Articles by date
20 February 2006
uk: Nominet takes lead on raising standards in UK Internet industry (news release) (Nominet)
A survey of registrars by Nominet, the .uk domain name registry, has revealed that two-thirds agreed with the need for improved self-regulation in the domain name industry and over 80 per cent supported a code of conduct for registrars.
Vint Cerf condemns two-tier internet (The Register)
Vint Cerf told Congress yesterday that ideas proposed by telecoms companies for a two-tier internet were fatally flawed and, if necessary, legislation should be passed to make it impossible.
Europe’s new Internet domain “.eu” today got 71,235 new applications in one hour (news release) (Eurid)
EURid opened its systems to receive applications for .eu domain names from anyone within the EU claiming prior rights to a certain domain name. During the first 15 minutes after 11:00 today EURid received 27 949 applications. After an hour, at 12:00, the number was 71 235.
au: Pest gives himself a sporting chance (The Age)
NOTORIOUS cybersquatter Brad Norrish, certainly has a never-say-die attitude. After having his deceptive antics reined in by several Australian courts, Perth-based Norrish has taken on US sporting channel network ESPN.
12 February 2006
Timeline: a history of free speech (The Guardian)
Starting at 399BC: Socrates speaks to jury at his trial: 'If you offered to let me off this time on condition I am not any longer to speak my mind... I should say to you, "Men of Athens, I shall obey the Gods rather than you."'
uk: Lords restrict terror website censorship plans (The Register)
The House of Lords has restricted Government plans to allow the police to order the take down of suspected terrorism-related web content by requiring that the authorities obtain the permission of a judge first.
eu: Safer Internet Day 2006: EU stresses commitment to safer use of the Internet (news release) (European Commission news release)
Safer Internet Day (7 February) will be celebrated by 95 organisations in 36 countries across the world, including 24 EU countries, Russia, Argentina, New Zealand and the USA. Organised under the patronage of Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding, Safer Internet Day 2006, features a blogathon or "blog-marathon" during which wide range of organisations and special guests will promote internet safety by making postings and inviting comments from visitors, children, schools and parents. The geographical focus of the 24hr blog will move steadily westwards through the global time zones, and include content in different languages.
uk: BT sounds child web porn warning (BBC)
The number of attempts to view illegal child pornography on the web has risen sharply since 2004, according to BT.
How to Build an Internet Governance Forum By Milton Mueller (Circle ID)
Public consultations on the new "Internet Governance Forum" being created by the United Nations will be held in Geneva February 16-17. The Internet Governance Project has released a new discussion paper explaining how the Forum could work. The Forum must be as open as possible and give all stakeholders equal participation rights. Its deliberations must be wide-ranging and resist politically motivated barriers to discussion. And its products must feed into other, more authoritative Internet governance forums.
cn: Rule change aids China cyber-squatters (VNUnet)
New regulations will make it more difficult for companies to protect their domain names from cyber-squatters in China.
Internet jihad: tackling terror on the Web (Christian Science Monitor)
A British citizen faces US charges for running a militant site hosted in Connecticut. ... Charged with running websites hosted in the US that promoted and supported Islamic militancy, Mr. Ahmad is still in British custody. He has appealed the extradition order and Britain's High Court will hear the case on Feb. 20. The proceedings will test the ability of Western governments to put on trial Islamic radicals who use the Internet as a key recruiting and organizational tool.
Opinion: ICANN, the ITU, WSIS, and Internet Governance by Geoff Huston, APNIC (03/2005) (Cisco research paper)
This opinion piece looks at the various range of views about ICANN and its rationale and role over its brief history. Of course, no look at Internet Governance would be complete without also looking at the role of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as well as the broader background to this topic. It is a large topic and it has already been the catalyst for numerous articles.
Who Control's the Internet (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
A discussion on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National Late Night Live programme on who control's the internet, and the way forward. The guests agree that ICANN's control is the "least worst option" for the time being. They also discuss Google and China, with Becky Hogge commenting she is sympathetic to Google acquiescing to China's demands although she wouldn't want to have a couple of tea with the people there! Guests are Becky Hogge, Managing Editor of Open Democracy which is an online magazine of global politics and democracy and Kenneth Neil Cukier who covers techonology and regulatory issues for The Economist.
A Pragmatic Report on IPv4 Address Space Consumption by Tony Hain, Cisco Systems (Cisco research paper)
When I interact with people from all around the world discussing IPv6, there continue to be questions about the projected lifetime for IPv4. This article presents consumption rate and lifetime projections based on publicly available Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) data. In addition, there is discussion about why the widely quoted alternative projection may be flawed, thus leading everyone to believe we have much more time than we might.
British ISPs must turn in customer details (ZDnet)
The U.K. High Court has ordered 10 Internet service providers to hand over information of 150 customers accused of illegally sharing and downloading desktop software on the Web.
au/ng: Nigerian scammers fleece Australians (SMH)
Police are staggered by the amount of money Australians are losing to Nigerian investment scammers.
Microsoft amends blog shutdown policies (USA Today)
Microsoft says it is setting new policies on shutting down Web journals after its much-publicized squelching of a well-known Chinese blogger at the request of Chinese officials. Microsoft says it will make sites available elsewhere if shut down by country.
uk: Nominet's Raising Industry Standards consultation deadline extended (Nominet)
We have made a commitment to raising standards in the Internet industry. To achieve this, we are proposing to make a number of important changes to the terms of the registrar contract. The changes set out in this consultation paper will affect both registrars and registrants, so it is important that you tell us what you think.
First results in: People not happy with new dotcom contract (The Register)
People's first thoughts on the revised contract for all dotcoms have started appearing and so far it's unanimous: they hate it.
Deal places limits on .com fees (BBC)
ICANN has put forward a revised deal to settle a long-running dispute over the crucial .com domain name.
29 January 2006
us: The erosion of anonymous Internet speech (zdnet)
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution safeguards freedom of speech. The right to speak freely generally includes the right to speak anonymously. And developing case law holds that the right to speak freely embraces the liberty to speak anonymously on the Internet.
EU lawmakers propose internet charter (sabcnews.com)
European lawmakers have proposed establishing a charter setting out international rules on running the Internet. MEPs say the plans are designed to push for international governance of the web following a UN summit on the issue in Tunisia in November.
World Telecommunication Development Conference 2006 to agree on telecommunication development priori (press)
The first world development conference following the landmark World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is due to open in six weeks in Doha, Qatar. The purpose of the conference is to focus on development priorities in telecommunications and agree on the programmes, projects and initiatives to implement them. It will take into account the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action and Tunis Agenda, which aim at bridging the digital divide. A key objective is to promote international cooperation, regional initiatives and partnerships that can sustain and strengthen telecommunication infrastructure and institutions in developing countries. The Doha Action Plan will set out ways to implement these goals over the next four years.
The Official Website of the 1st Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (Internet Governance Forum)
Here, you will find useful information about the Forum, the state of preparations, as well as important documentation related to Internet Governance issues.
Sex.com fetches $12 million as domain name (canada.com)
So you want to buy sex.com? Too late. What is arguably the most valuable piece of real estate on the Internet has been sold for a reported $12 million U.S. in cash and stock by San Diego website developer Gary Kremen.
