crackdown

With a U.S. lawsuit over fake Apple retail stores in its infancy, officials in Beijing have taken steps to keep lookalike Apple retail stores in the region from fooling passers by.

China Daily reports that the city is making a concerted effort to keep unauthorized retailers from using Apple's iconic logo, as well as its related brand names from the exterior of stores. The crackdown will last a month, but as the outlet notes, it's not keeping the look-alike stores from doing business as usual on the inside.

"As of Sunday, the response to the ban … Read more

Internet access came back online in Syria on Saturday after two-thirds of networks in the country became unreachable from the rest of the world in the midst of street protests on Friday. As the strife-ridden country once again became visible to the online world, videos of snipers apparently firing on peaceful demonstrators began to surface, like the unsettling clip below, which turns violent about 20 seconds in.

According to Renesys, which monitors Internet connectivity, the country's 3G data network and other ISPs disappeared from the global network grid Friday morning, but domains linked to the Syrian government remained online. … Read more

China claims to be making progress in its fight against Internet pornography.

More than 60,000 Web sites were shut down and about 350 million pieces of pornographic and indecent content were eliminated from the Internet in 2010, the country's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Thursday.

Police investigated 2,197 cases involving 4,965 people suspected of disseminating pornography via the Internet or cell phone in violation of China law, according to the report. Of those suspects, 58 received jail sentences of five or more years, according to the report.

Wang Chen, head of the State Council Information Office, … Read more

Crackdown 2 will continue the open-world, over-the-top action game that made a splash in 2007 on Xbox 360. Microsoft announced the game at the company's E3 2009 press conference, but details of a launch date were not disclosed. Crackdown 2 will be an Xbox 360-exclusive title when it does actually release.

The Microsoft press conference at E3 2009 offered a detailed glimpse into the Xbox 360's video game line up for the rest of 2009 and into 2010 as well. Things started off with a giant Beatles Rock Band introduction climaxing with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr appearing on stage.

Tony Hawk then helped show off the new skateboard controller to be used with Tony Hawk Ride, a new game that abandons the conventional control scheme. Players can use the board to kick, turn, and do grab tricks.

Next, Infinity Ward premiered a snow-covered level of the highly anticipated Modern Warfare 2 (see: Call of Duty) with dazzling graphics and intense action game play.

A very brief combat scene from Final Fantasy XIII was on display, officially removing console exclusivity from the Sony PlayStation 3. This debut wrapped up the multiplatform games that are going to be available for the Xbox 360. In a refreshing change of pace, it was announced that all games shown off from here on out will be available exclusively on the Xbox 360.

Kicking off these titles was the DLC (downloadable content) game Shadow Complex from developer Epic Games (Gears of War)--an action/exploration game very much in the vein of the original Metroid and Castlevania series.

Joy Ride will allow you to race as your Xbox Live Avatar with friends online. The free DLC title looks a lot like a Mario Kart inspired racer where you'll be able to purchase additional tracks for use with friends as well.

The follow up to the open world over-the-top crime-fighting title Crackdown has gotten a sequel in the form of Crackdown 2. Zombie apocalypse fans will be happy to hear that Left4Dead 2 will see the light of day this November.… Read more