Legal and regulatory issues

Computer crime

• EU - Council framework Decision on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography  +/-

  (OJEU) Council framework Decision 2004/68/JHA of 22 December 2003 on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. OJ L 13 20.1.2004 p. 44.

• CY - We know who's downloading child porn and we can't do anything about it  +/-

  (Cyprus Mail) Interpol has handed to Cyprus police a list of Cypriots that were identified as downloading child pornography from the internet. Police hands are tied on the matter because possession of child pornography is not a criminal offence in Cyprus, unlike other European countries. Even if it were an offence to download and possess indecent material from the internet, the current rules on evidence would make it impossible to prove in court. [Ed. Cypr

• IE - Schoolgirl porn pictures circulated by camera phone  +/-

  (Ananova) A major police investigation is under way in Ireland after a pornographic image of a schoolgirl was circulated to hundreds of mobile phones across the country.

• IT - Child porn Web sites up 70 percent in 2003  +/-

  (Reuters) The number of reported paedophilia Web sites has shot up by 70 percent in 2003 with the United States accounting for more than half, according to an Italian children's rights association. The Rome-based non-profit Telefono Arcobaleno (Rainbow Phone) said 17,016 Web sites featuring explicit child pornography were reported last year to international and national police groups including the FBI and Interpol. see Pedophilia online - Annual report 2003.

• NZ - Man jailed for net porn was moderator  +/-

  (Stuff) A man who has been jailed for trading some of the most disturbing child pornography ever seen in New Zealand, was supposed to be cleaning up the internet. Clifford James Robinson, 38, of Christchurch, acted as a moderator for internet chat rooms, where computer users pass messages and share information with others.The role includes preventing users trading grossly offensive material. But the reclusive, overweight, and isolated sickness beneficiary abused his position and collected child porn and bestiality images, including a graphic three-minute movie of a baby girl being sexually abused. When Robinson's home was raided by Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) inspectors and his computer seized, a record was recovered of his on-line discussion with an Australian man who claimed to be sexually abusing his three daughters.

• RU - Online child porn ring busted  +/-

  (p2pnet.net) Members of a Russian internet child porn ring run by a retired school teacher in Perm in the Urals have been sentenced to jail terms from six to 11 years. The teacher and five others were found guilty of perversion involving children between eight and 10 years old, and distributing pornography online, says Kommersant.

• UK - Porn shame of "Biker" Christian  +/-

  (this is Bristol) A Church leader is facing a prison sentence after he admitted downloading child pornography from the internet. Alan Lowther was arrested when images of children having sex with adults were found on his home computer after he gave his credit card details to a paedophile site to view and copy pictures of young children. Lowther, a Minister of Religion for the Key to Life Church, was also president of the Christian Motorcycle Association, whose aim is to take the word of God to bikers.

Content regulation

• India - Police to Monitor Cybercafes  +/-

  (Associated Press) Relatively few Indians can afford home PCs, so millions go online in the nation's jammed Internet cafes, enjoying their low cost and anonymity. But police in Bombay are planning to monitor cybercafes, a move some are decrying as excessive regulation that could create a dangerous precedent. Increasingly fearful that terrorists and other criminals are taking advantage of cybercafes, Bombay police want to require customers to show photo identification and give their home addresses. Cafe owners would have to retain such records for up to a year and show them to police on request.

Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology

• UK - Oxford Media Convention 2004  +/-

  (Nico Macdonald) Blog of an attendee at the Oxford Media Convention Tuesday 13 January 2004. see also CommsWatch Roger Darlington's new blog and official texts of speeches by Ofcom Chief Executive Stephen Carter, BBC Director of Public Policy Caroline Thomson and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sports Tessa Jowell .

Copyright, trademarks and patents

• UK - Music Industry Wins Web CD Pricing Dispute  +/-

  (Reuters) The British music industry has settled a legal dispute with CDWow.com over the sale of discounted compact discs after the online retailer agreed to raise its prices in the UK and Ireland. In reaching an agreement, trade body The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Hong Kong-based CDWow.com avoided a court hearing to determine if the online retailer could continue to import products from outside the European Union and sell them on to Irish and British customers.

• US - Music Fans Find Online Jukebox Half-Empty  +/-

  (Washington Post) A hornet's nest of performance and publishing copyright laws, marketing decisions, artists' egos and negotiating power plays can stop people from legally buying songs on the Internet, just as millions are trying to do so for the first time.

