[eccr] QuickLinks 262 - 9 March 2003

QuickLinks 262 - 9 March 2003

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

Legal and regulatory issues

Computer crime
1. JN - 2 held in 16 million yen cyber-theft
2. Nigerian scam continues to thrive
3. US - Two judges blast FBI tactics in Net child porn crackdown

Content regulation
4. US - Court strikes down law intended to keep kids from online porn
5. AU - Net porn controls useless: study
6. DE - Bundesprüfstelle setzt "C&C Generals" auf den Index
7. Iranians arrested for net dating

Data Protection (privacy)
8. US - Supreme Court Upholds Online Sex Offender Registries

Hotlines
9. AU - Net porn watchdog pleas for cash

Protection of minors
10. Curious teenagers need to be informed about sex, not controlled

Racism and xenophobia
11. US - Man Acquitted of Online Threats on Jews

Rating and filtering
12. AU - Net Nanny a part-time supervisor, says report

Safer Internet awareness
13. Singapore - Surfers urged to behave online

Security and encryption
14. Visa moves to prevent identity theft

Market & Technology

Internet access and use
15. UK - Wireless net offered with a pint

Junk mail (spam)
16. US - Spammers hiding behind students

Market
17. Europe - PlayStation tempts gamers online

Standards
18. Customization and Personalization through RDF

Statistics
19. UK - Wealthy users dominate internet

Technology
20. UK - Virtual detectives track criminals

1. JN - 2 held in 16 million yen cyber-theft (Yomiuri Shimbun)
Japanese police arrested two men on suspicion of withdrawing 16
million yen from the account of a Net-bank user after obtaining the
personal identification number from a computer at an Internet cafe.
They allegedly installed software known as Keylogger, onto computers
at 13 Internet cafes in Tokyo over the past two years.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15454.htm

2. Nigerian scam continues to thrive (MSNBC)
Two new flavors of the age-old Nigerian e-mail scam are making the
rounds, and at least one of them appears to be gaining traction.
Hundreds of victims have recently fallen for a variation that plays
upon people¹s misunderstanding about how bank cashier¹s checks work.
Meanwhile, other scammers are trying to take advantage of heightened
interest in Iraq, posing as frightened Iraqis trying to move money out
of that country before hostilities begin. The scam also took a deadly
turn last month, when a victim in the Czech Republic allegedly shot
and killed a Nigerian diplomat after losing his life savings to the
scam.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15453.htm

3. US - Two judges blast FBI tactics in Net child porn crackdown (AP)
Two federal judges have dealt a potentially crippling blow to a
nationwide Internet child pornography crackdown, saying the FBI
recklessly misled judges to get search warrants that were used in
making more than 100 arrests. Both judges criticized a former FBI
agent who once led the probe, saying he misled judges to believe that
people who tapped into the "Candyman'' site automatically received
child pornography, whereas in fact those entering the Web site could
choose not to receive e-mails containing pornographic photographs and
the vast majority of subscribers to the site elected to receive no e-
mails.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15455.htm

4. US - Court strikes down law intended to keep kids from online porn
(CNN)
A federal appeals court has ruled that a law meant to safeguard
children against Internet pornography is riddled with problems that
make it "constitutionally infirm." A three-judge panel of the 3rd
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Child Online Protection
Act restricted free speech by barring Web page operators from posting
information inappropriate for minors unless they limited the site to
adults. The ruling upheld an injunction blocking the government from
enforcing the law. The court said that in practice, the law made it
too difficult for adults to view material protected by the First
Amendment, including many non-pornographic sites. ACLU v. Ashcroft.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15463.htm

5. AU - Net porn controls useless: study (CNN)
Australian efforts to regulate young people's access to Internet
pornography so far have been a "manifest failure", a think tank study
has found. The study finds that Australian children have had
extensive exposure to pornography on the Internet, either deliberately
or accidentally. This is despite government regulations administered
by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) designed to restrict
access to offensive material and to protect children from exposure to
unsuitable material. The study argues for a requirement for all
Australian ISPs (Internet service providers) to apply filters to all
content. see also Press Release, Regulating Youth Access to
Pornography and Youth and Pornography in Australia Evidence on the
extent of exposure and likely effects (Australia Institute).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15460.htm

6. DE - Bundesprüfstelle setzt "C&C Generals" auf den Index (CHIP)
Die Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften hat die
Indizierung des PC-Spiels "C&C Generals" bestätigt. Das Game war auf
Antrag von Familienministerin Ulla Schmidt (SPD) vorläufig vom Markt
verbannt worden. Gegen die Indizierung von "C&C Generals" hatte sich
der Hersteller Electronic Arts gewehrt und angeführt, dass die
Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle dem Spiel eine Altersfreigabe ab
16 Jahren erteilt hatte. Die Ministerin soll zudem in ihrem Eilantrag
"zum Teil falsche und unsachliche" Gründe für die Indizierung des
Spiels genannt gaben, meint Electronic Arts.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15449.htm

7. Iranians arrested for net dating (BBC)
Dozens of young Iranians have been detained for "unlawful actions"
after using a website to arrange dates. The Basij militia also
detained the operators of the dating website.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15443.htm

