[eccr] QuickLinks 291 - 15 November 2003

QuickLinks 291 - 15 November 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

     Competition
1. EU - Rivals want Microsoft punished
2. UK -  'Inappropriate' BBC web services under fire

     Computer crime
3. JN - Cops break huge yakuza kiddy porn ring
4. Torino, due arresti per aborti clandestini
5. US - Internet service provider sentenced to 40 years in child porn
case
6. Zombie machines fuel new cyber crime wave

     Copyright, trademarks and patents

7. FR - Internet et droits d'auteur: le projet de loi adopt=E9 en
Conseil des ministres

     Data Protection (privacy)
8. BEEP! You're on Korean Candid Camera
9. UK - Blunkett outlines ID card plans
10. US - Holes Found in Online Job Search Privacy

     e-Government
11. UK - A portal for the people?

     Employment and social issues
12. UK - Porn surfing a big employers' headache

     Information society and Internet policy
13. WSIS - Rich and poor states split before Internet summit
14. Laying Down the Virtual Law

     Internet access and use
15. ITU - Results of Meeting on international Internet connectivity
16. UK - Red tape 'stopping broadband coverage'

     Junk mail (spam)
17. EU - Member States slow in adopting new 'anti-spam' regime
18. US - AT&T's Anti-Anti-Spam Patent

     Multilingual content and software
19. Netd@ys 2002


     Protection of minors
20. SG - Singapore calls for global Internet chatroom crackdown

     Safer Internet awareness
21. SAFT - An experiment in Internet self-regulation
22. SAFT Future Kids Online - Conference Documentation

     Security and encryption
23. Hackers crack Nokia's game gadget
24. SG - Singapore tackles 'cyber terror'

     Taxation and tariffs
25. EU - Allemagne: Bruxelles appel=E9 =E0 trancher sur la validit=E9 d=92une
taxe sur les PC et les imprimantes

     Telecommunications
26. EU - Major telecoms company spells out plan for pushing the
deregulation agenda
27. US - Gearing Up for the Big Mobile Phone Switch
28. US - Home numbers get OK to roam

Market & Technology

     e-Government
29. UK - Website perils of ancestor worship

     Internet access and use
30. Europe leads U.S. in linking PC 'grids'

     Junk mail (spam)
31. UK - Spam set to soar this Christmas

     Mobile and wireless

32. Nokia pushes N-Gage gaming mobile

     Standards
33. EU - IPv6 task force puts forward action for wireless Internet

     Statistics
34. US - Broadband net user numbers boom
35. US - Women visit "adult" Web sites

     Voice over IP
36. Operator calls time - voice over IP

Forthcoming events

37. 2003-12-11 NL, Utrecht - JURIX-03 - The 16th Annual Conference on
Legal Knowledge and Information Systems

1. EU - Rivals want Microsoft punished (Guardian)
Microsoft's rivals claimed that the software company has a
stranglehold on the digital media and server markets, and urged the
European Commission to act. The plea came at the end of a three-day
hearing in Brussels that Microsoft hopes will persuade the commission
not to throw the book at it for allegedly abusing its dominant
position in Europe. It has robustly defended its commercial behaviour.
see also Microsoft, EU square off behind closed doors  (Reuters), It's
the Critics' Turn as Microsoft/EU Case Unwinds (Internet News),
Windows of opportunity  (Economist), Microsoft upbeat on EU hearings
(BBC), Microsoft legal defense is familiar one to EU (New York Times),
Microsoft to conclude defence in antitrust case (EurActiv.com) and
Microsoft set for Brussels battle (BBC).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17067.htm


2. UK -  'Inappropriate' BBC web services under fire (Guardian)
The managing director of the Telegraph Group has called for the BBC to
scrap fantasy football, celebrity gossip and search engines from its
internet services.And in a three-pronged attack on the BBC's
burgeoning online activities, influential think tank the Institute for
Public Policy Research said it was 'unacceptable' for the BBC services
just to 'spring up' without any regulation. In a forthright assault on
the BBC, Hugo Drayton, the former Telegraph internet boss who heads
the British Internet Publishers' Alliance, accused the BBC of
'distorting the market' by providing a huge range of online content
that does not necessarily fall within its public service remit.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17063.htm

