NSA eavesdropping wider than White House admitted-NYT report
NEW YORK, Dec 24 (Reuters) The volume of information gathered from telephone and Internet communications by the National Security Agency without court-approved warrants was much larger than the White House has acknowledged, The New York
Times reported on Saturday. Citing current and former government officials, the Times said the information was collected by tapping directly into some of the U.S. telecommunication system's main arteries. The officials said the NSA won the cooperation of telecommunications companies to obtain access to both domestic and international communications without first gaining warrants.
A former telecommunications technology manager told the
Times that industry leaders have been storing information on
calling patterns and giving it to the federal government to aid
in tracking possible terrorists since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Government and industry officials with knowledge of the
program told the newspaper the NSA sought to analyze
communications patterns to gather clues from details like who
is calling whom, how long a phone call lasts and what time of
day it is made, as well as the origins and destinations of
phone calls and e-mail messages.
Calls to and from Afghanistan were of particular interest
to the NSA, the Times said. This so-called "pattern analysis"
on calls within the United States would often otherwise require
a warrant if the government wanted to trace who calls whom.
U.S. President George W. Bush and his aides have said his
executive order allowing eavesdropping without warrants was
limited to monitoring international phone and e-mail
communications linked to people with connections to al-Qaeda.
What has not been acknowledged, according to the Times, is that
NSA technicians combed large amounts of phone and Internet
traffic seeking patterns pointing to terrorism suspects.
Some officials described the program as a large data mining
operation, the Times said, and described it as much larger than
the White House has acknowledged.
Several officials said senior government officials went to
the nation's big telecommunications companies to get access to
switches that act as gateways between U.S. and international
communications.
Many calls going from one foreign country to another are
routed through U.S. switches and a communications expert who
once worked at the NSA said in recent years government
officials have been encouraging the telecommunications industry
to bring more international traffic through U.S.-based
switches.
The officials who spoke to the newspaper requested
anonymity because the program's details remain classified. Bush
administration officials declined to comment on the operation's
technical details, the Times said.

Wired did a fantastic review on a pop band that used a web community like service like orkut to become rock stars-check it out

Also covered in wired and related to music is an amazing concept of a guitar game that allows one to play like Hendrix or Page just by using the game controls.

They also inform us on some interesting innovations in the MP3 phone market!

Country's full fledged communication satellite's likely to launch in 2008
KARACHI, Nov 19 (APP): Pakistan's full fledged communication satellite will be developed in a couple of years and would be launched in the year 2008.
This was stated by Chairman of Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Raza Hussain, on Saturday. He was talking to reporters after the inaugural ceremony of the World Space Week at HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi.
Raza pointed out that SUPARCO is actively engaged in development and fabrication of its own communication satellites, high resolution earth observation satellite system (EOSS) and a satellite launch vehicle (SLV).
He said earlier Pakistan had leased a satellite just to make sure that it did not lose the slot to launch the communication sattelite. The SUPARCO chief pointed out that basic concentration of his organisation is on communication satellite, earth observation satellite and satellite launch vehicle.
"These are the three major mega projects and their application", he added.
Raza said the application is already being done for socio-economic development of the country.
The SUPARCO chief said work has started in accordance with a roadmap and a feasibility study has been prepared with regard to both the satellite systems.
He said this has been referred to the Prime Minister for approval through the Planning Commission. Raza said "after necessary approval, we will Inshallah
start bringing out satellite systems in the next four to five years,".
Replying to a question about the cost, he remarked that the cost is variable.

Reduction-Calls Drastic reduction in Int'l rates proposed to curb illegal traffic termination business

KARACHI, Nov 19 (APP) All operators of Long Distance and International (LDI) telephony unanimously expressed their concern about the illegal termination activity and its adverse impact on LDI business.
They were speaking at a meeting of LDI telephony operating companies consortium under the lead of PTCL convened on the direction of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to prepare recommendation for international termination rate and the proportion of Access Promotion Contribution for the half year beginning January, 2006.
The meeting was participated by all leading LDI operators including Callmate, WorldCall, Link Direct, Telecard, Dvcom, BurraqTel, Redtone, Warid, Wisecom, Dancom and NTC.
They stated that measures being taken by various agencies have not been able to effectively curb the illegal termination business. Grey operators, which were operating out of the regulated regime, were still making huge margins and the country was not benefiting, they argued.
According to business sources, majority of operators agreed that the only strategy to effectively curb illegal termination activity was reduction in international termination rate which would cut the arbitrage between legal and illegal operations to a level where illegal business becomes un-attractive.
The operators agreed to reduction of termination rate to 8 cents per minute from the current inflated level of 13.5 cents and reduction in Access Promotion Contribution from the current high of 7.5 cents to 2 cents / minute to bring the international termination rates in line with current market benchmarks.
LDI operators were of the view that reduction in international termination rates to a realistic and market oriented level would help bring all international telephony business under the legal regime and effectively eliminate the illegal operators from the market place.
Submitting their recommendation to PTA, the LDI operators lauded the positive role played by PTA in regulating the international telephony business and creation of a level playing field where all stakeholders could benefit from the opportunities resulting from de-regulation of the telecommunication sector. They added that the de-regulation has already seen four fold increase in tele-density over a span of less than two years since the de-regulation.

