That's a First: Rockstar Ad Not Banned
	Rockstar has managed to create some of the most controversial games ever and to offend tons of people who had nothing to do with gaming and could not understand that virtual worlds and real life are two completely different things. Anyway, as a result of the offended people's complaints, many ads for Rockstar's games have been withdrawn from the market, no matter if they were ... [read more >>]
	09 July 2008, 04:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Leeds "Criminal" Finally Banned by YouTube
	Andre Kellett, a 23-year-old from Swarcliffe, was banned by Google's video sharing service YouTube after having posted numerous clips, most of them reportedly illegal. According to Web User News, the YouTube user uploaded no less than 80 videos on the website, one of them showing "Kellett being driven in a car ... [read more >>]
	26 May 2008, 03:13GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Singapore Bans Adult Websites
	Singapore has recently banned two adult websites offering free videos as a move meant to protect young users living in the country, the Singaporean authorities said according to Reuters. Although the names of the websites have not been disclosed, people are already speculating that the banned pages were two online video sharing services, similar to YouTube, which allowed visitors to view adult content. A few days ago, Singapor ... [read more >>]
	23 May 2008, 05:57GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Over 36s Not Welcome on Our Social Network, Faceparty Warns
	While most social networks on the Internet struggle to attract more users of all ages, Faceparty took the decision to ban all the registered members with ages above 36 because of new legislation. At least, this is what the representatives stated but, according to various sources, the new laws don't support the ban. The reason for the removal of "a huge number of accounts", as it is named by the Facerparty administr ... [read more >>]
	22 May 2008, 16:41GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Postal Movie Scaled Down to Limited Release, Uwe Boll Mad
	I usually find it extremely funny to write about Uwe Boll and the latest things he has done or said. Like the GTA movie plan, his non-stop biting of Michael Bay... all these things which prove to the entire world that he is nothing but a mediocre director that ma ... [read more >>]
	20 May 2008, 03:23GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Mobile Phones Banned On Public Transportation
	The city of Graz, the second largest Austrian city after the capital Vienna, banned the use of mobile phones on public transport, following a decision taken by Siegfried Nagl, the conservative Mayor of the town. The regulation does not mean people cannot travel with their mobile phones while using the city's public transportation, but it demands citizens to turn their handsets on mute. This decision comes in order ... [read more >>]
	17 April 2008, 04:35GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

YouTube Unbanned in Indonesia
	Google's video sharing service YouTube got banned on Monday after an anti-Islam clip called Fitna was published on its official website, drawing protests from its Indonesian users. Last week, the Indonesian government set a Monday deadline to YouTube's administrators in ... [read more >>]
	11 April 2008, 04:38GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Kane & Lynch Ad Campaign Banned over Violence
	To be honest, I had no idea that Eidos keeps advertising for Kane & Lynch since the public was kind of against the game following the Gerstman scandal last year. It seems that I was wrong and a serious ad campaign started to be held in the UK - however, not for a long time, since the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) decided to interfere. According to the newspaper The Guardian, a "graphic" and "shocking" pos ... [read more >>]
	09 April 2008, 04:55GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

"The Simpsons" Banned in Venezuela
	Ever since its TV debut in 1987, the iconic animated sitcom series "The Simpsons" has gained a cult following and a horde of loyal fans who appreciate its stinging satire and endless string of highly entertaining gags, pop culture references and satirical allusions to the realities of modern-day American life. Despite having achieved international fame, it seems that not everyone can appreciate the humorous, occasionall ... [read more >>]
	09 April 2008, 04:54GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

