Turkey criticized for blocking access to websites By Yigal Schleifer Oct 9, 2009, 2:08 GMT Istanbul – For Turkish internet users, it’s an image that’s becoming increasingly familiar: at many websites, instead of a homepage, what they find is a short notice telling them the site has been blocked by order of law. YouTube, the popular video sharing website, has…
On 22 September 2009 I estimated that access to at least 6000 websites are blocked from Turkey. That was followed by the infamous blocking decisions involving both myspace.com and Last.fm from Turkey. During this weekend we had further cases of access blocking from Turkey. (Article by Doç. Dr. Yaman Akdeniz, 04.10.2009 – Updated on 08.10.2009) First, yesterday morning (Saturday, 03…
Yaman Akdeniz, an Associate Professor of law at the Faculty of Law, Istanbul Bilgi University today (29 September, 2009) made an appeal to the Beyoğlu Criminal Court of Peace to overturn the blocking decision involving both myspace.com and Last.fm from Turkey. The blocking decision was enforced by the Turkish ISPs since Friday, 18 September, 2009 by the order of the…
MÜYAP: No Intention to Block Access to Last FM and MySpace: “MÜYAP chairman Forta claimed: ‘Ownership rights are stolen, we fight for our right. Turkish law blocked access to the websites’. Forta argued that MÜYAP agreed with MySpace and that the site can be accessed again within a few days.” (Via Bianet :: English.)
Copyright Protection Without Harm to Freedom of Speech: “In the course of the discussion of blocked access to the entire contents of MySpace, RSF pointed out that the Turkish Internet legislation violates the European Convention for Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.” (Via Bianet :: English.)
Since the Law No. 5651 entitled Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of Such Publication came into force in November 2007, access to a considerable number of foreign websites including popular websites such as YouTube, Geocities, DailyMotion, WordPress, Google Groups, and Google Sites have been blocked from Turkey under the provisions of this…
As of Friday, 18 September, 2009 access to popular social networks Myspace and Last.fm are blocked from Turkey. The blocking order is issued by the Beyoğlu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office (order not 2009/45 dated 26.06.2009). It is suspected that both sites are blocked because of “intellectual property infringements” following a request by Mu-yap, the Turkish Phonographic Industry Society. It is…
Fingerprint plan for ID cards raises debate: “Fingerprint plan for ID cards raises debate ANKARA – A draft bill that anticipates the use of fingerprints on national identity cards for adult citizens has sparked controversy among Turkish lawmakers. According to the draft bill, which was approved by the parliamentary planning and budget commission, a biometrical fingerprint will be included on…
Turkey’s YouTube Ban Is Cause For Concern – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2009 July 08, 2009, By Claire Berlinski Very few people in Turkey are exercised by the YouTube blackout, now in its second year. Despite the ban, the video-sharing site is believed to be the ninth most popular site in Turkey. Almost every Internet user —…
“GoogleSites” Hit by Turkey’s Censorship: “A court in Denizli has banned access to GoogleSites, which contains thousands of sites. The reason for the ban is not known.” Istanbul – BİA News Center 30 June 2009, Tuesday GoogleSites allows users to create their own websites, and there are thus thousands of sites available. Now the 2nd Criminal Court of Peace in…