Information Policy

Hackers plan to launch satellites to block Internet censorship

Computer hackers are planning to put their own communication satellites into orbit in order to take the Internet beyond the reach of censors.

The organizers of the scheme, which was outlined at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, said the Hackerspace Global Grid would also involve

developing a grid of ground stations to track and communicate with the satellites.

The hacker activist Nick Farr first put out calls for people to contribute to the project in August. He said that the increasing threat of Internet censorship had motivated the project.

“The first goal is an uncensorable internet in space. Let’s take the Internet out of the control of terrestrial entities,” The BBC quoted Farr, as saying.

He cited the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) in the United States as an example of the kind of threat facing online freedom. If passed, the act would allow for some sites to be blocked on copyright grounds.

According to the report, used together in a global network, the stations would be able to pinpoint satellites at any given time, while also making it easier and more reliable for fast-moving satellites to send data back to earth.

“It''s kind of a reverse GPS,” said Armin Bauer, a 26-year-old enthusiast from Stuttgart who is working on the Hackerspace Global Grid,

“GPS uses satellites to calculate where we are, and this tells us where the satellites are. We would use GPS co-ordinates but also improve on them by using fixed sites in precisely-known locations,” Bauer added.

According to the report, Farr and his teammates are working on their project together with Constellation, an existing German aerospace research initiative that mostly consists of interlinked student projects.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/BusinessComputing-Updates/Hackers-plan-to-launch-satellites-to-block-Internet-censorship/SP-Article1-789502.aspx

Internet Society Awards Grants to 14 Community-Based Programs

The Internet Society today announced funding for 14 community-based Internet projects that will transform the lives of people in underserved areas of the world.  This round of grants will support such local projects as: building the first website dedicated to young women survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo; providing Internet and computer education to empower artisans in Bangalore; and launching an Integrative Internet Café for visually impaired and sighted people in Addis Ababa.

 

http://internetsociety.org/news/internet-society-awards-grants-14-community-based-programs

Global: A Year of Blogging, Threats and Silence

By Jillian C. York

In 2009, Iranian blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi became the first blogger ever to die  in prison. That year alone, a year referred to by a senior US State Department official as "the worst year in the history of the internet as it related to internet freedom", no fewer than 35 bloggers around the world languished in prison.

Poland: New TVN catch-up service takes off

The recently launched Polish catch-up service tvnplayer.pl is gaining in popularity at the expense of longer-established ones operated by the national commercial broadcaster TVN.

Data produced by Megapanel PBI/Gemius and published by Wirtualne Media shows that it had 1,034,048 real users in October, or over 250,000 more than a month earlier.

The total number of views stood at 44,202,708 (27,620,583 in September) and average viewing time in October was up by two hours to 9 hours 50 minutes.

Mobile views more than doubled from 43,788 in September to 91,526 in October. Vod.onet.pl meanwhile saw its real user total fall from 2,584,060 in September to 2,276,864 in October, while its total views fell from 25,051,956 to 17,693,224.

Plejada.pl also saw lower usage.

Tvnplayer.pl was launched last August and became available on smartphones, tablets, connected TVs and the DTH platform n decoders in December.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2011/12/29/new-tvn-catch-up-service-takes-off/

Hawaii Senate Adopts Social Media Use Policy

By Wendy Osher

The Hawaii State Senate this week, adopted a social media use policy, becoming one of the few such entities to formally implement usage guidelines.

“The recent growth of social media use to communicate with government officials and organizations underscores the importance for government agencies to incorporate social media services (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr) as integral components to governments’ overarching communication initiatives,” said Senate President Shan Tsutsui.

“At the same time,” he said, “it is equally vital that we, as agencies and representatives, harness the potential of these tools in the most appropriate and responsible manner. That’s what this policy guides us to do.”

The Senate policy supports growing adoption of social media by its members and staff while providing guidance and standards of its use to ensure appropriate and effective use is consistent and in compliance with federal and state rules and regulations.

