In The News

Brazil: Free Software's Biggest and Best Friend

Todd Benson March 29, 2005
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has surprised many of his conservative critics by adopting some of the free-market policies that he once opposed. But foreign business leaders – especially those at Microsoft – have been less pleased with da Silva's support for free software. Under the President's orders, all government agencies must gradually shift from Microsoft's...

Iranian Cleric Blogs for Free Expression

Reuters February 16, 2005
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, like so many politically conscious world citizens today, writes an internet web log, or "blog." Abtahi's story seems ordinary – except that he is an Iranian presidential adviser and a Muslim cleric. This revolutionary action, undertaken by a very senior member of the Iranian government, is aimed at promoting an open discourse for expression, political or...

Chinese Cell Phone Breaches North Korean Hermit Kingdom

Rebecca MacKinnon January 17, 2005
International interest in Northeast Asian affairs has focused primarily on the stalemate between Pyongyang and Washington. Across North Korea's northern and southern borders, however, business and technology - particularly in the telecommunications industry - are booming. With Chinese telecom companies setting up relay stations near the border, an increasing number of North Koreans may now...

Arab Internet Users Are Caught in a Terrible Web

William Fisher December 7, 2004
In many Arab countries, internet users today are facing tight restrictions on free speech. A human rights group recently charged that certain Arab governments, such as Iran, Syria, and Tunisia, employ not just traditional methods of limiting freedom of expression - censorship and confiscation - but also technologies such as electronic filtering programs to control access to what they consider...

Asian Nations Seek Private Funds for "Virtual Institute"

Mary Charlotte Fresco December 6, 2004
Science and technology ministers from ASEAN member nations have decided to seek private funding for the Virtual Institute of Science. Originally funded by the ASEAN Foundation and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the program has struggled to maintain momentum since its launch in May 2004. The Institute could potentially become an important method of pooling...

The Fear That Chokes the Arab World

Youssef M. Ibrahim October 30, 2004
Since 9/11, Arab media outlets, such as Al-Jazeera, have appeared on the international news radar. However, the current Middle Eastern writers and pundits are not effectively performing their jobs, writes Youssef M. Ibrahim in this International Herald Tribune opinion. While quick to jump on inconsistencies and biases in the American media, they fail to scrutinize their own shortcomings....

Bloggers Cut Through Fog of War

Mark Glaser October 29, 2004
For up-to-the-minute, in-depth news coverage, people are increasingly turning to personal weblogs, or blogs. As Mark Glaser reports, the phenomenon of blogging has fundamentally altered the scope of communications, providing a global megaphone for otherwise marginalized voices. Maintaining live journals, US soldiers and civilians in Iraq circumvented traditional media outlets and exposed...