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Tag: ban

  • India May Ban All Types of Cryptocurrency

    India May Ban All Types of Cryptocurrency

    India has proposed legislation that would ban cryptocurrencies, in the most restrictive such legislation worldwide.

    Under the proposed bill, India would criminalize owning, mining, trading, issuing and transferring cryptocurrencies, according to Reuters. A government official with knowledge of the plan spoke directly to the outlet.

    The bill would have serious repercussions for investors at a time when cryptocurrencies are gaining widespread acceptance worldwide. Tesla’s Elon Musk recently said Bitcoin was on the verge of mainstream acceptance, and his company invested $1.5 billion in the currency.

    Unfortunately for the cryptocurrency community, the bill is likely to be passed into law. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government holds a comfortable parliamentary majority, clearing the way for passage.

    Once the bill goes into effect, investors will have six months to liquidate their holdings before penalties are levied.

  • Xiaomi Sues US Government In Effort to Overturn Ban

    Xiaomi Sues US Government In Effort to Overturn Ban

    Xiaomi is suing the US Treasury Department and the Department of Defense in an effort to overturn a Trump administration ban.

    Xiaomi, along with Huawei and ZTE, were banned by the Trump administration over national security concerns. Xiaomi was accused of having close ties with the People’s Liberation Army.

    The company is now challenging the ban, according to Bloomberg, suing the US Treasury and Defense departments.

    “Xiaomi faces imminent, severe, and irreparable harm if the Designation remains in place and the restrictions take effect,” the company said in its court filing, naming Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as defendants.

    It remains to be seen what action the Biden administration will take against Chinese firms, and whether it will uphold past action. It’s clear, however, that Xiaomi is testing the waters to see if the the change of administration will result in a change of policy.

  • TikTok Improves Privacy Protections For Children

    TikTok Improves Privacy Protections For Children

    TikTok has announced a number of changes aimed at improving privacy protections for children on its platform.

    TikTok has come under widespread criticism for privacy and security violations. Not the least of those has been repeated violations of child privacy. The company’s ongoing security and privacy issues have prompted numerous companies and government agencies to restrict the app from company devices, as well as been a major factor in the US government attempting to ban the app.

    While TikTok’s future remains in question, the company has finally taken definitive steps to protect children using its platform.

    “Starting today, we’re changing the default privacy setting for all registered accounts ages 13-15 to private. With a private TikTok account, only someone who the user approves as a follower can view their videos. We want our younger users to be able to make informed choices about what and with whom they choose to share, which includes whether they want to open their account to public views. By engaging them early in their privacy journey, we can enable them to make more deliberate decisions about their online privacy.”

    The company has included additional changes, such as restricting comments on videos created by younger users, modifying Duet and Stitch settings for these groups, restricting friend suggestions and more. In addition, the company also offers a TikTok for Younger Users, specifically for users in the US under 13 years of age.

    TikTok’s announcement is a welcome improvement. It remains to be seen if it will do anything to help the company’s fight against its ban order.

  • Angola Bans The Islamic Religion

    The African country, Angola, has declared the Islamic religion illegal, becoming the first country to do so. Until further notice, the predominantly Christian community, has ordered that all mosques be shut down. It has been reported that some mosques have already been destroyed with the possibility of more demolition to come.

    “The legalisation of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights [and] their mosques will be closed until further notice,” said minister of culture Rosa Cruz e Silva said on Friday, November 22.

    The Muslims account for less than one percent of the country’s total population of 19 million people. “This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country,” President Jose Edurado dos Santos said.

    (image)
    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

    Islam is not the only religion that has been banned in the country. 194 other sects have been outlawed, and, according to Sliva, more may soon be banned as well. “All sects on the list published by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in the Angolan newspaper Jornal de Angola are prohibited to conduct worship, so they should keep their doors closed,” Cruz said. “Besides these, there is a long list of more than 1,000 applications to be authorized.”

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Starbucks Asks Patrons to Leave Guns at Home

    Starbucks, whose website is presently down, has entered the American gun debate by asking customers to leave their firearms at home. As more a gesture than anything, Starbucks employees won’t say anything to customers who don’t abide by the gun request, and no signs will be posted concerning the new stance.

