Censorship

Just in the time for the Olympics, the Chinese government has proved itself to be a pioneer as well as a top exporter in cutting-edge online censorship methods. And Western firms still give Beijing their active support. More...

The Fiji islands have been taken over by members of the military who are contnuing their effort to end democracy on the islands. The military government defied an order from the High Court and deported the Australian publsiher of the nation’s leading newspaper. The oup-installed gov ernment claimed publisher Evan Hannah was a threat to [...]

Here's how WND described the issue.Last day to save Christian radio? FCC rule change seen as threat to licenses of religious stationsUnder a proposed FCC rule, radio stations would be required to take programming advice from "community advisory boards representative of the area's population". The regs. would also require quarterly reports on program content, source and how it reflects the interest of the community. Who the Hell will seek and obtain membership on those advisory boards? Unions, Move On activists, Saul Alinsky disciples, ACLU member & libturds, thats who. Regular people who have real lives would have neither time nor interest in such pursuits. It should be obvious that this proposal is a back door approach to the Unfairness Doctrine. [See Also] The libturds h

Back in March I blogged on a Technology to Circumvent Censorship. I actually expected some dialogue on this but today somebody posted an interesting comment, I think is worth reading. Just click the link above and look at the second comment Roger

Censorship continues to be a major obstacle for this global superpower. When will their leaders understand that no nation can achieve maximum potential while freedoms are constrained? The link is here. -

Richard Warman: His best side.That self-serving legal maladroit Richard Warman is making waves again with his so-called Maximum Disruption Campaign. The latest has the anti-rightwing, anti-conservative, anti-freedom of speech legal beagle launching an all-out attack against a number of conservative writers and internet forums.It’s no secret that Warman is only interested in getting his ugly mug in front of the cameras and that his intentions have nothing to do with erasing websites whose content or subject matter fall into his definition of ‘hate’. This employee of Canada’s Department of National Defense (feel safer now?) and long-time lackey of the Canadian Human Rights Commission has a rap sheet full of attempts at imposing censorship.Here's a response from one of the targets nam

U.S. Funded Health Search Engine Blocks 'Abortion' | Threat Level from Wired.com A U.S. government-funded medical information site that bills itself as the world's largest database on reproductive health has quietly begun to block searches on the word "abortion," concealing nearly 25,000 search results.One of my favorite hypocrisies of the Bush administration is the global war for freedom and democracy while fighting a domestic war against freedom and democracy. One thing we want to absolutely make sure of, and that is not to educate people. Telling people the truth will only get them into trouble, and certainly anything we think might be morally objectionable should be hidden.What's most amazing to me is that this sort of thing actually has support in the US. One wonders how George ca

Nigel has an interesting post on Qatar internet censorship on Qatar living. His post follows the story that Qtel have blocked parts of facebook - not inflammatory material or pornography but an application which allows you to show miniature pictures of your friends! Presumably a mistake - again! Unfortunately, Qtel can rarely be bothered to rectify it's mistakes.Qatar Visitor FriendsQatar JobsFind the best deal, compare prices and read what other travellers have to say about QatarTagsQatar censorship

ISPs and Web site operators are working with Human Rights Watch on guidelines for dealing with Internet censorship in China.A code of conduct addressing how major Internet service providers and portal operators should deal with Internet censorship in China is in the final stages of preparation by Human Rights Watch and the providers, the head of the human rights pressure organization said Tuesday.The code is due in the next couple of months and comes in the run up to the Beijing Olympic Games that begin in August.Human rights in China is increasingly in the spotlight in the run up to the games, including issues surrounding censorship and freedom of expression online. The latest example of such came earlier this week when access to YouTube and Google News was blocked in the aftermath of pro

Well, I was thinking hard whether I shall blog on that or not. But then a friend of mine brought up a valid point: I am always claiming that a lot of issues on the Internet are missing a public debate yet, what is more important - and this might well be one of those. I do not want to take a position here and I am clear, looking at the map of my visitors, that the debate would be pretty one-sided: However, it is an interesting project: and if you want to know the details: To quote from their website: psiphon is a human rights software project developed by the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies that allows citizens in uncensored countries to provide unfettered access to the Net through their home computers to friends and family members who live behind firewalls o

Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based international non-governmental organization which advocates freedom of the press, has today launched a one-day protest against Internet censorship in the nine worst offending nations. While they include obvious ones like China and Cuba, RSF also shines a light on the offenses of Turkmenistan and Eritrea, both nations which cripple Internet [...]

