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The domain name news is supported by auDA

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Dubai Forum to Examine Business Opportunities in Domain Name Sector
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/advisories/advisory-03feb14-en>

Oceania Engagement Update by Save Vocea on February 3, 2014
<http://blog.icann.org/2014/02/oceania-engagement-update/>

Donuts made about $750,000 from landrush so far
<http://domainincite.com/15715-donuts-made-about-750000-from-landrush-so-far>

DotShabaka top-level internet domain goes live
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/26014829>

British businesses fall victim to 'cybersquatters' amid domain name rollout
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10619203/British-businesses-fall-victim-to-cybersquatters-amid-domain-name-rollout.html>

Dot Kiwi Sunrise Period begins ? sort of
<http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=99a3d13d-c7b1-420a-bf6d-9525e4b6d1e3>

Scammers Using World Cup as Phishing Lure
<http://threatpost.com/scammers-using-world-cup-as-phishing-lure/104008>

Addressing 2013 - That Was The Year That Was by Geoff Huston
<http://www.potaroo.net/ispcol/2014-02/addressing2013.html>


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GOVERNANCE
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Downsizing Sao Paulo by Philip S Corwin
On January 27th the Executive Multistakeholder Committee (EMC) held its first meeting to plan the "Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of the Internet Governance" scheduled to be held in Sao Paulo on April 23rd-24th. A review of that planning session's results indicates a Sao Paulo meeting with downsized attendance and, most likely, accompanying expectations.
<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20140203_downsizing_sao_paulo/>

United States Participation in the Global Multi-Stakeholder and High-Level Multi-Stakeholder Committee Meetings on Internet Governance in Brazil
The United States will participate in the ?Global Multi-stakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance? to be held on April 23 and 24, 2014. We appreciate the effort of the Brazilian government, in coordination and consultation with the Internet community worldwide, to convene this critical conversation and look forward to participating in meaningful discussion.
<http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/prsrl/2014/221273.htm>

Untangling the web of India's 'ungovernable' Net
India sells itself as a tech hub, outsourcing IT experts to the world. At home, it dreams of "equity on the Net." But millions remain unconnected and digital surveillance is on the rise.
<http://www.dw.de/untangling-the-web-of-indias-ungovernable-net/a-16740896>

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DOMAIN NAMES
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 - ICANN
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Dubai Forum to Examine Business Opportunities in Domain Name Sector
On the 3rd and 4th of February the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) of UAE, ICANN and ISOC will host the Middle East DNS forum in Dubai. The forum will examine business opportunities within the Domain Name Sector and provide participants from governments, ccTLD and gTLD Registries, Registrars, and the broader business community an opportunity to share experiences and best practices.
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/advisories/advisory-03feb14-en>

Oceania Engagement Update by Save Vocea on February 3, 2014
Vast stretches of land and water connect Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands to form one of ICANN?s five service regions. However, our Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) team divided up the region to provide better service and closer communications. Yu-Chuang Kuek the Regional VP for Asia focuses primarily on Asia. Australia and the Pacific Islands, a sub-region commonly known as Oceania, is my concern.
<http://blog.icann.org/2014/02/oceania-engagement-update/>

WHOIS Privacy Proxy Services Questionnaire (Available Until 28 February 2014)
The Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services (EWG) is seeking information from Privacy and Proxy (P/P) Service Providers on existing practices to inform its deliberations as it develops recommendations on best practices for the proposed Next Generation Registration Directory Service (RDS) to replace today's Whois system. The Questionnaire will be used to understand current P/P Provider practices and will be made available until 28 February 2014.
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-2-05feb14-en.htm>

Express Interest in Becoming a Panel Member for the New gTLD Program PIC Dispute Resolution Procedure
ICANN is seeking Expressions of Interest to serve on the Public Interest Commitment Dispute Resolution Procedure Standing Panel. Please send to PICDRP-SP-EOI at icann.org by 19 February 2014. Expressions of Interest will be maintained as confidential. Respondents are urged to read the PICDRP prior to submitting an Expression of Interest.
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-05feb14-en.htm>

