PR reps at Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft can breathe a small sigh of relief; in a new document from Reporters Without Borders titled "Internet Enemies," they're not among the things identified as foes. It even looks like Reporters Without Borders might be starting to regard them as allies.
It never hurts to ask. Representatives of Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International have written the CEOs of Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft to see if they would please cease censoring things for just one day.
Chinese police have arrested a well-known online dissident for violating his terms of probation, as the country seeks to crackdown on critics in the run up to the Olympic Games.Du Daobin, from the central province of Hebei, received a suspended sentence for what the Chinese government says was subversion in 2004 and was detained by police for posting online essays in support of another dissident.
The Iranian government has plans to block private access to the Internet for the general legislative election on March 14, Iranian news agencies are reporting.The reasoning behind the shutting down of the Internet was inconsistent. "Shutting down the Internet service will depend on security plans and on the Ministry of Telecommunication," said Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the interior minister.
The managing editor of a conservative Iranian Web site was arrested for "poisoning the election atmosphere," a Tehran general prosecutor said.In a blog post on the Nosazi (Renovation) Web site, Hossein Nobakhtian took the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini to task for going against the legacy of the founder of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. The post attacked Hassan Khomeini for not agreeing with hardliners and their decision to not include moderates on a list of candidates for the March 14 parliamentary elections.
A high level meeting of China's Communist government took place this week, during which time Reporters Without Borders said China redirected certain Internet traffic to Baidu.
Reporters Without Borders said the release of cyber dissident Nguyen Vu Binh on June 9 under a presidential amnesty was a "great relief" but added it should not be forgotten that he was in prison for close to five years for what he wrote online.
"Vietnamese Cyber-Dissident Released"
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has launched an initiative to help increase awareness of countries that actively censor the Internet, and singled out Yahoo's Jerry Yang for specific complaints about his company's dealings with oppressive governments.
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