“Russia will “make the right choice” on regulating the Internet, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday, hinting that the government did not intend to impose Chinese-style bans on websites.
Unlike the Russian press and state-run TV channels, the rapidly growing Runet, or Russian Internet, has avoided government censorship and restrictions, turning it into forum for anti-government discussion.
Three weeks ago, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) caused alarm among Russia’s estimated 60 million Internet users by demanding access to Internet communication services like Gmail and Skype. In a move reminiscent of Soviet style repression, the FSB claimed the “uncontrolled use of these services could lead to a large-scale threat to Russian security.”
From RIA Novosti
Author Archives: anna
Medvedev vows not to restrict Internet
Facebook takedown followup: what happened, and what Facebook needs to fix
“Facebook has reinstated a number of sites’ Facebook pages that were taken down due to bogus copyright claims this week. The company issued an apology for the inconvenience and says that DMCA notice abuse is an issue that Facebook takes seriously, but serious questions still remain about the effectiveness of Facebook’s process for dealing with complaints.
Malicious individuals sure have an easy time taking down some popular Facebook fan pages, but sometimes it goes further than the lulz. ReadWriteWeb recounted a story from Hamard Dar’s Rewriting Technology site, who had its Facebook page taken down over fake copyright claims, only to be threatened later with extortion by the party who submitted the claim.”
From Ars Technica
Activists claim purge of Facebook pages
“Activists are claiming that dozens of politically linked Facebook accounts have been removed or suspended by the company in the last 12 hours.
The list of suspended pages include those for the anti cuts group UK Uncut, and pages that were created by students during last December’s university occupations.
It is not yet known how many websites have been affected in total or why they are not working. Facebook is currently looking into the issue.”
From The Guardian
Trying to Stir Up a Popular Protest in China, From a Bedroom in Manhattan
“From a pair of computer screens in a lime green bedroom in Upper Manhattan, a 27-year-old man from China is working to bring about a popular uprising.
Two months after calls shot across the Web for a Tunisian- and Egyptian-style “Jasmine Revolution” in China, he is among the few online dissidents still trying to promote a popular protest movement inside the country. The effort has failed to provoke any major street demonstrations, but it has led to a fierce crackdown by the authorities.”
From The New York Times
Netizen Bakhtiyar Hajiev refused bail
“A second hearing in netizen Bahthiyar Hajiev’s trial before a Nizami district court in the city of Ganja was held yesterday. Facing a charge of desertion (under article 321.1 of the penal code) brought against him in January, he was arrested on 4 March after calling on Facebook for demonstrations against the government. He faces two years behind bars if convicted.
A graduate of Harvard and a former opposition candidate, Hajiev has complained of being a victim of a politically-motivated trial linked to his online activities.”
Online censorship now bordering on the ridiculous in Turkey
“Reporters Without Borders is both amused and shocked to learn that the High Council for Telecommunications (TIB), Turkey’s Internet regulator, has issued Internet service providers and website hosting companies with a list of 138 keywords that are henceforth to be banned from Turkish Internet. The list was sent out on 27 April.
“With Turkey already blocking thousands of sites with content that is considered sensitive, the consequences of such keyword filtering could be disastrous for online freedom of expression. The authorities must abandon this scheme and instead reform Law 5651 on the Internet, which makes such arbitrary censorship possible,” Reporters Without Borders said.”
U.S. lawmakers: extend privacy codes to app makers
“Mobile privacy safeguards should also extend to third-party application developers, two lawmakers said after reviewing the practices of four major U.S. wireless carriers.
Representatives Edward Markey and Joe Barton, co-chairs of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, released on Thursday letters they received from Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp and T-Mobile in response to their inquiries last month about the collection, use and storage of location data.
The letters showed the wireless carriers generally asked customers before accessing their location data. But developers of popular mobile phone applications were less than forthcoming about their tracking.”
From The Globe and Mail
Alarm over EU ‘Great Firewall’ proposal
“Broadband providers have voiced alarm over an EU proposal to create a “Great Firewall of Europe” by blocking “illicit” web material at the borders of the bloc.
Anti-censorship campaigners compared the plan to China’s notorious system for controlling citizens’ access to blogs, news websites and social networking services.”
From The Telegraph
Security expert forecasts the end of e-mail
“Rafal Rohozinski untangles online crime schemes for a living, advising everyone from the BBC to the U.S. Department of State. When news broke that “spear phishers”—hackers who fool employees into giving away critical information—had breached networks at the Treasury Board of Canada, his phone started ringing.
Rohozinski, the CEO of cyber consultancy SecDev Group and a senior fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, delivers a sobering message to Ivor Tossell: Cybercrime is hitting bottom lines—and our days of worry-free global communication are numbered.”
From The Globe and Mail
Cyberwar Hype Comes Under Increasing Scrutiny
“This week, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University released the second in a series of working papers that address the growing concern over cyberwar.
In that paper, “Loving the Cyber Bomb? The Dangers of Threat Inflation in Cybersecurity Policy,” researchers Jerry Brito and Tate Watkins take issue with what they see as a clear case of “threat inflation” on the part of those who claim repeatedly that “cyber-doom” is near.”
From Forbes