8. US - Supreme Court Upholds Online Sex Offender Registries
(SiliconValley.com)
The Supreme Court ruled that states can post sex offenders' photos and
other personal information on the Internet, a step the states say is
aimed at protecting people from criminals living nearby. In a key
first test of "Megan's law" provisions that are on the books in every
state, the justices said sex-offender registries are not an
unconstitutional extra punishment for offenders who already have
served their sentences. Connecticut Department of Public Safety v.
John Doe (12-page PDF)
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15450.htm

9. AU - Net porn watchdog pleas for cash (Austrlian IT)
The Australian federal Government has ignored pleas for more money
from the people charged with defending the internet from hardcore
pornography. Internet advisory body NetAlert, the group responsible
for the Government's crackdown on illegal internet content is starved
of money and will not be able to continue its efforts without a multi-
million-dollar funding boost.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15456.htm

10. Curious teenagers need to be informed about sex, not controlled
(Sydney Morning Herald)
Young people are more sophisticated in understanding sexuality, and
the internet is not their major problem. See also Labor won't support
tighter net porn laws (ABC) .
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15459.htm

11. US - Man Acquitted of Online Threats on Jews (AP)
A man has been acquitted of sending e-mails that threatened to kill
Jews in Brooklyn. A federal court jury found Fowad Assed, a
Palestinian-born U.S. citizen living in Brooklyn, innocent of sending
three online messages to the Jewish Defense League that threatened
bombing businesses. Assed, 33, never denied sending the e-mails. The
defense was that while the messages might be offensive, Assed was
exercising his First Amendment rights.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15452.htm

12. AU - Net Nanny a part-time supervisor, says report (Sydney Morning
Herald)
Net Nanny 4.0, the internet filter provided by the three largest
service providers, Telstra, Optus and OzEmail, is so ineffective it is
about to be ditched by the Australian Broadcasting Authority due to
its high failure rate. According to tests conducted by the CSIRO, Net
Nanny 4.0 failed 38 per cent of the time. Other products on the
approved list were worse - Cyber Sentinel failed more than half of the
time (53 per cent). The broadcasting authority, which regulates the
list of approved products, released the figures in its submission to
the ongoing government review of the content regulation scheme. The
Communications Minister, Richard Alston, is expected to report back
within weeks.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15457.htm

13. Singapore - Surfers urged to behave online (AP)
Singapore's Cyber Wellness Task Force will urge people not to send
unsolicited e-mails or spam, not to view pornographic Web sites and to
use their real name, not a pseudonym, in chat rooms. The group's
recommendations will not be enforceable by law. It will make its case
through a media campaign, public workshops and special Web sites aimed
at parents and children, said Bernard Tan, head of the government's
National Internet Advisory Committee.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15451.htm

14. Visa moves to prevent identity theft (Reuters)
Visa USA will stop merchants that take Visa payments from displaying
all but the last four digits of a card number on receipts in an effort
to thwart a surge in financial identity theft.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15444.htm

15. UK - Wireless net offered with a pint (BBC)
People will soon be able to surf the internet from the comfort of
their local pub as wireless hotspots reach out to the country's
favourite location. There are already around 200 so-called wireless
hotspots in cafes, hotel and service stations across the UK. In July,
this network will extend to 3,000 pubs in the UK.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15447.htm

16. US - Spammers hiding behind students (Network World)
University networks already stressed by file-sharing programs, viruses
and hackers now face a new threat: students who sublet their network
access to spammers for as little as $20 per month. see also Tufts
student to be disciplined for using university network for spam (AP) A
Tufts University student will be disciplined for sending junk e-mail
or spam through his computer that was connected to the university
computer network.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15461.htm

17. Europe - PlayStation tempts gamers online (BBC)
The European trials of the online gaming service for the PlayStation 2
(PS2) will start at end of March. Sony is lagging behind rival
Microsoft, who has been testing its European online gaming network for
several months now. Both Sony and Microsoft have already ventured into
online gaming in the US, where they have attracted hundreds of
thousands of players.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15446.htm

18. Customization and Personalization through RDF (ICRA)
At a meeting in Luxembourg, a project was launched to develop a new
RDF application that: supports multiple content classification
vocabularies; can be applied to multiple media types such as text,
audiovisual materials and multimedia presentations; works with
multiple device types such as desktop PCs, handheld devices, mobile
devices and a wide range of consumer electronics such as MP3 and DVD
players. The aim is to use XML/RDF to create a common platform through
which metadata can be fully utilised across all digital media and
device types for a variety of purposes. These include but are not
limited to: parental control using a variety of classification schemes
applied through a single delivery method, automated locating of
resources (i.e. search engines) and educational use.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15458.htm

19. UK - Wealthy users dominate internet (BBC)
Three times as many well-off families are going online for the first
time as those with low incomes, a new report has revealed. The charity
Citizens Online also found more than six times as many homes were
online in some parts of the country than in others.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15445.htm

20. UK - Virtual detectives track criminals (BBC)
Increasingly police forces are relying on software that can sift
through the information they gather to help them solve more crimes.
Every UK police force, some European ones and the FBI in the US now
use a visualisation software tool by a British company called i2 to
analyse all data. It allows hard-pressed police officers to piece
together and picture the evidence they have collected.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15448.htm

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

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)


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