Archive for the ‘Internet Security News’ Category

Censorship in China – Video From AlJazeeraEnglish

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
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This video news describes the current issues in China with Internet censorship.

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Protests in Manchester Devoted to Web Censorship Rules

Monday, February 20th, 2012
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Great number of demonstrations have been performed in Manchester against the mistrusted Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Dozens of activists from Anonymous, Occupy Manchester and some other groups turned up at Piccadily Gardens, the others from their legions made active protests which took place in front of the Dianetics Centre. There were many anti – ACTA events, others made active demonstrations all over the world. For example in London one may see 200 protestors.

ACTA is being regarded by the opponnents as some kind of measure that is designed to allow film studios company consortia trying to gain control of the internet that is being taken as a
form really find impossible to be capitalized on.

Supporters of this type of web censorship declarations do claim there is too much copyright infringement that is going on. Countless goverments are pressured by the American for signing the agreement – though Germany, Poland, Slovenia, many others realize legislation’s that are
wider implications of web censorship and freedom of speech.

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Twitter and Censorship Frames

Monday, February 6th, 2012
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Twitter is being regarded as a tool of free expression in Arab spring events, it was facing censorship charges after announcing it can block tweets on country – by – country basis, it is legaly required . San Francisco Twitter Gave a stress the move in no way compromised some commitments to free speech, on the whole the backlash was immediate, critics were taking a country service by the thousands.

Activistin the sphere of democracy and blogger who tweets using the handle @sandmonkey. “Is it comfortable to say that Twitter is selling out?” “Yet another low for free speech,” – declared Jannis Leidel, or @jezdez. Twitter users caused a boycott of the service punctuating the tweets. Others questioned if Twitter’s move was referred to a $3 million investments in December by millionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, citizen of Saudi Arabia.

Olivier Basille, director of Paris – based reporters without borders (RSF) expressed “deep concern” in a letter to Jack Dorsey who is executive chairman and at the same time co-founder of Twitter, it has over 100 million of active users. “Finally choosing to align itself with the censors, Twitter deprives cyber dissidents in repressive countries of crucial tool for organization and information,” he questioned. Basille asked whether Twitter’s actions were motivated by desire to enter China, the service there is currently blocked. “Is it possible that one day there will be a sanitized Chinese version of Twitter that has been rid of any reference to the Chinese Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo?” – he questioned.

In twitter blog were found some posts declared as an ability for posting the blogs by different countries. Twitter is pledged to be transparent, post details are being posted as a details posted by any content removal to ChillingEffects.org. “Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content”.

In its blog post, Twitter said the ability to block tweets by specific country would allow the rest of the world to continue to see them. Twitter pledg, a publiced to be transparent and said it would post details of any removal of content to, a public datab Twitterase of takedown requests. “As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” Twitter said. Twitter said.

Twitter bloggers pointed out some technologies giving itself the chance to block the content for different reasons, it was failing with practices followed by other Web giants such as Facebook or Google, Ebay. Chief director of MarketingLand.com Danny Sullivan stated “these types of censorship demands have long been placed against search engines like Google or anyone who hosts content. “Twitter is preparing for potential demands in the way that Google already does, by alerting its users to when content has been withheld and providing information about why”.

Twitter has been removing its content to comply with copyright complaints, declared Sullivan. “What’s new is that eventually, Twitter may expand to having staff based in other countries,” he stated “ It makes the company liable to legal actions in those countries, it needs a way to comply with those legal demands. It makes the company more or so. “Overall, there doesn’t seem to be a particular reason to hit the panic button here. It makes the company more than it has been expected.

Twitter’s the newest policy that is purposekky designed to allow Twitter existing as a platform possible of making it as hard as possible for governments for censoring content. “the internet is not just virtual space or cyber planet which has been floated among all jurisdictions for a long time. The plan of publicizing where the tweets were blocked is some kind of level of transparency, it should be the model for most web companies, it is some kind of powerful tool for free speech.

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SOPA Bill 2012. Seven Things about Controversial Legislation

Thursday, January 26th, 2012
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SOPA legislation is being regarded in Congress 2012, it is the sister bill to the Protected IP Act , it has passed the senate in 2010. Detailed considering of the Stop Online Piracy Act leads to the understanding the reason why this bill has so many on the Internet ?

Its most basic level SOPA is a bill that reacts to the web actions, it is some kind of violation of many parts of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it is a monumental legislation piece of the institution on-line.

SOPA actually informs web users affection abroad. Here are several principles about SOPA legislation: how supporters argue and how they create jobs why some websites could create on-line monopolies and then cause the US government to wind up state of censorship.

SOPA’s proponents regard this bill as a protection for US citizens and some corporations from foreign sites and the opponents argue the amounts to nothing else less than wholesale censorship with few regulation.

