• Online Buyers Gain Ability to Sue
  
• EU - Adoption par le Conseil Culture du programme Media Plus
  
• INET 2001: A Net Odyssey
  

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Legal and regulatory issues

   Audiovisual

• EU - Adoption par le Conseil Culture du programme Media Plus (RAPID) Le Conseil du 23 novembre 2000 a permis de dégager un accord sur le programme Media Plus (2001-2005) avec un budget de 400 millions d'euro comme proposé par la Commission.

• EU - Community Audiovisual Policy in the 21st Century Content Without Frontiers? (RAPID) Mrs Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Education and Culture, British Screen Advisory Council (BSAC) London, 30.11.2000

   Competition

• EU - Commission pursues examination of Telefonica and Sogecable joint football rights (RAPID) European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti has decided to end a procedure which might have led to fines against Telefónica and Sogecable because of the sheer size of football rights acquired and exploited jointly by the two largest pay-television platforms in Spain.

• EU - Competition Policy in the Communications Sector (RAPID) Mario Monti, European Commissioner for Competition Policy. Conference "regulation and Liberalisation of European Telecoms" The Conrad International, Brussels 30 November 2000

• EU - Towards the Application of Article 81(3) by National Courts (RAPID) Mario Monti Commissioner responsible for Competition Policy. Conference at the Europäische Rechtsakademie - Trier, 27 November 2000

• France - Le CSA donne son accord à la fusion Canal+ Vivendi Universal (Yahoo FR) Le Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel a, finalement, donné son feu vert à l'intégration de la chaîne de télévision Canal+ dans le futur mastodonte de la communication et de l'internet Vivendi Universal.

• USA - Microsoft Asks Appeals Court to Void Ruling (New York Times) Firing the opening salvo in its appeal of a landmark antitrust case, the Microsoft Corporation said that the trial judge who ordered its breakup had committed a host of procedural and substantive errors. see brief.

• USA - FTC vote on AOL deal still in doubt (Washington Post)

   Computer crime

• "Fahndungsnetz": Datenschützer kritisieren Innenminister (Der Spiegel) Rein gar nichts halten die Datenschutzbeauftragten der Länder von den jüngsten Vorschlägen zur Bekämpfung der Internet-Kriminalität: Die Pläne der Innenminister seien verfassungswidrig. siehe auch Datenschützer: Internet ist als Fahndungsnetz ungeeignet (akademie.de) und Deutsche Innenminister wollen Rundumbeobachtung der Internetnutzung (Telepolis).

• Japan - Hackers become first charged under new law (Yomiuri Shimbun) A group of three people were arrested on suspicion of illegally obtaining IDs and passwords and using them to invade Web sites belonging to a university and a tourism association.

• Police Search Yahoo's Japan Office in Child Porn Probe (Newsbytes) The Tokyo offices of Yahoo Japan have been searched by police investigating the sale of child pornography via the Internet portal's auction Web site.

• The Netherlands adopts cybercrime pact (IDG) The Netherlands is adopting an international treaty to ease crime fighting in cyberspace even before the treaty has been signed. see Draft Convention on Cyber-crime Council of Europe draft No. 24 Rev.2 - 19 November 2000.

• EU - International Cybercrime (E-PING!) 5 December 2000 European Parliament, Brussels, Room PHS3C50, 18.30 - 20.00.

• USA - Couple Convicted of Web Child Porn (AP) A federal jury on Friday convicted a Texas couple on nearly 90 counts in an Internet child pornography case that prosecutors say involved Web site operators in Russia and Indonesia.

• USA - Hacker Pleads Guilty in NASA Case (AP) A 20-year-old hacker pleaded guilty to breaking into computers at a NASA lab that launches unmanned space exploration missions.

   Content regulation

• Germany Investigates Yahoo's Nazi Auctions (TechWeb) German prosecutors are investigating local Yahoo executives over charges the company's online auction service sold copies of Adolf Hitler's autobiography, which is restricted in Germany. see also Germany's Kampf Furor Renews (Wired).

