Information Policy

Digitised books, digital libraries and media literacy on the agenda at the Council of Ministers in Charge of Culture and Audiovisual Policy, 27 November 2009

26 November 2009 — The Education, Youth and Culture Council will meet in Brussels on 27 November 2009 to discuss, inter alia, key issues related to Europe's Information Society. The European Commission will present its analysis of the impact of the Google Books Settlement on Europe from the angle of copyright, cultural diversity and competition. EU ministers will address the wider challenges for digitising books and other cultural content, and making this material available through Europe's digital library Europeana. The ministers will also discuss media literacy in the digital environment. The European Commission will be represented on these issues by Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media. On the issues related to the Education and Culture portfolio, see MEMO/09/521.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/526&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Introducing Google Public DNS

When you type www.wikipedia.org into your browser's address bar, you expect nothing less than to be taken to Wikipedia. Chances are you're not giving much thought to the work being done in the background by the Domain Name System, or DNS.

Today, as part of our ongoing effort to make the web faster, we're launching our own public DNS resolver called Google Public DNS, and we invite you to try it out.

Most of us aren't familiar with DNS because it's often handled automatically by our Internet Service Provider (ISP), but it provides an essential function for the web. You could think of it as the switchboard of the Internet, converting easy-to-remember domain names — e.g., www.google.com — into the unique Internet Protocol (IP) numbers — e.g., 74.125.45.100 — that computers use to communicate with one another.

The average Internet user ends up performing hundreds of DNS lookups each day, and some complex pages require multiple DNS lookups before they start loading. This can slow down the browsing experience. Our research has shown that speed matters to Internet users, so over the past several months our engineers have been working to make improvements to our public DNS resolver to make users' web-surfing experiences faster, safer and more reliable. You can read about the specific technical improvements we've made in our product documentation and get installation instructions from our product website.

If you're web-savvy and comfortable with changing your network settings, check out the Google Code Blog for detailed instructions and more information on how to set up Google Public DNS on your computer or router.

As people begin to use Google Public DNS, we plan to share what we learn with the broader web community and other DNS providers, to improve the browsing experience for Internet users globally. The goal of Google Public DNS is to benefit users worldwide while also helping the tens of thousands of DNS resolvers improve their services, ultimately making the web faster for everyone.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/introducing-google-public-dns.html

Nokia Says Global Handset Market to Bounce Back 10% in 2010, Commits to Symbian

Nokia has predicted the handset market will show significant recovery next year, fuelled by smartphone sales but expects its own market share to remain flat.

Nokia expects that smartphones will amount to a bigger share of its device sales next year, which would slow down the fall of average selling price and lift profitability.

The Finnish handset giant is shifting its focus towards new technologies and the services sector, and says while it still faces significant challenges, its direction is now clear.

Although Nokia has high expectations for next year, the other global handset vendors seem more cautious—but there is little doubt the key growth area will be the smartphone market.

Nokia has predicted a rebound in global mobile phone sales in 2010, with the Finnish handset giant's chief executive stating industry device volumes to be up by approximately 10% over the year. Speaking at its capital markets day in Helsinki, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo stated he expected the markets to bounce back, fuelled chiefly by smartphone growth, but he expected Nokia's share of the overall market to be flat in 2010, while the value of its market share in terms of euros would grow slightly.

Nokia also stated that its operating system (OS) Symbian would remain the key software platform on its smartphones, emphasing that it had made significant improvements to the next version of the user interface. The world number-one mobile handset vendor also indicated it expected that a higher proportion of Nokia smartphones will have touch screens or full QWERTY keyboards over the next year.

* Nokia on the Road to Recovery: Nokia has recently reported its first loss in a decade in the third quarter, of 559 million euro (US$844 million dollars), as the group has cut more than 4,200 job cuts during 2009 as part of a huge cost-cutting operation. The Finnish giant is struggling with falling revenues due to a drop in operator and consumer spend as a result of the global economic slowdown, and rising competition particularly in the high-end smartphone market from new forces such as Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry range, while its Nokia Siemens Networks joint venture is causing a drag on profits. However, Nokia expects that smartphones will amount to a bigger share of its device sales next year, which would slow down the fall of average selling price and lift profitability, although the vendor expects competition to remain fierce. Indeed, Nokia is expecting that some 41% of its mobile device revenues this year will come from smartphones, as it aims next year to increase profitability and aims to boost the profit margin at its key Devices and Services unit to 14% in 2010, from an expected 12% this year. Nokia is shifting its focus towards new technologies and the services sector, and says while it still faces significant challenges, its direction is now clear.

* Sticking with Symbian: The rivalry between the various mobile OS platforms is becoming increasingly fierce, as each developer vies for a share of the burgeoning global market for smartphones. Nokia says that Symbian will be taken "to a new level" next year, as a new version of the platform is released, and the company drives user experience improvements, giving the OS "reach and flexibility like no other platform". Despite criticism of the clunky interface, Nokia has denied it was any plans to turn its back on the Symbian platform, and will continue to focus on using this OS, alongside its new Maemo and more basic S40 platforms, as it continues its drive on the smartphone market.

* Is the Worst over for the Handset Giants? The global financial crisis has led to dramatic cuts in consumer and operator spend, hitting the handset market hard. Nokia has estimated that around 1.12 billion mobile devices will be sold in the world this year—around 7% down on 2008—but the mobile phone giant is now predicting the overall market will stabilize, with key smartphone growth significantly higher. World number-two Samsung handset volumes were up some 15% in the third quarter compared with the last quarter, translating to a global market share of 20.8%—the first time the Korean giant has seen a share over 20%, as it sees significant growth into lower-end emerging markets. Meanwhile, Nokia's European neighbour Sony Ericsson is also looking to tap into the smartphone market following a significant slump, which has seen its global market share fall from some 8% to 5% in recent years. In the United States Motorola has been brought low by the continued failures of its handset unit, but the push to return to some of its former glory is just beginning with the launch of two handsets based on Google's Android OS. Although Nokia has high expectations for next year, the other global handset vendors seem more cautious—but there is little doubt the key growth area will be the smartphone market.

https://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/38157?7649

EDRI: IGF 2009: the Forum is the Message (and the Massage as well)

Internet Governance Forum or Internet Governance Fair? One might still wonder what the IGF acronym stands for, after the closing of its fourth annual meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on 18 November 2009. As usual, the IGF featured a number (111 over 4 days!) of so-called multi-stakeholder panels and workshops, exhibition booths, launching events and other happenings. One might still equally wonder what 'Internet Governance' means in the IGF context: apparently, any and all Internet issues, roughly categorized under 7 headings: Access, Diversity, Openness, Security, Critical Internet Resources, Development and Capacity Building.

