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Cheap 'Apple Watch' copies on sale

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 11 Maret 2015 | 23.58

11 March 2015 Last updated at 14:41 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

Smartwatches that mirror the look of the Apple Watch's hardware and software are being advertised on China's most popular online shopping service.

Alibaba's Taobao site lists devices branded the AW08 and the iWatch.

They both feature "digital crown" dials on their sides, similar-styled straps and identical user interface graphics to Apple's forthcoming wearable.

However, their listings reveal they run on Google's Android platform rather than Apple's Watch OS.

Other giveaways that the watches are not the iPhone's official "companion" include:

  • They are being offered for about 250 yuan ($40; £26.50) - a fraction of the 2,588 yuan that Apple will charge for its smartwatch in China when it goes on sale next month
  • They do not feature the same heart-monitoring sensors on their rear - although this is not always made clear
  • They boast longer battery life

Taboao acts as a showcase for third-party sellers - much like eBay and Amazon's Marketplace service - and some vendors have taken pains to make clear that the devices they are selling are not Apple's own technology.

One listing, which was highlighted by the Financial Times, even used the slogan: "Knockoff Apple watches have hit the market!"

Taobao's owner said it did, however, remove deceptive ads.

"Alibaba Group is dedicated to the fight against counterfeits," a spokeswoman for the company told the BBC.

"We work closely with our government partners, brands and industry associations to tackle this issue at its source.

"We also utilise technology like data mining and big data to scrub our platforms of counterfeits."

'Room full of mice'

The copycats first came to light in January, when a reporter from the news site Mashable discovered one being displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

One Beijing-based expert - who has not seen any of the copycat watches in person - said there could be considerable demand for the gadgets now that they were being advertised online.

"Apple products are very popular in China, and it's possible that Chinese consumers will want to be seen to be the first person on their block to wear its Watch," said Matthew Forney, president of the business consultancy Fathom China.

"However, I think most of those consumers are aware that there has been an issue with fakes and copycats on Taobao and would be highly suspicious of the devices.

"And most people who buy them will do so knowing they are not Apple's real Watch."

One Hong Kong-based intellectual property lawyer, who has worked for Apple in the past, said the US company had ways to block the sale of smartwatches that had copied its designs, but added that doing so could be expensive and time consuming.

"There's a legal concept called unfair competition that is recognised around the globe, but in China you can't get a preliminary temporary restraining order for it - you have to go through the law as a slog, and that takes time," said Joe Simone, director of Simone IP Services.

"There are other possibilities - such as making copyright or design-patent infringement claims - but the real problem is the amount of infringing activity that's taking place in China, there's just too much of it.

"The other option for Apple would be to ask Alibaba itself to take down these ads, but that involves filling out forms for each of them.

"For Apple it's like going after a room full of mice - there's just too many of them and even if you clear the room today they'll be back tomorrow."

Watch deposits

Confusingly, some listings on Taobao that appear to advertise copycats may in fact represent the genuine article.

One ad for an "Apple iWatch" initially suggests the product will be available for shipping within 15 days - ahead of the Apple Watch's release.

But the listing's fuller description reveals it only represents a "booking link", meaning the shopper is only putting down a deposit that must be added to later once the vendor has obtained stock from Apple.

Alibaba was criticised by a regulator at the China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) in January for failing to do enough to tackle the sale of counterfeit goods on Taobao.

The company's founder, Jack Ma, later insisted that his company took the problem seriously.

"We don't want to be misunderstood by the world that Taobao is a platform for selling fake products," he said.

In light of this, Mr Forney said that the e-commerce giant was expected to crack down on listings that might give consumers genuine cause to feel they had been deceived.

"Alibaba faces heightened scrutiny by its regulator for fakes sold within China," he said.

"So, I would imagine that Alibaba would want to remain above suspicion regarding sensitive new product releases such as Apple devices."

Apple could not be reached for comment.


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National Gallery bans selfie sticks

11 March 2015 Last updated at 12:01

The National Gallery in London has banned selfie sticks.

The gallery says it has placed them in the same category as tripods, which are banned "in order to protect paintings, individual privacy and the overall visitor experience".

The National Gallery ban follows other galleries around the world, including the Smithsonian museums in Washington.

The selfie stick is an elongated pole on which a camera or mobile phone can be attached to take a better photo.

