Legal and regulatory issues

Competition

• EU - Commission clears one-stop agreements for the licensing of TV and radio music via the Internet  +/-

  (RAPID) An antitrust exemption granted by the European Commission will introduce more competition for European television and radio companies, which simultaneously broadcast music shows on the Internet. Under the new rules, broadcasters can get a single 'one-stop shop' licence from royalty collecting agencies to cover Internet broadcasts across most of the 18-nation European Economic Area (EEA) replacing the old system where they need to secure a license from each national copyright administration and collecting societies. The new system will also boost competition among the societies that collect the royalties on behalf of the music industry notably in terms of the fees they charge. see Notice pursuant to Article 19(3) of Council Regulation No 17 ( 1 ) concerning an application for negative clearance or exemption under Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/C2/38.014 IFPI ‚ Simulcasting). see also EU to boost Web music broadcasts (Reuters ).

• EU - Competition in the markets for electronic communications  +/-

  (Eur-Lex) Commission Directive 2002/77/EC of 16 September 2002 on competition in the markets for electronic communications networks and services (pdf). The Directive replaces Commission Directive 90/388/EEC and consolidates its provisions as amended while making further amendments in the areas of: exclusive and special rights for electronic communications networks and electronic communications services; vertically integrated public undertakings; rights of use of frequencies; directory services; universal service obligations; satellites; cable television networks.

• EU - M6 v Commission, Gestevisión Telecinco v Commission and SIC v Commission  +/-

  (ECJ) Judgment of the Court of First Instance in Joined Cases T-185/00, T-299/00 and T-300/0. The Commission was wrong to conclude that, even in a market limited to certain major international sporting events, the sub-licensing system set up by the EBU guarantees access to Eurovision rights for third parties competing with EBU members. see judgement in French.

• EU - The Economics of Antitrust in the Telecommunications sector  +/-

  (Europa) Documents relating to the conference held at Brussels on 16 September 2002

• US - Rivals: Microsoft is up to old tricks  +/-

  (AP) As Microsoft awaits court approval of its landmark antitrust settlement with the government, the company has angered some competitors by tightly limiting the technical data it promised to release.

Computer crime

• CA - Ontario steps up attack on Internet child porn  +/-

  (Globe and Mail) The Ontario government will provide $2-million to the Toronto Police Service to help address the problem of child pornography on the Internet.

• ES - Nigerian email scam broken up  +/-

  (Sydney Morning Herald) Spanish police have smashed a Nigerian-led scam that reaped up to €20 million ($A36.15 million) by duping Internet chat enthusiasts and other victims into paying seed money for access to safety deposit boxes supposedly full of dollars. police arrested five Nigerians, a British man, a Spanish woman and a minor whose nationality was not disclosed, the Civil Guard said.

• EU - Accord on child pornography  +/-

  (FT) European Union justice ministers agreed EU-wide rules to combat child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children, bringing protracted negotiations to an end. The agreement includes common definitions of sexual crimes against children and harmonises the range of penalties national courts can impose on offenders, to prevent the emergence of "safe haven" states where penalties are less severe. see Draft Council Framework Decision on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography Report.

• IRE - Child porn task force on verge of collapse  +/-

  (Irish Examiner) Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe (COPINE) a group set up to tackle child pornography on the Internet is on the verge of collapse because the Government is not providing enough funding, a conference heard.

• NZ - New computer lab will help trace child porn  +/-

  (New Zealand Herald) A new computer laboratory was opened to help the unit that tracks down illegal pornography on the internet.

• UK - Fake bank website cons victims  +/-

  (BBC) West African criminals have used a fake version of a British bank's online service to milk victims of cash, say police. The fake site was used to squeeze more money out of people they had already hooked.

• UK - Six Britons held in worldwide internet porn crackdown  +/-

  (Ananova) Six British men are being held as part of a worldwide police operation targeting a sophisticated Internet paedophile ring. The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit says the men are suspected of being involved in the Shadows Brotherhood ring. A total of 46 warrants were executed in the operation, including 31 searches in Germany, two in Holland, three in Belgium, one in Spain and two in Italy.

• US - Judge Vacates Child Porn Guilty Plea  +/-

  (New York Law Journal) A defendant's guilty plea to a charge of receiving child pornography has been vacated because he was not asked whether he knew the images he received were of actual children rather than simulated child pornography.

• World cybercrime experts see need for laws, ties  +/-

  (Reuters) Top international cyber-crimebusters wrapped up a three-day conference in South Korea, the world's most wired country with a call for greater global cooperation to fight online offences. Senior cyber-crime police officers from 37 countries agreed at a meeting in South Korea that worldwide investigations were needed to chase online criminals who operate with little regard for state frontiers.

Consumer protection

• AU - ACCC warning to domain name resellers  +/-

  (Sydney Morning Herald) The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned domain name resellers against misleading and deceptive conduct. This follow orders obtained in Federal Court proceedings brought by the ACCC against a comapny which had sent unsolicited invoices to small businesses throughout Australia seeking payment for domain name services including the registration and renewal of domain names. The orders include injunctions restraining Internet Name Group from engaging in conduct that is misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive, in connection with Internet domain names.

