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(Europa) by Herbert Ungerer - FKG Sports Consulting - Barcelona, Spain - 02.10.2003. voir aussi Sport et télévision : Exclusivité et concurrence par Jürgen Mensching - Rendez-Vous International du Sport et de la Télévision - Monaco - 17.09.2003.
(Europa) by Miguel Mendes Pereira - IBC - 8th Annual Conference - Brussels, Belgium - 10.10.2003.
(Europa) Zeitschrift für Wettbewerbsrecht (ZWeR) 2003, S. 283. - Robert KLOTZ - Mit freundlicher Genehmigung des RWS-Verlages Kommunikationsforum - Köln (Cologne), Germany - 11.09.2003
(Heise) Den Fahndern dürfte der Atem gestockt haben: Bei der Durchsuchung einer Wohnung in Rheinland-Pfalz fanden sie Ende September Bilder vom sexuellen Missbrauch eines vier Monate alten Säuglings. 'Operation Marcy', einer der weltweit größten Schläge gegen Kinderpornografie mit 530 Festnahmen allein in Deutschland, hat den Experten auch die Radikalisierung der Szene gezeigt. "Die Bilder werden härter, die Tathandlungen gravierender", sagt BKA-Fahnder Holger Kind. "Vor allem die missbrauchten Mädchen sind immer jünger", sagt Dieter Schiffels, der beim Bundeskriminalamt die Zentralstelle Kinderpornografie leitet. Ein Grund für die Entwicklung ist die massenhafte Verbreitung von Digitalkameras. Damit kann jeder relativ leicht kriminelle Bilder ins Netz stellen. Das Entdeckungsrisiko im Fotolabor fällt weg.
(Telepolis) Wie die Firmen VISA, American Express und Diners Club mit der Frage der Kinderpornographie umgehen oder zukünftig umgehen wollen, lässt sich nun auch im Netz bei Akte 03 nachlesen. Empört sind natürlich alle drei, und genauso natürlich wollen sie das Geschäft mit der verbotenen Ware unterbinden, was sie allerdings schon länger ankündigen. Doch wie das konkret gehen soll, das verraten sie nicht. Nur die Firma VISA nennt wenigstens ein paar Einzelheiten. siehe AKTE und Kreditkartenfirm drehen den Geldhahn zu (SAT1). Statement from Visa International siehe auch Stellungnahme von American Express, Diners Club International
(SAT1) Visa deplores child pornography and does not allow the use of our products in association with this activity in any way. We take all allegations of the misuse of our products very seriously and will investigate thoroughly where required. Visa actively monitors the Internet to make sure our products are not accepted at these sites. We will work with our Members to terminate a merchant’s acceptance privileges on a regional and/or global basis if we determine they are engaged in this kind of activity. Visa is also taking an active position against child pornography and is working to identify child pornographers and put them permanently out of business. To that end, we continue to work with regional, national and international police forces to enforce our activity. In early 2002, Visa hired an international consulting firm to identify child pornography sites that accept Visa. This organisation, InteCap, are considered a leader in the area and use the best technology available to "spider" through around one million internet pages per day. What sets this company apart from others is their ability to quickly identify an online child pornographer who uses the Visa acceptance mark. Child pornographers will no longer be able to hide by moving from site to site, because we’ll find them and work with our Members to close them down.
(Europa) Fighting cybercrime is not easy. The EU Cyber Tools On-Line Search for Evidence (CTOSE) project, supported by the Commission's Information Society Technologies (IST) programme, has developed a methodology that identifies, secures, integrates and presents electronic evidence. It enables anyone from system administrators, information technology security staff and computer incident investigators, to police and law-enforcement agencies to follow consistent and standardised procedures when investigating computer incidents using 'computer forensic tools'. The methodology ensures all electronic evidence is legally and properly gathered and preserved, acting as uncontaminated and compelling proof that a crime or fraud has been committed to company management, industrial tribunals, or civil or criminal courts.
(Sapa-DPA) Two 14-year-old Polish schoolgirls are facing a family court and disciplinary action at school after they owned up to having launched a pornographic website featuring the faces of schoolmates pasted on the naked bodies of porn models. The photos were also captioned with obscene comments.
(AP) A woman was charged with providing her two preteen daughters to a 48-year-old man who featured them in a child-sex video that turned up on a computer in Japan. The case began with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a digital video found on the hard drive of a computer seized in Japan.
