Daily Mail – Anti-war protester Brian Haw was arrested today as police carried out security sweeps ahead of the Queen’s Speech. Mr Haw was seen being handcuffed by police as they cleared the area outside the Houses of Parliament before the monarch’s visit this afternoon. He and other peace campaigners have been camping there and maintaining a 24-hour peace vigil. Read article
ABC – Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says he plans to introduce legislation for the Federal Government’s internet filter in the second half of the year. Senator Conroy had intended to introduce the legislation in the first half of 2010. The Government announced the filter two years ago as part of its cyber safety program to protect children from pornography and offensive material. Last year it ran tests on the system. Read Article
News Max – Some free speech advocates are going to be very unhappy with President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court vacancy, Solicitor General Elena Kagan. That’s because, as CNSNews.com reports, she argued to the court in September that Congress has the constitutional right to forbid companies from engaging in political speech such as publishing pamphlets that advocate the election or defeat of a candidate for federal office. Read article
BBC – Renowned US scholar Noam Chomsky has been denied entry to the West Bank by Israeli immigration officials. Prof Chomsky, renowned for his work on linguistics and philosophy, was planning to deliver a lecture at Birzeit University. Read article
Telegraph – China has restored full internet access in its far western Xinjiang region on Friday, the local government said, ending 10 months of blocked or limited access following deadly ethnic rioting there last July. Read Article
The latest attack on a school claims the lives of seven children and two adults at a kindergarten in Shaanxi Province.
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Newsy – Users of Wikimedia debate whether purging porn helps keep kids safe or furthers unnecessary censorship.
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
Associated Press – George Orwell’s “1984″ had its Big Brother, and Thailand has Ranongrak Suwanchawee. The country’s information minister stares down from billboards along Bangkok’s expressways, warning that “Bad websites are detrimental to society” and should be reported to a special hot line. Read article
Huffington Post – On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that the Federal Communications Commission is expected to abandon its pledges to protect Net Neutrality and to ensure universal, affordable broadband. The story cites anonymous insiders confirming that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is “leaning toward” siding with the most powerful phone and cable lobbyists on a crucial decision: whether the FCC will have any authority to protect an open Internet and make it available to all. Read Article
ABC – An internet service provider (ISP) says the Federal Government’s proposed filter has the potential to cause bottlenecks and webpage blackouts, making its high-speed National Broadband Network less viable. Read Article
Open Your Eyes News – The Petition against mandatory ISP filtering is scheduled to be presented to the House of Representatives on June 21st, 2010. Petition forms must be sent to the address provided by May 29th at the latest with full name, address or postcode, and signature, one per person. All signatures are appreciated as every bit counts, and you do not have to be an Australian citizen to sign. To download the petition CLICK HERE
The Register – The Australian government appears confused as to whether or not it will try to pass laws concerning net filtering before a general election. The Australian Labor party has previously promised to pass laws that would oblige ISPs to apply net filters to block pornography and other illegal content. Critics argue that the measures are badly thought out, and likely to result only in lower net speeds and a suppression of information on controversial subjects while failing to block access to illegal content for those with enough internet savvy to bypass controls.Read Article
PC Pro – Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has described the passing of the Digital Economy Bill as a “stitch-up”. Clegg made the comments in a video reply delivered to The YouTube & Facebook Digital Debate, in which each of the party leaders deliver responses to questions posed by the public. Read Article
ZDNet – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said he had “no advice” to suggest that the Federal Government’s plans to implement a mandatory internet filter would be delayed until after the federal election, despite a report saying it would. At a press conference announcing the Federal Government’s “anti-smoking action” this morning, ZDNet Australia asked the Prime Minister about a report that appeared in The Australian today saying that the introduction of the legislation required for the filter would likely be delayed until after the federal election. Read Article
Arabian Business – The UAE’s Ministry of Interior has said that ID cards will be required to access the internet in cafes and public centres throughout the country. According to the Department of Public Information Security, the new regulations are intended to identify suspected cyber criminals and stop fraud, sexual exploitation of children, and the circulation of pornographic material. Read Article
BBC – For the first time Google has released details about how often countries around the world ask it to hand over user data or to censor information. Brazil tops the list with 3,663 data requests while the US made 3,580 and the UK came a distant third with 1,166. Just last month the internet giant pulled its search engine out of China over online censorship issues. Read Article
DW World – At the Re:publica digital media conference in Berlin, online activists from around the world met to discuss challenges to freedom of expression, policies of dot.com giants and how to cope with firewalls. According to the rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), present at the Re:publica digital media conference in Berlin, about 120 bloggers and online reporters are currently in jail because of their work. Read Article
ComputerWorld – When Exit International wanted to ensure its members could access its pro-euthanasia material, set to be blocked under the government’s proposed Internet content filter, it turned to the Pirate Party of Australia. The Pirate Party hates the Internet filter and readily put Exit International in contact with member David Campbell, from Newcastle IT shop ClearComputers. Read Article
Times – Activists behind a website dedicated to revealing secret documents have complained of harassment by police and intelligence services as they prepare to release a video showing an American attack in which 97 civilians were killed in Afghanistan. Julian Assange, one of the founders of Wikileaks, has claimed that a restaurant where the group met in Reykjavic, the capital of Iceland, came under surveillance in March and one of the group’s volunteers was detained for 21 hours by police. Read article
Talk – It looks like much of the Digital Economy Bill will make it through to get Royal Assent by the end of the week. The Bill is now in much better shape than when first tabled by the Government last year ““ the ability of the Government to impose disconnection at will has been checked and the Henry VIII clause that literally allowed the Government to do anything else to reduce copyright infringement has been removed. Read Article
BBC – Thousands of Thai protesters seized control of a satellite transmission station, forcing officials to allow an opposition TV channel back on air. Security forces retreated after their efforts to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannon failed. The government had shut down the People Channel on Thursday under state of emergency laws, and now says it will act again if it “distorts information”. Read article
Guardian – Google decided two weeks ago to shut down its hitherto self-censoring search service in China. This allegedly costly gesture, intended as a bold statement rather than a formal articulation of corporate “foreign policy”, is congruous with the company’s liberal philosophy and juxtaposed to the aged conformity of, say, Microsoft. But far from being seen merely as an act of adolescent bravado or tedious corporate management, it seems to have captured the imagination of intellectuals around the world. Read Article
Telegraph – The controversial Bill seeks to curb online piracy, among several other major policies, all with the aim of stimulating the UK’s digital economy. It has caused ripples across the technology world, most notably because of its proposals regarding the suspension of repeat filesharers’ internet connections and also the measures (formerly contained within clause 18) that would allow politicians to block pirate websites without primary legislation. Read Article
Associated Press – A federal court threw the future of Internet regulations into doubt Tuesday with a far-reaching decision that went against the Federal Communications Commission and could even hamper the government’s plans to expand broadband access in the United States. Read Article
ABC – A day before Sri Lanka’s general election, protesters are rallying to demand the release of opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka. General Fonseka has been in detention since shortly after he lost the presidential election to the incumbent, president Mahinda Rajapaksa. While the government says the General is being detained for unlawfully engaging in politics while in uniform, his supporters say the government has shut down free speech in the lead-up to the poll. Read article
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