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If you tried to search for Emma Watsons Wikpedia page in Iran in 2013, you wouldnt have been able to find it; the article was one of 963 blocked by the government. This tidbit about the Harry Potter actress is found in a 2013 University of Pennsylvaniareport on Irans censorship of Wikipedia. Researchers at Harvards Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society recently built on this publication by analyzing censorship of the site in 15 countries since 2014. In a report published in May, they found that censorship of Wikipedia has declined since then due to the sites new security measures.

In fact, they discovered that only three countries blocked access to parts of Wikipedia during the duration of the study: China and Uzbekistan were blocking the Chinese- and Uzbek-language versions of Wikipedia (read more coverage of censorship in China, and its use of fake social media posts to influence public opinion). Thailand had once blocked the Yiddish versionmost likely a weird misconfiguration, says Justin Clark, a software developer at the center and the principal author of the report. They derived their results partly by analyzing data from the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedias parent organization) that showed when people load Wikipedia articles, and partly from 41 servers located in different countries around the world that tried to load Wikipedia and could determine if the website was blocked.

Clark says there are multiple reasons for the changing levels of censorship. The first is Wikipedias transition from HTTP to HTTPS. HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) guides the way a websites data is sent to a browser. Because the connection is unencrypted, however, other people can intercept that connection and see the data being sent. In HTTPS, the s stands for secure; the major difference between the two protocols is that HTTPS encrypts the data being communicated.

Wikipedias transition affected the way countries could block access, Clark explains. With HTTP, a country could block an individual Wikipedia article. But with HTTPS, the country needs to choose between blocking every article or none. Countries are choosing the latter. As the report states: Russia once again blacklisted Wikipedia over a single cannabis-related article, but the ban was reversed less than 24 hours later.

Monitoring censorship of Wikipedia matters because Wikipedia is one of the most prominent, and most important, sites out there, says Rob Faris, the research director at the center, who also worked on the report. How countries treat Wikipedia, he continues, is indicative of how important Internet freedom is not only to them, but also to the rest of the world. Clark adds that understanding the information controls imposed on the Internet is important for allowing an informed citizenry to emerge.

As the first complete empirical deep dive into incidents of the blocking of Wikipedia projects around the world, Faris says, the report will inform future research as other investigators follow its methods. He also notes that accessing Wikipedia server data is novel. Such research paves the way for examining global Internet outages, Clark says, especially those deliberately caused by countries during elections or protests. He adds that after the study concluded, China blocked access to Wikipedia in additional languages spoken there, and Turkey in all languages, so the Berkman Klein Center will continue to monitor Wikipedia around the world.

Originally posted here:
Wikipedia Against Censorship - Harvard Magazine

A country has the right to prevent the worlds Internet users from accessing information, Canadas highest court ruled on Wednesday.

In a decision that has troubling implications for free expression online, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a companys effort to force Google to de-list entire domains and websites from its search index, effectively making them invisible to everyone using Googles search engine

The case, Google v. Equustek, began when British Columbia-based Equustek Solutions accused Morgan Jack and others, known as the Datalink defendants, of selling counterfeit Equustek routers online. It claimed California-based Google facilitated access to the defendants sites. The defendants never appeared in court to challenge the claim, allowing default judgment against them, which meant Equustek effectively won without the court ever considering whether the claim was valid.

Although Google was not named in the lawsuit, it voluntarily took down specific URLs that directed users to the defendants products and ads under the local (Canadian) Google.ca domains. But Equustek wanted more, and the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled that Google had to delete the entire domain from its search results, including from all other domains such Google.com and Google.go.uk. The British Columbia Court of Appealupheldthe decision, and the Supreme Court of Canada decision followed the analysis of those courts.

EFF intervened in the case, explaining [.pdf] that such an injunction ran directly contrary to both the U.S. Constitution and statutory speech protections. Issuing an order that would cut off access to information for U.S. users would set a dangerous precedent for online speech. In essence, it would expand the power of any court in the world to edit the entire Internet, whether or not the targeted material or site is lawful in another country. That, we warned, is likely to result in a race to the bottom, as well-resourced individuals engage in international forum-shopping to impose the one countrys restrictive laws regarding free expression on the rest of the world.

