Around the World: Update August 2011

This update provides an overview of the latest issues of interest to ICT professionals both in Australia and internationally. We hope that you will find this information useful.

Please feel free to forward this update to any of your colleagues or friends who may be interested.

To contact a member of our Information Communications & Technology team, please click here

Kind regards

Brendan Coady | Partner
Direct 61 2 9225 6258
brendan.coady@maddocks.com.au

Robert Gregory | Partner
Direct 61 3 9240 0770
robert.gregory@maddocks.com.au

Domain names in conjunction with

Domain names

ANZIAs open for entries
InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc) and .au Domain Administration (auDA) are proud to announce The 2011 Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIAs) have opened for entries. Full Story

Bnet interview with auDA CEO Chris Disspain about new gTLDs
Chris Disspain, an ICANN board member, as well CEO of the .au domain administration, talks about new gTLDs with Phil Dobbie in this episode of BTalk. Full Story

Top 5 tips for new Top-Level Domain applicants by AusRegistry's Michael Twist
So, you’ve heard about ICANN’s new TLD Program and you’re thinking about the best way to get involved so you can gain a slice of the of the $5 billion dollar domain name industry. Full Story

Q&A: What Top-Level Domains Could Mean for Trademark Law
Trademark lawyers expect seismic change when a recent decision to expand the 22 generic top-level domains, such as .com and .org, to an almost unlimited number takes effect. Full Story

Hundreds of dot-brand domains predicted
Domain name registry operators have predicted that "hundreds" of well-known companies will apply to ICANN to create new "dot-brand" top-level internet domains. Full Story

Australian Registrar Distribute.IT Hack: Lessons To Be Learned
A "deliberate, premeditated and malicious" attack on the network of Australian registrar and webhost Distribute.IT saw customer data, websites and emails that were hosted on a number of Distribute.IT servers potentially rendered unrecoverable. Distribute.IT described it as "a deliberate aim at the Company and our clients". Full Story

Sedo Domain Sales Heat Up In Northern Summer With Sales Of $25m In Q2
Domain name aftermarket sales continue to grow at Sedo with $25 million of sales in the second quarter of 2011. Sales increased 13 percent compared to Q1 2011 and four percent year-over-year according to their Q2 2011 Domain Market Study, which reveals domain industry trends based on its marketplace transactions. Full Story

News International's new domains show move towards seven-day Sun
News International has taken control of the web domain for sunonsunday.co.uk and thesunonsunday.co.uk, which were registered on 5 July, fuelling expectations that the company will launch a replacement for the News of the World by expanding the Sun brand into a seven-day operation. Full Story

Most of world still resisting IPv6 adoption
It appears those outside of the Asia-Pacific region are still wary of IPv6, according to a new report from analyst firm, Ovum. Full Story

Go Daddy Sold For $2.25B To Trio Of Private Equity Firms
Go Daddy, the world's largest registrar, has entered into a partnership with a trio of private equity firms in a deal that values the company at $ 2.25 billion. Full Story

Internet Use

Analysis - Internet key as Norway battles far-right groups
The Norwegian anti-Islamic zealot who killed 76 people claims he worked with others, but finding far-right groups in their mainly online haunts will be tough for police who for years gave Islamist militants top priority. Full Story

Internet Use Affects Memory, Study Finds
The widespread use of search engines and online databases has affected the way people remember information, researchers are reporting. Full Story

Spelling mistakes 'cost millions' in lost online sales
An online entrepreneur says that poor spelling is costing the UK millions of pounds in lost revenue for internet businesses. Full Story

Internet animal torture 'getting worse'
Animal welfare activists have expressed alarm about a spike in incidents of animal cruelty being filmed and posted onto the internet. Full Story

Australian Shoppers Look to Web: Worry Sets In for Retailers as Economic Uncertainty, Rising Costs Push Consumers Online
Australian consumers worried by rising living costs and an uncertain economic climate are increasingly turning to the Internet to shop for everyday items, and traditional retailers are seeing sales fall. Full Story

