I started reading Jonah Goldberg’s article on censorship in the National Review thinking it was going to be about domestic censorship, instead, he spends most of the article talking about how the Palestinian Authority has been cracking down on reporters since camera crews taped crowds of people celebrating the attacks on the US. It’s hard [...]
[ via Librarian.net ] I could not imagine living in Fairfax County, Virginia given that the adult population with children seem bent on banning, and censoring their way to a dictatorship of the mediocre. A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, [...]
The “New Democrats”, i.e. Old Republicans, have published a position paper claiming that it’s perfectly fine and consitutional to force spammers to label porn spam as such. Not only does this ignore the basic issue–spam isn’t a porn problem, it’s a theft of service problem–It’s an invitation for the religous right to use it as [...]
[ via N2K ] The BBC, new owners of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (H2G2) website, have asked the contributors to lay off the heavy political commentary until the June elections. Given that the English will sue for libel at the drop of a hat, that sounds somewhat reasonable. So if you want to [...]
[ via TracyB ] The Digital Freedom Network sponsored a contest for the best examples of foul-ups caused by ‘censorware.’ The winners were announced today. Among the winners is pro-nannyware congressman Dick Armey (R, TX) whose site is blocked by the software he endorses because of his parent’s regretable choice of a given name.
I haven’t seen “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut,” but now I’ve heard “Blame Canada,” and must see it.
“Two years in a row, representatives from a number of ”groups, associations, and trade unions” have met in Paris under the sponsorship of a group called IRIS (http://www.iris.sgdg.org/) to discuss policies that would create and preserve an ”Internet that promotes non-commercial interests and solidarity.”” The document emphasisizes privacy, rejects software patents, and opposes any content [...]
In a definitive pimp-slap to censorship forces, German author G¸nter Grass has won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Nobel committee specifically cited his novel The Tin Drum, which an Oklahoma City prosecutor tried to have the film version declared child pornography.
I hope this is an April Fool’s joke. A large software company in Washington State, generaly considered to hold near monopoly power in the OS market, has threatened the creators of the Web comic User Friendly with litigation because they parodied one of their products. This wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny if it went to [...]
1 April 1999: The Yugoslav Government has taken over B92′s transmitter and licences. Any information from B92 should be considered as suspect. Of course, you should be subjecting domestic media to the same level of scrutiny. The Serbian authorities have shut down Radio B92′s transmitter again. It’s one of the few media outlets in Yugoslavia [...]
This resource is a find! “Now in its 11th year, MSRRT Newsletter is a source of reviews, commentary, and networking info for library workers. Issued in print under the auspices of the Minnesota Library Association, the newsletter’s scope includes zines and periodicals covering such topics as economic justice, ethnic concerns, queer culture, feminism, sexuality and [...]
The Regulators: Elected and appointed officials who routinely deny access to government information and public meetings, and draw up laws to regulate how and when and in what tone of voice citizens may criticize them. Link