CyberLaw Blog

Archive for June, 2010

English: Minister Yıldırım: YouTube or any Other Ordinary Person… – Bianet

In the context of the access ban for the YouTube website, Transport Minister Yıldırım addressed YouTube officials, ‘You will be treated just the same way as the ordinary people are treated in the Turkish Republic.

Erol ÖNDEROĞLU
hukuk@bianet.org
Ankara – BİA News Center
30 June 2010, Wednesday

Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım joint the discussion on the access ban imposed to the video sharing site YouTube two years ago. ‘Everybody in this country is obliged to abide by the laws. We do not meddle with anybody’s freedom to do internet commerce. Turkey is a state of law. Everybody should be tied to the force of law’, the minister said.

Yıldırım had a message for the people protesting the internet censorship as well, ‘They might be willing representatives and passionate advocators; that is not of our concern’.

Yıldırım reminded the fact that the Turkish government initiated the process to become a member of the European Convention on Cyber Crimes. Member states of the convention correspond with each other whether legal exchange should be carried out regarding any incident, he argued.
YouTube treated like any ordinary person…

During a speech delivered at the award ceremony of the ‘IT 500′ survey carried out by the Interpromedia Research Service, Yıldırım said, ‘YouTube is treated just like any other ordinary person’.

As reported by the news channel CNN Türk, Yıldırm stated that ’shortcuts have already become a tradition’ in Turkey. He continued, ‘This is a global brand, blah blah blah… ‘Sir, how can you stick up to this huge company’. If you believe in universal law and if you respect the sovereignty of the countries, you have to stick to the country’s rules regardless of who you are dealing with. A citizen from the country ‘X’ does not have priority in country ‘Y’. This conception is incompatible with democracy and modernity’.

‘Unfortunately, there are people in our country defending this issue on behalf of modernity. That hurts. Everybody is obliged to abide by the law of this country. Nobody has priority. This can be a willing representative or a passionate advocator, it does not concern us’.

‘We say, ‘go ahead, if you do business in this country, you will be treated before the law just as any other ordinary person in the Turkish Republic. We are not concerned with anybody’s freedom regarding internet commerce. Turkey is a state of law. Everybody should be tied to the force of law’.
‘Informatics does not get on well with the legislation’

Minister Yıldırım indicated that informatics and legislation do not get on well with each other. He argued that informatics is an area that ruins memorization, abolishes conservatism and creates a change of attitude. Legislation on the other hand pursued to keep everything under control, he said.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Mustafa Akgül, president of the Internet Technologies Association İNETD, filed a criminal complaint against restrictions of certain Google services. He also applied to the administrative court in respect to the ‘temporary access ban’ imposed on YouTube on 5 May 2008 which is still in effect today.

The file concerned with the access ban to the YouTube side has also been forwarded to the European Court of Human Rights. (EÖ/VK)

BBC News – Google in ‘new approach’ on China: “Google in ‘new approach’ on China

Page last updated at 08:10 GMT, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 09:10 UK

Google has announced a ‘new approach’ in its ongoing battle with China over censorship.

Until recently, the firm automatically redirected Chinese users to its unfiltered search site in Hong Kong to get round censorship issues.

Google has said it will now stop this after Beijing warned it could lose its licence to operate in the country.

Instead, Chinese users will be sent to a ‘landing page’. Clicking anywhere on it sends them to the Hong Kong site.

Google said it was hopeful that this subtle change – where users have to actively click on a link to access unfiltered search results rather than being automatically redirected – would allow it to continue operating in China.

Chinese law demands that companies use web servers based in China.

However, BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones said there was no guarantee the Chinese authorities would accept the new arrangement.
‘Sophisticated attack’

Google announced the changes one day before its Internet Content Provider (ICP) licence – necessary to operate in the country – was due to expire.

It’s called the ‘Google Dance’.

To show up at the top of Google’s search pages, companies regularly have to change the way their websites work, fine-tuning them as Google constantly updates its search algorithm.

Right now, Google is doing its very own Google Dance, but to the tune of the Chinese authorities.

Google can’t afford to be kicked out of China – not commercially, because China already is the world’s largest internet market, and not ideologically, because you cannot claim to ‘organise the world’s information’ if you have one massive black hole right in the middle of it.

