For at least a week, though, the site has been the victim of hackers who are retaliating for Qasmi’s role in the Indian government’s recent demands that Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others remove socially and religiously objectionable content. The phrase “Probably best not to piss the social networking sites off!” cycles continually through the “News & Updates” sidebar on the site. Though the “story” is dated January 3rd, 2012, Qasmi says it has been there for about a week.

Qasmi told the Hindustan Times that other sections of the site were not functioning properly either, and that the vandalism was interfering with efforts to resolve disputes and answer questions for Indian Muslims who come to the site for advice.

This news follows our report yesterday that Google had begun removing certain kinds of “objectionable” content after a Dehli court issued an order giving Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others 15 days to comply. The Indian government has been trying for months to force several search and social media sites to remove and screen content that the government deems morally, religiously, or socially objectionable.

According to India’s NDTV, Google and Facebook have already issued compliance reports in response to the court’s demands. While Google said that they have already begun removing some objectionable content from certain sites, Facebook, Yahoo, and Microsoft insisted that there are no grounds for complaint against them or their content.

This court order comes as part of a civil case brought by Muslim leader Mufti Aijaz Arshad Quasmi, who is seeking the removal of content that is morally or religiously objectionable. The current case is part of an ongoing struggle by the government of India to get such content off of search and social networking sites. In December acting telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal met with representatives of several companies and asked them to voluntarily screen certain kinds of content from their sites and search results. Google and Facebook issued statements saying that they would remove content that violated their terms of service, and would comply with Indian law, but would not actively censor content merely for being “objectionable.” In response to the controversy, Sibal gave an interview in which he denied that his office had asked anyone to pre-screen user content and that political satire was the target of his office’s requests. He insisted that only offensive or inappropriate content should be removed.

Last month the Indian government initiated legal proceedings against Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others over their refusal to remove offensive content. Google and Facebook requested that the proceedings be dropped. The court refused and warned them that India was just as capable of blocking such sites as China.

According to Google’s Transparency Report, they received 68 requests from the government of India to take down content from Google’s services, including search, YouTube, Blogger, Picasa, and Orkut. Orkut and YouTube were the subject of the vast majority of the requests. There were 25 requests to take down material on Orkut, and 19 to remove material on YouTube. The 19 YouTube requests covered 48 total items. Of those 48 videos, over a third – 19 – list “government criticism” as the reason for the takedown request. Privacy and security concerns ran a distant second, with four requests covering eight videos. Government criticism was also behind the vast majority of Orkut content removal. One takedown request covered 236 individual items on Orkut that India wanted removed.

In contrast, issues like defamation, privacy and security, and pornography were the subject of far fewer takedown requests. Only three YouTube items were requested to be removed on the grounds of pornography, only six for defamation, and eight for privacy and security. On Orkut only six items were taken down for defamation, and six for privacy and security. Only Blogger saw a majority of content taken down for defamation, with 24 of 39 items removed for that reason.

It is difficult to know what the government of India found objectionable about this particular content without seeing it. At the same time, it is difficult to square the fact that “government criticism” was the subject of so many takedown requests with Kapil Sibal’s insistence in the above-referenced interview that he would welcome government-related satire as a means of free expression.

Requests for comment were sent to both Facebook and Google. While Facebook has yet to respond, a Google spokesperson issued the following statement: “This step is in accordance with Google’s longstanding policy of responding to court orders.” She went on to say that there is nothing new to Google’s approach in this matter, and pointed out a 2007 blog post in which Google detailed their policy for dealing with controversial content.

In hindi, Junglee literally translates to “wild” or a person having no human qualities. They usually use the term in reference to jungle animals, I.e. “jungle cat”

The aforementioned source contacted Prabhakar PJ, who is the person in charge of business development at Amazon.com, but he declined to comment on the matter. There are speculations that the website was to officially launch last week, while others say it’s not expected for a few days still. If any developments become apparent, WebProNews will report on the situation.

