- FR - Halte au piratage à grande échelle via Internet ! +/-
(Le Monde) par Luc Besson. Il est un délit maintenant reconnu de tous : celui de visionner des films gratuitement sur son ordinateur via Internet. On appelle ça le "piratage". Le piratage est tout simplement "un vol caractérisé". Il y a 500 000 vols de films par jour en France : 500 000 connexions illégales. Les internautes français détiennent ce triste record du monde. Voilà une bien mauvaise image pour le pays des droits de l'homme. Ces sites ne pourraient exister sans la complicité objective de bon nombre d'acteurs économiques français qui ont un intérêt financier à faire perdurer le système. L'économie du piratage sur Internet est une longue chaîne d'acteurs qui, pour la plupart, n'apparaissent pas au grand jour mais tirent profit de cette activité illégale. Pour que les sites de téléchargement et de streaming soient accessibles aux internautes, il faut tout d'abord trouver un hébergeur. Il arrive que ces hébergeurs soient de nationalité française. Cette prestation, pour un site de streaming tel que BeeMotion.fr, de nationalité canadienne, est assurée par une grande entreprise française de télécommunication, Iliad, par l'intermédiaire de sa marque Free. Voir aussi Luc Besson attaque, beeMotion ferme (Les Numériques)
- SE - Biggest-ever Internet piracy bust claimed in Sweden +/-
(CNET) Swedish police reported making a major Internet piracy bust. Authorities seized computer equipment belonging to a Stockholm-area man whom they suspected of violating local copyright law. The seized server contained 65 terabytes of digital data, consisting of films, TV series, computer programs, and the music equivalent of 16,000 movies, according to the Antipiracy Agency, an organization based in Sweden that's supported by a consortium of film and game organizations to fight Internet piracy.
- SE - How piracy paved the way in Sweden +/-
(CNET) The trial against The Pirate Bay site has begun in Sweden. And while Sweden is depicted by copyright-enforcement groups as piracy's promised land, it is also a nation that experiments with legal music-service alternatives. For years, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and the Motion Picture Association of America have depicted Sweden as rife with digital piracy. During the time leading up to the trial, though, at least three innovative, legal alternatives for listening to digital music have been launched in Sweden: Spotify, Tunerec, and Chilirec. Spotify has forged agreements with organizations such as Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI Music, Warner Music Group, Merlin, The Orchard, and CD Baby, and now offers millions of songs streamed online. See also Pirate Bay: we don't know nothin' about org charts, contracts (Ars Technica) and Pirate Bay Crew Chums Up to Foes Over Lunch (Wired).
- UK - Government seeks international strategy on illegal downloading +/-
(Guardian) The culture secretary, Andy Burnham, is aiming to have the framework of an international strategy to combat illegal internet downloads agreed with the US and European partners by the autumn. Burnham's ambitious plan, part of a five-pronged strategy to bolster the ailing music industry, was outlined by the government minister at a parliamentary reception involving groups including the BPI, which represents UK record companies. The ultimate aim of the plan would be to develop a consensus with other governments that would make the UK's own initiatives to combat internet piracy more likely to succeed. Burnham said the government is seeking a 70% to 80% reduction in illegal downloads with its plans in the UK.
- US - Dell applies to have the term 'netbook' released from Psion ownership +/-
(OUT-LAW News) Dell is trying to have a trade mark owned by rival Psion cancelled because it believes the term 'netbook' is now a generic name for small, cheap computers. Psion applied to register the term as a trade mark in 1996. Dell has filed for cancellation with the US Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO), arguing that the trade mark has been abandoned, that Psion has made false claims in declarations about the trade mark and that the term has now become generic. Psion has recently been asserting its rights to control the term 'netbook' as small, cheap computers become a fast-selling item.
- Cloud Computing and Privacy +/-
(World Privacy Forum) Cloud computing involves the sharing or storage by users of their own information on remote servers owned or operated by others and accessed through the Internet or other connections. Privacy in the Clouds: Risks to Privacy and Confidentiality from Cloud Computing by Robert Gellman outlines its implications for the privacy of personal information as well as its implications for the confidentiality of business and governmental information. See also Cloud Computing Tips for Consumers, Business, and Government.
- EU - Data protection framework decision adopted +/-
(EDRI-gram) The Framework Decision on the protection of personal data processed in the framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters was adopted by the Council and published in the Official Journal on 30 December 2008. The decision is the first horizontal data protection instrument in the field of personal data used by police and judicial authorities and its main purpose is to establish a common level of privacy protection and a high level of security when exchanging personal data. Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the protection of personal data processed in the framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
- EU - EC warns UK government over Phorm foot-dragging +/-
(ZDNet.co.uk) The European Commission has threatened to take formal action against the UK government, which it says has not provided information it needs in its probe into Phorm's behavioural targeted ad-serving technology. The Commission has sent three letters requesting information from the government, but has not received sufficient answers.
