Articles by date
05 September 2007
Most Chinese children spent vacation online: poll (Reuters)
The vast majority of Chinese schoolchildren chose to stay home and surf the Internet during the summer holidays rather than play outside, state media said on Tuesday, citing a survey.
Social Network Sites: Popular But Not Profitable (PC World)
Despite generating a hefty media buzz, social networking sites like MySpace.com and YouTube Inc. have not yet figured out how to use that publicity to generate significant advertising revenue, according to a report released last week by IDC.
Google mobile patent points to new take on ‘pay as you go’ (The Times)
The emergence of a patent filing has stoked speculation that Google is working on a mobile phone-based payments service dubbed "GPay", which the search giant could roll out with a new phone handset.
NZ Spam Act provides teeth to fight ‘big, bad’ spam (ComputerWorld)
Complaints about criminal spam in particular will be dealt with more forcefully from Wednesday when the anti-spam act, more formally known as the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act, comes into force.
Sweden mulls forcing Internet providers to crack down on file-sharers (Sydney Morning Herald)
Swedish ISPs could be required by law to cut off customers who share large amounts of copyright music and films online under a new proposal presented to the government Monday.
04 September 2007
Inside Views: Acting To Protect Freedom of Expression At ICANN by Dan Krimm
Dan Krimm writes on what he describes as “The continuing saga at ICANN about policy for approving new gTLDs is entering what may be its final stages this summer.” Dan gives an analysis of recommendations six and 20 gives reasons why KTCN opposes them.
Czech Bill On Child Porn Faces Resistance; Unlike Most of E.U., Possession Is Legal (Washington Post)
When Austrian authorities announced in February that they had uncovered an online child pornography ring, pedophiles around the world suddenly became potential targets of criminal investigations -- but not the ring's 63 customers in the Czech Republic, where downloading and possessing such images is not a crime.
Offers of free calls over the internet fail to switch on British phone users (The Times)
Phone services that offer free calls over the internet have failed to live up to their potential, according to new research. A study by Ofcom has found that web-based phone services offered by companies such as Skype and Tesco are used by only a niche following.
Israeli porn sites favorites of Muslim surfers (Jewish News Weekly)
Operators of a number of porn sites report that between 2 percent and 10 percent of their users are from Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority. Some Israeli porn websites even go so far as to offer services in Arabic.
Vint Cerf of Google on the internet's future (Financial Times)
Vint Cerf talks to the Financial Times' Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson about the need to expand internet capacity, improve stability and address the concerns of user privacy. Other issues covered include IPv6 with "more address space" being something that he would have done differently had he his time over again; that a secure and stable network is the most important issue on the internet, with privacy also a very important issue. Vint also answers FT reader's questions.
Malicious Web: Not just porn sites - The New Zealand Honeynet Project (ComputerWorld)
The New Zealand Honeynet Project, which produced Capture-HPC, also produced an excellent white paper about using Capture-HPC to identify malicious Web servers. On the group's Web site, you'll find that paper, the captured data, and the tools for anyone to inspect and replicate.
Net charges may hit BBC's iPlayer (The Observer)
The BBC'S iPlayer could be hit by an industry-wide move to charge companies and consumers according to the size of files downloaded online. Major internet service providers are believed to be considering plans to introduce a pricing system designed to ease broadband congestion. If the move goes ahead, the cost of running services like the iPlayer, which allow users to download television programmes or watch them online, will increase hugely.
03 September 2007
auDA reviews community geographic domain names policy (auDA)
Community geographic domain names are domain names registered within the eight Australian state and territory 2LDs: act.au, qld.au, nsw.au, nt.au, sa.au, tas.au, vic.au, wa.au.
Vint Cerf in call to preserve data for posterity (The Daily Telegraph)
The man who created the internet and the protocols on which it still functions highlighted the dangers we face with ever changing file formats, applications and operating systems.
Public Comments Require Changes in ICANN new gTLD Policy by Milton Mueller (Internet Governance blog)
The ICANN comment period on its new gTLD policy is over. The comments reflect overwhelming opposition to the Council's attempt to impose a standard of "morality and public order" on new TLD strings. The vast majority of comments -- about 60 of the 75 or so comments -- criticized the policy of censoring TLD strings and asked ICANN to stick to technical and operational criteria.