• US - Recording Industry Is Accusing 532 People of Music Piracy  +/-

  (New York Times) The music industry returned to the courthouse with lawsuits against 532 people it is accusing of large-scale copyright infringement. The new lawsuits are "John Doe'' lawsuits, an increasingly common type of litigation in the Internet age, which allow plaintiffs to sue people whose identities are not known. These suits identify the suspected file traders only by the numerical identifier, known as an Internet Protocol number, assigned to them by their Internet service provider.

• US - Tech firms fail to squelch database bill  +/-

  (CNET News.com) by Declan McCullagh. A congressional panel approved a proposal to curb database copying, ignoring the objections of technology companies that launched a last-minute lobbying campaign to kill the proposal. By a 16-7 vote, the House Judiciary committee approved an intellectual property bill that had been opposed by Amazon.com, AT&T, Comcast, Google, Yahoo and some Internet service provider associations.

Data Protection (privacy)

• Biometrics: get ready to destroy all passwords  +/-

  (BIOS) Street research carried out at Victoria Station revealed that 90 per cent of people were willing to give their passwords to Infosecurity Europe researchers as part of a survey on identity theft - the researchers did not give any verification of their identity and their only tool was a clipboard. This research illustrates how easy it is to steal a person's identity and all their passwords - a problem which has cost the UK alone £1bn this year, according to statistics given out by Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes. see also Identity Cards: Evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee (Stand). Evidence from the volunteers at Stand.org.uk.

• Software to limit tracking cell phone users  +/-

  (AP) Now that wireless companies can track a mobile phone's location, customers will want to control exactly who knows where they are and when. Bell Labs says it has developed a network software engine that can let cell users be as picky as they choose about disclosing their whereabouts, a step that may help wireless companies introduce "location-based services" in a way customers will find handy rather than intrusive.

Domain names

• Microsoft: We took MikeRoweSoft too seriously  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Microsoft says it may have overaggressive in threatening Web entrepreneur Mike Rowe over the name of his Web site, Mikerowesoft.com. Rowe, a 17-year-old student from Vancouver, British Columbia, registered Mikerowesoft.com to front his part-time Web site design business in August 2003. Three months later, he received an e-mail from Microsoft's lawyers, asking him to transfer the domain name to Microsoft. They offered to pay him a 'settlement' of $10, which is the cost of his original registration fee. However, after the case received widespread coverage on the Internet, Microsoft has acknowledged that it may have taken things too far and has promised to treat Rowe fairly.

e-Government

• US - Survey: Blogs, Chats Key to Campaigns  +/-

  (Washington Post) Political candidates trying to use the Internet to win support from young, Web-wise voters should avoid pop-up and banner ads and instead use interactive media like Internet chats and "blogs," according to a study.

Electronic commerce

• CA - Consumer ministers approve e-commerce code  +/-

  (Industry Canada) Canadian federal, provincial, and territorial ministers met to approve a new Code of Practice for Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce. The code addresses issues such as clear information, payment security, contract formation, and complaints handling.

Employment and social issues

• EU - Ireland wants Euro ban on buying sex  +/-

  (Reuters) Ireland, current president of the European Union, says it will propose a ban on paying for sex throughout the EU but is holding out little hope of agreement among the 15-nation bloc. O'Dea was responding to questions from reporters about a report on the multi-billion dollar sex industry drawn up by Swedish European Parliament member Marianne Eriksson, which suggested a ban on paying for sex. Sweden is the only EU state where it is illegal to pay for sex.

• EU - Why Do Men Want to Watch Porn? Asks Swedish MEP  +/-

  (Scotsman) A Swedish Euro-MP fighting the spread of pornography today called for a study into "the reasons behind the sexual behaviour of men". Swedish Marianne Eriksson said the results would contribute to establishing "an appropriate sexual education programme" in all European Union countries. Ms Erikkson is the author of a draft European Parliament report warning that globalisation has caused an explosion in the "sex industry". Internet access has put sex into every home and boosted the exploitation of women and the traffic in "sex slaves", it says. The report, drawn up by the Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities, points out that 70% of the £252 million EU citizens spent on the Internet in 2001 went to porn sites.

Information society and Internet policy

• UK - ISPA reveals the heroes and villains of the Net  +/-

  (PC Pro) The Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), the body that represents UK ISPs, has announced the shortlists for the 2004 ISPA Awards. The awards are split into three categories: ISP, which recognises the best of its kind in a number of consumer and businesss categories; Supplier, which garlands the companies that provide the UK's networks, routers, exchanges and applications; and the Special Awards, including the Internet Hero and Internet Villain gongs. ISPA will announce the winners of the 2004 ISPAs on 19 February.

