A defining moment?

The Economist suggests that this is a defining moment for Google. Read more here. Do you agree?

Attorney-General announces copyright reforms

The Commonwealth Attorney-General has announced major copyright reforms. These reforms are, in aprt, an attempt to keep up with rapid technological developments. Read the press release here.

These reforms will be discussed in class tonight.

Choking the internet

Wired asks this question: Could High-Def Choke the Internet?

Read the article and let us know what you think?

Hacker fails to avoid extradition

From Australian IT: A British computer expert accused by Washington of the world's "biggest military hack of all time" should be extradited to the US to stand trial, a court ruled on Thursday. Read more here.

Audit of ISPs by ACMA

A recent audit of the twenty-four largest Australian internet service providers by ACMA has found a high degree of compliance with consumer protection obligations under the industry’s content codes of practice. However, ACMA has also urged consumers to report on lack of internet safety measures. Read the press release here.

Minister for Communications, Information technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, said that the findings of the audit carried out by the communications regulator demonstrated the effectiveness of codes of practice under its co-regulatory content regulation scheme. However, a spokeswoman for the Minister said that the federal Government had not ruled out ISP-level content filtering and that the Senator's comments shouldn't be taken as indication of how well current regulation policy was working. Read the Minister's press release here.

For more details, read this report in Australian IT.

Yahoo seeks media freedom in China

Yahoo has announced that it is seeking US government help to urge China to allow more media freedom. Read more here.

.xxx domain name rejected

Following yesterday's post, ICANN has voted to reject a proposal to create a red-light district on the internet.

Read more here.

xxx

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will consider a proposal to introduce a new dot-xxx ending for adult-entertainment web sites. Read more here.

Do you think this would be an effective measure to regulate online content?

Academic Live

Just a few months after Microsoft launched the beta version of their new search engine, http://www.live.com/, they have launched Windows Live Academic at http://academic.live.com/.

Affordable internet gambling?

CNN reports that that people who use the Internet to place their bets tend to be affluent and educated. Online gambling advocates hope that this finding will encourage the US government to legalise online gambling. For more information, click here.

Have you ever gambled on the internet? Do you believe that people should be able to gamble on the internet? What legal regulation should there be for online gambling?

U.S. CYBERGAMBLING BAN?

A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee has approved a bill that would ban Internet gambling, estimated to be a $12 billion industry. The legislation would update and expand an existing federal law to cover all forms of interstate gambling within the US, and would bar a gambling business from accepting payment in the form of credit cards, checks, wire, and Internet transfers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6068432.html

What impact will this have? Will it be effective?

iTunes patent

WIRELESS ITUNES DISTRIBUTION - Apple receives patent

A patent application filed by Apple Computer in December 2004 appears to cover a method of buying a song, ring tone, for music video from an online store over a wireless network. The application was published yesterday on the Web site of
the US Patent and Trademark Office. It describes an invention that allows cell phone or wireless handheld users to interact with an online music store, such as iTunes, and mark a song or video file that can be downloaded to a computer at a later time.
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-6068654.html