Wikileaks, Amazon, Google and Middle East protests

Excellent article here detailing a new ONI report.

International student - meet our Dean and his blog!

Those of you coming to the UK may find it useful to peruse the blog of the Dean of International Development - with comments re. Libya, India and others.

The Internet kill-switch: UK law

Communications Act 2003 and Civil Contingencies Act both give quite wide powers for the UK Culture Secretary (for it is that Hunt) to switch off the Internet to preserve "public order" - just as in most North African and Gulf states: "to protect the public from any threat to public safety or public health, or in the interests of national security". Department for Culture, Media and Sport explains: "It would have to be a very serious threat for these powers to be used, something like a major cyber attack. The powers are subject to review and if it was used inappropriately there could be an appeal to the competitions appeal tribunal. Any decision to use them would have to comply with public law and the Human Rights Act."
Note that these reviews take years and would not prevent the type of short-term switch-off seen recently in Libya and Egypt. It is in the end a matter of judgement and politics whether repression results from these laws.

How to commit a crime using UK communications

A useful how-to legal guide on the range of offences, from UK prosecutors.

Turkish court to ban Blogger.com for copyright infringement

Google has run into trouble previously with YouTube videos - now it is users and their football blogs violating copyright. Is banning Blogger (and its 600,000 Turkish bloggers) a disproportionate response?