[eccr] QuickLinks 244 - 7 September 2002

QuickLinks 244 - 7 September 2002

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Forthcoming events: http://www.qlinks.net/quicklinks/events.htm
Home Page: http://www.qlinks.net

Legal and regulatory issues

   Audiovisual
1. CoE- Draft Recommendation on digital broadcasting

   Competition
2. EU - Commission clears Bertelsmann's buy of Zomba

   Computer crime
3. EU - EP rapporteur proposes more nuance in definition of cybercrime
4. UK - Teenager arrested over child porn
5. ZA - My sex abuse nightmare at the hands of Santa

   Consumer protection
6. ES - La Guardia Civil desarticula una red de defraudadores que
insertaba publicidad pornográfica en chats de menores
7. UK/US joint action to stop misleading domain name ads

   Content regulation
8. GR - Use a Game Boy in Greece, go to jail
9. China 'blocking Google'
10. AU - Brothels lose web nudity rights

   Copyright, trademarks and patents
11. Malaysia to launch piracy crackdown
12. US - Bankruptcy judge blocks Napster sale to Bertelsmann
13. US - Peer-to Peer Copyright White Paper
14. US - Ruling Spells Doom for Aimster
15. US - Senator pulls support for copyright bill
16. US - Smut Fighters: We Have Rights Too
17. US - University to challenge copyright laws

   Domain names
18. EU - Call for expressions of interest for the selection of the
.EU tld registry
19. ES - La Fiscalía solicita que se suspendan los dominios en
Internet de Batasuna
20. EU - Ausschreibung für Europa-Domain: 16 Seiten Kleingedrucktes
21. ICANN - VeriSign may lose dibs on domain sales

   e-Government
22. UK - Online tax returns doomed, MPs warn
23. US - Dirty Laundry, Online for All to See

   e-Learning
24. Is our children learning?

   Electronic commerce
25. UE- Les soldes prennent des libertés chez les Quinze

   Employment and social issues
26. Net porn tops list of 'sackable' offences

   Forthcoming events
27. Security v. Privacy

   Hotlines
28. INHOPE Association is seeking a Secretary-General
29. Ireland - Internet child porn reports rise 50% each year

   Information society and Internet policy
30. UK - Scotland - God Just a Mouse Click Away

   Interception
31. DE - Online-Demonstration gegen TKÜV und Vorratsspeicherung von
Verbindungsdaten
32. EU - Press release on the retention of traffic data

   Internet access and use
33. Ireland - Eircom savaged by satire site

   Junk mail (spam)
34. Children at mercy of e-mail porn
35. UK - Charity caught in anti-spam crossfire

   Liability, jurisdiction and applicable law
36. 'Stupid' linking policies come under fire
37. DE - Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf droht Heise-Verlag mit Klage
38. US - Watchdogs rap RIAA's file-trade assault

   Mobile and wireless
39. JN- DoCoMo to install anti-porn service

   Protection of minors
40. US - PC Rooms: Rated M for Mockery

   Rating and filtering
41. Real-Time Testing of Internet Filtering in China
42. UK - X-rated gaming

   Safer Internet awareness
43. EU - Safer surfing for kids
44. Teens help peers stay safe online

   Technology
45. An Alternative to Microsoft Gains Support in High Places

   Terrorism
46. Anti-terrorist measures 'threaten web freedom'
47. Terror laws 'eat away at privacy'
48. E-terrorism: Digital myth or true threat?
49. FBI Says Hotmail Hard to Find
50. For whom the Liberty Bell tolls
51. Study: Most Support Gov't Web Action

Market & Technology

   Market
52. Bertelsmann untangles itself from the web
53. FR - Cyberpreuve accuse La Poste de «stratégie de contrefaçon»
54. Subscription music sites hit sour note

   Standards
55. W3C members: What standards?

