Mediaboss Marketing

Reporters Without Borders has updated its 2012 "Enemies of the Internet" listto include Bahrain and Belarus.

The updated list, which was released on Monday to mark what the organisation called "World Day Against Cyber-Censorship", still includes countries such as China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia from the previous year.

The Paris-based non-governmental organisation that advocates freedom of the press said that internet users in 2011 were "at the heart of the political changes in the Arab world and elsewhere".

In Bahrain, RWB said, the government "has bolstered its censorship efforts" in reaction to the pro-democracy uprising that began on February 14, 2011.

"Bahrain offers a perfect example of successful crackdowns, with an information blackout achieved through an impressive arsenal of repressive measures: exclusion of the foreign media, harassment of human rights defenders, arrests of bloggers and netizens (one of whom died behind bars), prosecutions and defamation campaigns against free expression activists, disruption of communications," the report said.

In Belarus, RWB said, "The Internet a mobilisation and information platform has received the full brunt of the authorities brutal crackdown on the opposition."

The report continued that "some 100 Belarusian journalists were interrogated in 2011 alone, and over 30 given prison terms".

Libya, where the government of Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in a violent revolt, was removed from the list of "countries under surveillance".

"In Libya, many challenges remain but the overthrow of theGaddafi regime has ended an era of censorship," the report said.

Venezuela was also removed from that list, whereas India and Kazakhstan were added to it.

Read this article:
Bahrain added to web censorship blacklist

13-Mar-12, 7:09 AM | Agence France-Presse

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka has imposed censorship on security-related mobile phone messages despite the withdrawal last year of tough emergency laws following the end of its separatist war with Tamil rebels.

The defense ministry's Media Center for National Security (MCNS) in a directive to media organizations said they must get prior approval to publish SMS news alerts "related to national security and security forces."

The censorship, which was announced in a directive dated Friday but seen by AFP on Monday, appeared to be limited to SMS news alerts issued via mobile phones.

The directive came after reports of the killing Friday of three soldiers in the island's north raised fears that the Tamil Tiger rebels, crushed in May 2009, were regathering to resume attacks.

However, tensions eased after the army announced that the killings were carried out by a soldier who later turned the gun on himself and no rebel activity was suspected.

"Any news related to national security and security forces (and) the police should get prior approval from the MCNS before dissemination," MCNS Director General Lakshman Hulugalle said in his directive.

The government imposed censorship during the height of fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels using emergency laws that were relaxed last August following intense international pressure.

It was not immediately clear what legal provisions were being used to censor SMS alerts.

The censorship directive came into immediate effect and applied to over a dozen news services. Sri Lanka's five-player mobile industry has over 18 million subscribers.

Here is the original post:
Sri Lanka slaps censorship on mobile phone messages

Independent Newspapers

File Photo: Jennifer Bruce

All news on rhino poaching in SA national parks will now come from the national government, raising suspicions about further curbs on news of the national rhino poaching crisis.

SA National Parks spokesman Wanda Mkutshulwa issued a statement on Monday that until further notice all matters related to rhino poaching will be addressed by the Environmental Affairs Department (DEA).

This will include the updates that SANParks has been giving to the media about rhino poaching statistics, all interviews related to rhino poaching and all issues of clarity or information.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife chief executive Bandile Mkhize said he was unaware of the policy change and thought it applied to SANParks only.

For the past few months SANParks has been co-ordinating information on national rhino poaching statistics on its website and reporting on the involvement of its rangers in the crisis.

Last week, when The Mercury tried to confirm that the poaching toll had risen to more than 100 rhinos in the past 68 days, Mkutshulwa said: I would not know. But we are told there are people who keeps tabs on these reports so we are not releasing any other stats. We do it once a month. That is the instruction we have We will release towards the end of March.

Responding to the latest change in the rhino information policy on Monday, Mkutshulwa said: There is nothing sinister to have all rhino poaching media and public issues go through the Department of Environmental Affairs as they have been going through SANParks.

It is an administrative arrangement which makes sense because this is a national issue. The department will be conducting this matter the same way SANParks has been doing.

Read more from the original source:
Government to control rhino poaching news

SANTA ANA, Calif. and ISMANING, Germany, March 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Identive Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:INVE - News) (Frankfurt:INV.F - News), today introduced TouchSecure OpenAccess(TM), a family of revolutionary access readers that enable a broad range of organizations to upgrade and integrate their physical and logical access control systems quickly and cost-effectively while retaining existing proprietary physical access systems.

"To enhance security of personnel and assets within their facilities, government agencies and businesses of all sizes are working to integrate their physical and IT network access systems using open standard platforms, so that a single identity credential can be used for employees across the entire enterprise, from door to network," explained John Menzel, vice president Access Control ID Solutions for Identive. "In order to bridge logical and physical systems with a single identity, door readers need to combine support for proprietary legacy systems with secure and open IT network communication capabilities. This principle is the basis for the new TouchSecure reader family."

