internet news - 2/5

[David Goldstein <goldstein_david@yahoo.com.au>]

Domain Name news
New domain name registry ready for testing (auDA news release)
auDA has received notification from AusRegistry that they have
completed construction of all registry systems and begun system wide
testing.
 http://www.auda.org.au/about/news/2002050202.html

Japan backs ICANN (Australian IT)
JAPAN has followed Australia's lead to become the second country to
sign a domain name agreement with the global internet body, ICANN.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,4243106%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Family names flop in domain disputes (CNET)
If you own a Web address that contains your name, a more famous
person or company may be able to snatch it from you, especially if
you sell something on the pages.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-896561.html 

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness/story/0,2000024981,20264981,00.htm

Courts to settle Web domain name disputes (Gulf News)
Local courts will have a bigger role in settling Web domain name
disputes following major changes brought to the existing framework,
said a senior Etisalat official. The prime criteria will be that the
domain name must have 'ae' in it.
 http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=49681
 http://www.ameinfo.com/cgi-bin/news/showarticle.cgi?id=5102164419

Internet news
Education Key To Keeping Kids Away From Net Porn - Report
(Washtech.com)
Child welfare advocates attempting to protect children from harmful
material online may be ignoring one of the most important tools in
making the Internet safer for kids, according to the findings of a
congressionally mandated study.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20001-2002May2.html
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/02/technology/02CND-PORN.html

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=910314
 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176303.html
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52257,00.html
 http://www.nando.com/technology/story/389008p-3092749c.html
 http://www.nap.edu/books/0309082749/html (report)

Another Go at Kid Porn Law (Wired)
Lawmakers, angry at the Supreme Court for striking down parts of an
anti-child pornography law, are proposing legislation they hope will
pass constitutional muster while banning computer simulations and
other fool-the-eye depictions of teen-agers or children having sex. 
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52230,00.html
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15029-2002May1.html
 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176290.html

Liberty Vs. Royalties (Washington Post)
Here's a story that will either (a) make your spirit of individual
liberty soar, as you read about one person taking a stand against the
corporate oligarchy, or (b) curdle your blood at the thought of a
laughing scofflaw, crushing the livelihood of musical artists. It's
about Internet music, which sounds dull.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18268-2002May1.html

WTO says IT slump slowed global trade in 2001 (Financial Times)
The slump in demand for information technology products was the main
cause of declining world trade last year and the bursting of the IT
"bubble" will lead to slower trade growth in future, the World Trade
Organisation said on Thursday.

http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3NLMGEQ0D

Is Yahoo losing the plot? (The Guardian)
Internet old-timers say the web pioneer has fallen from grace, too
bloated to be useful. Google drew the largest global search audience
last month with 46% of web users, according to OneStat.com, the net
analysis company. Pushed back into second place, with just 20%, was
the classic web company Yahoo. Although Yahoo denies these figures
reflect the true state of play, is this a sign of the beginning of
the end for one of the net's earliest success stories?
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,708557,00.html

Australian Govt Seeks Rules Against 'Internet Dumping' (Newsbytes)
The Australian government has proposed powers for the nation's
telecommunications regulator that would allow it to tackle the
practice of "Internet dumping." Internet dumping occurs when a Net
user's modem is disconnected from the local call to an ISP and
reconnected, usually secretly, to an international or premium-rate
phone number.
 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176306.html

Now HP’s battle really begins (The Economist)
Carly Fiorina has finally won her fight to merge Hewlett-Packard with
Compaq. But while she tries to convince sceptical investors that she
can build a giant to rival IBM, her competitors are preparing their
counter-attack.
 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1108992

BBC Launches New Internet Search Engine (Reuters)
The British Broadcasting Corporation launched a new Internet search
engine Thursday, saying that 80 percent of UK Web users believed the
current search options are not good enough.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=911785

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=582&e=2&cid=582&u=/nm/20020502/wr_nm/britain_searchengine_dc_1

Cyber crime bleeds U.S. corporations, survey shows; financial losses
from attacks climb for third year in a row (Computer Security
Institute news release)
The Computer Security Institute (CSI) announced today the results of
its seventh annual "Computer Crime and Security Survey." Based on
responses from 503 computer security practitioners in U.S.
corporations, government agencies, financial institutions, medical
institutions and universities, the findings of the "2002 Computer
Crime and Security Survey" confirm that the threat from computer
crime and other information security breaches continues unabated and
that the financial toll is mounting.
 http://www.gocsi.com/press/20020407.html

