[eccr] QuickLinks 233 - 4 May 2002 - 31/84

31. WIPO - Domain Is Signed, Sealed, Delivered ... To Peter Frampton
(Newsbytes)
In a potentially controversial decision, an international arbitrator
has ruled that individuals could lose rights to their own names in
Internet addresses if those same monikers are sought by celebrities.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13685.htm
32. USA - N.Y. Court Commission to Study Effects of Case Info Online
(law.com)
A commission to advise the judiciary on possible privacy interests
affected by the posting of New York state court case files on the
Internet was appointed by the New York Court of Appeals. The
Commission on Public Access to Court Records is expected to issue a
report next year examining technology that allows easy access to the
sometimes sensitive personal information in court documents.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13688.htm
33. Balanced E-Government (Bertelsmann Foundation)
E-Government has begun to conquer the public sector. Under the roof
of electronic democracy - or E-Democracy - a new culture of political
participation is evolving. The Bertelsmann Foundation wants to
investigate how far the integration of both concepts has advanced.
The results of the research, which was conducted in cooperation with
Booz, Allen, Hamilton, are summarized in the study Balanced
eGovernment - Connecting Efficient Administration and Responsive
Democracy.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13717.htm
34. EU - eGovernment - Electronic Government (EurActiv.com)
eGovernment: one of the 10 eEurope priorities.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13665.htm
35. France - Force that unites protesters (Guardian)
For the past 10 days, the French haven't been able to stop talking
about Jean-Marie Le Pen's unexpected success at the polls.
Everywhere. At work, at the cafe. And on the internet.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13656.htm
36. France - Watchdog Calls for Poll Web Site Freeze (Reuters)
French presidential candidates should freeze interactive parts of
their Web sites two days before a final vote in case supporters post
messages that could sway undecided voters, an independent commission
said. President Jacques Chirac and far-rightist Jean-Marie Le Pen,
who will face off on Sunday after the anti-immigration leader's shock
success in a first round ballot, should not update their web sites
after midnight on Friday, the National Commission for Campaign
Control said in a statement.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13698.htm
37. UK - City begins smart card e-government plan (IDG)
Southampton City Council in Southampton, England, will begin a smart
card-based e-government scheme this month, allowing citizens to apply
for housing and to follow housing repair requests online.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13708.htm
38. USA - Federal Trade Commission Runs Web Dragnet (Government
Computer News)
"Surf's up" is not a phrase most people would associate with scam
investigators at the Federal Trade Commission. But surfing is one of
the chief pastimes at the FTC Internet Laboratory. Surfing the Web,
that is. Commission attorneys and investigators use the lab to track
down online-savvy violators of the 87-year-old Federal Trade
Commission Act and related laws.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13684.htm
39. Korea - Gambling is illegal also when online (JoongAngIlbo)
Gostop, a Korean card game, is still gostop when played online, and
running a gostop competition online with paying participants is still
a form of gambling, the Supreme Court ruled.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13700.htm
40. USA - Six State Workers Fired Over Sexually Explicit E-Mail
(Newsbytes)
Six Washington labor department workers have been fired and two
others were disciplined for sending sexually explicit messages and
other "unacceptable" content using the state e-mail system.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13709.htm
41. USA - State Agency May Revoke E-Mail Privileges When Used for
Union Activity (New York Law Journal)
An appellate panel in Albany, N.Y., has upheld the right of a state
agency to revoke e-mail privileges from a union official who used a
government computer to communicate with other members of his labor
organization. see also Agency allowed to revoke e-mail access (CNET
News.com).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13687.htm
42. Ethnographies of the Internet: grounding regulation in lived
experience (PCMLP)
Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy at Oxford University.