Funny how the words censored and banned illicit such an overwhelming sense of curiosity.DBKP has a new selection of censored and banned ads from across the globe. Funny, quirky, sexy, and brilliantly un-politically correct, sit back and enjoy, DBKP's Censorship Theatre.By LBGSource - PBSSource - Merriam WebsterDBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

,7340,L-3517960,00.htmlYNET News reports on the whining about Geert Wilders' upcoming film about the demon's book. Their report contains two crucial quotations. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari cited the 1948 Human Rights declaration's 29th article that individual rights may be limited in the interest of respecting other people's freedoms and "meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society." My right of free expression, guaranteed by the first amendment to the United States Constitution, is not in conflict with any other right of any person. There is no right to be sheltered from the truth. Rights & obligations must be reciprocal, they are not one sided. Muslims refer to us as "sons of apes and pigs", the exp

Ben Stein has produced a new documentary that will cause quite the stir in the educational institutions. You can see the trailer below. I have heard that “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” comes out in theaters nationwide on April 18,2008. Check out his website for more details. Share This

From The Times of London: A former Chinese university professor who was dismissed after he founded a democratic opposition party, plans to sue Yahoo and Google in the United States for blocking his name from search results in China. Guo Quan, an expert on classical Chinese literature and the 1937 Nanjing massacre of Chinese civilians by Japanese [...]

From Reporters without Borders, the list of Internet enemies: The list of 13 Internet enemies Three countries - Nepal, Maldives and Libya - have been removed from the annual list of Internet enemies, which Reporters Without Borders publishes today. But many bloggers were harassed and imprisoned this year in Egypt, so it has been added to the [...]

As an Arab, I am blessed to be using the internet in America with almost no censorship over internet websites. When I visited Saudi Arabia two years ago, the only way I could access the internet in my apartment was through slow dial-up connections which can subscribed to for a monthly fee or you [...]

The purpose of internet censorship is presumably to distract attention from certain issues. If so, Qatar censorship is currently failing miserably with a certain small and rather cute pig.The issue arose with pictures in a Winnie the Pooh book. The images of poor piglet had been blocked out with a black marker. Images of the book were posted on Qatar Living several months ago.The offending books were being sold in Saudi-owned Jareer book store, and it was widely assumed that the books had been censored in Saudi Arabia en-route to Qatar. The pictures aroused some rather light hearted banter, but few believed that moderate Qatar was the source of the censorship.The matter had been forgotten. At least, until a few days ago, when Qtel decided to censor the images of the censorship of the images.This was despite the fact that the page did not fall into any of Qtel's official censored sites' categories: "pornography, political criticism of Gulf countries and anti-Islamic sites".Far f

I was all set to go on Dancing with the Stars with my partner, the lovely Victoria Principal, when the producer knocks on my door and tells me that my Charleston-Jazz-Waltz fusion, the one that took me over three years to perfect, was canceled. "What do you mean? I auditioned it, and you guys said that it wasn't too Avant-garde for American audiences." "Look, you're great," he told me, "but those pants'll never pass the censors." Dejected, I went over to Victoria's dressing room and broke the news to her. We cried for a while, but vowed to come back- leaner, meaner, and stronger. I'm sorry I let my Asymmetric fans down. I'm also sorry we live in such an unenlightened country where a man can't wear the pants that reflect his soul- as well as most of the light in the room. C'mon, Puritans, it's almost 2008.

Join the Forbidden Fruit conference wiki at http://forbiddenfruitconference.wetpaint.com/Forbidden Fruit: The censorship of literature and information for young peopleSouthport, UK19th & 20th June 2008This two-day conference offers an opportunity for practitioners from libraries, information services and education, researchers from a range of disciples, publishers, authors and policymakers from all sectors interested in to meet, network and share experiences. The conference will focus on the censorship of print, electronic and other literary and information resources for young people.You are invited to present an abstract for a presentation in either of the following formats:- Reflective paper (approx 30 minutes plus discussion)- A case study (approximately 20 minutes plus discussion): a short report of a research activity or a practical project- A poster (a visual presentation of a case study or issue, with opportunities for informal discussion)Suggested themes include:- Young peo

50 Cent is pissed. His new video for the song "I'll Still Kill" has been censored for television. Now, granted, this song contains some censor-worthy lyrics, but the levels of lameness that this censorship entails are unprecedented.   Say goodbye to "I'll Still Kill." Say hello to "I'll Still Will." Oh yes, that's the new name of the song. Nevermind the fact that "kill" isn't a swear word, but "I'll Still Will" doesn't even make any ****ing sense. Is the song about an 80-year old man who gets shot 9 times but still goes ahead with dividing up his assets amongst his grandchildren? I ****ing hate when these **********s edit ***t into some ****ing lame **s *******t that no one can ****ing understand.   50 said of the censors:   I don't think they have a problem with the group the Killers being called the Killers. I don't think anyone's protesting that Gu

