Penny web auctions under scrutiny
Online "penny auction" sites are similar to lotteries and should be regulated in the same way, according to a gambling expert.
Penny auctions have gained popularity over the last few months and now have hundreds of thousands of users.
The sites auction new items, often for a fraction of their retail price, and bidders pay up to £1.50 for each bid.
Professor Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University believes the Gambling Commission "should look into this".
"I think bidding on penny auction sites is akin to a gambling-like experience," Professor Griffiths said.
"Obviously, when people are bidding again and again and again and they don't actually win the item in the end, that's very much like gambling."
I did not expect to get the Mini when I started bidding
Sandeep Anantharaman
However, Juha Koski from online auction site Madbid.com disagrees:
"We have two experts who have given us their opinion on this.
"This is definitely a game of skill and would not form under any circumstances under the definition of gambling."
Happy winner
Successful bidders can win anything from a television to a car or a cash sum, for a fraction of its real cost.
Sandeep Anantharaman is one bidder who has won in style. He bid less than £7 for a new Mini. Not surprisingly, he is delighted:
"I did not expect to get the Mini when I started bidding. But once I got the message from the auction site telling me I'd won, I couldn't believe it. "
Penny auction sites have grown quickly and now have hundreds of thousands of users.
Concern
Unlike eBay, where you can bid for free, users have to pay between 40 pence and £1.50 to place a bid. Bids automatically rise by 1p at a time, and some people make repeated bids.
Tony Northcott of the Trading Standards Institute believes some people may spend more than they realise on bids.
"My concern about these online penny auction sites is that people will bid for goods and not realise at the end of the day they may spend quite a large amount of money," he said.
The Gambling Commission said it could not comment on individual sites and was not convinced that penny auctions amounted to gambling.
However, it added that it would keep a close eye on developments in this area.
article source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7793054.stm
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Yahoo throws down data gauntlet
Yahoo throws down data gauntlet
Search engine Yahoo is to cut the time it stores personal data from 13 months to three.
It is hoping its decision will provide a benchmark for industry. Currently Google stores data for nine months and Microsoft for six months.
International data protection officials have been urging firms to do more to protect the data of users.
Privacy advocates have welcomed the move and challenged rivals to go even further.
"I would challenge industry to move to 30 days across the board. People should demand that their information is expunged as rapidly as possible," said Simon Davies, head of Privacy International.
Business needs
A recent rash of data leaks has left users concerned and organisations embarrassed, he said.
"The less time data is online means less risk that rogue companies can establish dangerously comprehensive profiles on users," he added.
Yahoo said its decision to cut the time it stores information gathered from web surfing came about following a "review of its data practices".
"This policy represents Yahoo's assessment of the minimum amount of time we need to retain data to respond to the needs of our business while deepening our trusted relationship with users," said Anne Toth, Yahoo's head of privacy.
As well as anonymising user log data, the policy will also apply to page views, page clicks and ad views and clicks.
But the search giant has reserved the right to keep data for up to six months if fraud or system security are involved.
Privacy campaigners have argued that firms are currently keeping data unnecessarily. Mr Davies is sceptical about what he described as "mixed messages" from industry.
"Only last year, firms were saying that they couldn't go below 15 months but the logic of what Yahoo has done suggests there is no reason why they can't go even lower," he said
It is hoping its decision will provide a benchmark for industry. Currently Google stores data for nine months and Microsoft for six months.
International data protection officials have been urging firms to do more to protect the data of users.
Privacy advocates have welcomed the move and challenged rivals to go even further.
"I would challenge industry to move to 30 days across the board. People should demand that their information is expunged as rapidly as possible," said Simon Davies, head of Privacy International.
Business needs
A recent rash of data leaks has left users concerned and organisations embarrassed, he said.
"The less time data is online means less risk that rogue companies can establish dangerously comprehensive profiles on users," he added.
Yahoo said its decision to cut the time it stores information gathered from web surfing came about following a "review of its data practices".
"This policy represents Yahoo's assessment of the minimum amount of time we need to retain data to respond to the needs of our business while deepening our trusted relationship with users," said Anne Toth, Yahoo's head of privacy.
As well as anonymising user log data, the policy will also apply to page views, page clicks and ad views and clicks.
But the search giant has reserved the right to keep data for up to six months if fraud or system security are involved.
Privacy campaigners have argued that firms are currently keeping data unnecessarily. Mr Davies is sceptical about what he described as "mixed messages" from industry.