The Supreme Court of Canada ignored those concerns. It ruled that because Google was subject to the jurisdiction of Canadian courts by virtue of its operations in Canada, courts in Canada had the authority to order Google to delete search results worldwide. The court further held that there was no inconvenience to Google in removing search results, and Google had not shown the injunction would offend any rights abroad.

Perhaps even worse, the court ruled that before Google can modify the order, it has to prove that the injunction violates the laws of another nation thus shifting the burdent of proof from the plaintiff to a non-party. An innocent third party to a lawsuit shouldnt have to shoulder the burden or proving whether an injunction violates the laws of another country. Although companies like Google may be able to afford such costs, many others will not, meaning many overbroad and unlawful orders may go unchallenged. Instead, once the issue has been raised at all, it should be the job of the party seeking the benefit of an order, such as Equustek, to establish that there is no such conflict. Moreover, numerous intervenors, including EFF, provided ample evidence of that conflicts in this case.

Beyond the flaws of the ruling itself, the courts decision will likely embolden other countries to try to enforce their own speech-restricting laws on the Internet, to the detriment of all users. As others have pointed out, its not difficult to see repressive regimes such as China or Iran use the ruling to order Google to de-index sites they object to, creating a worldwide hecklers veto.

The ruling largely sidesteps the question of whether such a global order would violate foreign law or intrude on Internet users free speech rights. Instead, the court focused on whether or not Google, as a private actor, could legally choose to take down speech and whether that would violate foreign law. This framing results in Google being ordered to remove speech under Canadian law even if no court in the United States could issue a similar order.

The Equustek decision is part of a troubling trend around the world of courts and other governmental bodies ordering that content be removed from the entirety of the Internet, not just in that country's locale. On the same day the Supreme Court of Canadas decision issued, a court in Europe heard arguments as to whether to expand the right-to-be-forgotten worldwide.

EFF was represented at the Supreme Court of Canada and the British Columbia Court of Appeal by David Wotherspoon of MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman and Daniel Byma of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin.

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Top Canadian Court Permits Worldwide Internet Censorship - EFF

DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - Twitter, a privately owned social media giant that boasts of more than 300 million users, is censoring a pro-life group's ads, labeling them hate speech.

On Monday, Tucker Carlson covered this ongoing censorship by Twitter on his show Tucker Carlson Tonight. Live Action is the pro-life group, who's ads are being called hate speech by Twitter and flagged on their social media platform.

Carlson invited on his show Catholic convert Lila Rose, founder and president of the organization, to discuss the issue. On the show, Rose explained exactly what Twitter was objecting to. "The kind of tweets," said Rose, "that they're calling a violation of their hate and sensitive policy show ultrasound images, they're fact checks of Planned Parenthood, they're discussing the prenatal life in its beauty. These are the sorts of tweets that Twitter is trying to block."

Carlson posted a picture of one such ad that Twitter refused to allow on its platform. It was a picture of a baby in utero with the caption, "I AM NOT A POTENTIAL HUMAN. I AM A HUMAN WITH POTENTIAL." On top of the ad is a message by Rose, which reads, "Everyone deserves the right to life! Join me in standing up for human dignity and the least of these."

According to Carlson, Twitter wants Live Action to delete these so-called "sensitive ads" before it will allow the group to buy more ads. Rose points out that Planned Parenthood (PP), the nation's biggest abortion chain, is allowed by Twitter to run ads on their platform, but Live Action, who she calls "the leading pro-life platform for the pro-life movement," is not allowed to do so. She says Twitter is claiming such ads violate their "hate and sensitive policy."

"This is something that they've been kind of keeping a secret, and now we're trying to get this news out that they've been blocking us," said Rose. Carlson responded, "But meanwhile the abortion industry gets to advertise all it wants."

Rose points out that the abortion giant PP has more than a one billion dollar budget and is committing almost 900 abortion every day, yet Twitter ironically says "they're not violating the hate and sensitive policy." She said Live Action is simply "exposing them, talking about the value of preborn life," which she says are messages that a lot of Americans agree with.

