QuickLinks Update

UK - 'Spying' requests exceed 500,000

2008-07-23T15:22:00.000+02:00

(BBC)
More than 500,000 official "spying" requests for private communications data such as telephone records were made last year, a report says. Police, security services and other public bodies made requests for billing details and other information. Interception of Communications Commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy said 1,707 of these had been from councils. A separate report criticises local authorities for using powers to target minor offences such as fly-tipping.

EU Piratage sur internet: les fournisseurs doivent informer leurs clients

2008-07-23T14:45:00.001+02:00

(AFP)
Commission européenne et Etats membres sont tombés d'accord, lors de la réunion informelle des ministres européens de la Culture et de l'Audiovisuel mardi à Versailles, sur la nécessité d'une "obligation d'information" sur les conséquences du piratage sur internet pour les fournisseurs d'accès.

UK fails to bar internet access to child porn

2008-07-21T13:49:00.002+02:00

(Observer)
Some UK households could access websites known to host images of child sex abuse despite a government pledge made two years ago to stop access to paedophile sites. Last night a coalition of leading children's charities, including Barnardo's, the NSPCC and National Children's Homes, described the situation as 'completely unacceptable'. They have written to the Home Office minister in charge of crime reduction, Vernon Coaker, urging him to take immediate steps to ensure all telecom companies offering internet access block customers from being able to see images that in some cases show children as young as a year old being sexually abused. Around 5 per cent of consumer broadband connections can access the images because their internet service providers (ISPs) chose not to subscribe to a scheme introduced by the Internet Watch Foundation to bar known paedophile websites. See open letter to Vernon Coaker.

EU - The way ahead for the Broadcasting Communication

2008-07-20T17:43:00.002+02:00

(RAPID)
Speech by Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition Policy, Broadcasting conference, Strasbourg, 17 July 2008

EU - Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy

2008-07-20T17:23:00.002+02:00

(RAPID)
The Commission has adopted a Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy. The Green Paper is an attempt to structure the copyright debate as it relates to scientific publishing, the digital preservation of Europe's cultural heritage, orphan works, consumer access to protected works and the special needs for the disabled to participate in the information society. The Green Paper points to future challenges in the fields of scientific and scholarly publishing, search engines and special derogations for libraries, researchers and disabled people. Comments should be submitted by 30 November 2008.

US - ISPs sign nationwide deal to ban child porn

2008-07-20T15:45:00.000+02:00

(vnunet.com)
The vast majority of internet service providers in the US have signed up to a pact to ban child pornography from being viewed online. All cable providers in the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) have singed up to the pact, which will mean they block sites listed as carrying child pornography held by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). see NCTA Press Release. See also IP Democracy post by Cynthia Brumfield.

New issue of QuickLinks

2008-07-20T15:30:00.000+02:00

no. 390 - 20 July 2008

2008-09-25 EU, Luxembourg, Safer Internet Forum 2008

2008-07-18T17:31:00.004+02:00

(Europa)
This year's Safer Internet Forum will take place in Luxembourg on September 25 and 26. The Forum is open for stakeholders from NGOs, governments, researchers, industry representatives, including Internet Service Providers, mobile network operators, social networking sites, software developers. The European Commission is organising 4 different experts' panels on the following topics: September 25: Social Networking and Children, Age verification; September 26: What do we know about Children's use of online technologies?, Media Rating - towards pan-European cross media rating and classification schemes. In order to prepare the Safer Internet Forum discussions, the European Commission has launched in June 2008 a public consultation to get input from all relevant stakeholders. Contributions from those interested are expected until July 31 2008.

2008-10-21 IGF, Strasbourg - European Dialogue on Internet Governance

2008-07-18T17:29:00.002+02:00

(EuroDIG.org)
Consultations before the 3rd IGF in Hyderabad with a particular emphasis on : "Fostering security, privacy and openness on the internet". European actors interested in Internet Governance issues will meet in Strasburg on 20-21 October 2008, to discuss openly and freely their ideas, experiences and concerns in a fully multi-stakeholder format. The main themes on the Agenda of the 3rd IGF to be held in Hyderabad in December will be addressed with a particular emphasis on issues surrounding security, privacy, and openness on the Internet (concerns such as cutting Internet access, the privacy and security of popular internet banking and commerce applications, etc). Other themes will include universal access, as well as managing Internet critical resources.

UK - 'Teen date' website faces criticism

2008-07-18T16:34:00.001+02:00

(BBC)
A Newsbeat investigation has uncovered a dating website specifically for teenagers which campaigners fear will become a "playground for paedophiles". Children's Charity, NSPCC, says MyLOL.net, which is marketed for teenagers but has hundreds of adult profiles, should clean up its act or be shut down. The site's owner claims there are security measures in place and they'll be toughened up soon.

