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The domain name news is supported by auDA

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Get Ready for the Internet Robber Barons: If the United Nations ends up in charge, it would have a chokehold on the global economy.
<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303725404579461822619207730>

It's Not the End of the Internet as We Know It -- Five Myths About the Recent U.S. Internet Announcement by Fadi Chehad?
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fadi-chehade/five-myths-about-the-us-i_b_5068712.html>

ICANN chief: Russia, China will not hijack Internet oversight [Reuters]
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/uk-usa-internet-domainnames-idUKBREA3126J20140402>

Are Whois email checks doing more harm than good?
<http://domainincite.com/16375-are-whois-email-checks-doing-more-harm-than-good>

Trademarks and new gTLDs: what did we learn at ICANN 49?
<http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/daily/Detail.aspx?g=04d25c7c-cf2b-4151-b59c-0cceada38f51>

ICANN muddles through solution to IGO conflict
<http://domainincite.com/16284-icann-muddles-through-solution-to-igo-conflict>

No sunrise periods for dot-brands
<http://domainincite.com/16289-no-sunrise-periods-for-dot-brands>

Domain Name Association Elects 5 New Board Members
<http://www.thedna.org/pr_20140402.html>


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GOVERNANCE
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Get Ready for the Internet Robber Barons: If the United Nations ends up in charge, it would have a chokehold on the global economy.
Do you remember the original robber barons? No, they were not the great American industrialists/philanthropists of the late 19th century?men who were unfairly tagged with the moniker. I mean the originals: the German barons of the 13th century who controlled the Rhine River, which was the primary channel of commerce and communications for central Europe. Their castles overlooked the river, and they exacted tribute from every passing ship.
<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303725404579461822619207730>

It's Not the End of the Internet as We Know It -- Five Myths About the Recent U.S. Internet Announcement by Fadi Chehad?
For more than two billion people around the world, the Internet is an indispensable part of daily life. Over the last five years, information created and shared online has increased nine-fold.i By 2015, the Internet will connect one trillion devices.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fadi-chehade/five-myths-about-the-us-i_b_5068712.html>

ICANN chief: Russia, China will not hijack Internet oversight [Reuters]
The head of a nonprofit that manages the infrastructure of the Internet defended on Wednesday the U.S. government's move to cede oversight of the body, and downplayed concerns that Russia, China or other countries could exert control and restrict the web's openness.
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/uk-usa-internet-domainnames-idUKBREA3126J20140402>
<http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/news/a/22339208/icann-chief-russia-china-will-not-hijack-internet-oversight/>
<http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2014/4/3/technology/russia-china-will-not-hijack-internet-oversight-icann>

US Plan to End ICANN Oversight Could Lead to 'Net Censorship, Lawmakers Say [IDG]
A U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration plan to end its formal relationship with ICANN could open the door to Internet censorship by China, Russia or Iran, some U.S. lawmakers said.
<http://www.cio.com/article/750896/US_Plan_to_End_ICANN_Oversight_Could_Lead_to_39_Net_Censorship_Lawmakers_Say>
<http://www.computerworld.co.nz/article/541959/us_plan_end_icann_oversight_could_lead_net_censorship_lawmakers_say/>

Opponents Circle Web-Oversight Plan: Congressional Republicans Lead Charge Against U.S. Pullback, Fearing Threat to Internet Freedom
Opposition is growing to an Obama administration plan to relinquish control of a key Internet body, complicating U.S. efforts to figure out a new way to manage Web addresses.
<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303532704579477780136422144>

House GOP leery of bid to end domain authority
A U.S. move to cede its supervisory authority over the domain name system, one of key pieces of management architecture that makes the global Internet work, is raising hackles among some Republicans who worry that it could lead to the United Nations or foreign powers gaining more control over what does and does not appear online.
<http://fcw.com/articles/2014/04/02/internet-control.aspx>

Republicans Fear Obama Will Let Russia Seize Internet Power
An Obama administration plan to give up oversight of certain technical Internet functions could open the door to a takeover by authoritarian regimes, Republican lawmakers claimed Wednesday.
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/republicans-fear-obama-will-let-russia-seize-internet-power-20140402>

Obama official faces critics of plan to cede Internet oversight
The Obama administration on Wednesday will try and ease congressional concerns about its decision to relinquish oversight over the back end of the Internet.
<http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/202385-obama-administration-faces-critics-of-plan-to-relinquish>