    “We are going to serve them (gun-toting customers) as we would serve anyone else,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said, adding that “there are going to be people on both sides who will be disappointed or angry, but we’re making a decision we think is in the best interests of our customers, employees and the company.” The majority of domestic Starbucks stores lie in states with open carry laws, and pro-firearm activists have long used the coffee huts as “a political stage for media events misleadingly called ‘Starbucks Appreciation Days’ that disingenuously portray Starbucks as a champion of open carry,” according to Schultz.

    While nothing specific was mentioned regarding what might have prompted an actual stance on the open carry matter, it’s a good business practice to disassociate a product with gun violence, especially with the recent Navy Yard shooting.

    Schultz adds, “I want to make it very clear that Starbucks is not a policy maker and as a company we are not pro- or anti-gun. However, there have been a number of episodes over the course of the last few months that have put us in a position to take a big step back and assess the issue of open carry.”

    In related Starbucks news, it was recently found that a shop in Hong Kong was using toilet water to brew its coffee. A spokesperson for Starbucks explained that the particular Starbucks location used the toilet water because it was the closest source.

    Starbucks is based in Seattle, and presently operates 20,891 stores in 62 countries

    Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

  • UK ISP Comes Out Against The Pirate Bay Blockade

    It’s been a little over a month since the The Pirate Bay was blocked in the UK due to a court order. The block was meant to cut down on the amount of file-sharing happening across the Internet, but it seems to have had the reverse effect for now. Now a UK ISP has come out against the court order.

    According to ISPreview, business ISP Fluidata is not a big fan of the The Pirate Bay IP blockade. Back when the court order was originally issued, Virgin Media expressed their disappointment, but only said that there were better ways to combat piracy. Fluidata on the other hand comes out swinging by pointing out the outdated business model that runs the music industry. Andi Soric, account manager for Fluidata had this to say:

    “That the record label business model is ‘out of date’ is a point that scarcely needs to be made. The twin pillars that upheld it; the reliance of artists on record labels to produce music, and consumer demand for cassettes/CD’s, have crumbled at alarming speed under the weight of file sharing and distribution of content, and although efforts have been made by these companies to embrace the internet age and find ways to charge for digital music, the industry still rests on precarious foundations.

    While the internet has disadvantaged record labels, it is important to remember it hasn’t necessarily been a negative to the music industry. To the contrary, British artists such as Ed Sheeran, Jessie J and even American superstars such as Justin Bieber (my personal favorite) can be thankful to the internet for their current career success.

    Self-made artists can now upload audio and use media platforms such as YouTube and MySpace to broadcast their talent to millions of people at virtually no cost. In my view, this can only be positive for music and society as a whole and makes you wonder how many stars have been missed in the last 50 years due to the costs attached to recording and distributing music.”

    Ignoring that Soric is a fan of Justin Bieber for a minute, he has a point. The Internet has completely changed the game of how we create and consume music. I have found so many new artists that would have only been possible thanks to the Internet. That doesn’t mean that we as music consumers want to stop listening to the music produced by the industry. I love the major pop stars just like everybody else who isn’t a hipster. The point is that the music industry, like the television and movie industry, must provide alternative methods for us to enjoy music.

    That being said, I will say the efforts of services like Spotify have definitely helped to modernize the music industry. Compared to movies and television, the music industry is already way ahead thanks to free streaming services. Here’s hoping the MPAA and television industries can work out a deal to have their content available via all major video streaming services.

  • Reddit Responds to Domain Ban Backlash

    Reddit Responds to Domain Ban Backlash

    Yesterday it was reported that some publications began criticizing Reddit, the democratized social sharing forum, for banning certain domains from being posted to its website. The banned domains included respected publications such as The Atlantic and Phys.org. The reason for the domain bans was not made explicit, but it was stated that the banned domains were caught by Reddit moderators involving themselves with cheating or spam on its website. A Forbes article provided some of the most outspoken criticism of the new policy, and now Reddit has responded to Forbes.

    Erik Martin, general manager of Reddit, spoke with Forbes contributor Dave Thier and shed a little more light onto the issue. Martin admits that one of the most difficult issues Reddit faces is dealing with the manipulation of content on the site that is of obvious quality and may have become popular on the site anyway. Reddit allows members to “upvote” or “downvote” posts, in theory surfacing the best content. Martin dismisses speculation that employees of banned domains were over-submitting their own content, and instead said, “We’re talking about relitively sophisticated, coordinated manipulation of votes.”

