Articles by date
06 March 2008
uk: YouTube criticised for gang rape video (The Times)
YouTube is facing criticism for making it too easy for people to upload violent or sexually explicit content to the internet after a 25-year-old mother was filmed while being raped.
05 March 2008
Microsoft targets the mobile web (BBC)
Microsoft has launched a bid to capture a segment of the growing market for rich web content on mobile phones. The software firm has signed a deal with handset manufacturer Nokia to bring its Silverlight platform to millions of mobile phones.
Mobile the highlight at CeBIT
Katrin Ohlmer of Berlin's Ohlmer Marketing & Kommunikation is currently attending CeBIT, currently underway in Hannover in Germany, and has given a wrap on what is happening at CeBIT there, and what caught her eye. Katrin's highlights for the last day available here.
US Government Forces Domain Names to Disappear (New York Times)
The New York Times has an interesting story about Steve Marshall, an English travel agent who lives in Spain, sells trips to Europeans who want to go to sunny places, including Cuba, and in October found about 80 of his web sites stopped working, thanks to the United States government.
Something just clicked (The Guardian)
Long-standing assumptions about the bitter rivalry between TV and the internet are being swept aside as Britain's terrestrial broadcasters venture more online TV on demand, streaming content and near-live simulcasting via the web. Ever since broadband speeds made it feasible to share large files over the net, users have been able to obtain hours of illegally-distributed broadcast content from the web. Accessing content online these days is easier than ever. Also includes a link to "Cutting TV time makes children healthier, says US study" (The Guardian).
Court Nixes Free Speech Claim, Upholds First-Ever Spam Felony Conviction (E-Commerce Times)
The Virginia Supreme Court's ruling that the state's antispamming law did not violate spammer Jeremy Jaynes' free speech rights is a good thing, said John Palfrey, executive director of Harvard Law's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. "I'm a strong believer in the First Amendment, but there is a point where the First Amendment doesn't protect criminal activity."
Attacking the great digital divide in Australia's outback (The Age)
It is transforming the world. But is it leaving indigenous Australia behind? Cynthia Karena travelled to the Northern Territory to investigate the digital divide in our Australia's backyard.
Nine Inch Nails Gives Music Away On Web (Information Week)
Music from the band's latest album, "Ghosts I-IV," is available through their Web site in packages ranging from free to $300. Trent Reznor, leader of the rock band Nine Inch Nails, is the latest major artist to bypass major record labels and distribute his music over the Web.
Iran May Block Internet on Election Day (New York Times)
Iran's government might block private access to the Internet on its election day, March 14, two Iranian news outlets reported Monday. But the two accounts appeared to differ on the rationale.
NTIA review of ICANN gets high response rate
A number of organisations and individuals have put in submissions to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Mid-term Review of the Joint Project Agreement between NTIA and ICANN. Those to have made publicised their submissions include CENTR, Karl Auerbach and Network Solutions. There is a complete list of submissions available on the NTIA website and include additional submissions from auDA, Nominet, MarkMonitor, USMIR, Center for Democracy and Technology, ICANN, Internet Governance Project, ISOC, InternetNZ, Time Warner, Japan Registry Services and Wolfgang Kleinwachter among many others.
Anti-Phishing Legislation Introduced into US Senate
Yesterday I published details of the Internet Commerce Association's position paper and analysis of a bill known as The Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008, introduced into the US Senate in late February. The bill was introduced by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Republicans Olympia Snowe (Wash.) and Ted Stevens (Alaska). The bill contains "31 pages of new regulations that could raise the cost of doing business for legitimate companies--but will do little to stop the malcontents behind phishing attacks," writes Declan McCullagh in CNet.
04 March 2008
US seeks terrorists in web worlds (BBC)
The US government has begun a project to develop ways to spot terrorists who are using virtual worlds. Codenamed Reynard it aims to recognise "normal" behaviour in online worlds and home in on anomalous activity.
