[DNS] domain name news - 30 March

From: David Goldstein <goldstein_david§yahoo.com.au> Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:56:50 -0700 (PDT) · This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Sat Sep 09 2017 - 22:00:10 UTC

Don't forget to check out http://www.auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the archive of the last 3 months of the news.

And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for daily updates in between postings.

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The domain name news is supported by auDA

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nz: InternetNZ board resigns en masse
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/56A89DB4E10117F1CC25758500839338

.TEL Domains Available to All; 100,000 Names Registered
http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=7652

ICANN Continues Collaborative Response to Conficker Worm
http://blog.icann.org/2009/03/icann-continues-collaborative-response-to-conficker-worm/

Conficker worm might originate from China
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10206754-83.html

Fears of a Conficker meltdown greatly exaggerated [IDG]
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/032709-fears-of-a-conficker-meltdown.html

Google tries to break IPv6 logjam by own example
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10204391-92.html

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DOMAIN NAMES
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 - ICANN
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The IRT black box
The noise that I'm hearing about the IRT ? the Implementation Recommendation Team that the ICANN Board at its Mexico meeting requested be set up to give trademark holders sufficient protection as new gTLDs are introduced ? has me slightly worried.
http://domainesinfo.fr/english/266/the-irt-black-box.php

Some Thoughts on ICANN's Next CEO
Now that the search has officially commenced, I thought it might be useful to make some public statements as to what I would like to see from the next ICANN CEO. My comments are driven by what I see as the deficiencies over the last number of years and, most importantly, by a deep desire to see the ICANN experiment in global governance succeed. The Internet is the greatest agent for positive change the world has ever seen and a healthy ICANN strengthens its ability to foster positive change.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090326_thoughts_on_icanns_next_ceo/

We can learn from the big-picture domain of Web
Seth Reiss didn't go to Mexico City for margaritas. He went to attend the 34th ICANN conference in early March. ICANN ("eye-can") is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. He's an IP lawyer, one of those out-of-the-box people who likes to network in far-away places.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090329/BUSINESS13/903290327/-1/RSS04?source=rss_business

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 - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS
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nic.at formalizes relationship with ICANN!
In the so-called ?Exchange of Letters? program, nic.at and ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) have defined their respective fields of responsibility, thus creating a formal basis for their cooperation.
http://www.nic.at/en/uebernic/current_issues/nicat_news/news_view/period/1238208576///article/81/nicat-formalisiert-beziehungen-zu-icann/

SWITCH's dispute resolution service: Expert opinions required
The dispute resolution service introduced by SWITCH can pride itself on good news to coincide with its five-year anniversary: the results achieved in 2008 show quite clearly that it is, indeed, possible to get by without the courts ? but not without professional expert advice.
http://switch.ch/about/news/2009/streitbeilegungsdienst.html

eco: A New Type of Domain Name, A New Waste of Money
Earlier this month, an unknown little startup grabbed big headlines when it received Al "Internet Earth Soldier" Gore's official endorsement for a proposed ".eco" domain name extension (aka TLD, aka top-level domain). Dot Eco, as the company is appropriately named, hopes to ride the current wave of trendy corporate environmentalism into a pile of that other type of green. But with other "alternative" TLDs like ".biz," ".info" and ".mobi" already going largely ignored by Internet users and site owners alike, do we really need yet another URL naming convention on the Web? I don't think we do.
http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009-03/new-type-domain-name-new-waste-money

nz: InternetNZ board resigns en masse
Less than nine months after it was appointed, the executive board of InternetNZ has resigned en masse, vacating its positions on March 31.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/56A89DB4E10117F1CC25758500839338

nz: InternetNZ to refresh structure
InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc) today advised that it is refreshing its operating structure.
http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/media-releases-2009/internetnz-to-refresh-structure

.TEL Domains Available to All; 100,000 Names Registered
In what Telnic CEO Khashayar Mahdavi calls the biggest innovation since .com, the .tel generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) was launched to all comers last week. Within 36 hours of .tel being made available through General Availability, the 100,000th .tel domain name was registered.
http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=7652
http://www.domainpulse.com/2009/03/29/100000-tel-domains-registered-with-general-availability-launch/
http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/.tel-general-availability-launch-100-000-names-registered.html