“Social media is continually changing the way we communicate and engage with one another,” said Senate Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria.

“While traditional vehicles of communication, such as print and broadcast hold much value, we cannot negate the importance of new and emerging technology,” he said.

The Hawaii State Senate Social Media Use Policy includes guidance on social media application, use, security, approval, content, and management. All official accounts are to be monitored by the Senate Communications Office to assure compliance with the use policy.

“It is important for us to reach out to all of our citizens,” said Galuteria, “and that includes the use of social media. This policy provides the appropriate structure for doing so.”

By implementing the usage policy, the State Senate aims to increase public accessibility to legislative policies and information.

http://mauinow.com/2011/12/30/hawaii-senate-adopts-social-media-use-policy/

Antigua: Government To Accelerate E - Government Strategy

St. John's - Dec. 30, 2011 - The Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Telecommunications, Science and Technology will be making a number of advances in the New Year.

Minister of State with responsibility for that Ministry, Senator Dr. Edomond Mansoor, says 2012 will be the year of electronic development.

Minister Mansoor said government is committed to advancing the twin island state to a level where the country is more competitive in the area of information technology.

He said the Ministry will focus its attention on a new project, Technology for Small and Micro-Enterprises, which will target 125 businesses. Additionally he noted that technology will play a major role in government operations. “We will accelerate our efforts to develop sustainable e-government initiatives and we will use new technologies to modernize key areas of governments operations particularly those that have a direct and continuous interaction with the public.” Mansoor said.

The minister adds that Antigua has received a grant from the World Bank via the E-Grip project, a pan OECS project design to accelerate electronic governance structures.

According to Dr. Mansoor, electronic government expansion will be advanced through 4G broadband internet, which will be deployed in the top 150 agencies, where government provides services to the public.

He reiterated that 4G technology will make the nation more advanced and competitive. He also outlined the components of the ICT Cadet Program, which will allow 75 persons to be enrolled in an intense one year on the job ICT training program geared towards entrepreneurship.

http://www.caribbeanpressreleases.com/articles/9024/1/Antigua-Government-To-Accelerate-E---Government-Strategy-/Page1.html

Kazakhstan’s social networking restrictions spur censorship debate

BERLIN — Kazakhstan’s crackdown on independent media and social networking sites this month has sparked a debate about censorship in this Central Asian nation.

The Kazakh government shut down Internet access and mobile phone coverage early this month in the western region of Mangistau after ongoing protests there by oil workers on strike turned violent and police killed 15 people. Journalists were denied access to the region, and media coverage of events there have been restricted.

“This strike has been a focal point for censorship,” said Johann Bihr, director of Reporters Without Borders‘ European and Central Asia desk. “The situation regarding freedom of speech in Kazakhstan has never been good, but this year especially has seen a violent crackdown. Since it began in May, the independent media that reported this strike have been severely repressed.”

For two days following the violence in Mangistau, the government blocked the social networking site Twitter across the country.

Aleksandr Danilov, a blogger in the city of Almaty in eastern Kazakhstan, said that many voices in the Kazakh online community actually support such restrictions.

“Kazakh [Internet users] actively discussed the blocking of Internet resources and opinions were divided. There were those who argued for a complete blockage of social [networking] resources in order to prevent provocations,” he said. “Many argue that by [instant] notifications from Twitter, unrest could well have been coordinated through this social network.”

Several days after the initial crackdown, Kazakhstan's government has allowed journalists some access to the region. But Reporters Without Borders says they have been subject to tight restrictions by security forces as to what they are allowed to see and report.

The government also invited a group of bloggers to visit the region, and Mr. Danilov said their coverage has provoked fierce debate online.

“In my opinion, no one would expect much out of it because they can cover only that part of the situation which will be shown to them,” Mr. Danilov said.

“The trip has divided Kazakh [Internet users] into several camps — those who are outraged by selected bloggers and blamed them for the violence, those who fully support their work, and those who sought through these bloggers access to information other than [that from official sources].”