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DOMAIN NAMES
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 - ICANN
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Recognizing Our Community Leaders by David Olive
ICANN?s growth and evolution as a multistakeholder organization depends on the sustained engagement of our community. Indeed, our greatest asset is community member time and commitment to the work of ICANN.
<http://blog.icann.org/2014/04/recognizing-our-community-leaders/>

18 New gTLDs Recently Delegated. View them now!
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-02apr14-en>

Fellowship Program Brings Global Voices Together at ICANN | Fellows Announced for London Meeting
42 fellows from 34 countries have been selected to participate in ICANN's Fellowship program at the 50th Public Meeting in London, 22-26 June 2014.
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-31mar14-en.htm>

Don C. Moody, Counsel | Little Birch, LLC, to ICANN CPE Panel
Community Application by Big Room, Inc. for .ECO ? Statement of Opposition
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/moody-to-cpe-panel-26mar14-en>

Jim Leape, Director General | WWF International, to ICANN
Letter of Support for .ECO application
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/leape-to-icann-26mar14-en>

Heijo Ruijsenaars, Head of Intellectual Property | European Broadcasting Union, to Christine Willett
Community Priority Evaluation ? .RADIO
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/ruijsenaars-to-willett-25mar14-en>

Update from the 2014 Nominating Committee Chair
Interested in being considered for a Leadership Position by the 2014 Nominating Committee (NomCom)? Your "Candidacy Application Request form" needs to have been received and therefore, formally initialised, by our closing deadline. That deadline is TODAY, 23:59 UTC on 1 April 2014.
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-01apr14-en.htm>

Are Whois email checks doing more harm than good?
?Tens of thousands? of web sites are going dark due to ICANN?s new email verification requirements and registrars are demanding to know how this sacrifice is helping solve crimes.
<http://domainincite.com/16375-are-whois-email-checks-doing-more-harm-than-good>

Major email providers blocking some RAA verification emails
Beginning January 1st domain name registrars are required by the new Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) to verify contact details for registrants.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/04/01/major-email-providers-blocking-some-raa-verification-emails/>

US official: The Internet can stand on its own now (Q&A)
Lawrence Strickling, who runs the US government's remaining oversight of the Internet, says it's time to relinquish that role. Snowden didn't push the issue.
<http://www.cnet.com/news/commerce-department-official-the-net-can-stand-on-its-own-now-q-a/>

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 - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS
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ccTLD approved for Kosovo
Some of you have already noticed that in many places there is a temporary ?XK? being used as a country code for Kosovo. The US standards body ?FIPS? has found it worthwhile to assign a country code to Kosovo (KV), and today source close to the International Organization for Standardisation, ISO, tell us that a new official country code .KV will be asigned to Kosovo, as a solution that came out of the talks between the two countries, Kosovo and Serbia, which are in talks since couple of months now about different issues.
<http://digjitale.com/2014/04/cctld-approved-kosovo/>

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 - NEW TLDS
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Trademarks and new gTLDs: what did we learn at ICANN 49?
On World Trademark Review we tend to shy away from ?news round-up blogs?, but having spent the last week in Singapore attending the ICANN meeting, it is worth providing a few takeaways from the event.
<http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/daily/Detail.aspx?g=04d25c7c-cf2b-4151-b59c-0cceada38f51>

ICANN muddles through solution to IGO conflict
ICANN may have come up with a way to appease both the GNSO and the GAC, which are at conflict over the best way to protect the names and/or acronyms of intergovernmental organizations.
<http://domainincite.com/16284-icann-muddles-through-solution-to-igo-conflict>

No sunrise periods for dot-brands
ICANN has finally signed off on a set of exemptions that would allow dot-brand gTLDs to skip sunrise periods and, probably, work only with hand-picked registrars.
<http://domainincite.com/16289-no-sunrise-periods-for-dot-brands>

The revolution in domain names: are you ready?
The brave new world of gTLDs has arrived. Until September 2013, would be registrants had only 22 gTLDs to choose from, the premium of which was always .com. Since then, over one hundred have been open for registration, and over the next months and years there will be in the region of another 1,700.
<http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/marketing-agencies-association-partner-zone/revolution-domain>

Applicant claims ?rogue? GAC rep killed its gTLD
The unsuccessful applicant for the .thai TLD has become the third new gTLD hopeful to file an Independent Review Process complaint against ICANN.
<http://domainincite.com/16367-applicant-claims-rogue-gac-rep-killed-its-gtld>

