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(News.com.au) Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced the Government would spend $30 million over five years to tackle child pornography and abuse. Under the plan, the Australian Federal Police would be beefed up with three specialist teams to probe and prosecute pedophile networks and online child sex abuse.
(Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice) by Tony Krone . The Internet has increased the range, volume and accessibility of sexually abusive imagery, including child pornography. Child pornography depicts the sexual or sexualised physical abuse of children under 16 years of age. Australia has joined many other nations in an international effort to combat this multi-faceted global menace that combines both heavily networked and highly individualised criminal behaviour. This paper examines the typology of online child pornography offending, as well as law enforcement responses to the problem.
(legalis.net) Dominique de Villepin a annoncé le doublement, d´ici 2007, du nombre des policiers et des gendarmes spécialisés dans la cybercriminalité, lors d´une visite à l´Office central de lutte contre la criminalité liée aux TIC et au pôle « cybercriminalité » de la gendarmerie nationale. Les effectifs devraient passer de 300, actuellement, à 600, tant au niveau national que dans les directions interrégionales de la police judiciaire ou les sections de recherche de la gendarmerie.
(PublicTechnology.net) The European Commission has launched a new Dialogue with Citizens web portal. Its aim is to provide clear information on how citizens can use their rights in the EU Internal Market and navigable in all 20 official languages. The site contains guides on ten areas of EU law and over 1300 printable, multilingual factsheets with practical tips. If users cannot find the information they need or have questions about any aspect of EU policy, they can phone or e-mail other advice and problem-solving services accessible via the site and get personalised help in any of the 20 languages.
(Austrlian IT) The Australian Labor Party is to broaden the role of anti-porn agency NetAlert to include initiatives aimed at reducing identity theft and further protect consumers from spam. The policy would extend funding to a restructured and revamped NetAlert service until 2007-08. NetAlert would be renamed as SafetyOnline to reflect its broadened focus.
(Europarl) The European Parliament will be holding confirmation hearings for the Commissioners designate. Prior to the hearing, each Commissioner designate is requested to respond to a written questionnaire. Prior to the hearings, each Commissioner designate is requested to respond to a written questionnaire. The purpose of this exercise is to allow Parliament to examine the designate's personal qualifications and assess his/her broad policy approach and, as such, provide a basis for the oral phase of the hearings. The questionnaires are composed of two parts: the "general" part consists of horizontal questions which are of relevance for all Commissioner designates; the "specific" part focuses on the particular portfolio of each Commissioner designate. The European Parliament has published the questionnaires, including specific questions for Mrs. Viviane Reding (Commissioner designate for Information Society and Media).
(OSCE) On 27 and 28 August 2004, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Mr Miklos Haraszti, organised a conference on 'freedom of the media online' in the Amsterdam city hall. Two panels focussed on the problematic definition of harmful content and self-regulation. see 7. Conference report 'freedom of the media online' (EDRi-gram).
(ZDNet UK) The Debian Linux group will not deploy the Sender ID anti-spam standard, because Microsoft's licence terms do not fit within its free-software guidelines. This announcement comes only a few days after the Apache Foundation's refusal to implement Sender ID.
(Heise) Weitere Stimmen aus der Open-Source-Gemeinde haben sich gegen die Anerkennung des von Microsoft vorgeschlagenen Anti-Spam-Standard Sender ID ausgesprochen. Nach der Apache-Foundation hat Martin Michlmayr für Debian dem von Microsoft mit Patent- und Lizenzansprüchen versehenen Sender ID eine Absage erteilt.
(BBC) Many junk mail messages try to hide their origins by using a fake address. In a bid to tackle this, a technology called the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) has been developed. This is an authentication scheme that tries to ensure that e-mail messages come from the place that they say they do. But a survey carried out by mail filtering firm CipherTrust has shown that spammers are the most enthusiastic users of the SPF technology. It found that 34% more spam is passing SPF checks than legitimate e-mail. However, the system is proving good at stopping spoofing and phishing attacks.
(BBC) Campaigners against spam on the internet have won a major battle against the world's second largest internet service provider. US firm Savvis was allegedly earning up to $2 million a month from 148 of the world's worst spammers, a former employee had claimed. Following talks with anti-spam groups, Savvis has now promised to get rid of the spammers using its network. Until this year Savvis was regarded as a model service provider with a strong policy against spam. But in January it bought C&W US, the American arm of the British telecommunications company Cable & Wireless, for $155 million (£87.4 million). Along with C&W US's 3,000 business customers, Savvis inherited 95 major spammers who make their money by sending out millions of unsolicited e-mails a day with the standard mix of Viagra and porn offers. Since then they have added another 53 spammers, bringing the total number of spammers on their network to 148.
(ITU) 'The Portable Internet' is the sixth in the series of 'ITU Internet Reports', originally launched in 1997. It has been prepared to coincide with ITU TELECOM Asia 2004, Exhibition and Forum, to be held in Busan (Republic of Korea) from 7 to 11 September 2004. This new report examines the emergence of high-speed wireless Internet access together with the proliferation of portable devices. In so doing, it explores the market potential and future impact of this new set of technologies underlying the 'portable Internet'. Press Release.. Report Summary. Full report price: 100 Swiss francs.