YouTube Banned in Indonesia
	It seems like the YouTube representatives and the Indonesian authorities couldn't reach an agreement over the long criticized anti-Islam movie appearing on the video sharing service. Today, IndosatM2 along with other Internet service providers based in Indonesia announced that they have imposed restriction for users trying to access Google's YouTube, MySpace and other video sharing websites, the International Herald Tri ... [read more >>]
	08 April 2008, 06:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Google Earth Faces Another Regional Ban
	Google Earth may receive another regional ban after the Singapore authorities revealed that Google's downloadable mapping application infringes the Singapore Land Authority copyright. The report was published by SinGeo on April 1st so we're not sure if this is only an April Fool's Day prank or real news. "There’s a rumor fly ... [read more >>]
	02 April 2008, 03:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Google Earth – An Illegal Mapping Service Threatening the National Security
	The Mountain View-based company, Google, is now encountering new problems regarding the imagery provided by Google Earth, as the Chinese authorities seem to be ready to ban lots of mapping services including Google’s. What’s interesting is that the Chinese officials labeled these solutions as ‘illegal’ because they show sensitive information which should be hidden from the public eye. According to an article published in China Daily, th ... [read more >>]
	28 March 2008, 04:08GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Another Country Blocking YouTube
	Censorship is all but the latest rage, nevertheless people and even governments use it abusively and obsessively. It might be ok to censor a kid’s drawing on a wall if it has an obscene touch, you’re doing that to protect the others, but censoring the Internet (see Iran’s upcoming elections) or the second most trafficked site in the world, Youtube, as in Armenia right now, is a totally different thing. After the Armenian president decla ... [read more >>]
	10 March 2008, 07:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Pentagon Bans Google Maps
	A Google team entered the Fort Sam Houston army base in Texas and mapped everything, but the Mountain View-based company spokesman, Larry Yu, said that it was only a mistake. Naturally, the army had to take measures towards this possible security threat in the future, so it banned Google map-makers from filming and conducting detailed studies of bases. I say naturally because the three-dimensional panoramas of the Texan base have ... [read more >>]
	07 March 2008, 20:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

YouTube’s Pakistan Ban Related to Election Fraud Videos?
	The Pakistan ban that knocked YouTube unconscious to the floor, for almost two hours, might not be as religious related as the state officials initially hinted. Some local users believe that the blocking of the site was actually closely connected to some footage proving election fraud in the South Asian country. With the result of the ban making it impossible for others to view them, probably the clips have silently been removed. ... [read more >>]
	27 February 2008, 15:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Oh, Yes! Paris Banned from the Oscars!
	Finally! Finally, some things in this world work out the way they're supposed to. I really must check if I'm dreaming, because really this is too good to be true. Apparently, the people behind the Oscar ceremony this Sunday really want to keep it STD-free, so they did one of the most sensible things they could have – and banned Paris Hilton from attending the prestigious star-studded event. I mean, come on. Is Paris eve ... [read more >>]
	20 February 2008, 04:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Fox Effect: Game Shop Pulls Mass Effect from the Shelves
	It was a complete madness when Fox News and their rubbish Mass Effect news report got into the gamers' attention and the entire hell broke loose. Since then, Electronic Arts had ... [read more >>]
	12 February 2008, 08:11GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

China Cracks Down on Internet and Games
	All the news coming from the Western world could make somebody completely oblivious about what’s going on in the Far East, where communism hasn’t burst its bubble yet. Censoring video sites, sweeping Internet cafes and hunting down web sites and computer markets for possible dangerously violent games just warm the Chinese people to their government. In all fairness, their intentions are good. The authorities are only trying t ... [read more >>]
	12 February 2008, 06:16GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Manhunt 2 UK Drama Continues
	Even though everybody is really excited that new details about GTA IV keep coming, as well as fresh, new screenshots, Rockstar still has problems regarding its controversial title, Manhunt 2. It's been an ... [read more >>]
	25 January 2008, 04:49GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