Sales of the selfie stick have soared since last year and they are now a common sight at tourist sites.

The ban by the National Gallery was welcomed by art critic Brian Sewell. He told The Times: "They are possibly quite dangerous to the art work and cause appalling crowding around a painting.

"Anyone who actually wants to go and see a painting can't because people are too busy taking photos. I've seen things in the National Gallery which make my hair stand on end."

Some visitors at the National Gallery have backed the ban.

Morny Davison told the Press Association the selfie stick was "an interference in what one hopes is a reasonably calm experience looking at great pictures."

Another visitor said art lovers would be "thrilled" by the ban, adding: "They should have been banned some time ago."

Other British institutions could also follow the ban.

The British Museum has confirmed it is reviewing its policy on selfie sticks.

A spokeswoman said: "The safety of objects and visitors is paramount to the British Museum".

Selfie sticks are currently allowed at the National Portrait Gallery, but a spokesman said "anything that may prove disruptive is reviewed on an ongoing basis.".

"It is important that all our visitors enjoy their experience at the Gallery."

The Tate does still allow the use of selfie sticks "provided that users respect fellow visitors and adhere to Tate's photography policy".

A spokesman for the Natural History Museum said it does not currently ban the use of selfie sticks and "do not currently see a need to alter our stance on this issue".

The National Museum Cardiff does not permit any camera extension devices such as tripods, and it classes selfie sticks under this category.

A spokesperson said the policy was in place "to ensure the safety of our visitors and the museum's collections, especially during crowded conditions.

"We encourage museum visitors to take selfies and share their experiences but leave the selfie sticks at home."

The BBC is awaiting confirmation from the National Galleries of Scotland to what their policy is.

Analysis by Will Gompertz, Arts Editor

It used to be so easy.

Cameras were banned - flashlight was bad for the pictures and visitors having their own copies of paintings was bad for business.

The camera phone changed all that - making it unfeasible for galleries to stop people taking photographs.

The selfie stick has introduced a new problem, which is to stop people looking at pictures and in so doing creates a distraction for those who are trying to study what the gallery has to offer. So the rationale for banning them is because they cause a disturbance - the side benefit being you will now once again have to go the museum shop to get your copy of your favourite picture.

Earlier this month, the Smithsonian museum group announced it had banned selfie sticks from its 19 museums and galleries in the US capital.

"This is a preventive measure to protect visitors and objects, especially during crowded conditions," it said in a statement.

It followed similar restrictions from museums and galleries in the US including New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Modern Museum of Art (MOMA), the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The palace of Versailles was the first museum in Europe to ban the use of selfie sticks and it is expected that The Louvre and the Pompidou centre are likely to follow suit.

Selfie sticks are also banned from music venues in the UK including the O2 and Wembley Arena.


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UK ISPs block Pirate Bay proxies

11 March 2015 Last updated at 11:48

UK internet service providers have begun blocking access to websites that provide a list of Pirate Bay alternatives, as part of the battle against online piracy.

Under a court order, ISPs already block access to many of the biggest sharing sites that carry illegal content, including Pirate Bay.

But users can visit so-called proxy sites that bypass the restrictions.

One of the newly blocked sites said the ban was "totally unreasonable".

Growing list

Under a High Court ruling in a case brought by rights holders, it was agreed that ISPs would ban sites on a list that could be regularly updated.

Rights holders include music industry body BPI and the Premier League.

"Under existing BPI blocking orders relating to 63 illegal websites, ISPs are required to block the illegal sites themselves, and proxies and proxy aggregators whose sole or predominant purpose is to give access to the illegal sites," according to the BPI.

Virgin confirmed that it, along with the other major ISPs, was now blocking proxy sites in line with the original ruling.

"Virgin Media is required to block certain sites by the UK High Court. As a responsible ISP, we comply with court orders addressed to us."

'Censorship'

Among the blocked sites are piratebayproxy.co.uk, piratebayproxylist.com and ukbay.org.

The operator of UKBay.org, identified just as Dan, told piracy news website TorrentFreak that the new bans were "totally unreasonable".

"To block a site that simply links to another site just shows the level of censorship we are allowing ISPs to get away with," he said.

"UKBay is not even a PirateBay proxy. It simply provides links to proxies. If they continue blocking sites that link to sites that link to sites, there'll be nothing left."


