general internet news - 17 July

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

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nz: Technology shows dark side
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3732251a28,00.html

us: Fox launches online-safety campaign
http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-6093728.html

us: Congress Identifies Pornography Purchasers
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/us/14porn.html

us: Dance to senator saying Net is 'series of tubes'
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9001796
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500093.html

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CENSORSHIP, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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nz: NetSafe Invite-Only Symposium Kicked off - 6 July
(news release)
Cybersafety and Security experts from around New
Zealand and the world will gather for two days to look
at child safety, network security (businesses, schools
and community agencies), online confidence (secure
transactions), and the e-crime challenges for law
enforcement and our legal system.
http://netsafe.theoutfitgroup.co.nz/isgnews/symposium_kicks-off_tomorrow.aspx

nz: Technology shows dark side
THE ISSUE: From text bullying and online harassment to
cash machine skimming and Internet theft ? as
technology races ahead a dark side has emerged,
prompting calls for greater intervention.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3732251a28,00.html

us: Fox launches online-safety campaign
Fox Interactive Media announced on Thursday a
multimedia campaign to help kids and parents improve
their online street smarts.
http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-6093728.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ONLINE_SAFETY
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6093728.html

cn: China gives Web reporter two-year jail sentence
China sentenced reporter Li Yuanlong to two years in
jail on Thursday, adding to its list of writers
imprisoned for expressing themselves through the
country's expanding but tightly censored Internet.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6094022.html
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,19785519%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18277

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CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY
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us: Apple abandons effort to unmask leaker
Apple Computer has abandoned a high-profile legal
effort to unmask whoever leaked details about a
still-unreleased music accessory.
http://news.com.com/2100-1047_3-6093593.html

us: Congress Identifies Pornography Purchasers
A Congressional subcommittee investigating the growth
of online child pornography has referred the names of
hundreds of people who purchased illegal images to
state prosecutors around the country, according to
government officials.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/us/14porn.html

ca: White supremacist jailed for nine months
An unabashed neo-Nazi who defied an court order to
stop spreading hated over the Internet was arrested
Thursday after being sentenced to nine months in jail
for contempt, a punishment his lawyer called harsh.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060713.wnazi0713/BNStory/National/home

eu: Microsoft laments lack of guidance from EU
Neelie Kroes, the European Union competition
commissioner, has offered some praise to Microsoft for
its recent attempts to comply with an order to reveal
technical details about Windows to rivals, but also
let it be known that the company faces more battles
over its next big product.
http://iht.com/articles/2006/07/13/yourmoney/msft.php

us: Google dodges child-care site suit
A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing
Google of being an Internet search monopoly that
choked off traffic to a child-care website by
assigning it a zero ranking, court documents showed.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/14072006/323/google-dodges-child-care-site-suit.html

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GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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Cost of International Internet Connectivity (IIC) Too
High
The high cost for developing countries in accessing
the Internet backbone was a hot-topic at a recent,
Geneva held meeting of ITU-T?s Study Group 3 focusing
on tariff and accounting principles including related
telecommunication economic and policy issues.
http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/newslog/Cost+Of+International+Internet+Connectivity+IIC+Too+High.aspx

us: Dance to senator saying Net is 'series of tubes'
Commentary and parodies are spreading across the Web
after U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens described the Internet as
a "series of tubes" during a debate on net neutrality
June 28. Stevens, the chairman of the Senate Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee, was speaking
perhaps metaphorically during a rambling argument
against a net neutrality amendment to a broadband
bill. Stevens' apparent point: The Internet could be
easily clogged with junk, and broadband providers
should be able to separate their own content from
streaming video and huge personal e-mail files. In
part, Stevens, an Alaska Republican, said, "The
Internet is not something that you just dump something
on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes."
Stevens continued: "And if you don't understand that
those tubes can be filled, and if they're filled when
you put your message in it, it gets in line, it's
gonna be delayed by anyone who puts into that tube
enormous amounts of material." Stevens went on to say
that his staff sent him an "Internet" that was
apparently delayed by Net congestion.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9001796
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500093.html