• USA - Judge Protects Identity of Anonymous Message Posters (Newsbytes) A New Jersey judge has Anonymity and the Internet: Privacy to do What? (GigaLaw.com).

   Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology

• Fortschreitende Medienkonzentration im Zeichen der Konvergenz (KEK) Bericht der KEK über die Entwicklung der Konzentration und über Maßnahmen zur Sicherung der Meinungsvielfalt im privaten Rundfunk.

   Copyright, trademarks and patents

• A Dogfight over Net Travel Info? (Business Weeek) Airlines and big travel-booking sites are up in arms over the efforts of small dot-coms to gather airfare rates for consumers - and the dispute may be headed for court.

• Record producer sues over Napster alliance (Bloomberg) Bertelsmann's e-commerce unit is helping Napster infringe copyright recordings by financing the start-up's music-sharing operations, the former producer for 1960s rock group Jefferson Airplane says.

• Treating the Web Like Royalty (The Industry Standard) The Recording Industry Association of America's SoundExchange royalty-payment system will cover Webcasted music. see New York Times A ruling expected soon by the United States Copyright Office will decide whether radio stations must pay record companies for Netcasting. see also MP3 v. the Law: How the Internet Could (But Won't) Become Your Personal Jukebox (GigaLaw.com).

• USA - Digital media companies push officials for copyright law changes (Reuters) Digital media companies urged federal officials to clear up what they consider to be cloudy areas of copyright law that are impeding their efforts to provide entertainment on the Web. see also Wired, summaries of testimony from the hearing.

   Data Protection (privacy)

• Position of 'privacy officer' coming into public eye (USA Today) IBM has appointed its first CPO, becoming the latest company to create the high-profile position of "chief privacy officer." see also Privacy Grows Up as CPOs Move In

• USA - Privacy Suits Question Whether Wiretap Law Applies to Net (Law.com) In the absence of legislation written specifically to regulate Net privacy, should a 14-year-old wiretapping law be applied to Internet privacy issues? Two federal class action lawsuits raise this question, claiming that online ad companies violate federal laws by tracking consumers' browsing habits without their permission.

• EU's Data Privacy Safeguards Get Scant Response in United States (Law.com)

   Digital divide

• New issue of Bridges.org Newsletter Volume 1.4, 1 December 2000

   Domain names

• China, Taiwan Both Authorize Chinese Domain Name Registration (AsiaBizTech) After the Net authorities of China and Taiwan met to discuss Chinese language standardization, several agreements were reached at the first day's meeting. see also China registers 42,000 Web addresses (South China Morning Post) and Multilingual Domain Names May Create New Trademark Disputes (GigaLaw.com)

• Judge Orders Sex.com Returned (Wired) A federal judge ordered the domain name sex.com be returned to the man who registered it six years ago. The domain was transferred to the defendant only through a forged letter drafted in the name of his former housemate.

• Kiwi Tax Unit Grabs Domain Info (Wired) New Zealand's tax gathering agency, the Inland Revenue, has acquired the personal details linked to all New Zealand-registered domain names. The Inland Revenue says it needs this information in order to figure out what to do about taxing e-commerce.

• Name row threatens the net (BBC) A simmering row between the people who keep the Internet running is threatening to split the management of the net in two. Icann is asking the organisations who look after country codes such as .uk and .de to contribute to its running costs. see also Country code chiefs, registrars mull ICANN breakaway (Register).

• Will phone numbers replace URLs? (ZDNet Australia) Australian company Nascomms claims to be the first in the world to go online with numeric addressing, in which telephone numbers are used in replace of the ubiquitous dot-com address.

• Registrant May Share Domain Name with Palm (CNET News.com)

   e-Government

• Election Websites Reflect Canada's Quirks (TechWeb News) Although all the major parties and the media are using the Web to fight and report on Canada's election, they're doing so largely through recycled, non-interactive content -- so-called "brochureware".