The people over at the blog directory 'Blog Village' have decided that I'm bad for their pure, sweet directory of douche blogs. I received this email from man named 'Rosemary'.The manager of the top list at http://blogvillage.gotop100.com is sending you this e-mail:"HI Daniel,I was looking at your blog today to see if you had added the BLOG VILLAGE banner, which I see you have. I am so sorry, as I must have approved your membership in error. Our TopList is a family friendly one, and I just don't think your blog is a good fit with our membership.Please remove our banner from your blog, and I will delete your site from our TopList.I deeply regret this, as it is completely my fault. My only defense is that I was trying to review about 40 requests to join, and I must have clicked the wrong button in your case.This decision is not based on your sexual orientation, but on the overall look of your blog, with words like Piss in the titles, and quite a few photos of a provocative nature.R

Recently Reporters Without Borders had put together a report on the Chinese government's massive censorship operation. The whole operation is very much up and active whose primary focus is on the censorship of internet. The report states that the Chinese government has instituted an elaborate system for Internet censorship that employs tens of thousands of censors and police responsible for maintaining control over the flow of information. To control the information flow over such a vast network, three leading government agencies have evolved over the last several years: the Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau, the Bureau of Information and Public Opinion, and the Internet Bureau, the report said. In Beijing, where most of China's leading commercial Web sites are based, a powerful local agency has been established called the Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau. It also states that Chinese supervisory bodies often use instant messaging and text messages sent via m

Check out Diva Smack's blog. I adore this broad. She's generous, kind, smart, caring and always there when you need her, always. Welcome her back. This incredible dame has been wrongfully accused and harassed by a group of Internet censorship loving nutbags. Check out this post and this one. Run. Read. Now.

Sometimes, all it takes is a small group of dedicated whatevers to do whatever. That can be bad. Is it here? NYT reports that anti-smoking lobbyists looking out for children’s health (good, right?) are finding it pretty easy to influence what goes into G, PG and PG-13 movies. Yet Hollywood is also waking to the [...]

Bill Gates is less dangerous than Google. All Bill has ever wanted to do is beat the day lights of any competition, make billions of dollars and own as much of the techie world as possible.In the last few years, Gates has been reborn, by virtue of the legacy of crappy code and the blood of many, as the world's savior. However, he is just a savior in the same sense as Rockefeller and Carnegie, sprinkling his spare cash for worthy causes.Google, however, as a New Age Corporation, is committed to a vision of making the world into a better place through the control and dispersion of information. And whenever any group has that mission, you best watch out. It is nothing new-- it has long been a favorite of totalitarian ideologues. So no one should have been surprised when Google did not have a problem in assisting the Chinese Communist Party in censoring its people. Wouldn't one think when the Chinese government demanded the search engine in China not produce hits for worlds such as free

Burma's bloggers are using the internet to beat censorship, and tell the world what is happening under the military junta's veil of secrecy. Protests are visible via pictures posted by bloggers like Ko Htike Images of saffron-robed monks leading throngs of people along the streets of Rangoon have been seeping out of a country famed for its totalitarian regime and repressive control of information.Read full storyTagsNews Burma Democracy Monks Buddhism

This Was Today? (100), upload feito originalmente por Maarten Dors. Faz tempo que o Flickr vem recebendo severas críticas à censura de certas fotos. Primeiro foi a Alemanha que ficou sem poder usar o Flickr por completo, agora parece-me que eles estão deletando fotos assim, sem mais nem menos, e depois mandam um aviso pedindo pra pessoa ter “bom senso” na hora de fazer upload das suas fotos. Essa, por exemplo, foi censurada. E daí que o menino está fumando? Criança hoje em dia faz coisa muito pior, e a fotografia não era um incentivo ao uso, era apenas um questionamento. Afinal, pra que serve a fotografia? Fotografia de verdade eu digo, e não fotografia publicitária. Engraçado é que o Flickr deletou essa foto do menino fumando, mas o mesmo fotógrafo tinha outras fotos de crianças cheirando cola, e essas não foram deletadas. Há pouco tempo também um fot&oa

