Don't forget to check out http://www.auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the archive of the last 3 months of the news. And see my website - http://GoldsteinReport.com/ - for daily updates in between postings. *************************************************** The domain name news is supported by auDA *************************************************** US influence on the internet worries EU body http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/security-threats/2010/06/18/us-influence-on-the-internet-worries-eu-body-40089285/ Corporate TLDs - Why Keeping Mum Seems to Be the Order of the Day by Tony Kirsch http://www.ausregistry.com/blog/?p=431 New gTLD Survey Shows That Many Intend to Apply, But That the Majority Are Undecided http://www.markmonitor.com/mmblog/new-gtld-survey-shows-that-many-intend-to-apply-but-that-the-majority-are-undecided/ Obama internet 'kill switch' proposed http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/obama-internet-kill-switch-proposed-20100618-yln6.html Run on IPv4 addresses could exhaust supply by December http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/061710-ipv4-addresses.html Sobering thoughts about IPv4 address depletion by Milton Mueller http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2010/6/18/4556326.html Web.com to buy Register.com for $135 million http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE65G2KI20100617 au: Tourism body defends $100k website names http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/17/2929329.htm au: Cybersquatting aided by NT Tourism? http://www.zdnet.com.au/cybersquatting-aided-by-nt-tourism-339303909.htm ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** ********************** - ICANN ********************** New gTLD Program: Three Documents Available for Comment, including Economics Study ICANN is pleased to release three additional documents related to the New gTLD Program. These materials are posted for public comment that will be open until July 21, 2010. We are looking forward to receiving your comments. These three documents are part of a series of publications recently posted. http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-3-16jun10-en.htm Major Milestone for the Internet and ICANN; The KSK Key Signing Ceremony is Now Complete Today in the small town of Culpeper, Virginia, ICANN technical staff played host to an unusual and somewhat arcane event. Volunteers from over ten countries made their way by plane, train and automobile to witness and participate in the generation of the cryptographic key that will be used to secure the root zone of the Domain Name System using DNSSEC for the first time. http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-16jun10-en.htm Letter from Peter Dengate Thrush to Chris Disspain on meaningful representations of country and territory names in the gTLD space Dear Chris: Thank you for your letter of 21 November 2009 regarding the meaningful representation of country and territory names in the gTLD space and associated issues, which also served as the basis of the ccNSO?s comments on the Applicant Guidebook version 3. As you know, a considerable amount of work has been undertaken on this issue and it has been evolving over time, including through two iterations of the Applicant Guidebook. http://icann.org/correspondence/dengate-thrush-to-disspain-14jun10-en.pdf Letter from Rod Beckstrom to Lynn St. Amour The letter addresses concerns raised at the Nairobi meeting about Beckstrom's comments on security and stability of the internet. http://icann.org/correspondence/beckstrom-to-st-amour-18jun10-en.pdf NRO Response to ICANN regarding Secure Routing & RPKI Dear Rod, I am responding to your letter of 23 April 2010 in which you refer to the 8 April route hijacking event as reported on bgpmon. You say in your letter that you were ?concerned that events such as these decrease the trust that the Internet community has in the addressing system?. Further, you ask what ICANN should do to deal with situations like this route hijacking event. We would like to point out that, as you are certainly aware, this event is a failure of the routing system, not of the addressing system. In any statement this distinction and the underlying network realities should be made very clear. http://nro.net/documents/pdf/ICANN-rpki.pdf IANA Function: NRO Letter of Support for ICANN Dear Rod, As Chair of the NRO, I am writing to you to confirm that the RIRs are content with ICANN's historic performance fulfilling the IANA function, and are content with the elements of the IANA function being performed by the same organization. Thus, in the expectation that ICANN will continue to satisfactorily fulfil all parts of the IANA function, the NRO supports that ICANN continues to perform the IANA function, at the end of the present contract with the DoC. http://nro.net/documents/pdf/ICANN-support-100609.pdf WIPO Letter of June 16, 2010 on Rights Protection Mechanisms found in version 4 of ICANN's Draft Applicant Guidebook Dear Mr. Beckstrom, Dear Mr. Dengate-Thrush, Set out below are observations of the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO Center) in connection with rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) found in Version 4 of ICANN?s Draft Applicant Guidebook. ... The WIPO Center is concerned that registration-driven pressures continue to disproportionately influence what amount to negotiations on RPMs. Although registration authority operational considerations must be taken into account, we note conflicts of interest seem to influence the enforcement discussion. http://wipo.int/export/sites/www/amc/en/docs/icann160610.pdf US influence on the internet worries EU body Europe's reliance on US internet infrastructure and services could have a harmful effect on digital security in the region, an EU committee has warned. http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/security-threats/2010/06/18/us-influence-on-the-internet-worries-eu-body-40089285/ Civil society orgs in ICANN overwhelmingly approve GNSO charter by Milton Mueller Civil society organizations within ICANN have been holding a vote on the adoption of a new charter to form the Noncommercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG). Today, it was announced that the charter was successfully ratified. Approval of the charter required that at least 60% of the entire membership of the Noncommercial stakeholders vote in favor of the charter. http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2010/6/14/4553272.html ICANN Board could vote on final AG by December In his presentation to ICANN's GAC (Government Advisory Committee), ICANN Senior Vice President Kurt Pritz indicated that root scaling and economic study issues were the main ones remaining to be solved before a final Applicant Guidebook could be published. http://stephanevangelder.com/archives/330-ICANN-Board-could-vote-on-final-AG-by-December.html