04 July 2008
UK - Virgin admits disconnection threat mistake
(OUT-LAW News)Virgin Media has said that a threat sent out to 800 of its customers that they could be disconnected from the internet because of alleged copyright infringement was a mistake. The envelope containing a letter warning subscribers that their account was being used for illegal file-sharing was printed with the words "Important. If you don't read this, your broadband could be disconnected". A Virgin Media spokeswoman told OUT-LAW that the message was a mistake. "We are not accusing our customers of doing anything, we are alerting them to the fact that illegal file sharing has been tracked to their account. This could have been someone else in the house or an unsecured wireless network. This is an education campaign," she said. The company has shared information with music rights holders' group the BPI in order to identify accounts which may have been used for copyright-infringing file sharing. The spokeswoman said, though, that no names or addresses were passed to the BPI and that it had been responsible for the envelope, a mistake that it was "rectifying immediately".
Labels: Copyright_trademarks_and_patents
US - Social networking site divulges child's personal data
(LA Times)Reunion.com previously linked to other data providers when users searched its site for names. Last month, the site decided to build its own database by acquiring files on as many as 260 million people from a private data broker. A mother was upset to find the name of her 4-year-old son.
Labels: Data_protection_privacy
03 July 2008
(Berkmann Center)
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University announces a Request for Technical Submissions as part of the work of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force. The Task Force, comprised of leading Internet businesses and organizations, is focused on identifying effective online safety tools and technologies that can be used by companies and individuals across multiple platforms. The Request for Technical Submissions asks companies, non-profits, and individuals with technologies relevant to child safety online to submit a detailed description that will enable a thorough review by the Task Force?s Technical Advisory Board.
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University announces a Request for Technical Submissions as part of the work of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force. The Task Force, comprised of leading Internet businesses and organizations, is focused on identifying effective online safety tools and technologies that can be used by companies and individuals across multiple platforms. The Request for Technical Submissions asks companies, non-profits, and individuals with technologies relevant to child safety online to submit a detailed description that will enable a thorough review by the Task Force?s Technical Advisory Board.
Labels: Rating_and_filtering
02 July 2008
FR - EBay to pay out millions over French counterfeit sales
(OUT-LAW News)>Online auction site eBay has been fined £31.5 million and ordered to forbid the sale of some luxury perfumes in a French court order designed to battle the sale of counterfeit luxury goods. Handbag, clothing and perfume company Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) sued eBay in the French courts, claiming that the company did not do enough to combat the sale of counterfeits of its goods. EBay claims that it cannot police all the sales through its site and that it makes no guarantee that goods are genuine, and that it suspends counterfeit auctions when notified of them. The French court, though, found "serious faults" in eBay's processes that led to auctions of counterfeit goods going ahead. By allowing the sales, it said, eBay had damaged the reputation of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.
Labels: Electronic_commerce, Liability_jurisdiction_applicable_law
01 July 2008
UK - 'Children at risk' from bank's Visa card
(BBC)Children as young as 11 are being given debit cards which allow them to buy goods such as cigarettes and Viagra over the internet, without their parents' permission. The high street bank Lloyds TSB, which sends out the Visa cards to youngsters, last night came under fire from politicians and credit charities for placing children at risk. The bank claims guardians can opt out of the service for their children ? but admits to sending the cards directly to their customers with a parental guidance leaflet which the youngsters should pass on.
Labels: Protection_of_minors
ICANN - Work remains for new Top Level Internet Domains
(Intellectual Property Watch)by Monika Ermert. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced the "biggest extension of the DNS [domain name system] in 40 years" after its decision last week to finish implementation of a new policy for introducing new top-level domains (TLDs). One problem is a procedure to allow anyone to file objections against new TLD proposals on the bases of existing rights of others (like those holding trademarks), confusing similarity, economic concerns or concerns of ethnic communities about a new domain. Governments also reiterated that geographical names, including place names, must be avoided or only be granted in case of endorsement by the respective local authorities. But the most discussed and criticised reason for an objection clearly is "morality and public order."