Updates on the Task Force on Arabic Script IDNs (TF-AIDN) by Fahd A. Batayneh ? Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator, Middle East
The Task Force on Arabic Script IDNs (TF-AIDN) has been in full swing working to fulfill its scope and work plan. When the TF-AIDN was formed, the scope of the work included:
<http://blog.icann.org/2014/02/updates-on-the-task-force-on-arabic-script-idns-tf-aidn/>

Invitation to Join the GNSO-SSR | A GNSO Sponsored Security, Stability, Resiliency (SSR) Mailing List
Premise: This charter briefly describes an open group sponsored by the GNSO. This group will informally review SSAC reports to determine whether they contain recommendations that might deserve broader consideration in the GNSO.
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-04feb14-en.htm>

NTAG Chair Blog: What Is the Next GAC Advice? by Jacob Malthouse
Last week, New gTLD Applicant Group (NTAG) members - who account for over half of the applications submitted to ICANN in this round - issued a unanimous letter to ICANN's New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) urging decisive action on Government Advisory Committee (GAC) Category 1 Advice at their upcoming February 5th meeting. The NGPC has been committing to address outstanding items of the GAC Advice in a manner that allows the largest possible number of applicants to proceed since last September.
<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20140204_ntag_chair_blog_what_is_the_next_gac_advice/>

Christine Willett, Vice President, gTLD Operations | ICANN, to Ron Andruff et al.
Policy Advisory Boards
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/willett-to-andruff-et-al-04feb14-en>

Christine Willett to Craig Schwartz
GAC Category 1 and 2 Advice 
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/willett-to-schwartz-04feb14-en>

Linda Corugedo Steneberg, Director | European Commission, to Stephen D. Crocker, Fadi Chehad?, and Cherine Chalaby
.VIN and .WINE - Follow-up to Buenos Aires Communique 	 
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/steneberg-to-crocker-et-al-03feb14-en>

New gTLD Applicant Group to Cherine Chalaby
Implementation of GAC Safeguard Advice on Category 1 Strings 	 
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/ntag-to-chalaby-31jan14-en>

Lawrence E. Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information | United States Department of Commerce, to Stephen D. Crocker
United States Government's Views on Proposals for Additional Safegards for Geographical Indications in new gTLD Applications 	 
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/strickling-to-crocker-30jan14-en>

Olivier MJ Cr?pin-Leblond, Chair | ALAC, to Steve Crocker
IGO and INGO Identifiers in All gTLDs (PDP) Recommendations for Board Consideration 	 
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/crepin-leblond-to-crocker-30jan14-en>

Urban Forsum, Chairman | Swedish Federation of Medical Informatics, to Stephen Crocker, Fadi Chehad?, and Cherine Chalaby
Safeguards for Health Domains
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/forsum-to-crocker-et-al-29jan14-en>

Domain registration agreements are getting longer thanks to new TLDs
With the creation of dozens of new registries offering TLD, each of them having different rules (some of them even having different rules for each of their TLDs), domain name registration agreements are getting longer.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/03/domain-registration-agreements-are-getting-longer-thanks-to-new-tlds/>

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 - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS
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Free 100,000 .ng domain names starts operation in June ?NIRA
The President of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association, Mrs Mary Uduma, on Tuesday said that free Nigerian domain names would be offered to interested citizens in the second quarter of 2014.
<http://www.punchng.com/news/free-100000-ng-domain-names-to-start-operation-in-june-nira/>

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 - NEW TLDS
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Donuts made about $750,000 from landrush so far
Donuts managed to sell well over $500,000 in new gTLD domain names over the first six days of its Early Access Program, according to our calculations.
<http://domainincite.com/15715-donuts-made-about-750000-from-landrush-so-far>

