Stories about Law from July, 2010
Russia: The First Case of YouTube Ban
Alexey Sidorenko writes about the Russian authorities' first attempt to ban YouTube.
Latvia: Concerns Over the Future of the Largest Daily, Free Press
With the ownership of the largest daily newspaper, Diena, in question, many journalists in Latvia fear business interests and political influence would rule the news coverage ahead of the October parliamentary elections.
Jamaica: The Politics of SoE
Girl With a Purpose says that “the Limited State of Emergency in Jamaica…has now become a political football.”
Chile: Mapuche on Hunger Strike over Anti-terror Law
On July 12, 2010, fourteen Mapuche indigenous detainees began a hunger strike to denounce the Chilean State’s treatment of Mapuche communities in southern Chile. The strike is aimed mainly at ending the use of Chile’s Anti-terrorism Law against Mapuche prisoners, a Pinochet-era decree widely used during the seventeen years of the Pinochet dictatorship.
Brazil: Copyright Reform Proposal Under Consultation
A public consultation on the Brazilian Copyright Act has received over 1,200 contributions. The proposed changes have fuelled intense debate in the blogosphere and twittosphera.
China: First hand account of two Chinese artists arrested and beaten
Under the Jacaranda Tree posts a first hand account written by Diane Gatterdam on the arrest of two Chinese artists, Yang Licai and Wu Yuren.
Kenya: Support for Alcoholic Drinks Bill
Alan Masakhalia features on Mzalendo Vox Pop arguing that the Kenyan President should assent to the Alcoholic Drinks Bill. Mzalendo Vox Pop is a feature readers share their views on their constituency.
Russia: Prosecutor That Banned Youtube Gives Interview
Marker.ru publishes an interview with Vladimir Pakhomov, city prosecutor that obliged the local Internet provider to block Youtube, Web.archive.org and other websites [EN]. Pakhomov expressed Chinese-government-style philosophy on Internet-filtering: “Provider is obliged to filter the information that goes through its channels to the Worldwide Web”, and didn't exclude probable filtering...
Bangladesh: Constitutional Reforms
An Ordinary Citizen discusses about the recent process of constitutional reforms in Bangladesh, the controversies surrounding it and expectations from it.
Taiwan: Threatened by Microsoft
Tetralet complains about his recent experience with Microsoft [zht] about how the software giant emailed and called to threaten that if Tetralet does not welcome Microsoft to “help his company on software property management“, Microsoft would report to superiors and “what's going to happen is not predicable“.
Russia: Interview With ‘A Good Treaty’ Russia Blogger
Sublime Oblivion interviews the author of A Good Treaty blog, continuing the Watching the Russia Watchers interview series that was launched by Andy Young of Siberian Light.
Belarus: A Conscientious Objector Released From Jail
BelarusDigest reports on the release from prison of conscientious objector Yevgeny Yakovenko.
Serbia, Kosovo: Another View on ICJ's Ruling
The Greater Surbiton writes that “the ICJ’s ruling on Kosovo sets a precedent that is dangerous only for tyrants and ethnic cleansers.” (More views are here and here.)
Serbia: “Punishing ‘Bad Culture'”
Belgraded writes about a 1980s Serbian pop star's idea to introduce “extra taxes for authors of those works of media that fall under the category of ‘kitsch‘.”
Russia: Merging SVR and FSB; “Another Sexy Spy”
RFE/RL's The Power Vertical reports on the alleged plans to merge Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service with the Federal Security Service. Scraps of Moscow writes about the newest “sexy Russian spy” scandal.
Israel: Rape by Deceit or Racism?
The recent conviction of rape by deceit of an Arab posing as a Jew to seduce a Jewish woman to engage in sexual intercourse has sparked conversations across the Hebrew blogosphere about the dire inequality between Jews and Arabs living in Israel. Gilad Lotan translates some of the reactions from Hebrew.
Pakistan: Bollywood Movie On Laden Banned In Pakistan
“The Bollywood movie, ‘Tere Bin Laden’ (Without You, Laden), has been banned in Pakistan because it caricatures Osama Bin Laden”, informs Sonya Rehman.
Nepal: No Toilet, No Citizenship
XNepali Blog reports that as a part of the sanitary awareness program in rural Nepal, the Kaikot district council “has formulated a requirement in which every citizenship certificate applicant need to have a toilet at home”.
Trinidad & Tobago: Missed It
Ever wondered how to miss a coup? Caribbean Free Radio knows first-hand.
Jamaica: Reverend's Case Postponed
Girl With a Purpose provides an update on the Dudus extradition case.
China: Being Gay
The angry Chinese blogger explains how the Chinese government controls the gay community from getting too visible in the society.