New Ban Request – No Junk Food in Video Games
	There are people who would like to ban any and every video game there is in this world and totally wipe them out of our memory. Others have problems regarding the violent ones, while certain groups focus their efforts on ... [read more >>]
	23 January 2008, 10:41GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Rockstar Saga: Bully Refused by UK Retailers
	First, there was Bully, the movie, in 2001. Next – Rockstar's Bully, the video game. These titles have one thing in common – controversy. While the film was about some teenagers planning to kill a friend just for fun, the second was "real-deal bullying". And now the game w ... [read more >>]
	22 January 2008, 06:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Has YouTube Banned. Again!
	YouTube has a lot of problems on its hands because of the copyright infringement that is being forced against by the protected content its users upload. It’s always been kind of a ballet of jumping over lawsuits and pivoting around big bucks decisions. The bad part with it all is that they mean almost nothing in comparison to, say, a country banning the site and when the respective country is the size of China, it is all the worst. The ... [read more >>]
	21 January 2008, 02:38GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Calls for Knife Ban in Games
	The British Prime Minister has spoken about his intentions to stop video game developers to create characters who use knives as weapons, following public concern regarding the increasing crime rates in the UK, especially knife crime. Gordon Brown has already voiced his concer ... [read more >>]
	16 January 2008, 04:15GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Website Shut Down for Criticizing the Thai Monarchy
	Sameskybooks.com, a website that hosted messages posted by the users criticizing the Thai monarchy, got banned after the country's authorities forced the ISP to close the page. Internet Service Provider Netservice sent a letter to the operator of the website to inform him that it got pressured by the Information and Communication Technology Ministry to shut down the website that published messages "questioning claims in ... [read more >>]
	07 January 2008, 15:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Manhunt 2 to High Court Now?
	Rockstar's Manhunt 2 has already created some big waves and things are not over yet, even though Rockstar probably started a celebration when it was decided that they can appeal against the British Board of Film Classifications d ... [read more >>]
	17 December 2007, 05:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Facebook's Success Brings Regional Ban
	We all know Facebook is extremely popular when it comes to the number of Internet users accessing its webpage. Alexa placed Facebook on position number 7, while compete.com estimates the social networking service has almost 30 million visitors per month. Impressive, isn't it? Certainly yes, but this popularity is not useful all the time. For example, today's piece of news comes to support my statement. Today, the Assoc ... [read more >>]
	10 December 2007, 06:12GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Ban the Violent Games, Say Psychotherapists
	Do you love to grab a rocket launcher and blow some monster's head off? Do you like Manhunt's gameplay? Or maybe you are thrilled when you sneak behind somebody and cut their throat open with a knife? Well... psychotherapists in Germany say that ... [read more >>]
	04 December 2007, 04:14GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Website Banned Because of Reduced Productivity?
	Yelp, a popular website hosting consumers' reviews about businesses in Bay Area, has become unavailable to several users, although there was no official statement or notification concerning the outage. According to "PC World", the website was blocked today, from around 9 a.m to 11 a.m. Pacific time, but nobody knows for sure what was the reason for the downtime. The source mentioned above reported that some compani ... [read more >>]
	29 November 2007, 05:12GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Microsoft Bans You and Your Modded Xbox 360!
	It seems that Microsoft is at it again, banning all the Xbox 360 owners who use modified DVD firmwares and modded consoles. There are already a couple of such users being banned and they've expressed their grief on various forums and other 360 fan communities. This ban applies to ... [read more >>]
	21 November 2007, 09:39GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Hillary Clinton Battles Manhunt 2 and Wii Zapper
	We know that every major US senator should be prepping an effective campaign by now and they must have surely mentioned the issue of violent games in their platform. A group of four senators, which includes Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman, Sam Brownback and Evan Bayh is setting on "banning" Ma ... [read more >>]
	21 November 2007, 09:09GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Britney Banned from Driving Her Kids Around
	Well, the inevitable finally happened, and we can all finally sleep a little more peacefully now. I mean, sleep is never an easy affair if Brit is on the loose, but nevertheless, the streets of Los Angeles are a little safer now, if not for all of us then at least for the popwreck’s two boys. Britney Spears, everyone, is not allowed to drive with her sons in her car anymore out of fear for their safety. Anyone out there surprised about thi ... [read more >>]
	18 November 2007, 15:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Mass Effect Banned for Lesbian Sex Scene
	Will Mass Effect be the new Manhunt 2? It's already following in its footsteps, being a highly anticipated title that gets leaked on the Internet and then gets banned. However, the ban is not as serious as it was in the case of Manhunt, because it only applies t ... [read more >>]
	15 November 2007, 10:30GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Banned User Cannot Live Without Facebook
	We all know that some Internet users are addicted to their favorite web service but this is way too much. Listen to this: a college student from Michigan got banned on Facebook and decided to write to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch to help him receive his account banned. But look w ... [read more >>]
	14 November 2007, 04:38GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Facebook User Banned for Using Nickname Instead of Real Name
	Jon Swift, a Facebook blogger "who likes to write about politics and culture", was banned on the social networking website because he uses a nickname instead of the real name. It seems that it all started from Facebook's Terms of Use which require the registered members to enter their real first and last name. But the question is how the Facebook employees managed to find out if Jon Swift is the real name or not since the bl ... [read more >>]
	02 November 2007, 05:52GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