Melissa virus creator jailed (BBC)
The creator of a computer virus which caused millions of dollars of
damage by disrupting networks all over the world has been jailed for
20 months by a United States court.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1963000/1963371.stm
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2109487,00.html
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52228,00.html
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,708528,00.html
 http://www.iht.com/articles/56443.html
 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/02/1019441405785.html

Condenado a 20 meses de cárcel el creador del virus 'Melissa' (El
Pais)
David Smith, de 33 años, creador del virus informático Melissa, fue
ayer condenado por un tribunal estadounidense de New Jersey a 20
meses en una prisión federal por provocar pérdidas estimadas en
1.363,63 millones de euros al trastornar en marzo de 1999 los
sistemas mundiales de correo electrónico de un millón de ordenadores.

http://www.elpais.es/articulo.html?d_date=20020502&xref=20020502elpepisoc_4&type=Tes&anchor=elpepisoc
 http://www.elmundo.es/navegante/2002/05/02/seguridad/1020327351.html

IBM empowers self-healing devices (ZDNet)
IBM has begun a new phase of its work to decrease corporate reliance
on expensive computer administrators, with plans to release software
later this year that balances work across many computers.
 http://zdnet.com.com/2001-11-0.html

Cagey MS Moves to Seal Case (Wired)
For Microsoft, what isn't said on the witness stand is becoming as
important as what is said.
 http://www.wired.com/news/antitrust/0,1551,52238,00.html

MIT Professor Backs Microsoft in Antitrust Case (Reuters)
An MIT professor testifying on behalf of Microsoft Corp. conceded on
Wednesday that a proposed settlement of the antitrust case reached
with the U.S. Justice Department was vague on a key point.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=908298
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16234-2002May1.html

Free office suite reaches milestone release (ZDNet)
OpenOffice.org 1.0 is now available for free download, using
technology from Sun and the open-source community to attract users
disenchanted with Microsoft Office.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2109551,00.html

Wireless university to go live (Reuters)
At Washington's American University this fall, students will be able
to check their grades, see if a class has been canceled, or mix
sunbathing with Web surfing on their laptop computers over a new
first-of-its kind wireless network.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=907138
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2109553,00.html

Major stores beam credit card details to the car park (Silicon)
Major US retail chain Best Buy has been forced to close down its
wireless cash registers after security experts revealed it had been
making credit card information available to anyone in the vicinity
with the equipment to detect wireless networks.

http://www.silicon.com/bin/bladerunner?REQUNIQ=1020341907&30REQEVENT=

Gartner: Attacks exploit security indifference (InfoWorld)
THE VAST MAJORITY of successful attacks on computer systems exploit
security weaknesses which are well known and for which patches exist,
according to research company Gartner. 

http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/05/02/020502hngartner.xml

Improving Technological Literacy Needs National Effort; Potential
Benefits Are Many, Report Says (National Academy of Science news
release)
Most Americans know little about the world of technology, yet from
day to day they must make critical decisions that are technologically
based, such as whether to buy genetically engineered foods or
transmit personal data over the Internet. Moreover, the use of
technology as a learning tool in the classroom is often confused with
the broader concept of being technologically literate -- knowing
something of the nature and history of technology, as well as having
a certain level of skill in using technologies and thinking
critically about them.

http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309082625?OpenDocument

Britain is speeding ahead (Guardian)
The UK is one of the world's most connected economies. Douglas
Alexander MP, minister of state for e-commerce, outlines the
opportunities awaiting businesses via broadband.
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/sbs/story/0,7369,708087,00.html

ITV Digital collapse could harm Internet take-up (ZDNet)
The UK government's target of achieving universal Internet access by
2005 could be wrecked by the collapse of ITV Digital, MPs warned on
Wednesday.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2109554,00.html

Burns Predicts Swift Movement On Spam Legislation (Washtech.com)
Sen. Conrad Burns' (R-Mont.) bill designed to stem the rising tide of
unsolicited commercial e-mail - or "spam" - should make its way to
the full Senate before the end of May, Burns told reporters today.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16699-2002May1.html

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=908651
 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176289.html

Spam Helps Harmful Scams Propagate - Australian Watchdog (Newsbytes)
The increased volume of spam, or unsolicited commercial e-mail, is
helping con artists and scammers harm more consumers, according to an
Australian consumer watchdog.
 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176304.html

Peru Plan Connects Poor Students with Internet (Reuters)
Peruvian teen-ager Rosa Eli spends each afternoon in her family's
potato, wheat and corn fields, helping till the mountain soil that
must produce enough to feed her six brothers and sisters. 

