Articles by date
21 September 2007
INHOPE publish landmark Global Internet Trend Report - 9,600 reports of child pornography processed per month (INHOPE)
INHOPE's statistical analysis of the reports received by the INHOPE network over a 28 month period has resulted in the first detailed analysis of illegal activity on the Internet. The INHOPE hotline network has processed, and continues to process, a huge volume of reports about illegal, harmful and not-illegal content on the Internet and has, as a result, created a dynamic (time-sensitive) chart of the downside sectors of the Internet. This report is the first step towards a global action plan to eradicate illegal activity from the Internet. It is a landmark publication for policy makers, governments and Industry.
us: Lawmakers Float VoIP-Based 911 Bill (Internet News)
Lawmakers today introduced a bill to try and bring VoIP services into an emergency calling regime that has largely ignored the IP-based infrastructure.
Africa telecoms summit to promote Internet access (Reuters AlertNet)
A U.N.-backed Africa communications summit, "Connect Africa", in Rwanda in late October, will seek to boost high-speed Internet access to match the continent's explosive growth in mobile phones, officials said on Wednesday.
20 September 2007
'Surprise' over British gambling figures (BBC)
The internet and other new forms of gambling have not led to an increase in people having a flutter since 1999, a Gambling Commission study has found. In fact, due to a drop in the National Lottery sales, the numbers of people gambling fell from 72% in 1999 to 68%.
Sabine Dolderer returns to Denic
There are a number of German media reports saying Sabine Dolderer has returned to Denic following her controversial departure earlier this year. Her new position is CEO, with Jörg Schweiger joining her as Chief Technology Officer.
us: Warrantless Wiretaps Not Used, Official Says (New York Times)
The National Security Agency has not conducted wiretapping without warrants on the telephones of any Americans since at least February, the nation's top intelligence officer told Congress on Tuesday. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told the House Judiciary Committee that since he took office that month, the government has conducted electronic surveillance only after seeking court-approved warrants.
US intelligence chief says China is spying on cold war scale (The Guardian)
China and Russia are spying on the US on a scale not seen since the end of the cold war, the head of US national intelligence, Mike McConnell, said yesterday. Giving evidence to a Congressional committee, Vice Admiral McConnell said that US facilities, intelligence services and development projects were all being targeted. He was speaking weeks after the Pentagon had claimed it had come under attack from Chinese computer hackers. The Foreign Office is among British government departments that appear also to have been targeted.
US Air Force sets up Cyber Command (The Age)
The US Air Force established a provisional Cyber Command Tuesday as part of an expanding mission to prepare for wars in cyberspace, officials said. The move comes amid concerns over a wave of hacker attacks originating in China against western governments and a crippling attack in May against Estonia amid a dispute with Russia.
au: 2Clix lawsuit over Whirlpool forum comments withdrawn (The Age)
An Australian software firm, which was suing a broadband community website over unflattering comments published on its message board, has dropped its case. 2Clix, which sells an accounting program, sued Whirlpool owner Simon Wright for "injurious falsehood", asking for $150,000 in damages and an injunction requiring Whirlpool to remove forum threads highly critical of 2Clix's software.
19 September 2007
Stalemate Continues on Hiding WHOIS Info (ComputerWorld)
"Proposed changes that would have shielded some of the personal information stored in the Internet's WHOIS database from public view were indefinitely shelved last month, after a working group failed to reach agreement on how or even whether to implement the privacy reforms," says a report in ComputerWorld. Privacy advocates were advocating for less information to be available, while "companies and law enforcement agencies that depend on WHOIS information to go after phishers, cybersquatters, spammers and other online miscreants" were more than happy with the status quo.
Internet security - Chinese military defence hackers; increasing DDOS attacks
Internet security is a major concern addressed in these articles from Forbes and Dark Reading. Forbes addresses the problem of cyberspies hacking into networks of private companies, especially major US defence contractors with China fingered as the most likely perpetrator. This is rarely, if ever, publicly discussed for several reasons, one being "'reporting an event like this would kill your stock price,' says a source close to the military contractor industry who asked not to be named." Meanwhile Dark Reading addresses the issue of "increasingly-intense distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks on ISP backbones are surpassing providers' capacity and knocking customers offline, according to a new survey of service providers by Arbor Networks."