   Statistics
56. Europeans flock online

   Technology
57. How to Make Morpheus an Endangered Species? Poison Its Habitat
58. US - Labels loosening up on CD copy locks

1. CoE- Draft Recommendation on digital broadcasting (Council of
Europe)
The Group of Specialists on digital broadcasting has decided to
invite the public to comment on a draft Recommendation on the
democratic and social impact of digital broadcasting  FR. Please send
your comments (maximum two pages and preferably in the form of
drafting proposals) to the Media Division (media /at/ coe.int) by 18
September.
 http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14390.htm

2. EU - Commission clears Bertelsmann's buy of Zomba (RAPID)
The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of
Dutch companies Zomba Record and Zomba Music by Germany's Bertelsmann
Music Group (BMG) from Summer Shore of the Netherlands. The
Commission has asserted that the transaction will result in
relatively small increases of BMG's market shares which will not
significantly alter the competitive structure of the European music
market.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14415.htm

3. EU - EP rapporteur proposes more nuance in definition of
cybercrime (EurActiv)
In his draft opinion on the framework Decision on attacks against
information systems for the EP's Industry Committee, Mr Cappato,
states the approximation of laws in this should clearly distinguish
between cybercriminality and cyber-civil disobedience.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14405.htm

4. UK - Teenager arrested over child porn (BBC)
A 16-year-old boy is one of five people who have been arrested as
part of an ongoing investigation into child pornography downloaded
and distributed from the Internet. Metropolitan Police officers
seized a number of computers and made the arrests in London and the
Home Counties under the Protection of Children Act 1978.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14406.htm

5. ZA - My sex abuse nightmare at the hands of Santa (IOL)
A woman has told how an alleged paedophile well known for portraying
Father Christmas at festive season celebrations throughout Cape Town
raped and indecently assaulted her when she was aged between 10 and
12. James McNeil, 71, pleaded guilty to one charge of indecent
assault and two charges of contravening the Films and Publications
Act for being in possession of 4 200 digital images and 10 video
clips showing child pornography.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14422.htm

6. ES - La Guardia Civil desarticula una red de defraudadores que
insertaba publicidad pornográfica en chats de menores (Europa Press)
La Guardia Civil ha desarticulado una red de defraudadores que
insertaban publicidad de páginas web con contenido pornográfico en
canales de chat a los que tenían acceso menores. Los implicados
insertaban en el chat expresiones pornográficas con enlaces directos
a páginas web de contenido adulto, utilizando para ello un programa
que, haciéndose pasar por un usuario, se encargaba de la conexión a
un chat o a dichas páginas mediante una llamada telefónica a un 906.
De este modo, el fraude iba dirigido contra los menores que, atraídos
por la facilidad que ofrecía este sistema, accedieron a las citadas
páginas, en las que no era necesario ningún tipo de identificación ni
pago a través de otros medios, ocasionando una elevada factura
telefónica a sus familias.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14439.htm

7. UK/US joint action to stop misleading domain name ads (OFT)
In the first case of its kind the Office of Fair Trading has stopped
two companies from publishing misleading advertisements for website
domain names with suffixes such as .brit, .usa, .scot and .sex that
are difficult to view on the world wide web. The OFT worked alongside
the US Federal Trade Commission on this case.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14420.htm

8. GR - Use a Game Boy in Greece, go to jail (MSNBC)
In Greece, playing a shoot-'em up video game could land you in jail.
The government there has banned all electronic games across the
country, including those that run on home computers, on Game Boy-
style portable consoles, and on mobile phones. Thousands of tourists
in Greece are unknowingly facing heavy fines or long terms in prison
for owning mobile phones or portable video games. see also Greece
declares game over (PC Advisor).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14408.htm

9. China 'blocking Google' (BBC)
China appears to have blocked access to the popular search engine,
Google. The site was repeatedly inaccessible when tested by BBC News
Online using a system developed by the researchers at the Harvard Law
School. Google has become popular among users in China because of its
simplicity and ability to run searches in the Chinese language. China
maintains tight controls on the internet, blocking several foreign
news sites and frequently forcing domestic sites to remove
controversial material. Analysts say this is the first time Beijing
has blocked access to an internet search engine. see also Google
fights Chinese ban (BBC), China blocks Altavista (BBC) and Google
mirror beats Great Firewall of China (New Scientist).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14385.htm

10. AU - Brothels lose web nudity rights (Sydney Morning Herald)
Prostitution websites in Victoria will no longer be able to entice
customers with full-body images of naked women or explicit menus of
available services, under new regulations.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14419.htm

