reporters without borders

Surveillance a la Skype: EFF, others seek answers

Microsoft needs to open up about the trustworthiness of its Skype software for confidential conversations, according to an open letter to the company posted today.

The letter, from an array of privacy advocates, Internet activists, journalists, and others, calls on Microsoft to provide public documentation about the security and privacy practices around Skype, which facilitates video and voice communications over the Internet. Microsoft completed its $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype in October 2011.

The authors of the letter say they're worried in particular about the access that governments have to both Skype conversations themselves and to the user … Read more

France criminalizes citizens who visit terrorist and hate Web sites

A 32-hour standoff between a French SWAT team and 23-year-old Mohamed Merah -- who was wanted for killing three French paratroopers, three Jewish schoolchildren, and a rabbi -- ended today with a dramatic firefight and the death of Merah who claimed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda, according to the Associated Press.

Shortly after the confrontation, Reuters reports, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he was making it illegal for citizens to visit Web sites that encourage terrorism or hate crimes.

"From now on, any person who habitually consults Web sites that advocate terrorism or that call for hatred and violence … Read more

Iran may have committed cyber-attack on BBC

Just days after watchdog group Reporters Without Borders named Iran as one of the "Enemies of the Internet," the BBC is now claiming to be the victim of a cyber-attack possibly perpetrated by the Iranian authorities.

The news source says that two of its satellite feeds into Iran were jammed earlier this month coinciding with a denial-of-service attack in which some parts of the BBC's e-mail and Internet services were unavailable. The director-general of the BBC Mark Thompson will be giving a speech to the Royal Television Society shortly, in which he plans to explain how the … Read more

Meet the 'Enemies of the Internet' 2012

If you're reading this, odds are that you're not living in one of the dozen countries that Reporters Without Borders has included in its annual list of "Enemies of the Internet."

Each year, the media watchdog group issues a report calling out nations that restrict its citizens' freedom of information as well as for curtailing their access to the Internet. As in previous reports, RWB chronicles the challenges faced by regular people trying to read and share information living under regimes determined to restrict the free flow of communication.

The report paints a grim picture, recounting … Read more

Twitter boycott looms with censorship accusations

Some Twitter users are trying to wield the organizing power of the social-networking site against the site itself: they're using the hashtags #TwitterBlackout, #TwitterCensored, and #J28 to spread news of a Twitter boycott planned for tomorrow.

Yesterday, Twitter said it was willing to remove tweets on a country-by-country basis when there are local restrictions against content in the tweets, and when a country requires the tweets to be taken down. That's why these Twitter users are up in arms.

The company said the new plan promotes freedom of expression, transparency, and accountability because even though these tweets may … Read more

Report names 'enemies of the Internet'

China and Iran are among the world's top "Internet enemies" tagged by Reporters Without Borders for restricting Internet freedom. But even democratic countries like Australia and South Korea are raising concerns.

The fight to restrict freedom is increasingly being fought on the Internet as certain governments continue to censor what content their citizens can see online and try to target those who resist such efforts. The current skirmish between Google and China over filtering search results is just one example.

But it's not only repressive regimes like China that are the culprits, according to a report (… Read more

Freedom on the global Internet still a pipe dream

"The Internet represents freedom, but not everywhere."

So begins the annual "Internet Enemies" report by Reporters Without Borders--and that's probably the cheeriest line in the entire 39-page document. It goes down from there.

For the uninitiated, Reporters Without Borders is an anti-censorship watchdog organization. As blogs and news Web sites have grown in popularity, the group's focus has similarly migrated to the Internet. Unfortunately, the report again paints a grim picture of Internet freedoms in parts of the world where it says the authorities regularly chuck bloggers in jail for online posts that displease … Read more

A $46,600 camera for a good cause

In collaboration with Leica, auction house WestLicht Photographica is looking to fetch $46,600 for a first-series production Leica M8 digital rangefinder. While it is not clear if this camera was the very first unit assembled in its maiden year of 2006, it has the serial number 3100000.

Hardcore fans of the German company are going to have a field day trying to outbid each other in a furious war on June 7 in Vienna to lay their hands on this ultra-exclusive camera. The prize will come in the original M8 box with a certificate of authenticity signed by Leica'… Read more

Online protest rallies free-speech supporters around the globe

Wednesday has been announced by the French organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) as the first Online Free Expression Day. In recognition of its announcement, the group has initiated a 24-hour online protest going on now in nine virtual countries that have been labeled Internet enemies by the international press organization.

I stopped by the protest earlier Wednesday morning and found the demonstration to be similar to what I expected when I wrote about the event Tuesday. My primary concern with the protest was that it would be relegated to a dark corner on the Internet, and that does indeed seem to be the case (though the demonstration does provide a means to automatically e-mail friends about the event).… Read more