While search engine optimisation is relatively straightforward, Google will find it much harder if not impossible to please China’s political algorithm.

The Chinese authorities want to control what their citizens watch and read. Google’s latest move doesn’t meet this goal. But yielding control would critically damage Google’s brand in the rest of the world.

‘Without an ICP licence, we can’t operate a commercial website like Google.cn—so Google would effectively go dark in China,’ said David Drummond of the firm in a blog post.

‘That’s a prospect dreaded by many of our Chinese users, who have been vocal about their desire to keep Google.cn alive.’

A spokesperson for the firm said Google was about to submit its new ICP application to the government and had made the changes in an effort to continue operating in the country.

It has already begun to channel some Chinese web users to the new page.

‘Over the next few days we’ll end the redirect entirely, taking all our Chinese users to our new landing page—and today we re-submitted our ICP licence renewal application based on this approach,’ said Mr Drummond.

Google has had a long history of run-ins with the Chinese authorities.

However, these escalated in January when the search firm announced that it was considering withdrawing from China altogether following a ’sophisticated’ cyber attack originating from the country.

The attacks targeted the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, along with the computers and infrastructure of Google and several other US firms.

The firm eventually decided to stay in the country, but offer Chinese users unfiltered results through its Hong Kong servers.

The latest move was part of the firm’s ambition to ‘make information available to users everywhere,’ said Mr Drummond.

‘This new approach is consistent with our commitment not to self censor and, we believe, with local law. We are therefore hopeful that our licence will be renewed.’

China hopes that nearly half the population will have access to the internet within five years. That figure is nearly 30% at the moment.

Losing business in the country could harm Google’s future growth prospects.

However, unlike in other markets, Google is not focused on search in China, which is currently dominated by Baidu.

Instead, experts say, Google aims to develop its music and maps services in the country.

The Associated Press: Turkey tightens Internet control in YouTube feud

By SUZAN FRASER (AP) – 25.06.2010

ANKARA, Turkey — Furious over Internet insults of the country’s beloved founder, Turkey has gone on the offensive against Google, tightening a ban on YouTube and cutting public access to a host of Google-owned sites.

Turkey’s communications minister has accused the Internet giant of waging a battle against Turkey and dodging taxes. But the government faces widespread public anger and attacks from the political opposition for restricting freedoms.

Even the president has spoken out against banning internet sites — using his Twitter account — after Turkey restricted access to some Google pages earlier this month.

The controversy is a setback for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, which won plaudits for carrying out democratic reforms but now stands accused of placing Turkey in the same class as countries already notorious for tight Internet controls.

‘If the government doesn’t now put an end to the Internet ban that has extended to certain Google services … Erdogan’s name will be remembered along with that of Internet prohibiter Ahmadinejad,’ wrote Haluk Sahin, a professor of media studies and columnist for Radikal newspaper, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran cracked down on free use of the Internet during its disputed presidential election last summer.

Even for Turkey, exercising control of the internet is not new.

The country began blocking access to websites in 2007, after parliament adopted an a law against cyber crime in an effort to curb child porn, prevent the dissemination of terrorist propaganda and stamp out illegal gambling. Websites deemed to be disrespectful of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and of religious beliefs were also outlawed.

Under court order, Turkey’s telecommunications authority banned access to YouTube, the video-sharing site, in May 2008, after users complained that some videos insulted Ataturk. Earlier this month, Turkey expanded the ban to include some Google pages that use the same Internet Protocol addresses as YouTube, to prevent users from circumventing the ban. The search giant Google Inc. is YouTube’s parent company.

Hundreds of internet users have signed an online petition denouncing the ban as an affront to ‘free speech and rights to access information.’ Signatories are calling for the resignation of the telecommunications officials and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim.

Three information technology groups are challenging the ban in courts.

President Abdullah Gul threw his weight behind opponents of the ban in a series of tweets June 14, saying the Internet gag was preventing Turkey from ‘integrating with the world.’ He said he has instructed officials to look into ways of overcoming the ban, including changing laws if necessary.

‘I cannot approve of Turkey being in the category of countries that bans YouTube (and) prevents access to Google,’ the president said.