"Only last year, firms were saying that they couldn't go below 15 months but the logic of what Yahoo has done suggests there is no reason why they can't go even lower," he said
article source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7787846.stm
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China 'bans BBC Chinese website'
China 'bans BBC Chinese website'
China appears to have banned a number of foreign websites, including the BBC's Chinese language news site and Voice of America in Chinese.
The sites had been unblocked after journalists attending the Beijing Olympics complained that the government was censoring sites deemed sensitive.
The BBC expressed disappointment at the apparent reinstatement of the ban.
But a Chinese government spokesman told journalists that some sites contained content that violated Chinese law.
Among the other sites blocked are Asiaweek, Reporters Without Borders and some Hong Kong and Taiwan sites.
China imposes strict controls on the dissemination of information through the web, employing teams of people to remove sensitive content, police bloggers and remove access to certain sites.
'Two Chinas'
In a news conference, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao refused to confirm that the government was behind the censorship.
But he said some websites violated Chinese law.
It has been a source of great regret that audiences in China are unable to access BBCChinese.com as the rest of the world can
The BBC"For instance, if a website refers to 'two Chinas' or refers to mainland China and Taiwan as two independent regions, we believe that violates China's anti-secession law, as well as other laws," he said, according to Reuters news agency.
He urged the websites to "comply with China's concerns and not do things contrary to Chinese law".
Mr Liu would not comment on why websites had been temporarily unblocked during the Olympic Games, or comment on the legal process followed to approve the blocking of sites.
In a statement, the BBC said it was disappointed that Chinese-speaking audiences in China were denied access to BBCChinese.com.
It said that except during the 2008 Games, the website had been blocked since its inception nearly a decade ago, and Mandarin radio broadcasts had been "subject to persistent frequency interference for decades".
"It has been a source of great regret that audiences in China are unable to access BBCChinese.com as the rest of the world can," the statement said.
Tough year ahead
Just before the Olympics, foreign journalists complained that they could not access a host of websites which carried news or comment that Beijing deemed sensitive.
The spread of information is tightly controlled in ChinaThe Olympics led to an improvement in China's controls of the foreign media, and not all the advances have been rolled back, reports the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Beijing.
But the country is expected to face a tough year ahead - the dramatic slowing of economic growth and rising unemployment are expected to fuel social unrest, he says.
It is also the 20th anniversary of the brutal suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests, and 50 years since China took direct control of Tibet.
More censorship and increased internal security are expected in 2009, our correspondent adds.
The sites had been unblocked after journalists attending the Beijing Olympics complained that the government was censoring sites deemed sensitive.
The BBC expressed disappointment at the apparent reinstatement of the ban.
But a Chinese government spokesman told journalists that some sites contained content that violated Chinese law.
Among the other sites blocked are Asiaweek, Reporters Without Borders and some Hong Kong and Taiwan sites.
China imposes strict controls on the dissemination of information through the web, employing teams of people to remove sensitive content, police bloggers and remove access to certain sites.
'Two Chinas'
In a news conference, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao refused to confirm that the government was behind the censorship.
But he said some websites violated Chinese law.
It has been a source of great regret that audiences in China are unable to access BBCChinese.com as the rest of the world can
The BBC"For instance, if a website refers to 'two Chinas' or refers to mainland China and Taiwan as two independent regions, we believe that violates China's anti-secession law, as well as other laws," he said, according to Reuters news agency.
He urged the websites to "comply with China's concerns and not do things contrary to Chinese law".
Mr Liu would not comment on why websites had been temporarily unblocked during the Olympic Games, or comment on the legal process followed to approve the blocking of sites.
In a statement, the BBC said it was disappointed that Chinese-speaking audiences in China were denied access to BBCChinese.com.
It said that except during the 2008 Games, the website had been blocked since its inception nearly a decade ago, and Mandarin radio broadcasts had been "subject to persistent frequency interference for decades".
"It has been a source of great regret that audiences in China are unable to access BBCChinese.com as the rest of the world can," the statement said.
Tough year ahead
Just before the Olympics, foreign journalists complained that they could not access a host of websites which carried news or comment that Beijing deemed sensitive.
The spread of information is tightly controlled in ChinaThe Olympics led to an improvement in China's controls of the foreign media, and not all the advances have been rolled back, reports the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Beijing.
But the country is expected to face a tough year ahead - the dramatic slowing of economic growth and rising unemployment are expected to fuel social unrest, he says.
It is also the 20th anniversary of the brutal suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests, and 50 years since China took direct control of Tibet.
More censorship and increased internal security are expected in 2009, our correspondent adds.
Serious security flaw found in IE
Serious security flaw found in IE
Users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer are being urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw has been fixed.
