Techdirt. Stories filed under "turkey"

Double Blow Against Freedom Of Speech For Twitter Users In Turkey

Glyn Moody — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:29:00 PDT

Techdirt has written a few times about Turkey's difficult relationship with new technology. Unfortunately, it looks like that now includes Twitter, as two troubling decisions against users have been handed down recently. Here's the first, as reported by the Turkish Web site Hürriyet Daily News:

Model Nilay Dorsa had filed a criminal complaint against Tolga Çam who posted a tweet mentioning Dorsa with "offensive content" in November 2011.

…

The court board said Çam committed revilement crime by expressing his personal thoughts over Twitter and sharing them with public, considering Twitter as a media platform for the first time in Turkey.

That sets a bad precedent, since it means that writing on Twitter is now regarded as akin to publishing in a newspaper or magazine, with correspondingly severe punishments. Indeed, only a few days later, the same argument was made when a suspended 10-month sentence for "insulting religious beliefs held by a section of the society" was imposed on the well-known Turkish pianist Fazil Say. According to another story in Hürriyet Daily News, the sentence was increased massively because he "published" his thoughts on Twitter: Say was initially handed eight months for "committing and insisting on committing a crime" before the court tacked on an additional four years because the artist voiced the insult through "a mode of publication."
Fortunately, the sentence was then reduced to 10 months, and suspended, but made subject to a five-year supervision period, during which time it could still be imposed. A similar three-year supervision was imposed on Çam in the case involving Nilay Dorsa, establishing a clear pattern that is likely to have a chilling effect on the use of Twitter in Turkey.

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Now US Wants Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement With European Union To Include Turkey: Who's Next?

Glyn Moody — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:08:32 PDT

Last week we wrote about the important news that Mexico is asking to join what began as a bilateral trade agreement between the US and Europe, with the suggestion that Canada might follow suit. Now, via @FFII, we learn that even before Mexico's announcement, the US has been encouraging other countries to join:

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday US Secretary of State John Kerry wanted Turkey to be included in Transatlantic Free-Trade Area (TAFTA).

Davutoglu said they would follow closely the process of Turkey's inclusion in TAFTA.

As with Mexico's application, it would seem that the European Union doesn't get any choice in the matter. But what's really interesting here is that it confirms the impression that the US is keen to build out TAFTA to include many more countries, including some far from the Atlantic that originally defined it. The big question is now: who's next on the list?

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European Court Of Human Rights Reinforces Right To Access Online Content

Glyn Moody — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 03:42:56 PST

Back in 2010, Techdirt reported on Turkey's habit of blocking Google over certain holdings on its various sites. Mostly these were YouTube videos it took exception to, but other services were banned too. An earlier case, from 2009, received less attention at the time, but has now led to a precedent-setting ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that could have a big impact on future cases in Europe, and maybe even beyond.

The case was brought by a Turkish PhD student named Ahmet Yildirim, who complained that he had faced "collateral censorship" when his Web pages hosted on Google Site were shut down by the authorities in 2009 as a result of a court action aimed at another set of pages held there. Open Society Foundations, which had filed a brief with the European Court of Human Rights in support of the applicant's claim, explains the background:

Yildirim's academically-focused site was blocked by the Turkish regulator, TiM, as a result of a court injunction that ordered it to close down local access to the entire Google Sites domain. The move was supposedly aimed at a single website hosted by Google which included content deemed offensive to the memory of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, in breach of Turkish law.

Yildirim's appeals against the injunction were turned down by the Turkish courts, which argued that the blanket ban was reasonable because it was not possible for the authorities to block a single Google-hosted site.

In its judgment, the ECHR noted that the regulator had not attempted to contact Google to seek the closure of the offending site, and that the 2007 law that allowed the regulator to close down foreign-hosted sites did not permit blocking an entire domain such as Google Sites.