• The European Union in the World (RAPID) A new web portal is available on EUROPA, which gives direct, comprehensive and user-friendly access to a cross-section of information available on all of the various external relations web sites on EUROPA and a number of interactive services.

• EU - Commission to publish weekly meeting agendas on EUROPA (RAPID) In a further measure to increase transparency the European Commission, at the initiative of President Romano Prodi, has decided henceforth to make the agendas of its weekly meetings available to the public.

• UK - DTI announces cyber post office scheme (Yahoo UK) Post Offices in Leicestershire will go cyber next year with the launch of a pilot scheme to make them access points for government information and the Internet.

• USA - New Role for the Supreme Court's Web Site (New York Times) The Supreme Court has changed its Web rules. see also Supremes OK Voices, Not Video (Wired) and archive of documenrts in state and federal lawsuits(Findlaw.com).

   Electronic commerce

• Japan Passes Legislation to Boost E-Commerce (Newsbytes) The Japanese parliament, or "Diet," passed overarching legislation aimed at bolstering the "Information Network Society" by bolstering education and Internet access and removing legislative obstacles to e-commerce growth. approved the sweeping bill.

   Employment and social issues

• Amazon Fights Union Activity (New York Times) Amazon.com has come out swinging in its fight to stop a new unionization drive, telling employees that unions are a greedy, for-profit business and advising managers on ways to detect when a group of workers is trying to back a union.

• Cable company sacks six for email "misuse" (ZDNet UK) Another six employees have lost their jobs for alleged "misuse" of email as Cable & Wireless has dismissed six people from its Birmingham office. see also Let the sacking begin (IT Director).

• CIA fires employees for secret chat room (CNET) The CIA fired four employees and reprimanded 18 others for participating in a secret chat room created in the spy agency's classified computer system to exchange jokes and gossip.

   Health

• Information at the bedside (FT) Technology is making healthcare administration more efficient. It is also saving lives.

   Information society and Internet policy

• INET 2001: A Net Odyssey Stockholm, Sweden 5-8 June 2001 Call for content. The Internet Society is pleased to announce the 11th Annual INET Summit, to be held at the Stockholm Fairs in Stockholm, Sweden, 5-8 June 2001. "Mobility and the Internet" is the main theme. Proposals are being solicited in three areas: 1. Technology Summit, 2. Governance, Legislation & Regulation Summit, 3. Uses of the Internet Summit. Deadline: 15 December 2001.

   Internet access and use

• UK - Freeserve announces first FRIACO access package (netimperative) Freeserve aims to undercut its rivals AOL UK and BT by offering what it claims will be the UK´s cheapest internet access pay package.

   IT in education

• A way to incubate young minds (Washington Post) The Morino Institute's Youth Development Collaborative is an example of "venture philanthropy." The Institute insisted upon hands-on control over the program that gave $150,000 each to four educational institutions in Washington, trained two teachers and set up a computer instruction center in each school.

• Educators' Approach to Technology Funding Matures (New York Times) In what experts hail as a sign that schools are approaching technology funding in a more mature fashion, educators are carving out space in their budgets for hardware, software and training instead of relying on donations and grants.

• Harvard, Stanford to Enroll in E-Learning (The Industry Standard) In a move likely to boost the prestige of online learning for business executives and heighten competition in a crowded market, Harvard Business School and Stanford University say they will jointly provide nondegree courses online.

• Le numérique, chance et défi pour nos systèmes éducatifs (RAPID) Mme Viviane Reding, Membre de la Commission européenne responsible de l'Education et de la Culture, Salon de l'Education Paris, le 22 novembre 2000.

• France - L'Internet se fond dans le moule de l'éducation (Libération) Informatique et nouvelles technologies occupent une place centrale au Salon de l'éducation. voir aussi A chaque prof son bureau virtuel et Le multimédia éducatif, c'est pas pour les petits.