3. JN - Cops break huge yakuza kiddy porn ring (Mainichi)
A massive crackdown on a yakuza-run kiddy porn ring in Japan has
resulted in the arrest of eight men and seizure of tens of thousands
of pedophile videos. Toyozo Kawamura, 53, was one of the two
Yamaguchi-gumi gangsters among the eight arrested for breaking the
Child Pornography Prohibition Law. Authorities claimed the raid was
the biggest ever seizure of pornography in Japanese history.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17084.htm

4. Torino, due arresti per aborti clandestini (Corriere della Sera)
La Polizia Postale di Torino ha arrestato un medico di Torino e una
infermiera che, in cambio di grosse somme di denaro, praticavano
aborti clandestini. Le indagini, svolte anche utilizzando
intercettazioni telefoniche, hanno permesso di accertare che il
medico, titolare di uno studio professionale, pubblicizzava l?attivit=E0
illecita su un sito web dedicato alla salute della donna.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17075.htm

5. US - Internet service provider sentenced to 40 years in child porn
case (AP)
The owner of an Internet service provider in Waco, Texas, was
sentenced to 40 years in prison for violating his felony probation by
possessing child pornography. He had been on deferred probation since
pleading guilty in August 2000 to two counts of indecency with a child
in the molestation of an 11-year-old girl. After authorities caught
him with child pornography at his home, prosecutors filed a motion to
revoke his deferred probation.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17055.htm

6. Zombie machines fuel new cyber crime wave (Reuters)
The rapid growth of broadband home computer connections may be
inadvertently fuelling what police suspect could be the start of a new
crime wave - cyber-blackmail. As more homes connect to faster delivery
systems, their computers are becoming vulnerable to hackers and virus
writers who can turn them into 'zombie' machines, ready to carry out
any malevolent command. Favourite targets for the extortionists - many
thought to come from eastern Europe - have been casinos and retailers,
but one recent high-profile victim was the Port of Houston.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17077.htm

7. FR - Internet et droits d'auteur: le projet de loi adopt=E9 en
Conseil des ministres (ZDNet France)
Le ministre de la Culture a pr=E9sent=E9 son projet de loi qui doit
transposer la directive europ=E9enne sur le copyright (EUCD). S=92il
maintient l'exception =E0 la copie priv=E9e, il pr=E9voit de lourdes

sanctions p=E9nales en cas de contournement des mesures anticopie. Le
tr=E8s attendu =ABprojet de loi sur le droit d'auteur et les droits
voisins dans la soci=E9t=E9 de l'information=BB (LDASI) a =E9t=E9 
pr=E9sent=E9 en
Conseil des ministres. Ce projet de loi  est cens=E9 transposer une

directive europ=E9enne du 22 mai 2001. Voir aussi l'expos=E9 des motifs.

http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17068.htm

8. BEEP! You're on Korean Candid Camera (Reuters)
Alarmed at the use of camera phones to catch individuals in
compromising situations, South Korea has ordered manufacturers to
ensure that all new handsets emit a beep whenever a picture is taken.
In one notable case, a woman used her camera phone to snap naked women
in one of the country's popular public sauna baths, and then sold the
photographs to an Internet Web site.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17076.htm

9. UK - Blunkett outlines ID card plans (BBC)
All UK citizens could be compelled to have some form of identity card
by 2013, David Blunkett has said. From 2007/8 all new passports and
driving licences will include details such as eye recognition and
fingerprints, said the home secretary. A voluntary ID card would also
be introduced, with 80% of people having one or other of the documents
by 2013. Mr Blunkett said he hoped ministers could then decide to
bring in a compulsory scheme.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17081.htm

10. US - Holes Found in Online Job Search Privacy (AP)
Some career Web sites, recruitment services and automated job-
application kiosks offer flimsy privacy protections and might even
violate employment and credit laws, a report asserts. Many job sites
still let too much information from resumes posted online get into the
hands of third parties through online 'cookies' that monitor Web
surfing, according to the report, led by Pam Dixon, formerly of the

University of Denver's Privacy Foundation and now head of her own
group, the World Privacy Forum. Executive Summary.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17058.htm

11. UK - A portal for the people? (Guardian)
A new BBC site hopes to transform politically apathetic members of the
public into single-issue activists. But will it just be a magnet for
net heads and moaning nimbys?
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17061.htm

