Google releases tool to show government censorship requests

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/apr/20/google-google-street-view

Today Google released a controversial new online tool. The visual world map shows each individual country requests for removal of data or request for user information. Although it does not show the specific cases, it shows the amount of requests and subsequent complies. Google, often claimed to be the forerunner of the battle against internet censorship, states that this clarification will lead to less censorship. The alleged requests include only government cases, thus user ‘flagging’ has not been included. Currently, the greatest remover is Brazil, with 291 requests for removal of data. The UK, has made 1,166 requests for user data in the latter half of 2009.

The censorship of data on the Internet has taken interesting forms in recent times. When exchange of files and information happens so quickly and massively, it can be near impossible to regulate flow of certain data, especially sensitive information. The news of an attempt to censor such information spreads similarly in magnitude. This leads to a great demand for the censored information, since users want to know why it was censored in the first place. This so-called ‘Streisand-effect’ has occurred frequently in recent years, for example the infamous 2007 USA video, in which Iraq journalists were mistaken for insurgents, and subsequently shot.

Chaos persists as Europe flights resume

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8633451.stm

The lockdown of the airspace above Europe has been called off, but the chaos among travellers has not ceased a bit. The ash cloud that covered the United Kingdom and West Europe was allegedly too dangerous for planes to fly through, since it posed as a threat for engines and instruments. For safety reasons airplanes were kept on the ground, leading to thousands of stranded travellers. Due to the shape of the cloud, not every country has opened its airspace yet; leading to a holey cheese that made the start up of the air travel more complicated and subsequently slowed it down.

Of course, the whole situation may have been horrific for all the homebound travellers, but honestly, I was fascinated by the whole chaos. With all the modern technology, on which we blindly trust, we are propelled back to ancient times by an old volcano somewhere on Iceland. I was sceptical about the early precautious lockdown, however. I could not imagine the dust to be so devastating for the engines of an airplane. Thousands of planes fly through sand clouds on daily basis, and we never hear about them. But still, I’m glad the human lives are not worth taking the risk.