For the first time since 2000 ICANN is allowing for more general use domain names. In 1998 ICANN was designated by the federal government as the authority for Internet naming policies. In 2000 they approved many new domain names but the only ones that were for general population use were .info and .biz.
They are hoping things will be more public friendly this go around, because they are opening up a forum to get input from the public on what the new domain names should be. The new domain names will most most likely be region based such as .Asia or industry based such as .XXX for the adult material industry.
However, trademarked business owners worry that with more domain names available the problem of "cybersqutting" will become very prevalent once again. Cybersquatting is when individuals purchase domain names of businesses or celebrities in hopes that those businesses or celebrities will pay high prices for the domain name.
ICANN is hoping to control that problem by having specific criteria to purchase the new general use domain names, rather then just the previous practice of simply being able to purchase the domain name. Hopefully, in this new era of domain names ICANN can curb the problem of cybersquatting, which costs them a lot of money, because they need to help resolve the disputes, and sometimes seek out the offender, and bring them to court, when their dispute resolution process is not working.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Google and YouTube
Recently, much has been made of Google agreeing to censor some of the websites that are displayed from certain searches within China. China is obviously a Communist and conservative country. However, Google is an American company, and it abides by American laws. I think the move by Google to agree to China's laws was a bit of weakness by Google, because they folded to the power of China.
The freedom of information that the Internet offers is a serious threat to the primitive ways of Communist nations. However, if they are not open to reform then they should take it upon themselves to work and censor the Internet within their borders. They should not pressure outside companies to conform to their ways, and when Google was confronted by China they had a great opportunity to reject censoring. Of course they did not, and only the people at Google can tell you if they regret that decision.
Although, within the many companies that Google has been buying up there may be some negative feelings toward the parent company decision. When YouTube who is owned by Google came under attack by the government of Thailand, because the government said that YouTube was displaying videos that offended the country. Google said the videos would be removed, however YouTube refused to pull any videos. The Thai government even made reference to China asking YouTube why it was no problem to comply for China, but when a smaller weaker country is asking for cooperation they are not getting it.
I commend the people at YouTube for making a stand on the censorship issue, especially when the website is in more then enough trouble over copyright law suits. They could have simply went along with Thailand, but they decided it was time to make a stand.
The freedom of information that the Internet offers is a serious threat to the primitive ways of Communist nations. However, if they are not open to reform then they should take it upon themselves to work and censor the Internet within their borders. They should not pressure outside companies to conform to their ways, and when Google was confronted by China they had a great opportunity to reject censoring. Of course they did not, and only the people at Google can tell you if they regret that decision.
Although, within the many companies that Google has been buying up there may be some negative feelings toward the parent company decision. When YouTube who is owned by Google came under attack by the government of Thailand, because the government said that YouTube was displaying videos that offended the country. Google said the videos would be removed, however YouTube refused to pull any videos. The Thai government even made reference to China asking YouTube why it was no problem to comply for China, but when a smaller weaker country is asking for cooperation they are not getting it.
I commend the people at YouTube for making a stand on the censorship issue, especially when the website is in more then enough trouble over copyright law suits. They could have simply went along with Thailand, but they decided it was time to make a stand.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Government Leak of Information
Today the public got wind of a very serious government leak of public information. The US Census Bureau came out, and said that it was brought to their attention that nearly 63,000 individuals many of them farmers, and other people who receive government financial aid. They were very vulnerable to identity theft, because the bureau put these people's social security numbers on a website that was open to the public. The fact that the government could drop the ball this badly is very scary for a few reasons.
The first of which is that they are always preaching to the public not to give out their information unless it is absolutely necessary, and they also have initiatives to curve the amount of identity theft over the Internet, and here they are basically placing peoples private information in the hands of anyone. Secondly, the government are the ones who publish our social security numbers, and in essence they are the one's who create our identities, and they should be doing a better job of protecting that information from getting into the wrong hands.