11. Malaysia to launch piracy crackdown (Reuters)
Malaysian officials will begin a nationwide crackdown on the use of
pirated software by businesses, declaring war on the rampant use of
illegally copied programs.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14418.htm

12. US - Bankruptcy judge blocks Napster sale to Bertelsmann (AP)
A bankruptcy judge blocked the sale of Napster Inc. to Bertelsmann
AG, killing a deal that might have revived the idled Internet music
pioneer as a legitimate music-sharing network. The judge cited
conflicting loyalties by Napster's top executive. Napster CEO Konrad
Hilbers, a Bertelsmann veteran, said the judge's decision likely will
force Napster to change its reorganization effort into a Chapter 7
liquidation.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14409.htm

13. US - Peer-to Peer Copyright White Paper (EFF)
Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Copyright Law after Napster by Fred
von Lohmann Attorney-at-Law and Visiting Researcher Berkeley Center
for Law & Technology
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14414.htm

14. US - Ruling Spells Doom for Aimster (Wired)
A Chicago federal court judge granted the recording industry's
request for an injunction to shutter the file-trading network
originally known as Aimster, almost certainly ending the company's
short life. The decision came down on the same day Napster quietly
closed its doors for good, posting only a series of rotating
animations on its website's front door.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14396.htm

15. US - Senator pulls support for copyright bill (CNET News.com)
A key Republican senator withdrew his support for an anti-piracy
bill that would make it a crime to distribute counterfeit
authentication features including digital watermarks. Sen. George
Allen, R-Va., said he could no longer support a proposal titled
Anticounterfeiting Amendments of 2002. The bill originally targeted
the kind of large-scale pirates who manufacture fake Windows
holograms and enjoyed broad support from software makers such as
Microsoft. But, in a little-noticed move, the Senate Judiciary
Committee rewrote the bill to encompass technology used in digital
rights management.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14393.htm

16. US - Smut Fighters: We Have Rights Too (Reuters)
A Colorado company has sued 16 Hollywood directors, including Steven
Spielberg, seeking the right to edit "objectionable" material such as
sex and violence from movies. Clean Flicks of Colorado and Robert
Huntsman, who has a patent pending for a new way to edit movies,
filed the lawsuit in federal court, seeking a judgment that would
declare it constitutional to provide edited movies to the public for
private home viewing.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14417.htm

17. US - University to challenge copyright laws (CNET News.com)
Duke University's law school has received an anonymous $1 million
gift to fund advocacy and research aimed at curtailing the recent
expansion of copyright law. The school is using the money to fund a
center focused on finding "the correct balance" between intellectual
property rights and material that should be in the public domain. The
center is likely to look skeptically at recent laws like the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and a measure that extended
copyright's duration by another 20 years.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14398.htm

18. EU - Call for expressions of interest for the selection of the
.EU tld registry (Europa)
Official Journal of the European Communities C 208 of 3.9.2002.
Interested parties have until 25 October 2002 to reply (deadline).
see also The creation of a ".eu" Top Level Domain (Europa)
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14410.htm

19. ES - La Fiscalía solicita que se suspendan los dominios en
Internet de Batasuna (Yahoo ES)
El teniente fiscal de la Audiencia Nacional solicitó al Juzgado
Central de Instrucción número 5 de la Audiencia Nacional, del que es
titular Baltasar Garzón, que se aplique la parte dispositiva del auto
del juez Garzón referida a la neutralización de los sitios web del
complejo Batasuna, como parte del proceso de ilegalización de la
formación radical. Para ello, requiere que se curse una petición a la
Corporación de Internet para la Designación de Nombre y Números
(ICANN) que suspenda los dominios 'www.batasuna.org', 'www.euskal-
herritarrok.org', y 'www.batasuna-barakaldo.org' (la única radicada
en España). Del mismo modo, el Ministerio Público solicita al juez
que inste a este organismo a que extraiga "Batasuna", "Euskal-
Herritarrok" y "Herri-Batasuna" como palabras registrables en
Internet.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14440.htm