Interception

• US - Easing of Internet Regulations Challenges Surveillance Efforts  +/-

  (New York Times) The Federal Communications Commission's efforts to reduce regulations over some Internet services have come under intense criticism from officials at law enforcement agencies who say that their ability to monitor terrorists and other criminal suspects electronically is threatened.

Internet access and use

• EU - Launching the next step for the Internet IPv6  +/-

  (RAPID) Mr Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society Global IPv6 Service Launch Brussels, 16 January 2004.

• UK - Industry group demands push for faster broadband  +/-

  (ZDNet UK) The Broadband Industry Group (BSG) in its Third Annual Report has called on the government to set new ambitions for Britain's high-speed Internet access market, including targets for the rollout of significantly faster networks than are being deployed today.

Junk mail (spam)

• DK - Danish firm fined for sending spam  +/-

  (Reuters) A Danish court has fined a local telecoms equipment firm a record 400,000 Danish crowns (37 000 pounds) for sending over 15,000 unsolicited e-mails, a rare conviction against a peddler of what is commonly called spam. Denmark's National Consumer Agency brought the case against Aircom Erhverv ApS, saying the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails intended to market goods or services to the recipient was an infringement of Denmark's law on marketing practices.

• EU - Anti-spam laws are OK  +/-

  (The Register) It's just over a month since new anti-spam legislation was introduced into the UK with almost universal condemnation that the new laws would have a limited effect in the fight against junk email. Nevertheless, there are some who believe the new legislation is a significant step forward in the right direction. Joe McNamee, EU Policy Director from Political Intelligence, public affairs consultancy specialising in ICT, accepts that the new legislation "is not a complete answer to the problem of spam" and that there are plenty of issues that still need to be resolved. Despite the limitations, he's convinced that the new rules - that outlaw the sending of electronic communication to people unless they've agreed beforehand to receive them - deserve a better press.

Liability, jurisdiction and applicable law

• EU - Do not touch B2B contract laws, says ICC  +/-

  (out-law.com) The International Chamber of Commerce has published its response to the European Commission's consultation on harmonising EU contract laws. The ICC's message was that businesses neither want nor require new regulatory instruments.

• UK - Defamation and the Internet  +/-

  (Law Commission) A Preliminary Investigation. Scoping Study No 2. December 2002

• US - Is there a legal difference between a hyperlink and a URL?  +/-

  (Linksand Law) In 2002 the United States Senate passed the Dot Kids Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2002 (HR 3833), which established an Internet domain (.kids.us) as a kids-friendly area on the World Wide Web. NeuStar has been appointed to be the administrator of the kids.us domain name space by the DoC to operate a shared registrations system, domain name servers, and other equipment for the kids.us second-level domain. Hyperlinks that take a user outside of the kids.us domain are prohibited from use in any kids.us domain. At the moment there are 6 .kids.us websites. Two websites seem to have found a way around the restriction not to hyperlink. Instead of providing hyperlinks they merely provide the URL. Are these two websites in contradiction to the no hyperlinks regulation?

Protection of minors

• UK Mobile Operators announce joint code of practice for new forms of content  +/-

  (T-Mobile) The UK mobile phone operators announced a joint code of practice for the self-regulation of new forms of content on mobile phones. Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone and 3, have all signed up to the code designed to facilitate the responsible use of new mobile phone services whilst safeguarding children from unsuitable content on their mobile phones. As mobile technology advances, phones are being developed with enhanced features, such as colour screens, video and picture messaging and Internet browsers, allowing access to an increasing variety of services. The vast majority of commercial content is suitable for customers of all ages. However, some of the new services may contain content of an adult nature, which is only suitable for customers who are over 18 years of age. All commercial content unsuitable for customers under 18 will be classified "18". Such content will not be made available to customers until the networks, through a process of age verification, are satisfied that he or she is at least 18. The classification framework will be in line with comparable standards in other media and will be created by a body that is independent of the mobile operators. Chat rooms made available to customers under 18 will be moderated (ie monitored to guard against inappropriate use). Parents and carers will be able to apply filters to the mobile operator’s Internet access service so that the Internet content thus accessible is restricted. see also UK - Mobile phone firms act to protect children (Guardian) see also UK - Children to be shielded from abuse via mobiles

• JP - No late-night Internet cafes for Tokyo teens  +/-

  (Straits Times) An advisory panel to Tokyo's governor has proposed that the city ban teenagers under 18 from visiting karaoke parlours and Internet cafes late at night in a bid to cut down on juvenile delinquency. The panel, set up to advise Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, also urged curbs on the sale of teenage girls' used underwear and proposed requiring vending machines to be programmed to prevent minors from buying pornography.

