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Comments · 271

  1. Re:Say what you want about the USA... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Will the U.S. Lose Control of the Internet?


    NO other country in the world has a more absolute view on Freedom of Speech

    how about over 50 that have a greater freedom of speech than the USA

    keep waving that flag

  2. Re:Who would you trust? by Bogtha · · Score: 4, Informative · on Will the U.S. Lose Control of the Internet?

    We have significantly higher standards for free speech rights than the rest of the world

    Have you seen the news today? Journalists fall victim to ethnic and sectarian violence, US troops carry out more unlawful arrests. Oh, and you've dropped even further down the Press Freedom Index. Far from "higher standards than the rest of the world"; there are over fifty countries with freer speech than the USA.

  3. Re:Who would you trust? by Bogtha · · Score: 4, Informative · on Will the U.S. Lose Control of the Internet?

    We have significantly higher standards for free speech rights than the rest of the world

    Have you seen the news today? Journalists fall victim to ethnic and sectarian violence, US troops carry out more unlawful arrests. Oh, and you've dropped even further down the Press Freedom Index. Far from "higher standards than the rest of the world"; there are over fifty countries with freer speech than the USA.

  4. Re:Who would you trust? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Will the U.S. Lose Control of the Internet?

    A week ago, we had the pleasure of reading this on Slashdot: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/24/04 7209&from=rss

    Before saying "this is about freedom of press", read this: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19391

    Freedom of press is just a tiny part of "freedom of speech", and you're telling us we want MORE US control, not less? You're insane, sir.

  5. Re:RSF is stupid by The+Cydonian · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    I just saw the listing for India and for Asia, and all I can say is this: these guys don't know what they're talking about.

    Without getting into the Muslim-president-Sikh-PM chest-beating, I'd like to point that, even in per capita terms, we're one of the largest media-consuming nations in the world. We've got the largest number of newspapers being published in the world, the world's most-widely read English newspaper (Times of India), and indeed, the newspaper with the largest circulation, per se (Malayala Manorama). In addition, the news channel business is booming with a capital B; in my last trip home, I counted some five news channels in my mother tongue alone. Given that India officially speaks twenty languages not including English, the actual number of news options in print and on the television has become extremely vast now indeed. Bottomline: never a better time to be a journalist in India.

    I want you folks to focus on this, before turning to the following piece of analytical genius: Bhutan, with one privately-held newspaper, has apparently greater press freedom than India. Not to knock anything off our peaceful northern neighbours, love the Bhutanese and their pursuit of Gross National Happiness, but to say that an absolute monarchy where you can't publically criticize your king, is freer than a noisy democracy is to stretch credibility quite a bit.

    Which is not to say everything's hunky-dory. I'll be the first person to admit th at we've had intermittent issues with censorship lately, all these issues with banning politically-incorrect books, movies and websites seem to be cropping up every now and then, but none of that was mentioned there, was it. Neither were the troubles in the North East, where an insurgent organization threatened newspapers over their usage of a script.

    Finally, the map shows Malaysia's situation as "difficult" and India's situation as "noticeable problems", while the rankings list Malaysia higher than India. Really, you don't have to look at our troubles with the media, just read your own website will ya.

    In short, the analysis was poor, incomplete, insufficient, not rigorous and completely headlines-oriented; they didn't even mention real problems in India vis-a-vis freedom of speech, while apparently tracking cases that are, frankly, not really representative of the overall situation on the ground.

  6. Re:RSF is stupid by The+Cydonian · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    I just saw the listing for India and for Asia, and all I can say is this: these guys don't know what they're talking about.

    Without getting into the Muslim-president-Sikh-PM chest-beating, I'd like to point that, even in per capita terms, we're one of the largest media-consuming nations in the world. We've got the largest number of newspapers being published in the world, the world's most-widely read English newspaper (Times of India), and indeed, the newspaper with the largest circulation, per se (Malayala Manorama). In addition, the news channel business is booming with a capital B; in my last trip home, I counted some five news channels in my mother tongue alone. Given that India officially speaks twenty languages not including English, the actual number of news options in print and on the television has become extremely vast now indeed. Bottomline: never a better time to be a journalist in India.

