Global News Post: Google

Google, YouTube to Get Russian Site Blacklist Updates

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<st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">MOSCOW</span></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (RIA Novosti) – Google and YouTube will
receive updates regarding information banned within <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, the country's
communications oversight agency said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
agency’s press release confirmed that Google Inc and YouTube LLC had formally
agreed “to receive information from the register regarding content banned in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region></st1:place>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
register detailing ‘blacklisted’ sites and content that is banned in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region></st1:place>
was launched by the agency on Thursday. The zapret-info.gov.ru site will
consider complaints lodged by members of the public, who can submit screenshots
and URLs of the offending sites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Cooperation
between the agency and international companies had already been sketched out
before the law came into force. “The company’s email address is included in the
mail-out regarding links added to the register,” the press release said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In
the first 24 hours of its existence, the site logged over 5,000 complaints
regarding offensive content, 96 percent of which were rejected after
consideration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Of
the initial complaints, 10 sites were kept on the list as they contained child
pornography, 40 complaints were passed to the drugs control authorities, and 23
to the consumer affairs watchdog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Google, YouTube to Get Russian Site Blacklist Updates

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) – Google and YouTube will receive updates regarding information banned within Russia , the country's communicat...

Google Toes the Line, Could Censor Blogs in India

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</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">NEW DELHI</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (NNN-SIFY) -- The trickle-down effect of Kapil Sibal's policy to crack down on 'offensive' content in the Indian websphere has begun to gather steam. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">After Google, Yahoo, MSN, Facebook, Twitter and several other web companies were directed by the courts to censor the content on their servers as per the regulations of the Indian government, they have begun to toe the line. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Last month Twitter made a big splash by announcing it would censor tweets on a country-by-country basis. There was some backlash but, as expected, the twitterati continued to tweet as usual. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Google seems to have anticipated this mild response and has quietly moved all of its blogs from Blogspot.com onto an Indian IP address- Blogspot.in. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">If a user earlier had a blog called XYZ.blogspot.com the blog is now redirected to XYZ.blogspot.in.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Here is Google's official explanation from an FAQ: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Migrating to localized domains will allow us to continue promoting free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law. By utilizing ccTLDs, content removals can be managed on a per country basis, which will limit their impact to the smallest number of readers. Content removed due to a specific country’s law will only be removed from the relevant ccTLD. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This move, while padded with the usual legalese, is essentially the first step in enforcing local censorship laws. Google now can censor its blogs for 'offensive' or 'derogatory' comments. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Blogspot.com is a popular blogging platform used by millions of Indians. It was developed by Pyra Labs in 1999 and bought by Google in 2003. -- NNN-SIFY<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Google Toes the Line, Could Censor Blogs in India

NEW DELHI (NNN-SIFY) -- The trickle-down effect of Kapil Sibal's policy to crack down on 'offensive' content in the Indian we...

