Leaning To The Left - Episode #4: #39;Censorship #39;
Episode #4: #39;Censorship #39; (90.7) http://syn.org.au/node/30748 So me and my mate Zach have a seasonal show on the Radio, which started Friday the 18th of July at 9pm, and will continue weekly...
By: Wilburgur
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Leaning To The Left - Episode #4: 'Censorship' - Video
The New York Times reports on authors forming a group to back publisher Hachette in its quest to have Amazon.com charge consumers higher prices for books. A literary agent is quoted:
Its very clear to me, and to those I represent, that what Amazon is doing is very detrimental to the publishing industry and the interests of authors, the agent said. If Amazon is not stopped, we are facing the end of literary culture in America.
And author Ursula Le Guin:
Were talking about censorship: deliberately making a book hard or impossible to get, disappearing an author, Ms. Le Guin wrote in an email. Governments use censorship for moral and political ends, justifiable or not. Amazon is using censorship to gain total market control so they can dictate to publishers what they can publish, to authors what they can write, to readers what they can buy. This is more than unjustifiable, it is intolerable.
Oh come on. Censorship is a real thing in this world, with governments making books unavailable to their citizens to read. I have quite a few such books on my shelf. I bought them through Amazon. And I can easily buy books by Ms Le Guin in this country, and nobody, including Amazon, is telling her publishers what they can publish, or her what she can write. And it trivializes the plight of authors who actually are censored. We are not facing the end of literary culture in America. I wish Amazon and Hachette would resolve this, and I do not support some tactics that Amazon has used. But the rhetoric is getting just a bit ridiculous.
UPDATE: Regal Cinemas and Cinemark are engaged in censorship?
Read more from the original source:
This is not censorship (updated)
The Hong Kong demonstrations showed how technology provides new ways to get around censorship and other moves to curtail free expression.
There was a time when protest movements were stopped by police force and the shutdown of communication means. For the government that is the target of the protest, it is imperative to stop the message from spreading and getting more support.
With technology, protest movements could get around censorship and even the arrest of leaders because demonstrations are held not only on the streets but also online. The street rally may be stopped with police force but no amount of censorship could curtail protest messages online for a longer period. The message may be removed from a website now, but it could reappear in a blog or elsewhere.
The Chinese government knew what it should do to control information flow after the umbrella revolution protest broke out last week. Protesters demanding less China intervention in Hong Kong knew, too, what to do.
It was expected that the Chinese government would resort to online censorship when demonstrators, mostly students, started their protest actions to call for the resignation of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and the removal of Beijings control over election procedures. Instagram, the photo-sharing network, was reportedly blocked in China. The Twitter alternative, Weibo, has seen a record number of posts deleted for using the term umbrella revolution.
These attempts at controlling the message didnt quite work for the Hong Kong protesters who became more creative in finding ways to keep the communication lines open.
For fear that Internet connection would go soon, protesters resorted to using an application that allowed the exchange of messages without Internet connection or wifi. The FireChat application is free on the Apple and Google stores and allows users to send text and photo messages with those in their networks within a distance of 40 to 70 meters. It uses Bluetooth and peer-to-peer connections and cannot be blocked or stopped, unless the police grab mobile phones of the thousands of users on Hong Kong streets.
Open Garden, the maker of FireChat, noted 200,000 downloads of the application in Hong Kong in just two days. Before that, the application was known only as an alternative means in countries where Internet connection was limited and as an emergency communication method when disasters bring down telecommunications towers.
As the Chinese government keeps deleting posts about the protest movement, the student demonstrators continue to inform colleagues and the media of their next actions without fear of online surveillance or curtailment.
The next time protest breaks, in the Philippines or elsewhere, expect new ways brought about by technology to keep the message going.
Read the original:
Cabaero: New ways to push protest
Web We Want Festival | Censorship And The Web
More and more people are now online across the globe, opening up communities and exposing new cultures, what is the future of the #39;information superhighway #39; and how are governments and...
By: Southbank Centre
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Web We Want Festival | Censorship And The Web - Video
Hong Kong protesters use Firechat to evade censorship
WEB NEWS : In this edition : Hong Kong protesters using the FireChat app to evade censorship; South African activists calling for the boycott of a supermarket chain; and an astronaut shares...
By: FRANCE 24 English
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Hong Kong protesters use Firechat to evade censorship - Video