According to Neilsenwire Google has the #1 app in terms of reach for 5 out of 7 genres of apps, while Facebook dominates social network. Google apps dominate in time spent streaming videos, using GPS features, e-mail and search. Nearly 100% of the time used on streaming video goes to YouTube, while almost 90% of the time spent on GPS is with Google. Still with social networking, Facebook and Twitter remain on top.

Everybody loves their smartphone, whether it’s an Iphone or a Galaxy, some cannot live without it. How do you use your smartphone? Do you use it for business or otherwise? Let us know in the comments.

In response to a complaint by a journalist, Vinay Rai, the court ordered the sites to remove all anti-religious and anti-social content. The court set a deadline of February 6th. Representatives of Facebook and Google in India have repeatedly insisted that the kind of censorship the government is asking for is simply not possible, considering the vast amounts of content on the companies’ sites.

Requests for comment sent to Facebook and Google have not yet received responses. Google’s press office appears to be closed for the national holiday.

[Source: Hindustan Times]

The Indian government has initiated legal proceedings against a number of search, social networking, and technology companies. The government found sufficient cause to pursue prosecution of the companies for refusing to regulate offensive content. Ten of the 21 companies are based outside India. These include Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, and YouTube. The companies are required to present themselves to the court at a hearing on March 13th.

The government of India made worldwide news early last month when it was revealed that Kapil Sibal, India’s minister of telecommunications, was planning to meet with representatives from several tech and social media companies in order to request that they pre-screen and censor “offensive” content from their sites. Facebook and Google, which were among the companies asked to censor their content, responded that they would enforce their terms of service and abide by the law, but no more. Meanwhile, in response to the storm of criticism generated around the world by news of his office’s meetings, Sibal denied that his office had requested censorship of political content. He insisted that the only content he wanted removed was that which would be offensive to the religious sensibilities of the Indian people.

[Source: IBN Live] ]]> http://www.webpronews.com/india-pursues-prosecution-of-facebook-microsoft-and-google-2012-01/feed 0 http://www.webpronews.com/india-denies-pre-screening-censorship-allegations-2011-12 http://www.webpronews.com/india-denies-pre-screening-censorship-allegations-2011-12#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:58:23 +0000 Shaylin Clark http://www.webpronews.com/?p=83789 Last week we brought you news that by Indian minister of telecommunications Kapil Sibal had been meeting with executives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo and asking them to pre-screen and remove content that his office regarded as offensive or inappropriate.

The news, which was initially reported by the New York Times, created a massive controversy across the internet. Google and Facebook responded by releasing statements that they would continue to enforce their terms of service and remove content that was illegal, but that they would not go further. Meanwhile, Minister Sibal held a press conference in which he denied that he was advocating political censorship, but rather that he was attempting to protect the religious sensibilities of the people of India.

On Friday Sibal gave an interview with Karan Thapar New Dehli’s NDTV, in which he again denied that he was requesting political censorship. He insisted that the nature of his office’s requests have been grossly misinterpreted. When asked about the images he had shown to executives from the companies as examples of the kind of content he wanted removed, he insists that they agreed that it was innappropriate, and that they “said that none of this content should be on the site.” He also says that as a part of those meetings, “they agreed, by and large orally, to a certain number of things,” and that after the meetings they delayed in fulfilling the agreements they had made.

He also expressed frustration with the initial New York Times piece. He complained that the paper had made no attempts to contact his office for comment, which is unusual for an organization of the Times’ stature. The Times, which posted a response early this morning, takes issue with that claim. They note that the original article cited confirmation from his office that the meetings would take place, and go on to list the names of three people in Sibal’s office with whom they either spoke or attempted to speak.

Sibal also reiterated that his office’s request focused primarily on content that he believed would offend religious sensibilities. He never quite denies in the interview that, as the Times reports, his office showed the executives a Facebook page satirizing Congress president Sonia Ghandi. He does, however, insist that the images with which he confronted the companies were “mostly religious.” He went on to say that “these [images] are all pornographic, these are all unacceptable content with respect to gods and goddesses of various religions which if they were in the public domain would created problems.”