As this makes clear, the problem was the over-blocking that resulted in all Google Sites being taken down, even though only one of them was accused of insulting modern Turkey's founder. The court's judgment (pdf) explains that such blocks are only compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights if they fulfil various strict conditions: The Court reiterated that a restriction on access to a source of information was only compatible with the Convention if a strict legal framework was in place regulating the scope of a ban and affording the guarantee of judicial review to prevent possible abuses. However, when the Denizli Criminal Court had decided to block all access to Google Sites, it had simply referred to an opinion from the TiB without ascertaining whether a less far-reaching measure could have been taken to block access specifically to the site in question. The Court further observed that there was no indication that the Criminal Court had made any attempt to weigh up the various interests at stake, in particular by assessing whether it had been necessary to block all access to Google Sites. In the Court's view, this shortcoming was a consequence of the domestic law, which did not lay down any obligation for the courts to examine whether the wholesale blocking of Google Sites was justified. The courts should have had regard to the fact that such a measure would render large amounts of information inaccessible, thus directly affecting the rights of Internet users and having a significant collateral effect.
The broader importance of this decision is explained in a comment quoted by the Open Society Foundations press release: Darian Pavli, a lawyer at the Justice Initiative who worked on the submission, said: "This is the first ruling by an international tribunal on wholesale blocking of internet content, and a very significant precedent. The court made clear that access to online content is a fundamental right, and that it can only be restricted in exceptional cases, subject to full judicial review."
Although there is a three-month period in which the ruling can be appealed, the fact that the court's verdict was unanimous among the seven judges, one of whom is from Turkey, suggests that any such appeal is unlikely to stand much chance of overturning this important decision.

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So Long And Thanks For All The Turkey Patents

Leigh Beadon — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:00:00 PST

Here in Canada, we gave our proverbial thanks over a month ago, and since all the Americans at Techdirt have taken off for the weekend, I thought I'd take a moment to put together some advice on preparing a great Thanksgiving turkey—with a little help from the USPTO.

If you're tired of the traditional roast, maybe it's time to try a more creative preparation—just be careful you don't run afoul of any patents. Here's an idea: with some skilled knife-work, you can slice a turkey into pieces that resemble various cuts of steak—and that method will only be under patent for another five years!

There are lots of unique recipes out there that call for a deboned turkey. For the inexperienced, it's probably wise to ask your butcher to do this for you—just make sure he doesn't use this method until 2022:

Luckily, there are plenty of open alternatives for the patent-savvy chef. Who needs those fancy new turkey cutlets when you can use this classic "method of preparing turkey ... in the form of a flat elongated slice or slices of raw fowl free from bones, tendons, membranes and skin." Mmmmmm. This patent was granted back in the 60s, so it's long since expired:

Or you could try this "method of preparing barbecued poultry such as turkey which closely simulates barbecued pork", patented in the early 70s and now free for all to follow in handy flow-chart form:

And finally, for the vegetarian in your life (assuming they prefer a lump of vaguely meat-shaped tofu to a nice falafel or something), there's this "method and apparatus for preparing a roast turkey analog (replica) from vegetarian ingredients". A patent was applied for in 2005, but appears not to have been granted...yet. Patents are retroactive to the date of filing, so only use this method if you want to gamble on the USPTO rejecting silly patents (then come play poker with me). All you need to do is make yourself what appears to be some kind of turkey mould, or possibly the sunken city of R'lyeh:

This is an exciting time, with much to be thankful for! Who knows what bold new turkey innovations the patent system will fuel next? A turkey-shaped gravy boat? A way of pulling the bones out from a different angle? A recipe where the sauce goes on after the broth? A toy turkey made out of a pine cone? Ooh, that's a good idea—I should call up the USPTO and... oh, never mind, some other Leigh beat me to it in 1927.

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DailyDirt: Turkey Turkey Turkey

Michael Ho — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:00:00 PST

It's almost Thanksgiving (here in the US at least), and the traditional meal for this holiday is the humble turkey. So here are a few links about turkeys that might be informative or entertaining if this is your first time cooking a large bird. Have a fun (and safe) Thanksgiving, everybody!

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) continues to deny a safety certification for any turkey fryers because they're so dangerous if used incorrectly. UL even states that the risks are not worth a great-tasting bird. [url]
Turkeys have been known to "attack" people when taunted. Wild turkeys make lousy house pets. [url]
There are a lot of meaningless food labels for turkeys -- such as "all natural" or "minimally-processed." But if it's labelled "fresh" that actually means the turkey has not been cooled below 26 degrees Fahrenheit and has not been fully frozen. [url]
Alton Brown has a Thanksgiving turkey recipe that promotes the benefits of brining. Alton can't guarantee that you won't overcook your turkey, but brining increases the odds that a cooked turkey won't turn out dry. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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Will Arresting 'Anonymous' Members Help Or Hurt Anonymous?