Review to assess rural use of web
An independent review will examine whether people in rural areas are getting the most out of the online revolution sweeping through the economy. Full Story

No end in sight for Net data boom: ACMA
The need for higher speeds and increased data caps has been highlighted by an Australian Communications and Media Authority study which found that Australian internet users downloaded an average 18.8 gigabytes of data per user as of December 2010. Full Story

More Australians embrace online activities in their daily lives
The internet service market in Australia is dynamic, characterised by continual innovation in ISP offerings, take-up of innovative consumer access devices and increased consumer participation in the online environment. These are some of the key findings from the latest ACMA research into the emerging digital economy, The internet service market and Australians in the online environment, released on Tuesday 5th July. Full Story

Reinventing the newspaper: New business models are proliferating as news organisations search for novel sources of revenue
On the morning of September 3rd 1833 a new kind of newspaper went on sale on the streets of New York. With its mix of crime reports and human-interest stories, the Sun was intended to appeal to a mass audience, and its publisher, Benjamin Day, made it cheap: at one penny, it was one-sixth of the price of most other papers. The most popular newspaper in America at the time, according to Mitchell Stephens, author of “A History of News”, was New York’s Courier and Enquirer, which sold 4,500 copies a day. Day’s new “penny paper” appealed to people who had not bought newspapers before. Within two years the Sun was selling 15,000 copies a day. Full Story

Technology can both improve and hinder family relationships, survey says
Cambridge University has released a report on how information and communication technology affects family life. The study analyzed questionnaires from 1,000 families each in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and China. The conclusion: Technology can both improve and hinder family relationships. That sounds vague, but there is something to learn from the study about how to manage technology to keep a happy home. Full Story

China reaches 485 million Internet users as growth slows
China added 27 million Internet users over the last six months, bringing the total number to 485 million, but the growth of China's Internet population continues to slow, according to official statistics released on Tuesday. Full Story

Intellectual Property

Mabo makes waves for Mambo in clothing trademark stoush
Eddie Mabo put his family name on the map, literally, during the landmark 1992 High Court native title case. Now his son is embroiled in a legal struggle over its use. Mambo, the iconic surf-wear brand, is applying the letter of the law to prevent Mahalingham "Malcolm" Mabo from trademarking his famous surname to start a clothing business that would include beachwear. Full Story

Ugg boot war flares over Chinese copies
Australia's ugg boot war has flared up again, with a New South Wales sheepskin manufacturer accusing a Chinese operator of illegally copying its brand. Full Story

Bucks Fizz in legal dispute over who owns group's name
Bucks Fizz may have been harmonious when they won the 1981 Eurovision song contest with Making Your Mind Up, but its members are now in dispute over who has the right to claim the group's name. Full Story

Online TV & Music

Wave goodbye to free Internet TV
They said Hulu was going to save the film studios and television networks from repeating the mistakes of the music industry. Full Story

Telstra to team up with ISPs in battle with Hollywood studios
Telstra is attempting to team up with its rivals to fend off Hollywood's latest attempt to make ISPs increase sanctions against customers suspected of pirating their content online. Full Story

ISPs should pay copyright costs: AFACT
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has said that New Zealand's decision to impose a NZ$25 charge on rights holders who want internet service providers to process user copyright infringement notices is not the ideal answer to tackling the copyright problems. Full Story

Mobile/Wireless

European study sees no mobile phone-cancer link
A European study involving nearly 1000 participants has found no link between mobile phone use and brain tumours in children and adolescents, a group that may be particularly sensitive to phone emissions. Full Story

Australia/NZ roaming fees to stay high
Federal government attempts to reduce global roaming fees between Australia and New Zealand could be stymied by an existing free trade agreement with the US. Full Story