• US - California - Service providers win one, lose one  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Gov. Gray Davis has signed a bill that requires e-mail service providers to give 30 days' notice before shutting down e-mail accounts. The law does not apply in situations where an account holder has violated the terms of service or when service is interrupted for reasons beyond the e-mail provider's control. The governor subsequently vetoed a more sweeping bill that would have enacted the same restriction on ISPs (Internet service providers). The governor called the bill "well intentioned" but said it failed to provide sufficiently for cases of consumer misconduct or technical mishap.

Content regulation

• FI - Parliament to ponder supervision of internet  +/-

  (Helsingin Sanomat) The Finnish Parliament is debating changes to the legislation on freedom of speech. In future, the law is due to cover the internet in addition to traditional media. According to the bill, a court could order an online publication to remove messages or news items with illegal content from the page. The same rules could also be applied to the home pages of private individuals. All online publications would need to name an editor-in-chief, who would be responsible for the content published on the site.

• FR - French to clamp down on porn with 'full-frontal' tax  +/-

  (Guardian) The French centre-right government is to impose a 93% supertax on porn films as part of what opponents say is a repressive moral crusade aimed at cleaning up the country's longstanding image of cultural permissiveness. Porn film producers and distributors already pay a 33% special tax on top of France's standard corporate tax of 33%. Under the new law, the special tax is to be increased to 60%.

• UAE Minister Criticizes Internet Censorship  +/-

  (Reuters) A United Arab Emirates minister, in a rare criticism of government censorship in the Gulf, called on Saturday for unfettered access to the Internet in the UAE. "The government should not enforce censorship on the individual," said UAE Information and Culture Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zaid al-Nahayan, a son of the country's president. Sheikh Abdullah, who heads a ministry that censors books and other publications entering the Gulf Arab state, said the UAE's sole Internet Service Provider (ISP) should not block access to Web sites.

• UK - Government bans mobile porn  +/-

  (Sunday Telegraph) The Government has ordered mobile telephone operators to create systems for blocking the transmission of hardcore pornographic images to next generation or 3G mobile phones. Ministers have said they would create an official "content" regulator for the industry if this self-regulation does not work. The Home Office is concerned that the advent of picture messaging, which is becoming widely available, will encourage distribution of pornography and could pose a threat to the young and vulnerable. Mobile internet access is expected to be much more popular with so-called 2.5G and 3G services because of the speed and high-definition picture quality they provide. Many people believe porn will be a popular application and source of revenue.

• UK - Satirical paedophile website claims legal victory  +/-

  (Guardian) Satirical website thinkofthechildren.co.uk today claimed victory in a battle against the obscene publications unit of the Metropolitan police, which had previously forced the site's closure, despite the lack of a court order. Mr Carr has now received an assurance that Host Europe will continue to host Think of the Children as long as the content does not break UK law. see also Think of the censors (Spiked).

• US - Fighting Net Censorship Abroad  +/-

  (Wired) Washington lawmakers are considering legislation that would allocate $100 million to thwart Internet censorship by authoritarian regimes. Rep. Chris Cox (R-Calif.) introduced a bill that would establish an Office of Global Internet Freedom to foster development of censorship-busting technology for users in countries including China and Saudi Arabia. The bill would allocate $50 million each for 2003 and 2004.

Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology

• Access to technical bottleneck facilities: the new European approach  +/-

  (IViR) by Natali Helberger. see also The Evolution of Access Bottlenecks in Europe: Re-Locating the Regulatory Issues (Communications & Strategies) by Martijn POEL & Richard HAWKINS TNO, Institute for Strategy, Technology and Policy, The Netherlands and Future Bottlenecks in the Information Society (IPTS) Report to the European Parliament, Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (ITRE).

• Governments should not push flawed digital terrestrial TV - report  +/-

  (Europemedia.net) Europe's digital terrestrial TV (DTT) isn't quite dead, but it's barely surviving. Because its inherent limitations make it unprofitable, governments should give up their plans of forcing DTT rollouts and let market forces determine the analogue switch-off date, according to a new brief by Forrester Research.

• Italy proposes new media law  +/-

  (Zini & Associates) Italy’s Ministry Council approved the proposed new law which revamps the media structure in Italy. The main changes introduced by the new law are as follows: the cross-ownership of television, broadcast and print media is no longer prohibited; no single entity or individual can have more than 20% of the total revenue from the "integrated communications system", which comprises: TV and radio broadcasting, written publications, the film industry, photography and marketing, regardless of the communication channel used, with the exclusion of the voice telephony market and the three television channels owned by the state (RAI) will be progressively privatized starting in 2004. The state will maintain a controlling share and no private party will hold more than 1% of the company’s capital stock.

