The Daily Summit - November 23, 2003 - November 29, 2003 Archives

[NEWS AND VIEWS]

November 29, 2003

On the web, KnowProSe highlights some weaknesses in the Business Week article we linked to below: "All statistics in the article are based in the United States and Israel. If you want a better reflection of the World and the Digital Divide, you'll have to count more than Texas and Israel. Anyone who has drawn a graph should know that two data points do not a line make."

Indeed. But let's add a third point - from the Oxford Internet Access survey of usage patterns in the UK.

It claims that most Brits who don't use the internet could do so, but don't want to.

Half are "informed but indifferent; they know someone who could send an email or get information for them but have not bothered to ask for this to be done. An additional 7 percent are proxy users, who have asked for a friend to sign on the Internet on their behalf.

"One in seven are excluded because they do not know anyone who could send get on the Internet on their behalf, and this group divides equally into those who are anti-technology and those who are apathetic."

The Pew Internet and American Life survey, which is buried somewhere there in the Business Week article, makes a similar point. 20% of non-Internet users are Net Evaders, who have access from home but don't use it; 17% are Net Dropouts, once users but no longer so; while only 24% are Truly Disconnected, having "no direct or indirect experience with the Internet."

So where are these data taking us? Maybe towards the conclusion that the digital divide within (at least some) rich countries is narrowing and not proving as much of a problem as has been predicted. Between countries? Well, that's another story...

David Steven | 02:26 PM | TrackBack

What Digital Divide? Business Week questions the notion of a digital divide, in an article that suggests that the internet is no longer being socially divisive.

Business Week quotes Donald Hicks, professor of political economy and public policy at the University of Texas, who argues that "the market seems to be taking care of digital divides."

Many of those not online in the US, at least, are avoiding the web because they don't want to use it, with researchers identifying a group of 'net evaders,' who reject the internet as a point of pride.

Claire Regan | 10:03 AM | TrackBack

November 28, 2003

In the news, TeleDoc is an Indian tele-medicine project that will receive the UN backed World Summit Award (WSA) for e-Health at WSIS on December 10. The project is run by Jiva Institute and uses mobile technology to deliver healthcare for India's rural population.

Ahmed Reda | 06:43 PM | TrackBack

Women of Africa could play a huge role in the information society if they had the resources and skills at their fingertips. This article by Ngathie Diop looks at the success of the Internet for women in Senegal. Not only does the Internet provide women there with information on numerous issues relating to their daily lives, but is has also created jobs for them - around 35% of cyber cafes and telecentres there are now successfully owned by women. The role of African women will be one of the many issues put forward at the summit by the African Civil Society Caucus.

Cara Swift | 07:30 AM | TrackBack

Children of the Digital Revolution. There will be a Youth Pressure caucus at WSIS - they believe that young people - not technology - are "the world's largest untapped resource in creating an information society". It's obviously vital for young people to be trained in IT if digital knowlege is to grow - take a look at all of the issues from the youth caucus.

Cara Swift | 07:11 AM | TrackBack

Any connection will do. Digital development should focus on universal connectivity, rather than high speeds. That's the "boring" (his words) conclusion of this piece by Eli Noam in the Financial Times - and while being connected is obviously better than not, surely such regressive thinking will ensure digital equality remains some way off?

Aaron Scullion | 04:47 AM | TrackBack

WSIS Unzipped. There's a lot to be learnt in this article by Alan Toner (part of art collective Autonomedia, whose Info Exchange is quite something). Alan's article puts WSIS into context, details past attempts to tackle communication on this scale, and explains why it could be remembered, ironically, as a conference without content...

Aaron Scullion | 04:22 AM | TrackBack

In the news, Marc Furrer, who leads the Swiss delegation, has been talking to the Swiss press about Switzerland's role as an "informal mediator during last-ditch talks with individual countries, aimed at ironing out lingering differences over the draft declaration and plan of action" (more here).

He's playing his cards close to his chest, "optimistic that we will find a way with China," but not wanting to say anything that could jeapordise agreement with Russia.

David Steven | 12:25 AM | TrackBack

November 27, 2003

Civil society organizations drafted their own "vision document" to counter what they see as an "inability of government representatives to agree even on basic questions."

Ahmed Reda | 04:08 PM | TrackBack

A new study on Registrar Market Share & Service Offerings showed that top 10 domain name registrars based on market share are respectively: Network Solutions, Tucows, Godaddy.com, Register.com, eNom, Melbourne IT, BulkRegister, Schlund.de, DirectNic.com, Dotster

Ahmed Reda | 03:52 PM | TrackBack

Welcome if you're just finding us for the first time.

