Episode 055

Coonan seeks to censor the Web | Australian IT
Coonan seeks to censor the Web
THE Federal Police commissioner will have the power to block and ban websites believed to be crime or terrorism related under an internet censorship amendment bill introduced into Parliament today.

The bombshell web ban bill was tabled in the Senate at 9:58am, without prior notice.

Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan proposes to expand the "black list" of internet addresses (URLs) currently maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to include terrorism and cyber-crime sites.

At present, ACMA has the power to act against websites containing pornography or offensive content.

Under the proposed amendment, Federal Police will inform ACMA of websites to be blocked, and the agency must then notify the relevant internet service providers. ISPs will be required to "take reasonable steps" to prevent users accessing the website or content.

Plan approved to retire Yugoslav domain – CNN.com
Plan approved to retire Yugoslav domain

The Internet's key oversight agency has approved a plan to phase out the domain name for Yugoslavia, four years after the country dissolved following civil war. It'll take two or three more years for ".yu" users to fully transition to ".rs" for Serbia and ".me" for Montenegro.

🙂 turns 25 – CNN.com
🙂 turns 25

Twenty-five years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says, he was the first to use three keystrokes — a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis — as a horizontal "smiley face" in a computer message.

iTWire – NBC plans one-week free episodes
NBC has announced plans for free downloads of episodes of its popular shows – but there are some major catches.
While NBC will offer episodes free of charge, they will be DRM protected and expire one week after the show is broadcast.

The service will be funded by advertisements embedded within the content that cannot be skipped.

Other planned enhancements include the ability to subscribe to a show so the software automatically downloads each new episode as it is released, and HD versions distributed via a closed peer to peer network.

According to company officials, the NBC Direct player will not play "any stolen copyrighted material", but there was no indication of how it will be able to tell the difference between content obtained with or without the copyright holders' consent or under statutory licences.

Looking further ahead, the free, ad-supported content may be supplemented by a variety of pay to view options including purchase, rental and subscription.

NBC's statement did not mention whether there will be any geographical restrictions on the new service, but it would be most surprising if it is not limited to the US.

The NBC Direct beta will begin in October, with shows including Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

iTWire – 2Clix drops legal action against Whirlpool
2Clix drops legal action against Whirlpool

The case, filed with the Supreme Court of Queensland in mid August, alleged that certain messages posted in Whirlpool's forums concerning 2Clix and its accounting software were "false and malicious" and that Whirlpool did not remove them when requested.

Viral Video Chart – UF Police Taser Student During Kerry Forum
UF Police Taser Student During Kerry Forum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaiWCS10C5s

Viral Video Chart – Leave Britney Alone ! Chris Crocker
Leave Britney Alone ! Chris Crocker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc

MARKETING ON YOU TUBE

AMD makes its voice heard with YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VcJojNMtmE

 Liberal Party
http://www.youtube.com/liberalparty07

Labor
http://www.youtube.com/australianlabor

Meetup

http://www.meetup.com/

Meet people of interest to your interest

Google Launches Australian Election Site
Google Launches Australian Election Site
In what is claimed to be a world first (for Google), Google Australia has launched a dedicated Australian Election site.

The Google 2007 Australian Federal Election site offers links to YouTube videos from Australian political parties, a Google Maps mashup that provides House of Representatives electoral information by seat, and “election gadgets” that provide previous statements made by MP’s and Senators, Google News feeds and a Google Trend feature that tracks mentions of parties and issues. Data can also be viewed in Google Earth.