Google, Microsoft Tighten Online Searches To Combat Child Porn

Google and Microsoft unveiled measures to block online searches for child sex abuse images on Monday as part of a bid by British authorities to crackdown on Internet pedophiles.

 The companies said as many as 100,000 search terms will now fail to produce results and trigger warnings that child abuse imagery is illegal while offering advice on where to get help.

The world's two largest search engine operators' move was a rare display of unity ahead of an Internet safety summit on Monday hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Cameron welcomed the progress to block illegal content but said far more still needed to be done.

"If more isn't done to stop illegal child abuse content being found, we will do what is necessary to protect our children," he tweeted ahead of the summit that will announce a new trans-Atlantic task force to tackle online child abuse. The summit comes after Cameron this summer called on Internet firms to do more to stop access to illegal images. Now both companies have introduced new algorithms that will prevent searches for child abuse imagery.

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt wrote in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper that these changes had cleaned up the results for over 100,000 queries that might be related to the sexual abuse of children.

"As important, we will soon roll out these changes in more than 150 languages, so the impact will be truly global," he wrote, adding the restrictions would be launched in Britain first then expanded to other languages in the next six months.

Both Google and Microsoft, who were due to join other Internet companies at the summit on Monday, have also agreed to use their technological expertise to help in the identification of abuse images.

Schmidt said Google planned to provide engineers to give technical support to the Internet Watch Foundation in Britain and the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and to fund internships for engineers at these organizations.

Conservative parliamentarian Claire Perry, who is Cameron's adviser on childhood, said British and U.S. law enforcement agencies would back up this effort by tracking pedophiles using the "hidden Internet" or so-called "dark web" of encrypted networks to distribute images of child abuse.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by William Hardy)

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Swiss Lawmakers Reject Burqa Ban

Swiss lawmakers have voted against a ban on the Muslim women burqa (face veil), putting an end to plans made by far right parties several years ago. “Today in Switzerland, wearing this type of clothing for religious reasons doesn’t pose any problems in daily life and is a rare practice in the Swiss Muslim community,” centre-right Radical Party parliamentarian Hugues Hiltpold said. Following a March Senate vote with the same result, the lower house of the Swiss parliament rejected the motion pushed by the canton of Aargau in a vote of 93 to 87.

The burqa ban proposal was first made by far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) under the title “Masks Off”.

It proposed a ban on wearing of face-veils, which is also called Niqab, on public transport. The bill also allowed authorities to “ban or restrict access to public buildings to such individuals in order to guarantee the security of other users.” Far right lawmakers had argued that the ban was necessary for public safety. But opponents said the proposal was excessive because so few women wear burqas in Switzerland.
The wearing of face-veil has been the focus of growing debate in the West in recent years.While hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face veil. Scholars believe it is up to women to decide whether to take on the veil or burka, a loose outfit covering the whole body from head to toe and wore by some Muslim women.
Hurting Muslims
Speaking for the majority, Hiltpold said banning the burqa would be excessive and would encourage tourists from Muslim countries to have negative opinions of the country. Affecting the country’s image abroad, he added that a ban on Muslim face veil would have bad effect on the countries Muslim minority. “Banning the niqab or the burka in Switzerland would have adverse consequences for Swiss Muslims.”
The proposed ban on burqa is not the first move by far right politicians against the country’s Muslim minority.
In 2009, the SVP has championed a ban on the building of mosque minarets in the European country.
According to the CIA Factbook, Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims, representing 5 percent of the country’s nearly eight million people.

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Blocking Immoral Websites would Fail to Protect Children and only give Parents False Sense of Security

What we disagree with is the mechanisms by which we protect our children. It's not that easy and the solutions that are being discussed are not perfect. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blocked thousand of Adult contents earlier, but in spite of blockage children are not safe. Because there are other things and contents circumnavigating round the Internet that hurts Children. Regulation of content on mobile phones and video iPods is largely absent.
Texting, tweeting, facebooking, web-surfing, emailing and social networking are the toys of the so-called ING (Internet Next Generation). Like their parents, this generation must contend with playground bullies. Often, a child will not even know the name of their tormentor. The victim's parents may feel helpless because they have no recourse or tools to protect their child online. The problem is the most frequent threat a child faces online. All episodes of bullying are serious. Dismissing them as inconsequential could have grim consequences that include depression, dropping grades, school truancy and health problems.
Parents themselves ultimately must take up the responsibility of instilling the right framework in their child and they have the power and right to ban and control their children from accessing adult content. I think the government haven’t an appropriate system to filter the adult content on Internet and cannot develop the right mindset in one child's mind. It is parents themselves who wield the ultimate control and power over their child. Thus, the responsibility also lies on parents to control and monitor their children.
Educating your kids
But, as always, common sense prevails: Tell your kids that the same rules they use when walking down a street apply when they surf the Net. Some good guidelines are following below:
· Set guidelines for how your child uses the computer and discuss those guidelines with your child.
· Don’t let your child give out personal information, such as address, phone number, or school name, online.
· Don’t let your child arrange for online meetings with a stranger or send his or her photograph.
· Tell your children to come to you immediately if someone sends them messages that they don’t like.
Controlling kids’ access
No matter how safe you make your home computer, your child may have access to other computers that don’t have such filters. While elementary schools may install these features, public libraries usually don’t because the filters would block adults from accessing legitimate information. And, of course, your child’s friends’ computers may not have the same safeguards as the one in your home does. So be sure to include other computers your children may use when setting the rules for them. And it would be a good idea to talk to the parents of the children your child visits often and ask if they use filters on their computer. These parents may not use any filters just because they don’t know they exist.
Porn sites are all over the Internet and, unfortunately, kids are certainly smarter than adults are about computers. The good news is that online services provide tools for parental control that protects curious young minds from getting inappropriate materials. With varying degrees, they let you surf for what you want without worrying too much about whether your kids can also find the material. You can, in fact, allow your children to use the computer and still protect them from evil and other inappropriate online content. Dozens of software filters are now available, and http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ can lead you to the one that has the features you want. It’s totally free, safe and tested by me. (If you need any assistance regarding installation of “K9 Web Protection” then don’t hesitate to ask me)