AU - Govt, industry welcome new online code of practice

2008-07-18T15:55:00.002+02:00

(Computerworld)
The Communications minister has signaled the Australian government's support for the Content Services Code, an Internet Industry Association code of practice for providers of online and mobile phone content. This establishes a framework for the regulation of content services, such as Internet streaming and 3G mobile services, to provide protection to children from exposure to unsuitable content and ensure content providers adhere to requirements of the new code.

EU clampdown on ring-tone scams

2008-07-17T17:19:00.001+02:00

(RAPID)
EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva has announced the results of an EU-wide investigation into websites offering mobile phone services such as ring-tones and wallpapers. The enquiry, which was carried out on more than 500 websites across the 27 Member States, Norway and Iceland, found that 80% of the sites checked need to be further investigated for suspected breaches of EU consumer rules. Many of the websites target children and young people. Problems found included: unclear price information where prices are incomplete did not include taxes or customers are unaware that they are signing up to a subscription. Large numbers of websites do not provide some of the required contact information about the trader. Other problems relate to misleading information where key information is hidden in very small print or hard to find on a website or the word "free" is used to mislead consumers into a long-term contracts. Companies will be contacted by the national authorities and asked to clarify or correct problems identified. Failure to do so can result in legal action leading to fines or closure of their websites. For cross border cases, national authorities will work with colleagues from other EU authorities. Authorities are asked to report back on their progress in the first half of 2009. See also Frequently Asked Questions.

UK - Survey says 11% of kids have online sex chats

2008-07-17T16:19:00.002+02:00

(PC Advisor)
11 percent of children have had a sexually explicit conversation online, according to a survey by The Carphone Warehouse. The Mobile Life survey, which polled 6,000 adults and children about their web and mobile habits also revealed that a quarter of 11 to 18 years olds had visited adult websites and 10 percent had met people they first interacted with online. Almost half the children surveyed admitted they lie to their parents about their online activities, with most using homework as a cover for surfing the net or social networking. Thirty-three percent revealed they would be in trouble if their parents knew what they were really looking at.

EU moves to free up music rights

2008-07-17T15:49:00.003+02:00

(BBC)
Music download stores like Apple's iTunes could soon be able to operate one shop for the whole of Europe, under new rules brought in by EU regulators. Currently, iTunes has to negotiate the right to sell music with a different society in every European state. The European Commission says musicians should be free to choose from among the many collecting societies that handle music royalties in the 27-nation EU. The ruling will also let the societies license music in more than one country.

UK - Children discuss internet safety

2008-07-17T15:43:00.004+02:00

(BBC)
Children from around the world are meeting in London to discuss how they can better protect themselves from the dangers posed by the internet. More than 150 teenagers from 19 different countries will attend the five-day conference and voice their opinions to government and industry. Their aim is to draw up a global online charter to be presented to the UN. see also Canberra kids to give Aussie insight at global online safety forum (Computerworld) and Young Canadians Attend International Youth Advisory Congress on Online Safety and Security Conference (RCMP Media Relations).

Google deals with sex chat on Lively

2008-07-16T19:28:00.004+02:00

(NetFamilyNews)
Last week I wrote about Google's launch of Lively avatar chat, ending with a caveat that seems to apply to so much of the social Web: that there were sex-related chat rooms in the Popular Rooms list. This week CNET reports the same: "Despite some injunctions to the contrary, sexual overtones are creeping into" Lively, with the qualification that "a little snooping around revealed some evidence of borderline rooms, but nothing as risque as shows in the more permissive realm of Second Life" (which does have ratings so those who want to can avoid sex-related virtual locations). Google told CNET it's taking complaints about these seriously and is "working to remove them."

EU - European Commission proposes copyright extension Directive

2008-07-16T14:32:00.002+02:00

(OUT-LAW News)
The European Commission has proposed a Directive that would give performers rights over recordings for 95 years after the recording. The change would give a player on a recording rights for the same length of time as the writer of the material. EU Competition Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has tried before to increase the term of copyright protection for performers but has previously lost the argument. The EU's commissioners have now decided to propose a Directive, though, extending the term from 50 to 95 years. See Terms of Protection page (Europa). See also Veteran rockers set for windfall (BBC).

