Threats to the Open Net: August 5, 2011
Every week, the OpenNet Initiative provides a weekly news roundup (dubbed "Threats to the Open Net") in addition to our usual in-depth blog posts. If you would like to subscribe to the RSS feed for our newsreel, our entire blog, or our weekly roundup, you may do so; you are also free to republish the feed on your own site, with attribution to the OpenNet Initiative.
* The United Kingdom abandons Internet filtering plans aimed at illegal filesharing. After a report by the regulator Ofcom said that the blocking scheme put forward in the Digital Economy Bill would be too cumbersome and unworkable, the government announced it would not pursue these plans.
* Do microbloggers undermine China's filtering scheme? After a train crash, the hundreds of millions of users of Sina Weibo and Tencent discuss the government's responsibility. The CEO of Sine Weibo says that the country has become more open - and that microblogs can take freedom of expression to a new level.
* The terrorist attacks in Norway have prompted an immediate response from Europe's politicians. In several countries, calls for increased Internet monitoring emerged.
* McAfee reveals "Operation Shady RAT". The Internet security firm has caused a great stir with its exposé on a series of computer system intrusions that over five years targeted dozens of international organizations. Many suspect that the unnamed 'state actor' behind the attacks is China.
