Well I don’t know if we are really the first, but maybe it can be helpful for someone. Or if somebody wanna make quick tour through our history :) If you wanna make a look, here:
http://www.facebook.com/CzechHistory
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Submitted by infuturearchivist. This is seriously cool. - FYEE
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has added Belarus to its list of “Enemies of the Internet.”
In a report issued on March 11 to mark World Day Against Cyber-Censorship, the Paris-based media watchdog said Belarusian authorities tightened their grip on the Internet over the past year to curb what it called “revolution via the social media.”
The report said President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s government arrested some Internet users and bloggers and cut off access to websites in response to growing discontent bolstered by an unprecedented economic crisis. It also used Twitter to send messages aimed at intimidating demonstrators.
“The Internet was blocked during the series of ‘silent protests.’ We saw an increase of the filtering as well, with more and more websites rendered inaccessible and some websites the victims of cyberattacks,” RSF spokeswoman Lucie Morillon told RFE/RL. “Plus, there’s a lot of Internet users and bloggers who were arrested. We also saw another law which took effect in early January which gives the regime more Internet surveillance and control powers.”
RSF’s 2012 list of “Internet Enemies” includes 12 countries, among them Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Syria.
These countries combine cybercensorship with Internet access restrictions, tracking of cyberdissidents, and online propaganda.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland sent a letter to his fellow leaders in the EU Friday urging them to reject ACTA, reversing Poland’s course with the controversial intellectual-property treaty, and possibly taking Europe with them.
“I was wrong,” Tusk explained to a news conference, confessing his government had acted recklessly with a legal regime that wasn’t right for the 21st century. The reversal came after Tusk’s own strong statements in support of ACTA and condemnation of Anonymous attacks on Polish government sites, and weeks of street protest in Poland and across Europe.
An image of people wearing theatrical masks appeared on the website of the ruling Democratic Party in Vracar, Belgrade on Monday.
The website’s front page was replaced by the hacker’s message, which read: “We prepare food. We take away garbage. We work in the factory. We safeguard peace of mind. We are legion! We do not forget!! We do not forgive!!! We are Anonymous.”
The masks were inspired by the comic book and film “V for Vendetta”, which is a trademark of the Anonymous hackers.
The apparent reason for the action was to express dissatisfaction with the current state of Serbia and their message was intended “for all the actors in this lost political establishment”.
The message on the defaced webpage also said the group “did not wish to act against the system or harm anyone” but wished simply to express dissatisfaction.
“We are not getting any concrete plans for the FUTURE, just stale old phrases. It’s as if their statements were written by the authors of mobile phone templates,” the hackers said in a message.
Poland signs international copyright treaty that has sparked days of protests
An official says Poland has signed an international copyright agreement that has sparked days of protests from Internet users who fear it will lead to online censorship.
Poland’s ambassador to Japan, Jadwiga Rodowicz-Czechowska, told the Polish station TVN24 that she signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, in Tokyo on Thursday.
(Source: Washington Post)
Online activists have attacked Polish government websites in protest against plans to sign an international copyright treaty.
The websites of the prime minister, parliament and other government offices were all rendered unreachable or sluggish on Sunday.
Critics say the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) could lead to censorship.
The government said it would sign the treaty as planned on Thursday.
Does ’s leading opposition activist cavort with space aliens? Or just with enemies of the state?
A photograph of a grinning Aleksei Navalny, the blogger turned leader of street protests in Moscow, standing beside a bulbous-headed extraterrestrial could be found on his own Web site over the weekend.
Another photograph, showing Mr. Navalny with a man wanted by the police in Russia, the exiled financier Boris A. Berezovsky, appeared in a newspaper distributed on Saturday by a pro-Kremlin group in the major provincial city of Yekaterinburg, according to residents. The caption said that Mr. Navalny “never kept secret” his ties to Mr. Berezovsky.
Mr. Navalny said it was a fake, and his assertion was supported when the original, unaltered photograph appeared on Russian Web sites. That, in turn, set off a flurry of parodies using altered photographs, including the image of the alien, all seeming to highlight the outdated nature of some Russian propaganda.
“Vladimir Putin and his team do not understand the Internet,” Mr. Navalny said in a telephone interview, referring to the prime minister.
(Source: The New York Times)
Citizens of the Republic of Belarus who visit websites hosted in other countries could soon face fines of up to $125 thanks to onerous legislation that comes into force on 6 January. While the new law aims to ensure all e-commerce takes place within the virtual borders of the landlocked East European nation, its effects are likely to go far wider.
The US Library of Congress’s Global Legal Monitor says the new law will mean Belarusian companies, plus individuals registered as entrepreneurs, may only use domestic .by domains for providing online e-commerce services, conducting sales or sending emails.
The new law also affects internet cafe owners, who could be fined and have their businesses closed down if their customers are found visiting websites outside Belarus. But this could even apply to private individuals who let other people use their computer to browse foreign websites.
Even companies outside Belarus could fall foul of the new law. For example, Amazon is not registered in Belarus, so the republic’s attorney general could potentially sue it for violating national law if it sells products to people in Belarus. As such, companies outside Belarus are likely to close their doors to the country to avoid legal hassles.
Such draconian measures are perhaps to be expected from Belarus, described as “the last remaining true dictatorship in the heart of Europe” by former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. The country has been ruled by president Alexander Lukashenko since 1994 and is listed as a “country under surveillance” for internet censorship by Reporters Without Borders.
Everyone is my electorate because 95 percent of people strongly dislike corruption. But the question was, do they dislike it enough to come out with me and protest? These people aren’t serfs. I can’t take bring them out onto the square, or not bring them out. I can’t say, “Go here, do that.” I wasn’t the one who brought these people out to protest. The events of the last month are what brought them out. They are the crest of the wave, but the wave didn’t rise up because of them.
Influential Russian blogger Alexey Navalny talks to Foreign Policy. He is not Vladimir Putin’s biggest fan.