  1. SOPA, what is it?

SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act that was introduced by House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith

SOPA is a companion bill to the Senate’s Protect IP Act that passes to the Senate a bit earlier .Protect IP aimed to target web companies that host unauthorized content from song , movies or software.

SOPA goes a bit further than the first bill , it is detailed in the points. It grants the official representatives powers to go after web sites that are using content , it makes many more people on the internet susceptible to legal action, it shut downs entire domains for the violation, even if it is indirect or unknowing.

2. Internet Piracy is Rampant in U.S. and Abroad

Michael O’Leary a witness for the Motion Picture Association of America told congress that this is fundamentally about a job.

Internet Piracy is Rampant abroad and in US

On-line piracy from business side of view is a huge problem for America and it will be so up to the 2012. The chamber of commerce is estimating Us companies lose for about $135 billion a year.

In the future, SOPA would allow for much bigger returns on these companies’ investments, and could stop the industry from shrinking, cutting jobs and whole sectors. Piracy’s ripple effect goes beyond companies and studios, even some artists within them, all this can affect thousands of businesses working within the entertainment , retail industries.

3. But It’s Not Just About Internet Piracy

SOPA’s proponents argue that online infringement has become an epidemic. In order to combat such flagrant abuses of copyright legislation, extreme measures must be taken.

SOPA’s proponents argue about on-line infringement. Those who are in favor of the bill argue that violators should be targeted. One of the bloggers for the MPAA has informed : “SOPA will target rogue sites deliberately engage in the illegal including movies and television shows for profit.” This type of the bill would go after websites like Megavideo and Sidereel.com.

SOPA legislation however, just like sister-bill Protect IP, is written in very broad, vague terms, meaning even sites that use song clips, or create GIFs using scenes from copyrighted movies, could potentially be forced to remove the content or be shut down entirely.

In order to qualify as a violation of SOPA, this is all the site needs to be directed toward the U.S. and either “engage in, enable, or facilitate” infringement” or be taking steps “avoid confirming a high probability” of copyright infringement.”

Similar sweeping legislation affects every share-content side on the web nowadays, especially in Tumbrl accounts and sites like reddit.com

Opponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act pointed out many ways in which the censorship is hidden in the proposed legislation barely differs from china’s censorship of Google, it is some kind of phenomena that many Americans are fond of decrying by means of the regular basis.

The electronic frontier foundation has been instrumental in compiling a series of articles on the overarching effect of the SOPA and Protect IP.

4. SOPA has a power to make sites disappear with information

SOPA would require service providers to disappear websites with violating copyright content, it evolves web security and at the same time censors entire sites.

Digital Millenium Copyright Act grants immunity to web sites for posting content on the site by users. SOPA blurs the distinction between the site’s host and those who posted there. Sites could be punished simply for doing nothing to police their site even in case the owner did not placed anything illegal.

SOPA is allowed to send entire domains to the blacklist, it means turning off thousands of web sites associated with the offender. Type in the URL of the targeted website as well as all this is direct and indirect.

It also means that what happened to Wikileaks via voluntary censorship could now occur in a systematized and streamlined way, as long as someone, somewhere, believes their IP rights are being violated.

5. SOPA could create on-line monopolies

Computer world has been focusing on the Act’s effect on advertising nets and payment sites.

Without needing to consult Congress DMCA safe harbor laws or judge’s verdict that is guilty the payment processor or advertisement service would have several days to cut off financial support, these series are granted for any actions that are being taken at the request of content users. The entire site would be financially choked off with the owners to realize the situation.

Search engines like Google and Yahoo could also fit under this bill, meaning any violation of privacy laws, even in one post on one page of the site, could remove it from being searched online.

As the history of the DMCA has shown content owners send complaints that turn out to be bogus that ensure al content even that which in the form of movie stills and in several seconds song clips is under purview.

6. SOPA and its future , not present

SOPA’s biggest critics and most diehard supporters find one of the thing they can agree: this bill and its sister Protect IP, they are likely to possess a huge effect on the future of the Internet affecting everything from the security of the DMCA for shaping the sites and some systems going viral everyday.

Facebook would be even more embroiled in advertisements and big media than it s today. Google would block more than two-thirds of all tumbrl accounts.

7. The Internet is Fighting Back

Tumbrl took a dramatic stand against SOPA back when Congress began debating it in November 16 treating users with the word ”Censored” written across it in all-caps.

EFFS ‘s website and some other online communities have pulled similar steps to demonstrate the effect of legislation.

“Since their enactment in 1998, the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions for online service providers have been a cornerstone of the U.S. Internet and technology industry’s growth and success,” the letter read.

In combating online piracy, “we should not jeopardize a foundational structure that has worked for content owners and Internet companies alike and provides certainty to innovators with new ideas for how people create, find, discuss and share information lawfully online.”