She says Twitter has been banning their ads for months now. She relates that Twitter wants them to delete their entire website and create an entirely new website before they can do any more advertising on Twitter. Carlson posted a response from Twitter, which claimed its policy was a set of "clear, transparent rules." Rose denies that the rules are clear because it "took over a year to finally get from Twitter what's wrong with these tweets showing ultrasounds."

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Tucker Carlson Spotlights Twitter Censorship of Pro-Life Group - Church Militant

A voting rights and campaign finance watchdog group is claiming political favoritism and censorship after allegedly being denied the ability to post billboards in Mitchell and McDowell counties.

Democracy North Carolina tried to post billboards calling attention to the ongoing investigation by the State Board of Elections into the campaign finances of state Sen. Ralph Hise, a Mitchell County Republican and chair of the Senate Select Committee on Elections.

The State Board of Elections began investigated Hise has after he allegedly withdrew about $10,000 in excess loan repayments from his campaign and failed to disclose receiving more than $9,000 in donations from political action committees.

Weve been trying to let the voters in Sen. Hises district know about his problems for a month, but the billboard industry seems so worried about making him mad that they are refusing to rent us space for our message, said Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina.

Hall said in a press release he was initially encouraged to rent space by sales agents at two companies; he selected billboard locations, submitted the artwork and sent it back with modifications requested by the agents. He signed a contract with Lamar Outdoor Advertising for a billboard in Spruce Pine and a contract with Fairway Advertising for another billboard along I-40 in McDowell County.

In both cases, regional managers of Lamar and Fairway Outdoor Advertising called to cancel the contracts, saying the message proposed for the billboards was political and too controversial or too controversial and could cause problems for the company, according to the press release.

It was very clear in talking with the billboard executives that were the victim of political favoritism and censorship, Hall said. Billboard companies are involved in plenty of controversial and political advertising, but they also have high-priced lobbyists, they want favorable legislation and they dont want to anger a powerful state senator at this crucial time.

Hall claimed in the press release one of the companies has a billboard attacking Muslim on I-40.

Its very disappointing, Hall said. But well continue to shine the light on Sen. Hises campaign violations and expose whatever he is hiding.

At least one of the billboards has been posted on U.S. 19E near the Yancey-Madison county line.

As of press time Hise was more than 50 days past the May 5 deadline set to amend his campaign finance reports.

Link:
Voting rights advocacy group claims censorship - Spruce Pine Mitchell News

Greetings, all.

Before the main event, lets hit the mailbox

bob_a_booey Uh oh. Looks like somebody got triggered by my comment in reply to the other now deleted comments that the dam level isnt that hard. It isnt. The myth comes from people who have played the game maybe 1 or 2 times who havent adjusted to the different mechanics the stage uses compared to the rest of the game, and immediately declare it the hardest thing in history. Or people that saw the AVGN video and simply paraphrase it, which seems to be the case here as this dude is obviously an AVGN fan (his Friday the 13th section is almost a verbatim copy of the AVGN video). I havent played the game in 20 years and I guarantee I could go back and finish that level without too many problems.

First off, if any comments are ever deleted, I have zero hand in it. As a matter of fact, if anyone from 411mania is reading this, please never delete ANY comments from my articles. I dont play that censorship business.

You know, a lot of people told me the dam level isnt a big deal. I looked at it again on youtube, and I swear I played a different level. I thought those damn electric weeds were all over that level. As a kid though, that level was a bitch.

As for your thinly veiled accusation that I ripped off the AVGN, no. First off, Im a big fan of James, and Cinnemassacre. Hes a guy I look up to. That said, I can honestly say with no hyperbole, that Ive never laughed at an AVGN video. Not once. I absolutely do not think James is funny. Hes at his best providing information, thats where he shines. To me, he isnt funny, so Id never steal his material. Also, how on Earth would people not notice from the jump, considering how popular he is? Id have to be pretty fucking stupid.

Either way, thanks for reading, brother.

Team J-Rod Friday the 13th is way more of a complex game then most give it credit forits all about patterns, certain events trigger the appearance of other weapons. I actually love it, because its so different than almost every other game on the NES. Honestly, I absolutely agree. It was a pretty deeply stacked game, and quite different, but at the same time it sucked. John Landing the plane during Top Gunand why did we all have that bloody game.

