Tag: BAN

It looks like Russia won't be banning Skype or Gmail, after all. The Kremlin was reportedly considering blocking both services, along with Hotmail, in response to a major cyberattack that crippled the country's most popular blog and an independent news site. Some within the Kremlin had believed the services posed a major threat to national security, but some critics had thought the government may ...

In April of last year, South Korea instituted a ban on teenagers' late-night gaming in an effort to combat the growing problem of video game addiction. But that country's six-hour blackout periods pale in comparison to the 10-hour blockage that will go into effect in Vietnam on March 3rd. On that day, ISPs in the Southeast Asian country will begin disconnecting gamers every night at 10 p.m., ...

After having already banned Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the Chinese government has now decided to outlaw Skype, as well. The move, announced in the People's Daily, means that all Internet phone services will now be considered illegal within the country, except for those offered by two state-operated telecom companies -- China Unicom and China Telecom. In 2007, Skype launched a joint venture ...

On Saturday, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia unexpectedly blocked access to Facebook, amid concerns that the social networking site had been posing a threat to the country's conservative moral code. When news of the ban first broke, it appeared that Saudi Arabia was following in the footsteps of Bangladesh and Pakistan, both of which had blocked Facebook earlier this year in the wake of the 'Everybody ...

IMEC, a Dutch research organization, has developed a wireless body area network (BAN), dubbed Human + +, which transmits data from the body, and sends alerts to a plain-old cell phone. According to New Scientist, IMEC uses electrocardiogram sensors, which are connected to a small transmitter hanging on a necklace, and short-range wireless nodes beam data every 100 milliseconds. After receiving ...

The only blackouts most college students experience typically involve homemade absinthe and late night stomach pumps. This week, however, students at one university in Pennsylvania will have to endure an entirely different -- and perhaps more terrifying -- brand of blackout: a digital one. As of today, access to all social networking sites and instant messaging programs will be blocked across ...

Our commenters give us a lot of heat for hating on Facebook (e.g., "Whassamatta, AOL? Jealouz??"), but we have to admit that, from time to time, we love to use the social network to stalk. And, frankly, who doesn't? Employers have known for a few years now that some of the best insight into a job applicant's life is through their unvarnished Facebook profile. Those knee-jerk rants and party pics ...

About a year ago, a Texas cosmetology school decided to illegally install a cell-phone jammer to keep students from disturbing class. Now, after another jammer was discovered in Florida, the device's British manufacturer has drawn the ire of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and faces a large fine. According to Ars Technica, the FCC proposed a $25,000 fine against Phonejammer.com ...

In South Korea, marathon late-night gaming sessions may soon become a thing of the past. According to The Korean Herald, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has enforced a video game curfew for teenagers. It's an effort to curb game addiction in a country where, according to Huffington Post, a recent survey of over 1,500 public school students found that about 29-percent showed signs of ...

A new security measure could leave many U.S. Air Force BlackBerry users grounded. According to Wired, Air Force officials recently announced changes to the service's cyber-security policy, which would effectively disable the Bluetooth functionality of most BlackBerrys. Forget sending or receiving pictures or videos; under this change, the only functional Bluetooth feature on enlisted men and ...

Advocacy groups have done more than their share to raise awareness of the dangers inherent in distracted driving. Now, the U.S. government is stepping up to the plate. According to The New York Times, the Department of Transportation (DOT) will announce today a ban that'll make it illegal for interstate commercial truckers and bus drivers to text while driving. If drivers break this new law, ...

While the NCAA hasn't set any guidelines for college athletes using Twitter, Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach has brought the hammer down on the micro-blogging site. Leaving no room for interpretation, according to Fanhouse, Leach said Monday, "Anybody that wants to play for us doesn't have a Twitter page." This bold pronouncement came just 24 hours after two players, offensive lineman ...

Regardless of your spiritual or religious beliefs, it's impossible to contest that we live in the 21st Century, where we are constantly bombarded with information and multimedia. With that in mind, the conservative, morally minded Brigham Young University (BYU) Friday lifted a three-year ban on YouTube, the AP reports. The video-sharing network, according to university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins, ...

The National Safety Council (NSC) is pushing state and local governments to enact a new rule banning the use of cell phones, even with hands-free devices, while driving. The organization has been touting studies that show driving while using a Bluetooth headset is just as dangerous as it is when talking on a traditional handset. NSC spokespeople also point to a recent survey, by Nationwide ...

With the ringing in of the new year, California became the latest state to ban texting while driving, joining the likes of New Jersey and Tennessee. California already passed a ban on teens texting and driving back in August, but now the law has been extended to all drivers regardless of age. So what exactly is banned under the new law? Any manual communication while operating a motor vehicle is ...