Internet censorship is on the rise in America and across the world… Schools, business, libraries and governments block thousands of sites in the name of security and safety. Did you know that US House Resolution 5319 was passed which poses the potential to make it law for American schools and libraries to block social networking [...]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVB5ViG_0yE   Sean Kingston’s ‘Beautiful Girls’ has been banned from Dublin’s FM104’s playlist. FM104 said that it banned the song from its playlist because it felt it was no longer appropriate to air it with suicide at an all time high. The song, which deals with unrequited love, has spent the last month at the top of the Irish and British single charts. There have been growing calls internationally for it to be pulled from television and radio playlists. Kingston, a 17-year-old reggae-pop star, sings: “You’re way too beautiful girl, that’s why it’ll never work, you’ll have me suicidal, suicidal, when you say it’s over.” The song shouldn’t be banned from any playlist ….. this is political correctness gone totally mad. Suicide is a serious issue and many people have been affected by its consequences. Banning this song, however, will still not help or protect those who

I originally considered titling this entry: “Someone Please Shoot Me Now.” However, I realized that, given my vocation — that the above headline is not entirely appropriate. However, I have long contemplated beginning to publish a blog. Among my self-imposed obstacles was a fear. I think I can best summarize this fear as a fear of offense, or perhaps a fear of alienation. To explain: As I mentally wrote my potential blog articles, I realized that my possible subjects spanned the entire gamut of audiences. To put it mildly, my collection of interests is…. diverse. But I decided that, in the end, you can’t please everyone. The only compass that I can follow is to be true to myself. I am somewhat reluctant to describe myself as such, for fear of braggadocio — but I can probably be best described as one-of-a-kind. When I thought of my topics, I considered my potential audience(s). I contemplated censoring myself. I had concerns of alienating read

I originally considered titling this entry: “Someone Please Shoot Me Now.” However, I realized that, given my vocation — that the above headline is not entirely appropriate. However, I have long contemplated beginning to publish a blog. Among my self-imposed obstacles was a fear. I think I can best summarize this fear as a fear of offense, or perhaps a fear of alienation. To explain: As I mentally wrote my potential blog articles, I realized that my possible subjects spanned the entire gamut of audiences. To put it mildly, my collection of interests is…. diverse. But I decided that, in the end, you can’t please everyone. The only compass that I can follow is to be true to myself. I am somewhat reluctant to describe myself as such, for fear of braggadocio — but I can probably be best described as one-of-a-kind. When I thought of my topics, I considered my potential audience(s). I contemplated censoring myself. I had concerns of alienating readers. Su

I originally considered titling this entry:  “Someone Please Shoot Me Now.” However, I realized that, given my vocation — that the above headline is not entirely appropriate.  However, I have long contemplated beginning to publish a blog.  Among my self-imposed obstacles was a fear. I think I can best summarize this fear as a fear of offense, or perhaps a fear of alienation. To explain:  As I mentally wrote my potential blog articles, I realized that my possible subjects spanned the entire gamut of audiences. To put it mildly, my collection of interests is…. diverse. But I decided that, in the end, you can’t please everyone.  The only compass that I can follow is to be true to myself. I am somewhat reluctant to describe myself as such, for fear of braggadocio — but I can probably be best described as one-of-a-kind. When I thought of my topics, I considered my potential audience(s).  I contemplated censoring myself.  I had concerns of alienat

Black Women Have 36% Of All Abortions In Americaby Akindele AkinyemiThis is the second time in three years that leaders of the NAACP kept its membership from considering a resolution expressing concern for the right to life.This year's pro-life resolution, sponsored by the Macon, Georgia NAACP chapter and whose campaign was led by the Georgia state president, was to bring attention to the harmful effects of abortion on African-American women. According to the Reverend Clenard Childress of Life Education and Resource Network, 1,452 black women abort their unborn children every day - which is 36 percent of all abortions in America.NAACP leaders say the members in Macon were told in advance, by letter, that their resolution was dismissed on a technicality. It's a letter the Macon chapter says it never received.Nonetheless, Reverend Childress says the rejection still violated the NAACP's bylaws, which allow resolutions to be presented and read by state chapters on the floor of the conve

From my ally over at the 1389blog.com: We have won one battle! An Anvil Victory against Censorship: a Victory for All confirms that SonicWALL and Panera Bread will no longer be censoring Foehammer’s Anvil. 1389 would like to thank all of you who participated in this effort. But the war is far from over. “The war is far from over? What’s that supposed to mean?” It means that this is not the time for us to rest. Want to find out what’s next in the fight against Blogosphere censorship? Visit 1389’s blog and read on. More trouble: Atlas Banned in Charlotte, NC (hat-tip: Jenn Sierra) Similar Posts:An Anvil Victory Against Censorship: a Victory for All Is the Anvil blocked where you work? Sonic Wall Has Been Censoring Foehammer’s Anvil as ‘Pornography’ Foehammer Gets Syndicated Gates of Vienna blocked by Blogger anvil, blog, Blogosphere, censorship, Foehammers Anvil, panera bread, sonicwall, SurfControl, victoryShare This

