general internet news - 15 December

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

Hi all

As with the note in the domain name news, if you have
any comments, good and bad about the news, please feel
free to get in touch.

Cheers
David

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Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/
Internet in Asia blog:
http://internetinasia.typepad.com/
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CENSORSHIP, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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au: Parents & teens poles apart regarding online
safety (news release)
New research from ninemsn and NetAlert reveals a huge
disconnect between parents and their teenage children
over online behaviour. The research highlighted three
big issues facing parents and their teenage children
regarding Internet use: online social networking;
illegal content downloads; and parental supervision of
online behaviour.

http://netalert.net.au/02799-Parents-and-Teens-Poles-Apart-Regarding-Online-Safety.asp

au: Text message urges more riots
QUEENSLAND police are investigating the origins of a
mobile phone text message calling for copycat race
riots on the Gold Coast this weekend.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,17562776%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

au: Bigots storm racist websites
RACIST online forums have been inundated with postings
by Australian white supremacists since the Cronulla
race riots.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,17562780%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

cn: News blackout after police brutally put down
demonstrations in Dongzhou
Chinese authorities have imposed a news blackout after
police brutally put down demonstrations in Dongzhou, a
provincial village in south-eastern Guangdong
province. Reporters Without Borders has uncovered
draconian measures put in place to prevent news
filtering out about the 6 December incidents through
the local and foreign media, as well as by censoring
any message posted about it on the Internet.
 http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15910

us: Cellphone technology rings in pornography in USA
Quickly developing into big business overseas,
cellphone pornography is a step closer to taking off
in the USA. Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest
cellphone service provider, quietly has launched
filtering devices and password-enabled blockers that
help thwart underage consumers from buying adult
content.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20051213/tc_usatoday/cellphonetechnologyringsinpornographyinusa

us: School board gets first look at new policies
The board was given a proposed policy on
cyber-bullying, which deals with students or staff who
use the Internet to antagonize and intimidate others.
Under the proposed rules students found guilty of
cyber-bullying could face suspension or revocation of
network and computer privileges, suspension or
expulsion from school, while staff who engage in the
practice could be reprimanded, suspended or dismissed.
Legal action including referral for possible
prosecution was also listed as an option as determined
necessary by the Superintendent and approved by the
Board of Education.

http://www.ashland-wi.com/dailypress/index.php?sect_rank=1&story_id=208028

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LEGAL AND SECURITY
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nz: 'Tis the season to be wary
Rising instances of online fraud have sparked a
warning for people to be extra vigilant  when doing
internet shopping or banking during the festive
season.
 http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411423/638667

it: Italian law hits cybercafes
In a heavily immigrant neighborhood near the main
railway station, Ahmed Sohel points dejectedly to the
empty computer terminals at the modest storefront
where he sells Internet and telephone service.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/13389225.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/12/09/cyber.cafes.names.ap/

hk: Cyber-attack alerts stepped up
Computer networks at key government agencies and
utilities were put on a state of heightened alert
yesterday for potential cyber attacks during the WTO
meeting.
 http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=35532

us: Man sentenced for ?cyber-stalking?
A Gladstone man was sentenced Tuesday to four months?
home detention and three years? probation for
infecting his ex-wife?s computer with spyware that
allowed him to watch her online activity.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/13401542.htm

us: Background checks split matchmaking sites
A debate among online dating companies over whether
their websites should be required to say whether they
do criminal background checks on clients has spilled
over into state legislatures, a reflection of the
websites' rising competitiveness.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2005-12-12-online-dating-checks_x.htm

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SPAM
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au: Feds aim to tackle overseas spammers
The Minister for Communications, Information
Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan,
announced today that the Spam Act 2003 will be
reviewed next year and hinted that the government's
main focus will be to stop spam that originates from
overseas.

http://zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Feds_aim_to_tackle_overseas_spammers/0,2000061733,39227447,00.htm

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INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE
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Living in a flattened, digital world by Stephen Balkam
In preparation for my trip to the UK next week, and
the Roundtable that my organization, ICRA, is hosting
next week in London, I went down to Circuit City and
bought the new video-enabled iPod.  This sleek,
beautifully designed peice of technology came with a
number of teething problems that took nearly an hour
on the helpline to sort out, but all is well and this
little MP3 player with attitude and video is quite a
product. ... And so, with my ICRA hat firmly on, I
went off in search of iPod porn.

http://journals.aol.com/stephenbalkam/Livinginaflatteneddigitalworld/entries/1186

us: Keep an eye on children's online time
Students' middle school years can be rough - nearly
teens, but not quite. Adding instant messaging, blogs
and e-mail was too much for the Koomen family.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1212ednetsafety.html

eu: TV without Frontiers: Commission proposes
modernised rules for digital era TV and TV-like
services
A proposal to update the EU?s 1989 ?TV without
Frontiers? Directive, to keep pace with rapid
technological and market developments in Europe?s
audiovisual sector, was tabled by the European
Commission today. In line with the principle of better
regulation, the proposal aims to reduce the regulatory
burden on Europe?s providers of TV and TV-like
services and to give more flexibility for financing
audiovisual content by new forms of advertising.

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/1573

Cyprus nude teacher prank turns into whodunnit
A raunchy picture of a Cypriot teacher in a state of
undress was surreptitiously downloaded from her mobile
telephone and sent to hundreds of pupils.

http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=10580411

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FILE SHARING
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UK 'tops European download fans'
People in the UK download more music than other
Europeans, spending 75p per month on average, a survey
suggests.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4524580.stm

'Office' star Gervais tops charts with podcast
Ricky Gervais, creator and star of the hit BBC comedy
"The Office," has topped the charts in the United
States and Britain with his podcast, a booming new
format that lets users download audio or video
programming.

http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=10582336

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1666816,00.html

us: Music downloader loses appeal
The US Court of Appeals has rejected a Chicago woman's
claim that she only downloaded music tracks to see
whether she wanted to buy them.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/12/gonzalez_appeal_rejected/
 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5991531.html

us: Would You Like Some Fries With That Download? (reg
req'd; free for few days)
If the Walt Disney Company has its way, McDonald's
Happy Meal toys could be replaced with portable media
players that hold Disney movies, music, games or
photos.

http://nytimes.com/2005/12/12/technology/12mcdonalds.html

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COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
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us: Handhelds Go to School
School districts integrate PDAs, laptops and
remote-control clickers into curriculums as they try
to engage students used to instant messaging and
interactive games. Some wonder if these "digital
natives" will grasp the basics.

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69806,00.html

uk: A tale of two BTs
Having transformed BT, can Ben Verwaayen now transform
its customers' perception of it?

http://economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5278454

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(c) David Goldstein 2005

David Goldstein
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