- EU - European Push for More Online Rights to Privacy +/-
(IDG News Service) Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will push for a re-think of the balance between the need for security and the right to privacy on the Internet, not just in Europe but around the world. They supported a report which calls on the 27 countries in the European Union and the European Commission, its executive body, to define global standards for data protection, security and freedom of expression. The author of the report, Greek socialist MEP Stavros Lambrinidis, said the move is vital at a time when people's digital identity is becoming an integral part of their actual identity. One specific demand in the report is for a strict definition of a user's "consent" to share his data, given the unequal balance of powers between users, private companies or governments. Another is that the right of access to the Internet should be considered equal to the right to education, and should never be blocked by governments or private companies. The report drew support from academics, civil liberties groups and Europe's data protection supervisor Peter Hustinx, who warned against applying less strict data protection rules to the Internet than the protection expected in daily life. See EP Legislative Observatory.
- EU - Lack of coordination in European eID privacy features +/-
(EDRI-gram) The EU funded European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has issued its Position Paper on security features in European eID schemes, showing a large disparity between the various systems which might affect their usefulness. The paper is an analysis of 10 ID card systems already used in EU and 13 under development. The eID cards are presently used mainly in relation to tax declarations and other e-Gov services with some applications in the commercial sector as well, but their application will largely extend in the future. The study shows that Europe has no coordinated strategy to protect the private data stored on the cards which leads to their lack of interoperability and to reluctance in accepting them by potential users.
- Facebook 'withdraws' data changes +/-
(BBC) The founder of Facebook says the social network will return to its previous terms of service regarding user data. In a blog post Mark Zuckerberg said the move was temporary "while we resolve the issues that people have raised". Users had complained after new terms of service seemed to suggest Facebook would retain personal data even if someone deleted their account. Originally defending the changes, Mr Zuckerberg had said it was to better reflect how people used the site. He had said the changes were made to ensure that if a user deleted his or her account any comments or messages he or she had left on a friend's Facebook page would not also disappear. see also Zuckerberg Responds to Concerns About Facebook's Updated Terms of Service (Inside Facebook), Facebook still showing growing pains by Darren Waters and Facebook's privacy storm by Jonathan Zittrain,Clear English Could Be a Big Winner in the Facebook Affair, Whose data is it anyway? (BBC) and Facebook: You Own All Your Data. Period. (But See You at the Next Privacy Uproar) (TechCrunch).
- Privacy in the Age of Persistence +/-
(Schneier on Security) Welcome to the future, where everything about you is saved. A future where your actions are recorded, your movements are tracked, and your conversations are no longer ephemeral. A future brought to you not by some 1984-like dystopia, but by the natural tendencies of computers to produce data.
- UK - Liberty groups unite to defend rights +/-
(Guardian) The government and the courts are collaborating in slicing away freedoms and pushing Britain to the brink of becoming a "database" police state, a series of sold-out conferences in eight British cities heard. In a day of speeches and discussions, academics, politicians, lawyers, writers, journalists and pop stars joined civil liberty campaigners yesterday to issue a call to arms for Britons to defend their democratic rights. More than 1,500 people, paying £35 a ticket, attended the Convention on Modern Liberty in Bloomsbury, central London, which was linked by video to parallel events in Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff and Cambridge.
- US - FTC Staff Revises Online Behavioral Advertising Principles +/-
(Press Release) Federal Trade Commission staff have issued a report describing its ongoing examination of online behavioral advertising and setting forth revisions to proposed principles to govern self-regulatory efforts in this area. The key issue concerns how online advertisers can best protect consumers' privacy while collecting information about their online activities. See also Targeted Online Advertising: What's the Harm & Where Are We Heading? (Technology Liberation Front) and Privacy groups slam new rules (BBC).
- DE - Familienministerin kämpft an allen Fronten für Kinderporno-Sperren +/-
(Heise) Bundesfamilienministerin Ursula von der Leyen hat im Vorfeld einer Anhörung im Unterausschuss Neue Medien des Bundestags erneut die Werbetrommel gerührt für ihre heftig umstrittene Forderung nach Sperrungen kinderpornographischer Webseiten durch die Internetprovider. Die heftige Kritik aus Reihen der Internetwirtschaft und von Rechtsexperten bezeichnete die CDU-Politikerin als reines "Ablenkungsmanöver". Siehe auch DE - Rechtsprofessor kritisiert Vertragsentwurf für Kinderporno-Sperren, CCC veröffentlicht Vertragsentwurf zum Sperren von Kinderpornographie, Siehe auch Kinderporno-Sperren im internationalen Vergleich und DE - Arbeitsgruppe zu Kinderporno-Sperren ergebnislos vertagt.