Copyright, trademarks and patents

• Coming to terms with copyright  +/-

  (News.com) Anyone interested in the future direction of technology should pay attention to a case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear. Technically, the oral arguments are about the fate of a federal law called the Copyright Term Extension Act, which extends the duration of all U.S. copyrights for 20 years. But what the Supreme Court decides in this case, Eldred v. Ashcroft, could create ripple effects that spread throughout the technology industry and shape what kind of software and hardware products are legal to create and sell. See Eldred v. Ashcroft - Transcript of Supreme Court oral argument. see also Showdown between copyright, First Amendment turns into sideshow (freedomforum.org).

• DE - Bundesrat will Urheberrechtsnovelle ändern  +/- Translate

  (Heise) Mit der Mehrheit der unionsgeführten Länder hat der Bundesrat zahlreiche Änderungen am Regierungsentwurf zur geplanten Novelle des Urheberrechts beschlossen. Die Empfehlungen des Bundesrates tragen dafür deutlich die Handschrift der Interessensverbände. So sollen die Urheber künftig gezwungen werden, sogenannte technische Schutzmaßnahmen (Digital Rights Management) einzusetzen. Kreative, die auf solche Kopierschutzmaßnahmen verzichten, sollen nach Vorstellung der IIT-Lobby und des Bundesrates künftig keine Pauschalvergütung mehr erhalten.

• FR - Les industries culturelles accusent France Telecom de piraterie  +/- Translate

  (AFP) Le Comité de liaison des industries culturelles (CLIC) "dénonce avec la plus extrême vigueur le comportement scandaleux de certains fournisseurs d'accès qui n'hésitent pas à se faire le chantre du téléchargement illicite de musique et de video pour accroître leur trafic". Dans un communiqué publié samedi, le CLIC -qui regroupe une trentaine des principaux syndicats et sociétés civiles du secteur culturel- accuse notamment France Telecom/Wanadoo. Le comité épingle aussi le fournisseur Tiscali "qui vient de conclure un accord avec le service d'échange illicite de fichiers musicaux KaZaA".

• Hollywood chases down campus pirates  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Trade groups for the movie and recording industries are putting new pressure on universities to crack down on file-swapping by students using high-speed campus networks. In a letter sent to more than 2,000 university presidents, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and other copyright owner trade groups told university officials that large numbers of students were using college resources to violate federal law. see also Students' file sharing overloads college networks (AP).

• US - Copyright law open for comment  +/-

  (ZDNet) The United States Copyright Office is launching a rare round of public comment on rules that bar people from breaking through digital copy-protection technology on works such as music, movies, software or electronic books. Regulators aren't looking to change the law, but they are looking for public suggestions on what kinds of activity should be legalized in spite of the rules.

• US - MPAA sues online DVD seller  +/-

  (CNET News.com) The Motion Picture Association of America has sued a Minnesota-based Web site for allegedly selling pirated DVDs on the Internet. The MPAA alleged that online retailer eDiscountTech.com willfully sold illegal copies of DVDs on its Web site and through eBay. According to the suit, the DVDs were purchased by eDiscountTech from a seller in Malaysia.

Data Protection (privacy)

• FR - La CNIL tenue à l'écart du projet de loi pour la sécurité intérieure  +/- Translate

  (Le Monde) Les conditions de l'élaboration du projet de loi pour la sécurité intérieure posent sérieusement la question de l'utilité de la CNIL. A aucune étape du processus de rédaction du texte, elle n'a en effet été sollicitée. Parmi les dispositions du texte, il est notamment prévu que le fichier des empreintes génétiques sera élargi aux suspects de délits.

• U.S. tech protests EU privacy laws  +/-

  (ZDNet UK) A group of American companies is attempting to persuade the European Union to relax its rules governing data protection, claiming they are bad for business. The Global Privacy Alliance (GPA) and whose members include IBM, Oracle and VeriSign, wants several significant changes to be made to EU privacy laws - the simplification of the cross-border flow of data, possibly through industry self-regulation rather than legislation; the harmonization of EU privacy regulation between member states; the relaxation of restrictions on data sharing between affiliate companies, and the exclusion of 'business contact data' from such laws.

• US - Privacy groups target Amazon again  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Arguing that Amazon.com is not doing enough to protect customer privacy, two privacy groups, , Junkbusters and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), are urging state and federal regulators to force the e-tail giant to live up to past privacy promises and allow customers to view and delete their personal records. Amazon still holds the option of selling its customer database and it refuses to give customers access to all the data it holds on them and refuses to delete their past purchase records.

Domain names

• ICANN Board Selects New .org Registry Operator  +/-

  (Press Release) The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board of Directors voted to select the proposal submitted by the Internet Society (ISOC) for a new registry operator of the .org top-level domain, to replace VeriSign.

e-Government

• EU - Secrecy and openness in the European Union  +/-

  (freedominfo.org) The ongoing struggle for freedom of information by Tony Bunyan, Statewatch.