Indian Internet Lawsuit Puts Spotlight on Freedom of Expression

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</span></h2><div class="byline" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">By </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Anjana Pasricha<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span class="location"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Internet giants such as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Google<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Facebook<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>are fighting a lawsuit after the government authorized their prosecution for online content on their sites deemed to be offensive. The case has put the spotlight on free speech in the world’s largest democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
The criminal lawsuit filed by the editor of New Delhi-based Urdu weekly <em>Akbari</em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>accuses 21 Internet companies of violating Indian law. Vinay Rai alleged that online material on their websites has the potential to incite religious conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Rai said his colleagues brought to his attention images of Prophet Muhammad which could offend Muslims. He cited other images and text which could hurt sentiments of Hindus and Christians. Rai wants Internet companies to screen content before it is posted.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Google and Facebook have asked the Delhi High Court to dismiss the case against them. In an appeal, they said it is impossible to filter all content or stop individuals from posting material online.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Editor Rai filed the case after the government indicated its approval for the prosecution. The official go-ahead came weeks after the government also raised a similar demand.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Voluntary framework</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal told Internet company representatives to come up with a voluntary framework to keep offensive material off the net.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">After confronting them with photos and material derogatory of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi, he said the companies had not cooperated.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Both the court case and the government’s demands have stoked fears of net censorship in the world’s largest democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Advocacy groups say the dispute between authorities and websites began simmering last year when <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> tightened laws to block content which could be deemed offensive. Citizens and officials can ask sites to block objectionable material and failure to comply within 36 hours can attract penalties or imprisonment of up to seven years.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sunil Abraham, with the Center for Internet and Society in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, said these rules have the potential to curtail debate and discussion on the net.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“These limits are vague.  They allow for all sorts of subjective tests by private parties and we predicted they would have a chilling effect on freedom of expression online," Abraham said. "Policy in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> has been headed in a very worrisome direction.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Abraham pointed out that one of his organization’s recent studies indicates that, faced with the threat of stiff penalties, most service providers removed content when asked to do so, even when it was not offensive or controversial.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Free media?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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The government insists its objective is not to encroach on the fundamental right of free speech guaranteed by <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s democratic constitution. The clarification came from Minister Kapil Sibal after his meetings with Internet companies last month.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“This government does not believe in censorship," noted Sibal. "This government does not believe in either directly or indirectly interfering in the freedom of the press, and we have demonstrated that time and again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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<st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> does have a vibrant free media and Internet access is largely free, unlike in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. But in a country with a history of religious violence, authorities have long tussled with the dilemma of balancing free speech with the need to not inflame sentiments among religious groups. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> was one of the first countries to ban Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
Other books and articles have also faced bans. Many are challenged in courts and several have been overturned.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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Now the focus is on the Internet and questions are being raised about whether the web should or can be policed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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<strong>Online freedom<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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In a remark widely quoted in the domestic media, a judge hearing the case had warned websites that like <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> might be compelled to block some of them if they did not create means to curb material seen as offensive.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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However, Abraham from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype>  of <st1:placename w:st="on">Internet</st1:placename></st1:place> and Society hopes that, as the latest case navigates its way through Indian courts, online freedom will come up the winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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“I think the executive in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> has always been very conservative in freedom of expression. It is usually the courts in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> that protect freedom of expression, the precedent," Abraham said. "So we are every hopeful that the current case is in the appropriate venue, and we are confident that, as in the past, the judiciary in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> will stand on the side of freedom of expression.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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With 100 million people surfing the web, <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> has the world’s third largest number of Internet users after <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region> and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;"> ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>

Indian Internet Lawsuit Puts Spotlight on Freedom of Expression

By Anjana Pasricha from New Delhi In India , Internet giants such as Google and Facebook are fighting a lawsuit after the gover...

Internet Giants Fight Web Control in India

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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Internet giants Google and Facebook have told an Indian court that it is not possible to block offensive content that appears on their websites, in a case that underscores a clash over free speech in the world’s most populous democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">At the heart of the dispute is a law passed in India last year that makes companies responsible for user content posted on their websites, requiring them to take it down within 36 hours in case of a complaint.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Lawyers for Google and Facebook told the court Monday that they already remove content deemed to contravene laws in the countries in which they operate.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But, they argued, the companies were not responsible for material posted by users on their platforms.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Civil rights groups in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> have opposed the new laws. But politicians say that posting offensive material in the socially conservative country, which has a history of violence between religious groups, presents a danger to the public as Internet use grows.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The hearing will continue on Thursday.<span class="apple-style-span"> ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>

Internet Giants Fight Web Control in India

Internet giants Google and Facebook have told an Indian court that it is not possible to block offensive content that appears on their web...

India: Delhi Court Issues Summons to Google, Facebook over Objectionable Contents

