Seattle’s Lake City library has been fighting a particularly contentious fight lately, upholding patrons’ right to watch pornography on library computers. Well, not that specifically, but rather the right of patrons to access whatever content they like on the library’s unfiltered Internet content, LOLcats and porn alike. Naturally, there have been some complaints about the pornography, but things have been astoundingly civil so far.

Twitter has gained something of a reputation as being a tool for social change, after its prominence in the disputed Iranian elections in 2009, the Arab Spring of 2011, and as a growing piece of the political discussion in this country. Key to this has been Twitter’s universality; a Tweet from Tehran or Cairo can appear to anyone around the world. Now, Twitter has announced new changes that will allow them to hide tweets in countries with differing interpretations of “freedom of expression.” Yeah, that pretty much sounds like censorship.

Pakistan recently announced a bold plan to start filtering text messages and censoring them for obscene words. In addition to censoring the obscene words, it seemed like it was part of the plan to censor words that might be obscene in a weird parallel universe, filthy slurs like “mango,” “athlete’s foot,” and the dreaded “kmart.” Of course, in addition to the funny ones, Pakistan intended to ban some more truly controversial (but understandble) words such as “Jesus Christ” and any reference to sexual orientation or sex in general. That includes “deeper.”

An Italian court has sided with a case brought against Google that the search engine’s autocomplete text contained libelous information, and was subject to censor.

The case was brought by an unnamed Italian man who found that when typing his name into Google’s search bar, it brought up words such as “fraud” and “con man.” Google had attempted to fight the case by claiming that it was simply hosting the data, a role which is protected by the E-Commerce Directive. But Carlo Piana, the lawyer for the unnamed claimant, held that Google’s autocomplete text was created by Google, and the search giant was therefore liable.

On his blog, Piana emphasized the limited scope of the case.

All I have to say is that it is by no means an endorsement to censorship, as notice to the sued company was given well in advance, the alligations of the complainant were fully discussed with them before even considering to go to court, and the requests was and is only for a very exceptional set of string (two). All cases are different, therefore there is no assurance that similar cases would see the same outcome.

Piana goes on to note that Google already censors some search results, citing in particular Google’s practice of removing search listings that could lead to copyrighted material.

Google has said that they are reviewing their options, and an appeal is no doubt forthcoming. Though censorship of the Internet is always a distasteful thing, this case seems to have not brought an enraging, overly broad interpretation. Instead, it has established some kind of precedent that could give users greater control of their own information. But it is worth asking how much control users deserve. This case aside, people could benefit greatly from seeing “con man” pop up in a search about a nefarious fraud.

(Carlo Piana via ZDNET)

Having observed access issues with their popular web-based email service Gmail, Google is accusing the Chinese government of causing the problem. Gmail users have apparently been unable to reach their accounts over the past few weeks, while some are claiming that their accounts have been compromised. After investigating these problems, Google is saying that the interruptions are coming from outside their system. From Google’s statement, quoted by The Telegraph:

There is no technical issue on our side; we have checked extensively. There is a [Chinese] government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail[.]

The accusation comes after Google has repeatedly locked horns with the Chinese government, and gone so far as to move their corporate headquarters to Hong Kong, where governmental authority is somewhat diminished. Prior to their move, Google said they were targeted by Chinese hackers who stole source code and apparently accessed email user information. This apparently included information about human rights and pro-democracy supporters.

Observers are noting that this could be part of a larger effort by the Chinese government to crack down on dissension within the country, and enhance their censorship over Chinese internet access. Which is hard to believe, considering that it already has some of the tightest controls in the world.

If true, these accusations will only further frustrate an already unhappy relationship between Chinese authorities and Google. One wonders how far these two will push each other, though in the face of the monolithic power that is Chinese authority, even the mighty Google seems at a disadvantage.

(NYTimes, UK Telegraph)

Reality continues to take a back seat in China, where Baidu has created CG images of local cities in order to side-step the countries strict censorship laws. At issue are laws that regulate what aerial images of China can be publicly viewed. This effectively hamstrings companies like Google that use actual photos in their maps.

Baidu Maps approached the problem by creating an artistic vision of the city without showing anything to raise any eyebrows with the government. The result is a weirdly beautiful map, that’s searchable and allegedly as usable as Google Maps. The inclusion of little details like construction equipment only emphasizes the strange, SimCity nature of the whole thing.

Though it’s a clever solution, it solves a very strange problem. But what’s really important is that the idea of creating special maps to the specifications of unseen overlords gives me the opportunity to link to the surreal 1960′s TV thriller The Prisoner.

Be seeing you!

Rush Limbaugh is a well-known American conservative firebrand whose career controversies include implying that Michael J. Fox exaggerates his Parkinson’s symptoms (accompanied by illustrative jerky body language) and that supporters of Barack Obama are simply responding to a racist cultural trope; but who espouses a political ideology of small government, individual liberty and capitalism that resonates with many Americans.

And so, in the interest of fairness, reasonableness, and yes, sanity, we will mention that we are on the same side when it comes to government regulation of the sale of video games, specifically in Schwarzenegger vs. The Entertainment Merchants Association, which begins Supreme Court hearings on Tuesday.

No, not with a shrubbery. Via Letters of Note, a highly entertaining letter from Monty Python producer Mark Forstater to his fellow producer Michael White on the topic of The British Board of Film Classification‘s suggested revisions to Monty Python and the Holy Grail to allow it to attain a more family-friendly rating. As anyone who’s seen the movie knows, the profane originals survived totally intact.

Swearing-packed full letter below:

Two years after its US release, China has finally approved the release of Wrath of the Lich King, the second World of WarCraft expansion set. There are a number of reasons the Chinese release of the game took so long: The first Chinese distributor of the game, The9, lost its license from Blizzard after allegedly poor management; then, the new distributor, NetEase, was ordered to heavily censor the expansion, and the approval process was a long and plodding one.

As in previous Chinese World of Warcraft censorship efforts, a number of game models have been changed for the Chinese Wrath of the Lich King. Skulls and skeletons are particularly taboo: In Chinese World of Warcraft, corpses already turn into tombstones instead of skeletons when the player resurrects, “making sites of heavy PvP look like odd little graveyards.” [Susana's words.] As documented by Chinese gaming site chinagame.178.com, the Wrath of the Lich King model changes are particularly focused on covering up skeletons and cleaning up gore:

After rigorous testing in their secret underground laboratory, the product analysts at Consumer Reports ultimately decided that they could not in good conscience recommend the iPhone 4. In the end, a phone that you can’t hold doesn’t make for an effective means of communication, it turns out. For full info on that decision along with a handy (get it?) video that should help you fully grasp (get it?) the situation, click here.

Well, of course people are going to be talking about this on the Internet. But the one place they can’t talk about it is apparently one of the places that makes the most sense: Apple’s support forums.