Conference report by Christian Sandvig. On March 8th, Oxford hosted
leading Internet researchers, policymakers, and industry
representatives from the on-line media to discuss the present state
of the art in ethnographic Internet research and its implications for
the many attempts to regulate the Internet.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13718.htm
43. EU - Status of the Information Society in the European Union and
Future Challenges (RAPID)
Mr Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission, responsible
for Enterprise and the Information Society, Biel's 1st Communication
Days, Biel-Bienne, Switzerland, 2 May 2002.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13635.htm
44. France - Canal Plus: slaughtering a sacred cow (FT)
Soccer, Hollywood films and porn hardly constitute a cultural
exception, argues Guillaume Parmentier.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13668.htm
45. EU - Commission launches consultation on the law applicable to
non-contractual obligations ("Rome II") (RAPID)
The European Commission launched a consultation on a preliminary
draft proposal for a Council regulation which aims at harmonising the
rules with respect of the law applicable to non-contractual
obligations ("Rome II"). This initiative is part of the work under
progress within the European Union in order to develop a genuine area
of freedom and justice. Its objective is to ensure that courts of all
Member States apply the same law to cross border disputes on non-
contractual obligations, thus facilitating the mutual recognition of
judicial decisions throughout the European Union. Contributions to
the debate may be sent to (JAI-coop-jud-civil /at/ cec.eu.int) before 15
September. see also Europe Proposes Dual Plan on Disputes in
Commerce (New York Times) and Internet industry lobbying to soften
European law (CW360).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13633.htm
46. Denmark - Deep Links Return to Surface (Wired)
The Danish Newspaper Publishers' Association has asked a court to
ban newsfeed service Newsbooster from deeplinking to Danish newspaper
stories. see also The War on Links (Newsbooster).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13686.htm
47. France - Les h=E9bergeurs face =E0 leurs obligations (legalis.net)
De r=E9centes ordonnances de r=E9f=E9r=E9 ont d=E9montr=E9 que les 
h=E9bergeurs
coop=E8rent sans trop de r=E9ticences avec la justice.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13701.htm
48. Japan - ISPs compile guidelines for information removal (Yomiuri
Shimbun)
Before the enactment of a law concerning the responsibility of
Internet service providers (ISPs) in May, an industry panel has
announced guidelines concerning the removal of information on Web
sites to prevent privacy or copyright breaches.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13696.htm
49. Spain - Web Law Sparks Debate (Wired)
A law pending in Spain's Congress has sparked a national debate over
how far the government should go in regulating websites. Critics
charge that the LSSI bill (La Ley de Servicios de la Sociedad de la
Informacion y de Comercio Electronico) would allow a "competent
administrative authority" in government to shut down websites
unilaterally -- a power that now requires court approval.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13680.htm
50. USA - Site Barks About Deep Link (Wired)
The proprietor of BarkingDogs.org, a "proactive" news website that
unearths political malfeasance in and around Dallas, is locked in a
battle against the Belo media corporation, owner of The Dallas
Morning News, which has demanded that BarkingDogs.org remove all
"deep links" to the DallasNews.com site.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13679.htm
51. UK - Government plans new broadband wireless auction (ZDNet UK)
The Radiocommunications Agency is proposing to hold an auction of
licences in the 3.4GHz spectrum. No date has been set for an auction.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13693.htm
52. Deutschland - Brutale Spiele(r)? (Telepolis)
Eine aktuelle Studie zur Wirkung und Nutzung von Gewalt in
Computerspielen sieht keine generelle Gef=E4hrdung. siehe auch Der
Medien-Psychologe Jo Groebel warnt davor, Medien zum S=FCndenbock f=FCr
die Bluttat zu machen (dpa), Forscher: Globalisierung der
Gewaltkultur hat Deutschland erreicht, Nach Erfurt: Spieler gegen
Kritiker von Computerspielen und Die Wahrheit =FCber das Massaker in
Erfurt (Heise).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13689.htm
53. Online lifeline for children (BBC)
Children suffering abuse or other problems will soon be able to chat
to a counsellor online as the children's charity NSPCC launches a new
website. There4me.com is the first website in the UK to offer one-to-
one real-time counselling online.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13659.htm
54. Deutschland - Verfassungsschutz: Drastische Zunahme
extremistischer Websites (Heise)
Die Zahl extremistischer Internetseiten ist in den vergangenen sechs