The new comer finds it hard to understand the difference between discussion formats: main session (though run in parallel with up to 9 other events), workshop, open forum, best practice forum, dynamic coalition meeting: what's the exact difference in the end? The veteran is still waiting for the 'round-table' format, that is, a more output-oriented format for issues that have reached a certain level of maturity, that one would have expected as a result of the February and May 2009 IGF consultation meetings. But 'outcome' seems a banned concept, if not a jinx, at IGF. Marshall McLuhan would probably have liked it: the Forum is indeed the message and the massage altogether. However, some participants have a precise agenda to advance for better or worse.

The Association for Progressive Communication (APC) took further steps on its joint initiative with the Council of Europe and UNECE towards a "Code of Good Practice on Transparency, Information and Participation in Internet governance", which builds on the principles of WSIS and the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the international Public Voice Coalition were instrumental in making privacy a key and crosscutting issue at this year IGF, most notably by moderating the main session on "security, openness, and privacy" and by convening high quality informative workshops to put privacy in focus in emerging contexts such as cloud computing, behavioural targeting and social networks. IGF was indeed the perfect opportunity for the Public Voice Coalition, of which EDRI is a main actor, to campaign on and collect more signatures to the recently adopted "Madrid Civil Society Declaration on Global Privacy Standards in a Global World".

On the worrying side, no less than 3 workshops were explicitly dedicated to the promotion of the Council of Europe (CoE) Convention on Cybercrime through CoE (privately co-funded) projects. While these projects claim to include data protection and privacy in their objectives, this would certainly be better achieved if the CoE (as well as private companies) were dedicating comparable resources to the promotion of the CoE Convention 108 for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, together with its 2001 additional Protocol regarding supervisory authorities and transborder data flows. Another preoccupying issue is the promotion by many governments, but also by other stakeholders including some NGOs, of regulations and public-private initiatives to fight the "dangers" of the Internet through content regulation measures that have shown, till now, more harm to human rights and especially the rights to freedom of expression, to privacy and to access to knowledge, than effective protection of vulnerable groups.

Human rights are not simply a discussion topic: they form a set of international state binding standards. Active campaigning and uncompromising on the softening and dilution of basic universal principles seems to be still required from the civil society side. While APC and some other participants seem to consider that human rights are gaining prominence at the IGF, it remains to be proven that, beyond endless discussions, the realization of human rights in the digital environment is making effective progress thanks to the IGF... or even AT the IGF one should rather say: during an event organized by the Open Net Initiative (ONI) to launch the book entitled "Access controlled", a promotion poster was taken down by security personnel on the grounds that it showed the following sentence: 'China's famous "Great Firewall of China" is one of the first national Internet filtering systems', a display which was claimed to violate UN policy.

Should the IGF continue, then? Almost all stakeholders, including civil society ones, advocated in favour of the continuation of the IGF in the written comments they submitted as well as at the main session dedicated to the desirability of the Forum continuation after the expiration of its first 5-years mandate in 2010. Particularly and unanimously praised were the capacity building feature of the IGF and its ability to facilitate open dialogue among different stakeholders and different viewpoints. Governments are divided, though, on whether the IGF should lead to negotiated and/or binding outcomes: Canada, USA, and the EU presidency strongly stood against such idea, rather favouring IGF continuation in its current form. Others, like Brazil, Kenya and Switzerland, advocated for more concrete but not negotiated outcomes. China was the most clear and direct: "without reform to the present IGF, it is not necessary to give the IGF a five-year extension", advocating for a more classical UN style discussion. All developing countries highlighted the need for better inclusion and involvement of participants from the Global South. Since the IGF will probably be continued, the fact that the IGF 2011 will be held in Kenya might bring some improvement on this last issue. Next year's IGF meeting will be in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 14-17 September 2010.

http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number7.23/igf-2009-forum-is-the-message

Stockholm programme adopted by the European Parliament

After six months of preparation, the European Union has almost reached agreement (somewhat behind schedule) on its 5-year plan for policy in the area of "freedom, security and justice", better known as the "Stockholm Programme". Discussions on this proposal took place in parallel, with the European Parliament preparing its opinion on the dossier at the same time as Member States were working towards finalising the "real" text. While the European Parliament's views have had a limited direct impact on the Stockholm Programme itself, they will have an influence on the practical projects that are subsequently set up by this new plan.

The text adopted by the Parliament, in great haste and some chaos, is a mix of some very positive statements and some less helpful ones. On the plus side, an attempt was made to reshape the post-9/11 "balance" metaphor with regard to freedoms and justice: "(...) the EU is rooted in the principle of freedom; points out that, in support of that freedom, security must be pursued in accordance with the rule of law and subject to fundamental rights obligations; states that the balance between security and freedom must be seen from this perspective". There is also a stress on reviewing the impact of measures adopted under the programme and improving the evaluation systems already in place. On the negative side, opportunities were missed with regard to minimum levels of diligence to be required of the European Commission with regard to the issues to be addressed in impact assessments and with regard to the dangers inherent in the use of databases, particularly when these are interlinked. The Council, meanwhile, hit some problems in last minute discussions on the Programme, although at the time of writing, these problems do not appear fatal for the initiative as a whole. Bearing in mind the wish of one Member State Minister expressed during the debate between ministers, that the Stockholm Programme will lead to the "eradication of terrorism" and the wish of another that the programme would deal effectively with petty crime, it appears that some Member States have somewhat unrealistic expectations of the initiative. On the plus side, the text deleted some of the more destructive and populist (blocking of websites) and downright dangerous ("revoking" of the IP addresses of foreign ISPs considered criminal by the police) measures in the European Commission's Communication of June of this year, which was meant to form the basis of the Programme. On the negative side, the Council appears to be slipping into the misconception that IT-based automated policing will somehow produce systems that will be both cheaper and more efficient while also not endangering citizens' rights. This trend is demonstrated by its proposal (albeit neatly framed with words about protection of personal data) on "interoperability of IT systems ensuring full conformity with data protection and data security principles when developing such systems." Within the context, and keeping to this worrying theme, Swedish Minister Beatrice Ask (at the beginning of discussions in the Council) expressed her hope for the creation of "more cost-effective data exchange".