'One of the most profound changes in history of internet'
The body responsible for assigning internet domain names says demand was about four times the level expected, ahead of a new rollout of suffixes.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26032265>

DotShabaka top-level internet domain goes live
An Arabic net address ending has become the first to go live as part of the rollout of more than 1,000 new gTLD name suffixes.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/26014829>

250 firms register for Arabic TLD
... ?Two hundred and fifty companies have registered for the ?.Shabaka? [known to Arabic speakers as internet], Yasmin Omar, general manager of dotShabaka Registry, told Gulf News on the sidelines of the first Middle East DNS forum held in Dubai and hosted by Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) of UAE, Icann and the Internet Society (ISOC).
<http://gulfnews.com/business/technology/250-firms-register-for-arabic-top-level-web-domain-1.1285893>

British businesses fall victim to 'cybersquatters' amid domain name rollout
As hundreds of new web suffixes become publicly available, some of Britains top brands are falling victim to cybersquatters
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10619203/British-businesses-fall-victim-to-cybersquatters-amid-domain-name-rollout.html>

dotAfrica domain set for May launch
The general availability of the dotAfrica (.africa) TLD is expected to commence in September 2014, following the expiry of the Sunrise and Land Rush periods which are scheduled to commence in May 2014.
<http://www.biztechafrica.com/article/dotafrica-domain-set-may-launch/7642/>
<http://pctechmag.com/2014/02/dotafrica-domains-delayed-until-september-2014/>

Dot Kiwi Sunrise Period begins ? sort of
Trade mark owners wanting to apply for Dot Kiwi domain names will have to wait a little longer than expected. The Dot Kiwi Sunrise Period - the 60-day period when owners with Trademark Clearinghouse registrations can apply for Dot Kiwi domains matching their marks - officially began on Thursday 17 January. However, Dot Kiwi Limited advise that they are not actually able to process applications yet.
<http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=99a3d13d-c7b1-420a-bf6d-9525e4b6d1e3>

What the expansion of gTLDs means for UK businesses
This week will see the introduction of hundreds of new gTLDs, overseen by ICANN. We asked Anthony Shapley, SEO manager at digital agency Bronco, what this means for businesses, particularly from an SEO perspective.
<http://www.link2portal.com/what-expansion-gtlds-means-uk-businesses>

New TLDs are here but domain search isn?t ready yet. Here are four examples.
As of 11 am EST today, the first set of Latin script new TLDs came to market.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/05/new-tlds-search/>

10 takeaways from new TLD sunrise periods so far
14 of Donuts? domain names as well as ????. have gone through sunrise so far. Only one of the fifteen domains received more than 200 sunrise registrations. Add to that Donuts? Domain Protect Marks List, and you can argue the number is a bit higher, but still less than 1,000 or 1,500 per domain.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/05/10-takeaways-from-new-top-level-domain-name-sunrise-periods-so-far/>

Kevin Newman Live [video]
Forget .com... Here come new Internet domain names
<http://knlive.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=283766&playlistId=1.1671091&binId=1.1476838&playlistPageNum=1>

Meet the first new gTLD domainer
Gary Schultheis has bought hundreds of new gTLD domain names already and plans to buy thousands more this year.
<http://domainincite.com/15711-meet-the-first-new-gtld-domainer>

Donuts and Famous Four lose .rugby domain name match
The International Rugby Board (IRB) has effectively killed off its two competitors for the .rugby TLD by winning a community objection.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/04/donuts-and-famous-four-lose-rugby-domain-name-match/>

Calzone makes monitoring new TLD launches easier
Did you know that there are about 60 TLD in sunrise right now? Yes, 60.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/04/calzone-makes-monitoring-new-tld-launches-easier/>

Donuts? next 7 sunrises: only 2 top 100 domain names
Last week I wrote about Donuts? first seven sunrises, each of which typically resulted in about 100-200 registrations.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/04/donuts-sunrise-results/>