Snowe Bill Threatens Domain Name Registrants (Internet Commerce Association)
The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) has posted a position paper and analysis of S. 2661, introduced on 2/25/08 in the US Senate. While we are firmly opposed to phishing and other criminal activities that may utilize domain names we are very concerned about the provisions of the proposal that appear to provide trademark owners with a means to avoid both UDRP and ACPA actions and alternatively bring private claims against domain names with a lower burden of proof and the potential for far higher monetary damages, without even requiring an allegation that the DN was in any way being utilized in a phishing scheme writes Philip S. Corwin on CircleID.
YouTube Hijacking: A RIPE NCC RIS case study
RIPE have published a report that shows how the hijacking of YouTube traffic by Pakistan was seen by RIPE NCC's Routing Information Service (RIS) and how, in general, one can use the RIS tools to obtain hard data on network events. The RIPE report gives an event timeline and analysis. RIPE note the event happened in a relatively short time interval, YouTube had reacted within 80 minutes and all the major events finished after about two hours.
Why we should keep an eye on those who are watching us (The Guardian)
Writing in The Guardian, Peter Tatchell says, "Like millions of other viewers, I was gripped last night by the latest plot twists in BBC1's thriller series The Last Enemy, which depicts the dystopian future of a complete surveillance society, where everyone is data-based, ID-carded and CCTV-monitored 24/7. It is Big Brother writ-large, with all-pervasive remote sensors, facial recognition software, iris scans, vehicle tracking and eavesdropping."
us: Deal Close on Wiretap Law, a Top Democrat Tells CNN (New York Times)
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee hinted Sunday that a battle over an expired eavesdropping law might be moving toward a conclusion that gave phone companies the retroactive legal protections long sought by President Bush.
Microsoft to aim for coup if Yahoo! fails to enter talks on takeover (The Times)
Microsoft is to attempt a boardroom coup at Yahoo! within a week in an effort to force the online search engine to start serious talks or accept its $41 billion (£20.6 billion) hostile bid, The Times has learnt.
Judge Reverses His Order Disabling Wikileaks Web Site
The withdrawal of an order by a federal judge that led to the shutting down of the wikileaks.org website is by far the biggest story of the last few days. Originally the judge signed an order requiring the registrar Dynadot to disable the wikileaks.org domain name. In making his decision, "United States District Judge Jeffrey S. White appeared at times visibly frustrated that technology might have outrun the law and that, as a result, the court might not be able to rein in information disclosed online," reported the New York Times.
More Americans Go Online for News (Reuters)
Young people rely first on Web sources, but many are online editions of traditional media, Poynter study finds. Nearly 70% of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news, according to a new survey.
Green computing finds its place at Cebit (InfoWorld)
Cebit is taking on a green tinge this year, with the Climate Savers Computing Initiative playing a central role at the trade show, which opens March 4 in Hanover, Germany. The climate initiative aims to reduce IT's carbon dioxide emissions from computer operations by 50 percent between 2007 and 2010.
French Police extends the Internet blacklist (EDRI-gram)
French Internal Affairs Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, announced on 14 February 2008 new measures to fight against cybercrime, including extending the websites blacklist and pushing for computer online investigations, without the permission of the country of the hosting company.
US civil rights groups: FCC should allow network management (InfoWorld)
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission should allow broadband providers to manage their networks and slow "bandwidth hogs," despite concerns that such practices arbitrarily target some customers, said a coalition of seven civil rights groups.
Spam King trial set to start next month (ComputerWorld)
Notorious spammer Robert Soloway will get his day in court next month when his criminal trial kicks off in Seattle.
The porn supremacy (The Age)
Where does the adult entertainment industry go with the increasing spread of porn into popular culture? Suzy Freeman-Greene examines the evidence of two new books.
First spam felony conviction upheld: no free speech to spam (ars technica)
Virginia's Supreme Court on Friday upheld the first US felony conviction for spamming. The spammer will serve nine years in prison for sending what authorities believe to be millions of messages over a two-month period in 2003.