12. UK - Porn surfing a big employers' headache (Reuters)
Misuse of e-mails and the Internet in the workplace has become a big
headache for employers, and UK companies are increasingly disciplining
staff for accessing racy Web sites or sending porn to colleagues.
Nearly one in three companies have disciplined staff for breaking
company Internet and e-mail rules in the past year, according to a
survey released by LexisNexis Industrial Relations Services, a
publication that covers human resources issues.

http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17086.htm

13. WSIS - Rich and poor states split before Internet summit (Reuters)
Developed and developing nations were wide apart on managing the
Internet and closing the digital divide between rich and poor at the
end of what was meant as a final meeting before a world summit. The
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is to be held in Geneva
December 10-12.  A further previously unscheduled session has been
called for December 5-6 in a bid to clear the way for 60 heads of
state and government to agree a declaration of principles and a plan
of action. The summit has broadened to embrace many facets of the
information society, including questions of press freedom and Net
management. Some developing states such as Brazil and India would like
to see greater national or even supranational involvement in
administering the Net, while many rich states are happy to see it left
to the private sector. The summit, being held under the auspices of
the United Nations, is the first of two. A second will be held in
Tunis in 2005. see Latest versions of the Declaration of Principles
and Plan of Action (WSIS). voir aussi Le futur Sommet de l'information
bute sur le contr=F4le de l'internet (AFP)
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17054.htm

14. Laying Down the Virtual Law (Wired)
A collection of the brightest thinkers and best designers of games
like EverQuest, and metaverses like There and Second Life, are
gathering for the first State of Play: Law, Games and Virtual Worlds
conference in New York. A host of questions are on everyone's minds:
Are virtual worlds the new Wild West or a legitimate province of the
courts? Is game play equivalent to speech as defined in the First
Amendment? Is there such a thing as fraud in a metaverse? "As the game
universe becomes intricate, as transactions start to cross the
boundary between the game world and the real world, it becomes more
complicated as to what you're going to call defamation," says Jack
Balkin, a professor at Yale Law School and an organizer of the
conference. Beth Noveck, a professor at New York Law School and
another organizer of the conference, says those arriving for the three
days of panels, discussion and networking are coming to
intellectualize about where games and virtual worlds fit into the
fabric of their lives.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17070.htm

15. ITU - Results of Meeting on international Internet connectivity
(ITU)
The European Commission has published the results of the ITU Joint
Rapporteurs' Group meeing on international Internet connectivity
discussions held in Brussels on 20-21 October 2003. There is a

proposed modification of ITU-T Recommendation D.50 as well as
interesting presentations from Ed Rushton, Cable and Wireless:
Internet Interconnection (PowerPoint), Marilyn Cade, AT&T: Global
International Internet Capacity and Traffic Data (PDF) and Corporate
Maps Showing Global Networks and Connectivity (PDF), Russell
Southwood, Balancing Act: Africa - Local IXPs and Regional Carriers
(PowerPoint), and Nguyen Xuan Quong, Vietnam Posts and
Telecommunications Corporation: Scenario of Internet in Vietnam
(PowerPoint). The conclusions will be presented to ITU-T Study Group 3
during its forthcoming meeting on 17-21 November 2003 in Geneva.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17080.htm

16. UK - Red tape 'stopping broadband coverage' (Guardian)
E-commerce minister Stephen Timms has called on broadband internet
providers to hasten its introduction across the country. His plea
coincided with an industry demand for lighter regulation. BT submitted
evidence to a Commons trade and industry select committee hearing on
broadband, asking for less red tape.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17064.htm

17. EU - Member States slow in adopting new 'anti-spam' regime
(EurActiv.com)
As from 1 November, the Member States must comply with the EU's new
strict digital privacy rules. In practice, only Austria, Denmark,
Italy and Sweden have met the deadline.  The EU's Directive on Privacy
and Electronic Communications entered into force on 1 November 2003.
Popularly known as the EU's 'ban on spam' directive, the technology-
neutral regulations include provisions on security of networks and
services, confidentiality of communications, access to information
stored on terminal equipment, processing of traffic and location data,
calling line identification, public subscriber directories and
unsolicited commercial communications. Enforcement of the new laws is
left to the individual Member States. Several EU Members are running
behind schedule with the new regime's implementation. Only Austria,
Denmark, Italy and Sweden had brought their national legislation up to
the new standards by the Commission's 1 November deadline.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17069.htm

