In The News

Cyber Attackers Target South Korea and US

Matthew Weaver July 9, 2009
North Koreans are thought to be behind a cyber attack aimed at South Korean and US government and business websites. The attack – known as denial of service in which malicious software instructs thousands of personal computers to visit particular websites simultaneously – is not uncommon, though a South Korean professor doubts North Korea had the capability to knock down a website. Whatever the...

Tear Down This Cyberwall!

Nicholas D. Kristof June 23, 2009
As the election-related violence in Iran continues, help for some opponents of the current regime has come from an unlikely source: China, or more accurately Chinese living abroad. “Censorship-evading” software that helped the Falun Gong movement to spread its message is being used by close to 400,000 Iranians wishing to inform the rest of the world about the crisis currently gripping their...

Iran Cracks Down on Internet Use, Foreign Media

Christopher Rhoads, Geoffrey A. Fowler, Chip Cummins June 17, 2009
The disputed Iranian election has revealed Iran’s unique approach to internet censorship: controlling bandwidth and centralized blocking of sites. Compared with other countries that have used blanket censoring, either by shutting down access to the Internet or by disallowing certain websites, Iran’s approach is technically more complex and nuanced. Controlling bandwidth allows the internet to run...

China Squeezes PC Makers

Loretta Chao June 8, 2009
China will require all new personal computers to have software that blocks internet content by July 1. While the software need not be pre-installed – a separate disc is acceptable – this regulation creates substantial logistical and civil liberty hurdles. This exclusive Wall Street Journal story reports that personal computer manufacturers are scrambling to comply on such short notice as well as...

These Days, No Reporting Behind a Nation’s Back

Anand Giridharadas March 18, 2009
People with problems are sometimes more willing to confide in strangers than close friends or neighbors. But foreign news reports are no longer shielded by distance, explains Anand Giridharadas in the New York Times. “In the Internet age, we cover each place for the benefit of all places, and the reported-on are among the most avid consumers of what we report,” he explains. The globally astute...

Firewalls to Freedom

Rebecca MacKinnon March 9, 2009
To block popular dissent over policies, governments no longer simply rely on censorship, particularly the imperfect filters devised for the internet. Instead governments of all stripes master the art of spin – emphasizing certain topics and casting their own frame for any issue. Citizens who support government positions can tout policies and quickly blast doubters, as evident prior to the 2003 US...

Hollywood Meets Bollywood as India's Movies Go Global

Nandini Lakshman February 24, 2009
The success of the film Slumdog Millionaire – a work of globalization in itself with the work of a British director, Indian actors and setting, and a US distributor – could mean more cooperative ventures between Bollywood and Hollywood. Films produced in each location have distinct flavors, and yet producers sense the opportunity for expanding audience numbers, by setting up offices and hiring...