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In Pakistan, underground parties push the boundaries

This is not Saturday night at a club in New York, London or Paris. It is the secret side of Pakistan, a Muslim nation often described in the West as a land of bearded, Islamic hardmen and repressed, veiled women.

People dance to the beat of the house music at Centrifuge, a
Pakistani underground rave party at a farmhouse on the
outskirts of Pakistan's Capital, Islamabad early July 15, 2012.
Credit: REUTERS

Pakistan was created out of Muslim-majority areas in colonial India 65 years ago, and for decades portrayed itself as a progressive Islamic nation. Starting in the 1980s, however, it has been drifting towards a more conservative interpretation of Islam that has reshaped the political landscape, fuelled militancy and cowed champions of tolerance into silence.

But the country remains home to a large wealthy and Westernised elite that, in private, lives very differently.

Every weekend, fashion designers, photographers, medical students and businessmen gather at dozens of parties in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore to push social boundaries in discreet surroundings that would horrify, and enrage, advocates of the stricter brand of Islam.

"This is just epic," said Numair Shahzada, bobbing his head to the beat at a party in a farmhouse outside Islamabad as fitness instructors moonlighting as bouncers looked on. "The light and smoke show is phenomenal."

Young men and women mix freely, dancing, talking or drinking. Some curl up together in quiet areas.

Although alcohol is prohibited in the country, many have brought their own liquor. Whisky is carried in paper bags and vodka is disguised in water bottles arranged along the dance floor.

The party-goers form only a tiny minority of the country's 180 million people, but overall, Pakistan is not repressive. Women can drive, are enrolled in universities and have played prominent roles in politics. Unmarried men and women can interact without risking the wrath of religious police.

People from its most populous province, Punjab, are renowned for their exuberance.

But a conservative form of Islam is chipping away at the tolerance.

A few hours' drive from Islamabad's party circuit, parts of remote tribal regions have fallen under the sway of hardline Taliban militants, who dream of toppling the U.S.-backed government and creating a society where revellers would face flogging, or worse.

"Men and women who dance together are damned by God. Whenever we see such displays of vulgarity we will definitely make them a target," said a senior Taliban commander.

News reports have said a tribal council in a village near the Afghanistan border ordered four women killed earlier this year for clapping and singing as men danced at a wedding. The Supreme Court has ordered an investigation, but there have been no further details.

CREEPING CONSERVATISM

While the vast majority of Pakistanis abhor the Taliban's violence, there are many who share their belief that Islam should be Pakistan's guiding force. Religious parties, which do poorly at the polls but exert considerable sway over public debate, believe Islam should govern all spheres of life.

"It's so messed up," said Myra, a 23-year-old Pakistani who has dyed her hair reddish-brown.

"You see the servants and the drivers at the parties watching you and you wonder what kind of a person they think you are."

To avoid prying eyes, the kind of alcohol-fuelled blow-outs enjoyed by Myra and her friends are held in lonely farm-houses in the outskirts of Islamabad and other cities, or in affluent neighbourhoods behind high walls. Organisers charge on average a $60 entry fee, an amount most Pakistanis earn in a month.

Rafia, petite with long, black hair and wearing tight jeans and a low-cut black blouse, is a regular on the party scene.

She frowns on women who carry secret cell phones unmonitored by their parents and wear revealing outfits under conservative dress that come off before getting on the dance floor.

"You can either be God-fearing or you can party," she said, taking a drag on a marijuana joint at a recent rave.

"I don't pray regularly and I usually stick to my fast. But at the end of the day, I don't say I am a very religious person."

Not everyone agrees.

Bina Sultan, 40, an attractive fashion designer, showcases nude paintings and topless male models in shows. She also wears a silver pendant engraved with a verse from the Koran.

"People think I am shameless but I am actually very religious," she said at her studio, peppering her sentences with "jaani", Urdu for darling, while chain smoking.

"My faith is very strong. But everything I do is between my God and me."

LONELY LIBERALS

Conservatism began sweeping through Pakistan during the military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s under a drive to Islamize the state.

Zia's policies are widely blamed for a creeping culture of intolerance that has further isolated liberals.