Mike Masnick — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:34:09 PDT

I'm on record as saying that I think the activist hacking by groups like Anonymous, designed to take down websites in protest, are not particularly smart or useful. I will admit, however, that I'm surprised at how effective they've been in drawing additional media attention to certain stories, and how they really have helped drive two particular stories forward (the ACS:Law situation in the UK, and the HBGary Federal story in the US). And while I still don't think it's a particularly effective overall strategy, I must say that I find the whole effort (and similar efforts from "groups" like Lulz Security) fascinating. I've also pointed out that what may be even more interesting is how traditional law enforcement and governments can't really grasp what they're dealing with.

I think that point may be driven home with two separate governments claiming success in "arresting" Anonymous members. Spain got some attention for supposedly arresting three "Anonymous" members late last week, and then Turkey also got some attention for arresting "32 members."

If these individuals were involved in actual criminal activities, then the arrests are perfectly reasonable. But if these governments actually understood what was going on, and actually understood what they were dealing with, they wouldn't have said they were arresting members of "Anonymous," which is hardly a group anyway, and the word "member" is misleading. Taking a traditional top down approach, these governments think that by announcing that they've "arrested Anonymous members," they're likely to scare people off from being a part of Anonymous. It's very much speculation on my part, but knowing the sort of people involved, my guess is that it's having exactly the opposite response. By presenting the people arrested as being a part of Anonymous, these governments are glorifying Anonymous, and adding to the allure. And the arrests are unlikely to scare off too many actual participants, since they quite likely think that they are better at covering their tracks... and as things move along, that will likely be true.

These governments could have easily arrested people and charged them with hacking without making the connection back to Anonymous. Making such statements is like responding to trolls on internet forums. It's tough to resist sometimes, but it only encourages more such activity. And, of course, just as with trolls, this sort of thing really only plays into exactly what Anonymous wants. It builds up the group's own profile, increases the very necessary mythology, and likely improves the efforts to do more such activities (while protecting participants even more).

In a world with increasingly distributed power, Anonymous and others are really a precursor to what's coming down the road, demonstrating how certain forms of activism really don't work the way people in power expect them to. I don't agree with their specific tactics, but I'm fascinated by their ability (intended or not) to get companies and governments to play right into their strategy.

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New Internet Censorship Plans Lead To Protests In Turkey

Mike Masnick — Mon, 16 May 2011 21:57:00 PDT

We've discussed in the past how out of touch the bureaucracy is in Turkey when it comes to censoring the internet. Over the past few years, we've seen Turkey ban (repeatedly) various Google sites, with YouTube frequently being blocked across the board over a single childish video. Bureaucrats have defended the blocks, claiming that it's about "respect" and they're not worried about how others feel about it. Yet, as the government has announced plans for further censorship, in the form of filters and restrictions on domains, thousands are apparently taking to the streets to protest, speaking out against such attempts. The government is trying to play down the new efforts, claiming they're not really about censorship, and will be voluntary, but when asked how that fit with bans on certain domain names (e.g., you cannot have a domain name with the word "blonde" in it), the Turkish regulator (BTK) just sent the Wall Street Journal reporter "an email with a dozen of the rudest words in the Turkish lexicon, without comment or explanation." Well, that clears it right up, then.

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Turkey Overreacts Yet Again: Bans All Of Blogspot Because Of Copyright Infringement On A Few Blogs

Mike Masnick — Tue, 8 Mar 2011 01:05:35 PST

We've discussed at length Turkey's absolutely ridiculous on again/off again bans on YouTube and other Google sites due to a single example of content that the government doesn't like. Now it appears to be doing it again. The government has now banned all of Google's blog hosting operation, Blogspot, because there are a few blogs out there that are embedding or linking to streaming versions of satellite TV provider Digiturk's TV shows. This is not the first time that the government has banned Blogspot over the identical issue. Seriously, go back and read that post from over two years ago, where it yet again involves Digiturk complaining about Blogspot because some users posted links to unauthorized streams of Turkish football matches. It didn't work last time, why does anyone think it makes sense this time around?

