The Citizen Lab

India plans its own net snoop system
Posted Nov 28, 2009 in LawandPolicy by sgolshan. 
On the anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, the Indian government has announced its own version of the UK's Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) - a massive expansion of communications surveillance for the internet age.
From The Register

China Human rights webmaster sentenced to three years
Posted Nov 27, 2009 in BloggerArrests by sgolshan. 
Huang Qi, founder of Tianwang Center for Missing Persons (later renamed as Tianwang Human Rights Center), was sentenced to three year imprisonment on November 23 in Chengdu Wuhou district court for “illegal possession of state secrets” in connection with material published on his website. From Global Voices

Torture of opposition critics and journalists continues; free speech monitored online
Posted Nov 27, 2009 in LawandPolicy by sgolshan. 
UN human rights committee accused the Iranian government on 20 November of ramping up its use of torture, flogging and amputation of dissidents, reports Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The government has also launched a new Web Crime Unit, policing one of the last spaces for free expression in Iran as it attempts to tighten its control over information, ideas and opinions, reports ARTICLE 19.
From IFEX

Do We Need a Global CERT?
Posted Nov 26, 2009 in InternetSecurity by sgolshan. 
The idea of a global CERT has been proposed multiple times in the course of several years. And while it has not always been proposed in the same form, the concept is the same nonetheless. The idea is very simple—we need a global CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) to coordinate all other CERTs in the world. From Cisco

Google, Yahoo zero in on Internet 'freedom' bill
Posted Nov 25, 2009 in LawandPolicy by sgolshan. 
Google Inc. and other Internet companies have zeroed in on a resilient effort by a Republican lawmaker to pass legislation that could restrict their ability to take a nuanced approach to operating in "repressive" foreign countries, according to third-quarter lobbying reports.
From Philly.com

Cyberspace the liberator is now a tyrant’s tool
Posted Nov 25, 2009 in MediaCoverage by sgolshan. 
Cyberspace was born free, but everywhere it is in chains. Once a promised land inhabited by visionaries, libertarians and freedom fighters, it has become a war zone. “The Harry Potter age of the internet,” says Professor Ron Deibert, “is over.” From The Sunday Times

Chinese dissidents barred from meeting with President Obama; calls for Aung San Suu Kyi's release
Posted Nov 21, 2009 in Censorship by sgolshan. 
During U.S. President Barack Obama's first visit to Asia as president this month, Human Rights Watch urged him to call on the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to resolve issues of impunity and major restraints on freedom of expression throughout the region. As well, IFEX members called on the President to press for the release of imprisoned Chinese journalists and writers on his first official visit to the People's Republic of China. From IFEX

Online censorship and arrests of Internet users
Posted Nov 21, 2009 in Censorship by sgolshan. 
The legal tools that the authorities abuse to restrict free expression in Thailand are the 2007 Computer Crime Act and the lese majeste law (section 112 of the criminal code), which mainly targets Internet users. Harassment and intimidation are constantly employed to dissuade Internet users from freely expressing their views. From Reporters Without Borders

Iran moves to silence opposition with internet crime unit
Posted Nov 20, 2009 in Censorship by sgolshan. 
Iran has moved to block the last remaining outlet of expression for the country's political opposition with the launch of a special force to police the internet. From The Guardian

Faculty generate 10 of top 25 world-changing ideas
Posted Nov 20, 2009 in Citizen Lab News by sgolshan. 
Professor Ron Deibert, director of Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, and his team grabbed the top spot on the list for Psiphon, a tool that allows broad Internet access to citizens of countries where use is censored by the government without the fear of their being detected, since the tool uses safe serves outside their home countries. Toronto Life hails them for making "Internet use is a human right." From University of Toronto