Legal and regulatory issues

Computer crime

• CH - Schweizer Polizei-Aktion gegen Kinderpornografie im Internet  +/- Translate

  (Heise) In der gesamten Schweiz wurden in den vergangenen Monaten 109 Verdächtige überprüft, die verdächtigt werden, im Internet kinderpornografisches Material beschafft oder in Verkehr gebracht zu haben. Die Verdächtigen sollen für ihre Aktivitäten Tauschbörsen genutzt haben. Die aktuellen Ermittlungen hatten ihren Ursprung in Norwegen und Italien. Die dortigen Behörden waren im Internet auf verdächtige Aktivitäten von mehreren tausend Personen weltweit gestoßen.

• CH - Studie: Organisierte Internetkriminalität nimmt rapide zu  +/- Translate

  (Heise) Eine Studie, die der Antiviren-Spezialist McAfee in Auftrag gegeben hat, zeigt eine "deutliche Weiterentwicklung der Internetkriminalität". Dabei vollziehe sich ein Trend weg vom "isolierten Computerhacker" und hin zu einer organisierten "Cybermafia", geht aus dem Virtual Criminology Report hervor, der vom Computerkriminologen Peter Troxler von der Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) mit Unterstützung von Behörden in Großbritannien, Frankreich und Deutschland sowie den Niederlanden, Spanien und Italien erstellt wurde.

Consumer protection

• UK - BT flight offer complaints upheld by watchdog  +/-

  (ZDNet UK) The Advertising Standards Authority has criticised BT's offer of a free flight for every new broadband customer. BT suffered a stinging rebuke from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for the poor running of its free flights promotion for new broadband customers. The ASA upheld 11 separate complaints about the offer, after establishing that it had been so badly administered that some BT customers hadn't been able to take the flights to which they were entitled.

Copyright, trademarks and patents

• EU - EC pushes on with patent directive  +/-

  (ZDNet UK) The European Commission looks determined to ignore last week's calls for a rewrite of the software patent directive. Last week the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) of the European Parliament (EP) demanded that the Computer Implemented Inventions Directive (CIID) be started from scratch. The last two weeks have been a rollercoaster ride for those campaigning against the directive. On 4 February, two days after JURI asked for a restart, the Polish Press Agency said that Poland would no longer stop the EU Council from ratifying the directive, although it said it would support any country's request for the directive to be delayed or revised. On 8 February, the Spanish parliament unanimously passed a resolution against the EU Council's proposal for the software patent directive and called on the Spanish government to prevent the ratification of the Council's current proposal. On the same day UEAPME, the European association for small and medium business and crafts, said it welcomed the EP's demand for a restart due to concerns about the threat that the patent directive poses to SMEs. Two days later the Dutch parliament passed a resolution that called on its government to oppose the adoption of the Council's proposal until the EC has decided whether to restart the entire legislative process. Next week, the German parliament will vote on a motion that demands substantial modifications to the Council's present proposal.

• EU - Online consultation on Data protection and DRMs and copyright enforcement  +/-

  (Europa) The Working Party 29 has adopted aWorking Document 104 on data protection issues related to intellectual property rights. The working document recalls the application of the main data protection principles contained in the data protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) in the following two scenarios: First, in the deployment of on-line services using the so-called digital management of rights systems ("DRMs"). Second, in the processing of personal data to conduct investigations of users suspected of copyright infringement. Comments hould be sent by e-mail to markt-privacy-consultations@cec.eu.int until March 31st, 2005.

• FR - Liens commerciaux : Google condamné  +/- Translate

  (legalis.net) Encore une fois, et de manière autrement plus sévère que dans les affaires « Bourse des vols » et « Le Méridien », les juges ont sanctionné le service de liens commerciaux de Google. Par un jugement au fond du 4 février dernier, le TGI de Paris a accepté toutes les demandes de Louis Vuitton en condamnant Google pour contrefaçon de marques, atteinte à sa dénomination sociale ainsi qu´à son nom de domaine et pour publicité trompeuse. Le moteur de recherche, en tant que service publicitaire se voit ordonner le versement de 200 000 euros de dommages et intérêts, assorti d´une exécution provisoire pour 50 % de la somme. Affaire : Louis Vuitton Malletier / Google Dispositif du jugement du TGI de Paris du 4 février 2005

• Microsoft heralds study on customer legal protections  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Microsoft is touting a new study that points out that the software maker offers customers more legal protection against intellectual-property claims than that given by open-source rivals. The report, by IDC analysts Stephen Graham and Alexandrina Boariu, says that Microsoft's policy indemnifying all end users over most types of intellectual-property claims 'effectively raises the stakes for protecting software customers'.