(AP) Computer administrator Bret McDanel discovered a security flaw in his company's software. He warned his managers. They ignored his pleas. So he quit and fired off thousands of e-mails alerting customers to the problem. The vulnerability at Tornado Development finally got fixed. But McDanel was charged and convicted of causing damage under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. McDanel, 30, maintains he was merely a whistleblower doing the right thing. More remarkable is that prosecutors now agree. Earlier this month, after McDanel served his sentence of 16 months in a federal lockup, they asked an appeals court to reverse his conviction.
(Computerworld) New Zealand Internet service providers appear to have escaped - for the moment - the need to obtain a government licence. Parliament’s government administration select committee suggested such a resort may be necessary if ISPs failed to come up with a suitable code of practice covering trade in objectionable material on the internet. The suggestion came in the course of the committee’s inquiry into a reform of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act, which was partly concerned with means of regulating international trading of pornography over the internet.
(Reporters sans frontières) Reporters Without Borders is publishing its second world press freedom ranking. As in 2002, the most catastrophic situation is to be found in Asia, especially North Korea, Burma and Laos. Second from last in the ranking, Cuba is today the world's biggest prison for journalists. The United States and Italy were given relatively low rankings.
(European Parliament) Janelly Fourtou's Draft Report on this Directive. see also Law Professors criticise IPR Enforcement Directive. Proposal for a Directive on measures and procedures to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights COM(2003) 46
(Heise) Die umstrittene EU-Richtlinie zur Durchsetzung der Interessen der Verwerter geistigen Eigentums ist im Europaparlament schon bei der ersten Beratung im zuständigen Rechtsausschuss auf massive Hindernisse gestoßen. Die Abgeordneten haben die stattliche Zahl von 199 Änderungsanträgen zu dem Konstrukt eingebracht, mit dem die Kommission die Schadensersatzforderungen bei Urheberrechtsverstößen drastisch erhöhen und zahlreiche neue Auskunftsansprüche zur Erleichterung der Strafverfolgung -- vor allem bei Internetprovidern -- schaffen will. Die Parlamentsberichterstatterin Janelly Fourtou hatte zwar bereits kürzlich ein Kompromisspapier vorgelegt. Dieses hat die Vorschläge der Kommission in weiten Teilen jedoch sogar noch verschärft und beispielsweise ins Spiel gebracht, Rechtsverstöße im privaten Bereich als schwere Straftat zu behandeln.
(NewsForge) On September 24 I received dreadful news: that the European Parliament had voted in favor of software patents. It had approved the directive on 'computer-implemented inventions.' On September 25 I heard the real news, from Hartmut Pilch of FFII, who has studied the directive and its loopholes more carefully than anyone else. He reported that the amendments adopted by the parliament had closed all the loopholes. The vote was actually a victory for the free software community. We lobbied against the megacorporations in a national (or you could say multinational) legislature, and we won.
(New Zealand) Legislation banning parallel importing of new films, DVDs, VHS videos and video CDs for commercial use was passed in Parliament. The Copyright (Parallel Importation of Films and Onus of Proof) Amendment Act was intended to address the effects of parallel importing and copyright piracy on the creative industries.
(UK Patent Office) Consultation on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures and procedures to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights COM(2003) 46.
(bIPlog) Wendy Seltzer sends the latest from EFF:There are now 1633 subpoenas in EFF's RIAA subpoena database, all from the D.C. District Court through October 1. The RIAA has filed at least 200 more through Oct. 21, for which the court has entered captions but not yet posted subpoena documents. We are also looking to begin searching other district courts, as we know there have been some subpoenas filed outside DC.
(Toronto Star) by Michael Geist. In recent months, the world has been witness to a new priority in trade discussions - copyright. Although traditionally treated by many countries as a cultural issue not subject to negotiation, stronger copyright protections are now often included at the insistence of the United States. The move toward including copyright within trade negotiations deserves close scrutiny as it has significant ramifications for national copyright policy.
(Reuters) The Federal Communications Commission will likely adopt rules that will allow programmers to attach a code to digital broadcasts that will in most cases bar consumers from sending copies of popular shows around the world. The approval, expected as early as next week, would be another step along the long road to the higher-quality, crisper digital signals, which have been slowed because of worries about piracy, high-priced equipment and limited available programming. see also CDT report on the broadcast flag.