As mentioned above, disagreements and delays have significantly slowed the final adoption of the text. While Ministers all agreed that citizens should be happy to trust any government (including foreign governments, following the SWIFT agreement on exchange of banking data) with their personal data, they did not trust each other to be responsible for mutually recognised asylum procedures. As a result, this aspect of the Programme has delayed its adoption.

The next stage in this process will be the preparation of concrete projects to be proposed within the context of the adopted text. This will be done by the European Commission, ostensibly with the support of the Spanish Presidency of the Council.

http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number7.23/stockholm-programme-adopted-ep

Yahoo expands integration with Facebook

Yahoo Inc will let users of its email, photo-sharing and other online products link their content and activities directly into Facebook, the world's No. 1 Internet social network. Yahoo's support of the Facebook Connect service, which it said it expects to begin in the first half of 2010, represents an important move in Yahoo's efforts to tap the popularity of social networking and underscores the growing clout of Facebook, which now counts more than 350 million worldwide users. Earlier this year, Yahoo allowed users to preview messages from their Facebook friends directly on the Yahoo homepage, as part of a broad revamping of the Yahoo front page. Wednesday's announcement takes the integration between Yahoo and Facebook a step further, by automatically pushing activities performed on Yahoo sites, such as photos shared on Yahoo's Flickr, into the Facebook news feed. Yahoo said it expects that the content that consumers share on Facebook will drive visitors back to Yahoo.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/yahoo_expands_integration_with_facebook/

Tata launches 3G TV service

India's Tata Teleservices has launched Photon TV, a service that allows its mobile high speed internet subscribers to watch live television channels on their laptops or PCs, reports the Hindu Business Line. Existing subscribers who have the Photon Plus USB card from Tata can access the TV service by downloading an application. According to the company, an existing subscriber to the Photon Super Surf data plan with a 15GB usage limit costing a monthly INR1,500 (USD32.40) could watch TV for up to approximately 160 hours in a month without incurring additional fees. Channels include live TV feeds from various sports, news, entertainment and regional channels, with recorded content including TV shows, movies and music videos available on demand. The company has partnered with Apalya Technologies to establish the TV platform and content line-up.

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=31218

The ICT4D 2.0 Manifesto: Where Next for ICTs and International Development?

ICT4D – the application of information and communication technologies for international development – is moving to a new phase. This will require new technologies, new approaches to innovation and implementation, new intellectual perspectives and, above all, a new view of the world's poor. All these must be understood if we are to harness digital technologies in the service of some of our world's most pressing problems.

This paper explains the phase change – from "ICT4D 1.0" to "ICT4D 2.0" – and its implications. The background to these phases is reviewed, charting the logic and chronology of applying ICTs in developing countries. The implications of the phase change are then analysed. First, in terms of new technology and application priorities.

Then, in relation to new models of innovation we may need to embrace: from laboratory to collaborative to grassroots innovation. Next, in relation to new implementation models for funding, managing, and applying digital technology. Finally, the paper looks at necessary new worldviews to guide our thinking and our policies in this field; integrating perspectives from computer science, information systems and development studies. Additional commentaries and models provide a further set of rich insights into the future of ICT4D.

http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/research/publications/wp/di/documents/di_wp42.pdf

The Big Bang of Business Naming

Suddenly some explosively positive and futuristically pragmatic policies about the Internet and global e-commerce are creating amazing galaxies of business naming. With already 1.7 billion online users and 1 billion more on its way the new business naming capabilities befitting advance and intricate platforms of global cyber branding provide mega opportunities. Depending on types and styles of businesses, for a fraction of cost, several dozens of multiple websites in multilingual formats with right type of domain names skating worldwide can easily catapult sales many folds and increase visibility to brand new stratosphere.

http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=sa&id=1796

YouTube home page becoming prime display ad space

YouTube's home page, with a 90% sellout rate, has become a highly reliable ad vehicle for the video site. The branded display ads also are serving as a showcase for the rich-media capabilities of parent Google and its DoubleClick unit, according to this article.

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=140794

U.S.: WiMax operators ask for $1.6B in broadband stimulus

Of the 1130 applications submitted to the federal government for last-mile broadband stimulus funds, more than a quarter were filed by WiMax operators looking to capitalize on the program to expand wireless access and mobile broadband services to underserved areas, according to an analysis by the WiMax Forum. While many of those applications were for rural projects, several of them came from familiar names looking to expand access in the big cities.

Though the number of applications from wireless providers was large, the amounts each requested on average was relatively small. Of the $14.212 billion in last-mile funds requested, the 300 WiMax applications totaled $1.6 billion, according to the Forum. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the US Department of Agriculture’s RUS fund have set aside a total of $4 billion in grant funds with an additional $3.2 billion available for loans. In total the government has received applications for $28 billion in funding for all broadband stimulus projects.

Forum president and chairman Ron Resnick said that the high turnout among wireless providers shows that WiMax has enormous potential in bridging the digital divide between competitive urban markets and unserved and underserved rural markets.