• UK - Patent Office holds software patents definition workshops  +/-

  (out-law.com) The UK Patent Office has launched a series of workshops to find an agreed definition of a controversial term in the beleaguered draft European Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. The workshops will focus on proposals in the draft that software related inventions that make a ?technical contribution? would be eligible for patents.

• US - Court: Hollywood gets P2P giant's server logs  +/-

  (CNET News.com) A Dallas federal court has ordered file-swapping site LokiTorrent.com to shut down and provide Hollywood lawyers with access to its full server logs, including data that could expose hundreds of thousands of people to copyright lawsuits. The Motion Picture Association of America said that it had won a quick court victory against LokiTorrent, and was launching a new round of actions against other online piracy hubs. The data provided by the onetime file-swapping hub would provide 'a roadmap to others who have used LokiTorrent to engage in illegal activities,' the trade group said.

• US - Hollywood sues more P2P networks  +/-

  (MSNBC) Hollywood's major movie studios filed a second round of lawsuits against computer network operators using a relatively new technology that allows people to share films and TV shows on the Internet without permission. The suits, filed by the Motion Picture Association of America, , were filed in jurisdictions across the United States.

Data Protection (privacy)

• US - Students kept under surveillance at school  +/-

  (San Francisco Chronicle) Angry parents, saying their children's privacy rights are being violated, have asked a school board to rescind a requirement that all students wear badges that monitor their whereabouts on campus using radio signals.

Hotlines

• AU - Porn complaints soar  +/-

  (Australian IT) Tne number of hotline complaints to regulators about internet pornography - especially child pornography - has soared more than 300 per cent since the scheme was set up in 2000. But while complaints about pornography on the internet have grown, the number of of pornographic sites hosted in Australia has fallen dramatically, The six-month report on the government's online content co-regulatory scheme recorded 616 complaints to the Australian Broadcasting Authority's Internet Complaints Hotline between January and July last year. Some 380 illegal sites were hosted offshore, with more than 75 per cent originating from the United States and about 10 per cent from Europe. All were referred to makers of internet software filters. The ABA forwarded 24 items of illegal content hosted offshore to the Federal Police to pass details of the sites to police overseas. It also forwarded details of 122 sites to "accredited"content complaints hotlines overseas for referral to relevant law enforcement agencies.

• PL - New hotline joins INHOPE  +/-

  (Press Release) NASK Poland was voted as provisional member of the INHOPE network of hotlines during the INHOPE General Assembly meeting in Amsterdam on 28 Jan 2005. NASK Poland began operating NIFC Hotline Polska on 1 January 2005. INHOPE is an organisation whose mission is to facilitate and co-ordinate the work of Internet hotlines in responding to illegal use and content on the Internet.

Information society and Internet policy

• US - Virtual worlds wind up in real world's courts  +/-

  (MSNBC) A multiplayer online game is sued for allowing its players to dress up like comic book heroes. An upstart company winds up in court for creating a Tijuana sweatshop to manufacture digital weaponry. A funny thing is happening in these sprawling online multiplayer arenas. The ultimate in digital escapism, virtual worlds keep ending up in the ultimate in depressing reality: the courts. To get a handle on the boundaries between virtual worlds and real-world law, MSNBC.com asked Beth Simone Noveck, an associate professor of law at the New York Law School and director of the Institute for Information Law and Policy, to highlight several legal hot buttons as they apply to virtual worlds.

Junk mail (spam)

• European countries launch joint drive to combat "spam"  +/-

  (RAPID) 'Anti-spam' enforcement authorities in 13 European countries have agreed to share information and pursue complaints across borders in a pan-European drive to combat "spam" electronic mail. They will cooperate in investigating complaints about cross-border spam from anywhere within the EU, so as to make it easier to identify and prosecute spammers anywhere in Europe. The voluntary agreement, which establishes a common procedure for handling cross-border complaints on spam, has been drawn up by the contact network of spam enforcement authorities (CNSA). The CNSA facilitates the sharing of information and best practices in enforcing anti-spam laws between the national authorities of EU Member States and of the EEA.

