Politics and Law

Pakistan blocks Twitter over 'blasphemous' images, report says

The Pakistani government blocked access to Twitter over potential "blasphemous" caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, according to several reports.

Twitter was asked by the government to stop a discussion about a contest over Muhammad caricatures, something it refused to do. As a result, access to the site has been blocked, according to the Express Tribune. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority passed down the directive to Internet service providers in the country, and said it couldn't say how long the site would be blocked.

Access to Twitter in Pakistan was later restored on orders from Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, according more

Pakistan's Internet filter has the Valley buzzing over who's bidding

It's the bid that dares not (publicly) speak its name.

Friday was the deadline for companies to file their applications to win a piece of a Pakistani project that has stoked controversy stretching from to South Asia to Silicon Valley.

In late February, Pakistan's National ICT R&D Fund, which represents the government, began inviting bids to help create a "national-level URL filtering and blocking system." The system was described as a way to protect the public from "undesirable content."

Many countries have deployed web filtering and blocking systems at the Internet backbones within their countries. However,

The Wikimedia Foundation has completed the process of transferring its domains away from Go Daddy in response to Go Daddy's initial support for the Stop Online Piracy Act, the foundation said this week.

"As the provider of the 5th most visited Web properties in the world, the Foundation cares deeply about who handles our domain names. We had been deliberating a move from GoDaddy for some time--our legal department felt the company was not the best fit for our domain needs--and we began actively seeking other domain management providers in December 2011. GoDaddy's initial support of (SOPA)...reaffirmed more

Schmidt: The Web will dissolve national barriers

HANOVER, Germany--Google Executive Chairman is hopping from country to country on a European tour, but he said today the Internet is breaking down those national barriers.

"Loyalty is not just to a nation but to friends and interests," Schmidt said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the CeBIT technology show here today. "That will change everything for citizens, states, and society."

That may cause indigestion for any number of customs agents, tax collectors, and politicians, but it fits right in with Schmidt's optimistic view of the world: "It's a wonderful, wonderful thing to think about," he more

Schmidt: Don't let censorship hold back the Net's benefits

BARCELONA, Spain--Technology is going to make it harder to be a repressive dictator, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt believes, but censorship could still create a "digital caste system" that will mean some people remain laggards in the global economy.

Information inevitably will leak like water out of areas where censorship prevails, he said in a speech at the Mobile World Congress show here. And mesh networks--peer-to-peer connections linking mobile phones to each other without central Internet access points--will make that information leak even faster.

"In times of war and suffering, it will be impossible to ignore the [information] that comes more

Tor anonymity project looks to help Iranians sidestep Net ban

The privacy-focused Tor Project is working on helping Iranians sidestep increased Internet restrictions that were put in place by the country's government today in anticipation of protests this weekend.

Antigovernment protests are reportedly planned for Saturday--the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah. In response, the government has blocked access to Web-based e-mail services such as Gmail and social networks like Facebook. Officials have also, reports Forbes' Andy Greenberg, cut Web traffic that takes advantage of the kind of encryption used by secure e-mail services and social networks.

That's where U.S.-based Tor comes more

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to host own TV show

Move over Jay Leno. Watch out David Letterman. The next person getting his own talk show is none other than WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Touting the new series on its Web site yesterday, WikiLeaks proclaimed that the show would feature in-depth conversations between Assange and "key political players, thinkers, and revolutionaries from around the world" all focusing on the theme of "the world tomorrow."

Calling Assange "a pioneer for a more just world and a victim of political repression," the WikiLeaks press release dubbed him uniquely qualified to conduct global discussions on how to move forward. With unrest in the more

SOPA protests won't damage Google search rankings

Ordinarily, taking your Web site offline or removing its content is pretty high on the list of ways to damage its prominence in Google search results.

But Google has granted a special exemption during the protests today of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Many in the tech realm despise the proposed legislation and are protesting it with blackened, content-free sites.

Pierre Far, a Webmaster trends analyst at Google, offered an assurance that SOPA protests today won't cause problems with Googlebot, the system Google uses to constantly examine the Web's content and structure.

"We realize many Web masters more

House to take up SOPA debate again next month

Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary committee, today said he expects the debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act to resume sometime next month.

"To enact legislation that protects consumers, businesses, and jobs from foreign thieves who steal America's intellectual property," Smith said in a statement, "we will continue to bring together industry representatives and [members of Congress] to find ways to combat online piracy."

Smith suggested that further debate in the U.S. House of Representatives over the bill, which is designed to speed up the legal process involved with getting an accused foreign-based pirate site more

Go Daddy spanks SOPA, yanks support

Following criticism from customers for its support of the Stop Online Piracy Act, domain registrar Go Daddy today said that it's no longer backing the legislation.

"Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation - but we can clearly do better," said Go Daddy CEO Warren Adelman in a statement. "It's very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it."

In addition, more