[eccr] QuickLinks 274 - 9 June 2003

QuickLinks 274 - 9 June 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. Dirty Mac Image Hides Truth About Child Abusers
2. UK - Chatroom abuser 'groomed' girls, 13
3. UK - University boss jailed for child porn
4. US Girls Teach Teen Cyber Gab to FBI Agents

Consumer protection
5. DE - Bundestag beschließt Schutz gegen Missbrauch von 0190-Nummern

Content regulation
6. CN - China Issues Rules to Strengthen Control of Online Games
7. CoE - Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet

Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology
8. US - FCC Votes to Ease Media Ownership Rules

Copyright, trademarks and patents
9. Asia - Antipiracy team scans P2P sites
10. Global Software Piracy Study
11. TH - Government slams EC report on high piracy in Thailand
12. UK - Oftel consultation on conditional access regulation
13. US - Fighting for a new Net copyright deal

Data Protection (privacy)
14. EU - Transfers of personal data to third countries - Binding
Corporate Rules

Interception
15. US - Third Party Data Monitoring and Collection on the Internet:
Is it Illegal Wiretapping?

Liability, jurisdiction and applicable law
16. US - Verizon Identifies Download Suspects

Portals, browsers and search engines
17. US - Judge dismisses suit against Google

Protection of minors
18. EU - Protection of Childen on the Internet
19. IT - Internet e minori: esperienze internazionali e nuovi
orizzonti in Italia
20. On Video Games, the Jury Is Out and Confused
21. US - Court lifts video-game ban
22. US - Video Game Makers File Suit to Block Wash. Law

Racism and xenophobia
23. INACH - Internationales Netzwerk gegen Rechtsextremismus im
Internet

Safer Internet awareness
24. US - FCC's Parents' Place

Security and encryption
25. EU - Ministers approve plans for European Network and Information
Security Agency
26. US - Broadband users face greater online security risks
27. US - Government forms cybersecurity unit

Self-regulation / codes of conduct
28. UK - Radio 1 disc jockey wins key human rights ruling against
press

Telecommunications
29. DE - Telekom kann Anschlusspreise erhöhen
30. US - Court: Consumers Can Keep Phone Numbers

Market & Technology

Internet access and use
31. Blogs in the frame

Junk mail (spam)
32. E-Mailers Turn Isolationist in Battle Against Spam

Market
33. DE - Munich breaks with Windows for Linux

Mobile and wireless
34. UK - Shares hit as 3G price war starts

Statistics
35. AOL Subscriber Defections Continue, Top 1 Million
36. Corporate in-boxes choke on spam
37. Europe - Porn and music drive broadband
38. Wireless: What Do Asian Mobile Phone Users Want, Have?

Forthcoming events

39. 2003-06-09 UK, Oxford - Electronic Government at the American
Grassroots
40. 2003-06-18 UK, Oxford - Filtering Spam: New Perspectives on the
False-Positive/False-Negative Trade-off
41. 2003-06-23 UK, Oxford - 'This House has confidence in voting via
the Internet'
42. 2003-06-24 DE, Köln - Transparenz im Netz: Suchmaschinen
43. 2003-09-16 EU, Brussels: Payments and Confidence - How to boost
security and fight risk

1. Dirty Mac Image Hides Truth About Child Abusers (Reuters)
Failing to recognize that child abusers may be other than dirty old
men in raincoats means some abusers can commit crimes without being
caught, a children's rights group said. In a new report, Save the
Children also highlighted the potential threats to children posed by
the Internet, where child pornography is widely distributed and one in
five children under 18 years are solicited for sex by adults in
chatrooms.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16093.htm

2. UK - Chatroom abuser 'groomed' girls, 13 (Guardian)
There was growing pressure last night to close a legal loophole that
saw a paedophile yesterday get a three-year jail sentence for sexually
abusing a 13-year-old girl he had met in an internet chatroom by
posing as a 19-year-old. The maximum sentence for unlawful sex with a
girl under 13 is life imprisonment, but only two years for a child of
13 or over.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16079.htm

3. UK - University boss jailed for child porn (BBC)
A former vice-chancellor of Loughborough University has been jailed
for nine months after police found thousands of indecent pictures of
children on his computer. Professor Ian Coates Morison admitted he was
addicted to child porn and surfed the internet at home and at work in
search of pictures. see also UK - Surveyor jailed for child porn (BBC)
and UK - Pair jailed in child porn case (Shropshire Star) .
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16103.htm