TLDs top 500
The number of live TLDs on the internet has surpassed 500 for the first time.
<http://domainincite.com/16355-top-level-domains-top-500>

No Justin Bieber bashing in new .xyz domain name
The .XYZ TLD has published its launch policies, and it includes perhaps the most off-the-wall restriction of any new TLD to date:
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/04/02/no-justin-bieber-bashing-in-new-xyz-domain-name/>

Donuts buys out rival .place gTLD applicant
Donuts has won the .place new gTLD contention set after paying off rival applicant 1589757 Alberta Ltd.
<http://domainincite.com/16317-donuts-buys-out-rival-place-gtld-applicant>

New York City sets phases, nexus requirements for .NYC domain name
New York City has finalized its launch plans for the .NYC web address coming out later this year.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/04/01/dot-nyc-domain-launch/>

.Kiwi addresses now up for grabs
After two years of planning, startup Dot Kiwi has started to sell .kiwi web addresses.
<http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/kiwi-addresses-now-sale-ck-154088>

.BUILD enters Landrush with support of ARI Registry Services
The building and construction industry is set for the biggest digital revolution in its history with the registration of the first retail .BUILD domain names occurring at UTC 15:00 Monday 31 March 2014.
<http://ariservices.com/news-.BUILD-enters-Landrush-with-support-of-ARI-Registry-Services.php>

ARI and Radix split on all new gTLD bids
Radix no longer plans to use ARI Registry Services for any of its new gTLDs, I?ve learned.
<http://domainincite.com/16309-ari-and-radix-split-on-all-new-gtld-bids>

More Trademark Clearing House Abuse: Texas & Venture Triggers Notice
A couple of weeks ago we wrote about Trademark holders of generic terms applying to the Trademark Clearing House (TMCH) where trademarks on many of which were causing some of those 500,000 ?warnings? to go out to people trying to register a new gTLD domain name. Today we bring you the world famous trademarks for the term ?Texas? and ?Venture?.
<http://www.thedomains.com/2014/03/31/more-trademark-clearing-house-abuse-texas-venture-triggers-notice/>

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 - DNS SECURITY
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Cyber Emergency Response Team launched by UK
The UK's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UK), which will co-ordinate the country's cybersecurity defence, has been formally launched.
<http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26818747>

U.S. regulators warn banks about rise in cyber-attacks
A group of top U.S. regulators on Wednesday warned about the threat of rising cyber-attacks on bank websites and cash machines, urging the industry to put proper measures in place to guard against fraud.
<http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/banks-fraud-idINDEEA310GT20140402>

WiFi routers could be exploited for huge internet attacks in UK ? study
As many as 24m routers across the world can be used by cybercriminals to launch massive attacks on internet infrastructure, while simultaneously disrupting home connections and costing communications companies dearly.
<http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/01/uk-wifi-routers-internet-attacks>

24 million vulnerable home routers primed to launch DDoS attacks
A vulnerability in more than 24m home routers is leading to an increase in denial-of-service attacks, according to network activity company Nominum.
<http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/381676,24-million-vulnerable-home-routers-primed-to-launch-ddos-attacks.aspx>

DNS-Based Amplification Attacks Key on Home Routers
DNS-based DDoS amplification attacks are using home and small office routers as a jumping off point. Attackers are taking advantage of weak router configuration and lax policies against open resolvers to execute attacks.
<http://threatpost.com/dns-based-amplification-attacks-key-on-home-routers/105220>

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 - DOMAIN DISPUTES & SEIZURES
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Use of 'V-KOOL' as mark, domain name and company name held to constitute infringement [subscription]
The Intellectual Property Court has rendered a decision in favour of plaintiff Solutia Singapore Pte Ltd, the owner of the famous V-KOOL mark for window film, in a trademark infringement case involving the use of the term 'V-KOOL' as a trademark, domain name and company name.
<http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/daily/Detail.aspx?g=65f827a7-6622-4f95-a302-362c5ff2c223>

HugeDomains.com Take UDRP Loss On AustinPain.com to Federal Court: We Say Good Get Em
HugeDomains.com, LLC, just filed a lawsuit against ROBERT P. WILLS, MD. PA, a Texas Professional Association d/b/a AUSTIN PAIN ASSOCIATES for a declaratory judgement arising out of the UDRP decision against it on the domain name AustinPain.com
<http://www.thedomains.com/2014/04/02/hugedomains-com-take-udrp-loss-on-austinpain-com-to-federal-court-we-say-good-get-em/>

