[eccr] QuickLinks 282 - 7 September 2003

> QuickLinks 282 - 7 September 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. RO - Second worm suspect investigated
> 2. UK - Girl raped by chatroom 'friend'
> 3. US - Legal Definitions of Child Pornography, Obscenity and "Harmful
> to Minors"
> 4. US - Man arrested in domain deceit
>
> Content regulation
> 5. AU - IIA Content Code Guide for Users
> 6. TH - Censors can't agree what to ban
>
> Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology
> 7. US - Court stays rules on media owners
> 8. US - The two faces of the FCC
>
> Copyright, trademarks and patents
> 9. EU - Software patents - A clicking bomb
> 10. US - Aiming at Pornography to Hit Music Piracy
> 11. US - Databases--the next copyright battle?
> 12. US - Music industry unveils Internet amnesty plan
>
> Data Protection (privacy)
> 13. EU - Air passenger details won't travel to US
>
> Domain names
> 14. FI - Finns Rush to Register Internet Domains
>
> Information society and Internet policy
> 15. EU - Strategies to boost the Broadband in Europe
>
> Junk mail (spam)
> 16. IT - Spammers face jail
>
> Safer Internet awareness
> 17. EU - Safer Internet - Call for proposals published
> 18. US - New NetSafeKids.org site goes live
>
> Security and encryption
> 19. Heart of Darkness, on a Desktop
> 20. Re: That movie
>
> Telecommunications
> 21. EU - Commission reviews first case under new electronic
> communications regime
>
> Market & Technology
>
> Market
> 22. Of monkeys and penguins
>
> Mobile and wireless
> 23. Japan signals mobile future
>
> Portals, browsers and search engines
> 24. Search Needs Better Labeling
>
> Forthcoming events
>
> 25. 2003-09-12 EU, Luxembourg - Safer Internet public consultation and
> Information Day
> 26. 2003-09-15 ES, Valencia - Summit on e-Government - paving the way
> to 2010
> 27. 2003-09-19 UK, Manchester - Digital Games Industries: Development,
> Impact and Direction
> 28. 2003-10-16 EU, Brussels - Workshop on Unsolicited Commercial
> Communications or Spam
>
> 1. RO - Second worm suspect investigated (BBC)
> A second person is being investigated in connection with the MSBlast
> worm that caused havoc online last month. Romanian police confirmed
> they have a suspect, believed to have released a modified version of
> the virus. Iinside the virus was the suspect's online nickname which
> helped Romanian police and anti-virus firm BitDefender to track him
> down.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16610.htm
>
> 2. UK - Girl raped by chatroom 'friend' (BBC)
> A 15-year-old girl has been raped by a man she met through an internet
> chat service. The teenager was attacked in Wigan, Greater Manchester,
> after meeting up with the man who police say had 'groomed' her over
> several weeks. She had met the man, who said he was called Simon,
> through an internet site run by the mobile phone firm T-mobile where
> they exchanged mobile phone numbers.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16612.htm
>
> 3. US - Legal Definitions of Child Pornography, Obscenity and "Harmful
> to Minors" (Law Library Resource Xchange)
> by Mary Minow. Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). This article
> contains the text of federal and state laws, as well as urls to
> websites, that some may find offensive. In particular, the article
> quotes statutory language verbatim that is of a graphic nature. LLRX
> is not responsible for any content that the reader may encounter by
> following links from any website referenced in this article. Also note
> that this article may be blocked by filters that look for offensive
> words. It should not be blocked by filters that block only images,
> even if keywords are used to red flag suspect sites.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16607.htm
>
> 4. US - Man arrested in domain deceit (CNET News.com)
> Federal law enforcement officers arrested a man for allegedly creating
> misleading domain names to deceive children and direct them to
> pornographic Web sites. John Zuccarini's arrest marks the first to be
> made under the Truth in Domain Names Act, which took effect in April
> and prohibits people from creating misleading domain names as a means
> to deceive children into viewing content that's harmful to minors, or
> tricking adults into clicking on obscene Web sites. Zuccarini was
> arrested on charges of creating at least 3,000 misleading domain
> names, such as dinseyland.com, that would result in Internet users
> accessing advertising Web sites. These Web sites, some of which were
> pornographic, would pay Zuccarini a total of as much as $1 million a
> year for bringing viewers to their sites, federal prosecutors said.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16608.htm
>
> 5. AU - IIA Content Code Guide for Users (IIA)
> The Internet Industry Association has prepared this guide to assist
> Australian Internet users understand Australia's co-regulatory
> framework for online content. The new regulatory regime commenced on 1
> January 2000 and places certain obligations on Internet Service
> Providers and Internet Content Hosts. It also requires the development
> of industry codes of practice.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16616.htm
>
> 6. TH - Censors can't agree what to ban (Bangkok Post)
> A move in Thailand to impose a ratings system on internet websites has
> struck a problem - the would-be censors cannot agree what should be
> banned.About 100 officials, child protection workers, computer
> scientists, students and internet surfers met yesterday under the
> auspices of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry.
