Have we talked about internet filters before? Yes, just a little. While we’ve been kicking the issue around, we shouldn’t forget our cross-Tasman siblings in New Zealand have had their own filter running since March of 2010. As far as experiments go, Australia really couldn’t ask for a more convenient test subject.

Not that NZ’s filter is a carbon copy of what was being proposed by our government, but its overarching goals and implementation are similar — block requests to blacklisted websites, executed by service providers that have opted to use it. According to Tech Liberty NZ, the ISPs running the filter account for over 90 per cent of the country’s market.

Mauricio Freitas of NZ’s Geekzone recently trawled through various reports and briefings from the Department of Internal Affairs, the government body responsible for administering the filter. In December 2011, the system had clocked the following stats:

Seven ISPs

16.1 million requests blocked

415 records in the filter list

368 unique web sites

25 appeals

The Tunisian Internet will remain unfiltered – for the time being. The Supreme Court of Tunisia today canceled the decision of a lower court, which had previously ruled in favor of filtering the Internet for pornographic content.

While today’s decision did not end the case, it sent it back to a lower court, giving an apparent vote of no confidence in the legal argumentation previously presented.

The decision was immediately hailed by free speech advocates – and by the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI), the body whose action was at issue in the case, and whose head, Moez Chakchouck, has been a vehement advocate for freedom of information.

The ATI’s legal argument against the suit, however, did not hinge upon issues of civil liberties, but rather the technical ability of the agency to implement the decision.

Swedish file-sharing site The Pirate Bay could be blocked from the UK population after the High Court in London ruled that the site breaches copyright on a massive scale.

The move brings a block on the site to British residents one step closer.

In a judgement today, Mr. Justice Arnold who presided over the case, said that The Pirate Bay — and its users — infringe copyrighted content.

Music and film lobbying groups are now pushing for UK broadband providers to block the site. A ruling is expected in June as to whether ISPs should prevent its users from accessing the site.

In the judgement, Mr. Justice Arnold said: “the operators of [The Pirate Bay] do authorise its users’ infringing acts of copying and communication to the public. They go far beyond merely enabling or assisting.” He concluded that both the users and the operators or the site: “infringe the copyrights of the Claimants (and those they represent) in the UK”.

Considering that some 3.7 million Britons use The Pirate Bay, according to comScore, it would be a massive hit to the freedom of the Web on British soil. Alexa ranks the file-sharing site, at the time of writing, as one of the top 100 websites in the world.

Emma Roberts has revealed that she has signed up to appear in dark comedy Adult World.

The Scream 4 actress explained that she will play a sex shop employee in the project, which will soon begin filming in New York.

In the film, her character is a recent college graduate who has so far only found employment at a sex store.

"It's a quirky coming-of-age story," she told USA Today. "My character is very smart, but the economy is very bad. So she works at a porn store."

She added: "It's an interesting backdrop because when you're a young person you're always looking for inspiration. But then you find yourself asking, 'How did I end up here?'

"It's very relevant for young people who are asking themselves, 'What do we do?'".

Emma Roberts explained last year that she chooses a film because she likes the role, rather than considering the size of its budget.

The actress decided to take a break from her studies at Sarah Lawrence College in New York earlier this month.

Source: Digital Spy

Acting in porn isn’t like mining coal or building skyscrapers.

That becomes obvious when looking at labor safety debates. Sure, the adult film industry a lucrative business, and healthcare advocates say they’re trying to hold it accountable for its employees’ well being. But porn performers aren’t lining up to support measures that would require the use of condoms and barriers on set.

Perhaps because this is where workplace safety intersects with deeply personal health decisions.

“I’ve not met a single performer who is actually in favor of the mandate,” said Jiz Lee. Lee – who is genderqueer and prefers the personal pronouns they and them – primarily performs in San Francisco-based queer porn. “Compare that to many vocal performers who are 100 percent against it. This is the biggest issue for performers, because their opinions are not being heard.”

But proponents say barrier use in porn is all about making performers safer at work. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is one of the chief backers of a ballot initiative in Los Angeles that will let voters decide whether issuing permits for porn sets should be linked to condom use. The group is trying to get a similar measure on the countywide ballot.

Pope Benedict said Monday that gay marriage was one of several threats to the traditional family that undermined "the future of humanity itself."

The pope made some of his strongest comments against gay marriage in a new year address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican in which he touched on some economic and social issues facing the world today.

He told diplomats from nearly 180 countries that the education of children needed proper "settings" and that "pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman."

"This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself," he said.

The Vatican and Catholic officials around the world have protested against moves to legalize gay marriage in Europe and other developed parts of the world.