Information Policy

Zimbabwe: New Technologies in Fight for Democracy

In countries such as Zimbabwe where media and political freedom is extremely restricted, new technologies have become powerful tools for political campaigning, communication, advocacy and mobilisation. Bloggers and civic organisations have resorted to using new tools and applications such as Flickr, Facebook, SMS text messages, YouTube and mashups to fight for democracy, media freedom and good governance.

http://blogs.reuters.com/global/2008/05/07/zimbabwe-new-technologies-in-fight-for-democracy/

Hackers shut down Zimbabwe state newspaper website

Hackers attacked the Web site of Zimbabwe's state-owned Herald newspaper and shut it down for three days. The Herald is widely seen as the official mouthpiece of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and has been critical of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which won the country's disputed March 29 elections.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051201287.html

User-Generated Video Growing Faster Than Expected

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- With significant growth in the Chinese market, the forecasts for User-Generated Video (UGV) use and revenue have shifted upward since last year, reports In-Stat. And with expectations of higher quality content (e.g. HD video) and increasing file size maximums, the demands on bandwidth will likely continue to grow at a faster rate than the number of files/videos served, the high-tech market research firm says.

“User-generated video (UGV) and the video sharing sites that exemplify this form of content have spread across the globe,” says Michael Inouye, In-Stat analyst. “China is a prime example of UGV’s global reach and appeal, capturing a significant portion of the world market, making it second only to the US. In general, viewing of online video has increased in the US in the past year, although participation is still stratified by age.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Total worldwide UGV revenue is expected to eclipse US$1.19 billion by 2012.
• 160 billion UGV served videos are forecasted for 2012.
• Individuals who use mobile phones to participate in online video sites are most likely to contribute to the market (both financially and in terms of content).

http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/30574?7649

EU Consumers: 50% of misleading airline websites corrected

EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva today published the mid term report on an EU wide enforcement investigation - involving 15 EU national authorities as well as Norway – against misleading advertising and unfair practices on airline ticket selling websites. The report shows that there are "serious and persistent consumer problems" throughout the airline industry as a whole. 1 in 3 websites surveyed (137 out of 386 originally checked by the 13 reporting countries) have had to be followed up with enforcement action over the last 7 months for breaches of EU consumer law. Over 50% of those websites have been corrected during this time.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/722&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

The Principles for User Generated Content Services: A Middle-Ground Approach to Cyber-Governance

The debate over how, whether, and by whom the Internet should be regulated has occurred mostly at the extremes: some have argued that formal regulation of the Internet is impossible and undesirable, advocating for self-governance and heavy reliance on private arrangements, while others have argued that formal, traditional regulation is possible, inevitable, and ideal. ... This Note begins, in Part I, by summarizing the literature on cybergovernance, tracing commentators’ evolving attitudes toward selfgovernance and private arrangements. Part II describes the Principles and their development, focusing on the threads of cooperation and private arrangements underlying the Principles. Part III examines the Principles in light of the various approaches legal scholars have taken to cyber-governance and argues that the Principles represent a promising middle ground that takes advantage of the benefits and minimizes the problems associated with each model. Part III also provides a suggestion for how to deepen and extend the middle-ground approach embodied in the Principles, based upon some of their strengths and weaknesses. Part IV concludes.

http://harvardlawreview.org/issues/121/march08/notes/principles_for_user_generated_content.pdf

Wikipedia goes to court to defend defamation immunity

Wikipedia, the free, user-generated online encyclopedia, faces a court battle to protect itself from liability for everything that users post on the site. The company behind the site will argue that it should be granted immunity under US law.

http://www.out-law.com/page-9095

Now showing online

An article from the NY Times discusses how within the last few months, television distributors have opened up their libraries of classic content online, making thousands of episodes of programs like "The Twilight Zone" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" available free. In putting old episodes online, broadcasters are tapping into the "long tail" of niche content that the Internet has monetized.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_9167596?nclick_check=1

Strategies for using Web 2.0 for Travel Operators and Visitors

A challenge for tour operators as well as government officials lies in understanding the new venues for dialogue and promotion. As veteran trend watchers point out, the action is taking place 'out there' in social networks and online communities instead of from your own website. On the ground travelers are seeking engagement and entertainment. Some of the best travels may be entirely unplugged and the challenge at hand is to guide those interested to places that are off the grid. This essay by Planeta.com's Ron Mader tracks the changing trends.

http://www.planeta.com/web/web2.html

NL: Launch of a new information portal on Governance & HIV and AIDS

This portal provides access to free, full-text electronic publications and other Internet sources on the mechanisms of interaction through which HIV and AIDS policies and strategies are developed, implemented, monitored and evaluated at different levels involving both public and private parties. It is aimed at researchers, policymakers and practitioners who are involved in HIV and AIDS responses and interventions. The portal is an interdepartmental initiative. It is managed and developed by KIT Information and Library Services with support from KIT Development, Policy & Practice.

http://portals.kit.nl/smartsite.shtml?ch=fab&id=17292

Facebook 'more effective than emergency services in a disaster

Researchers found that blogs, maps, photo sites and instant messaging systems were better at providing warnings, help and lists of how individuals were affected than traditional sources. The research, published in New Scientist magazine tomorrow, was led by Leysia Palen, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Colorado.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1914750/Facebook--'more-effective-than-emergency-services-in-a-disaster'.html