4. US Girls Teach Teen Cyber Gab to FBI Agents (Washington Post)
As undercover assignments go, posing as a teenage girl online to catch
pedophiles has its share of challenges for the typical FBI agent, so
that is why three Maryland girls are teaching the FBI their lingo.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16084.htm

5. DE - Bundestag beschließt Schutz gegen Missbrauch von 0190-Nummern
(Heise)
Der Bundestag hat einstimmig ein Gesetz beschlossen, mit dem
Verbraucher vor dem Missbrauch von 0190- und 0900-Nummern geschützt
werden sollen. Die Anrufkosten für 0190- und 0900-Nummern werden auf
maximal 2 Euro pro Minute begrenzt. Außerdem werden solche teuren
Verbindungen künftig nach einer Stunde automatisch getrennt. Das
Gesetz bedarf noch der Zustimmung des Bundesrates, es soll im Juli in
Kraft treten.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16089.htm

6. CN - China Issues Rules to Strengthen Control of Online Games
(Chine Economy)
China's Ministry of Culture has launched regulations to strengthen the
management of online games and products to be sold or used on the
Internet, including the approval for import of such products and for
the launch of such websites.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16064.htm

7. CoE - Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet
(Council of Europe)
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a CoE -
Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet. The main
objective is to strike a balance between freedom of expression and
information on the Internet and other rights guaranteed by the
European Convention on Human Rights, such as the protection of
children against unsuitable online content. In response to the risk of
over-regulation of Internet access, the text underlines the principle
of freedom of expression and the free circulation of information on
the Internet, in accordance with the requirements of Article 10
(freedom of expression and information) of the European Convention on
Human Rights (ECHR). The Declaration condemns practices aimed at
restricting or controlling Internet access, especially for political
reasons. The Declaration also deals with the freedom to provide
services via the Internet, the responsibility of intermediaries and
the anonymity of Internet communications.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16100.htm

8. US - FCC Votes to Ease Media Ownership Rules (Washington Post)
An ideologically fractured Federal Communications Commission voted 3
to 2 along party lines to relax or eliminate some key media ownership
rules, allowing a newspaper to own a television station in the same
city and broadcast networks to buy more stations at the national and
local levels. see FCC Press Release. See also US - Media regulators
get a roasting (Guardian). The US regulators responsible for the
relaxation of media ownership rules that could benefit media giants
such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation were given a roasting by
senators at a committee hearing in Washington.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16094.htm

9. Asia - Antipiracy team scans P2P sites (CNET News.com)
A U.S.-based software antipiracy group has begun to target Asia-
Pacific Web sites and users of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks,
looking for those who trade in illegal software. The Business
Software Alliance (BSA), whose members include large companies such as
Adobe and Microsoft, has recently aimed its software-sniffing Web
crawler specifically at Asia-Pacific sites. The action was prompted by
the high rates of Internet-based piracy in the region, which is
beginning to rival more traditional methods such as illegal discs.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16063.htm

10. Global Software Piracy Study (BSA)
2002 marks the eighth year of the annual Business Software Alliance
Global Software Piracy Study and, since the inception of the study in
1994, significant success in combating software piracy is evident.
Aided by considerable decreases in the piracy rates of each of the six
regions defined by the study, the 2002 world piracy rate of 39% is 10
points below the piracy rate measured in 1994. 2002 also marks the
first decline in the world software piracy rate since 1999, the year
in which the piracy rate hit an all-time low of 36%.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16068.htm

11. TH - Government slams EC report on high piracy in Thailand
(Bakgkok Post)
Deputy Commerce Minister Watana Muangsook lashed out at the European
Commission over its report on the high piracy rate of sound recording
products in Thailand, saying the data used were out-of-date and
distorted by Thai distributors.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16099.htm

12. UK - Oftel consultation on conditional access regulation (Press
Release)
Oftel has set out proposals to continue with the current arrangements
for the provision of conditional access services under the new EC
regulatory regime. Oftel's proposals are subject to a consultation
which runs until 7 July 2003.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16062.htm

13. US - Fighting for a new Net copyright deal (CNET News.com)
Foes of federal copyright law are launching a public campaign to
create a policy that they see as better in step with the Internet age.
Lawrence Lessig is leading the charge. The goal of the petition is to
convince Congress to require copyright holders to pay a $1 fee every
50 years in order to extend their copyrights. The way it is now,
copyrights are automatically extended whether or not their owners are
alive or want their work protected by copyright.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16070.htm

