We have just released our report on Internet Filtering in Burma. Among the findings is that the software Burma uses to censor the Internet is provided by a US corporation, Fortinet. Our press release can be downloaded here.
Open Net Initiative
GulfNews.com report on OpenNet Initiative's report on the UAE.
Another GulfNews.com report on the OpenNet Initiative’s report on Internet censorship in the United Arab Emeriates, which can be accessed here.
GulfNews.com Report on ONI
There is a story in GulfNews about the ONI’s country report on Internet Filtering in the United Arab Emirates. Thanks to Neil Hrab for forwarding and pointing that out.
I must say, though, that we certainly do not “praise” the UAE, that’s
for sure. I don’t know where the guy got that from. All we said is that
there is only slight blocking of political material (including by the
way, the entire .il domain, which is all of Israel). That’s pretty bad
as far as I’m concerned. I’m certainly not going to praise a regime
that does that, let alone uses Smartfilter to censor.
Makes you wonder what type of editorial controls go into stories like that in UAE, eh?
WIRED magazine infoporn pullout on ONI
The most recent issue (Issue 13.09, September 05) of WIRED magazine has an Infoporn pullout based on the OpenNet Initiative’s most recent country reports. I can’t seem to find it online, however, so I guess you’ll just have to fork out the cash and buy it at your local newstand.
Radio Canada International interview on the ONI
I did an interview with Victor Neremberg of Radio Canada International for his SciTech files show on the OpenNet Initiative project.
Although he mentions a couple of times that I am “the founder” of the ONI, as I make clear in the interview I am actually one of the founders, and the ONI itself is a large consortium. It is, nonetheless, a good interview, which you can listen to here or download here.
Singapore Controls the Net with Laws instead of Code
We at the OpenNet Initiative have just released our report on Internet filtering in Singapore. We found that while Singapore maintains stringent controls over its communications environment, it does so using old-fashioned laws instead of technical filters, as in countries like China or Iran.
Telus Internet Filtering
We have just released a new bulletin on Telus’s filtering of the Voices of Change website. As we note in our report, Telus’s filtering by IP produced massive collateral filtering of 766 unrelated websites.
There are various news articles on our report here, here, and here, and a Slashdot entry here.
Iranian Internet Censorship Report ONI
We at the ONI have just released our report on Internet Filtering in Iran (in PDF format). Although it was known before, our report confirms the use of the US commercial filtering product, Smartfilter. Our report allso reveals patterns of Internet content targeted for filtering, including opposition websites, some lesbian and gay sites, and a lot of blogs, especially those written in the Farsi language. Stay tuned for the fallout….
CNN, China Internet Filtering, Tunisia, and the ONI
CNN has a news item that is making the rounds about China’s new policy of shutting down unregistered websites and blogs. The story mentions our ONI report on China’s filtering of the Internet. Nart’s blog has an extended analysis of the issue that includes some speculation on the so called “night crawler” that China is reportedly using to track unregistered websites and blogs that should be read as well.
I have also just stumbled across a news item on Tunisia that mentions the ONI’s research on this country and has a lengthy interview with Nart.
Washington Post story on our ONI Report
A solid story by Jonathan Krim of the Washington Post on our China Internet Filtering Study, which will be posted here tomorrow AM.
Web Censors In China Find Success
Falun Gong, Dalai Lama Among Blocked Topics
By Jonathan Krim
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 14, 2005; Page A20
The Chinese government is succeeding in broadly censoring what its citizens can read on the Internet, surprising many experts and denting U.S. government hopes that online access would be a quick catalyst for democratic political reform.
Internet users in the world’s most populous country are routinely blocked from sites featuring information on subjects such as Taiwanese independence, the Falun Gong movement, the Dalai Lama and the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989, according to a study to be released today by a consortium of researchers from Harvard University, the University of Toronto and Cambridge University in England.