Moves to restrict online freedom

But now courts in other countries are taking a tough stance in an attempt to gain some semblance of control of the Internet. In one particularly high profile case, an Egyptian judge is seeking to gag 21 Web sites. According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, Abdel Fattah Murad, the chairperson of the Appeals Court in Alexandria, has taken the unusual step of applying to the administrative court for an injunction to close down the sites for allegedly harming the reputation of President Hosni Mubarak. The revelation came on the eve of the opening hearing of Abdel Karim Suleiman\'s appeal against his conviction for insulting Islam and defaming Mubarak. As previously reported in eLaw & Management, the 22-year-old blogger, was arrested last year after posting an entry on his blog hitting out at Cairo\'s al-Azhar University – Sunni Islam\'s highest seat of learning. His imprisonment sparked a chorus of criticism from human rights groups around the world. Full Mail & Guardian Online report

In Turkey, there was a total blackout of YouTube, after several racist videos, allegedly made by Greek youth, appeared on the site. According to a Bit-Tech.net report, Turkish visitors to the online video-sharing site got an interesting surprise. Rather than the usual front page, users instead saw text in bold red letters that read (translated): \'Access to this site has been blocked by a court decision!\' This came after a prosecutor had recommended a temporary countrywide suspension of the site because of an insulting racist video. The video has since been deleted from YouTube\'s servers, but not before it sparked an online video war between the youths of the two countries. Full Bit-Tech.net report

A new law in France makes it a crime for anyone who is not a professional journalist to film real-world violence and to distribute the images on the Internet. Violators will be subject to up to five years in prison and nearly $100 000 in fines. According to a Chron.com report, authorities are attempting to control \'happy slapping\', the youth fad of filming violent acts and spreading the images on the Web or between mobile phones. The measure has alarmed media advocates who say it tramples on freedom of expression. Ligue Odebi, an association that seeks to protect freedom of expression on the Internet, said the measure would also hinder citizens\' abilities to expose police brutality. Full Chron.com report