With just under two weeks to go until the world summit starts, we're working to ensure Daily Summit becomes the first place you go to for WSIS news.

For now, we're keeping an eye on WSIS stories in the media, watching web activity, starting to unravel the summit processes, and providing background to issues relating to the information society, as the summit approaches.

Feel free to get in touch with any tips, gossip or advice - we'd love to hear from you.

Aaron Scullion | 03:21 PM | TrackBack

Private or free? The EU appears to be moving towards much tougher regulation of the internet on the grounds of privacy, following a landmark ruling upholding a Norwegian decision to fine a woman who had set up a website giving information to church parishioners.

According to Out-Law.com, Mrs Lindqvist's mistake was to give out information about her fellow church volunteers (names, telephone numbers etc) without their explicit permission. She also revealed that one lady had injured her foot and was working part-time on medical grounds.

Mrs Lindqvist appealed after being fined over US$500 in a lower court. Eventually her case was heard by the European Court of Justice, which ruled "that the act of referring, on an internet page, to various persons and identifying them by name or by other means, for instance by giving their telephone number or information regarding their working conditions and hobbies, constitutes the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automatic means within the meaning of [the Directive]."

The Register also reports this story and warns that any business with a website should expect a crackdown from the European Data Protection Registrars.

Anders Jacobsen is on the case too, wondering whether this could spell the end of photoblogging in Europe - the new trend of blogging from a mobile phone.

"This effectively, as far as I can see, blocks photoblogging and mobile phone blogging (of photos of people taken in Europe or of any Europeans(?)) without a model release form," he writes. "End of story. Sad but true. It actually also impacts to a great extent about what you can write about non-relatives in your blog."

David Steven | 02:02 PM | TrackBack

Freedom of expression under threat. A list of booby traps lying in wait at WSIS has been issued by the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC). The WPFC articulates a western free-enterprise view on freedom of expression, media diversity and the role of government in ICTs. The WPFC fear is that, in the WSIS/U.N. "one country-one vote" environment,the developed and richer countries will find themselves in a minority.

WPFC suspects include obvious ones like China which recently announced a programme of standards improvements and quality controls - taken by many to mean buttressing the firewall which insulates China's 68 million-strong web community (the world's second largest) from foreign influences; and Saudi Arabia which, according to a Harvard Law School study reported by the BBC, has - for cultural reasons - blocked up to 2,000 sites.

The Council of Europe (which represents 44 European countries) is also targeted for adopting through its decision-making body, the Council of Ministers, a measure to criminalize "hate speech" on the internet- something which the WPFC, like many libertarian groups, sees as potentially violating civil rights on the internet.

Is the web - unlike other media platforms - a place where "anything goes"?

Andrew Taussig | 11:52 AM | TrackBack

Thanks for the links today goes to KnowProse, Random Bytes, Jim Downing and Clandestina R Bemba

Jane Frewer | 11:41 AM | TrackBack

Up-coming events The programme for the Civil Society Side Events, produced by the Swiss Platform of Civil Society in cooperation with various groups in Civil society is available online at www.communicationrights.org . It has been billed as the ultimate guide to the three days of the summit for those who want to grapple with the real issues of the "Information Society", with preview of the events on all the relevant websites. It provides info for those interested in the alternative events of the summit, inclusive of the WE Seize! events outside the official walls of the summit.

Claire Regan | 10:09 AM | TrackBack

In the news, a Chinese human right activist, jailed by the Chinese, but freed after intervention from George Bush, looks like she's now on her way to a jail sentence in the US - for smuggling microprocessors back to China... (link via Instapundit)

David Steven | 09:46 AM | TrackBack

November 26, 2003

WSIS stunts volume 1 - A t-shirt campaign, run by NGO Gender Strategies Working Group, has had government delegates craning their necks to read a message that until now had fallen upon deaf ears.

Ahmed Reda | 11:58 PM | TrackBack

In the news, the Washington Times reports that the "UN could restrict content on the internet", in its take on the ongoing battle between supporters of ICANN and those who want a UN-regulated internet.

In the UN corner are a number of big hitters from the developing world, including Brazil, China and India, complaining about US hegemony, and rising levels of junk mail and fraud.

Standing up for ICANN, those who think UN control could threaten the idea of free speech on the Internet. As Diane Cabell of Harvard's Berkman Centre for Internet and Society puts it: "You might get the lowest common denominator instead of the highest common denominator, and before you know it, you're restricted in terms of what content you can put online".

(Link via Lextext.)

