CyberLaw Blog

Archive for January 10th, 2009

Google China and Baidu apologize for porn links: “

Shamed by government crackdown

Three of China’s most popular search engines have apologized for being slow to remove links to pornographic material, following the government’s pledge on Monday to crack down on ‘vulgar’ content on the web.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Student Sentenced to 15 Years for YouTube Terror Video | Threat Level from Wired.com: “Student Sentenced to 15 Years for YouTube Terror Video
By David Kravets EmailDecember 18, 2008 | 5:46:24 PMCategories: Crime

Picture_15 An Egyptian engineering student was sentenced in the United States on Thursday to 15 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to uploading a 12-minute video to YouTube that demonstrated how to convert a remote-control toy car into a bomb detonator.

In June, Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 27, pleaded guilty in a Florida federal court to one count of providing material support to terrorists. He was a student at the University of South Florida. South Carolina authorities said they found various bomb-making materials in the vehicle he was driving when he was pulled over last year.

The video, with his voice in Arabic, was discovered during a search of his laptop computer, the authorities said. In the video, which the authorities said was viewed by the public hundreds of times, shows how to make a remote-control toy car from Walmart into a bomb detonator.

In court documents, (.pdf) he said ‘he intended the technology demonstrated in his audio-video recording to be used against those who fight for the United States.’ He said he considered them and their allies fighting in Arab countries to be ‘invaders.’ The United States, he said, was a ‘vile nation.’”

CN – Cracking down on dissent: “(Economist)
Increasingly worried about a sickly economy sowing social unrest, the Chinese government is tightening state control over the media. Its main aim appears to be to smother dissemination of politically sensitive discussions and information on the Internet. On January 5th authorities notified 19 popular domestic and foreign Internet companies – including Sina, Tencent, Baidu and Google – that a failure to expunge pornography from their mainland websites could lead to a shutdown. The more alarming development for Chinese leaders is a document circulating on the Internet called Charter 08, a potent political manifesto signed by hundreds of Chinese intellectuals and even some government officials calling for sweeping democratic reforms in China. The government was not amused, and official reaction has been swift. Authorities have banned further distribution of the document on the Internet.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

EU – Safer Internet programme 2009 – 2013 published: “(EUR-Lex)
OJ L 348 of 24 December 2008. Decision No 1351/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 establishing a multiannual Community programme on protecting children using the Internet and other communication technologies. PDF“

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

Hacking Godfather ‘Maksik’ Sentenced to 30 Years by Turkish Court: “A Ukrainian cybercrime lord linked to virtually every major breach of U.S. retail networks in the past four years was sentenced this week to 30 years in prison by a Turkish court, on unrelated charges of hacking banks in that country, according to reports.

(Via Wired News.)

New e-mail law ‘is an attack on civil liberties’: “Upcoming rules that force internet companies to hold details of every e-mail
sent in Britain are a waste of money and an attack on privacy, according to
a prominent security expert.”

(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)

Gaza War’s New Front: Facebook: “At first glance Israel seems to be dominating the information war over Gaza. The Israeli government has launched a campaign to dominate the blogosphere: Pro-Israel hackers are waging cyberwar against Hamas, and the Israeli military has kept the international press off the battlefield. But social networking site Facebook has become an important venue in the Arab world for protesting the Israeli campaign, as well as a potent fundraising tool for supporters of the Palestinian cause.

(Via Wired News.)

Confusion reigns ahead of comms überdatabase debate: “

Disentangling IMP from the EU

Analysis Jacqui Smith will soon begin one of the Home Office’s famed consultation exercises on new systems demanded by spy chiefs to snoop on internet communications in the UK. But already, the mangle of powers and regulations around data retention threatens public understanding of what is being suggested.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Online Threat to Kill Obama Leads to Arrest: “Secret Service agents raid the home of a man suspected of promising Barack Obama a ‘50 cal in the head’ on a Yahoo message board. They take away his .50 caliber rifle.

(Via Wired News.)