It appears official: SonicWALL Internet Security has re-rated Foehammer’s Anvil from pornography to web communications. This would not have happened without the efforts of Anvil readers and my fellow bloggers and 1389 deserves the greatest credit and thanks for discovering this particular censor in the first place and disseminating the needed information to so many people. I feel that this is not only a Free Speech victory for the Anvil, but a victory for the entire Blogosphere and especially the Anti-Jihad portion of it. You can verify the current rating of Foehammer’s Anvil by inputing http://foehammer.net at the following address: cfssupport.sonicwall.com/Support/web/eng/newui/viewRating.jsp Here is graphical proof of the change: This change does not mean that I can afford to sit on my hands. I will have to remain vigilant so that such changes are not reversed by the intent and actions of fascists and Islamists that we all know are active on the Internet. It also do

I was reading at the WordPress blog, and thought I’d share with you, the link to their post about WordPress having been banned in Turkey, regarding a complicated situation involving a (from what I’ve read) rather slimy character named Adnan Oktar. http://wordpress.com/blog/2007/08/19/why-were-blocked-in-turkey/ Presently, there are 146 responses.  Those of my felllow bloggers on WordPress, (who don’t read all the updates) who want to have their say, now’s your chance. Those of you who blog at blogger, or using other platforms, might want to blog about this as well. Offer your opinion and link it back to the WordPress post.  It’s an important discussion.

“Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination.” Harry S. Truman (1884 – 1972) U.S. president

The left not allowing dissenting opinion?! I am SHOCKED I tell you. Ok maybe not so much. ~RJH Riehl World article link Censorship And DailyKosFrom its convention, to the website, kind of funny how uber-liberal Kos won't allow dissenting opinion. This below is a comment on this new thread Charles has preserved, it mentions another post that has already been deleted. But the saddest part is that one of the major candidates for Prez this time out will have caved to the radical liberal agenda, just as the guy who deleted the post sited below did. Weak ... very weak.And it's sickening. Secong(sic) diary today on this. The other one finally deleted because he daved(sic) under the weight of his own bullshit.

Once again the left is trying to do an end run around the people’s rights in order to silence their critics. Who do they think they are really fooling with their talk of resuscitating the Fairness Doctrine? Liberal talk radio fell on its ass and Feinstein, Kerry, Durbin etc are wanting to shut up the likes of Limbaugh and Hannity. Would the left be so concerned about “balance” if talk radio were predominantly liberal? Why aren’t they concerned about the balance of ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR etc? Oh wait I know…those aren’t biased are they? Silly me. The one thing I would say in deadly earnest to the left is to always be careful what you wish for as you just may get it. The “tool” you get today to silence your critics can be used just as effectively against YOU tomorrow. ~RJHFox News story link Straight Talk: Fair and Balanced Radio?Monday , July 02, 2007By Radley BalkoDianne Feinstein, D-Ca., announced last week on the Sunday talk shows that she's thinking about resuscitating the &qu

We saw S@L (Shootout at Lokhandwala, pls excuse the engg. lingo!) The censorship in India is funny… Take for instance this movie we saw….. By now everyone who was born after 1975(Sholay A.D.) should know tht there is a song in the movie which goes- “We are the bhais….we are the bhais!!” I know this song byheart(amazing isnt it? I can never byheart answers, but songs-they are on the tip of my tongue!). How did I byheart the song? I didnt ! It plays so many times on Radio Mirchi tht it just stuck!There are some words used in the song which most people would find objectionable-for eg- “Bhai hoon main bhai koi fikar na kar, uske maa ki uske bhen ki jo dekhe idhar!” Now this is objectionable. Censor this if you want. But no…this song plays on every radio station in its full glory. Here is the interesting bit- When the song was played in the movie the lyrics were changed to- “Bhai hoon main bhai koi fikar na kar, uski aise uski taise

“They put standards on Music they don’t put on any other form of entertainment..” I do agree with 50 on that note, and for those that didn’t know, Master P got heated at 50’s comments and is now dropping his album the same day as 50. Just a little healthy competition… Who do you think will sell better September 4th? Remember Master P did say hes cleaning up his lyrics… Related PostsKRS-One and 50 cent chop it up on Rap CityRza gives props to Dr. Dre50 cent - ‘fully loaded clip’ (disses, Jay, Nas, P. Diddy, JD, Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne)

“The Khomeini cry for the execution of Rushdie is an infantile cry. From the beginning of time we have seen that. To murder the thinker does not murder the thought.”Arnold Wesker (b. 1932) British dramatist