20. EU - Ausschreibung für Europa-Domain: 16 Seiten Kleingedrucktes
(Heise)
Nach vielen Verzögerungen und insgesamt fast drei Jahren
Beratungszeit hat heute die EU-Kommission endlich den Registry-
Betrieb für die geplante Europa-Top-LevelDomain ausgeschrieben
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14411.htm

21. ICANN - VeriSign may lose dibs on domain sales (CNET News.com)
The Internet's governing body has threatened to pull VeriSign's
contract to sell Web addresses unless the domain name company
maintains more accurate records of its customers. The Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) accused VeriSign
of breaching its contract because it failed to correct inaccurate
customer information in a timely fashion.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14412.htm

22. UK - Online tax returns doomed, MPs warn (Guardian)
Attempts by the Inland Revenue to persuade taxpayers to submit their
returns online are doomed unless it can dramatically improve security
and reliability of electronic self-assessment, MPs warn. Technical
teething troubles, and a security breach allowing personal tax
details to be viewed by other users, have sapped public confidence,
according to the Commons public accounts committee.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14429.htm

23. US - Dirty Laundry, Online for All to See (New York Times)
The difficult balance between open access and privacy in putting
court records online.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14399.htm

24. Is our children learning? (Red Herring)
After hundreds of exhaustive studies, there remains no conclusive
proof that technology in the classroom actually helps to teach
students. In fact, in some cases it hinders learning. And even if
there is a benefit, the amount of money and resources being expended
to put technology into the classroom does not match the current or
expected benefit.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14388.htm

25. UE- Les soldes prennent des libertés chez les Quinze (Libération)
Les eurodéputés déréglementent les ventes promotionnelles.  La
gauche européenne a tenté de voler au secours du petit commerce.
Mais, au final, c'est la logique libérale prônée par la Commission
européenne qui l'a emporté à Strasbourg, au Parlement européen. Par
359 voix contre 164 et 39 abstentions, les eurodéputés ont largement
déréglementé les ventes promotionnelles afin, notamment, de permettre
à la grande distribution de mener ses opérations au niveau européen
sans s'encombrer des particularismes nationaux.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14401.htm

26. Net porn tops list of 'sackable' offences (Reuters)
Abuse of e-mail and the Internet, including the downloading of
pornography, has overtaken theft of office supplies and lying to the
boss as the top disciplinary action reported in the workplace, a new
study has found. More disciplinary cases have been brought against
employees for violating company e-mail and Internet policies than for
acts of dishonesty, violence or health and safety breaches, according
to a survey by KLegal, a law firm associated with global accounting
group KPMG, and Personnel Magazine.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14426.htm

27. Security v. Privacy (Internet Law & Policy Forum)
Seattle, September 18-19. The conference lineup includes a Special
Briefing by Howard Schmidt, Vice Chairman of the President's Critical
Infrastructure Protection Board, on the newly announced National
Strategy for Securing Cyberspace. Register by Thursday, 12 September,
and receive $200 off the full registration fee - enter CPN3 in the
priority code/coupon code field. This discount does not apply to the
government/academic/non-profit rate.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14389.htm

28. INHOPE Association is seeking a Secretary-General (Press Release)
The Association of Internet Hotline Providers in Europe (INHOPE)
exists to coordinate an international network of hotlines receiving
complaints about allegedly illegal Internet content. An exciting
opportunity has arisen for a full-time Secretary-General to join this
developing non-profit organisation. Applications should be received
before October 4th, 2002. For further information about this job,
please contact Thomas Rickert via email at (president /at/ inhope.org).
Please send your application and resume to (jobs /at/ inhope.org).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14434.htm

29. Ireland - Internet child porn reports rise 50% each year (Irish
Examiner)
Reports of alleged child pornography on the internet are increasing
by a rate of 50% each year, according to web watchdog, hotline.ie.
The hotline received almost 700 reports in the 18 months up to June
2001. At least another 700 reports have come in during the last 12
months, according to Cormac Callanan, site's director.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14391.htm

30. UK - Scotland - God Just a Mouse Click Away (Reuters)
The Internet is helping some of Scotland's faithful get closer to
God after one of the country's oldest churches launched an online
prayer service Monday. The Rosslyn Chapel, founded around 1446 just
outside Edinburgh, said it set up the "e-prayer" service for
worshippers to leave prayer requests.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14404.htm

