German parliament passes bill in fight against child pornography

The German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, has adopted a new set of laws making it possible to block child pornography Web sites.
Internet users will still be able to access child pornography sites even after the stop sign appears, but they will have to click through the warning, which informs them that viewing child pornography is a crime.
China's computers at hacking risk

Every PC in China could be at risk of being taken over by malicious hackers because of flaws in compulsory government software.
The Chinese government has mandated that all computers in the country must have the screening software installed.
Others have reported that the system only runs on Microsoft Windows, allowing Mac and Linux users to bypass the software.
Mr Mao told BBC News that they believed there was a new guideline from the country's central propaganda department "to comb all media and online forums to block critics and discussion over the issue."
Censorship on Tiananmen Anniversary Cripples Chinese Ne

June 4 isn't just the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in China, it's also known as Chinese Internet Maintenance day.
Despite that censorship, the country is still very interested in the events of 20 years ago, when the government crushed an unprecedented pro-democracy protest in Beijing by unleashing the army on unarmed students.
"It's hard to talk about censorship because the word for censorship gets censored," MacKinnon said.
Twitter blocked in China

In terms of new media, do you still feel that in China censors could control everything that's happening in this area - you once said that if they shut off twitter, for example, it would be very easy, and information will just not get out.
The block seems to be a URL keyword filter. Googling for "twitter.com" resets the connection, as does including the string "twitter.com" in any other URL. Access to the service is fine through proxy or VPN.
20 years after Tiananmen, China containing dissent online

The Internet has brought new hope to reformists in China since the country crushed pro-democracy protests in the capital 20 years ago.
China has stepped up monitoring of dissidents and Internet censorship ahead of June 4, when hundreds were killed in 1989 after Beijing sent soldiers to its central Tiananmen Square to disperse protestors.
This month, a blogger who had been detained for writing about corrupt village elections had charges against him dropped after he continued posting about the poll online, pushing himself into the public eye.
YouTube Korea squelches uploads, comments

Citing free-speech concerns about an anonymity-blocking law in South Korea, Google has disabled the ability to upload YouTube videos or comment on them in the country.
A Korean law requires "real-name verification" for Internet services with more than 100,000 different daily users, Google said. Under the law, people must identify themselves with a name and identification number before they can upload video or post comments.
Facebook Divorces Pirate Bay

Facebook is blocking Pirate Bay torrents from being shared on the popular social-networking site, a week after Pirate Bay unveiled a feature to allow Facebook users the ability to link torrents on their profiles.
In case you forgot. the four co-founders of the Pirate Bay are awaiting an April 17 verdict to criminal copyright infringement charges from their home country of Sweden.
'Unafraid' of Internet, China Appears to Block YouTube

China is not afraid of the Internet, its Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, even as access to the popular video sharing site YouTube appeared to be blocked.
"Many people have a false impression that the Chinese government fears the Internet. In fact it is just the opposite," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.
It has been described by analysts as another step in the Party's battle to stifle dissent in a year of sensitive anniversaries, including the 20th anniversary of the government's bloody crackdown on the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
Administrative Court: Data retention is "invalid"

As the first German court, the Administrative Court of Wiesbaden has found the blanket recording of the entire population's telephone, mobile phone, e-mail and Internet usage (known as data retention) disproportionate.
"The court is of the opinion that data retention violates the fundamental right to privacy. It is not necessary in a democratic society. The individual does not provoke the interference but can be intimidated by the risks of abuse and the feeling of being under surveillance [...] The directive [on data retention] does not respect the principle of proportionality guaranteed in Article 8 ECHR, which is why it is invalid."
Australia's Vast, Scattershot Censorship Blacklist Revealed

Australia's secretive Internet filter blacklist held by its communications watchdog has been leaked, revealing the government has understated the amount of banned Web pages by more than 1000. Multiple legitimate businesses and Web sites have been banned including two bus companies, online poker sites, multiple Wikipedia entries, Google and Yahoo group pages, a dental surgery and a tour operator.
The blacklists were reportedly leaked by a Web filter operator to wikileaks which has published the full list of banned URLs. Outraged privacy advocates say the government has effectively lied about the amount of URLs included in the blacklists, totalling more than 2300, and the type of content which it would ban.