    I want you folks to focus on this, before turning to the following piece of analytical genius: Bhutan, with one privately-held newspaper, has apparently greater press freedom than India. Not to knock anything off our peaceful northern neighbours, love the Bhutanese and their pursuit of Gross National Happiness, but to say that an absolute monarchy where you can't publically criticize your king, is freer than a noisy democracy is to stretch credibility quite a bit.

    Which is not to say everything's hunky-dory. I'll be the first person to admit th at we've had intermittent issues with censorship lately, all these issues with banning politically-incorrect books, movies and websites seem to be cropping up every now and then, but none of that was mentioned there, was it. Neither were the troubles in the North East, where an insurgent organization threatened newspapers over their usage of a script.

    Finally, the map shows Malaysia's situation as "difficult" and India's situation as "noticeable problems", while the rankings list Malaysia higher than India. Really, you don't have to look at our troubles with the media, just read your own website will ya.

    In short, the analysis was poor, incomplete, insufficient, not rigorous and completely headlines-oriented; they didn't even mention real problems in India vis-a-vis freedom of speech, while apparently tracking cases that are, frankly, not really representative of the overall situation on the ground.

  7. Re:Scary by Acer500 · · Score: 1 · on Laptops Searched and Confiscated at U.S. Border

    It's bizarre, but after going through dictatorships, a few countries in South America actually feel better than the US nowadays (Chile, Uruguay) - probably not in actual legislation, but definitely yes day-to-day.

    I don't know which countries are actually better, and I've heard of scary things in Europe too... I guess New Zealand looks like a nice place to retire to.

    Let's see, it ranks 12th in the recent Reporters without Borders index (1st non-european) and 9th in the index of Economic Freedom (I don't know how accurate that one is).

    Links:

    http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/

    http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554

    BTW, Uruguay ranks 46th and Chile ranks 50th (about the same as the US), Chile ranks close to the US in the Economic Index at 14th place (tied for 9th for the US) while Uruguay is again at 46th (mostly because of having socialists in power, a brutally heavy fiscal burden and weak state of banking).

  8. Re:RSF is stupid by Nasajin · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    If you read the details about India on the RSF website, you will find out why it has been placed at rank 105. Journalists who "cover Maoist activities" can find themselves arrested for up to three years in some regions in the south, and in Kashmir journalists have been attacked by both the police and radical seperatists. Furthermore, according to RSF, there have been government officials filmed accepting bribes from a privately owned media company. Unless the United States has similar extreme problems which I am not aware of, then India probably deserves its 105th place ranking.

    To continue with your example of India as a democratic country, I'll point out that they still have a hierarchical caste system, which includes the dalit caste. These dalits are generally not allowed to practice the religion which they are integrally a part of; and even though the caste system has been legally abolished, the legal systems are not enforced to protect them. There is a report on the social climate of India available on here.

  9. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  10. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  11. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  12. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  13. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  14. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  15. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  16. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  17. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  18. Re:Nebulous by niiler · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Exactly. It seems that many are trying to redefine certain basic rights that have been well defined and respected in the past. It is worth noting that Reporters Sans Frontiers is not totally negative about the US. See the mix of articles below from the past six months or so:

    Likewise, RSF doesn't pull punches with respect to anyone. The message *I* take from the original posting was that many of us go around saying what great freedoms of speech and press we have in the US, and how we're so much better than everywhere else in the world. Whereas, in reality we're ranked 53rd in the world by a group that tends to be very negative towards *many* governments.

    It is also worth checking out the report showing a higher incidence of dead reporters in Iraq over the last three years than in any other conflict since WWII. RSF believes that this is due to deliberate targeting of reporters as a means of censorship. True or not, you decide.
  19. Re:Nebulous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking

    Simply read the following page, here they explain their methodology.

    That still seems a little vague to me. In particular, it isn't clear to me if they factor the size of a country into their ranking. Smaller countries seem to have an advantage (with some obvious exceptions) -- fewer reporters, fewer chances for a negative report.

    your comments clearly reveals your lack of understanding of even the most basic universal human rights

    Nice argumentum ad hominem.

  20. Re:Nebulous by Noryungi · · Score: 5, Informative · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking
    Have these things been happening to US journalists? If they have not, and neither have journalists in the other high-ranking nations, then how is this ranking conducted? Isn't that like ranking all the students who made 100% on their tests?