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Turkey Looks To Copyright Its National Anthem After German Collection Society Tries To Collect Royalties For It

Mike Masnick — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:42:00 PST

In general, we're no fan of collection societies, which have some pretty serious unintended consequences, often harming up and coming musicians while funneling money to the largest acts. However, I can't recall a collection society as aggressive and as expansionist as GEMA in Germany. When I was in Germany earlier this year, I had multiple musicians tell me how all-controlling GEMA is. Basically, if you want to use GEMA for just about anything, you effectively abdicate pretty much all of your rights to your music to GEMA. Two separate musicians showed me how they had secret websites where fans could download their music, because GEMA wouldn't let them give away their own music for free under a Creative Commons license.

So, I'm not too surprised to hear reports that the Turkish government is now scrambling to try to copyright its own national anthem after hearing that GEMA tried to collect royalties on it. The story is a bit confusing but it appears that GEMA, in standard collection society fashion, demanded that a Turkish school in Germany pay up for performing music. The school responded that the only music that was performed was the Turkish national anthem. This is where some of the dispute comes in. It appears that GEMA believes other covered music was also performed, and its asking for royalties from that and saying it never meant to collect for the Turkish national anthem. However, the school insists that was the only song performed -- so it went to the Turkish Culture Minister to ask for help. At that point, the Turkish government realized that there simply was no copyright on the song.

Now, here's where the Turkish government also went wrong. It could have just declared the Turkish national anthem in the public domain and told GEMA to shove off. But, instead, it took the backwards-looking step of trying to retroactively copyright the national anthem. Of course, that may open up a different can of worms. The report at Spiegel notes that, technically, the heirs of the songwriter (who died in 1958) might actually be more entitled to the copyright and any royalties than the Turkish government.

So, by rushing to secure the copyright, Turkey may end up with more trouble on its hands. It's difficult to believe that a copyright makes sense for any national anthem. Just put it in the public domain and let anyone sing it.

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Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over Turkey Cooking Instructions

Mike Masnick — Thu, 2 Dec 2010 07:40:12 PST

Thanksgiving may be over, but right before the holiday, Greenberg Smoked Turkeys (which, as you might guess, sells turkeys) sued competitor Goode-Cook for copyright infringement, claiming that the following bit of turkey care instructions violated its copyright:

Our turkeys arrive at your door ready to eat. Refrigerate immediately. The turkey will keep in the refrigerator for 6-8 days. If you do not plan to use it in that length of time, it should be frozen.

We recommend that our turkeys are eaten chilled or at room temperature -- just slice and enjoy!

If heating is required, follow these instructions: place turkey in a Reynolds® Oven Bag, which can be bought at your local grocer. Do not add flour to the bag. Cut 6 to 7 small slits in the top of the bag. Heat at 300 degrees for 6 minutes per pound.

What's unclear from the complaint (which we've included after the jump) is whether or not Greenberg actually registered the copyright on this. If it did not, it would greatly limit the likelihood of this lawsuit getting anywhere. It's also not clear if Goode-Cook copied the whole thing or part of it, as the "exhibit" is not included. It actually took a bit of searching, but I think I found the actual website for Goode, and I don't see those instruction anywhere (in fact, there's an entirely different set of instructions), but it's possible that the originals were taken down following the lawsuit.

Of course, the bigger question is whether or not the text above is actually copyrightable. As has been discussed numerous times, you can't copyright a recipe, but might be able to protect "substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions." The question is whether the statements above qualify as "substantial literary expression," beyond just the basic factual description. There might be a few parts where it strays into such territory, but it seems like a very thin amount of copyright coverage there. Furthermore, is there really any argument that the use of this text in any way harms Greenberg? That seems like an even bigger stretch. This seems like a lawsuit based on anger rather than a legitimate copyright claim.

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As Expected, Turkey's YouTube Ban Is Back On

Mike Masnick — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 17:05:27 PDT

Can't say this one was a surprise. In discussing the lifting of the ban on YouTube in Turkey earlier this week, we pointed out that officials claimed that "common sense prevailed," but they didn't mean the sort of common sense that many of us thought: they lifted the ban because they thought (incorrectly) that YouTube was willing to censor content on their behalf. But, that's not the case, and the video was only taken down due to a bogus copyright claim.