British literature turns txt, US readers go online for news

PARIS, Nov 17 (AFP) - Here are the lifestyle briefs for this week:

gr8 brit lit turnd in2 txts 4 studes
LONDON: Some of the greatest and longest works of English literature have
been turned into text messages as a part of a student revision scheme launched
this week.
Mobile phone company dot-mobile, which is behind the project, has
translated the likes of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and
John Milton into text, as a modern-day "aide-memoire" for under-pressure
crammers.
For example, "To be or not to be, that is the question", uttered by the
eponymous hero of Shakespeare's Hamlet, becomes "2b? Nt2b? = ???".
Likewise, the tragic ending to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre becomes
"MadwyfSetsFyr2Haus" (mad wife sets fire to house).
The service -- which follows an Australian text version of the Bible last
month -- will be available to dot-mobile subscribers from January.

More Americans get their newspaper at the click of a mouse: report
WASHINGTON: Readers might be deserting America's traditional newspapers in
droves, but they seem to be turning as quickly to the papers' online editions,
which have just posted an 11 percent rise in readership, according to new
figures.
Web surfers paid 39.3 million unique visits to newspaper websites in
October -- a figure which translates to one in four of those using the Internet
in the United States, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, which studies Internet
usage.
The company found that the New York Times has the most popular newspaper
website, drawing 11.4 million unique hits, ahead of US Today, the Washington
Post and the Los Angeles Times.
The 11 percent year-on-year rise in October in online readership confirms
growing signs that the future of the newspaper industry is increasingly on the
web.
(AFP)

Britain's topless Page Three Girl turns 35
LONDON: An indisputable star feature of Britain's biggest-selling newspaper
The Sun, the topless phenomenon known as the "Page Three Girl," celebrates its
35th anniversary this week.
The pun-laden Sun launched the idea 36 years ago on November 17, 1969, but
the models appeared in wet T-shirts. Exactly a year later, the tops were peeled
off and the tabloid has never looked back.
In a gamble taken by editor Larry Lamb while owner Rupert Murdoch was out
of the country, Stephanie Rahn, a 20-year-old German, became the first to be
pictured topless, sparking outrage from women's groups and conservatives.
But sales rocketed from 1.5 million to 2.1 million copies a day within one
year, and Murdoch, the Australian-born media baron, forgot his initial fury.
Thirty-five years later, around 9,000 women have appeared topless on The
Sun's page three.
(AFP)

Geeks of the world offered "spiritual home" in Tokyo
TOKYO: Japanese companies announced plans this week to promote Tokyo's
electronics district haunted by computer buffs and fanatic hobbyists as a
global tourist destination.
Akihabara is known as a bargain hunting ground for cutting-edge electronics
and the assorted lifestyles that come with it, from video-game arcades to nerdy
cafes.
The area, known to frequent visitors as Akiba, could also be a "spiritual
hometown" for science-minded people around the world, said Kenichiro Senoo,
heading a new organization launched to promote it.
The project to be launched in April will provide multilingual information
about Akihabara and an "Akiba town card", which will automatically bring forms
to make duty-free purchases.
(AFP)

Ding! Ding! Iconic London buses saved from the final stop
LONDON: London's iconic traditional buses were given a new lease of life
this week with the launch of two heritage routes that will save the much-loved
Routemasters from the scrapheap.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the popular jump-on, jump-off vehicles,
painted to look as they did in the 1960s with cream stripes along the side,
would run along two routes past the main tourist sites.
Transport for London (TfL) decided to phase out the old stalwarts with
their trademark spiral staircases last year in favour of more modern vehicles
like bendy-buses.
But Livingstone this week said that 10 sturdy old Routemasters were being
saved as they were a world-famous part of London life.
(AFP)

London truffle auction hits new heights
LONDON: The snob value of the truffle, the rare, delicate-tasting fungi so
beloved of chefs, has hit new heights in London with a single specimen selling
for 110,000 dollars, reports said this week.
The world record price was paid at auction by an unnamed buyer in Hong Kong
for a rare white Alba truffle, a sort found only in Piedmont, Italy, for two
months of the year.
Weighing in at 1.2 kilogrammes (2.6 pounds) -- it was described by
auctioneers Christies as "the size of a small handbag" -- the truffle was among
several sold at an auction held in the posh St James's area of central London.
Bidders enjoyed a lavish, truffle-themed dinner before the sale began, with
other participants in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Italy joining in by satellite
link-up, the Daily Telegraph reported.
(AFP)