    Martin stated that it could be the case that the management of the banned domains was not aware that their site was involved with the sketchy practices, but that Reddit would not make an exception. This all but confirms what was insinuated earlier this week – that the domains had hired marketing professionals who, unbeknownst to them, were cheating Reddit. From the Forbes article:

    “There is a long history of high-quality publications doing this on Reddit and sites like Reddit — People in the industry know exactly what I’m talking about, even people who are pretending like they don’t,” says Martin. “I hope that this very clear message to this whole industry, that is a subset of another industry, that tries to manipulate social message on behalf of publishers.”

    Martin also addressed the secrecy of the banned domain list, saying that a public list would give spammers a “roadmap to avoid detection.” He reiterated that the bans were temporary, meant as warnings to the domains. This might serve as a lesson for domains to keep a tighter rein on their social network marketing strategies, but there will still be marketing professionals who promise to increase Reddit traffic.

    (via Forbes)

  • Reddit Bans “High-Quality” Domains That Game its Website

    Reddit Bans “High-Quality” Domains That Game its Website

    Reddit is one of the most popular content, link, and news sharing sites on the internet. Members of the site “upvote” or “downvote” posts, allowing the best content to rise to the top and be seen prominently. That’s the way it is supposed to work, anyway.

    Sometimes, though, other websites cheat to make sure their content is featured highly on Reddit. Social media marketing professionals sometimes build up accounts on the site, and then take money from websites to subtly use the accounts to promote content. Others use massive voting rings to unnaturally upvote certain submissions. These cheaters, along with less-subtle spammers, are not welcome within the Reddit community, but they are sometimes hard to catch.

    Just over one week ago, the moderators of the Reddit website implemented a rather sweeping change to its policies. Instead of individual accounts associated with spam or cheating being banned, entire domains that are involved with such marketing practices are now being banned. When it was revealed that this had resulted in Business Week, The Atlantic, Phys.org, and other “high-quality” domain links being banned from Reddit, protest editorials popped up on sites such as Forbes and The Daily Dot. Also, Redditors (as Reddit members are called) began to question the policy. Some suggested other websites that they think are worse than those that have been banned, and others questioned whether they could spam links to a website they hate to get it banned.

    The response to the uproar has been rather thin from the Reddit moderators, and the details of why the sites were banned has not been revealed. The implication is, though, that most of the sites simply hired social media marketers, and didn’t know or care how the marketers practiced their trade. Reddit moderator hueypriest (who is, in real life, Erik Martin, Reddit’s general manager and an influential person) has stated that the bans are temporary. Feel free to follow all of the drama firsthand over at Reddit.

    Keeping Reddit “clean” is a bit of a conundrum. On one hand, websites and authors that wish to promote their own content on the site might actually have something worthy of Reddit’s vaunted front page. Though self-promotion is not forbidden, it does put members on “thin ice.” On the other hand, similar democratized news sharing websites have been destroyed by spam and “power-users” who inevitably sell their services as marketers. Reddit wants to maintain the feel of a small internet forum community while seeing billions of pageviews per month. To do this, some undemocratic decrees will have to handed down from the people who own and operate the website. Warning bans for domains who are involved in sketchy marketing practices on the site are the first of many actions that will be taken to stem the tide of unwanted attention that is now being directed at Reddit.

  • Egyptian Government Institutes Pornography Ban

    To quote Associate Supreme Court Justice, Potter Stewart, “[I can’t define pornography], but i know it when I see it.”

    The question is, will the Egyptian government know it when it sees it? An Egyptian court has ruled to ban internet pornography in the country. The ruling was confirmed by the Egyptian Ministry of Telecommunications and reported by Egypt Today.

    #Egypt to ban porn websites after court ruling.(image) 1 hour ago via UberSocial for BlackBerry ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    The news brings rising concerns about how the Egyptian government will enforce the new law, and who will decide where the line is drawn when it comes to porn.

    The issue has been brought up in America thanks to Republican Presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum, who has blamed pornography on everything from divorce to homosexuality. His announcement that he wishes to ban pornography in the United States has caused an uproar over civil liberties and even prompted a campaign on Twitter, #SaveThePorn.