- FR - Sites pédopornographiques: Sarkozy veut bloquer, les FAI d'accord +/-
(AFP) Le président Nicolas Sarkozy a souhaité la création d'une "liste noire" des sites pédopornographiques sur internet et que les fournisseurs d'accès les bloquent, ce que ces derniers ont accepté, tout en s'interrogeant sur le coût du filtrage des sites. Dans l'après-midi, les fournisseurs d'accès à internet (FAI) ont fait savoir qu'ils étaient "décidés à bloquer les sites" en question, comme le leur a demandé le président, a assuré la Fédération française des télécoms. Voir aussi Recommandation « Les enfants du Net III » et Communiqué de presse (Forum des droits sur l'internet).
- IE - Music-swapping sites to be blocked by internet providers +/-
(Sunday Post) Irish internet users are to be blocked from accessing music swapping websites, as internet service providers bow to pressure from the music industry. Eircom, the country's biggest internet provider, is to start blocking its internet customers from accessing music swapping. The country's other internet providers have been told by the Irish Recorded Music Association (Irma) to follow suit or face legal action. If the music industry is successful, Ireland will become the first European country to completely block access to hundreds of file-sharing websites.
- UK - IWF chief: why Wikipedia block went wrong +/-
(ZDNet.co.uk) The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), an organisation set up by internet service providers to monitor child sexual abuse websites, caused a furore in December when it attempted to block a page on online collaborative encyclopaedia Wikipedia. Through a combination of technical factors, people wishing to edit Wikipedia were blocked from doing so, causing an outcry. The image the IWF tried to block was the LP cover for Virgin Killer, a 1976 album by German rock band Scorpions. Peter Robbins, chief executive of the IWF, talked to ZDNet UK about the fallout from the decision to block the page, and whether self-regulation of internet content is effective.
- UK - Online child abuse image warning +/-
(BBC) Children's charities have expressed "serious concerns" many UK households still have access to images showing child sex abuse via their computers. The government had asked all internet service providers (ISPs) to block illegal websites by the end of 2007. But firms providing 5% of broadband connections have still failed to act. See also Can we block child abuse sites? (BBC).
- AU - Microsoft, AFP partner for online safety program +/-
(PC World) The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Microsoft have brought the ThinkUKnow education program to Australia. The program, which originated in the UK, is aimed at educating parents and teachers about how to keep kids away from online predators and other threats.
- CA - Respect Yourself website +/-
(Cybertip.ca) Welcome to Cybertip.ca's Respect Yourself website. Many safety campaigns geared at teens focus on the stereotypical sex offenders - creepy strangers preying on innocent, confused youth. This site has been created to remind users that there are other, more common concerns when it comes to your safety and the Internet. One of the most overlooked issues with the Internet has to do with sending pictures/video of yourself by email or instant messaging (IM), or posting them to a social networking or photo sharing site. Once these pictures/video are sent, there's no way for you to regain full control. Voir aussi: Respecte-toi.
- FR - Pedagojeux.fr invite les parents à mieux appréhender les jeux vidéo +/-
(Vnunet.fr) "Le temps du jeu", "La violence et le jeu", "La dépendance présumée au jeu" - Voici quelques-uns des thèmes abordés par Pedagojeux.fr, le nouveau site d'information sur les jeux vidéo destiné aux familles. L'ergonomie du site est agréable et la navigation aisée grâce à six onglets ("Sujets sensibles", "Jeu et rapports sociaux", "Bien choisir son jeu", "Équipements", "Aspects financiers", "Droits et devoirs") et grâce à un moteur de recherche efficace. Pendant neuf mois, un comité de pilotage, composé de la DIF, du programme Internet sans Crainte (soutenu par la Communauté Européenne), du FDI, de l'Unaf, de l'association Action Innocence, du Sell, de Microsoft, de Bayard Jeunesse et de Jeuxonline, s'est réuni. Une poignée de scientifiques a été consultée pour la réalisation du site ou a directement contribué.
- Sex, lies and the internet +/-
(Economist) Safety tips for parents on protecting kids from harassment in cyberspace - with strong criticism of Google for hiding e-mail senders' IP addresses.
- 29% of European Teenagers are victims of online bullying +/-
(Microsoft) Almost a third (29%) of European teenagers have been bullied on the internet according to new research by Microsoft. The research, which examines the rise in social media and the habits and attitudes of European teenagers, was released today in support of Safer Internet Day and the launch of a new Microsoft volunteering programme designed to educate children, parents and teachers on safe internet use. See also Teens targeted in net safety push(BBC).
- EU - UK parents do most in Europe to protect their children online +/-
(EU Kids Online) A study released for Safer Internet Day 2009 shows that Britons take more practical action to screen their children from the dangers of the internet than anyone else in the EU. They are most likely to use filtering software (77 per cent) and most likely to talk to their children about what they do online (87 per cent). The survey, conducted for the European Commission and analysed by the EU Kids Online research project at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), shows that British parents still worry about internet safety - with 59 per cent concerned about the dangers of their children seeing sexual or violent content. However in France the highest - the figure is 88 per cent while in Portugal and Greece it is 84 and 81 per cent respectively.
