Berkman Buzz: August 12, 2011
A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations
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What's being discussed...take your pick or browse below.
* Dan Gillmor cautions against social media surveillance
* The OpenNet Initiative tracks Anonymous's summer of attacks against Internet censors
* The Citizen Media Law Project talks online defamation, injunctive relief, and the future of prior restraint
* The Harvard Library Innovation Lab interviews Tim O'Reilly
* FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn blogs about her meeting with the Berkman Center
* Weekly Global Voices: "Africa to Send Troops and Care Packages to the UK"
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The full buzz.
"Law enforcers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere are coming to grips with a hard reality: modern communications technologies give activists of all kinds an easier way to organise and deploy. But even as governments move to crack down, as Jeff Jarvis notes, activists are also learning a lesson – not just those whom we may support, such as the Egyptian revolutionaries, but also those whose deeds leave us cold or angry, such as many of the rioters and looters who've trashed so many parts of London and other British communities in recent days. In all cases, they are realising they cannot begin to trust the technology companies whose communications tools they used."
From Dan Gillmor's article for the Guardian, "Social networking surveillance: trust no one"
"Early this week, the online hacking community Anonymous launched a cyber attack on the Syrian Ministry of Defense website. This attack is one of the latest in a series of attacks by Anonymous/LulzSec against governments and companies perceived to be engaging in some form of Internet control and, more recently, human rights abuses."
From Jane Abell's blog post for the OpenNet Initiative, "Anonymous' attack on Syrian Defense Ministry website: A window into the group's changing agenda?"
"Online publishing changes things: suddenly, it's more practical to expect a defendant to take down a blog post, in a way that seems intuitively different from what we could ask of print publishers. But I'm not so convinced that the issues are really all that different -- print and online publishing have more in common than you might initially think."
From John Sharkey's blog post for the Citizen Media Law Project, "Online Defamation, Injunctive Relief, and the Future of Prior Restraint"
"In the digital age shelves weighted down with books like these are becoming less and less common. Creators are turning more to online resources and tutorials to help them with specific issues. But, as you might expect from a forward thinking technology company, O’Reilly has been there to meet their readers."
From the Harvard Library Innovation Lab Podcast 005: Stock in Paper
"A quick trip, last week, to Massachusetts gave me another opportunity to learn about activities outside of the Beltway that promote three important initiatives: greater diversity in traditional and new media outlets, open Internet, and wider broadband adoption."
From FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn's blog post, "Media Diversity, Open Internet, and Adoption Efforts in Massachusetts"
"Following the killing of a 29-year old man, Mark Duggan, in Tottenham on August 4, 2011, angry residents in London and other cities in the UK took to the street rioting and looting. Bloggers in Africa share their perspectives, some with a sense of humor."
From Ndesanjo Macha's post for Global Voices, "Africa to Send Troops and Care Packages to the UK"
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Compiled by Rebekah Heacock.
The Berkman Buzz is selected weekly from the posts of Berkman Center people and projects and sometimes from the Center's wider network.
Suggestions and feedback about the Buzz are always welcome and can be emailed to buzz@cyber.harvard.edu.