Top rappers 50 Cent and T.I. spoke their minds about the recent controversy over inappropriate language in hip hop.A group of urban leaders has urged the music industry to censor the words "b*tch," "ho" and the "N-word" from future hip-hop albums.50 Cent said: "It's not really a tragedy to me that that's happening.I think for a moment a lot of people forgot that our country's at war. They'll point to usage of content in music like hip-hop and say it maybe influences violence on some levels and not point to actual films that are released and have similar content. I personally believe on every level that it's easier to attack an individual than it is to go after a corporation. They'll go after a specific hip-hop artist as opposed to a Paramount or a Columbia Pictures."He also point out: "Music is a mirror and hip-hop is a reflection of the environment we grew up in, the harsh realities. If I ask you to paint a picture of the American flag and not use the color red, you'd have a di

Control freaks Censorship of internet content is growing across the world. A survey by the Open Net Initiative (ONI) across 41 countries found that 25 applied content filtering to block access to particular websites.… Read more…

The Pentagon has announced that beginning Monday overseas military personnel will no longer have access to MySpace and YouTube. They plan on blocking the popular Web sites. They say it's because the amount of bandwith the sites use are a strain on the military's resources, but I think it probably has more to do with censorship. They probably don't want military folks posting pictures and videos of what's going on in the war zones. Doesn't seem fair. These men and women are far from home and many of them use MySpace to stay in contact with family and friends back home. I know my brother-in-law does. Now they are even more cut off. It's a shame.Rothfamilyadventures.com

HAVANA - Cuba characterized American filmmaker Michael Moore as a victim of censorship and the U.S. trade embargo as it reported Friday on a U.S. Treasury Department probe of his March visit here for his upcoming health-care documentary, "Sicko." The Communist Party daily Granma called the 45-year-old U.S. travel and trade sanctions "a criminal action that has cost lives and grave consequences for the inhabitants of the island," as well as Americans. The U.S. government‘s targeting of Moore "confirms the imperial philosophy of censorship" by American officials, it added. Treasury officials in Washington said Friday they would have no comment on the contents of Moore‘s letter, citing a policy against discussing specific investigations. But Treasury spokeswoman AnnMarie Hauser said OFAC issues hundreds of letters each year asking for additional information when possible sanctions violations have occurred. "I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me — I have tried

So I have "censored" my blog. Some might now that my shopautodotca seocontest blog was scraped onto another site. I realize this was done automatically, but there was a lot there, and it was not sourced and it was total copyright infringement. Half of the stuff on there was not even about the contest, it was about my life as I blogged it here. So I put up some angry posts on my shopautodotca

Despite all the fun we have in Dubai, there's one thing in common that most people are annoyed by - Internet censorshipIf you travel to the United Arab Emirates, you'd probably find that some of the sites you like suddenly go down. In fact, the dominant ISP, Etisalat, use proxy server blocks certain websites that they deem inappropriate to be viewed. An exact account of what sites they block is not publicly available, but hearsays suggest sites are blocked for the following reasons1. Political- Sites related to Israel or Jihadism- Terrist organizations- Sites on how to bypass censorship2. Social- Homosexual behavior, e.g. the Gay and Lesbian Arabic Society- Online casinos- Pornography- Certain online dating websites3. Economical- Internet phone services such as Skype. As Etisalat is also the incumbant telecom operator in the UAE, things that can put its revenues at risk are bannedA site called hrw.org contains more information on censorship in the UAEWhenever there's censorship, th

Despite all the fun we have in Dubai, there’s one thing in common that most people are annoyed by - Internet censorship If you travel to the United Arab Emirates, you’d probably find that some of the sites you like suddenly go down. In fact, the dominant ISP, Etisalat, use proxy server blocks certain websites that they deem inappropriate to be viewed. An exact account of what sites they block is not publicly available, but hearsays suggest sites are blocked for the following reasons 1. Political- Sites related to Israel or Jihadism- Terrist organizations- Sites on how to bypass censorship 2. Social- Homosexual behavior, e.g. the Gay and Lesbian Arabic Society- Online casinos- Pornography- Certain online dating websites3. Economical- Internet phone services such as Skype. As Etisalat is also the incumbant telecom operator in the UAE, things that can put its revenues at risk are banned A site called hrw.org contains more information on censorship in the UAE Whenever there&rs

Despite all the fun we have in Dubai, there’s one thing in common that most people are annoyed by - Internet censorship If you travel to the United Arab Emirates, you’d probably find that some of the sites you like suddenly go down. In fact, the dominant ISP, Etisalat, use proxy server blocks certain websites that they deem inappropriate to be viewed. An exact account of what sites they block is not publicly available, but hearsays suggest sites are blocked for the following reasons 1. Political - Sites related to Israel or Jihadism - Terrist organizations - Sites on how to bypass censorship 2. Social - Homosexual behavior, e.g. the Gay and Lesbian Arabic Society - Online casinos - Pornography - Certain online dating websites 3. Economical - Internet phone services such as Skype. As Etisalat is also the incumbant telecom operator in the UAE, things that can put its revenues at risk are banned A site called hrw.org contains more information on censorship in the UAE Wheneve