• Per Mausklick in den Hörsaal (Bertelsmann Stiftung)

   Liability, jurisdiction and applicable law

• Online Buyers Gain Ability to Sue (New York Times) The European Union passed rules that would allow consumers to sue in their own country an online retailer based in another union country.

• USA - Auction sites, ISPs protected - for now (Upside Counsel - Eric J. Sinrod) A California judge ruled that the immunity provisions of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) protect eBay (EBAY) from liability with respect to the auctioning of bootleg recordings on its site. This ruling further buttresses the immunity created by Congress for interactive computer service providers.

• El arbitraje telemático permitirá resolver conflictos en Internet (Europa Press)

• Germany - Justizminister droht Providern "Daumenschrauben" an (Heise)

   Mobile and wireless

• EC under pressure to allow 3G sub-leasing (CWI) The European Commission is under increasing pressure from governments and industry to speed up legislation that lets 3G license holders sub-lease spectrum.

• Pakistan nixes charges for incoming calls on cell phones (Bloomberg) The Pakistan government has announced that incoming calls on mobile phones will be free to boost usage and increase the number of subscribers. The news woke up the mobile phone market and sent Pakistanis rushing to stock up on handsets.

• Swiss 3G auction to resume (Financial Times) The Swiss government has decided to proceed with its UMTS mobile licence auction after finding that a move by Tele Danmark to take control of two of the Swiss bidders would not harm market competition.

• Wireless access left unsold (BBC) Large swathes of the UK will be left without broadband wireless access it emerged last week, as the auction process for the fixed wireless spectrum ended with many regions having received no bids. The auction has generated just £38m, a far distance short of the government's original target figure of £2bn.

• Norway awards four UMTS licenses (Total Telecom)

   Protection of minors

• USA - Don't Blame Movies (Washington Post)

   Racism and xenophobia

• Germany - Virtuelle Lichterkette gegen Fremdenhass (ZDNet) Schulklasse sammelt im Internet Beiträge für mehr Toleranz

• Gegen Intoleranz und Fremdenfeindlichkeit (Bertelsmann Stiftung)

• Mainstream Sites Serve as Portals to Hate (New York Times)

   Rating and filtering

• Schools monitoring Internet use (AP) New Hampshire schools are taking steps to stop students from clicking into improper Internet sites.

   Safer Internet awareness

• Microsoft wants children to play it safe online (CNET News.com) The Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, along with Olympic ice skating gold medalist Tara Lipinski, is promoting Microsoft's Internet privacy and safety portal for children. Stay Safe Online teaches children how to protect their personal information online.

• Safe Surfing 2001 (PAGi / NIAC) 22 - 24 February 2001, Singapore. Safe Surfing 2001 is the first ever International Convention on On-line Safety. The event will gather world renowned authorities on on-line safety and organisations promoting child safety on the Internet to exchange ideas and best practices.

   Security and encryption

• FBI Warns of Possible New Cyber Attacks (Reuters) Companies doing business on the Internet should tighten their defenses against a possible new wave of cyber attacks, an FBI-led group aimed at protecting vital systems said.

• Network Associates hit by cyber criminals (vnunet.com) Computer security giant Network Associates has become a victim of cybercrime, after two of its corporate websites were broken into.

• Signed code: Security or censorship? (ZDNet UK) A push by Microsoft to secure each program that runs on its next-generation PC operating system could easily be used to tighten its control over software developers.

   Telecommunications

• EU Court Condemns Italy, Belgium (AFX News) The European Court of Justice said Italy and Belgium failed to correctly implement parts of the EU's telecom legislation to introduce fair competition in the sector. In two separate judgements, the court said Italy has not implemented a directive on a competitive telecom environment, while Belgium has not correctly introduced the interconnection directive.

• Greek Parliament passes telecoms deregulation bill (Reuters) Greece's Parliament approved a bill deregulating the country's telecommunications market as of January 1, 2001 and ending OTE Telecoms fixed line monopoly on December 31.