David Steven | 08:06 PM | TrackBack

Schoolkids are set to interact with one of the largest educational events ever attempted on the internet. Schools from up to 40 countries will link up during WSIS - pupils even get to meet a Head of State online. There's a host of exercises designed to demonstrate how ICTs preparing children for a knowledge-based society, but whether schools play an effective role in that - even in the developed world - is questionable.

Aaron Scullion | 06:36 PM | TrackBack

Last minute bid for pre-WSIS solutions. Marc Furrer, the Swiss Government's Information Minister, plans last minute talks, on Dec 5 and 6 - the very eve of WSIS - to find agreement on key contentious issues. The No. 1 issue, for Furrer, is defining "the role of the press in the digital age... it's big.. for countries like Iran, China, Syria and Tunisia".

Believe it or not, Switzerland, home to perhaps the UN's biggest European operations, only joined the U.N. in March 2002: not because anyone had excluded the Swiss but because it took that long before the people in a tightly fought referendum overcame their inborn resistance to international entanglements and the fear that membership would affect their long-prized neutrality.

Hosting WSIS is Switzerland's first task as a member of the U.N. family - which may explain the investment in the so-called parallel events like the World Electronic Media Forum - and Minister Furrer's initiative in setting up those last ditch meetings. "It doesn't have to be high-level people - not ministers", says Furrer, "but I want people who can negotiate because they won't be able to consult with their capitals any more".

WSIS-watchers who have waded through three and a half PREPCOMS may be wondering whether to hold their breath on December 5 and 6.

Andrew Taussig | 04:49 PM | TrackBack

On the web, KnowProSE (blogging on technology, society, free software, open source and Trinidad and Tobago... and more) is exploring online participation in the summit, while Susan Crawford discusses problems at ICANN (more on ICANN here, here and here).

David Steven | 02:34 PM | TrackBack

Thanks for the link... Daily Summit is gathering pace as the Summit approaches and many people are linking to it from around the web - please do link to us and we'll do our best to reciprocate. Here are some of the people we've already noticed linking to us: WSIS, Rebecca's Pocket, Courier International, Online Journalism Review, CPSR and Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme

Also Ponto Media, Jornalismo e Comunicacao, mediaTIC, The House on a Hill, CyberWriter, Dan Walters, World Watch, Younesspace, Pure Land Mountain, Info-Commons, Blethers, Mentor Cana's links of interest, Funferal, Voluntary News, Choike, Taratta, TEK Sapo, Earth Info, British Council, Netlex, Ilyagram, Designing for Civil Society, Me and Ophelia, Jim Moore, Aspirant Artiste, L'oeil de Mouche, What's News?, Blogdex, Pointblog, Community Networking, TF1.fr, TakingITGlobal, Live Journal, Blogger Forum, Inetmedia, OneWorld Net, Blog Network, A blog doesn't need a clever name, See OneWorld.net, and TFHE.net

Jane Frewer | 02:27 PM | TrackBack

Striking images of the impact of the information society are on display at a Geneva exhibition commissioned to coincide with WSIS. Tales From A Globalizing World is a series of moments highlighting the variety of globalization's effects on society.

Aaron Scullion | 01:15 AM | TrackBack

Stay CO2 neutral at WSIS by paying 'a voluntary tribute' to Switzerland's Climate Protection Partnership. They're suggesting that WSIS will generate 10,000 tons of Carbon Dioxide, and want every delegate to take responsibility for their own hot air...

Aaron Scullion | 12:52 AM | TrackBack

There's no escaping WSIS - not if the summit's Community Platform fulfils its aim of helping you "take part in the WSIS from where you stay". It contains a list of the many different events taking place in Geneva, which takes some time to download, and goes some way towards demonstrating the sheer scale of this thing.

Aaron Scullion | 12:20 AM | TrackBack

November 25, 2003

When info fails to stir action. On 19 November, the Israeli army admitted providing misleading information concerning the use of weapons with an "unusually large range of impact" in the assassination of suspected Palestinian fighters on 23 July 2002 and 21 October 2003, thus killing more than 20 civilians.

Admitting "inaccuracy" in information could be seen as an act of democracy, but would it have made a difference if Israel had declared the use of such a weapon from the beginning? Can proper information save us from the consequences of decisions such as these? Information not followed by proper action can obviously be just as harmful as misinformation.

Let's hope WSIS emphasises the role of public opinion, in the hope it leads to a world were no weapons go unrevealed in the name of "security sensitivity".

Katia Nasser | 11:36 PM | TrackBack

Hijab news. Khadija Bin Ghena, established newsreader on Al-Jazeera, read her bulletin on 24 November in the same way she has done for the past five years; except, for the first time, she was wearing Hijab. In both Arab and Western societies few expect a female journalist, to do so, probably due to misconceptions about Muhajjabat (women in headscarfs) - generally perceived as subordinate rather that self-motivated and independent. Ultimately, the issue of Hijab has gone beyond religious and social dimensions, namely in Turkey and Europe, and, as such, it's something that should be discussed at WSIS.

