18 May 2010 | Index Index, minipost
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT4no1-Hfqk
On Monday, government officials attempted to prevent publication of an embarrassing video of President Viktor Yanukovych. The video shows a burst of wind flinging a wreath at the President during an official ceremony with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. Despite the government’s best efforts, it was obtained by the website Ukrayinska Pravda from an undisclosed television crew, and posted on YouTube. Yanukovych and Medvedev were attending a ceremony to commemorate World War II veterans.
18 May 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Jamal Khashoggi has stepped down as editor-in-chief of al-Watan after the progressive Saudi newspaper published a controversial opinion piece criticising Salafism. Arab news sources speculate he was forced to resign, the Saudi authorities adher to Wahabbism, a form of Salafi Islam. Khashoggi was abroad when the article was published, and has since denounced the article, saying it was an error to publish it.
18 May 2010 | Uncategorized
A California university — in fact, my university — has decided to end a trial outsourcing outsourcing its staff and faculty emails to Google’s Gmail, citing privacy as their primary concern. Officials at the University of California-Davis released an internal statement on 30 April saying they did not believe Google exhibits the dedication needed to retain the privacy of their users, and declared an end to the 8-week trial with the company.
The statement said:
Although preliminary feedback from volunteer testers was positive, many other faculty expressed concern that our campus’ commitment to protecting the privacy of their communications is not demonstrated by Google and that the appropriate safeguards are neither in place at this time nor planned for the near future.
The announcement also made reference to a letter released by privacy commissioners in 10 countries the week before, criticising the Google’s lack of concern regarding privacy involving Google Buzz and Street View. The letter claims Google “violated the fundamental principle that individuals should be able to control the use of their personal information”.
Peter Siegel, the university’s chief information officer, said the faculty were concerned that sensitive research could leaked.
In an interview with the education and technology magazine Converge, Siegel said, “We really want what Google promises to the community to be consistent with what they state in writing. So I think there was a sense that, well, it doesn’t really say clearly that they’re going to protect this information the way we need it to be protected.”
This decision doesn’t directly affect people like me — undergraduate and graduate students will continue to use DavisMail, the Gmail system for the university, until further notice. After living through my first year with our old, slow and problem-riddled GeckoMail, the UC Davis-made email system, I’m relieved I’ll still have my Gmail account.
I can, however, understand why our professors and researchers would need more privacy. Many of them work on confidential projects. Their work could be jeopardised if hackers gained access their information.
UC Davis isn’t the only American university to express concerns. Yale University delayed its switch to Gmail in March because of worries revolving around “cloud computing”— information transferring between virtual servers — technological risks and ideological concerns. Yale computer science professor, Michael Fischer, said one reason they stalled the project was the fear of losing control of their data.
I’m torn between privacy and a working email account. In more than a few classes, professors and classmates have been able to share information with me via Google Docs and Calendar, making my life easier.
The university is currently looking at creating a new host system or strengthening their existing one, and if it’s anything like GeckoMail, this could hinder researchers’ ability to store email and information they need in the future. At this point, UC Davis students need to ask if we need 100 per cent privacy or mediocre technology.
Elizabeth Stitt Elizabeth attends the University of California-Davis, studying international relations and political science
18 May 2010 | News and features
We are looking to recruit four regional experts with local contacts, expertise and language skills in Iran, China, Mexico and Egypt
To further extend our reach and impact, at home and abroad, Index on Censorship is launching a world-wide regional editors programme.
Four programmes each year for three years are planned in different priority regions for freedom of expression, each one led by regional experts with local contacts, expertise and language skills. These part-time positions are offered on a 12-month basis, with the intention that editors will continue to contribute to Index at the end of this period.
These roles are intended to be in-country however we may make exceptions in the cases of China and Iran.
The editors will play an essential role in Index’s plans for website expansion, bringing in a wider group of contributors and bloggers for the website. They will be talent scouts – advising us on emerging artists, musicians, free speech advocates, lawyers and writers directly engaging with challenging political issues or censorship.
The local editors’ role is to help the website – which is currently undergoing a redesign – to become the portal for discussing free speech in the UK and beyond, to develop new content and new audiences, to break free expression news and publish insightful analysis of censorship issues, to provide opinion, analysis, comment and reportage from sources all over the world and to promote content and share ideas through social media.
Editors will also be invited to contribute to Index’s quarterly award-winning magazine, suggest contributors, and help research and commission. They must have proven writing experience – ideally in journalism – and be able to contribute blogs and longer pieces to Index’s website at short notice.
The experts will closely coordinate with Index on Censorship’s London editorial desk, under the direction of editor Jo Glanville and online editor Emily Butselaar.
They will work to a discrete programme of activities in each region, to enhance and extend Index on Censorship’s publishing activities, advocacy initiatives and arts programming, including a special focus on free expression in the world of literature.
Their work will be incorporated into all areas of our organisation, creating a central resource for the magazine and through its programme of partnership activities, a resource in the literature sector by unearthing new writers, especially in translation, and leading them to publishing opportunities.
Applicants should have proven expertise in the field of free expression, earned through legal or advocacy experience or journalism and the arts.
If you are interested in applying for one of these positions please write to Emily Butselaar via Emily[at]indexoncensorship.org