• EU - The misuse of data protection rules in the European Union  +/-

  (European Ombudsman) The European Ombudsman is concerned that data protection rules, especially Regulation 45/2001, are being diverted from their proper purpose of helping to ensure respect for the individual right to privacy as laid down by Article 8 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights: Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. Instead, they are being used to undermine the principle of openness in public activities.

• FI - Government Web portal for Information Society  +/-

  (eFinland) eFinland is built and maintained in co-operation with Ministry of transport and Communications, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, National Technology Agency (Tekes), Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (Sitra) and Finnish Information Society Development Centre. see also eBusiness | eGovernment | Education & Culture | Mobility | R&D.

• GPS: Keeping Cons Out of Jail  +/-

  (Wired) An electronic tracking system that follows suspects and criminals around their neighborhoods and compares the information to current crimes has received, of all things, the stamp of approval from the American Civil Liberties Union. The Global Positioning System's satellites track probationers and parolees and compare their whereabouts to the location of crimes committed in their vicinity.

• UK - Fears raised over e-voting  +/-

  (BBC) Rebecca Mercuri, one of the world's leading experts on electronic voting is warning the government that computer polls cannot be trusted.

• US - Net forces scrutiny of open records  +/-

  (CNN) Before the Internet, though, public records were essentially private because of their obscurity. Now governments are examining what information should be made public, or whether different rules should apply to electronic documents.

Electronic commerce

• US - Hands off of Net shopping  +/-

  (CNet News.com) Americans shopping on the Internet have an unlikely friend who is beginning to fight for lower prices on their behalf: Uncle Sam. It's easy to beat up on the federal government, and many criticisms are justified. But occasionally, once every few decades or so, the federal government does something worthwhile. And striving toward cheaper products and more efficient online markets is entirely praiseworthy. In this case, the federal government is fighting against tax-happy state legislators. The latter are becoming increasingly worried about their residents buying cheaper products over the Internet--and not paying state sales taxes or funneling purchases through local campaign-contributing businesses. Prohibitions vary, but products that can't be legally purchased online in some states include cars, fine wine, funeral caskets--and even contact lenses.

• US - House passes Internet gambling bill  +/-

  (AP) The House tried to strike a blow against Internet gambling with passage of a bill to make it illegal to use credit cards or any form of electronic payment for the illegal offshore activity. It now goes to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future because only a few weeks are left in the legislative session.

Information society and Internet policy

• Oxford Internet Institute : les sages se penchent sur le Net  +/- Translate

  (Le Monde) Dans quelle mesure Internet change-t-il nos modes de vie ? C'est pour répondre à ces questions mêlant sociologie, politique et haute technologie qu'Oxford accueille son "Institut Internet". Ouvert à tous les chercheurs, l'institut est pluridisciplinaire. Et les travaux de réflexion ont déjà commencé.

Interception

• How mobile phones let spies see our every move  +/-

  (Observer) Secret radar technology research that will allow the biggest-ever extension of 'Big Brother'-style surveillance in the UK is being funded by the Government. The radical new system, which has outraged civil liberties groups, uses mobile phone masts to allow security authorities to watch vehicles and individuals 'in real time' almost anywhere in Britain.

• US - DOJ responds to House on Patriot Act  +/-

  (CNET News.com) The public got a look at the most extensive report to date on how the U.S. Justice Department has used a 2001 anti-terrorism law to conduct Internet and electronic surveillance. In four letters to Congress, totaling 61 pages, Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant said the USA Patriot Act has "provided critical assistance to the efforts of the department and the administration against terrorists and spies in the U.S." Powers awarded to federal police by the act have made it easier to obtain court orders to spy on cable-modem users, Bryant said. The act has also made it possible for FBI field offices to install wiretaps at Internet companies that are not in their jurisdiction, he said. In addition, airlines now receive full access to the FBI's list of suspected terrorists through a secure Internet site.

Liability, jurisdiction and applicable law

• DE - Internet-Branche fürchtet Zensur nach Düsseldorfer Sperrungsverfügungen  +/- Translate

  (Heise) Festgefahrene Fronten in der Diskussion um die Sperrungsverfügungen der Düsseldorfer Bezirksregierung: Die Branche befürchtet Zensur, die Bezirksregierung wehrt sich gegen die Vorwürfe.

• EU - Law Applicable to Non-Contractual Obligations - UK Response  +/-

  (Lord Chancellor's Department) Response of the Government of the United Kingdom to the European Commission Consultation Preliminary Draft Proposal for a Council Regulation on the Law Applicable to Non-Contractual Obligations (Rome II). The UK expresses doubt about the need for the measuren. The UK submission argues that the Commission has not made any attempt to justify the need for harmonized rules in the area of non-contractual obligations.

Mobile and wireless

• BE - Bientôt la fin pour les voleurs de GSM en Belgique ?  +/- Translate

  (Droit et Nouvelles Technologies) Le Conseil des Ministres a approuvé un projet d'arrêté royal obligeant les opérateurs mobiles à mettre en place un système permettant de combattre des phénomènes de société tels que les vols d'appareils terminaux de téléphonie mobile et, de manière plus générale, les utilisations illicites des réseaux concernés, notamment les fraudes de toutes natures.