Rivalry Between Kosher Certifiers Heats Up
Most of the websites we log onto daily end in a few recognizable strings of letters like dot-com, dot-org, maybe sometimes a dot-edu. Soon you might find yourself browsing a page ending in the letters dot-kosher, but only after two international coalitions of kosher certifiers have fought a pricey, drawn-out dispute over the domain name that?s just the latest iteration of old rivalries.
<http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new-york/rivalry-between-kosher-certifiers-heats-up>

.kosher Web domain awarded to U.S. certification company
A Brooklyn-based kosher certification agency, OK Kosher Certification, has won a battle to become the first domain name with the suffix ".kosher," the Jewish Journal reported.
<http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.572015>

.YourUniversityHere
".edu" has for almost 30 years been the online signature of most education-related websites, but three years after the ICANN loosened restrictions on what comes after the ?dot,? few institutions are jumping at the opportunity to brand their corner of the internet.
<http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/02/03/icanns-personalized-domain-names-attracts-little-interest-higher-education>

How to Best Enhance Your Brand with New gTLDs by Alex Tajirian
The essay examines the breadth of new gTLD registrations needed for best enhancing a .Brand. And if you don't own .Brand, what should the scope of your new gTLD strategy be? With the introduction of hundreds of new gTLDs, a lot of businesses still don't have reliable information for figuring out which of the newcomers to register under.
<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20140203_how_to_best_enhance_your_brand_with_new_gtlds/>

Web domain names about to get more creative
While it has quite literally been a dot-com world for much of the Internet?s history, get ready for web addresses to become a little more creative and crowded.
<http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/02/03/web_domain_names_about_to_get_more_creative.html>

gTLDs: Rebellion at the Dotcom Kingdom
Since the invention of the Internet, suddenly the word ?dot com? became the single most powerful word of the century. It has been relentlessly promoted by hundreds of millions of businesses worldwide as their most cherished dotcom web address.
<http://www.adotas.com/2014/02/gtlds-rebellion-at-the-dotcom-kingdom/>

The New gTLD Bandwagon: Why Rick Schwartz Believes Jumping on Board Early Could be Hazardous to Your Financial Health
A lot of different views about new gTLDs are expressed by the 17 domain industry experts featured in our latest annual State of the Industry Cover Story that was published Friday. Some think they will do well, and perhaps even completely upend the current pecking order ruled by .com. However others believe the hundreds of new gTLD "bullets" just now starting to come online will have no more effect on .com dominance that slugs do on Superman.
<http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2014/dailyposts/20140203.htm>

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 - DNS SECURITY
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Scammers Using World Cup as Phishing Lure
The World Cup is still four months away, but attackers already are ramping up their efforts to defraud fans. As with most major events, such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics and others, attackers are using fans? enthusiasm for the event as a lure to separate them from their money. When a major event like the World Cup is on the calendar, scammers typically will register rafts of domain names with some reference to the event and use them to attract victims for a variety of scams.
<http://threatpost.com/scammers-using-world-cup-as-phishing-lure/104008>

Standard Operational Procedures to manage multinational cyber-crises finalised by EU, EFTA Member States and ENISA
Today, with the development of the EU-Standard Operational Procedures (EU-SOPs), a milestone has been reached for the management of multinational cyber crises. These procedures were developed by the EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Member States in collaboration with the EU Agency ENISA.
http://www.enisa.europa.eu/media/press-releases/standard-operational-procedures-to-manage-multinational-cyber-crises-finalised-by-eu-efta-member-states-and-enisa

Massive flaws found in U.S. cybersecurity
A Senate report finds that agencies fail to take basic preventive actions such as creating strong passwords.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/senate-cybersecurity-report-finds-agencies-often-fail-to-take-basic-preventive-measures/2014/02/03/493390c2-8ab6-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html>

