Don't forget to check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for today's edition of the complete domain news, including an RSS feed - already online! Headlines from the April 7 edition of the news include: Video boom threatens to gridlock the internet | Web could collapse as video demand soars | Coming soon: superfast internet | Australian broadband network soon to be obsolete | ICANN Issues Advisory Regarding the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy | NTIA Shrugs by Milton Mueller | US domain name costs rise as Australian regs loosen | Happy second birthday .eu! | Estonia prepares for repeat of cyberattacks on anniversary | The evolution of CyberCrime Inc. | US Cyberwarfare Prep Includes Offense | nz: Extra cyber defence team considered | Craigslist bullies unofficial blog over domain, trademarks | Are Domain Name Registrars Ready for IPv6? by Patrick Vande Walle | Pizza.com cooked for $2.6m And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for daily updates in between postings. *************************************************** The domain name news is supported by auDA *************************************************** NTIA Statement on the Mid-Term Review of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) Between NTIA and ICANN http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/ICANN_JPA_080402.html ICANN Welcomes Statement on Joint Project Agreement http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-02apr08.htm Estonia to drill NATO's future cyber-war defenders http://news.theage.com.au/estonia-to-drill-natos-future-cyberwar-defenders/20080402-234p.html Europe debates cybercrime law enforcement in NATO, Council of Europe meetings [AP] http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_8759722 Internet has a garbage problem, researcher says [IDG] http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1488056707;fp;2;fpid;1 NZ teen hacker Akill admits cyber crime charges http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10501361 Akill pleads guilty to all charges http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/A4C8AD60A514BC88CC25741D007C894A NZ teen convicted of cyber crime http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7323733.stm NZ teenager guilty of million-dollar hacking campaign http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/01/hitechcrime.hacking Owen 'Akill' Walker was part of botnet 'A-team' http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/693DE1B864708EABCC25741E0068E114 Intellectual curiosity gone wrong http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10501707 Superhacker convicted of international cyber crime http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10501518 IPv6 Deployment: Just Where Are We? by Geoff Huston http://www.circleid.com/posts/ipv6_deployment_where_are_we/ Dark Blue Sea values domain portfolio at $570m http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=4442 ********************** GOVERNANCE ********************** Who's to say Comcast won't meddle with Net again? by Larry Magid Comcast and BitTorrent last week announced an agreement to collaborate on technologies to make it more efficient to conduct peer-to-peer file sharing over Comcast's cable modem network. This announcement came in the wake of intense criticism of the giant cable company and Internet service provider for controlling its customers' use of BitTorent to exchange files. The criticism grew so intense that the Federal Communications Commission held a hearing about it in February at Harvard University and announced plans to hold a second hearing at Stanford University on April 17. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8755316 Hot Architectural Issues for the Internet by Kurtis Lindqvist The Internet Architecture Board?s (IAB) chair, Olaf Kolkman, asked the members of the IAB to provide a statement paper each on what they believe the current most pressing issues in terms of Internet architecture are. Not sure if these will be made public or not, but I decided to post mine here. I have thought about this for the past few days, and realised that it?s hard to come up with overarching issues and even harder to come up with issues, where the IAB actually could make a difference. But I came with up with two issues. http://www.circleid.com/posts/hot_architectural_issues_the_internet/ ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** ********************** - ICANN ********************** NTIA Statement on the Mid-Term Review of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) Between NTIA and ICANN The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), on behalf of the Department of Commerce, recently conducted a mid-term review of the Department?s Joint Project Agreement (JPA) with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The JPA is a continuation of a series of agreements between the Department and ICANN to facilitate the transition of the technical coordination of the management functions related to the Internet domain name and addressing system (DNS) to the private sector. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/ICANN_JPA_080402.html ICANN Welcomes Statement on Joint Project Agreement ICANN welcomed today?s statement regarding the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) mid-term review from the United States Department of Commerce?s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-02apr08.htm Organizational structure image conspiracy uncovered by Kieren McCarthy Unveil the conspiracyOnce of the most difficult things about working at ICANN is keeping all the conspiracies under wraps. With an eagle-eyed community keeping tabs on the organisation?s every move, the tiny tweaks that, left noticed, would irreversibly alter the entire domain name system keep getting picked up before they can work their magic. http://blog.icann.org/?p=294 ICANN to shut down internet for one hour The main domain servers and related infrastructure controlling the internet will be powered down for one hour on Tuesday at 12pm, British Summer Time. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39377525,00.htm ICANN Calls for Expressions of Interest to Host 2009 Meeting ICANN is actively soliciting expressions of interest from organisations seeking to host the first ICANN International Public Meeting in 2009. ICANN has previously agreed upon the following location and date: 1-6 March 2009 | Latin America http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-31mar08.htm ICANN Regional Meet in UAE UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, announced that it is co-hosting the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers Regional Meeting in cooperation with ICANN. It states that ICANN is an internationally organised, public benefit non-profit company responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. http://www.webhosting.info/news/1/icann-regional-meet-in-uae_0401087663.htm TRA to debate domain names in Arabic online A key meeting, to be co-hosted by UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA)Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA)Loading... soon, will discuss the possibility of getting domain names in Arabic online and made available to the public. The UAE TRA is co-hosting the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) regional meeting in cooperation with ICANN in Dubai from April 1-3. http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZAWYA20080331042503/secIndustries/pagTelecoms%20&%20IT ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** Dot-Com, Dot-Net Fees Go Up Again Oct. 1 [AP] Fees for using two of the most common suffixes for Internet addresses are going up for a second consecutive year. http://news.theage.com.au/dotcom-dotnet-fees-go-up-again-oct-1/20080403-23a1.html http://news.smh.com.au/dotcom-dotnet-fees-go-up-again-oct-1/20080403-23a1.html http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/02/ap/hightech/main3990129.shtml http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/02/financial/f104509D89.DTL Brand New Chinese Character Domain Names Get Underway on the Internet Today. A Huge Series of Other International Languages are Also Launched. Internet users can now register domain names using almost any language or text imaginable Included are not only Chinese characters, but also German, Russian, Japanese, French, Spanish and Korean - to name but a few. The Internet has evolved and become a lot more universal. http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=41879 10th ENUM Day of DENIC on 18 April 2008 in Frankfurt am Main [news release] On 18 April 2008 DENIC will host the 10th ENUM Day. The event takes places in the Le Meridien hotel in Frankfurt, Wiesenh?ttenplatz 28-38 (close to Frankfurt central railway station). The ENUM Day begins at 10 a.m. and ends approximately at 4 p.m. Participation is free of charge. Please register for this event via our web form. http://www.denic.de/en/denic/news/news_80.html http://www.telconews.com/2008/04/01/10th-enum-day-of-denic-on-18-april-2008-in-frankfurt-am-main/ http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/04/01/10th-enum-day-of-denic-on-18-april-2008-in-frankfurt-am-main/ Over 62,000 .vn domain names registered By the end of March 2008, VNNIC had granted more than 62,000 .vn domain names, much higher than the number of international domain names, at over 40,000. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/04/776241/ uk: Manchester lawyer named to Nominet panel A Manchester-based intellectual property partner from law firm Hammonds has been appointed to advise Nominet, the domain name registry entry body which covers disputes on all ?.uk? name disputes. http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080331/FREE/429768965/1071/-/-/manchester-lawyer-named-to-nominet-panel ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** Estonia to drill NATO's future cyber-war defenders [AFP] Almost a year after falling victim to a "cyber-war" blamed on Russian hackers, the Baltic state of Estonia is now piloting NATO's efforts to ward off future online attacks on alliance members. http://news.smh.com.au/estonia-to-drill-natos-future-cyberwar-defenders/20080402-234p.html http://news.theage.com.au/estonia-to-drill-natos-future-cyberwar-defenders/20080402-234p.html Europe debates cybercrime law enforcement in NATO, Council of Europe meetings [AP] Two groups working separately to boost Europe's defenses against online crime will present proposals this week, almost a year after most of the nation of Estonia's links to the Internet were disrupted for days or weeks. http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_8759722 Internet has a garbage problem, researcher says [IDG] Arbor Networks says that between 1 percent and 3 percent of data on the Internet is DDOS data. Somewhere between 1 percent and 3 percent of all traffic on the Internet is meaningless packets of information, used in distributed denial of service attacks (DDOS) to knock Web sites offline. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1488056707;fp;2;fpid;1 http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1488056707;fp;2;fpid;1 http://www.computerworld.com.sg/ShowPage.aspx?pagetype=2&articleid=7804&pubid=3&tab=Home&issueid=125 NZ teen hacker Akill admits cyber crime charges A Whitianga teenager, allegedly at the centre of a cyber crime ring causing millions of dollars of damage, admitted six computer crime charges when he appeared in Thames District Court today. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10501361 Akill pleads guilty to all charges Owen Walker, the 18-year-old Whitianga resident also known as Akill, has pleaded guilty to all charges he was facing under the Crimes Act for his part in attacking the University of Pennsylvania?s computer system and in a global adware scheme. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/A4C8AD60A514BC88CC25741D007C894A NZ teen convicted of cyber crime A New Zealand teenager accused of being the ringleader of an international cyber-crime network has been convicted. Owen Thor Walker, 18, admitted six charges of using computers for illegal purposes and will be sentenced in May. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7323733.stm NZ teenager guilty of million-dollar hacking campaign A New Zealand teenager accused of leading an international ring of computer hackers which skimmed millions of dollars from bank accounts was today convicted of illegal computer hacking. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/01/hitechcrime.hacking Owen 'Akill' Walker was part of botnet 'A-team' New Zealand cybercriminal Owen Walker's malware code was highly sophisticated and in international demand, according to the Police summary of facts presented in the Thames District Court yesterday. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/693DE1B864708EABCC25741E0068E114 Intellectual curiosity gone wrong The photos show him standing in the dock, his bland, uniform-like shirt and long stringy hair suggesting Owen Thor Walker had received a release pass from school for the day. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10501707 Superhacker convicted of international cyber crime Self-taught Whitianga computer whiz Owen Walker has admitted being involved in international botnet conspiracies. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10501518 A Peek at ISP DDOS, Spam Traffic Trends Here?s another perspective on the rise in malicious Internet traffic: Nearly 5 percent of all Internet traffic among ISP domains consists of either DDOS or spam, according to preliminary statistics gathered by Arbor Networks of around 70 of its ISP customers. And there?s an average of 1,300 distributed denial-of-service attacks occurring each day, according to data gathered by Arbor over the past year and a half via its Atlas program. http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=149866 Botnet Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast Bot Herders at Their Own Game Early adopters are typically characterized as progressive risk-takers who have little to lose and much to gain. Following this logic, it makes perfect sense that within this crowd we find bot herders -- hackers who control a large number of compromised PCs (or bots) for malicious purposes. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/62401.html http://www.technewsworld.com/story/62401.html ********************** - DOMAIN DISPUTES ********************** Cyveillance Reports Large Enterprises Plagued by Cybersquatting Cyveillance's latest report, in part to promote their services, in part to alert of the problem of cybersquatting and typosquatting, is intended to alert business that the average large enterprise (although a large enterprise is not defined) suffers more than 5,000 suspicious domain name registrations each year that targets their "master" brand. And for companies with multiple brands, Cyveillance claim this can lead to "tens of thousands of suspicious domain registrations each year." http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=4444 http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/04/01/cyveillance-reports-cybersquatting-problems-for-large-enterprises/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/cyveillance-reports-large-enterprises-plagued-by-cybersquatting.html http://cyveillance.com/web/news/press_rel/2008/2008-03-31.asp Fighting the Fakes: Louis Vuitton and Murakami Make a Show of It Make no mistake ? Louis Vuitton is well-equipped for combat against counterfeiters. Tonight, Vuitton is celebrating Takashi Murakami's "? Murakami" exhibition with a "Brooklyn Ball" at the Brooklyn Museum featuring a special performance by Kanye West, the unveiling of a new camouflage print developed by Murakami and Marc Jacobs called Monogramouflage and a special installation designed to bring attention to one of the industry's biggest travails ? counterfeits. ...The luxury brand now employs a 40-member team that focuses exclusively on protecting its trademarks, designs, models, copyrights and domain names. The team is based in Paris, with regional offices in New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Milan, Dubai, Buenos Aires and Guangzhuo, China. Since 2003, the company has conducted over 30,000 raids against individuals or companies selling fake Vuitton merchandise. Last year alone, the firm directed more