Oh man, was that a MOTHERFUCKER or what? I remember nothing about that game over than that, and being almost in tears trying to land that fucking plane. Why I cared, I dont know. I didnt like the game, I never saw the movie. That fucking thing.

Also, shout-outs to Ghost & Goblins and that bullshit ending, Tyson from Mike Tysons Punch Out, and Battletoads and that insane 2nd-player fiasco.

Alright, lets hit the main-event.

Before we get to the article, I just want to talk about how asinine TV/film censorship is in the first place. Back in the 30s, they cut a line from Frankenstein where the good Dr. says he knows what its like to be God. Back then, that was just too crazy. Then in the 80s, thanks to Regan, the way he shaped America, and things like the PMRC, horror films became one of the biggest catalyst for our youth to find themselves at the doorstep of debauchery & mayhem. So, the MPAA board hacked most horror films to absolute death. Then today youve got things passing for an R that could have had to be rated X back in the day. So, what this basically says is that censorship is pointless. We end up changing our minds in the future anyways, and deciding that this or that is no longer that bad. Mean while, pieces of art are being butchered by people who push their own thoughts & beliefs into things that they have no real concern for. The same goes for TV. In the 50s they couldnt use the word pregnant on I Love Lucy, but now shows in prime time can throw around goddamn & shit as much as they please. Things are going to constantly be pushed, and eventually accepted. Canadian TV is completely uncensored, and shockingly the country hasnt burnt down in the middle of the night. Another thing thats complete inane is how the top of a womans buttcrack has to be blurred out, yet we can show the rockin double D titties of some fat guy from the Biggest Loser. Whats more visually repugnant? A chicks ass, or a dudes massive, hairy nipple? I mean, after seeing something like that, I can barely jack-off that night. So, lets take a trip down memory lane as we learn about TVs crusade to save us, and some of its finest examples.

Goodfellas, Casino, The Departed When watching Casino, or Goodfellas on TV, its apparent that the greatest insult you can deal to one person is that the hope that they are forgotten. That theyre no longer remembered. Any time Pesci or DeNiro would get fired off, theyd spout off with a forget you!. Then, dare say that didnt hurt someones feelings, youd have to pull out both of your big-guns and fire off with a you motherlover!. Truly drawing gasps from everyone who was around to hear the personification of rage and verbal vitriol. But then again, their rage could come from the fact theyre all wearing bullskin. At least thats what I think theyre talking about, because just as often as theyre forgetting someone theyre talking about their bullshirt. To anyone who endorses this kind of censorship, I say go forget yourself.

The Big Lebowski Do you know what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass? If youve only seen The Big Lebowski on basic cable then you have no idea what the answer is. You do however know what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps. Thats right. Youre hiking up in the Alps, having the time of your life when you all of a sudden come across a stranger. You guys might strike up a convo, you may just pass by with a nod & a smile. Either way, hes going to absolutely bash the hell out of your neighbors car. Because thats what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps. Im dying to know how this all worked out. There had to be a couple of guys in the edit bay discussing it. Should we just cut out fuck?, What? Are you kidding me? You know how dumb thatll sound? No, were better than that. Were TNT. Were about quality & integrity. Man, having that job would be awesome. Youd be watching some Anne Hathaway film for a second, to get a look at her boobies, and youd wonder why on Earth her voice isnt matching her mouth, and why shes talking about some guy named Caliber Winfields dick. I seemed to get off track there. Anyway, in the film, Walter goes nuts on a man whom he believes is his target, and keeps yelling about what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass. But then again, now we know that if you fuck a stranger in the ass, or find a stranger in the alps, the inevitable consequences will be the same.

