geekosystem

In 1954 Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent which said comic books were the cause of juvenile delinquency in America. They aren't, but the idea that comics are dangerous keeps popping up. This time it's showing itself in the form of a preschool that has banned "Super Hero play." What's really offensive, though, is what they've asked parents to do.

Not too long ago, the Chinese government had been toying with the notion of approving a proposal requiring real-name registration for Internet users when working with service providers and similar vendors. This procured registration information would then be stored in a data system that could possibly be accessed by the authorities to monitor the online day-to-day activities of the general public. Many concerned citizens feared that this proposed controversial move would be an encroachment on the free speech online anonymity brings -- especially in a nation notorious for censorship crackdowns on those that dispense unpopular opinions against China's ruling body. It looks like those fears have been made real since the government has sanctioned the real-name registration proposal, putting the public's private affairs on shaky ground.

The United Kingdom has, in the past, been notoriously difficult on Internet pornography. There's even a Wikipedia page dedicated to their anti-pornography movement, if that's any indication. A recent campaign sought to automatically block all pornographic content from being accessed by residents of the U.K. unless they explicitly told their ISP they wanted access. That surely wouldn't have been entirely awkward. "Greetings, company that provides my Internet. I would like access to porn, thanks." Thankfully, ministers have rejected this proposed filter.

Is it time to declare that the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a mess yet? Because several major studios have requested that Google take down legitimate websites featuring their own content, including their Facebook pages, and in one case a direct link to a show's page on its own network website. The requests were most likely filed automatically by bots scouring the Internet for copyright violations, but still, when you ask Google to take down your own movie from iTunes and Amazon because of copyright violations that don't exist, you look like a jerk. Or at least an idiot. Yeah, probably an idiot.

China's fairly notorious for the stranglehold they keep on their country's ability to browse the Internet. Censorship, in general, is the name of the game, and they apply it liberally. It should come as no surprise then that China's gone and blocked the New York Times over an article critical of Wen Jiabao, their prime minister, and his family. Seems that his relatives have become "mysteriously" wealthy since Mr. Wen's rise to power, and China's not a fan of anyone that points it out.

Twitter's not often one to involve themselves in somewhat controversial actions. Twitter users, sure, but not the company itself. This is why their announcement back in January that they now could effectively censor tweets that break local speech laws was seen as an issue. Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, dissenters said, and this kind of prohibitive action would make future social uprisings far more difficult. Yesterday, Twitter officially used this power for the very first time to censor the tweets of a group called Besseres Hannover from appearing in Germany.

It appears that Iran has today pulled back the block it had in place on Gmail, which the country put in place a week ago. We'd originally suggested that Iran didn't truly understand the implications of their action, but it seems that they totally did: They just didn't know how to stop it. That anti-Islam clip was the intended target, but the country didn't know how to only block YouTube. To be fair, this type of digital incompetence is present universally, but it's more prevalent in countries prone to censorship.

Censorship of the Internet isn't something that's new in Iran. Their new plan to block Google indefinitely, however, is probably the worst instance of this to date. This ostensibly relates back to the anti-Islam clip that fueled attacks on United States embassies and consulates, but more than likely has to do with the fact that Iran likes to keep their citizens on a strict leash. What they don't seem to understand is that blocking Google means blocking everything associated with it to boot, like Google Maps, Drive, Calendar, and so on. More sinister is the thought that, perhaps, they actually do, and that's the goal.

If it seems The Pirate Bay is the only torrent site to be in the news, that's because it is big and popular enough for more mainstream outlets to pay attention to it. Case in point, there are a ton of places on the Internet from which to grab torrents -- some of which extremely popular -- but only links to The Pirate Bay have been blocked by Microsoft in Windows Live Messenger, as opposed to links to other popular torrent sites.

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!