The .Tel Search Engine Factor
Checking in at forums and on comments at Domain Name Wire, it?s clear that a lot of people think .tel domain names could be a search engine gold mine. The premise is that the data on .tel domains is very structured, and Google can easily index it. Thus, if you get a good keyword.tel you can get traffic and include links to other web sites.
http://domainnamewire.com/2009/03/27/the-tel-search-engine-factor/

How to Create Your .Tel Domain Name
If you read Domain Name Wire frequently then you already know my opinion about .tel. But I know some people are getting into this, so I thought it would be worthwhile to register a .tel and share my experience.
http://domainnamewire.com/2009/03/26/how-to-create-your-tel-domain-name/

Get ready for the arrival of .Tel domain names
As the world of domains continues to evolve, expand and constantly surprise, we see the emergence of a new .Tel domain name extension with a difference. Telnic is the registry operator for the new top level domain and has been quick to promote the service as a potential replacement of business cards. So how exactly will this work?
http://itvibe.com/news/4638/

TEL domains cannot be parked
.TEL domains cannot be parked. This is because the TLD was designed as an online telelphone directory.
http://www.sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=2356

.tel domain names introduced
Web User:.tel goes on genereal release A new web domain has been launched to the general public this week and could make business cards obsolete, according to its backers.
http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/news.php?id=279383

.tel domain names: a quick guide
Tel The new .tel top-level domain has been dubbed "the new way to communicate" but what exactly is it? Here is our .tel quick guide.
http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/news.php?id=279443

Get ready for the arrival of .Tel domain names
As the world of domains continues to evolve, expand and constantly surprise, we see the emergence of a new .Tel domain name extension with a difference. Telnic is the registry operator for the new top level domain and has been quick to promote the service as a potential replacement of business cards. So how exactly will this work?
http://itvibe.com/news/4638/

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 - DNS SECURITY
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White House to coordinate cybersecurity efforts
The White House will coordinate the national cybersecurity strategy but without creating a separate office, said members of a House caucus that was briefed on the progress of the Obama administration's 60-day cyber review.
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090326_7200.php

White House cyber adviser--more questions than answers
The comprehensive cybersecurity legislation currently in development in the Senate aims to bring high-level government attention to the serious problem of cybersecurity by giving one White House official oversight of critical network infrastructure.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10203622-38.html

Cyber Review May Urge White House Control
The Obama administration's 60-day review of the federal cybersecurity posture will likely conclude that a comprehensive strategy for protecting the government's IT assets and critical infrastructure from high-tech attacks should be run by the White House, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., told reporters Thursday.
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2009/03/cyber-review-may-urge-white-ho.php

Creation of White House cybersecurity office remains uncertain
It's unclear whether a report being prepared for the President on federal information security preparedness will support recent calls for the creation of a new cybersecurity office within the White House, two lawmakers said today.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9130635

ICANN Continues Collaborative Response to Conficker Worm
The Conficker worm that has infected hosts across the Internet continues to evolve. At this point, we do not believe cause exists for general alarm, but the Internet community must continue to take action against Conficker. ICANN continues to engage in collaborative efforts with security researchers, software & anti-virus vendors and with registries and registrars throughout the DNS community to disseminate information about how the malicious code may seek to leverage the DNS system.
http://blog.icann.org/2009/03/icann-continues-collaborative-response-to-conficker-worm/

Conficker worm might originate from China
There's been a lot of fuss about the Conficker worm. However, there is a $250,000 question: the origin of the virus.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10206754-83.html
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62052669,00.htm

Obama Cybersecurity Team Consults Rights Groups
President Obama's cybersecurity team is working closely with civil liberties and privacy groups to make sure steps to secure the nation's computer infrastructure don't overstep the bounds of individual rights, two members of the House of Representatives said today.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216400462

Notorious Conficker Worm Still Alive And Infecting Unpatched PCs
What started as a massive worm infection of more than 8 million machines earlier this year, and then was whittled down to around 2 million, is now back in the spotlight again.
http://www.darkreading.com/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216400477