> But the meeting could not agree on the definition of the "grey area'',
> to which limited access would be allowed.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16617.htm
>
> 7. US - Court stays rules on media owners (New York Times)
> A federal appeals court issued a surprise order blocking the Federal
> Communications Commission from imposing new rules that would make it
> easier for the nation's largest media conglomerates to add new markets
> and areas of business. The decision came a day before the new rules,
> considered among the most significant efforts at deregulation adopted
> during the Bush administration, were scheduled to take effect. Former
> radio pirates relish victory against FCC (AP), FCC puts brakes on
> transfers of radio, TV station licenses. see also Panel Fires Shot
> Across FCC's Bow (Washingon Post). The Senate Appropriations Committee
> dealt another potential setback to the Federal Communications
> Commission's new media ownership rules, adding an amendment to a
> spending bill that would prevent the agency from raising its cap on
> the size of large broadcast television networks.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16604.htm
>
> 8. US - The two faces of the FCC (CNET News.com)
> By Randolph J. May. On Aug. 21, the Federal Communications Commission
> finally released the monstrous official text of its inelegantly
> denominated triennial review of unbundled network elements. This is
> the long-awaited decision governing the extent to which incumbent
> telephone companies such as Verizon Communications and SBC
> Communications must share their local networks with competitors at
> government-mandated discounted prices. Although worse epitaphs could
> be hurled at the agency, the best that can be said is that the FCC's
> order is decidedly two-faced.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16593.htm
>
> 9. EU - Software patents - A clicking bomb (Economist)
> An explosive row over how to protect intellectual property in Europe.
> Should a new piece of encryption software or an internet business
> method be covered by patents, or do copyright and trade secrets
> suffice? These questions underlie a heated controversy in Europe
> pitting open-source advocates, software developers and academics
> against big software firms, intellectual property lawyers and the
> European Commission. Because of the row, the European Parliament has
> again postponed the first reading of a directive on computer-related
> inventions.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16591.htm
>
> 10. US - Aiming at Pornography to Hit Music Piracy (New York Times)
> The recording industry, struggling to curb music piracy, is shining
> the spotlight on another demon lurking on the Internet: pornography.
> The industry is trying to enlist broader public support with a
> campaign intended to show that the peer-to-peer networks for swapping
> files like KaZaA and Morpheus are used not only to trade songs but
> also pornographic images, including child pornography. see also the
> bill Protecting Children from Peer-to-Peer Pornography Act of 2003
> (search on HR 2885 in Thomas).
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16603.htm
>
> 11. US - Databases--the next copyright battle? (Reuters)
> Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are circulating a
> proposed bill that would prevent wholesale copying of school guides,
> news archives and other databases that do not enjoy copyright
> protection. The proposed bill would provide a legal umbrella for
> publishers of factual information such as courtroom decisions and
> professional directories. The measures would be similar to the
> copyright laws that protect music, novels and other creative works.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16592.htm
>
> 12. US - Music industry unveils Internet amnesty plan (Reuters)
> Internet users who promise to stop illegally copying music will be
> able to avoid prosecution under an amnesty program to be unveiled by
> the recording industry next week. Users would sign a notarised form
> promising to stop using "peer to peer" programs like Kazaa to download
> copyrighted music for free and to delete all songs they may have
> acquired illegally, said the source, who spoke on condition of
> anonymity.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16599.htm
>
> 13. EU - Air passenger details won't travel to US (out-law.com)
> The European Commission rejected a controversial US post-9/11 security
> measure for the transfer of airline passenger data from Europe to the
> US because it sits uncomfortably with the EU's stringent data
> protection regime. The EU wants the US to improve its own data
> protection rules. see also EU: U.S. Anti-Terror Flight Rules Breach
> Privacy (Reuters).
