CyberLaw Blog

Archive for December 3rd, 2008

Since the Turkish Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of Such Publications came into force in November 2007, several websites were blocked by court orders and administrative blocking orders issued by the Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TIB). In terms of statistics, it was revealed by TIB that as of 01 December, 2008, 1310 websites are blocked in Turkey (compared to 1187 on 01 November, 2008, and compared to 1115 on 01 October, 2008) under the provisions of Law No. 5651. 271 (21%) of these websites are blocked by court orders, while majority, 1039 (79%) are blocked via administrative blocking orders issued by TIB.

In terms of the 271 court orders so far, 38 websites were blocked because they were deemed obscene (article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code), 5 websites were blocked because they involved sexual exploitation and abuse of children (article 103(1) of the Turkish Penal Code), 17 websites were blocked because of gambling (article 228 of the Turkish Penal Code), 3 were blocked because they involved betting, and 50 websites were ordered to be blocked in relation to crimes committed against Atatürk (Law No. 5816, dated 25/7/1951). 32 of these 49 blocking orders were recurring orders involving 17 websites (majority involved YouTube) issued by different courts around the country. With regards to 158 illegal items containing crimes committed against Atatürk TIB successfully asked content and hosting providers to take down these items from their servers. As a result of such co-operation their websites were not subjected to access blocking orders.

Furthermore, 2 websites were blocked in relation to prostitution (article 227, Turkish Criminal Code), and one website was ordered to be blocked in relation to the facilitation of the use of drugs (article 190 of the Turkish Penal Code). 155 websites were blocked by courts for reasons outside the scope of Law No. 5651 but the detailed breakdown for these orders was not provided by TIB. It is however understood that TIB executed the blocking orders even though they do not involve the catalogue crimes listed in article 8.

In terms of the 1039 administrative blocking orders issued by TIB, the majority, with 499 blocking orders issued as of 01 December, 2008 involved sexual exploitation and abuse of children (article 103(1) of the Turkish Penal Code), 422 involved obscenity (article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code), 69 involved gambling sites (article 228 of the Turkish Penal Code), 36 involved football and other sports betting websites (Law No. 5728, article 256), 10 involved prostitution websites (article 227 of the Turkish Penal Code), 2 involved crimes committed against Atatürk (Law No. 5816, dated 25/7/1951), and one involved encouragement and incitement of suicide (article 84 of the Turkish Penal Code).

In terms of blocking orders, some sites are blocked by DNS while others are blocked by both DNS and IP addresses. TIB statistics revealed that 288 IP addresses were blocked in addition to 1022 unique website addresses as of 01 December, 2008 from Turkey. [Blog entry by Dr. Yaman Akdeniz]

Turkish Blocking Orders as of 01 December 2008

Article 8(1)(a)(1): encouragement and incitement of suicide (article 84 of the Turkish Penal Code); article 8(1)(a)(2): sexual exploitation and abuse of children (article 103(1) of the Turkish Penal Code); article 8(1)(a)(3): facilitation of the use of drugs (article 190 of the Turkish Penal Code); article 8(1)(a)(4): provision of dangerous substances for health (article 194 of the Turkish Penal Code); article 8(1)(a)(5): obscenity (article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code); article 8(1)(a)(6): prostitution (article 227 of the Turkish Penal Code); article 8(1)(a)(7): gambling (article 228 of the Turkish Penal Code); article 8(1)(b): crimes committed against Atatürk (Law No. 5816, dated 25/7/1951); and football and other sports betting (Law No. 5728, article 256).

A detailed assessment of the Turkish approaches to Internet content regulation is provided in a 100 page long report entitled Restricted Access: A Critical Assessment of Internet Content Regulation and Censorship in Turkey written by Dr. Yaman Akdeniz and Dr. Kerem Altiparmak. This bi-lingual (English/Turkish) report was published during November 2008.

Post from: TorrentFreak

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Movie Industry: London ‘Fake-Free Zone’ by 2012: “

Touted as the biggest ever anti-piracy collaboration, the MPA and several major anti-piracy groups have announced that by the time the 2012 Olympics begin, they will have made London ‘a fake-free zone’. This impossible mission to stamp out DVD piracy was launched by Intellectual Property Minister, David Lammy.