• Schärfere Regeln fürs Telefonieren im Auto  +/- Translate

  (Heise) Jetzt gelten europaweit strengere Vorschriften für Handy-Freisprecheinrichtungen im Auto. Danach dürfen künftig nur noch Einrichtungen verkauft werden, die auf elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit mit der empfindlichen Bordelektronik vieler PKWs getestet wurden und ein "e"-Prüfzeichen besitzen.

• UK - Porn through SMS now in Britain  +/-

  (Reuters) Global porn purveyor Private Media has launched an adult-oriented wireless portal for British mobile phone users. see also Porn Producer launches x-rated wireless portal (Mobile Commerce World).

Protection of minors

• China bars minors from Web cafes  +/-

  (Reuters) China barred minors from entering Internet cafes, issuing new rules to govern the shops the state accuses of poisoning the minds of urban youth. leaders. The cafes are hugely popular for video games and Web services. The new rules also prevent the construction of cybercafes within 650 feet of elementary and middle schools,

• DE - Bundesrat fordert Verbesserung des Kinder- und Jugendschutzes  +/- Translate

  (Pressemitteilung) Auf Antrag des Freistaates Bayern hat der Bundesrat den Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Änderung des Jugendschutzgesetzes beim Deutschen Bundestag eingebracht. Vorgesehen ist im Einzelnen ein Vermietverbot schwer jugendgefährdender Bildträger (Videofilme, DVDs, Video- und Computerspiele), ein Verbot von Videoverleihautomaten und von Killerspielen wie Gotcha, Paintball und Laserdrome. Kindern und Jugendlichen unter 16 Jahren soll das Spielen an Bildschirmgeräten ohne Gewinnmöglichkeit in der Öffentlichkeit nicht gestattet sein

• DE - Koalitionsvertrag unterzeichnet: "Erneuerung, Gerechtigkeit, Nachhaltigkeit"  +/- Translate

  (REGIERUNGonline) Die Regierungsparteien haben am 16. Oktober in Berlin den neuen Koalitionsvertrag unterzeichnet. siehe Kinder und Jugendlich stärken und schützen Wir werden uns für die Schaffung europa- und weltweiter Mindeststandards des Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutzes einsetzen und den UNESCO-Gipfel zur Informationsgesellschaft 2004 nutzen, um auf internationaler Ebene den Jugendschutz voran zu bringen. Zukünftig werden außerdem Maßnahmen zur Stärkung der Medienkompetenz sowohl für Eltern als auch für Kinder und Jugendliche im Vordergrund unserer Aktivitäten stehen. siehe auch Kultur- und Medienpolitik Es sind Instrumente der "regulierten Selbstregulierung" aufzubauen, die zu einer Reduktion der Gewaltdarstellungen in allen Medien führen, wobei die Besonderheiten der jeweiligen Medien berücksichtigt werden (z. B. Offlinemedien, Online-medien, Printmedien). Das Hauptaugenmerk beim Umgang mit Gewalt in den Medien sollte auf dem Ausbau der Medienerziehung von Kindern und Jugendlichen liegen, dessen Ziel der bewusste und verantwortliche Umgang mit den Medien ist.

• Die Landesmedienanstalten und der Jugendschutz im Internet  +/- Translate

  (Hiese) Das eigentliche Problem der Jugendmedienschutzkommission (KJM), die im Frühjahr kommenden Jahres ihre Arbeit aufnehmen wird, sieht Wolf-Dieter Ring, Präsident der Bayerischen Landeszentrale für neue Medien ganz klar im Internet.

• FR - Une nouvelle signalétique à la télévision  +/- Translate

  (Le Monde) Le Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) a présenté la nouvelle signalétique destinée à alerter les parents des jeunes téléspectateurs sur le contenu des émissions. Au plus tard le 18 novembre, sur l'ensemble des chaînes hertziennes, du câble et du satellite, les oeuvres cinématographiques et certains programmes devront être classés en cinq catégories en fonction de leur capacité à « nuire à l'épanouissement physique, mental ou moral » ou à heurter les mineurs par leur caractère violent, érotique ou obscène. voir La protection des mineurs à l'écran et la nouvelle signalétique jeunesse (CSA).

• UK - McDonald's red-faced over restaurant porn blunder  +/-

  (Silicon) A Scottish branch of fast food chain McDonald's has been forced to close down an internet service after customers used the in-store screens to view porn while they ate. Although many of the customers in the fast food restaurant were children, it was still possible to view images of a decidedly adult nature with no restrictions. The branch in Kilmarnock was offering customers 15 minutes of free internet access with every £1.99 breakfast they bought, while others were charged 50p for 15 minutes.