(Reuters) Recording industry investigators have begun asking suspected Internet song swappers to settle copyright-infringement charges before taking them to court. The Recording Industry Association of America, which is waging a legal campaign against Internet users who copy its songs online, said it had contacted some 204 suspected infringers with settlement offers this week.
(Wired) A privacy group hired a skywriter to write part of the Social Security number of Citigroup's chief executive above New York City. The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights called attention to the bank's backing of a Senate bill that would prevent states from protecting consumers' privacy. FTCR purchased the number for $26 on the Internet. The group focused on Citigroup in particular for its dishonesty. When it became apparent earlier this summer that the California legislature was going to pass a privacy protection bill with overwhelming public support, Citigroup said it supported the California bill. But after passage, the bank's lobbyist immediately went to Washington to lobby for a bill that would cancel the California legislation.
(Harvard Law School) Technical Responses to Unilateral Internet Authority by Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman, Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
(Butterworths) Bridget Riley, a British artist, has used the international arbitration organisation Wipo to stop cyber-squatters using her domain name. Clive Gringras, a partner specialising in the internet at Olswang, talks to Stephen Ward about the pros and cons.
(do-wire) by Steven Clift. The BBC just launched their greatly anticipated iCan service in beta mode. After spending a few hours with the site, I've composed my detailed reactions below. The BBC's iCan is one of the most significant e-democracy contributions to date. Congratulations. Making it work, despite the excellent framework and technology, will be both hell and essential civic work. So fight the good fight for citizen involvement and democracy in the information-age. see also Democracies Online Newswire.
(Heise) Das Hamburgische Verfassungsgericht hat das Online-Roulette für rechtswidrig erklärt. Es sei nicht mit dem Spielbanken-Gesetz vereinbar, befand das Gericht heute. Online-Spieler seien naturgemäß nicht in Spielbanken anwesend und könnten so auch nicht von dem Personal vor einem ruinösen Spiel bewahrt werden.
(Heise) Auswärtige Firmen, die nicht in ein deutsches Handelsregister eingetragen sind, müssen ein vollständiges Webimpressum vorweisen, wenn ihr Angebot auf deutsche Internetnutzer abzielt und die Geschäftsführung von Deutschland aus erfolgt. Dies hat das Landgericht Frankfurt am Main entschieden.
(transfert.net) La Suisse vient de dévoiler officiellement son système de 'guerre électronique'. Baptisé Onyx, ce système autorise certaines autorités suisses à écouter, intercepter voire à brouiller des télécommunications étrangères, tant civiles que militaires. L'espionnage économique, ainsi que la surveillance des citoyens suisses, sont a priori exclus de ce système. Une autorité de contrôle indépendante (ACI) est chargée d'y veiller. Le système français équivalent ne bénéficie, quant à lui, toujours pas d'une telle assise légale, ni de tels garde-fous. Ordonnance sur la conduite de la guerre électronique.
(BBC) California has won a landmark judgement with its first anti-spam ruling after a court fined a marketing firm $2m for sending out millions of unsolicited e-mails telling people how to spam. The state's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, brought the case against PW Marketing of Los Angeles County and its owners, Paul Willis and Claudia Griffin in 2002, under a 1998 state anti-spam law.
(Reuters) The U.S. Senate voted of 97 to 0 to outlaw deceptive spam and to set up a 'do not spam' registry for those who do not want to receive unsolicited commercial e-mail. The bill would not outlaw all unsolicited commercial e-mail, focusing instead on the fraudulent or deceptive messages estimated to make up two-thirds of all unsolicited commercial e-mail. Marketers would have to label sexually explicit messages to allow users to filter them out. The bill would also prohibit marketers from sending unsolicited messages to consumers who place their e-mail addresses on a "do not spam" registry, similar to the popular "do not call" antitelemarketing measure launched earlier this month by the Federal Trade Commission. Marketers could e-mail addresses not on the list until asked to stop. State and federal law enforcers and Internet service providers such as EarthLink would be allowed to pursue spammers, but individual users could not sue directly.
(ZDNet Australia) In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world, the Australian music industry has listed an Internet service provider (ISP) as a respondent in a court case involving alleged music piracy. E-Talk Communications, trading as Comcen Internet Services found itself in Federal Court in Sydney charged with making money from the provision of copyright-infringing music files. This is the first time the music industry has accused an ISP of being directly involved in piracy by allowing its infrastructure to be used for file-trading activities, according to the Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), who led the industry's investigation.