In Europe, a Move to Slash Phone Roaming Charges
For many tourists, it’s an experience they will long remember. After taking in the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Coliseum in Rome or Buckingham Palace in London, they arrive home to something unexpected: a staggering cellphone roaming bill. Full Story

Telstra's new 4G mobile network could cost $2bn: analysts
Telstra's new mobile network could cost it $2 billion, according to research by industry analysts. Full Story

Online Crime, Security & Legal

Cyber Storm III: the results are in
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland has released the official findings from the international cybersecurity event Cyber Storm III held last year in September. Full Story

Distribute.IT hacker arrest a reminder to stay alert: O'Connor
The Minister of Justice, Brendan O’Connor, warned enterprises to remain vigilant on cybercrime, despite following the charge of a 25-year-old unemployed truck driver for alleged hacks on organisations, including the University of Sydney, Distribute.IT and NBN Co retail customer, Platform Networks. Full Story

World Attorneys-General focus on cyber crime
Combating the growing threat of cyber crime was a key focus at the 'quintet' meeting of Attorneys-General from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Full Story

Malware? It's just business!
Malware, these days, is so good that it simply has to be produced by professional development teams. What's more, the criminals choose their targets with business-like decisions over expected return on investment. Full Story

Nine out of 10 concerned about identity theft
Nearly one in six Australians have been a victim, or known somebody who has been a victim, of identity theft or misuse in the past six months. Full Story

Woman tries to sell kids on eBay
A Victorian woman is being investigated after she offered her children for sale on the internet. Full Story

Warnings over Rugby World Cup scams
The Department of Internal Affairs is warning people to beware of Rugby World Cup scams in the lead up to the tournament. Full Story

Ebay and marketplace sites may be liable for trademark abuse
Online shopping sites such as eBay may be liable for trademark infringements if they play an "active role" in promoting counterfeit goods, Europe's top court ruled. Full Story

Privacy

Australian public expects review of privacy laws, says Privacy Minister Brendan O'Connor
Privacy Minister Brendan O'Connor says there is a "public expectation" that privacy laws be re-examined in Australia in light of the UK phone hacking scandal, but concedes there is no suggestion of similar journalistic misconduct here. Full Story

Thousands of privacy breaches going unreported
There has been a 27 per cent jump in the number of incidents of stolen or lost personal information reported to the Privacy Commissioner in the past year but inadequate laws mean thousands of incidents go unreported. Full Story

Government & Public Policy

National security legislation passes Parliament
Attorney-General Robert McClelland welcomed the passage through Parliament of improvements to laws underpinning Australia’s national security and intelligence agencies. Full Story

Miscellaneous

NBN will thrive if the price is right by Eric Knight, research associate at the Australian National University Centre for Climate Economics and Policy and the University of Oxford
There is something magnificent about the National Broadband Network. It is a visionary monument to the economic prospects of this country. But the federal government's munificence should not distract us from whether it has been bought at the right price. Full Story

Telstra still wants top spot in the telecom market
Telstra boss David Thodey underlined his intention to extend his domination of the telecom market by creating an in-house venture capital team to develop new applications and IT for his customers. Full Story

Vodafone Australia class action gathers momentum
A bid to bring a consumer class action suit against Vodafone Hutchison Australia over the performance of its mobile network has proceeded apace with more litigants joining the proposed action. Full Story

The Future of the Internet Economy: Chapter 2 by Geoff Huston
The OECD held a "high-level" meeting in June 2011 that was intended to build upon the OECD Ministerial on The Future of the Internet Economy held in Seoul, Korea in June 2008. I was invited to attend this meeting as part of the delegation from the Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC), and here I'd like to share my impressions of this meeting. Full Story

Telecommunications

Telcos slugged for misleading mobile plan 'confusopoly'
Australian consumers need complex mathematical formulas to work out their mobile phone plans, a new analysis has found, as telcos cop more flack for confusing advertising. Full Story