The other disheartening thing about the government incompetence in this matter is that it was not some sort of governmental review that brought to light this security breach, but it was a farmer in the Midwest who had some free time, and decided to Google her farm's name, to see what popped up, and what she found was a link to a government spending watch dog website, which had a way to search for institutions that were receiving financial aid. Along with some inane information the site's search results also revealed the recipients social security number. When the census bureau looked into this breach it was revealed that the social security numbers had not been available for public viewing for a few days or weeks or even months it had been nearly 10 years.
Once their shortcomings were brought to their attention the government has responded quickly, by removing all of the information, and taking full responsibly for their mistake. They have offered every person involved free credit monitoring for a year. Hopefully, their pro activeness in this matter will prevent future breaches in security, and make this very insecure world a little bit safer.
The first of which is that they are always preaching to the public not to give out their information unless it is absolutely necessary, and they also have initiatives to curve the amount of identity theft over the Internet, and here they are basically placing peoples private information in the hands of anyone. Secondly, the government are the ones who publish our social security numbers, and in essence they are the one's who create our identities, and they should be doing a better job of protecting that information from getting into the wrong hands.
The other disheartening thing about the government incompetence in this matter is that it was not some sort of governmental review that brought to light this security breach, but it was a farmer in the Midwest who had some free time, and decided to Google her farm's name, to see what popped up, and what she found was a link to a government spending watch dog website, which had a way to search for institutions that were receiving financial aid. Along with some inane information the site's search results also revealed the recipients social security number. When the census bureau looked into this breach it was revealed that the social security numbers had not been available for public viewing for a few days or weeks or even months it had been nearly 10 years.
Once their shortcomings were brought to their attention the government has responded quickly, by removing all of the information, and taking full responsibly for their mistake. They have offered every person involved free credit monitoring for a year. Hopefully, their pro activeness in this matter will prevent future breaches in security, and make this very insecure world a little bit safer.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Internet Security
Recently in the UK two people have been arrested for driving to a neighborhood and stealing people's Internet access. The two individuals who were caught on separate instances were caught sitting in their car and browsing the Internet. They were accessing a home's Internet, because their network was not secure and protected by a password.
These people of course deserved to be arrested not really because what they were engaging in was so harmful, but because if you allowed these people to scan areas for people whose Internet was insecure then camping out in front of the home to exploit free access. Then the problem could become out of control. Imagine driving through the streets and seeing cars parked in front of random houses all with people using the Internet that would not be a very safe situation.
However, an equally unsafe situation is for private residents and corporations alike not securing their Internet, and limiting the people who use it. They are opening themselves up for hacker's and individuals who are out trying to steal identities and personal information. Encrypting your wireless network is something that is not difficult to do, and it can protect you from people who are looking for more than a free way to access the web.
These people of course deserved to be arrested not really because what they were engaging in was so harmful, but because if you allowed these people to scan areas for people whose Internet was insecure then camping out in front of the home to exploit free access. Then the problem could become out of control. Imagine driving through the streets and seeing cars parked in front of random houses all with people using the Internet that would not be a very safe situation.
However, an equally unsafe situation is for private residents and corporations alike not securing their Internet, and limiting the people who use it. They are opening themselves up for hacker's and individuals who are out trying to steal identities and personal information. Encrypting your wireless network is something that is not difficult to do, and it can protect you from people who are looking for more than a free way to access the web.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Cyber- Bulling
Bullying in schools has always been a problem, and in the recent decade there has been a correlation between bullying and school shootings. On most middle and high school campuses bullying has never been something that has been tolerated for obvious reasons, and these recent connections to shootings such as the Columbine shooting nearly eight years ago have furthered lawmaker's and school officials to fight back against the bullying that goes on in America's schools. Time and data will tell us if they are making any such headway on campus, but now there is a whole new aspect of bullying that administrators need to fend off from wreaking havoc among there student body.
This is of course cyber- bullying with social networking sites becoming more and more popular by students bullying has moved into that arena, and in most cases it goes nearly unpunished and undetected by the school administrators who are slower to catch onto the new technology. Cyber- bullying is the action of posting negative and harmful messages about classmates on message boards, facebook or myspace. It is usually done in an open forum setting where most of the schools students frequently visit. It can be as damaging as being made fun of everyday during recess, and with the Internet the moment will never end as long as that posting is still there. In the most recent and severe case a video surfaced on YouTube of several girls beating up another girl while she was sitting out in her front yard. Taping there actions of course was not the smartest idea and publishing them on the Internet was even dumber because it landed the girls expelled from school and in trouble with the police.