Jahren drastisch gestiegen. Dies geht aus einem vorgelegten Bericht
des baden-w=FCrttembergischen Verfassungsschutzes hervor.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13704.htm
55. USA - No Quick Fix to Fighting Pornography on the Internet (New
York Times)
One of the most thorough reports ever produced on protecting
children from Internet pornography, Youth, Pornography and the
Internet by the National Research Council has concluded there are no
simple solutions to the problem. see also Porn Panel Plays It Safe
(Wired.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13637.htm
56. France - Court Backs Vivendi's Bid To Re-do Shareholder Vote
(Newsbytes)
Vivendi Universal said that the finding by a Paris Commercial Court
means it will reconvene another shareholders' meeting and re-do
voting on at least some of the resolutions presented at the April 24
meeting. However, Vivendi Universal said the court agreed to its
request for an investigation of the voting "malfunction." see also
France - Vivendi Votes Hacked? Ha: Experts (Reuters) and Vivendi Says
Online Shareholder Voting 'Hacked' (Newsbytes).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13651.htm
57. EU - eConfidence forum (European Commission)
An inititiative promoting information exchange and discussions about
eConfidence. including E-Commerce Codes of Conduct / Trustmarks and
On-line out-of-court dispute resolution (ODR).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13681.htm
58. EU - Green Paper on alternative dispute resolution in civil and
commercial law (Eur-Lex)
COM (2002) 196(01). Answers to specific questions and general
comments can be sent, preferably by 15 October 2002, to JAI-coop-jud-
(civil /at/ cec.eu.int).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13711.htm
59. UK - Junk mail tops ad complaints league (Guardian)
Complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about junk
mail increased by more than 50% last year. In its annual report for
2001 the ASA also said that complaints about Internet advertising
rose, with a total of 750 complaints received during the year, an
increase of 50% in comparison with 2000. For the first time, the ASA
upheld a complaint about an ad delivered by SMS or 'text' messaging.
Other ads receiving high number of complaints included a poster, by
French Connection Group plc for the website fcukinkybugger.com.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13674.htm
60. Spain - Regulator orders Telefonica to cut local loop rates for
rivals (Reuters)
Spanish telecoms regulator CMT has ordered leading telephone company
Telefonica to reduce the rates it charges rivals for access to
clients on its local loop -- the "last mile" of a telephone network.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13677.htm
61. UK - BT faces internal war over Web fees (Independent)
The chief executive of BT's retail division has raised the prospect
of civil war within the telecoms group by warning that Openworld,
BT's mass market internet division, may have to abandon its plans to
offer consumer broadband internet access following BT Retail's
announcement that it would launch its own "no frills" broadband
package in September.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13714.htm
62. UK - Web surfing pioneers battle change in the tide (FT)
Companies as different as AOL and BT Group, the UK telecoms company,
are finding it difficult to find the formula that will ease their
transition to a broadband world. As high-speed access to the internet
becomes more pervasive, the economic basis of a large part of their
businesses is being questioned. Until they find new ways to co-
operate, these and other communications and online media companies
are likely to continue to flounder.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13706.htm
63. UK - Final curtain comes down on ITV Digital (FT)
The death knell for ITV Digital sounded on the morning of 1 May when
the pay-TV company's premium channels started to be taken off the
air. ITV Digital's 1.2m customers lost their subscription service
after Nick Dargan, the administrator, admitted he had been unable to
find a buyer for the company's assets. see also Sad day for staff as
digital dream is over and Editorial comment: ITV monkeys (FT).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13683.htm
64. E-Publishing-Revolte in der Wissenschaft (Heise)
Immer mehr Wissenschaftler reagieren mit "zivilem Ungehorsam" auf
die restriktiven Praktiken zahlreicher Fachverlage, die von Autoren
verst=E4rkt die Abtretung aller Rechte und satte Geb=FChren von den auf
Publikationen angewiesenen Forschern verlangen.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13707.htm
65. France - Vivendi considers purge of internet activities (FT)
Jean-Marie Messier, chief executive of Vivendi Universal, is
contemplating a purge of the French media group's cash-burning
internet activities that could lead to it abandoning the Vizzavi