ORIGINAL:

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Bulletproof We all know that for a man, theres nothing worse than being forced to sing & dance for another dude. In the underrated classic Bulletproof, Adam Sandler is a car thief named Archie Moses whos best friends with fellow thief Rock Keetz. Well, Archies been making some money on the side of their car stealing operation, and he decides to let Keetz in on it. So as Archie is having Keetz meet the big man, Colton, played by James Caan, hes told to search him because Colton doesnt trust him. Archie then makes a major proclamation that if Keetz is a cop, hell sing & dance. So, you can imagine Archie is praying Keetz isnt a cop, because who wants to get up and have to sing & dance? No self-respecting man, of course. Its a fate worse than death. Later, a big drug-trade goes wrong, and Colton blames Archie due to the fact Keetz was a cop. Well, its a little weird, because he mentions Archies promise regarding Keetz being a cop, and then has Archie get on his knees and tells him to enjoy his last meal. What? If you want a guy to sing & dance, you want him on his feet, and you dont want him sluggish from a big meal. So, you can see right there such foolishness. Later at the end of the film, Archie gets some payback on Colton for trying to make me sing & dance. Perfectly understandable. I mean, Ive heard of tons of guys in prison who damn near kill, or do in fact kill guys who have tried to make them sing & dance. Like I said, no male wants to do that. Hell, Id rather suck a dick.

Die Hard 2 In the pantheon of action films there are many facets that have to meet quality standards in order for it to bust someone right in the mush. On of them, is a rockin catchphrase. Our hero, John McClane, has one of the more well known & classic catchphrases. In Die Hard 2, its Christmas time again and John is chilling in an airport. He notices some no-good-knicks up to no good, or perhaps theyre not, whatever, because hes got the 12 days of Christmas forem. A 12 round clip, that is! Now, hes out to dispatch these baddies and pick up his wife because he has a rockin Die Hard-On. When youre as bad-ass as John McClane, you dont get boners. Because to get a boner, would imply that at one point you didnt have one. So, much like when your stupid girlfriend has people over and you want to watch G Is For Gianna in the living room, uninterrupted, what do you do to a plane full of terrorists? You blowem the hell up. So, as is customary in each case, before you deal the death blow you giveem the catchphrase. McClane gets all cocky and letsem have it. Yippie-Kai-Yay, Mr. Falcon! Who the hell is Mr. Falcon? Theres no Mr. Falcon on the terrorists plane manifest. I mean, theres nothing even close. How the HELL could they justify this? Im dying to know. Not to mention the guy who says Mr. Falcon isnt even close to sounding like Bruce Willis. Plus, it sounds like it was recorded with a motherfalcon sofa.

ORIGINAL:

TV EDIT:

Any questions, comments, drunk-ramblings, feel free to send them my way, I always dig hearing from you, the beautiful people. Twitter: @CaliberWinfield Instagram: @CaliberWinfield I post almost daily with workout related stuff to help you cats out, along with whats coming down the pike via the MME, and general pop culture from the 80s and 90s that I cant seem to let go of. Email:[emailprotected] If you just cant wait until next week, you can also find me at these fine places: The Man Movie Encyclopedia: The Hall of Burly Vol. 1 A collection of the first 19 MME articles written for 411. You get all the classics like Commando, Robocop, and Die Hard, not to mention bad-assery such as Point Break and They Live. Beyond that, you also get two new articles. My Top 5 favorite action movies, and what I believe to be the Top 5 most over-the-top scenes in action movie history. I wont lie, its the greatest self=help/martial arts instruction book of all time.

My Summer Vacation At Camp Crystal Lake My brand new ebook thats become so popular its charting on the album sales charts. I cover the Friday The 13th franchise in Man Movie Encyclopedia fashion, followed up by a few list-based articles, chronicling my favorite kills, moments from the franchise, and a few other subjects. $3 via amazon, or simply email me and get it for $2, either way, itll probably change your life. Caliber Winfield On The Facebook Anything new that I do you guys can find here. Last I checked I was at 54 likes, which is pretty fucking solid in my book. However, I saw Joe Lee and A Bloody Good Time were over 110. Cmon now, we cant let them beat us, can we?! Mercy Is For The Weak Podcast Along with my co-host, we cover everything from movies, music, TV, video games and pop-culture, to pro-wrestling, and all things burly. Were on hiatus at the moment, but theres a decent catalog to go through. All Things Caliber I merged my wrestling website into my long standing website thats been up for over 6 years. Anything under the sun, Ive written about it.

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The Man Movie Encyclopedia: 4 Instances Of Terrible TV Censorship - 411mania.com