Safer Internet awareness

• Euro kids prefer online games to e-mail, music  +/-

  (Register) European kids spend more time playing games on the Internet than sending e-mails or downloading music, according to Safety, Awareness, Facts and Tools (SAFT), an EU-backed body that monitors and advises on how children use the Internet. While the organisation acknowledges that gaming is a 'new and positive element' in kids' lives, it warns parents to watch out of for signs of excessive gameplay, which could lead to 'a form of addiction' and affect children's social lives.

• Of mice and men  +/-

  (Observer) In all the recent, endless, fearful discussion about chatrooms and online grooming, attention has focused on teenagers and young children, and how we can best protect them. However, in doing so, we continue to overlook by far the biggest victims of online abuse. With around 50 per cent of British homes now connected to the internet, the truth about chatrooms, online dating and instant messaging is that women are being harassed in their thousands every day, and it's a problem that slips by almost unreported.

Self-regulation / codes of conduct

• US - TRUSTe adds directors from Oracle, Microsoft and DoubleClick  +/-

  (Press Release) TRUSTe, known for its global privacy seal program, announced four new additions to its board of directors: Joseph Alhadeff, vice president for global public policy for Oracle Corporation; Hans Peter Brondmo, senior vice president of strategy and corporate development for Digital Impact, Inc.; Peter Cullen, chief privacy strategist for Microsoft, and Bennie Smith, chief privacy officer for DoubleClick. The new board members will support TRUSTe as it provides guidance and enforcement to its members and consumers on emerging privacy issues such as wireless location-based services and spam.

Market & Technology

Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology

• US - Disney tests a system for video on demand  +/-

  (New York Times) U.S. service blends content and delivery. Walt Disney Co. has been quietly testing a video-on-demand service in three U.S. cities since October. The company's executives talk about the service, called MovieBeam, as a modest business that is an attractive alternative for consumers who want to avoid paying high late fees to video rental stores. But in fact, MovieBeam is more than just a way to help movie fans save money. It is also an early salvo by Disney in the battle over who controls content: entertainment creators or those who distribute it, like cable and satellite services.

• US - Test brings clones of TV ads to Internet  +/-

  (New York imes) Television commercials, in all their big, loud glory, are coming to the Web. More than a dozen Web sites, including MSN, ESPN, Lycos and iVillage, will run full-motion video commercials from Pepsi, AT&T, Honda and Warner Brothers in a six-week test that some analysts and online executives say could herald the start of a new era of Internet advertising.

Employment and social issues

• IL - Rabbi offers prayer for Web porn surfers  +/-

  (Reuters) An Israeli rabbi has composed a prayer to help devout Jews overcome guilt after visiting porn sites while browsing the Internet. 'Please God, help me cleanse the computer of viruses and evil photographs that disturb and ruin my work ..., so that I shall be able to cleanse myself,' reads the benediction. The rabbi said he had responded to a deluge of queries from Orthodox Jews worried that the lure of Internet sex sites was putting family relationships at risk. The rabbi recommends that Jews recite the prayer when they log on to the Internet or even program it to flash up on their computer screens so they are spiritually covered whether they enter a porn site intentionally or by mistake.

• US - PC can take your marriage off line  +/-

  (Sunday Times) Reading email at 3am, playing online games for hours and relentlessly downloading pop or pornography from the internet have turned the home computer into the most dangerous threat to marriage to have emerged over the past 30 years, US lawyers claim. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, which represents 1600 divorce specialists, is to publish a booklet of marital advice that will include a stark warning that the PC is a potential home-wrecker. see also Pushing the Wrong Buttons: Men’s and Women’s Attitudes toward Online and Offline Infidelity (Cyberpsychology & Behavior) by Monica Therese Whitty, Ph.D. Cybersex is more damaging to relationships than pornography.

Junk mail (spam)

• AOL tests caller ID for e-mail  +/-

  (CNET News.com) America Online is testing an antispam filter intended to accurately trace the origin of e-mail messages, a move that could bring new accountability to the Net if it proves reliable. The online unit of media giant Time Warner week implemented SPF, or Sender Permitted From, an emerging authentication protocol for preventing e-mail forgeries, or spoofing. The trial involves the company's 33 million subscribers worldwide and is the first large scale test for the protocol, which is being considered by standards groups alongside various other e-mail verification proposals.

