Buys Inc. Attorneys
ICT Law Blog
 
 
Friday, April 28, 2006
 
  UK firms beat back hack attacks
British businesses are winning the battle against malicious hackers and computer criminals, research suggests.

Microsoft fights to keep secrets
Microsoft lawyers have argued that the European Commission is forcing the firm to give up valuable trade secrets, a move that would handicap its future.

Cyber Consequences Unit Releases Draft Cybersecurity Checklist
The US Cyber Consequences Unit (CCU), a private company, has developed a draft Cybersecurity Checklist to help federal agencies and industry to determine the possible consequences of risks posed by the current state of their IT systems; the list also offers suggestions for mitigating those risks.

LexisNexis Says Honesty About Security Breach Was a Good Decision
Speaking at the Infosec Europe 2006 conference in London, LexisNexis senior director for information security Leo Cronin said his company's decision to be up front about a data security breach that took place in early 2005 was definitely the best approach to the situation

Microsoft has begun pushing out its Windows Genuine Advantage
Microsoft has begun pushing out its Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications tool to a random subset of Windows users. The tool will check to see if users are running legitimately licensed versions of Windows; those who are not will be alerted to the fact during startup,login and during use of the operating system. Users will have the option of declining or uninstalling the download. Microsoft is also piloting a similar tool to test for authenticity of Microsoft Officesoftware.

Phishers Turn to VoIP-based Attack
In a new twist in phishing, attackers have apparently managed to replicate the automated voice system of an unnamed US bank in an effort to harvest customers' account information. The attackers sent spam totheir targets asking the recipients to call a certain telephone number to speak with a bank representative to verify their account information.The attackers used voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephony to perpetrate their scheme. They used PBX software to create the illusion for the bank customers that they are speaking to the actual bank.

Student Arrested for Allegedly Changing School Records
An 18-year-old Florida student has been charged with felony fraud for allegedly gaining unauthorized access to the school district's computer system and changing students' grades, removing records of suspensions and absences and giving himself credit for courses he never took. JeffYorston allegedly used user IDs and passwords of four school district employees. Yorston was booked into Palm Beach County Jail on a chargeof offense against intellectual property and released on US$5,000 bondlater the same day.

Campaign manager resigns amid Wikipedia flap
A Georgia gubernatorial candidate accepted the resignation of her campaign manager Wednesday after he was accused of changing the online Wikipedia biography of an opponent in the upcoming Democratic primary.

Brain-drain factor on hold in IT sector
The average monthly salary in the information technology (IT) sector fell from R23,523 in 2004 to R22,021 last year, an indication that brain drain in the sector may be a thing of the past, according to a study released on Tuesday.

Banks warn customers on online banking fraud
Banks have warned customers to be extra cautious when dealing with internet payment confirmations.

Spooks go cyber
Public will have to rely on state’s integrity not to abuse its right to listen in to our phone calls.

Warnings over USB memory sticks
Smart phones, iPods and USB memory sticks are posing a real risk for businesses, warn security experts.

The RIAA vs. the EFF: who will redefine copyright for the digital age
In a recent editorial, an attorney representing a defendant in one of the RIAA's 19,000 lawsuits over P2P technology made the case that the RIAA's arguments in Elektra v. Barker, if accepted by a judge, have the potential to undermine the very nature of the Internet.

Rat on your pirate boss, win $36,000
Anti-software piracy group the Business Software Alliance is offering a $36,000 reward to anyone who informs on employers who use illegal or unlicensed software.

Brain drain hits Africa
Hundreds of young Africans crammed into rickety fishing boats, washed up onto European shores, destitute and half-dead from hunger and illness. Many others were found dead on the beaches.

Plan to offer affordable internet access yet to start
The communications department's plan to offer affordable internet access and also connect people from historically disadvantaged communities with cellphones is yet to take off.

Cape Bar adopts resolutions to transform
The Cape Bar is taking active steps to ensure it becomes more representative and for the first time in its history has adopted three resolutions aimed at transforming its membership and facilitating entry into the advocate's profession in the province.

The top 10 ads for complaints
1. KFC A TV ad for Zinger Crunch salad that showed call centre staff singing with their mouths full. Viewers said it set a bad example to children. 1,671 complaints. Not upheld

2. Living TV Poster for The L Word featuring scantily-clad women. Complaints that it was degrading to women and unsuitable for children. 650 complaints. Not upheld

3. Pot Noodle TV ad showing a man trying to conceal a brass horn in his trousers. Viewers said it was tasteless and offensive. 620 complaints. Not upheld

4. Mazda TV ad showing mannequin being aroused. Viewers said it portrayed women as sex objects. 425 complaints. Not upheld

5. Ryanair Press advert soon after the London bombings, headlined "London fights back". Complaints that it was disrespectful. 319 complaints. Not upheld

Child-porn suspect found hanged
A man from Stilbaai in the Southern Cape, who was arrested with a young woman for the allegedly making and distributing child pornography, committed suicide in prison at the weekend.

Internet Law Matching Services Fight Each Other in Court
In a battle between Internet matchmaking businesses, Legalmatch.com claims employees broke contract provisions prohibiting them from divulging confidential information -- like customer lists -- after jumping ship to a competitor. Casepost.com doesn't deny hiring those employees, who are now at the center of a $20 million lawsuit, but says Legalmatch is to blame because it created an unhappy work environment

Five People Face Criminal Charges for Copying Software
Five more individuals are facing criminal copyright charges as partof the Department of Justice's ongoing crackdown on warez dealers. Thecharges stem from raids last June -- Operations Fastlink and SiteDown --that the DoJ says resulted in breaking up eight warez rings and seizingpirated works estimated at $50 million.

Proposed "Whois" Changes Highlight Internet Anonymity Debate
If proposed rule changes are adopted by the organization that runs the Internet, corporate and government investigators won't be able to rely on Whois to find the owners of fraudulent Web sites. Earlier this month, at the urging of privacy advocates and over the opposition of major corporations, the ICANN committee responsible for Whois voted 18-9 to restrict its listings solely to someone who can resolve technical "configuration" problems.

California Approves Plan to Test Net on Power Lines
The California Public Utilities Commission approved a plan allowingproviders of high-speed Internet services to test the use of electricitylines to deliver online access throughout the state. CPUC commissionerRachelle Chong, who drafted the plan, said broadband over power lines, orBPL, could become a new competitor to Internet services delivered viatelephone, cable and satellites and help reduce prices for consumers.

Scepticism over EC Act
Dave Glazier wraps up the week's top news: Skeptical industry response to the EC Act, and just what exactly is SITA hiding from us?

Draft privacy law receives public comment
The SA Law Reform Commission has received more than 50 submissions to the Draft Protection of Personal Information Bill and expects more as it readies the legislation for next year.

Telkom plans surveillance product
South African fixed-line utility Telkom says it aims to establish a partnership with a suitable vendor to enable it to “provide total video surveillance solutions to its customer base”.

New World Cup scam coming to your inbox
Police have warned the public against responding to the latest email scam enticing people to forward their personal details in return for a share in millions of rands purportedly used for lobbying support for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Accredited training in IT law for IT professionals
Pinsent Masons has become the first law firm to gain accreditation for training leading to the British Computer Society’s Information Systems Examinations Board (ISEB) ‘Foundation Certificate in IT Law’ qualification.