Corporate TLDs - Why Keeping Mum Seems to Be the Order of the Day by Tony Kirsch Global brand protection powerhouse MarkMonitor recently released survey results revealing the intentions of their corporate clients with respects to new gTLD. http://www.ausregistry.com/blog/?p=431 New gTLD Survey Shows That Many Intend to Apply, But That the Majority Are Undecided In a recent survey of MarkMonitor?s global corporate client base*, nearly 22% of respondents stated that their companies are intending to apply for a new gTLD. http://www.markmonitor.com/mmblog/new-gtld-survey-shows-that-many-intend-to-apply-but-that-the-majority-are-undecided/ Important New gTLD Sessions at ICANN Brussels One of the pluses of being a veteran of ICANN meetings is the ability to pare down the schedule to what is relevant for our business plans. Minds + Machines will be focused on new gTLDs in Brussels. Following are my circled-with-a-big-red-pen session suggestions for those interested in new gTLDs. http://www.mindsandmachines.com/2010/06/important-new-gtld-sessions-at-icann-brussels/ ATRT Proposal to ICANN I submitted, along with two professional evaluators, a proposal to act as an independent expert for ICANN?s Accountability and Transparency Review Team, following its call for proposals on 2 June. I have to admit I was a little surprised and disappointed that we were informed that we would not be asked to present to the ATRT in Brussels. I thought our proposal was very solid. Anyway, so the work doesn?t go to waste, it is pasted below. http://kierenmccarthy.com/2010/06/18/atrt-proposal-to-icann/ Accountability and Transparency at ICANN? Not looking good I?ve been keeping schtum about the Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT) for a while for three reasons: ... Unfortunately, however, the team?s promising start is quickly dissolving into an increasingly secretive and opaque process, which threatens to undermine not only its work but the whole process that it is overseeing. http://kierenmccarthy.com/2010/06/16/accountability-and-transparency-at-icann-not-looking-good/ Top Level Domains and a Signed Root by Jakob Schlyter With DNSSEC for the root zone going into production in a couple of weeks, it is now possible for Top Level Domain (TLD) managers to submit their Delegation Signer (DS) information to IANA. But what does this really mean for a TLD? In this post we're going to try to sort that out. http://www.circleid.com/posts/top_level_domains_and_a_signed_root/ ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** Welcome to the .CO era - The .CO domain name extension Businesses throughout the world are able to protect and expand their brand by registering a new domain name, in the .CO domain. This is different to the existing .com and .com.au domains. http://www.swaab.com.au/publications/Welcome to the .CO Era The .Co domain name extension (MDH & SED).pdf Disputes concerning domain .CZ follow new Rules Predictable tariff scale of the Arbitration Court, opportunity to have three arbitrators involved in the proceedings and better online platform for the settlement of disputes - these are the main new features in the Rules for the settlement of disputes concerning the domain. CZ. There new version has been released today by the Arbitration Court at the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic. The CZ.NIC Association, administrator of the Czech national domain. CZ, has contributed significantly to the changes made in the Rules. http://www.nic.cz/page/761/disputes-concerning-domain-.cz-follow-new-rules/ de: 3rd DNSSEC Testbed Meeting Another Great Success A whole kaleidoscope of hot topics and questions all around the protocol extension DNSSEC and the persistent great interest of the Internet community made the third .de DNSSEC testbed meeting at the premises of DENIC another success. http://www.denic.de/en/denic-in-dialogue/news/2796.html?cHash=f5d3dabf35 Security Extension Adds Security to Fi-Domain Name Service FICORA will introduce the Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSec) for Finnish domain names. The security extension provides a powerful protection against forgery of domain names as well against other forms of attack. The introduction of the system guarantees that people using the internet are only shown the actual website that they intended to call up. http://www.ficora.fi/en/index/viestintavirasto/uutiset/2010/P_22.html Two Years After Launch, .ME Is Truly A Destination Domain Just two years after the world first heard of Montenegro?s top-level domain, .ME, more than 400,000 .ME domains have been registered. http://www.nic.me/news.php?news=196 Malaysian domain names pass 100,000 mark Malaysian domain name registrar and administrator? .my DOMAIN REGISTRY?has registered more than a 100,000 .my domain names from businesses and individuals, it said. http://www.mis-asia.com/news/articles/malaysian-domain-names-pass-100,000-mark .MY Survey on Internationalised Domain Names MCMC and .my DOMAIN REGISTRY are conducting a Survey on Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) http://domainregistry.my/readnews.php?id=95 RegistryPro Allocates Two- and Three-Character Names and Signs Two New Registrars RegistryPro, the exclusive operator of the .PRO top-level domain (TLD) on the Internet, has announced the results of the first phase of its historic one- two- and three-character release and allocation campaign. http://registry.pro/press-releases/2010/0616.shtml New Rules for .PT Registry in force on the 1st of July Starting the 1st of July 2010, the new regulation for .PT Registry, with Legal deposit number 311422/10, will be in force and the main changes are: Simplification of the registry on .com.pt and org.pt; making the submission easier; arbitration as a mean to solve conflicts, only attributed name trademarks are accepted as base for a .PT Registry & reduction of prices: https://online.dns.pt/dns_2008/do?com=DS;2217917768;111;+PAGE(4000002)+K-NOTICIA(1035)+K-CAT-CODIGO(LNH)+RCNT(1); Swedish IT managers more aware of IPv6 A positive trend can be discerned when .SE (The Foundation for Internet Infrastructure) for the third year running queries a hundred Swedish IT managers concerning their knowledge of and planning for the coming transition to IPv6. http://www.iis.se/en/pressmeddelanden/svenska-it-chefer-mer-medvetna-om-ipv6 .SE represented when the Internet?s highest level becomes more secure On 16 June, under rigorous security, the first encryption keys are created for the deployment of the security extensions DNSSEC in the Internet?s so-called root zone. http://www.iis.se/en/pressmeddelanden/se-representerat-nar-internets-hogsta-niva-blir-sakrare ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** Obama internet 'kill switch' proposed US President Barack Obama would be granted powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet under a new bill that describes the global internet as a US "national asset". http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/obama-internet-kill-switch-proposed-20100618-yln6.html http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/obama-internet-kill-switch-proposed-20100618-yln6.html Time to wake up to cyber threat: experts [AFP] NATO governments and the public must wake up to the threat of cyberattacks, which could paralyse a nation far more easily than conventional warfare, experts warned Friday. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/time-to-wake-up-to-cyber-threat-experts-20100619-yn74.html http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/time-to-wake-up-to-cyber-threat-experts-20100619-yn74.html New Cyber Security Bill Could Increase Power of President and DHS by Matt Langan Introduced by ranking Senate members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, S.3480 is intended to create an Office of Cyber Policy in the executive branch of the government, confirmed by the Senate and ultimately reporting to the president. Senators Joe Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln and Tom Carper introduced the bill publicly on June 10, and a critical part of the bill is that critical infrastructure networks such as electricity grids, financial systems and telecommunications networks need to cooperate with the Office of Cyber Policy. http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100617_new_cyber_security_bill_could_increase_power_of_president_and_dhs/ Cryptographic DNS security progressing The three organisations behind the DNSSEC test ? DENIC, the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and German internet association eco ? posted a positive interim assessment of the project at a meeting in Frankfurt on Tuesday. This is despite ongoing questions over software support and administration, and modest user numbers, with the 34 registrars taking part in the test reporting only 700 second level domain registrations. http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Cryptographic-DNS-security-progressing-1025279.html Towards a DNSCERT Definition by Paul Vixie To mix metaphors, my e-mail has been ringing off the hook after my previous article ("Perspectives on a DNS-CERT?) and I've had to think deep and difficult thoughts about what we really mean by DNSCERT, and whether DNS-OARC really has the capability or really can grow the capability to operate such a thing. I've had some discussions with ICANN and with members of the DNS-OARC board and staff, and it's time I checkpointed the current state of my thinking about all this. http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100617_towards_a_dnscert_definition/ Afilias Extends Managed DNS Services [news release] Internet infrastructure services provider, Afilias, has expanded its Managed DNS services with the launch of its new FlexDNSSM Platform. http://www.securityweek.com/afilias-extends-managed-dns-services ********************** - DOMAIN DISPUTES ********************** WIPO Advanced Workshop on Domain Name Dispute Resolution: Update on Practices and Precedents: WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday and Wednesday, October 19 and 20, 2010 Overview: The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center is internationally recognized as the leading institution in the resolution of Internet domain name disputes. Since December 1999, the Center has administered over 32,000 proceedings, of which over 17,000 under the WIPO-initiated Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) adopted by ICANN. The UDRP applies to disputes in the generic top-level domains (gTLDs) (e.g., .com, .net, .org, .mobi), as well as an increasing number of country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). http://wipo.int/amc/en/events/workshops/2010/domainname/ UDRP Panelist Opens Door for Cases to be Refiled In the legal world when a case is dismissed ?without prejudice? it means the door has been left open for the plaintiff to file the case again at a future date. This is typically used when a case is dismissed, not when a case is found against the plaintiff. http://domainnamewire.com/2010/06/16/udrp-panelist-opens-door-for-cases-to-be-refiled/ National Arbitration Forum Makes Minor Updates to Supplemental Rules [news release] The National Arbitration Forum, an international provider of dispute resolution services, announces updates to its Supplemental Rules effective July 1, 2010. The National Arbitration Forum is approved by ICANN to provide domain name dispute resolution services under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and, as part of that work, offers a set of Supplemental Rules that govern the formalities of the filing process. http://domains.adrforum.com/ ********************** - IPv4/IPv6 ********************** Run on IPv4 addresses could exhaust supply by December The remaining pool of unallocated IPv4 addresses could be depleted as early as December due to unprecedented levels of broadband and wireless adoption in the Asia Pacific region, experts say. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/061710-ipv4-addresses.html http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/350344/run_ipv4_addresses_could_exhaust_supply_by_december/ http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/350344/run_ipv4_addresses_could_exhaust_supply_by_december/ Sobering thoughts about IPv4 address depletion by Milton Mueller Network World reports that "unprecedented levels of broadband adoption in the Asia-Pacific region" is depleting the free pool of IPv4 addresses faster than anticipated. It also states that "The acceleration of IPv4 address depletion is putting more pressure on network operators to migrate to IPv6, the long-anticipated upgrade to IPv4, the Internet's main communications protocol." Both statements are questionable. http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2010/6/18/4556326.html IPv4 Address Pool Shrinks to a Perilous New Low Level The number of IPv4 addresses remaining has shrunk to 6.25 per cent of the total address pool in June from what was already considered a low ten per cent of IPv4 addresses unallocated in January according to a statement on the ARIN website from their president and CEO John Curran. http://goldsteinreport.com/article.php?article=11617 http://www.domainpulse.com/2010/06/18/ipv4-address-pool-shrinks-to-a-perilous-new-low-level/ http://www.domainnews.com/en/ipv4-address-pool-shrinks-to-a-perilous-new-low-level.html New security for Internet's domain name system The dream of bolting security onto the Internet's Domain Name System takes one step closer to reality Wednesday as Internet policymakers host a ceremony in northern Virginia to generate and store the first cryptographic key that will be used to secure the Internet's root zone. http://news.techworld.com/security/3227204/new-security-for-internets-domain-name-system/ ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** Job.Com Says 50% Of Its Visitors Come From Direct Navigation (Type In Traffic) The owner and CEO of Job.com, Brian Alden, was interviewed by Fredericksburg.com, and a couple of very interesting items came to light. http://www.thedomains.com/2010/06/19/job-com-says-50-of-its-visitors-come-from-direct-navigation-type-in-traffic/ Web.com to buy Register.com for $135 million Web.com Group said it agreed to acquire privately-held domain name registration provider Register.com for $135 million (91.1 million pounds), in a deal that will immediately add to the online marketing company's adjusted earnings. The company said it will finance the purchase through a combination of cash and long-term debt. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE65G2KI20100617 Web.com to acquire Register.com for $135M Web.com Group Inc., which does online marketing for small businesses, said Thursday it has agreed to acquire privately held Register.com for $135 million. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/17/financial/f135936D77.DTL http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012144854_apuswebcomregistercom.html Memo to the President: Hands of the Internet Mr. President you may have heard about this thing called the Internet, it?s that thing that has become a global backbone of communication, e-commerce, and yes some really silly crap called Social Media. Here?s the thing though ? there seems to be some real idiots in your Congress who seem to be under the delusion that the Internet is the property of the United States of America. http://www.inquisitr.com/76135/memo-to-the-president-hands-of-the-internet/ New Book on Domain Name Regulation My book, "The Current State of Domain Name Regulation: Domain Names as Second Class Citizens in a Mark-dominated World" is now available by Routledge. http://www.circleid.com/posts/new_book_on_domain_name_regulation/ Netcraft June 2010 Web Server Survey In the June 2010 survey we received responses from 206,956,723 sites. This month's numbers show a mixed picture with two of the five major web servers gaining hostnames in the last month and the other three recording losses. A similar trend was recorded for active sites. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2010/06/16/june-2010-web-server-survey.html ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** au: Tourism body defends $100k website names The organisation responsible for promoting tourism in the Northern Territory has defended spending $100,000 to buy three website domain names. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/17/2929329.htm au: Cybersquatting aided by NT Tourism? After paying $100,000 for three domain names, Liberal MP Dave Tollner accused Tourism NT of "encouraging" cybersquatting. http://www.zdnet.com.au/cybersquatting-aided-by-nt-tourism-339303909.htm Year's Biggest Sale to Date - Slots.com at $5.5 Million - Completed at Moniker While a Pair of 6-Figure Sales Closed at Other Venues The first multi-million dollar domain sale of 2010 is finally in the books. While three previous sales this year cracked the $1 million dollar mark none closed higher that that until Moniker.com completed their $5.5 million sale of Slots.com to BodogBrand this past week. This is also the fourth largest publicly reported cash sale since we started tracking the domain aftermarket in the fall of 2003. http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2010/20100609.htm ********************** INTERNET USE ********************** The internet: Everything you ever need to know In spite of all the answers the internet has given us, its full potential to transform our lives remains the great unknown. Here are the nine key steps to understanding the most powerful tool of our age ? and where it's taking us http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jun/20/internet-everything-need-to-know Australian newspapers fare better than the US, or the UK Australia's newspaper industry is faring relatively well compared with most other Western countries. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/australian-newspapers-fare-better-than-the-us-or-the-uk/story-e6frg996-1225882034181 Yes, People Still Read, but Now It?s Social "The point of books is to combat loneliness,? David Foster Wallace observes near the beginning of ?Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself,? David Lipsky?s recently published, book-length interview with him. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/business/20unbox.html In China, Labor Movement Enabled by Technology It is labor revolt by text message and video upload, underwritten by the Chinese government. ... Hours into a strike that began last week, they started posting detailed accounts of the walkout online, spreading word not only among themselves but also to restive and striking workers elsewhere in China. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/business/global/17strike.html Balderton plugs into teenagers? attention spans One of Europe?s largest venture capital firms has recruited a group of teenagers to advise it on the latest technology trends in an effort to understand consumer behaviour http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1b45ac08-7b07-11df-8935-00144feabdc0.html us: The New York Times Ranks as Top Online Newspaper According to May 2010 U.S. comScore Media Metrix Data comScore ... released a report of the top U.S. online newspaper groups based on the comScore Media Metrix service. The newspaper category represents the first site category for which each of the top ten ranked entities has transitioned to the comScore Media Metrix 360 (Unified Digital Measurement) methodology. http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/6/The_New_York_Times_Ranks_as_Top_Online_Newspaper_According_to_May_2010_U.S._comScore_Media_Metrix_Data ********************** SOCIAL NETWORKING ********************** Big media's losses on social networking sites break through ?1bn barrier The media industry has now lost $1.5bn (?1.01bn) on investments in the social networking craze after AOL sold Bebo last week for a fraction of the price it paid for the business two years ago. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jun/20/social-networking-sites-losses AOL 'to offload Bebo for under $10m' AOL is set to offload the failing social networking site Bebo to a US turnaround expert at a "fire sale" price potentially below $10m. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jun/17/aol-bebo-criterion-capital-partners AOL Sells Social Site to Investment Firm AOL said on Thursday that it sold Bebo, the struggling social networking site, to Criterion Capital Partners, a private equity fund based in Los Angeles, for a fraction of what AOL paid for the site two years ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/technology/18aol.html AOL to sell social network site Bebo AOL will sell its Bebo social network site to private investment firm Criterion Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum, as it tries to restructure its business and deal with declining revenue. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE65G1VW20100617 http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-49390820100617 Facebook sees ?defriending? rise as users take action over privacy Being ?friends? on Facebook was once a fickle thing. Regardless of whether a person was a confidant or a stranger, a link could be established on a whim and at the touch of a button. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/technology/internet/article2563347.ece ************************************************ CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION ************************************************ Keep Kids Safe on Facebook Scammers, spammers, purveyors of porn, hate mongers, and cyber predators -- it's no wonder parents are paranoid about what their kids are doing online. http://www.pcworld.com/article/199307/.html EU Search Engine Snooping Mandate Sneaked Into Child Protection Declaration On June 17th, 2010, Written Declaration 29 was adopted by the European Parliament. The Declaration's author backpedaled on data retention for search engines, with a disjointed explanation that it is possible to have limited ? and simultaneously blanket ? search engine surveillance. Unsurprisingly, members of Parliament are still confused. Stay tuned for more on the fate of data retention in Europe. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/06/eu-search-engine-snooping-mandate-sneaked-child au: Teenagers sexting child pornography TEENAGERS are producing and distributing child pornography in WA. Police figures reveal 13 teenagers have been charged with child pornography offences so far this year - up from eight at the same time last year. Officers said children as young as 12 had been caught downloading and passing on hardcore child pornography on the internet. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/top-stories/sexting-kids-new-sleaze-concern/story-e6frg12l-1225881685891 http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/wa-police-fears-grow-over-teenage-porn-pushers/story-e6freuzr-1225881781911 au: Cyberbullying problem beyond school gates, teachers warn The Australian Education Union has backed a call by a New South Wales coroner for more counsellors in schools but says cyberbullying must also be addressed. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/18/2930948.htm http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/7422141/cyberbullying-problem-beyond-school-gates-teachers-warn/ au: Survey reveals Australian kids have had bad interactions online [The Sunday Times] ALMOST two-thirds of Australian children have had bad interactions online, including exposure to nudity, violence, cyber predators and cyber bullying, a survey shows. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/survey-reveals-australian-kids-have-had-bad-interactions-online/story-e6frg12c-1225881684785 NZ police join online child abuse taskforce New Zealand has joined a global taskforce to fight online child exploitation. Police Superintendent Win Van Der Velde today signed an agreement with the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) board in Rome. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10652503 us: N.Y. attorney general tackles child porn on social networks The office of New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo has spearheaded the creation of a database of "digital fingerprints" to flag child pornography, an announcement Thursday explained. With the hash values of over 8,000 known child-porn images stored in the database, Cuomo said that he hopes its intended clients--social-networking, file-sharing, and photo storage sites--will start to use it "immediately." http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20008079-36.html us: June is National Internet Safety Month Did you know that Florida requires all registered sexual offenders to register their e-mail and instant message addresses prior to using them? http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=157557 ********************** ONLINE TV & MUSIC ********************** Anti-downloading law not needed: InternetNZ InternetNZ says special legislation to tackle illicit music and movie downloading may not be needed. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/anti-downloading-law-not-needed-internetnz InternetNZ downplays illegal Kiwi file sharing claims [NZPA] Illegal file sharing online is not as damaging as predicted, InternetNZ says in its submission on a bill to tighten up copyright. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/connect/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501833&objectid=10653401 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10653401 http://www.guide2.co.nz/node/17339 Music and film success raises questions about copyright changes [news release] InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc) has filed a thorough submission on the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill, noting that illicit file sharing is not proving as damaging as some anticipated. http://internetnz.net.nz/news/media-releases/2010/music-and-film-success-raises-questions-about-copyright-changes Internet File-Sharing Service Is Sued by Music Publishers A coalition of eight music publishers sued the file-sharing service LimeWire on Wednesday, accusing it of copyright infringement, according to the National Music Publishers? Association, the industry group that organized the suit. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/business/media/17lime.html Music publishers sue LimeWire for "massive" copyright infringement [AFP] A group of music publishers filed suit Wednesday against LimeWire, a popular online file-sharing service that has already been found liable for copyright infringement in a separate case. http://news.smh.com.au/technology/music-publishers-sue-limewire-for-massive-copyright-infringement-20100617-yh11.html ********************** MOBILE/WIRELESS ********************** Growth in mobile applications: On their own, mobile applications may not become big moneyspinners Some fight wars with words, others with numbers. Hardly a day passes without new data on mobile apps, the small applications that can be downloaded to smart-phones to perform all kinds of feats, such as accessing social networks, playing games and identifying unknown music. Apple recently announced that its App Store now offers 225,000 apps, which collectively have been downloaded 5 billion times. Android Market, the storefront for the operating system that powers many other smart-phones, now boasts 60,000 apps and is catching up fast. And GetJar, an independent mobile store that offers programs for all kinds of handsets, claims 72,000 apps and 1 billion downloads. http://www.economist.com/node/16381330 Editorial: Privacy in the Mobile Age for Americans Do people have a right to privacy in a closed telephone booth? In 1967, the Supreme Court said they do and prohibited government eavesdropping there without a warrant. But what about a cellphone with no booth? What about a phone that also sends messages, scours the Internet and records your exact location? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/opinion/19sat2.html Phone Fight! It?s Apple vs. Google in the battle over the future of computing. When Steve Jobs took the stage for his keynote address at Apple?s annual developers conference last week, he had plenty to say about the new iPhone 4, calling it ?the most precise, beautiful thing we?ve ever designed.? He waxed on about its mind-blowing video-chat features and its gorgeous display?even though the Wi-Fi connection failed during his demo. He didn?t neglect the iPad, either, pointing out that Apple has sold 2 million in two months?or about one every three seconds. But Jobs didn?t say one word about the venerable old Mac, even though the conference used to be the place where Apple showed off the new features coming to its line of computers. ... Right now the most advanced smart phone on the market is arguably not the new iPhone 4 but rather an Android device called the EVO 4G, made by HTC, a Taiwanese company. That phone has front and rear cameras, and shoots hi-def video, just like the new iPhone 4. But the EVO has a bigger display, its camera shoots in higher resolution, and it can turn itself into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, something the iPhone 4 can?t do. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/12/phone-fight.html HTC Evo Biting Into Apple's iPhone Lead: So why is it playing catch-up to Sprint?s HTC EVO 4G? Apple CEO Steve Jobs just introduced the new iPhone 4, and as expected, it?s a beauty?sleek, slim, and more squared-off than the iPhone 3GS, with a forward-facing camera for doing video chats, a better back-side camera that can take flash pictures and shoot HD video, a better screen, and longer battery life. ... Thus we have the new iPhone 4, which will cost a little more but will have pretty icons, pretty ads, and a cool video-chat feature that works only if the person you?re talking to has the same Apple phone you do. If you want to buy into Apple?s world, and you can deal with AT&T as your carrier, you?ll probably be very happy. But most of the world is headed elsewhere, I think. http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/techtonic-shifts/2010/06/07/biting-into-apple-s-iphone-lead.html Nokia?s N8 a Match for iPhone? What will help Nokia retain its dominant position in an increasingly competitive smartphone market? A metallic phone with a TV seems to be its answer. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/06/18/nokias-n8-matc-iphone/ Fujitsu and Toshiba to Merge Mobile Phone Units In Japan?s second cellphone merger this month, Fujitsu and Toshiba said on Thursday that they would combine their handset operations. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/technology/18fujitsu.html ********************** SPAM ********************** Beating China, India turns world?s top spam source ... After tracking over 3 million spam messages for the week ending June 13, ICSA Labs found the maximum number, 424,224 ? or 14 per cent ? originated from India. The second biggest source was Russia with 11.5 per cent. While analysts have questioned the fact that China does not figure in that Top 10 list, there is consensus that India is, at the very least, among the top three nations spewing spam. http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/americas/Beating-China-India-turns-world-s-top-spam-source/Article1-559298.aspx Microsoft sues spammers for abusing Hotmail anti-spam filters Two anti-spam systems developed by Microsoft for Hotmail designed to help ISPs track down offending users were abused by spammers, a lawsuit brought last week by the software giant alleges. The spammers are accused of attacking Hotmail's Junk Mail Reporting Program and Smart Network Data Services to try to prevent the mail service from classifying messages correctly. http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/06/microsoft-sues-spammers-for-abusing-hotmail-anti-spam-filters.ars ********************** DIGITAL DIVIDE ********************** Business Deal to Put Africa On the Cloud The average American waits less than a second for Google to respond to a search query. In most of Africa, it takes three seconds to do the same thing. This two-second difference may not seem a drastic, but such a delay typifies the gap between Internet use in Africa and other parts of the world. http://www.mediaglobal.org/article/2010-06-19/business-deal-to-put-africa-on-the-cloud http://allafrica.com/stories/201006200025.html ************************** ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL ************************** Obama internet 'kill switch' proposed US President Barack Obama would be granted powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet under a new bill that describes the global internet as a US "national asset". http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/obama-internet-kill-switch-proposed-20100618-yln6.html http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/obama-internet-kill-switch-proposed-20100618-yln6.html Time to wake up to cyber threat: experts [AFP] NATO governments and the public must wake up to the threat of cyberattacks, which could paralyse a nation far more easily than conventional warfare, experts warned Friday. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/time-to-wake-up-to-cyber-threat-experts-20100619-yn74.html http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/time-to-wake-up-to-cyber-threat-experts-20100619-yn74.html Fighting back against web attacks Hi-tech criminals are not very good at securing the tools they use to attack websites, suggests research. Security experts have found that many of the kits used by cyber criminals are riddled with bugs and vulnerabilities. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10349001.stm 3.7 Billion Phishing E-Mails Sent in the Past Year Cybercriminals sent 3.7 billion phishing e-mails over the last year, in a bid to steal money from unsuspecting web users, says CPP. http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=3227091 http://www.pcworld.com/article/199326/.html ************************** PRIVACY ************************** Legal confusion on internet privacy: Sharply differing attitudes towards privacy in Europe and America are a headache for the world?s internet giants Watchdogs are growling at the web giants, and sometimes biting them. In May European data-protection agencies wrote to Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! demanding independent proof that they were making promised changes to protect the privacy of users? search history. They also urged Google to store sensitive search data for only six months instead of nine. http://www.economist.com/node/16377097 au: Google faces destroy order The Privacy Commissioner may order Google to destroy confidential data, including personal emails, which the federal government has accused the internet giant of "hoovering up" while photographing homes for online maps. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/google-faces-destroy-order/story-e6frgczf-1225882025013 Google collected passwords, emails: France [AFP] France became the latest country to probe Google for gathering personal data as its Street View bikes and cars photographed cities across the world for the controversial mapping service. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/google-collected-passwords-emails-france/story-e6frgakx-1225881311562 http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/france-joins-probes-into-google-street-view-20100618-yk4n.html http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/france-joins-probes-into-google-street-view-20100618-yk4n.html France probes Google over Street View [AFP] France's data protection agency said on Thursday it is studying private data, including emails, collected by Google's "Street View", to decide if the firm should face criminal charges or other sanctions. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/france-probes-google-over-street-view-20100618-yk2o.html http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/france-joins-probes-into-google-street-view-20100618-yk4n.html http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/france-probes-google-over-street-view-20100618-yk2o.html France claims success in Google privacy breach [AP] The French independent privacy watchdog CNIL said Thursday that following its complaint, Google had handed over copies of the emails, browsing history, banking details and other fragments of data sucked up by Google technicians cruising French streets photographing neighborhoods for the website's Street View mapping feature. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/france-claims-success-in-google-privacy-breach-20100618-ykkj.html Advocacy Groups Poke More Holes In Facebook Privacy, Facebook Responds This morning, a number of major advocacy groups, including the ACLU, EFF, and CDT, sent Facebook an open letter detailing some of the outstanding issues with Facebook privacy. The groups? letter acknowledged that Facebook has made strides recently on this front, especially with its launch of new, simpler privacy controls, but that it hasn?t addressed some major privacy issues, like the fact that the controversial Instant Personalization feature is automatically opt-in.Wasting no time, Facebook has just responded with an open letter of its own. http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/16/advocacy-groups-poke-more-holes-in-facebook-privacy-facebook-responds/ Google Appears To Offer Conflicting Views on WiFi Interception Does Google think it's illegal for third parties to collect personal information from unsecured wireless networks? The company appears to have made conflicting statements on the matter. http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/google-appears-to-offer-confli.php us: Mass. AG seeks privacy information from Google [AP] Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is seeking information from Google Inc. about the search engine's "Street View" project to ensure it is not acquiring personal information. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/mass-ag-seeks-privacy-information-from-google-20100619-ynap.html http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/mass-ag-seeks-privacy-information-from-google-20100619-ynap.html Facebook's critics must curb their demands, says US privacy law expert The expectations and demands of privacy activists are unrealistic and uncommercial, according to one of America's top privacy law academics. Lobbyists for privacy rights should be more pragmatic and co-operate with companies, he said. http://out-law.com/page-11147 Facebook Chides Privacy Coalition Over 'Open Letter' Facebook released a point-by-point rebuttal to an open letter about privacy from consumer watchdog groups this week, saying that it already created measures to protect user privacy and that its instant personalization pilot program has been greatly misunderstood. http://www.pcworld.com/article/199287/.html http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/061810-facebook-chides-privacy-coalition-over.html Facebook urged to strengthen privacy protections Facebook continues to face criticism over privacy protections at its social networking website. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-privacy-20100617,0,664612.story Facebook slammed again over privacy; 10 privacy groups ask CEO Zuckerberg to make more changes Just when it seemed that Facebook's privacy tumult was quieting down, more fuel was added to the fire this week. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178188/Facebook_slammed_again_over_privacy http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/061710-facebook-slammed-again-over.html ********************** CENSORSHIP ********************** Indonesia must resist Internet 'frenzy': president [AFP] Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday his country must not stand "naked" before modern information technology, signalling his support for an Internet filter to block porn. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/indonesia-must-resist-internet-frenzy-president-20100619-yn73.html http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/indonesia-must-resist-internet-frenzy-president-20100619-yn73.html China's Internet White Paper: networked authoritarianism in action by Rebecca MacKinnon The release of the Chinese government's first-ever White Paper on the Internet in China provoked some head-scratching here in the Western world. Part Three of the six-part document is titled "Guaranteeing Citizens' Freedom of Speech on the Internet." I've heard from several journalists and policy analysts (not people based in China, for whom such cognitive dissonance is normal) who at first glance thought they were reading The Onion or some kind of parody site. How, people asked me, can a government that so blatantly censors the Internet claim with a straight face to be protecting and upholding freedom of speech on the Internet? The answer of course is that China's netizens are free to do everything... except for the things they're not free to do. The list of the latter, outlined in the next section titled Protecting Internet Security is long, vague, and subject to considerable interpretation: http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2010/06/chinas-internet-white-paper-networked-authoritarianism.html ************************** GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY ************************** US copyright push to end the free ride Toughening copyright law to allow news outlets to stop stories being used free by "parasitic" internet search engines is on the cards. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/us-copyright-push-to-end-the-free-ride/story-e6frg996-1225882039058 Australian web snooping policy shrouded in secrecy The federal government is hiding controversial plans to force ISPs to store internet activity of all Australian internet users - regardless of whether they have been suspected of wrongdoing - for law-enforcement agencies to access. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/web-snooping-policy-shrouded-in-secrecy-20100617-yi1u.html http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/web-snooping-policy-shrouded-in-secrecy-20100617-yi1u.html us: F.C.C. Moves to Expand Role in Broadband The Federal Communications Commission voted 3 to 2 on Thursday to move toward giving itself the authority to regulate the transmission component of broadband Internet service, a power the commission?s majority believes is central to expanding the availability of broadband. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/business/18fcc.html Give the FCC clear broadband authority The Federal Communications Commission is looking at consumer-friendly rules that treat broadband access as a common carrier, the way telecommunications companies have been regulated for generations. The effort deserves strong support. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2012145604_edit18broad.html ********************************* MISCELLANEOUS ********************************* Google shadow over new media groups Google is developing technology that could position it to compete with a new breed of digital media companies that are generating story ideas for the internet by mining online search data for under-covered topics. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/891e2946-796b-11df-b063-00144feabdc0.html Google eyes Demand Media?s way with words Last week, Richard Rosenblatt, chief executive of Demand Media, basked in the spotlight as digital media cognoscenti and bankers gathered round him at New York?s Empire Hotel to toast his four-year-old company?s progress. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bba9fefc-795d-11df-b063-00144feabdc0.html Victory for WikiLeaks in Iceland's Parliament At 4 a.m. on Thursday, at the end of an all-night session, Iceland?s Parliament, the Althing, voted unanimously in favor of a package of legislation aimed at making the country a haven for freedom of expression by offering legal protection to whistle-blower Web sites like WikiLeaks, which helped to craft the proposal. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/victory-for-wikileaks-in-icelands-parliament/ Wikileaks founder fears for his life The man behind whistleblower website Wikileaks says he is not in a position to record an interview amid claims his life is in danger. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/18/2930898.htm ********************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ********************** au: $11bn peace deal ends high-speed war with Telstra The Rudd government has engineered an $11 billion deal with Telstra on the new high-speed broadband network. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/in-depth/bn-peace-deal-ends-high-speed-war-with-telstra/story-e6frgaif-1225882040082 Politics the winner in Rudd's big new Telstra deal by Alan Kohler Telstra can thank Australia's mining companies and their ferocious campaign against the planned mining tax for getting $11 billion. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/21/2932102.htm au: Telstra joins broadband revolution in $11b makeover Telstra will hand over millions of customers to the federal government's new national broadband network and shut down its ageing copper and cable networks in an $11 billion deal which will fundamentally reshape the communications industry. http://www.smh.com.au/business/telstra-joins-broadband-revolution-in-11b-makeover-20100620-ypcs.html http://www.theage.com.au/national/coming-your-way-a-telco-revolution-20100620-yp74.html au: Telstra's $11bn NBN deal Telstra will receive $11 billion from the government in exchange for sharing its infrastructure with NBN Co and migrating fixed-line customers to the government's new fibre network. http://www.theage.com.au/business/telstras-11bn-nbn-deal-20100620-ypa9.html BT warns of strike danger to network upgrade A national strike at BT could scupper the telecommunications company?s plans to build a superfast broadband network past 4m homes by the end of the year, according to one of group?s top managers. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/49e40274-7b04-11df-8935-00144feabdc0.html Cuba reports little Internet and telecom progress Cubans' ability to communicate with one another and the world remained well below the norm for the Caribbean and Latin America in 2009, according to a government report released this week. http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-49434520100618 http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE65H3HF20100618 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/world/americas/19cuba.html au: Billions lost if spectrum decision delayed It will cost the mobile industry billions of potential dollars if the Federal Government doesn't make a decision on new spectrum allocation this year, according to a report by the mobile industry. http://www.zdnet.com.au/billions-lost-if-spectrum-decision-delayed-339303946.htm us: FCC to toughen internet rules The stage has been set for what many predict will be an ugly fight over broadband plans for US citizens. The Federal Communications Commission has taken the first formal steps towards tougher rules for broadband. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8745078.stm ********************************** ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR ONLINE CHILD PROTECTION ********************************** Austria police make record child porn seizure A 53-year-old man has been arrested in Austria after more than a million pornographic pictures of children were found in his flat, police say. They were stored on eight hard drives, two computers and more than 200 DVDs. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/10351271.stm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (c) David Goldstein 2010 --------- David Goldstein email: goldstein_david§yahoo.com.au web: http://davidgoldstein.tel/ http://goldsteinreport.com/ phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9665 5773 - office/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 FlanneryReceived on Sun Jun 20 2010 - 17:34:47 UTC
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