Full disclosure: Google Inc. has launched a tool that discloses the requests for user data and content removal that it receives from government agencies, enhanced transparency that it says could ultimately lead to less censorship.
The "Government Requests" feature includes data from July through December of 2009. The company plans to update the information every six months.
"We hope this tool will shine some light on the scale and scope of government requests for censorship and data around the globe," said David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, in a corporate blog post.
Drummond emphasized that the "vast majority" of the requests Google receives are legitimate, such as those that seek the removal of child pornography.
Brazil led the pack in requests for content removal, with 291 during the six-month period, followed by Germany (188), India (142) and the United States (123).
Brazil also topped the list of data requests, with 3,663, followed closely by the United States (3,580), the U.K. (1,166), and India (1,061).
Uncle! The project manager for Adobe Flash said his company is throwing in the towel on its Flash for iPhone efforts and concentrating its efforts on Android.
In a post on his blog, Mike Chambers said the company will still ship its iPhone packager with Creative Suite 5, which allows developers to build iPhone apps in Flash and convert them for the iPhone.
But he said that after Apple changed the language of its developer license agreement to prohibit the use of outside development tools, Adobe won't be investing anymore in that software.
Batter up: Sony said it is bringing high-definition live streaming baseball games to the PlayStation 3 with a new partnership with MLB.TV.
Users who pay either $99.95 for a basic annual subscription or $119.95 for premium service will get to watch streaming games of all Major League Baseball teams on their television. The service also boasts a live scoreboard that lists upcoming pitching matchups and in-game scores. Premium users can get DVR features for live pausing of games.
iPorn, anyone? Steve Jobs reportedly took another shot at Google's Android operating system, saying that's where people looking for porn should go.
Jobs' remark came from an e-mail he apparently sent to an Apple customer who was concerned about Apple's practice of not approving some apps that it finds objectionable. Jobs told the customer that a case like the December rejection of an app by Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore was a "mistake," but that porn won't find a home in the Apple App Store.
"Fiore's app will be in the store shortly. That was a mistake," Jobs wrote in the e-mail shared with TechCrunch. "However, we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy (an) Android phone."
This isn't the first time Jobs has taken aim at Android for being open to porn. At the iPhone 4.0 preview event on April 8, he said much the same thing.
Changing it up: Google Inc. is revamping its directory business, including offering companies a way to advertise within its popular maps.
The Mountain View search giant said its "Local Business Center" - a spot where shops, bars, restaurants and the like can create online profiles - will henceforth be known as "Google Places."
The move was designed to more tightly integrate the listings with the "Place Pages" service launched last September. It features information about local businesses, including addresses, hours, maps and photos, as well as reviews pulled from Google users and snippets from third-party sites like OpenTable and Zagat.
Google also announced a series of new options for businesses using the service, including the ability to buy "Tags" that make their location stand out more on Google Maps and Google.com in exchange for $25 per month.
- Chronicle Staff
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