Syrian Electronic Army breaches MarkMonitor, toys with Facebook?s domain
The Syrian Electronic Army has kicked up another ruckus, this time posting pictures on its latest Twitter account showing an apparent breach of MarkMonitor, as well as a screenshot to back up a claim that it had taken control of Facebook's domain, though a recent WHOIS check shows it back under Facebook's own info.
<http://www.slashgear.com/syrian-electronic-army-breaches-markmonitor-toys-with-facebooks-domain-05315865/>	

City needs to be better prepared for cyber-attacks, Bank of England warns
Britain's financial services sector needs to be ready to respond more quickly to cyber-attacks, the Bank of England warned on Wednesday, as it published the results of last year's stimulated attack on the markets.
<http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/05/city-cyber-attacks-bank-of-england>

Many US companies lax with data security - Illinois Attorney General
U.S. companies that have fallen prey to hackers, exposing the private information of millions of customers, have often failed to take basic security precautions to protect client data, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday.
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/uk-usa-target-congress-idUKBREA141G320140205>

nz: Flight Centre's $123k attack by hackers
Travel agency Flight Centre has lost more than $120,000 of customers' money after its computer systems were hacked and debit card details were accessed.
<http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11196240>

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 - DOMAIN DISPUTES
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GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge'
GoDaddy.com Inc. has lost an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge based on alleged bias toward the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose own attorney it said referred to her as ?the Academy?s judge.?
<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/>

Paris Hilton wins case to take down sex video site
Socialite Paris Hilton has won a cybersquatting case she filed against the owner of a site that offered her sex tapes.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/05/paris-hilton-wins-case-to-take-down-sex-video-site/>

Does the UDRP do more harm than good?
Why are we weakening ownership rights throughout the entire Internet space and subjecting millions of dollars of domains to attempted seizures each year so that mostly low value cybersquatted domains can be removed from circulation?
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/04/does-the-udrp-do-more-harm-than-good/>

au: Mr. Price Group Limited v. Peter Duncan - Case No. DAU2013-0034
1. The Parties: The Complainant is Mr. Price Group Limited of Durban, South Africa, represented by Fisher Adams Kelly Patent and Trademark Attorneys, Australia. The Respondent is Peter Duncan of Darlinghurst, Australia. 2. The Domain Names and Registrars: The disputed domain name <mrprice.com.au> is registered with PlanetDomain Pty Ltd. The disputed domain names <mrprice.net.au> and <misterprice.com.au> are registered with Web Address Registration Pty Ltd.
<http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/text.jsp?case=DAU2013-0034>

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 - IPv4/IPv6
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Addressing 2013 - That Was The Year That Was by Geoff Huston
Time for another annual roundup from the world of IP addresses. What happened in 2013 and what is likely to happen in 2014? This is an update to the reports prepared at the same time in previous years, so lets see what has changed in the past 12 months in addressing the Internet, and look at how IP address allocation information can inform us of the changing nature of the network itself.
<http://www.potaroo.net/ispcol/2014-02/addressing2013.html>

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 - MISCELLANEOUS
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Colloquium on Collisions: Expert Panelists to Select Papers, Award $50K First Prize by Burt Kaliski
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the verb collide is derived from the Latin verb collidere, which means, literally, ?to strike together?: com- "together? + l?dere ?to strike, injure by striking.?
<http://blogs.verisigninc.com/blog/entry/colloquium_on_collisions_expert_panelists>

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 - WEBHOSTING
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Netcraft: February 2014 Web Server Survey
In the February 2014 survey we received responses from 920,102,079 sites ? over 58 million more than last month.
<http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2014/02/03/february-2014-web-server-survey.html>

Web Host Revolution: The Age of Service Is Finally Here
Online businesses, get ready to breathe a long sigh of relief. Web hosting companies have hit a critical step in their evolution - an age of vastly improved services available at multiple tiers of service. Even the lowest tiers are lining up to offer new features and promises. Case in point: In early 2014, the famously cheap web host GoDaddy started offering new features that included expanding WordPress support and a new service called Get Found, designed to help small businesses to maintain their profile data from one central hub. 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jayson-demers/web-host-revolution-the-a_b_4719317.html>