    Take a look at this page, where you can find a list of attacks against freedom of the press, that were committed in, or by, the United States and its administration.



    You can agree -- or disagree -- with this list, but the fact is that there is a basis for the US low ranking.

  21. Re:government control of media? by arun_s · · Score: 1 · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking
    I wonder if they take into account such matters as government presence and control in media
    Apparently they do. The questionnaire linked at the bottom of the page lists the criteria they used, and points 32-36 are all state-related questions, such as:
    32. A state monopoly of TV?
    35. Government control of state-owned media's editorial line?
    36. Improper sackings of journalists in the state-owned media?....    you get the idea.
    Nevertheless the majority of the criteria seem to be about harassmen, imprisonment or surveillance of reporters, not of the actual state of media control in each country. This being compiled by Reporters Without Borders, I guess that's something they're more concerned about.
    Perhaps the likes of Freedomhouse may provide a more complete picture, but ironically, my company's Websense blocks that site so I can't really see it now :(
  22. Re:Nebulous by Noryungi · · Score: 4, Interesting · on US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking
    Am I the only one that finds their entire ranking system a bit nebulous?


    Simply read the following page, here they explain their methodology.



    Are they wanting reporters to be above the law or what? What does that have to do with their freedom to publish what they want?


    Nice troll. RSF simply assumes journalists should be granted the following rights:
    • Freedom not to reveal (or be pressured to reveal) their sources, in case the whistle-blower can lose life and limb because he spoke to a journalist.
    • Freedom of speech, just because saying 'Fush Buck' should not be cause enough to be sent to prison.
    • Freedom not to be bothered, investigated, spied upon, kicked or threatened by goons, just because they chose to exert their rights not to reveal their sources or their freedom of speech.


    As a side note: your comments clearly reveals your lack of understanding of even the most basic universal human rights.

  23. The difference.... he lives in a **Free Country** by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 1 · on First Swede Convicted For File-Sharing Now Cleared

    To get real freedom you want to live in a country near the top of a list like: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=4116

  24. Re:I look forward... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Open Source In the National Interest

    I think you really, really don't understand how government works in Scandanavian countries if you think we've got Socialism down pat or that the Scandanavian countries aren't as Democratic as us. They do, after all, rate higher than us in press freedom, class mobility and equality of opportunity, and gender equality.

    They even have as high of a rate of gun ownership as us without all the murder.

  25. Re:This is news how? by phritz · · Score: 2 · on Singapore Paper Yanks Blogger Critique of Gov't

    A friend of mine, currently studying in the United States, faced a similar situation for criticizing some funding program of Singapore's science agency. Philip Yeo, the head of Singapore's science agency, threatened sue my friend into submission and forced him to post a pre-written 'apology' on his blog. Not only that, but Mr. Yeo has continued to harass my friend even after the apology was posted, by sending him crazy, childish emails. This is how it appears to work in Singapore. Idiot arrogant bureaucrats such as Mr. Yeo have free reign as petty tyrants and the blessing of the government to crush anyone who criticizes them. It's sick, and it's most certainly not democracy.

  26. Hit the Company by Hitting the Bottom Line by reporter · · Score: 3, Insightful · on UK's Journalists Calling For Yahoo! Boycott
    In a declaration in 2006 January, Reporters without Borders issued the following recommendation. No US company would be allowed to host e-mail servers within a repressive country*. So, if the authorities of a repressive country want personal information about the user of a US company's e-mail service, they would have to request it under a procedure supervised by US.

    Yahoo has, thus far, refused to move its servers from China to the USA.

    Both Microsoft and Google have, thus far, declined to locate their servers in China.

    In other words, Yahoo has the power to make substantive changes to its business model (to protect human rights) without significantly injuring its position in China. Unfortunately, the entire management of Yahoo, up to Jerry Yang (who is Chief Yahoo and has strong affinity to Chinese values), supports catering to Beijing.

    We, in the West, should hit Yahoo as hard as we can by hitting its bottom line. Until Yahoo rises to the decency of Google, which itself is no angel of goodness, we should financially pummel Yahoo by boycotting its services.

