Ghana: Government launches Open Data Initiative
The Ghana News Agency reports that the government is collaborating with the World Wide Web Foundation to commence implementation of the Ghana Open Data Initiative, which will make government data freely available to citizens for re-use.
Guatemala: National Police Archive now online
The Benetech blog reflects on the recent online publication of the Guatemalan National Police Archive.
EU: Open Knowledge Foundation software will power new EU data portal
The Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) have announced their success in winning a joint bid to build the EU’s official open data platform. Their open source software package, CKAN, will power the platform.
US: White House releases responses to open access consultation
The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy has published the responses to their Request for Information on public access to publicly-funded research.
Special: Lessons from SOPA/PIPA and the coming fight against ACTA
Draconian proposals to address the issue of intellectual property infringement continued to dominate the news this week. Yochai Benkler presents his “Seven Lessons from SOPA/PIPA and Four Proposals on Where We Go From Here” in this long feature for TechPresident, while Forbes asks “Who Really Stopped SOPA, and Why?”. Meanwhile, Michael Geist outlines what’s at stake in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), and how citizens can get their voices heard on the issue.
Benkler | Forbes | Geist
The Chronicle of Higher Ed on altmetrics
The Chronicle of Higher Education takes an in-depth look at the forces moving the academic community to find alternative metrics for the impact of their research, ones that respond better to the online environment.
Private data, public rules
Following last week’s news of a review of the data protection framework, The Economist publish a good review of global data privacy regulations.
How Russian technology provides the eyes and ears for the world’s Big Brothers
This article for openDemocracy.net examines Russia’s contribution to the global trade in surveillance technology.
Why Twitter’s new policy is helpful for free-speech advocates
Zeynep Tufecki calls on those condemning Twitter for its announcement this week that it is now able to block Tweets on a country-by-country basis to look at the company’s new policy in greater depth.
Social Media & Protest: A quick list of recent scholarly research
A useful list of recent research papers taking in the influence of social media on phenomenon such as the Arab Spring, the UK riots and the Occupy movement.
Activist Guide to the Brussels Maze
European Digital Rights (EDRI) have produced this accessible and comprehensive guide for activists working in Brussels.
Book: Sharing – Culture and the Economy in the Internet Age
“Sharing: Culture and the Economy in the Internet Age”, by Philippe and Suzanne Aigrain, is published this week. The book explores the dissemination of digital culture, offering a counterpoint to the dominant view that file-sharing is piracy and exploring models for creativity that marry remuneration and openness. A percentage of profits from the print book will go to digital rights campaigners La Quadrature du Net, an organisation Phillipe Aigrain co-founded.
Audio: Lawrence Lessig on how money corrupts Congress
In the 100th edition of the Long Now Seminar series, constitutional scholar Lawrence Lessig presents a plan to stop the corrupting influence of money in American politics.
The Barefoot Technologist 