The opposition Republican People’s Party, which under new leadership is trying to present itself as a viable alternative to Erdogan’s government in elections next year, brought the issue to parliament Thursday.

‘The whole of Turkey is disturbed. Reaction, criticism, protests are increasing by the day,’ lawmaker Emrehan Halici said. ‘Unfortunately, we are again faced with censorship in our country.’

Yildirim, the minister in charge of Internet issues, responded by accusing YouTube of attacks against Turkey.

‘This site is waging a battle against the Turkish Republic but Turkey will never accept it,’ he said.

He accused Google of failing to abide by Turkish laws and failing to cooperate with Turkish authorities.

This month, Yildirim lashed out at Google saying it owed Turkey 30 million Turkish Lira (US$20 million) in taxes for revenue from advertisements placed in Turkey.

Google said in an e-mailed statement that it is ‘disappointed that that this ban remains in place against a safe and lawful international service enjoyed by millions of people around the world.’

‘Google complies with tax law in every country in which it operates,’ Google said. ‘We are currently in discussion with the Turkish authorities about this, and are confident we comply with Turkish law. We report profits in Turkey which are appropriate for the activities of our Turkish operations.’

Erdogan has in the past shrugged off complaints over the YouTube ban. In 2008, he told a journalist: ‘I know how to get around the ban,’ and urged everyone else to do the same. He would not however, disclose which proxy servers he used to circumvent the ban.

Richard Howitt, a British member of the European Parliament and advocate of Turkey’s European Union membership, has warned Turkey that it cannot be considered as a serious candidate as long as the Internet continues to be censored.

Howitt said the ban puts ‘the country alongside Iran, North Korea and Vietnam as one of the world’s worst offenders for cyber censorship.’

The 56-nation Vienna-based security and human rights organization has also called on Turkey to abolish or reform the law that allows it to block Internet sites.

More than 6,000 sites have been banned in Turkey according to Engelli Web, a site that monitors blocked pages.

Inaccessible sites include pornographic pages, some online betting sites, escort services and sites that provide live soccer feeds.

BBC News – Pakistan to monitor Google and Yahoo for ‘blasphemy’: “Pakistan to monitor Google and Yahoo for ‘blasphemy’

Page last updated at 16:01 GMT, Friday, 25 June 2010 17:01 UK

Google website – Pakistan says the main website will be unaffected

Pakistan will start monitoring seven major websites, including Google and Yahoo, for content it deems offensive to Muslims.

YouTube, Amazon, MSN, Hotmail and Bing will also come under scrutiny, while 17 less well-known sites will be blocked.

Officials will monitor the sites and block links deemed inappropriate.

In May, Pakistan banned access to Facebook after the social network hosted a ‘blasphemous’ competition to draw the prophet Muhammad.

The new action will see Pakistani authorities monitor content published on the seven sites, blocking individual pages if content is judged to be offensive.

Telecoms official Khurram Mehran said links would be blocked without disturbing the main website.

Cartoon controversy

The ban on Facebook was lifted after about two weeks, when the site blocked access to the page, called Everybody Draw Muhammad.
Protesters condemn a page of Facebook – May 2010 The Draw Muhammad page on Facebook sparked protests in Pakistan

Facebook itself is not on the new list of websites to be monitored. A number of links from YouTube will be blocked but not the main site itself.

Many Muslims regard depictions of Muhammad, even favourable ones, as blasphemous.

In 2007, the government banned YouTube, allegedly to block material offensive to the government of Pervez Musharraf.

The action led to widespread disruption of access to the site for several hours. The ban was later lifted. “

(Via .)

White supremacists jailed over ‘vicious’ online messages – Crime, UK – The Independent: “White supremacists jailed over ‘vicious’ online messages

By Mike Hornby, Press Association

Friday, 25 June 2010

Two white supremacists were jailed today after being convicted of posting violent and vicious racist messages on the internet.

Michael Heaton, 42, and Trevor Hannington, 58, described Jews as ’scum’ and called for them to be ‘destroyed’.

The ‘proud neo-Nazis’ were unanimously cleared of soliciting murder at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday but Heaton was jailed today for 30 months after being convicted of four counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words likely to stir up racial hatred.

Hannington previously admitted two counts of stirring up racial hatred, two further counts of possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and disseminating a terrorist publication.