    If Santorum says gay porn is responsible for homosexuality, then what made the FIRST gay porn star gay? Chicken and egg….(image) 1 day ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @RickSantorum why you no like porn? #SavethePorn(image) 3 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    In Egypt or America, where does one draw the line. Will suggestive images or video be next? What kind of punishment can you legitimately impose on people who continue to watch porn? Prison? Will the person be branded as a sex offender? What’s Next? What other civil liberties will a government be bold enough to restrict? A porn ban is certainly a slippery slope.

    A ruling was made in Egyptian Court back in 2009, but never enforced. But this is the first time the ruling has been upheld by the Ministry of Telecommunications and Egyptian Parliament. This one has a better chance of sticking.

    That sucks: Egyptian court declares Internet porn illegal http://t.co/1hAxDn00 //Maybe #ricksantorum should run for President of Egypt(image) 18 minutes ago via Tweet Button ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Wanting people to get laid more? RT @FelFel_: Egypt decreased Viagra price and banned porn in one week. What are they trying to tell us?(image) 33 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    The problem isn’t banning porn, but how this is a way of testing the waters of restricting more freedoms in the future. #Egypt(image) 57 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    You can’t BAN PORN!!! HideMyIP will save us BASTARDS!!! #PornBan(image) 37 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    result of #pornban in #egypt RT@libertarianism: The more laws and restrictions there are, the poorer the people become. – Lao Tsu”(image) 44 minutes ago via Twitter for Mac ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Behold; The rise of rapists within Egypt. Coming soon. #PornBan(image) 1 hour ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Amazon Moves Towards E-Book Non-Exclusivity

    James Atlas will be selling a series of short (25,000-40,000 words long) biographies for Amazon called “Amazon Lives.” He will buy and edit at least 12 of them. Aside from the Kindle Store, these books will be sold through eTail “[…] in all formats.”

    In addition to working for Amazon, James manages Atlas & Co., an independent publishing company, but he will no longer publish new titles there.

    The New York Times reports that the first title will be published in June 2013.

    Amazon’s move to e-book non-exclusivity might change Barnes & Noble’s decision not to carry print versions of Amazon Publishing titles.

    E-books are becoming more popular and available. Many libraries and colleges are lending e-readers and building their e-books collections. Kindle Owners’ Lending Library now offers more than 100,000 titles and anyone who owns a Kindle and an Amazon Plus membership can download one book a month for free.

    Joe Lansdale, author of the “Hap and Leonard” stories discussed how he believed e-books would impact the prevalence of real books in an exclusive Q&A with WebProNews writer Chris Crum. In a recent Facebook update, Lansdale said, “I think there will always be real books, but they are going to be a smaller, and probably more collector type of market. Some publishers are even considering moving that way more and more, so this could be good for small presses, as far as real books go.” Lansdale also said that some of the growth of e-books can be attributed to people’s lack of desire to have books laying around in their homes, collecting dust and taking up space.

    Despite e-book innovation, many people believe that real books will always have their place in the world.

  • U.S. Calls for Ban on Mobile Devices While Driving

    The U.S. Department of Transportation has encouraged automakers to design devices that would block the use of mobile devices while a vehicle is moving. The plan extends to texting, the dialing of 10-digit phone numbers, the keying in of address on GPS systems, etc., unless the car is in park.

    On these non-binding guidelines issued today, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, on a conference call with reporters, stated that, “distracted driving is unsafe, irresponsible and can have devastating consequences. Every single time a driver takes his or her focus off the road, the driver puts his or her life and the lives of others at risk.” In 2010, roughly 3,000 drivers, or 9.4 percent of road fatalities, were killed in crashes related to distraction, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

    (image)

    David Strickland, NHTSA administrator, says the DOT will expect full compliance from automakers, but will seek input from the car companies before making any new regulations final. Strickland’s list of potential new requirements for devices used in cars allow usage with one hand, leaving the other on the steering wheel, limit how long drivers’ eyes are off the road to two seconds or less, limit “unnecessary visual information” in the driver’s field of view and limit the number of manual inputs required for various operations, as noted in the Chicago Tribune.

    There will be a 29% increase in the number or new cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. in 2012 that are fitted with smartphones and other connectivity units, which is in conflict with the plans of the DOT, according to Just-Auto. Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, states, “we particularly like the guideline for disabling devices that text and surf the Internet, etc.” in an email to press. Automakers haven’t calculated what costs might be involved, she added. Strickland went on to state that regulators didn’t look at costs because it’s a voluntary guideline rather than a rule. It has been reported that there isn’t much by way of public support for bans on devices while driving.