[eccr] QuickLinks 265 - 29 March 2003

QuickLinks 265 - 29 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. US - 9th Circuit: Feds Can't Try Child Porn Case

Consumer protection
2. US - Watchdogs: Cable gouges broadband users

Content regulation
3. DE - Germany restricts game it says glorifies war
4. Minneapolis librarians sue over Internet porn
5. UK - RSPCA in censorship crusade against humour site
6. US - House votes to curtail Net porn

Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology
7. Peers warn of 'fatal flaws' in media bill

Copyright, trademarks and patents
8. UK - Universities to be sued over music downloads

Data Protection (privacy)
9. US - Scanning the future of privacy

Domain names
10. ICANN - New chief open to change

e-Government
11. EU - Council says access to documents on the rise
12. EU - e-Government and the European Union - Speech by Mr Liikanen
13. FR - Guide pratique 'Téléprocédures et familles'

Junk mail (spam)
14. UK - Government crackdown on spam

Liability, jurisdiction and applicable law
15. DE - Bundesweites Vorgehen gegen rechtsextreme Webseiten angemahnt

Mobile and wireless
16. Erotik-Angebote fürs MMS-Handy
17. Opportunities and Dangers of 3G Mobile Services for Children
18. UK - Mobiles to monitor children
19. US - Iraq war sparks wireless row

Protection of minors
20. DE - Niedrige Anforderungen an Altersschutzsysteme für Erotik-
Webseiten
21. Oberste Jugendmedienschützer benannt

Racism and xenophobia
22. Racism caught in the Net

Rating and filtering
23. AU - EFA Comments on Mandatory and Blocking by ISPs
24. Smut searchers

Telecommunications
25. UK - OFTEL proposes new regulatory regime

War reporting
26. Conflict of interest: the sites you need to see
27. Improved Tools Turn Journalists Into a Quick Strike Force
28. US - Net Censorship Debate Rages as POW Pictures Pulled

Market & Technology

Junk mail (spam)
29. Fighting spam for a good cause
30. Hotmail takes steps to freeze spam

Mobile and wireless
31. Italians pick up first 3G mobile phones

Portals, browsers and search engines
32. The changing face of search engines

Forthcoming events

33. 2003-04-04 BE, Namur - you've got mail - utilisation du email en
entreprise

Useful addresses

34. Deutsches und Europäisches Telekommunikations- und Medienrecht

1. US - 9th Circuit: Feds Can't Try Child Porn Case (The Recorder)
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a federal child
pornography law - at least for those who don't intend to take the
material across state lines. A divided panel overturned the conviction
of a woman arrested after employees at a U.S. Navy photo-developing
studio reported a single picture of Rhoda McCoy and her 10-year-old
daughter with their genitals exposed. The court held that under the
Supreme Court's recent Commerce Clause decisions, the federal
government cannot prosecute McCoy. USA v. McCoy.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15560.htm

2. US - Watchdogs: Cable gouges broadband users (Reuters)
U.S. consumer groups charged that cable companies were gouging
customers who subscribe only to high-speed Internet service but not to
cable television, and asked antitrust enforcers to investigate. The
Consumer Federation of America and the Consumers Union asked the
Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate
whether the steep discounts offered when customers purchased both
services constituted anticompetitive tying or predatory pricing.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15532.htm

3. DE - Germany restricts game it says glorifies war (New York Times)
Electronic Arts, the nation's largest maker of video games, says it is
caught in the crossfire between the German and United States
governments over the Iraq war. The German government listed a new game
produced by Electronic Arts on an index of games the government
considers violent. Such games may not be advertised or displayed on
shelves in Germany, although they may be kept under store counters and
sold to adults. The director of the German federal bureau that reviews
media products for the youth market said the game had been restricted
because it glorified war.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15551.htm

4. Minneapolis librarians sue over Internet porn (Star Tribune)
A dozen Minneapolis librarians who say they were exposed to a barrage
of sexually explicit Internet material in the downtown library are
seeking their day in court. The 12 sued the library system in U.S.
District Court in Minneapolis, alleging they endured an intimidating,
hostile and offensive workplace that violated state and federal law.
The suit seeks damages of at least $400,000 each, plus workplace
changes.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15548.htm

5. UK - RSPCA in censorship crusade against humour site (Register)
The RSPCA is rallying support for a campaign to have the Bonsai Kitten
Web site shut down, even though it knows the site is a hoax.
Bonsaikitten.com, a site "dedicated to preserving the long lost art of
body modification in housepets", has raised the ire of members of the
RSPCA, which campaigns against cruelty to animals.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15539.htm

