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Blog Regulation From Italy To Burma

This week's international column in Technology Daily featured two tidbits of blog-related news. Below is a reprint of that part of the column, which is authored by contributing writer Winter Casey.

Italian Bloggers May Have To Register
Italian bloggers may have to register in a national database, according to news reports. Both The Register and The Inquirer report that the law was initially approved in mid-October as part of a package of measures focused on Italy's publishing-related regulations.

The outcry from the blogosphere, however, could result in the government revising the draft law, The Register reported. "According to many legal experts," the publication said, "the murky text of the law can be construed to include non-professional, not-for-profit blogs and Web sites among 'editorial products,' giving them the same duties and liabilities as magazines and newspapers."

The Inquirer wrote that the law requires anyone with a blog or a Web site "to register it with [the] communications authority, produce certificates, pay a tax, even if they provide information without any intention to make money."

"If you must blog, you must form a publishing company and have a registered journalist on your board of directors running things," The Inquirer continued.

Analysis Details Burma's Control Of Net
Burma's government, the second country after Nepal to completely cut Internet connections for its population, has close to complete control over the content of broadcast and print media, according to an analysis released this month from the OpenNet Initiative.

The military-controlled Burmese government completely halted Internet access Sept. 29 and reportedly terminated most cell-phone services to "immobilize and disarm the essential communication tools used by citizen journalists," the report said. The move came in the wake of pro-democracy demonstrations last month led by Buddhist monks.

The protests were violently suppressed by Burma's military junta, which also tried to block citizens from publicizing the demonstrations. Even before the protests, the government had increased the number of Web sites it filtered.

"Along with Internet-related services such as travel and Web sites, Internet cafes are still being closed and their computers confiscated, with the government claiming that they illegally used 'freedom' software," according to the OpenNet Initiative.

"Many Burmese citizens who helped to document the uprising could be implicated by the electronic footprints left behind, while others will remain anonymous by virtue of the numerous existing holes in the Burmese surveillance network," the report said. "It is not difficult to envision increasingly tighter controls over the Internet and communication infrastructure in Burma, with the rapid deployment of additional surveillance tools, reinforced filtering, and stronger policies to link all Internet-based communication with real identification."

Posted by Danny | 11:11 AM

Comments

Precisely why we don't want the UN controlling cyberspace.

Buster | 11.02.07 02:37 PM

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