The video has since been reinstated... and so has the ban. The latest ban, however, is not about that same video, but a different video that a Turkish court found objectionable, which gives even more reasons to suggest that YouTube is going to remain mostly banned in Turkey for a long time. Every time someone finds an "objectionable" video, the entire site gets blocked? Yeah, don't expect to view much YouTube in Turkey.

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Turkey Lifts YouTube Ban... But Only After Someone Made Questionable Copyright Claim On 'Offending' Video

Mike Masnick — Mon, 1 Nov 2010 07:04:33 PDT

It's been years since Turkey "banned" access to YouTube in the country, after some (apparently Greek) users uploaded a video making fun of the country's founder, Ataturk (which is considered a crime in Turkey). The ban has been considered ridiculous by nearly everyone. Earlier this year, reporters started speaking up about how stupid the ban was, followed by Turkey's own President, Abdullah Gul, complaining about the bans (via Twitter of all places), saying that he was against the ban on YouTube (and other parts of Google) and had asked the "responsible institutions for a solution." The issue, apparently is that the bans come from a different part of the government -- one that is highly bureaucratic, with a person who heads the (I kid you not) "Ataturk Thought Association," claiming that the block is "about respect" for Ataturk and saying that she is "not bothered by the impact of the court decision."

However, over the weekend the news came out that the YouTube ban has been lifted, with a bureaucrat in charge saying that "common sense prevailed." At first, you might agree... until you read further. It appears by "common sense prevailed" -- he doesn't mean that the bureaucrats realized how ridiculous it is to ban an entire website based on one immature video uploaded by random users... but in that the video had been taken down off of YouTube. That's because after saying that, he also said:

"I hope that they have also learned from this experience and the same thing will not happen again. YouTube will hopefully carry out its operations in Turkey within the limits of law in the future."

So... what happened to the video? Well, it's been taken down, but YouTube has stated that it had nothing to do with the takedown directly. Instead, YouTube is claiming that the video was taken down after someone made a copyright claim on the video, which resulted in the video being automatically pulled. However, YouTube is now "investigating whether this action is valid in accordance with our copyright policy." Of course, the likely answers is that it is not. It's doubtful that the guys who made and uploaded the video made a copyright claim on their own video, so it seems likely that someone made a bogus copyright claim and got the video taken down (it's also potentially possible that something in the video violated someone else's copyright, but no one seems to have suggested that). That could mean that the video will go back up shortly, and Turkey might just go back to banning YouTube again.

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People In Turkey Quite Angry Over Google Blockade; While Bureaucrats Defend Policy

Mike Masnick — Tue, 6 Jul 2010 02:36:58 PDT

We've written a few times about Turkey's odd thinking on blocking access to large parts of Google, in part over some YouTube videos and partly over a tax dispute. We also noted that Turkey's own President indicated he was upset about the block and would look to get it lifted. The BBC has a much more detailed article on the situation, where it explains that the laws for blocking such websites are so convoluted and unclear, that it's often not even clear who decided to ban what and for what reason. For example, no one's even sure why Google was really banned this time around, as there are conflicted explanations. But the key point is summarized in these paragraphs:

There are two different Turkeys talking here.

There is Istanbul, buzzing with entrepreneurial activity and cultural life, where people aspire to European levels of wealth and freedom.

And there is the capital Ankara, a city of bureaucrats, the centre of military and political power. Ankara is where nearly all the internet restrictions emanate.

The article highlights journalists and businesses who are greatly harmed by the blocks, including one company who had signed up to use Google's infrastructure for their email... and now can't access their own email accounts. The reporter then goes to talk to the head of the "Ataturk Thought Association" (how's that for an Orwellian name?), which is apparently responsible for many of the blocks, as it seeks to block access to any video that it feels insults Turkey's founding father, Ataturk. She doesn't seem to care if anyone or any business is inconvenienced. To her, blocking access to such videos is much more important:

"For us Ataturk is a symbol of democracy and women's emancipation", she says. "This is about respect for him. I am not bothered by the impact of the court decision."