14. EU - Transfers of personal data to third countries - Binding
Corporate Rules (Euroap)
Art 29 Data Protection Working Party - Working Document on Transfers
of personal data to third countries: Applying Article 26 (2) of the EU
Data Protection Directive to Binding Corporate Rules for International
Data Transfers.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16061.htm

15. US - Third Party Data Monitoring and Collection on the Internet:
Is it Illegal Wiretapping? (FindLaw)
by Anita Ramasastry. When - if ever - can third parties legally
monitor your Internet activity? The answer is still unclear. However,
a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
provides at least some guidance. In In Re Pharmatrak, Inc. Privacy
Litigation, the court suggested that such data collection might
violate provisions of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of
1986 (ECPA), which expanded anti-wiretapping protections to include
electronic communications. Under the ECPA, it is unlawful to
intercept communications between two parties intentionally if neither
consents to the interception. The Pharmatrak ruling shows that the
ECPA has potential to protect privacy on the Internet, when privacy is
violated by third party data collection. But the ECPA's limitations
suggest that protection is far from complete.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16081.htm

16. US - Verizon Identifies Download Suspects (Washington Post)
Verizon Communications gave a music-industry trade group the names of
four customers suspected of illegally downloading digital copies of
songs, but promised to keep fighting the law that forced it to do so.
The nation's largest telephone company was ordered to surrender the
names to the Recording Industry Association of America by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia after the court rejected
Verizon's request for a stay of the decision until Sept. 16, when
Verizon is to challenge the law used by the RIAA to get the names.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16066.htm

17. US - Judge dismisses suit against Google (CNET News.com)
A federal judge granted Google's motion to dismiss a suit brought by
SearchKing that alleged the company manipulated search results in its
powerful Web index. The judge dismissed the case on the grounds that
Google's formula for calculating the popularity of a Web page, or
"PageRank," constitutes opinions protected by the First Amendment.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16105.htm

18. EU - Protection of Childen on the Internet (EESC)
Is industry responding to the challenges? Is co-regulation, as
advocated by the Committee, preferable to self-regulation as advocated
by the European Commission? These are two key questions that 70
participants, attending a hearing organised by the European Economic
and Social Committee at its headquarters in Brussels, will be
answering on 5th June between 14:30 and 17:30. The hearing, organised
by the TEN (Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and Information Society)
Section of the Committee will be opened by its President Mr Graf von
Schwerin, followed by Mrs Ann Davison, EESC rapporteur on the subject
of Internet child safety. Approximately 70 participants have been
invited, including representatives of industry and major European
associations that are involved in protecting children. The European
Commission will also be represented.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16077.htm

19. IT - Internet e minori: esperienze internazionali e nuovi
orizzonti in Italia (CLUSIT)
Milano, 13 maggio 2003. Convegno eAware. Atti degli interventi.
Principi della tutela dei minori in rete secondo quanto previsto dal
Progetto Onde del 1996 Gigi Tagliapietra ed Il ruolo delle scuole per
la creazione di ambienti positivi e sicuri nel territorio Alessandro
Musumeci.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16080.htm

20. On Video Games, the Jury Is Out and Confused (New York Times)
Being a parent has never been easy, and armfuls of literature on the
topic of video games aren't making it any easier. Sorting out the
debate about the effects of electronic games on children and deciding
on a set of guidelines can be an endless, and thankless, task. Even
experts disagree. In the face of contradictory, inconclusive or just
plain confusing evidence, some parents, like Ms. Taplin, agonize over
what limits to set. Others agonize less, but are not always
comfortable with what their children are doing or might be doing. Many
parents rely on their own instincts and their knowledge of their
children to set limits and construct rules.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16090.htm

21. US - Court lifts video-game ban (CNET News.com)
A federal appeals court panel has struck down a law that restricted
children's access to violent video games, giving the software the same
free-speech protection as that for works of art. A panel of the 8th
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a St. Louis County, Mo., ordinance
that bans the rentals or sales of graphically violent video games to
minors violates free-speech rights. In doing so, the panel reversed a
ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
and ordered the lower court to craft an injunction that would prohibit
the ordinance from taking effect.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16083.htm

22. US - Video Game Makers File Suit to Block Wash. Law (Reuters)
A Washington state law that seeks to curb the sale of violent video
games to minors has been challenged by the gaming industry's main
trade group, which filed a lawsuit to strike down the law. The
Videogame Violence Bill, which is slated to go into effect from July
27, would fine retail employees in Washington $500 if they sell
violent video games depicting the killing of a police officer to
anyone under 17. But the Interactive Digital Software Association,
opposed the law, saying that it infringed the First Amendment free
speech rights of game publishers.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16088.htm

