between Dr Haneef and the bomb plotters was prolific and that authorities have gathered significantly more evidence against him than has been disclosed publicly. http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22085312-5006786,00.html Italy arrests 26 for phishing operation Countries around the world are clamping down on phishing as the number of Web sites used to entrap victims continues to increase http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/16/Italy-arrests-26-for-phishing_1.html http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001515 Bots Driving Click Fraud Bot nets are driving up click fraud, according to Click Forensics, a click auditing company. "This is a growing problem for the industry and one that's getting worse and not better," said Tom Cuthbert, president and CEO of Click Forensics, Inc. The company's findings are based on data from its Click Fraud Network, which attempts to identify and track pay-per-click advertising fraud across over 4,000 online advertisers and ad agencies. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201002161 uk: Unruly Oxford students' Facebook search Students at Oxford University are being warned that university authorities are using the Facebook website to gain evidence about unruly post-exam pranks. The student union has urged students to tighten their security settings on the social networking website, to stop dons viewing their details. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6902333.stm http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2087306.ece http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001822 uk: Your boss could own your Facebook profile Employers could have grounds to demand ownership of employees' social networking profiles, such as those generated on Facebook, MySpace or Bebo, according to a leading intellectual property lawyer. http://out-law.com/page-8284 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/16/social_networking_profiles_company_property/ Second Life gets its first copyright law suit A dispute over a sex bed has become the first copyright law suit within online alternative reality game Second Life. The lawyer behind the suit told weekly podcast OUT-LAW Radio that the nature of the game should not change the issues at stake. http://out-law.com/page-8297 au: Electronic voting to debut this election This year's federal election will be the first to engage electronic voting when blind or vision impaired people will be able to vote at 29 locations across Australia. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;33270907;fp;2;fpid;1 http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/E-voting-comes-to-Australia-/0,130061702,339280111,00.htm Media activists concerned over new Thai cyber law (AFP) Thai police will be able to seize computers from homes and businesses under a new cyber-crime law that came into force Wednesday, which authorities say will help crack down on Internet pornography. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/19/1184559885367.html Internet Radio Gets Fee Break in Compromise Talks As the July 15 deadline for new Internet radio royalty rates to take effect sailed by in relative peace, most Internet radio webcasters remained up and running following initial results of compromise talks late last week between webcasters and SoundExchange. Most recently, SoundExchange, the arm of the Recording Industry Association of America that collects the royalties, confirmed on Friday that it had offered to cap the $500 per-channel minimum fee stations must pay at $50,000 per year. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/58343.html http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-radiowebjul17,1,4328977.story http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/14/1183833812467.html Web radio stations win a last-minute stay of execution Wired's indispensable digital-music maven Eliot Van Buskirk reports some good breaking news: Internet radio stations will not shut down this Sunday. Many Web radio outfits feared closure as their legal fight against staggering new music royalty rates met failure this week. On Thursday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block the new rates, which are scheduled to go into effect Sunday. But as a result of public outcry -- which, in turn, sparked congressional outcry -- SoundExchange, the recording-industry group that collects royalties, has agreed not to immediately enforce the rates, pending negotiations with webcasters. http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/07/13/internet_radio/index.html au: Video effort is down the tube Internet users have mocked John Howard's move to announce climate policy on YouTube, blasting the Prime Minister on a feedback site as out-of-touch and behind the times. http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22093489-11949,00.html au: Johnny-too-late is fair game for net users ANALYSIS: THE tech and age chasm between John Howard and Kevin Rudd has been highlighted by one user-generated video. The Prime Minister's first policy announcement made via the internet, and instigated at his own suggestion, attracted a litany of mocking abuse and scepticism yesterday. http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22093488-11949,00.html au: Howard hip to web, 10 years after John Howard's foray on to video-sharing website YouTube comes almost a decade after the youth wing of his own political party went online. http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22096707-11949,00.html au: Libs give MySpace a wide berth The Liberals appear to be snubbing MySpace, after the network publicly criticised the party's response to its new channel. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559752657.html au: Howard clip becomes spam magnet The Prime Minister's first video foray into social networking has yielded a barrage of spam and abuse. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/18/1184559838528.html Global broadband prices revealed Broadband users in 30 of the world's most developed countries are getting greatly differing speeds and prices, according to a report by the OECD. The OECD report says 60% of its member countries net users are now on broadband. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6900697.stm au: Low on speed, high on cost Australia has the second-slowest broadband speed in the developed world, according to the latest international comparison by the OECD. Australia lagged behind Turkey and Greece, and only just pipped the Slovak Republic. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22079412-16123,00.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/17/1184559780884.html Australian broadband among world's worst: OECD The OECD has passed judgement on Australia's broadband in a study calling it among the slowest and most expensive in the world, however, Communications Minister Helen Coonan claims it was a "strong report card" for the nation's infrastructure. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Australian-broadband-among-world-s-worst-OECD/0,130061791,339280104,00.htm au: Upload surge increases net costs THE decision of Optus last week that requires some customers to count data uploads as part of their internet use could signal the end of free uploads. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22084033-15306,00.html Singapore among region's heaviest Web users A study of Internet behaviour in the Asia-Pacific region revealed that Singaporeans spent more time and viewed more pages than the regional average. Netizens from the Republic, on average, visited the Internet 15.5 days a month and spent 25.7 hours viewing 2,406 pages, compared to the regional figures of 13.8 days, 20.2 hours and 2,171 pages. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/287259/1/.html Chinese Internet Population Reaches Higher The latest report from the China Internet Network Information Center shows that as of June 30, 2007, there were 162 million Internet users in China, which made the country rank second in the world next to the United States in terms of Internet population. ... The report shows that about 44 million Chinese users use mobile phones to surf online, which was 2.6 times higher than last year. In addition, .CN domain name websites reached 810,000, increasing by 137.5%, and the number of .CN websites exceeded that of .COM for the first time. http://www.chinatechnews.com/2007/07/19/5652-chinese-internet-population-reaches-higher/ http://varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/1708/1/ http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90781/6219100.html http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/18/content_6395741.htm Jordan internet woes Jordan's internet penetration, particularly broadband, is woefully low. Fastlink's Mahmoud Abu Zannad looks at why, and what needs to be done to get more Jordanians connected. http://www.ameinfo.com/126947.html Porn on YouTube alerts South Korean portals ISPs are raising a red flag over self-recorded sexual video clips on YouTube that they claim could become part of local video-sharing services once its Korean language service opens as early as next month. http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=74176 nz: Teacher who posted porn photos not teaching now - Maharey A teacher who posted pornographic pictures of himself and two women on internet sex sites no longer holds a practising certificate and is not employed at any school, Parliament was told today. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10452408 TVs and computers breeding generation of 'screen kids' TVs and computers are the "electronic babysitters" for a generation of children who are losing out on family life and becoming more materialistic, a report says today. The study paints a picture of a breed of "screen kids" who are spending more and more time watching TV and surfing the net in their bedrooms, unsupervised by adults. The Watching, Wanting and Wellbeing report from the National Consumer Council found nearly half the children from better-off families surveyed had televisions in their bedrooms, compared with 97% of the nine- to 13-year-olds from less well-off areas. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2127268,00.html How we've become hooked on the net The internet has usurped TV as the drug-of-choice among media users, with consequences: Technology addictive. The internet, doubly so. "You want a fix, and you get a fix from it," says Professor Jeffrey Cole, of the University of Southern California. "There is an addiction to always checking your email, to always checking what's happening on MySpace or Facebook. It has become, for its users, an essential part of life." http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/16/1184559704099.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/07/16/1184559704099.html Blackmail claim stirs fears over Facebook By the standards of today's reveal-all culture, the photographs were not particularly shocking. They were more Benny Hill than pornographic. ... But the case has left behind some big questions about how teenagers are storing up problems for themselves in later life by exposing themselves - emotionally and in many cases physically - on the internet. http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2127273,00.html Google Loses Search Share, Microsoft Gains The overall volume of U.S. search queries reached 8 billion in June, up 6% from May and 26% from June 2006, according to comScore. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001691 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/04b6b96c-33cc-11dc-9887-0000779fd2ac.html comScore Releases June U.S. Search Engine Rankings (news release) comScore released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of activity across competitive search engines. In June 2007, Google Sites maintained its spot atop the rankings with 49.5 percent of the U.S. search market. Yahoo! Sites captured second place with 25.1 percent of U.S. searches, followed by Microsoft Sites (13.2 percent), Ask Network (5.0 percent) and Time Warner Network (4.2 percent). http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1525 us: comScore Media Metrix Releases Top 50 Web Rankings for June: School Vacation Spurs Traffic Increase to Online Gaming Sites; comScore Media Metrix released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties for June 2007. The month saw traffic increase to gaming sites as schools let out for summer and gambling sites in anticipation of the upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP). June also saw gains for entertainment news sites with the buzz about Paris Hilton?s jail sentence, hotels/resorts sites with the summer travel season swinging into high gear, and gay/lesbian sites with the celebration of Pride Month. http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1528 Global PC Shipments Up 12 Percent in 2Q Worldwide shipments of personal computers rose strongly in the second quarter due to growing demand in Asia and unexpected strength in the U.S., two research companies reported Wednesday. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/19/1184559904953.html Sophos names and shames the top spam relaying countries Sophos today released its global statistics naming and shaming the Dirty Dozen spam relaying countries with the United States and China sharing the number one position from April to June 2007. Australia maintained its customarily low position, taking 32nd place in the league table, with less than one percent of the world's spam originating here. New Zealand ranked even lower in 58th position. http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1529124582;fp;2;fpid;1 Sophos reveals "dirty dozen" spam-relaying countries (news release) Sophos published its latest report on the top twelve spam-relaying countries over the second quarter of 2007. Experts at SophosLabs scanned all spam messages received in the company's global network of spam traps, and have revealed that the US continues to relay more spam than any other nation, accounting for 19.6 percent - a decrease of just 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. However, Europe now has six entries in the dirty dozen, which when combined, account for even more spam-relaying than the US. http://sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/07/dirtydozjul07.html Confessions of a former spammer Retired spammer reveals his tricks of the trade and projects the spam business will only get worse: "Ed," a retired spammer, built a considerable fortune sending e-mails that promoted pills, porn, and casinos. At the peak of his power, Ed says he pulled in $10,000 to $15,000 a week, storing the money in $20 bills in stacks of boxes. http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/18/Former-spammer_1.