Of course, as part of democracy and women's emancipation, doesn't it help to have widespread access to tools of communication... like YouTube?

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Turkish President Uses Twitter To Complain About His Own Gov't's Censorship Of Google

Mike Masnick — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:35:00 PDT

We've noted that Turkey has repeatedly banned YouTube, and more recently a bunch of other Google properties. The YouTube ban came from the courts. It's still not clear what resulted in the wider Google blocks. A bunch of reporters have protested the censorship, noting how bad it makes Turkey look. And, apparently, they have support from Turkey's President. Various news publications are reporting that Turkish President Abdullah Gul used Twitter to say that he doesn't agree with the bans and has asked officials to look for ways to get rid of them.

None of the press reports I can find link to the Twitter account, but I'm assuming (risky?) that these news publications (including The Guardian (above), the Associated Press and Reuters) actually confirmed that the account is real. According to Reuters, in a series of Tweets, Gul said:

"I know there are lots of complaints about bans on YouTube and Google."

"I am definitely against them being closed down. I have ordered responsible institutions for a solution. I asked for a change in regulations on merit."

What's next? Whoever blocked Google will now block Twitter as well?

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Turkey Keeps Banning More And More Of Google

Mike Masnick — Tue, 8 Jun 2010 04:59:59 PDT

Turkey seems to have a problem with Google and its services. The country has issued multiple bans of YouTube, which has resulted in plenty of criticism from the tech press in the country. Also banned was Google's Blogger service, because a Turkish TV service was upset that some Blogger users posted links to unauthorized streams of Turkish football matches. Now, Slashdot points us to the news that Turkey has apparently banned a whole bunch of Google IP addresses with no explanation. Among the services banned: translate.google.com, books.google.com, tools.google.com, docs.google.com, AppEngine, Feedburner and Google Analytics. Given how many other sites rely on things like Google Analytics and Feedburner, you have to wonder if folks in Turkey are having a lot of trouble reaching many sites these days.

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Turkish Reporters Finally Point Out That The Gov't Should Drop Its Silly YouTube Ban

Mike Masnick — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:11:00 PST

Turkish courts have been really quick to ban various websites for flimsy reasons. A few years ago it went back and forth a few times before banning YouTube entirely, just because of a juvenile video on the site. However, it's now been nearly two years since the last YouTube ban was put in place, and it hasn't been lifted. Apparently, a bunch of Turkish reporters are now realizing how bad this looks for Turkey, and are asking the country to fix things and reinstate YouTube. Apparently, there have been numerous blog protests in the past, but now mainstream reporters are taking up the cause as well.

We as Turkish technology journalists have stressed the importance of a free Internet over and over again. Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review did a remarkable job by documenting non-censored computers for the use of the IMF and World Bank delegations during their summit this summer. We said it was not a clever move to try to hide something you are ashamed of, especially if the rest of the world knows about it. The fact that Iran is on the same level as Turkey in terms of free Internet is a shame on the politicians of a free, democratic society. Just as Iran, Turkey would like to create a national search engine and a national Internet, which is an oxymoron to many.

Also interesting, is the claim that the Prime Minister has admitted that he has "changed [his] DNS settings [to] access YouTube..." which certainly suggests that pretty much everyone recognizes this ban is completely pointless, and seems to only serve the purpose of making Turkey look bad.

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Batman, The City, Sues Over Batman, The Movie

Mike Masnick — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:11:00 PST

Another day, another ridiculous intellectual property fight. Remember Lebanon claiming ownership over hummus? This is worse. Apparently, there's a city in Turkey named Batman. Guess what they're now claiming? You got it. They believe that the Batman movies are violating the rights to the name, and are threatening to sue Chris Nolan, who directed the last two Batman movies. Apparently the town is facing some financial difficulties, and a reporter jokingly (I hope) asked the mayor why he didn't sue over the name, and the mayor took it seriously.

Of course, beyond the sheer ridiculousness of it all, it's not clear why they're suing Chris Nolan, rather than DC Comics or Warner Bros., but that's apparently the plan. You have to believe that any actual lawsuit will get laughed out of court pretty quickly, but it is rather telling that a mayor would even consider such a lawsuit. That's what happens when you get people believing that "ownership" of names makes sense.