• Spanish telecoms regulator to have powers curbed (RDSL) The Spanish government is to reduce the powers of the regulator, the Telecoms Market Commission (CMT). Under the new law, the CMT will lose its role as an arbiter in disputes such as those in universal services. The CMT will not be able to take decisions on key matters such as the quality of phone services and service pricing.

• EU - Deregulation, flexibility and harmonisation in electronic communications (RAPID) Erkki LIIKANEN Member of the European Commission responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society, 2nd European Parliamentary Conference on Information Society Brussels, 22 November 2000.

   Universal service

• Canada - all change to the subsidy system (Reuters) Canada's telecoms regulator will overhaul its local phone-service subsidy system so that all phone companies, not just long-distance carriers, make contributions to the subsidy.

Market & Technology

   Audiovisual

• BBC wins football radio (FT) The BBC took another step towrds restoring credibility in its sports coverage on Tuesday when it beat its commercial rivals to win the radio rights to English Premier League football with a bid of £42m ($59.6m).

• Spanish Netizens Get Onramp in Digital TV (InternetNews)

   Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology

• La CCRTV crea una filial de internet que estudia lanzar seis portales temáticos (Europa Press) La Corporació Catalana de Ràdio y Televisió (CCRTV) ha creado una filial de internet con la intención de lanzar seis portales verticales. Los portales que estudia lanzar la nueva empresa serán de sanidad, infantil, juvenil, música, deportes y noticias.

• Studios in Talks to Sell Movies on the Web (Standard) Fear of a "Napster for movies" is spurring Sony, Disney and others to find an alternative way to distribute flicks. Also see Lights, Camera, Download? Studios Focus on the Web (Los Angeles Times)

   Electronic commerce

• German Sex Firm Beate Uhse Eyes Web for Growth (Excite) Though lingerie and condoms continue to be strong sellers, the future for German sex empire Beate Uhse lies in the Internet.

• Stephen King puts "The Plant" on ice (CNET News.com) Stephen King is pulling the plug on "The Plant." The best-selling author said on his Web site that he will temporarily suspend the serial novel. King posted the first installment of the novel on the Internet this summer as an experiment, saying he would continue the story if 75 percent of readers voluntarily paid for it. But less than half the readers were paying for the story.

   Health

• Medical information popular online (AP) A new survey of Americans' use of the Internet, The Online Health Care Revolution: How the Web helps Americans take better care of themselves, prepared by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, queried more than 12,000 people about their Internet habits to determine how the Internet has changed the way people make health decisions.

   Internet access and use

• Rebirth of the Internet Cafe (atNewYork.com) The world's largest Internet cafe opened its doors on Times Square, hoping to revive New York's struggling cyber cafe scene.

• Un réseau européen pour la recherche (Le Monde) Avec Geant (Gigabit European Academic Network), l'Europe progresse un peu plus vers l'Internet de seconde génération. L'objectif est de permettre, dès le début de l'année 2001, des liaisons ultrarapides à 2,5 gigabits par seconde, en attendant la centaine de gigabits par seconde prévue d'ici à 2004.

   Market

• AOL's charges top the bill (FT) AOL's charging of user fees may yet prove to be its biggest asset. As media, content and telecoms companies increasingly compete for customer loyalty, the billing relationships that produce those revenue streams are becoming key strategic advantages.

• Bertelsmann attempts to sell Napster deal to labels (Reuters) German media giant Bertelsmann has begun talks with other music majors on a business model for its song-swap partner Napster and is hopeful they will join the alliance.

• El BSCH publica en Internet una obra jurídica sobre el derecho en la Red (Europa Press) El Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH) acaba de publicar en la Red un libro electrónico titulado 'Derecho sobre Internet', acerca de los contenidos jurídicos y la utilización de las últimas tecnologías en la edición sin papel.

