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Web users in many countries across the globe experience censorship to some degree. China is a much heralded example of internet censorship as the country banned many sites including Facebook and YouTube. Pakistan's 20 million internet users already experience a degree of restricted web access; however, present censorship is less restrictive than in many other countries in Asia and the Arab world. Of the most concern to government regulators are sites that display adult content, those that display material offensive to Islam, websites supporting separatist activities, and sites offering criticisms of the government's army. However, the Pakistani government is now running advertisements for companies to configure and filtering system for the internet in the country that would block a reported 50 million sites. This has raised concerns from activists of free speech in the country.

The extent to which the new proposed regulations would restrict free speech in internet use is seemingly up for debate. Activists clearly feel this could be an indication of more and deeper censorship to come. This feeling is only supported by other proposals set forth by a media regulatory entity that that would bring television under tighter government oversight. On the other side, the government's Information Minister dismisses these claims and the director of Pakistan's ISP association contended that future restrictions would not equate to more censorship.

The impact on SEO would most likely be minimal, that is, for the non-blocked sites as searches of non-sensitive material would still function in the same way. As a result, an SEO company serving the Pakistani market will still be able to offer their services and assist a business to rank higher in SERPs and drive more traffic to their website. What is disconcerting however is the potential state of the internet in Pakistan if more censoring follows. Further, if more censorship discourages general internet use, then this could potentially impact the viability of internet businesses in the country. It is unclear what direction the country will head in relating to internet restrictions, but future decisions are sure to follow and have implications on the industry.

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Potential Deeper Filtering of Pakistan's Internet on Horizon

TORONTO (Reuters) - Bell Canada's parent has agreed to buy Astral Media, its largest content provider, in a C$3 billion ($3.02 billion) deal to lock up more of the programming carried over its media platforms and expand its presence in French-speaking Quebec.

Complementing BCE Inc's C$1.3 billion acquisition of CTV last year, the deal announced on Friday highlights the company's drive to control the costs of the content distributed through its cable, internet and telecom properties.

BCE's strategy is part of a global trend - the growing popularity of tablet computers and smartphones as platforms to view content has blurred the lines separating telecom carriers, media and cable companies. That has forced providers to venture outside their traditional domains to boost revenues and win a competitive edge.

"All telephone companies are trying to reinvent themselves," said Macquarie analyst Greg MacDonald. "Carriers, cable and telephone companies are buying content providers, and even going so far as to buy the content itself."

BCE, already Canada's largest telecom provider, will acquire more than 20 television services operated by Astral, including HBO Canada, the Movie Network, Canal Vie and Disney Junior. In radio, the deal gives BCE 80 stations, including Virgin Radio, EZ Rock and Boom.

In an important aspect of the deal, Astral positions BCE to compete more effectively against Quebecor Inc, which owns a rich array of French-language content and rival telecom company Videotron that operates in the province of Quebec.

Astral - based in Montreal along with Quebecor - has a strong presence in Quebec, Canada's francophone heartland. Its assets will enable BCE to raise its profile in one of Canada's biggest media markets and broaden out its national footprint.

"Bell's acquisition of Astral firmly establishes our company as Qubec's media leader," said BCE Chief Executive George Cope. "The acquisition also represents content cost certainty for Bell, as Astral represents Bell's single largest content cost in our TV business today."

Astral also owns digital media assets and nearly 10,000 outdoor advertising signage locations spread across Qubec, Ontario and British Columbia. It employs about 2,800 people across Canada, with about half of them located in Qubec.

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Canada's BCE to acquire Astral Media for C$3 billion

A skimpy report about Mount Pleasant police Maj. Frank Riccio's arrest wasn't consistent with how state troopers normally document a drunken driver, and officials vowed Thursday that future accountings would be more thorough.

Frank Riccio

Footage of S.C. Highway Patrol dashboard video of a trooper giving now former Mount Pleasant Police Dept. Maj. Frank Riccio a field sobriety test and arresting him on a charge of driving under the influence, after a motor vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 17 in Georgetown County on March 3, 2012.

The incident report, filed after Riccio crashed his Jeep near Georgetown on March 3, offers only five words: "Subject arrested for DUI refusal."

It differs widely from how other police agencies in the Lowcountry document a suspect's behavior. Officers typically note how a suspect performs in a field sobriety test, any conversation he has with an officer -- other physical indicators of drunkenness.