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Wikimedia sues NSA over surveillance

10 March 2015 Last updated at 11:53

The NSA's mass surveillance programme violates US laws on freedom of speech, alleges a lawsuit begun by the Wikimedia Foundation.

The legal action has been filed against the spy agency and the US Department of Justice.

The legal action, co-signed by eight other organisations, seeks to end the NSA's large-scale surveillance efforts.

The Foundation is the non-profit group that oversees the running of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia.

The Wikmedia Foundation said it was taking action against the NSA's so-called "upstream" surveillance work which targets communication with people not in the US.

Such spying violates US laws on free speech and those that govern against unreasonable search and seizure, it said.

The scale of the monitoring carried out by the NSA has been revealed in documents made public by whistleblower Edward Snowden over the last two years. Some of those papers show the NSA tapped the net's backbone network to siphon off data. The backbone is made up of high-speed cables that link big ISPs and key transit points on the net.

"By tapping the backbone of the internet, the NSA is straining the backbone of democracy," said Lila Tretikov, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, in a blogpost announcing the legal action.

Targeting the backbone means the NSA casts a "vast net" and inevitably scoops up data unrelated to any target and will also include domestic communications, violating the rules governing what the NSA can spy on, said Ms Tretikov.

Information in the Snowden papers revealed that Wikipedia has been explicitly targeted, said the blogpost.

"By violating our users' privacy, the NSA is threatening the intellectual freedom that is central to people's ability to create and understand knowledge," said Ms Tretikov.

In an accompanying editorial published in the New York Times, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said he hoped the lawsuit would bring an "end to the NSA's dragnet surveillance of Internet traffic".

Other organisations joining the lawsuit include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers and the Global Fund for Women.

The NSA and DoJ have yet to comment on the legal action.


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Indebted Gigaom shuts down

10 March 2015 Last updated at 18:03

One of the oldest and most prominent technology blogs Gigaom has shut down after running out of money.

The company announced it could not pay its creditors, who now held its assets. It said it did not know if the site could operate in the future.

Senior writer Mathew Ingram said the news "hurts more than I can say", while the site's founder Om Malik thanked its staff and readers.

Gigaom claimed to have around 6.5 million readers per month.

In a statement posted on his own website, Mr Malik wrote: "It is not how you want the story of a company you founded to end."

He said: "There will be time for postmortems, but not today. Today, I want to thank all the people who make (and have helped make) Gigaom.

"Their role in this journey was what really made it all worth it. They are great people and they will all do great work wherever they go."

'Goodnight sweetheart'

Mr Malik added that, while he left Gigaom more than a year ago, the idea behind it "still lives in my heart... Goodnight sweetheart, I still love you!"

In a statement posted on the site, its management said: "Gigaom recently became unable to pay its creditors in full at this time.

"As a result, the company is working with its creditors that have rights to all of the company's assets as their collateral.

"All operations have ceased. We do not know at this time what the lenders intend to do with the assets or if there will be any future operations using those assets.

"The company does not currently intend to file bankruptcy. We would like to take a moment and thank our readers and our community for supporting us all along."

'Hurt'

Gigaom was started in 2006 by Mr Malik, an Indian-born journalist. In 2012, it acquired a rival website, paidContent from Guardian Media Group.

While digital-only media have been grabbing readers from newspapers and other traditional media, the space has become increasingly crowded, with dozens of news sites, many covering the tech sector.

Mr Ingram tweeted: "This hurts more than I can say: I was just told Gigaom is shutting down - it has run out of money. We tried our best, but it wasn't enough."


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Solar plane completes first leg

9 March 2015 Last updated at 16:15 By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent
Solar Impulse-2 lands in Oman

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Solar plane lands in Oman: ''An extraordinary sight, almost like a glider''

A record-breaking attempt to fly around the world in a solar-powered plane has completed its first leg.

The aircraft - called Solar Impulse-2 - took off from Abu Dhabi, heading east to Muscat in Oman.

With businessman and pilot Andre Borschbeg at the controls, the aircraft touched down in Oman at 16:14 GMT after a 12-hour flight.

Over the next five months, it will skip from continent to continent, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

"And there we are... confirmation we're down. Solar Impulse has touched the ground," a flight controller said as the plane's wheels touched the tarmac.

