In The News

Iraq Video Brings Notice to a Web Site

Noam Cohen, Brian Stelter April 8, 2010
The recent release of a video showing the killing of two Reuters' employees in Iraq by the web site Wikileaks shows how power is shifting to new sources in the age of global interconnectedness. Reuters had tried for several years to obtain the video from the Pentagon through Freedom of Information request without success. Wikileaks, which is a voluntary organization with a political agenda...

China: Defending its Core Interest in the World – Part II

Guobin Yang April 7, 2010
Media reports on Google’s redirecting internet searches by Chinese authorities to its uncensored site in Hong Kong have largely presented it as a conflict between two global titans. But the narrow focus of such reporting overlooks that Google’s pull-out was limited, leaving many services in place, and that Chinese authorities have not acted to shut down the company’s Hong Kong detour, notes...

Google Has Censorship Balancing Act Outside China

Michael Liedtke April 6, 2010
Google has expanded rapidly in recent years to take advantage of profits available in other countries around the world. As it does so, it is encountering resistance from governments that ask it to restrict access to certain content. China, from which Google recently withdrew its main search operation, is but the most notable example. Germany asks Google to restrict access to Nazi propaganda, for...

Freedom Is Not Found Online

Aditya Chakrabortty April 1, 2010
The growth of the internet has long been perceived as a key to globalizing the notion of a free society as championed by the West. But world leaders like Bill Clinton and dot-com boomers alike now sound naïve to have thought the web's spread could seamlessly produce a "borderless" world of free expression. These "cyber-utopians" failed to realize that the Internet, like...

Information For Change

Nayan Chanda March 30, 2010
The speed of the Internet continues to increase dramatically, shrinking the world and creating new opportunities by delivering vast amounts of content to mobile devices. But the increasing speeds could create expectations and social pressures that governments are not prepared to meet. Countries need to have educated populations and good technological infrastructure to take advantage of the...

Iran’s Opposition Seeks More Help in Cyberwar With Government

Nazila Fathi March 23, 2010
The ongoing battle in Iran following last year's disputed election is increasingly moving online and that means more countries are involved, whether they want to be or not. Iranian opposition activists are applauding a recent decision by the US to lift sanctions on various online services, which will allow them to combat the government's suppression of Internet activity. The Iranian...

In Digital Combat, U.S. Finds No Easy Deterrent

John Markoff, David E. Sanger, and Thom Shanker January 27, 2010
When considering the prospect of a cyberterrorism, defense officials are forced to acknowledge that the enemy holds the cards of “stealth, anonymity and unpredictability.” Even if the general location of an attack’s origin can be determined, it is practically impossible to discover whether it was commercially, politically, or individually motivated. As such, it is difficult to say when a military...