banned

Toads cause warts; new clothes on Easter bring good luck; and Google penalizes sites for having full RSS feeds. MentalFloss.com issued a "never mind" on that last superstition after Matt Cutts dropped a little science. Pay any attention at all in this industry and you'll find desperate Web marketers and publishers grasping at any explanation of why their site has suddenly been delisted from Google's search rankings. As all of us know, that's the Power of the Goog.

Internet users in the UK who go online and illegally download music and movies could have their Internet access revoked according to plans the government is considering. A draft proposal says that Internet service providers would have to monitor users who accessed pirated content through their accounts. The government says that plans are in an early stage and it is working on final regulations. Six million users a year are estimated to download files illegally in the UK and music and film companies say it is costing them millions in lost revenue annually.

So another college professor has banned Wikipedia (and Google). Oh, woe is me. The world is ending. Oh, the stifling of creative thought at institutions of higher learning these days. Censorship! Censorship! Whatever.

Twitter apparently makes it too easy to find out your country sucks. Following the fates of Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, BoingBoing and presumably others, Twitter is no longer accessible in the United Arab Emirates.

Due to a block put in place by the Dutch Ministry of Justice, 30,000 people can’t use Wikipedia at work.  Yet, while it’s a bit startling to hear the development phrased like that, the move may not be entirely unreasonable.

The internet tax freedom act has been extended another 7 years. It was down to the wire, but the vote was unanimous. The House passed the bill that the Senate passed last week. It passed 402-0. The current law was going to expire in two days. It’s expected that President Bush will sign it into law.

Netvertise, Inc. and owner Elliot Krasnow were banned for life from promoting or selling franchises or business opportunities by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC alleges the company violated federal law by selling franchises for Website design, promotion services, and SEO software under false claims.

Two weeks ago, the world found out that the U.S. Army had placed extensive new restrictions on soldiers’ blogs.  Now the book of Colby Buzzell, a former machine gunner, has won an international contest - and Buzzell’s book is based on his blog.  Oh, the irony.