Monday, January 25, 2010
Protecting online freedom
THE recent exchange of harsh words between Washington and Beijing highlights a major concern for Internet users all over the world. How this debate plays out in their own countries will determine how free individuals are to express themselves online.
Posted by Chin on 01/25 at 04:14 PM
E-government • Education • News • Security and Privacy • (1) Comments • Permalink
E-government • Education • News • Security and Privacy • (1) Comments • Permalink
IN the sitcom 30 Rock, the abrasive network boss Jack Donaghy buys a pager because he wants to make a point to his subordinate, Liz Lemon, who is dating the only beeper salesman left in Manhattan. “Okay, very funny. You bought a pager from Dennis. Will you take it off now please?” she says. “Oh I can’t,” he replies smugly. “I’m expecting a call from 1983.” When the latest results of 2007 E-Readiness Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit came out recently, it certainly felt like we were waiting for a call from 1983.
DELL, the world’s second-largest computer maker, plans to sell desktop and notebook PCs with Linux already installed. “Dell has heard you and we will expand our Linux support beyond our existing servers and… workstation line,” the company said on its IdeaStorm Web site, which solicits suggestions from its customers and enables them to vote on these ideas.
SEPT. 11, 2006 (MST)—Rep. Teodoro Casiño is expected to file a bill this week mandating the use of free and open source software and open standards in all government projects. A draft furnished to Standard Today showed that the bill allows the use of proprietary software in government only when no open source alternatives are readily available, or when a proprietary system is already widely in use. The bill also prohibits any government agency from procuring technology goods and services that are locked in to or dependent on a single vendor.
SEPT. 4, 2006 (MST) ---DESPITE the lack of a state policy on free and open source software, a number of government agencies have made inroads in promoting its use in schools, a top information technology official said last week. In a paper delivered at an academic forum Thursday, Emmanuel Lallana, a commissioner of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology said efforts to promote free and open source software in education have focused on three aspects: 1) getting more people to use it; 2) developing content and electronic learning applications using the technology; and 3) developing experts who can support its wider use.
IN a major victory for the blogging community, a US appeals court has ruled that bloggers and Web masters enjoy the same protections against divulging confidential sources as established media organizations. The ruling stems from a case in which Apple Computer tried to browbeat three Web sites and their Internet service providers into revealing the identities of people who leaked confidential information about a digital music device codenamed “Asteroid.”
A group of zealots has devised a way to recruit Web site owners in a campaign to convert more users of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to Firefox. The campaign, aptly called Explorer Destroyer, piggybacks on Google’s AdSense program, which promises to give Web site owners $1 for every IE user they convert to Firefox.
WHAT a long strange trip it’s been. The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. has quietly settled its landmark lawsuit against maverick Web site owner Gerry Kaimo over the rights to the PLDT.com domain name, ending an expensive six-year legal battle.
VER PEÑA has resigned as chairman of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), which oversees ICT development in the Philippines. His departure creates some uncertainty over the direction the agency and the industry will take.