Harare wants ISPs to fund installation of spying equipment
The Zimbabwean government plans to compel internet service providers (IPS) to install equipment worth billions of dollars to enable the state to snoop on online communication, according to a proposed new law.

New MySpace Goal: Profit, Not Just Friends
Almost on a lark, Chris DeWolfe bought the Internet address MySpace.com in 2002, figuring that it might be useful someday. At first, he used the site to try to sell a motorized contraption made in China and called an E-scooter, for US$99. Selling products online comes naturally to him.

State Governments Lack Digital Archive Solution, Leader Says
Most state governments are not actively tackling the creeping problemof digital archives and long-term access to public documents, according to the head of an industry group. Apart from a handful of cases, states have not devised comprehensive strategies for retaining "born digital"documents, said Doug Robinson, the executive director of the National Association of State CIOs.

Computer Security Breaches Cost British Companies $18 Billion
Security breaches from computer viruses, spyware, hacker attacks andequipment theft are costing British business billions of pounds a year,according to a survey. The estimated loss of $18 billion (10 billionpounds) is 50 percent higher than the level calculated two years ago,according to the survey that consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers conductedfor the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry.

U.S. Considers Help from WTO in Fighting Chinese Counterfeiting
The United States has not ruled out taking Beijing to the World TradeOrganization over rampant counterfeiting in China, Washington's point manon piracy said. Chris Israel, U.S. Coordinator for InternationalIntellectual Property Enforcement, said recent steps by the Chineseleadership to tackle piracy had given him some cause for optimism but thesituation was still far from ideal.

EU Anti-Piracy Proposal Includes Minimum 4 Years in Jail
Counterfeiters could face minimum four-year jail terms in theEuropean Union as part of sweeping plans to combat piracy. Forged goodshave become an increasing concern for European businesses, whose brandsand products are under growing threat from high-quality copies that areoften hard to distinguish from genuine versions.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006
 
  Judge: Employee Web surfing not unreasonable
Surfing the Web at work is equivalent to reading a newspaper or talking on the phone, an administrative law judge said in recommending the lightest possible punishment for a city worker accused of disregarding warnings to stay off the Internet.

Liability for Defective Software in South Africa
Who is liable under South African law when software failure causes loss? This is the subject of Andrew Marshall's Master's dissertation. It is a question that is almost as complex as writing software, so if you can write software you will have no trouble reading the dissertation.

Disputed Icasa bill to be reworked
The Freedom of Expression Institute has welcomed President Thabo Mbeki’s decision not to sign the controversial Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) Amendment Bill into law on the grounds that it may be unconstitutional.

Pros and cons of various broadband technologies
There are several competing broadband technologies for mobile executives to choose from, and each have their strengths and limitations, says Shergen Padayachee, wireless technology manager at Grintek.

Copyright crackdown pushes pirates onto Internet
A long campaign to remove pirated goods from shop fronts in Asia is finally having an impact but the crackdown has also changed the nature of the problem and new outlets are flourishing.

Black IT body on brink of collapse
An organisation representing black business in the information technology sector is on the brink of collapse due to a combination of apathy and a breakdown of trust within its leadership.

States Rushing to Remove Sensitive Data from Official Websites
States across the USA are furiously removing sensitive data fromofficial websites. The task highlights challenges facing states with sitesfull of personal information on residents, from Social Security numbers tobank account numbers.

200,000 Records Illegally Accessed at University of Texas
Nearly 200,000 electronic records at the University of Texas'Business School have been illegally accessed, officials said. It was theschool's second major breach in three years.

An open and shut case?
Will the open source revolution swallow the software market? ITWeb held a round table discussion on the issue with open- and closed-source supporters.

Artists Rights Society Asks Google to Remove Logo
The Artists Rights Society, a group that represents more than 40,000visual artists and their estates, demanded Google remove a logo honoringSpanish surrealist painter Joan Miro, after a Miro family member loggedonto Google's home page and discovered a logo that incorporated imagesused in multiple copyrighted works. "It's a distortion of the originalworks and in that respect it violates the moral rights of the artist,"said Theodore Feder, president of Artists Rights Society.

Judge Orders Record Labels to Turn Over Privileged Documents
A federal judge has ordered major record labels to turn overprivileged documents after finding they may have used misleadinginformation to convince the government to abandon a major antitrust probe.The ruling from U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in San Franciscocame out of a dispute over which documents Vivendi Universal's UniversalMusic Group and EMI Group Plc should be forced to release in a lengthycopyright battle over Bertelsmann's investment in music-swapping serviceNapster.

Judge Gives Lightest Sentence to Man for Surfing at Work
Surfing the Web at the work is equivalent to reading a newspaper ortalking on the phone, an administrative law judge said in recommending thelightest possible punishment for a city worker accused of disregardingwarnings to stay off the Internet. The case involved Toquir Choudhri, a14-year veteran of the Department of Education, whose office computer hadbeen used to visit news and travel Web sites.

Coalition Urges Net Neutrality in "Fight for Internet Freedom"
Days before a congressional committee is set to vote on an overhaulof the nation's telecommunications policy, a broad coalition of media,consumer and Internet groups has organized behind a dramatic tagline:"Save the Internet." Dozens of organizations ranging from theconservative-to-libertarian Gun Owners of America to the liberal groupMoveon.org to the American Library Association, have just launched a Website under the "Save the Internet" banner.

University of Texas Says Cyber Intrusion Exposed Data on Nearly
The University of Texas (UT) acknowledged that a computer intrusion hascompromised personal data belonging to nearly 200,000 people associatedwith the university's McCombs School of Business. UT has established aweb site, a phone bank and a special email address to help deal with theconcerns of those affected by the breach. UT President William PowersJr. said the university would try to inform all those affected by emailand letter. UT suffered another security breach in 2003; a formerstudent received five years probation and was ordered to pay US$170,000in restitution for that attack.

Apple Investigating Report of Seven Flaws in Mac OS X
Apple Computer is looking into reports of seven unpatched flaws in itsMac OS X operating system. The most serious of the flaws lies in theSafari web browser and could be exploited to run code on vulnerablesystems. Five of the flaws are related to how the operating systemhandles certain image file formats. There are presently no knownexploits for the vulnerabilities.

Mozilla Updates Thunderbird, Releases Final Version of Mozilla Browser Suite
Mozilla released Thunderbird email client version 1.5.0.2 and Mozillabrowser suite version 1.7.13 on April 21. This version of the Mozillabrowser suite will be the last. Mozilla will also stop development ofFirefox 1.0.x and Thunderbird 1.0.x.

Zero-Day IE Flaw Could Allow Remote Code Execution
Another zero-day vulnerability has been detected in Microsoft's InternetExplorer (IE). The flaw, which can be exploited remotely, could allowattackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems. The problemlies in the way IE handles malformed HTML content. The vulnerabilityexists in fully patched versions of IE 6 for Windows XP SP2.