  27. why need spying while others do fine without? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting · on U.S. Government Demands ISP Data Retention

    I wonder how U.S. will rank in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index after this.. We already rank in the bottom of developed countries, at 44th.

    Contrary to what some supporters claim, there are only several places where such degree of Internet survaillance is enforced, most notably China. And interestingly, China is relatively transparent - their employees speak rather openly about their jobs and Chinese government definitely doesn't lie to their citizens - again, a scary, stark contrast to how things are handled here "we don't spy" --> "ok, we spy but not so much" --> "ok, all your information belongs to us, but it's for your best!" --> "hey, we were finally thinking to work on our budget deficit, could we outsource our $3 billion survaillance backups to ISPs?". In U.S., we pour who knows how many billions of dollars in NSA and other entities that are heavily protected from any scrunity and can be above any laws without white house or press ever hearing anything (just how long they have succesfully operated black sites in Egypt and elsewhere before anyone heard about their existence? and what the white house did when we heard? "i guess they are not big problems, uh?"). In European Union, UK succesfully lobbed for legislation that requires companies to store dialed numbers, etc. That has been done in U.S. for the past 30 years or so, and not merely just dialed numbers, but the content as well. For comparison, except for perhaps UK, there is not a single country in European Union which engages in any kind of content survaillence (in France, courts can intervene in Nazi movements if someone blames, but they have never considered survaillance). And no, they don't have big problems with "terrorism" or "child predators". Are we Americans so much more evil that we need all this "protection"?

    And no, their economies don't suffer because they lack a national industrial policy integrated with goverment intelligence. Do we really need to protect Halliburton and other 'nice companies' from free markets?

    This new bill is just a precautionary development in case mainstream companies such as Google would introduce heavily encrypted versions. They know that the public will yell if encryption weakening or data mining software is implemented on user side (i.e. a deal with microsoft), but hardly anyone yells if anything is done on server side (as it seems, a mandatory data access/transfer to survaillance officials). If you want to provide encrypted freedom to your users, locate your servers in countries like Netherlands.

  28. Qwest will Slay the Dragon of Tyranny! by reporter · · Score: 0, Troll · on Telecoms Facing $50 Billion Lawsuit for Wiretaps
    Among the telecommunications companies, stands only 1 decent company: Qwest.

    In a recent news article, the "Los Angeles Times" reports, " USA Today, which disclosed the program this week, reported that Qwest had refused to turn over its phone records because it believed it would be illegal. Qwest urged the NSA to get a court order, but the agency refused, the newspaper reported.

    In a statement Friday, the attorney for former Qwest Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio said the government approached the company in the fall of 2001 seeking access to the phone records of Qwest customers, with neither a warrant nor approval from a special court established to handle surveillance matters.

    'Mr. Nacchio concluded that these requests violated the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act,' attorney Herbert J. Stern said. "

    I encourage everyone to support Qwest by making it their preferred telecommunications provider.

    Interestingly, AT&T is one of the companies that eagerly gave the customers' telephone records to the government. AT&T is also affiliated with Yahoo DSL via AT&T's merger with Pacific Bell. No one should be surprised at the connection between AT&T and Yahoo. Yahoo is the company that assisted Beijing in arresting and imprisoning several reporters in China.

    I encourage everyone to use Qwest as the preferred telecommunications provider and to use either MSN or Google as the preferred search engine. Use your economic might to defeat tyranny.

  29. Qwest will Slay the Dragon of Tyranny! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative · on Telecoms Facing $50 Billion Lawsuit for Wiretaps
    Among the telecommunications companies, stands only 1 decent company: Qwest.

    In a recent news article, the "Los Angeles Times" reports, " USA Today, which disclosed the program this week, reported that Qwest had refused to turn over its phone records because it believed it would be illegal. Qwest urged the NSA to get a court order, but the agency refused, the newspaper reported.

    In a statement Friday, the attorney for former Qwest Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio said the government approached the company in the fall of 2001 seeking access to the phone records of Qwest customers, with neither a warrant nor approval from a special court established to handle surveillance matters.

    'Mr. Nacchio concluded that these requests violated the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act,' attorney Herbert J. Stern said. "

    I encourage everyone to support Qwest by making it their preferred telecommunications provider.