Labels: Domain_names
29 June 2008
EU - State aid for broadcasting
(RAPID)Speech by Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition Policy, Medienforum, Cologne, 9th June 2008
Labels: Audiovisual, Competition
EU - Being open about standards
(RAPID)Speech by Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition Policy. 0penForum Europe - Breakfast seminar, Brussels, 10th June 2008. See Kroes calls for open standards in eGovernment (EurActiv). In an unusual move, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes backed the use of open software for eGovernment and called on public authorities not to impose proprietary standards on citizens. She clearly suggested that public authorities should use open standards rather than proprietary software that could generate anti-competitive practices and harm citizens.
Labels: Open_source_open_access
OECD releases new recommendations on PSI
(Open Access News)The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released a new Recommendation of the Council for Enhanced Access and More Effective Use of Public Sector Information at its recent Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy (Seoul, June 17-18, 2008).
Labels: E-government
Social applications driving the mobile web
(vnunet.com)New research suggests that global mobile web users will jump from 577 million today to over 1.7 billion by 2013. Juniper Research attributes the growth primarily to surging demand for collaborative applications, and greater penetration of next-generation mobile infrastructure. Accessing social networking, user-generated content, instant messaging and location-based services on the go will drive more and more people to the mobile web, the report claims. However, this shift towards the direct-to-consumer model will put pressure on mobile network operators and handset manufacturers to relinquish some of their control over the value chain by opening up networks and devices to third-parties.
Labels: Mobile_and_wireless, Social_networking
(Economist)
Authoritarian governments can lock up bloggers. It is harder to outwit them
Authoritarian governments can lock up bloggers. It is harder to outwit them
Labels: Content_Regulation
(Economist)
Microsoft knows what it wants to do when Bill Gates leaves ? but the road ahead will not be easy.
Microsoft knows what it wants to do when Bill Gates leaves ? but the road ahead will not be easy.
Labels: Market
28 June 2008
FR - Riposte graduée : la France propose son modèle à ses homologues européens
(ZDNet)Le 1er juillet, la France prendra la présidence de l'Union européenne pour six mois. La ministre de la Culture entend en profiter pour dégager un consensus général sur la lutte contre le téléchargement sur les réseaux peer-to-peer. Christine Albanel, ministre de la Culture, veut transposer le modèle français de lutte contre le téléchargement illégal à l'ensemble de l'Europe. Elle a présenté à la presse ses objectifs en la matière, alors que la France s'apprête à prendre la présidence de l'Union européenne à partir du 1er juillet. voir aussi Projet Hadopi : retour sur les enjeux et les forces en présence.
Labels: Copyright_trademarks_and_patents
Spam fighters lay down gauntlet
(BBC)New guidelines for how internet service providers should combat spam have been published. The advice, from the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) recommends ISPs use separate servers for received and forwarded e-mails. It also recommends ISPs block the port - known as port 25 - through which spam travels.
Labels: Spam
2008-10-20 CoE, Strassburg, Europäischer Dialog zur Internet Governance geplant
(Heise)Für den 20. und 21. Oktober ist erstmals ein "European Dialog on Internet Governance" (euroDIG) geplant. In den Räumen des Europarats wollen sich dann europäische Regierungen, Unternehmen und Zivilgesellschaft auf das dritte Internet Governance Forum (IGF) im Dezember in Hyderabad vorbereiten. Es gehe weniger darum, eine gemeinsame europäische Position zu formulieren, als europäische Regierungen, Unternehmen und Zivilgesellschaft zu befähigen, mit verschiedenen Positionen und Ideen zum dritten IGF zu fahren, sagte Wolfgang Kleinwächter, einer der Koordinatoren des euroDIG, am Rande des Treffens der Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Paris.