Man Charged in USC Computer Intrusion
The US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles has filed a criminal complaintagainst network administrator Eric McCarty for "intentionallytransmitting a code or command to cause damage to the University ofSouthern California (USC) online application system." McCarty allegedlyused a SQL injection attack to break into a password-protected USCdatabase containing information belonging to over 275,000 people whoapplied to the school between 1997 and June 2005. McCarty was tracedthrough the IP number on his home computer; he faces up to ten years inprison if he is convicted.

Bot Crimes on the Rise
An estimated 47 million PCs worldwide have been unwittingly recruitedinto botnets, which can be used for spamming, phishing attacks,denial-of-service attacks, self-propagation and man-in-the-middle/keylogger attacks. While sophisticated attackers are adept at coveringtheir tracks, script-kiddies tend to be sloppier and more easily caught.This article provides detailed accounts of three men who were arrestedfor bot-related cyber crimes

Tuesday, April 25, 2006
 
  Financial data theft soared at Easter
An increase in Trojans designed to steal financial data from businesses was detected over the Easter weekend, and it's 'virtually guaranteed' that some firms were compromised

Cellphones compete with PCs for the Internet
Cellphones may soon challenge personal computers as the dominant platform for accessing the Internet, a recent survey suggests.

Apple argues that blogger can't protect source
A US appeals court has been hearing arguments in a case that tests the right of a blogger to protect his sources. Apple Computer wants to know who leaked details of a product called 'Asteroid' and expects bloggers to reveal the names.

German ruling suggests forums must be moderated
Forums are an "especially dangerous feature" of websites, according to a ruling published last week by a Hamburg district court. Heise Online says it has been found liable for content that appeared on forums, despite the content being removed on request.

'Fatally flawed' law makes porn sites warn at every page
Every page on a commercial website that contains sexually explicit material will be required to include a warning label to protect web users inadvertently finding it under proposals announced by US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday.

Monday, April 24, 2006
 
  'Fatally flawed' law makes porn sites warn at every page
Every page on a commercial website that contains sexually explicit material will be required to include a warning label to protect web users inadvertently finding it under proposals announced by US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday.

Friday, April 21, 2006
 
  Paid Content Growth: Sky's the Limit?
For years, one of the biggest struggles many Internet companies faced was figuring out how to convince Web users to turn over their hard- earned money for content -- content that many believed was freely available elsewhere. Last year saw spending on paid Web content in the U.S. alone top $2 billion for the first time ever.

Lag Time in Applying Patches Opens the Door for Attacks
According to a McAfee study, 19 percent of companies take more than aweek to apply software patches. Twenty-seven percent said they take twodays to deploy fixes for vulnerabilities.

Recent Microsoft Patches Causing Problems
Some of the patches released by Microsoft last week have been causing problems for users. Some people reported their Outlook Express addressbook was gone after installing MS06-016. The same patch caused problems with sending template-based messages.

Man Fined US$84,000 in Spyware Removal Tool Case
Zhijian Chen has been fined US$84,000 for using deceptive advertisingtechniques that urged computer users to purchase a bogus anti-spyware program. By using Windows' "Net send" command, Chen was able togenerate pop-ups on users' computers that looked something like security warnings. If the users clicked on the supplied link they were eventually led to the Secure Computer web site, where they were offereda free scan, and then a chance to purchase Spyware Cleaner to remove theoften non-existent spyware the scanner claimed to have detected. Chenis the first to learn his penalty from a suit brought by Microsoft and Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna against Secure Computer,Chen and two other men.

US Military Buying Back Stolen Flash Drives at Bagram Bazaar
Following reports that stolen military computer hardware was being soldat a bazaar near a US air base in Bagram, Afghanistan, the US militaryis apparently doing its best to buy all the stolen flash drives it canfind. The drives contain potentially sensitive military information.An investigation into the theft of the devices and a computer securitypolicy review are pending.

Ireland to Begin Introducing Biometric Passports
The Irish government plans to start incorporating biometric informationinto new passports. The passports will contain embedded microchips thathold digitized versions of the facial image and details included in thepassport. Airports around the world are starting to deploy biometricpassport systems.

Court tosses 'Friends' lawsuit
Sometimes vulgarity is not just acceptable but necessary in the workplace, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday as it threw out a sexual harassment case by a former assistant on the "Friends" TV show.

Judge Approves $90 Million Google Advertising Settlement
An Arkansas judge approved a preliminary settlement worth up to $90million between Google Inc. and advertisers who claimed the world'sleading web search provider overcharged them for their ads. Under thesettlement, Google will be required to pay up to $60 million in creditsfor future advertising on Google, and up to $30 million is available topay lawyers for those making claims against Google.

Attorney General Calls for New Data Retention Rules
The failure of some Internet service providers to retain user logsfor a "reasonable amount of time" is hampering investigations intogruesome online sex crimes, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said,indicating that new data retention rules may be on the way. "Theinvestigation and prosecution of child predators depends critically on theavailability of evidence that is often in the hands of Internet serviceproviders," Gonzales said in a speech to staff at the National Center forMissing and Exploited Children headquarters.

Judges Grill Apple in Trade Secrets Appeal
A case that could jeopardize the right of journalists to protect the confidentiality of sources and give companies more legal leeway to track down supposed leaks of trade secrets is now in the hands of a state appeals court.

Big brother's watching in the workplace
After two recent court decisions, South African employers may now be held liable for the harassing and racist actions of their employees - online and offline.

Thursday, April 20, 2006
 
  Thabo signs telecoms bill
The long-awaited signing of the Electronic Communications Bill has finally taken place, paving the way for cheaper telecommunications services that South Africa desperately needs.

Skype has to obey China laws
Skype, the revolutionary online telecoms service, has defended its mainland partner's censorship of text messages in China, saying the company was obeying local laws.

'Online media comes of age in SA'
Local online advertising revenue is expected to reach R183m in 2006, and to pass the R200m mark in 2007, according to a survey from World Wide Worx.

The new internet independents
For most internet entrepreneurs, trying to explain why an idea deserves an injection of cold, hard cash from a Silicon Valley venture capitalist is an accepted and even exhilarating part of the start-up process.

SNO’s ADSL may be here sooner than expected
According to a reliable source the Second National Operator (SNO) may have its own ADSL offering ready before the end of 2006. In an email from an SNO employee it says that “Our [SNO] ADSL services are currently planned to be launched towards the end of 2006.”

Europeans are 'naive' in handling personal data, says EU watchdog
People who surf the internet or use mobile phones leave digital footprints which can be misused by unscrupulous people and businesses, said Hustinx, adding: 'The risks are constantly growing.'

French bill could chill open source
On May 4, the French Senate will debate a copyright bill that is widely expected to have a chilling effect on the development and distribution of open-source software for digital rights management (DRM) or P-to-P (peer-to-peer) file sharing.
That's because the bill's provisions include a penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine of €300,000 for publishing, distributing or promoting software in France that is "manifestly intended" for the unauthorised distribution of copyright works.

Remixing the web
Shouldn't users be able to improve sites for their needs, creating new services by combining existing ones to remix the web?
When Tim Berners-Lee invented the worldwide web, he thought it was just as important to be able to edit as to browse. He may have been thinking of having a personal home page, but surely the principle extends to customising pages created by others?