The media accounts authorized by the government have blamed the unrest in Mangistau on “hooligans” and opportunists who took advantage of the strike to provoke political instability — and not the oil workers, who have sympathy from much of population for their demands for better working conditions and fair pay.

Mr. Danilov said that while official media sources have come under fire for lack of coverage of the recent unrest, independent media sources are often characterized as having been “bought” by foreign interests or opposition political groups.

Timur, a 22-year-old student from Almaty, says he feels sorry for the oil workers but tends to believe the official version of events.

“The information about events … is available both in government and independent mass media, but they differ a lot,” Timur said. “It is disturbing that independent media is making hasty conclusions. We need to investigations into events and only after that can we really tell the reasons.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/30/kazakhstan-social-networking-ban-censorship-debate/

Korea's Government Integrated Data Center Sets a New Benchmark on E-Government IT

SEOUL, KOREA -- “The National Computing & Information Agency (NCIA) began from an idea that the government put all its IT resources of the central government agencies together in one place and manage them in an integrated manner,” says Kim Kyung-sup, president of NCIA.

The start of NCIA was just the world’s first GIDC (Government Integrated Data Center). At the moment, NCIA is referred to as “the benchmark of the GIDC” and recognized as one of the best e-government solutions in the world, says Dr. Kim.  His claims are backed by  the UN e-government survey of 2010, where it ranked first out of 192 countries surveyed.  It was 5th in 2005 and 15th in 2002.

“No other government in the world has ever tried this work. At first, a number of people were skeptical about the success of this project due to potential conflicts of interests among ministries and its scale,” says Kim.

Go for Smart E-Government through G Cloud Computing Service

The number of smartphone users in Korea has now surpassed 20 million. It means 4 out of 10 Koreans are using smartphones. Interactive communication has become a crucial feature of the smart era. At the heart of the trend, there is the cloud computing service. The government judged that it is important for them to keep pace with the public and the current trends in services, and so it decided to introduce a new paradigm, ICT (Information and Communications Technology) based government service. The idea is to present smart e-government services through the Government Cloud Computing Service (G Cloud).

The Korean government mapped out a plan to provide a cloud and mobile based environment. NCIA set up three goals – transferring 50% of businesses of central government agencies from current systems to a cloud based one, raising open source software adaption rate up to 40% and cutting down operational costs by more than 30%  – to offer the world’s best G Cloud Computing Service.  “To this end, the government is in the process of building a G Cloud platform focusing on putting forth credible services, operational efficiency, introducing more of open source-based standards, to successfully migrate the businesses into new environment.

Accomplishments and Challenges of Smart E-Government

Over the past six years since its establishment, NCIA has made the e-Government more stable, secure and efficient.  It has also propelled the growth of small and medium-sized IT companies and supports the export activities of the GIDC model.  The Korean G Cloud will be remembered as one of the most successful endeavors of e-government challenges once it is completed.

The security of the e-government system has been tightened. “Simply, the number of rule-sets automatically block cyber-attacks which show that security has been dramatically enhanced,” Dr. Kim continues. “The number of rule-sets registered  was about 8,000 in the early days of NCIA. However, in 2011, this figure has been doubled. NCIA has developed a comprehensive defense system called e-ANSI (Advanced National Security Infrastructure) which covers physical and cyber security. Thanks to e-ANSI, NCIA has successfully defended all systems even though the number of  cyber-threats continue to increase.

Security issues of cloud computing remains a major concern for the initiative. People often think that risks may increase since all the data is concentrated in one place. NCIA has eased the worries by providing a systematic defense mechanism and keeping it in optimized conditions 24/7.

“We succeeded in reducing not only equipment costs but also operational costs such as salaries, utilities and maintenance. Therefore, we were able to enhance efficiency in managing IT resources of the government,” Dr. Kim explains. NCIA purchases equipment and software on behalf of all the ministries and offers these tools through virtualization and automation technology. All of these efforts have finally paid off. The cost of maintenance and operations has been decreased by 30%. At the same time, redundant spending of government funds has been considerably reduced. The government has also saved about KRW 63.4 billion (USD 54.8 million) since NCIA has been in operation.