AWS Most Popular Host Among Alexa?s Top 100,000 Websites: Infographic
HostCabi.net, makers of a free tool that allows people to find out where websites are hosted, released an infographic over the weekend that looks at the most popular hosting companies and locations.
<http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/aws-popular-host-among-alexas-top-100000-websites-hostcabi-net-infographic>

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 - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET
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Sedo co-founders invest in App marketplace Apptopia
Tim Schumacher and Ulrich Essmann, two of Sedo?s founders, are no strangers to building a marketplace.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/02/04/sedo-founders-invest-apptopia/>

New Venture for Sedo Co-Founders Tim Schumacher & Ulrich Essman - Helping Build a "Sedo for Apps" 
Tim Schumacher and Ulrich Essman, two of the four college friends who founded Sedo back in 2001, have gotten involved in an ambitious new venture - helping build a "Sedo for Apps" at Apptopia.com. Sedo grew into a domain trading and monetization powerhouse that the founders eventually sold to United Internet. Now Schumacher and Essman think they can replicate the Sedo model in the booming apps world by getting involved as investors and advisors at Apptopia, a rapidly growing marketplace where buyers can purchased fully developed apps, just as domain buyers can purchase domains and developed websites through Sedo.
<http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2014/dailyposts/20140204.htm>

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INTERNET USE
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Windows 8 growth falters again, mobile Chrome continues to pick up steam
The first month of the new year continued in the footsteps of the old one. Even the once-volatile mobile browser landscape is now relatively stable, though Chrome is continuing to make its presence felt. And one long-standing oddity of the usage numbers continues: although Android is outselling iOS on a global basis by some margin (and has done so since mid-2010), Safari punches well above its weight in the usage numbers. With some data from Akamai's State of the Internet report, we can get a little more insight into what's going on.
<http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/02/windows-8-growth-falters-again-mobile-chrome-continues-to-pick-up-steam/>

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SOCIAL MEDIA
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Facebook turns 10: from college dorm to 1.23 billion users
What does the future look like? According to Facebook, exactly 10 years after the social network was created, the future is called Paper. But it's not quite as nostalgic as it sounds. This is the future where we write, film and share our stories via our mobile phones. A sleek cut-down version of the Facebook site, Paper replaces buttons with touchscreen swipes, and uses full-screen to play video on the handheld devices, where the future of the internet will be fought.
<http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/04/facebook-10-years-mark-zuckerberg>

Facebook's mobile journey has only just begun, but already makes money
Eerke Boiten has been on Facebook for six years, but studiously avoids using it on his mobile phone. The 47-year-old director of the University of Kent's cybersecurity centre only uses it on his desktop where possible; if he does access it on his mobile, it's through the browser of his Android phone. He won't use the app because he dislikes its demands to access his contacts and, more recently, his text messages: "my friends haven't given me permission to share their phone numbers, etc, with Facebook," he says. And on the desktop version he can run adblocking software.
<http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/03/facebook-mobile-desktop-pc-platforms>

With New App, Facebook Aims to Make Its Users? Feeds Newsier
Mark Zuckerberg dreams of a day when Facebook?s computers would know you and your habits so well that it would deliver exactly the information you want to see ? what he calls ?the best personalized newspaper in the world.?
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/technology/with-new-app-facebook-aims-to-make-its-users-feeds-newsier.html>

Facebook Sustainable for Foreseeable Future, Researcher Says
While Princeton University researchers predictA Facebook could shed 80% of its users over the next few years, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist has the social network's back and says Facebook's prospects are good.
<http://www.cio.com/article/747730/Facebook_Sustainable_for_Foreseeable_Future_Researcher_Says>