In a school district in Ontario school administrators and lawmakers are beginning to fight the cyber- bullying battle by monitoring websites such as facebook and MySpace, but they admit it is necessary for students to help them in this movement by reporting to school officials any website where bullying exists. Hopefully Ontario can be successful and a model for how school officials and students can work together, because that is the only way school communities will be able to fully rid themselves of cyber- bullying.
This is of course cyber- bullying with social networking sites becoming more and more popular by students bullying has moved into that arena, and in most cases it goes nearly unpunished and undetected by the school administrators who are slower to catch onto the new technology. Cyber- bullying is the action of posting negative and harmful messages about classmates on message boards, facebook or myspace. It is usually done in an open forum setting where most of the schools students frequently visit. It can be as damaging as being made fun of everyday during recess, and with the Internet the moment will never end as long as that posting is still there. In the most recent and severe case a video surfaced on YouTube of several girls beating up another girl while she was sitting out in her front yard. Taping there actions of course was not the smartest idea and publishing them on the Internet was even dumber because it landed the girls expelled from school and in trouble with the police.
In a school district in Ontario school administrators and lawmakers are beginning to fight the cyber- bullying battle by monitoring websites such as facebook and MySpace, but they admit it is necessary for students to help them in this movement by reporting to school officials any website where bullying exists. Hopefully Ontario can be successful and a model for how school officials and students can work together, because that is the only way school communities will be able to fully rid themselves of cyber- bullying.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Child Pornography Law
Child pornography in America is a very serious problem, and ever since 2002 Congress and the Bush Administration has been trying to pass more stringent laws against child pornographers. However, these proposed laws have come under strict scrutiny by the courts. The original provision of the law was struck down in 2002 by the Supreme Court, because it was said to be to vague, and to encompassing. The courts feared that if they had not struck down the law then certain parts of the law could be used to infringe on citizens right to free speech. In 2003 Congress adopted new legislation hoping it would be more suitable to the courts, however a Court of Appeals did not believe the new legislation was sufficiently protecting citizens free speech, and they deemed then new law unconstitutional.
With the use of the Internet becoming more and more widespread, there is a greater market for child pornography, and with computers becoming faster and faster and easier to use the market will continue to grow, unless there is legislation to counteract the problem. Although the Internet is making it easier to market and promote child pornography it is also putting those people who are violating society right there in the open, and ready to be caught. This new law will hopefully be accepted by the Supreme Court, and then the Federal government will have the tools necessary to go out on the Internet and start fighting back against these sex offenders.
With the use of the Internet becoming more and more widespread, there is a greater market for child pornography, and with computers becoming faster and faster and easier to use the market will continue to grow, unless there is legislation to counteract the problem. Although the Internet is making it easier to market and promote child pornography it is also putting those people who are violating society right there in the open, and ready to be caught. This new law will hopefully be accepted by the Supreme Court, and then the Federal government will have the tools necessary to go out on the Internet and start fighting back against these sex offenders.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Online Gambling
Recently a European Union court ruled against Italy in a case where Italian officials were trying to ban foreign online gambling sites from doing business with Italian citizens. Italy had successfully prosecuted three officials of a online gambling establishment in the UK. However, the European Union court ruled that those individuals had been unduly prosecuted, because if Italy could ban outside companies from doing business with Italian citizens then they would be violating the Union's freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services laws.
This ruling sounds like pretty bad news for the morally responsible couturiers of the European Union, because the court is saying that even if one country such as Italy wants to try to keeps its citizens safe from the perils of gambling there government can be undermined by other not so responsible countries. However, in their ruling the court did say that since the nature of gambling is such a morally reprehensible and financially bad thing that countries could ban that type of competition, as long as they had a sound enough case, and in the courts eyes the case the Italian's made was not strong enough for such regulations.
The American government also struggles with trying to control online gambling. Although establisments that claim home in the United States are illegal most of the popular online gambling sites in America claim their home to be in the Caribiian or overseas. Although the American government would have an easier time banning online gambling then the Italian officals, because America operates as an Idividual where as Italy is of course a member of the Europan Union.
