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Facebook blocks anti-Muslim page from India
Facebook has blocked in India the controversial “Everybody draw Mohammed Day!” page that last week led to the site being banned in Pakistan. The move follows protests by Muslims in the country over the page which invites users to put up caricatures of Prophet Mohammed.
“Out of respect for the local regulations, standards and customs, we have decided to restrict access to the ‘Everyone Draw Mohammed!’ page from India, after being contacted by authorities and reviewing the matter closely,” a spokeswoman for Facebook said on Sunday in an email.
We have not removed the Page from Facebook, but have only restricted access to it from India,” she added. Access to Facebook was restricted on Wednesday in Pakistan by the local regulator, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Earlier, a court in the country had instructed the government to block the site. On Thursday, PTA also blocked YouTube, citing sacrilegious content on the video-streaming Web site.
MSI set to launch Windows 7 tablet
Taiwanese laptop-maker Micro-Star International (MSI) plans to launch a Windows 7 tablet PC next week at the Computex Taipei electronics show, after showing off a prototype tablet running Google’s Android mobile software early this year. MSI is now the second major Taiwanese vendor to dump an anticipated Google-based tablet launch at Computex in favor of one with Microsoft Windows 7. Last month, Asustek’s CEO said the company’s first tablet PC, the Eee Pad, will run on Microsoft software instead of a Google OS. Google appears to be having trouble convincing PC makers to use its software, which puts it in a tough position because Taiwanese manufacturers account for the bulk of the world’s computers via contract manufacturing for global companies including Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and others. The island has long been a bastion for Microsoft and Intel, making Google’s job harder.
Irish ISP cuts off music pirates
Irish ISP Eircom launched a three-month pilot program on Monday that will see those who repeatedly share files under copyright cut off from their Internet service. Eircom is implementing the plan as the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) puts further pressure on other Irish ISPs to do the same by taking them to court. Eircom was sued by IRMA, and has reached an out-of-court settlement. Eircom agreed to put in place a so-called three-strikes plan, where those illegal sharing files under copyright are warned and eventually have their access suspended or cut off. Under the new scheme, Eircom will receive lists of the IP addresses of suspected file sharers from Dtecnet, a company that specializes in tracking files illegally distributed online.