Recent Technology Articles

Net neutrality: why it’s important and we should campaign on it

by Guest     December 3, 2012 at 2:30 pm

by Tom Chivers

At 10:26 GMT on 30th November, the Google traffic monitoring service recorded a total halt in all internet services in Syria. The research firm Rensys has noted that “all 84 of Syria’s IP address blocks have become unreachable, effectively removing the country from the internet.”

While this on its own is troubling, as it no doubt signals another attempt by the Syrian government to undermine the organisational abilities of the opposition forces in the country, this literal plug-pulling is sadly just one more example of a government abusing its control of network provision.

The Google Transparency report details a terrifyingly long list, compiled from only the last few years, of each instance where some or all of a country’s access to the internet has ceased. Some of the culprits won’t surprise you – Iran, China, Pakistan, Libya, and Egypt all have a dire record of providing stable network services.

However, some of the smaller examples listed hint at a greater problem beyond malign, repressive states. In March 2009, Bangladeshis were totally unable to access YouTube for 4 days after the government claimed that a video threatened to escalate a military crisis.

In August the same year, Morrocans were blocked from using Google Earth for over a year as arguments over the Western Sahara enflamed. In January 2010 the Kazakh government blocked its citizens from viewing a number of different news and blogging websites associated with the opposition movement.

We need only look to our own shores to see how net neutrality, the idea that all information online is equal and free from interference, is under threat. During the London riots many public figures demanded that the Blackberry Messaging service (BBM) be shut down, and only recently the Home Secretary Theresa May’s flagship Data Communications Bill, which would allow for blanket surveillance of all internet usage, was revived for a second consideration in parliament.

Meanwhile, internet service providers are flirting with two-tier access systems; by allowing content providers to pay for better service, the net would essentially be segregated into premium and ‘economy’ services.

These examples are indicative of a festering global crisis which threatens free and open access to internet services, but while these infractions have met widespread public opposition, they are only ever criticised individually. The wider problems facing open data and equal access are overlooked in these sporadic bursts of outrage and at present only a few campaign bodies, such as the Open Rights Group, have stood up for the integrity of the net as a whole.

These groups have commendable proposals for protecting online equality; repealing the Digital Economy Act, for example, would loosen up the copyright laws which have given huge entertainment companies a financial dominance over artists and creators.

Statutory measures are also an effective means for underpinning users’ rights, but what is needed most of all is a continual campaign of awareness and reporting. If Britain is truly supposed to be a standard-bearer for democracy, free citizenry, and government accountability, it’s time that we start expecting those same qualities online, for internet users both in the UK and worldwide.

Unless we alert the wider public to this slow death of the free internet, the true value of open access will never be treasured.

And if we stay silent when other nations (mis)use the net to oppress their peoples, it won’t be long until the internet goes the way of all other technologies which were once capable of such feats; grossly over-regulated, unnecessarily commercialised, and incapable of serving the needs of those it was created for.”

The ‘porn-block’ plans are being pushed through: tell the govt you’re opposed

by Jim Killock     September 4, 2012 at 9:24 am

Liberal Conspiracy has been tracking the “opt out” government porn filters campaign.

It started with Mary Whitehouse’s Safer Media, then Christian groups, Claire Perry and the Daily Mail; but now the policy has well and truly arrived at the heart of government.

A few months ago, the idea moved from Jeremy Hunt’s office at DCMS, which is responsible for Internet policy, to the Department for Education.
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Nine commitments to a progressive digital policy the Labour party should make

by Guest     August 30, 2012 at 2:10 pm

contribution by Paul Bernal

I left the Labour Party in 1999, partly because I was leaving the country and partly because I was already becoming disillusioned as to the direction that Labour was taking – a stance that the invasion of Iraq only confirmed.

One of the reasons I have not been able to bring myself to join has been the incoherence and oppressiveness of Labour’s digital policies, which are not those of a progressive, positive and modern party, of one that represents the ordinary people, and in particular the young people, of Britain today.

I’ve written in the past about why governments always get digital policy wrong – but here is my first attempt at putting together a skeleton of a progressive policy for digital government.
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So why are right-wing groups lobbying for nuclear power?

by Guest     July 12, 2012 at 10:55 am

contribution by Adam Bell

Earlier this week in the Telegraph, an assortment of thinktanks put their names to a letter demanding that the Government immediately stop building wind farms and start a private-sector led nuclear new build programme.

It’s safe to say however that all three want lesser government interference in markets.

But lending their support to nuclear power over wind farms is unusual in this context, because new nuclear power stations in the UK will require higher form of government support in order to be viable.
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Julian Assange’s supporters will end up destroying WikiLeaks

by Sunny Hundal     June 21, 2012 at 2:41 pm

I think WikiLeaks is important. In fact I’ve written several pieces here defending WikiLeaks and its work.

But the drama and circus around Julian Assange is actively hurting the cause of WikiLeaks and his supporters need to recognise that.

And this may be inspite of the technical and legal arguments that support his right to political asylum in Ecuador.
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Mixing the science of GM foods with politics will always be messy

by Sunny Hundal     May 29, 2012 at 11:02 am

I’d to return to the rumbling controversy that is the GREENS vs SCIENTISTS showdown, a.k.a. the decision by some Greens and some environmentalists to protest at the GM foods site at Rothahmstead on Sunday.

I wrote a piece for the Guardian that didn’t convince all detractors, and I got some excellent replies I’d like to address.

I said on CIF: “The divide is not between ‘pro-science’ and ‘anti-science’ political parties at all. Rather, politicians and parties will always side with science when it suits their constituency or aligns with their interests.” — Let me elaborate.
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Ten ways to save money on FOI without changing the Act

by Martin Williams     February 17, 2012 at 10:50 am

The Freedom of Information Act is currently being reviewed by the Justice Select Committee, which is likely to suggest changes to the law. One of the main criticisms of the act is that it is a “drain on resources”.

From my experience of using FOI, I don’t think the law needs changing at all. If the government want to spend less on FOI here’s ten ways they can do it without changing the law:
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What sort of tech-tools do online activists need?

by Sunny Hundal     January 16, 2012 at 7:44 pm

The recent focus on disability campaigners has raised a long-standing issue that needs proper discussion with its own blog-post.

As emails were going around on the campaign to protect disability benefits, various people asked for simple tools that I’ve seen developed and used in the past for campaigning.

And yet, there seems to be no resource for activists who aren’t very tech savvy to grab, adapt and use fairly straight-forward activist tools.
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Revealed: how much the govt e-petitions site costs taxpayers

by Guest     August 26, 2011 at 2:52 pm

contribution by Andrew Tindall

After the rocky launch of the government’s new epetitions website, I started to wonder just how much was spent moving over to this system from the petitions on the old number 10 site.

In order to get this information, I shot off a freedom of information request to the cabinet office on July 28th.

Today I finally got my response.
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What difference did the Fukushima disaster make to attitudes towards nuclear energy?

by Guest     August 21, 2011 at 9:28 am

contribution by Climate Sock

With an event as prominent as the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the media tend to assume that the public have been paying attention, and that public opinion must have undergone a dramatic shift.

Sometimes this is fair. The MPs’ expenses scandal did capture public attention and brought attitudes towards politicians even lower than they had been before. But other high-profile media stories, like the UEA email release (aka ‘climategate’), came and went without having all that much impact on public opinion. In the UK and US at least, Fukushima is looking like the latter kind of story.
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