Media News - Thursday, July 12, 2012

Russian Duma passes Internet censorship bill

Russia's parliament Wednesday passed a controversial bill allowing the government to block blacklisted websites, which critics warn could ultimately be used to crack down on dissent. The Russian state Duma, or lower house of parliament, approved the bill unanimously on the second and third readings after four amendments were inserted that substantially narrowed the criteria under which the government could shut down a site deemed harmful to the public good. In the days running up to the parliamentary debate, the bill sparked widespread protest from the operators of popular websites and rights activists, who said it was a thinly veiled attempt at government censorship like that seen in China. Yet in parliament, even prominent opposition lawmakers supported the bill, saying that the legislation actually represented a welcome step. The bill now heads to the Federation Council, Russia's upper house, where it is expected to pass. It will then head to President Vladimir Putin's desk to be signed into law. Supporters of the bill say the proposed change to the country's information legislation is only intended to target child pornography and similarly questionable sites. Opponents warn that it could be used to shut down sites deemed unfavorable by the government. Several popular websites staged protests Tuesday against the law's passage, with the Russian-language version of Wikipedia taking itself offline for 24 hours and replacing its home page with the message "Imagine a world without free knowledge." (Wall Street Journal)

NYC adding wireless Internet hotspots to pay phone kiosks; pilot program eventually to expand

New Yorkers have been making fewer and fewer calls on the city’s 12,000 pay phones, yet the kiosks will likely be getting heavier use soon. The city announced Wednesday a pilot program that has converted 10 kiosks in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens into free Wi-Fi Internet hotspots. The plan is to expand the program to all 12,000 pay phones in the city. “We are taking an existing infrastructure and leveraging it up to provide more access to information,” said Rahul Merchant, the city’s chief information officer. Merchant said the program is part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s effort to help New Yorkers and the 50 million people who visit the city each year stay connected. The pay phones remain, but a router is installed at each kiosk. The Internet signal extends a couple of hundred feet, Merchant said. Users simply approach the kiosk with an Internet device and log on. No password is needed. They can connect for as long as they need, 24 hours a day. Merchant said the city’s plan is not to remove pay phones, but to improve them. The Van Wagner and Titan outdoor advertising companies, which own more than 9,000 kiosks combined, are working with the city to add the hotspot devices and are paying about USD 2,000 for each setup, said Peter Izzo, Van Wagner’s senior operations executive. Izzo said the companies hope traffic to the hot spots — and the advertising there — will generate more advertising profit. (AP)

China Internet censors want to prescreen online videos

China's broadcasting and Internet regulators have told Internet video providers that they must prescreen all programs before making them available, tightening state censorship of increasingly popular online drama series and mini-movies. The new rule was issued jointly by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and the State Internet Information Office. SARFT said this week in a statement on its website that the rule is in response to the rapid growth in online video programs, some of which it said contain vulgar content, excessive violence or pornography. It said the rule would protect younger people and promote high-quality online programs. China has a long-standing practice of censoring traditional television programs and films, and it bans access to several popular foreign websites, including the video-sharing site YouTube. The government relies on domestic web service providers to scrub the Internet of what Beijing considers to be offensive content. The government statement said online video providers should bear responsibility for web programs and must prescreen content before it is posted, though it did not offer specific standards or mention penalties. SARFT said government regulators will ensure that Internet video providers implement the rule. (AP)

Australia: Spies seek access to internet data

Australia's intelligence community is proposing the biggest shake-up in more than a decade. On the wish list is a plan to force telecommunications providers operating in Australia to retain users' phone and internet data for up to two years. Other plans include allowing security agencies to get more access to social media sites like Facebook, and expanding powers for ASIO agents. The ideas are in a discussion paper written by the Attorney-General's Department for a parliamentary joint committee looking at reforms to national security legislation. Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says the proposals are deeply worrying. He says the powers of security agencies have steadily increased since 2001, and they should be wound back. "Firstly, we will see an unwarranted expansion of security agencies and other agencies and the second thing we will see is the phone companies and internet forced to retain all of your private data for a period of years so it can be gone back over," he said. Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has emphasised the Government has not yet made any decisions about the new powers. She says the legislation will also strengthen privacy safeguards. (ABC News)

Three Mexican news outlets attacked with explosives in less than 24 hours

In one day, on Tuesday, July 10, three Mexican news outlets were attacked with explosives, reported the freedom of expression organization Article 19. At about 4:30 a.m., the newspaper El Norte reported a grenade attack against its office in the city of Monterrey, in northern Mexico. At 6 a.m., the newspaper El Manana reported an explosion outside of its offices in the border city of Nuevo Laredo. Later on, at 4 p.m., another one of the El Norte newspaper's offices was attacked with a grenade and heavy weapons, reported the newspaper. None of the three attacks injured anyone and only material damages were reported. This was the second attack against El Manana this year, and the third attack since 2006. The newspaper's offices are protected by the Mexican military and a note was found near the building signed by a criminal group, according to the newspaper El Universal. Since 2006, El Manana has stopped publishing news about organized crime after suffering a grenade attack and the killing of its publishing director in 2004. None of these crimes have been investigated yet. Since 2006, the year in which the war against organized crime and drugs started, 39 attacks against Mexican news outlets with explosives have been registered, according to Article 19. (Knight Center)

Two British journalists held in corruption probe

Two British tabloid journalists were arrested on Wednesday in a probe into illegal payments to public officials, the first confirmed cases of such alleged corruption at titles unconnected to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Media group Trinity Mirror said it was cooperating with police after officers detained Justin Penrose from its Sunday Mirror newspaper, while Sky News named the other journalist as Tom Savage from the Daily Star Sunday. The two were arrested at their homes in southern England as part of an inquiry into inappropriate payments to police which were uncovered by a wider probe into phone-hacking that forced Murdoch to close his News of the World tabloid last year. About 40 people have now been arrested in the inquiry into paying officials for tip-offs. (Reuters)

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