portal it co-owns with Vodafone.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13705.htm
66. Korea - Govt Backs Net Gaming Industry (Newsbytes)
The Korean government has earmarked an additional $14 million in
support of the nation's growing Internet gaming industry, its latest
direct investment in Korea's online development. Korea's Ministry of
Information and Communication has earmarked $11 million toward the
further development of Net gaming technologies, including 3-D game
engines. A further $3 million will support the training of online
game specialists, a project to combat online game addiction and
industry regulatory support
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13713.htm
67. Nintendo to unveil GameCube online service (Reuters)
Video game company Nintendo, the only console maker without a
strategy for online game play, will unveil plans for Internet-based
services for the GameCube at a key industry trade show later this
month, an industry source.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13647.htm
68. Porn 'dinosaurs' being killed off by the internet (Daily
Telegraph)
Uncensored pornography cheaply available on the internet is
seriously damaging the sales of America's best known soft porn
magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler and Screw.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13716.htm
69. UK - FT.com to charge users (Reuters)
The Financial Times has announced details of a subscription service
for its FT.com Web site, which it expects to break-even by the end of
this year. The newspaper will charge =A375 a year for full access to
its five-year news database, a new search engine and archives of the
widely read daily financial comment Lex.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13692.htm
70. Italy - Sky is the limit for mobile services (CNN)
Cellular operator Wind SpA is planning to send text messages from
its subscribers to an Italian astronaut who began an eight-day
mission to the International Space Station. GSM (Global System for
Mobile Communications) phones don't (yet) work in space, so the
messages will be received by a phone on the ground, transcribed and
sent over the space station's own data links. There are more mobile
phones in use in Italy than there are homes: 49 million of them, for
a population of 58 million.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13667.htm
71. Google to be AOL Time Warner search engine (Reuters)
AOL Time Warner will use the popular search engine Google across its
Internet properties.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13672.htm
72. Is Yahoo losing the plot? (Guardian)
Google drew the largest global search audience last month with 46%
of web users, according to OneStat.com, the net analysis company.
Pushed back into second place, with just 20%, was the classic web
company Yahoo. Although Yahoo denies these figures reflect the true
state of play, is this a sign of the beginning of the end for one of
the net's earliest success stories?
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13639.htm
73. UK - BBC Launches New Internet Search Engine (Reuters)
The British Broadcasting Corporation launched a new Internet search
engine. BBCi Search, available from the homepage bbc.co.uk, had the
advantage of providing relevant results free of advertising and
commercial constraints, whilst giving preference to UK Web sites, the
BBC said. 80 percent of British Web surfers felt current search
engines could be improved, and 64 percent were frustrated by the
amount of U.S. sites and advertisers they came across.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13638.htm
74. Cracking the nest egg - breaches in bank security (CNET News.com)
Law enforcement agencies and security experts agree that breaches in
bank security are rising, but the number of serious incidents - and
the risk to the public - remains largely unknown. Three-part special
report.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13678.htm
75. 'Peer to peer' users buy more music (Reuters)
Internet users who download songs for free from unauthorized peer to
peer services are more likely to increase their music purchases than
regular Internet users, the report by research firm Jupiter Media
Metrix said.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13640.htm
76. Canada - Nearly Half Of Net Households Go Broadband (Newsbytes)
The penetration of high-speed Internet access technologies in
Canadian households has doubled since 2000, according to a new report
that says some 48 percent of all online Canadian adults who connect
from home now use digital subscriber line (DSL) services or cable
modems
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13682.htm
77. File-swapping sites multiply despite legal tangles (Reuters)
The number of file-swapping, or peer-to-peer, Web sites, has grown
more than five-fold in the past year, according to a new survey by
U.S. technology firm Websense, despite legal efforts by Hollywood,
music companies and software firms to shut them down