Trooper Larry Miller's report about Riccio was insufficient, said Sid Gaulden, a spokesman for the S.C. Department of Public Safety. On Wednesday, the day after The Post and Courier inquired about the sparse report, Highway Patrol commanders ordered that all troopers' incident reports contain a detailed summary, Gaulden said.

"Every time an arrest is made, there should be a full-fledged incident report filled out," he said.

Troopers have said they rely on video taken from their patrol cars to document arrests and that they sometimes jot notes if anything happens outside the camera's view. It's not entered into an incident report, they have said.

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5-word report in DUI case a red flag

By Bob Levin stltoday.com | Posted: Thursday, March 15, 2012 2:15 pm | (Loading) comments.

Many little boys in St. Louis dream of playing in the big leagues for their beloved Cardinals. Perhaps some imagine their team winning the World Series and see themselves riding in the championship parade before thousands of cheering fans. Call it childish fantasy. For Cardinal pitcher Kyle McClellan, however, call it reality.

Since the Hazelwood West graduate was drafted by the Cardinals in 2002, he rose quickly through the minors to become a versatile reliever. Last season, from both the starting rotation and bullpen, he contributed significantly to the success of the 2011 World Champions.

McClellan spoke with me by phone last week from spring training in Jupiter, Fla. As one might expect from a fierce competitor, his responses to my questions were energetic and to the point, delivered without hesitation like a series of fastballs. Our conversation focused largely on the integration of baseball and his Christian faith.

"My belief has really humbled me and allowed me to see a bigger picture," he said. "When you have a lot of people telling you how great you are, everybody pulling for you, 40,000 people watching, it's easy to get a big head. But in life, I'm not necessarily here to be a baseball player. I'm here to grow. Baseball is obviously what I get paid to do and we're called to do the best we can with the opportunities given to us."

The sad tale of fame and fortune contributing to the undoing of professional athletes is all too common. McClellan tells a different story.

"If not for being in baseball," he said, "I wouldn't be where I'm at spiritually. The guys I'm around have a big influence. We have a lot of believers on this team. Our chapels are full. We've got guys that come early in the morning before workouts to meet and talk about life and God. Learning people's struggles and strengths, hearing their stories and applying them to myself you just pick up so many things throughout the year."

McClellan, who has a 9-month-old daughter, emphasizes his desire to be a good husband and father. He said he tries not to allow the stress of competition affect him at home. For a pitcher, after all, success can turn into crushing failure in the instant it takes an errant pitch to reach the plate. I asked how he copes with such ups and downs.

"It's about understanding that there's more important things than baseball," he said. "We talk all the time about having baseball be the center of what we do, but not being the center of who we are as a person."

Like a finesse pitcher painting the corners of the plate, McClellan effectively differentiates between the ruthless performance demands of major league baseball and the unconditional love of God. Curiously, he uses his dog to illustrate the point.

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SPREADING THE WORD: Cardinal pitcher Kyle McClellan talks about baseball, life and faith

TAMLYN STEWART

Tucked away in Ferrymead in what was the Les Mills building is a clever Christchurch software company, creating the systems the rest of us rely on to do our jobs every day.

The company, which has 16 staff members but would like a couple more develops Filemaker databases and software systems, websites and apps.

Digital Fusion virtually measures the inside leg of a business and creates software to fit. It is fully integrated software, which means the systems work with software the company is already using for its accounting system or email.

If, for example, someone emails a business to order products, the software will pick that up and automatically put it into the workflow system, which then helps the business manage and track that order all the way through to production, delivery and payment.

Operations manager Julie McLeod said fully integrated software meant more productivity and efficiency for the customer. Each business uses different software for different things, so Digital Fusion's developers have to customise software.

It is time-consuming to produce, but there is strong demand for it.

"The reason people come to us for custom software is because they want their software to mirror the way they want to do business. It helps them to operate in a different way to their competitors," McLeod said.

Owner Craig Saunders founded the company in 1996 and says most of the company's clients are New Zealand-based, but this year it will target sales in Australia.

"We really want to hit the Australian market hard, because there is a good opportunity there for growth. Because our time is more valuable over there ... we make better money," Saunders said.

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Digital Fusion matches software to task