freedom of expression
Twitter joke humorous not menacing, high court judges told
www.guardian.co.uk
Stephen Fry and Al Murray in court to back Paul Chambers's appeal against conviction for Twitter threat to blow up airportA message sent on Twitter threatening to blow up a snowbound airport unless it reopened was not "menacing" and was like a comic cracking a joke on stage, the lord...
European Commission Blames Social Networks For ACTA Failure; Worried About Its Imminent Directive On Copyright Enforcement
www.techdirt.com
Now that the EU's ratification of ACTA has departed from the original script of everyone just waving it through, the European Commission is clearly trying to come up with Plan B. Some insights into its thinking can be gained from the minutes (pdf) of a recent Commission meeting, pointed out...
European Commission Blames Social Networks For ACTA Failure; Worried About Its Imminent Directive On Copyright Enforcement
Contempt laws are still valid in the internet age | Dominic Grieve
www.guardian.co.uk
Social media undoubtedly poses a challenge for enforcement, but the Contempt of Court Act is a sound piece of legislationIt is not always easy to balance freedom of expression with the needs of the justice system. As attorney general I see my role as defender both of press freedom and...
Acta loses more support in Europe
www.guardian.co.uk
Bulgaria and the Netherlands join Poland and Germany in refusing to ratify Acta, citing privacy and human rights issuesSupport for Acta in Europe is waning as both Bulgaria and the Netherlands refuse to ratify the international anti-piracy agreement.Bulgaria will not ratify the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement over fears it will curb...
Anonymous releases over 2,000 hacked emails said to belong to the Tunisian government
thenextweb.com
A group of hackers, identifying themselves as members of Anonymous, hacked the Tunisian ruling party’s email accounts, releasing confidential documents, Reuters reports. 2,725 emails were released, among them messages said to be from the Prime Minister, Hamadi Jebali’s account. In a video shared on the Facebook page, Anonymous TN, as well as...
Let's put Facebook's 'no nipples' rule to test with your breastfeeding photos | Rowan Davies
www.guardian.co.uk
A society that is not prepared to accept the odd flash of nipple is a society that is not prepared to accept breastfeedingIt's not easy being a colossally successful social network. This might sound like sarcasm, but it's not; it's hard to formulate rules that allow 845 million users to...
Supporters of jailed Saudi Twitter user may be charged with blasphemy
thenextweb.com
After being deported from Malaysia back to Saudi Arabia for a series of poetic tweets, 23-year-old Hamza Kashgari has been detained in Saudi Arabia. And according to the Arabic daily, Al Hayat, he is not the only tweeter who could face the same fate. Charges of blasphemy are being brought...
Pirate Bay Founder Takes Case To European Court
torrentfreak.com
On February 1st, Sweden’s Supreme Court announced its decision not to grant leave to appeal in the long-running criminal case against the founders of The Pirate Bay. This meant that the previously determined jail sentences and fines handed out to Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström would...
EU Will Refer ACTA To Highest European Court
eu.techcrunch.com
The European Union says it will refer the controversial ACTA anti-piracy trade agreement to the institution’s highest court, the European Court of Justice, to check whether it complies with the EU’s fundamental rights. EU trade chief Karel De Gucht is leading the process. He said: “We are planning to ask...
Congress Passes CISPA
www.readwriteweb.com
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 248-168. "I know it is 2012, but it sure feels like 1984 in this House today. If you value liberty, privacy and the Constitution, then you will vote no...
Palestinian Authority arrests two in one week over Facebook posts
thenextweb.com
Tariq Khamis, a Palestinian journalist was arrested by the Palestinian Authority, following critical comments made on Facebook, Electronic Intifada reports. While the arrest had far more to do with an article that was published in a local newspaper, it was triggered by a social networking post that caught the attention...
French advisory council speaks out against Sarkozy’s plan to criminalize visiting extremist websites
thenextweb.com
France’s National Digital Council (CNN), an advisory committee created by President Nicolas Sarkozy himself, has spoken out against a plan to punish frequent visitors of extremist websites. CNN, not to be confused with the news network, was established in April last year and plays an advisory role with the French government,...
French advisory council speaks out against Sarkozy’s plan to criminalize visiting extremist websites
Internet censorship: how does each country compare? | Datablog
www.guardian.co.uk
Where is the internet the most open? Where is it the most restricted? Debate the ranking here• Get the data• Interactive map of this dataCensorship of internet content can take many forms and ranges from governments blocking the dissemination of political opinion to blacklisting pornographic and pirate websites. The OpenNet...
Tunisia celebrates its first National Day for Internet Freedom, still struggles with what that freedom means
thenextweb.com
Tunisia has declared March 13 as its National Day for Internet Freedom. The celebration comes just one day after World Day Against Censorship, as well as an apparent attack by Tunisian members of Anonymous on Islamist-owned websites in the country. Tunisia is still on Reporters without Borders (RWB) list of...
Tunisia celebrates its first National Day for Internet Freedom, still struggles with what that freedom means
Concern in Vietnam: US calls for the release of detained bloggers as new Web regulation emerges
thenextweb.com
The US has called upon Vietnam to release three bloggers that have been arrested on charges of publishing “propaganda against the state”, as concerns grow around increased Internet censorship in the country. Following this week’s arrest of the bloggers, who are accused of “distorting the truth, denigrating the party and...