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16597.htm
>
> 14. FI - Finns Rush to Register Internet Domains (AP)
> The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority which oversees
> Internet names received more than 17,000 requests for ".fi" suffixed
> Internet names within hours after a change in legislation. Previously,
> domain names have only been issued that exactly correspond to the name
> of a business, organization or trademark. Under the new legislation,
> Finnish domain names can be almost arbitrary, as long as they fulfill
> "requirements of decency." 42,000 names were registered under the old
> rules.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16601.htm
>
> 15. EU - Strategies to boost the Broadband in Europe (RAPID)
> Mr Erkki Liikanen Member of the European Commission, responsible for
> Enterprise and the Information Society, Informal Telecoms Council
> Viterbo, 4 September 2003.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16613.htm
>
> 16. IT - Spammers face jail (BBC)
> Senders of unsolicited junk e-mails in Italy will now face jail
> sentences of up to three years. Italy's privacy watchdog issued the
> ruling in an attempt to limit the huge amount of advertising and
> promotional material sent online. Sending e-mails without the
> permission of the receiver is against the law in Italy. Offenders now
> risk fines of up to 90,000 euros and between six months and three
> years in prison, if they are proved to have had the intention of
> making a profit.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16611.htm
>
> 17. EU - Safer Internet - Call for proposals published (Europa)
> The European Commission has published a call for proposals to
> implement the Work Programme 2003 - 2004 of the Safer Internet
> programme covering . € 11.7 million is made available to promote
> safer use of the Internet and new online technologies including mobile
> phones. An Information Day will be held in Luxembourg on 12 September
> 2003. On the same day, a public consultation will take place on
> Commission preparations for proposing a follow-up programme covering
> the period 2005 - 2008, the Safer Internet plus programme. see also
> EU acts to make Internet and mobile phones safer (RAPID) This call
> will establish a European network of safer internet awareness centres
> and will continue to support for two more years the existing network
> of hotlines that allow users to report illegal content. Other areas
> covered include a study on children's use of new media, quality labels
> for Web sites and benchmarking of filtering systems.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16609.htm
>
> 18. US - New NetSafeKids.org site goes live (National Academies)
> How can parents deal with this dark side of modern technology and
> still allow children to explore the cyberworld? In 2002, the National
> Research Council of the National Academies released Youth,
> Pornography, and the Internet, a report on protecting children and
> teens from sexually explicit material and threats from sexual
> predators operating online. NetSafeKids is based on the important
> findings of this report. It provides practical information and tips on
> types and sources of sexually explicit content, ways that
> inappropriate material can reach children and teens, the threat of
> cyberstalking, the pros and cons of filtering and monitoring tools,
> and other issues involving Internet safety.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16600.htm
>
> 19. Heart of Darkness, on a Desktop (New York Times)
> More and more PC owners are discovering software lurking on their
> computers that they had no idea was there - software that can snoop,
> destroy or simply reproduce itself in droves. The SoBig and Blaster
> worms that have been invading computer systems worldwide for several
> weeks are slowing down. But the two intruders left behind software
> that could linger undetected for months.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16602.htm
>
> 20. Re: That movie (Economist)
> The latest computer scourges, and their consequences. Those who use
> the internet are unlikely to be seeing the headline above for the
> first time. In late August, a computer virus known as SoBig.F sent out
> millions of e-mails with that and other vague but enticing subject
> lines. Those unfortunates who opened the attachment to these e-mails
> will have had their machines infected by the virus, which will then
> have used their machines as platforms to spread the epidemic further.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16615.htm
>
> 21. EU - Commission reviews first case under new electronic
> communications regime (RAPID)
> The Commission has reviewed the first case submitted to it under the
> new regulatory framework for electronic communications. Oftel, the UK
> national regulatory authority (NRA), came to the conclusion that there
> was sufficient competition in one of the UK wholesale mobile markets
> making existing sector-specific regulation redundant. The Commission