He was jailed for two years.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Irwin told Heaton, of Leigh, in Wigan, Greater Manchester, his internet posts were ‘vicious and repulsive’.

He added: ‘You saw yourself as the leader of a potentially significant and active National Socialist group.

‘Your sustained racist rants were intended to bolster that group.

‘You wanted to start a race war.

‘You are clearly filled with racial hatred and also with violent and angry beliefs.’

The judge told Heaton his words were of the most ‘insulting and extreme nature’ marked by ‘violent racism’ and said only a significant jail term was acceptable.

Hannington, from Hirwaun, Cardiff, was described as a loner by the judge, who told him: ‘You are a long standing racist who has never hidden your views, which are violent and vicious in the extreme.

‘You are a lonely man with little in your life.

‘You habitually told lies about a non-existent army career and your knowledge of survival techniques in an attempt to gain status.

‘You are, to some degree, pitiable in this, however repugnant what you said.’

Heaton, a packer for a food company, was jailed for 30 months for each of his four offences, to run concurrently.

He nodded to the judge and said he understood as he was taken to the cells.

He admitted in police interviews he was a founder member of the Aryan Strike Force (ASF), whose goal was ‘the eradication of ethnic minorities from Britain’, the prosecution said.

In one posting on the ASF website, he said of Jews: ‘They will always be scum, destroy ‘em with whatever it takes.’

He also wrote: ‘I would encourage any religion or race that wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion.’

And in another posting he said Jews were leeches and ‘treacherous f****** scum’ and that black people were ‘less intelligent than other species’.

Heaton made more than 3,000 posts on the ASF site between January and June 2008, before he had a ‘bust-up’ with the organisation and created his own, the British Freedom Fighters (BFF).

The website changed its name to Legion 88 and then Wolfpack, before it was closed down.

The trial jury, nine of whom returned to court for today’s sentencing, were told the number eight refers to the eighth letter in the alphabet, H. So 88 stands for HH, as in Heil Hitler, a common greeting for neo-Nazis.

Both men had a number of user names when they posted their comments on the website. Heaton called himself Wigan Mike, and then later Lenny.

David Fish, mitigating for Heaton, said the defendant had been banned from accessing the internet while on bail and was no longer involved in the BFF.

He said: ‘(Heaton) has, in effect, shed the habit and lost interest in putting up these posts.’

Hannington admitted he was an administrator for the ASF, Legion 88 and Wolfpack websites and gave himself the user names Fist, Lee 88 and Paul.

He pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred with internet posts stating his beliefs that Jews were ‘parasites feeding on others’ and ‘utterly evil sub-beings’.

The self-employed builder also posted the message: ‘Kill the Jew, Kill the Jew, Burn down a synagogue today! Burn the scum.’

Hannington admitted owning the Anarchist’s Cookbook, Kitchen Complete and The Terrorist Encyclopaedia, all of which are considered useful tools to someone preparing or committing an act of terrorism.

He also admitted publishing a post on the internet with instructions on how to make a flame thrower out of a water pistol.

Richard Mansell QC, for Hannington, said: ‘There is a significant element of the fantasist about him and the jury’s verdict accepts the posts were made without a great deal of thought but are, nevertheless, extremely offensive.

‘Having had the terror books he never made any effort to produce such items or seek components for them.

‘He has reflected on the language he used and his conduct and he also recognises he has problems with alcohol and anger management.’

Hannington showed no emotion as he was jailed for a total of two years for all his offences.

As he was convicted under the Terrorism Act he must inform the police of his home address for the next 10 years.

When police raided the homes of both men they found an array of weapons, including knives and firearms.

Heaton’s bedroom was adorned in flags with symbols of far-right movements, and a samurai sword hung above his bed.

Elsewhere around the house officers found numchucks, batons, knives and knuckle dusters hanging on the walls, and a BB machine gun was also recovered at the property.

Flags bearing swastikas were strewn around Hannington’s house and police found a personal armoury including an air rifle and daggers.

Mr Justice Irwin ordered the weapons to be destroyed, along with the defendants’ home computers.

Speaking outside court, Detective Chief Superintendent David Buxton, head of the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, said he respected the sentences.

