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12 Innocent Topics That Britain's New Hyper-Censored Internet Will Probably Block
British Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed the democratized world’s most aggressive anti-porn laws. Unfortunately, in order to restrict access to something as ubiquitous as porn, he’ll likely have to block most of the Internet.
To protect “children and their innocence,” Cameron has proposed new regulations that will filter online porn by default and completely exclude blacklisted terms from search engines. While details are still scant, all new Wi-Fi routers will automatically filter porn, and millions of existing Internet users will have to opt-in through some type of online consent form to access adult material.
Various Internet and child-protection groups have argued that the ban will not disrupt the secret file-sharing networks of pedophiles, or the cultural factors that enable the worst forms of illicit pornography. But the most glaring issue is just how broad censors must be to completely block out something as ubiquitous as porn.
As a happy accident, my Mac broke this week, and I only have access to a stripped-down Safari Internet browser in Apple’s recovery mode. By default, Apple’s strictest parental controls were enabled, and I’ve found myself blocked off from most of the Internet. Here are a few things I can’t search for on Bing.
BLOCKED: “Child Pornography Prevention Programs”
BLOCKED: “Rick Santorum”
BLOCKED: “Weiner Sex Scandal”
BLOCKED: “TechCrunch.com”
BLOCKED: “Dick Costolo” (CEO of Twitter)
BLOCKED: “Jefferson sex with slaves”
BLOCKED: “Tumblr’s porn problem”
BLOCKED: “Sexual reconstructive surgery”
BLOCKED: “How to tell my boyfriend I don’t want to have sex”
BLOCKED: “How to put on a condom”
BLOCKED: “Pussy Riot”
BLOCKED: “Adult Film Industry and expansion of broadband“
Yep, that’s right, Apple blocks this website probably because we occasionally use curse words and have written about sexual issues. It also blocks out Russia’s fiery dissidents, Pussy Riot, scrubs America’s unsavory history, and would effectively block anyone from learning about the CEO of Twitter or a handful of candidates for higher office.
Cameron seems aware of the problem and has hinted at a solution that prompts users for safer alternatives. A query like “child sex” would prompt a pop-up like “Did you mean child sex education?”
The problem with this approach is that the world isn’t PG-13. Politics, business, and personal health regularly intersect with adult issues. The (very) savvy engineers at Apple have already discovered that you have to apply a tourniquet to the First Amendment to effectively block children from seeing naughty pictures.
In fact, I couldn’t even search for the story about Cameron wanting to block porn. I only accessed it because it was on the front page of Google News. Under Cameron’s Internet, I’ll have great difficulty reading about his own policies after it fades from the front pages.
Even if citizens feel comfortable opting in to a porn-friendly Internet in their own homes, they’d still be blocked from airport Wi-Fi, city Wi-Fi and public libraries.
I’m sympathetic to Cameron’s concerns. Porn is not society’s proudest creation. But this has to be the dumbest Internet policy I’ve ever heard of. And I read about this stuff for a living.
Apply Now For The San Diego Meetup + Pitch-Off
The time has come. TechCrunch is coming to San Diego for a night of pitches, drinks and general tomfoolery. And we’re looking for the area’s best undiscovered startups to pitch their revolutionary ideas on our stage. Apply within.
On August 22, TechCrunch is taking over Block 16. Josh Constine, Jordan Crook, Greg Kumparak, and myself are stoked to see San Diego’s best up and coming startups. We’re only in town for a few days, so we’re looking to make this night huge.
General admission tickets are $5 and including drinks. 21 and over only, please.
But this is more than just a meet and drink affair. This is a pitch-off. And as the attendees of our Austin and Seattle’s pitch-offs will likely attest, this is an event you’re not going to want to miss.
We’re looking for the area’s best and brightest young startups to pitch their company or idea to a few TechCrunch editors and local VCs. It’s free to register, and the 30 companies selected will get free admission to the event, as well as some one-on-one time with TC editors earlier in the day.
Best yet, the winners of the pitch-off get a Disrupt SF Startup Alley package that puts them in front of the masses of Silicon Valley’s elite. The runners-up get two tickets to Disrupt SF.
Apply here or in the form below. We’re reviewing applications on a rolling basis so it’s best to apply early. Registration closes on August 16.
San Diego is our latest stop in TechCrunch’s nationwide Meetup + Pitch-Off tour. We were just in Seattle last week and found a bevy of amazing startups nestled in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest. In May, we visited Austin, Texas, and before that, we held the first Pitch-Off of 2013 in front of 1,200 people in New York. We’ll be visiting Boston in November.
Our sponsors help make events happen. If you are interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact our sponsorship team at sponsors@techcrunch.com.
Google Kills Google+ Local For iOS, App Now Pulled From iTunes App Store
According to a report circulating the web, Google is officially retiring its Google+ Local application for iOS as of August 7th. However, as far as we can tell, that app has already been removed from Apple’s iTunes App Store, and links pointing to the app, when clicked, provide the message that “the item you’ve requested is not currently available in the U.S. store.”
The report being cited by a number of publications is based on 9to5Mac’s blog post, which refers an email sent in by a tipster. We’ve also obtained a copy of the email, as well, forwarded to us by Mark Traphagen who had posted about the app’s closure on Google+. (See full email below).
In the email, Google explains that the Google+ Local app on iOS will be retired on August 7th, as the updated version of the Google Maps app can now offer a number of the functions the Local app once provided, including the ability to search by categories of places, read place information, reviews, pricing, and addresses, plus the ability to rate, review and share the places you’ve been to and discover.
In addition, the email says that after August 7th, users would no longer be able to access the Google+ Local app on their iOS device, but any reviews and ratings created would be available on both their Google+ profile and within the Google Maps app for iOS.
However, clicking today on the actual link to the app from a Google Search result or other webpage, is currently broken. In addition, a search inside the iOS App Store for all Google apps shows that the app is no longer available there. (Though we did spot what appears to be a beta test of something called Google Coordinate. What’s that all about?)
9to5Mac’s blog post uses an App Store affiliate link to point to the Google+ Local app, and this is now redirecting users who click to the Google Maps iOS application instead.
We’ve reached out to Google to confirm the situation, but it seem pretty apparent, as is. Google+ Local for iOS is no more, even though it’s not yet August 7th. (Update: Google confirms the app is being retired.)
Though much of the functionality has now made it over to Google Maps, the Local app was useful for its singular focus which made it an easy access tool for local listings. Maps is a more robust, feature-rich application, which doesn’t always work best when you’re in need of speed. But the Local app hadn’t been getting much attention in recent weeks, leading to several negative App Store reviews where users complained. One even said the project “has been put on the back burner” and Google should “just get rid of it.”
And so it seems Google did.
Under the Larry Page era at Google, the company has been busy streamlining its product lineup and areas of development, with a heavy emphasis on its social platform, Google+. Already, Google+ had absorbed Local on the web, but the Google+ iOS app doesn’t yet contain “Local” as an option in the sidebar, which is why the email likely pointed users to the Google Maps flagship application instead of both it and the Google+ app.
Full email below:
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