31. DE - Online-Demonstration gegen TKÜV und Vorratsspeicherung von
Verbindungsdaten (Heise)
Zum Jahrestag der Terroranschläge vom 11. September wollen Online-
Bürgerrechtsaktivisten im Internet gegen die kürzlich in Kraft
getretene Änderung der Telekommunikationsüberwachungsverordnung und
die geplante Vorratsspeicherung von Verbindungsdaten demonstrieren.
Anders als bei früheren Gelegenheiten wollen die Initiatoren dieser
Online-Demonstration allerdings keine virtuelle Blockade einer
Website durchführen. Unter dem Motto "we shall overload statt we
shall overcome" soll ein Skript vielmehr "Datenmüll für die
Überwachungsstellen" produzieren.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14437.htm

32. EU - Press release on the retention of traffic data (Danish
Presidency)
Based on a report from the organisation Statewatch, there has over
the past few days been rumours in certain parts of European press of
imminent EU-rules on the retention of telecommunication traffic data
and the access to such data. In this connection it has been suggested
that the Danish Presidency of the European Union has tabled a
proposal for binding rules on such retention, The proposal that was
made available on the Council website (ue.eu.int) contains a request
that within the very near future binding rules should be established
on the approximation of Member States' rules. The proposal contains
no detailed indications as to what the contents of such rules should
be. see Questionnaire on traffic data retention 11490/1/02 REV 1.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14407.htm

33. Ireland - Eircom savaged by satire site (Register)
Campaigners in Ireland have launched a scathing attack on the
country's lack of affordable and fast Internet access. A new Web
site, EircomTribunal.com, rips into what it describes as the
"saboteurs of the Internet development in Ireland" pulling no punches
as it tears into incumbent telco, Eircom, regulator ODTR and the
Government.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14416.htm

34. Children at mercy of e-mail porn (BBC)
Junk e-mails which encourage users to access pornographic websites
are becoming an increasing menace almost impossible to control, it
has emerged. An investigation by BBC One's Watchdog programme found
even Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that filter out pornographic
or other unwanted material are often unable to stop rogue e-mails
arriving in mail boxes.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14425.htm

35. UK - Charity caught in anti-spam crossfire (Yahoo UK)
A religious charity in London recently discovered first-hand the
dangers that can accompany new measures to stem the tide of junk
email, when the organisation's site was yanked offline without
notice. The charity's Internet service provider, Netcetera, said it
had received a report of junk email originating from the charity from
a service called SpamCop, which is designed to send complaints to the
ISP from which spam appears to originate, and had promptly switched
the Web site off. Netcetera said its policy is to shut down sites
reported for spam, and puts the burden on Web site owners to prove
that the report is wrong.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14438.htm

36. 'Stupid' linking policies come under fire (CNET News.com)
Web sites with policies outlawing other sites from linking to pages
other than the home page are the targets of the Don't Link to Us.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14430.htm

37. DE - Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf droht Heise-Verlag mit Klage
(Heise)
Der Düsseldorfer Regierungspräsident Jürgen Büssow hat dem Verlag
Heinz Heise eine Klage angedroht, falls dieser seine Forderung nach
Veröffentlichung einer Gegendarstellung nicht erfüllt. Dabei geht es
um zwei im Newsticker von heise online erschienene Berichte über die
Sperrungsverfügungen gegen nordrhein-westfälische Internet-Provider.
Büssow stört sich daran, dass sein scharfes und höchst umstrittenes
Vorgehen gegen Zugangsanbieter in Zusammenhang gebracht wurde mit dem
grundlegenden Beschluss des EU-Parlaments von Mitte April, in dem
sich die Abgeordneten klar gegen Website-Sperrungen aussprachen.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14394.htm

38. US - Watchdogs rap RIAA's file-trade assault (ZDNet News)
A federal law that the recording industry is using to unmask a
suspected Kazaa music-trader is unconstitutional. A dozen consumer
and privacy groups filed an amicus brief in federal court arguing
that the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) request
for information about a Verizon Communications subscriber should be
denied. Verizon has opposed the request on procedural grounds.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14423.htm