    Interestingly, AT&T is one of the companies that eagerly gave the customers' telephone records to the government. AT&T is also affiliated with Yahoo DSL via AT&T's merger with Pacific Bell. No one should be surprised at the connection between AT&T and Yahoo. Yahoo is the company that assisted Beijing in arresting and imprisoning several reporters in China.

    I encourage everyone to use Qwest as the preferred telecommunications provider and to use either MSN or Google as the preferred search engine. Use your economic might to defeat tyranny.

  30. Yahoo should move its Chinese servers to USA. by reporter · · Score: 1 · on Yahoo Defends Itself On China Allegations
    Even if Yahoo is subject to the laws of Beijing, the management (including Chief Yahoo, Jerry Yang) of Yahoo can still make significant attempts to thwart Chinese violations of human rights. In a 2005 report titled "Information supplied by Yahoo! helped journalist Shi Tao get 10 years in prison", Reporters without Borders states, "Tests carried out by Reporters Without Borders seem to indicate that the servers used for the Yahoo.com.cn e-mail service, from which the information about Shi was extracted, are located on the Chinese mainland."

    In a 2006 report titled "Still no reaction from Yahoo! after fourth case of collaboration with chinese police uncovered", Reporters without Borders pleaded, "Reporters Without Borders called on Yahoo! to withdraw its Internet servers from China as a fourth case was revealed of the company's collaboration with Chinese police that led to the jailing of a cyberdissident."

    Keeping the servers in the United States of America (USA) would ensure that any Chinese policeman (a.k.a. thug) seeking e-information must first submit his request through American diplomatic channels. Of course, once the Chinese thug's request reaches the Americans, the Americans will just flush the request down the toilet.

    Note that although both Google and Microsoft have censored their search engines in China, both Google and Microsoft continue to keep their servers in the United States of America. Yet, Yahoo continues to keep their servers (serving the Chinese market) in China. Yahoo has thus far refused to move its servers to the USA.

  31. Yahoo should move its Chinese servers to USA. by reporter · · Score: 1 · on Yahoo Defends Itself On China Allegations
    Even if Yahoo is subject to the laws of Beijing, the management (including Chief Yahoo, Jerry Yang) of Yahoo can still make significant attempts to thwart Chinese violations of human rights. In a 2005 report titled "Information supplied by Yahoo! helped journalist Shi Tao get 10 years in prison", Reporters without Borders states, "Tests carried out by Reporters Without Borders seem to indicate that the servers used for the Yahoo.com.cn e-mail service, from which the information about Shi was extracted, are located on the Chinese mainland."

    In a 2006 report titled "Still no reaction from Yahoo! after fourth case of collaboration with chinese police uncovered", Reporters without Borders pleaded, "Reporters Without Borders called on Yahoo! to withdraw its Internet servers from China as a fourth case was revealed of the company's collaboration with Chinese police that led to the jailing of a cyberdissident."

    Keeping the servers in the United States of America (USA) would ensure that any Chinese policeman (a.k.a. thug) seeking e-information must first submit his request through American diplomatic channels. Of course, once the Chinese thug's request reaches the Americans, the Americans will just flush the request down the toilet.

    Note that although both Google and Microsoft have censored their search engines in China, both Google and Microsoft continue to keep their servers in the United States of America. Yet, Yahoo continues to keep their servers (serving the Chinese market) in China. Yahoo has thus far refused to move its servers to the USA.

  32. Shi Tao case: yahoo *not* obligated by smasm · · Score: 1 · on Yahoo Defends Itself On China Allegations

    In the Shi Tao case, it was the Hong Kong division of Yahoo that provided the incriminating information.

    This wasn't a case of complying with Chinese law, but of Yahoo trying to get onto the side of the Chinese government.

  33. Microsoft & Google should blow up Chinese fire by reporter · · Score: 3, Insightful · on Tearing Down China's Great Firewall
    About 2 months ago, the management of Microsoft and Google testified, under oath in front of a Congressional committee, that they fully supported freedom of speech/press and that they greatly regret being "forced" by Beijing to censor their Internet content. If both companies indeed regret such censorship, then I fully expect them to fund this Canadian effort to bust the Chinese firewall.

