All states, autocratic or otherwise, have made it their business to stifle internet freedoms. They just disagree on how best to do it, Binoy Kampmark writes
Delusions of freedom: The FCC, the internet and John Kerry
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CATEGORY: Americas
Barret Brown saga comes to a close with worrying implications for journalists
Last Tuesday “hacktivist journo” Barrett Brown pled guilty in a US court after a long-running battle with the FBI. He had reported on a high-profile Anonymous hack as well as posting provocative videos on YouTube baiting FBI officials. Alastair Sloan reports
Bunting and Effect: Reforming the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court
A fundamental feature of Obama’s reform agenda centres on a greater oversight role regarding surveillance applications assessed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). Binoy Kampmark reports
Chinese youth hit hardest by government moves to ban popular US TV series online
Chinese fans of American TV have been dealt a serious blow after some of their favorite shows were removed from the country’s main video streaming websites. Jemimah Steinfeld reports on the withdrawal symptoms of the country’s youths
Liberalising internet governance: ICANN and the role of governments
Reforms are on the cards for internet governance, but no one seems to be clear what exactly these will do to the way the web is used. Sentiments of doom and gloom mix with utopian forecasts of freedom, Binoy Kampmark writes
Don’t protest during the World Cup, Platini tells Brazilians
European football boss says Brazilians should “pay tribute to this beautiful World Cup”
NETmundial: Disappointed expectations and delayed decisions
Participants in Brazil’s NETMundial left the meeting with dashed expectations, Simone Marques reports
“If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent, the TPP has you in its crosshairs”
With secret trade negotiations reportedly at a critical stage, campaigners have mounted a global plan to draw the attention to the role that internet providers would play in preventing the free flow of information. Alastair Sloan reports
45 reasons why I think twice despite the First Amendment
Poet Maya Weeks explores the 45 reasons she thinks twice, despite the protections afforded to her as an American.
Boosting Big Brother: Canada and the Digital Privacy Act
Knowledge, claimed Francis Bacon, is power. It is also money. Which is why Canada’s newly drafted Digital Privacy Act, Bill S-4, is considered by the privacy fraternity to be a demon of some proportions, Binoy Kampmark writes