39. JN- DoCoMo to install anti-porn service (Reuters)
Japan's largest wireless carrier, NTT DoCoM, plans to combat
computer-generated one-ring calls intended to lead users to adult
services. DoCoMo was forced to take action after telephone
communications in Japan's industrial region of Osaka were crippled
twice in July due to a flood of calls generated automatically by a
single caller. The caller was believed to be a firm that rings random
mobile phone numbers very briefly and then hangs up, generating a
missed-call message. In many cases, those who unwittingly return such
calls are charged only to hear obscene messages.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14431.htm

40. US - PC Rooms: Rated M for Mockery (New York Times)
Across the country there are now hundreds of neighborhood arcades,
sometimes called PC rooms, where action takes place not on free-
standing games like pinball machines but on powerful computers and
over high-speed network connections. Critics contend that such
arcades have created a wide loophole in the already haphazard effort
to keep children from access to games designed for adults. The PC
rooms typically do not check players' ages or limit access to games
like Counter-Strike, which is rated M, meaning that it is for players
17 and older.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14403.htm

41. Real-Time Testing of Internet Filtering in China (Harvard Law
School)
by Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman, Berkman Center for
Internet & Society. The authors are studying Internet filtering in
countries worldwide, including restrictions on Web access in China.
To help broaden the list of pages tested and to provide the general
public a means of finding out whether particular pages of interest
are filtered, we have created the form, which will run a realtime
query via our methods.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14436.htm

42. UK - X-rated gaming (PC Advisor)
The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) announced its
process for classifying digital works at ECTS (the European computer
tradeshow). The London-based tradeshow is the biggest yearly
gathering for the games industry and the BBFC choose this venue to
explain its procedure for categorising games under certain
certificates.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14432.htm

43. EU - Safer surfing for kids (BBC)
A site that promotes safer use of the internet has been launched by
education groups across Europe. The use of internet chatrooms by
paedophiles has been back in the headlines recently and the UK
Government is considering legislation to make online 'grooming' of
children an offence. Besafeonline.org has been developed by education
groups in Scotland, Iceland, Spain and the Netherlands. [Ed: this is
the SUSI project, co-funded by the EU Safer Internet Action Plan].
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14427.htm

44. Teens help peers stay safe online (Reuters)
As if sexual predators and computer viruses weren't enough for the
youngest set of Web surfers to worry about, they also have to be on
the lookout for their peers. Hackers and predators are considered the
biggest threats, but some dangers are to be found closer to home.
Teenangels is a group of volunteers who work to ensure the safety of
children and teenagers on the Web by producing educational videos,
teaching kids about anti-virus software and compiling tips on how to
avoid predators.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14386.htm

45. An Alternative to Microsoft Gains Support in High Places (New
York Times)
Governments around the world, afraid that Microsoft has become too
powerful in critical software markets, have begun working to ensure
an alternative. More than two dozen countries in Asia, Europe and
Latin America, including China and Germany, are now encouraging their
government agencies to use "open source" software - developed by
communities of programmers who distribute the code without charge and
donate their labor to cooperatively debug, modify and otherwise
improve the software.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14402.htm

46. Anti-terrorist measures 'threaten web freedom' (Guardian)
The freedom of information available on the internet has been
seriously curtailed since last year's terrorist attacks on America on
September 11, a report by media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres
has warned. RSF argued the campaign against terrorism and the
resulting tightening of security has caused governments to clamp down
on the free flow of information on the web. see The Internet on
probation : Anti-terrorism drive threatens Internet freedoms
worldwide (Reporters sans frontières).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14383.htm

47. Terror laws 'eat away at privacy' (BBC)
The UK is one of the worse places in the world for privacy with the
internet playing a huge part in the erosion of rights, a report has
found. A 400-page study compiled by Privacy International and the US-
based Electronic Privacy Information Center paints a grim picture of
the state of privacy in a post-11 September world.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14384.htm