China's jailed e-journalists
Hu Jintao and Bill Gates will have had a lot to talk about Tuesday, when the Chinese president visited Microsoft's Redmond campus.
With the mainstream Chinese media heavily censored, the Internet has become a vital outlet for independent journalism, critical writing and information.

Zimbabwe media to fight internet law
Zimbabwe’s privately-owned media last week agreed to challenge in court a proposed new law that will empower the government to intercept and monitor internet communication.

Westchester to require businesses to secure wireless networks
County Executive Andy Spano will sign a bill into law today mandating commercial businesses that offer public Internet access and/or maintain personal information on a wireless network to take “minimum security measures.” The Board of Legislators passed the bill unanimously on April.

Ruling blurs meaning of an employee
Your contractors might be employees – even when you have a written agreement that says otherwise. That is the effect of a ruling last month which bestowed upon a telecoms specialist, contracted as an agent, all the rights of an employee.

Rights and wrongs of the digital age
The recent debate over iTunes in the French parliament has raised concerns of over regulation of the technology. But laws designed to promote competition are in everyone's interest, writes internet law professor Michael Geist.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006
 
  When porn and medicine cross paths...
It seems that online dermatological images, intended as references for doctors, are sometimes being used pruriently.

Google patents voice search
Google has been granted a patent for a system that provides search results from a voice query, five years after its application was filed with the US Patent and Trademarks Office. Co-founder Sergey Brin is listed among the inventors.

Change copyright laws - Cliff
Veteran British rocker Cliff Richard has called for a change to Britain's music copyright laws to extend the protection for artists beyond the current 50-year limit.

Data retention: US to follow EU example?
New requirements for ISPs to retain customer data are being explored in the US, inspired by Europe's recent Directive, according to a report by CNET News.com. But that Directive must be implemented with care, warns an EU Working Party on Data Protection.

Easter eggs bypass security
Eighty-one percent of commuters outside Victoria Station were willing to part with all the personal information needed to steal their identity for the chance to win an Easter egg bonanza, according to a survey carried out for Infosecurity Europe.

Eye spy
Experts say our privacy is on the verge of becoming extinct.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006
 
  Cases Show Anti-Cyberstalking Laws Not Always Effective
State legislatures took notice around 1999 and began passing lawsthat make cyberstalking a crime. Three months ago, President Bush signedfederal anti-cyberstalking legislation. But some cases make it clear thatthe problem is not easily legislated away and show how devastating it canbe to individuals caught in its web.

Court to Consider Bloggers' Rights as Journalists
In a possible test of what, exactly, is a journalist in aproliferating universe of bloggers and Web masters, a San Jose appealscourt will consider whether sites like PowerPage are entitled to the sameprotections against divulging confidential sources as established mediaorganizations. The 6th District Court of Appeal will hear arguments in acase triggered by Apple, which two years ago went to court to unearth theidentities of individuals who leaked confidential information on a newproduct called "Asteroid" to three Web pages that specialize inApple-related news.

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Falwell Domain Name Case
A legal spat over a Web site criticizing the Rev. Jerry Falwell for his anti gay views won't ascend to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices declined without comment to take up the evangelical preacher's appeal, which challenged the operator of Fallwell.com, a site that aims to explain"why Rev. Falwell is completely wrong about people who are gay orl esbian."

Companies now responsible of online harassment
Following two recent court decisions, South African employers may now be held liable for the harassing and racist actions of their employees – online and offline.

"Top 5 Identity Theft Attacks on Web Applications" whitepaper -

White Paper: The Future of Perimeter Security by Norm

Interest in Data Retention Laws is Growing
The idea of requiring Internet service providers (ISPs) to retainrecords of customers' online activities is gaining interest among USlegislators. One US legislator says a data retention bill would helplaw enforcement officials investigate crimes against children. Privacyadvocates are concerned about the passage of such legislation becauseit would require the retention of data that would normally be kept foronly brief periods of time or not at all.

Judges Finds Wells Fargo Not Negligent in Data Theft Case
A US District Judge in Minnesota ruled that two people who had filed aclass action lawsuit against Wells Fargo had not actually suffered anydamages and were thus unable to demonstrate "reasonably certain futureinjury" due to the theft of computer hardware from a Wells Fargocontractor.

China Will Ban Sale of Computers Without Pre-Installed Operating Systems
In an effort to fight software piracy, China expects to ban the sale ofcomputers without operating systems by the end of this year. Whilecomputers sold without operating systems installed are less expensive,some people have been installing pirated copies on their new computers.An official with the Beijing Copyright Bureau says governmentdepartments will be required to purchase computers with legitimatesoftware already installed.

UK's Computer Misuse Act to be Updated
The UK's new Police and Justice Bill will update the outdated ComputerMisuse Act (CMA) of 1990 this summer. Section Three of the CMA will berevised to make any unauthorized act performed against a computer anoffense. The term "unauthorized act" is deliberately undefined; the lawwill no longer require data modification to have taken place to deem anact an offense. In addition, denial-of-service has been made a specificoffense. People found guilty under the revised law will find themselvesfaced with longer jail sentences.

Encryption still underused in financial transactions, warns PwC
Twenty-two percent of those who accept financial transactions do not encrypt the data they receive to ensure its confidentiality and integrity, according to PwC research. Fewer than one-third of smaller firms encrypt the data they receive.

Court rules that an email address is not a signature
High Court judge has ruled that the presence of a sender's email address in the header of an email does not amount to a signature – although a typed name would have sufficed to form a binding contract.

Monday, April 17, 2006
 
  A man, a red paper clip and the Web
Kyle MacDonald had a red paper clip and a dream: Could he use the community power of the Internet to barter that paper clip for something better, and trade that thing for something else -- and so on and so on until he had a house?

Suspect blogged about cannibalism
The man accused of killing a 10-year-old neighbor girl for an elaborate plan to eat human flesh joked about cannibalism on his online diary, discussed the effects of not taking his anti-depression medication and mentioned "dangerously weird" fantasies.

Justices to rule on victim photo buttons
The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide if a convicted California killer deserves a new trial because the victim's family members wore photo buttons at his first trial.

An Educational-Film Spoof And Other Webby Nominees
At one point back in the early '90s, newspaper sports editors made fun of the "ESPYs," ESPN's annual awards show for best female athlete, best play, best game and so forth. "A made-up event," they grumbled, and refused to cover it. Well, that's probably what music writers said for the first few years of the Grammys. Now, the ESPYs get good ratings and fewer folks are reading sports pages.

China Web Censors Seek Users' Help
China's official Internet industry association is calling on its members to help the government suppress material deemed subversive or immoral. "Unhealthy information" online has harmed Chinese children and threatens social stability, the Internet Society of China said in a statement.

Politicians Gain Support for Online Record-Keeping
The explosive idea of forcing Internet providers to record theircustomers' online activities for future police access is gaining ground instate capitols and in Washington, D.C. Top Bush administration officialshave endorsed the concept, and some members of the U.S. Congress have saidfederal legislation is needed to aid law enforcement investigations intochild pornography.

More Domain Names Fetching Six-Figure Sales Prices
Internet domain names are red-hot again. This year, 15 names used inInternet addresses have resold for at least six figures to companies andindividuals hoping to tap into big audiences.

