Queensland Government owns queensland-the-dumb-state.com

In an apparent effort to preempt cybersquatters, the Australian state of Queensland has registered 38 domain names containing various government references. Among the stranger ones is queensland-the-dumb-state.com. Other domains include government programs like the state’s 150th anniversary celebration and the Liberal National Party.

This raises some interesting questions. On some level trademark holders and governments should certainly protect their names from actual cybersquatters, but would someone who registers queensland-the-dumb-state.com actually be a cybersquatter or just someone poking fun of the government? Furthermore, what stops them from registering the-dumb-state-queensland.com instead? The state is currently paying $1,646 a year for the domains, and one can only imagine how much more money is paid to manage the sites.

At some point it becomes impossible to track down every possible domain name that might simply be offensive in an effort to keep others from registering them. Government money would be better spent on improving infrastructure and giving more people access to services. If they did that, maybe there would be no one with a reason to register queensland-the-dumb-state.com in the first place. Then again, maybe the government actually intends to use the domain for something useful.

Source: Brisbane Times
Photo: Flickr

UK government to restrict Internet access of pirates

The British government has announced plans to curb Internet piracy by restricting access of repeat offenders. In collaboration with the entertainment industry and Ofcom, Britain’s broadcasting regulator, the plan includes sending letters to customers who have been suspected of downloading illegal files, such as movies. Internet service providers would be required to send information collected about the offenders to media companies who could threaten them with legal action.

Ultimately, if a year passes without a cease of pirating activities, Ofcom would have the authority to order ISPs to cap the user’s Internet usage. The film and music industries around the world has long called for stricter measures to stop piracy, particularly with the advent of BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing system without any centralized servers. The law still has to pass through Parliament, and there will undoubtedly be serious concerns about privacy.

This move is part of a larger £200 million plan being initiated to connect everyone in the UK to high-speed Internet access by 2012. In the United States, bandwidth capping has been met with staunch opposition, forcing service providers to change their planned restrictions. A law is now moving through U.S. Congress that would place regulations on capping. France has announced plans to completely ban Internet pirates from access after three offenses. In Sweeden, owners of the popular torrent sharing site The Pirate Bay were convicted of copyright infringement and sentenced to prison, pending appeal.

Source: Wall Street Journal
Photo: Flickr

Iran Crisis Delays Twitter Data Center Upgrade

With the Iranian government blocking most contact with the outside world in the midst of the election crisis, Twitter has become an important line of communication for activists and protesters.

A network upgrade at Twitter’s data center was originally scheduled to take place Monday evening, but now the company has decided to postpone in order to keep the site active and available to Iranians.

Twitter’s data center has had to deal with an unprecedented load because of a traffic increase over the last several months. The upgrade is only expected to take half an hour.

There is speculation that it was not Twitter that made the decision, but pressure from the U.S. State Department. Twitter’s cofounder Biz Stone denied this:

The State Dept does not have access to our decision making process. When we worked with our network provider to reschedule the planned maintenance, we did so because events in Iran were tied directly to the growing significance of Twitter as an important communication and information network. We decided to move the date. It made sense fo [sic] Twitter and [our host] to keep sercie [sic] active during this highly visible global event.

Source: Data Center Dynamics