Information Policy

Access Controlled

The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace

Edited by Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain Foreword by Miklos Haraszti

Internet filtering, censorship of Web content, and online surveillance are increasing in scale, scope, and sophistication around the world, in democratic countries as well as in authoritarian states. The first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous "Great Firewall of China" is one of the first national Internet filtering systems. Today the new tools for Internet controls that are emerging go beyond mere denial of information. These new techniques, which aim to normalize (or even legalize) Internet control, include targeted viruses and the strategically timed deployment of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, surveillance at key points of the Internet's infrastructure, take-down notices, stringent terms of usage policies, and national information shaping strategies. Access Controlled reports on this new normative terrain.

The book, a project from the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a collaboration of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies, Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the SecDev Group, offers six substantial chapters that analyze Internet control in both Western and Eastern Europe and a section of shorter regional reports and country profiles drawn from material gathered by the ONI around the world through a combination of technical interrogation and field research methods.

http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12187

European Commission seeks views on the opportunities and challenges for digital cinema

European Commission today launched a public consultation of professionals from the EU's audiovisual industry on how to best seize the opportunities and address the challenges of the 'digital revolution' in the EU film sector. Digital cinema can make distribution of films cheaper and more flexible, enabling more European films to travel. 'Going digital' however requires high investments. One third of European cinemas could be threatened with closure due to the high cost of digital equipment – unless new business models and viable public support schemes are developed now. Feedback from cinema and audiovisual professionals as well as national film agencies and other interested parties during the 2 month consultation opened by the Commission today will feed into a Communication early next year setting out the Commission's policy on digital cinema.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1534&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=nl

Vietnam: Bloggers And Writers Sentenced To Long Prison Terms

Dozens of dissidents have been arrested in Vietnam since September 2008 and, last week, nine Vietnamese bloggers and writers were charged with anti-government propaganda and sentenced to severe prison terms, reports Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN.

The bloggers were convicted for demanding greater political pluralism, democracy and respect for human rights, reports RSF. They had also been critical of Vietnam's policy towards China regarding territorial claims over the Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

The trials were delayed until after President Nguyen Minh Triet's visit to the UN General Assembly in New York on 25 September, according to RSF.

"If Vietnam's courts treat criticism of the government and calls for respect of human rights as national security violations and as defamatory propaganda, then these convictions are manifestly violations of free expression," RSF said.

RSF reports that Vu Hung was sentenced to three years in prison in Hanoi on 7 October 2009, and Pham Van Troi received a four-year sentence the next day. Six other bloggers were given jail sentences on the same charges in Haiphong on 9 October. Nguyen Xuan Nghia, a writer, got six years. Poet Nguyen Van Tinh and writer Nguyen Manh Son got three-and-a-half years. Poet Nguyen Van Tuc got four years. Student and writer Ngo Quynh got three years and human rights activist Nguyen Kim Nhan got two years, report WiPC and RSF.

According to WiPC, in 2006, Bloc 8406, a coalition of political parties and organisations formed to campaign for political reform. Nguyen Van Ly, a priest and writer arrested in February 2007, was sentenced to eight years for his involvement in this banned pro-democracy group.

Repression of scores of writers and activists in Vietnam is something that many people in the world do not normally see, says Human Rights Watch. This year six Vietnamese writers have received the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award, to shine a spotlight on a country where the government "harshly suppresses peaceful dissent, free speech, independent media, and open access to the Internet, and does everything it can to silence its critics," says Human Rights Watch.

Three of the awardees are under house arrest and the other three remain in prison. Pham Thanh Nghien and Tran Anh Kim are in prison, but are awaiting trial for their pro-democracy activities and writings, says Human Rights Watch. They have written about Vietnam's accommodating attitude toward China, endemic corruption, the rights of farmers, the state's religious intolerance, the need for political and prison reform, and other social justice issues.

Vietnam is one of the 12 countries that RSF has identified as Enemies of the Internet, ranking 168th out of 173 countries in the 2008 RSF press freedom index.

http://www.ifex.org/vietnam/2009/10/13/bloggers_jailed/

ZDNet apologises to Yahoo for Iran post

Yesterday, “Yahoo gave Iranian authorities the names and emails of some 200,000 Iranian Yahoo users, says a post on the Iranian Students Solidarity blog,” we said in a post, quoting ZDNet’s Richard Koman.

“My sources indicate the information comes from a group of resisters who have infiltrated the administration and are leaking out important information,” said Koman, going on, “These sources say that Yahoo representatives met with Iranian Internet authorities after Google and Yahoo were shut down during the protests and agreed to provide the names of Yahoo subscribers who also have blogs in exchange for the government lifting the blocks on Yahoo.”

However, “We’re retracting the blog post,” says ZDnet editor-in-chief Larry Dignan (right), continuing »»»

Here’s what went wrong.