Mobile and wireless

• EU - Users choke on mobile spam  +/-

  (The Register) Consumers are more likely to change their operator than their mobile number to dodge the growing nuisance of text message spam. More than eight in 10 mobile phone users surveyed in a study by Switzerland's University of St.Gallen and mobile services firm bmd wireless have received unsolicited mobile messages. Four in five (83 per cent) of telecoms industry representatives polled in the survey reckon mobile spam will be a critical issue within the next two years. With complaints about mobile phone spam on the rise, both consumers and operators see mobile operator self-regulation as the most effective means of combating mobile spam. Customer-initiated actions are perceived to be less effective.

Rating and filtering

• UK unfurls ratings system for adult content on mobiles  +/-

  (The Register) The long-awaited classification framework for adult content on mobile phones was launched yesterday by the Independent Mobile Classification Body (IMCB), a subsidiary of ICSTIS. The classification has been designed to be 'consistent, as far as is possible' with standards already used in film and game classification. The onus is now on the content providers to classify all the commercial content they supply according to these guidelines. If they do not, they risk breaching the terms of the contract with their mobile operator client, who is then responsible for enforcing the rules.

Safer Internet awareness

• EU - Safer Internet Day  +/-

  (RAPID) On 8 February, Safer Internet Day will be celebrated by 65 organisations in 30 countries across the world from Australia to Iceland, and Russia to Singapore. Safer Internet Day 2005, held under the patronage of Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding, features an Internet adventure storytelling contest for children in 19 countries and 16 languages, to be judged in June 2005. Safer Internet Day is part of a global drive by awareness-raising partners to promote a safer Internet for all users, especially young people. It is organised by the European internet safety network INSAFE, which is coordinated by European Schoolnet and co-funded by the European Commission?s Safer Internet Programme. Other Safer Internet Day activities include conferences, the launch of Internet literacy programmes in schools, media releases on radio and television and the launch of several new Safer Internet websites.

• AU - Mobiles, computers potential 'pipelines for perversion'  +/-

  (ZDNet Australia) The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, said that advances in technology are increasing the risks that children will be exposed to illegal and offensive content. Australia joined the international 'Safer Internet Day' to help parents and teachers better understand the risks faced by children when dealing with new technology and teach children how to use the Internet safely. Senator Coonan praised Safer Internet Day and said that such initiatives are 'vital' to make the Internet a safer place for children.

• BE - Un "code de la route" pour Internet  +/- Translate

  (La Libre Belgique) Une campagne européenne veut sensibiliser aux dangers du surf sur Internet. Un «Safer Internet Day» a été décrété par la Commission européenne. Objectif: lancer une vaste campagne - en Belgique mais aussi dans toute l'Europe - de sensibilisation des jeunes aux dangers du surf sur Internet. En Belgique, c'est le Crioc (centre de recherche et d'information des organisations de consommateurs) qui est chargé de coordonner les actions de sensibilisation, en partenariat avec Child Focus, le Centre pour l'égalité des chances et la lutte contre le racisme, l'Association des fournisseurs d'accès à Internet (Ispa) et le CIAOSN (le centre d'information et d'avis sur les organisations sectaires nuisibles).

• EU veranstaltet Tag der Internet-Sicherheit  +/- Translate

  (heise) Die Europäische Union veranstaltet am 8. Februar den diesjährigen "Safer Internet Tag". Im Mittelpunkt stehen Aktivitäten der EU-Mitgliedstaaten zur Förderung der Sicherheit im Internet, insbesondere für Kinder und Jugendliche. Die Aktion ist Teil des mit 45 Millionen Euro ausgestatteten EU-Programms "Mehr Sicherheit im Internet" (Safer Internet plus). "Als EU-Kommissarin für Informationsgesellschaft und Medien ist mir die Sicherheit der Kinder im Netz und in den Medien ein besonderes Anliegen", betonte Viviane Reding, die die Schirmherrschaft des "Safer Internet Tag 2005" übernommen hat. Deutscher INSAFE-Partner ist das Projekt "klicksafe", in dem die Landeszentrale für private Rundfunkveranstalter Rheinland-Pfalz (LPR), die Landesanstalt für Medien NRW (LfM) sowie das Europäische Zentrum für Medienkompetenz (ecmc) zusammenarbeiten.