Church putting faith in England World Cup final appearance
LONDON: Forty years in the wilderness has huge significance in the Bible
but senior clergy in the Church of England hope it will also be relevant for
England's football team, The Times reported this week.
Church officials have been urged to make enquiries at the venue for the
Anglican "parliament" the General Synod's 2006 summer session because the date
clashes with the World Cup final in Germany, according to the newspaper.
If England qualify for the final, the venue -- York University in northern
England -- should be asked to ensure "adequate viewing facilities" for
delegates, the synod's current session in London heard.
By coincidence -- or perhaps divine providence depending on how the team
plays in the competition -- England last won the World Cup 40 years ago in
1966.
(AFP)

Japan puts down ever more Beaujolais Nouveau
TOKYO: Japan this week popped open the season's first bottles of Beaujolais
Nouveau, an annual rite for a country in love with seasonal trends.
Japan -- the first to get a taste because of its time zone -- is again set
to be the biggest importer of the light red wine, ahead of Germany and the
United States. Last year it accounted for an estimated 45 percent of the
worldwide output.
Some 12.5 million bottles of the French wine are expected to be imported
this year, a three percent rise from 2004, as the Japanese snatch up Beaujolais
at liquor shops, department stores and even 24-hour convenience stores.
Last year Japan overtook the United States as the top importer of
Beaujolais Nouveau.

Unlicenced software harmful for computer users, programmers: BSA
KARACHI, Nov 18 (APP): The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a group coprising the world's largest software companies, Friday said the pirated CDs people load on their computers are harmful for them, software producers and the
country's economy.
"When someone purchases counterfeit software, he not only denies the software developer of his rightful revenue and damages country's economy, but also invites many risks including legal action from the owners of the copyright works," said Co-Chairman BSA, Middle East, Al Redha.
The software producers, whether big or small, spend years to develop software for the public use. "They even spend a portion of their earnings from the sale of licensed software on the development of new computer programmes for the benefit of end-users," he said.
But, Al Redha said, when someone buys illegal software, his money goes directly to the pirates, who neither pay to the genuine software producers nor the government in taxes. "This way the government revenues, which are spent on the welfare of the population, are reduced and the creation of new jobs in the IT sector is also curtailed."
He believes Pakistan can attract a lot of domestic and foreign investment for the IT sector by reducing piracy.
"Countries such as the UAE and Jordan have made efforts to decrease piracy rates and now enjoy a greater interest from the technology industry and a more vibrant IT industry."
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced in April 1999 that both the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan had been removed from the USTR's Special 301 Watch List, which lists countries believed to offer insufficient protection to intellectual property rights holders.
Al Redha said that low piracy rate will also "encourage the investors in the software industry to invest in Pakistan, especially the BSA member companies."
According to an international report Pakistan's piracy level today stands at 82% compared to the 34% of UAE and 64% of Jordan, he added.
Al Redha observed realizing the importance of copyright works, the government has recently established Pakistan Intellectual Property Rights Organization (PIPRO), to effectively curb piracy and enforce the copyright law. The law enforcement agencies are also conducting raids across the country to encourage the IT computer programmers to introduce latest software, he said.
The Co-chairman BSA has urged the software users to buy the legitimate products because most of the counterfeit computer programmes are of inferior quality. "Consequently users face grave risks which include computer viruses, corrupt files, inadequate documentation and lack of software upgrades offered to
the registered users.
BSA estimates that more than US$ 31 billion were lost to piracy worldwide in the year 2004. Therefore, the copyright laws place the software piracy as a crime no different from stealing and allows the owner the exclusive right to control the copying and distribution of his works.
In Pakistan, an individual or a company may be prosecuted under the provisions of the copyright laws, if caught using or selling pirated software, he cautioned.
BSA members include Adobe, Apple, AutoDesk, Bentley Systems, Cisco Systems, Dell, Entrust, HP, IBM, Intel, Macromedia, McAfee, Microsoft, Sybase, Symantec, Synopsys and UGS.