First, the post was based on a single source who had a clear agenda. That source wasn’t properly filtered and his charges weren’t verifiable by credible sources.

Second, we never called Yahoo to verify the report or get an appropriate response. Blog networks still need to follow journalism 101 and Yahoo should have been called. In summary, our checks and balances went awry. We put a lot of trust in our bloggers to get it right and frankly we let you down with this report.

“The chain of events can be found on the post, but we wanted to do a separate item for the record,” he says, adding:

“My apologies again and we will be taking corrective measures to prevent this breakdown.”

http://www.agoravox.com/article.php3?id_article=10792

Cuba bloggers test government limits

Cuba's dynamic emerging blogging community has recently been testing the limits of free expression with posts ranging from vivid accounts of everyday life to sometimes risky calls for political change in the Communist-run state.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8295503.stm

$10 billion takes fiber to every school, hospital in the US

By Nate Anderson

The US has more than 120,000 schools, hospitals, and libraries, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation believes that they can all have fiber optic Internet for $5 billion-$10 billion.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation knows how to get things done.

On October 5, the Foundation met with FCC broadband coordinator Blair Levin. The purpose of that meeting was to provide a cost estimate for one of the Foundation's ideas: running fiber optic cables to every "anchor institution" in the US—libraries, hospitals, community colleges, public schools. By October 8, the FCC was asking for public comment (PDF) on the plan and the viability of its cost estimates, which say the entire project could be completed for $5-$10 billion.

The Gates Foundation has identified 123,000 "anchor institutions" in local communities that could make good use of fiber Internet connections. In addition to serving the community that comes to each institution, the idea is also to run fiber into the center of every community in the country, with the goal of making it easier to then expand Internet access to homes and businesses in the community.

A rural hospital, for instance, could stick a white spaces broadband antenna on its roof, link the antenna to its fiber connection, and suddenly bring at least basic wireless connectivity to the surrounding area at minimal cost.

The Foundation admits that the cost estimate is not a complete one; it doesn't include costs for network management and upkeep, and additional backhaul costs might be needed in some areas to feed these fiber links. In addition, the group estimates that 13 percent of libraries and 20 percent of other anchor institutions already have fiber connections. Wiring up the rest would cost between $4.9 billion and $10.1 billion, with much the variability linked to the amount of trenching that might be involved in running the fiber.

In putting together its national broadband plan, due in February 2010, the FCC is considering numerous ideas like this—but the quick public request for comment indicates that it is specially intrigued by the Gates Foundation proposal. The agency wants to know by October 28 whether the cost estimates are reasonable, whether other sorts of buildings should count as "anchor institutions," and to what extent "will providing fiber to these institutions directly assist last-mile build-out economics in currently un- or under-served areas."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/gates-foundation-hopes-to-bring-fiber-to-school-hospitals.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

Turkey criticized for blocking access to websites

By Yigal Schleifer Oct 9, 2009, 2:08 GMT

Istanbul – For Turkish internet users, it’s an image that’s becoming increasingly familiar: at many websites, instead of a homepage, what they find is a short notice telling them the site has been blocked by order of law.

YouTube, the popular video sharing website, has been blocked since May of last year after amateurish clips mocking Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkey’s founder, were posted on the site. More recently, Turkey’s two largest gay community web sites were blocked, after authorities accused them of promoting prostitution.

Critics and freedom of expression advocates are accusing the Turkish government of online censorship and of using a heavy-handed approach, which allows for entire websites to be blocked because of a small number of offending items.

‘This is very similar locking down a complete library just because there is a single book that is illegal. That is unacceptable,’ says Yaman Akdeniz, an associate professor of law at Istanbul’s Bilgi University and co-founder of Cyber-Rights. Org, an internet civil liberties organization.

‘There is a democratization process in Turkey, and censorship is unacceptable to that process,’ Akdeniz added.

Legislation passed in 2007, intended to prevent access to primarily pornographic and obscene web content, gave the Turkish state broad powers to control web usage.

The newly created Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TIB), a government office that monitors the Internet, is allowed to shut down websites without a court order if it decides that a site is in violation of the law.

Last year, the Directorate blocked access to some 1,000 websites. As of May, when TIB last gave figures on its activity, the agency has blocked access to 2,600 websites.

‘The whole process lacks transparency and openness. In most cases you don’t know why a website has been blocked and there is no clear appeals process,’ says Akdeniz.

‘These websites are judged by a few people working at the directorate, rather than a court of law.’

Access to the two gay community websites, gabile. com and hadigayri. com, was blocked on October 2 without any warning from TIB. Supporters of the sites, which together have approximately 225,000 users, said they believe they were unfairly targeted.

‘These sites are mainly used by people to meet each other and they give news about (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) issues in Turkey,’ says Ismael Alacaoglu, project coordinator at KAOS-GL, an Ankara-based Gay and Lesbian organization.

