WebProNews

Turkey Shuts Out YouTube

If you're reading this story in January of 2008, rest assured that it's not a reprint.  You can pretty much get by with recalling an old article, though, because for the third or so separate time, Turkey's government has become upset with YouTube and banned the video-sharing site.

UK Aims to Stop Hackers by Banning Tools

In what could be a bad day for United Kingdom pen testers, stress testers, and other systems security folks, the UK is getting ready to ban the creation and distribution of tools that could be used by hackers. This generally unpleasant concept could make it not only impossible to create the next nessus or nmap by anyone in the UK, it could also send them to jail for distributing the tools they make as well. This ought to set back UK computer security by decades.

Wikipedia Banned By Dutch Ministry Of Justice

Due to a block put in place by the Dutch Ministry of Justice, 30,000 people can’t use Wikipedia at work.  Yet, while it’s a bit startling to hear the development phrased like that, the move may not be entirely unreasonable.

House Extends Ban On Internet Taxes

The House today voted 405-2 to extend the ban on Internet access taxes for another four years. The existing ban on Internet access taxes is due to expire on November 1.

eBay Presses Congress For Internet Tax Ban

Brian Bieron, eBay's senior director of federal government relations testified before the House Small Business Committee and said that small businesses would be negatively impacted if a permanent ban on Internet access taxes were not implemented.

Blogs Evade Myanmar Media Ban

When the Soviet Union was under Communist rule, dissidents in Soviet countries exchanged information and commented on current events using photocopied newsletter-style publications called “samizdat” that were handed around from person to person. Now, the Internet allows dissidents and protesters of all kinds to get information out of totalitarian countries much more quickly (although there are still restrictions that authoritarian regimes — such as those in North Korea and China — can use to make Internet access difficult or even impossible).

Escalating Ban-Facebook Hype

Yet another survey is out saying that Facebook damages business, this time to the tune of £130 million a day.

Unions Call for Workplace Facebook Guidelines

The TUC, the organization representing trade unions in the UK, adds its voice to the big debate on what to do about Facebook and employee use. In a practical approach to an issue that some companies see as a problem that can be solved only by banning it from the workplace, the TUC says that’s not the best approach:

Americans Support Ban On Texting While Driving

Eighty-nine percent of American adults believe that sending text messages or emails while driving is dangerous and should be banned according to a new survey commissioned by mobile messaging service Pinger and conducted by Harris Interactive.

The Ban on Employees Accessing Facebook

Earlier this month, in FIR #254, Shel and I discussed quite an interesting story of what one company did regarding employee access to and use of Facebook.