When the policy folks don’t talk to the tech folks…

There’s been a rash of obscure outcomes recently when policy makers and watchdogs create and enforce technology practices that they don’t understand completely. (Hat tip to Buzz Outloud podcast for noting the connections in the stories below…)

The teacher who’s credentials were removed when a porn site appeared on a computer in her classroom. (ArsTechnica)

A removal of editing capabilities on Wikipedia in the UK in an attempt to “block” one webpage with a question album cover. (C|net)

Serious limits to Web access when a filtering system was put into play in Australia. (The Age)

Teachers who confiscate free software from students. (Slashdot)

The latest: the attempt of lawyers and others to ban Google Earth and other mapping services in India after the recent attacks. The misundertanding: “The lawyer said in the petition that paying subscribers have access to real-time and updated maps on Google Earth and they can see the ongoing construction of the Worli-Bandra Sealink, a bridge in Mumbai, as well as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in northeast Mumbai, Naval dockyards, nuclear and oil establishments and Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace in the capital New Delhi.” The “real-time and updated map” for paying customers to my knowledge is not and has not ever been offered. I’m also curious how they’ll find all the sites they’d need to ban…