He added: ‘Today we have seen that voicing violent extremism will not be tolerated.’

Stuart Laidlaw, the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division lawyer, said: ‘As members of the ASF, Hannington and Heaton were closely associated with Ian Davison who was recently convicted of terrorism offences and of producing the poison ricin.

‘They enjoyed similar links with his son, Nicky Davison, who was also recently convicted of terrorism offences.

‘We considered this to be a very serious case and on the evidence presented to us by police, the public interest required a prosecution.’

The ASF is the latest in a long line of Neo-Nazi groups with a mission to promote the National Socialist principles of Adolf Hitler, Mr Laidlaw said.

He added the organisation’s members appeared to venerate Hitler and deny the Holocaust.

The lawyer said: ‘Holding unpleasant and offensive views is not illegal.

‘However, people cross the line when they urge others to take violent direct action, especially after they download terror manuals on how to produce explosives – or, as in Ian Davison’s case, ricin.

‘Both juries saw some thoroughly unpleasant material which contained views which most people would find obnoxious and abhorrent.

‘We would like to thank them for performing their duty in these cases.’

Neo-Nazis sentenced to 4 and a half years jail at Liverpool Crown Court > National News > News | Click Liverpool: “Neo-Nazis sentenced to 4 and a half years jail at Liverpool Crown Court
by Simon Boyle. Published Fri 25 Jun 2010 12:17

Two Neo-Nazis have been sentenced to a total of four-and-a-half years behind bars by a judge at Liverpool Crown Court, for inciting racial hatred.

Food packer Michael Heaton, 42, was handed a 30-month jail term for ‘using threatening and abusive language likely to stir up racial hatred’.

His co-defendant Trevor Hannington, 58, was sentenced to two years after admitting six offences and being found guilty by a jury of the same offence as Heaton.

Passing sentence Judge Stephen Irwin QC said: ‘You clearly intended to stir-up racial hatred on behalf of the organisation

‘In my judgement you saw yourself as the leader of a potentially significant National Socialist Group. You wanted to start a race war. You were clearly filled with racial hatred and you have certainly given that impression in court.

‘This offence is so serious and your character is so distorted by racial hatred that only a significant sentence will suffice.’

The judge told Hannington: ‘You are a long-standing racist and you have never hidden those views. You are a lonely man with little in your life.

‘You lived in a shambles. You habitually told lies in an attempt to gain status but it is clear that you are largely a fantasist.’

In a 12-day trial the court had earlier heard that Heaton idolised Nazi warlord Rudolf Hess and kept piles of memorabilia including swaztikas and a fearsome armoury of weapons.

Heaton was convicted on four counts of ‘using threatening and abusive language likely to stir up racial hatred’.

At an earlier hearing, Hannington, admitted six further counts of using threatening and abusive language, and possessing notorious terrorism handbooks ‘The Anarchists Cookbook’ and ‘The Complete Improvise Kitchen’.

The jury heard that both Hannington and Heaton published a string of vile messages on the Aryan Strike Force website, which the pair operated together, between January and June 2008.

Hannington, of Cardiff, South Wales, described as a lonely ‘Walter Mitty’ character, also admitted posting instructions for making a home made flame-thrower on the site operated from his home.

Heaton was found not guilty on two counts of ’soliciting to murder’. Hannington was also found not guilty of ’soliciting to murder’.

Hannington’s hate-filled postings include messages which read: ‘Kill the Jew, Kill the Jew, Burn the synagogues, and Burn the Scum’.

Heaton wrote, ‘Jews will always be scum, and must be destroyed, I would encourage any race who wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion.’

The court was also told of Heaton’s connections with other convicted neo-nazi extremists, including Mark Atkinson, who was jailed for five years in 2005 for publishing racial hatred in a right-wing magazine called Stormer.

Heaton’s relationship with another activist, named only as Maroney, was also described. Maroney is currently serving a life sentence after ‘fire-bombing’ the home of a Yemeni neighbour, before firing a crossbow wildly down the street, and for sexually assaulting his girlfriend.

The court heard that Heaton, who describes himself as ’slightly National Socialist’, had expressed his anger at Maroney’s conviction on the ASF website, writing: ‘Life, for singeing a Paki’s grass!’

