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A Last Word on Internet "Blocking" in Belarus

BY Antonella Napolitano | Wednesday, January 11 2012

A new law obliges Belarusian businesses that use the Internet to sell goods or services inside Belarus to host those services on servers physically inside Belarus, bringing that country's businesses more closely under the control of its government. So as an argument now rages in the United States about how to regulate access to foreign websites for purposes of copyright protection, in Belarus, the discussion focuses on the particulars of how to regulate its domestic Internet. Read More

Photo by covilha/ Flickr

Is Belarus Really Cutting Out The "Foreign Internet?"

BY Antonella Napolitano | Wednesday, January 4 2012

At the end of last year the government of Belarus issued a law that will regulate the use of foreign websites, with a particular focus on business activities. The law will be effective starting Jan. 6.
Some commentators believe that these measures will block people in Belarus from accessing websites hosted outside the country. This interpretation was quickly reprised by many media outlets and labeled as a block of the foreign Internet by the Belarusian government — but the situation may be different. Read More

How to Lobby the Internet

BY Nick Judd | Monday, October 31 2011

Beginning in January, anyone with the know-how to run a domain name registry, a $185,000 application fee and the time ride out a lengthy application process will be able to apply to run their own top-level domain, ... Read More

Gig.U Asks Universites and Telcos To Work Together for the Internet of the Future

BY Nick Judd | Thursday, September 15 2011

Fiber future: A new initiative aims to kickstart the development of cutting-edge Internet infrastructure in America. Photo Illustration: G Meyer / Flickr A new initiative seeks to create "testbeds" for extraordinarily ... Read More

As Revolution Unfolds in Libya, Tripoli Returns to the Internet

BY Nick Judd | Monday, August 22 2011

As forces rebelling against the regime of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi moved to gain control of the capital city of Tripoli yesterday, something strange happened: Tripoli's citizens could, suddenly, talk about it again ... Read More

Amnesty International Website Blocked in Saudi Arabia After Group Posts Draft Anti-Terror Law

BY Nick Judd | Monday, July 25 2011

The Saudi Arabian government may soon learn the answer to a deeply philosophical question: If the draft of a bill is posted to the Internet, but is inaccessible from inside the country where the bill may become law, can ... Read More

Egyptian Economic Development Exec Says Internet Shutdown Was One-Time Thing

BY Nick Judd | Wednesday, June 29 2011

The chief executive officer of Egypt's Information Technology Industry Development Agency, Yasser Elkady, promises that the whole Internet blackout thing "will never happen again," Computerworld reports: Elkady says the ... Read More

House Bill Would Subsidize Broadband Access for Low-Income Americans

BY Nick Judd | Tuesday, June 14 2011

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Ca.) today introduced legislation that would subsidize broadband Internet access for low-income Americans by having service providers discount their monthly bills. The legislation, the Broadband ... Read More

The Political Fight Over Public Broadband Arrives in Wisconsin

BY Nick Judd | Monday, June 13 2011

Ars Technica has an in-depth look at a legislative battle now in progress over the fate of a public broadband network for Wisconsin's state schools and libraries: As we go to press with this story, WiscNet is negotiating ... Read More

The Internet Comes to Turkmenistan

BY Nancy Scola | Friday, March 18 2011

The U.S. Embassy Ashgabat gives a peek inside this week's "First Time Online for Women" program, wherein Turkmen women and girls get introduced to the Google. According to the CIA World Fact Book, there are ... Read More

News Briefs

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This Isn't What Political Air Time Usually Means

MoveOn.org is asking supporters for $150,000 in donations to fly a plane above high-dollar fundraisers for Mitt Romney with "a message that reminds voters how he represents his corporate and 1% donors." MoveOn previously hired a plane to fly over Romney's Liberty University graduation speech with the message "GOP = HIGHER SCHOOL DEBT." GO

There's a New $200 Million Fund for Super-High-Speed Broadband Projects

An initiative to build and test gigabit-speed broadband networks is set to fund up to six next-generation Internet access projects across the country, fueled by a new $200 million broadband development funding program, Gigabit Squared and Gig.U announced this morning. GO

New Rice University Paper Chronicles Impact of the Internet On U.S. Foreign Policy

We all know that the Internet has transformed the way that the United States conducts diplomacy, and the way that it views national security, but where should we look to find evidence of this? This is the wide-ranging subject matter of a new paper published on Tuesday by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. The paper provides a round-up of some of the major turns of events between 2005 and 2011 in the realms of Internet governance, the development of online public diplomacy at the State Department, the evolution of the Internet-fueled Arab Spring, and the establishment of the shadowy U.S. Cyber Command in Fort Meade, Maryland, among other things. GO

Messin' with Lamar Smith, Revisited

Remember that grassroots fundraising campaign to put a "Don't Mess with the Internet" billboard in the home district of Rep. Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas and sponsor of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act? All of the money required came in, and Fight for the Future, the advocacy group opposing more stringent copyright protections online, writes that the billboard went up. GO

Republican National Convention Organizers Sever Ties With Becki Donatelli's Campaign Solutions

After eight years producing online content for the Republican National Convention, GOP web consultant Becki Donatelli's Campaign Solutions is off of the project. "Campaign Solutions was retained to help develop our convention website and digital strategy, but they are no longer involved in convention planning," James Davis, the convention's communications director, told techPresident Tuesday. It's unclear what precipitated the of the relationship between the convention organizers and Campaign Solutions, which has been producing the online component of the event since 2004. But Donatelli's name surfaced in a controversial anti-Obama ad pitch sent to a Super PAC backed by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, which appeared in its entirety in the Times last week. Ricketts has since disavowed the proposal and Donatelli has denied any involvement. GO

PD+ This Thurs 1pm: Thriving Online With Howard Rheingold

I'm really looking forward to talking with author Howard Rheingold this Thursday on the next PD+ teleconference. His new book, Net Smart, is a concise and thoughtful guide to understanding and making the most of the hyper-networked, always-on, firehose of information and distraction that is the contemporary experience of anyone who uses ... GO

City of Joplin, Mo. Launches New Online Center Ahead of Tornado's Anniversary

The city of Joplin, Missouri launched its new web site over the week-end ahead of the May 22 anniversary of the massive tornado that devastated the city and killed 161 people. The new site enables Joplin citizens to sign up for emergency alerts via text message, e-mail and RSS. In addition to those alerts, individuals can also sign up for ... GO

In Virginia, City Council Debates to Include Questions Posed Online

The Alexandria Democratic Party in Alexandria, Virginia has partnered with online civic engagement platform ACTion Alexandria to include questions solicited in an online forum in the final Democratic primary debate for a City Council election there on June 4, ahead of the June 12 election, according to a statement released by the group. ACTion Alexandria hopes to work with both parties during the general election.

Participants in the project can add questions to the forum, or vote on questions that have already been posed, although each user is only given three votes to distribute. Users are also encouraged to use their real names. Questions submitted so far hit on topics ranging from broadband access to a ban on food trucks in the city.

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