U.S. Targets Internet Casino Ads to Fight Gambling
The United States is taking aim at Internet casino ads as tensionsbuild in a high-profile trade fight over the country's largely toothlessonline gambling ban. Although many website operators insist internetgambling ads are legal, a recent crack down by U.S. authorities has ledsome website operators to disgorge online casino advertising revenues andspurred others to rethink their advertising policies, jeopardizingmillions of dollars in revenues.

BitTorrent battles over bandwidth
Nowadays, many of us have a lot of media stored on our computers such as software, music, videos.

Sunday, April 16, 2006
 
  Saved Email: A Security Blanket or a Liability
If you think tucking your email messages away in folders is a security blanket, watch out. Email is automatically included in public records requests, so saving messages you don't need could cost you a lot of time and resources.

What You Don't Know May Hurt You - Email Evidence
You can shred paper documents, but electronic files, including email, live on. And don’t think that deleting them, or even emptying your recycle bin, is going to get rid of them. Out of sight may mean out of mind for most computer users, but the reality is most deleted files are still lurking on your computer, and everyone who uses email at work must understand the potential liabilities of email.

China Mobile Service Provider Cuts SMS Service to Alleged Fraudsters
China Mobile, one of the country's largest mobile service providers, hascancelled SMS service to 19,000 subscribers who allegedly used the textmessaging service to send messages intended to defraud the recipients.The company's manager for customer service says they cancel the SMSfunction once they receive seven or more complaints about a particularnumber. China Mobile also monitors its contracted Internet serviceproviders (ISPs) and "terminates the cooperation" if they receive morethan fifty complaints about a single ISP.

University Researchers Prove DoS Attacks Against RFID Tags are Possible
Academic researchers at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia havedemonstrated that radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can bedisrupted by inundating them with an overload of data. The researcherssay that even the more sophisticated, next-generation RFID tags arevulnerable to the denial-of-service scenario. "The Australianresearchers saturated the frequency range used by the tags, whichprevented them from talking to the readers." The attacks were conductedat the range of one meter.

Alleged Online Bank Thief Extradited to Spain
Argentina has extradited alleged cyber criminal Jose Manuel GarcaRodrguez to Spain. Garca Rodrguez, who is known online as Tasmania,allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of euros from online bankaccounts. If convicted of charges pending against him, he could faceup to 40 years in prison. Garca Rodrguez left Spain two years ago andwas located in Argentina last July.

Air Force Base Web Site Contains Sensitive Air Force One Details
Detailed information about Air Force One, has been found posted on anAir Force base web site. The information includes details about theplanes' anti-missile defenses and maps of their interiors. The SecretService has not commented. As soon as the Air Force learned about theerror, it removed the information.

Stolen US Military Computer Hardware Sold at Afghan Bazaar
According to the Los Angeles Times, computer hardware stolen from a USbase in Bagram, Afghanistan is being sold at a nearby bazaar. US forcesare looking into the reports, which say that among the hardware aredisks that contain data about US soldiers, military defenses and listsof enemy targets as well as names of corrupt Afghan officials. AnAssociated Press report appears to confirm the allegations thatsensitive information is available for purchase. One shopkeeper saidin an interview that he was interested in the value of the hardware, notthe data they hold.

Internet agency considers '.tel' domain name
Reaching out and touching someone used to be as simple as dialing a string of numbers.

What Google should do with its $10 billion war chest
The search engine is mum about how it plans to use its cash, but analysts have some ideas for how Google could spend it.

Beware of tax refund 'phishing' scams
It's just the news that hardworking taxpayers want to see in their inbox: an update on their refund from the Internal Revenue Service.

Internet TV boom predicted
Internet video services, such as Internet Protocol TV and video-on-demand, will be a $1.7 billion market by 2010, the International Data Corporation (IDC) recently predicted.

Staff still biggest security threat
A study of more than 500 US organisations revealed that while human error was responsible for nearly 60% of information security breaches in the past year, only 29% of companies insist on security training for staff, and only 36% offer end-user security awareness training.

Friday, April 14, 2006
 
  Search for Search Engine Trademark Jurisprudence Continues
Trademark law has had a rather rough ride online. Domain names presented a large and entirely new set of issues for trademark owners -- and while processes like the World Intellectual Property Organization arbitration system help resolve disputes, the outcomes of such arbitrations have been legally all over the map. Another tough and emerging issue involves use of trademarks as search terms, where search engines like Google or Yahoo! sell the right for the trademark to trigger advertisements of competitors of a trademark owner.

Company Gets Order Against Best Buy in Software Case
A Texas software company sued Best Buy Co. Inc. in federal court,alleging that the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer was usingunlicensed versions of its diagnostic equipment. In response, a U.S.District Court granted Winternals Software LP's request for a temporaryrestraining order.

Why The Da Vinci Code lawsuit failed
A High Court judge ruled on Friday that DanBrown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code did notsteal central themes from a 1982 work of non-fiction.The ruling was welcomed by authors and copyrightlawyers as a victory for commonsense.

Court rules that an email address is not a signature
A High Court judge has ruled that the presenceof a sender's email address in the header of anemail does not amount to a signature – althougha typed name would have sufficed to form abinding contract.

Michigan video game law ruled unconstitutional
A federal judge has ruled that a Michigan law that bars retailers from selling or renting violent video games to minors is unconstitutional.

China to tackle software piracy
The Chinese government has made a fresh attempt to crack down on software piracy.

IOL, News 24 Top Local Sites
The latest Online Publishers Association (OPA) statistics revealed that IOL is now South Africa’s top website with News24 a close second.

'High-speed web access vital for small businesses'
Access to high-speed Internet is crucial to business development in the global economy, but is very expensive and scarce in South Africa's townships and rural areas.

Technology gap narrows as PCs and TVs link
Until just a few years ago, a technology chasm separated the PC and consumer technology industries - a yawning gap that prevented all but the most determined from hooking up their PC to their hi-fi system, let alone a television set.

Still The Right Thing To Do?

Paying a television licence will still be the "right thing to do", even if you're watching TV on a newfangled cellphone. That's the view of the SABC, which insists that new technology does not make the concept of licence fees redundant.

Thursday, April 13, 2006
 
  Publishers unite to fight Internet copyright abuse
British publishers will unite this year in an attempt to tackle the growing threat of internet copyright abuse, reportedly alarmed by the ongoing failure of the music industry to prevent illegal MP3 sharing.

Privacy Statutes Need to Catch Up
On whether the Bush administration's claim that its once-secret program of domestic eavesdropping is legal and constitutional, there will be endless debate — in coffeehouses, courtrooms, and, it is to be hoped, in Congress.But a public interest group's recent lawsuit charging AT&T Inc. with willing complicity in the program should wake us all up to how our casual reliance on new technology has turned privacy into an increasingly fragile principle.

Sellers on eBay warned of law
Thinking about doing a little spring cleaning and turning clutter into cash on eBay?In Louisiana, that makes you an auctioneer responsible for paying annual licensing fees, the mega marketplace warned sellers by e-mail this week.

Virus author faces jail time in Vietnam
...If charged with Internet sabotage, the youth - whom authorities would not identify by name - could face up to seven years in prison and fines of up to 100-million Vietnamese dong (about $6 300)...

