CyberLaw Blog
A news resource for CyberLaw and Cyber-Rights issues from around the globe
Government changes tune on music piracy promise
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Government changes tune on music piracy promiseBen Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, has watered down a pledge to cut the volume of internet music piracy by 70 per cent in the next two years in a letter he wrote at the end of last month, a copy of which has been passed to The Times.
Swine flu website grinds to a halt
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Swine flu website grinds to a haltA much-heralded government website designed to relieve the pressure from frontline NHS staff by providing online diagnosis of swine flu ground to a halt today within a few minutes of its launch.
Spotify will put us music critics out of a job
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Spotify will put us music critics out of a jobBeyond the national sport of bellowing about who has or hasn’t made the Mercury Prize shortlist, this is the most significant year for the award since it started in 1992. It is the first year that the 12 nominated albums, the judges and the judging process are all placed by the public under the microscope of Spotify, the music downloader.
Gordon Brown’s plans to use phone tapping evidence in court thrown into chaos
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Gordon Brown’s plans to use phone tapping evidence in court thrown into chaosThe proposed use of phone tapping evidence to secure convictions in terrorist and criminal trials has been shown in secret tests to be unworkable.
CN – Chinese Web sites close amid tightening controls
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009CN – Chinese Web sites close amid tightening controls(AP)
Two more Web sites dedicated to social networking went offline in China amid tightening controls that have blocked Facebook, Twitter and other popular sites that offered many Chinese a rare taste of free expression. China’s crackdown on social networking sites began in March, when Chinese Web users found they could no longer visit YouTube shortly after video appeared on the site purporting to show Chinese security officials mistreating Tibetans. The blockages continued through the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and the recent ethnic riots in Xinjiang, with homegrown and overseas micro-blogging and photo-sharing sites among those targeted. Experts say the fact the sites are not coming back online shows the harsh measures are part of a long-term strategy to pare back the power of the Internet and silence some voices finding expression here
(Via QuickLinks Update.)
