Global online freedom Act revived

Riding the massive publicity wave generated by Google's censorship dispute with China, Republican Chris Smith has urged his fellow lawmakers to take up his legislation that would make it crime for US companies to share personal user information with "Internet-restricting" countries, reports eWeek.

According to Smith, without a strong US law restricting the sharing of information with countries that have restrictive Internet policies, American firms are "inevitably forced to be more complicit in the repressive government's censorship and surveillance".

Google says it will stop censoring searches on Google.cn and reconsider the feasibility of even doing business there after the search giant reported cyber attacks from within China aimed at gaining access to the Gmail accounts of human rights activists.

Mobile phones equipped with near field communication (NFC) technology will start replacing cash by 2011, according to a recent study, states Computing.co.uk.

The report “NFC: The Road to Commercial Deployment” claims the technology will replace “everything from credit cards and loyalty cards to bus and train tickets, library cards, door keys and even cash”.

By using NFC-equipped phones, users can hold their handsets to a poster or product label containing an RFID chip to sign up for a loyalty programme or access the latest travel information, for example.

A fragile manuscript telling the original story of how Sir Isaac Newton was inspired by a falling apple has been made public for the first time, says BelfastTelegraph.

The account of Newton's eureka moment, which led to his famous theory of gravity, forms part of William Stukeley's 1752 biography of the great scientist. Until now it has remained hidden away in the Royal Society's archives, but from today anyone with Internet access will be able to look at it.

The manuscript is one of a number of archive documents being published online by Britain's leading academic institution to mark its 350th anniversary.

The New York Times is expected to make an official announcement on its new “pay wall” system for its online content before the unveiling of Apple's highly-anticipated new tablet computer on 27 January, which is said to be specifically designed for easy newspaper reading, reports TheMoneyTimes.

As per sources, Arthur Sulzberger Jr, chairman of The New York Times, wants a policy similar to The Financial Times, which allows its readers to access few articles for free before being asked to subscribe for the service in future.

"We'll announce a decision when we believe that we have crafted the best possible business approach. No details till then," says Times spokesperson Diane McNulty.