October 29 - 11:50am EDT   Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are among the founding members of a new anti-censorship group called the Global Network Initiative, reports indicate. The organization also has the backing of investor, human rights and press freedom groups, such as the Center for Democracy and Technology. The GNI is specifically aimed at forming a consistent approach to dealing with countries that block free speech on the Internet, such as China. Many governments around the world filter search results, or simply prevent citizens from accessing certain websites. [full story]

August 26 - 3:40pm EDT   Apple has banned the comic book iPhone app Murderdrome, its creators claim. This adds to a growing list of titles that have been banned from the App Store for one reason or another, including Tetris clone Tris, lightsaber emulator PhoneSaber, and the "bling" app I Am Rich. Apple has used a variety of reasons for each pull, this time the iPhone SDK's assertion that content cannot offend Apple's "reasonable" sensibilities. [full story]

August 26 - 10:15am EDT   Access to Apple's iTunes Store is once again available in China, although some content is no longer visible, according to SFGate. The service was apparently blocked by the Chinese regime last week; a controversial pro-Tibet album, however, is still unavailable to shoppers in the country. The album is suspected as the main reason for the earlier blockage of iTunes. [full story]

December 12 - 12:50pm EST   Several activist groups have submitted a petition to the FCC regarding SMS blocking, filings indicate. The problem, says a coalition include Public Knowledge, Educause and six other groups, is that cellular networks are sometimes blocking bulk text messages without legitimate pretext, hurting operations. One recent example comes from September, when Verizon refused to provide short codes to NARAL Pro-Choice America; although the group only wanted to send out opt-in alerts, Verizon said it would not allow "highly controversial" texts on its network. [full story]