> concurs with Oftel's analysis and sent Oftel its comments on 29 August
> 2003.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16596.htm
>
> 22. Of monkeys and penguins (Economist)
> Darl McBride, capitalist crusader against the commie horde of Linux
> users. The SCO case of 2003 sounds increasingly like the famous Scopes
> Monkey Trial of 1925, which pitted religious fundamentalists against
> progressives wanting to teach Darwin alongside the Bible in American
> classrooms. The SCO case plays the same role in a culture war now
> consuming the software industry.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16595.htm
>
> 23. Japan signals mobile future (BBC)
> Japan leads the way in mobile phone innovation, as BBC ClickOnline's
> Richard Taylor reports from Tokyo, one of the most connected cities in
> the world.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16594.htm
>
> 24. Search Needs Better Labeling (CyberAtlas)
> An in-depth study of people unaware how pay-for-placement search found
> that they are surprised, and often negative, when they find out how
> paid listings work. Context-Based Research Group conducted the
> ethnographic study, which looked at the actions and feedback of 17
> participants in four test cities, on behalf of Consumers Union's
> Consumer WebWatch. The study examined consumer interactions with 15
> top search sites, including Google, Yahoo! and AOL, during March 2003.
> After choosing 17 individuals, some of them very Web savvy but unaware
> of pay-for-placement search, the researchers interviewed them about
> their search habits. They then explained the pay-for-placement
> business model, and pointed out explanatory pages on the search
> engines' Web sites, gauging consumer reactions.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16598.htm
>
> 25. 2003-09-12 EU, Luxembourg - Safer Internet public consultation and
> Information Day (Europa)
> The Commission is making preparations for proposing a follow-up
> programme covering the period 2005 - 2008, the Safer Internet plus
> programme, including getting input from interested parties. A public
> consultation will take place in Luxembourg on Friday 12 September
> 2003. On the same date, Information Day on the Work Programme 2003-
> 2004 & the Call for Proposals will take place.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16590.htm
>
> 26. 2003-09-15 ES, Valencia - Summit on e-Government - paving the way
> to 2010 (e-Forum)
> 1st e-Forum Summit, 15th- 16th September, 2003, Valencia - Spain. The
> Summit is destined to become one of the most significant European e-
> government events, enabling participants to speak to a high quality
> audience drawn from both the private and public sectors. Speakers will
> include representatives of the European Commission, and e-government
> actors from both the current and soon-to-be EU Member States. The
> Summit will cover a wide range of current e-government topics and will
> present the work of the e-Forum Working Groups, which is designed to
> feed into future EU policy-making in this area.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16605.htm
>
> 27. 2003-09-19 UK, Manchester - Digital Games Industries: Development,
> Impact and Direction (CRIC)
> Against the backdrop of the highly competitive economic environment of
> gaming platforms, software and new game-enabled consumer technologies,
> the ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC) will
> be hosting a two day workshop on the socio-economics of digital
> gaming. The workshop aims to bring together international delegates
> from academic, policy and commercial circles for an in-depth
> discussion on nature and characteristics of this emerging sector: the
> 'drivers', key 'players', the 'current state of play', and the impact
> of the industry on the modern economy and the framework of its
> evolution.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16614.htm
>
> 28. 2003-10-16 EU, Brussels - Workshop on Unsolicited Commercial
> Communications or Spam (Europa)
> A one day workshop on unsolicited commercial communications or spam
> will take place in Brussels on 16 October 2003. Building on the "opt-
> in" regime to be introduced in all Member States by the end of
> October, the workshop will aim at discussing additional measures
> needed to address the various legal, technical and educational facets
> of spam e.g.: effective enforcement by public authorities, co-
> operation within industry (filtering, codes of conduct), consumer
> awareness, international co-operation. The workshop will be introduced
> by Commissioner Liikanen. The results will be used in the context of a
> Commission Communication expected later this year on the subject. The
> workshop is primarily addressed at Member States, industry and
> consumer associations, but is open to all interested parties.
> Attendance is free of charge but prior registration is required.
> http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem16606.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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