“WiMax can be deployed over wide areas to serve thousands of consumers cheaper and faster than traditional wireline services,” Resnick said. “For every dollar spent on a new network, a WiMax operator can cover 10 to 20 times the number of homes and businesses with WiMax service than they can cover with wireline. These savings are passed along to the customer, who spends only $25 to $35 a month on a WiMax connection with comparable speed to a $50 to $60 cable or wireline connection.”

https://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/38134?7649

Third generation of GÉANT to pioneer the Future Internet

The new generation of GÉANT, the super fast pan-European research internet, has been officially unveiled today. 40 million researchers and students across Europe, who use GÉANT today, will be able to better tackle the new science challenges thanks to networking innovation and advanced user services. From 2012 researchers from all over the world will enjoy connection speeds of up to 100 Gigabits per second, ten times higher than today. Faster speeds will, for example help scientists to work better together and also enable them to process massive amounts of data that come from projects like CERN's Large Hadron Collider or giant telescopes scanning the skies for information about our galaxies. GEANT 3 is receiving € 93 million in funding from the EU’s 7th Framework Programme and a similar amount from Europe’s National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), and will run until 2012.

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=5446

Middle East: 30% of bloggers are women

According to Eleana Gordon, founder of the Center for Liberty in the Middle East, presenting its latest initiative, the Institute of Online Activism at the World e-Democracy Forum in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Paris), 30 % of bloggers in the Middle East are women. The Institute allows women in the Middle East access to tools to "turn their dreams into action for change." Her speech illustrates the rise of e-democracy in this region.

The Center for Liberty in the Middle East (Clime) is a nonprofit organization that supports defenders of democratic values of freedom and tolerance in the Middle East. Through its network of activists across the region, CLIME advocates a peaceful transition of political systems that protect individual liberties, allow the full political participation and respect of ethnic pluralism, religious and political.

Eleana Gordon is also founder of "Online Activism Institute", whose goal is to teach activism through e*learning, activist videos and virtual mentoring. After a year of development, it launched in 2009 in Egypt and Jordan with training for 90 women on its flagship online course, "Create Your Activism Plan."

The Online Activism Institute is a consortium of NGOs, web-development, and academic partners in the Middle East and United States, who work together to provide state-of the-art training and resources through an e-learning platform. The consortium is based in Cairo, Amman and Washington, D.C. with plans to expand to more locations in the future. The Online Activism Institute is funded through the U.S. Department of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). MEPI supports efforts to foster reform throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

http://www.edemocracy-forum.com/2009/11/internet-tool-for-training-in-democratic-practices-.html

Financial Times puts archive online

The Financial Times has made its complete archive available online to subscribers interested in finding out how the paper has covered almost 120 years of business, politics and international affairs. Educational publisher Cengage Learning has digitised the FT's archive of about 790,000 pages from its foundation in 1888 to the end of 2006. That means all articles can be searched individually for their content as well as being viewable in the context of the page and issue where they appeared, alongside adverts and market listings. The archive, being launched today at the Online Information Show at Olympia, west London, will become available for subscription or one-off purchase to all academic, public and government libraries in mid-January, with revenues from the venture to be shared between the FT and Cengage. Private subscriptions are not yet available, although the past five years of the FT's archive are already available through its website to paying subscribers. This digital resource will be annually updated, with 2007 likely to come on stream at the end of next year. The FT is the third major UK news publication whose archive Cengage has digitised for library subscriptions, after the Times and the Economist. Where libraries subscribe to all three archives, readers will be able to search them together for similar stories.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/financial_times_puts_archive_online/

Business Leaders Warn against Demise of Internet Governance Forum

Business leaders have issued a stark warning that the demise of the UN-linked Internet Governance Forum (IGF) could impede the ability of the Internet to drive economic growth and improve societal benefits.

The warning was addressed to delegates attending the closing ceremony of the 4th IGF meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday 18 November, by Herbert Heitmann, Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce''s (ICC) Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms, and Chief Communications Officer at SAP.

It comes ahead of next year"s five-year review of the IGF, which was set up as an open platform for businesses, governments, civil society and technical experts to discuss Internet policy issues such as privacy, security and access costs.

Convened under the aegis of the UN Secretary General, the IGF is the only forum where all entities - including business, governments, civil society and the technical community - can discuss the future of the Internet on an equal footing. This establishes an environment of open exchange, critical to informed policy-making that takes the views of all Internet users into consideration.

"The lack of multistakeholder involvement has often led to ill-informed decision making, resistance in society and suspicions among the different players," said Heitmann.

"The Internet Governance Forum, as we know it today has fortunately prevented these shortfalls so far. It has helped to make the Internet a universally applauded, appreciated and heavily utilized medium globally. Business wants the IGF to be continued and strongly opposes changes to its founding principles."

The IGF should continue to have the flexibility to continue to evolve to address the needs of all stakeholders, but it should do so respecting the founding principles." he told the conference of over 1,500 people from around the world, who had spent the previous four days discussing a range of Internet issues, with a focus on boosting Internet inclusivity, especially for those in developing countries.

The importance of the IGF as a key driver for informed policy at local level was further backed by the findings of a Diplo Foundation survey of over 200 IGF participants, from 81 countries, commissioned by AT&T and distributed during the meet.

Results reveal that almost half (47.28 %) of respondents found the knowledge gathered through the IGF to be practical enough for them to make a good start on policy development and implementation in their respective communities, while a further 15.48 percent found it to be immediately applicable.

Further data shows that 54 % of respondants claimed they communicated relevant knowledge from the IGF to members of their local community, and 23% communicated with representatives to their local administrations.

Dorothy Attwood, Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer at AT&T said: "By bringing together different stakeholder sectors, the IGF provides an appropriate, effective forum for addressing Internet governance issues. The IGF has an important role in the future of the Internet."

The creation of regional and national IGF events and initiatives is also testament to the forum''s success at stimulating pro-competitive policy, while enabling the free flow of information, data protection, and security, added Art Reilly, Senior Director of Strategic Technology Policy at Cisco Systems.