Fears of a Conficker meltdown greatly exaggerated [IDG]
Worries that the notorious Conficker worm will somehow rise up and devastate the Internet on April 1 are misplaced, security experts said Friday.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/032709-fears-of-a-conficker-meltdown.html
http://computerworld.com.au/article/297294/
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/36262C699B15FAF9CC257588006D1E27

Conficker worm threatens April Fools' chaos [AP]
The fast-moving Conficker computer worm, a scourge of the internet that has infected at least 3 million PCs, is set to spring to life in a new way on Wednesday - April Fools' Day.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/03/29/1238261419679.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/29/1238261419679.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10564030

Microsoft puts bounty on creators of Conficker worm [AFP]
US software giant Microsoft has placed a bounty of $US250,000 ($360,000) on the heads of those responsible for a tenacious computer worm that is set to evolve on machines worldwide on April 1.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/29/2529089.htm

ca: Internet authority trying to head off computer worm [Metro Canada]
The authority responsible for Canadian Internet domains, or website names ending with the suffix .ca, is blocking access to certain unregistered names in the hope of beating a new computer worm before it has a chance to cause havoc on April 1.
http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/canada/article/204026
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/204026
http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/canada/article/204026

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 - IPv4/IPv6
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Google tries to break IPv6 logjam by own example
Although it's been hard for companies to financially justify the expense of embracing the next-generation standard for wiring together the Internet, the incentives are now arriving--and Google itself stands to benefit from the resulting democratization of networking.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10204391-92.html
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39633301,00.htm
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,62052667,00.htm

IETF: No consensus on IPv6 NATs
The Internet's leading standards body appears split on a controversial proposal to specify network address translators (NAT) for IPv6, the next-generation Internet Protocol that was designed to eliminate such middle boxes from the Internet infrastructure.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/032709-ietf-ipv6-nats.html
http://www.infoworld.com/article/09/03/27/IETF_to_explore_new_routing_technique_1.html

Why IPv6 Is Like Broccoli
The Internet is at crossroads with the current IPv4 address space nearing exhaustion. The next-generation IPv6 (define) addressing system dramatically expands the available address space, yet to date, hasn't been widely deployed.
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3812486/Why+IPv6+Is+Like+Broccoli.htm

Could the Internet run out of space?
When a small group of university scientists began linking computers on different campus sites at the very end of the 1960s, they had no idea that their work would one day spiral into a globally-accessible network in which the total number of pages is measured in the tens of billions.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/03/28/execed.websites/

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 - MISCELLANEOUS
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RIPE: Existing Internet community policy channels and processes insufficient by Brenden Kuerbis
RIPE's Enhanced Cooperation Task Force has released a report, calling for the establishment of a standing working group to discuss improving coordination and communication between the Internet community and public sectors on Internet policy matters.
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2009/3/26/4134905.html

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 - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET
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March Makes Domain Market Merry With Hundreds of Solid Sales in All Price Ranges 
Maybe I would should go on vacation more often. While I was away the domain aftermarket kicked into high gear with hundreds of sales reported, including three of the year's four biggest to date. This double length report covering sales from March 1 - March 15 will bring you completely up to date on what has happened since my last column two weeks ago.
http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2009/03-24-09.htm

Dell Belatedly Buys Adamo.com Domain For Its Hot Notebook
Last week, a blog post hit Techmeme detailing how Dell had screwed up by not securing Adamo.com for its ultra-thin notebook, which CrunchGear?s John Biggs spotted at SXSW a day before its official release on March 17.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/28/dell-belatedly-buys-adamocom-domain-for-its-hot-notebook/

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RESEARCH PAPERS
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OECD: Online Identity Theft
Using widely available Internet tools, internet thieves trick unsuspecting computer users into providing personal data, which they then use for illicit purposes, causing mistrust of online payment and banking services. This book defines identity theft and studies how it is perpetrated, outlines what is being done to combat the major types of ID theft, and recommends specific ways that ID theft can be addressed in an effective, global manner. 
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?sf1=identifiers&st1=932009021P1