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=908579

Action must be taken to reduce the 'digital divide,' say ministers
(CORDIS/EU)
Government, the private sector and civil society must cooperate in
the development and implementation of e-strategies in order to reduce
the threat of a 'digital divide' opening up between technology
'haves' and 'have-nots', concluded participants at an EU, Latin
America and Caribbean ministerial meeting on the information society
in Seville, Spain, from 26 to 27 April. 

http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:18325
Also see Co-operation Programme ALliance for the Information Society
with Latin America

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/international/latin/alis/index_en.htm

Hay que reducir la "divisoria digital", afirman los ministros
(CORDIS/EU)
La Administración, el sector privado y la sociedad civil deben
colaborar en el desarrollo y ejecución de estrategias electrónicas
para reducir la amenaza de una "divisoria digital" entre los "ricos"
y los "pobres" de la tecnología. Así lo señalaron los participantes
en una reunión de ministros de la UE, América Latina y el Caribe
sobre la sociedad de la información, celebrada en Sevilla (España)
los 26 y 27 de abril de 2002. 

http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_ES_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:18325&TBL=ES_NEWS

Technology to feature prominently in upcoming G-8 summit (Nando
Times)
Among the top issues at the upcoming Group of Eight energy summit
will be technological developments needed to address environmental
and energy security concerns, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
said Wednesday.
 http://www.nando.com/technology/story/388445p-3088628c.html

Mr Erkki Liikanen Member of the European Commission, responsible for
Enterprise and the Information Society "e-Government and development:
bridging the gap" International Conference on e-Government for
Development Palermo, 11 April 2002

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=SPEECH/02/157|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=

eGovernment - Electronic Government - eGovernment: one of the 10
eEurope priorities (EurActiv.com/EU) 
eGovernment is one of the 10 priority areas of the EU's eEurope
programme. During the Barcelona Summit on 15-16 March 2002 the
European Council also called on the Commission to present at the
Seville European Council on 21-22 June 2002 a "comprehensive analysis
of remaining barriers", amongst others in the field eGovernment and
"the role that national electronic identification and authentication
systems could play in this context". A Communication on government
e-services at the European level is expected by October 2002. 

http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe/638861-807?targ=1&204&OIDN=2000538

A Satellite Baby-Sitting Service (Wired)
Two companies have announced plans to launch personal GPS "location
devices" this year, which will act as a kind of LoJack for everyone
from meandering children to nervous executives in kidnap-prone
countries.
 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,52253,00.html

Japanese let their thumbs do the talking (International Herald
Tribune)
Leaning alone against a wall, wearing sunglasses on a rainy
afternoon, Daisuke Yoshioka is a black-jacketed image of urban
loneliness. But, for this member of Japan's thumb generation, a
cyberweb of friends is only thumb strokes away.
 http://www.iht.com/articles/56444.html

Africa Information Technology Exhibition Rolls On (allAfrica.com)
THE just concluded African Information Technology Exhibitions and
Conferences (AITEC) information technology show held at the Sheraton
Kampala Hotel, was a success, AITEC Uganda general manager, Vincent
Waiswa said on Monday.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200205020278.html

Here come the ratbots (BBC)
Guided rats controlled through implants in their brains could one day
be used to search for landmines or buried victims of earthquakes,
scientists say.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1961000/1961798.stm

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=908559

Qantas escalates laptop screening (ZDNet)
Qantas now requires its customers to put laptop computers through
additional security tests at domestic terminals as part of more
stringent anti-terrorism checks.  

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000024985,20264935,00.htm


Cellphone radiation "trapped" in train carriages (New Scientist)
Passengers on packed trains could unwittingly be exposed to
electromagnetic fields far higher than those recommended under
international guidelines. The problem? Hordes of commuters all using
their mobile phones at the same time.
 http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992238

Hospital cures inefficiency ills with new technology (TechRepublic)
Memorial Medical Center (MMC) was hurting—paper-based processes
within its accounts receivable department had slowed wait time to
nearly three months. The near-crawl payment cycle not only impacted
day-to-day cash flow, but it also was preventing the acute-care
facility's efforts to reach operational and performance goals.

http://www.techrepublic.com/article.jhtml?id=r00520020429sss01.htm&fromtm=e101-6



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David Goldstein
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email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
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