"This one-of-a-kind environment of multistakeholder exchange helps us to find new understandings, common interests and opportunities. Because our focus has been on substantively exchanging experiences and views instead of negotiating text our time here has been put to good and practical use that can inform participant''s actions in the aftermath of the IGF," he said.

BASIS brings business expertise to and encourages business participation in the IGF. Under the umbrella of BASIS, business engages with all stakeholders with the aim of spreading the benefits of the information society more widely across the world.

http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=sa&id=1798

Trust Linux!

A team of researchers has implemented support for ‘trusted computing’ in a commercially available version of the open source operating system Linux, breaking new ground in the global drive toward more secure computing environments.

The latest release of openSUSE, a Linux version sponsored by software maker Novell, comes packaged with software that allows users to set up a trusted computing (TC) environment on their computer, enhancing security beyond the antivirus programs and firewalls that frequently prove inadequate at keeping bugs, viruses and spyware at bay.

Promoted and developed by major chipmakers and software companies in the international Trusted Computing Group, trusted computing uses both hardware and software to create a trusted and secure environment, whether on a home PC, a web server, in a data centre or over a corporate network. At the core of the technology is the trusted platform module (TPM), which is a chip that, among other security-boosting features, generates and manages cryptographic keys, verifies the identity of the computer on a network and protects software and data from malicious changes.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm?section=news&tpl=article&ID=91011

Semantic research sets world standards

European researchers have created new tools for semantic technology development which are helping to set the next generation of official standards. The tools also unblock some key bottlenecks in semantic technology.

The next generation of the World Wide Web will be a cyberspace full of meaning, thanks to the semantic technologies currently rolling out. Semantic technology creates labels for web-page elements that machines can read and ‘understand’ on their own.

This will have a huge impact on the quality and range of accessible information. Right now, if you type in the search term ‘fruit’, you will get a list of pages where this term appears. But in the semantic web, you would get lists of pages with apples, oranges, pineapple and everything else relevant. You don’t need to type every single relevant term when the computer ‘knows’ the meaning of the word ‘fruit’.

Better, you would also receive listings of pictures, videos and audio which are relevant to ‘fruit’, even if that word never appears directly in the title. This is the power of semantics, machine-readable data accessible from your browser. This overcomes the problem of implicit information, which is usually hidden from the machine.

The semantic web is the primary focus of a large portion of web development over the past five years. But as the range and ambition of semantic research expands, the technology and tools used to develop it are finding it hard to keep up, because the ontologies at the heart of the semantic web are becoming more complex, larger, and more demanding.

Ontologies are large dictionaries of machine-readable labels defining every aspect of a specific domain, such as medicine or engineering. These domains can be populated with further sub-ontologies, such as neurology or mechanical engineering.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm?section=news&tpl=article&ID=91024

The Trouble With the Mobile Web

The mobile Web has a problem. Namely, global mobile Web traffic is growing at a 125 percent compound annual growth rate through 2012, according to Gartner Inc. But still, only 1 percent of Web sites have capabilities specifically designed for mobile. And that translates into a generally poor wireless Web experience for users, and a big missed opportunity for operators, content owners and advertisers alike.

Sure, those with smartphones and full Web browsers can navigate to any site on the Internet; but limitations within the handsets or within the operating system (i.e., lack of Flash support in the iPhone) can render Web sites that have been created for desktop use pale shadows of themselves when viewed on a wireless device. And, every device has its own specific way of rendering content, so a BlackBerry user might see a regular Web site as having overly large type, while a Droid user might have trouble viewing embedded images. Or, vice versa.

“Users that have a bad experience on any Web site while viewing it wirelessly will take a while before coming back to the property using a handset, and about two-thirds say they have, indeed, had a bad experience on the mobile Web,” explained Trey Harvin, CEO at dotMobi, the wireless top-level Internet domain. dotMobi is expanding its focus, aiming to optimize the mobile Web opportunity with a new platform for making the experience more user-friendly place.

“There are 3.8 billion mobile subscribers out of 6.7 billion people on the planet,” he continued. “There’s not a phone maker in the world that is creating a phone without a mobile browser. Everyone’s bar has been raised by the events of the last 12 months. In some markets, the mobile phone is the computer. This is the first online experience those users will ever have. So, having a bad mobile experience actually jeopardizes the overall Web opportunity in general.”

Done correctly, the mobile opportunity itself is large, according to Gartner, which projects mobile ad spending worldwide to grow a full 74 percent this year to $913.5 million. By 2013, the research firm expects mobile ad spending to surpass $13 billion. And mobile advertising is expected to be a big revenue generator for everyone involved, from MNO to content provider.

Smartphone uptake is driving mobile Web usage, which Gartner expects to account for 45.5 percent of all mobile phone sales in 2013 (up from around 9 percent just last year). But Gartner analyst Andrew Frank said the creation of better mobile Web sites will also lift “mobile Web access among non-smartphone users." That’s helped along by feature phones incorporating more smartphone-like features such as QWERTY keyboards and touchscreens.

https://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/38104?7649

African Market Catches Eye of Russia's Altimo

Altimo, the telecoms arm of Russian holding Altimo, has reiterated its interest in the telecoms markets of Africa, reports Prime-Tass citing a research note by the Russian group. Altimo has projected that the growing penetration rate in the mobile markets of Asia will lead to a decline in interest in the region from 2011, while mobile penetration levels in Africa are around four to five years behind this level.