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INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE
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us: Friendster's Patent Possibilities
Social-networking upstarts have stolen its lead, but
the site now may have a potent legal weapon at its
command: Friendster.com may be losing some of its
"friends" to upstart MySpace.com. But the old-school
social-networking site just got something that MySpace
lacks: a patent on?you guessed it?social networking.
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2006/tc20060713_163728.htm

uk: Top of the Pops, 1970s - What this generation's
watching
After 42 years, the final Top of the Pops will be
broadcast at the end of the month. Adam Webb explains
why the show has become irrelevant in the digital
world.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1818613,00.html

Firefox bites into browser market
Microsoft's Internet Explorer continues to dominate
but saw its share of the market fall
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2269185,00.html

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FILE SHARING
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uk: Tiscali rejects BPI's evidence
Internet service provider Tiscali has rejected the
record industry's evidence that its customers have
been file-sharing and also its proposed punishments in
a strongly worded rebuke to industry body the British
Phonographic Industry (BPI).
http://www.out-law.com/page-7108

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COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
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au: Why we have a failure to connect
Enforced competition has stifled Telstra's ability to
invest in technology, writes Kenneth Davidson.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/07/12/1152637737771.html

nz: InternetNZ wishes to commission history of NZ net
(news release)
The Internet Society of New Zealand, InternetNZ,
wishes to commission a history of the Internet in New
Zealand and is inviting applications from suitable
professionals interested in undertaking this project.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0607/S00124.htm

Broadcasting revolution or TV hell? Google launches
its small screen vision of the future
Google has launched its small screen vision of the
future but critics fear a torrent of porn and violence
- To some it is the future of media. To others, a
vision of television hell comprising endless You've
Been Framed reruns, David Hasselhoff music videos and
bad karaoke. Welcome to Google Video, which was
yesterday launched in the UK and seven other countries
by the search giant.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1819117,00.html

Internet advertising
Thanks to the power of the internet, advertising is
becoming less wasteful and its value more measurable
http://economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=7138905

Yahoo, Microsoft tie message knot
Users of the Yahoo and Microsoft instant messaging
programs can now contact each other directly.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5176032.stm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071202044.html
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2267285,00.html

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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au: Why we have a failure to connect
Enforced competition has stifled Telstra's ability to
invest in technology, writes Kenneth Davidson. WITH
the price of oil heading into the stratosphere, global
warming making outdoor activity increasingly
unpleasant, and state governments preferring to invest
in roads rather than public transport, it is
imperative that Australians have the option of
replacing physical travel with a high-speed broadband
telecommunications network.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/07/12/1152637737771.html

au: Telstra myths exposed
OPINION: Analyst Derek Francis* tackles the 'Top 7
Myths of the Telco World', warning that if Telstra
can't invest in a new broadband network, there won't
be one. Telstra bashing is always popular, but behind
the media headlines, very little serious scrutiny is
applied to the underlying problem facing the industry
- that is, a lack of investment and low returns.
Here's my take on a few other recent myths accepted by
some in the media and his supposed solutions:
http://nowwearetalking.com.au/Home/Page.aspx?mid=192

au: News to campaign on media reforms
AUSTRALIA'S biggest media company will mount a
political campaign to overturn key elements of the
Coonan media reform package, accusing the Government
of unfairly protecting the free-to-air television
networks.
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19794448-7582,00.html

au: News chief slams media laws plan
PLANNED new media laws overprotected free-to-air
networks while pay television was under attack, News
Limited chief executive John Hartigan said today.
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19785660-7582,00.html

au: Coonan gives box seat to networks
HELEN COONAN'S long-awaited media "reform" package
fails any rational test of what constitutes good
public policy. It promises less diversity of
traditional media ownership without the compensation
of a liberalised new media environment, writes Stephen
Bartholomeus
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/07/14/1152637872695.html