18. US - AT&T's Anti-Anti-Spam Patent (Dan Gillmor)
Via Greg Aharonian's Internet Patent News Service comes the news that

AT&T has received this patent for - I kid you not - a way to defeat
anti-spam measures: "A system and method for circumventing schemes
that use duplication detection to detect and block unsolicited e-mail
(spam). An address on a list is assigned to one of m sublists, where m
is an integer that is greater than one. A set of m different messages
are created. A different message from the set of m different messages
is sent to the addresses on each sublist. In this way, spam
countermeasures based upon duplicate detection schemes are foiled."
Right. And the other thing being foiled is Internet users' desire to
be free of the spam plague. AT&T should be ashamed of itself. Is this
truly an original "invention"? If not, as I suspect, it's just more
evidence of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's tendency to grant
patents willy-nilly, and let the courts settle everything later on.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17053.htm

19. Netd@ys 2002 (DG Education and Culture)
NetD@ys is an initiative of the European Commission to promote the use
of new media in education and culture. This year Netd@ys concentrates
on 'Dialogue between cultures' with an emphasis on Image.  There are
three themes : Discover it, Understand it, Appreciate it.  It runs
from 17 to 23 November 2003.  see also FAQ.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17059.htm

20. SG - Singapore calls for global Internet chatroom crackdown (AFP)
Singapore urged Internet access providers to follow Microsoft's lead
in clamping down on unregulated chatrooms to prevent them from
becoming havens for sex predators. Information and Communications
Minister Lee Boon Yang told parliament the government was concerned
over the impact the abuse of Internet chatrooms was having on the
high-tech city-state.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17085.htm

21. SAFT - An experiment in Internet self-regulation (CNET News.com)
by Declan McCullagh. As an employee of the Norwegian government,
Elisabeth Staksrud's job title used to be official film censor. Now,
the 30-year-old social scientist has an additional job description:

project coordinator for the SAFT program, a government-managed
Internet project funded by the European Commission. SAFT, which stands
for Safety Awareness Facts and Tools, is something of an experiment in
Internet self-regulation and comes as European national governments
and the commission itself are weighing whether additional laws are
necessary.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17089.htm

22. SAFT Future Kids Online - Conference Documentation (SAFT)
Politicians, researchers, experts, industry representatives and kids
themselves gathered in Stockholm at the end of October for the SAFT
conference Future Kids Online - How to Provide Safety Awareness, Facts
and Tools. It turned out to be two eventful days with speakers and
guests from Europe, Asia, Australia and America debating possibilities
and risks concerning children's online life. Below you will find links
to the presentations as well as some pictures from the event. [Ed:
including one of QuickLink's editor in serious mood, supervised by the
SAFT detective].
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17088.htm


23. Hackers crack Nokia's game gadget (BBC)
Nokia has admitted hackers have cracked security codes on the N-Gage
device, allowing its games to be played on other mobile phones. The
protection system was supposed to stop games being copied and
downloaded over the web.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17071.htm

24. SG - Singapore tackles 'cyber terror' (BBC)
Singapore has passed strict new legislation to protect the country's

computer systems from attack. The government has said the legislation
was necessary because of the damage that computer hacking can cause.
The laws allow the monitoring of all computer activity and 'pre-
emptive' action, though an official said they would be used
'sparingly'. Some members of parliament said the measures could be
open to abuse, with threats to individual liberty.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17082.htm

25. EU - Allemagne: Bruxelles appel=E9 =E0 trancher sur la validit=E9 d=92une
taxe sur les PC et les imprimantes (ZDNet France)
Les taxes sur les PC et les imprimantes provoquent =E0 nouveau des
remous en Allemagne. L=92association Bitkom, qui rassemble quelque 700
entreprises du secteur des t=E9l=E9communications et des nouvelles
technologies, en appelle =E0 l=92arbitrage de la Commission europ=E9enne.
Elle s=92insurge contre =ABle comportement monopolistique abusif des
soci=E9t=E9s de gestion des droits d=92auteur, qui essaient d=92imposer des
taxes sur les PC et les imprimantes=BB.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17087.htm

26. EU - Major telecoms company spells out plan for pushing the
deregulation agenda (EurActiv.com)
Swedish telecom company Tele2 presented a Monopoly Challenger report
to Commissioner Liikanen pushing for a quicker implementation of the
EU's telecom deregulation agenda. See Press Release.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17065.htm