Municipal Wi-Fi - Reality bites: American cities' plans for ubiquitous internet access are running into trouble (The Economist)
It was supposed to democratise the internet and turn America's city-dwellers into citizen-surfers. In 2004 the mayors of Philadelphia and San Francisco unveiled ambitious plans to provide free wireless-internet access to all residents using Wi-Fi, a technology commonly used to link computers to the internet in homes, offices, schools and coffee-shops. Across America, hundreds of cities followed suit. Yet many municipal Wi-Fi projects have since been hit by mounting costs, poor coverage and weak demand. This week Chicago became the first big city to abandon its plans for a city-wide network. "Everyone would like something for free," says Chuck Haas of MetroFi, a supplier of municipal Wi-Fi systems. But the numbers do not add up.
ECONOMIST LEADER: Who's afraid of Google? (The Economist)
Rarely if ever has a company risen so fast in so many ways as Google, the world's most popular search engine. This is true by just about any measure: the growth in its market value and revenues; the number of people clicking in search of news, the nearest pizza parlour or a satellite image of their neighbour's garden; the volume of its advertisers; or the number of its lawyers and lobbyists. Such an ascent is enough to evoke concerns -- both paranoid and justified.
Inside the Googleplex (The Economist)
It is rare for a company to dominate its industry while claiming not to be motivated by money. Google does. But it has yet to face a crisis.
comScore Reports Top German, UK & French Internet Properties for July
comScore released reports on the top German, French and British websites for July. The studies showed that despite the onset of the summer holiday season - a time which has traditionally seen day-to-day media consumption decrease as people leave their homes and offices in search of the summer sun - the total German and British online populations reached their highest ever figure s, with 32.9 million and 31.8 million unique visitors respectively. The top two most visited properties in all three markets were Google and Microsoft Sites. Links to all three news releases are available.
'China Barbie' takes on Mattel in domain name dispute (Asia Times)
Mattel, which makes Barbie dolls, was forced this month to recall millions of toys that were made in China because of lead paint and loose magnets. So what's Mattel's next step in recovering from possible lost revenues? To attack porn star "China Barbie" of ChinaBarbie.com, of course.
Heavy metal domain dispute over pantera.com
The first heavy metal domain dispute TechNewsReview is aware of. There are reports "the surviving members of Pantera are involved in a legal battle with their former webmaster over" Pantera.com. Pantera.com was once the band's official web site, but since February 2003 the official web site has been located at www.officialpantera.com. According to the Justia.com legal portal, which maintains a database of Federal District Court filings and dockets, Pantera.com webmaster L. Alfenas filed a lawsuit in the Michigan Western District Court on August 2, 2007 against the Pantera Partnership (consisting of Vincent Paul Abbott, Philip Hansen Anselmo, Rex Robert Brown, and the estate of Darell Lance ["Dimebag Darrell"] Abbott) over the domain, which has apparently been registered to Alfenas since 1998. The Pantera Partnership, meanwhile, filed a suit of their own in the Michigan Eastern District Court against Alfenas (who resides in Michigan) the very next day, August 3, 2007."
02 September 2007
Buzz of Google's 'intellectual bumblebee': Vint Cerf (The Guardian)
It was almost certainly one of the simplest interviews that Google has ever conducted. The Silicon Valley giant, famous for its punishing hiring process and exacting standards, received a short email asking a straightforward question. "Do you need any help?" it said. A one-word response - "yes" - was enough to secure a job with the company. It was unusual in many respects, of course: the man saying yes was Google chief executive Eric Schmidt - and the man asking the question was Vint Cerf, the pioneering researcher commonly regarded as one of the founding fathers of the internet.
ICANN: Updated Proposed .MUSEUM sTLD Registry Agreement Posted for Public Comment (ICANN)
An updated version of the proposed .MUSEUM sponsorship agreement is posted today for public comment. The amendment from the previous draft agreement is a result of significant collaboration between the registry sponsor and community members. The updated agreement is posted today with the intention of submitting it to the ICANN Board for approval after the 30-day comment period.
YouTube ban lifted in Thailand (ABC)
Thailand's military junta has finally lifted a ban on the video sharing website YouTube, four months after it was blocked for posting offensive images of King Bhumipol. Also includes Reporters sans frontières news release.
German spyware plans trigger row (BBC)
German government plans to spy on terror suspects by deploying malicious e-mails have drawn sharp criticism. The e-mails would contain Trojans - software that secretly installs itself on suspects' computers, allowing agents to search the hard drives.