Why should Amazon be our taste and decency policeman? | Jo Glanville
www.guardian.co.uk
The online retailer has been criticised for profiting from ebooks featuring terror and violence. No one should tell us what to readAmazon is under fire again, this time for profiting from ebooks on terror, hate and violence. The Muslim Council of Britain has called on Amazon to take "proper responsibility"...
ACTA 'May Interfere With Fundamental Freedoms' -- EU Data Protection Supervisor
www.techdirt.com
The dramatic announcement that the EU's rapporteur on ACTA, David Martin, would be recommending that the European Parliament should reject the treaty was made at the end of a morning conference on the subject organized by Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. One of those speaking in favor of...
Ambitious To Be The Next Online-Only Uniqlo, India's Freecultr Gets $9M From Ru-Net, Sequoia
techcrunch.com
A lot of global clothing brands turn to India these days to manufacture their products. But today comes news of a $9 million funding round for an online clothing brand based in India that has big ambitions to go global. Freecultr — which CEO and co-founder Sujal Shah likens to...
Russian Internet policy at odds with that of Western countries
arstechnica.com
The Kremlin is very active on Twitter, even in English. TALLINN, ESTONIA—Nearly all Western Internet users believe in the general principles of information-sharing that date back to the Enlightenment-era values of freedom of expression. Or, expressed more succinctly in the 20th century: information wants to be free. But, says...
Thai webmaster found guilty over royal 'insults'
www.guardian.co.uk
Chiranuch Premchaiporn given eight-month suspended jail term for failing to remove posts deemed insulting to royaltyA Thai court has sentenced a webmaster to an eight-month suspended sentence for failing to act quickly enough to remove internet posts deemed insulting to the country's royalty.The ruling showed leniency against Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who...
Tighter privacy laws would only serve the rich and powerful | John Kampfner
www.guardian.co.uk
The report by MPs on privacy talks of the importance of free expression, but the measures it proposes fly in the face of thatPoor practice tends to get in the way of good intentions. During a meeting at the foreign office a few weeks ago, I gently reminded the decent-minded...
Twitter Bends Its Own Rules To Suspend The Twitter Account Of A Journalist Who Was Critical Of NBC
www.businessinsider.com
After Guy Adams, a British journalist for The Independent, tweeted a top NBC executive's email address, he found his account was suspended. NBC and Twitter have partnered to cover the Olympics. And NBC has admitted it lodged the complaint with Twitter. So whatever the details, it looks like Twitter helped a...
Minister: The UK “emphatically” supports free speech online but there are limits
thenextweb.com
The UK’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Jeremy Browne, has revealed that the country is behind freedom of speech online however he admits that there are limits to exactly how free Web users can be, according a report from The Hindu. Speaking at a function for the Madras Chamber of Commerce and...
Acta stalled by European commission
www.guardian.co.uk
European body to check if treaty would violate EU rights amid growing opposition • EC statement on ActaApproval of the controversial international anti-counterfeiting treaty Acta has been stalled by the European commission, which is to ask Europe's highest court whether implementing it would violate any fundamental EU rights.The decision comes...
Twitter Suspends Four Accounts Critical of Sarkozy: Is This What He Meant By 'Civilizing' The Net?
www.techdirt.com
Nicolas Sarkozy, who hopes to be re-elected as French President this year, seems to have little love for the Internet. At best, he regards it as a "Wild West" that needs taming. Despite that, Sarkozy joined Twitter last week -- you can follow him @NicolasSarkozy. Posts are mainly written by...
European Court of Justice To Examine ACTA For Rights Breaches
torrentfreak.com
In an announcement this morning, EU trade chief Karel De Gucht said that following discussion with fellow Commissioners, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will be referred to the European Court of Justice. ACTA, a treaty aimed at harmonizing copyright enforcement globally, has been mired in controversy from its inception not...
Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?
www.guardian.co.uk
From hard porn to broken injunctions, the unfettered web has played havoc with the law. But moves are afoot to tame itWhen a south London teenager uploaded a series of amateur rap videos to YouTube, he had no reason to believe they would make legal history.But the videos, a vivid...
Overreacting To Anonymous Is A Greater Threat To Freedom, Innovation & Creativity Than Any Of Their Attacks
www.techdirt.com
We've noted the disturbing trend by the press and politicians to totally overreact or to pump up the actual impact and/or threat of various Anonymous hacking attacks. We've also noted multiple times that such attacks can be incredibly counterproductive -- and the press and politician backlash is part of what...
Overreacting To Anonymous Is A Greater Threat To Freedom, Innovation & Creativity Than Any Of Their Attacks
As ACTA support falters, treaty referred to European court
arstechnica.com
The prospects for quick European approval of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement dimmed Wednesday as the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, announced plans to seek an opinion from the European Court of Justice about ACTA's constitutionality. In a statement, Viviane Reding, the EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights, and...
Europe Refers ACTA to Court of Justice, Decision Could Nullify Enforcement
www.readwriteweb.com
In a move ostensibly to confirm the European Parliament's opinion that the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is above board - but perhaps also to alleviate its own suspicions - E.U. Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht has opted to refer the treaty to the Court of Justice (ECJ). While Comm. de...
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