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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 09 Jun 2009
By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER and BEN WORTHEN
Computer makers and researchers are seeking answers to questions about Internet filtering software that the Chinese government is requiring PC manufacturers to ship with computers sold in the country beginning next month.
The software -- dubbed "Green Dam-Youth Escort" -- could give government censors additional control over the information that Chinese Internet users see online.
Though the company that makes Green Dam, China-based Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co., has said it is designed to let parents block access to Web content inappropriate for children, Internet freedom advocates have questioned whether it could be used to block politically sensitive sites, given China's history of censoring Web content.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 09 Jun 2009
What applies offline is also valid online - an argument often used against internet communication by legislators - has been turned around to underline fundamental rights on the internet in a new resolution of the Council of Europe.
The Council of Europe is a Strasbourg, France-based body of 47 members including the member states of the European Union.
In a lengthy resolution that lays out the media and internet work of the Council for the next five years, ministers for media and new communication gathered in Reykjavik, Iceland on 29 May underlined that “fundamental rights and Council of Europe standards and values apply to online information and communication services as much as they do to the offline world.”
The ministers called for universal access to the internet should be explored as part of member state’s provision of public services. Barriers to internet access in individual countries, in cross-border flows or from possible problems in critical internet infrastructure systems, are on the future agenda of the Council.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 09 Jun 2009
Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today over China’s plan to force computer manufacturers to install software on personal computers to filter information seen by the Communist Party as “unhealthy”.
The ‘Green Dam’ software, which must be installed from 1st July onwards will filter pornographic content, the industry and information and technology ministry has decided. “It is a scenario worthy of Big Brother that is unfolding in China,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “First comes the arrests of dissident bloggers and now the time for surveillance built into computers themselves.”
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 03 Jun 2009
Bing, Microsoft's new search engine may be too good at connecting users with content. That's the contention of InternetSafety.com, the company that offers the SafeEyes Internet filtering tool.
In a blog post, InternetSafety.com warned that without an Internet filtering tool installed, Bing facilitates access to porn by prompting users to turn off its "safe search" function when a search returns explicit adult content. The company also notes that Bing gives users the capability to play videos by simply rolling over thumbnails in results leaving no URL trail for parents to monitor.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 03 Jun 2009
The Pirate Bay is not the only torrent site that is being dragged to court as we knew since March when it was announced that Netherlands-based torrent tracker Mininova is in legal hot water with local anti-piracy group BREIN. The difference between TPB (The Pirate Bay) and Mininova is that TPB’s trial is a criminal one, while Mininova’s is civil. Initially the trial date was set for May 20th, but that date was later rescheduled for May 2nd because Mininova’s attorney had some “personal circumstances” to attend to.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 02 Jun 2009
In defiance of the European Parliament, the French lower house has approved a law that has widely been described as the most aggressive attempt to counter internet piracy yet.
The 'three-strikes' law that would cut off internet access to users found to be repeatedly downloading copyright content without the permission of the owner was passed by 296 votes to 233 in what is the government's second attempt to push through the bill.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 02 Jun 2009
The Islamic Republic of Iran has been and remains one of the world’s harshest censors of the Internet, frequently blocking sites that are deemed “immoral” and politically offensive to the unelected authorities in power. Dissident bloggers and journalists of diverse ethnic, political and religious backgrounds are imprisoned and at times even executed for expressing their views online. Websites like “Virgin Atlantic” and “the American Anthropological Association” are blocked for merely containing words or phrases that are perceived anti-Islamic by the ruling elites in Tehran. In many ways, the Internet is viewed by the ruling clerics as potentially a dangerous domain, which requires harsh measures to control its content. There are paradoxes in this issue like other aspects of politics in Iran; the government censoring of the Internet does not follow a systematic pattern and the more famous the blogger the harder it is for the authorities to harass her/him. The recent death of Mirsayafi in the Evin prison - a less known blogger with an obscure blog who insulted the supreme leader - demonstrates these paradoxes well.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 02 Jun 2009
Twitterers around China are reporting that the popular micro-blogging site Twitter.com appears to be blocked, the first time the site has been widely inaccessible to users in the country.
Twitter users began reporting difficulty getting on the site late on Tuesday afternoon in China, just days ahead of the sensitive 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Twitterers access was still possible through some Twitter clients, such as Tweetdeck, but users trying to access their accounts through other clients, such as Twhirl, said they also encountered problems.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 29 May 2009
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to create a new military command for cyberspace, administration officials said Thursday, stepping up preparations by the armed forces to conduct both offensive and defensive computer warfare.
The military command would complement a civilian effort to be announced by President Obama on Friday that would overhaul the way the United States safeguards its computer networks.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 26 May 2009
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- The online networking sites Facebook and Twitter were back in business for Iranians Tuesday, a day after the government banned the country's access to them, a freelance writer said.
The 28-year-old woman, who uses the name Shahrazad to protect her identity, said the sites were reactivated during the morning.
On Monday, CNN Correspondent Reza Sayah asked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about the shutdown of Facebook. He told the news conference he had not called for the ban but would look into it.
He added, "I believe in maximum freedom of expression."