"Digital divide" not so easy to close, Kenyans find
TUNIS, Nov 18 (Reuters) In Kenya, the "digital divide" between rich and poor countries could be measured not long ago by the amount of time it took for an e-mail to be sent from one neighbour to another -- via Europe.
The country now handles its own e-mail and Internet ventures are sprouting like mushrooms, but those seeking to bring Kenya into the digital age say the technology gap between rich and poor nations is not so easy to close.
Like many other developing countries, Kenya lacks a fibre-optic backbone and other infrastructure that Web surfers in Europe and North America take for granted.
A state-owned telecommunications provider until recently kept costs high and competitors out, and the Internet was largely a foreign affair.
That's now changed thanks to a regulatory overhaul that has encouraged competition and infrastructure growth. Local e-mail stays local and some 70 Internet providers vie for customers.
"Internet use is going to increase at an amazing rate," said James Rege, permanent secretary of Kenya's Ministry of Information and Communication, on the sidelines of a U.N. technology summit.
In speeches that were often long on rhetoric and short on detail, diplomats and technology providers pledged to extend the Internet's reach to disadvantaged areas during the World Summit on the Information Society, which wraps up on Friday.
But even in a country such as Kenya, which experts say is taking the right approach to encourage development, progress can be agonisingly slow.
Africans account for 3 percent of the world's Internet users, up from 1 percent in 2001, according to U.N. figures.
While two-thirds of adults in the United States use the Internet, only 3 percent of Kenya's 34 million residents are online, according to Rege.

POWER OUTAGES, $100 SURCHARGES
Traffic still must travel over slow and expensive satellite connections, rendering real-time applications such as Internet telephony almost useless.
Frequent power outages and service glitches from the incumbent Telkom Kenya knock users offline on a regular basis.
Local-phone charges from Telkom Kenya can slap an extra $100 on monthly access fees, which typically run to $12 to $20, said Michuki Mwangi, an engineer who oversees the country's ".ke" Internet domain. Broadband service at speeds not much faster than dialup costs more than $100 per month.
Many Kenyan businesses, such as the Daily Nation newspaper, host their Web sites abroad -- a strategy that keeps their costs low but costs for visitors high, Mwangi said.
"It's much more expensive for me to access that paper online than it is for me to go to the stands and buy it," he said.
Access costs should decrease when an undersea fibre cable linking Kenya to the rest of the world is completed in 2007.
But that effort has been complicated by foot-dragging from Telkom Kenya and state monopolies in nearby countries that might suffer from competition, said David Owino, general manager of infrastructure provider Kenya Data Networks.
Kenya Data Networks has also had problems getting wireless licences and winning rights of way for its national fibre-optic backbone, Owino said.
"You get the feeling people are out to protect their territory," he said. "There's still a lot of work to be done, but there's been a lot of positive change in the past three and half years."

Japanese firm sniffs out new opportunities on the Internet
TOKYO, Nov 18 (AFP) Moving beyond the monopoly of sight and touch in the computer world, a Japanese company is offering a service to download aromatic
scents at a click of a button.
A customer who wants to be surrounded by a new fragrance has a choice of six scent oils ready to mix in a blender, which is hooked up to the computer like a mouse.
Workers who look to burn the midnight oil can pay to smell the fragrance called "Scent for working another 12 hours" and those with time ahead of them
on the screen can choose "Scent to be an IT winner."
"There are already services you can read and hear such as e-mail, blogs, the Internet, music and ring tones, along with virtual services such as downloading pictures," said Shunichi Hamada, deputy manager of NTT Communications' sales promotion department.
"But we decided to go beyond those services. This is one that brings out emotions," he said.
NTT Communications said it will soon also offer a service called "Spiritual
Harmony" which can analyze a person's ability to communicate or adapt to
outside changes by taking the pulse from his or her fingers.

Cyber gamers vie for world glory in Singapore
SINGAPORE, Nov 17 (Reuters) More than 700 computer game enthusiasts are gathering in Singapore to take part in the world's biggest competition for computer and video games.
Players from 67 countries will compete in about 1,000 matches at the World Cyber Games on Sunday, hoping for a share of $435,000 in prize money.
For 19-year old Michael "Chocoyote" Opree from Germany, winning is a matter of form and preparation rather than luck.
"There is no real secret. You have to be on form on the day you play," he said.
"Go have a lot of sleep so you can concentrate on the day and really look for (your) challengers. Get to know something about them, how they play, their game-style, their crosses, their tactics."
Austrian Verena Vlajo, the only female participant, told a local newspaper she was not worried about the gender imbalance.
"It's cool to be the first and only woman here, but I'm just a gamer like everybody else," Vlajo, 24, told The Straits Times.
Michael "Method" So, a 21-year-old representing Team 3D from the United States in the Counter Strike finals, said the games were a natural step in his gaming career.
"I picked up gaming just by playing for fun. As I kept playing, I found out about these tournaments. And I just kept going to them and I was winning."
Started in South Korea in 2000, the games were held in San Francisco last year. Event organisers International Cyber Marketing said Singapore was chosen this year because of its good Internet connectivity, efficient transport system and supportive government.
Singapore -- which has one of the world's highest Internet penetration rates -- wants to boost its computer games industry and has organised a host of gaming activities and courted game developers to set up shop on the island.

