B5Media, a recently venture capital-rich blog network located in Toronto, Canada, has dumped former Gold Medalist Scott Goldblatt from its large roster of bloggers and staff after allegations of design theft.

According to reports, the gold medal winner who blogged at B5’s Timed Finals had access to private server files and removed them and used them in a work he claimed as his own for a client. Update: While there is no proof that he took the files off the server at that time, in fact he probably didn’t. He still took the files and claimed it as his own work. I apologize for any mistake in misleading folks as to where or how he obtained without permission said files.

Jeremy Wright, the CEO of b5Media bared a bit of soul on the issue:

Brian, I am deeply sorry that your design was ripped off in this manner. You and your blog are among the best resources on the planet for bloggers looking to improve their craft. You deserve better. I know an apology is often a bit empty in a situation where you’ve been betrayed like this, but right now it’s all I have. I hope we can rebuild the relationship and take it to bigger and better places.

Chris, as a designer in a past life I know how much this hurts and must piss you off. There is no excuse for it. I know you value helping the community so much, and helping young designers learn is undoubtedly a huge part of that. However this crossed a line. And I apologize for b5’s part in that. You, too, deserve better.

Finally, I want to thank Scott for his months of fantastic work. While this will obviously reflect poorly on him, I’m confident that he’s learned his lesson in this. I’m also confident that he’ll land on his feet and go on to bigger and better things. These things sometimes happen, and it sucks when they do, but I (and the whole b5 team) really do wish him the best. He deserves every success we know he’ll achieve.

Originally posted on December 11, 2006 @ 4:30 pm

The Australian Defence Force has banned soldiers from writing online journals and has deleted blogs from troops serving in Iraq.

Critics say the soldiers are being denied the very freedoms they are fighting for.

The blogs were destroyed in September, hours after pictures of Australian soldiers playing with guns surfaced on the internet in the days before the inquiry into Private Jake Kovco’s death in Baghdad.

Australia’s leading defence think-tank, a civil libertarian and an internet expert have blasted the move as heavy-handed, saying it denied freedom of speech and destroyed Australian history.

“This shows how far behind the times the ADF is,” Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O’Gorman said.

“If the American army allows blogs, why doesn’t the Australian army? If it does not pose a security threat, why are these soldiers being denied the rights of democracy that they are fighting for?”

The true story behind this is we see democracy crumbling like the Berlin Wall in many ‘democratic countries’.

Source: Courier Mail

Originally posted on December 10, 2006 @ 12:31 pm

You might think being a blogger, or publishing a new media publication will be free from worries, but what if you do it from another country? A recent report from the New York Based, Center for Protection of Journalists says you might be placing yourself at risk from governments. Especially if you come into their crossfire.

China and other authoritarian countries trying to control information on the Web have driven a record increase in the number of journalists jailed, with a third either bloggers or Web-based editors or reporters, a free press group said.

While you’d think the US would be from any allegations the report goes on to state that the United States was not free of guilt:

Overall, the most common charges used to jail journalists were subversion, divulging state secrets and acting against the interests of the state. In total, 84 journalists were imprisoned under these charges, many in China, Cuba and Ethiopia. The group also found an increasing number of journalists jailed without any charge or trial at all.

The United States was also criticized in the CPJ annual report for imprisoning two journalists without charge in the country’s war on terrorism. The journalists included freelance photographer Bilal Hussein and Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj.

Source: Information Week

Originally posted on December 12, 2006 @ 4:01 am

I love it when the military issues warnings about blogging and sharing classified data. It’s like telling your kids Don’t break the rules you already know not to break. C’mon get a life. Let’s demonize New Media and Blogs a bit more while your at it.

Cementing itself as one of the premier mass communications mediums over the last decade or so, the Internet has set itself apart from other mediums with its ability to provide private citizens a means of reaching the entire world.

Popular Web portals such as MySpace, You Tube and a virtually endless number of blog sites have drawn millions of subscribers who use them as megaphones for creative voice.

But military officials are becoming increasingly concerned with the security risks blog sites are posing as countless service members are empowered with an outlet that can easily blur the line between harmless creativity and potentially harmful sensitive information.

Marines need to make sure what they post on the Internet is not sensitive or classified information because that type of information can jeopardize the mission and place Marines’ lives in danger, said Gunnery Sgt. Elfred S. Suite, the information assurance chief with communications and information systems division, Marine Corps Bases Japan. A Marine can be held accountable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for posting blogs that contain information deemed to be sensitive, Suite said. “If you don’t know, you should ask.”

Source:Marines Corps in Japan

Originally posted on December 9, 2006 @ 8:44 am

Chinese Search Engine Baidu has unveiled its blog search engine. China’s top Internet search engine launched its blog search service on Thursday to help Internet users navigate their way through the 20-some-odd-million Chinese bloggers. It is the first Chinese service of its kind built specifically for blogs.

Baidu says the service was based on a database of billions of websites, including all the blogs supported by Chinese blog service providers and individual blog websites.

Originally posted on December 9, 2006 @ 12:56 pm