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Perhaps Turkey Should Just Ban The Entire Internet

Mike Masnick — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:32:00 PDT

It would appear that the Turkish government and courts are a bit trigger happy when it comes to flat-out banning websites for almost no reason at all. In the past, we've reported on Turkish bans on YouTube, Slide, Wordpress.com and Google Groups. Now, via Slashdot, we see that a Turkish court has banned all of Google's Blogger service including all of the blogs hosted at blogspot.com. Unlike the bans of the other sites, which happened after people who were offended by content found on each complained, it appears that the Blogger ban was due to a Turkish TV service, Digiturk, which was upset that some Blogger users were posting links to unauthorized streams of Turkish football matches.

Yes, you read that correctly. Because a few bloggers had linked to (not even hosted) some unauthorized streams of a sporting event, Digiturk was able to ban all of Blogger. At this point, you have to wonder why Turkey allows the internet at all.

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Turkey Bans Richard Dawkins' Website, Because It Offends A Creationist

Mike Masnick — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:35:10 PDT

We already know that Turkish officials have a pretty quick trigger finger when it comes to banning certain websites. They've banned YouTube multiple times due to videos they found offensive, and then banned Slide, a multimedia hosting company as well. Still, it's a bit surprising to discover that now they've banned the website of Richard Dawkins after a Turkish creationist complained that the site had insulted him. Apparently, this guy, Adnan Oktar, has become quite successful at getting sites blocked in Turkey. In the past, he also got Wordpress.com and Google Groups blocked after he became upset at content found on both of those sites. And, even better, he claims he's not against free speech, he's just against insults. And, apparently, anyone who disagrees with him is insulting.

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Turkish Officials Never Learn: Ban Slide Along With YouTube

Mike Masnick — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:39:37 PDT

It would appear that Turkish officials don't seem to understand quite how the internet works these days -- despite having received quite a few lessons already. After all, this is the country that has banned YouTube for a sophomoric video making fun of the country's founder. It's the type of silly video no one would pay attention to... until Turkey decided to block access to all of YouTube because of it. Then, of course, this silly little video that no one cared about was seen everywhere. Eventually Turkey lifted the ban, but having learned nothing put the ban back in place not just once, but two more times. Each time, it provided much more attention to the silly pointless videos. Apparently, that message has not gotten through to Turkish authorities who have now banned the multimedia hosting site Slide as well. Again, they didn't bother to inform Slide or even ask the company to take down the offending content. They just banned the entire site over some content that very few people had probably seen.

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Third Time's A Charm For Turkish YouTube Ban? Maybe This Time The Video Will REALLY Disappear

Mike Masnick — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:41:00 PST

The Associated Press is reporting that a Turkish court has banned YouTube access from the country for the second time, once again for a video that "insults" the country's founder. It's actually the third (not second) time a court has banned YouTube for the same reason. The first was back in March, though the ban was lifted a few days later. The second time was back in September, though apparently the ban was never implemented. This time, however, the full ban is in place again. You would think, given the earlier experiences with these "bans" that clearly did not stop such videos from getting online the courts might realize what a silly idea it is to ban all of YouTube. You might even think that the Turkish courts would realize that every time they ban YouTube for one of these silly immature videos, those videos suddenly gain a much broader worldwide audience. However, it appears that such things haven't occurred to the judges there. Perhaps they really think that banning YouTube will solve the problem this time and no one will ever speak ill of Turkey's founder ever again.

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Turkey Bans YouTube Again; Promoting Dumb Videos Again

Mike Masnick — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 09:16:00 PDT

Back in March, Turkey banned YouTube over some silly immature videos that portrayed the country's founder in a negative light -- which is against the law. It was basically a lame video with schoolhouse insults. However, by banning all of YouTube, Turkey helped get that video a lot more attention, all over the world. So, in an effort to suppress an insulting video, Turkey managed to make that video quite popular. You would think that the folks in Turkey would have learned their lesson about how trying to suppress something online only makes it more popular. Apparently, they have not. While the original ban was lifted a few days later, apparently the courts have once again ruled that YouTube must be banned due to yet another video insulting various Turkish politicians. Nice of the courts to give this new video worldwide publicity like that.

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