The single-seater vehicle took off at 07:12 local time (03:12 GMT).

Solar Impulse 2 at night

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Five-day solo flight over the Pacific - Solar Impulse's biggest challenge?

Mr Borschberg will share the pilot duties in due course with fellow Swiss, Bertrand Piccard.

The plan is to stop off at various locations around the globe, to rest and to carry out maintenance, and also to spread a campaigning message about clean technologies.

Before taking off, Borschberg told BBC News: "I am confident we have a very special aeroplane, and it will have to be to get us across the big oceans.

"We may have to fly for five days and five nights to do that, and it will be a challenge.

"But we have the next two months, as we fly the legs to China, to train and prepare ourselves."

Monday's leg to Oman covered about 400km. Details of the journey are being relayed on the internet.

A solar revolution - by Roger Harrabin, BBC environment analyst

It's a deep-breath moment in the history of technology as Solar Impulse soars to the skies.

Because, pinch yourself, solar power is predicted to become the dominant source of electricity globally by 2050.

The price of solar electric panels fell 70% in recent years and costs are expected to halve again this decade.

And Deutsche Bank forecasts that, based on current fossil fuel prices, solar will produce power as cheaply as gas in two thirds of the world before 2020.

In the UK the solar industry thinks it can compete with wind within 18 months and with gas in the near future. In the USA, solar jobs already outnumber coal jobs.

The solar revolution was sparked by government subsidies, which attracted venture capitalists to fund innovation and created a huge market that Chinese manufacturers are battling to exploit.

The solar boom is a huge help in the battle against climate change, but scientists warn it's not nearly enough. And we must find ways of storing that mighty but capricious power, and making it work with the grid.

BBC iWonder: Is jet travel becoming the dirtiest way to cross the planet?

Lightweight plane

The Solar Impulse project has already set a number of world records for solar-powered flight, including making a high-profile transit of the US in 2013.

But the round-the-world venture is altogether more dramatic and daunting, and has required the construction of an even bigger plane than the prototype, Solar Impulse-1.

This new model has a wingspan of 72m, which is wider than a 747 jumbo jet. And yet, it weighs only 2.3 tonnes.

Its light weight will be critical to its success.

So, too, will the performance of the 17,000 solar cells that line the top of the wings, and the energy-dense lithium-ion batteries it will use to sustain night-time flying.

Solar Impulse-2 launches in Abu Dhabi

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Andre Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seater vehicle as it took off

Operating through darkness will be particularly important when the men have to cross the Pacific and the Atlantic.

The slow speed of their prop-driven plane means these legs will take several days and nights of non-stop flying to complete.

Piccard and Borschberg - whoever is at the controls - will have to stay alert for nearly all of the time they are airborne.

They will be permitted only catnaps of up to 20 mins - in the same way a single-handed, round-the-world yachtsman would catch small periods of sleep.

They will also have to endure the physical discomfort of being confined in a cockpit that measures just 3.8 cubic metres in volume - not a lot bigger than a public telephone box.

Flight simulators have helped the pilots to prepare, and each man has developed his own regimen to cope.

Borschberg will use yoga to try to stay fresh. Piccard is using self-hypnosis techniques.

"But my passion also will keep me going," said Piccard.

"I had this dream 16 years ago of flying around the world without fuel, just on solar power. Now, we're about to do it. The passion is there and I look forward so much to being in the cockpit."

The support team is well drilled. While the mission will be run out of a control room in Monaco, a group of engineers will follow the plane around the globe. They have a mobile hangar to house the plane when it is not in the air.

It is not at all certain Solar Impulse will succeed. Computer modelling suggests the ocean crossings are feasible, given the right weather conditions.

But that same modelling has shown also that there may be occasions when the team simply has to sit tight on the ground for weeks before a fair window opens.

"Last year, we had a very good exercise. We went around the world virtually, but with actual conditions," explained Raymond Clerc, mission director.

"For the Pacific crossing, it was an easy decision. We had a very good window on 2 May. But when we were on the East Coast of the USA, we had to look to cross the Atlantic and we had to wait 30 days to find a good window. And then it was easy - 3.5 days and we were in Seville, [Spain]," he told BBC News.

Andre Borschberg

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Pilot Andre Borschberg gives a guided tour of the solar plane

If the pilots should come unstuck over the Pacific or the Atlantic, they will bail out and use ocean survival gear until they can be picked up by a ship.

