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newsid=7356 Governments are now using filters to censor internet content at an alarming rate

According to a recent report conducted by University of Toronto, Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge, 26 of 40 countries surveyed utilize some degree of state-sponsored software filtering. China, Iran, Syria, Tunisia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Morocco, and Singapore were mentioned as countries actively filtering its citizens. The study found that many of the Middle Eastern countries mainly filtered international news. Saudi Arabia focuses its censorship on political sites, pornography and gambling. Tunisia also focuses their filter on pornography and sites that dealt with human rights and political opposition to the government. South Korea enabled filters to eliminate North Korean web sites. Thailand, while not in the report, recently filtered YouTube and other video-sharing websites that disseminated videos critical of the country's king. According to the University of Toronto report, Russia, Venezuela, Egypt, Hong Kong, Israel and Iraq were among the countries found that did not enable any sort of statesponsored of content filtering. SmartFilter, developed by Secure Computing in San Jose, California, is one of the more popular software filtering tools found used today. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Sudan and Tunisia are currently using this software. Other countries simply display a default page or a DNS error in an attempt to mask that any censorship is taking place. China, by far the worst offender according to the report, recently censored the entire LiveJournal network in an attempt to block individual blogs. A brief lax in the Great Firewall of China resulted in major headlines last year. For a six hour period, all users inside China were able to view and search for content typically deemed unviewable by the Chinese government. The Chinese government, Skype and Google have since declared it their right to continue to censor and promote censorship as a cost of doing business in such countries. Last year Yahoo! spoke openly against censorship in China, yet only a month later it was discovered that Yahoo! is one of the most censored western portals inside China. "Once the tools are in place, authorities realize that the Internet can be controlled. There used to be a myth that the Internet was immune to regulation. Now governments are

realizing it's actually the opposite," said associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, Ron Deibert. The report did not include western countries, citing North American censorship typically takes place because of copyright infractions. None of the 40 countries observed during the analysis incorporated any filtering based on intellectual property concerns. ========================================================= http://www.dailytech.com/Update+YouTube+Banned+in+Thailand/article6813.htm Video website restricted after housing offensive film defacing Thai king

The Thai government has placed a ban on the video-uploading website, YouTube after a request to remove a video was denied. The video depicted a hooligan defacing a picture of 79 year old Thai king, Bhumibol Adulyadej. The 44-second video contained scenes of a man spray painting the picture of the king, followed by the perpetrator walking on the picture with his bare feet, according to BBC News. The latter act is considered offensive because the Thais believe that feet are dirty. Minister of Communications, Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, commented, "It's a serious case of lese majeste. We asked Google to remove it some days ago, but they refused to." YouTube's head of global communications, Julie Supan, responded, "We are disappointed that YouTube has been blocked, and we are currently looking into the matter. The internet is an international phenomenon and while technology can bring great opportunity and access to information globally, it can also present new and unique cultural challenges." The profile of the video uploader has been tracked to the U.S. and the Thai government has said they will lift the ban once the video is taken off of the website. Update 04/05/2007: Shortly after this story broke, YouTube's site claims the post was "removed by user." ========================================================== http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6528303.stm?https://www.dailytech.com Thailand blocks access to YouTube

The Thai government has banned access to the YouTube videouploading website after it broadcast material critical of the country's king.

The site will be banned until the movie is removed

Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said the site was banned after a 44-second film showing graffiti over the king's face was aired. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 79, is revered and it is forbidden to insult him. The minister said a ban came after the Thai government asked YouTube's owner Google to remove it and they declined. The contentious film also shows feet being placed over the king's face - an offensive act to Thais, who consider feet dirty. YouTube 'disappointed' "It's a serious case of lese majeste," said Mr Sitthichai, referring to crimes of offending the country's monarchy. "We asked Google to remove it some days ago, but they refused to." The minister said access within Thailand would be reinstated once the film had been removed. YouTube's head of global communications, Julie Supan, said: "We are disappointed that YouTube has been blocked in Thailand, and we are currently looking into the matter. "The internet is an international phenomenon and while technology can bring great opportunity and access to information globally, it can also present new and unique cultural challenges." The profile of the YouTube user who uploaded the movie onto the site lists the US as his location. The ban follows the jailing for 10 years of a Swiss man after he pleaded guilty to charges of insulting the Thai king. Oliver Jufer, 57, was arrested last December after drunkenly spray-painting posters of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

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