The group of pro-Tibet activists in China that caught the world’s attention this week by chronicling a series of stunts over the web used an “age-old tactic” with a savvy, modern twist, says an expert in the field.
From GlobeandMail
CBC Dispatches invited me back to discuss Internet censorship, the state of blogging in the Middle East, and psiphon. The interview can be found HERE.
Toronto-developed software opens the Net to restricted surfers
By DAVID SILVERBERG
In Saudi Arabia, net users can’t get access to websites of opposition groups. Jordan and Bahrain both briefly banned Google Earth, citing security concerns. The Chinese government doesn’t let netizens get to the BBC site in any language.
So what’s a curious Web surfer to do in these Net-filtering countries?
They should get to know a kind-hearted soul using Psiphon (http://psiphon.civisec.org/), a software tool created by researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab. By downloading this piece of software, someone in a free-thinking country like Canada can let a person in a restrictive society gain safe access to a portal to the uncensored Web.
June 5, 2007 (RFE/RL) – State censorship of the Internet is growing and the techniques used are becoming increasingly sophisticated, according to the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a partnership of British, US, and Canadian universities.
The group has released an initial list of countries engaged in Internet censorship, which includes China, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The group believes that states will target other means of electronic communication next, such as mobile phone text messaging.
Although as many as 25 countries make the current list of countries that engage in Internet censorship, the list is by no means exhaustive, according to Ron Deibert, one of OpenNet Initiative’s principal investigators and director of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab.
Found HERE
Amnesty international is having an event on Wednesday June 6th in the UK that I’m speaking at by webcast. The event is called “irrepressible.info” and is about threats to freedom of speech and access to information online.
You can read more about it here
Leading up to the event, I wrote an editorial comment that has been published on the Open Democracy website
I will be participating in Amnesty International’s Irrepressible.info one year anniversary conference, the details for which can be found here. We at the OpenNet Initiative have been providing background information and data for the campaign.
Here is a Guardian/Observer story on the upcoming event, and the way in which the campaign has had an impact so far.
The first ONI woodstock is over. I had a very productive time, and particularly enjoyed the debate at the Oxford Union.
Here are a few selected media stories about the ONI’s reports:
…and here is a separate news item in the Guardian UK on Murdoch’s moves into China with a special version of MySpace.
Additionaly, I did a recent interview with SAP Online on the psiphon project.
The OpenNet Initiative is holding its first public conference to discuss the current state of play of Internet filtering worldwide. The conference will be hosted by the Oxford Internet Institute and held at the University of Oxford on May 18, 2007. The conference is free of charge and open to the public.
Results from the first global study of Internet filtering carried out by the OpenNet Initiative will be on the table for a day of discussion involving ICT development experts, speech and human rights advocates, journalists and bloggers, international laywers and scholars, and others interested in state responses to online information flows.
We are proud to announce the Spanish language version of the Psiphon user guide, which can be found HERE. Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, and French versions are forthcoming. (Thanks to Txitua for the translation).