Machines and objects to overtake humans on the Internet: ITU
TUNIS, Nov 17 (AFP) - Machines will take over from humans as the biggest users of the Internet in a brave new world of electronic sensors, smart homes, and tags that track users' movements and habits, the UN's telecommunications agency predicted Thursday.
In a report entitled "Internet of Things", the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) outlined the expected next stage in the technological revolution where humans, electronic devices, inanimate objects and databases are linked by a radically transformed Internet.
"It would seem that science fiction is slowly turning into science fact in an 'Internet of Things' based on ubiquitous network connectivity," the report said, saying objects would take on human characteristics thanks to technological innovation.
"Today, in the 2000s, we are heading into a new era of ubiquity, where the 'users' of the Internet will be counted in billions and where humans may become the minority as generators and receivers of traffic," it added.
Currently there are about 875 million Internet users worldwide, a number that may simply double if humans remain the primary users of the future.
But experts are counting on tens of billions of human and inanimate "users" in future decades.
They would be tied into an all pervasive network where there would be no need to power up a computer to connect -- "anytime, anywhere, by anyone and anything", the report said.
Remote computer-controlled household appliances are already appearing, as well as prototype cars with collision-avoidance sensors.
Mobile phones can be used as electronic train tickets while meat exports from Namibia or goods for US retail chain Wal-Mart are tagged with sensors to allow them to be tracked.
The ITU's vision goes further, highlighting refrigerators that independently communicate with grocery stores, washing machines that communicate with clothing, implanted tags with medical equipment and vehicles with stationary or moving objects.
Industrial products would also become increasingly "smart", gaining autonomy and the intelligence thanks to miniaturised but more powerful computing capacity.
"Even particles and 'dust' might be tagged and networked", the ITU said.
"In this way the virtual world would map the real world, given that everything in our physical environment would have its own identity (a passport of sorts) in virtual cyberpsace," the report forecast.
The trend is being fuelled by a small number of technological developments, including miniature radio frequency RFID electronic tags that allow immediate identification and tracking, and new sensor technology, as well as smart devices and nanotechnology.
While the report laid out economic opportunities, a huge expansion of the IT industry and innovation in a wide range of fields from health to entertainment, it also warned of a number of challenges, including privacy issues.
Some of the applications envisaged for emerging RFID tags are to replace human ID documents, track consumer habits, or banknotes.
The ITU said tighter linkages would be needed between those that create the technology and those that use it to cope with its forecast new world.
"In a world increasingly mediated by technology, we must ensure that the human core of our activities remains untouched," the report concluded.

UN chief says digital revolution must benefit the poor too
TUNIS, Nov 16 (AFP) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called Wednesday for the Internet and information technology to be used to help build a better life for people in some of the world's poorest countries.
Annan warned the 170 countries and some 23,000 scheduled participants from government and industry at the World Summit on the Information Society that, "for far too many people, the gains remain out of reach".
"There is a tremendous yearning, not for technology per se, but for what technology can make possible," he told the opening ceremony in Tunis, urging participants to "respond to that thirst".
"This summit must be a summit of solutions" to build "bridges for a better life" in poor countries.
The UN-organised summit in Tunis is being attended by a clutch of government leaders, mainly from African and Latin American countries.
Host President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali said he hoped the gathering "will mark a truly new beginning for a just, balanced and supportive information society."
The summit was also marked by sharp warnings that freedom of speech was a core component of a modern information society, following incidents involving journalists and campaigners in the Tunisian capital in recent days.
"For myself, it goes without question that here in Tunis, inside these walls and outside, anyone can discuss quite freely," said Swiss President Samuel Schmid, sitting alongside the Tunisian head of state.
"For us it is one of the conditions 'sine qua non' for the success of the international conference," he added.
Tunisian authorities have said two suspects are being questioned by an investigating magistrate in connection with the assault Friday of a French journalist. Groups advocating freedom of speech said they had been harassed.
The gathering's ambition to boost economic and social development in poor countries revolves around a pledge under the UN's Millennium Development Goals to connect all the villages of the world to the Internet by 2015.
"It is striking that the 400,000 citizens of Luxembourg have more Internet access than the 800 million residents in Africa," the UN Under Secretary for Communications, Shashi Tharoor, told reporters.
"We need to scale up what exists in Africa, in various parts of Asia. There has been remarkable progress in China and that's a reflection of the booming economy there, there's been less of that progress elsewhere," Tharoor added.
Some 800,000 "villages," mainly in poor nations, still need to be connected in the next decade, according to the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is organising the summit with Tunisia.
The cost of the effort, one billion dollars, represents one percent of the annual global investment in mobile telephone connections.
"The hurdle here is more political than financial," Annan told the summit Wednesday.
"These assets -- these bridges to a better life -- can be made universally affordable and accessible," he added.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Senegalese counterpart Abdoulaye Wade appealed for more backing for a "Digital Solidarity Fund" that has so far garnered 5.5 million euros.
The fund for local IT projects with a clear social and economic benefit in poor countries aims to raise part of its funding from a one percent levy on computer and telecoms purchases by public and private sector members.
However, rich nations believe that developing nations must also develop the business and regulatory environment in their own countries to attract private investment and some existing aid.
"The challenge to the developing world is now to make sure they have the infrastructure, rules, legal processes and the market systems to attract the investment of the technologies that we see on display at the summit," said US Assistant Secretary for Commerce Michael Gallagher.