Katia Nasser | 10:29 PM | TrackBack

Growling Around Internet Governance. From behind-the-scenes exchanges (as well as online reports) it's not hard to predict that internet governance will be one of the most aggravated topics at WSIS. Current arrangements based on ICANN (address: 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330, Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6601, U.S.A.) are regarded by many as "a byzantine structure, geared to corporate need".

ICANN defenders say proposals to dismantle or replace it are surrogate attempts by governments or international bodies (such as the ITU, host to the WSIS summit) to gain control over a crucial communications asset. They point to ICANN's own detailed self-reform proposals contained in CEO M.Stuart Flynn's 'Heathrow Declaration'.

But for many the current arrangements are beyond reform. In the words of Hans Klein, Chair of Computer of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, "the question is not what is ICANN going to do, but what is the U.S. Government going to do". Get ready to read the lips of U.S. delegates in Geneva.

Something to watch out for at WSIS - a compromise between the ICANN and Klein positions - is the idea of a public-private partnership, "beyond the shadow of the U.S. Government", based on a multilateral, internationally representative framework and on the consent of the governed.

Andrew Taussig | 08:40 PM | TrackBack

On the web, and from a few months back, Douglas Clement asks whether innovation requires intellectual property rights and, along the way, provides a good primer on the economics behind WSIS's IP debates.

Clement talks to Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine who argue in a much-talked about paper that patents and copyrights create "intellectual monopolies" which, like any other monopoly, leave us all worse off in the long-run.

According to Clement, Boldrin and Levine have made a "formidable assault on the conventional wisdom about innovation and the need to protect intellectual property."

"The reaction for now is surprise and disbelief," Boldrin admits. "We'll see. In these kinds of things, the relevance is always if people find the suggestion interesting enough that it's worth pushing farther the research. All we have made is a simple theoretical point."

David Steven | 08:55 AM | TrackBack

In the news, the India Economic Summit is receiving plenty of coverage. With 1 million people employed, the ICT sector is being touted as a model for other industries. However, there are worries about a backlash from rich countries losing jobs (some US comment here).

Meanwhile, Disney and Rupert Murdoch's Star India have plans for the sub-continent, with Star's CEO claiming that India "could become an important destination for production of entertainment software." Bollywood film makers agree, with one predicting that 70 percent of global revenue in the entertainment business will come from Asia over the next 10 years.

No summit is complete without demonstrations. In New Delhi, Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat, is being compared to Hitler.

David Steven | 08:10 AM | TrackBack

Hello World Summit! This project is a rather artistic way for people to get involved with WSIS - text messages submitted will be projected almost instantly onto locations in Bombay, Geneva - where the pictures will be presented on the famous Jet d'eau - Rio and New York - while video of the projections will be broadcast to summit delegates. The artists say it's "an invitation to take control of public space".

Of course, not everybody is waiting for an invitation.

Aaron Scullion | 01:56 AM | TrackBack

What's your Digital IQ? Speaking of the internet community (see below), this technology test is currently whizzing around the world's weblogs (discussions here and from here). Don't feel bad if you don't do well - I doubt many of the delegates to WSIS would. Here's an interesting trick - answer each question while asking yourself - 'if everybody knew about the stuff in this test, would it make the world a better place'?

Aaron Scullion | 01:15 AM | TrackBack

Who controls the net? The Register, beloved site of techie-types, has a great article covering the arguments over internet governance, closely analysing the "battle lines that are there for all to see" in the summit's key texts, while providing a detailed history of ICANN, the often criticised and much discussed US-based organisation currently in charge of running the Internet's infrastructure. But the author's assertion that WSIS is the "make or break moment" in the long-running "tussle between ICANN and ITU" doesn't do much to encompass the summit's many aims.

Is the internet community so focused on the mechanics of online operation that they're failing to make the important distinction between 'Internet' and 'Information Society'?

Aaron Scullion | 12:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 24, 2003

On the web, Caspar Henderson, writing on OpenDemocracy's Globolog, casts an eye over the United Nations ("a starved wee critter", whose "legitimacy and competence are as questionable as its finances").

WSIS comes in for a pasting from civil society - "a step back not a step forward." And there's this great quote from William Drake (who works here): "Basically, you have a bunch of dictatorships sitting around discussing which language on freedom of expression they can agree with."

David Steven | 06:20 PM | TrackBack

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