[x-pubpol] Massive crackdowns on Internet freedoms in some Arab countries?

[Joly MacFie]

(via NNsquad)

Mandatory life sentences in Iraq!

http://j.mp/H4W6x7  (Economist)

   "A BILL on "information-technology crimes" with extraordinarily broad
    wording and harsh punishments is due to come before Iraq's parliament
    in April, once the dignitaries and television cameras at this week's
    Arab League summit in Baghdad have departed.  The bill is one of four
    proposed laws that could severely restrict basic freedoms. (A fifth,
    on journalists, was passed last summer.)  Access Now, a human-rights
    group with a focus on technology, has a report on it out today.
    According to an English translation from last August, it includes
    mandatory life sentences for using computers or the internet to
    "compromise" the "unity" of the state (Article 3), promote "ideas
    which are disruptive to public order" (Article 4), or engage in
    "trafficking, promoting or facilitating the abuse of drugs" (Article
     5), which could include merely blogging about them."

-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
 http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
 VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
--------------------------------------------------------------
-
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.isoc-ny.org/pipermail/x-pubpol-isoc-ny.org/attachments/20120329/0cc0800e/attachment-0001.htm>