That's right, Garfield (first strip pictured) turns 34 today. Meanwhile, Western governments, including the United States, appear to be stepping up efforts to censor Internet search results and YouTube videos, according to a transparency report released by Google. It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect - in other words, Western democracies not typically associated with censorship. For example, in the second half of last year, Spanish regulators asked Google to remove 270 search results that linked to blogs and articles in newspapers referencing individuals and public figures, including mayors and public prosecutors. In Poland, Google received a request from a public institution to remove links to a site that criticised it. But, Google stuck to their guns and didn't comply with either of those requests. If they did, then they would just be letting those government types win. Free expression is already under threat as it is. In other news, German sports apparel maker Adidas withdrew its plans to sell a controversial sneaker featuring affixed rubber shackles after the company generated significant criticism when advertising the shoe on it's Facebook page. The high-top sneakers, dubbed the JS Roundhouse Mids, were expected to release in August, according to the Adidas Originals Facebook page. "Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?" a caption below a photo of the sneakers read. The June 14 post prompted plenty of criticism from around the web, with many of those commenting saying they felt the shackle invoked the painful image of slavery.
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19 June 2012
Happy 34th birthday, Garfield
That's right, Garfield (first strip pictured) turns 34 today. Meanwhile, Western governments, including the United States, appear to be stepping up efforts to censor Internet search results and YouTube videos, according to a transparency report released by Google. It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect - in other words, Western democracies not typically associated with censorship. For example, in the second half of last year, Spanish regulators asked Google to remove 270 search results that linked to blogs and articles in newspapers referencing individuals and public figures, including mayors and public prosecutors. In Poland, Google received a request from a public institution to remove links to a site that criticised it. But, Google stuck to their guns and didn't comply with either of those requests. If they did, then they would just be letting those government types win. Free expression is already under threat as it is. In other news, German sports apparel maker Adidas withdrew its plans to sell a controversial sneaker featuring affixed rubber shackles after the company generated significant criticism when advertising the shoe on it's Facebook page. The high-top sneakers, dubbed the JS Roundhouse Mids, were expected to release in August, according to the Adidas Originals Facebook page. "Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?" a caption below a photo of the sneakers read. The June 14 post prompted plenty of criticism from around the web, with many of those commenting saying they felt the shackle invoked the painful image of slavery.
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