Vietnam detains bloggers on eve of visit from US Secretary of State
The Washington Post reports that Vietnamese authorities arrested two bloggers and refused to release a third in the run-up to an official visit from US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton last weekend. In response, the US Embassy in Hanoi issued a “statement of concern”.
Tribal rights charity targeted by DDoS assault
The Register report that development charities including Survival International who hosted footage of Indonesian soldiers torturing native Papuans have been subjected to denial of service attacks on their websites. In a statement, Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said, “This isn’t a couple of geeks in a shed, it’s an expensive and sophisticated attack amounting to cyberterrorism”.
US says genes should not be eligible for patenting
The New York Times report that the US federal government has issued a statement indicating that human and other genes should not be eligible for patenting, potentially reversing a longstanding policy of the US Patents and Trademark Office. The statement was made in a amicus brief filed by the US Department of Justice in the appeal case of ACLU vs Myriad.
Major new technology-for-transparency initiative launched for Africa
The Omidyar Network and Hivos have announced the creation of the Africa Transparency and Technology Initiative, “the first fund in Africa to support the incubation of technology-driven initiatives that give citizens the tools to hold their governments to account”. The Omidyar Network will invest $2million in the initiative in its first two years.
Indian High Level Committee recommends three-strikes policy to curb online infringement
A high profile committee set up last December by the Indian Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to look into ways to reduce illicit copyright infringement of video and audio works have submitted their report. Their recommendations include a potentially draconian “three strikes” policy against alleged online copyright infringers that is similar to measures enacted in France, Korea and the UK.
Specialist data analysis plays role in historic Guatemalan human rights case
This account of the ongoing trial in Guatemala of two policemen accused of abducting labour activist Edgar Fernando García in 1984 highlights the role of data sourced from the Historical Archive of the National Police in the prosecution’s case: “[The Human Rights Data Analysis Group at Benetech] helped define the universe of police records consulted in the investigation into the crime and offered supporting evidence of the involvement of senior police and military structures in the planning, design, orders and oversight of the operation that resulted in García’s abduction.”
How digital technology gets the news out of North Korea
Excellent feature detailing the work of Asia News in getting uncensored reporting out of North Korea and into the wider world: “The material they produce is often startling and documents a side of the country the government doesn’t want the world to see.”
A history of HTML5
A rich and accessible history of the development of the new web standard HTML5, and of its implications for the web: “The central goal of HTML5 is to give websites the chance to expand beyond pages and into programs”.
Internet Censorship and Freedom of Expression in Latin America
David Sasaki concludes a broad and informative three-part series on internet regulation in Latin America.
Webcast: The battle for the internet economy
John Battelle and Tim O’Reilly discuss “points of control” and rent-seeking in digital business.
The Barefoot Technologist 