Promoting global Internet freedom: policy and technology

This report provides information about US government and private sector efforts to promote and support global Internet freedom and a description of Internet freedom legislation and hearings from the 112th Congress. Modern communication tools such as the Internet provide a relatively inexpensive, accessible, easy-entry means of sharing ideas, information, and pictures around the world. In a political and human rights context, in closed societies when the more established, formal news media is denied access to or does not report on specified news events, the Internet has become an alternative source of media, and sometimes a means to organize politically. The openness and the freedom of expression allowed through social networking sites, as well as the blogs, video sharing sites, and other tools of today’s communications technology, have proven to be an unprecedented and often disruptive force in some closed societies. Governments that seek to maintain their authority and control the ideas and information their citizens receive are often caught in a dilemma: they feel that they need access to the Internet to participate in commerce in the global market and for economic growth and technological development, but fear that allowing open access to the Internet potentially weakens their control over their citizens. Internet freedom can be promoted in two ways, through legislation that mandates or prohibits certain activities, or through industry self regulation. Current legislation under consideration by Congress, the Global Online Freedom Act of 2011 (H.R. 3605), would prohibit or require reporting of the sale of Internet technologies and provision of Internet services to “Internetrestricting countries” (as determined by the State Department). Some believe, however, that technology can offer a complementary and, in some cases, better and more easily implemented solution to ensuring Internet freedom. They argue that hardware and Internet services, in and of themselves, are neutral elements of the Internet; it is how they are implemented by various countries that is repressive. Also, Internet services are often tailored for deployment to specific countries; however, such tailoring is done to bring the company in line with the laws of that country, not with the intention of allowing the country to repress and censor its citizenry. In many cases, that tailoring would not raise many questions about free speech and political repression. This report provides information about federal and private sector efforts to promote and support global Internet freedom and a description of Internet freedom legislation and hearings from the 112th Congress. Three appendixes suggest further reading on this topic and describe censorship and circumvention technologies

Unshackle the Internet: Independent Voices and the Role of Foreign Internet Companies Operating in China

Advances in information technology have the potential to empower individuals globally and to serve as a force for democratization. The number of Internet users in mainland China continues to increase at a phenomenal rate. From 1998 to 2005, China's online population grew from 1.17 million to 103 million, with the most recent official count in January 2006 at approximately 110 million.In China, the Internet has become an increasingly important tool for empowering Chinese activists, journalists, rights defenders, intellectuals and grassroots groups by providing increased access to information as well as a virtual commons for the exchange of ideas between groups and individuals.However, technology and control of the Internet have also been utilized by the Chinese government to implement censorship, surveillance and social and political control.In the last several months, as foreign IT companies have come under media and U.S. government scrutiny, HRIC has been actively monitoring the human rights impact of their activities and developing suggestions for implementing the human rights responsibilities of foreign-based IT companies operating in China

Managing intellectual capital : individual rights and the public interest

Managing intellectual capital and intellectual property is a challenging task, especially for knowledge-based organisations vested with a public interest. Scientific ethics and freedom of information may clash with copyright law or with other intellectual property enactments, thereby engendering conflicts of interest. International law and treaties make for a complex regulatory framework. World-wide advocacy of the open access principle has led to some statutory changes, but its proponents mostly assume that copyright owners will act voluntarily. The implications for knowledge management are elucidated

Communication Policy: the Efforts to Strengthen Civil Society

In the last decades there were a tendency to make public institution more open and greater public participation in decision making. It is believed that transparency is the only way to strengthen public institutions which it is highly possible because of the progress in Information and Communication Technology. Nowadays Indonesia is entering the Era of Opennes. The idea of civil society and establisihng social welfare which is the first priority require partnership between the government and public. The whole stakeholder should cooperate to improve accessibility on ICT and should develope information and communication infra structure, and should improve application of ICT in every aspect of public services