Of the two protagonists, Andre Borschberg perhaps needs a little more introduction.

A trained engineer and former air-force pilot, he has built a career as an entrepreneur in internet technologies.

Bertrand Piccard, on the other hand, is well known for his ballooning exploits.

Along with Brian Jones, he completed the first non-stop, circumnavigation of the world in 1999, using the Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon. The Piccard name is synonymous with pushing boundaries.

Bertrand's father, Jacques Piccard, was the first to reach the deepest place in the ocean (a feat achieved with Don Walsh in the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960). And his grandfather, Auguste Piccard, was the first person to take a balloon into the stratosphere, in 1931.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos


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Charges over 'largest' email breach

10 March 2015 Last updated at 13:20

Three men have been charged by US authorities for their alleged involvement with a huge email breach.

Two Vietnamese men are alleged to have hacked into email providers in the US and stolen one billion addresses.

It is believed the two then profited by sending junk mail or spam to tens of millions of the stolen addresses.

A third man also charged is alleged to have helped the hackers launder the money made from the large-scale spamming scheme.

According to allegations in a US Department of Justice statement, Viet Quoc Nguyen and Giang Hoang Vu hacked into eight separate email providers in the US between 2009 and 2012. The DoJ said they used this access to steal more than one billion email addresses in what it said was the "largest" data breach in US history.

The DoJ also alleges that the pair used their access to the internal systems of the email providers to help them despatch junk messages to tens of millions of people. The trade earned them millions of dollars from spam and from websites that paid to have traffic directed to them via junk mail, said the DoJ.

Some of the spam sent sought to make people pay for software they could get free elsewhere.

Vu was extradited to the US from Holland in 2014 and has pleaded guilty to committing computer fraud. He is due to be sentenced next month. Nguyen remains a fugitive, said the DoJ.

Also charged is Canadian David-Manuel Santos Da Silva who, the US alleges, helped Vu and Nguyen generate cash from their stolen email addresses and by laundering the money they made. Da Silva was arrested in Florida last month and is due to be arraigned before a judge this week.

"Large scale and sophisticated international cyber hacking rings are becoming more problematic for the law enforcement community that is faced with the challenges of identifying them and laying hands on them," said FBI agent J Britt Johnson who led the agency's investigation into the breach.


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'Banning Tor unwise', MPs told

10 March 2015 Last updated at 14:04 By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News

A ban on online anonymity networks would be "technologically infeasible" and unwise, MPs have been told.

Parliamentary advisers said networks such as Tor could be used for criminal ends but also in the public interest.

The advice for MPs contradicted the Prime Minister David Cameron, who has said law enforcement should be handed the keys to encrypted communications.

One expert said the document showed Mr Cameron's plans to be "noble", but ultimately unworkable.

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (Post), which issues advice to MPs, said that there was "widespread agreement that banning online anonymity systems altogether is not seen as an acceptable policy option in the UK".

'Technical challenges'

In a briefing document on the dark net, of which Tor forms a prominent part, it added that, "even if it were, there would be technical challenges".

The report, published on Monday 9 March, cited the example of the Chinese government, which attempted to block access to Tor in order to enforce bans on unauthorised websites.

In reaction, it said, the body that maintains the network, simply added "bridges" that were "very difficult to block", allowing people to continue accessing Tor.

Speaking in January, following attacks by gunmen in Paris and its surrounding areas, David Cameron said there should be no "means of communication" the security services could not read.

He said: "In extremis, it has been possible to read someone's letter, to listen to someone's call to mobile communications.

"The question remains, 'Are we going to allow a means of communications where it simply is not possible to do that?' My answer to that question is, 'No, we must not.'"

He has also enlisted companies that operate internet search engines, such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, to help track down and block images of child abuse.

Whistle-blowing

However, the Post report clarified that the dark web was not indexed by such search engines, limiting the extent to which they would be able to help.

Jamie Bartlett, of the think tank Demos, whose book The Dark Net was cited in the report, said that - in theory - he agreed with Mr Cameron that there should not be a place in the dark web for criminals to hide.

However, he said that - in practice - the prime minister's plans were shown by the parliamentary document to be "more or less impossible to actually do".

He said: "It is about police being able to force people to give up their anonymity when necessary, without taking away the ability to be anonymous online."

