First POST: Failures
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, March 10 2015
The CIA tried to undermine iPhone and iPad security; Wikipedia, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, the ACLU and others sue the NSA; the White House's new $100 million tech initiative; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Hashing it Out
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, May 27 2014
How the #YesAllWomen hashtag erupted in response to the Santa Barbara killings; the Internet's broken business model; why tech companies are (mostly) losing in Congress; and much, much more. Read More
With Newfound Influence, Will Internet Organizers Hack Politics As Usual?
BY Sarah Lai Stirland | Monday, January 30 2012
MPAA Chief Chris Dodd should perhaps talk to the public via Reddit, rather than the "tech industry." Photo: Flickr/Wil Wheaton
The recent mass protests both online and off against anti-piracy legislation moving through Congress provided a tantalizing hint of the possibilities that can emerge when the powerful companies of Silicon Valley combine forces with grassroots organizers empowered with the tools of the web. Individuals from the usually disparate worlds of non-profits, venture capital, politics and programming and elsewhere united briefly for one day, took direction from more experienced activists and used the tools at their disposal to pull whatever levers they could to get their message across to legislators. Will the extraordinary success of the protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) change the one industry that has resisted the disruptive influence of the internet, the industry of lobbyists on K-Street? Or will the moment pass — to be regarded in history as quirky exception to the general rule in which lobbyists almost always emerge triumphant? Read More
After SOPA/PIPA Victory, Tech is Thinking About Tackling Political Reform
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, January 24 2012
In the wake of last week's online uprising against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, there's a fascinating dynamic starting to unfold as technology leaders and grassroots activists wrestle with the question: now what? Read More
Jimmy Wales, Susan Crawford, and Internet Stewardship
BY Nancy Scola | Monday, June 7 2010
Via Twitter, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales responds to law professor, thinker, and former Obama administration official Susan Crawford's critique that I wrote about Read More
"'I Make Websites' is No Longer Sufficient"
BY Nancy Scola | Friday, June 4 2010
Susan Crawford told the crowd assembled at PdF '10 this morning that the days of technologists ignoring the politics of the technology landscape are over. "The Jimmy Wales response [of] 'I make websites,'" said ... Read More