Articles by date
05 July 2008
Broadband Development and Growth in OECD Countries (OECD)
This volume examines broadband developments and policies, and highlights challenges such as connecting users to fibre-based networks or coverage of rural areas. It also outlines emerging issues that may need policy attention as we move to next-generation networks. The findings are also relevant to emerging and developing economies designing broadband strategies.
Effective regulatory framework to spur investment in Africa (ITU)
African regulators and policy makers met in Dakar, Senegal to address the challenges of connecting Africa to information and communication technologies. Achieving connectivity is seen as a catalyst for achieving the broader targets of the Millennium Development Goals.
The Case Against Google-Yahoo (BusinessWeek)
With the Justice Dept. confirming it plans to look into any Google-Yahoo partnership, foes are lining up their arguments
BBC Leads the Way onto the Web (BusinessWeek)
For online video streaming, the BBC's iPlayer has been a huge success. U.S. broadcasters like ABC and NBC could take a lesson
Google has enough data to pull you out of the crowd (The Guardian)
If you're anything like me - nothing to be proud of, I know - you probably spend your idle moments surfing the crucible of modern life that is YouTube. In just a few short years it's gone from being a niche video website to the basic staple of online entertainment.
04 July 2008
Google Changes Home Page, Adding Link to Privacy Policy (New York Times)
The word "privacy" now appears on Google's home page, with a link to the company's privacy policy.
Google faces 'Street View block' in UK (BBC)
Google's plans to launch a mapping tool in the UK could be referred to the Information Commissioner.
The internet's traffic jam (The Guardian)
As more and more people download albums and watch movies via the web, are we heading for an 'internet crunch'?
55% of adult Americans have home broadband connections (Pew Internet & American Life Project)
There was no growth in broadband adoption among poorer families or blacks, while growth was strong among rural residents, older Americans, and those in households earning $20,000 to $40,000
US tax payback spent on porn (vnunet)
President Bush's economic stimulus plan, which involved sending out checks of up to $1,200 to every taxpayer, has provided a boom to the online porn industry, according to market research.
ICANN Response to Recent Security Threats (ICANN)
ICANN has been the recent target of an online attacks. This announcement provides more information on those attacks and ICANN's response to them. As has been widely reported, a number of domain names, including icann.com and iana.com were recently redirected to different DNS servers, allowing a group to provide visitors to those domains with their own website.
eBay still 'forcing' Australian sellers to use PayPal (The Age)
eBay is surreptitiously strong-arming its users into embracing PayPal despite publicly announcing it has shelved plans to block other payment methods.
The Google Ogle Defense: A Search for America's Psyche (Washington Post)
Question: Do you think your Google habits -- your random, untethered wisps of thoughts manifested as search terms like "unexplained hives" and "Kate Beckinsale single?" -- can be bundled together to paint an accurate representation of your morality?
Chinese bloggers evade great firewall (vnunet)
Bloggers in China are using backward-written text as a means of evading censors while reporting on a riot that took place last weekend.
03 July 2008
Google forced to reveal users' YouTube viewing habits (The Times)
Google has been ordered to hand over details of YouTube users' viewing habits by a judge presiding over a copyright infringement case against the site.
Illegal and Counterfeit Drugs Online and the Cybersquatting Problem
The problem of cybersquatting is something of a concern to international drug-makers as it is a key part in the international problem of counterfeit and illegal drugs sold online.
EBay drops Australian PayPal requirement (Australian IT)
eBay has dropped its bid to use Australia as a guinea pig to trial a new policy where all other modes of payment are barred except its own transaction gateway, PayPal.
Internet viewed as new channel to Chinese democracy (China.org.cn)
After Chinese President Hu Jintao's online chat with Internet users, 52.4 percent citizens think the Internet in China will become a livelier forum for debate, and can develop into a form of social participation.
uk: Warning letters go to Virgin Media music file-sharers (BBC)
Virgin Media has sent about 800 letters to customers warning them that they should not be downloading illegal music files via file-sharing sites.
Judge Rejects Bush's View on Wiretaps (New York Times)
A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the "exclusive" means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government's claim that the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law.
Taking steps toward mobile cash (International Herald Tribune)
... The transaction was made possible by mobile payment - a form of cashless consumption that uses a technology called near-field communication, which sends encoded payment data over distances of less than 10 centimeters.
Environment: Climate risk from flat-screen TVs (The Guardian)
The rising demand for flat-screen televisions could have a greater impact on global warming than the world's largest coal-fired power stations, a leading environmental scientist warned yesterday.
Split Australian network and broadband: Google (Australian IT)
Google has joined Australia's national broadband debate, telling the federal Government's expert panel that the provider of Australia's new high-speed internet network must not operate both the network and a retail broadband businesses.
Spammers poised to target BlackBerry and iPhone owners (The Times)
The rising popularity of smartphones such as the BlackBerry and the iPhone will make them targets for viruses and spam, security experts believe.
Our Paradoxical Attitudes Toward Privacy (New York Times)
We all cherish our privacy. Then we go and divulge everything about ourselves on Facebook, sprinkle our Social Security number like pixie dust across the Web and happily load up on tracking devices like GPS navigators and cellphones.