• US - AOL to deliver abducted-children alerts  +/-

  (AP) America Online, will begin transmitting Amber Alerts about abducted children onto the screens of computers, pagers and cell phones of subscribers in dozens of states and cities. Warnings issued across the patchwork of communities that use the system will go to AOL users in those areas who request to receive them.

• US - Retailers shun new 'XXX' video game  +/-

  (Reuters) Major retailers Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and KB Toys have refused to carry a new video game "BMX XXX" by video game publisher Acclaim Entertainment, billed as the first major release to feature full-action nudity and with prostitutes and pimps as major characters. Acclaim's Chief Executive said the critics were being unfair and missing the point of the game, which he said was intended as a kind of spoof along the lines of movie comedies such as "Austin Powers" and "Airplane."

Racism and xenophobia

• AU - Extremist uses Net to bypass anti-racism laws  +/-

  (The West Australian) Right-wing extremist leader Jack van Tongeren used the internet to bypass Australia's tough anti-racism laws within a day of his release from prison. The freed neo-nazi shielded himself from prosecution by operating the Australian Nationalists Movement's publishing and recruitment arms through a United States-based internet company.

Rating and filtering

• UK - Radio Times keeps it in the family  +/-

  (Guardian) Radio Times is launching a family viewing symbol to its listings pages. The icon, depicting two adults and two children, will appear alongside programmes considered suitable for all the family, both before and after the 9pm watershed. An upturn in the number of complaints about TV programmes over the last year demonstrates that it is increasingly difficult for busy parents to judge what their offspring should be watching. The broadcasting standards commission has warned that broadcasters were blurring the boundary of the 9pm watershed.

• Why Online Age Checks Don't Work  +/-

  (Wired) Habitual porn surfers are now used to having to type in a credit card number the first time they visit a site to prove they're over 18. The credit card gateway as age verification standard has been in place ever since the late 1990s, when the Communications Decency Act (CDA) and the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) threatened porn publishers with jail time and fines if they transmitted obscene material to minors. But as any savvy porn surfer will tell you, the age verification systems don't necessarily work

Safer Internet awareness

• TH -The Dangers of the Internet  +/-

  (Prasena) An online survey has identified several risks Thai children face while on the Internet, signaling how a new 'digital divide' is emerging between parents and children, and prompting calls for a better education for everyone about the risks that children face online. The survey, entitled ``Are Our Children at Risk Online?'', was designed by consulting company Prasena and conducted by ECPAT International, an international non-governmental organization based in Bangkok, which seeks to "End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes".

• US - Children's Internet Safety Month  +/-

  (US Senate) A resolution designating the month of October, 2002, as "Children's Internet Safety Month". Sponsor: Sen John McCain.

Security and encryption

• National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace  +/-

  (Counterpane) Crypto-Gram October 15, 2002 by Bruce Schneier. For some reason, Richard Clarke continues to believe that he can increase cybersecurity in this country by asking nicely. This government has tried this sort of thing again and again, and it never works. This National Strategy document isn't law, and it doesn't contain any mandates to government agencies. And consensus doesn't secure anything. Preliminary drafts of the plan included strong words about wireless insecurity, which were removed because the wireless industry didn't want to look bad for not doing anything about it. Preliminary drafts included a suggestion that ISPs provide all their users with personal firewalls; that was taken out because ISPs didn't want to look bad for not already doing something like that.

• US - Cyber chief speaks on Data network security  +/-

  (Boston Globe) President Bush's point man on computer security says that the nation has a long way to go in securing its data networks but that new federal regulations would be a step in the wrong direction. Richard Clarke, head of the White House Office of Cyber Security, also said the government should modify a controversial law designed to prevent exploitation of software security flaws because it can be used to stifle research to improve computer security.

• US - FBI names most wanted security flaws  +/-

  (CNET News.com) With an eye toward taking the ease out of hacking, the FBI and a prestigious computer-security research group have announced the 20 most serious security vulnerabilities affecting both Windows and Unix systems.

Terrorism

• Finnish police check DIY bomb website  +/-

  (BBC) Investigators in Finland say a young man suspected of killing himself and six other people in a bomb attack may have learned how to make an explosive device from the internet. They said they were checking chat rooms to try to find why Petri Gerdt, a shy 19-year-old technology student from a middle-class Helsinki suburb, set off the bomb at a busy shopping centre.

Market & Technology

Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology

• Texting the television  +/-

  (Economist) Interactive TV has taken off in Europe in an unexpected way: via mobile phones. Text messaging has recently overtaken Internet use in Europe. One of the fastest-growing uses of text messaging, moreover, is interacting with television. This is subtly changing the nature of television. Rather than presenting content to viewers, an increasing number of programmes involve content that reacts to the viewer's input. That was always the promise of interactive TV, of course. The success of TV-related texting is a reminder of how easily an elaborate technology can be unexpectedly overtaken by a simpler, lower-tech approach. It does not mean that the traditional approach to interactive TV is doomed: indeed, it demonstrates that there is strong demand for interactive services. [Ed: highly recommended].

