In The News

Edward Cody July 10, 2007
Zhao Yufen, a scientist at Xiamen University, organized a petition protesting the construction of a chemical factory and expressing concern about potential accidents, health risks and environmental damage. Local officials supported the factory, which could potentially double the city's gross domestic product, so national officials ignored the petition. Then a blog published Zhao's...
June 18, 2007
Government censorship is growing in sophistication, according to a survey of internet filtering practices in 41 nations. Such censorship is “becoming more pervasive and more subtle over time, often disguised as network errors,” warns Jonathan Zittrain, professor of internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, according to a release from the MacArthur Foundation. The foundation funded...
June 6, 2007
US authorities arrested a 27-year-old Seattle man, describing him as one of the world’s top 10 spammers, and charged him with 35 counts including mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Robert Soloway’s arrest marks the first time that officials have used identity-theft laws to prosecute a person for taking over another person’s internet domain name. “Prosecutors allege Mr....
Choe Sang-Hun June 6, 2007
Those embarking on traditional marriages in South Korea have rarely relied solely on the whims of parents in selecting spouses – and modern families can now turn to the research capabilities of the internet to locate the perfect mate. With South Korea enjoying higher incomes, combined with more work opportunities, young people are choosy about marriage partners. South Korean customs discourage...
Jim Yardley May 31, 2007
Space relations between the US and China have been anything but friendly in recent years. The US has prevented Chinese scientists from attending space conferences in the US and also imposed export restrictions on the use of American technology for satellites launched by China. So China has instead turned to developing countries, building relations with those looking to enter the space market....
Noah Shachtman May 9, 2007
Since the invasion of Iraq, the US is managing the first war in which cell phones, laptops, e-mail connections and digital cameras are plentiful, allowing troops to send instant messages and images. With the war in its fifth year, the US Army has ordered troops to clear all blog and e-mail content with supervisors before sending. Failure to obtain supervision can result in court marital or...
Ben Macintyre March 23, 2007
Computers, CDs, digital files and scanning have allowed vast amounts of information to be collected. But digital information can vanish with a keystroke, warns Ben Macintyre, columnist with “The Times” of London. Too many administrators and researchers take digital storage for granted and do not understand that CDs, electronic tapes and other storage modes have limited life spans. Part of the...