- Facebook's "In-House Sociologist" Shares Stats on Users' Social Behavior +/-
(Inside Facebook) The famous Dunbar number, or "theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships", is generally accepted to be about 150. However, in a recent interview with The Economist, Cameron Marlow, a research scientist at Facebook, shared some interesting stats on Facebook users' social behavior patterns. His findings: while many people have hundreds friends on Facebook, they still only actively communicate with a small few. Or to quote the author of the article, "Humans may be advertising themselves more efficiently. But they still have the same small circles of intimacy as ever." see also Primates on Facebook (Economist).
- FR - Moins d'un tiers des parents parle systématiquement d'internet avec leur enfant +/-
(IPSOS) A l'occasion du Safer Internet Day organisé par la Commission Européenne (journée européenne d'encouragement à une utilisation plus sûre et plus responsable d'Internet chez les jeunes) l'association e-Enfance, en partenariat avec l'institut IPSOS, publie la première étude française exhaustive sur l´attitude des parents face à l'utilisation d'Internet, du mobile et des jeux vidéo (enquête réalisée en novembre 2008 sur un échantillon représentatif de la population française auprès des parents d´enfants entre 6 et 18 ans).
- Report: Most Spam Sites Tied to Just 10 Registrars +/-
(Washington Post) Nearly 83 percent of all Web sites advertised through spam can be traced back to just 10 domain name registrars, according to a study. The data come from millions of junk messages collected over the past year by Knujon ("no junk" spelled backwards and pronounced "new john"), an anti-spam outfit that tries to convince registrars to dismantle spam sites.
- TR - Experts warn parents of threat Internet poses to children +/-
(Sunday's Zaman) According to a study conducted by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) in August 2008, 24.47 percent of households in Turkey are online. Internet connections are becoming ubiquitous, and a large number of children are using the Internet on a daily basis to browse Web pages, chat, connect to peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and participate in online forums. Parents and teachers encourage children to use computers to prepare them for the future. Some teachers even assign homework that requires students to search for information on the Internet. According to experts, the most widespread threat against children on the Internet is "accessing inappropriate content."
- UK - BBFC: 74% of parents want independent ratings +/-
(GamesIndustry.biz) The BBFC has published the results of a survey revealing that three quarters of British parents are concerned about the content of videogames and want independent ratings. The survey, conducted by YouGov for the BBFC, revealed that 79 per cent of parents believe that videogames affect children's behaviour, 74 per cent wanted games to be regulated by an independent body, and 82 per cent felt it would be beneficial if videogames used the same ratings as films and DVDs. "This poll clearly shows parents support a regulatory system for games that is independent of the industry and UK based, reflecting UK sensibilities and sensitivities," said David Cooke, director of the BBFC. See also ELSPA: 'PEGI is still the right solution for child safety' (MCV) and Why the BBFC gaming survey is hokum (TechRadar).
- UK - Cyberbullying affects one in three kids +/-
(TechRadar) A survey by an anti-bullying charity has discovered that one in three youngsters could have been the victim of cyberbullying. A poll of 2,000 11 to 18-year-olds by BeatBullying discovered an alarming growth in the use of technology like social networking sites and SMS messaging. Girls are four times more likely to be on the receiving end of cyberbullying than boys. The research was released to boost the profile of BeatBullying's CyberMentors campaign, which has been backed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
- UK - Facebook and MySpace are 'most popular places to find love' +/-
(Daily Telegraph) Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Friends Reunited have taken over from pubs and nightclubs as the most popular place to find love, it has emerged. One in four British people are dating - or have dated - someone they met through online community websites. And over a third have got back in touch with an old flame through the sites. One in ten have even had gone a step further and had an affair or a one-night stand with someone they met via a social networking site.
- US - Herdict Web - the verdict of the herd +/-
(Berkman Center) We invite everyone to explore Herdict Web and participate by reporting websites that they cannot access, testing sites that others have reported, or downloading the browser add-on for reporting sites on the fly. Using Herdict Web, anyone anywhere can report websites as accessible or inaccessible. Herdict Web aggregates reports in real time, permitting participants to see if inaccessibility is a shared problem, giving them a better sense of potential reasons for why a site is inaccessible. Trends can be viewed over time, by site and by country. The brainchild of Professor Jonathan Zittrain, Herdict Web builds out from the OpenNet Initiative's research on global Internet filtering. The OpenNet Initiative tests Internet filtering through an academic methodology. Herdict Web takes a different approach, crowdsourcing reports to learn about and display a real-time picture of user experiences around the globe.