The court heard that Michael Heaton had made more than 3,000 obscene and inflammatory postings on the website under a string of pseudonyms while his co defendant operated under the aliases of Fist and Lee88.

During a search of Heaton’s home, in Greater Manchester, detectives unearthed large quantities of Nazi and Hitler-related material, and a vast array of weapons.

A copy of the Nazi dictator’s book, Mein Kampf, was also available to users of the website.

But in interview Heaton confessed that the man he really he idolised Hitler’s upper-class henchman Rudolf Hess.

Throughout the trial, jurors were shown evidence of the pair’s neo-nazi activities, including a series of videos designed for the training of extremists and activists which featured Mr Heaton violently attacking another man, in a demonstration of strength and aggression.

Further images showed 6 ft 2 inch Heaton at a Neo-Nazi demonstration in Manchester where he was seen making the Nazi salute.

Judge Irwin QC ordered the destruction of a cache of lethal weapons including knuckledusters, flick knives, and and scythes found at Heaton’s home in Greater Manchester.

BBC News – Neo-Nazis jailed over anti-Jewish internet posts

Page last updated at 13:51 GMT, Friday, 25 June 2010 14:51 UK

Michael Heaton and Trevor Hannington Heaton and Hannington wanted to rid Britain of ethnic minorities

Two white supremacists who posted racist internet messages calling for Jews to be destroyed have been jailed.

Michael Heaton, 42, of Leigh, Greater Manchester, and Trevor Hannington, 58, from Cardiff, described Jews as ’scum’ and encouraged people to kill them.

The self-proclaimed neo-Nazis were both cleared of soliciting murder. Heaton was convicted of stirring up racial hatred – a charge Hannington admitted.

Heaton was jailed for 30 months and Hannington for two years.
‘Race war’

Justice Irwin told Heaton his words were of the most ‘insulting and extreme nature’ marked by ‘violent racism’ and said only a significant jail term was acceptable.

The 42-year-old food packer admitted in a police interview that he was a founder member of the Aryan Strike Force (ASF), whose goal was ‘the eradication of ethnic minorities from Britain’, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

The judge told him: ‘You saw yourself as the leader of a potentially significant and active National Socialist group.
Continue reading the main story

You are a lonely man with little in your life

Justice Irwin Liverpool Crown Court

‘Your sustained racist rants were intended to bolster that group.

‘You wanted to start a race war.

‘You are clearly filled with racial hatred and also with violent and angry beliefs.’

The court was told that Heaton had posted 3,000 messages on his ASF website between January and June 2008.

He wrote: ‘I would encourage any religion or race that wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion.’

In another posting he said Jews were ‘leeches’ and ’scum’ and that black people were ‘less intelligent than other species’.

Hannington, from Hirwaun, Cardiff, was described as a loner by the judge, who told him: ‘You are a long-standing racist who has never hidden your views, which are violent and vicious in the extreme.

‘You are a lonely man with little in your life.’

The 58-year-old builder admitted he was an administrator for the ASF website and one of his posts read: ‘Kill the Jew, Kill the Jew, burn down a synagogue today! Burn the scum.’
Michael Heaton’s bedroom Heaton’s bedroom was adorned with Nazi flags and national front posters

When police raided the homes of both men they found a whole collection of knives and firearms.

Heaton’s bedroom was adorned in flags with symbols of far-right movements, and a samurai sword hung above his bed.

Elsewhere around the house officers found numchucks, batons, knives and knuckle dusters hanging on the walls, and a BB machine gun was also recovered.

Flags bearing swastikas were strewn around Hannington’s house and police found a personal armoury including an air rifle and daggers.
‘Anarchist’s Cookbook’

David Fish, mitigating for Heaton, said the defendant had been banned from accessing the internet while on bail and was no longer involved in the BFF.

He said: ‘Heaton has, in effect, shed the habit and lost interest in putting up these posts.’

Hannington’s defence claimed he was a ‘fantasist’ and the jury’s verdict accepted the posts were made without a great deal of thought.

However, Hannington also admitted owning the Anarchist’s Cookbook, Kitchen Complete and The Terrorist Encyclopaedia, all of which are considered useful tools to someone preparing or committing an act of terrorism.

Mr Justice Irwin ordered the weapons to be destroyed, along with the defendants’ home computers.

