Information Policy

UK: Broadband infrastructure and importance

by Kate McCann

Get the fibre

Councils must speak up in areas where broadband is slow or non-existent. The future-proof answer to high-speed connectivity is to get as much fibre, as far into the network as possible (even to act as backhaul for mobile services). In urban and suburban areas, the market itself will take care of it, but councils and other public sector bodies may have a key role to play in those areas where even first-generation broadband never reached. It seems unlikely though that demand will be driven by the public sector itself - the reality is that streaming of HD entertainment content and the like will far outstrip even the heaviest workloads imaginable from the sector itself.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/government-computing-network/2011/apr/27/braoadband-infrastructure-and-importance

Apple 'not tracking' iPhone users

Apple has denied that its iPhones and 3G iPads have been secretly recording their owners' movements.

In a website posting, the company said it had never tracked user location and had no plans to do so in future.

Security researchers claimed to have found a hidden file on the devices containing a record of everywhere they had been.

Some users managed to extract the data and plot it on maps.

More than a week after the issue came to public attention, Apple released an online question and answer document.

It said: "The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it's maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13208867

YouTube founders acquire link-sharing network Delicious.com

The founders of YouTube have acquired Delicious.com from Yahoo! and say they intend to make it part of a new Internet company, AVOS.com. Though the sale price wasn't disclosed, Yahoo! said that buyers Chad Hurley and Steve Chen are "aggressively hiring to build a world-class team to take on the challenge of building the best information discovery service on the Web."

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/04/27/youtube-founders-buy-delicious-from-yahoo/

Bloomberg sets guidelines for reporters and social media

Bloomberg is advising reporters on their use of social media, particularly Twitter, in an attempt to draw some rough boundaries. Among other things, reporters are urged to use tweets to engage readers and promote their work but cautioned not to reveal details about a story in progress, dish out their personal opinions or become tangled in arguments with critics

http://emediavitals.com/content/bloomberg-social-media-policy

The challenges of the new media at heart of World Press Freedom Day celebrations

“21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers” is the theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on 3 May, with major events in Washington DC and New York (USA), alongside local and regional events all over the world. The Washington conference (1 to 3 May), co-organized by UNESCO with the U.S. State Department and over 20 civil society partners, will examine the growing role of the internet, the emergence of new media and the dramatic rise in social networking in recent years. The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, will open the conference alongside Judith McHale, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

Speakers at the conference will include bloggers and internet journalists from North Africa and the Middle East, as well as other media and freedom of expression professionals from all over the world.

On 3 May, Ms Bokova will award the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize. Imprisoned Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi is the winner of this year’s prize. The award-ceremony will take place at the National Press Club in Washington DC (3.30 to 5 p.m.).

This year’s World Press Freedom Day also marks the 20th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration for the promotion of free and pluralistic media. The Declaration was adopted after a conference held in Windhoek (Namibia) on the development of a free African press. It emphasized the importance of an independent press for the development and preservation of democracy and economic development. Two years later, the UN General Assembly established World Press Freedom Day.

The anniversary will be commemorated at a special event at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 4 May. On the same day in Windhoek, a regional conference will be held to review the future of the media in Africa. A publication analyzing media freedom in Africa over the past two decades will be launched on this occasion.

Also noteworthy are the celebrations of World Press Freedom Day in Tunisia and Egypt, where journalists are now able to work more freely and exercise the right to freedom of expression.

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31345&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Internet Society welcomes European Commission backing for open Internet

Commenting on the publication of the European Commission's communication on net neutrality earlier this month, the Internet Society heartily endorsed its continued emphasis on the importance of the open Internet.

It is this open nature of the "network of networks" that has enabled the Internet to be enjoyed and shaped by increasingly diverse players, from users to network managers to those whose economic competitive edge depends upon it.

When considering how to safeguard Internet neutrality, policy-makers  should therefore focus on preserving the open, user-centric Internet model that has been so successful to date.

"We welcome the vow by EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes  today 'to ensure that citizens and business in the EU can enjoy the benefits of an open and neutral Internet, without hidden restrictions and at the speeds promised by their service providers'," said Frederic Donck,  director of the Internet Society's European regional bureau.

"We are also pleased to hear the commissioner uphold the rules of competition as being 'at the core of the new enhanced telecom rules on transparency, quality of service and the ability to easily switch operators'," Mr Donck said.

 "Openness underpins and enables user access, choice, and transparency. These principles are so critical to the success of the Internet that they must be part of present and future policy for the Internet. So, while competition is vital to the open Internet, it must go hand-in-hand with equal commitment to transparency and access," Mr Donck said.

 The Internet Society believes that one of the most important criteria for defining real and effective competition is transparency in service offerings so that users have a choice of Internet service providers and are able to make their informed decisions regarding choice.

Internet Society Comments on IPv4 Address Depletion and Transfers

On 15th April 2011, the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) announced that it had reached the last significant block of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses in its available pool - making the Asia Pacific region the first to reach the point of being unable to meet regular IPv4 demand.

While other regions' IPv4 address pools are decreasing at a slower rate, this latest milestone in the Internet's evolution underlines the importance of a rapid migration to IPv6 for all. If we want the Internet current rate of growth to continue, a common system for addressing is vital. We encourage organizations to develop or accelerate their plans to deploy IPv6, the successor to IPv4 and the only viable path forward for the Internet.

