Security, Censorship, & Internet

In the fast changing environment of the Internet, issues regarding Security arise as individuals and organizations strive to take advantage of security weaknesses. Along the way, issues regarding Censorship and the stifling of of freedoms naturally arise as some seek to control content while others strive to acquire content without considerations towards others. Being informed is tantamount as we strive to preserve our freedoms while staying safe and secure. teknor Feb 5

I'm going to take a guess and say the national Terrorism Mood Ring is still set to 'OVERREACT' if this story is any indication. Cameron D'Ambrosio, a Methuen, MA high school student, was arrested May 1st and charged with "communicating terroristic threats" based on a Facebook posting . He is being held without bail pending a hearing on May 9th and could face up to 20 years in jail for making a "bomb threat." MA Teen Arrested And Held Without Bail For Posting Supposed 'Terrorist Threat' On Facebook

Planet Blue Coat: Mapping Global Censorship and Surveillance ToolsThe Citizen Lab Download PDF version

NearlyFreeSpeech.NET Blog » Official UK government attempt at censorship | Rights & Liberties

Court Forbids Linking to Pirate Bay Proxies The Court of The Hague has handed down another ruling that restricts access to The Pirate Bay website. The Court has forbidden the Dutch Pirate Party from linking to, operating or listing websites that allow the public to circumvent a local Pirate Bay blockade. The political party is further ordered to shutdown its reverse proxy indefinitely and block Pirate Bay domains and IP-addresses from its generic proxy. After two Dutch ISPs were ordered to censor The Pirate Bay earlier this year there was an influx of visitors to Pirate Bay proxy sites.

The government has decided to return two domain names it improperly seized and held in its possession for well over a year, without so much as an explanation. This time, it was Rojadirecta.com and Rojadirecta.org , Puerto 80’s popular sports streaming sites, which the government seized back in February 2011. Following the seizure, Puerto 80 fought back, petitioning the government for return of the domains, noting that its linking activities were not infringing. Indeed, Puerto 80 is a Spanish company, and a Spanish court had already found the sites legal. In a disappointing opinion, the district court disagreed , holding that the government did not have to return the domains. Puerto 80 appealed, and the case was still pending, until today, when the government mysteriously dropped the matter. Rojadirecta: The Government Reverses Course and Returns Domains Without Explanation. Again.

A leaked “memo” from the MPAA shows how movie industry insiders are being briefed to respond in media interviews on the extradition case of TV-Shack admin Richard O’Dwyer. In the talking points the MPAA describes the UK student as a deliberate criminal while mocking his wardrobe. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, who launched a petition to stop the extradition, is called out as “presumptuous” by the movie industry group. Last year Richard O’Dwyer was arrested by police for operating TVShack, a website that listed user-submitted link to TV-shows. Leaked MPAA Memo Reveals TV-Shack Press Strategy

Are Your Politicians For Sale?

Another Internet Piracy Bill Introduced A bill similar to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) — which was postponed earlier this year following significant public backlash and scrutiny — is being introduced by Rep . Michael Rogers ( R - MI ) and sponsored by 106 House members. Already, Rep.

Study Finds China Censorship Of Social Media Is Real, Pervasive A study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University has concluded that Chinese social media sites are deleting messages with content that might be construed as controversial by the Communist Party - the first conclusive evidence that state censorship extends to social media sites like Sina Weibo, the popular micro blogging Web site that many have likened to a Chinese Twitter. The study, published on the Web site of First Monday , an online publication of the University of Illinois, Chicago, finds that censors in China delete around 16 percent of the messages submitted to Sina Weibo , the popular micro blogging Web site that many have likened to a Chinese version of Twitter. The study, released in March, concludes that "soft censorship" in China - the removal of controversial subject matter from blogs and Web pages - is at least as popular as hard censorship, like the blocking of offensive sites.

ACTA / SOPA / PIPA / COICA

The internet is packed full of opinion sites all under the heading of freedom of speech. But an Irish judge has landed the first blow against sites with 'patently untrue' information by shutting one down. Judge Michael Peart ordered rate-your-solicitor.com to be closed because it had defamed a Sligo solicitor, Damien Tansey. Irish judge closes opinion website saying defamation can cause suicide

Censorship

Freedom of Information

OPEN Act

Anonymous