This article from Prisonplanet.com is about the mainstream media’s reluctance to acknowledge Ron Paul as a potential candidate: Ron Paul emerged from last week’s GOP debate as completely victorious according to every available benchmark and yet there is still a deliberate ploy to push the Texas Congressman to the sidelines on behalf of a terrified corporate media. Every single major online poll shows conclusively that Ron Paul won the debate by a mammoth margin, trouncing the bought and paid-for shill Neo-Con candidates that the establishment press are sworn to uphold. Read the rest here.

Hip hop, and the larger African-American community, has always had an uneasy relationship with controversial lyrics. Now, galvanized by the Imus debacle, more cultural leaders are calling for a ban on misogyny, violence, and the “N-word” in hip hop lyrics. Al Sharpton, one of the more prominent civil rights leaders in the black community, led a march in New York City on May 3rd to protest “dirty lyrics” in hip hop. He said: We’re not asking for censorship, but there’s a standard in this business. It appears that people are more enraged and more outraged than we thought. While Sharpton has never had much hip hop “street cred,” more prominent hip hoppers have also called for similar bans. Russel Simmons, one of the most successful hip hop producers and promoters in history, has called for an industry-wide ban on certain lyrics. “We recommend (they’re) always out,” Simmons, the pioneering entrepreneur who made millions of d

Convinced that atheists have nothing to fear from believers and that to suggest otherwise is just being paranoid? I want to draw your attention to a disturbing account over at Unorthodox Atheism.After Reed lent his copy of Dawkins' The God Delusion to an atheist friend, the friend's father found the book, took it so that his son could not read it, and contacted Reed in what sounds like a threatening manner. Picturing Reed obsessively checking his locks and actually sleeping with a baseball bat makes me sad. It makes me sad for we atheists who must always consider scenarios like this before speaking our minds, and it makes me sad for open-minded Christians who strive to practice tolerance.I think that Reed handled this difficult situation extremely well. It is a good thing he had the foresight to alert personnel at his school since his friend's father actually showed up to demand that he be punished for distributing atheist literature. Evidently, the father refuses to acknowledge tha

yeah, i'm sure these two boys just happened to "stumble" across the book...and the father is so concerned with what his kids might see at a library, maybe he should go with them and be, you know, a parent. oy, that first amendment is really taking a beating lately, and not just in rochester libraries...and that is not a poor maggie brooks related porn pun. but it could be. Fox News devoted airtime today to a lawsuit brought by a father after his sons stumbled across a book on lesbian sexuality in an Arkansas public library.The Bentonville, AR man is seeking $20,000 in damages and the firing of the town's top librarian, claiming his two sons were disturbed after stumbling upon The Whole Lesbian Sex Book in the town's public library.

The recent fiasco over the YouTube banning has highlighted how we need a Ministry of ICT and not a ministry of communications that includes a bit of IT and media. Rather it should be one that takes ICT - information and communication technology - to heart, and understands the synergy and how emergent technologies [...]

The Economist: Censorship and the internet - Whose tube? - For Thais and Turks, shielding a revered figure from cyber-insults proves trickyExcerpt:"AT FIRST sight, anyway, it seems like one more case of a clumsy, authoritarian government being wrong-footed by nimble creatures from cyberspace who acknowledge no borders and can leap effortlessly over almost any obstacle. YouTube, the website that dominates the market in user-generated, online videos (or in plain language, a place where almost anybody can post a film about almost anything) has been blocked by Thailand's military-backed government. The ban was imposed in a fit of indignation over a 44-second clip that mocked the country's monarch. It was a crude bit of work, showing King Bhumibol Adulyadej with feet over his face and mouth, an image certain to offend Thai Buddhists."http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9013586Alex

US Universities aren't quite this bad yet, but we're getting there. This is David Frum at the National Review On-Line: British Universities Go in for Censorship These are not good times for British universities. As from next year, it has...

