13 Sep 10 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost
Webhost Rackspace has shut down the website of the Dove World Outreach Centre whose pastor planned to burn copies of the Koran on 11 September. Rackspace spokesman Dan Goodgame said that the church had violated the offensive content section of its acceptable use policy. The site became inaccessible on 9 September, after the company received several complaints.
13 Sep 10 | Index Index, minipost
Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond has said that internet censorship raises trade barriers for the US, in addition to violating human rights. Drummond added that pressure should be placed on governments in China and Turkey that practice internet censorship.
06 Sep 10 | Index Index, minipost
Irwan Abdul Rahman, a Malaysian editor and blogger known as “Hassan Skodeng” was charged on 2 September 2010 with publishing false information on his satirical blog. He was accused of publishing online content deemed “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with malicious intent.” He pleaded not guilty and was later released after posting bail of RM4,000 (approx. US$1,285).
Rahman’s blog article, “TNB to sue WWF over earth hour” posted in March this year claimed that the head of Malaysia’s main electricity firm, Tenaga Nasional, would allegedly sue the environmental group World Wildlife Fund “for urging people to switch off their lights for the annual Earth Hour initiative”. It was taken down two days after it was published.
06 Sep 10 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Classified ad site Craigslist has closed its “Adult Services” section, after a campaign by 17 states to have it removed. Attorneys general from Montana to Virginia wrote a letter to Craigslist chief executive Jim Buckmaster last month, urging him to shut down the erotic ads section. The link has now been blacked out and replaced with the word “censored”. The decision only affects the US version of the site. Craigslist has previously cited in its defence the federal Communications Decency Act, which protects websites from liability for content posted by users. The company has not yet commented on the recent removal.
