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Summary: Nearly 10 years ago, Cleanfeed was designed to protect the British public from child abuse imagery. A decade later, the same system is used to enforce ISP blocks on file-sharing and Magnet-link websites like The Pirate Bay. How did the U.K. fall into censorship creep?

Censorship is a slippery slope.The United Kingdom: my home. Case in point:

Nearly five years ago, the U.K. pushed the Web censorship switch. Most U.K. residents didnt even notice. Designed by telecoms giant British Telecom (BT), Cleanfeed was used to filter out child abuse imagery, and did so with great success.

Users would not see a warning message or a startling warning about the content they had tried to orinadvertentlyaccessed. The page just wouldnt load.

In 2007, Home Office minister Vernon Coaker ordered all U.K. ISPs to subscribe to Cleanfeed to prevent access toscenes of sexual abuse and criminally obscene content.

And then things began to change.

The U.K.s anti-piracy legislation, the Digital Economy Act, was brought into law by a tiny minority of parliamentaryrepresentatives in 2010. In all fairness, it was only a matter of time.

But a series of delays means the law is yet to swing into full effect. Its three-strike system, designed to inform copyright infringers that repeated acts would lead to Internet disconnections, has been put on ice until 2014.

The United States followed in the U.K.s footsteps with the Stop Online Piracy Act, also known as SOPA. In a similar fashion to the Digital Economy Act, it would allow copyright holders to seek court injunctions against websites that enable or facilitate copyright infringement.

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'Censorship creep': Pirate Bay block will affect one-third of UK

Nearly 10 years ago, "Cleanfeed" was designed to protect the British public from child abuse imagery. A decade later, the same system is used to enforce ISP blocks on sites like The Pirate Bay. How did the U.K. fall into "censorship creep"?

Censorship is a slippery slope. The United Kingdom: my home. Case in point.

Most U.K. customers accessing The Pirate Bay will see this, or a similar message.

Nearly five years ago, the U.K. flipped the Web censorship switch. Most U.K. residents didn't even notice. Designed by telecommunications giant British Telecom (BT), "Cleanfeed" was used to filter out child abuse imagery, and it did so with great success.

Users would not see a notice or a startling warning about the content they had inadvertently accessed or had tried to reach. The page just wouldn't load.

In 2007, Home Office minister Vernon Coaker ordered all U.K. ISPs to subscribe to Cleanfeed to prevent access to scenes of sexual abuse and "criminally obscene" content.

And then things began to change.

The U.K.'s antipiracy legislation, the Digital Economy Act, was brought into law by a tiny minority of parliamentary representatives in 2010. In all fairness, it was only a matter of time.

But a series of delays means the law has yet to swing into full effect. Its "three-strikes" system, designed to inform copyright infringers that repeated acts would lead to Internet disconnections, has been put on ice until 2014.

The United States followed in the U.K.'s footsteps with the Stop Online Piracy Act, also known as SOPA. In a similar fashion to the Digital Economy Act, it would allow copyright holders to seek court injunctions against Web sites that "enable or facilitate copyright infringement."

See the article here:
'Censorship creep': Pirate Bay block will affect one-third of U.K.

Date: Saturday Jun. 16, 2012 7:23 PM PT

While mega social networks are ideal for connecting with the masses, social media experts say users are beginning to look for a more personal online experience.

Changes to Facebook and Google+ give social networkers complete control over who can see each photo, video, status update and anything else that's shared online.

"Part of the shift is people are discovering they would like to have a Facebook for people who are closer to them," said Mitch Joel, a social media heavyweight and president of Montreal-based digital marketing firm Twist Images.

Joel said mega social networks are ideal for connecting with acquaintances, but not necessarily your inner circle.

Vancouver-based blogger Kris Krug agrees.

"Compared with hanging out, talking on the phone and Skyping, Facebook is less personal, less intimate, more wrought with misunderstanding and miscommunication," he said.

Krug points to social networking site Path, which markets itself as a personal environment designed for close friends and families and limits each of its two million users to 150 connections, as an example of a more tight-knit community.

However he said recent changes to Facebook, the introduction of "close friends" and "family" lists for example, are giving users a new level of privacy, control and comfort online.

Krug added that as social networks continue to grow at a rapid pace, there's plenty of room for new players.

See original here:
What does the future hold for mega social networks?

Kenya Gouch, 17, Detroit

"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power because they control the minds of the masses."

