blackout europe campaign

http://www.blackouteurope.eu/

Civil society campaign underway in opposition to EP changes to internet policy!



The European open internet is under imminent threat

The European Parliament may be about to surrender absolute power over the Internet to the telecom operators.

Under the false premise that market and competition rules will solve all problems, MEPs are about to agree to "Net discrimination" in amendments pushed by AT&T, the UK and French governments.

Loopholes which require that internet traffic is not infringing copyright may be created: an utterly inappropriate requirement to place on ISPs. ISPs are conduits for data, they deliver the message, they have no place in examining every packet of data.

If these amendments are approved, European innovation, the current Internet growth model and citizens' fundamental rights and freedoms will be in grave danger.

The Internet's fantastic growth, and the future of Europe's societies, its nnovation and wealth, depend on principles that have been upheld since the inception of the Internet.

This form of innovation "at the edge" is not in the interest of established players. This is why telecoms operators, backed by the UK government, are pushing hard to obtain more control over what is done on their networks.

Selecting and prioritizing which content, applications and services can be accessed over their network would give them control over their competitors and maximize their profits by turning them into unaccountable gatekeepers.

Citizens must act now. Here’s what to do:

1 Contact your MEP, using the draft letter if you like

2 Join our facebook group

3 Change your avatars to one of the Blackout Europe

'Video reveals G20 police assault on man who died'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/07/video-g20-police-assault

this is a developing story regarding a police attack on a passerby during the g20 protests in london who died of a heart attack just following.

the story unfolds police misrepresentation of thruth that was revealed through photos and video footage taken at the scene by witnesses.

spamalot!

npr story on spam and spam filters...asking the age old question of whether or not there is good spam!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102800939

"BBC must reign in commercial arm"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7986259.stm

"faux-bama" ads in Turkey

Nice work..if you happen to look like President Obama!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102729557

South East Europe Center for Professionalization of the Media

http://www.seenpm.org/new/

Some new reports from our friends at SEENPM

Aspen Institute

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/communications-society

some publications here that might be of interest.

Critical urbanism

http://criticalurbanism.wordpress.com/

A blog.

CIVICUS

http://www.civicus.org/newsletters

World Alliance for Citizen Participation

form their site:

"CIVICUS' Civil Society Watch (CSW) Team produces an on-line Monthly Bulletin to highlight cases in which the existence of civil society is threatened worldwide and to provide opportunities to take action. The CSW programme aims to mobilise quick, principled and effective responses to events that threaten civil society's fundamental rights to collectively express, associate and organise throughout the world.

The CSW Monthly Bulletin provides a forum to hear the voices of civil society and to disseminate as widely as possible cases in which the existence of civil society is threatened worldwide. The bulletin is disseminated every second Friday of the month."

the role of the citizen

http://www.songofacitizen.com/songofacitizen.com/V2.html

Really nice video op/ed called "Constant Vigilance" from Annenberg's Dean Michael X. Delli Carpini