Censorship

People in Iran can apparently once again access their Gmail accounts after the service was blocked last week.

Both Gmail and the secure HTTPS version of Google were persona non grata in the country on September 24 after an Iranian official named Abdolsamad Khoramabadi announced that "Google and Gmail will be filtered nationwide until further notice." Khoramabadi is the secretary of a committee in Iran that examines the Internet for content considered illegal or criminal, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency.

The action was reportedly taken in response to an amateur movie posted on YouTube considered critical of the Prophet Muhammad among Muslims, … Read more

Google today bowed to demands from Brazil to restrict access to a YouTube video that had attacked a mayoral candidate.

"Late last night, we learned that our final legal appeal has been denied and so now we have no choice but to block the video in Brazil," Fabio Coelho, head of Google's Brazil operations, said in a post today. "We are deeply disappointed that we have never had the full opportunity to argue in court that these were legitimate free speech videos and should remain available in Brazil."

The move came a day after Brazilian … Read more

WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange lashed out at the U.S. government today, saying it took "arbitrary and excessive action" against the document-leaking Web site and a U.S. soldier suspected of being its source of classified files.

"It is time for the U.S. to cease its persecution of WikiLeaks, to cease its persecution of our people, and to cease its persecution of our alleged sources," Assange said during an event convened by Ecuador to coincide with a a United Nations diplomatic summit this week.

Assange, who remains holed up in Ecuador's London embassy in … Read more

The White House has acknowledged pressuring Google over an amateur anti-Islam video that is legally protected under U.S. law.

Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council, told The Washington Post that the White House "reached out to YouTube to call the video to their attention and ask them to review whether it violates their terms of use."

A White House spokesman didn't immediately respond to questions from CNET asking for details, but any phone call to YouTube would be more politically symbolic than anything else. YouTube executives were not only well aware of the video … Read more

Google has found itself embroiled in a high-profile dispute pitting the traditional western value of free speech against Islam's strict proscription against blasphemy.

The company confirmed today that it "temporarily" blocked YouTube users in Libya and Egypt from accessing a YouTube video trailer from an amateur movie sharply critical of the Prophet Muhammad. And Afghanistan retaliated by unilaterally blocking all of YouTube for its citizens.

Those restrictions came less than a day after the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed in an attack by Muslim protesters. Protesters also entered … Read more

LONDON -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange today addressed his supporters and the media from his haven in the Ecuadorian embassy here, days after he was granted asylum by the Latin American country.

Assange, who faces extradition to Sweden, spoke for 10 minutes before retreating inside the building, and called for an end to the U.S.-led "witch-hunt" against WikiLeaks, its staff, and its supporters.

He described Ecuador's move to grant him asylum as "courageous" and outlined a number of points he wished to see in the future. But one of the stipulations of his … Read more

Police showed up at Ecuador's London embassy this evening, hours after the Ecuadorian government accused the U.K. government of threatening a raid to nab Wikileaks editor Julian Assange.

A live video feed from citizen journalist James Albury showed police in the outer lobby of the red brick building, which is also home to private apartments and Columbia's embassy. But it wasn't clear whether police had entered the Ecuadorian embassy itself, which would be an extreme breach of diplomatic protocol.

Ecuador's embassy said in a statement that:

Apple is again facing controversy over an item being sold through iTunes.

The Conference of European Rabbis wants Apple to remove a book known as "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," which is being sold as a 99-cent e-book through iTunes.

The Protocols, which surfaced early in the 20th century, purports to reveal a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. The book has since been discredited as a fake but was used by Nazis and is still used by some hate groups to justify their anti-Semitism.

The rabbis are concerned that the book's availability in … Read more

Updated at 2:45 p.m. PT

WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange reportedly has been granted asylum by the Ecuadorean government.

"Ecuador will grant asylum to Julian Assange," an unnamed official in the Ecuadorean capital of Quito told the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper today. No official announcement, however, has been made.

Assange has been camped out in Ecuador's embassy in London for the last two months as the country considers his asylum request, which is based in part on a claim that his native Australia has effectively abandoned him.

The British courts have ordered that Assange be … Read more