As one of the world's first physical access readers capable of reading a multitude of access card formats, the TouchSecure OpenAccess supports the convergence of physical and logical access systems around the use of a single trusted identity credential. When installed at a facility's entrance points, the reader becomes a secure open platform to unify and enhance building security within a single site or across different sites using different card systems. The reader also offers complete scalability from local to cloud-based management and reporting.

"Physical access systems are notoriously difficult to upgrade because they are deeply embedded within buildings," noted Mark Diodati, research vice president at Gartner. "An intelligent reader can provide stronger authentication, mobile device support, and simpler IT convergence without a potential multi-year upgrade of the entire physical access system."

TouchSecure OpenAccess provides this intelligence. For companies that wish to upgrade their access control systems from older proprietary systems to newer technologies that offer higher security and more flexibility, the reader provides a migration path that allows a gradual swap-out of employee credentials over time, without the need to rip out and replace existing controllers, wiring or access readers.

"TouchSecure readers are ideally suited for organizations implementing card technology migration or support for multiple types of credentials, as well as those just seeking a reader with maximum performance and security options for the future," stated Dr. Manfred Mueller, Executive Vice President of Identive and Managing Director of the Company's ID Infrastructure division. "An open architecture design enables broad applicability for small/medium enterprises of 100 employees all the way up to the largest corporations that maintain multiple campuses spanning the globe. Compliance with the industry's most stringent security standards ensures the reader's suitability for use in high-security government facilities, as mandated under federal directives. TouchSecure OpenAccess is truly designed for the 21st century, able to take you from your current door reader technology to wherever you want to migrate in the future."

TouchSecure OpenAccess readers support multiple proximity and smart card formats, including proximity-125 kHz (all major building access formats), NXP MIFARE(R) Classic, DESFire(R) EV1, ISO14443A/B CSN, PLAID, ISO 15693, NFC and U.S. government personal identification verification (PIV), including PIV-I. The TouchSecure OpenAccess reader is based on international standards including ISO14443A/B, ISO7816, FIPS201, FIPS140-2 and PLAID. With remote connectivity capabilities, firmware technology updates can add new compatibilities in the future, making the TouchSecure OpenAccess a long-term solution, available today.

In addition to traditional Wiegand and RS-485 communication to a controller, TouchSecure OpenAccess readers offer support for Ethernet and Wi-Fi, enabling remote management from the desktop and overall system management in the cloud. Configuration, firmware updates and diagnostics are easily accomplished with just a few clicks.

Identive's TouchSecure OpenAccess readers are available now. For more information, visit http://www.identive-infrastructure.com/touchsecure. About Identive Group

Identive Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:INVE - News) (Frankfurt:INV.F - News) is focused on building the world's signature company in Secure ID. The company's products, software, systems and services address the markets for identity management, physical and logical access control, NFC and a host of RFID-enabled applications for customers in the government, enterprise, consumer, education, healthcare and transportation sectors. Identive's mission is to build a lasting business of scale and technology based on a combination of strong technology-driven organic growth and disciplined acquisitive expansion. For additional info visit: http://www.identive-group.com.

See the rest here:
Innovative Access Control Technology From Identive Revolutionizes Integrated Identity Management

The memorandum on media protocols sent out by Culture Minister Caral ni Chuilin to a number of arts and sporting bodies is truly an astonishing document.

Strip away the civil service style language and the nice sounding caveats and the message is crystal clear - the organisations are not to say anything publicly that the minister would disapprove of. It is quite blatant control freakery. The irony of course is that her confidential memo was immediately leaked.

The document went to eight so-called arms-length bodies, although, obviously, Ms ni Chuilin doesn't believe that they are beyond her reach. Her attempt to gag the bodies - one part of the document says her department must be called in if any issue is likely to result in negative publicity - is more akin to old Soviet-style control than the behaviour expected of a politician in a democratic society. There is no sense of irony in her statement that the new protocols will not encroach on any organisation's independence. Is she serious?

Although it is astonishing to see her control ambitions so clearly documented, there should be no surprise that they exist. Leaving aside her own political background - Sinn Fein doesn't allow members to go off-message - she is also part of a power bloc at Stormont which is almost paranoid about criticism. Not so long ago First Minister Peter Robinson was complaining about the media highlighting negative stories about the province.

At Stormont there are an incredible 161 press officers whose jobs are to spin the news in the most favourable way possible for the Executive. But, obviously, Ms ni Chuilin believes the spinning should not stop there. Other bodies which rely on the department for funding should also be forced to toe the line. Her desire for control has been laid bare but, fortunately, this newspaper, like the rest of the media here, is independent and will not be forced to swallow propaganda.

See more here:
Minister's memo control freakery