BEIJING has complained to Canberra about the contents and title of a university publication, Red Rising, Red Eclipse, triggering stinging rebukes about the “harassment” of Australian scholars and threats to democratic values. Chinese diplomats complained to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Centre on China in …
Kent police has sparked outrage among free speech advocates after arresting a man for posting a picture of a burning poppy on Remembrance Sunday. The arrest is the latest example of the police’s heavy-handed approach to social networking, and comes as the Crown Prosecution Service is contemplating guidelines on how …
Brands could be forced to abandon social media campaigns after a landmark advertising watchdog finding ruled they were responsible for derogatory comments posted by users on their Facebook pages and other sites. The Advertising Standards Bureau is poised to release a report attacking Carlton & United Breweries for user comments …
It’s been a while since updates, but we hit a milestone with our legal troubles. The defamation case that was filed against us and Google has been dismissed. The person who started the proceedings against us in NSW and in the ACT just didn’t bother to turn up to court …
Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, is finding itself the target of global outrage after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws. It was a stunning role reversal for a youthful company that prides itself in promoting unfettered …
Misguided efforts to combat online privacy have been threatening to stifle innovation, suppress free speech, and even, in some cases, undermine national security. As of yesterday, though, there’s a lot less to worry about. At issue are two related bills: the Senate’s Protect IP Act and the even more offensive …
But you knew that already. What we learn today he can’t tell the difference between free speech and personal threats: In a vitriolic on-air rant, Sandilands branded Stephenson “a fat bitter thing”, a “fat slag” and a “little troll” after she wrote an article critical of his Seven Network TV …
Our friends at Sony are having another bad day: i.e., doing something breathtakingly stupid, presumably because they don’t know any better. This time they’re suing George Hotz for publishing PS3 jailbreak information, as reported by EnGadget, Attack of the Fan Boy, and inevitably, Slashdot. Hotz’s jailbreak allows PS3 owners to …
Amazon.com Inc. forced WikiLeaks to stop using the U.S. company’s computers to distribute embarrassing State Department communications and other documents, WikiLeaks said Wednesday. The ouster came after congressional staff questioned Amazon about its relationship with WikiLeaks, said Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut. WikiLeaks reacted by moving the website …
The Supreme Court’s 2010-2011 term gets under way next week, and the justices are wasting no time in tackling a case that has the potential to redraw the boundaries of free speech under the First Amendment. On Oct. 6, the court will hear arguments in a highly charged case known …
A San Francisco group that defends online free speech is taking on a Las Vegas company it says is shaking down news-sharing Internet users through more than 140 copyright infringement lawsuits filed this year. The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s counterclaim represents the first significant challenge to Righthaven LLC’s unprecedented campaign to …
The community of East Lansing, Michigan has offered a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the burning of a Koran and depositing the charred remnants at the entrance to a Michigan Islamic Center. The money will come from the city’s taxpayer funded general …
A Brit teen who sent an email to the White House calling President Obama a “prick” has been banned from America for life. The furious FBI asked local cops to tell college student Luke Angel, 17, his drunken insult was “unacceptable”. Luke yesterday admitted he fired off a single email …
A controversial pro-euthanasia television ad, which was to air on Sunday night, has been banned. The ad’s creator, lobby group Exit International, says the ban is a violation of free speech and they will try with a different version within days. The ad shows an ill-looking actor sitting on a …
Earlier this month, the US approved a new law to fight against so-called ‘libel tourism,’ the practice of suing US companies in foreign jurisdictions (quite frequently, the UK) which do not have the same level of free speech protections. The new law, the SPEECH Act, may now get put to …
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a creationism think tank and school that attempted to force the state of Texas to allow it to offer master’s degrees in science education. In 2008, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rejected the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research’s application to …
A comedian whose put-downs of a lesbian and her companion in the audience is hoping she doesn’t have the last laugh at a B.C. Human Rights Commission tribunal this week. Was Guy Earle’s discriminatory verbal assault spurred solely by the woman’s sexual orientation, or was the professional funny man exercising …
A man serving life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide lost his legal battle today to play Dungeons & Dragons behind bars. Kevin T. Singer filed a federal lawsuit against officials at Wisconsin’s Waupun prison, arguing that a policy banning all Dungeons & Dragons material violated his free speech and …