Goldstein Report

Social network sites are urged to ban ‘hardcore’ anorexia videos

Charities involved with eating disorders have called for tighter controls on the internet after it emerged that popular social networking sites such as MySpace and YouTube were being used to promote anorexia.

Public input into ICANN made easier with one-stop comment page

ICANN is making it easier for the community to review all of the issues in the consultation phase and to provide their comments with a new public comment page on the ICANN website. “This new webpage aims to provide a quick and simple entry point for people to read up and comment on ICANN’s ongoing processes, and thereby enhance and increase participation from the Internet community,” said Paul Levins, ICANN’s Executive Officer and Vice President, Corporate Affairs. “Like the recent launch of the ICANN Monthly Magazine, the page should also help people understand what issues are being discussed at ICANN, and how interested stakeholders can contribute.”

[news release] ICANN is making it easier for the community to review all of the issues in the consultation phase and to provide their comments with a new public comment page on the ICANN website.”This new webpage aims to provide a quick and simple entry point for people to read up and comment on ICANN’s ongoing processes, and thereby enhance and increase participation from the Internet community,” said Paul Levins, ICANN’s Executive Officer and Vice President, Corporate Affairs. “Like the recent launch of the ICANN Monthly Magazine, the page should also help people understand what issues are being discussed at ICANN, and how interested stakeholders can contribute.”The one-stop comment page is at icann.org/public_comment/. There is also a link to it on every page of the main ICANN website, including the front page. The page clearly outlines which public comment periods are open, recently closed, or upcoming, and also provides a link to an archive. A separate comment box is provided for each comment period.Each comment section provides:

a brief explanation of what the comment period hopes to achieve,
links to relevant reports and/or webpages,
a link to the official announcement of the comment period,
a link to where all existing comments can be found, and,
an email link for anyone who wishes to send in a comment.

In addition to the public comment page, ICANN has already embarked on promised reforms of its consultation approach, outlined in its draft Frameworks and Principles for Accountability and Transparency (which are currently going through public comment and available at icann.org/public_comment/#draftmop2007).”We are committed to producing a summary and analysis of comments from each public comment period, and then posting that summary and analysis on the same comment forum,” Levins added.That summary/analysis has already been produced for a number of recently completed comment forums. As outlined in the draft consultation framework, ICANN will also request that the summary/analysis is explicitly referred to in subsequent discussions by the relevant body. This should aid in explaining to the wider community what the contributing factors are in reaching a final decision.The full draft consultation framework can be found icann.org/transparency/acct-trans-frameworks-principles-23jun07.htm#consul.”Our goal at ICANN with the one-stop comment page and our enhanced and reformed consultation approach is to make it easier for the Internet community members to have their say on the issues we are dealing with,” Levins said. “We really hope that people use the page to invest their time in ICANN, to share their ideas, and have a lasting impact on the direction ICANN is taking.”http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-09aug07.htm

Australian prime minister’s net porn crusade

John Howard is going to spend $189 million “cleaning up the internet” for Australian families, blocking pornography, upgrading the search for chatroom sex predators and cutting off terror sites.

John Howard is going to spend $189 million “cleaning up the internet” for Australian families, blocking pornography, upgrading the search for chatroom sex predators and cutting off terror sites.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22219587-601,00.html
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22218715-15306,00.htmlAlso see:
au: Veto for parents on web content
ISPs will be forced to filter web content at the request of parents, under a $189 million Federal Government crackdown on online bad language, pornography and child sex predators. … In a separate development, convicted sex offenders in NSW will have to register their email address with police as part of State Government efforts to stop them using the internet to prey on children.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/09/1186530533147.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/09/1186530535350.htmlau: Howard pitch for family vote with internet filter
Prime Minister John Howard has made a strong pitch for the Christian and family vote with a $189 million package to provide a free internet filter for every Australian family in a bid to fight pornography and foul language online.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530542829.html

