-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 26 Mar 2009
The government's proposed filter, according to a leaked document, would censor a host of sites unrelated to terrorism or child pornography.
The Australian government is drafting law that would require Internet service providers to filter and remove all "inappropriate" content. Yet, the top-secret blacklist drawn up by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which was recently leaked, included certain Wikipedia entries, some Christian sites, the Web site of a tour operator and even a Queensland dentist's practice.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 24 Mar 2009
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican is launching a Chinese version of its website in an effort to bring more of Pope Benedict's message to China, whose communist government does not allow Catholics to recognize his authority.
Some Church sources and diplomats said they feared the site could be blocked by Chinese authorities, as has been the fate of other websites.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 24 Mar 2009
The vulnerability, leaked to iTnews over the weekend and verified by IT security consultants, is due to a flaw in the Integard internet filtering software developed by Brisbane's Race River Corporation.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 24 Mar 2009
The remaining ISPs participating in the Federal Government’s Internet filtering trial have declared their continuing support for the controversial scheme.
This week iiNet announced it has withdrawn from the Internet filtering trial with managing director, Michael Malone, describing the trial as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 24 Mar 2009
THE communications regulator's secret blacklist of banned websites has been leaked onto the web and includes such innocent sites as a dentist and tuckshop consultant.
The whistleblower site Wikileaks yesterday published the top-secret Australian Communications and Media Authority list. Websites on it will be blocked for all Australians once the Federal Government implements its mandatory internet filtering scheme, which was originally pitched as targeting only "illegal" content.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 23 Mar 2009
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A court in Yemen sentenced a man to death for contacting and offering to spy for Israel.
Bassam al-Haidari, 26, was found guilty Monday of sending an e-mail to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and offering his services. He was sentenced to death, according to news reports.
Two other defendants, aged 23 and 24, were sentenced to prison. The men, who are said to be members of the anti-Yemeni government Organization of Islamic Jihad, went on trial in January.
Israel and Yemen do not have diplomatic relations.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 23 Mar 2009
iiNet, Australia's third largest Internet Service Provider, is withdrawing from the government's censorship trial.
Communications minister Stephen Conroy is pushing ahead with a trial of filtering technology to clean up the internet as seen by Aussie citizens. Conroy claimed the list of banned websites were all related to child sexual abuse, but the publication of the list revealed this to be untrue. The list included euthanasia sites, Christian and satanic sites and even a Queensland dentist.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 23 Mar 2009
Iran has a vital online community of around 60,000 active blogs and up to 20 million people connected to the internet. As the Iranian cyber world is dynamic, so is government filtering of what content is accessible to Iranian citizens.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 23 Mar 2009
Young Egyptian women are using blogs and online radio stations to beat the censors and to fight for equality.
Despite making up only 24% of the workforce in Egypt, 30% of women use the internet.
But it is the middle and upper classes that have really taken to the internet as an alternative way to discuss topics and exchange information and air what many conservatives would consider to be radical views.
Often exploiting the anonymity afforded by the internet they tell personal stories, share political and cultural views, post favourite pictures, and talk about their daily frustrations.
-
By: Jillian C. York
Date: 23 Mar 2009
KUALA LUMPUR--Malaysia's move to charge eight people for criticizing a state ruler online has drawn the ire of Amnesty International and local media watchdogs. Ironically, the charge is under a multimedia law which guards against Internet censorship.
