Security Becomes Lone Issue at ICANN Annual Meeting
The Internet's oversight board plans to devote its annual meeting in November to assessing the security of the domain name system that is crucial to directing Web traffic and e-mail and how to respond to any threats.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' annual meeting is scheduled for Nov. 13-15 in Marina del Rey, Calif. Previously, the agenda was expected to include the ".pro" domain name and procedures for electing board members. Pending matters are likely to be delayed.
An announcement posted on ICANN's Web site late Wednesday stressed the importance of e-mail, instant messaging and the Web "to support emergency response, personal and other communications and information sharing."
The domain name system is highly decentralized, so it stands a good chance of withstanding concentrated attacks.
PSAs Address Revenge Hacking
A new type of public service announcement featuring one of the Internet's founding fathers is targeting hackers who might consider cyber-retaliation for the Sept. 11 attacks their patriotic duty.
Some pro-U.S. hackers have already vandalized Middle Eastern Web sites, and many technology experts expect the Internet to become a theater for future international conflicts.
Although disruption has so far been slight, the FBI is concerned that a surge of hacking attacks and viruses could seriously degrade Internet performance.
Vint Cerf, who helped develop the Internet's basic communications tools in the 1970s, said hackers "do not contribute in any constructive way to dealing with the many problems our global civilization faces."
Keeping the Internet smoothly functioning, he said, "will at least offer a way for (the) collective expression of views and perhaps better understanding."
Cerf was producing the television and online spots Wednesday with Parry Aftab, a leading expert on Internet safety.
Schwarzenegger Sues Over Use of Likeness on Slot Machines
Arnold Schwarzenegger has sued International Game Technology Inc. for the unauthorized use of his picture and voice on a Terminator-themed slot machine, the actor's attorney said on Tuesday.
In his lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger, who played the title character in the two Terminator movies, accused IGT of using his likeness and voice on machines and in advertisements and other marketing materials.
IGT spokesman Rick Sorensen had no comment on the lawsuit, but said the Reno-based company is producing the Terminator games under licenses with Canal Plus in France, a unit of Vivendi Universal and Creative Licensing Corp. in Los Angeles.
Motorola to Develop Wind-up Accessories
An agreement between Motorola and Freeplay Energy Group could soon have mobile phone users charging their batteries by hand.
The two companies have teamed to provide a worldwide co-branding and distribution agreement to develop and market a Freeplay-driven wireless phone power source.
The wind-up accessory, which is compatible with a variety of Motorola and other popular wireless phones, is expected to provide between 3-6 minutes of talk and several hours of standby time for each 45-second hand-cranking session.
52,000 ".info" Names Activated
More than 52,000 domain names ending in ".info" were activated over the weekend in the Internet's first major address expansion since the 1980s.
Afilias Limited, the company running .info, expects to enter another 250,000 names into the Net's master directories this week.
The 52,245 names were claimed by trademark holders such as Dell Computer Corp. The Web site "www.dell.info," for instance, reaches the company's regular .com site.
Many names were reserved but don't reach a site yet, even though they have been activated for companies to use.
The second round of names will be selected from about 700,000 applications submitted before a deadline. When there are duplicates, Afilias will choose one at random, leaving about 250,000 unique names.
Sun Leading Campaign to Challenge Passport
Sun Microsystems, the network computer manufacturer, has collaborated with more than 30 other companies including Cisco, Nokia, Sony, Vodafone, General Motors, NTT DoCoMo and eBay to establish an online ID alliance to rival Microsoft's Passport.
The project, to be called Liberty Alliance, represents the most significant competition to Passport, which, with 165 million accounts, is a powerful leader in the field of user identity and authentication.
The Liberty Alliance differs from Passport in that sensitive data will be held by several companies rather than being controlled by a single party--a feature for which Passport has faced recent criticism.
The Alliance embodies three main objectives: to securely preserve personal information; to provide a universal, open standard for single sign-on; and to ensure that the program spans all Internet-connected devices including mobile phones, portable computers, TVs and even cars.
New Encryption Laws Come Under Fire
New laws could be introduced in the United States that could give the FBI a "back door" to messages protected by encryption products. However, critics argue that any such measure would damage confidence in e-business and have no effect on countering terrorism.
Another U.S. proposal would ban strong encryption products. Again, critics say that such a ban would severely hamper e-commerce, particularly financial services, without deterring criminals, who would always find illegal encryption products or legal products from other countries.
An anti-terrorism bill, backed by the Bush administration, would require encryption products to include an extra key that could be used by the FBI to decode any intercepted encrypted communications. Some say this is analogous to every individual being required to give a copy of his or her house key to the local police station. Another argument is that any encryption product
with a "back door" is inherently less secure for legitimate business purposes.
Government Body Wins Battle Over Domain Name in U.K.
A family-run U.K. software firm, Findlay Steele Associates, has been confronted and overpowered by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in a dispute over the domain name fsa.co.uk.
The dispute was heard by Nominet, the national registry for all domain names ending in ".uk." Nominet's terms and conditions for registration stipulate that care must be taken to avoid infringing, intentionally or otherwise, the rights that a third party may have in the name. Where such domain name wrangles occur, Nominet offers a dispute resolution service, and this week it ruled against Findlay Steele, which registered the name fsa.co.uk in good faith some six months before FSA, holder of the domain name fsa.gov.uk, came into existence.
The reasoning behind the decision is that some confusion had occurred between the two names. Findlay Steele had received confidential business correspondence intended for FSA as a result of a spelling error made by the sender, a firm of solicitors.
Final Version of Cybercrime Approved
The Council of Europe's Deputy Ministers, without alteration, approved the 27th and final version of the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime this week.
The approval means that European foreign affairs ministers will likely adopt the convention when they meet in Strasbourg on Nov. 8. If they adopt the convention, the 43 members of the Council of Europe will formally sign it when they meet in Budapest in late November.
The convention is only legally effective when at least five countries, three of which must be Council of Europe members, ratify it. The ratification process, which will involve some changes to domestic laws, is expected to take at least two years. Some non-European countries, including
the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, are also party to the convention.