Multilingual content and software

• IN - 13 Languages Speak With One Voice  +/-

  (Wired) The World Social Forum is speaking in 13 languages this year. The translations are being done by an international network of volunteer interpreters called Babels, using a newly created open-source Linux software. The software can be run on a midrange computer, therefore cutting out the high costs of translation associated with special high-speed computers, consoles and mixing equipment. The WSF is also using an FM radio frequency to provide translations in various Indian languages to help cut the cost of attaching headsets to every seat.

Portals, browsers and search engines

• Engineering Google Results to Make a Political Point  +/-

  (New York Times) Time was - say, two months ago - when typing the phrase "miserable failure" into the Google search box produced an unexpected result: the White House's official biography of President George W. Bush. But now the president has a fight on his hands for the top ranking - from former President Jimmy Carter, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and the author-filmmaker Michael Moore. The unlikely electoral battle is being waged through "Google bombing," or manipulating the Web's search engines to produce, in this case, political commentary. Unlike Web politicking by other means, like hacking into sites to deface or alter their message, Google bombing is a group sport, taking advantage of the Web-indexing innovation that led Google to search-engine supremacy.

Rating and filtering

• Spam Filters Grab Good With Bad  +/-

  (Wired) While vigorous filtering will purge spam from inboxes, it can also act as an unintended censor by suppressing any mention of the typical spam themes - and even references to spam itself - in legitimate personal e-mails.

Statistics

• Online games make serious money  +/-

  (BBC) Multiplayer game worlds such as EverQuest and The Sims Online look set to generate more than $1bn for the first time in 2004. According to a report from market analysts, The Themis Group, massive multiplayer games will generate $1.3bn over the next 12 months. The bulk of this will come from subscriptions but a growing proportion will be generated by the sale of virtual property and in-game items. The analyst group expects the revenues generated by games to grow to more than $4bn by 2008.

• US - Survey: Cell phone most hated, needed invention  +/-

  (CNN) An annual Massachusetts Institute of Technology survey, known as the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, found that among adults asked what invention they hate most but can't live without, 30 percent said the cell phone.

• US - FTC: ID Theft Remains Top Complaint  +/-

  (Washington Post) Identity theft topped the list of consumer complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission for the fourth year in a row. The FTC reported that Internet-related fraud accounted for 55 percent of the consumer fraud complaints filed in 2003, up from 45 percent in 2002. The data was released in the commission's annual list of the top 10 consumer complaints.

Forthcoming events

• 2004-01-26 Consultation on draft document about appropriate remedies in the new regulatory framework  +/-

  (ERG - European Regulators Group) A public hearing will be held in Brussels on Monday, January 26 2004 between 9:00 and 12:30. We are pleased to announce the presence at the hearing of both the Commissioner for the Information Society, Erkki Liikanen, and the Commissioner for Competition, Mario Monti. Please inform the Secretariat of your participation in this event no later than January 19 by sending an e-mail to erg-secretariat@cec.eu.int, stating the name of the organization and the individual participants. Venue: Room AB-0A, Centre Albert Borschette, Rue Froissart 36, Brussels. Preliminary agenda. Deadline for written submissions: Monday, January 19th 2004.

• 2004-02-26 CH, Geneva - Workshop on Internet Governance  +/-

  (ITU) 26-27 February 2004. The workshop objective is to initiate a process to prepare ITU's inputs and position vis-à-vis the working group to be established on Internet governance resulting from the Declaration of Principles and Action Plan adopted on 12 December 2003 at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society. The output of the workshop will be submitted to the appropriate ITU decision-making bodies for their further consideration. Attendance is by invitation only to ITU Member States, Sector Members and selected experts in Internet governance issues.

• 2004-03-26 EU/CoE PL, Warsaw - Internet with a human face - a common responsibility  +/-

  (Safeborders / CoE) Warsaw, Poland - 26th & 27th March 2004. At Sofitel Victoria Hotel, Warsaw. Organised in the framework of the European Commission's Safer Internet Action Plan, the SafeBorders consortium, in collaboration with the Council of Europe. This event addresses not only policy makers from government and private sectors active at the international or national level in Internet-related fields such as education, legislation, law enforcement, consumer protection and media, but also the Internet industry itself, both software producers and service providers, as well as civil society organizations for youths, parents, teachers, promotion of women's rights, children's rights, etc. The aim of the conference is to launch a pan-European platform for debate, dissemination of information and exchange of best practices as a means of making the Internet a safer place for children and adults alike.

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