“We are implementing various policies in order to shape a market environment to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises,” says Dr. Kim. "NCIA has not only strengthened its capabilities by going into partnership with local companies but also in actively introducing new trends and technologies and spreading them across all sectors of the government.” Small and medium-sized companies are participating in about 50% of all the projects of NCIA each year.

Developing Countries Emulate NCIA

With world-wide recognition of NCIA's GIDC model, the Korean GDIC is emerging as a benchmark for developing countries who are in the process of introducing or spreading e-government systems. More than a thousand  public officials from over a hundred countries have visited the NCIA since 2007.  They want to learn more about the Korean e-government's innovative services and its sophisticated operational know-how.

They are mostly high-ranking officials of ministries taking charge of developing policies on e-governments or executing them across government bodies. Some of the officials include the Minister of Energy from Brunei, the Minister of Information and Communication of Mongolia and the General Secretary of the UAE Cabinet. They are considering building an e-government system in their own country by taking the Korean GIDC model and study NCIA’s know-how in data center management.  They want to know more about how NCIA enhanced the stability and efficiency of the system and bring economical benefits through the integration. A number of Korean IT companies have mentioned NCIA (GIDC) as one of the promising exports of Korean e-government solutions in a recently conducted survey by a government agency.

Exporting the GIDC Model

Increasing interest from other countries in the Korean e-government system is a positive sign for Korean IT companies who want to enter overseas markets. NCIA tries its best to share its experiences with other countries who want to build a mature e-government system with local companies. The Korean government has succeeded to export USD 235M of e-government solutions in the areas of tax, public procurement and customs clearance systems in 2011.  The Vietnamese government has applied for an EDCF loan from the Korean government in order to construct its own GIDC at Hanoi.  Indonesia, Philippines and Kenya are also considering introducing a GIDC based on the Korean model in their own countries.  The Korean GIDC model is expected to arouse wide interest to other countries.

NCIA plans to offer consultations on operations and security aspects of its own development.  Much of the demand currently comes from countries that are currently operating data centers or are planning to launch related projects. NCIA plans to transfer technology and know-how by signing MOUs and carry out joint projects such as inviting foreign engineers into Korea and providing on-the-job training programs, and conducting collaborative seminars to share the knowledge.

Efforts Underway to Promote Korean E-Government Solutions

NCIA opened the Korean e-Government showcase on November 30, 2011. This showcase will facilitate the introduction to the Korean e-government system to overseas visitors. “Korean dramas, K-pop and movies have become popular overseas. People call it the ‘Korean Wave’. Recently the Korean e-government system has also become a prospective export of Korean Wave. The number of foreign visitors who want to learn the Korean e-government system is surging. That is why we decided to make the showcase”.

The exhibit presents ten best practices out of more than 1,000 e-government services such as tax, customs clearance and procurement. Visitors have a chance to experience Korean e-government solutions. The showcase is operated through a partnership with the NCIA, related government agencies, and private companies involved with developing GDIC.

http://www.koreaittimes.com/story/19156/koreas-government-integrated-data-center-sets-new-benchmark-e-government-it

Top web firms set to impose a blackout in protest against 'Big Brother' online piracy bill

By Hugo Gye

The world's most popular websites could impose an 'internet blackout' in protest at a proposed law which would extend government censorship in an effort to tackle online piracy.

The battle over the SOPA bill has seen leading web firms square off against Hollywood media companies in a trade-off between internet freedom and intellectual property rights.

Now it could burst into the open as technology giants are planning to 'censoring' their own homepages, according to a leading internet lobby group.

Sites such as Google, Amazon and Facebook could temporarily replace their usual homepage with a black screen and a message asking users to contact politicians and urge them to oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act.