Rights groups fault Tunis on press and Web censorship
GENEVA/TUNIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) U.N. envoys and Human Rights Watch have accused Tunisia, which hosts a U.N. conference on the Internet this week, of repressing press freedoms and writers and blocking Web sites critical of the government.
Three U.N. human rights envoys said in a statement that they had received "numerous reports" of abuses and that respect for human rights was deteriorating in Tunisia.
They expressed "profound concern, at the opening of the ...World Summit on the Information Society, at the deterioration in the freedom of expression, of association and of the independence of judges and lawyers in Tunisia".
Hina Jilani, U.N. rapporteur on defenders of human rights, Ambeyi Ligabo, rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, and Leandro Despouy, rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, called on Tunis to take all necessary steps to protect "these fundamental freedoms".
Without citing examples, they said they had information about the blocking of streets to prevent meetings; the closing down of lawyers' associations; and physical attacks by members of security forces on journalists, lawyers and defenders of human rights.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch criticised Tunisia for its strict regulations on access to some Web material and for jailing citizens for expressing their opinions on the Internet.
"It continues to flout its national and international legal commitments to free expression, the right to access information and the right to privacy by censoring the Internet (and) imprisoning writers for expressing their views online," it said.
"Its record on freedom of expression online in practice has led many Tunisian human rights workers to express disbelief that (the summit) will be held in their country," the group said in its report on censorship of the Internet by Middle Eastern governments.
About 50 heads of state are due in Tunis for the summit, being hosted by the United Nations from Nov. 16 to 18.
SUMMIT QUESTIONED
Non-governmental organisations have long questioned whether Tunis should be holding the summit when its government has been routinely accused of press repression.
The government of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali strongly rejects any suggestion that it violates human rights or limits legitimate access to traditional or electronic media.
"When I first heard that the summit was to be held here, I viewed it as a humiliation that the dictatorship should have this chance to present a modern mask to hide its face," said Mokhtar Yahyaoui of the Tunis Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, according to Human Rights Watch.
Researchers from Human Rights Watch and the transatlantic, university-based Open Net Initiative tested access to 1,947 sites from around the world in September and found that 182 of them were blocked to readers in Tunisia.
These included the Web sites of human rights groups, opposition parties, Islamist movements and organisations that provide news about Tunisia.
The group's report said two Tunisians -- Zoheir Yahiaoui and Mohamed Abou -- had been jailed for Internet writings and that Abdallah Zouari, a dissident living in internal exile, had been prevented from entering Internet cafes to send messages.

Eleventh hour deal avoids global split over Internet control
TUNIS, Nov 16 (AFP) - An eleventh hour deal has avoided a potentially
damaging split between the United States and the rest of the world over control
of the Internet, after diplomats agreed to work towards enhanced international
cooperation.
Negotiators said they had struck an agreement on key clauses on Internet
governance for endorsement during the World Summit on the Internet Society,
which began in Tunis on Wednesday.
A three-year deadlock in preliminary talks until the final hours of Tuesday
had revolved around Washington's single-handed oversight of the private body
that oversees the key technical and administrative roots of the global
network.
Officials had warned that the Internet could have been torn into competing
or disconnected networks if the sometimes bitter split had continued.
The agreement set up two parallel tracks of multilateral talks, including
an open-ended process "towards enhanced cooperation" by "relevant international
organisations" on oversight and public policy issues.
The new process will be triggered by United Nations Secretary General Kofi
Annan in the first quarter of 2006, according to the final draft, but set no
target for an outcome.
Despite sharp criticism, the private, non-profit, Internet Corporation For
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was expected to have its tender renewed by
the US government next summer, since nothing in the final draft ruled it out.
"We did not change anything on the role of the US government with regard to
the technical aspects that we were very concerned about," top US negotiator
David Gross said after the agreement struck between 170 countries.
"We saw the world's countries recognising how very important the Internet
is and how important the growth of the Internet is, and no one created a
problem that could help retard that growth," Gross, the US coordinator for
international communications and information policy, added.
Countries such as Iran and China had sought UN oversight of ICANN or
Internet governance, while the European Union wanted to water down US powers,
but the US firmly objected.
The other track creates an Internet Governance Forum (IGF) for an initial
five-year term to hold talks on all Internet issues, including problems such as
as spam, cyber crime or computer viruses.
After a final session which saw US, Chinese and Iranian diplomats swapping
suggestions for new wording, officials applauded efforts to widen the scope of
formal discussion to industry and civil society.
The IGF, which Greece has offered to host, will also be allowed to "build
on the existing structures of Internet Governance" but has no concrete powers.
"The worst has been avoided but we're not sure that the best is to come in
the future. We have left a door open," a member of the French delegation,
Bernard Benhamou, said.
"We did not close the door to the essential part, international
cooperation," he added.
UN Under Secretary General for Communications Shashi Tharoor said an
agreement on Internet governance was "crucial" to continue to build on freedom
of expression on the global process.
"We need more voices in the process and we need more voices on the net,"
Tharoor told journalists, adding that it was "very important that the Internet
remain a realm for freedom of expression and freedom of opinion".
Public policy issues include Internet resources, security of the network,
and development issues, as well as ICANN's role in allocating domain names and
addresses. The forum, however, has a wider mandate.
Washington's critics had warned that no single nation could maintain
control over top level domain or country names -- such as .cn, .fr and .uk --
without the threat of it being misused to block a foe's access to the Internet
for political or economic reasons.
The US had warned that regimes that do not allow freedom of speech might
instead be in a position to have leverage over the Internet.

