Internet Blotter

  • Egyptian blogger Karim Amer is finally free after four years in prison.
  • Iran launches yet another police force to deal with the Internet, headquartered with the Revolutionary Guard. Its commander says the state plans to quadruple its Internet control budget.
  • Google lobbies U.S. policymakers to consider online censorship a free trade issue.
  • Is breaking into Yahoo e-mail too easy? The Sarah Palin hack revealed flaws in the webmail system’s security that can still be exploited.
  • Yet more malicious attacks on computers connected to the Nobel Peace Prize. As with CPJ and other groups, the Nobel Institute’s director, Geir Lundestad, received a personalized, but fake e-mail containing malware.
  • Saudi Arabia blocks Facebook over “moral concerns”–then immediately unblocks it, claiming an “error.”