YouTube Now Available In China. Or Not. Or Yes.
	I must admit I used this title before, when YouTube was banned and then made available in Thailand, a country which blocked the video sharing service for publishing offensive clips for its authorities. This time it's China the one which restricted the access to YouTube, but as addict3d.org reported today, the ban was already removed. A few weeks ago, numerous Chinese users sustained they were unable to access the Google onli ... [read more >>]
	01 November 2007, 03:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Parodying Google's Logo Equals Banned In AdSense
	Philipp Lenssen from Google Blogoscoped got his Chinese side of the website banned in AdSense and will stop showing adverts to the visitors due to an unclear reason. As Philipp notes, all he did and which might infringe AdSense's guidelines was to publish some photos inside Google Hamburg but the Mountain View company didn't say a thing about this pictures. "They pointed to a specific sample page in their notice wh ... [read more >>]
	26 October 2007, 05:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Several Sites Shut Down. What Happens With the Web?
	Imaginary conversation between two guys. A: Dude, check my site, here's the link! B: What site, dude? A: This site! B: Page cannot be displayed. A: Oh, the authorities shut it down... In the recent period, several countries have decided to shut down multiple websites but the authorities avoided to provide the reasons for the blocking. It all started in China but it seems like Kazakhstan did the same and according to Reute ... [read more >>]
	24 October 2007, 09:00GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Mystery of Manhunt 2's Leak
	This whole leaking affair is really getting disgusting... There was a time when gaming journalists were the absolute exclusive owners of the first demos and copies of famous titles. Now, we're constantly beaten by those hackers and downloaders who manage to get the game before we do... Just think about Silent Hill Origins and our joy of playing it while attending the ... [read more >>]
	19 October 2007, 04:19GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

YouTube Banned in China, Other Services Available Again
	China is that kind of country which today praises your technology but tomorrow bans it because a piece of content appearing on it offended the country's authorities. It happened again today when it seems like YouTube became unavailable for the local consumers who get the famous "The server is taking too long to respond" error. According to Techworld.nl, lots of Chinese users encountered this error but the Mountain ... [read more >>]
	18 October 2007, 16:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