US - Tiffany loses legal fight against eBay over counterfeit goods

2008-07-15T14:17:00.001+02:00

(Guardian)
eBay has won a four-year legal battle with Tiffany over the jeweller's complaint that the online website amounted to a "rat's nest" auction of counterfeit watches, bracelets and necklaces. A judge in New York ruled that eBay could not be held responsible for policing the contents of its site, and that it was Tiffany's role to draw fake designer jewellery to the auctioneer's attention. The verdict is a relief to eBay which lost a similar case in Paris two weeks ago when a French court ordered it to pay ?38.6m in damages to the luxury goods manufacturer LVMH for allowing the sale of fake bags, perfumes and designer clothes.

US - Google and Viacom reach deal over YouTube user data

2008-07-15T14:16:00.001+02:00

(Guardian)
Google has struck a deal to protect the personal data of millions of YouTube users in the $1bn copyright court case brought against the video-sharing website by Viacom. Under the deal, Google will make user information and internet protocol addresses from its YouTube subsidiary anonymous before handing over the data to Viacom in the US legal case.

Orange to open up mobile social net service

2008-07-15T14:13:00.000+02:00

(Guardian)
Orange is to launch a major push for mobile social networking in the UK, introducing a service which aggregates users' accounts across the major social networks. Launched as a trial in France last month under the name MySocialPlace, Orange has now partnered with the biggest social networks - Facebook, MySpace and Bebo - to introduce the service in the UK in the autumn under the Orange World branded website. UK users will also be able to access the chat service Flirtomatic and the photo-sharing site Pikeo, while Orange customers in France can use the Skyrock community, DailyMotion video site and dating service Meetic.

EU - Commission plans ending roaming rip-offs for text messages abroad

2008-07-15T14:11:00.002+02:00

(RA�DI) The 2.5 billion text messages sent every year by roaming customers in the EU cost over 10 times more than domestic short messages (SMS), show figures released by the European Commission. The average cost of a roaming text message in the EU between October 2007 and March 2008 was ?0.29 according to the European Regulators? Group (ERG), but can be as high as ?0.80 for travellers from Belgium. Calls on the industry for self-regulation and voluntary reductions of roaming prices for text messages have not been answered. The Commission will therefore start working on measures to ensure that consumers benefit from a truly single market for mobile text services. The Commission will also seek to put an end to "bill shocks" that can hit roaming customers using a mobile connection to surf the Internet.

US - Building software tools to find child victims

2008-07-15T10:08:00.002+02:00

(Google blog)
by Shumeet Baluja, Research Scientist. A team of Google engineers dedicated their 20 percent time over the last year and a half to build cutting-edge software for NCMEC that uses image and video recognition technology to help NCMEC analysts more effectively sort and review incoming reports of child exploitation. NCMEC analysts sort through tens of millions of images in child sexual abuse investigations, and Google leverage its expertise in organizing huge amounts of data to help make their important work more automated and efficient.

EU - Special Eurobarometer survey "E-Communications household"

2008-07-15T08:24:00.002+02:00

(Europa)
eCommunications household survey: The results of a special Eurobarometer survey conducted by TNS Opinion & Social between 9 November 2007 and 14 December 2007 to measure the attitude of European households and individuals towards fixed and mobile telephony, IT equipment and Internet access, TV broadcast services, bundled offers, telephone directories and 112 emergency call number. The survey covers the 27 EU Member States, with an average of 1,000 households interviewed per country. Full Report Summary

FR - Sarkozy looking to build national media champion

2008-07-13T19:25:00.000+02:00

(IHT)
When President Nicolas Sarkozy announced in January that he would ban commercials from public television, it took only moments for the share price of private broadcasters to react. It was also the first hint that behind a profound and controversial shake-up of the French public television sector loomed a much larger vision - one involving private media companies, some of Sarkozy's closest friends in the business and a long-held ambition of the president to groom that special breed of company he had already created in other industries: the national champion.There is no French multimedia empire comparable to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. or Bertelsmann of Germany, which own newspapers, television channels and radio interests and Internet ventures worldwide. And there is no French equivalent of British Broadcasting Corp., with an international reputation and no advertising pressures.

EU - Ringtone websites? hidden charges 'exploiting" children

2008-07-13T19:22:00.001+02:00

(Sunday Times)
More than 90% of websites selling ringtones for mobile phones to children and teenagers are misleading them with unclear charges and confusing information, an investigation by the European commission has found. The tactics include signing up users to subscriptions when they believe they are downloading one-off tunes and using free offers to lure them into long-term paid contracts. Brussels is to announce that it will launch inquiries into dozens of British ringtone websites, in addition to many others across Europe. In a further move against the exploitation of mobile phone users, Viviane Reding, the European Union telecoms commissioner, said that operators had adopted a "bunker mentality" by not reducing their international call charges.