This ruling sounds like pretty bad news for the morally responsible couturiers of the European Union, because the court is saying that even if one country such as Italy wants to try to keeps its citizens safe from the perils of gambling there government can be undermined by other not so responsible countries. However, in their ruling the court did say that since the nature of gambling is such a morally reprehensible and financially bad thing that countries could ban that type of competition, as long as they had a sound enough case, and in the courts eyes the case the Italian's made was not strong enough for such regulations.
The American government also struggles with trying to control online gambling. Although establisments that claim home in the United States are illegal most of the popular online gambling sites in America claim their home to be in the Caribiian or overseas. Although the American government would have an easier time banning online gambling then the Italian officals, because America operates as an Idividual where as Italy is of course a member of the Europan Union.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Wireless Span
Verizon Wireless just won a lawsuit against a company who was sending unsolicited text messages to their customers. The owner of the company Specialized Programming and Marketing LLC was forced to pay up to two hundred thousand dollars in damages, and are also prohibited from sending spam messages to Verizon customers. The company sent nearly one hundred thousand of these messages. The messages usually contained content about potentially winning a vacation.
Some spam is harmless other then the additional time and money it requires to read the message. However, some spam is trying to defraud the recipient or may cause computer problems. Also the way in which these spammer's attain our email addresses can be through breaking the law and actually stealing email lists from major companies or from service providers. I think this is a great win for Verizon Wireless but also for all Internet and cell phone carriers, because these spammer's are able to operate at such low costs to themselves, while passing costs onto the recipient of the message and also the carrier who is transporting the message. Usually spammer's are mainly big companies who are trying to market a product or a scheme, and unfortunately big companies usually have money and the means to fight off these lawsuits. However, it should be thought about to attack the individuals sending the spam and working for these companies. That may be a more viable solution to putting an end to spam.
Some spam is harmless other then the additional time and money it requires to read the message. However, some spam is trying to defraud the recipient or may cause computer problems. Also the way in which these spammer's attain our email addresses can be through breaking the law and actually stealing email lists from major companies or from service providers. I think this is a great win for Verizon Wireless but also for all Internet and cell phone carriers, because these spammer's are able to operate at such low costs to themselves, while passing costs onto the recipient of the message and also the carrier who is transporting the message. Usually spammer's are mainly big companies who are trying to market a product or a scheme, and unfortunately big companies usually have money and the means to fight off these lawsuits. However, it should be thought about to attack the individuals sending the spam and working for these companies. That may be a more viable solution to putting an end to spam.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
File Sharing
I have previously written about the record industries assault on people who they believe are illegally copying their materials. Although I do believe that peer to peer file sharing is something that is wrong, and should be regulated. I just don't think there is a good enough solution out there at the moment. Up until now the only solution has been for record companies to exert their power and money through frivolous lawsuits against people who are most likely sharing files and stealing music, but there is really no hard evidence that would be sufficient enough in court for the record companies to win.
However, now in California lawmaker's are trying to curb the instances of file sharing, and also the frivolous lawsuits by record companies. The idea is to require all people who are sharing files through peer to peer sharing to be required to publish their real name and address' when sharing copyrighted files with other people. If you do not publish your information you would be subject to a 2500$ fine and up to a year in jail.
I think if this law is passed in California it would be a good experiment to see if it really stopped people from sharing copyrighted materials. If it were me, and I was forced to publish my personal information like that then I would stop sharing files in a heart beat. Since not only is your personal information out for the whole world to see, but the record companies would have no trouble linking you back to file sharing since there is a paper trail right in front of that that leads right back to your front door.
However, now in California lawmaker's are trying to curb the instances of file sharing, and also the frivolous lawsuits by record companies. The idea is to require all people who are sharing files through peer to peer sharing to be required to publish their real name and address' when sharing copyrighted files with other people. If you do not publish your information you would be subject to a 2500$ fine and up to a year in jail.