Summit to harness IT revolution for poor amid Internet, rights battles
TUNIS, Nov 15 (AFP) A UN summit opens Wednesday in Tunis with the aim of
harnessing the IT revolution for poor countries, as rich nations squabble over
control of the Internet and a row brews over freedom of expression in its host
Tunisia.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who launched the information summit
process for developing nations in 2001, is due to join 20 government leaders
and about 10,000 participants at the three-day conference and trade fair.
The world body's International Telecommunication Union, which is organising
the World Summit for the Information Society, has set the ambitious target of
connecting all villages in the world to the Internet in 2015.
The number of top level participants has dwindled and few Western leaders
were expected to hear the call to allow poor nations to reap the economic and
social benefits of the Internet and modern telecoms.
Most of the top-flight political attendance was expected to come from the
developing world, including Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo, Senegal's Abdulaye Wade and Venezuelan president Hugo
Chavez.
A first summit two years ago in Geneva disappointed poor countries after
rich nations failed to back a so-called "digital solidarity fund".
The fund, which is partly meant to be financed by a one percent levy on IT
services and equipment contracts, was relaunched this year with the help of
some European cities and regions.
Obasanjo and Wade were due to launch a public appeal for more support on
Wednesday, the fund's Geneva-based organisers said. It has so far gathered 5.5
million euros (6.4 million dollars) from its 21 members.
The run-up to the summit has been dominated instead by a battle over
control of the Internet pitting the United States against most of the 170 other
nations involved, including European Union countries.
The technical root of the Internet, which is crucial to seamless global
networking, is currently managed by the California-based Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), under tender from the US government.
"It's as if the national telephone networks of all the countries in the
world was run from Los Angeles," a European diplomat said.
The Internet has expanded and its global economic and social importance has
grown exponentially since the US-centred ICANN system was introduced in 1998.
The EU, Japan, Iran and several other nations believe the time is ripe for
international oversight.
But Washington is firmly opposing the step, warning that regimes that do
not allow freedom of speech might be in a position to have leverage over the
Internet.
Meanwhile a huge security perimeter was thrown around the exhibition hall
north of Tunis, while thousands of armed police guarded key sites and
crossroads throughout the Tunisian capital.
Summit logos, national flags and portraits of Tunisian President Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali were also draped along buildings and roads.
The decision to host the summit in Tunisia prompted protests from human
rights groups, including Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF - Reporters without
Borders), which accuse the Tunisian government of clamping down on freedom of
speech.
The row intensified earlier this week after a French journalist, who was
investigating human rights issues in Tunisia, was attacked and wounded by an
unidentified group of men in the capital.
On Monday, Belgian Public television said one of its crews was assaulted in
Tunis while they were covering a human rights gathering.
France has formally asked the Tunisian government for an explanation for
the incident involving its citizen. Western diplomats at the summit said they
were keeping a keen eye on the human rights issue.
President Ben Ali has accused seven Tunisian opposition figures of lacking
patriotism after they began a hunger strike last month to claim greater freedom
of speech.