Chinese Internet Users Are Unhealthy; One dies after 3-days online (China Tech News)
According to the newly released "White Book on Chinese Netizens' Health Status", more than 40% of Chinese Internet users spend most of their weekends surfing online and over 70% of the netizens have a certain degree of associated mental problems.
Anti-piracy honeypot site exposed (The Age)
Hackers who intercepted email from MediaDefender, a firm that tries to stymie unauthorised downloading of songs and movies on behalf of record companies and Hollywood film studios, have released hundreds of megabytes of data on the internet.
Microsoft rejected in antitrust appeal; also IBM & Google challenges to Microsoft
News reports, comment and analysis of the ruling from the European Court of First Instance against Microsoft from around the world, mostly from the UK and US. Plus, I.B.M. to Offer Office Software Free in Challenge to Microsoft's Line and Google goes to war with Microsoft.
Cost fears threaten Australian privacy law (Australian IT)
New laws requiring notification of data breaches are included in proposals by the Australian Law Reform Commission for sweeping reform of the national privacy regime. The commission, which wants to untangle the present jurisdictional tangle, also recommends bringing small businesses under the federal Privacy Act and tightening both private and public sector handling of personal data.
uk: Terrorism's reach via internet (BBC)
uk: Terrorism's reach via internet
Clackmannanshire man at the High Court in Glasgow has focused attention on how no part of the world is free from terrorism. Mohammed Atif Siddique, 21, was accused of four offences under the UK's Terrorism Acts.
Africa: Mobiles for the 'World's Poorest' (Arusha Times)
Nearly half a million people, described by the UN as "the poorest of the poor", will soon be able to make mobile calls. As part of a UN programme to tackle poverty in rural Africa, 79 villages across 10 African countries will be hooked up to cellular networks.
Asian broadband take-up slow (Australian IT)
Home to some 1.5 billion people, South Asia is paying a high price to access the internet as service providers have been slow to deliver cheaper broadband connections, analysts said.
18 September 2007
Russia - one million domain names; 30 million internet users
The one millionth .ru domain name has been register according to a report in C-News. The name, hanti.ru, was registered on 17 September, with even the exact time give - 01.02.33 Moscow time. In another story, C-News also reports there are around 30 million internet users in Russia with 40 million internet users expected sometime in 2008.
The Politics of DNSSEC: The Light Begins to Dawn at IETF by Milton Mueller (Internet Governance blog)
Milton Mueller posts on the Internet Governance blog what he calls "an astounding post by VeriSign's DNS expert, Dr. Phillip Hallam-Baker, made on the IETF list." Milton says in this posting, Dr Hallam-Baker "incisively describes the political implications of signing the root using DNSSEC, something we at IGP have been trying to do for about a year now. He also calls for sharing the signing authority, as IGP has also been doing. When we do this, we are sometimes accused of needlessly 'politicizing' the issue. Wonder what they'll say now. Let's put Hallam-Baker on that IGF panel on 'critical Internet resources' maybe, and see if his candor survives the glare of publicity?"
Microsoft loses anti-trust appeal (BBC)
Microsoft has lost its appeal against a record €497m (£343m; $690m) fine imposed by the European Commission in a long-running competition dispute. The European Court of First Instance upheld the ruling that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position.
Microsoft faces crucial ruling over record fine imposed by EU (The Guardian)
Microsoft faces a crucial court decision today in Luxembourg that will define its future as the world's biggest software group as well as that of the European commission as a global antitrust authority. The verdict of Europe's second highest court on an appeal by Microsoft against Brussels' ruling that it had abused its dominance of the PC market, marks the culmination of a nine-year dispute that could reshape EU competition law.
Australian spy laws track mobile phones, internet (Sydney Morning Herald)
Security agencies would be able to secretly track people via their mobile phones and monitor their internet browsing for up to three months without obtaining a warrant under new laws due to go before the Senate this week. The powers could be used in a range of even relatively minor criminal investigations, not just terrorism cases.
Internet crime 'is big business' (BBC)
Internet crime is becoming a major commercial activity, according to a report by the security firm, Symantec. Its report into threats to internet security describes underworld auction sites where bank details and credit cards are on sale. Also includes Symantec news release, "Symantec Reports Cyber Criminals Are Becoming Increasingly Professional".
Where broadband Internet is headed: To the kitchen (International Herald Tribune)
Dream kitchens may soon include a computer along with the latest refrigerator or oven. That way, people gathered at the family hub can satisfy their digital needs along with nutritional ones.
