The three objectives considered are maximization of group index, maximization of bandwidth, and minimization of Group Velocity Dispersion (GVD).
The free speech group Index on Censorship said it hoped the regulations would be voluntary.
When I knew Astor, on the board of free-speech group Index on Censorship, he was an éminence grise.
"Search engines are not publishers and cannot be held responsible for everything on the web," said Padraig Reidy, the news editor of pressure group Index on Censorship.
Reprieve's criticisms were echoed by the campaign group Index on Censorship, which said it was "extremely worried" about the secrecy surrounding the relationship with Bahrain.
My work has been shut down today, whose will be closed down tomorrow?" The row prompted an anguished statement from the group Index on Censorship.
Mike Harris, a researcher with the UK-based free speech group Index on Censorship, was due to meet Mr Bebenin the day after his death.
Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of the campaign group Index on Censorship, said: "This case has worrying implications for freedom of expression, the boundaries of which are being eroded by a creeping extension of privacy concerns in the UK and elsewhere".
The controversy got so heated that, earlier in the summer, Arts Council England and campaigning group Index on Censorship produced a report advising organisations on how to head off "ethical and reputational" issues before they reached sea-monster-critical levels.
The European Union has failed to stand up for whistleblower Edward Snowden or properly defend newspapers that have written articles about the scale of mass state surveillance, according to freedom of expression group Index on Censorship.
GI is used as a group index.