(Forum des droits sur l'internet) Cette recommandation est le fruit de sept mois de travaux de concertation de son groupe de travail constitué de créateurs et exploitants de sites, de portails et de moteurs de recherche, de documentalistes, de représentants d’ayants droit et d’experts du droit de l’internet. Cette recommandation s’adresse aux créateurs de liens hypertextes et aux victimes de contenus illicites et préjudiciables. Elle propose également une grille de lecture au juge.
(Heise) Bei einer Podiumsdiskussion zum Thema 'Zensur im Internet - Die Problematik der Sperrungsverfügung' des Instituts für Rechtsinformatik der Universität Hannover kündigte die Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf Gespräche mit Betreibern von Suchmaschinen an. Diese seien 'Serviceprovider' und hinsichtlich der von ihnen gelieferten Ergebnisse möglicherweise rechtlich verantwortlich. Die Bezirksregierung werde diesbezüglich insbesondere mit Google Kontakt aufnehmen.
(AP) A $246 million lawsuit was filed against the designer, marketer and a retailer of the video game series Grand Theft Auto by the families of two people shot by teenagers apparently inspired by the game.
(Digital TV) Die Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (DLM) hat ihre Beratungen zur Abgrenzung von Rundfunk und Mediendiensten fortgesetzt. Aktueller Anlass der Diskussion um die Abgrenzung sind mehrere den Landesmedienanstalten vorliegende Anträge auf medienrechtliche Unbedenklichkeit. Über verschiedene Verbreitungswege wie beispielsweise DSL, Breitbandkabel oder Satellit sollen zum Teil pornografische Inhalte verbreitet werden. Im Rundfunk sind pornografische Inhalte nicht erlaubt. In Mediendiensten dagegen dürfen diese Inhalte nach dem Jugendmedienschutzstaatsvertrag dann verbreitet werden, wenn sichergestellt ist, dass sie allein Erwachsenen in geschlossenen Benutzergruppen zur Verfügung stehen. Entsprechend haben die Antragsteller die Klassifizierung als Mediendienst beantragt.
(Heise) Bald wird ernst gemacht mit dem neuen Jugendschutzbestimmungen im Internet. Das kündigte der Vorsitzende der Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM), Wolf-Dieter Ring, Anbietern bei den Münchner Medientagen an. Ring stellte dort eine erste Zwischenbilanz des seit am 2. April des Jahres eingesetzten obersten Gremiums für den medienübergreifenden Jugendschutz vor. Einfache Pornographie deutscher Anbieter dürfte sich am Ende als die kleinste Schwierigkeit für die KJM entpuppen. Die von Schmeichel genannte Problem, dass schwer zu entscheiden ist, was "entwicklungsbeeinträchtigend sein kann", ist deutlich schwerer zu lösen. Laut Staatsvertrag müssen entwicklungsbeeinträchtigende Inhalte durch ein geeignetes Jugendschutzprogramm für Kinder unzugänglich gemacht werden. Nur: Keines der auf dem Markt vorhandenen Filter- oder Jugendschutzprogramme genügt den Anforderungen der KJM. Das Rating- und Filtering-Programm ICRA soll nun wenigstens als Pilotprojekt zugelassen werden.
(Heise) Die Anbieter von Porno-Diensten im Netz verschärfen ihr Lobbying gegen kürzlich verabschiedete Auflagen von Jugendschutzbehörden zur Alterskontrolle. Sie fürchten massive Umsatzeinbrüche, falls sich ihre Kunden tatsächlich erst bei der Post oder in Filialen von Telekommunikationsfirmen für den Besuch von Hardcore-Sites oder den Abruf vergleichbarer Angebote anmelden müssen.
(Washington Post) Consumers who ignore advice about how to protect themselves against hackers, viruses and fraudsters online will soon find it harder to tune out thanks to a nationwide media blitz being crafted by the Department of Homeland Security and a group of high-tech companies. The advertising campaign is designed to educate home and small business computer users about the importance of using firewalls and anti-virus software, as well as defending against online fraud. It is expected to debut next year on television and radio spots and in magazines, newspapers and movie theaters throughout the country.
(ACCC) A discussion paper and draft guidelines for developing and endorsing effective industry codes of conduct have been issued for public comment by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Individuals, industry groups and other interested parties are invited to make submissions to the ACCC on the draft guidelines. The closing date for submissions is 17 November 2003.