Hidden services

The Post provides reports for MPs to offer them independent, non-political advice on highly specialised and complicated issues in science and technology.

It does not bind them to any position, but helps inform parliamentary debates and votes on subjects of which many MPs would otherwise have little understanding.

In its report, it differentiated between use of the dark web for criminal purposes and for acts in the public interest - such as whistle-blowing.

It noted that some people have argued for a network that allowed users to be anonymous, but without Tor hidden services (THS), such as the Silk Road marketplace, which have been used for criminal purposes.

"However, THS also benefit non-criminal Tor users because they may add a further layer of user security," the report said.

"Sites requiring strong security, like whistle-blowing platforms are offered as THS.

"Also, computer experts argue that any legislative attempt to preclude THS from being available in the UK over Tor would be technologically infeasible."

A spokesman for the prime minister did not respond to a request for comment.


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Apple faces online service faults

11 March 2015 Last updated at 16:34

Apple is experiencing faults affecting several of its online services.

The tech company's iOS App Store, Mac App Store, iTunes music and video marketplace and iBooks shop are all refusing to allow users to download new material or update existing files.

According to its status page, the problem affects users worldwide.

Earlier, users were also unable to access email and documents stored on the Apple's iCloud facility. However, this issue appears to have been fixed.

Apple's website said the problems had begun at 09:00 GMT.

Other products affected include its iTunes Connect and Testflight tools, used by developers to submit apps and control others' access to their products.

The news comes in the same week Apple released an update to its iOS operating system and unveiled products, including a new laptop and smartwatch, in San Francisco.

Last September, the company apologised after an earlier iOS update stopped its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models from being able to make or receive phone calls.

A spokesman for the company was unable to provide further comment.


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Minecraft ban reports investigated

11 March 2015 Last updated at 15:36 By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News

Minecraft owner Microsoft is investigating reports the Turkish government is preparing to ban the game, the BBC understands.

A Turkish Family and Social Policies Ministry study said the game promoted violence, according to local media.

There were conflicting reports about what action the government was planning to take as a result.

Some said it would ask a court to ban the game, others that it would ask Microsoft to edit it.

According to the Haberturk newspaper, the ministry's report said: "Although the game can be seen as encouraging creativity in children by letting them build houses, farmlands and bridges, mobs [hostile creatures] must be killed in order to protect these structures. In short, the game is based on violence."

'Social isolation'

The report said some children could confuse Minecraft with the real world and be led to believe torturing animals would cause no pain, the newspaper reported.

It added the report was based on the experience of a nine-year-old and suggested playing Minecraft could lead to "social isolation".

Haberturk reported the ministry's legal affairs department had been instructed to take the first steps towards banning Minecraft.

But, according to Fatih Oke, a spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC, a ban was "out of the question".

Mr Oke told Christian Science Monitor: "There will be no ban.

"The game is not banned and is not going to be banned.

The Family and Social Policy Ministry does not have that kind of authority to ban any product.

"I understand that this is what has been said in the Turkish media, but it is incorrect.

"The ministry can only work with complaints.

"In this case, I am told there were numerous complaints from parents about Minecraft and its influence on children.

"The function of this ministry is to raise awareness."

The government would not be able to unilaterally ban the game, it would have to convince a court to do so.

While Turkey is not noted for banning computer games, some websites have been taken down recently.

Last year, access to both Twitter and YouTube was temporarily shut down, while Facebook was required to block some pages said to insult the Prophet Muhammad in January this year.

'Creative freedom'

A spokesman for Mojang, which makes Minecraft under the Microsoft umbrella after the latter bought the game for $2.5bn in September 2014, would not comment directly on the reports.

He said: "Minecraft is enjoyed by many players in a wide variety of ways.

"Many enjoy the creative freedom that's presented by Minecraft and its tools, some are more interested by the opportunity to explore a landscape without boundaries and to go on exciting adventures with friends.

"We encourage players to cooperate in order to succeed, whether they're building, exploring, or adventuring.

"The world of Minecraft can be a dangerous place: it's inhabited by scary, genderless monsters that come out at night.

"It might be necessary to defend against them to survive.

"If people find this level of fantasy conflict upsetting, we would encourage them to play in Creative Mode, or to enable the Peaceful setting.

"Both of these options will prevent monsters from appearing in the world."


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