In The News

China Says Sect Broadcasting From Taiwan

Joseph Kahn September 25, 2002
The group Beijing views as the greatest threat to Chinese communism has developed new methods to spread its message throughout the country. The Falun Gong spiritual sect has cracked the code to China’s satellite system, allowing it to hijack television signals received by tens of millions of Chinese citizens and spread its teachings. In a new development, the Chinese government now believes...

A Place to Find Out for Yourself About War

Eric Umansky September 22, 2002
Freedom of information, the internet, international law, and free markets all converge on the issue of satellite imagery and its use – especially when the images are of military bases. Commercial satellite firms can now produce images that pinpoint a car on the ground – photo quality that only governments used to possess. And these firms are not only in the U.S., but are also cropping up in...

Pakistanis Arrested with 550 Pirated Video Discs

August 29, 2002
Pakistani smugglers were caught with 550 pirated video discs in Malaysia. The video discs – copies of films from Bollywood, India’s answer to Hollywood – were capable of producing 100,000 copies in turn. As video piracy spreads, this recent capture is an example of the global crime network. – YaleGlobal

Bid to Break Deadlock Over GM Food

John Mason August 28, 2002
The World Bank will launch an international biotechnology initiative aimed at opening up policy possibilities for the use of genetically modified (GM) foods. The global initiative sits against the backdrop of environmental, social, and economic concerns regarding the role of GMs. Economically, the biotechnology proposition has found European consumer opposition, creating rifts in trade with the U...

Prolonged Economic Slowdown Prompts IT firms to Change Track

Jennifer Lien August 26, 2002
For the first time, Hewlett-Packard has used a company other than Intel to supply them with microprocessors for one of their business PC’s. In these times of “economic belt-tightening,” IT companies have begun to branch out in an effort to corner other markets. Dell recently released a “white-box” no-name PC onto the market to be sold through small retailers at especially low prices....

Brussels Refuses to Back GM Food For Africa

James Lamont August 22, 2002
As globalization extends its reach, the use of technology becomes an issue that affects both advanced and developing nations. The United States has been supplying southern African countries with genetically modified (GM) crops as famine relief. But some NGO’s believe that the US is trying to use southern Africa’s poverty to push for global acceptance of genetically modified food. Although the WHO...

…And Click Here for China

Erik Eckholm August 4, 2002
Though the Chinese government is notorious for keeping tabs on the information its citizens can access, it is having a harder time now that the Internet’s popularity has surged in recent years. Surfing the web is cheap and fast at any of 200,000 cyber cafes around the country. Though many anticipated that the Internet would be primarily a forum for dissidents and a force for political change,...