I think if this law is passed in California it would be a good experiment to see if it really stopped people from sharing copyrighted materials. If it were me, and I was forced to publish my personal information like that then I would stop sharing files in a heart beat. Since not only is your personal information out for the whole world to see, but the record companies would have no trouble linking you back to file sharing since there is a paper trail right in front of that that leads right back to your front door.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
MySpace
A judge in Texas has recently dismissed a 30 million dollar civil suit against News Corp. the parent company of MySpace.com. The suit was brought about by the family of a 13 year old girl who claims she was sexually assaulted by a 19 year old man she met on MySpace. They were sueing MySpace alleging that it was their fault, because the website has no measures to protect the children who use the social networking site.
The judge dismissed the case citing that MySpace and News Corp. are protected under the Communications Decency Act, and that forcing the site to verify the age of it's users would be nearly impossible and force the site to practically shut down.
MySpace has over 100 million registered users. Even if there were some sort of way to enact safety measures to protect the site's users especially the young ones. There still needs to be responsibility on the parents part. The fact that they would allow their young daughter to join MySpace, and then to not even monitor her activity seems negligent. Everybody knows the Internet is not a safe place, and even the most secure of sites has it's flaws. Educating America's youth about the dangers of the web needs to be at the forefront of society. The parents of this 13 year old girl dropped the ball, and they are lucky their daughter was not seriously harmed.
The criminal trial for the 19 year old young man has yet to begin, but I believe the judge in the matter of the civil suit against MySpace was correct in his judgment, and hopefully this is a lesson to parents out there, because it is up to them to protect their children about the Internet, and not some website
The judge dismissed the case citing that MySpace and News Corp. are protected under the Communications Decency Act, and that forcing the site to verify the age of it's users would be nearly impossible and force the site to practically shut down.
MySpace has over 100 million registered users. Even if there were some sort of way to enact safety measures to protect the site's users especially the young ones. There still needs to be responsibility on the parents part. The fact that they would allow their young daughter to join MySpace, and then to not even monitor her activity seems negligent. Everybody knows the Internet is not a safe place, and even the most secure of sites has it's flaws. Educating America's youth about the dangers of the web needs to be at the forefront of society. The parents of this 13 year old girl dropped the ball, and they are lucky their daughter was not seriously harmed.
The criminal trial for the 19 year old young man has yet to begin, but I believe the judge in the matter of the civil suit against MySpace was correct in his judgment, and hopefully this is a lesson to parents out there, because it is up to them to protect their children about the Internet, and not some website
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Downloading Music
Downloading music for free on the internet is something that has greatly affected the music industry. After years of simply trying to deter people from illegally downloading music by posting warnings, and letting the general public know of the harm that is caused by stealing music. The music industry began to fight back by forming lawsuits against the people they were able to catch stealing music.
However, the music industry may not be targeting the right individuals in their fight against piracy. Evidence of this would be an ongoing lawsuit between a sixteen year old boy and five major record labels. The alleged privacy occurred nearly five years ago when the boy was eleven years old. To this young man and his families credit they are not just rolling over and settling they are fighting back with a countersuit, that attacks all the major problems of record companies trying to come after individuals and how they can disseminate who actually illegally downloaded music, and who was abiding by the vague laws.
In the countersuit they claim that there were not adequate warnings about downloading music, and that the record industry is trying to defraud the courts of America with its eighteen thousand frivolous lawsuits that are currently clogging up the federal court system. It will be interesting to see how this case plays out and what reproductions it will have for the future of piracy law and lawsuits.
However, the music industry may not be targeting the right individuals in their fight against piracy. Evidence of this would be an ongoing lawsuit between a sixteen year old boy and five major record labels. The alleged privacy occurred nearly five years ago when the boy was eleven years old. To this young man and his families credit they are not just rolling over and settling they are fighting back with a countersuit, that attacks all the major problems of record companies trying to come after individuals and how they can disseminate who actually illegally downloaded music, and who was abiding by the vague laws.
In the countersuit they claim that there were not adequate warnings about downloading music, and that the record industry is trying to defraud the courts of America with its eighteen thousand frivolous lawsuits that are currently clogging up the federal court system. It will be interesting to see how this case plays out and what reproductions it will have for the future of piracy law and lawsuits.
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