-- Malcolm X.

Media is an outlet used to inform, entertain and persuade. Often times, the media exposes people and situations for something they or it may not want to be portrayed as. The world of journalism can be controversial. With that said, it has to be left up to a brave sort of person to report within the media and utilize the right to free press. Writing for a school newspaper limits this freedom. What happens when a story is written but cannot be published under the disapproval of the school's principal?

Communication and Media Arts High School seems to be one of the finer schools in Detroit. It is supposedly more advanced academically than others. At least this is what the school would like people to believe. Lately, under the new supervision of Principal X, the school has become more focused on discipline, not education. This is becoming a concern for students and parents that has yet to be addressed. Kids are learning less due to the fact that their teachers are more concerned with minor violations of rules. Half of class time is spent checking uniforms, and passing out detentions to students, instead of teaching them vital information in preparation for college.

Wanting to publish a story about to matter, I wrote an article about it and it was pronounced that the article could not run. Our principal declared that the story "made our school look bad." I felt that the issue was very important and should have been printed in the newspaper as other important information is printed. However, Principal X was not allowing it. As editor, I had to make the decision of which was more important: satisfying the principal or releasing the truth.

In the end, it was left up to me to determine whether or not publication of the story was significant. Being a person who strongly believes in principles such as honesty, I felt that getting the truth out was vital. The article was published and I faced the mild consequences. Truth in the media is extremely critical as most people have strayed away from the idea. However, this is one thing I will forever concentrate on.

Gouch graduated from Communication and Media Arts High School in Detroit on June 6. She will attend Columbia College Chicago in the fall.

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Essay on media freedom helps CMA High student into Columbia College Chicago

LONDON--(Marketwire -06/15/12)- New research by mobile interaction specialist tyntec has found that 66 percent of UK mobile phone users aged between 16-24 access Facebook, Twitter and other social networks at least daily via mobile, as opposed to just 37 percent of Americans in the same age bracket. The results, from a survey of 2,000 UK and US mobile users, show the so-called 'millennial' demographic in the UK to be more advanced when it comes to using emerging cloud-based mobile services.

According to the survey conducted by YouGov, UK users are the heaviest users of social networks via mobile devices. 15 percent say that they use these platforms on smartphones more than five times a day, compared with eight percent of Americans. Regardless of nationality, all users named SMS as the most-used smartphone feature besides voice calls, outpacing apps and mobile email.

Untapped potential for messaging services such as WhatsAppThe study also revealed an untapped potential for OTT (over-the-top) messaging services such as WhatsApp, with 27 percent of UK and 40 percent of US millennial consumers unaware that such applications even exist. A high proportion of the younger UK (52 percent) and US (61 percent) users were also interested in having SMS integrated into social networks.

The 2012 YouGov survey, sponsored by tyntec, quizzed more than 2,000 UK and US respondents across various regions about SMS adoption, smartphone usage, mobile social networking and free/low cost calling and SMS alternatives.

tyntec CEO Michael Kowalzik said, "It is interesting to note that for both UK and US users the results show that a good proportion would use SMS if integrated into social networks. This indicates a trust level and familiarity with SMS which presents huge opportunities for Internet players and operators alike."

SMS offers huge opportunities for Internet players and operatorstyntec's tt.One solution allows carriers and Internet companies to deploy OTT services quickly and easily, allowing both to capitalise on new revenue streams. The solution bridges the telecoms and web worlds with mobile phone numbers, enabling seamless communication with SMS and voice across several platforms, systems and apps.

For further survey figures please click here.

About tyntec

tyntec is a mobile interaction specialist, enabling businesses to integrate mobile services for a wide range of uses -- from mission-critical applications to internet services. We reduce the complexity involved in accessing the closed and complex telecoms world by providing a high quality, easy-to-integrate and global offering using universal services such as SMS, voice and numbers. Our products serve a broad range of business requirements are all backed up by an advanced and reliable infrastructure. Founded in 2002, and with more than 150 staff in five offices around the globe, tyntec works with 500+ businesses including mobile service providers, enterprises and internet companies. tyntec is a global mobile interaction service provider, offering high-quality mobile messaging and information services to mobile network operators, enterprises, mobile service providers and internet companies.

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Pan-Atlantic Survey Finds UK Youngsters Embrace Mobile Social Networking More Than US Counterparts