Summit to harness IT revolution for poor amid Internet, rights battles
TUNIS, Nov 15 (AFP) A UN summit opens Wednesday in Tunis with the aim of harnessing the IT revolution for poor countries, as rich nations squabble over control of the Internet and a row brews over freedom of expression in its host Tunisia.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who launched the information summit process for developing nations in 2001, is due to join 20 government leaders and about 10,000 participants at the three-day conference and trade fair.
The world body's International Telecommunication Union, which is organising the World Summit for the Information Society, has set the ambitious target of connecting all villages in the world to the Internet in 2015.
The number of top level participants has dwindled and few Western leaders were expected to hear the call to allow poor nations to reap the economic and social benefits of the Internet and modern telecoms.
Most of the top-flight political attendance was expected to come from the developing world, including Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senegal's Abdulaye Wade and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
A first summit two years ago in Geneva disappointed poor countries after rich nations failed to back a so-called "digital solidarity fund".
The fund, which is partly meant to be financed by a one percent levy on IT services and equipment contracts, was relaunched this year with the help of some European cities and regions.
Obasanjo and Wade were due to launch a public appeal for more support on Wednesday, the fund's Geneva-based organisers said. It has so far gathered 5.5 million euros (6.4 million dollars) from its 21 members. The run-up to the summit has been dominated instead by a battle over
control of the Internet pitting the United States against most of the 170 other nations involved, including European Union countries.
The technical root of the Internet, which is crucial to seamless global networking, is currently managed by the California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), under tender from the US government.
"It's as if the national telephone networks of all the countries in the world was run from Los Angeles," a European diplomat said. The Internet has expanded and its global economic and social importance has grown exponentially since the US-centred ICANN system was introduced in 1998.
The EU, Japan, Iran and several other nations believe the time is ripe for international oversight. But Washington is firmly opposing the step, warning that regimes that do
not allow freedom of speech might be in a position to have leverage over the Internet.
Meanwhile a huge security perimeter was thrown around the exhibition hall north of Tunis, while thousands of armed police guarded key sites and crossroads throughout the Tunisian capital.
Summit logos, national flags and portraits of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali were also draped along buildings and roads. The decision to host the summit in Tunisia prompted protests from human rights groups, including Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF - Reporters without Borders), which accuse the Tunisian government of clamping down on freedom of
speech.
The row intensified earlier this week after a French journalist, who was investigating human rights issues in Tunisia, was attacked and wounded by an unidentified group of men in the capital.
On Monday, Belgian Public television said one of its crews was assaulted in Tunis while they were covering a human rights gathering. France has formally asked the Tunisian government for an explanation for the incident involving its citizen. Western diplomats at the summit said they were keeping a keen eye on the human rights issue.
President Ben Ali has accused seven Tunisian opposition figures of lacking patriotism after they began a hunger strike last month to claim greater freedom of speech.

U.N. alarmed at duping of migrants via Internet
GENEVA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Would-be migrants from Asia, Africa and Latin America are being tricked into paying up to $1,000 for promises of travel to a rich country by Web sites
claiming links to the United Nations, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
Fraudsters infiltrated chat rooms, special interest groups and even dating sites to entice men and women by claiming to belong to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) or other organisations, UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told journalists.
"Unsuspecting victims are encouraged to apply to these sham resettlement programmes by paying an administrative fee which ranges from $100 up to $1,000," she said.
The UNHCR never charges for assistance to refugees requiring international protection and people should understand that all such offers of help were false, Pagonis said.
The scams first come to light at the beginning of the year and the Geneva-based UNHCR was working with governments to try to close down any fraudulent Internet sites detected, she said.
She had no information on how many sites had been closed or on how much money might have been lost so far.

Internet holds only future for newspapers, experts warn

MADRID, Nov 10 (APP/AFP) Newspapers have no future without online and digital services, media executives heard at a World Association of Newspapers meeting in Madrid on Thursday.
"We are getting the whole organisation ready for a digital future," said Simon Waldman, director of digital publishing at Guardian Newspapers, whose Guardian Unlimited site is by far the most popular British newspaper online site, ahead of The Sun, The Times and The Telegraph.
Within "six to seven years", the group planned to dedicate 80 percent of its time to digital activities, compared to 20 percent at present, Waldman told the conference, entitled "Beyond the Printed Word".
The Guardian's 15 Internet sites, which became profitable this year and are funded almost solely from advertising, command similar numbers of readers in the United States and in Britain.
Meanwhile the Internet arm of El Mundo (Elmundo.es), Spain's second-best selling daily in print, has the highest readership of all online European papers with 750,000 visitors a day, and is the most read title in the Spanish-speaking world.
A digital strategy dating back nearly 10 years has made the site "very profitable" since 2003, with a profit of 1.3 million euros (1.5 million dollars) in 2004, according to Elmundo.es director of development Emilio Plana Hidalgo.
"Digital revenue is serious business ... Online business is a growth
business, while newspapers are not," echoed Helmar Hipp, regional director of Austria's Voralberger Nachrichten, which draws 15 percent of its revenue from the Internet and related activities.
The two-day conference was jointly organised by the World Association of Newspapers, the IFRA publishing association and the International Federation of the Printed Press (IFPP).