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 - MISCELLANEOUS
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Domain Name Association Elects 5 New Board Members
With the election of five new Directors, the Domain Name Association (DNA), has transitioned from the interim board established in 2013 to one representing the full membership of the Internet domain industry's only global trade association. The 12-person board is charged with providing leadership and advancing the association's mission to educate the public about the expansion of domain names.
<http://www.thedna.org/pr_20140402.html>

Some SnapNames-caught domains to be managed at NetworkSolutions
Here?s the first notable change as a result of Web.com acquiring expired domain marketplace SnapNames.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/04/02/some-snapnames-caught-domains-to-be-managed-at-networksolutions/>

Stuart Lawley Chats About ICANN & The New gTLD?s On Cavuto Fox Business Show
Stuart Lawley the CEO of the ICM Registry, which operates the .XXX TLD extension and an applicant for .sex, .porn and .adult was interviewed by Cavuto, on Fox Business News, in a segment which lasted over five minutes.
<http://www.thedomains.com/2014/04/02/stuart-lawley-chats-about-icann-the-new-gtlds-on-cavuto-fox-business-show/>

Turkey hijacks servers in social media crackdown
Turkey has started hijacking net addresses as it steps up attempts to block access to social media.
<http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26818104>

Google DNS Intercepted in Turkey
Internet service providers in Turkey have been intercepting traffic to Google?s DNS servers and redirecting it, shutting off a workaround that Turkish users had employed to get to sites such as Twitter and YouTube after the government had blocked them.
<http://threatpost.com/google-dns-intercepted-in-turkey/105136>

How Turkey Spoofed Google?s Public DNS Service
Turkey stepped up efforts to block YouTube in recent days, using an unusual technique that disrupts access to virtual address books known as domain-name system, or DNS, servers, which help direct Internet traffic.
<http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/03/31/how-turkey-spoofed-googles-public-dns-service/>

Melbourne IT Completes Acquisition of Netregistry
Melbourne IT completed its acquisition of Netregistry on Monday for AU$50.4 million, around $47 million US.
<http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/melbourne-completes-acquisition-netregistry>

UK Police Launch Pirate Site Blacklist for Advertisers
Over the past few months City of London Police have been working together with the music and movie industries to tackle sites that provide unauthorized access to copyrighted content. Initially the police only sent warning letters to site owners, asking them to go legit or shut down. Late last year this was followed by a campaign targeted at domain registrars, asking them to suspend the domain names of several so-called pirate sites.
<http://torrentfreak.com/city-of-london-police-launches-pirate-site-blacklist-for-advertisers-140331/>

Internet business NetNames gears up for first-ever panel review
NetNames is preparing for its first-ever review of its external legal services providers, with a reduction of firms used by the internet domain names registrar looking likely.
<http://www.thelawyer.com/in-house/panel-reviews/internet-business-netnames-gears-up-for-first-ever-panel-review/3018565.article>

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 - WEBHOSTING
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Web Hosts Pull Early Pranks for April Fools Day
Despite the serious pressure to keep services online, respond to support tickets, and patch software, a lot of people in web hosting and cloud services have great senses of humor. Many will even suspend the disbelief of gullible customers and the public for a laugh.
<http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/web-hosts-pull-early-pranks-april-fools-day>

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Talks Data Privacy and Web Hosting at WHD.global 2014
The big draw on Wednesday morning at WHD.global 2014 was the keynote panel with a special (virtual) visitor, Julian Assange, as well as Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange and Ditlev Bredahl, CEO of OnApp.
<http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-talks-data-privacy-web-hosting-whd-global-2014>

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 - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET
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Gary Vaynerchuk at DomainFest: domain values headed downward
Gary VaynerchukYesterday Gary Vaynerchuk gave a spirited keynote at DomainFest, with an even more spirited Q&A session. It got interesting when Vaynerchuk predicted that the value of a good domain name will go down over the next decade or two as the importance of having a good domain name goes down.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/04/01/gary-vaynerchuk-domain-name-values/>

Wow: is this the most expensive new TLD sale yet?
The .Club domain name enters landrush tomorrow, and already the domain name is showing solid early results.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2014/03/31/wow-is-this-the-most-expensive-new-tld-sale-yet/>