Does Filtering Stop the Flow of Valuable Information?: A Case Study of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in South Dakota by Candice Spurlin & Patrick M. Garry [South Dakota Law Review]
Abstract: In response to the public's request to protect children from the ever growing body of pornographic material available on the Internet, the United States Congress has made a number of legislative attempts "to shield children from Internet smut." In 2000, Congress changed from a prohibition mentality to a filtering mentality, and the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1368900

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INTERNET USE
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Americans spend 8 hours a day on screens, study finds
In a world with grocery store television screens, digitally delivered movie libraries and cellphone video clips, the average American is exposed to 61 minutes of TV ads and promotions a day.
http://iht.com/articles/2009/03/27/business/27adco.php

The internet - Connecting up: Online-dating websites prosper in the recession
Not many industries are doing well in the recession. But along with discount retailers and pawnbrokers, online-dating sites such as eHarmony.com and OkCupid.com have seen business look up. There are several theories to explain why. It may be that people have more time to devote to their private lives as the economy slows; that uncertain times increase the desire for companionship; or that living alone is expensive, whereas couples can split many of their costs.
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13381506

The Internet Industry Is on a Cloud -- Whatever That May Mean
Ever since Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt publicly uttered the term "cloud computing" in 2006, a storm has been gathering over Silicon Valley. Companies across the technology industry are jockeying to associate themselves with clouds. Amazon.com Inc., better known for peddling books online, began selling an Elastic Compute Cloud service in 2006 for programmers to rent Amazon's giant computers. Juniper Networks Inc., which makes gear for transmitting data, dubbed its latest project Stratus. Yahoo Inc., Intel Corp. and a handful of others recently launched a research program called OpenCirrus.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123802623665542725.html

In Europe, Possible Survival Lessons for U.S. Papers
As the death toll in the American newspaper industry mounted this month, the German publisher Axel Springer, which owns Bild, the biggest newspaper in Europe, reported the highest annual profit in its 62-year history.
http://nytimes.com/2009/03/30/technology/30iht-papers30.html

Your Online Clicks Have Value, for Someone Who Has Something to Sell
Imagine that a company set up a mall store where, instead of selling trinkets, it sold information about customer behavior. For a few cents, it could tell a saleswoman at Nordstrom that the person who was about to walk in had already stopped at Steve Madden and was looking for red shoes.
http://nytimes.com/2009/03/26/business/media/26adco.html
http://iht.com/articles/2009/03/26/business/26adco.php

Singapore Internet Users Spend Half of Online Time on Social and Entertainment Sites [news release]
comScore released its first overview of Web usage in Singapore. The report includes a ranking of the most engaging and visited Internet site categories and properties, based on the comScore World Metrix service, and the top search properties, based on the comScore qSearch service. In February 2009, more than 2.5 million people in Singapore age 15 and older accessed the Internet from home and work locations, consuming an average of 1,785 pages of content and accessing the Internet an average of 21 hours per person.
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2760

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SOCIAL NETWORKING
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Social sites dent privacy efforts
Greater use of social network sites is making it harder to maintain true anonymity, suggests research. By analysing links between users of social sites, researchers were able to identify many people in supposedly anonymous data sets.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7967648.stm

Is Facebook Growing Up Too Fast?
When Facebook signed up its 100 millionth member last August, its employees spread out in two parks in Palo Alto, Calif., for a huge barbecue. Sometime this week, this five-year-old start-up, born in a dorm room at Harvard, expects to register its 200 millionth user.
http://nytimes.com/2009/03/29/technology/internet/29face.html
http://iht.com/articles/2009/03/29/technology/face.php

MySpace shrinks as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo grab its users
The "Place for Friends" is starting to feel lonely. MySpace, the Rupert Murdoch-owned website once synonymous with social networking, is losing popularity and key staff in its biggest troubles since launching five years ago.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/29/myspace-facebook-bebo-twitter

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NEW TECHNOLOGIES
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Playing violent computer games 'can improve vision'
Playing violent computer games can improve your vision, according to a study. Scientists found that an important aspect of eyesight functioned better in people who played fighting games on their PCs.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5070634/Playing-violent-computer-games-can-improve-vision.html