Google, twitter, Facebook, Zynga have all signed a letter to congress opposing the bill and the Protect IP Act citing the importance of the DMCA and offering to cooperation in some ways.

Since the letter’s publication European Parlaiment has adopted a resolution against this bill putting the stress on protection the integrity of the global internet and freedom of social communication.

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Internet Censorship. Websites in Hollywood Battling

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
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The first item on the U.S. Senate’s agenda for 2012 pits Hollywood together with Silicon Valley. It is a vote on PIPA — a bill called the Protect IP Act. The bill is meant to stop the copying of “intellectual property” online — music, movies, books and so forth — but opponents find it nothing less than Internet censorship.

PIPA and a bill in the House – SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, – were presented as a way to protect movie studios, record labels. Supporters come from the Country Music Association to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

But major players in the online world, including Facebook , Google, Tumblr and Twitter, say the bills require Internet provider blocking websites involved in digital file sharing. Search engines such as Google Bing, Yahoo could be stopped from linking to them – antithetical, to the ideal of open Internet.

The battle has become bitter enough, it was suggested that primary websites might go dark – perhaps replacing their home pages appealing to stop the two bills.

“Internet blackout’ would obviously be both drastic ” said NetCoalition in his statement. “We hope that the Senate will cancel its scheduled vote so that it will be possible to get back to working with members raised by the MPAA [Motion Picture Association of America] .”

The owners of major Internet companies state they grant the music publishers and Hollywood studios have a problem – people are stealing the movies and music, making digital copies and offering them to download, often from foreign websites.

“More than 2.2 million middle-class people in all 50 states depend on the entertainment industry for the jobs and many millions work in other industries relying on intellectual property,” said Michael O’Leary of the Motion Picture Association of America. The Recording Industry Association of America provide some restrictions.

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Internet Piracy Cannot Be Reconsidered With Web Censorship, States Cato’s Julian Sanchez

Friday, January 13th, 2012
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Web censorship is not the respond to web piracy, answered Cato Institute research fellow Julian Sanchez. According to Sanchez, web censorship won’t address the problem of piracy, but it will stifle innovation of American society.

It is not just a business, according to Sanchez who states that if USA abandon the principle of a free and open web access, “the only difference between the USA and China is what on the blacklist”

“The industry instinct is to destroy any innovation disrupting the business patterns or dangers the way the are used in doing these things” – said Sanchez.

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Turkey Conference 2011

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
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There had been hold a 16th Turkey conference 2011 in Izmir recently. Internet censorship is the important theme of the conference. There had been hold more than 100 activities. Free internet was the demand of internet users and developers of different technologies.

The conference was organized by the Internet technologies association up to 30 of November till 2 of December at the Aegean University of computer Engineering.

Topics that were discussed this year were “Mobile Life”, “New Media”, “intellectual Property Rights”. Totally 56 of sessions consisted of 13 panel discussions, 15 seminars, 27 sessions on different declarations. The issues of the internet filtering application, internet media regulations came up in sessions on technical issues as well as on information concerning development, panel discussions and seminars.

Actually these were the topics on the general agenda, two panel discussions on 2 December were devoted to the issues.

The session that was entitled “Internet Media regulations” was organized by the communication association that possess corresponding draft bill , it will be announced in parliament at the beginning of 2011. Potential contents of the draft were discussed besides the question of how the internet media institutions can react and how they can be involved to the process.

Ebru Baranseli hosted “Internet Bans and filtering” that was the most important theme of the recent panel discussions.

Ali Riza Keles who also has provided some clever thoughts concerning the theme of the Turkey conference 2011 summarized that legal struggle has a right to be and activist’s actions do carry out against the web filtering system.The filtering system constitutes an obstacle before the use of the right. Sensitivities of the community such as “child pornography”, “terrorism”, “security” are being exploited. Keles stressed that the mass demonstration concerned with the filtering system in Stambul on 15 May is successful, the internet users organize it according to the bill.

The head of the web technology association Prof Mustafa Akgül joined the discussions and questioned the number of 525 million internet sites that are to be obviously filtered.

Erdem Dilbaz performed as “digital activist” pointed to the point of standardization of the filtering system. It excludes the one who is different. Some are not accredited to a meeting that is held by the web technology committee.

The session was concluded with some question from the public. For example a student from the Aegean University told that there is some misunderstanding of the issue why some websites are being censored.

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Internet Control Conference Discussed The Common Issues About Internet Censorship

Monday, December 12th, 2011
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There was hold a conference called “American Censorship Day”, it was devoted to the problems of current legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives. It was the following step in controlling the Internet in its history.

The text of HR 3261 which is also known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) or in other words a bill indeed aims to eliminating financial incentive of stealing mental property, it stops advertisers from spending money for domain names, it hosts illegal material with copyright laws.