The move could come as early as January 24, when the bill is due to be debated in the House of Representatives.

 Marham Erickson, head of NetCoalition, a body representing many of the world's biggest websites, said that the drastic action of a blackout was being contemplated.

'There have been some serious discussions about that,' he said, while pointing out that 'it has never happened before'.

GoDaddy, the world's largest domain registration company, had been a rare example of a web firm which supported SOPA, but was today forced to reverse its position after thousands of users deserted it over its political stance.

A boycott campaign which involved giants such as Wikipedia as well as a network of individual users and small companies led to GoDaddy announcing today that was no longer in favour of the bill.

The firm's chief executive Warren Adelman said in a statement: 'GoDaddy opposes SOPA because the legislation has not fulfilled its basic requirement to build a consensus among stake-holders in the technology and Internet communities.'

The unorthodox campaigning methods used by opponents of SOPA are a response to their being heavily outspent by Hollywood firms.

Media companies are spending ten times as much as technology firms on lobbying in relation to SOPA, which they hope will crack down on copyright theft around the world by allowing the government to remove links to piracy websites from search engines and social networks.

And Hollywood, traditionally a Democratic stronghold, has teamed up with the Republican-supporting Chamber of Commerce in its efforts to push the bill - sponsored by Texas Representative Lamar Smith - through Congress.

Ranged against them are many of the tech world's most iconic figures, including Google's Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and 'father of the internet' Vint Cerf.

SOPA's opponents fear that the bill will allow the government and corporations to pursue alleged offenders without having to establish proof that they are breaking the law.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080066/Top-web-firms-set-impose-blackout-protest-Big-Brother-online-piracy-bill.html

Occupy Protesters Developing Own Social Network

By Frank Reed

Whether you agree with the Occupy (insert location here) movement or not you can’t deny that they have made a mark. Social media has played a role in that ability to make the desired impact. It seems though that traditional social media outlets like Facebook have reached their limitations with groups like this because of these folks’ desire to have a system that helps privacy rather than is always in the crosshairs regarding the same issue (read: Facebook).

So how do you overcome this issue? Build your own social network of course. A Wired article tells us:

“I don’t want to say we’re making our own Facebook. But, we’re making our own Facebook,” said Ed Knutson, a web and mobile app developer who joined a team of activist-geeks redesigning social networking for the era of global protest.

They hope the technology they are developing can go well beyond Occupy Wall Street to help establish more distributed social networks, better online business collaboration and perhaps even add to the long-dreamed-of semantic web — an internet made not of messy text, but one unified by underlying meta-data that computers can easily parse.

This is an interesting approach. Some would say that this is something that is best left to a big company but let’s remember that underlying the huge Facebook operation is a MySQL database which makes many cringe. While that has nothing to do with privacy it does have much to do with reliability and whether it holds up or not is not something people like the Occupy movement is apparently willing to trust.

Privacy and the attention the big social networks get by the courts, however, is the main driver though.

“We don’t want to trust Facebook with private messages among activists,” he said.

The same thinking applies to Twitter and other social networks — and the reasoning became clear last week, when a Massachusetts district attorney subpoenaed Twitter for information about the account @OccupyBoston and other accounts connected to the Boston movement. (To its credit, Twitter has a policy of giving users the opportunity to contest such orders when possible.)

So could the future of social networking be more niche oriented? Would the needs of various groups be so disparate that there would be a need for individual networks to handle the load without feeling like big brother is hovering over them? Can even a niche social network escape the view of the legal system? Not likely.

These are all interesting questions that will crop up as we move through the online social age. If history is any indicator there will be cyclical movements going from general to specific and back. In the Internet space these cycles tend to be sped up so it will be quite a study to see if this actually does happen or will the Internet space act differently. Since human beings are behind everything the Internet is and does the likelihood of it acting differently is small. Let’s face it, people are people.

What’s your take?

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2011/12/occupy-protesters-developing-own-social-network.html