China to crack down on piracy
China has agreed to crack down on copyright piracy of American computer programmes and lift a ban on US beef as part of an effort to reduce a record $202bn trade gap, the Bush administration said on Tuesday.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006
 
  SA broadband users more than double in nine months
There are now more than 200 000 local broadband users according to the latest feedback from the various broadband providers.

Users urged to fix browser flaw
PC users are being urged to apply software patches that close "critical" vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows.

Disney puts shows online for free
Shares in Walt Disney have risen on news the US entertainment group plans to offer US customers some of its most popular TV shows online for free.

Court disallows ‘fishing’ in lawsuits
IN A landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of Appeal last month refused to allow an applicant access to medical records under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, saying that it would be contrary to high court rules regarding the disclosure of documents by parties in lawsuits.

Vietnamese-made virus hits 20 000 computers
More than 20 000 computers were infected in one day by a sophisticated new computer virus unleashed by a Vietnamese programmer, the first of its kind in the country, an Internet security official said on Tuesday.

Chinese portals call for Internet censorship
More than a dozen major Chinese portals have called for the industry to eliminate pornographic and violent content from websites, state media said on Monday.

US state set to outlaw Internet hunting
The Kentucky Legislature voted to outlaw the practice of using the Internet to fire remote-controlled rifles at live animals.

Hidden warranties in open source software
Companies using open source software may have more rights than they think. Distributors rarely include warranties in open source licences – but English law might decide otherwise, according to a technology lawyer in Leeds.

Why The Da Vinci Code lawsuit failed
A High Court judge ruled on Friday that Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code did not steal central themes from a 1982 work of non-fiction. The ruling was welcomed by authors and copyright lawyers as a victory for commonsense.

Encryption still underused in financial transactions, warns PwC
Twenty-two percent of those who accept financial transactions do not encrypt the data they receive to ensure its confidentiality and integrity, according to PwC research. Fewer than one-third of smaller firms encrypt the data they receive.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
 
  Newspapers join syndicated blog service
A syndication service that delivers commentary from 600 bloggers for use by newspaper publishers is set to launch today, further blurring the lines that divide blogs and mainstream media.

Old Mutual's executive committee will tackle allegations of racism and sexism
Old Mutual South Africa said on Friday that it would refer internal allegations of racism directly to its executive committee after a labour court finding that the company's failure to act against a white staff member who had made a racist statement constituted racism.

Monday, April 10, 2006
 
  NSA Lawsuit - Stop Illegal Surveillance
The ACLU is suing the National Security Agency for violating the U.S. Constitution. The illegal NSA spying program authorized by President Bush just after September 11, 2001, allows the NSA to intercept vast quantities of the international telephone and Internet communications of innocent Americans without court approval.

VoIP market is growing every day - survey
Internet telephony is giving the traditional telephone service a run for its money, and is expected to be used by 32.6-million American households in 2010, a new survey suggests.

eu domain opens to all in EU
From today, anyone in the EU can register any available .eu domain name on a first-come-first-served basis. Germany, the Netherlands and France have been ahead of the UK in the total number of applications for .eu names made to date.

Data protection guidance for buying or selling a database
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a guidance note advising businesses on how to comply with the Data Protection Act when buying and selling databases containing customers’ confidential information.

Friday, April 07, 2006
 
  Broadband creating new prospects for SMEs
The arrival of broadband Internet access in South Africa promises to allow small and medium companies to greatly increase their connectivity, both qualitatively and quantitatively, as well as the benefits they can derive from it.

Microsoft Readies IE Change In Response To Patent Lawsuit
Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday said it would modify Internet Explorer next month in order to abide by a ruling in a patent-infringement lawsuit.
The Redmond, Wash., company said the change, which addresses the suit filed by the University of California and Eolas Technologies Inc., would be included in its IE security update package scheduled for release April 11.

Child Porn Isn't Illegal in Most Countries
Only five countries—Australia, Belgium, France, South Africa and the United States—have laws deemed adequate by ICMEC to address the issue.

Rwanda: US$1bn Earmarked for Telecentres
The Government has earmarked a total amount of US$1billion (Frw560bn) to be invested in establishing and promoting telecentres in the country.

Canada sets phone deregulation rules
"These criteria will allow us to deregulate as market forces take over, while ensuring local competition is sufficiently robust to protect consumers after deregulation," CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen said in a statement.

U.S. to force firms to 'fess up on data loss
The U.S. is processing a legal bill which if passed would mean all companies have to inform customers of security breaches that affect their personal data.

LinuxWorld: Open-source backer Bruce Perens calls for PAC
“We don’t have a real open-source PAC to handle legislative issues,” he said. One IT industry lobbying group, the Washington-based Computer & Communications Industry Association, has an open-source group known as the Open Source and Industry Alliance, but the OSAIA “hasn’t been terribly effective so far” and has been unwilling to take on topical issues such as recent software patent fights, he said.

Printer flaw opens files to prying eyes
A vulnerability in some of HP's printer software opens up the files on your PC for the world to see

Watchdog says we can expect privacy at home, not photographers
Publishing a photo of a man in his own home without his consent was a breach of his privacy, according to a ruling from the Press Complaints Commission today. The photo was included in a Sunday Mercury article on “the greediest man in Britain”.

China, Russia Top International Piracy List
China and Russia's "lack of political will" put the two countries at the top of a congressional group's 2006 International Piracy Watch List.

Corporate blogs are a liability
Many bloggers wear suits, not pyjamas. A recent proliferation of corporate blogs has given numerous workers a new platform for self-expression. But while employers hope to see business benefits, lawyers will see nothing but trouble.

Internet 'will be TV screen of the future'
Forget the television, tomorrow's screen of preference will probably be the Internet, AOL chief Jonathan Miller predicted at the influential "MIPTV featuring MILIA" trade show in Cannes.

Thursday, April 06, 2006
 
  Does SA love or hate China?
The Chinese economy is roaring, which is great for South Africa as our commodities get snapped up, but equally bad as industries, such as our textiles, get decimated. Investment analyst ImtiazAhmed explains the China story and how it affects SA.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006
 
  UK Patent Office launches mediation service
The UK Patent Office yesterday launched a new mediation service to help companies and individuals resolve intellectual property disputes without resorting to litigation. The service will cover all types of intellectual property rights.

Music industry suing more file-sharers
The international music industry today launched another worldwide wave of legal actions against illegal music file-sharers. Almost 2,000 cases have been filed; bringing the total number of non-US cases brought so far to over 5,500 in 18 countries.

Official chats up child on net
The deputy press secretary for the United States Department of Homeland Security was arrested for using the internet to seduce what he thought was a teenage girl, authorities said.

Police secret password blunder
A NSW Police blunder has led to a database of email passwords - including those of the anti-terrorism chief and hundreds of journalists - published on the internet.

Germany arrests ring of cyber identity thieves
German police have arrested seven members of an international gang of so-called "phishers", who hacked into computers of internet banking customers and raided their accounts, authorities said on Tuesday.

Fear of handset viruses deter companies: survey
Cellular phone viruses are still mercifully rare, but more than 60 percent of global companies mention security concerns as a reason for not giving employees advanced handsets, a survey found on Tuesday.