than 7,600 raids worldwide, often seizing the fake merchandise and even the manufacturing tools in order to prevent factories from returning to producing counterfeits. In addition, more than 24,000 legal proceedings were initiated on behalf of Vuitton last year, and over 750 Web sites selling fakes were forced to shut down. http://www.wwd.com/issue/article/123953 Protecting Your Brand: Copyright Law While organizations don?t often pursue this protection, logos are typically protectable by copyright law. Make sure your organization, and not an outside person or agency, owns the copyright to your brand?s logo. Advertising/marketing agencies will often include an assignment of rights, titles and interests (including copyright interests) to their clients in their letters of agreement. While trademark infringement requires proof of ?confusing similarity,? copyright infringement requires proof of ?substantial similarity.? http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2008/04/protecting-your.html Bush library searches for Web site name While President Bush?s advisers were taking offers on an ideal spot for his library and museum, they probably should have paid more attention to the virtual real-estate market. Officials finally settled on Southern Methodist University in Dallas to house the $250 million complex. But online, some of the best addresses are gone ? snapped up for mere dollars by squatters who have no connection to the library yet hope to make fun of the president, protect him or simply cash in on his name. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0331bush-library0331-ON.html http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/apr/01/bush_library_searches_web_site_name/ Cybersquatters Are Getting Smarter: Brand pirates focusing more on less visible directory tactics The "Catchusifyoucan.com" cyber crooks have devised new techniques to avoid brand defence actions, reports the Las Vegas Business Press in an interesting article on brand piracy this week. Intellectual property lawyer David LeGrand summed up the state of online disputes by saying that cybersquatters were getting smarter and more difficult to detect. But lawsuits over domain names are increasing, he said, although like the Internet itself, the infringers are evolving and becoming more sophisticated. http://www.online-casinos.com/news/news6513.asp Less-restricted sale of dot-travel names illustrates failure of a once-lofty concept The company that operates yellowpages.travel and bills it as "officially the Better Business Bureau of the international travel industry" ran afoul of none other than the Better Business Bureau for using a trademarked name without permission. http://atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=12242 WIPO: Cybersquatting Cases Rise To Record Levels Cybersquatting is on the rise, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which published statistics last week on case filings under its international Internet domain name dispute settlement system. http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=981 Cayman Islands ?cybersquatter? sued Lawsuits over domain names are increasing, and like the Internet itself, the infringers are evolving and becoming more sophisticated, intellectual property attorneys say. Intellectual property lawyer David LeGrand has dealt with alleged cybersquatting first hand in Las Vegas. http://www.caymannetnews.com/news-6418--1-1--.html ********************** - IPv4/IPv6 ********************** IPv6 Deployment: Just Where Are We? by Geoff Huston I suppose we all know the plot by now. Back in the early 1990?s it was forecast that we would run out of IPv4 addresses well before we were ready for the Internet to stop working, and that we?d need to transition the Internet to use a new version of the IP protocol that allowed for a larger address space if we wanted to avoid the problem. In response to this, the technical community came up with a specification for IP version 6 by the mid 1990?s and we were all set. And then nothing happened. http://www.circleid.com/posts/ipv6_deployment_where_are_we/ US Feds: We will meet June IPv6 deadline U.S. federal government officials are confident they will meet a June 30 deadline to support IPv6 on their backbone networks, but they see challenges ahead in transitioning their production networks to this long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol. http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/02/Feds-will-meet-June-IPv6-deadline_1.html http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;591879843;fp;2;fpid;1 A key to IPv6 transition Federal agencies may ease their transition to IPv6 through IP address management (IPAM) tools. The biggest challenge to IPv6 deployment is ?the intimidation factor, said Tim Rooney, product management director at BT Diamond IP, who spoke at the FOSE Conference and Exhibition in Washington today. ?The 128-bit IPv6 address is intimidating even to technical folks.? http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46059-1.html ng: Experts Give Reasons for IPv4 Decline EXPERTS in the nation's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector have adduced some reasons why the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) has been on the decline. Some of the expects who spoke to Champion Infotel on the depletion of IPv4 usage globally included the President, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Lanre Ajayi and his counterpart in the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Mr. Ndukwe Kalu. http://allafrica.com/stories/200804020186.html ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** A forewarning of his firing is frightening ... My corporate employer, VeriSign, is more bereft than most. Located in Dulles, Va., VeriSign is the sole keeper of the Internet domain name registry. That means they sell people the rights to their own name -- plus the suffix .com, .net or .org. They sold microsoft.com to Microsoft. They also will sell anyone the right to anyone else's name. That's how whitehouse.com became an adult entertainment portal. http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080401/COLUMNISTS08/804010303 ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** T.R.A.F.F.I.C. EAST 2008 release tentative schedule The organisers of the upcoming T.R.A.F.F.I.C. EAST 2008 in Orlando, Florida have released some tentative information and details with more information coming in mid-April. Until then, there is a proposed schedule available to give people an idea of what is going to happen at the conference. Their framework shows the direction they are heading in and it will be updated as things progress. http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/03/31/traffic-east-2008-release-tentative-schedule/ Finding Premium Domains on Afternic Auctions is Now Easier We made a change to Afternic Auctions, our expiring domain auction service, that will make it easier for you to find exclusive premium domains. You can now see how many PreOrders have been submitted on a domain before its live auction starts. This allows you to easily find the hottest domains. http://afternicdlsblog.com/2008/03/31/finding-premium-domains-on-afternic-auctions-is-now-easier/ Dark Blue Sea values domain portfolio at $570m Dark Blue Sea, based in Brisbane, Australia and owner of Fabulous, have released an ?investor presentation? that shows they have a portfolio of over 570,000 domain names, mostly .com domain names that they value at an average of $1,000 each. So this makes the company worth around $570 million. http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=4442 http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/03/31/dark-blue-sea-values-domain-portfolio-at-570m/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/registries/dark-blue-sea-valued-at-over-570m.html Dark Blue Sea: Domain Portfolio Worth $600 Million Retail Company values retail value of portfolio at approximately $1,000 USD per domain. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/03/31/dark-blue-sea-domain-portfolio-worth-600-million-retail/ 10 Simple Steps to Boost Search Engine Rankings There are several steps to follow to ensure top rankings in search engines. Sites that follow these simple steps will likely see their traffic and search engine rankings soar through the roof. The better optimized your site is for the search engines, the better results you can expect. The following tips will help you understand how the search engines rank sites and why some sites achieve higher rankings than others. Following these 10 steps will greatly boost your Web sites presence in the search engines and on the Internet as a whole. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/62402.html http://www.technewsworld.com/story/62402.html How much is my domain worth? This is probably the most common question that new domainers have. They want to know if they have struck gold with their latest brainwave or at least a little more than it cost to register that domain. http://www.domaininformer.com/guides/General_Information/articles/080402Howmuchismydomainworth.html 5 Ways You Can Still Make Money with Domain Names - Got in late? You can still make money. I recently read a forum post written by someone disappointed about Yahoo?s decision to nix arbitrage. This person complained ?How am I supposed to make money with domains now? I got in late and all the good domains are gone. It?s not fair!? (Seriously, it sounded like a 5 year old.) http://domainnamewire.com/2008/04/02/5-ways-you-can-still-make-money-with-domain-names/ Are You Clear About Your Blog Monetization Strategy? Why are you starting a blog? What is the goal for your Blog? Be honest, this is really important. If you are blogging to make money or even make a living from blogging then you have to decide on your blog monetization strategy right from the start. Most of the 100,000 thousand odd blogs that start everyday plan to make money, all but a few succeed and it is the odd blogger or two that blog for the love of it. http://www.mytradedomain.com/pick-your-blog-monetization-strategy-wisely/ Roundtable Hotel - Book now Domain Roundtable venue hotel - the Palace - extended the booking date. I received quite a few emails and calls this morning from people forgetting to reserve their hotel room at the discounted rate that ended yesterday. DON?T PANIC !!! The hotel has agreed to extend our rate until April 7. Our rate of $239 is only for the days of the conference with an April 18 check-in and April 21 check-out. Any additional dates around this will be charged current hotel rate pricing. http://blog.domaintools.com/2008/04/roundtable-hotel-book-now/ Domain Parking Takes a Bad Turn It is not a secret that domain parking was a lucrative business. Until recently, a number of companies made good earnings on it. In the last few months, ad providers changed the rules and the situation for domain parking rapidly took a bad turn. Domain name parking has become less profitable business. http://www.domaininformer.com/news/editors/080331DomainParkingTakesaBadTurn.html Standards - Part 13 - What parking companies need to do. So what does a parking company need to do in order to be classified as "clean" and above reproach? The first thing that needs to be done is the adoption of standards: http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/ Standards ? Part 12 ? The trouble with being a parking company I think that there should be a saying, "Parking, damned if you don't, damned if you do....". This is definitely the cast for domain parking companies that are under pressure from multiple directions and now most recently standards and transparency. http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/ David Kesmodel - The ?Where Are They Now? Files Back in 2006, Wall Street Journal reporter David Kesmodel began work on a book about the domain space. Kesmodel also released his own blog publishing news and insight into companies and players in the space. Kesmodel announced he was shuttering the blog and heading back to a reporting gig in Chicago. So, what happened to the book? Domain Name News talked to Kesmodel about his book after seeing recent updates on his site about a spring release. http://www.domainnamenews.com/miscellaneous/david-kesmodel-the-where-are-they-now-files/1511 But does it come with www.pepperoni.com? Proving the theory that there?s always someone willing to buy everything, domain name ?pizza.com? is up for sale ? and someone?s willing to pay more than $2.5 million for the right to own it. http://blogs.reuters.com/shop-talk/2008/04/01/but-does-it-come-with-wwwpepperonicom/ ********************** INTERNET USE ********************** Email archive to immortalise Australian life We use them to arrange meetings, share news, complain and even flirt. Now, in an Australian first, the emails of ordinary people are going to be archived for prosperity. The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney is asking people to send in emails they think are significant in their life. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/01/2204768.htm Yahoo Thinks It Knows What Women Want Seeking to tap deeper into a key demographic for advertisers, Yahoo on Monday launched Shine, a Web site meant to become an Internet starting point for women between the ages of 25 and 54. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/Yahoo-Thinks-It-Knows-What-Women-Want-62372.html 'Dongles' to revolutionise mobile web access ... Vodafone, claims the product "is flying off the shelves", which is why it has hired an extra 450 frontline staff to help sell mobile broadband at the same time as laying off staff at Vodafone HQ. Mobile provider 3 has also seen this shift towards USB modems, with more than 20 per cent of new customers to their monthly packages purchasing dongles. A report by Arthur D Little and Exane BNP has suggested half of all consumers in Europe will have mobile broadband access by 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/02/cmdongle102.xml PC and internet use on the rise in Ireland Some 865,500 households had a computer connected to the internet as of February 2007, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The figures were described as a "milestone" for internet access by Tommy McCabe, Director of the Telecommunications and Internet Federation. http://www.enn.ie/article/10124144.html Why (most) authors and publishers need not fear online piracy In a dire article in London's Times yesterday, reporter Ben Hoyle opened with the self-evidently ludicrous statement that "book piracy on the Internet will ultimately drive authors to stop writing unless radical methods are devised to compensate them for lost sales." Internet piracy, no matter how pervasive, is not about to bring the worldwide production of literature to a grinding halt, just as rampant music piracy isn't stopping my neighbor's kid from playing his drum kit in the garage every day before dinner. But the piece does raise the real question of whether the best writers will continue to work to their full potential in a world where their main product can be had for free. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080401-why-authors-and-publishers-need-not-fear-online-piracy.html Mobile video getting bigger everyday The continued growth of video content and video advertising on wireless devices is a popular theme at CTIA Wireless 2008 this week. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9074538 ********************** SOCIAL NETWORKING ********************** British children flock to social networks More than a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds in the UK have a profile on a social network, research shows. Most sites, such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook, set a minimum age of between 13 and 14 to create a profile but none actively enforce the age requirement. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7325019.stm Q&A: Children and safer net use Many teenagers and younger children are signing up for social networking sites says telecoms regulator Ofcom in a report. In a research exercise covering 3,000 children it found that about a quarter of those aged between eight and 11 have a profile page on sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7326246.stm Adult social networking sites attract young users Millions of children are using social networking websites intended for older users, according to a study by the media regulator, Ofcom. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/02/socialnetworking.ofcom Social sites protect children, says Bebo Social networking websites are taking their duty to protect younger users more seriously following a sea change in attitudes, according to Bebo's safety officer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/02/bebo.digitalmedia UK Home Office calls for better security on social networking sites Social networking sites should carry the telephone numbers of child welfare agencies, the police and confidential hotlines under guidance to be published tomorrow, aimed at improving online security. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3667347.ece Children?s social network pages ?must have privacy lock? Two and a half million children aged between 8 and 17 have created profiles on social networking sites, according to research. But parents fail to realise that poor security means that about four in ten personal pages are open for anyone to look at. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3663312.ece uk: Facebook, MySpace to carry 999 link Facebook and other social networking sites would have to advertise the 999 emergency number on their pages under new Government guidelines to improve the safety of children online. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2008/04/02/dlsafe102.xml uk: Shock report reveals how millions of girls are at risk from paedophiles and bullies online Parents are alarmingly ignorant of the danger posed to millions of girls by social networking websites, a report reveals. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=553348&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490 Ofcom warns parents over children's networking sites Nearly half of all children who have access to the internet have a profile on a social networking site, according to Ofcom, but they are not being protected adequately. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/374d4f2a-005a-11dd-825a-000077b07658.html Social Networking: Online Chat, as Inspired by Real Chat Compared with other forms of human interaction, online social networking is really not all that social. People visit each other?s MySpace pages and Facebook profiles at various hours of the day, posting messages and sending e-mail back and forth across the digital void. It?s like an endless party where everybody shows up at a different time and slaps a yellow Post-it note on the refrigerator. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/technology/31chat.html Facebook eyes China, but challenges loom Facebook has indicated that it plans to speed up its move into China dramatically, inviting English-speaking users of the site to help translate the site into Chinese. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3653828.ece Second Life Founder Addresses Congress On Virtual World Safety [Reuters] The founder of virtual world Second Life sought to reassure U.S. lawmakers Tuesday that the online community is able to police itself. http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207001146 ********************** NEW TECHNOLOGIES ********************** Computers to merge with humans By 2020 the terms 'interface' and 'user' will be obsolete as computers merge ever closer with humans. It is one of the predictions in a Microsoft-backed report drawn from the discussions of 45 academics from the fields of computing, science, sociology and psychology. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7325004.stm Phone-reliant Britons in the grip of 'nomo-phobia' Being out of mobile-phone contact is as stressful as moving house or breaking up with a partner for nearly one in five phone users, according to a survey which suggests many Britons are in the grip of "nomo-phobia". http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/phonereliant-britons-in-the-grip-of-nomophobia-802722.html Flirting by Text Message, Indians Test Social Limits In this romantically corseted society, Ashish Chettri is as close as you get to a Don Juan. He is an irrepressible flirt: a skirt chaser who claims to pursue three women at a time, a loquacious utterer of compliments, a ceaseless seeker of dates. And that is just with his thumbs. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/world/asia/31flirt.html 330 Million Africans Will Own Cellphones in 2008 Africa is projected to experience a 22 per cent jump in its mobile phone subscriber base during 2008, with the number of people owning a phone increasing from the current 270 million to 330 million. http://allafrica.com/stories/200803311767.html Brain cancer fears over heavy mobile phone use A top Australian neurosurgeon says the world's heavy reliance on mobile phones could be a greater threat to human health than smoking and even asbestos. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/03/31/1206850768836.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/03/31/1206850768836.html Mobiles 'more harmful than smoking' Mobile phones will overtake asbestos and smoking as a leading public health danger, a top neurosurgeon says. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23459441-1702,00.html Smartphones will soon turn computing on its head There's almost as many people buying smartphones as there are people buying laptops, and that trend is about to turn the computing industry on its head. "We do see that gravitational pull of the single-use device being played out in the market," said Nigel Clifford, CEO of Symbian, during the opening presentations of Smartphone Summit here at CTIA 2008. "This is not just about multiple devices, it's about knocking aside some other forms of communication." http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,62039585,00.htm Blinkx enters online TV market Blinkx, the Aim-listed video search group, will today enter the increasingly crowded market for online television. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d6ee25a8-001a-11dd-825a-000077b07658.html NZ Texting and driving statistics 'staggering' Two-thirds of young people freely admit to texting while driving - despite mounting calls for the potentially fatal practice to be banned. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4461907a11.html ********************** SPAM ********************** Spam blights e-mail 15 years on Spam continues to blight e-mail exactly 15 years after the term was first coined and almost 30 years since the first spam message was sent. The term is thought to have been coined by Joel Furr, an administrator on the net discussion system Usenet, to refer to unsolicited bulk messages. More than 90% of all e-mail is spam, according to anti-spam body Spamhaus. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7322615.stm Spam, spam, lovely spam "Spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam," sang the group of Vikings in the famous Monty Python sketch of 1970. Eight years later the first spam message was sent, while it took another 15 years before unsolicited bulk e-messages were given the popular moniker. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/03/spam_spam_lovely_spam.html Canning The Real Spam Kings In May of last year, federal cybercrime cops had what seemed like a big win: After years of investigation, they had finally bagged the man they called the "Spam King," otherwise known as Robert Alan Soloway of Seattle. Earlier this month, Soloway pleaded guilty to charges of mail and e-mail fraud that together carry a sentence of up to 26 years in federal prison. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/03/31/cybercriminals-hacking-jail-cx_ag_0331cybercrime.html The War on Spam: A Battlefield Report [IDG] When the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced a US$2.9 million settlement with online marketing firm ValueClick this month, it was a record monetary settlement under the 4-year-old CAN-SPAM Act. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143944/article.html ********************** DIGITAL DIVIDE ********************** The low-cost laptop offer Microsoft can't refuse [IDG] Low-cost laptops don't pack enough power to run Windows Vista, so Microsoft must either revamp its OS strategy or concede that growing market segment to Linux http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/31/The-low-cost-laptop-offer-Microsoft-cant-refuse_1.html ************************** ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL ************************** uk: BT advert trials were 'illegal' Trials of the online ad system Phorm carried out by BT involving more than 30,000 of its customers were potentially illegal, says a leading digital rights lawyer. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7325451.stm BT and Phorm secretly tracked 18,000 customers in 2006 BT secretly intercepted and profiled the web browsing of 18,000 of its broadband customers in 2006 using advertising technology provided by 121Media, the alleged spyware company that changed its name to Phorm last year. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/01/bt_phorm_2006_trial/ uk: YouTube under fire over 'rape' footage YouTube, the video-sharing website owned by Google, yesterday came under attack from MPs after admitting that an error in its review procedure meant it had failed to remove footage apparently showing a gang rape. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/02/youtube.internet Google admits YouTube rape video was 'a mistake' Google today resisted calls to screen videos before they appeared on YouTube, despite admitting it had been too slow to take down a clip which showed a 25-year-old mother being gang-raped. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3662228.ece Tackling cybercrime: guidance on sharing Internet data The Council of Europe settled on voluntary guidelines Wednesday to strengthen cooperation between the police and Internet service companies, starting a long process to build support for a common global system to combat cybercrime. http://iht.com/articles/2008/04/02/business/cybercrime.php Council of Europe, ISPs Draft Anti-Cybercrime Guide [IDG] A set of guidelines to help European ISPs and law enforcement cooperate on cybercrime investigations is almost done. A set of guidelines to help European ISPs and law enforcement agencies cooperate on cybercrime investigations are close to being complete. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144011-c,cybercrime/article.html EU Debates Cybercrime Law Enforcement [AP] Two groups working separately to boost Europe's defenses against online crime will present proposals this week, almost a year after most of the nation of Estonia's links to the Internet were disrupted for days or weeks. http://www.thestate.com/technology-wire/story/361633.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/03/31/financial/f131651D04.DTL http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CYBERCRIME Apple sued over missing millions of colours it claims for new iMac Apple's latest iMac desktop monitor boasts the broadest rainbow palette in the computer world with a capacity to display "millions of colours", according to its marketing material. Or does it? http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/02/apple.mediabusiness ************************** PRIVACY ************************** The Facebook tool which turns your mobile into a snoop Husbands who are not where they are supposed to be could soon be in danger of being ?sniffed? out by a mobile phone service that gives suspicious partners an electronic map showing the location of their spouse. The Social Network Integrated Friend Finder (Sniff) is a new application, accessed via Facebook or mobile phone, which could bring an end to frantic ?Where r u?? text messages. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3656103.ece CIA enlists Google's help for spy work Google has been recruited by US intelligence agencies to help them better process and share information they gather about suspects. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3652494.ece BT admits tracking 18,000 users with Phorm systems in 2006 BT Broadband has admitted that it carried out secret trials on 18,000 user accounts in autumn 2006 with technology from 121Media, which became the targeted advertising company Phorm. Though BT has not yet said where the trials were done, the systems were used to analyse web traffic and then serve selected adverts on a number of selected websites. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/03/privacy.telecoms ********************** FILE SHARING ********************** MySpace music venture to take on iTunes News Corp.'s MySpace, the largest online social networking site, will unveil as early as Thursday a joint venture with the world's top three music labels, according to several people familiar with the matter. http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-myspace3apr03,1,1646549.story IFPI demands $2.5m in damages from The Pirate Bay The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is demanding $2.5m in damages from Swedish torrent tracking site The Pirate Bay. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/01/ifpi_wants_damages_from_pirate_bay/ Pirate Bay on IFPI lawsuit: Labels can "go screw themselves" The four main backers of The Pirate Bay could be personally on the hook for 15 million kroner ($2.5 million) after record labels requested the amount in damages from the Stockholm District Court yesterday. Gottfrid Warg of The Pirate Bay responded with the elegance that always characterizes the group's pronouncements, telling Sweden's The Local that "the record companies can go screw themselves." http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080401-pirate-bay-on-ifpi-lawsuit-labels-can-go-screw-themselves.html Warner Music seeks to offer 'all you can eat' digital music Consumers can look forward to unlimited music downloads as part of their broadband contracts, following confirmation that Warner Music is in talks with the main British internet service providers. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3661348.ece Danish ISP bundles free music subscription - But there's a catch TDC, Denmark's biggest ISP, is bundling a free music service with its broadband offering. And no, it's not a 1 April story - as we'll see from the caveats. While the service, PLAY, offers songs from three of the four biggest labels, it's not a "legal P2P file-sharing" service of the kind we so often discuss here. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/01/danish_isp_free_music/ ********************** CENSORSHIP ********************** IOC warns China over web access China must ensure open access to the internet during the Beijing Games, Olympic officials have warned. Inspectors from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said China was obliged under its Games contract to provide journalists with web access. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7324155.stm IOC pressures Beijing over Internet access [Reuters] International Olympic Committee (IOC) inspectors have told Beijing organisers that the Internet must be open for the duration of the 2008 Olympics. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKSP28073320080401?sp=true http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKSP28073320080401 http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1676920 Yahoo fund aids 'cyber dissidents' in China [AFP] A fund set up by Yahoo to atone for revealing "cyber dissidents" to Chinese officials is aiding people jailed there for human rights views posted on the internet, its overseer said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/03/2206758.htm Indonesia seeks to block YouTube over anti-Koran film Indonesia has asked Internet providers to block access to the YouTube Web site for carrying a film made by a right-wing Dutch lawmaker which accuses the Koran of inciting violence, an official said on Wednesday. http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKSP23588120080402 id: Online porn law won't affect business, say Internet cafe owners Internet cafe (warnet) owners say a new law banning online pornography will not affect their business because it will do little to stop people from accessing adult sites. http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southeastasia.asp?parentid=89634 ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ Web filtering