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Vietnam Continues Online Censorship; Outlaws 'Subversive' Blogs; Puts Liability
On ISPs
,----[ Quote ]
| Vietnam has a long history of online censorship and suppression of dissent.
| Back in 2002, a law was put in place requiring registration with the
| government before creating a website, and soon after that there were reports
| of arrests of people for putting "questionable" material online.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20081224/0022473216.shtml
Australian Filtering Boss: Turning Off Blog And Comments
,----[ Quote ]
| While that post about BitTorrent filtering got a lot of attention, it also
| got a ton of comments, and now Conroy and his team are turning off their blog
| and closing down the comments. Way to communicate with the people...
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20081223/1711053210.shtml
Yesterday:
Vietnam tightens rules on blogs
,----[ Quote ]
| Vietnam has tightened restrictions on internet blogs, banning bloggers from
| raising subjects the government deems inappropriate.
|
| Blogs should follow Vietnamese law, and be written in "clean and wholesome"
| language, according to a government document seen by local media.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7798681.stm
China Rebuilds its Great Firewall
,----[ Quote ]
| Now that the Games are over, "China has resumed blocking access to the
| Internet sites of some foreign media," including the BBC, Voice of America,
| Hong Kong's Ming Pao and Asiaweek. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson
| said the sites have been blocked because they broke Chinese laws, such
| as "recognizing Taiwan as an independent nation."
`----
http://www.prwatch.org/node/8088
Aussie government defends Internet censorship technology
,----[ Quote ]
| He said that the panel didn't test the filtering technology to arrive at its
| conclusions, forgetting that you don't have to waste millions testing
| something when you know it won't work.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/151/1050151/aussie-government-defends-internet-censorship-technology
Recent:
The Net is Under Threat
,----[ Quote ]
| Community advocacy group GetUp is running a new campaign against Australian
| Federal Government plans to censor what we view on the internet. The ‘Save
| the Net’ campaign is gaining momentum, with over 55,000 Australians having
| already signed a petition to Communications Minister Senator Conroy voicing
| their outrage over the Government’s ill-considered ideas.
`----
http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/emily/news/the-net-is-under-threat/view
Even child welfare groups don’t want web censorship
,----[ Quote ]
| THE AUSSIE government's plans to build a Great Internet Rabbit Proof Fence
| are floundering with even kiddie welfare groups saying it is a jolly bad
| idea.
|
| The Aussie government thought that it would protect children by mimicking the
| censorship antics of Communist China but, much to its surprise, has found
| that the idea is a wee bit unpopular.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/12/01/children-welfare-groups-web
Aussie government muffs plans for internet filtering
,----[ Quote ]
| Her view is that censorship of sexual material is more often than not
| followed by broader political censorship. The censorship tide in Australia
| today is coming in, and while many individuals may not get terribly excited
| about the censorship of what is generally regarded as smut, proposals by the
| Rudd Government to censor the internet through compulsory filtering feel very
| much like the thin end of the wedge.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/26/greens_internet_filtering/
Is the Internet going down down under?
,----[ Quote ]
| The battle is now on for the soul of the Australian internet. The outcome
| could have enormous repercussions for the future of the internet in the UK.
|
| Regular readers will be aware of the Australian Government’s plans to clamp
| down on the internet down under. These, the brainchild of Communications
| Minister Stephen Conroy, have been bubbling away since last year, and began,
| as so many half-baked government schemes do, with the plea that
| someone "think of the children".
|
| The scheme would put in place a server-level content filtering system, to
| block material unsuitable for children. The cat was put well and truly
| amongst the pigeons with the recent claim by Internode network engineer Mark
| Newton that there will be no opt-out from filtering for parents.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/05/aussie_internet/
In Conroy’s muddy waters you'll never know what’s being filtered
,----[ Quote ]
| Critics of Conroy's Internet filtering say Australians will not be able to
| find out what the government censors online, and ask: who watches the
| watchmen?
|
| An Australian law expert has warned that under the government’s proposed
| mandatory Internet content filtering scheme Australians will have no way of
| finding out what “illegal” content has been censored and blocked online,
| while Greens Senator Scott Ludlam voiced his concern over Conroy’s ambiguity
| regarding exactly what content will or won’t be blocked, and who will be able
| to opt-out of the filtering.
|
| Conroy’s mandatory Internet filtering proposal caused a stir last week when
| it was revealed a member of his department had tried to censor severely
| critical comments made on the Whirlpool broadband forum by an Internode
| network engineer regarding the merits of ISP level filtering.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=355409327&rid=-50
Big tech companies back global plan to shield online speech
,----[ Quote ]
| Stating that privacy is "a human right and guarantor of human dignity," the
| initiative commits the companies to try to resist overly broad demands for
| restrictions on freedom of speech and overly broad demands that could
| compromise the privacy of their users.
|
| The initiative was begun after human rights groups and Congress criticized
| the Internet companies for cooperating with Chinese government censorship and
| demands for information on dissidents. In addition to laying out the code of
| conduct, the initiative will provide a non-governmental forum for the
| companies and human rights groups to jointly resist demands for censorship.
| It will also establish a system of independent auditors to rate the
| companies' conduct.
`----
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/28/technology/28privacy.php
Internet Companies Pay Lip Service To Human Rights
,----[ Quote ]
| While it's nice that they're actually thinking about these issues, the
| guidelines on the whole are pretty weak and don't bind the companies to do
| anything. Basically, it just says that the companies will consider the human
| rights issues in their decision making. If anything, this seems like an
| attempt to just keep the government from legislating on the issues, and it
| may not be very successful on that front. The real test will be in seeing how
| these companies actually act, rather than what sorts of guidelines they've
| signed.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20081027/1946252660.shtml
Labor's web gag 'worse than Iran'
,----[ Quote ]
| The Federal Government is attempting to silence critics of its controversial
| plan to censor the internet, which experts say will break the internet while
| doing little to stop people from accessing illegal material such as child
| pornography.
|
| Internet providers and the government's own tests have found that presently
| available filters are not capable of adequately distinguishing between legal
| and illegal content and can degrade internet speeds by up to 86 per cent.
|
| Documents obtained by Fairfax Media show the office of the Communications
| Minister, Stephen Conroy, tried to bully ISP staff into suppressing their
| criticisms of the plan.
|
| Senator Conroy has since last year's election victory remained tight-lipped
| on the specifics of his $44.2 million policy but, grilled by a Senate
| Estimates committee this week, he said the Government was looking at forcing
| ISPs to implement a two-tiered filtering system.
`----
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/technology/labors-web-gag-worse-than-iran/2008/10/23/1224351491889.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
http://tinyurl.com/6lkxux
No opt-out of filtered Internet
,----[ Quote ]
| Australians will be unable to opt-out of the government's pending Internet
| content filtering scheme, and will instead be placed on a watered-down
| blacklist, experts say.
`----
http://www.infoworld.com/news/feeds/08/10/13/No-opt-out-of-filtered-Internet.html?source=gs
Conroy announces mandatory internet filters to protect children
,----[ Quote ]
| "Labor makes no apologies to those that argue that any regulation of the
| internet is like going down the Chinese road," he said.
`----
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129471.htm
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