The Motion Picture Association, U.K. Film Council, UK Intellectual Property Office, Federation Against Copyright Theft, London Councils, Trading Standards and the Police are teaming up to eliminate DVD piracy in London before the 2012 Olympics.

Intellectual Property Minister David Lammy endorsed the launch of the ambitious ‘Fake Free London’ project, noting that the police will be required to enforce already-existing laws: ‘Legislation alone will not combat counterfeiting and piracy. Good law is great but enforced law is better.’ He said the aim of the campaign was send a message that people are serious about tackling the problem, and that consumers and legitimate businesses would be better off as a result.

Apparently there have already been dozens of arrests, but it is unclear if these were connected to running an operation manufacturing the counterfeit DVDs, or selling them. In the UK right now, the difference in terms of how the courts deal with the people at the top compared to the bottom is marked.

Street sellers, often from other countries, are at the bottom of the food chain and are usually cautioned by the police, DVDs confiscated and sent on their way. Some receive small fines but more usually, those that continually flout the warnings could find themselves the subject of an Anti-Social Behavior Order. If they breach the terms of those, it’s possible they’ll go to prison, but few do. It’s hard to see that this process is much of a deterrent, it relies on an offender getting caught lots of times. Besides, the UK has very little prison space right now.

Towards the top end of the food chain, things are different. Last month, another UK man Steven Adams, a fairly large-scale counterfeiter who also fitted huge numbers of XBox and Playstation modchips, received a fairly hefty sentence from the courts. He pleaded guilty to 44 charges, including the manufacture and selling around £1 million of counterfeit products. Adams had toured computer and flea markets all over the UK and at the time of his arrest, police found 31,000 counterfeit discs in his possession. He had numerous expensive properties, vehicles and possessions but didn’t try to hide his wealth, something which he will now regret as the court takes action to seize them. For his sins, Adams also received 3 years in jail.

The punishment for commercial piracy in the UK starts with a simple caution and goes up 10 years in jail and an unlimited fine, so it seems the tools to deal with the problem are already there, but is there the will to start locking more people up? Time will tell, but it seems unlikely. So can the MPA win its very own Olympic event? A bronze medal, absolute maximum.

As if others like Jet2.com comply….

Budget airlines break new rules on opt-in website pricing: “Budget airlines Ryanair and easyJet are failing to comply with European laws that ban pre-checked boxes on websites that sell flight tickets. New rules provide that optional price supplements must be accepted on an ‘opt-in’ basis.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Berlusconi plans to use G8 presidency to ‘regulate the internet’: “

Forza Italia?

Italian president and media baron Silvio Berlusconi said today that he would use his country’s imminent presidency of the G8 group to push for an international agreement to ‘regulate the internet’.…

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(Via The Register – Comms.)

I am a confirmed speaker at the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s first Fundamental Rights Conference entitled Freedom of expression, a cornerstone of democracy – listening and communicating in a diverse Europe. I will deliver a discussion paper entitled To Block or Not to Block: European Approaches to Content Regulation, and Implications for Freedom of Expression during the Working Group on Freedom of Expression and the Development of New Media. I am hoping to make that paper available before the Conference. [Yaman Akdeniz]

FRA Fundamental Rights Conference in Paris (France), 08-09 December 2008

The Fundamental Rights Agency is launching on 8-9 December 2008 its first Fundamental Rights Conference in Paris. The event examines key issues and challenges related to freedom of expression. Entitled ‘Freedom of expression, a cornerstone of democracy – listening and communicating in a diverse Europe’, the conference aims to contribute to policy and action within the European Union and to help shape the evolving space for communication among Europeans.

200-250 participants from the 27 Member States will attend the event – including representatives from the European Union institutions, international organisations, national governments, media, internet experts, civil society and human rights bodies.

The conference coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is organised in cooperation with the French Ministry of Justice as part of the programme of events under the French Presidency of the EU.