Blacklist.com Attracts a Lot of Greenbacks to Top This Week's Domain Sales Chart
After hitting the second half of last week's all extension Top 20 Sales Chart with EnergyStock.com at $10,000, Bilal Kapadia is back with a much bigger sale this week. In fact this time he went straight to the head of the class with his $85,000 sale of Blacklist.com in a private transaction.
<http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2014/20140409.htm>

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INTERNET USE
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au: Mobile broadband services add billions to economy, ACMA research shows
Australia's love affair with mobile broadband services is leading to a significant bump in economic activity with new research from the communications watchdog showing that use of the services helped contribute $33.8 billion in the last year or more than 2 per cent of the nation?s total GDP.
<http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/economics/mobile-broadband-services-add-billions-to-economy-acma-research-shows/story-e6frg926-1226873394001>

Mobile broadband boosts economy by $33.8B [CIO]
The availability of mobile broadband services led to a $33.8 billion increase in economic activity in Australia last year, contributing 2.28 per cent to our total gross domestic product (GDP).
<http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/542016/mobile_broadband_boosts_economy_by_33_8b/>

One week before its end of life, 28 percent of Web users are still on Windows XP
Windows XP will receive its last ever security update on April 8th next week. After that, any flaws, no matter how severe, will not be patched by Microsoft, and one would be well advised to not let Windows XP machines anywhere near the public Internet as a result. In spite of this, 28 percent of Web users were still using the ancient operating system in March.
<http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/04/one-week-before-its-end-of-life-28-percent-of-web-users-are-still-on-windows-xp/>

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SOCIAL MEDIA
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Social media explosion powered by dirty energy, report warns
The rise of social media is being powered by dirty forms of energy such as coal, a report from the campaign group Greenpeace said on Wednesday.
<http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/02/social-media-explosion-powered-dirty-coal-greenpeace-report>

Clicking Clean: How Companies are Building the Green Internet
>From social media to music, streaming video, email and commerce, we are increasingly moving much of our lives online. But which companies are storing all of that data, and how are they getting the energy? Here?s who hosts some of the internet?s most popular sites and services in their data centers ? and whether those companies are using dirty or clean energy. Find out how you can #clickclean, download the full report and take action for a green internet.
<http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/A-Green-Internet/Greenpeaces-IT-Sector-Analysis/clickingclean/>

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NEW TECHNOLOGIES
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Meet the next-gen USB cable that could sweep away all others
The upcoming USB cable design is reversible, has no right-side-up or upside-down problems, and will click when you plug it in. Expect the new design on the market as soon as this year.
<http://www.cnet.com/news/meet-the-next-gen-usb-cable-that-could-sweep-away-all-others/>

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ONLINE TV, MUSIC & PIRACY
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Forget suing filesharers: in 2014, anti-piracy efforts follow the money
Taking individual filesharers to court is now a discredited anti-piracy strategy for even the most hawkish music, film and software industry rightsholders. Their preferred approach in 2014 is to follow the money instead.
<http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/02/infringing-websites-list-anti-piracy>

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MOBILE/WIRELESS
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Apple and Samsung Reprise Patent Fight (With Google a Shadow Presence)
As lawyers for Apple and Samsung made their opening statements in their patent trial in a federal courthouse here, they could not even agree on what the fight was about.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/technology/apple-and-samsung-reprise-patent-fight-with-google-a-shadow-presence.html>

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PRIVACY & SURVEILLANCE
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NSA revelations 'changing how businesses store sensitive data'
The vast scale of online surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden is changing how businesses store commercially sensitive data, with potentially dramatic consequences for the future of the internet, according to a new study.
<http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/31/data-storage-nsa-revelations-businesses-snowden>

A Nudge on Digital Privacy Law From E.U. Official
The top data protection official for the European Union called Tuesday for member governments to restore public trust in the Internet by pressing ahead with an overhaul of the bloc?s electronic privacy laws by the end of this year.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/business/international/a-nudge-on-digital-privacy-law-from-eu-official.html>

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GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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au: Internet companies should receive privacy safe harbour: ARLC
A review of how Australian privacy law matches up with the current use of technology, has recommended that online services that publish content generated by users, should be able to access safe harbour laws where an invasion of privacy is concerned.
<http://www.zdnet.com/internet-companies-should-receive-privacy-safe-harbour-arlc-7000027867/>

------
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