    Moreover, I fully expect that the majority of the funding for this Canadian effort will come from Microsoft and Google. I expect that both companies will be (if they are not already) the prime backers of this effort if their management do honestly regret the previous censorship.

    I expect nothing of Yahoo. Reporters without Borders declares, "Now we know Yahoo works regularly and efficiently with the Chinese police". If Buddhism has any validity, the managers (including the Yahoo chief, Jerry Yang) at Yahoo will be receiving their just karma in the next life.

  34. Will Yahoo be the next media bridge? by Audent · · Score: -1, Offtopic · on Will Yahoo! Go Be the Next Media Bridge?

    Not so long as journalists keep getting arrested with Yahoo's help.

    http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31124

    http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0909/p01s03-woap.htm l

    http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17180

  35. Building Global Consensus by 4of12 · · Score: 1 · on FCC Commissioner Wants To Push For DRM

    The new FCC commissioner should be proud of speaking out on this issue in a way that is likely to garner more world consensus.

    The Peoples Republic of China has long had a difficult time with criminals disclosing state secrets. If more of China's state secrets were protected by strong DRM then such damaging leaks could be prevented.

  36. How wonderful by Confused · · Score: 1, Insightful · on When Free Speech and Foreign IP Law Collide

    How wonderful this situation is:

    Either the americanos accept, that treaties work both way and they will have to accept foreign rulings. If this happens often enough, smart companies will set up in countries with favourable laws and get athe rulings they like without the american justice being able to say much about it.

    Or they refuse to honour those international treaties America forced down everybody's throat to allow american corporations to circumvent local laws. In this case, even better and Disney and its henchmen will have a harder time suing foreign grannies for dowloading movies.

    In any case, the fallout will be interesting.

    And what about this ominous free speech all those americanos seem to be so hang up upon? Well, good riddance to that travesty of a human right. Everytime a fat american doesn't like it to be told to shut up, he comes with the free speech mace to club all opposition into submission. Why else do you think the USA rank only on place 22 in the Freedom of the press index while most European countries with a much saner approach to personal freedoms come first. Even Canada is ranked before the USA.

  37. Re:Is the Freedom of the Press abridged? by MathFox · · Score: 3, Insightful · on PA Seizes Newspaper's Computers
    How many computers does the newspaper have left after the four computers are taken... Freedom of the press isn't worth a thing when all your ink is taken away "for investigation".

    I agree that journalists should be punishable for crimes they commit, but "criminal investigation" is commonly used as an excuse for government intimidation. (Not often in the USA, but read the reports from Reporters without borders.) Is this happening here, the secrecy around all this makes me worry!

  38. Re:Sweden vs US Capitalism by lars_stefan_axelsson · · Score: 4, Informative · on The Pirate Bay is Here to Stay?
    One might have the impression that Sweden is a free and modern welfare state, but those days are since long gone. Today's Sweden is the leading oppressor in Europe, with no-tolerance laws on everything from gambling to prostitution and drugs.

    Look, things are far from perfect, and Bodström does need a reality check, but things are far from as bad as you make them out to be. In fact Sweden still receives top marks for freedom.

    And Guillou and Bratt served two years for not revealing their sources and are long since out of prison. In fact, the Swedish consitution again receives top marks for protection of the press, even though you're not allowed to perform espionage, which one can debate is exactly what they did (even though their actions were IMHO justified).

    Also, the data processing directive, while misguided in implementation, is actually there to protect you, from corporations and the like. Really a blessing, but alas heavily disguised.

  39. Re:There are limits by tomhudson · · Score: 1 · on ISP Fined $5000 For Hate Content

    Way to dodge the points by attacking the AC and completly ignoring the point made. I agree with the original AC, you're a douchebag.

    Maybe, but in that case I'm a HAPPY douche-bag.

    And Canada is doing a LOT better than the US in terms of freedom:
    http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15333

    ... and we don't have a leader going around trying to say its okay for him to tap your phone without a warrant.

  40. Re:From the Charter by Chandon+Seldon · · Score: 3, Interesting · on ISP Fined $5000 For Hate Content
    The United States, on the whole, is doing pretty good when it comes to basic freedoms, but we're not the best. For example, in various rankings of freedom of the press the United States doesn't manage to rank in the top 10 (1)(2).