48. E-terrorism: Digital myth or true threat? (CNET News.com)
Doomsday predictions of a "digital Pearl Harbor" have persisted in
the year since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The specter was a
driving force behind controversial new law enforcement measures
portrayed as necessary by the government but decried by civil
libertarians as an assault on constitutional rights to privacy. Yet
security experts, network managers and public safety officials say
privately that the threat of cyberterrorism has been overblown and
misunderstood - and that physical attacks remain far easier to carry
out. As a result, government officials and industry leaders may have
spent needless effort addressing an arguably nonexistent enemy at a
time when all resources are needed to guard against more realistic
dangers.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14435.htm

49. FBI Says Hotmail Hard to Find (Wired)
The government said that a vigorous investigation of Zacarias
Moussaoui's computer activity turned up no sign of an e-mail account
the accused Sept. 11 conspirator said he used. In response to a
judge's questions, prosecutors and an FBI computer expert said
"(xdesertman /at/ hotmail.com)" was not found because Microsoft's free
Hotmail service does not verify an account user's identity. see
Government's response to court's order on computer and email evidence
and attached affidavit  [PDF].
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14397.htm

50. For whom the Liberty Bell tolls (Economist)
Almost everywhere, governments have taken September 11th as an
opportunity to restrict their citizens' freedom
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14428.htm

51. Study: Most Support Gov't Web Action (Washington Post)
More than two-thirds of Americans say it's OK for government
agencies to remove public information from the Internet, even though
many didn't believe it would make a difference in fighting terrorism,
a new study finds. But Americans were evenly divided on whether
governments should be able to monitor e-mail and Web activities, with
47 percent opposed and 45 percent in support.  see September 11 and
the Internet (Pew Internet and American Life Project)
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14392.htm

52. Bertelsmann untangles itself from the web (Guardian)
German group Bertelsmann is to become the latest media giant to
retreat from the internet as it looks to sell its online book
retailer Bol.com and pull the plug on the Napster music service. The
company is in talks to sell the Bol.com network of sites to e-tailing
giant Amazon. see also Gütersloh goes off line (Guardian) and
Bertelsmann may dump Web units (News.com).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14433.htm

53. FR - Cyberpreuve accuse La Poste de «stratégie de contrefaçon»
(Yahoo FR)
La Poste a annoncé le lancement pour novembre 2002 d'un service de
lettre recommandée électronique. Un tel service est déjà proposé par
la société Cyberpreuve, via son site Lettrerecommandée.com, depuis
début 2001. Cyberpreuve accuse La Poste de mener «une stratégie de
contrefaçon».
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14400.htm

54. Subscription music sites hit sour note (AP)
Free music-swapping services continue to attract millions of new
users despite the recording industry's legal efforts to shutter them,
and few consumers are even aware of the handful of pay sites that
have emerged over the last year. That's unlikely to change -- unless
the new sites begin to offer compelling, innovative features that set
them apart from the free networks, consumers and analysts say.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14424.htm

55. W3C members: What standards? (ZDNet News)
The second biannual survey, conducted by Finnish Web designer Marko
Karppinen showed that only 21, or 4.6 percent, of 454 sites of
members of the World Wide Web consortium passed the W3C's own HTML
validator, which tests for grammatically correct HTML.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14387.htm

56. Europeans flock online (Guardian)
Europe has overtaken the US and Asia to become the continent with
the most internet users, according to a new study by the Internet
Advertising Bureau, the trade body. While internet penetration is
beginning to level out in the US and other areas with high numbers of
connected homes, it is continuing to grow apace elsewhere.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14395.htm

57. How to Make Morpheus an Endangered Species? Poison Its Habitat
(Business 2.0)
In a term paper for their applied mathematics class last winter,
Andrew Chen and Andrew Schroeder, two University of Washington
seniors, borrowed from environmental studies to conclude that
polluting the peer-to-peer (P2P) milieu with phony files is a more
effective strategy for the record labels than lawsuits.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14413.htm

58. US - Labels loosening up on CD copy locks (CNET News.com)
Fearful of consumer backlash, major record labels in the United
States have slowed controversial plans for making CDs more difficult
to copy, even as tension over online music piracy mounts.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem14421.htm

Main Sources and Contributors:
Baker & Mackenzie E-Law Alert, Michael Geist BNA - ILN,
cybertelecom.org, jugendschutz.net, David Goldstein, Gerhard Heine.

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.


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