‘We are concerned about them being blocked. It’s a kind of violence against freedom of expression. There are very few places in Turkey where gay people can gather and meet each other, and these two websites are among them.’

A TIB spokesperson rejected the claim that the action taken against gabile. com and hadigayri. com constituted a threat to freedom of expression.

‘If the subject that is expressed constitutes a crime, measures are taken particularly to protect young people, minors and families against such negative content,’ the spokesperson said in an email.

‘The method applied in Turkey is also recommended and shown as an example by the EU to its Member States; we can proudly say that we have a pioneering position in this field,’ the spokesperson added.

But an EU official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that Brussels actually intends to raise the issue of internet controls as one of the ‘points of concern’ in the upcoming regular progress report on Turkey’s bid to join the bloc, which will be issued October 14.

Clothilde Le Coz, an official with the Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, says the organization is debating whether to add Turkey to its list of countries that are ‘Internet Enemies.’

The list currently includes Cuba, Iran and North Korea, among several other countries that severely restrict internet access.

‘We are very concerned about the situation in Turkey,’ says Le Coz.

http://cyberlaw.org.uk/2009/10/09/turkey-criticized-for-blocking-access-to-websites/

Tactical Tech and 350.org team up to campaign against climate change

350.org and Tactical Tech have pioneered 'Project MOBiLIZE', a multi-country text message system that will allow the public to participate in the global debate on climate change. Individuals and groups across 20 countries will mobilise on this issue for the second annual International Day of Climate Action, organised by 350.org, on 24th October.

On this day, grassroots campaigners across the world, will unite to demand that world leaders deliver a sound international climate treaty at the UN Climate Talks to be held at Copenhagen in December. This message will be communicated through the number 350 which will become incorporated into group actions taking place in locations ranging from town squares to mountain tops (see examples from last year here.) 350 refers to 'the number scientists say is the safe limit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,' explains Phil Aroneanu of 350.org. To date, 1796 actions from 141 countries, set to take place on this day, have already been registered on the 350.org website.

During the lead-up to the Day of Climate Action individuals from any of the 20 countries participating in 'Project MOBiLIZE' can subscribe to receive text message updates of climate information and action taking place within their country and globally. Subscribers will also be able to take part in discussions on climate change by contributing their views via text messages which will then be posted on the 350.org twitter feed. These message will then be collated and delivered to the world leaders come December in Copenhagen.

http://www.tacticaltech.org/projectmobilise

Yahoo DENIES giving Iran names of 200,000 protesters

By Richi Jennings

A ZDNet blogger claims that Yahoo! has been passing personal information about Iranian protesters to Iran's government. In the last few minutes, Yahoo! has denied the claim. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers wonder if it could possibly be true.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/14889/yahoo_gave_iran_names_of_200_000_protesters_claims_blogger

A huge demonstration in defence of freedom of information in Italy. The Internet’s role in the mobilization.

Saturday October the 3rd about 300.000 citizens demonstrated in Rome in defence of freedom of information. The demonstration was launched by the National Federation of Press and other civic and political organization (like Articolo 21 , trade unions, political parties of the opposition, etc.).

Why this news should deal with debate about (e)participation? Because of at least two of very good reasons …

Firstly, Internet has been a crucial tool for this mobilization, both in the preparation and during the event. A petition online drafted by three eminent Italian jurists (Franco Cordero, Stefano Rodotà, Gustavo Zagrebelsky) has been published on the website of “la Repubblica”, one of the most important Italian newspaper. The petition has been subscribed by about 500.000 citizens (among them, six Nobel). More than 9.000 comments were posted on the website of “la Repubblica” during the demonstration and appeared on the banner of the newspaper homepage. The website made possible a constant coverage of the demonstration and enabled a virtual interaction between participants to the event and people at home. In this case a virtuous circle of online/offline public spheres worked effectively.

The president of Reporters sans frontieres declared that this is probably the widest demonstration in defence of the freedom of press in the world. Of course, the big success of the demonstration doesn’t relay only upon the Internet, but also on the organizational/relational resources mobilized. Three ingredients have been important: the high reputation of who has drafted and launched the petition and its clarity, the national relevance of the newspaper “la Repubblica”, the role of the associations of the journalists. Nevertheless, due to the very restricted spaces on the Italian televisions (included public service) given to the issue arisen by the mobilization, the relevance of the Internet can’t be underestimated. Especially considering that the political opposition to the Government is involved in a phase of internal reorganization.

The second reason of interest of this news is more general. This Italian event reminds us how much freedom of information remains the very basic requirement of democratic political participation. It is impossible to immagine real new forms of citizens involvement in the public life without taking care of the freedom and openess of the public sphere.

Next thursday the European Parliament will debate about the Italian case.

http://pep-net.eu/blog/2009/10/06/a-huge-demonstration-in-defence-of-freedom-of-information-in-italy-the-internet%E2%80%99s-role-in-the-mobilization/