DIGITAL DIVIDE
Satellite Firm Inks Deal To Serve Canada's Native Bands (Newsbytes)
INTERNET GOVERNANCE
Report Urges ICANN To Broaden Leadership Ranks (Newsbytes)
New Domain Name Issues Take Center Stage (Reuters)
PRIVACY
A Celebrated Hacker Urges People to Guard Privacy Online (WSJ)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
SATELLITE FIRM INKS DEAL TO SERVE CANADA'S NATIVE BANDS
Issue: Digital Divide
In what they called a "historic" agreement, Telesat Canada and the Assembly
of First Nations (AFN), an umbrella organization representing most of
Canada's native peoples, are preparing to bring high-speed Internet access
and other communications technologies to aboriginal communities across the
country. The organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding with an
eye to connecting all First Nations communities in Canada by early 2004. "By
joining forces with Telesat today, we're taking an important step for First
Nations communities in Canada," Matthew Coon Come, national chief of the
AFN, said in a prepared statement. "Access to advanced communications
services is a fundamental element of economic development."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Steven Bonisteel]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166287.html)
INTERNET GOVERNANCE
REPORT URGES ICANN TO BROADEN LEADERSHIP RANKS
Issue: Internet
A report released today by the NGO & Academic ICANN Study Project (NAIS), an
alliance of non-governmental and academic groups, urged the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to include greater public
participation in its decision-making progress. In ICANN's most recent
election, its members voted to its board of directors only five "at-large"
members to serve as voices of the Internet public. ICANN launched an
internal probe in January to determine the legitimacy of at-large elections,
and the outcome of this study will determine if four more at-large members
will join the board. "Already there is a lot of disagreement about how the
public voice should exist in ICANN, but it is clear that there needs to be
broad public participation if ICANN is to take on this public role it has
assumed for itself," said Alan Davidson of the Center for Democracy and
Technology (CDT), a member of NAIS.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes, AUTHOR: David McGuire]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166288.html)
NEW DOMAIN NAME ISSUES TAKE CENTER STAGE
Issue: Internet
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) quarterly
meeting this weekend in Stockholm, Sweden will likely focus on new domain
name suffixes like dot-name that are entering the market and provide
competition for the popular dot-com suffix. At its November meeting, ICANN
selected seven companies to manage the registries of the seven new
suffixes, which include dot-name, dot-biz, dot-info, dot-museum, dot-pro,
dot-coop and dot-aero. The additional domain names were created to allow for
increasing demand from Internet users. Using the dot-name suffix, people
will be able to use their own names as their e-mail and Web site addresses.
The 40-staff company Global Name Registry will take on the powerful role of
managing the dot-name suffix and is expected to make millions from assigning
dot-names to individuals. "This is a decision of immense consequence.
(Global Name) will be given the right to this huge source of information
that it can leverage for other businesses," says law professor Jon Weinberg
at Wayne State University in Detroit, and member of the watchdog group
ICANNwatch.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-05-30-icann-meeting.htm)
PRIVACY
A CELEBRATED HACKER URGES PEOPLE TO GUARD PRIVACY ONLINE
Issue: Privacy
Software developer and code-cracker Dr. Ian Goldberg of ZeroKnowledge
Systems Inc. warns consumers on the Internet to protect themselves, for
example by installing "firewalls" that blocks thiefs from entering home PCs
and software that foils "cookie" tracking. Goldberg says that stronger
programming and encryption codes are more effective than more stringent laws
at protecting privacy and security. In an interview with Wall Street
Journal, he reveals what Web users need to know to protect their privacy and
security. "One of the big risks could be that people you don't intend are
reading your messages," says Goldberg. "With e-commerce, the privacy issue
is that others can find out what kind of things you like to buy online. But
there's also a security risk: Hopefully, no one will be able to steal money
from you online or fraudulently charge things to you."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal , AUTHOR: Peter Edmonston]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB98770251558583594.htm)
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