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13702.htm
78. Japan - Youth Let Their Thumbs Do the Talking (New York Times)
The number of Japanese cellphones equipped for e-mail has jumped to
50 million today, about 40 percent of the population, from 10 million
two years ago. Sending text messages appeals to Japan's passion for
discretion.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13669.htm
79. Kazaa Shoots Past Morpheus In P2P Sweepstakes (Newsbytes)
As rises Kazaa, so falls Morpheus. Or so says data released by
Redshift Research. Between February and April this year, the Kazaa
media-swapping network grew by nearly 70 percent. Meanwhile, usage of
Morpheus, once the largest peer-to-peer network, has gone in the
opposite direction,
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13645.htm
80. UK - Broadband reaches more than 500,000 (FT)
More than 150,000 customers have signed up for broadband over the
past four months, taking the number of high-speed internet access
connections above 500,000, Oftel, the telecommunications regulator,
will reveal. The landmark will be a relief for the government which
had become embarrassed by broadband's slow take-up. But the cost has
been the virtual death of local loop unbundling - the process by
which BT Group opens its network to competitors.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13670.htm
81. UK - Latest Internet Survey From Oftel (Net4Nowt)
Oftel has released their latest survey Consumers' use of the
Internet. Results indicate that: 46% of UK households have Internet
access and a further 4% claim to use the Internet from various
locations, broadly unchanged since November 2001. Unmetered packages
remain most popular - currently used by 43% of Internet households -
and consumers continue to prefer PSTN/dial up access.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13694.htm
82. UK - Viewers turn away from digital TV (Guardian)
Britain's uptake of digital television has stalled in the confusion
created by the collapse of ITV Digital. Ipsos-RSL Digital Audience
Research Tracking (Dart) has found that 36% of homes have digital
television, via satellite, cable or terrestrial networks. And six out
of 10 viewers who don't have digital TV say that "nothing" would
change their mind about getting it.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13675.htm
83. USA - a nation of 'cyberchondriacs' (NUA)
Around 110 million Americans go online to look for health care
information, according to a new survey from Harris Interactive.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13643.htm
84. Future of secure digital music initiative grim (AP)
Four years ago the record industry and some technology companies
banded together to match wits in a combined effort to stamp out
Internet music piracy. Their goal: to usher in an age of secure
digital songs wrapped in unbreakable code. The Secure Digital Music
Initiative was supposed to be just the medicine to marginalize the
Napster phenomenon. Soon, there would be SDMI protected CDs and SDMI
digital music downloads playing only on SDMI-compliant devices. Now
SDMI is roadkill, outpaced by developments in digital technology and
done in by the narrow interests of its own members - record labels
competing for dominance and music hardware companies impatient to get
their products out to consumers.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem13699.htm
QuickLinks
Links to news items about legal and regulatory aspects of Internet
and the information society, particularly those relating to
information content, and market and technology.

QuickLinks is edited by Richard Swetenham
(richard.swetenham /at/ cec.eu.int) - Main Sources and Contributors: Michael
Geist BNA - ILN, cybertelecom.org, jugendschutz.net, David Goldstein,
Gerhard Heine

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please only use:
  (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Please do not use:
  (carpent /at/ uia.ua.ac.be) or (nico.carpentier /at/ uia.ua.ac.be)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Carpentier Nico
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University Brussels
Studies on Media, Information & Telecommunication (SMIT)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.24.33
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.28.61
E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
W1: http://www.vub.ac.be/SCOM/smit
W2: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
W3: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~jteurlin/Koccc.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------
ECCR-Mailing list
---
To unsubscribe, send an email message to (majordomo /at/ listserv.vub.ac.be)
with in the body of the message (NOT in the subject): unsubscribe eccr
---
ECCR - European Consortium for Communications Research
Secretariat: P.O. Box 106, B-1210 Brussels 21, Belgium
Tel.: +32-2-412 42 78/47
Fax.: +32-2-412 42 00
Email: (freenet002 /at/ pi.be) or (Rico.Lie /at/ pi.be)
URL: http://home.pi.be/eccr
----------------