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More evidence presented by Morozov on how the new media can serve the purposes of radical organizations. He is been arguing for a while that new media and new technologies (in this case the wikis) are not necessarily pro-western democratic tools.

Traditional media get bits of breaking news wrong all the time, but we accept that as part of the game. To vilify Wikipedia for the same errors sets unequal standards and besides, you'll likely never see the same level of transparency in traditional media about where it went wrong.

Apple announced that it will be now possible to run different apps on the iPhone at the same time and keep them constantly running in the background. This means for application providers that they coud now constantly get information on the whereabouts of their users instead of the sporadic data they got so far. Exciting new opportunities for Apple's new "iAd" that offers targeted advertising. At the same time there are privacy concerns on several fronts.

A survey which was released as part of the Pacific-wide Privacy Week (last week) shows that people in New Zealand are very concerned about their Internet privacy.It is of main concern how social networks use personal information and how search engines and websites are tracking online behaviour for targeted advertising.

Alternative online outlet New Matilda will shut down operations due to poor revenue from advertising "in the current media environment". Sad. 

blog entry: in the internet culture as such, peopel tend to believe that we should enjoy the buffets service that the internet now provide. Is it possible for online news contnent to be charged? What about those new aggregator websites?

OIX is a new organization that will try to provide identity credentials that can be accepted by both the private and public sectors. But, like some of this initiatives, government-wise it will only work, initially, in the U.S. Questions on privacy can also be raised? Wouldn't OIX allow for easier access to the whereabouts of an individual's online persona? 

-US to aim for internet speeds of 100Mbps -Same as the Rudd Government's network -Congress will be asked to provide billions THE US is set to follow Australia in a bid to introduce superfast broadband to millions of homes within the next ten years. A new internet policy to be unveiled this week includes the goal of boosting domestic broadband speeds to 100Mbps - more than 25 times the current average.

Much has been said and written about Obama's online success during the 2008 US presidential election. But what are the numbers? This is an interesting report that sets the stage for the 2012 elections, which are not that far away. Interesting findings not only concerning the candidates, but also in the role played by the Internet in the voting experience itself. 

New Zealand is getting ready for a potential patent reform? Predominantly this bill includes an exclusion of patents on software which is a big development in a digital commercial industry which is rife with conflict over intellectual property. Personally, I feel it is a step in the right direction? But I guess that is the point of view of an end user.

Digital Due Process is the name of a new coalition composed among other companies by Google, Microsoft and AT&T advocationg for a new legislation to strenght online privacy laws to prevent government access to private digital information in the US

The Iranian government has allegedly blocked a popular French broadcaster website because of its reliance on social networking sites and other amateur techniques of online journalism.

Nick Xenophone wants a new law introduced that  could see people being jailed for up to 5 years if they lie about their age to children.  The idea has come about after the murder of Carly Ryan in 2007. 

Internet Policy Task Force is the name of the new initiative the U.S. Commerce Department founded. During the next months it will take a closer look at current policy frameworks and explore ways to address challenges of the new internet economy and society. It will finally advise the White House on how to improve privacy for individuals online. The article mentions current discussions about privacy issues Google and facebook have to face. But obviously these did not directly lead to the kick off of the initiative.

Article discusses a new "panic button" which can be used to report on safety issues or sexual behaviour onlne. A click takes users to a website where they get advice or get directly in contact with the police. The British Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP) has invented this button and wants facebook to integrate it. Facebook wants to refer users to its own Safety Center.

In an attempt by the government to modernise the 25-year-old Sex Descrimination Act, new laws have been made to protect teenagers from cyber-bullying acts such as sexting and online harrassment. It also protects breastfeeding women and gives men the same protection as women in the workplace when it comes to family responsibilities.

Israeli soldier posts the details of an operation on Facebook, and the operation is called off. Ironic: the Internet, originally a military tool, causes trouble in the military. Like with potential victims for kidnapping in Mexico posting personal details online: should basic media literacy education be provided for the use of social media among groups with potential risks?

Interesting interactive chart showing the number of Internet users in different countries from 1998 until 2008. Notice the discrepancies between developed and underdeveloped countries. Still skeptical of the digital divide?

Useful graphic created by the BBC which shows the spread of the internet from 1998-2008 across the world. Interesting to note the speed with which China and parts of South American grew. From 2001-2008 they moved from 0-5% usage - 26-30% usage.

Opponents of expanding gTLDs have largely based their arguments on the additional cost to business in performing defensive registration on their brands. What is defensive registration? Basically it's an action taken to protect a trademark (in the case of domain names, to protect a word or phrase which identifies the goods or services of a party). This study investigates how valid the defense registration argument, backed by organsiations such as Microsoft, actually is. It assesses the amount of defensive registration already undertaken in varying gTLDs for the top Fortune 100 companies. The conclusion: 'If past behavior is predictive of future actions, we will see a minimal amount of defensive registration activity in new gTLDs by brand owners, and new gTLDs will be largely ignored by cybersquatters.'

BROADCASTERS will be able to air extra advertising on their digital free-to-air channels and erase breaches of the rules governing free-to-air TV if they swiftly correct errors, under significant concessions given by the communications watchdog.