(Heise) Suchmaschinen sind alles andere als die neutralen Apparate, die der unbedarfte Nutzer hinter ihnen vermutet. Nun hat die Bertelsmann Stiftung bei den Medientagen einen Code of Conduct vorgelegt, den sie gerne von den Betreibern der Suchmaschinen unterzeichnet hätte. Vor allem sollen die Suchmaschinenbetreiber für mehr Transparenz bei den Kriterien für das Ranking sorgen, gekaufte Links klarer kennzeichnen und auch Informationen über die Suchmaschinen-kompatible Gestaltung von Webseiten beziehungsweise Ausschlusskritierien für 'Fälscher' bieten. Bislang hätten AOL, MSN und Allesklar.com den Code unterstützt.
(RightsWatch) RightsWatch is the name of a research project aimed at developing consensus and promoting awareness of self-regulatory notice and takedown (NTD) procedures for Europe, as a tool to achieve prompt removal of copyright-infringing material from the Internet. The impetus behind the project specification was provided within the text of the EU’s E-Commerce Directive which encourages a self-regulatory approach through voluntary agreements for 'development of rapid and reliable procedures for removing and disabling access to illegal information'. The RightsWatch team have drafted a White Paper A Way Forward for Notice and Takedown which summarises the work of the RightsWatch project and its key results in a way that we hope is easily accessible. Comments can be submitted via the discussion forum.
(Observer) Broadband networking could be the multi-billion dollar salvation for telecoms companies almost crushed by the weight of the internet boom of the late 1990s. Reports from investment bankers such as Rabobank and Goldman Sachs say European operators' revenues from digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband access are growing at 24 per cent per annum and will reach €10.3bn (£7.2bn) in 2006.
(Oftel) Statement which sets out the policy and the process for the grant of the Electronic Communications Code in accordance with the statutory criteria. see also Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003 (HMSO) and prior Consultation.
(AP) Even more annoying than junk e-mail are all the spam messages that "pop up" through a little-used feature in Windows. As part of its spam-fighting efforts, America Online has been turning off that feature for its customers without telling them. Nonetheless, AOL's action worries some security experts. "They are trying to do the right thing ... but you sort of feel dirty after you hear it," said Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer for Counterpane Internet Security Inc. "It's a very dangerous precedent in having companies go into your computer and turn things on and off." "From there," he added, "it's easy to turn off competitors' services." Pop-up spam differs from pop-up ads in that no Web browser or Web site visit is required. Instead, these ads take advantage of a messaging function built into many Windows operating systems.
(CNET News.com) Microsoft is upgrading Hotmail services with a white list checks incoming mail against a list of addresses that the account holder has already approved. The white list, in its purest form, is considered one of the more draconian anti-spam methods, because mail that doesn't match the list does not get delivered. see also Yahoo adds e-mail features to flush out spam (IDG). An internal Yahoo survey among its e-mail service users found that, given a choice between cleaning toilets and weeding out spam, 77 percent of respondents would choose the former. The provider of Internet content and services is adding five new weapons to its anti-spam arsenal, including the scanning of every attachment arriving or leaving a user's inbox to check for viruses. This new service scans all attachments for viruses, blocking infected attachments from being downloaded, sent or forwarded.
(AnchorDesk) The best new feature in Outlook is the junk-mail filter, which in my informal testing has done an exceptional job of ridding my inbox of spam. I like it enough that I've uninstalled the rest of my anti-spam arsenal. When set in "high" blocking mode, the Outlook filter has been something like 95 percent effective in sending spam to my junk-mail folder instead of my inbox. More importantly, the filter is 100 percent effective in blocking pornographic spam containing pictures.
(BBC) Technology analyst Bill Thompson has been getting lots of comments on his weblogs, unfortunately most of the want to sell him Viagra. He has been 'flyblogged'.