(Heise) Der Erfurter Verein Netcode vergibt am 17. November erstmals bundesweit ein Qualitätssiegel für Internetseiten, die sich an Kinder richten. Anbieter von Internetseiten, die etwa auf Jugendschutzbestimmungen und einen kindgerechten Inhalt achten, könnten sich um das Zertifikat bewerben, teilt Netcode mit. Das Siegel soll Eltern zeigen, welche Seiten für ihre Kinder geeignet sind. Netcode wurde 2002 auf Initiative der Stadt und der Kirchen gegründet, um Kinder vor Gewalt im Internet zu schützen.
(Heise) Im Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus fand ein Vorstoß der CDU-Fraktion zum Aufbau eines umfassenden Filterprogramms an Berliner Schulen am heutigen Mittwoch wenig Unterstützung. Vor allem Experten, die von den Grünen geladen worden waren, übten bei einer Anhörung im Ausschuss für Europa- und Bundesangelegenheiten und Medienpolitik heftige Kritik an der "Installierung eines umfassenden Medienschutzprogramms für Kinder und Jugendliche im Land Berlin".
(Computing) Trust and security in IT and the internet is one of the critical areas for debate on emerging science and technology, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Lord Sainsbury, minister for science and innovation, has launched a £ 1.2m grant scheme to increase debate on six key areas by funding projects that help the public and scientists to work together.
(New York Times) How big a deal will Skype turn out to be? I have no idea whether the company itself, which was founded one year ago, will someday come to epitomize and dominate a particular booming business, the way Google, eBay and Amazon now do. But I feel confident that the service it provides will be attractive to most people who give it a serious look. Skype is the most popular and sexiest application of VoIP, voice over Internet protocol. Essentially, it is a way of allowing a computer with a broadband connection to serve as a telephone. This new form of conveying voice messages has so many advantages over traditional systems that the whole telecommunications industry is scrambling to shift traffic onto the Internet.
(BBC) In the UK the telephone area code for cyberspace will be 056. Regulator Ofcom has picked the prefix for customers who sign up to make calls via the internet. Users can also opt for geographic numbers. The decision on numbers comes as Ofcom reveals how it plans to regulate services that use the net rather than the old fashioned telephone network. Ofcom says it will use a light touch when regulating voice over net services to help the new market flourish.
(Publictechnology.net) New results from a British Computer Society survey into the UK's computing habits reveal that Britain has become a country of computer buffs, with about three quarters of the adult population able to demonstrate some experience through access to a computer at home or work; while 80 per cent of us now believe that computers have made a positive contribution to our lives.
(OSCE) 13 - 14 September 2004. In the Decision on Tolerance and Non-Discrimination, Ministers in Maastricht reaffirmed their commitment to promote tolerance and non-discrimination. They decided to follow up the work started at the OSCE Conference on Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, held in Vienna on 4 and 5 September 2003, and welcomed the offer by Belgium to host a second OSCE conference on this subject in Brussels. This Conference aims to build upon the general and specific discussions within the OSCE on racism, xenophobia, discrimination and anti-Semitism that have taken place since the Porto Ministerial Council Meeting in 2002.
(Oxford Internet Institute) Internet Security, Technology and Governance: Problems and Solutions. Mon 11 October 10:00-16:00. London Business School. The meeting is open, but places are limited to enable full participation in discussions. There will be a conference fee of £80 for non-students, and £10 for students. Speakers: David Farber, Carnegie Mellon University, USA; Sonia Livingstone, LSE and ESRC e-Society Programme; Susan Douglas, University of Michigan, USA; Norman Lewis, Director of Technology, Wanadoo Research and Innovation; Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, Member Conseil d'Etat, Head of Le Forum des droits sur I'internet and European Internet Coregulation Network.
(Cullen International) An assessment of key issues in the European Union. Thursday October 14, 2004 - Hotel Amigo, Brussels. The conference will look at how e-commerce regulation may help or hinder business and how industry is responding to it. These questions will be considered in the context of four key subjects: e-payments and m-payments and the regulations applied; the law applicable to online activities; the adequacy and business impact of privacy requirements; selling and buying content for new online and mobile services. Speakers and panellists will include members of the European Parliament, officials actively involved in these questions, major e-commerce and m-commerce stakeholders and leading experts in the field.
(ECTA) 6-8th December 2004, Conrad Hotel, Brussels. ECTA holds its 5th Regulatory Conference in Brussels with Europe's leading regulatory influencers and decision makers. The association expects to attract between 250-300 attendees to this renowned conference. Senior Commission officials, Heads of National Regulatory Authorities, CEOs of leading network operators and Directors of Regulatory and Legal Affairs come together to discuss and debate the most pressing public policy issues. Agenda.
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