23. INACH - Internationales Netzwerk gegen Rechtsextremismus im
Internet (Lernen aus der Geschichte)
Wo sich Rechtsextremisten mehr und mehr über das Internet vernetzten,
tun dies auch ihre Gegner im Kampf gegen Internetseiten mit
rechtsextremistischen Inhalten. In Amsterdam wurde im Dezember 2002
das "International Network Against Cyber Hate" (INACH) gegründet.
Dieses Projekt soll insbesondere den Verfolgungsdruck auf
Rechtsextremisten erhöhen, die ihre Seiten ins Ausland verlagern.
Mitmachen können Initiativen und Einrichtungen, die sich gegen
Rechtsextremismus im Internet wenden.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16101.htm

24. US - FCC's Parents' Place (Federal Communications Commission)
New technologies are changing the landscape of our communications
arena almost daily. With an increasing number and variety of
communications entering our homes each day, it can be hard for parents
and caregivers to monitor, or even track, what children are watching
and hearing. While technology has great potential to teach the
nation's children, it also has the power to shape their lives and
opinions. The FCC has an array of information to help parents deal
with, decipher, and monitor the communications that their children can
access.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16065.htm

25. EU - Ministers approve plans for European Network and Information
Security Agency (EurActiv.com)
The Telecommunications Council agreed on 5 June to set up a European
Network and Information Security Agency. The EU's telecommunications
ministers endorsed in principle on 5 June plans to create the European
Network and Information Security Agency. The UK and Germany abstained
in the voting. The new body would function as an advisory body on how
to combat hacking, virus attacks and threats to information networks,
and it would also formulate pan-EU guidelines. The text of the
general approach includes the following changes in relation to the
Commission's initial proposal: Limitation of the Agency's activities
to an advisory role and deletion of provisions concerning an advisory
board; Modification of the composition of the Management Board to
include one representative of each Member State, three representatives
appointed by the Commission and one representative each (without the
right to vote) of the information and consumer technologies industry,
consumer groups and academic experts in network and information
security; Extension of the Management Board's functions and of its
involvement in the day-to-day operation of the Agency.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16091.htm

26. US - Broadband users face greater online security risks (New York
Times)
A study, by the National Cyber Security Alliance highlights the gap
between the assumptions of consumers make about the security of their
broadband Internet connection and the reality. The result is a high
risk of hacking, viruses and identity theft. Although nearly half of
broadband users have young children who use a computer, only 3 percent
have parental controls to shield their children from pornography. More
than 40 percent of the users lack a firewall to protect their
computers from intrusion. see also NCSA Press Release and Stay Safe
Online.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16069.htm

27. US - Government forms cybersecurity unit (CNET News.com)
The Department of Homeland Security has created a new division to
address threats to the nation's technological infrastructure. Called
the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), the 60-person unit is
charged with addressing potential security breaches to private-sector
and government computer systems.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16074.htm

28. UK - Radio 1 disc jockey wins key human rights ruling against
press (Guardian)
Sara Cox, the Radio 1 disc jockey, has won a landmark human rights
case against the tabloid press for invading her privacy by publishing
naked pictures of her and her husband on their honeymoon. The legal
victory is bound to embarrass the press complaints commission (PCC)
because it illustrates that the law can now prove more effective than
self-regulation in punishing newspapers. It may inspire other
celebrities who are upset by an intrusive press to launch similar
actions. Toothless tiger (Guardian) by Roy Greenslade. A cloud hangs
over press self-regulation this weekend. The importance of Sara Cox's
legal triumph over the Sunday People and the collapse of the Victoria
Beckham kidnap trial due to the News of the World's payment to a
witness illustrate the hollowness of the PCC's claim to have tamed
tabloid excesses, and demonstrate its inability to deal with blatant
abuses of the editors' code of practice. The Cox case alone exposes
the inadequacies of a system which is predicated on the subjective
vagaries of conciliation rather than the more objective methods of
adjudication.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16078.htm

29. DE - Telekom kann Anschlusspreise erhöhen (Heise)
Die Regulierungsbehörde für Telekommunikation und Post kündigte an,
dass die Deutsche Telekom in diesem Jahr und 2004 im Anschlussbereich
die Preise in einem oder mehreren Schritten bis maximal 10 Prozent
anheben darf. Hierdurch könnte die monatliche Grundgebühr um zwei Euro
steigen. Hintergrund ist der Vorwurf der EU-Kommission, dass der Ex-
Monopolist durch eine zu enge Kosten-Preis-Schere den Wettbewerb im
Ortsnetz verhindere. Gegen das Unternehmen verhängte die Kommission
vor wenigen Wochen ein Bußgeld in Höhe von 12,6 Millionen Euro. Dabei
rügte Brüssel den geringen Abstand zwischen Vorleistungs- und
Endkundenpreis.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16075.htm