6. US - House votes to curtail Net porn (CNET News.com)
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to ban pornographic
Internet sites with misleading addresses and computer-generated child
pornography. During a debate over a bill to create a notification
network for child kidnapping cases, House members added two
technology-related amendments to the legislation. The first measure,
which was approved by voice vote, says anyone who knowingly uses an
innocent-sounding domain name to drive traffic to a sex site could be
fined and imprisoned for two to four years. The second amendment,
which the House agreed to by a 406-15 vote, represents Congress'
second attempt to outlaw "morphed" or virtual child pornography. Last
year, the U.S. Supreme Court slapped down Congress' first law banning
nude images of computer-generated minors and underage teens, saying
the 1996 measure violated the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom
of expression.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15531.htm

7. Peers warn of 'fatal flaws' in media bill (FT)
Peers have warned the government that its communications bill for
overhauling the media industry goes too far in deregulating ownership
laws. Lord Puttnam, the Labour peer who is leading a House of Lords
rebellion against certain provisions of the bill, said the bill could
lead to a concentration of power in commercial broadcasting -
specifically in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation empire. Speaking
ahead of the bill's second reading in the upper house, Lord Puttnam
said the bill threatened plurality, diversity and Britain's reputation
for having "the best free broadcast media in the world" because it
contained "possibly fatal flaws".
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15540.htm

8. UK - Universities to be sued over music downloads (Times)
Every university in Britain will receive a letter from the British
Phonographic Industry and its sister organisation, the International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry, reminding them that
unlicensed internet copying is a breach of legislation. The federation
quotes studies conducted at universities showing that 50 to 100 per
cent of the institutions¹ internet capability had been taken over by
illegal file-sharing traffic. Academic institutions now face legal
action. The federation said: "he legal risks include injunctions,
damages, costs and possible criminal sanctions against the
institutions and their heads where systems are used for copyright
theft"
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15529.htm

9. US - Scanning the future of privacy (CNET News.com)
Engineers who design biometric technologies and Internet
authentication mechanisms should take more aggressive steps to
preserve privacy, a new government report says. The 177-page report by
the National Research Council suggests specific guidelines for
authentication technologies, such as passwords, identification cards
and key cards, and the use of biometrics to verify physical
characteristics like the shape of a retina or fingerprint. This report
represents the most detailed analysis to date of the tension between
authentication--which requires the disclosure of information to
confirm a person's identity or access--and the perils such systems may
pose to the privacy and anonymity of people who use them.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15544.htm

10. ICANN - New chief open to change (CNET News.com)
The Internet address authority has been criticized as secretive, but
new president Paul Twomey says the organization is set to turn over a
new leaf. Paul Twomey, the recently elected president of the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), believes the
organization's next step is to look beyond nations that are part of
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - an
international group composed primarily of developed countries - to
accommodate the interests of the global Internet community.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15543.htm

11. EU - Council says access to documents on the rise (Euractiv)
The Council has released figures according to which the request for
access to meeting papers has doubled since the entry into force of the
'access to documents' Directive in 2001. 80 per cent of these demands
have resulted in full disclosure.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15534.htm

12. EU - e-Government and the European Union - Speech by Mr Liikanen
(RAPID)
Mr Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission, responsible for
Enterprise and the Information Society, The Internet and the City
Conference "Local eGovernment in the Information Society", Barcelona,
21 March 2003
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15553.htm

13. FR - Guide pratique 'Téléprocédures et familles' (Forum des droits
sur l'internet)
Le Forum des droits sur l'internet a réalisé, en partenariat avec le
secrétariat d'Etat à la réforme de l'Etat, le ministère délégué à la
Famille, l'Union nationale des associations familiales et le Service
d'information du Gouvernement, ce guide pratique relatif aux
téléprocédures et à destination des familles et distribué dans les
espaces publics numériques.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15530.htm

14. UK - Government crackdown on spam (BBC)
The UK government is determined to crack down on the menace of
unwanted and unsolicited e-mail. From October, a European Union
directive will make unsolicited e-mails illegal across member states
and the UK government is planning to have its legal framework in place
at the same time. see also DTI Press Release and Public Consultation
(closes 19 June 2003) on how to implement the Directive on Privacy and
Electronic Communications (DPEC) in the UK.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15537.htm

15. DE - Bundesweites Vorgehen gegen rechtsextreme Webseiten angemahnt
(Heise)
Die Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf, in Nordrhein-Westfalen als Wächter
über die Mediendienste-Anbieter auch für das Internet zuständig, hat
ein bundesweit einheitliches Vorgehen gegen rechtsextreme
Internetseiten aus dem Ausland angemahnt. Jürgen Büssow, Chef der
nordrhein-westfälischen Aufsichtsbehörde, sieht sich in seinen
Maßnahmen durch den bisherigen Erfolg im Eilverfahren gegen Internet-
Zugangsanbieter bestätigt. Nun könnten die anderen Bundesländer nicht
mehr untätig bleiben, sagte Büssow. Mit dem Fall werde sich
voraussichtlich bald die Ministerpräsidenten-Konferenz beschäftigen.
Büssow nannte namentlich Hamburg und Hessen als Sitze der größten
deutschen Zugangsanbieter AOL und T-Online.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15558.htm