Freedom of expression

‘Without freedom of expression it is difficult to imagine the progress achieved in developing and scrutinising norms and standards which form the basis of our democratic society’, said FRA Director Morten Kjaerum ahead of the event. ‘The flipside is that this very freedom can be used as a pretext to stoke up hatred, incite hate crimes, support discriminatory practices which exclude members of our society and in effect undermine the freedom itself and democratic society. To me the challenge is to stimulate a vibrant discussion on how to protect people against abuses of freedom of expression and at the same time ensure that this freedom remains one of the pillars upon which our societies are built.’

The conference puts the stress on key challenges facing the Union in the field of fundamental rights. It will address freedom of expression in relation to hate speech and discrimination, the impact and development of new media and the internet, the debate around limits and challenges to freedom of expression, and its role to support social inclusion, cohesion and diversity.

Conference speakers include:

* Rachida Dati, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, France
* Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security
* Florence Aubenas, journalist at Nouvel Observateur
* Anastasia Crickley, Chair of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
* Janez Lenarèiè, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
* Andrew Puddephat, Director of Global Partners and Associates
* and many others.

The opening session on 8 December (9:30 – 11:00 a.m., Hotel Hilton, Avenue Suffren 18, Paris Cedex 15) and the closing plenary debate on 9 December (11:45 -13:00) are open to the media. A press conference will be held at the same venue on 8 December at 11:00 a.m., with French Minister of Justice Rachida Dati, Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot, and the Agency’s Director Morten Kjaerum. For accreditation, please write to media@fra.europa.eu

Prosecutors gather evidence on secret BT-Phorm trials: “

‘Implied consent’ to be probed

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is gathering evidence on BT’s covert trials of Phorm’s ISP-level adware system to help it judge whether it is in the public interest to allow a private prosecution for breach of wiretapping laws.…

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(Via The Register – Comms.)

Lori Drew guilty in MySpace bully trial: “

Suicide sparked by online abuse

The woman accused of using MySpace to bully a vulnerable teenage girl who subsequently killed herself has been found guilty of three charges.…

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(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Post from: TorrentFreak

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Firefox Pirates Take Over Amazon: “

Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, is under attack by online pirates. An add-on for the Firefox browser called ‘Pirates of the Amazon’ makes it possible to shop at the Amazon store but leave without paying a dime. Instead, on Amazon product pages the add-on integrates links to ‘free’ copies on The Pirate Bay.

The timing of the ‘Pirates of the Amazon‘ launch could not have been more (un)fortunate. At the busiest time of the year for on- and offline retailers, this Firefox browser add-on offers users a download link to pirated copies of products that can normally be found in the Amazon online store.

When the add-on is installed, it integrates a new ‘download 4 free’ button into the Amazon product page when the same article is also available via The Pirate Bay. It works for CDs, DVDs, games, books and basically all products that can be converted to a digital format.

With their mashup of the largest online retailer and the largest BitTorrent tracker, the project aims to ‘be a counterpart to the current models of media distribution’, and to ‘redistribute the wealth’.

The people behind the project have chosen to link to The Pirate Bay, but clearly state that they act independently. ‘We are not affiliated with The Pirate Bay, and do not host or even link to any illegal content,’ they write. ‘This artistic project addresses the topic of current media distribution models vs. current culture and technical possibilities.’

‘Pirates of the Amazon’ is not the only pirate add-on for Firefox, in fact there are quite a few. IMDB, Last.fm, and Rotten Tomatoes all have their own pirate skin available. Most of them use the Greasemonkey add-on which allows the installation of all kinds of useful user scripts which customize the web to your pirate needs.

Europe tightens rules on police data sharing: “

Controlling cross-border info

The European Council is adopting tougher rules on how the police and judiciary treat, and share, people’s private data.…

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(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

BitTorrent War on Users: ‘Utter Nonsense: “‘BitTorrent declares war on VoIP, gamers’, the headline to The Register’s latest BitTorrent article reads. The article continues that a recent change in uTorrent’s design would cause massive bandwidth problems for VoIP users, gamers, and video conferencing customers – all in the name of bandwidth throttling vengeance.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)