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,134721-c,spam/article.html us: FBI, military names being used in e-mail scams The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is warning of fraudulent e-mails that appear to come from the FBI and U.S. military. http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/17/FBI-and-military-names-being-used-in-email-scams_1.html An increase in internet schemes purportedly from the FBI (news release) The IC3 has increasingly received intelligence of fraudulent schemes misrepresenting the FBI and/or Director Robert S. Mueller III. The fraudulent e-mails give the appearance of legitimacy due to the usage of pictures of the FBI Director, seal, letter head, and/or banners. The types of schemes utilizing the Director's name and/or FBI are lottery endorsements and inheritance notifications. http://ic3.gov/media/2007/070717-2.htm EU File Sharers Protected in Civil Cases Copyright groups may not be able to demand that telecom companies hand over the names and addresses of people suspected of swapping music illegally online, a senior legal adviser to the EU's highest court said. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/19/1184559896428.html http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL1837105420070718 http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/18/ap3927736.html uk: Back in the groove: young music fans ditch downloads and spark vinyl revival The format was supposed to have been badly wounded by the introduction of CDs and killed off completely by the ipod-generation that bought music online. http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2127350,00.html The full, final "Harry Potter" -- leaked online! Photographs of each page of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" make it to file-sharing sites on the Web. http://www.salon.com/tech/machinist/blog/2007/07/17/potter_leaked/index.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/18/1184559825094.html http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-et-potter18jul18,1,1318863.story Google Offers to Run Site Search Engines (AP) Google Inc. is offering to run the search engines of small Web sites for as little as US$100 per year, marking the company's latest attempt to make more money off technology that already steers much of the Internet's traffic http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1644083,00.html The Future of Facebook In his first interview with TIME, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat down with reporter Laura Locke to talk about Facebook's rapid growth spurt, IPO rumors, future plans and the pressures of being a 23-year-old CEO in Silicon Valley. http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1644040,00.html EU court to rule on Microsoft on Sept. 17 (Reuters) A European court confirmed on Tuesday that it will rule on September 17 on whether software giant Microsoft broke European Union antitrust regulations. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6197070.html NZ's wealthy telcos stingy on investment New Zealand is lagging behind when it comes to investing in telecommunications, even though it makes more from the sector than other developed countries, a new report shows. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10452483 http://stuff.co.nz/4132421a13.html us: Freeing the iPhone the legal way Lawmakers and consumer advocates push for rules to block wireless firms from locking gadgets and charging high cancellation fees. http://www.salon.com/tech/machinist/feature/2007/07/18/cell_service_contracts/index.html White Paper on the ITU Process for 4G 3G Americas today published a new white paper entitled Defining 4G: Understanding the ITU Process for the Next Generation of Wireless Technology. The white paper provides the factual description of how IMT-Advanced or 4G will someday be defined by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). ITU is the internationally recognized authority that will produce the official definition of the next generation of wireless technologies beyond IMT-2000 or 3G. http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/July2007/4926.htm ITU demands 'Marshall Plan' for Africa's internet connectivity The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has demanded a 'Marshall Plan' to help Africa catch up in infrastructure and internet connectivity. http://telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=18687 4G wireless - the hype demystified If anyone tells you today they have 4G wireless, it's marketing hype. 4G has yet to be defined yet alone realised, but the ITU is getting close to a definition and this white paper from 3G Americas provides a useful summary of the progress and plans going forward. http://itwire.com.au/content/view/13543/1095/ London gets free Wi-Fi A free metropolitan Wi-Fi network has been launched in London, continuing the gradual trend toward free public wireless Internet access in Europe and the United States. http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-6196772.html EU backs standard for mobile TV The EU's decision to back a single standard for TV on mobiles could see the UK fall behind, warn analysts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6902541.stm Forerunner of mobile Internet, i-mode is fading in Europe The British unit of O2 and Telstra announced plans to drop their i-mode services because too few customers are using it. http://iht.com/articles/2007/07/17/business/imode.php us: Does SunRocket's Shutdown Signal a VoIP Shakeout? The second-largest independent VoIP carrer's demise could leave many potential VOIP customers wary of doing business with other providers, only to have service vanish on them as well. http://networkcomputing.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=201002090 VoIP security vulnerabilities tackled by researchers Security threats to VoIP are one of the major factors that deter numerous IT departments from implementing a VoIP system. But in the fight against denial of service (DoS) attacks, buffer overflow attacks, and hackers there are companies that are prepared to find those hidden vulnerabilities. http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/07/18/225621/voip-security-vulnerabilities-tackled-by-researchers.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo!7 Mail has just got even bigger and better with unlimited storage on all webmail accounts. http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/unlimitedstorage.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.cynosure.com.au/mailman/private/dns/attachments/20070723/4ad8e01f/attachment-0001.htmReceived on Mon Jul 23 2007 - 06:03:51 UTC
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