When asked if political satire was among the kinds of content he wanted removed, he said, “I would welcome satirical references to political leaders as part of freedom of expression.”

We have learned this morning that Facebook and Google have issued responses to Mr. Sibal. In a statement to the Times of India, Facebook promised to remove any content that came to their attention as being in violation of their terms of service, but would go no further.

In a similar statement issued Indian news network IBN, Google stated that it would remove content found to be in violation of either the law or Google’s terms of service. The company emphasized its commitment to the free exchange of information and respect for disparate viewpoints, and so stated that it would not remove content simply because it is controversial.

Meanwhile, Minister Sibal told the press that he had been in contact with Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, and Yahoo on this issue, and that they had declined to cooperate with his office’s request. He denied that his proposal constitutes censorship, arguing instead that he was seeking only to protect the sensibilities – particularly the religious sensibilities – of those who might be offended by what he regards as derogatory or incendiary content.

In light of the companies’ refusal to participate, Mr. Sibal took something of a hard line, saying that since they were “not willing to cooperate on incendiary material” the government would have to step in with a solution of its own. He claimed that the goal was not to hinder the freedom of the press, but nevertheless “this kind of material should not be allowed.”

As might be expected, reactions on Twitter have been fierce. Five of the top ten trending topics in India were related to this issue, with referencing Sibal directly – Kapil Sibal, and #IdiotKapilSibal.

One user suggests that the Indian government would be better served by appropriately managing its presence on social media.

Another expresses confusion over whom, precisely, Mr. Sibal believes he is protecting.

While another expressed his exasperation with politicians in general.

Yet another points out the inevitable results of censorship.

Two users approach the situation with a bit more humor.

A request to Google for further comment has not yet been answered. Check back later for more information as this story continues to develop.

(Image credit: Amit Agarwal.)

The video, posted only two days ago, has already amassed nearly 200,000 views on YouTube. In it, folks from all over the age spectrum take over a train station with a dance to the title track from the film Rang De Basanti.

The flash mob is the brainchild of 23-year-old Shonan Kothari, who used social media to spread the idea. According to the WSJ, what started as some emails to a couple dozen friends turned into hundreds of people wanting to participate in a matter of days.

Kothari organized the flash mob, tapping a choreographer who had created a dance for her cousin’s wedding. They practiced in a yoga hall for the final performance, the one you see in the video. Kothari hired a local film company to shoot and edit the footage.

A few conversations with railway officials later, she was blaring the tune from the station’s PA system and hundreds of people were performing their choreographed dance.

Check it out below:

Although the term “flash mob” has been used to describe sudden bursts of crime and gang activity in places like Philadelphia, it’s nice to see that at its core, a flash mob can simply be a group of people who just want to get together and dance.

What are your favorite flash mob videos? Let us know in the comments.

"Collective buying is in its infancy in India, Israel and South Africa and we see strong potential," said Rob Solomon, president and COO of Groupon. "Groupon is shaping the way local merchants market themselves in every corner of the world."

One corner of the world Groupon is having some issues with is Australia. The company recently launched in that country as Stardeals, because a Groupon clone called Scoopon got the rights to the Groupon name there. Currently Groupon is suing Scoopon to resolve that, but CEO Andrew Mason says it could take over a year to reach that resolution. 

SoSasta, which has only been around for 3 months has deals in 11 Indian cities. Grouper, which launched in March, is the largest deals site in Israel,and Twangoo serves more South African cities than any of its competitors, according to Groupon. Each of these sites will become Groupon in brand and site design over the coming months. They will serve deals in English in India and South Africa and in Hebrew in Israel. 

Financial terms of the acquisitions were not revealed. 

Groupon says it is now offering deals in 40 countries, has 50 million subscribers, and over 4,000 employees. Now the company is gearing up for some Super Bowl advertising (pre-game), which should spread its brand even further. 

The company also just closed a $950 million round of funding, which it intends to use to continue its rapid growth. Meanwhile, competition is this area will only continue to become more rampant. Google, Facebook, and Amazon all have horses in this race too.