The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say.
Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it.
Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world's computer users.
It's a shame Microsoft have not been able to fix this more quickly
Darien Graham-SmithPC Pro magazine
Q&A: Stay safe online
"Microsoft is continuing its investigation of public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer," said the firm in a security advisory alert about the flaw.
Microsoft says it has detected attacks against IE 7.0 but said the "underlying vulnerability" was present in all versions of the browser.
Other browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, are not vulnerable to the flaw Microsoft has identified.
Browser bait
"In this case, hackers found the hole before Microsoft did," said Rick Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro. "This is never a good thing."
As many as 10,000 websites have been compromised since the vulnerability was discovered, he said.
"What we've seen from the exploit so far is it stealing game passwords, but it's inevitable that it will be adapted by criminals," he said. "It's just a question of modifying the payload the trojan installs."
MICROSOFT SECURITY ADVICE
Change IE security settings to high (Look under Tools/Internet Options)
Switch to a Windows user account with limited rights to change a PC's settings
With IE7 or 8 on Vista turn on Protected Mode
Ensure your PC is updated
Keep anti-virus and anti-spyware software up to date
Said Mr Ferguson: "If users can find an alternative browser, then that's good mitigation against the threat."
But Microsoft counselled against taking such action.
"I cannot recommend people switch due to this one flaw," said John Curran, head of Microsoft UK's Windows group.
He added: "We're trying to get this resolved as soon as possible.
"At present, this exploit only seems to affect 0.02% of internet sites," said Mr Curran. "In terms of vulnerability, it only seems to be affecting IE7 users at the moment, but could well encompass other versions in time."
Richard Cox, chief information officer of anti-spam body The Spamhaus Project and an expert on privacy and cyber security, echoed Trend Micro's warning.
"It won't be long before someone reverse engineers this exploit for more fraudulent purposes. Trend Mico's advice [of switching to an alternative web browser] is very sensible," he said.
This could be the moment when the minnows in the browser wars finally score a significant victory
Rory Cellan-JonesBBC technology editor
Read the dot.life blog in full
PC Pro magazine's security editor, Darien Graham-Smith, said that there was a virtual arms race going on, with hackers always on the look out for new vulnerabilities.
"The message needs to get out that this malicious code can be planted on any web site, so simple careful browsing isn't enough."
"It's a shame Microsoft have not been able to fix this more quickly, but letting people know about this flaw was the right thing to do. If you keep flaws like this quiet, people are put at risk without knowing it."
"Every browser is susceptible to vulnerabilities from time to time. It's fine to say 'don't use Internet Explorer' for now, but other browsers may well find themselves in a similar situation," he added.
The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say.
Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it.
Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world's computer users.
It's a shame Microsoft have not been able to fix this more quickly
Darien Graham-SmithPC Pro magazine
Q&A: Stay safe online
"Microsoft is continuing its investigation of public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer," said the firm in a security advisory alert about the flaw.
Microsoft says it has detected attacks against IE 7.0 but said the "underlying vulnerability" was present in all versions of the browser.
Other browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, are not vulnerable to the flaw Microsoft has identified.
Browser bait
"In this case, hackers found the hole before Microsoft did," said Rick Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro. "This is never a good thing."
As many as 10,000 websites have been compromised since the vulnerability was discovered, he said.
"What we've seen from the exploit so far is it stealing game passwords, but it's inevitable that it will be adapted by criminals," he said. "It's just a question of modifying the payload the trojan installs."
MICROSOFT SECURITY ADVICE
Change IE security settings to high (Look under Tools/Internet Options)
Switch to a Windows user account with limited rights to change a PC's settings
With IE7 or 8 on Vista turn on Protected Mode
Ensure your PC is updated
Keep anti-virus and anti-spyware software up to date
Said Mr Ferguson: "If users can find an alternative browser, then that's good mitigation against the threat."
But Microsoft counselled against taking such action.
"I cannot recommend people switch due to this one flaw," said John Curran, head of Microsoft UK's Windows group.
He added: "We're trying to get this resolved as soon as possible.
"At present, this exploit only seems to affect 0.02% of internet sites," said Mr Curran. "In terms of vulnerability, it only seems to be affecting IE7 users at the moment, but could well encompass other versions in time."
Richard Cox, chief information officer of anti-spam body The Spamhaus Project and an expert on privacy and cyber security, echoed Trend Micro's warning.
"It won't be long before someone reverse engineers this exploit for more fraudulent purposes. Trend Mico's advice [of switching to an alternative web browser] is very sensible," he said.
