|
|
|
|
<IT
WORLD>
Domain chains fall away
By Martin J
Young
HUA HIN - Internet governance could
be in for a shake-up after the US-based Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
this week lost its grip on the World Wide Web. The
non-profit organization allotted by the US
government to oversee Internet addresses opened up
to a global audience as the agreement between it
and the US Department of Commerce expired on
Wednesday.
A new agreement allowing for
greater global participation in the assignment of
Internet addresses was signed. Companies and
international officials seeking greater
independence from US control praised the move; the
Internet after all is now a global public
resource. ICANN will no longer be subject to US
reviews alone and can now be reviewed by a broader
based group of stakeholders from around the world.
The fear is that the organization will
open up the domain name
doors to include any
variation of top level domains, which are
traditionally dot com, net and org (see Domain doors open to
dot chaos, Asia Times Online,
June 28, 2009). New names such as ".golf" or
".sports" could flood the Internet and companies
may need to rebrand themselves at great expense by
registering the likes of ".intel" or ".apple".
There is also the notion that non-Latin
names will be made available so we could start
seeing domains in Chinese or Arabic. Both of these
will cause problems to legitimate websites and
companies as a domain-buying rush by cyber
squatters and deceitful domain registrars would be
inevitable. Cyber squatters, along with spammers,
have become the scourge of the Internet. Their
operation method is to buy and sit on domain names
often associated with legitimate businesses, and
they often set up deceptive websites using those
domain names.
Freedom from US control over
the Internet is a good thing but the dot chaos
that could follow in its wake may not be so
welcome.
 Security
Microsoft has
entered the foray of computer security with the
official launch this week of its Security
Essentials (MSE) anti-virus and malware software
suite. The package for Windows XP, Vista and 7,
which can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials,
will compete with the likes of AVG and Avast,
which have been offering free virus protection for
years. It also takes aim at Symantec, Kaspersky
and McAfee, which provide total Internet security
solutions, Microsoft claims that MSE uses less
memory and disk space than these often bloated
machine-hogging products.
The system comes
armed with a dynamic signature service, which
checks programs against an up to date database of
virus definitions, it has a small memory foot
print and runs unobtrusively in the background
offering just the essentials as its name suggests.
Upon installation it requires a Genuine Windows
Validation check, which not only punishes the
pirates but leaves thousands of unlicensed Windows
computers with no protection. Understandably
Microsoft does not want to support illegitimate
copies of its operating system but it kind of
misses the point by leaving them all open to
attack, which in turn threatens everyone else.
Telecoms
A Chinese company is
touting the world's first mobile phone to run a
full version of Windows XP. The xpPhone, made by
In Technology Group, includes a 4.8 inch LCD touch
screen, AMD processor, up to a gigabyte of memory,
USB and VGA ports, GPS, and full qwerty keyboard.
The company claims that you can install any
software that would run on a normal XP laptop as
the phone is fully compatible with all Windows
standards. It has seven hours battery life - poor
for a phone but far better than most laptops. No
prices were quoted on the company website but it
does offer a form to pre-order your xpPhone.
Science
Scientists at the United
States National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) have released findings this
week that indicate cosmic rays are at their
highest levels for 50 years. Galactic cosmic rays
are sub-atomic particles, primarily protons, which
are accelerated to near light speed by distant
supernova explosions. They cause "air showers" of
secondary particles when they hit the Earth's
atmosphere and can pose a threat to astronauts and
orbiting satellites but not to people at ground
level.
The cause of the cosmic spike is the
current solar minimum, a decrease in solar
activity which began in 2007 and continues today.
Under normal conditions the sun's magnetic field,
or helosphere, and its solar wind protects the
Earth by deflecting or scattering cosmic rays.
During deep lulls in solar activity, there is less
wind and the protective bubble is flattened,
allowing more cosmic rays through.
There
is no need to panic and dig a big hole to hide in
yet as the Earth’s natural atmosphere provides a
strong enough shield to protect life on the
surface ... for the time being.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online
(Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about
sales, syndication and republishing.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2009 Asia Times
Online (Holdings), Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
|