    (1) http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554
    (2) http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=204& year=2005

  41. Re:which is more insideous? by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 1 · on Chinese Journalists Beat Censorship With Web
    Li didn't seem all that worried about either, to be honest. I think you're romanticizing things a tad.

    I wouldn't say he's romanticizing:

    Li Zhi jailed.
    Shi Tao jailed

    For starters....

  42. Re:which is more insideous? by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 1 · on Chinese Journalists Beat Censorship With Web
    Li didn't seem all that worried about either, to be honest. I think you're romanticizing things a tad.

    I wouldn't say he's romanticizing:

    Li Zhi jailed.
    Shi Tao jailed

    For starters....

  43. Re:deeply disingenuous as usual, slashdot by micilin · · Score: 3, Informative · on Rumsfeld Requests 24-hour Propaganda Machine

    You think its indisputable? Fair enough. I think it's arguable that the united States has the 22nd most free and open media community (circus) in the world. Here's a link to a journalist's association that have an interest in these matters:

    http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11715

  44. Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005 by MyNymWasTaken · · Score: 4, Informative · on Chinese, U.S. Condemn Censorship
    Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005

    Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland all tied for 1st place.

    The USA ranked 44th. (Fell more than 20 places)

    China ranked 159th.

    The Index also refutes the theory frequently advanced by leaders of poor and repressive countries that economic development is a vital prerequisite for democracy and the respect for human rights. The top portion of the Index is heavily dominated not only by rich, but also by very poor, countries (the latter having a per capita GDP of less than $1,000 in 2003).
  45. Re:Yahoo is the new Google? by JacksBrokenCode · · Score: 1 · on Yahoo! Releases OSS Ajax and Design Tools

    Yahoo has always been like this, it's just people didn't notice while google was the new hotness

    Or perhaps people were pre-occupied with Yahoo!'s problem of being linked to spyware funding. People are worried about Google's response to the government subpoena for info, but seem to turn a blind eye to Yahoo! complicity. People are blasting Google for censoring Chinese search results, but the Shi Tao PR flap seems to have blown over for Yahoo!.

    Or are you talking strictly in the context of free code for developers? There have been complaints that Google uses OSS but doesn't contribute enough back, yet their overal social & business ethics seem to be better than Yahoo!'s. Does Yahoo!'s code-release to the developer community somehow mitigate their other poor ethics? And how much redemption is there in a codebase that many developers have already created on their own?

  46. Re:Yahoo is the new Google? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Yahoo! Releases OSS Ajax and Design Tools

    "The Right Thing?" You mean like this? ... http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16402

  47. Yahoo! is a great search engine... by bombadier_beetle · · Score: -1, Troll · on NYT on Terry Semel of Yahoo!

    ... when you're searching for Chinese dissidents to arrest and imprison. Terry Semel, burn in hell.

  48. Update: 2005 Rankings by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on German Wikipedia Threatened w/ Injunction

    http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554

    Just so we're using the latest figures... and can see how the US dropped even lower in the past 2 years.

  49. Re:If they can do this over the issue of a name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on German Wikipedia Threatened w/ Injunction

    But it seems to me that they're a nation in denial. Their utter lack of freedom of speech strikes me as particularly gestapo-esque

    Reporters Without Borders place Germany as joint 18th in their worldwide press freedom index for 2005. Compare & contrast with the USA, who rank 44th, and who censor Slashdot, Google and 2600, not for the sake of individuals, but for the sake of corporations. Yeah, it's Germany that are in denial alright. After all, the USA have free speech zones! What could be freer than that?

  50. WTF? by harmonica · · Score: 4, Insightful · on German Wikipedia Threatened w/ Injunction

    What has the "whole WWII thing" to do with this particular Wikipedia problem? Utter lack of freedom of speech? Germany does not discuss its Nazi past and is trying to bury it? Have you ever been to Germany, watched at least some German television or read a German newspaper? We're talking about the same Germany that ranks a lot higher on that world press freedom ranking than almost everyone else, including the US? That constantly discusses its Nazi past? And what do you know about the German legal system and this particular case?

    You have no idea what you're talking about. And why is this moderated Insightful? Seriously, moderators, get a clue or refrain from moderating.