The laws require internet service providers and websites to invest a large amount of effort in monitoring and keeping logs of their services. They also have to comply massive censorship, let alone the loss of reputation that occurs when users cannot access websites.

"The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has announced the 2010 dates for its LibrePlanet international free software community conference.

We live in a society that values freedom of expression and shuns censorship. Unfortunately, those values are only as strong as the will to support them — a will that seems to be dwindling now in an alarming way.

The first Nigerian conference on Free and Open Source Software was held this week in Kano, Nigeria. The conference featured local speakers, consultants, network engineers, system administrators and academics, and international guests from KDE.

"The latest volume of the magazine Index on Censorship focuses on issues related to free speech online. I'm among the contributors. Here's a snip from the issue overview: «The Internet was supposed to spell the end of censorship – instead governments now have unprecedented possibilities for controlling what we do and what we read. But this is a revolution in free expression that can’t be stopped. Index examines the explosion in communication, the rise in new forms of censorship (and the ways to get round them) and the impact on social attitudes.» ..."

"Reporters Without Borders has launched the first Online Free Expression Day today. [...] To denounce government censorship of the Internet and to demand more online freedom, Reporters Without Borders is calling on Internet users to come and protest in online versions of nine countries that are Internet enemies during the 24 hours from 11 a.m. tomorrow, 12 March, to 11 a.m. on 13 March ..."

"Wikimania is an annual conference for users, developers and other people involved in the wiki projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is held yearly since 2005. The first conference was held in Frankfurt, Germany, on August 4-8, 2005.

You may remember that back in March at the LibrePlanet 2011 conference, we presented the 2010 Award for Projects of Social Benefit to the Tor Project -- by using free software, Tor has enabled roughly 36 million people around the world to experience freedom of access and expression on the Internet while keeping them in control of their privacy and anonymity.

"Internet Society Bulgaria, the French Cultural Institute, Linux for Bulgarians and the SELF Project are organising an international conference in Sofia on "Science, Education and Learning in Freedom" with a focus on free educational materials about Free Software and Open Standards. The conference will be held on February 10th, 2008, at the French Cultural Institute in Sofia, 2 Dyakon Ignatij Str., Sofia, Bulgaria..."