Check out the top 10 technology bans that somehow significantly affected the way the world works. Here goes!
10. Apple’s Sexy Apps
Such applications would have taken the notion of AppleCare to a whole new level. In February of 2010, Apple formally banned applications that were deemed too coarse and lascivious from its iTunes store. Among the applications considered out of bounds was iBoobs; it allowed users to toggle through wobbling bosoms on display. Techies saw the move as a sign that Apple would maintain a heavy hand in regulating its marketplace.
9. Google Street View
Technology is advancing at an enormous pace no doubt, and with the compilation of street maps into a single application would have been a tremendous improvement in GPS systems and related technologies, but due to privacy related issues, the governments of both Greece and Austria banned Google from deploying its street-level cars in the countries. The ban took place in May of 2009 and is pushback against Google’s interfering eyes.
8. Music-Free Marathons
You might have experienced the feeling of not having your iPod when you set out for a long journey, now imagine ‘running’ 26 miles on a track without listening to music. In the year 2007, USA Track & Field, the governing body for running and race walking, banned headphones and portable audio players at its official races. The measure was meant for the runners’ safety.
7. Cell Phones in Cuba
When Fidel Castro figured out how to legitimately hand over the reins of authority to his younger brother Raúl on February 24 of 2008, it would have been against the law for Fidel to inform his brother through a mobile phone. Over the span of his half-a-century rule, Fidel aggressively protected the restrictions he placed on Cuba’s 11 million citizens which included ban on owning a cellphone. He said these were essential sacrifices in the “battle of ideas” against the enemy i.e. United States.
6. Israel Blocks the iPad
Israel is home to some of the most advanced technologies in the world, but its gadget geeks exuded for two weeks in April, 2010, when Tel Aviv banned the use of iPad on Israeli soil. During enactment of the law, any passenger landing in the country with the gadget would have it seized and made to pay $12 a day storage fee. State authorities claimed that the Wi-Fi functions of the iPad matched the U.S. standards, not the European ones in effect in Israel, and therefore posed a potential danger to the country’s military frequencies — an assertion with modest proof. The ban was lifted on April 25.
5. Colleges Ban Napster
Thirty-four percent of U.S. colleges and universities have banned the music file trading program Napster for Internet users surfing over campus servers. As students return to campus from summer vacations, college administrators wrestle with the legal and ethical questions surrounding the controversial program from Napster Inc. and its ban.
4. Laser Pointers
You must have noticed your university professor giving lectures using PowerPoint and using laser pointer to emphasize something which demanded greater attention. You could have one on your key chain and confuse your boss in a budget meeting. You could point to the constellation Orion with it or you could point it at your kids. You could even use one to ward off bears while camping. Or you could shoot the laser at a soccer goalie in the eye during a World Cup qualifier (Saudi Arabia vs. South Korea, 2008) or possibly point it at passing planes. In the year 2008, Australia and most of Europe banned the use of laser pointers.
3. The Great Firewall of China
The paragraph is taken from Time Magazine.
“China has more Internet addicts than most countries have people, and its leadership knows full well the power of the Web. A government white paper in June hailed the Internet as “a crystallization of all human wisdom” but, in typical Beijing speak, reminded the world that “within Chinese territory, the Internet is under the jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty. The Internet sovereignty of China should be respected and protected.” What this alludes to is the vast, often mysterious set of blocks and bans the authoritarian government has imposed, sometimes relaxed and then reimposed on whole swaths of the online world.”
2. Pakistan Bans Facebook
Being a part of the Muslim community, it is a very unhealthy act to disrespect someone’s creed and religion. Islam is one of the major religions of the world and over the past few years, many different religious communities have tried to make fun of the Muslim community via Facebook, due to which Facebook was banned (temporarily) in compliance with orders from the highest court of the country.
1. UAE, Saudi Arabia Ban the BlackBerry
The United Arab Emirates blocked sending e-mails, access to the internet, and delivering instant messages among Blackberry users in 2010. Saudi Arabia followed suit. Both nations were unhappy that they are unable to monitor such communications. This is because the Blackberry handsets automatically send the encrypted data to computer servers outside the two countries. Abdulrahman Mazi, a board member of the state-controlled Saudi Telecom, has admitted that the decision is intended to put pressure on Blackberry’s Canadian owner, Research in Motion (RIM), to release data from users’ communications “when needed”. The UAE’s telecoms regulator, TRA, said the lack of compliance with local laws raised “judicial, social and national security concerns”.
Source: Realitypod.com
Top 10 Technology Bans
