The violence and rioting in Egypt, Libya and other Arab countries has put Google squarely in the cross hairs when it comes to issues of online censorship and availability of content. White House officials have conceded that they asked Google officials to review whether an anti-Islamic video posted on YouTube violated the site's terms of service. Google also blocked access to the video in Egypt, Libya, and other countries that requested it be made available. Two senior Senate Democrats, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, and Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, argue the company should voluntarily take down the video everywhere. GOP Senate Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire countered that such a move would amount to censorship.
As a private company, Google can decide what content its users distribute. The company has tried to walk a balancing act as it expands internationally, respecting the laws of the nations where it operates, including removing access to content that would be blasphemous under the laws of certain countries. But the White House request raises real concerns about censorship. While the Obama administration didn't explicitly request the video be taken down, just the suggestion is reminiscent of the pressure placed on PayPal, Visa and others to stop providing services to WikiLeaks.
Regardless of the reception, the video is protected speech under the U.S. Constitution. If the government can quietly "suggest" to private companies that they remove content or otherwise suppress free speech that has proven problematic abroad, then foreign companies and citizens have no reason to expect their dealings with Google and other U.S. Web companies will be free of government interference. With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton loudly proclaiming that Internet freedom is one of America's top priorities, a hands-off approach at home seems the basic requirement for avoiding the appearance of hypocrisy by the Obama administration.
SBINet Replacement Coming Together: The Department of Homeland Security is in the process of assembling a replacement for the "virtual fence" program for the Southwest Border that was dropped in 2010. Since scrapping SBINet, DHS had hoped to depend on off-the-shelf technology instead of developing a custom system. Since then, DHS has bought many of the smaller pieces of the new system, and is testing larger mobile surveillance systems with the expectation they will come online soon. However, it will take some time before bids for remote cameras and fixed radar towers have been processed and evaluated. FEMA Says New Mobile Alerts Are Ready: The House passed a bill (HR 2903) on Wednesday that would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to modernize the disaster warning system to include media beyond TV and radio. However, FEMA officials say they're already there, and have created a single system for pushing out alerts through radio, TV, cell phones, pagers, web browsers, mobile applications and local systems such as digital road signs. All of the major wireless providers are compatible with the system's common alerting protocol standard, which is so easy to use that even some companies are using it to populate their storefront signs. Q & A: Michael Beckerman is president of the Internet Association, the new trade group that launched last week to represent Google, Amazon, Facebook and other Web companies. Here's a quick rundown from Beckerman on his organization's goals. CRS Report: The FCC's Current Structure and Role in a Changing Telecom Landscape Lawmakers Unveil Radio Royalty Bill: Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., teamed up with Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Jared Polis, D-Colo., to introduce a bill that would standardize and likely lower the royalties paid by Internet radio stations to bring them in line with those paid by satellite and cable radio services. The bill has the backing of the digital radio network Pandora. Panel Backs Current Web Governance Structure: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted last week to back the current, multistakeholder model of governance for the Internet. The resolution, which closely tracks one passed by the House last month, is an indication that Congress is united against a potential power grab for control over the Web by the United Nation's International Telecommunications Union at its December Meeting in Dubai.