• DVB - MHP - Home  +/-

  (DVB) Welcome to the DVB-MHP website. We have centralised the work of the DVB Project (www.dvb.org) on the Multimedia Home Platform standard into a compact and informative site that will guide you through all aspects and needs for creation of MHP from the technical specifications, commercial requirements and on to development of content and applications.

e-Learning

• Langenscheidt: Privatkunden wollen nicht für E-Learning zahlen  +/- Translate

  (Heise) Langenscheidt will vorerst kein E-Learning per Internet für Endverbraucher anbieten. Privatleute seien derzeit nicht bereit, für solche Bildungsangebote zu zahlen. Langenscheidt habe unter anderem Sprach- und Nachschlageliteratur sowie entsprechende Software im Programm und konzentriere sich mit E-Learning-Angeboten auf Firmenkunden, bei denen ein "erheblicher Bedarf" vorhanden sei.

Internet access and use

• UK - Cost of broadband falling  +/-

  (BBC) Fast internet access in the UK is getting cheaper, with two companies offering broadband for less than £20 a month. Both Tiscali and Freeserve are offering a low-cost always-on high-speed net service in what could be the start of a broadband price war.

Junk mail (spam)

• Spam Blocker Has Opposite Effect  +/-

  (Wired) Users of SpamNet, a popular peer-to-peer unsolicited e-mail filtering service, had grown accustomed to virtually junk-free inboxes. So when spam suddenly started pouring in, SpamNet users weren't very happy. Some even began to suspect that SpamNet was nothing more than a scam intended to gather e-mail addresses that could then be sold to spammers.

Market

• Napster or not, file swaps continue  +/-

  (MSNBC) The music industry succeeded in shutting down Napster, but it has failed to even slow free song swapping, new research shows. Some 41 million people traded music online during the first half of 2002, according to San Francisco-based Odyssey research. Worse yet, the increasing popularity of CD burners and portable digital music devices like Apple’s iPod has given consumers yet another way to swap music for free, opening up another hole in the music industry’s leaky copyright dam.

• Net piracy tackled by free music day  +/-

  (Guardian) The British recording industry launches its latest attempt to stem the flood of consumers who are abandoning the legitimate CD market and turning to pirate internet services to download music for free. Rocked by plummeting global sales and the growing realisation that previous anti-piracy efforts have proved woefully inadequate, labels and , labels and distributors will try to tempt back customers with an initiative dubbed the "biggest ever official giveaway of digital music".

• Trendy games industry sheds geek image  +/-

  (Reuters) Most people think video game developers are geeks hidden away in cubicles, gulping soda and munching fast food. Think again. At the trendy and spacious banana-shaped offices of industry giant Electronic Arts, programmers think of themselves as tech-savvy artists.

Mobile and wireless

• Firm says new browser views full Web pages on phones  +/-

  (AP) Opera Software has developed an Internet browser for cell phones and other wireless devices that it claims is a breakthrough because it allows entire pages to be displayed at once.

• Les réseaux sans fil se déploient lentement mais sûrement en Belgique  +/- Translate

  (La Vue du Net) L'aéroport de Zaventem sera le premier espace public belge à user du « Wi-Fi », mais le principe a de plus en plus le vent en poupe

Portals, browsers and search engines

• Perspective: Who needs editors anyway?  +/-

  (News.com) By Larry Dignan . The media navel-gazing over Google's News is getting to be a bit much. Ever since the Google News site launched last month, some media types have worked up a sweat over whether the robot-generated news page means the end of editors. Who could imagine that you don't need an editor to select the top stories of the moment? " I'd argue that the Google News page has better news judgment than most. It's certainly more interesting, drawn from 4,000 sources or so.

• Web portals gear up for fall battle  +/-

  (Reuters) Thought Internet portals were getting boring, cluttered and out of touch? Think again. For those who traded in Yahoo, MSN or AOL for Google as their main home page, the Internet’s major portals are aiming to lure users back with new features and services this fall

Security and encryption

• UK - Handy future for online security  +/-

  (BBC) A credit-card sized device, which could potentially be issued to thousands of citizens, is being heralded as a major breakthrough in the search for establishing secure identification on the internet. Peter Newport, chief executive of the UK company Quizid Technologies, believes he may have found the solution. Launching the Quizid card at the House of Commons in London, he heralded it as a new era in digital authentication.

Standards

• US - Finance firms push messaging standards  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Seven top brokerage firms formally announced a coalition, the Financial Services Instant Messaging Association (FIMA), formerly known as the Instant Messaging Standards Board (IMSB), to promote the adoption of standards in the fragmented instant messenger industry. The committee, which also includes representatives from Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and UBS Warburg, publicly touted its lofty goal of fostering technical harmony among IM providers Yahoo, AOL, MSN and others. For the Wall Street firms, IM is vital for internal and client communications; a lack of IM interoperability has been a source of increasing frustration.