30. US - Court: Consumers Can Keep Phone Numbers (AP)
Consumers should be allowed to keep their phone numbers when they
switch cellular providers, a federal court ruled in rejecting an
appeal by wireless companies. Consumer advocates say the inability to
retain numbers is one of the biggest barriers preventing more cell
phone users from switching in search of better service and prices. The
Federal Communications Commission is requiring wireless carriers to
provide "number portability" by Nov. 24. Verizon Wireless and the
Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, an industry
group, told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia that the FCC overstepped its authority by
imposing the requirement. They said it will raise costs while doing
little to increase competition. The court rejected that challenge,
calling the FCC's action "permissible and reasonable."
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16071.htm

31. Blogs in the frame (Guardian)
It's all very well having a camera in your mobile phone, but what do
you do with it? And who can you send pictures to when none of your
friends has a similar phone or use a picture messaging network? Last
week, a new European venture was launched with the aim of creating a
use for all that technology, as well as hitching itself to the latest
online bandwagon - blogging. The site, 20six.co.uk, allows mobile
phone users to post pictures and text to personal journals or "blogs".
It's a process that has come to be known as "mobloggling" or "photo-
logging". With the addition of mobile video, it is now even possible
to "video-blog" or "vlog".
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16087.htm

32. E-Mailers Turn Isolationist in Battle Against Spam (Reuters)
Halt! Who goes there? Friend or foe? Internet users frustrated by a
rising deluge of spam, or junk e-mail, are resorting to a new arsenal
of software tools that block or quarantine mail of unknown origin. The
anti-spam options range from address-book based systems that redirect
mail from unknown senders, to image-blocking software, to
collaborative reporting tools that allow users to report bulk e-mails
with a single button click. In general, Internet users are resorting
to the tactics of the medieval castle guard who barred all strangers
at the gate.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16072.htm

33. DE - Munich breaks with Windows for Linux (CNET News.com)
The local government in Munich, Germany, has voted to move 14,000
computers from Microsoft's Windows to the rival Linux operating
system, despite efforts by the software giant to hang onto the
multimillion-dollar contract. Microsoft had fought hard to retain the
business, offering deals and discounts, with CEO Steve Ballmer
interrupting a ski vacation in Switzerland to pay a personal visit to
Munich's mayor about the issue.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16106.htm

34. UK - Shares hit as 3G price war starts (BBC)
Shares in mobile phone operators MMO2, Orange and Vodafone were among
the heaviest fallers of leading London shares after Hutchison 3G, the
UK's first third-generation mobile phone operator, said it was
slashing prices in an attempt to poach customers from rival networks.
Hutchison 3G - whose brand name is 3 - will launch two pricing
packages aimed at attracting users of traditional voice services to
its new network.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16076.htm

35. AOL Subscriber Defections Continue, Top 1 Million (Washington
Post)
America Online has lost more than 1 million dial-up customers since
the dramatic decline in its subscriber base began late last year,
sources familiar with the figures said. The Dulles-based firm is
rapidly losing customers to NetZero and other lower-priced bare-bones
Internet services, as well as to higher-priced high-speed cable and
telephone providers. see also Web users desert AOL (Guardian).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16085.htm

36. Corporate in-boxes choke on spam (CNET News.com)
Spam has officially overtaken legitimate e-mail in the workplace, and
there¹s little relief in sight. The month of May marked the first time
that commercial e-mail comprised 51 percent of all messages received
by workers, according to MessageLabs, a provider of managed e-mail
security services. MessageLabs only analyzed 133.9 million messages
sent to its global network of business customers.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16082.htm

37. Europe - Porn and music drive broadband (BBC)
High-speed net access in Europe is growing fast, boosted by demand for
porn and music, a study Broadband Revolutionizing Europe¹s Internet
Behaviour finds. The numbers of European surfers using high-speed net
connections grew by 136% in the last year, according to internet
measurement firm Nielsen/NetRatings. File-sharing sites and adult
content pull the biggest audiences among broadband surfers
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16102.htm