In an incident that traumatised the elite, the governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was assassinated by his own bodyguard last year for opposing harsh anti-blasphemy laws.

The reaction was almost more shocking to liberals than the murder itself. Clerics organised huge rallies to praise the killer. Even lawyers, once at the vanguard of Pakistan's democracy movement, showered him with rose petals.

In the growing climate of fear, the space for liberal voices is shrinking.

Pakistani rapper Adil Omar, who attends weekend parties, pokes fun of the Taliban and rising conservatism in his songs. But he never goes too far.

"A lot of people seem to be torn and seem to have an identity crisis," said Omar, who wears the traditional flowing shirt and baggy trousers. His elaborate forearm tattoo featuring a semi-naked woman and a unicorn has drawn fire on his Facebook page from some fans who see it as an offence to Islam.

"I am careful not to give any opinions regarding religion on the record," he said, adding: "I don't want some crazy person chopping off my head." 

(Ref: Reuters)

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No Dance Parties but Dars Allowed, Rules DHA

Two months ago, DHA issued the new set of guidelines on its website and outside its main office listing permissible and prohibited activities.

Mehndis, nikkahs and birthday parties are allowed but musical and dance parties have been banned in what some residents see as DHA’s attempt to morally police its residents. “DHA has no legal authority to issue such a directive,” reacted Asad Kizalbash of the Association of Defence Residents. “Responding to a complaint from a neighbour about too much noise is something different. Issuing a firm directive like this means they are out to teach us morality. This is unacceptable.” The Association of Defence Residents is an umbrella group of half a dozen associations.
The largest one is Defence Society Residents Association with 3,000 members. DHA vigilance staff has been directed to stop events held without permission. In a meeting held with DHA Administrator Brig Aamer Raza a few weeks back, the association registered its protest. “Vigilance staff will be taking the law into their hands if they start peeking into our homes,” pointed out Kizalbash.
There are close to 50,000 tax-paying households in DHA and Cantonment Board Clifton which has its own bylaws on the use of property. Some residents suspect that DHA’s restrictions are an attempt to clamp down on people renting out houses for private events even though there are clear delineations on residential and commercial spaces.
According to resident Nasir Husain, a 1,000 sq yd house will fetch a maximum of Rs100,000 in rent. “Give it for any other purpose and you can earn Rs250,000 a month. Owners are naturally tempted to let all this happen.” He gave the example of a house off Khayaban-e-Rahat being used to record or ‘dharna’ or protest with 30 people. In his brief remarks, a DHA spokesman said residents have to seek permission before arranging any event. “This has been done to address complaints about noise pollution,” he said. DHA has thus restricted the use of loudspeakers to play music but has not said anything about religious congregations.
The DHA neighbourhoods are not close knit like others around Karachi. “When you know your neighbour, you get to learn about each other’s family background and the dislikes,” said one resident. “If loud music, drinking and dancing is an issue, you can simply talk things over. That doesn’t happen here.” The association for residents has realised this problem and is organising meetings to bring residents together.
This would help at least spread the message – which for now was only available on the website and at the DHA office. Residents Farea Khan and Amra Ghazanfar told The Express Tribune that they had no idea that there were restrictions. “Why would they do that?” added Farea.
As for one resident Mehek Ali, the news was met with skepticism: “I don’t see it lasting – no one is going to stick to the ban.”




Courtesy :The Express Tribune

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Net Cafes – It’s Time to Shutter them Down

It’s a paradox that a country like Pakistan, which was built to practice Islam and was often called ‘Laboratory of Islam’ by its founder, has now fallen a prey to some un-Islamic norms of which net cafes is one of the darkest un-Islamic practice. Net-Cafes that were originally built to provide internet facilities to public in those times when internet was a new phenomenon and was not readily available as is now, has now become an immoral platform corrupting our youth badly.  According to the statistics, Pakistan is one of the top searchers of porn sites and videos, a really shameful fact for an Islamic Republic.

Those unemployed people, who are uneducated, see promising prospects of business in providing cabins in internet cafes. As Muslims it a double-fold sin of providing access of pornography and earning through this dirty business. Though the economic conditions of Pakistan do not leave much choice for the people to choose an earning, which is the most frequent excuse for the net café earners, but we ought to think that our religious values come first, and it is not only a religious issue but a moral one too. No religion or nation allows the blasphemy done to its youth as the net café is doing.

 Most of the net café users are young people, while, mature people seldom goes to a net café. To add evil to this immoral business, the net café holders have introduced cabins and couples use these cabins for dating purposes, not realizing that a hidden camera is capturing their activities, which, the net café owners upload on YouTube and other such site for the so-called entertainment and use these to blackmail the couples.

It’s a high time to think seriously to overcome this immoral disease otherwise it will eat us up as a nation. Our youth is wasting money and values in the net cafes in the dark alleys and it is time to show them the light. They should learn to be a proud nation by saying no to this immoral net café business. Youth is the most flexible entity of a nation easily influenced by changes, if the seed of net café can yield in them why not the hope of getting rid of it. So let’s promise to spread this hope among our youth and shutter the internet cafes down.

By: Sara Waqar

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