Media News - Friday, July 25, 2008

Egypt rounding up “Internet youth”

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said on Thursday that the Egyptian security forces had arrested 14 Internet activists known as the "6th of April Youth." The group had been travelling to Alexandria when they were detained by police. They have yet to appear before a judge and charges have not yet been filed against any of them, ANHRI said. Ahmed Maher, a leading member of the group, was arrested by security forces "while walking in the Al Raml station of Alexandria," the pan-Arabic human rights network reported. ANHRI said that the government was targeting as many as 35 young men and women belonging to the group who were attending a planned trip by the group. Another member of the group, Mahenor Al Masri, in a phone call to ANHRI said "the officers had beaten them..." and seized the list of participants on the trip which numbered 50 of young men and women. (Africa en Ligne)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Residents in Spain fined for putting prostitute clients on YouTube

Exasperated Madrid residents who filmed prostitutes negotiating with their clients outside their homes and broadcast them on YouTube have been fined for infringing the Spanish data protection Act. In recent years city hall in Madrid has spent hundreds of millions of euros beautifying the area around Puerta del Sol, one of the principal meeting points for tourists in the city. But Calle de la Montera has remained a haven for prostitutes. Tired of official indifference, residents took matters into their hands last year by installing webcams and recording images of the prostitutes' clients. Twenty-two of them were then placed on the YouTube website in the hope that they would act as a deterrent for the men if there was the danger that their wives would spot them attempting to buy sex. The Spanish Data Protection Agency, however, has ordered the neighbours to take down the webcams and fined them 601 euros for broadcasting images of passers-by without their consent. The government-funded body said it was the first time that it had taken action against private citizens for invading people's privacy. (The Times Online)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Child Online Protection Act Overturned

A US federal appeals court struck down as unconstitutional a Clinton-era law that would have forced websites with adult material to verify visitors' ages, dealing another blow to the government in a 10-year court battle over net censorship. The 3rd US Circurt Court of Appeals upheld on Tuesday a 2007 lower-court decision that the Child Online Protection Act violated the First Amendment since it was not the most effective way to keep children from visiting adult websites. Both courts also found that the standards for material that had to be hidden from open browsing were so loosely defined that any content not suitable for a four-year-old would have been hidden behind a age-verification firewall. The Justice Department has been defending COPA since its passage in 1998, when the ACLU and others filed suit against the censorship law and won an immediate injunction. Since then, the court battle has made its way twice to the Supreme Court, though the government has never won any clear battles in the dispute. Critics assailed the law for infantilizing the internet and requiring website operators -- including news sites -- to live in fear of prosecution if even a small part of their website contained adult material. The Justice Department is not pleased with the decision and is reviewing its options, according to spokesman Charles Miller. (ABC News)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Iran bans another newspaper over economic reporting

Iranian authorities have banned the evening edition of a large circulation newspaper for publishing news they said was harmful to the economy, Iranian media reported. "Hamshahri" daily, which has a morning and evening edition, is owned by the Tehran municipality, which in turn is run by potential presidential hopeful Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a conservative political rival of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. It is the second daily in just over a month to be banned for economic reporting. Analysts say the economy will be the main battleground in next year's presidential race as the government grapples with surging inflation in OPEC's No. 2 oil producer. Fars News Agency said "Hamshahri's" evening edition would not be published for three months. "Hamshahri" reported a row on July 24 between cabinet economic ministers and Central Bank Governor Tahmasb Mazaheri, who have been at odds over interest rate policy. Ahmadinejad, who came to power in 2005 on a pledge to share Iran's oil wealth more fairly, has come under mounting criticism for not containing inflation, now running at about 26 percent. Since 2000, Iran has closed dozens of publications in recent years, most of them pro-reform newspapers. Many subsequently reopened under different names. (Radio Free Europe)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

China says it has world’s biggest web population

China now has the largest number of Internet users in the world, the China Daily newspaper reported on Friday. According to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) statistics, a total of 253 million people, or 19 percent of the population, log on to the web regularly. The US had approximately 223 million Internet users in June. High school students account for 39 million of the total number of China's web users, while people below 30 make up 69 percent of the total. The Internet penetration rate is 21percent in Russia. As regards global Internet penetration rates, Greenland, with a population of just 56,000, is in first place with 92 percent. The Netherlands, with a somewhat larger population - 15,000,000 - is in second place with 90 percent. (RIA Novosti)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Under pressure, ISP admits secret web snooping in Kansas

Internet service provider Embarq eavesdropped on the web surfing habits of 26,000 customers in Kansas without notifying them personally, as part of its test of new, controversial advertising technology that profiles users, the company told federal lawmakers Wednesday. Embarq, an offshoot from Sprint, tested the service in Gardner, Kansas, saying it was their smallest facility. The secret test ended earlier this year, though no dates were given for when it started or stopped. The letter also disclosed that 15 people from the region opted out, even though the company didn't notify the affected subscribers that the technology was being tested - it just added a paragraph to its privacy policy. Telecom subcommittee head Reps. Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts), watchdog groups and law professors have questioned whether the technology violates federal privacy laws, including the wiretapping statute. Charter, Embarq and NebuAd all say the technology is legal since they only classify web pages and web searches into categories such as "shopping for SUV" -- rather than storing the webstream. NebuAd pays ISPs to let it monitor user's web surfing and searching in order to classify their interests. Those profiles are then used to deliver targeted ads when the users visit NebuAd partner sites. Subscribers must choose to opt-out with each browser they use, though NebuAd won't explain how the opt-out works. (Wired)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

More recent Media News:

• 24/07/08 - Parents to be punished for children’s net piracy
• 24/07/08 - Spain’s Telecinco wins lawsuit against YouTube
• 24/07/08 - German “fakebook” site incurs wrath of Facebook
• 24/07/08 - Thailand: Dictionary brings hope amid violence in restive south
• 24/07/08 - Tehran debates breaking dress code to broadcast women at Olympics
• 24/07/08 - Colombia admits rescuers posed as journalists
• 23/07/08 - New York Times, LinkedIn enter content partnership
• 23/07/08 - National Press Day in Azerbaijan brings little cause for celebration
• 23/07/08 - Minsk says Internet to stay free
• 23/07/08 - Two journalists charged for libel in Mauritania
• 23/07/08 - Taiwan: Journalists urge China Times to offer protection for its staff
• 23/07/08 - Web addresses to have more variety
• 22/07/08 - Journalist union accuses EU over press subsidy secrecy
• 22/07/08 - OK, computer: Automated news to grow
• 22/07/08 - New law protects journalists
• 22/07/08 - Esquire unveils e-magazine with flashing cover
• 22/07/08 - The picture that shames Italy
• 22/07/08 - Photographers, cameras dunked in photo op capsize
• 21/07/08 - Fresh start vowed for Mainichi Daily News site following criticism of WaiWai
• 21/07/08 - TV networks fight shorter Olympic leash
• 21/07/08 - Shrinking newsrooms dent papers’ quality, study shows
• 21/07/08 - Egypt media under renewed attack by state
• 21/07/08 - Unsafe chargers ‘flooding’ UK
• 21/07/08 - Chinese media accused of belittling Taiwan

• Home |
• Seminars  |
• Events |
• Media Landscape |
• Newsroom|
• Media News|
• Resources

Terms of service and Privacy policy.

Copyright © 1992-2007 European Journalism Centre. All rights reserved.

Valid XHTML and CSS.

European Journalism Centre

Sonneville-lunet 10
6221KT Maastricht
The Netherlands

Tel. : +31 43 325 40 30
Fax : +32 2 400 42 20

E-mail: info[at]ejc.net