1 a bee - Slashdot User

Submission + - China blanks Nobel Peace prize searches (cnn.com)

Submitted by 1 a bee on Friday October 08, 2010 @04:25PM

1 a bee writes: CNN is reporting that China is attempting to block all communication regarding Peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo. Even texting is affected:

Text-messaging on mobile phones is not immune from censors, either. A Shanghai-based netizen, @littley, tweeted his unfortunate experience: "My SIM card just got de-activated, turning my iPhone to an iPod touch after I texted my dad about Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel Peace Prize."

Might as well add slashdot to the censored list..

Submission + - Disney strikes against net neutrality 1

Submitted by 1 a bee on Friday June 12, 2009 @12:37AM

1 a bee writes: Ars Technica is running a story by Matthew Lasar about how Disney's ESPN360.com is charging ISPs for "bulk" access to their content. According to the article, if you visit ESPN using a "non-subscribing" ISP, you're greeted with a message explaining why access is restricted for you. This raises a number of issues:

..it's one thing to charge users an access fee, another to charge the ISP, potentially passing the cost on to all the ISPs subscribers whether they're interested in the content or not.
Ironically, the issue came to fore in a complaint from the The American Cable Association (ACA) to the FCC. A quoted ACA press release warns
"Media giants are in the early stages of becoming Internet gatekeepers by requiring broadband providers to pay for their Web-based content and services and include them as part of basic Internet access for all subscribers. These content providers are also preventing subscribers who are interested in the content from independently accessing it on broadband networks of providers that have refused to pay."

So is this a real threat to net neutrality (and the end-to-end principle) or just another bad business model that doesn't stand a chance?

Submission + - Names of advisors cleared to access ACTA documents

Submitted by 1 a bee on Monday March 16, 2009 @04:26AM

1 a bee writes: With the White House claiming national security grounds for failing to release ACTA related information, including negotiating documents and even the list of participants, the spotlight is now on just who does have access. Turns out, according to James Love, hundreds of advisors, many of them corporate lobbyists, are considered "cleared advisors." The list looks a who's who of captains industry. So even if we're to take the national security argument at face value, what kind of a state secret is it that can be entrusted with so many without fearing that it leaks? A secret that is in the interest of all involved?

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