general internet news - 12 June

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

InternetNZ makes moves on code of practice
The threat of government licensing of internet service
providers could lead to InternetNZ resuscitating its
Industry Advisory Group, to help bring ISPs onside in the
code of practice debate.

http://computerworld.co.nz/webhome.nsf/UNID/2245857F75F5C155CC256D42001349E8

Hong Kong ISPA Internet Content Rating System Project
The variety of contents available on the Internet is
virtually unlimited. While there is a lot of healthy and
useful information on the Internet, there are some
materials which may be potentially harmful to young people.
 Legislative control alone cannot solve the problem
entirely given the impracticality of active monitoring of
all information transmitted through the Internet due to its
vast volume and transient nature.  Instead, relevant
sectors such as the Internet service providers, content
providers, parents and teachers all have a role to play in
protecting our young people from such potentially harmful
materials. Against this background, the Television and
Entertainment Licensing Authority has provided funds to the
Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association (HKISPA)
to implement the Internet Content Rating System Project. 
 http://www.hkispa.org.hk/webpage_main.htm

China Seen Tightening Control Over Internet Cafes
China said on Tuesday it had given licenses to 10 local
firms to open Internet cafe chains, a move analysts said
was designed to squeeze out smaller players and tighten
control of sensitive political information.
 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=2905528

The child's sex trap 
Last week's paedophile case in which a 36-year-old man
seduced two 13-year-olds over the internet will add rocket
fuel to the passage of the sexual offences bill through
parliament. But good law is not made under this kind of
pressure, and in our understandable concern about sexual
crime we are about to victimise the very people the law is
meant to protect.
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4686748,00.html

Mother's fear over access to internet porn (.uk)
A Glusburn woman is concerned that young people in the
Keighley area are accessing misleading Internet addresses
containing explicit pornographic material.

http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk/bradford__district/archive/2001/03/09/keig_news08.int.html

IIA (.au) wants consensus on spam blueprint 
The Internet Industry Association is seeking agreement from
its members this month on a proposal to crack down on junk
email, ahead of advice the association is to give the
federal government on the issue.
 http://afr.com/it/2003/06/11/FFXCOBGSQGD.html

Mobile spam: Is the next plague upon us?
More than two-thirds of us have received spam on our mobile
phones, raising fears that it won't be long before the
medium falls prey to the same barrage of unsolicited
marketing messages as our email.

http://www.silicon.com/news/165-500001/1/4599.html?nl=d20030611

Spam deluge hits kids
MORE than 80 per cent of children who use email receive
spam on a daily basis, according to a recent survey. The
survey released by internet security firm Symantec found
half of the kids surveyed reported feeling uncomfortable
and offended when seeing some of the email content.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,6578809%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2978134.stm
 http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-1014951.html
 http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59164,00.html

AU mobile picture device ban opens can of worms
Sharply rising takeup of multi-media mobile phones and
other devices with visual recording capabilities is
sparking heated debate over privacy issues, with sports
centres urged to ban the use of mobile phones in
change-rooms.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000048600,20275293,00.htm

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/11/1055220633345.html

50m internet users in the new EU countries by 2007
The latest findings from Aqute Research show that 15 per
cent of the total population in the thirteen EU accession
countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey) will access the internet by
the end of 2003. This is set to grow to 28 per cent by
2007. Overall, the online population of accession countries
will grow from 25m in 2003 to 50 m in 2007. Estonia,
Slovenia and Malta will achieve the highest online
penetration rates with 58 per cent, 43 per cent and 42 per
cent of people online by 2007, respectively.
 http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=16662

Andrew McLaughlin's Mongolian Diary:
Andrew McLaughlin is writing a diary for Slate this week
about his work on Internet and technology policy issues
with Geekcorps in Mongolia. "Ultimately, it's not a battle
between Internet and telecom inside Mongolia;" writes
McLaughlin, referring to Mongolia's burdensome telecom
regulation, "it's a battle between Mongolia and China,
South Korea, Norway, Bolivia, and, well, everyone else in
the world."
 http://slate.msn.com/id/2084072

House votes to restrict Net gambling
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday evening
to slap broad restrictions on Internet gambling by
targeting credit cards and bank accounts that Americans use
to pay offshore casinos.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-1015475.html

States Skirt Internet Tax Ban
At least 18 states have found a way to collect taxes on
Internet access, despite a federal law that bans the
practice.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33787-2003Jun9.html

EU Stirs Up Internet Sales Tax Debate
The term "laissez-faire" comes from France, but it's the
United States that has applied the economic term in its
purest sense to business on the Internet, banning
Internet-specific taxes and dragging its feet on taxing
e-commerce retail sales.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36150-2003Jun9.html

Internet Crime Forum calls for tougher sentences for
hackers
An influential computer crime group representing
businesses, police, government departments and the Crown
Prosecution Service has called for tougher prison sentences
to deter computer hackers.

http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=122476

Blair named on email shame list
Along with Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro, Tony Blair is
one of only a handful of world leaders not hooked up to
email.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,974810,00.html

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Sources include Quicklinks (www.qlinks.net) and BNA
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=====
David Goldstein
 address: 2/4 Dundas Street
             COOGEE NSW 2034
             AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
 phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9665 0015 - home

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