UNSEEN GAZA

A report in The Independent  argues that There have been two versions of the assault on Gaza played out over the past three weeks. One is the moderated account aired in the West; the other is the unexpurgated account of civilian deaths filmed in vivid close-up inside Gaza.

The Channel 4 documentary Unseen Gaza explored the the war on Gaza from  the media perspective as foreign news organisations were refused access into the Gaza Strip. John Snow offers an insight into the frustation expressed by UK journalists as the IDF created a closed military zone along the borders of Israel and moved reporters on to a specially designated hill overlooking the territory, but away from the fighting.

An article on which I read on Media Channel indicates that the ban on journalists is a form of censorship and questions the motives behind the Israeli decision.  The ban did not however did not  apply to journalists already living and working in Gaza although it seems that they were targeted during the conflict.

What gives Israel the right to ban foreign media? Surely that only happens in countries such as Zimbawe and China whose leaders run oppressive regimes and inflict fear or terror on its citizens without intereference from the outside world.

China blocks 41 websites for distributing porn-China-World-The Times of India

BEIJING: China has blocked 41 websites after getting Google and other search engines to apologise for carrying porn and lewd content. This is among the measures taken by the government to 'purify' the Internet during a month-long campaign launched last week." Read more:

ICANN Watch - Questions that everyone should be asking

To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn't have one global Internet.

ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit partnership of people from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers.read more on the ICANN website

ICANN Watch say however

ICANN says that it is private, non-profit, consensus-based, California corporation charged with technical coordination of the Internet. Some others, including some of the people behind this web site, worry that ICANN has a somewhat manipulable idea of what constitutes a consensus, or that ICANN's close relationship with the U.S. Department of Commerce might make it a "state actor" under U.S. law-- a formally private body that has the same legal obligations to provide due process and non-discrimination as a government agency. read more on ICANN Watch website

This is worrying for the future of a free and open internet. Censorship of the internet is already a highly controversial topic and more people need to be made aware of the role of ICANN and the close relationship it shares with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Save the Internet : Fighting for Internet Freedom

Save the Internet : Fighting for Internet Freedom

Webpage dedicated to Fighting for the right to stop corporate control of the internet. Previous articles on censorsip of new media can be found below

Operation: Budding Genius:Who controls the internet?

Operation: Budding Genius:Censorship of New Media

Olympic Torch fiasco

Olympic Torch Relay




The Chinese media are reporting that the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco was "successful" under enthusiastic reception of the American public, including the Chinese Americans and overseas Chinese.

Olympic torch relay concludes in San Francisco without major incidents_English_Xinhua

Another report ran with the story that thousands of people began gathering along the route of the Olympic torch relay early Wednesday morning to show their support for the torch run

Xinhua News

One torch bearer was reported as hearing a lot of cheers along the route.

Is this the same torch relay which I watched on Western news channels. The one, in which the Olympic torch disappeard for half an hour and then, was paraded through the empty streets guarded by what appeared to be the whole of the San Fransisco policeforce. A game of hunt the Olympic torch was played out in front of the worlds media when the torch was then taken on board a bus and driven away from the site of the closing ceremony where both protestors and supporters had gathered to wait for his arrival. The closing ceremony allegedly took place first on a motorway overpass then the airport. Times Onlinereports The Olympic flame’s procession through San Francisco drew world-wide ridicule and the authorities seemed to panic and abruptly changed the route, cutting it by half and scrapping the closing ceremony. The International Olympic Comittee and the Beijing authorities were determined to avoid the protestors that had gathered to lend their their voice to the Free Tibet camapign, but that raises questions again about censorship and rights to free speech. In a democratic country such as The USA people reserve the right to demonstrate and protest however it seems that the government also reserve the right to drown out the voice of the people. Shame on you!!

Protest photos

Operation: Budding Genius: Censorship of New Media

Operation: Budding Genius: Censorship of New Media