This could be the moment when the minnows in the browser wars finally score a significant victory
Rory Cellan-JonesBBC technology editor
Read the dot.life blog in full
PC Pro magazine's security editor, Darien Graham-Smith, said that there was a virtual arms race going on, with hackers always on the look out for new vulnerabilities.
"The message needs to get out that this malicious code can be planted on any web site, so simple careful browsing isn't enough."
"It's a shame Microsoft have not been able to fix this more quickly, but letting people know about this flaw was the right thing to do. If you keep flaws like this quiet, people are put at risk without knowing it."
"Every browser is susceptible to vulnerabilities from time to time. It's fine to say 'don't use Internet Explorer' for now, but other browsers may well find themselves in a similar situation," he added.
article source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7784908.stm
Survey: Many would take Internet over sex
Survey: Many would take Internet over sex
(CNET) -- Just how reliant are you on the Internet?
More women would give up sex rather than go without Internet access, according to a new survey.
Nearly half of the women questioned by Harris Interactive said they'd be willing to forgo sex for two weeks, rather than give up their Internet access, according to a study released Monday by Intel, which commissioned the survey.
While 46 percent of the women surveyed were willing to engage in abstinence versus losing their Internet, only 30 percent of the men surveyed were willing to do likewise.
The U.S. survey, which queried 2,119 adults last month, found that the gap grew even wider for both men and woman who were 18 to 34 years old. For woman, the percentage of those willing to skip the sheets in favor of the Web rose to 49 percent, while it climbed to 39 percent for men.
And for women 35 to 44 years old, the figure jumped to 52 percent.
Don't Miss
Latest CNET News videos
CNET News image galleries
More technology news from CNET
(Results as of Monday from CNET's related online poll showed that 30.5 percent of respondents would give up sex for one year, while 26.1 percent would do without Internet access for a year. Almost 40 percent of voters didn't want to sacrifice either.)
These figures were just some of the tidbits that came out of the Intel's broader commissioned study on Americans' reliance on the Internet in today's economy.
Though not as sexy but equally interesting, the survey also found that 87 percent of respondents said the Internet saves them money.
Specifically, 84 percent of those surveyed found the Internet saved them money by comparing prices online and searching out the best deals, while 65 percent said it aided them in finding coupons, discounts, and special promotions.
And TV, which has been losing its share of eyeball time to the Internet over the years, found that the majority of adults would be willing to forgo two weeks of watching TV versus losing one week on the Internet.
Of course when it comes to TV, perhaps size matters, at least according to a different survey earlier this year of Britons conducted by electronics retailer Comet. Almost half of the men polled said they would give up sex for six months in return for a 50-inch plasma TV, according to Reuters.
That compared with just over a third of women who were willing to make the same sacrifice for the big-
More women would give up sex rather than go without Internet access, according to a new survey.
Nearly half of the women questioned by Harris Interactive said they'd be willing to forgo sex for two weeks, rather than give up their Internet access, according to a study released Monday by Intel, which commissioned the survey.
While 46 percent of the women surveyed were willing to engage in abstinence versus losing their Internet, only 30 percent of the men surveyed were willing to do likewise.
The U.S. survey, which queried 2,119 adults last month, found that the gap grew even wider for both men and woman who were 18 to 34 years old. For woman, the percentage of those willing to skip the sheets in favor of the Web rose to 49 percent, while it climbed to 39 percent for men.
And for women 35 to 44 years old, the figure jumped to 52 percent.
Don't Miss
Latest CNET News videos
CNET News image galleries
More technology news from CNET
(Results as of Monday from CNET's related online poll showed that 30.5 percent of respondents would give up sex for one year, while 26.1 percent would do without Internet access for a year. Almost 40 percent of voters didn't want to sacrifice either.)
These figures were just some of the tidbits that came out of the Intel's broader commissioned study on Americans' reliance on the Internet in today's economy.
Though not as sexy but equally interesting, the survey also found that 87 percent of respondents said the Internet saves them money.
Specifically, 84 percent of those surveyed found the Internet saved them money by comparing prices online and searching out the best deals, while 65 percent said it aided them in finding coupons, discounts, and special promotions.
And TV, which has been losing its share of eyeball time to the Internet over the years, found that the majority of adults would be willing to forgo two weeks of watching TV versus losing one week on the Internet.
Of course when it comes to TV, perhaps size matters, at least according to a different survey earlier this year of Britons conducted by electronics retailer Comet. Almost half of the men polled said they would give up sex for six months in return for a 50-inch plasma TV, according to Reuters.
That compared with just over a third of women who were willing to make the same sacrifice for the big-
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