In The News

BlackBerry Challenges May Spread as Governments, RIM Collide

Anthony DiPaola, Hugo Miller August 12, 2010
Business people on the go, in need of instant contact and information, appreciate mobile devices and can’t imagine doing without smartphones like the BlackBerry. A major feature of the BlackBerry includes high-level security around communications, with encrypted messages and delivery through protected equipment in Canada and maker Research in Motion. “However, the system also makes it harder for...

Sites Feed Personal Details to New Tracking Industry

Julia Angwin, Tom McGinty August 10, 2010
Internet users are under constant surveillance, warns the Wall Street Journal after an investigation of 50 popular websites accounting for nearly half of US page views. Wikipedia.org was the only site without tracking devices, while other sites together included more than 3000 sensitive devices to track user interests behind every click. Analysts build profiles as trackers collect keystrokes and...

Videos Rouse Russian Anger Toward Police

Clifford J. Levy August 4, 2010
Corruption is common, inescapable and an unpleasant fact of life in many countries. In 2009, a Novorossiysk police officer posted a video on YouTube challenging Vladimir Putin to take action and questioning where Russian society is headed. “International research organizations rank Russia as having the world’s most corrupt large economy, in part because of bribery linked to law enforcement...

YouTube Banned by Russian Court

Tom Parfitt August 3, 2010
Hundreds of thousands of official and amateur videos from around the globe from cooking to music, fitness, pets, business, and politics are uploaded to YouTube daily. Users, like Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, even create their own YouTube channels. Purportedly targeting a single nationalist video, a Russian regional court took the extreme step of blocking the popular website among local...

Iranian Exiles Struggle to Stay Involved

Neil MacFarquhar July 30, 2010
The reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 sparked some of the worst social unrest in Iran since the1979 Islamic Revolution. Using popular networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, protesters mobilized quickly on streets and university campuses. Swift government repression ensued causing some protesters to seek refuge abroad. Away from home, using internet...

The Whistleblowers: Is WikiLeaks a Blessing or Curse for Democracy?

John Goetz, Marcel Rosenbach July 29, 2010
Wikileaks posted more than 91,000 internal US military documents online – unleashing debate about an unpopular war, secrecy and media, technology, whistle-blowing, and whether the release is courageous exposure or a dire security threat. WikiLeaks.org publishes leaked documents deemed secret by companies and governments. Documents titled the Afghan War Diary are archived into 100 categories as...

US Blocks China Fibre Optics Deal Over Security

Stephanie Kirchgaessner July 2, 2010
Fiber optics and other technologies add to globalization’s speed. But national-security concerns lead the US to apply the brakes. Plans for a joint venture between a New Mexico manufacturer of fiber-optic and solar-panel components and a Chinese investment firm were dropped after the government announced some "regulatory concerns." The US Committee on Foreign Investment – chaired by the...