Symantec helps educate consumers about online risks with Symantec Internet Threat Meter
Symantec has announced the launch of the Symantec Internet Threat Meter. This free resource, available at www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice, provides consumers with up-to-date information on the risk level associated with their specific online activities including e-mail, Web access, instant messaging and file-sharing.

Tighter control of cellphone porn
The SA Film and Publication Board (FPB) will, within the next month, begin its moves to regulate the distribution of pornography on cellphones.

Cybercriminals get stuck into honeypots
Criminal gangs are attempting to prevent antivirus firms from developing protection against the latest threats, as well as attacking each other, warns Kaspersky Labs

Spammers take aim at HR departments
Recruitment consultancies and HR departments have become more attractive targets for spammers, while organisations dealing with valuable intellectual property remain the most popular targets

Spitzer Files Spyware Suit
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is suing an Internet advertising firm he claims surreptitiously installed millions of pop-up ad producing programs on individuals' computers.

Spyware for the Masses
Snoops no longer need much technical savvy to steal personal information from computers and mobile phones. The reason? Easy-to-use spyware (define) is increasingly becoming available online.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006
 
  Targeting File Sharing
The music industry is threatening to extend its campaign of taking to court those who are downloading music through illegal file-sharing on the internet.

Hollywood to sell movies online
Hollywood studios will start selling digital versions of films such as "Brokeback Mountain" and "King Kong" on the Internet this week, the first time major movies have been available online to own.

Regulators to design simple privacy notice for US banks
Federal regulators are developing easy-to-understand privacy notices for the finance industry. They hope the new-style notices will help consumers to understand what the notices mean and to compare differences between financial firms.

Emails lure unwary to fake BBC stories
Security firm Websense is warning of a new hacking scam that encourages email recipients to follow links to BBC News stories. Unfortunately the link leads to a spoofed BBC webpage exploiting an unpatched Internet Explorer flaw.

Two plead guilty in huge US CD piracy bust
Two men involved in what U.S. authorities called the largest bust of pirated music CDs and computer software in America each pleaded guilty to five criminal counts on Monday, law enforcement officials said.

Man charged over click fraud scheme
US man has been charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud over a 'click fraud' scheme allegedly carried out against an internet firm that rewards subscribers who complete online surveys and view banner ads.

It Road Map: The Next Great Wave, 2006 - 2008 (Part II)
In many cases, technology companies will only succeed in emerging markets if they're willing to ditch the strategies that made them successful in the developed world.

Didata says acquires 51 pct of ICL E.Africa
South African information technology group Dimension Data (DiData) said on Monday it had acquired a 51 percent stake in ICL East Africa (ICLEA), but gave no financial details for the deal. London-listed DiData, a global IT solutions and services company, said the transaction with ICLEA, which provides IT systems and services in the East African region, covers Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

South African Department of Home Affairs Taps Novell for Worldwide Collaboration on Linux
Novell and the South African Department of Home Affairs have announced the launch of a global project to deploy the Novell® GroupWise® collaboration solution running on SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server at each of the department’s 635 foreign missions, border posts, and local offices.

Government releases statistical software report
The federal government has released a statistical analysis of Australia's software industry.
IT Minister Senator Coonan released the report, entitled "The Australian software industry and vertical application markets: globally competitive, domestically undervalued - the first statistical analysis in Australia of specialist software firms."

Monday, April 03, 2006
 
  Google fights all-comers in mouse wars
Click-click. Click-click. On a side street in New Delhi, past the pushcarts and down the stairs, the familiar sound of a computer mouse signals trouble for Google.

Second prohibition issued on pseudo-summonses
Trade and industry minister Mandisi Mpahlwa has issued a second prohibition on the use of letters of demand for payment and other documents made to look like summonses.

Saturday, April 01, 2006
 
  Broadband tops govt's to do list

Government’s telecommunications custodian, the department of communications (DOC), has listed the delivery of high-speed internet as one of its top priorities for the 2006/7 year.

Icasa to free up radio spectrum
South Africa's telecommunications regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), wants to free up scarce radio frequency spectrum to make way for new fixed-wireless operators that will provide voice telephony and broadband Internet access to consumers.

Bill to protect personal data
If you ever get the sense that Big Brother’s overzealous reach extends into your personal life, then help may be on the way.

Dowload free guide on Data Privacy
Pria Chetty of Buys Inc. recently prepared a full Guide on Privacy and Data Protection to help you understand the new law and how it will work.How will the new law ensure that something like the pizza example never happens in South Africa?
How will your data be protected? How will the law affect your business?
Pria Chetty of Buys Inc. recently prepared a full Guide on Privacy and Data Protection to help you understand the new law and how it will work. Click on the title to download.

Electronic Communications Bill delayed
The Electronic Communications Bill, proposed new legislation that will transform SA's telecommunications industry, should be signed into law before the end of April, a month later than originally expected.

ISPA: 'Telkom bid for BCX another raw deal for consumers'
The Internet Service Providers' Association of SA (ISPA) intends to lodge an objection with the Competition Commission if Telkom attempts to purchase a controlling stake in Business Connexion (BCX).

E-bullying on rise, say experts
The use of new technology such as text messaging in order to bully children is increasing, researchers have said.

China slams online counterfeits
Chinese authorities have closed an online store that was imitating a Shanghai market, renowned for selling counterfeit goods.

3 UK wins O2 bubble trade mark case
Mobile phone company 3 UK yesterday won atrade mark action brought against it over a 2004price comparison ad campaign that used the O2trade mark along with O2?s brand imagery ? bubbles? to identify the rival firm.

Crackdown on corporate P2P users in Britain
The Federation Against Software Theft is about totake action against a number of companies in the UKthat have been caught making illegal copies ofsoftware available for download from their networks? which may come as a complete surprise tothe companies.

E-Communications Bill delayed
The Electronic Communications Bill, proposed new legislation that will transform SA's telecommunications industry, should be signed into law before the end of April, a month later than originally expected, says a report in the Financial Mail. It says the delay means that plans by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri to announce liberalisation of the sector – initially expected before the end of March – have been put on ice for now. Matsepe-Casaburri must make her determinations in terms of the new legislation, which will replace the Telecommunications Act and other laws. The department's Director-General Lyndall Shope-Mafole says the Minister will announce the policy changes as soon as the Electronic Communications Bill has been signed into law. The Minister's policy determinations are expected to be wide-ranging and have a dramatic impact on the level of competition in the sector. It is expected that government will announce plans to unbundle the ‘local loop’, giving the second network operator, and possibly other companies, access to Telkom's telephone exchanges, allowing them to serve consumers directly. Government is also expected to give Sentech, the state-owned broadcasting signal distributor, the right to provide switched voice traffic on its infrastructure, effectively making it a full-blown telecom operator.

SA Appeal court rules on AMPS copyright dispute
The Supreme Court of Appeal has upheld an appeal in respect of the copyright of a computer programme for examining and directing All Media Products Survey (AMPS) information.

Married Man Sues eHarmony.com for Rejecting Him
John Claassen wants a date so badly he's suing for one. He's taking eHarmony.com to court, because the popular online matchmaker refused to find him the perfect mate. Why? Because he is married.

