11/18 defcon: extra staff & virtual property

fbi brass ask google, facebook to expand wiretaps*
google vp issues stark internet warning*
youtube hiring extra staff to tackle al-qaeda videos*
state-led cyberterror set to rise: report*
gates: huge threat of cyber attack*
cyber experts have proof china hijacked US-based internet traffic*
searching for news is riskier than searching for porn, study says*
man made 1/2-a-mil on virtual property*
x-37b secret US space plane may be too mysterious*

defcon 7/8: 'perfect citizen' meets big brother

nsa creating spy system to monitor domestic infrastructure*
report: US building system to detect cyber-attacks*
US plans 'cyber shield' to detect cyber attacks on infrastructure*
nsa says 'perfect citizen' is a research program*
nsa to spy on 'critical infrastructure', says wsj*
the cybersecurity directive goes viral*
download: gao slams white house for failing to lead on cybersecurity*
the lights are going out for free speech on the net*
germany officials launch legal action against facebook*
US largely ruling out nkorea in 2009 cyberattacks*
porn pranksters have field day with youtube injection flaw*

internet porn to get its own red light district as .xxx name approved

from guardian: The internet could soon have its own red light district after the ".xxx" suffix was approved – though pornography companies are not keen to use it.

Icann, the organisation which determines what "top-level domains" (TLDs) such as .com or .uk can be added to the internet announced today that it will begin the process of registering .xxx by making checks on ICM Registry, the company that wants to run the domain and sell registrations.

It marks the closing stages of a 10-year battle by ICM Registry, now run by the British internet entrepreneur Stuart Lawley, to get the .xxx domain set up so that legal pornography sites can be found in a single grouping...

But many pornography companies are unhappy with the idea of a dedicated space online because they expect that as soon as .xxx is implemented, conservative members of the US Congress will lobby to make any sex-related website re-register there and remove itself from other domains such as .com or .org.

That would mean that sex sites could be more easily filtered out from web searches, and lower their revenues. Free speech advocates also worry that sites about topics seen by US conservatives as controversial, such as homosexuality, might also be forced to use the .xxx suffix... 

[T]he .xxx domain is notable for only having ICM Registry, which stands to benefit from every domain name it sells. Lawley says he expects to make $30m (£20m) a year in revenue by selling each .xxx site for $60, and pledges to donate $10 from each sale to child protection initiatives.