• FR - Journée européenne pour un Internet plus sûr  +/- Translate

  (www.industrie.gouv.fr) Intervention de Patrick Devedjian, ministre délégué à l'Industrie. Permettez-moi de vous souhaiter la bienvenue ici à Bercy pour le coup d´envoi de cette journée pour un Internet plus sûr. Cette journée est non seulement européenne mais mondiale, puisqu´une trentaine de pays y participent, y compris hors d´Europe, de l´Australie à la Russie, en passant par Singapour ou l´Islande. Elle représente un effort de l´ensemble des acteurs du réseau, en faveur de plus d´un Internet plus sûr pour tous et en particulier pour les enfants. L´initiative de cette journée revient à INSAFE, le réseau européen des organisations travaillant à la sûreté d´Internet, lui-même financé par le programme communautaire pour un Internet plus sûr.

• NZ - Cybersafety idea adopted overseas  +/-

  (Stuff) A New Zealand idea to encourage greater collaboration and debate on internet safety issues has been taken up by Oxford University in England and will now operate on an international stage. The internet safety group NetSafe and Auckland University will be partnering with the Oxford Internet Institute (based within Oxford University) and the European Information Society Group to organise a major international conference in Britain in September. At a time when reports of the apparent risks of the internet get more media coverage, the conference aims to encourage debate around the complex web of issues, assumptions and trade-offs that must be addressed to improve on-line safety and security at a personal, national and international level.

• UK - Internet literacy among children and young people  +/-

  (LSE) The UK Children Go Online project has released its fourth report, which presents findings from the UKCGO survey focusing on young people's online literacy and its relation to the take up of opportunities and risks on the internet.

• UK - Research reviews on Media Literacy  +/-

  (Ofcom) Ofcom has published two research reviews, into the media literacy of children and adults. Ofcom defines media literacy as the ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts. Ofcom has a duty to promote media literacy under Section 11 of the Communications Act 2003. The reviews are: 1) The Media Literacy of Children and Young People: a review of the research literature by Professor David Buckingham (Institute of Education University of London) 2) Adult Media Literacy: A review of the research literature by Professor Sonia Livingstone (Department of Media and Communications, LSE).

Self-regulation / codes of conduct

• DE - Neun Internetseiten für Kinder bekommen "Erfurter Netcode"  +/- Translate

  (heise online) Neun Internetseiten für Kinder werden am 21. Februar mit dem Qualitätssiegel Erfurter Netcode ausgezeichnet. Für besonders gelungene Kinderangebote im Netz geht das Siegel an den ARD/ZDF-Kinderkanal, die Kinderseite von Super RTL, den SWR, den Bayerischen Rundfunk, das ZDF und die Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, an die Greenpeace energy eG, das virtuelle Umweltbildungszentrum des Instituts für Medienpädagogik in Forschung und Praxis (JFF) und das Kinderangebot der Techniker Krankenkasse

Voice over IP

• EU - Regulators favour pro-competitive approach to Internet telephony  +/-

  (Europa) "Voice over Internet Protocol has the potential to radically change the existing market structure": this has been stressed by the European Regulators Group (ERG), which brings together the 25 national regulatory authorities responsible for electronic communication markets. Meeting in Brussels, the ERG adopted a common statement on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services in order to facilitate the roll out and widespread use of Internet telephony in Europe. The European Commission itself favours an EU-wide "light touch" approach to Internet telephony as the best way to encourage competition between internet carriers of telephone traffic and traditional telephone networks.

Market & Technology

Technology

• 'Podcasting' Lets Masses Do Radio Shows  +/-

  (Associated Press) Less than a year old, podcasting enables anyone with a PC to become a broadcaster. It has the potential to do to the radio business what Web logs have done to print journalism. By bringing the cost of broadcasting to nearly nothing, it's enabling more voices and messages to be heard than ever before.

Who's who

• EU - Commission reorganises its Information Society and Media DG  +/-

  (Europa) From 1 February, the Information Society and Media Directorate General of the Commission has two new Directorates and three new Units. This reorganisation completes the changes following President Barroso's decision to bring together under the responsibility of Commissioner Viviane Reding, all three aspects of modern day electronic communications ?in the fields of broadcasting, computer networks and of electronic communication services.

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