Social Media Update 2013
Overview: Some 73% of online adults now use a social networking site of some kind. Facebook is the dominant social networking platform in the number of users, but a striking number of users are now diversifying onto other platforms. Some 42% of online adults now use multiple social networking sites. In addition, Instagram users are nearly as likely as Facebook users to check in to the site on a daily basis. These are among the key findings on social networking site usage and adoption from a new survey from the Pew Research Center?s Internet Project.
<http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Social-Media-Update.aspx>

6 new facts about Facebook
Facebook turns 10 tomorrow and reaches that milestone as the dominant social networking platform, used by 57% of all adults and 73% of all those ages 12-17. Adult Facebook use is intensifying: 64% of Facebook users visit the site on a daily basis, up from 51% of users who were daily users in 2010. Among teens, the total number of users remains high, according to Pew Research Center surveys, and they are not abandoning the site. But focus group interviews suggest that teens? relationship with Facebook is complicated and may be evolving.
<http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/03/6-new-facts-about-facebook/>

What Facebook knows about you
Facebook has spent the past 10 years building a business upon your personal information.
<http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/04/technology/facebook-data/index.html>

How Social Media Is Changing Language Usage and What Marketers Need to Know About It
Some people say social media is killing our language. Their arguments are innumerable, but they mostly cite the excessive usage of undecipherable initialisms, incorrect abbreviations, and cutesy emoticons. Others believe (a much smaller population, to be sure) that social media is not ruining language, but rather simply changing the ways in which we use language to express ourselves. And, to be clear, it really shouldn't be compared to other forms of written language because it's not actually written. What are these unfathomable arguments? And what does it have to do with marketers? Let's tackle the obvious question first. Is Texting Killing Language?
<http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2326906/how-social-media-is-changing-language-usage-and-what-marketers-need-to-know-about-it>

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ONLINE TV, MUSIC & PIRACY
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Australia Breeds More Pirates by Locking Up Game of Thrones
Australian pay TV company Foxtel has signed a deal with HBO to become the exclusive provider for Game of Thrones. This means that the popular TV-show will not be available online through other channels such as iTunes, a decision that is likely to cause a new piracy surge.
<http://torrentfreak.com/australia-breeds-pirates-game-thrones-140203/>

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PRIVACY & SURVEILLANCE
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Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Yahoo release US surveillance requests
Tens of thousands of accounts associated with customers of Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo have their data turned over to US government authorities every six months as the result of secret court orders, the tech giants disclosed for the first time on Monday.
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/03/microsoft-facebook-google-yahoo-fisa-surveillance-requests>

Internet privacy: how Australia's new laws will work
New privacy laws will come into operation in Australia in March this year. The amendments to the Privacy Act will introduce a new and harmonised set of privacy principles. While there is still plenty of room for improvement, the new laws make some important steps in protecting privacy, particularly with the collection of data online.
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/04/internet-privacy-how-new-laws-work>

NSA Scandal Boosts German Tech Industry
The German IT sector is hoping to profit from trust lost in American technology firms in the aftermath of the NSA spying scandal. But critics warn that plans to create a European routing system could affect the openness of the Internet.
<http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/german-it-industry-looks-for-boom-from-snowden-revelations-a-950786.html>

NSA surveillance already hurting US vendors, trade group says [IDG]
The U.S. Congress needs to help restore global trust in the nation's technology vendors by reining in surveillance programs at the National Security Agency, an industry representative told lawmakers Tuesday.
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2014/020414-nsa-surveillance-already-hurting-us-278436.html>

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GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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Google to make 'significant' changes to avoid EU fine
Google has promised to make "significant" changes to how rivals appear in search results in an attempt to avoid a multi-billion euro fine.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26047446>


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David Goldstein

 email: david at goldsteinreport.com

 web:   http://goldsteinreport.com/ / http://davidgoldstein.tel/
 phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9663 3430 - 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 Flannery