China, COPA & Privacy

[David Goldstein <goldstein_david@yahoo.com.au>]

Hi all

Three stories, one on China, one on COPA and one on Privacy, the
latter being about the US.

Cheers
David

Beijing Cracks Down on Firecracker Scandal 

In China, freedom of speech on the Web is only fleeting, as a recent
tragedy has shown. 

When an explosion flattened an elementary school in rural China on
March 6, many Web sites picked up on a story by local reporters
exposing an illegal scheme by government and school officials.
Children as young as 8 and 9, the story ran, were being forced by
cash-strapped teachers to make fireworks in bulk in draughty
classrooms.

 http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,22879,00.html

Porn law that won't die 
The Supreme Court may review the Child Online Protection Act soon 

Regulation and the Internet will never mesh well together. As long as
the world continues to be made up of dozens of different countries,
and the Internet continues to effortlessly cut across their
boundaries, there will always be a wild side to the World Wide Web.
But even within just the United States, the disconnect still
resonates. That clash is illustrated by the controversy surrounding
the Child Online Protection Act (COPA).

COPA, aimed at preventing children from accessing "harmful" material
on the Internet, spawns arguments typical of any pornography debate.
But the Internet factor adds a new spin, and could force the Supreme
Court -- if it takes the case -- to tackle the concept of "community"
in the digital age. 

 http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/03/15/sbrunning/biz_porn/

High-tech titans put the squeeze on privacy regs

A group of companies and industry organizations have quietly
undertaken a campaign to nip Internet-privacy legislation in the bud.


Aiming to halt the advance of dozens of privacy bills in Congress and
in state legislatures across the country, the group Monday went
public with four industry-funded studies asserting that privacy
legislation would cost consumers billions of dollars annually. 

 http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,6061,2695633-2,00.html

=====
David Goldstein
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email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
phone: +61 3 9885 0601 (home)
       +61 418 228 605 (mobile)

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