The White House is concerned that "illegal streaming of content" may not be covered by criminal law, saying "questions have arisen about whether streaming constitutes the distribution of copyrighted works.

Under federal law, wiretaps may only be conducted in investigations of serious crimes, a list that was expanded by the 2001 Patriot Act to include offenses such as material support of terrorism and use of weapons of mass destruction. The administration is proposing to add copyright and trademark infringement.

The administration is proposing that if Homeland Security seizes circumvention devices, it be permitted to "inform rightholders," "provide samples of such devices," and assist "them in bringing civil actions."

The three were beaten with fists, knees and rifles, hooded and subjected to mock executions by members of Libya's army and secret police.

Koraltan said: "I cannot describe how bad it was. Most of them [other detainees] were hooded and handcuffed really tightly, all with swollen hands and broken ribs. They were in agony. They were screaming."

Four Libyan towns which forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi claimed to have retaken remain under rebel control, witnesses say.

Some of the day's heaviest fighting was reported in Misrata, where a local doctor told the BBC the situation became "very bad" after pro-Gaddafi forces with tanks and armoured cars went into the city centre and opened fire.

The UN Security Council approved sanctions last week imposing asset freezes and travel bans on Col Gaddafi and his family and aides.

As was expected, former Senator Chris Dodd has now confirmed that he is a blatant liar and willing to sell out his principles for about a million bucks a year. Just months ago, he announced that he would not, under any condition, take a lobbying job. And here it is, just a month or so after he left the Senate and he's confirmed that he's taken the top job at the MPAA, an organization, who just a week ago admitted its number one priority was lobbying the government.

All 45 have been charged with treason - which can carry a sentence of life imprisonment or death - for, in essence, watching viral videos.

Gwisai and five others were brutally tortured during the next 72 hours, he testified Thursday at an initial hearing.

Under dictator Robert Mugabe, watching internet videos in Zimbabwe can be a capital offense, it would seem.

Mugabe is known as one of the most ruthless and vicious dictators in the world, and it appears he has managed to terrorize his own people sufficiently that the prospect of any sort of popular uprising is very remote.

In the last three years, America's military and intelligence agencies have spent more than $125 million on computer models that are supposed to forecast political unrest.

The head of the CIA is getting hauled in front of Congress, making calls about Egypt's future based on what he read in the press, and getting proven wrong hours later.

"All of our models are bad, some are less bad than others," says Mark Abdollahian, a political scientist and executive at Sentia Group, which has built dozens of predictive models for government agencies.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has said he will stay in office and transfer all power only after September's presidential election.

Thousands of anti-government protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square reacted angrily to his announcement.

Activist Mustafa Naggar responded to the leadership's statements, saying: "The street is fed up with Mubarak. If Mubarak leaves the country, he will help to calm the crisis. If he continues, he will lead Egyptians into chaos."

Tehran and Beijing are doing their best to spin the protests in their favor, when they talk to the world. But at home, they're pursuing a different strategy: trying to muzzle anything but the official line on the upheaval.

Iran has sought to graft its own ideology and history onto the protests - as seems to be popular these days - painting the movements as the Egyptian version of the 1979 Iranian revolution that ushered in its theocracy.

At home, China has blocked internet searches for "Egypt" and reportedly ordered Chinese media to follow the state-run news service Xinhua's line on the protest movements.

It probably doesn't help that the Western press keeps mentioning Tahrir Square in the same breath as the 1989 Tiananmen square protests and subsequent crackdown, It's a chapter of history banned from discussion in China.

Slim Amamou, the Pirate Party member and freedom of speech activist who was arrested just a few days ago, is now the (deputy minister) State Secretary of Youth and Sports.

Amamou is a well-known blogger and activist in Tunisia and played an important role in the 'online' revolt against the former government.

There's something rather ironic that the US government's document on how to get various US government agencies to prevent future leaks (a la Wikileaks) was quickly leaked to the press. But, it's not really that surprising, is it?

Of course, the main thrust of the document isn't to question whether or not so much secrecy is really necessary, but to send out a memo to various government agencies suggesting they use psychiatrists and sociologists to sniff out workers who might be disgruntled.