Study: Video game play may improve eyesight
Playing action video games may help adults improve their eyesight, according to a study released Sunday.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10206764-235.html

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CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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us: Parents fight child porn threats against "sexting" teens
Backed by the ACLU, a group of Pennsylvania parents is suing to block an enthusiastic DA who has threatened to file child porn charges against teen girls who appear semi-undressed in candid cell-phone photos?unless they agree to attend a five-week program on "what it means to be a girl in today's society."
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/parents-fight-child-porn-threats-against-sexting-teens.ars

Prosecutor sued over semi-nude teen photos case
The American Civil Liberties Union sued a Pennsylvania prosecutor on Wednesday over his threats to charge three teenage girls with child pornography for allowing themselves to be photographed partly clothed with cellphone cameras.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE52O63S20090325

Girl Faces Child Porn Charges for Posting Nude Photos of Herself on MySpace [AP]
A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com -- charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202429441458

Explicit Cellphone Photos Could Land Teenagers in Prison
One in five teenagers may be child pornographers risking life in prison ? for the crime of taking and distributing naked pictures of themselves.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/explicit-cellphone-photos-could-land-teenagers-in-prison/

Net filter to block only restricted content
The national Internet content filter will block only restricted content, according to federal communications minister Stephen Conroy. The revelations, while perhaps spoken off-the-cuff on a live ABC broadcast, are the latest in vacillating claims by the government regarding what content will be banned under the filters.
http://computerworld.com.au/article/297078/
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/3DF7B2E424445FC5CC257585006F6936
http://techworld.com.au/article/297078/
http://reseller.co.nz/reseller.nsf/inews/5A25A64BBA19B230CC257585007BAB70

Government admits Wikileaks blacklist won't stop child pornography [AAP]
The Federal Government's proposed internet censorship regime is not the silver bullet to stop child pornography, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25262774-26103,00.html
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,25262960-5014239,00.html
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/conroy-defends-net-censorship-regime-20090330-9go8.html
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/conroy-defends-net-censorship-regime-20090330-9go8.html

Conroy admits blacklist error, blames 'Russian mob'
The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, has admitted that Bill Henson images were added to the communications regulator's list of prohibited websites in error, while blaming the addition of a dentist's site to the blacklist on the "Russian mob".
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/27/1237657120642.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/03/27/1237657120642.html
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/conroy-admits-blacklist-error-blames-russian-mob-20090327-9dd9.html

'Technical error' behind Henson website black-listing
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says a technical error is to blame for the black-listing of a website with artist Bill Henson's photographs on it.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/27/2527445.htm

'Caching error' caused Henson blacklisting
The communications regulator says a computer malfunction caused harmless Bill Henson images to be added to its blacklist, rather than an incorrect assessment of the content.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/27/1237657133829.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/03/27/1237657133829.html
http://www.watoday.com.au/articles/2009/03/27/1237657133829.html

Blacklist snares Bill Henson fan site
A link containing Bill Henson's artistic photographs of young boys has been added to the communications regulator's blacklist, again calling into question claims by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy that his internet filtering plan would block only the worst of the worst sites.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/26/1237657050527.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/03/26/1237657050527.html
http://www.watoday.com.au/technology/blacklist-snares-bill-henson-fan-site-20090326-9bzm.html

Conroy Proves His Ability To Duck And Weave On Q&A
Last night, Senator Stephen Conroy appeared on the ABC TV program Q&A, and spent almost half the program defending his internet filter plans. More than 2000 people sent questions on the issue, and yet the Senator somehow managed to avoid most of them by repeating the same old boring arguments. And because we have the ability to analyse the arguments, we're going to refute each one of them, one by one.
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/03/conroy_proves_his_ability_to_duck_and_weave_on_qa.html

Blacklists needed to combat child porn: Conroy [AAP]
Blacklists are needed to combat child pornography, pro-rape and incest websites, according to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,25249959-15306,00.html
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/child-porn-needs-to-be-fought-conroy-20090326-9cip.html
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/child-porn-needs-to-be-fought-conroy-20090326-9cip.html

au: 'Control yr freedomz': Classification Board site defaced
The Government's Classification Board appears to have fallen victim to a prank from opponents of a proposed mandatory internet filter.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/27/2527753.htm

Censorship opponents slam website hack
Opponents of the Federal Government's filtering scheme have condemned last night's hacking of one of its websites as damaging to their fight against censorship.
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/99739,censorship-opponents-slam-website-hack.aspx
http://www.crn.com.au/News/99739,censorship-opponents-slam-website-hack.aspx

Classification board Web site hacked
The Office of Film and Literature Classification (OLFC) Web site has been defaced by what appears to be a group opposed to the government's Internet content filtering plan.
http://computerworld.com.au/article/297082/
http://techworld.com.au/article/297082/
http://pcworld.idg.com.au/article/297082/

Optus: We want in on Internet filtering trial
Despite criticism the big ISPs have shunned the Federal Government's Internet filter trial, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, has declared Optus has jumped on-board.
http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/297226/
http://computerworld.com.au/article/297226/
http://pcworld.idg.com.au/article/297226/

Optus remains Conroy's last big filtering hope
Optus has confirmed it is still in negotiations with the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy with a view to taking part in the trial of mandatory ISP-level internet filtering.
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/NewsStory.aspx?story=99567

Police investigate classification.gov.au hack
The website of the Australia's Classification Board, which determines Australia's film, literature, gaming and media classifications, was last week hacked by protesters against its regime.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Police-investigate-classification-gov-au-hack/0,130061744,339295701,00.htm

Conroy faces the filtering music on Q&A [news release]
Australia?s frustration with the Government?s push for mandatory Internet filtering is coming to a head. Last night Communications Minister Stephen Conroy appeared on ABC?s Q&A and faced a mountain of questions from the Australian public on this scheme - far and away the most questions the ABC have received on any subject.
http://www.efa.org.au/2009/03/27/conroy-faces-the-filtering-music-on-qa/

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ONLINE TV & MUSIC
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Is Online Video a Threat to TV?
Two headlines from last week sum up the state of the online video/TV world nicely: "Free Online TV a Threat to Industry," proclaimed one. "Death Greatly Exaggerated: TV Key To Media's Future," countered the other.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090326_099370.htm

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MOBILE/WIRELESS
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Mobile telecoms: Sharing the load
Will mobile-phone networks become a utility of sorts, shared by mobile operators and run by the firms that make telecoms gear? Until recently such a question would have seemed otherworldly. But after a series of deals it no longer seems so far-fetched. On March 23rd Telef?nica and Vodafone, two of the world?s largest operators, said that they would share network infrastructure in several European countries. And three big European operators?France Telecom, KPN and Vodafone (again)?have recently decided to outsource the running of their networks in some countries to equipment-makers: Nokia Siemens Networks, Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson respectively.
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13381538

EU threatens new legislation on universal mobile chargers 
Mobile phone companies have until the end of April to voluntarily standardise chargers or face new legislation to allow consumers to use the same charging device should they swap phones, the European Commission said yesterday (25 March).
http://euractiv.com/en/infosociety/eu-threatens-new-legislation-universal-mobile-chargers/article-180693

Breaking Apple's Grip on the iPhone
Apple Inc. faces a growing threat to its iPhone business, as renegade stores spring up online to sell unauthorized software for the device.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123629876097346481.html

Nigeria claims top spot in African mobile market
Nigeria, recording more than 61 million subscribers, has surpassed South Africa as the largest mobile telecommunications market in Africa, according to a report from Pyramid Research.
http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2009/03/27/nigeria-claims-top-spot-african-mobile-market

ComCom defers NZ roaming decision
The Commerce Commission is deferring a decision on whether to investigate and regulate prices for national mobile roaming.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/6769FE35F654807CCC25758800732CDA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10564303

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ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL
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White House to coordinate cybersecurity efforts
The White House will coordinate the national cybersecurity strategy but without creating a separate office, said members of a House caucus that was briefed on the progress of the Obama administration's 60-day cyber review.
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090326_7200.php