The bill moves further in order to state whether the website complies or not some attempts for taking down infringing material, it would be able to block users from visiting the sites.

The audience have noted that the bills change the line between protecting mental property and producing censorship. It is mostly because the given bill fails in distinguishing a domain claiming responsibility for the content that is posted by the users.

Scott Spitzer, political science professor once said that the media is being regulated and is being considered as a constitutional.

There is no mention to the bill censoring the content, it is not expressly a computer program or some kind of a musical word, it is not a picture or audiovisual work.

In other words, the legislation does not specifically target websites for censorship. Our generation is as brilliant as the development of Internet service, but in some cases it is some kind of huge can of worms. We got used to have unlimited cash of places and things to do. Most of us can’t take some loss that happen in our life.

Joseph Costillo, philosophy major, is mostly concerned with the bill.

All what is done is for the good reason. It is a slippery slope, in other countries the Internet is being indeed censored and users can only see their governments

Matthew Jarvis, political science professor, affirms there is also a possibility the House of representative draws up without intending to pass. He has cited a faux attempt for reinsating military operations in 2004 which led to the loss of the landslide. This bill is not drawn to pass, it is rather drawn to make a statement.

The conference devoted to the HR 3261 proved the bill may fall along the same lines. Congress at work is Congress with no game.

For the present moment there is no date for voting on the bill.

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SOPA, Google, Yahoo and Notion of Web Censorship Bill

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
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SOPA organizes web business, claims social web nets such as Twitter, Google and Yahoo. Its bill amounts to web censorship some argue.
Yahoo is one of nine Internet companies which publicly opposed the Stop Internet Privacy Act, or SOPA.

Let’s take for example Yahoo. It is one of the biggest web corporations that publicly opposes the internet privacy stop Internet Privacy act or SOPA.

Late last month Lamar Smith an official representative from Texas has introduced a bill that is called SOPA, it was intended for cracking down intellectual property stealing and then put up some barriers towards ‘’rogue” sites.

The problem of web sites is indeed real, it can be widespread. It harms economy sectors as far as Washington Post announces.

Paul McDougall offers up a run – down of five key provisions, it will include of the blocking of sites providing internet content. Targeting of the web sites selling pharmaceuticals to peoples without any prescriptions.

McDougall quotes Pfizer security officer John Clark who states that pharmaceutical counterfeiting is the foremost issue of patient health and safety.

The post reports that SOPA seems to have meaningful support, sometimes Hollywood studio and pharmaceutical companies argue that they are loosing for about $135 billion a year from selling pirated material. SOPA has met with opposition from web companies calling the bill as an assault lawful U.S. internet companies.

Earlier this week Twitter, Yahoo, Google signed an open letter addressed to Congress and read the content voices opposition to SOPA. Bills are drafted and will expose law-abiding American internet and technology to new indefinite liabilities, technology mandates and requires monitoring of web pages.

These measures do pose a serious risk to the industries that continue to track record of job – creation. According to the daily news Google chairman Eric Schmidt declared the highly proposed SOPA provisions to be draconian.

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Anonymous Danger of US Government For Ceasing Internet Censorship Enforcement

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
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Anonymous utters some intentions for punishing the US government and enforces some censorship laws on the web.

In a recent Pastebin post guest user anonymous OpBlackout announced that American citizens should make some actions in order to stop government actions on detracting of American rights that are in its turn are entrusted for some preservation.

US government has excellently played out some plans in order to give its citizens some kind of “false sense of freedom”.

The group continues saying the statements that a freedom allows us to do all we want and what we can, in reality people are very limited ant toughly restricted all that we can do is think ponder over the education.

Anonymous pointed out it is not an well – formed opposition to authority but it is a call to some recognition.

People of all the countries are called to fight back there is an addition the governments will most likely to follow.

Anonymous opblackout explained how American Internet will be resulted to some uprising similar to those experienced in Libya and Egypt.

The post added some information that government has been scheming, plotting some w ays for increasing Internet censorship by means of ISPP block aides, search engine censorship and website censorship using variety of methods.

The group of cyber attacks can prove many times how capable it can be to perform distributed denial of service that make some attacks to official websites. There are some victims : Algeria, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Iran, Syria, New Zealand.

The US frequently stands for some true values of a strong and free country, it becomes more and more powerful for the given process.

Anonymous uses guy Fawkes masks some protest symbols.

The hacktivists believe that once US implements some web restrictions, the other countries follow it and citizens can destoy some foundation that becomes rather powerful.

Anonymous proceed the operation that would come some kind of surprise to see a barrage of row of cyber attacks to pro-governmental sites in USA.

Website defacement will never be enough to fight against censorship.

Anonymous has called people to rise up on the Internet or some physical protest against American enforcement.

For extending the message the given group of users has spread the word via IRC chat, social networks, web communities, there is a hope the us government stops or changes policies after a long vociferation.

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