The French entertainment industry is claiming that web search companies are aiding online piracy. To combat this, they are trying to require Google "to censor search terms for words like 'Torrent,' 'RapidShare,' and 'Megaupload.'" France's Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of the entertainment industry, however, Google plans to take this to the Appeals Court.

Russia's upper house of parliament passed a controversial law that would give the government more control over the country's Internet. Though the Russian government claims the law is meant to "shut down any website that it deems harmful to children," some fear the slippery slope of allowing the government to shut down any website it sees as dangerous. Many groups have protested the legislation, including the Russian language Wikipedia and the country's Yandex search engine.

YouTube has announced a new tool for video uploaders that blurs people's faces on their servers. Their hope with this new feature is to encourage more dissidents to use their platform as a means for speaking out. In their post they also gave other tips to protect people's anonymity.

The Senate Finance Committee is considering taking up legislation that has language directly targeting Russia and its recent move toward Internet censorship. In order to grant normal trade relations with the country, the bill would require an annual report from Russia identifying "any actions Russia has taken to restrict access to U.S. digital goods and services, such as barring access to a U.S. website like YouTube."