Stuart Laidlaw, the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division lawyer, said: ‘As members of the ASF, Hannington and Heaton were closely associated with Ian Davison who was recently convicted of terrorism offences and of producing the poison ricin.

‘They enjoyed similar links with his son, Nicky Davison, who was also recently convicted of terrorism offences.

‘We considered this to be a very serious case and on the evidence presented to us by police, the public interest required a prosecution.’

OSCE calls on Turkey to stop blocking YouTube | Reuters

VIENNA, Tue Jun 22, 2010 11:14am EDT

VIENNA (Reuters) – Europe’s main human rights and security body told Turkey on Tuesday to stop blocking Google’s video-sharing website YouTube and thousands of other sites banned under its internet law.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the law, introduced in 2007, has been expanded to bar over 5,000 sites in the past two years and is severely damaging freedom of expression and information rights.

‘I ask the Turkish authorities to revoke the blocking provisions that prevent citizens from being part of today’s global information society,’ the OSCE’s media freedoms chief Dunja Mijatovic said in a statement.

Turkey initially passed the law to restrict access to pornography and other content it deemed harmful to children. The Vienna-based, 56-nation OSCE says the law has now been used to go far beyond that.

‘Instead of allowing free access to the internet, new ways have emerged that can further restrict the free flow of information in the country,’ Mijatovic said.

Turkey, an OSCE member, first started blocking YouTube in 2008 after it ruled that some videos posted on the site were insulting to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern republic.

The Turkish government has also cited offences including child pornography and encouragement of suicide for blocking websites.

The OSCE said Mijatovic had written to Turkey’s foreign minister to complain about new restrictions introduced earlier this month that have hampered access to other Google services such as its instant translation site and web traffic tracker.

Mijatovic said the alleged reason behind the block was an unsettled tax row between Turkish authorities and Google but that this matter was not covered in the original law.

Earlier this month, Turkish President Abdullah Gul used his Twitter page to condemn the ban on YouTube and some Google services. He said he had asked ‘responsible institutions for a solution. I asked for a change in regulations on merit.’

The president’s role in Turkey is largely ceremonial; decisions are taken by the prime minister and cabinet.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

OSCE Press release – OSCE media freedom representative asks Turkey to withdraw recent Internet blocking provisions, calls for urgent reform of law

OSCE media freedom representative asks Turkey to withdraw recent Internet blocking provisions, calls for urgent reform of law

VIENNA, 22 June 2010 – Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, today urged the Turkish authorities to restore access to YouTube and other services offered by Google, and bring the much-criticized Law No. 5651 – known as the Internet Law – in line with international standards on free expression.

‘I ask the Turkish authorities to revoke the blocking provisions that prevent citizens from being part of today’s global information society. I also ask them to carry out a very much needed reform of Law No. 5651,’ said Mijatovic.

In a letter sent to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Mijatovic expressed concern about new blocking provisions imposed earlier this month.

‘I am alarmed by the decision of the Turkish Telecommunications Communication Presidency to block access to dozens of Internet Protocol addresses related to YouTube and Google services. As a result, since early June several services related to Google – including popular services like Analytics or Translate – have been either unattainable, or access to them has become very slow,’ she wrote.

The alleged reason behind the block is an unsettled tax dispute between the Ministry of Transport and Communication and Google, the owner of YouTube. ‘But even the widely criticized Internet Law does not include tax disputes among the reasons that it cites as cause for blocking websites,’ the Representative said.

‘My Office has been promoting the urgent reform of Law No. 5651, because it considerably limits freedom of expression and severely restricts citizens’ right to access information,’ she added.

‘More than 5,000 websites have been blocked in Turkey during the last two years. The recent blocking is a worrisome indicator that instead of allowing free access to the Internet, new ways have emerged that can further restrict the free flow of information in the country.’

The legal review of Law No. 5651, commissioned by the OSCE in January 2010, can be downloaded here: http://www.osce.org/item/42294.html

Links to blog in email made sender liable, says US court: “

Defamatory content ‘published’

A US bankruptcy court has said that a man committed defamation just by forwarding an email with links in it to online material that was defamatory. The court said that the man ‘published’ the blog to his email recipients.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)