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In the words of one infamous US President, Australia - "you are either with us or against us". Australia's proposed mandatory filtering laws runs contrary to stated US foreign policy championing an open internet. Read US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton's remarks on internet freedom.

"Let us all renounce the harsh rhetoric about the POTUS [president of the U.S.]. Several, including myself, hv used inappropriate language. Let's remain civil! #tcot." See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/dCqW2m

Interesting data on how and why British politicians are slow in the use of social media for political campaigning. They still trust other more traditional channels. Interesting data: Europeans are lagging behind American policy makers in their use of Twitter and other means of digital communication. Might the higher age average of European citizens have something to do with it?

Are we using facebook or is facebook using us?

The Computer and Communications Industry Association disclosed a report revealing the value of industries dependent on copyright limitations. The report claims that it accounts for US$4.7 trillion and 23% of the US' real economic growth from 2002-2007.

Increasing "probes" on US military networks has led to the appointment of a senior general to Cyber Command operations and approximately 30,000 troops have been re-assigned from IT support to "the frontlines of cyberwarfare". The US is increasingly anxious about the vulnerability of its networks to attack. Chinese, Russian and Korean hackers have been targeted as alleged attackers so far. There is concern that cyberwarfare techniques being used by the US are outpacing the ability to develop policy surrounding their use.

Howard Schdmit, The Whitehouse's Cybersecurity coordinator has revealed the US Government's plans for tackling attacks on it's networks. He has promised transparency. The official announcement (this bookmark) is very vague in it's initiatives. It will be interesting to see whether their can really separate US government networks from other parts of the Internet.  Cyber attacks are definitely increasing and play a major part in conflicts between countries. China amongst others is said to have attacked & attempted to hack and launch DoS attacks on US government networks and Russia shut down the Georgian communications infrastructure during the last week between the two countries et. )

A really interesting conversation thread on Slashdot about the US Government's concern over Australian ISP filter proposals, and Conroy's denial that his office has been contacted. Posters discuss net neutrality, US and Chinese interests, ACTA, practical realities of filter implementation etc.

danah boyd recommends Eszter Hargittai's paper "Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the 'Net Generation'". This collection looks particularly interesting for discussions about the Digital Divide and Gender &Technology.

danah boyd recommends Eszter Hargittai's paper "Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the 'Net Generation'". This collection looks particularly interesting for discussions about the Digital Divide and Gender &Technology.

Aust slammed by Google and US State Dept - they're the only ones allowed to filter (for agreed public good while maintaining fiction of unconstrained freedom).

Follow up article to Ambassador Bleich's appearance on Q&A last night, where he said the "internet has to be free" and that there were other means of combating nasty content such as child pornography. "We have been able to accomplish the goals that Australia has described, which is to capture and prosecute child pornographers ... without having to use internet filters" Surely a strong American stance against the MISP means no MISP?

The US government is being encouraged by various committees and "experts" to increase regulation of the Internet. The Internet is compared industry to the car industry before regulation was introduced to make cars safer. Apparently the "Internet Wild West" is over!

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?

The campaign strategy of the newly elected US Senator Scott Brown heavily used the web. Article about how he did this. 

-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.

This is the Iranian government's answer to US anti-internet censorship groups who aim to undermine the regime's strict filtering rules through funding from the CIA. It brings up questions of international involvement in extreme national governance of the internet.

Engaging in social media backfires for Nestle. Due to the Greenpeace protest against the company with regards to how the company uses palm oil in its products, a number of people posted their distaste on Nestle's Facebook page. Unfortunately for the company, the representative in charge of replying to comments was far from being amiable, or even courteous. Sample exchange of comments: Nestle: "You have freedom of speech and expression. Here, there are some rules we set. As in almost any other forum. It's to keep things clear." Paul Griffin: "Your page, your rules, true, and you just lost a customer, won the battle and lost the war! Happy?" Nestle: "Oh please...it's like we're censoring everything to allow positive comments." Social media has significant benefits for companies and how they market the products to consumers. However, if used wrongly, as with this case, massive PR clean-up is inevitable.

Interesting use of social media by the Democratic Party as an opposition force in Texas. Notice how the webpages layout is not that different to the ones used by the Republican Party and their media allies, FOX NEWS. Does the web incite dialogue in political campaigning, does it represent a true paradigm shift, or are old propaganda and petition models just replicated? 

The US Federal Communications Commission has been dealt a major blow in asserting its right to regulate net neutrality with a district court ruling the FCC had "failed to demonstrate" its authority to interfer with activity undertaken by internet service provider Commcast. Comcast had been moving to restrict the internet access of customers using peer-to-peer sharing software, which uses large amounts of bandwidth and is a common mode of illegal video and music piracy.