In The News

WikiLeaks and the Long Haul

Clay Shirky December 14, 2010
WikiLeaks continues to surprise US allies and opponents alike on how foreign officials aided and informed US embassy staff. Of course, informants expected confidentiality, and the US government was unprepared for sudden exposure. “For negotiation to work, people’s stated positions have to change, but change is seen, almost universally, as weakness,” explains Professor Clay Shirky in an essay,...

WikiLeaks Battle: A New Amateur Face of Cyber War?

Peter Apps December 9, 2010
Angry amateurs have emerged to disrupt websites of companies that decline to do business with WikiLeaks as it continues gradual release of more than 250,000 US State Department documents. Targets include credit-card companies that decline to accept donated funds to WikiLeaks and technology companies that have dropped their server support. Governments have long anticipated battle with terrorists...

The WikiLeaks Ravage – Part II

Johan Lagerkvist December 8, 2010
WikiLeaks taunt the US government with a daily release of classified diplomatic cables. The US has reacted with fury – far more intense than during previous releases of military documents – and with unprecedented censorship that heightens curiosity and counters democratic values. US leaders simultaneously apologize to foreign counterparts whose confidentiality was compromised and pressure them...

The WikiLeaks Ravage – Part I

Shyam Saran December 6, 2010
WikiLeaks has set out to display 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables, dated 1966 to 2010, exposing blunt US assessments, tactics and conjecture. For the well read, the cables reveal much hypocrisy, but few surprises. This two-part YaleGlobal series explores the consequences of the unprecedented leak from the points of view of diplomacy and internet freedom. The latest release about vital US...

Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality

Tim Berners-Lee November 26, 2010
In just 20 years, the world has come to take the instant connections of the worldwide web for granted. The web’s creator – Tim Berners-Lee – lists emerging threats to the vast store of linked data in an essay for Scientific American, including fragmentation, exclusivity by social networking sites like Facebook, slowing traffic to non-customers and monitoring individual online habits. The essay is...

Diasporas Shape Politics Back Home from Afar

Terrence Lyons, Peter Mandaville November 19, 2010
Modern forms of communication, cell phones and internet, allow citizens anywhere to stay on top of politics in their native lands. Diasporas promote wars or peace, send remittances to families and political groups, lobby for good relations with other nations and organize protests to focus attention on problems. Members of any diaspora specialize in, depending on skills, resources and laws in the...

All Eyes on France as Officials Enforce New Antipiracy Law

Max Colchester October 29, 2010
The French are cracking down on illegal online sharing of protected materials. Authorities monitor downloads, and send warning letters to internet users who download a copyrighted text, song or film. Third-time offenders can lose internet privileges for one year, reports Max Colchester for the New York Times. A private firm, paid for by trade associations representing creative interests, monitors...