Streamcast Sues Kazaa, Skype Over Internet-Calling Technology
StreamCast Networks, creator of the Morpheus file-swapping software, has filed a lawsuit naming Kazaa and Skype Technologies, among others, as defendants. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, claims that StreamCast owns the technology underlying Internet-calling provider Skype's software.

More Laptop Computers Being Stolen from Rental Cars
The recent theft in Palo Alto of a laptop containing sensitive data on 196,000 current and former Hewlett-Packard employees appears to be part of a growing local problem with laptop theft, much of it targeting rental cars parked near restaurants popular with business executives. It's become such a problem around Silicon Valley that a dozen law enforcement agencies, including local police departments, the FBI and U.S. Customs Department, met to discuss the issue.

SA joins global phenomenon of 'freecycling'
Cape Town - An international culture of "freecycling" has infiltrated South Africa, where about 1 000 people are already using the Internet to give away theirs and pick up other people's unwanted stuff.

Crackdown on web burglary gangs
The sending of bogus emails asking unsuspecting recipients for personal details - a practice known as phishing - has replaced spam as the biggest threat to internet users after soaring by 44 per cent in six months.

Marketer hit with $900,000 spam fine
An Internet marketer will pay a $900,000 fine, the largest ever on spam-related charges, in a consent decree announced today by the Federal Trade Commission.

Warning to chatroom users after libel award for man labelled a Nazi
A political argument that erupted in a remote corner of cyberspace and descended into vicious name-calling could lead to a spate of libel actions by contributors to internet message boards, the man at the centre of the case claimed yesterday.

Cybersquatters Try New Tactics
Cybersquatting the domain name of a celebrity and selling it for a king's ransom was one of the great get-rich-quick schemes of the early internet. But since courts now tend to favor the star over the squatter, a new kinder, gentler cybersquatting tactic has emerged.

Creative Commons licence upheld by Dutch Court
A Dutch Court has ruled that photos posted onto photo-sharing site Flickr under a Creative Commons licence should not have been reproduced by a gossip magazine without the permission of the poster.

Leon calls for 'Watergate' probe
Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon has asked President Thabo Mbeki to set up a judicial commission of enquiry into South Africa's intelligence agencies.

Apples Roll Toward Legal Showdown
The lengthy battle between The Beatles and Apple over whether the computer maker infringed on the legendary band's trademark by pushing into the music business will reach the highest court in the United Kingdom this week.

Comparing Web Analytics Tools: Which Is Right for You?
You know that half the money you are spending on Internet advertising is wasted -- you just aren't sure which half. You've read about Web analytics and have played with the free tools that come from your Web hosting solution, but you realize you need more. The only problem is, there are more than 60 vendors on the market.

Washington Post Blogger Quits After Plagiarism Charges
A 24-year-old conservative blogger hired by The Washington Post Co.'s Web site resigned, three days after his debut, amid a flurry of allegations of plagiarism. Ben Domenech, an editor with Regnery Publishing, relinquished the part-time position hours after a liberal Web site posted evidence that he had plagiarized part of a movie review he wrote for National Review Online.

Cybersquatters Target Relationships with Celebrities
Cybersquatting the domain name of a celebrity and selling it for a king's ransom was one of the great get-rich-quick schemes of the early internet. But since courts now tend to favor the star over the squatter, a new kinder, gentler cybersquatting tactic has emerged. These days, cybersquatters seek to register a star's domain before that person becomes famous, and then develop a business relationship with the new celebrity, offering website hosting or design work.

Pepsi sues Coke
CHICAGO — Pepsi is taking on Coke in federal court, but this time it's a power struggle rather than a cola war.

Second Phone Data Privacy Bill Approved
WASHINGTON - Targeting both telephone data brokers and telecoms, a House panel today approved legislation that bans the sale, lease or rental of confidential telephone records.

Apples Back in Court Again in Trademark Tiff
Apple Computer will meet the Beatles' Apple Corps in court this week in London, where a judge will determine whether Apple Computer's iTunes online music service violates a 1991 agreement between the two companies that supposedly blocked the computer maker from selling music.

Pair of New Internet Calling Options Unveiled
Two Internet telephone services debut Monday with unusual business approaches, hoping to stand out in an increasingly crowded market with intense price competition. Lycos, the Internet portal owned by Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica, is launching a Windows-based program that provides free calls to phones.

Opinion: Don't Knock the French for 'Thinking Different'
You can't blame the French for "thinking different" in the sincerest emulation of Apple Computer's onetime slogan. Yet that is what Apple is doing, complaining that a bill to break apart the proprietary link between Apple's iPod players and its iTunes music sales is a bad move for the digital music business.

Man Pleads Guilty to Charges of Using Another's Wi-Fi
David M. Kauchak, 32, a former Machesney Park (Illinois) resident, is the first person in Winnebago County to be charged with remotely accessing another computer system without the owner's approval. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined $250 and sentenced to one year of court supervision.

Police Chief Wants Union to Take Down Online Message Board
Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger called on the department's union to take down an online message board that some police officers have used as a forum for disparaging, and sometimes racist, remarks about colleagues, supervisors, immigrants and other members of the community. The union said it would not shut down the board, saying that it serves a legitimate purpose and that doing so would curtail officers' right to free speech.

Russian Website Offering Stolen eBay Customer Info Closed
EBay helped to shut down a Russian Web site that was offering to sell stolen customer account information for as little as US$5 each. Security vendor Sunbelt Software detected the site Tuesday and reported it to eBay, which worked with the local Internet service provider to have it taken offline, an eBay spokeswoman confirmed.

Telecom Companies Lobbying for "Network Neutrality"
Telecommunications providers like AT&T Inc. intensified their efforts to persuade U.S. policymakers to avoid imposing regulations on the Internet for services like streaming movies and unfettered Web access. The "network neutrality" battle in Washington pits high-speed Internet operators against content and application providers.

China Shuts Down Websites Offering Porn, Pirated Movies
Chinese authorities have shut down dozens of websites that carried pornographic material or offered pirated movies or online games, the government announced. Among several people arrested were two accused of making the equivalent of about $145,000 Cdn by running a pirated version of a game made by Chinese online game giant Shanda Interactive Entertainment, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.

Media freed to merge
Australia - TV and newspaper owners will be allowed to merge when cross-media and foreign ownership restrictions are scrapped under reforms unveiled today.

Turkey's foreign minister asks the EU for blasphemy laws to protect Islam
Deep divisions have appeared among European Eunion governments over suggestions that they should alter their blasphemy laws to protect Islam, and not just Christianity.

 

 

 

  BUYS LINKS

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
BUYS INCORPORATED WEBSITE
CONTACT US
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER
SYNDICATE VIA RSS FEED
VIEW OUR LATEST EVENTS
RECENTLY SUSPENDED DOMAINS
WHO GOT HACKED IN SA TODAY


GUIDES

INTERCEPTION ACT GUIDE
TOP 5 ICT RISKS
CONVERGENCE BILL GUIDE
JUDGMENTS 1998 - 2005


ONLINE SERVICES

ORDER PAIA MANUAL
REQUEST WEBSITE AUDIT


BLOG ARCHIVES
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009