• Lernout & Hauspie Files for Bankruptcy Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V., a Belgian maker of speech-recognition software, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. Lernout & Hauspie also said it would seek similar protection in Belgium, where it became a shining star of Europe's high- tech industry before falling under the weight of suspected financial misconduct.

   Mobile and wireless

• Experts Voice Doubt Over 3G (Reuters) Two senior telecommunications executives expressed serious doubts about prospects for third-generation (3G) mobile operators, questioning demand for wireless Internet services.

• Thumbs Down for Web Phones (New York Times)

   Multilingual content and software

• AltaVista geht in der Schweiz an den Start (internet.com) AltaVista ist ab sofort in der Schweiz mit einer länderspezifischen Web-Site in deutsch, italienisch und französisch präsent. Das Angebot von altavista.ch startet mit rund 3,5 Millionen Schweizer Dokumenten.

• Hotmail Sees Chinese Users Rising by 50 Percent (Reuters) Microsoft's Internet portal MSN expects the number of users in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong of its free email service, Hotmail, to surge by 50 percent within the next two months following the launch of a Chinese language interface for Hotmail.

• Is the Internet destroying Spanish? (ZDNet Latin America) Some say the jargon of technology is destroying Spanish, and some are worried, including Odon Betanzos, president of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language. Betanzos recently sent an open letter to the other 22 academies worldwide. The letter raised a harsh cry in defense of the Spanish tongue.

• The Myth Of The Global Network (Interactive Week) To truly attract a global audience, companies to develop separate Web sites for each local market - staffed by local employees, written in the local language and featuring services that appeal to a particular region or country.

   Security and encryption

• Retooled Navidad virus on the loose (CNET News.com) Symantec's AntiVirus Research Center has discovered a new, more potent variant to the "Navidad" virus. The original version had buggy code, disabling a relaunch feature that was intended to bombard victims with repeated attacks. That bad code has been fixed in a new version, making it potentially more damaging.

   Standards

• European Free Software Foundation created (ZDNet UK) A European "sister organisation" to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) was announced by programmers from Germany to cater for the complexity and diversity of the international open source community.

• Microsoft, VeriSign team on e-commerce security (CNET News.com) Microsoft, VeriSign and WebMethods have developed technology designed to make it easier to use digital signatures and other online security tools with e-commerce applications. The software trio is aiming to make the new technology, called the XML (Extensible Markup Language) key management specification (XKMS), a standard. The companies intend to submit it to the appropriate Web standards bodies for consideration as an open Internet standard.

   Statistics

• Web Shopping Up 40% in November (Washington Post) Online shopping appears to be running about 40 percent ahead of what it was last year and gaining momentum, but the nature of online shopping is changing, with more shoppers turning to traditional retailers, according to two new reports.

• eEurope initiative: explosive growth of Internet use in Europe (RAPID)

• Internet Users Double in Year in Laggard Italy (Reuters)

• Studie: Surfer eher zahlungsunwillig (akademie.de)

   Technology

• File-Sharing Goes Hardcore (Wired) A "Napster for porn" has been launched by a Swedish company -- but users of the service may risk jail time by swapping smut. Like Napster, Leechnet is a peer-to-peer system for sharing files. But instead of trading music, users exchange pictures of people sans clothing.

• Galileo to be profitable from 2007 says EU (Total Telecom) Galileo, the European Union's planned global positioning satellite, will move into profit without public subsidy from 2007, according to the latest European Commission paper on the subject. see also Continuation of the GALILEO project: the Commission underlines the need for rapid decisions (RAPID).

Useful addresses

• The l.i.n.k. - Issue 5 - November/December 2000 (Le Goueff) "The l.i.n.k." is a free electronic newsletter addressing issues relating to the Information Society. This perspective is achieved by having expert contributors from top IT, telecom, media law firms in more than 35 countries around the world.

• Revista electrónica del Derecho de la Información y de Internet (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

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