16. Erotik-Angebote fürs MMS-Handy (Xonio)
Hätte es noch eines Beweises bedurft, der CeBIT-Auftritt der
Mobilfunkanbieter brachte endgültige Klarheit: bunte Bilder, starke
Töne, satte Sound- und flotte Videostreams - schon vor dem UMTS-Start
in Deutschland stehen die Zeichen ganz auf Mobile Multimedia. Neben
News, Games, Musik und Sport kommt dabei auch dem Thema Erotik eine
nicht vom Handy zu weisende Bedeutung zu. Schließlich gilt immer und
überall: Sex sells - und dank hoch auflösender Farb-Displays kommen
die Pixel-Orgien in ganz neuer Qualität aufs Endgerät.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15546.htm

17. Opportunities and Dangers of 3G Mobile Services for Children
(Childnet International)
An international experts meeting held in Tokyo, Japan on the 6th and
7th March considered the implications of new mobile phone services for
children. For the first time international experts from the mobile
industry, broadcasting, universities, child welfare groups, consumer
organisations, law enforcement and regulators met to consider the
positive opportunities and safety issues that this new technology
raises for young people. The meeting was jointly organised by the UK
based Childnet International and the Japanese Internet Industry
Association. see proceedings and further details of the programme and
powerpoint presentations.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15554.htm

18. UK - Mobiles to monitor children (BBC)
Parents could soon keep a much closer eye on what children are up on
their way to and from school thanks to a mobile monitoring system.
Guardian Angel is a product which allows parents to map out the exact
route a child takes to school. It will send text alerts to their
mobile phone if the child deviates too far from that route or takes
too long getting there. Made by French mobile firm Alcatel, the system
takes advantage of the existing mobile phone network to locate a
child's whereabouts rather than using global positioning systems like
some location-based services.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15562.htm

19. US - Iraq war sparks wireless row (BBC)
A band of US politicians are angered over plans to build a
communication system in post-war Iraq based upon European wireless
standards. Members of the US Congress are adding their names to a
letter drafted by Californian republican Darrell Issa objecting to the
use of US funds to build a GSM network in Iraq after Saddam has gone.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15533.htm

20. DE - Niedrige Anforderungen an Altersschutzsysteme für Erotik-
Webseiten (Heise)
In dem Strafverfahren über die Verbreitung von nur mit der Abfrage von
Personalausweisnummern gesicherten pornografischen Inhalten im
Internet liegt nunmehr die schriftliche Urteilsbegründung des
Landgericht Düsseldorf vor. Der Angeklagte des Verfahrens betrieb eine
Erotik-Website mit jugendgefährdenden Angeboten, die per 0190er-Dialer
abrufbar ist und durch ein Adult Verification System (AVS) geschützt
war, das lediglich die Ausweisnummern abfragt. Die Ausführungen des
Gerichtes gelten allerdings nur für Sachverhalte bis zum 1. April
2003. An diesem Tag tritt der neue Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag in
Kraft, der erhöhte Anforderungen an AV-Systeme stellt.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15557.htm

21. Oberste Jugendmedienschützer benannt (Heise)
Knapp eine Woche vor Inkrafttreten des
Jugendmedienschutzstaatsvertrags haben die obersten Jugendschützer der
Länder ihre Vertreter für die neue Kommission für den
Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) benannt. Nachdem in der ersten Runde
Behördenleiter der Ministerien vorgeschlagen worden waren, habe man
sich nun auf Fachleute von Universitäten und nachgeordneten Behörden
geeinigt, hieß es dazu aus der Geschäftsstelle der
Jugendschutzbehörden der Länder in Stuttgart. Zunächst sollten
Behördenleiter aus den Ministerien in die KJM. Doch weil das der Idee
von der Staatsfreiheit der Medien widersprochen hätte, hat man nun
eilig eine neue Liste nachgeschoben. Diese soll nun von der
Ministerkonferenz der Länder Ende der Woche verabschiedet werden.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15552.htm

22. Racism caught in the Net (Sydney Morning Herald)
Courtesy of the website www.tolerance.org, it is now possible for
anyone with access to a computer to test discreetly whether they
harbour negative feelings towards Arab Muslims. You can also test
online your attitude to black people versus white, old versus young,
fat versus thin, male versus female, and straight versus gay. Literate
people who can find their way around the internet and consider
themselves bias-free might be surprised. The website warns the results
may disturb: more than a million people have so far taken implicit
association tests, and more often the tests reveal some sort of
unconscious bias.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15538.htm

