Have you ever wondered about the magic and mystery of the animated gif? They’ve been around for quite some time now… a bit like the cockroaches of the internet…but in a good way. Explore how the rose to prominence and remained the top choice for conveying any emotion perfectly. The Story of GIF    ...

China, no friend of the Internet to begin with, is now entertaining provisions that would further restrict free Internet use in the country by making online anonymity virtually impossible. The proposed changes involve updating the country’s “Methods for Governance of Internet Information Services” such that the definition of “Internet information service providers” includes forums and blogs of all kinds. Effectively, this outlaws the use of pseudonyms by forum users or bloggers. China Moving To Force All Bloggers To Use Real Names |...

What is CISPA? CISPA is short for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (H.R. 3523). U.S Reps. Mike J. Rogers (R-Mich.) and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) introduced the bill in the House in November. The bill is designed to bolster cybersecurity by enabling better information sharing between Internet companies and the government. An amended version of the bill passed the House by a 248-168 vote Thursday. What sort of information sharing? CISPA would allow Internet companies, such as Internet service providers, to monitor their networks and to collect, analyze and share information on any user activities that they believe present a threat to their networks. The law would allow companies to share any information “pertaining to the protection” of their networks with the National Security Agency and other federal agencies. In return, federal agencies would share both classified and unclassified cyberthreat information in their possession to help Internet companies bolster their defenses against cyberthreats… FAQ: What you need to know about CISPA –...

One of the world’s largest file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company executives were charged with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said. An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart online piracy. APNewsBreak: US prosecutors shut down one of world’s largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload – The Washington Post. Oh boy…this is kind of a big deal. A HUGE blow after yesterday’s awareness campaign about SOPA and PIPA. This is an example of what can happen to Google, Facebook, Youtube (Youtube especially), really any website that has even a picture of someone without expressed written permission. I’d said that yesterday was blown out of proportion a bit as they don’t really enforce the laws currently in place, but um…just kidding. Now the new question is…what’s the point of SOPA and PIPA if they already have the power to do this? Read...

The tech industry is abuzz about SOPA and PIPA, a pair of anti-piracy bills. Here’s why they’re controversial, and how they would change the digital landscape if they became law. What is SOPA? SOPA is an acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act. It’s a proposed bill that aims to crack down on copyright infringement by restricting access to sites that host pirated content. SOPA’s main targets are “rogue” overseas sites like torrent hub The Pirate Bay, which are a trove for illegal downloads of movies and other digital content. Content creators have battled against piracy for years — remember Napster? — but it’s hard for U.S. companies to take action against foreign sites. So SOPA’s goal is to cut off pirate sites’ oxygen by requiring U.S. search engines, advertising networks and other providers to withhold their services. That means sites like Google wouldn’t show flagged sites in their search results, and payment processors like eBay’s (EBAY, Fortune 500) PayPal couldn’t transmit funds to them. Both sides say they agree that protecting content is a worthy goal. But opponents say that the way SOPA is written effectively promotes censorship and is rife with the potential for unintended consequences. Silicon Valley woke up and took notice of the implications when SOPA was introduced in the House of Representatives in October. But its very similar counterpart, PIPA, flew under the radar and was approved by a Senate committee in May. PIPA is now pending before the full Senate and scheduled for a vote on January 24, though some senators are pushing for a delay. SOPA explained: What it is and why it matters – Jan. 17,...

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