must be necessary and transparent, says Council of Europe The body behind the European Convention on Human Rights has said that internet users must be told when content is being filtered, and that governments should not filter content except in very specific circumstances. http://out-law.com/page-9000 Council of Europe: Internet filtering needs strong limits With Internet filtering of all kinds becoming such big news (and such big business), especially in Europe, it's no surprise that a body like the Council of Europe would eventually weigh in with a set of filtering "best practices." The CoE, which was set up in 1949 and is separate from the EU, last week adopted a set of filtering standards that attempt to balance concerns over pornography, violence, and racism online with freedom of expression and an open Internet. How did they do? http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080331-council-of-europe-internet-filtering-needs-strong-limits.html Fight clubs active in NZ schools There is fresh evidence that fight clubs are active at New Zealand's schools. ONE News has been investigating a variety of videos posted on-line and discovered a vicious fight club was operating at Catholic boys school St Paul's College. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1681449 NZ College shocked by fight videos A Catholic school in Auckland is said to be devastated that its students have been glorifying violence in a video they made for the internet. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1681449 'Fight Club' Aims to Test Pornography Filters Untangle next week at the RSA conference will conduct a "fight club" to see how well six leading Web content filters really are at stopping pornography from reaching the user. http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=149679 uk: Infamy, infamy ... they had it in for me As taskforces tackle the issue of cyberbullying, teacher David Buckley tells his story of unpleasant reading: When my eldest son was three, he undressed for dinner and sat naked beside me in a frame tent somewhere in Eskdale, trying to cope with a large baguette and a small mouth. With seriously enlarged and tragic eyes he looked upwards as he passed me a bit of sandwich he thought he shouldn't eat, saying, "My willy's been on that bit". http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,2269579,00.html nz: Coping with troubled boys The death of a mentally ill Auckland teenager has prompted debate over who is responsible. Toran Henry's mother claims the troubled boy's school failed him but now questions are being asked about whether schools are equipped to cope with such cases. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1671306 Safer surfing for the kids As the father of four twenty--somethings I stop-ped worrying about what they were doing on the internet long ago (and started worrying about other things, such as whether one of them should sign up for a stint in Baghdad). http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7cfce04e-fc68-11dc-9229-000077b07658.html Porn filters set for 'fight club' test It is the surely the first security demonstration in history to draw inspiration from a notorious 1970s porn flick and a more recent Brad Pitt film, based on the underground bare-knuckle fighting scene. http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?NewsID=11872 http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;869142115;fp;2;fpid;1 ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** Australian law chiefs plan ban on race-hate sites Race-hate websites could be banned under an internet censorship proposal being considered by state and federal attorneys-general. The plan, which is in its early stages, has aroused concern among civil libertarians who fear it could be used to stifle political debate. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23464021-5013404,00.html NZ government-assisted ICT forum cautiously welcomed ICT associations are cautiously welcoming the new ?digital sector forum? announced last week and to be established with taxpayer funding. It?s not immediately clear how existing industry associations will link with the new forum, says InternetNZ executive director Keith Davidson. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/1211C32471F7B601CC25741A000BA6A8 ISO adopts OOXML format as international standard The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has adopted an international standard based on Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) document format. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;518104227;fp;2;fpid;1 US Congress to Take Testimony on Internet Gambling Ban The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 made it illegal for banks and other financial institutions to process online wagers. The goal was to find an indirect way to regulate offshore casinos, which are outside the jurisdiction of American law enforcement. In short: the casinos are out of reach, but not the banks in the United States that process their transactions. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/congress-to-take-testimony-on-internet-gambling-ban/ Banks: Planned Net-gambling curb could disrupt e-commerce Banks, credit card companies, and some Democratic members of Congress are predicting that forthcoming restrictions on Internet gambling will ensnare innocent customers and threaten the viability of e-commerce. http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9909501-38.html ********************************* COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS ********************************* Microsoft Drums Its Fingers on the Table While Yahoo Sweats Despite widespread belief it would dig deeper into its pockets if necessary to land Yahoo, Microsoft has no plans to sweeten its offer for the Web portal, according to published reports. Microsoft sees no reason to boost its bid at this time, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources close to the company. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/Microsoft-Drums-Its-Fingers-on-the-Table-While-Yahoo-Sweats-62397.html Working the Angles in Tech Wars When Microsoft Corp. announced its plan to acquire Yahoo in February, the Center for Democracy and Technology was far from the only advocacy group to question the deal on privacy and antitrust grounds. It was, however, the only advocacy group voicing those concerns that counts the Seattle software giant as a major financial backer. "They're reasonable concerns, and at Microsoft we take them very seriously," says Frank Torres, the company's head Washington lobbyist. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1207133075557 ********************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ********************** Calls for monopoly to boost broadband Private think-tank the New Zealand Institute is calling for a regulated monopoly company to lay swathes of fibre optic cable to jumpstart New Zealand's broadband capability. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10501469 NZ last-mile fibre monopoly proposed for broadband The New Zealand Institute suggests in its final report on broadband that a single company be given monopoly ownership of ?last-mile? connections between exchanges or street cabinets and user premises. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/F2FCD3770C7ACF0ACC25741E006F9E8F Telecom NZ faces "Separation Day" -- Who's next? It is "separation day" today for Telecom NZ, as the New Zealand Communications and Information Technology Minister announces his approval of the company's plan to split itself into three operational segments. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Telecom-NZ-faces-Separation-Day-Who-s-next-/0,130061791,339287778,00.htm Ministries probe NZ's converged media habits Just how New Zealanders use electronic media is the subject of research being undertaken by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and Te Puni Kokiri. The aim is to look at the future of broadcasting and ?broadcasting-like content? in what is becoming an increasingly digital information landscape. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/489E12415BAFEE9ECC25741A000CC765 NZ Telecom forced to keep rural services The Government is forcing Telecom to maintain rural services in a shake-up for industry subsidies to country customers. A review of the Telecommunications Services Obligations (TSO) includes suggestions that some of the subsidies paid out of industry levies should be scrapped, the Telecommunications Carriers Forum says. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=93&objectid=10501738 NZCS sets out proposed ?chartered? roadmap ICT still has a serious image problem that is holding it back. Changing that image, so ICT is seen as a ?worthwhile and valuable profession? is the key, says NZ Computer Society CEO Paul Matthews. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/EAB4E1C26750A1CCCC25741A000D990A Australian govt scraps Optus regional broadbrand scheme The Federal Government has terminated the $1 billion OPEL contract the previous government signed with an Optus-led joint venture for the creation of a broadband network for regional Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/02/2205603.htm OPEL broadband network cancelled - and so are 500 SA jobs HOPES of creating 500 jobs in Adelaide by 2012 have been dashed after the Federal Government cancelled a $958m OPEL broadband contract. http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23471271-5006301,00.html Conroy kills $1bn OPEL rural broadband contract [AAP] The federal government has cancelled the contract for Optus and Elders to build a WiMAX broadband network, the companies say. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Conroy-kills-1bn-OPEL-rural-broadband-contract/0,130061791,339287846,00.htm Telstra welcomes scrapping of Optus rural broadband Telstra has been quick to respond to the Federal Government's decision to scrap a contract to roll out broadband to rural and regional areas. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/02/2206115.htm Europeans telecommunications companies hit by prediction of lower rates Shares of telecommunications companies including Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telef?nica fell in European trading Monday after Morgan Stanley said that regulators would cut rates "aggressively" for calls between fixed and mobile phones. http://iht.com/articles/2008/03/31/technology/rates.php US mobile operators avoid potential regulation It seems mobile operators have dodged a regulatory bullet by promising to open up their networks on their own. On Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said he was rewarding U.S. wireless operators for their efforts to open up their networks by not pushing for more regulation. http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9907928-7.html ********************** MOBILE/WIRELESS ********************** Global Mobile Broadband Connections Increase Tenfold Over The Past Year [news release] The GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association for the mobile industry, today announced that there are now more than 32 million Mobile Broadband (HSPA) connections worldwide compared with just over 3 million at the end of the first quarter of 2007. Mobile Broadband continues to gain momentum as more and more operators upgrade their 3G networks with HSPA technology in parallel with a wealth of advanced HSPA handsets on the market. http://www.gsmworld.com/news/press_2008/press08_24.shtml Mobile broadband subscribers increase by 850% [IDG] The number of mobile broadband subscribers using 3G HSPA has increased by 850% worldwide in the past year, according to the GSM Association. But carriers are also running the risk of becoming a victim of their own success, according to some analysts. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9073338 http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143980-c,mobilebroadband/article.html Shock at huge rise in mobile broadband users [IDG] The worldwide number of mobile broadband subscribers using HSPA has increased by 850 percent over the past year, according to the GSM Association. But carriers are also running the risk of becoming a victim of their own success. ... There are several reasons for mobile broadband's increased popularity. Everything from lower pricing, to improved ease of use and the convenience of being able to surf the Internet almost everywhere has played a role, according Newman and H?gberg. http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?NewsID=11847 Japanese mobile firms may unite on standards Japan's giant mobile operators look likely to adopt the same technology for their next-generation networks, local media has reported. The change is likely to benefit the country's 102 million mobile users, and may belatedly remove one of the stumbling blocks that has hindered Japanese mobile phone makers' entry into the international market. http://www.pcw.co.uk/vnunet/news/2213218/japanese-mobile-firms-unite ********************** VoIP ********************** VoIP System Security: Time to Worry, or Maybe Not As computer-based technologies, Voice over Internet Protocol telephone systems (VoIP) are as vulnerable to attacks as PCs. The problem is, says one telecommunications security company, few people ever think that their voice conversations?and their user accounts? can easily be spied upon, recorded, and stolen. ?Nobody takes VoIP security seriously enough,? contends Rick Dalmazzi, chief executive of Ottawa-based VoIPshield Systems, Inc., a VoIP security firm. Consumers who use telephone systems from such companies as Vonage are using VoIP technology. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/voip-system-security-time-to-worry-or-maybe-not/ The Essential Guide to VoIP Security - What you need to know about securing IP telephony systems It's a well-known fact that VoIP technology sends voice data over networks in the form of data packets. Data-networking technology allows IP telephony to provide an array of powerful and flexible call-management options at a rock-bottom cost. The downside to VoIP's data-focused structure is that it exposes IP telephony systems to many of the same threats that imperil enterprise data networks and computers ? and in some cases extends their range, making them more difficult to detect. Many observers believe that these security threats represent the biggest challenge that VoIP adopters currently face. http://www.voip-news.com/feature/essential-guide-voip-security-033108/ Research Exposes Vendor-Specific VOIP Vulnerabilities VOIPshield Systems on April 2 will seek to set itself apart among voice-over-IP security providers when it launches what officials claim is the first database of vulnerabilities specific to the IP PBXes of market leaders Cisco Systems, Avaya and Nortel Networks. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Research-Exposes-Vendor-Specific-VOIP-Vulnerabilities/ UAE cyber cafes work around the ban to provide VoIP services Acting illegally, some Internet cafes are becoming the 'third service providers' in the UAE by offering VoIP services to their loyal customers. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/April/theuae_April39.xml§ion=theuae&col= ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN ********************************** au: Child sex victims urged to come forward [AAP] POLICE are appealing for young girls believed to be the victims of an alleged pedophile to come forward after charging a man with child sex and pornography offences. http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23465805-5005962,00.html au: Police officer pleads guilty to child pornography offences An ACT police officer has pleaded guilty to possessing 20 images of child pornography. http://au.news.yahoo.com/080331/21/16b6u.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (c) David Goldstein 2008 --------- David Goldstein address: 4/3 Abbott Street COOGEE NSW 2034 AUSTRALIA email: Goldstein_David §yahoo.com.au phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home) "Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the problem. Every time you forgo fossil fuels, you're being part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address. www.yahoo7.com.au/y7mailReceived on Mon Apr 07 2008 - 07:40:34 UTC
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