Statistics

• Many worry Net is not safe, study finds  +/-

  (CNN/Money) Americans are using and enjoying the Internet more than ever even though they're still not entirely sure their personal information is secure. Sixty-one percent of all Americans go online at least once a month, compared with 59 percent at the end of 2001, the Conference Board said in its quarterly report on Internet usage. The private research firm is better known for its monthly survey of consumer confidence

• UK - Today's kids are more at home on the web than with a book  +/-

  (Europemedia.net) Schoolchildren are more familiar with the internet than with printed books, is the conclusion of a new report published by NOP. One thousand 7-16 year olds were surveyed for MSN, revealing some interesting figures. Six out of 10 knew what a 'homepage' was, while only nine per cent knew what a 'preface' was. 38 per cent knew that a 'hardback' referred to a book, but 57 per cent knew that a 'hard-drive' was part of a computer.

• What surfers are doing on the net  +/-

  (BBC) Over half of Europe will be online by 2007 according to a new survey but there are still question marks about what surfers will be prepared to buy on the net. Jupiter Media's European Online survey revealed that by the end of 2002 only 10% of Europeans will have paid for content online.

Technology

• Ballmer Sees Free Software as Enemy No. 1  +/-

  (Bloomberg) Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is telling his employees to focus on the threat that Linux and other free programs available on the Internet pose to sales at the world's largest software maker. The programs are called open source because thousands of developers on the Web can collaborate to tweak and customize the underlying code. They may undercut Ballmer's plan to counter slowing sales of personal computers by selling more software for the server machines that run company networks and Web sites. ``We have told our sales force to really understand that this is kind of job one,'' Ballmer said ``People are saying by and large, `It might be easier for me to move my Unix apps to Linux than to Windows,' although we're pretty close to making that untrue.''

Forthcoming events

• 2002-10-23 EU, Brussels - eGovernment: Paving the way to 2010  +/-

  (Press Release) The Forum for European e-Public Services, e-Forum for short, an international association promoting eGovernment excellence together with support from a Community research programme, will present its first report on 23 October. A Press Briefing will take place at DG INFSO, 24 Avenue de Beaulieu, 1160 Brussels at 10.30 am. For more info, contact baudouin.de-sonis@eu-forum.org To register for the press briefing, email infso-newsroom@cec.eu.int.

• 2002-10-31 DE, Düsseldorf - Workshop Rassistische und fremdenfeindliche Inhalte im Internet  +/- Translate

  (ITM Münster) Probeleme und Lösungsansätze. Workshop des Instituts für Informations-, Telekommunikations- und Medienrecht (ITM; öffentlich-rechtliche Abteilung) der Universität Münster in Kooperation mit der Landesanstalt für Medien NRW (LfM). am 31. Oktober 2002 in Düsseldorf. In den letzten Wochen ist intensiv über den richtigen Weg im Umgang mit rassistischen und fremdenfeindlichen Inhalten im Internet gestritten worden. Insbesondere in Nordrhein-Westfalen wurde, manchmal gar unerbittlich, über das Für und Wider von Sperrverfügungen debattiert.

• 2002-12-12 EU, Brussels - Convergence of Web Services, Grid Services and the Semantic Web for delivering e-Services?  +/-

  (IST Diffuse Project) Commissioner Erkki Liikanen will provide the Opening Keynote Address at the IST Diffuse Project Final Conference to be held on 12th December 2002 in the Centre Borschette, Brussels. The conference will review, explore and discuss the strategic issues concerning and surrounding the three interrelated technologies of Web Services, Grid Services and the Semantic Web from a broad perspective. The conference programme includes Keynotes from Carl Kesselman (a Founder of the Grid), Bruce Perens (Primary Author of the Open Source Definition), Guus Schreiber (Co-Chair, W3C Web Ontology WG) and the European Commission. The programme also includes senior speakers from ABN AMRO Trust, BEA, Berkom, IBM, Sun, TIEKE and Universities of Heidelberg & Toronto.

• 2003-04-01 US, New York - 13th Annual Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy  +/-

  (CFP) Call for proposals. CFP2003: Freedom to Move Think and Speak! New York, NY April 1-4, 2003. CA. CFP2003 will explore the most important issues facing the Internet and freedom, including: consumer privacy, broadband issues, wireless privacy and security, digital divide, critical infrastructure issues, public records, filtering, ICANN, disabilities access and much more. The Program Committee of the Thirteenth Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy (CFP2003) seeks your proposals for innovative conference sessions and speakers.

• 2003-07-09 NZ - NetSafe II: Society, Safety & the Internet  +/-

  (Internet Safety Group) The New Zealand Police, the University of Auckland and the Internet Safety Group have announced the upcoming NetSafe II: Society, Safety & the Internet on July 9-12, 2003 in Auckland, New Zealand. They have issued an international Call for Papers, with submissions due January 31st, 2003.

Useful addresses

• disLEXia  +/-

  (Maximillian Dornseif) lies, laws, legal research, crime and the Internet. Subsections include computer investigations, computer incidents, going to court and statistics and the like.

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