Significance: The research note emphasises a point made earlier this year by Altimo chief executive Alexei Reznikovich, who was quoted as suggesting that the low penetration levels, as well as large populations and high economic growth rates, lend appeal to African countries for potential foreign investors. While Altimo has refused to be drawn on specific markets in which it may search for growth opportunities, it has already publicly confirmed its interest in Zamtel of Zambia and its research note suggests that further such activity is likely in the future.

https://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/38109?7649

Wikipedia denies mass exodus of editors

Wikipedia has disputed claims that it has lost a huge number of editors that help maintain the online encyclopaedia. On 26 November it was reported that ten times more editors had left Wikipedia in early 2009 than during the same period in 2008. The group overseeing the reference work said the claims on losses were not accurate, blaming a difference in what counts as an "editor". By contrast, it said, the numbers of people editing Wikipedia were stable. In a blog post the Wikimedia Foundation responded to the publication of a report by researcher Dr Felipe Ortega which said that 49,000 editors had departed Wikipedia in the first three months of 2009. Dr Ortega's comparisons suggest that only about 4,900 left the site in the first few months of 2008. Writing on the blog, Erik Moeller, deputy director of the Wikimedia Foundation, and Erik Zachte, one of its data analysts, said that while Dr Ortega's article comprehensively described the challenges and opportunities facing Wikipedia it mischaracterised the changes in its editing population. The pair said that the numbers of people contributing to Wikipedia hit a high in early 2007, declined slightly and have since stabilised. The confusion arose over the differing definitions of what constitutes an editor. Dr Ortega counted everyone who made one change as an editor giving a total population of three million people. By contrast, the Wikimedia Foundation counts only people who make five edits or more as an editor. This gives an editing population of about one million people across all languages. Of that total, the English edition of Wikipedia has about 40,000 editors. The Wikimedia Foundation said it was continuing to work with Dr Ortega to iron out some of the methodological difficulties and uncover long term editing trends.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/wikipedia_denies_mass_exodus_of_editors/

EU: Simulation technology could help prevent future financial crises

30 November 2009 — How will economic policies adapt in 2020 when a quarter of the EU population is over 65? Can economics better predict how banks will react to credit crunches in the future, and what their impact will be on the wider economy? How will the economy work when dwindling natural resources make it harder to satisfy our energy needs? The European Commission today unveiled breakthrough research that could help economists answer questions like these by using economic simulation software. Produced by an EU-backed research project worth €2.5 million that came to a successful end today, the software applies simulation technology also used for computer generated images (CGI) in movies. It predicts the interaction between large populations of different economic actors, like households and companies, banks and borrowers or employers and job-seekers, who trade, and compete like real people. By giving each simulated agent individual and realistic behaviour and interactions that show how markets will evolve, these massive scale simulations can better test new policies tackling future societal challenges.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1841&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=nl

ITU Connect CIS Summit calls for investment in ICT

Broadband access, digital broadcasting aim to stimulate economic growth and development

Minsk, Belarus, 27 November 2009 — The ITU Connect CIS Summit wrapped up today with a declaration by Heads of State and Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) calling for an inclusive and development-oriented Information Society and recognizing "the important contribution of ICTs in stimulating economic growth, employment and broader sustainable development in the region." The leaders also recognized the "essential role of governments in devising national e-strategies and establishing an enabling policy and regulatory framework to foster ICT investment". They reached out to other partners to "achieve the vision and goals of the World Summit on the Information Society in the CIS region."

The two-day Summit brought together some 350 participants, including five Heads of State and Government from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, as well as seven Ministers and other leaders from the CIS Territories and neighbouring countries, the telecommunication/ICT industry, financial institutions, and international and regional organizations. The Summit was hosted by the President of the Republic of Belarus Mr Alexander Lukashenko.

In his message to the Summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "Unequal access to ICT impedes productivity and innovation." Asserting that this directly affects efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, he added, "We want to enhance digital opportunities for all, and find new ways for these remarkable technologies to advance economic and social development."

As the specialized UN agency for information communication technologies (ICT), this landmark event was organized as part of ITU’s Connect the World series, an ambitious multi-stakeholder effort aimed at connecting the unconnected by the year 2015. The overall objective of the Connect CIS is to mobilize the human, financial and technical resources required to support a rapid, region-wide transition to digital infrastructure and services, widely recognized as the engine of future employment, economic growth and social and economic development.

In his opening speech, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré noted, "It is now time to turn words into action, and that is why we are here together. This can only happen through a renewed commitment to partnership — in particular partnerships between the public and private sectors. It can only happen if policy and regulatory frameworks are conducive to doing business profitably. And it can only happen with the political will on the part of governments to make ICTs a key priority in their development agendas."

Mr Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, focused his remarks on the increasingly important role of broadband Internet access for the overall economy. He said, "Broadband is no longer a luxury. It has become the core infrastructure of the modern economy, which is needed to support advanced applications and services for governments, businesses and consumers. If we take the right steps together now, broadband networks will serve as a platform in the coming years for innovation, growth and development across the CIS region."

Mr Al Basheer also highlighted a number of "ITU Flagship Initiatives" to connect the unconnected, which are designed to leverage the unique contributions of various global and regional partners, including governments, the telecommunication/ICT industry, development banks and international and regional organizations.

The Director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau Valery Timofeev focused on the transition to digital broadcasting in the CIS territories. "Moving from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting will revolutionize communication in the CIS region and set the stage for a rich digital dividend," Timofeev said. "Digital broadcasting media enables high quality delivery of different multimedia applications such as films, books and data while using less radio-frequency spectrum." He added that in countries where "on-air broadcasting is the main distribution media for delivery of television and sound programmes, it is very important to provide a smooth switchover to digital broadcasting."

Among other initiatives, the President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiev, along with CIS leaders attending the Summit, focused on implementing the Transnational Eurasian Information Super Highway project.

Earlier in the week, ITU released a report: "Information Society Statistical Profiles 2009: Commonwealth of Independent States", which showed a striking difference in the CIS region between the uptake of mobile telephony and other ICT services. In the region as a whole, the number of cellular mobile subscriptions has surpassed the number of inhabitants, reaching 113 per cent at the end of 2008 and placing the region second globally after Europe. However, when it comes to Internet use and fixed and mobile broadband access, the region lags behind others. In particular, fixed and mobile broadband penetration stands at only 4.6 and 0.9 per cent respectively, which is below the world average of 6.0 per cent. A major challenge for the CIS territories is to bring the benefits of broadband Internet to a larger part of its population.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Mr Victor Burya, representing the host country of the Connect CIS Summit, said, "Information and communication technologies are one of the most important factors in the economic and social development of the state. Using the latest technology facilitates the growing information needs of the population, business and government. It eliminates disparities in access to services and information for urban and rural residents and creates conditions for improving the quality of life of citizens and for the free development of society."

