We recently wrote about how an offensive website was taken offline by complaints. In particular, we talked about the tactics that were used to take them down and whether they were a good thing for the internet or not. The two tactics described were: Complaining to the ISP that the site breached their terms of … Continue reading Website takedowns: a followup
This is a post about the tactics used to take down a New Zealand website hosted in the the USA and what they mean for the Internet. (Update post.) The website Soon after the Christchurch quake, a website (christchurchquake.net) was published that said the quake was God’s punishment for Christchurch’s tolerance of homosexuality, with God … Continue reading Taking down websites you don’t agree with
Update: 1-Day claims that they have tweaked the feature so that customers can choose to use aliases. However, there appears to be no way to enter an alias when signing up for an account or proceeding through checkout without an account (18/11/2010). Update 2: 1-Day support are unaware of any new alias feature. They suggest … Continue reading 1-Day finds that anonymity is hard
Justice Minister Simon Power claims that “new media” on the Internet is a “wild west” that lacks professional or ethical standards. He says: Issues I’m concerned about include how trials can be prejudiced by information posted on websites and seen by jurors, real-time online streaming of court cases, breaches of court suppression orders, and re-publication … Continue reading Government looking at further regulation of speech on the Internet
We’ve been writing about the ACTA (Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) treaty for a while. We believe that copyright law and enforcement will need to change but also believe that everyone should participate in creating new laws, not just big business and their proxies. As such, we strongly objected to the secrecy around the negotiations and … Continue reading ACTA: Bad for Civil Liberties
Even so! Look! We live in a computerized world. I can’t do a thing anywhere – I can’t get information – I can’t be fed – I can’t amuse myself – I can’t pay for anything, or check on anything, or just plain do anything – without using a computer. – A Perfect Fit, Isaac Asimov, 1981 … Continue reading Internet disconnection is not an option
Statistics New Zealand recently released the results of their latest survey of ISPs (Internet Survey Providers). This included data on how many ISPs offered an Internet content filtering service.
This FAQ answers some of the frequently asked questions about internet censorship and filtering in New Zealand. There is also a Technical FAQ that contains more in-depth information about how the system works. Glossary DIA – Department of Internal Affairs OIA – Official Information Act ISP – Internet Service Provider (e.g. Telecom/Xtra) Internet address – … Continue reading FAQ