The News Sniffer project aims to monitor corporate news organisations to uncover bias and it is possible to view the comments the BBC censored in the 'Watch your Mouth' section. It is also possible to see amendments to stories. Quite interesting to see the kind of things that don't get through the net. http://newssniffer.newworldodour.co.uk/

Technorati tags: google video, censorship, FCC, government, nanny state, responsibitiy, parenting, freedom, libertarianism Sponsored By: Images by Mike in WNY Unique and Original Buffalo Themed Gifts

Internet censorship is spreading rapidly, being practised by about two dozen countries and applied to a far wider range of online information and applications, according to research by a transatlantic group of academics. The warning comes a week after a Turkish court ordered the blocking of YouTube to silence offensive comments about Mustafa [...]

I’d like to direct you to my fellow news blogger’s site, Get Incensed, for a post she wrote having to do with the imprisonment of an Egyptian blogger for speaking out against the government and the government’s religion, Islam. His sentence is a ridiculous four years. The type of restrictions that Egyptian bloggers face are similar to the ones found in China, where a blogger must register their identity with the government. Failure to do this results in a one million yuan fine. I’ll be the first one to criticize this country when I feel that it’s done something wrong, but I’ll also stick up for it in the ways that it is superior to other countries. In the realm of freedom of speech we still seem to be on top. For now at least. blog, censorship, Egypt, China, freedom of speech

I’d like to direct you to my fellow news blogger’s site, Get Incensed, for a post she wrote having to do with the imprisonment of an Egyptian blogger for speaking out against the government and the government’s religion, Islam. His sentence is a ridiculous four years. The type of restrictions that Egyptian bloggers face are similar to the ones found in China, where a blogger must register their identity with the government. Failure to do this results in a one million yuan fine. I’ll be the first one to criticize this country when I feel that it’s done something wrong, but I’ll also stick up for it in the ways that it is superior to other countries. In the realm of freedom of speech we still seem to be on top. For now at least. blog, censorship, Egypt, China, freedom of speech

Saudi Arabia has joined the United Arab Emirates, Quatar and several other fun-loving countries in censoring, among other sites, one of our favourite reads – Boing Boing. But not-so-democratic countries are not the only ones actively working against freedom of speech in the world. Several large American corporations also seem to be on the side of repression. Among these are reportedly Dell, Prudential, American Express, and Halliburton. Read more on Boing Boing.

I'm really not sure if today would be the best day to look at this issue, but I think that Internet Censorship is a serious issue at the moment. Should the Internet be entirely free, or should certain controversial matters be edited to suit a wider audience?Well, here is a prime example of what I'm talking about. bLaugh's artist's unedited sketch on the left. On the right, you see the final version that went to press. Of course, with a multi-cultured community like bLaugh's, I can understand why they'd want to censor a cartoon that made it out that all Terrorist's looked like the stereotype on the left. But I'd like to leave you to brew over this over the coming weeks and decide for yourself, whether or not net content should be controlled. Leave your comments, have your say. I won't be online tomorrow though, but playing with fancy new gadgets, and most likely having a great time on my Xbox 360. Have a very merry Christmas!

When I arrived in Pakistan, there was not much to do in the evenings, but to sit in the guesthouse, read a bit or watch TV. It struck me I would regularly get a test picture on the TV screen, you know, the colour patterns. Like there was some kind of technical problem at the TV station. Sometimes, hours would go by, and all was fine, and other times, the test picture would appear every couple of minutes. It would happen seemingly at random, no matter if it was a movie, a TV series or a documentary they showed.. It was a mystery to me.After a while, I figured out that the test pictures appeared each time there was a 'sensitive' scene, where a bit of 'flesh' or some male/female intimacy was shown. Be it a lady in a short skirt, a person undressing (even taking off a shirt), people kissing,... I thought that could not be a coincidence! It was real funny, and really frustrating in some TV shows like 'Silk Stalkings'. You know, those pseudo detective series where all the 'good guys'

I haven't heard of books being burned in a while. Of course, books are still being banned by certain governments, churches, schools, etc. It happens every day. But why make it this easy? COPENHAGEN: A Japanese publisher has refused to publish a novel written by a Danish author amid fears that it could upset Muslim readers, the writer's Copenhagen agent said yesterday.The Shimanaka Shoten company has "cancelled the planned publication" of The Enemy in the Mirror by Leif Davidsen, who has written a number of spy novels that have been translated into several languages, agent Anneli Hoejer told TV2 News."It's a suspenseful thriller and absolutely not controversial in my opinion," she said, referring to the novel which is set the day after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. The climate of intimidation continues to spread as we censor ourselves for fear of "offending" the Muslim population. No other group gets that kind of "respect" or self-censorship on its behalf.

The issue of censorship rules for films festivals has raised its head once again here ahead of the 11-day International Film Festival of India (IFFI) beginning here Thursday, with documentary filmmakers opposed to the current policy. “IFFI 2006 has the precise rules the Bombay high court stuck down for the National Film Awards in June, especially [...]