The Connect CIS Summit was organized by ITU in partnership with The Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications, The Commonwealth of Independent States Executive Committee, The World Bank, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The European Investment Bank, The Islamic Development Bank, The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and The United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development.

As a key partner at the Summit, Mr Igor Shchegolev, Minister of Telecommunication and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Board of the Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications (RCC) said, “Our society has the huge task of building a common information society, without which it would be impossible to increase productivity and generate economic growth.” Noting that the creation of an information society would significantly increase the indicators for a better quality of life, Mr Shchegolev added, “These goals will be achieved collectively if public access to information services is provided in all CIS countries.”

The Connect CIS Summit was preceded 23-24 November 2009 by the CIS Regional Preparatory Meeting (RPM) of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC). The next WTDC, which will take place in Hyderabad, India from 24 May to 4 June 2010, will set priorities, programmes and initiatives for the coming four year cycle. Proposals from the CIS RPM for consideration by the WTDC global conference included the development of broadband access and the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting with a focus on combating climate change through the use of alternative sources of energy in telecommunication infrastructure.

Note: Countries participating from the region include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2009/54.html

Estonia will have 100Mbit/s broadband connection in 2015

by David Hernandez Garcia

The Estonian Broadband Development Foundation (ELA) will be responsible for the EstWin, a project with the aim of bringing the new generation broadband networks into every home, business and institution and so eliminating the digital divide between the Estonian countryside and the biggest cities.

Broadband 2As Olav Harjo, head of the ELA, said to Estonian Free Press, the “ELA will begin building the network in rural areas where the private sector is not capable of investing due to its unprofitability. Finally is expected that the building of the base network will ensure that 98% of homes, businesses and institutions will be within 1.5 km of fibre optic networks. The ELA will not build connections to end users.”

The final price for the end consumers will depend on the different communication enterprises, as ELA, which is a non-profit organization, will provide to all of them wholesale service on equal conditions. Then the communication enterprises will be able to decide on their own which technologies will offer to their customers.

This super-fast internet network will improve significantly the current one and will become one of the best along Europe.

Last year statistics about level of internet access in households in Europe put Estonia in the 15th place among the 27 state members.

http://www.estonianfreepress.com/2009/11/estonia-will-have-100mbits-broadband-connection-in-2015/

APC assessment of the fourth Internet Governance Forum

This year the fourth internet governance forum was playing it safe – perhaps because next year could be its last – but we still saw real progress. Privacy no longer plays second fiddle to security, people’s rights online are recognised as central by all sides. Social networking was the new star centre stage. There are still too few women and people of colour but participants are getting younger which is a good sign. Next year APC hopes for an IGF focusing on development and human rights and looking to the future.

http://www.apc.org/en/system/files/APCIGF4Assessment_EN.pdf

Two EU Companies among World’s Largest Investors in R&D.

Despite the economic crisis, European companies spent on average 8.1% more on research and development in 2008 than they did in 2007 - roughly the same annual increase two years running.

American and Japanese businesses, the EU''''s biggest rivals in R&D spending, also stepped up investment in new product creation, but the increase - 5.7% and 4.4% respectively - was not as great.

This was the second year running that the R&D growth rate for EU companies was higher than for US companies. The EU also outpaced Japanese companies for the fourth consecutive year.

R&D investment is essential to remain competitive in the global economy. European research commissioner Janez Potoènik welcomed the results: "This is the best strategy to emerge stronger out of the crisis."

The trends are highlighted in the EU''''s 2009 R&D investment scoreboard, a ranking of 2 000 companies (1 000 from the EU, others mostly from the US and Japan) that represent 80% of R&D spending by businesses worldwide.

Two EU companies - Germany''''s Volkswagen and Finland''''s Nokia - and five US companies - including Microsoft, General Motors and Pfizer - are among the top 10 R&D investors. The world''''s biggest single investor was Japan''''s Toyota, with €7.61bn.

Although European companies are pumping money into R&D at a faster rate than their US and Japanese rivals, they still spend less in real terms. European investment as a percentage of sales was 2.7% in 2008, compared with 4.5% in the US and 3.4% in Japan. Those numbers are similar to 2007.

US companies increased their lead over the EU in sectors where R&D is most intense - pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, information and communication technologies. But spending on alternative energy is growing and dominated by EU companies.

Globally, industrial R&D investment grew by 6.9% - less than in 2007 (9%) and 2006 (10%).

Companies from emerging economies account for a small share of the total investment, but that is changing. China spent 40% more on R&D last year than in 2007, India 27.3 % and Taiwan 25.1%.

http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=sa&id=1797

Hungarian mobile internet user tops 800k in October

The total number of mobile internet subscribers in Hungary reached 803,000 by the end of October, up from 767,000 a month earlier, according to data published by the National Communications Authority (NHH). In the first nine months of this year the NHH reports net growth of 309,000 in the segment, adding that out of the full total, the number of ‘active’ mobile internet subscriptions stood at 627,000 at 31 October, up from 605,000 in September. T-Mobile’s Magyar unit commanded a 46% share of the mobile broadband segment at the end of last month, down from 47.11% in September. Vodafone Hungary’s share also dropped, from 27.44% to 26.61%, while Pannon increased its portion of the pie from 25.45% to 26.69%.

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=31135

Telecommunications Minister Announces Broadband Development Plan for Brazil

Brazil’s communications minister has presented the country's new broadband targets for 2014.

Brazil's Minister of Communications Hélio Costa this week presented the country's ambitious broadband development plan.

Costa's plan, which aims to reach 30 million fixed broadband accesses and 60 million mobile broadband connections by 2014, will require total investment of 75.5 billion reais (US$43.7 billion).

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has yet to make a final decision on the plan, has asked a ministerial group in charge of the plan's development to provide additional technical information.