uk: Call for more action against internet crime

Businesses should face penalties if they fail to protect individuals from internet crime, says a parliamentary report published on Friday.The House of Lords science and technology committee calls for internet service providers to take more responsibility for providing internet security – such as filtering “bad” traffic. It suggests software companies and hardware manufacturers should pay up if they supply products with security flaws.The committee also proposes introducing a law, similar to one in California, which requires businesses to notify consumers when personal information in their databases has been illegally accessed.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e7565480-46aa-11dc-a3be-0000779fd2ac.htmlAlso see:
uk: Peers want crackdown on web’s ‘wild west’
The government and police must act to improve online security and stop the internet becoming a “playground of criminals”, a parliamentary committee warns today. A report from the House of Lords science and technology select committee accuses both business and government of creating an image of the net as a “wild west”, with millions of internet users unnecessarily exposed to crime.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/10/crime.politicsInternet is becoming as lawless as the Wild West, report peers
The internet has become a playground for criminals in which highly specialised gangs steal money from bank accounts, according to a Parliamentary report published today.A huge underground economy is making a living from e-crime, which fuels the perception of the internet as a lawless “Wild West”, the peers report said.Millions of pounds are being lost by banks around the world as a result of online banking fraud, including £33.5 million lost by British banks last year.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2231564.eceInternet firms urged to tackle cyber “Wild West” [Reuters]
Internet companies, retailers and the government must do far more to protect people from the dangers of the “lawless Wild West” of cyberspace, an influential group of MPs said on Friday. In a critical report, the MPs said the government and industry have a “laissez-faire” approach to online crime that could lead to an “economically disastrous” loss of public confidence in the Internet.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL0955806920070809Lords push for wide-ranging security improvements
Recommendations include the introduction of data security breach notification law in the UK
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2196360/lords-push-wide-ranging
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39288491,00.htm

Britain publishes restrictions covering online gambling ads; William Hill relocates

Littlewoodscasino.com, William Hill Casino and Interpoker.com are among about 1,000 gambling Web Sites based outside Britain that are to be banned from advertising in the country when new laws take effect next month.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/09/technology/gamble.php
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6201710.htmlAlso see:
William Hill Casino relocates ahead of advertising ban
William Hill is set to transfer its online gambling operation from the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean to Gibraltar. City sources said the William Hill Casino move comes ahead of the introduction of a Government ban on the advertising in the UK of gambling websites that operate outside of the European Economic Area or so-called “white-listed” territories.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2856771.ece

Worldwide E-Learning To Draw Nearly US$53 Billion By 2010

E-learning has emerged as the second most popular method for organizational teaching, in terms of hours spent, and is quickly increasing in use.

E-learning has emerged as the second most popular method for organizational teaching, in terms of hours spent, and is quickly increasing in use.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201311139

Universal Music to sell songs without copying constraints

A power struggle between Steve Jobs and Universal Music Group has accomplished what years of consumer complaints could not: sales of thousands of songs in an unrestricted digital format from the world’s biggest record company.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-music10aug10,1,2598446.story
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/business/10music.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530573642.html

Protecting Browsers from DNS Rebinding Attacks by Collin Jackson, Adam Barth, Andrew Bortz, Weidong Shao & Dan Boneh

This paper shows that a well-known, existing defense against these attacks, called “DNS pinning,” is ineffective in modern browsers. The primary focus of this work, however, is the design of strong defenses against DNS rebinding attacks that protect modern browsers.

us: Cybersquatting bill by Sen. Little will become law

Coming soon to New York state, and taking aim at cybersquatters, nobody in the state “will be able to register a domain name that is similar to or the same as another living person or business.” In her announcement, Senator Little says “It’s wrong, in my opinion, to buy up domain names reflecting the names of existing people or businesses with the intention of selling the names for a profit back to those persons or businesses.”
http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=8132
http://www.circleid.com/posts/law_domain_registration_another_person/
http://domainnamenews.com/legal-issues/new-york-state-makes-their-own-domain-laws/814Senator Little’s statement
A measure sponsored by Senator Betty Little (R,C,I-Queensbury) aimed at preventing a person from registering a domain name that is similar to or the same as another living person or business with the specific intent to profit from selling the domain name to that person or business has been signed into law.
http://senatorlittle.com/press_archive_story.asp?id=17598

CitizenHawk TypoAlert: Cybersquatting on Celebrity Names is Big Busines

Cybersquatters are fraudulently using celebrity names to generate advertising revenue announces CitizenHawk in its latest news release. The news release list the most frequently cybersquatted celebrities, the top 3 being Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Beyonce.