Censorship

(Newser) - China is cracking down on its booming, billion-dollar online game industry, which is seen as “spiritual opium” that threatens to hook the Chinese people, Reuters reports. The government today said it plans to regulate “undesirable” elements out of the game, which 41 million Chinese played this year. “The whole industry is marginalized by mainstream society,” one senior official said. More »

(Newser) - The NCAA has upheld its ban against coaches text messaging high school prospects as a means of recruitment, ESPN.com reports. Though the rule was criticized by coaches and athletic directors when it was passed last year, the motion to overturn barely got enough support to bring the issue to a vote. The ban was overwhelmingly upheld with support of 78% of the NCAA delegation. More »

(Newser) - A Paris civil court has refused to issue an injunction for Cécilia Sarkozy to block the publication of a new biography, reports the AFP. The tell-all quotes the ex-first lady as calling Nicolas Sarkozy a "sauteur"—a vulgar French word for a womanizer—and charging the "undignified" bachelor president with partaking in "karaoke parties until four in the morning." More »

(Newser) - China appears set to clamp down on online video sites with a new set of regulations that restricts content and organization, the Wall Street Journal reports. The regulations, to take effect Jan. 31, require sites broadcasting online video to be owned or controlled by the state, and to censor and report content that involves national secrets, threatens China’s reputation or disrupts social stability. More »

(Newser) - Australian Internet users are getting wary about new regulations meant to keep minors away from mature content, Ars Technica reports. A stringent new ratings system to be introduced in January is meant to stop kids from accessing adult-oriented content, but critics say it will be child's play to get around, and means adults will have to surrender some privacy. More »

(Newser) - Yakking on the phone while behind the wheel could fetch you a little quality time behind bars in the UK, reports the Daily Telegraph. A new law rewards chatty driving—or texting, or tinkering with a GPS unit or MP3 player— with jail terms of up to two years. The government banned cell phones in 2003, but estimates 500,000 motorists ignore the ban daily. More »

(Newser) - Holiday parties in classrooms around Chicago won't be covered with red and green sprinkles this year, the Chicago Tribune reports. More and more schools are banning cupcakes in favor of "healthy" things like fruit skewers fashioned into reindeer antlers. It's part of a national trend to make special-occasion snacks consistent with the healthy-eating message and more nutritious school lunches. More »

(Newser) - Consumer groups have banded together to lobby the FCC to prevent cellphone companies from blocking text messages, the Washington Post reports. The issue of carriers censoring messages from political groups and competing services has become the latest front in the net neutrality campaign. Consumers Union and other advocates are insisting that providers should deliver texts regardless of content. More »

(Newser) - German ministers accused Scientology of being unconstitutional today and took steps to ban it from the country, Der Spiegel reports. They ordered spies to assemble a dossier on the group, based on 10 years of surveillance, to support the ban. Scientologists were outraged, and called themselves victims of "on-going and never-ending discrimination," the BBC reports. More »

(Newser) - A British court has ruled that the BBC can't be prosecuted for blasphemy for airing Jerry Springer—The Opera , which features scenes set in Hell with Jesus and Satan. The High Court ruled that not only is the opera not blasphemous—because it satirizes a TV show rather than attacking religion—but also found that live stage shows shouldn't be prosecuted for blasphemy. More »

(Newser) - Facebook has been handed a defeat in its attempts to censor the independent Harvard alumni magazine 02138 , which published confidential court documents relating to founder Mark Zuckerberg's earlier work for a rival site. That's a good thing, says Kara Swisher of the Wall Street Journal , for whom the attempted injunction was "essentially a legal temper tantrum." More »

(Newser) - Greenies say they’re being hung out to dry—instead of their clothes. A movement to cut back on eco-unfriendly clothes dryers, by hanging garments on lines, is being met with resistance from communities and homeowners associations that consider the clotheslines unsightly and damaging to property values. So the right-to-dryers are taking their case to state legislatures, Time reports. More »

(Newser) - Wikipedia's so quick and easy—too easy, ruled a New Jersey school district, the latest of many to ban use of the popular online encyclopedia by its students and block it on school computers, fearing potentially erroneous information from the communally edited site will pollute minds and papers. “Kids just take it for gospel, they really do,” fretted the librarian leading the charge. More »

(Newser) - Singaporeans anticipating Microsoft’s much-ballyhooed Mass Effect video game should stop anticipating. Thanks to a scene in which a human woman kisses and caresses an alien woman, Singapore has banned the action-RPG, Reuters reports. Microsoft said it would respect the ban, but outraged gamers decried the decision as too strict. Sex between men is against the law in Singapore. More »

(Newser) - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili vowed yesterday to end his country's state of emergency—eventually—asserting that the restrictions, which include a ban on independent TV news, wouldn't cease "on orders of a foreign minister of some country," AP reports. Not enough for some: Georgia's richest man announced he would run for president to free the country from "this dictatorial junta." More »

(Newser) - Pakistan lifted the restraint order on Benazir Bhutto's house today hours after police prevented the ex-PM from leading a rally against Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule, the Guardian reports. Authorities immobilized her as part of a general ban on political assembly but said they were also acting for Bhutto's safety after a report of another possible assassination plot. More »

(Newser) - A federal appeals court threw a wrench today into the government’s efforts to stop child porn. The Cincinnati-based court struck down a 1998 law requiring porn producers to keep records of people depicted in their materials. The Justice Department argued the law helped authorities clamp down on kiddie porn, but the appeals judges ruled 2-1 that it trampled on first amendment rights. More »