Brazil's Minister of Communications Hélio Costa on Tuesday (24 November) presented a first proposal for the implementation of the country’s broadband development plan—Plano Nacional de Banda Larga (PNBL). The 169-page document contains a series of actions aimed at reaching 30 million fixed broadband accesses and 60 million mobile broadband connections by 2014. The ambitious plan looks to bring broadband access to all government bodies and institutions in the country, including local government agencies, health centres in rural and urban areas, schools, public libraries, and public security institutions. The plan also aims to bring affordable broadband access to 50% of urban and 15% of rural households, as well as all micro and small firms that request a connection. According to the minister, without this initiative Brazil could only reach 18.3 million broadband connections by 2014.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has yet to make a final decision on the plan, has asked a ministerial group in charge of the plan's development to provide additional technical information. A new meeting will be scheduled in three weeks.

Costa’s proposal promotes broadband development on different fronts, including initiatives to promote public-private partnerships to bring affordable internet access to all Brazilians, as well as the allocation of public investment funds to streamline the use of the government's data transmission infrastructure, such as the rehabilitation of fibre-optic networks of state oil company Petrobras and electric company Furnas. The government plans to invest a total of 75.5 billion reais (US$43.7 billion), of which 26.49 billion reais will be provided by the government and the remaining 49.01 billion will be provided by private operators. Operators have already expressed their concern over the implementation of the ambitious plan and have urged the government to introduce more investment incentives.

The government is also pushing forward new regulatory initiatives to boost mobile penetration levels. This includes the preparation of frequency auctions for WiMAX and 3G services. Costa has also said that the government is considering giving free mobile handsets to low-income groups. The plan, which would reach 11 million potential subscribers, has an estimated cost of 2 billion reais (US$1.2 billion) that would be partially financed by operators in exchange for fiscal benefits. The Brazilian market is highly competitive, particularly in the main urban centres in the wealthier central, western, south-eastern, and southern regions, where mobile penetration rates are markedly higher. In the Federal District this rate reached 155.5% in September 2009, while in the states of Piauí and Maranhao mobile penetration rates were 58.2% and 41.7%, respectively. Under this scheme, each family would receive a mobile handset free of charge and 7 reais per month for calls. Private operators expect subscribers to exceed the 7-reais credit and plan on making profits from any extra minute. According to the latest figures published by telecoms regulator Anatel, Brazil ended September with 166 million mobile accesses, 18% more than in the previous year, and a penetration rate of 86.7%. Vivo continues to lead the market with 48.8 million subscribers and a 29.4% market share, followed by América Móvil’s Claro, with 42.3 million subscribers and a 25.5% share of the market. Italy's TIM Brasil, once Brazil's second largest mobile operator, ranks third with 39.6 million accesses and 23.9% of the market, while Oi maintains fourth position with a 20.9% market share and 34.8 million accesses. With regard to technology of choice, GSM continues to be the most popular option, adopted by 90.5% of the total subscribers.

https://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/38076?7649

GSA Survey Reports 42 LTE Commitments in 21 Countries

Deployments are essentially taking place in various frequency bands, with the most rational way forward being a mix of lower and higher frequencies. According to a study by industry association GSA, as of late October there were a total of 42 Long-Term Evolution (LTE) commitments, confirmed by carriers that operate in 21 countries.

The GSA expects that by end-2010 there will be 15 LTE networks in commercial service, and by end-2012 a total of 33.

Most significantly, the LTE deployments are taking place in several frequency bands, currently ranging from the 700 MHz to 2.6 GHz. A major benefit of this approach is that this way the new roll-outs will not disrupt the existing UMTS services.

The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)—an industry group representing the leading UMTS vendors—has released an information paper on the global status of current long-term evolution (LTE) network trials and deployments. According to the study, as of 28 October operators had confirmed a total of 42 LTE network commitments in 21 countries. The GSA expects that by the end of 2010 there will be 15 LTE infrastructures in commercial service, with the number reaching 33 by the end of 2012.

https://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/38063?7649

Twitter to "start making money" through ads in 2010

Twitter is looking at a variety of potential acquisitions as it moves toward a new revenue model relying on "non-traditional" advertising that will be announced in 2010, according to co-founder Biz Stone. Twitter received a reported $100 million in a new round of investor funding in September, and, according to Stone, it may eventually consider an initial public offering.

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE5AN1TB20091124?feedType=RSS&feedName=internetNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FInternetNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Internet+News%29

Group of magazine publishers is said to be building an online newsstand

A consortium of magazine publishers including Time Inc. and Condé Nast are plan to jointly build an online newsstand for publications in multiple digital formats, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The formation of a new company to run the online newsstand — sometimes characterized as an “iTunes for magazines” — may be announced in early December. Time, Condé Nast, Hearst and Meredith all intend to be equity partners in the new company, although the deals have not yet been signed. In the face of slumping print circulations for many magazines, the publishing houses are eager to exert some control over digital readership, said people at the companies, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the plans. Some newspaper owners have also expressed interest in the joint venture. The new magazine company would, in theory, make it easy to buy print and electronic copies of publications like The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Esquire and Better Homes and Gardens from a single Web site. While mostly leaving the hardware to others, the alliance of competing publishers would develop software standards for magazine viewing on iPhones, BlackBerrys, e-book readers and other platforms, people with knowledge of the plans said

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/group_of_magazine_publishers_is_said_to_be_building_an_online_newsstand/

Internet Blocking study

(Aconite) Government attempts to block access to the Internet are mounting throughout Europe - but look set to backfire, according to new study. The Open Society Institute funded the report which is titled "Internet Blocking: Balancing Cybercrime Responses in Democratic Societies." The study shows how efforts to block Internet content are spreading throughout democratic Europe. In Germany, Britain, Italy and Scandinavia, the measures are intended to block pages containing child pornography. The new study concludes that the measures are ineffective. Many technical ways exist to get around blocking technologies. More importantly, the blocking measures are intrusive and often abuse fundamental freedoms. These systems either over-block or under-block content and do not prevent the serious offender from gaining access.

http://www.aconite.com/sites/default/files/Press%20Release%20EN.pdf