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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">NEW DELHI</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (NNN-EXPRESSINDIA) -- A Delhi court has issued summons to various foreign-based social networking sites, including Facebook and Google, to face criminal charges for allegedly hosting objectionable contents and directed them to appear before it on March 13.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It asked the Ministry of External Affairs to get the summons served on these companies.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court direction came after the counsel appearing for Facebook <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> said over ten out of 21 companies named as accused in the case were foreign-based and that the court would have to issue process to serve the summons on them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court was hearing a private complaint filed by a journalist Vinay Rai against these firms for allegedly web-casting objectionable contents. The summons were issued to the sites including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Youtube.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"Let the process (to serve the summons) on (foreign-based) accused be sent through the MEA as per the process," said Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Sudesh Kumar.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court listed the matter for further hearing on March 13 and directed the accused to appear in person before it on the next date. "The accused are allowed exemption for today only but are directed to appear in person on the next date of hearing without fail," the magistrate said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court passed the order after advocate Shashi Tripathi, appearing for the complainant, told the magistrate that he would file a fresh list of the addresses of the various foreign-based sites for the serving of the summons through the MEA.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">During the hearing, senior counsel Siddharth Lutra, representing Facebook <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, sought adjournment for the day, saying the matter was pending before the Delhi High Court and the case file was also in the High Court.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Luthra said, "The matter is listed in the High Court for January 16... No order has been passed by the High Court during yesterday's proceedings. Since the record (case file) is not here, we are seeking adjournment for today only".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He said that one of the accused, who is chairman of the Facebook, is based in <st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state> in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the court would have to direct the MEA for serving summons on him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The counsel for Google India Pvt Ltd also asked the court to adjourn the matter today. He said that summons issued to accused companies Orkut, Youtube and Blogspot have been mistakenly served at their premises here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court, which had earlier directed the Centre to take "immediate appropriate steps" in this regard, was told by the counsel for Ministry of Communication and Information Technology that they would file a report today itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court had on December 23 last issued summons to them against which some of the accused companies had moved the High Court. The summons to the foreign firms had not been served.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The magistrate's December 23 order had come three days after another court in a civil case had restrained these sites including Facebook, Google and Youtube from webcasting any 'anti-religious' or 'anti-social' content promoting hatred or communal disharmony.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The magistrate had said, "It appears from a bare perusal of the documents that prima facie the accused in connivance with each other and other unknown persons are selling, publicly exhibiting and have put into circulation obscene, lascivious content".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The magistrate had summoned the accused companies for allegedly committing offences punishable under section 292 (sale of obscene books etc), 293 (sale of obscene objects to young person etc) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He had said that as per the records placed before the court by the complainant, there were defamatory and obscene articles pertaining to various Indian political leaders which were being webcast by these sites. He had also noted that the material submitted by complainant contained obscene picture and derogatory articles pertaining to Prophet Mohammad, Jesus Christ and various Hindu gods and goddesses.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According to the complainant, the alleged contents on these sites were obscene and might lead to "creation of obscene books, pamphlets, papers which can easily be downloaded from these social networking websites affecting the minds of children and were harmful for social harmony and may lead to increase in crime against women also". -- NNN-EXPRESSINDIA<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

India: Delhi Court Issues Summons to Google, Facebook over Objectionable Contents

NEW DELHI (NNN-EXPRESSINDIA) -- A Delhi court has issued summons to various foreign-based social networking sites, including Facebook and...

Google celebrates first Soviet computer

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUM2qVBzi1gIhRnxXWZncjQ4lH8mCbkFpTAhwCR6u65scPF8L9xa6VvOxQytqyCaOk29JuDROfSGAGSRB0PCadg-0HSZwedAxmNkgCEfwADA4PHQXSO3mo9wKvcPmyx3lXnNJFbb-IEwU/s1600/Google.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUM2qVBzi1gIhRnxXWZncjQ4lH8mCbkFpTAhwCR6u65scPF8L9xa6VvOxQytqyCaOk29JuDROfSGAGSRB0PCadg-0HSZwedAxmNkgCEfwADA4PHQXSO3mo9wKvcPmyx3lXnNJFbb-IEwU/s400/Google.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Google © www.google.ru<o:p></o:p></span></i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">MOSCOW</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> (RIA Novosti) - December 25, Christmas day in many parts of the world, was also a day that celebrated the forerunner of the device you are probably using to read this right now.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">It would surely have passed unnoticed were it not for a Google blog post marking the 60th anniversary of the MESM, Soviet Union and indeed continental <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>’s first electronic computer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">On December 25, 1951, the Soviet Union’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Science</st1:placename></st1:place>, the chief money-giver when it came to new developments, granted formal recognition to the ambitious project, led by pioneering electronics engineer Sergei Lebedev.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Work on the computer, the Small Electronic Calculating Machine, had started in 1948, although it was by no means small as it occupied the greater part of an abandoned monastery on the outskirts of <st1:city w:st="on">Kiev</st1:city> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Ukraine</st1:country-region></st1:place>. The MESM ran its first sample program for the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution two years later.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">On Christmas Eve 1951, it started full-time operations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">MESM was used for top-secret calculations relating to the <st1:place w:st="on">Soviet  Union</st1:place>’s nuclear and missile research until 1957.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">In a recent interview, Boris Malinovsky, member of Lebedev’s original team, talks of the team’s commitment and describes Lebedev as a “leader as well as teacher.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">In 1967, the <st1:place w:st="on">Soviet Union</st1:place> decided to copy the American IBM computers instead of pushing domestic developments.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>

Google celebrates first Soviet computer

Google © www.google.ru MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - December 25, Christmas day in many parts of the world, was also a day that celebrated the...