27. US - Gearing Up for the Big Mobile Phone Switch (New York Times)
The nation's 148 million wireless cellphone customers will no longer
be locked in after Nov. 24, yet the question is whether freedom can be
achieved without chaos. Moving a phone number to a new provider may
sound simple, but it is anything but. Wireless companies and industry
analysts question whether the carriers will be able to accommodate
those who choose to make the switch. Studies predict more customer
turnover in an industry already rife with it.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17060.htm

28. US - Home numbers get OK to roam (MSNBC)
The days of having more than one phone number may be, well, numbered
for many people. Federal regulators approved rules making it easier

for consumers to go totally wireless by allowing them to transfer
their home number to their cell phone. For those who favor traditional
phones, the Federal Communications Commission also plans to allow
people to transfer their cell number to their home phone, though
initially only a few will have this option.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17078.htm


29. UK - Website perils of ancestor worship (Guardian)
Worldwide interest in tracing ancestors is becoming so popular that no
website releasing new census information can possibly cope with the
demand from millions of people without crashing, the National Audit
Office concludes.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17062.htm

30. Europe leads U.S. in linking PC 'grids' (New York Times)
When Novartis, the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company, needed a new
supercomputer for designing drugs, it found that it already had one -
hidden in the unused computing power in the thousands of personal
computers in its offices. Novartis used American software technology
to harness the power of its office PC's, but European and American
scientists and government officials said Europe was moving faster than
the United States to capitalize on the approach, which is called grid
computing.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17079.htm

31. UK - Spam set to soar this Christmas (BBC)
Christmas is coming and spammers want to fill your inbox with more
messages than ever. Net filtering firms report that senders of spam
are already starting to change the messages they send in an attempt to
cash in on the festive season.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17083.htm

32. Nokia pushes N-Gage gaming mobile (BBC)
Nokia has been talking up the prospects for its mobile gaming phone,
the N-Gage, as it goes on sale. The Finnish handset manufacturer said
it was hoping to sell several million copies in the coming year. The

N-Gage is designed to compete with Nintendo's GameBoy, which dominates

the portable gaming market.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17072.htm


33. EU - IPv6 task force puts forward action for wireless Internet
(EurActiv.com)
The IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) task force set up by the
Commission issued a report on progress made in the completion of this
new Internet protocol.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17066.htm


34. US - Broadband net user numbers boom (BBC)
The move to high speed net access shows no sign of slowing down in the
US. Figures show that cable and broadband net service suppliers have
had their best three months ever.  More than two million Americans
bought broadband in the three months to October according to Leichtman
Research. But analysts warned that the level of growth was unlikely to
continue as there was little room left to cut prices and so tempt more
customers.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17056.htm

35. US - Women visit "adult" Web sites (Religion News Service)
In recent years the accessibility, affordability and anonymity of the
Internet has made pornography undeniably attractive to millions of
women. While some women simply find it exciting, others have battled
addictions and other problems. Nearly one in three visitors to adult
Web sites is a woman, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, the industry
standard for measuring online audiences. Studying the Internet use of
40,000 panelists at home and work, Nielsen/NetRatings estimates that
9.4 million women in the United States accessed such sites in
September. see also Women beware Web-based porn (Daily Aztec).
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17073.htm

36. Operator calls time - voice over IP (Guardian)

Much cheaper telephone calls, cool added services and numbers that can

follow you around, no matter where you are in the world. Technology
called voice over IP (VoIP) can give us all of this, and after seven
years in development, it's about to hit the mainstream.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17074.htm

37. 2003-12-11 NL, Utrecht - JURIX-03 - The 16th Annual Conference on
Legal Knowledge and Information Systems (Utrecht University)
11 and 12 December, 2003. Faculty of Law & Institute of Information
and Computing Sciences. The Foundation for Legal Knowledge Based

Systems (Jurix) is a forum for researcher in the field of Law and
Artificial Intelligence in the Netherlands and Flanders. Its members
are research groups from most Dutch universities and a Flemish
university, KU Leuven. Since 1988, Jurix has held annual international
conferences on Legal Knowledge and  Information Systems.  see also
Question Answering for Interrogating Legal Documents and First JURIX
Master Thesis Award.
http://www.qlinks.net/items/qlitem17057.htm

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



QuickLinks is edited by Richard Swetenham (richard.swetenham /at/ cec.eu.int)



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