#IMWeekly: January 30, 2015
The Chinese government automates a crackdown on VPN access, France calls for Internet operators to ban terrorists, and more in this week's #IMWeekly.
The Chinese government automates a crackdown on VPN access, France calls for Internet operators to ban terrorists, and more in this week's #IMWeekly.
Iran's attempt at Smart Filtering, ICANN hacked, and more in this week's IMWeekly!
For those of us just tuning in (which is most of the public, excluding a select group of corporate insiders, and government officials) a new document outlining the details of the ultra-secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was just leaked via Wikileaks, and it could change the landscape of Intellectual Property as we know it.
Since political unrest erupted in Eastern Ukraine, Crimea has found itself in the middle of an "information war" between Ukraine and Russia. It's a battle that has seen both countries tighten laws surrounding Internet access, use, and expression under the guise of quelling extremist sentiment. In late July, tension heightened when plans for an undersea fiber optic cable stretching from Russia to the newly-annexed Crimea were realized.
In this week’s #IMWeekly: a dissident Cuban blogger “disappears” from his jail cell under fishy circumstances, a former Malaysian Prime Minister backtracks on his calls for no Internet censorship, and the owner of an independent news site in Somaliland is arrested.
Baidu, China's largest search engine, has just expanded in Brazil. Some netizens have noticed, however, that Baidu's censorship tactics in mainland China have crossed the ocean to its Brazilian counterpart.
Guest post by Berkman research affiliate Helmi Noman
While trying to access MIT Center for Civic Media director Ethan Zuckerman’s blog today via the United Arab Emirates national ISP du, I encountered du’s standard blockpage.
In this week's #IMWeekly: Brunei's netizens are finding their way around Sharia Law's free speech restrictions, a Cambodia-based blogger gets a heavy fine on dubious defamation charges, and Iraq starts filtering sites critical of the central government.
As their government adjusts its Internet filters, raising some barriers and lowering others in a bid to contain a violent Sunni insurgency, Iraqis are leaning on alternative technologies to maintain access to online services.