38. Wireless: What Do Asian Mobile Phone Users Want, Have?
(CyberAtlas)
Asians, like their European counterparts, are ready to adopt next
generation wireless and its enhanced services - and pay extra for them
- with the largest group (48 percent) interested in downloading and
playing music clips. 25 percent of mobile phone owners in the 11 Asian
countries surveyed are using, or likely to start using, 2.5 and 3G
services within the next six months.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16073.htm

39. 2003-06-09 UK, Oxford - Electronic Government at the American
Grassroots (OII)
5.00 - 6.00pm Mon 9th June 2003, Saïd Business School, Oxford. Within
the past few years, scholarly attention has begun to focus on the
issue of electronic government, or e-government. Defined as the
electronic provision of information and services by governments 24
hours per day, 7 days per week, in theory e-government expands and
extends the ability of governmental organizations to serve their
constituencies. This presentation will use data from two nationwide
surveys of US local governments (2000 and 2002) and focus groups of
local government CIOs and top administrative officials from 37 US city
and county governments to examine the adoption and sophistication of
e-government.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16097.htm

40. 2003-06-18 UK, Oxford - Filtering Spam: New Perspectives on the
False-Positive/False-Negative Trade-off (OII)
12.00 - 13.30pm, Wed 18th June 2003, Saïd Business School, Oxford. Ben
Edelman, Berkman Center, Harvard Law School. Attempts to filter
unsolicited bulk e-mail ("spam") tend to present two kinds of errors.
Some unobjectionable messages are mistakenly flagged as spam (false
positives), while some spam is not flagged (false negatives). This
seminar will start with discussion of the reasons why this problem is
fundamental and why it has proven difficult to solve. It will also
cover research methods aimed at quantifying the scope of the errors
and at comparing their prevalence in competing email filtering
systems. The seminar will conclude by comparing e-mail filtering
errors with the mistakes made by web filtering systems, with a view
towards identifying and adopting best practices in web filtering to
make e-mail filtering more accurate.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16096.htm

41. 2003-06-23 UK, Oxford - 'This House has confidence in voting via
the Internet' (OII)
17.00 - 19.00 Mon 23 June 2003, Oxford Union. Motion: 'This House has
confidence in voting via the Internet'. Speaking for: Jim Adler, CEO
and President of VoteHere. Speaking against: Jason Kitkat. Expert
panel will include Richard Allan MP and Professor Stephen Coleman,
Cisco Visiting Professor of e-Democracy, Oxford Internet Institute.
The debate will be webcast with live questions taken from around the
world.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16095.htm

42. 2003-06-24 DE, Köln - Transparenz im Netz: Suchmaschinen
(Bertelsmann Stiftung)
Am 24. Juni 2003 von 14:00 - 16:15 Uhr. Das Panel im Rahmen des
Medienforums NRW in Köln analysiert die Funktionen und Defizite von
Suchmaschinen als Gatekeeper im Medium Internet. Die Bertelsmann
Stiftung will als medienpolitischer Think Tank die Entwicklung eines
Code of Conduct für Suchmaschinenbetreiber und Portalanbieter in
Deutschland vorantreiben und als neutrales Forum dessen Etablierung
befördern. Podium: Stefan Fischerländer, Fachautor
(Suchmaschinentricks.de) ; Prof. Dr. Miriam Meckel, Staatssekretärin
Europa, Internationales und Medien NRW; Dr. Norbert Schneider,
Direktor Landesanstalt für Medien NRW; Dr. Manfred Stegger, Vorstand,
allesklar.com; Christian Vollmert, Geschäftsführer luna-park (PG
Suchmaschinen, dmmv). Moderation: Prof. Dr. Marcel Machill, Berater
der Bertelsmann Stiftung, Universität Leipzig. Prof. Dr. Werner Wirth,
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, wird die Ergebnisse der Studie
"Wegweiser im Netz" zum Suchverhalten von Internetnutzern und zur
Qualität und Nutzerfreundlichkeit von Suchmaschinen zusammenfassen und
präsentieren.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16098.htm

43. 2003-09-16 EU, Brussels: Payments and Confidence - How to boost
security and fight risk (Europa)
European Commission, Internal Market Directorate General, Brussels,
16 September 2003. This Conference aims to improve information on the
security of modern payment products and systems in the Internal
Market, and to discuss the security approach to enhance public trust
and confidence in electronic payments. The Conference is a priority
action under the Fraud Prevention Action Plan. About 450-500
participants will attend representing stakeholders from different EU
institutions, national authorities and central banks, payment
providers, retailers and consumer organisations.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16067.htm

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

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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