(Heise) Das Geschäft der Porno-Industrie wandert immer weiter in das Internet und in multimediale Cyberwelten. Trotzdem - oder gerade deswegen - finden Sexmessen großen Anklang. So versammelten sich am Wochenende wieder über 300 Aussteller auf dem europäischen Branchen-Treff Venus in Berlin. Auf der Produktionsseite sind es Webcams, von denen der Sex-Boom im Netz vor allem profitiert. Im Zweifelsfall wird dabei jeder - beziehungsweise in diesem Fall wohl eher jede - zum Sender (sprich: zum Anbieter von Porno-Streams aus den eigenen vier Wänden). Den Reiz des Neuen haben dagegen noch die mobilen Sexnummern, die seit einem Jahr die Branche in Aufregung versetzen. Kopfschmerzen bereiten der Branche hierzulande dagegen nach wie vor die strengen Auflagen der Jugendschützer. Für den Bereich der Soft-Erotik zumindest glauben die Sexhändler eine Lösung gefunden zu haben: Große Anbieter haben sich zum Verein zur Förderung des Kinder- und Jugendschutzes in Telemedien, JusProg e.V. zusammengeschlossen. Dort haben sie auf Basis des ICRA-Filtersystems ein Jugendschutzprogramm geschaffen. Anerkannt hat die zuständige Kontrollbehörde, die Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM), das Jugendschutzprogramm aber noch nicht. Echten Zoff gibt es zudem rund um die Hardcore-Angebote, wo die Adult-Webmaster aufgrund der recht rigiden Auflagen zur Altersverifikation gar ein "Porno-Verbot" an die Wand malt.
(CNET News.com) A new group will try to reconcile competing methods to thwart spam with a kind of caller ID for e-mail. The Anti-Spam Research Group (ASRG) of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) has formed a subcommittee to hammer out differences between a number of competing protocols that all aim to do the same thing: verify that e-mail senders are who they say they are. Proposals for how to achieve e-mail verification without scrapping Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) abound. These include Sender Permitted From (SPF), the Designated Mailers Protocol (DMP) and Reverse Mail Exchange (RMX). The ASRG's new subcommittee is charged with blending them into a single standard.
(BBC) In the early days of the internet, it seemed improbable that all of the four billion available IP addresses would be used, but that is exactly what is happening. Every mobile phone, PC and server has an address which, like a phone number, needs to be dialled when it is accessed over the web. But as more people log on around the globe, the available number of IP addresses is dwindling. A taskforce of experts hope to solve the problem by creating what is called IPv6 and would provide 64 billion extra IP addresses.
(Reuters) The billions of "spam" messages that cross the Internet daily are beginning to erode users' faith in e-mail communications. Half of all Internet users say spam has made them less trusting of all e-mail in general, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found, while one in four say they now use e-mail less because of spam. see full report Spam: How it is hurting email and degrading life on the Internet. see also Parents are very anxious about their children being exposed to inappropriate content through spam and Part 8: The implications of these findings. In nearly every measure we tested, pornography soared to the top as the most offensive, objectionable, destructive type of spam. Among TRAC’s collection of personal anecdotes about spam, pornographic email was the most frequent and most vilified type of spam addressed. (Many went on to condemn pornography in pop-ups as well as in unsolicited email.) Some noteworthy particulars: Internet users deplore that pornography is so uncontrollable, imposing itself unannounced and explicitly. Women and parents particularly hate pornography. Porn degrades the Internet experience on a very personal level and even makes many Internet users miserable. So extreme was the reaction to pornography that eliminating it alone among all unsolicited email would go a long way toward softening spam’s negative impact on Internet users.
(ITU) According to Ovum Consulting, traditional telephony which has been declining because of increasing mobile penetration, has been served another hit - from broadband. Delivered via xDSL and cable modems, it is now the fastest-growing telecoms service across the developed world. Since broadband allows both voice and Internet-access traffic to be carried simultaneously over a single copper pair, many households are likely to dispose of the second fixed line. There is also a danger that heavy mobile users could abandon their only fixed line once they get broadband.
(Silicon) Workers admit to using instant messaging (IM) in the office for sharing pornography, gossiping and flirting, using abusive language and swapping music and video files. A survey of 200 people at UK companies found firms are risking lawsuits, virus infections and a drop in productivity as staff turn to IM because of the increased monitoring of email and telephone usage in the workplace
(Register) The typical British consumer of child pornography, is a white male professional, probably working in IT. An survey of 200 child porn suspects caught by the Thames Valley police in Operation Viola revealed that every one was male and no-one came from an ethnic minority.
(ZDNet UK) Open source software and open standards are vital for any attempt at e-government, argues a new report from Denmark by the Danish Board of Technology . Open source software represents a serious alternative to proprietary products, and should be used as a tool to open up software markets to more competition.
(silicon.com) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is ending a four-year collaboration with dozens of blue-chip companies that set out to advance a new frontier of information technology known as radio frequency identification that would track the location of everyday objects.
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