APNIC's reaching the final block of addresses triggers a new approach to allocating addresses in the Asia Pacific region. This scarcity means that companies cannot continue with 'business as usual' in network growth. Among the possible coping strategies, it is expected some will choose to pay to acquire rights to use IPv4 addresses from others - an expensive undertaking given recent estimates of approximately US$11 per address.

For the continued smooth operation of the Internet, including its security and stability, it is imperative that these re-used addresses are administered responsibly. In an open letter, Internet Society President and CEO Lynn St.Amour this month strongly urged that such transfers be effected per appropriate RIR processes. The Internet Society therefore recognizes and supports the work of the five Regional Internet Registry (RIR) open policy forums on the matters of administration and management of IP addresses in the case of transfers.

RIR open policies are developed to provide the full range of administrative responsibilities for these key Internet resources. As such, they are applicable to address space that has been transferred from elsewhere, as much as to newly allocated space. If addresses are transferred outside the scope of the processes defined by the RIRs, it could negatively impact Internet routing table sizes as transfers cause de-aggregation of address blocks. Also, accurate and timely registration of administrative information pertaining to address block use is important for facilitating resolution of operational and security issues.

As part of its work to encourage the timely deployment of IPv6, the Internet Society is coordinating World IPv6 Day on 8 June 2011. Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Akamai and Limelight Networks will be amongst some of the major organisations that will offer their content over IPv6 for a rigorous 24-hour global "test drive". This large scale test of IPv6 will enable participants to test the readiness of their systems under controlled conditions, enabling them to prepare for large-scale IPv6 adoption.

For additional information and the complete statements, please see:

APNIC IPv4 depletion http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=3592 and Transfer of Internet Protocol Addresses http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=3585

For more information about World IPv6 Day or about IPv6 deployment, please visit

http://www.internetsociety.org/worldipv6day/

Media matters in the cultural contradictions of the "information society" - Towards a human rights-based governance

by Divina Frau-Meigs

Is an online identity protected by freedom of expression or is it a form of publicity subject to trademark law? Is online privacy a commercial service or a public right? What are the limits of consent when dealing with privacy as a service? What are "free", "open", or "public" services on the Internet and how can citizens use them effectively?

What policy initiatives can ensure that the digital networks deliver the goods, spectacles and services for our everyday activities that improve our quality of life? What role for governments, the private sector and civil society? What frameworks for international policy instruments to achieve a fair, inclusive and balanced governance of the media as they go digital?

This work addresses these burning issues - and many more - that preoccupy decision makers, researchers and activists at all levels of society. It covers the issues of dignity, ethics, identity, privacy, cultural diversity, public service, gate-keeping and education in an encompassing human rights-based governance framework. Considering the perils and promises of each issue, the authors make constructive recommendations, insisting on the relation between local and global governance, the public value of media and digital networks and the benefits of multi-stakeholder partnerships.

http://book.coe.int/EN/ficheouvrage.php?PAGEID=36&lang=EN&produit_aliasid=2606

France: Sarkozy moves to make Internet multi-nationals pay more taxes

French President Nicolas Sarkozy initiated Wednesday the first steps of what looks like a full-blown offensive to impose stricter fiscal rules on internet multi-nationals, forcing them to pay taxes in the markets where they make their profits. Speaking to an audience of internet entrepreneurs at the inauguration of the Conseil National du Numerique (CNN), France's new consultative commission for all things digital, Sarkozy targeted his speech to those companies who bypass national fiscal regulations and transfer profits to countries with lower tax rates. "The majority of you can't consider it normal that a company comes massively on a market like ours and then delocalizes all its fiscal operations with the only purpose of fiscal maximization," Sarkozy said. Sarkozy didn't name names in his speech, but hinted heavily at Google Inc., one of the best known examples of fiscal optimisation. The U.S. company is known to pay an overseas tax rate of just 2.4 percent by using a double structure of licensing its intellectual property to its Irish-based subsidiary, which in turn pays almost all of its profits in the form of royalties to another company, Google Ireland Holdings, based in the tax haven of Bermuda. The French President, who has managed to put the internet on the agenda of the meeting of the Group of Eight Leading Nations that he is chairing next month in the northern town of Deauville, said he'll push for the newly-established CNN to be extended beyond France's borders. "It's nonsense to set up a French CNN, which means with borders, to represent an industry that is global by definition," he said, adding that he will push for the initiative to be adopted by the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Japan.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/france_sarkozy_moves_to_make_internet_multi-nationals_pay_more_taxes/

Social networking market in Netherlands unique

The Netherlands ranks number one worldwide in penetration for Twitter and Linkedin. Nevertheless, Hyves maintains its position as the leading social networking site in the Netherlands, according to a survey by comScore. "The social networking market in the Netherlands is really quite unique and full of interesting storylines," says Mike Read, managing director of comScore Europe. "It is one of the few markets remaining where a local social networking player (Hyves) continues to lead Facebook, but that lead is becoming increasingly tenuous. Another interesting facet to this market is that the Netherlands has the highest Internet penetration worldwide for two of the other key global social networking sites, Twitter and Linkedin. "The Netherlands is in many ways a nexus of global social networking behavior." Despite the overall maturity of the Internet market in the Netherlands, the social networking category continues to advance, growing 18 percent to 11.5 million visitors in March 2011, representing 96 percent of the online population. Hyves continues to hold the top position among social networking sites in the market with more than 7.6 million visitors in March, but Facebook is quickly gaining ground, surging 76 percent in the past year to nearly 6.6 million visitors. Twitter.com and Linkedin.com rank third and fourth, respectively, with more than 3 million visitors and each growing approximately 70 percent in the past year.

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