nz: Commissioner to miss unbundling challenges
Departing telecommunications commissioner Douglas
Webb, sidelined by the government's Telecom regulation
bombshell, admits to one regret. When Telecom's local
loop is finally unbundled there will be a big scrap
over the prices it can charge for access.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3733793a13,00.html

hk: Hong Kong regulator prepares for FMC
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority
("OFTA") issued on 14 July 2006 a consultation paper
to solicit views from the public and the industry on
its proposal of updating the regulatory approach to
pave the way for sustained market developments.
http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?Id=134823&type=full&yr=&yr=2006

8 Myths about ENUM
ENUM has a critical role to play in telephony services
convergence. Although many carriers are adopting ENUM
there are myths swirling around the confuse newcomers.
http://www.convergedigest.com/bp-c2p/bp1.asp?ID=370&ctgy=2

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VoIP
*****
In Depth: Five Things You Must Know About VoIP
Like any emerging technology, voice over IP presents a
painful series of "yes, but ..." trade-offs--Yes, it
can lower calling costs, but the gear's expensive and
finicky to get running. VoIP differs from most
emerging technology, however, in two ways: how quickly
it's being adopted and how much is at stake to get it
right.
http://www.intelligententerprise.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=190200082

CONFERENCE: VoIP World Australia 2006
Description: There has been a lot of hype around the
possibilities offered by IP telephony. For telcos VoIP
can be seen as a threat or an opportunity. If embraced
as an opportunity VoIP can drive the creation of
innovative new services that promise new revenue
opportunities and better performing networks.
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/event/eventDetail.jsp?id=329382

uk: Which? report says VoIP is the future
The surging uptake of VoIP technology may mean the end
of traditional landline and mobile services, according
to consumer body Which?.  "Pricey landline and mobile
bills could be in danger of becoming extinct," said
Computing Which? editor Jessica Ross. "With mobile
phone services entering the broadband market, VoIP
looks set to be the choice of the future."
http://www.pcw.co.uk/vnunet/news/2160301/future-voip
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/13/consumer_voip_survey/
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?id=EEVkZZZEAAWqiAKiqr

Phoning over the net can save a fortune (news release)
Making phone calls over the internet is becoming
increasingly popular and can save consumers a fortune,
says Computing Which?.
http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_campaigns/computers_and_internet/reports/internet/Net_phone_calls_news_article_557_89162.jsp

Taiwan sets up ViTA Forum to certify VoIP products
The Taiwan government-backed Industrial Technology
Research Institute (ITRI) and seven other
organizations and companies have jointly formed the
ViTA Forum, dedicated to establishing a set of
certification standards for related VoIP products.
http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20060713A8059.html

us: Internet Telephony: Coming in Clear
Companies are upgrading old phone networks to reduce
bills and add features. But cost savings can take
time, and IP systems aren't risk-free
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2006/tc20060710_291171.htm

us: New Voices Mean Big Business
Vendors are battling for share in the Internet
telephony business market?and packing new products
with a host of features
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ceo_guide/index.html

Has Skype been cracked?
Skype has moved quickly to try and scotch rumours of
an imminent clone ? a development which would threaten
the VoIP client's business model by introducing
interoperability with its rivals
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39278709,00.htm

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ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
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us: Aussie jailed in net lure sting
Australian who emailed photos of his genitals to a US
teen jailed after detectives posed online as a
14-year-old.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/07/13/1152637791477.html

au: Suspended barrister's case review narrows
THE Director of Public Prosecution's review of cases
handled by a suspended Crown prosecutor will
concentrate on child pornography and sexual assault,
but no firm limit has been set.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/suspended-barristers-case-review-narrows/2006/07/12/1152637740425.html

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(c) David Goldstein 2006

David Goldstein
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