23. AU - EFA Comments on Mandatory and Blocking by ISPs (EFA)
A counterblast to the Australia Institute's campaigning for mandatory
filtering of all Internet access by Australian Internet Service
Providers (ISPs).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15549.htm

24. Smut searchers (Orange County Register)
Some workers at 8e6 - an Internet filtering firm - are paid to look
for online pornography.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15541.htm

25. UK - OFTEL proposes new regulatory regime (Press Release)
Oftel has set out proposals to replace existing regulation with new
measures under the new EC Directives on electronic communications.
Wholesale services - wholesale charges for access, call origination
and transit of calls across fixed networks; Retail markets - the
prices paid by consumers for line rental and calls; Fixed geographic
call termination - the wholesale charges paid by operators for
terminating calls onto individual fixed networks; Wholesale
international services - the level of competition in 242 wholesale
international call routes; and Unmetered Internet call termination -
wholesale charges for unmetered narrowband Internet termination
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15550.htm

26. Conflict of interest: the sites you need to see (Guardian)
For the first time, war has outstripped sex as the most frequent web
search term according to internet service Freeserve. This thirst for
information has been matched by increased traffic on news sites.
Yahoo! said traffic levels were three times higher in the hour after
George Bush told Americans that war had started, while hits at
Guardian Unlimited and BBC News Online have increased by at least 30%.
The second Gulf war has also seen the acceptance of the weblog by the
mainstream media. see also Blogging the War: A Guide (Washington
Post).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15535.htm

27. Improved Tools Turn Journalists Into a Quick Strike Force (New
York Times)
Reporters covering the war in Iraq are at one with their technology as
never before. Television reporters are toting hand-held video cameras
and print journalists have traded the 70-pound satellite phones of the
1991 Gulf War for svelte models that can be held up to their ear.
High-speed Internet lines in the desert and more satellites in the sky
mean journalists can make a connection almost anywhere. As the
conflict unfolds, they are tapping into the global communications grid
regularly.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15555.htm

28. US - Net Censorship Debate Rages as POW Pictures Pulled (Reuters)
A Florida-based Web hosting company knocked a small news site off-line
after it posted controversial photos of captured American soldiers,
stoking accusations that private firms are censoring free speech. For
several hours, www.YellowTimes.org was dark, carrying the message
"Account for domain YellowTimes.org has been suspended." Later in the
day there was sporadic access.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15545.htm

29. Fighting spam for a good cause (CNET News.com)
Two IBM researchers are proposing a new method of fighting spam that
would force unfamiliar senders to donate to charity if they want to
reach you.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15536.htm

30. Hotmail takes steps to freeze spam (vnunet.com)
Hotmail, the free web-based email service run by Microsoft, has
introduced measures to crack down on spam. Over the past two weeks the
company has been implanting a rule limiting to 100 the number of email
addresses a sender can target in any 24-hour period.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15547.htm

31. Italians pick up first 3G mobile phones (BBC)
Italy is among the first countries in the world to use commercially
available 3G phones. Most people in Italy have at least two - one for
business and one for pleasure - which they update more often than
their wardrobes. So it seems entirely appropriate that they should be
among the first consumers in the world to actually get their hands on
the new third-generation mobile phones.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15561.htm

32. The changing face of search engines (CNET News.com)
Once the primary road signs to navigating the Internet, directories
have moved to the shoulder. They are being displaced by algorithmic
search tools and commercial services that many people now believe do a
better job in satisfying Web surfers and advertisers.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15556.htm

33. 2003-04-04 BE, Namur - you've got mail - utilisation du email en
entreprise (e-Consult et Iccom)
Conférence "You've Got Mail!" Namur - 4 avril 2003 au Palais des
expositions de Namur, à l'occasion du salon Business Exchange SESSION
1 - Le courrier électronique à l'extérieur de l'entreprise : l'e-mail
marketing SESSION 2 - Le courrier électronique dans l'entreprise :
une cohabitation difficile entre employeurs et employés ?
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15559.htm

34. Deutsches und Europäisches Telekommunikations- und Medienrecht
(tkrecht.de)
Informationen zum deutschen und europäischen Telekommunikations- und
Medienrecht. Dies umfasst u. a.: eine "Virtuelle Bibliothek" mit
Verweisen auf im Volltext abrufbare juristische Publikationen, eine
Übersicht über die wichtigsten deutschen und europäischen
Rechtsnormen, Zugang zu einer speziell (tele-)kommunikations-
rechtlichen Mailingliste, eine Sonderseite zur Novellierung des
Telekommunikations-gesetzes, kommunikationspolitische Positions-
papiere sowie ein Archiv mit Vortragsunterlagen.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem15542.htm

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