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.

According to a Google update last night, the company will no longer be automatically redirecting search traffic in China from Google.cn to Google’s unfiltered Hong Kong page, Google.com.hk. Chinese officials were displeased, obviously, with Google’s past refusal to comply with censorship on google.cn, and the implication is that if the search engine had continued this tactic to provide uncensored results to Chinese internet users, their Internet Content Provider license would not be renewed on June 30.

Without an ICP license, a commercial site like Google.cn would not be allowed to operate in China. So what is the inevitable compromise?

Anyone watching South Park last night may have noticed that there were at least a few more audio bleeps than usual, as well as some unfamiliar censorship blocks. That’s because, as the New York Times reports, the subject matter is making for some warmer water than South Park Studios is typically used to, thanks in large part to their depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.

Last week, South Park aired their 200th episode. Without getting too into the plot details, the episode sent up a number of past storylines and controversies, most notably the depiction of the Islamic Prophet. Bear suits were involved. You get the idea. Though it wasn’t the Prophet’s first appearance, it was, however, the first time an episode resulted in what are being called death threats toward series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

In December, Mark Fiore submitted an app to Apple that would allow his fans to view his political animated cartoons. Apple rejected his app, saying that his cartoons were “objectionable content.”

Well, on Monday, Fiore’s work was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning to go to an online only cartoon. Apple is now asking him to resubmit his app.

In anticipation of Australia’s internet filter, the voluntary euthanasia organization Exit International has begun to take action.  After realizing that they were on a leaked list of sites that would be blacklisted when the great Australian firewall (not pictured above) goes into operation, Exit International needed to find a way to teach its Australian members how to access their site.

Fortunately, under Australian law it is still legal to circumvent the filter and to show others how to do so.  But how to introduce 70 year olds to proxy servers and VPN tunnels?  Talk to your local Pirate Party, of course.

Manabu Miyazaki is suing police over a ban on manga based on the yakuza, the Japanese mafia. The ban has caused a graphic novel based on his memoir to be pulled from shelves, in an effort to lessen the influence of the yakuza in Japanese culture.

Miyazaki is currently a writer, but he is also yakuza royalty. His father was a boss in Kyoto, and his mother was also a member of a yakuza family. The banned manga memoir is the story of his upbringing, violent student activism, and management of a Yakuza run demolition business.

Google gave everyone fair warning, and earlier today the search giant did it.  Google.cn, the Chinese portal of Google.com, now redirects to the entirely uncensored search engine Google.com.hk, the Google of Hong Kong.

Google said in January that it was no longer comfortable censoring its search results on Google.cn at the request of the Chinese government, and would be allowing access to an uncensored search engine in China.  The Chinese government responded that such an act would be considered “unfriendly” and “irresponsible” and that there would be consequences.

Attorney General of the state of South Australia Michael Atkinson, shown here being metaphorically attacked by the animated alter-ego of a prominent Australian gamer, has resigned his post as AG as of today. Or, maybe yesterday. Today in Australia. We’re not really sure how the International Date Line works.

Atkinson has drawn much criticism in Australia and from gamers around the world for his stance on mature games. Specifically, his refusal to allow a R18+ rating for games. The Aussie rating system’s most mature level is currently MA15+, and anything that is deemed too violent or sexualized for that is considered beyond the system. Since unrated games cannot legally be sold, this effectively bans the game nationwide.

There may be a “99.9 per cent” chance that Google is going to shut down its Chinese engine Google.cn, as we learned this weekend, and that presents its advertising partners with a tricky choice: Stick with the company with whom they’ve enjoyed past success and risk bannination in the Chinese market, or defect to Chinese search engines at the cost of familiarity — and freedom from censorship.

Now, according to the New York Times, the Chinese authorities have put their thumbs on the scale: They’ve warned Google’s partners that to play ball in China, they’re going to need to censor their search results, with or without Google.