And Again, YouTube To Be Banned In Thailand
	The story continues as the Google online video sharing service YouTube might be banned again in Thailand after some new clips insulting the authorities were published a few days ago. The Statesman informs that the new vids, entitled 'Crisis of Siam', offended Bangkok and the government is again analyzing the possibility to ban YouTube. In case you don't remember, YouTube was blocked in the entire country for about ... [read more >>]
	16 October 2007, 17:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Editing Wikipedia Articles – An Activity to Get Yourself Fired For
	The Japanese Agriculture Ministry recently criticized six employees which were caught while editing several Wikipedia articles during work time. Reuters reported the bureaucrats have modified no less than 408 Wikipedia entries since 2003, many of the modifications being made while they were supposed to work for the ministry. What's more interesting is that many of the articles refer to cartoon robots, including Gundam, the p ... [read more >>]
	10 October 2007, 06:11GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Is Your Website Banned? Check It Now!
	Today's news that the Chinese government banned all the web RSS feeds made me search for a utility able to verify whether a certain website is blocked or not in certain regions of the world. After a few minute researching process, I discovered WebSitePulse, a pretty nice utility which checks if your page is banned in Seattle, WA, Munich ... [read more >>]
	10 October 2007, 04:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

China Banning Web RSS Feeds
	The Chinese government is again surprising the entire world as it decided to ban all the RSS feeds in the country but there is no official confirmation on this matter. Since August, the rumors talking about a potential Feedburner feeds ban in China have been quickly spread on the web but this time, it might be something really serious. As Ars Technica reports, there are a lot of tricks to bypass the restriction but let's get ... [read more >>]
	10 October 2007, 03:25GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

YouTube to Be Banned Again
	YouTube is banned in Thailand. Or not. Or yes. Or not. Or... Who knows? Really now, is there anybody who can sustain for sure that YouTube is not banned in Thailand? I don't think so because this is one of the top news stories in the last five months when YouTube was banned by the Thai government then it was made available, blocked again and finally it re-became accessible to all the users. After a 5 months dispute, the ban ... [read more >>]
	21 September 2007, 09:33GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

YouTube Banned in Turkey! Again?!
	The well-known video sharing YouTube is again banned in Turkey after its users uploaded insulting clips concerning the country's authorities. In case you forgot, YouTube was first blocked in Turkey in March for the same reason. At that time, a user uploaded videos insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a national hero for the Turkish nation. After several days of unavailability, the video sharing service's officials worked wi ... [read more >>]
	19 September 2007, 05:19GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

One More Country Bans Google
	After countries such as Thailand or Turkey, Iran also restricted the access to Google, but it didn't provide any reason for this action. However, the country's officials said for AFP that they will deny the access to several resources because they were flagged as offensive. In case you didn't know, Iran is one of the countries which are very exigent when it comes to the content published on the Internet. AFP report ... [read more >>]
	17 September 2007, 09:24GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

No More Free Porn in Germany
	The German Internet service provider Arcor took the decision to block the access to numerous porn websites because they provide weak security filters to restrict the under-18 users from visiting the page. As Philipp Lenssen from Google Blogoscoped wrote, Video Buster/ Kirchberg Logistik complained about the security features and the age verification so Arcor was somehow forced to ban the websites. It seems like the YouTube porn f ... [read more >>]
	13 September 2007, 05:20GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Indian Government Bans Mobile Phone Use for Children under 16
	Mobile phones are a negative distraction for children, considers the Karnataka government. Children aged under 16 and living in this Indian southern state will be banned to use handsets from now on, in the attempt of protecting their health. Karnataka's government also addressed cell phone companies not to sell handsets to children. It sounds like the same prohibition that is applied in the case of cigarettes and booze an ... [read more >>]
	12 September 2007, 10:50GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Wikipedia Unavailable for a Huge Number of Users
	Wikipedia was banned again in China although the local authorities didn't say anything about it. Numerous local users confirmed that the English version of the web-based encyclopedia is unavailable while the Chinese websites are regularly becoming available. PC World reports that Wikipedia is often banned by the Chinese government which considers that many of the articles published on the website are objectionable and are in ... [read more >>]
	07 September 2007, 05:52GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Linux Equals Porn on Xbox Live
	We already knew that Microsoft is not too keen on Unix and Linux, as they are rival products, but banning them as keywords in the Xbox Live just doesn't seem right. The online service now disallows funny screen names like "Linuxrules", "Linux" or any o ... [read more >>]
	05 September 2007, 04:17GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia