global

Cyberattacks on Georgian Web Sites Are Reigniting a Washington Debate

Stevie Converse — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:12:09 -0700

China Will Abide by Foreign Media Commitments

Stevie Converse — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:31:05 -0700

Open Networks for "Tomorrow's Facebook'

Stevie Converse — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:17:27 -0700

As Asia scales up its broadband infrastructure, economies in the region need to ensure their next-generation networks are capable of providing multiple services and lower total cost of ownership for service providers.

Fiber Internet Overtakes Cable

Stevie Converse — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:40:08 -0700

For the first time, more people around the world are signing up for fiber-optic broadband service than for cable Internet service, according to a British research firm.

Fiber providers added 4.2 million customers in the first quarter, while 2.5 million customers signed up for cable modems, according to a report released last week by Point Topic.

Lies, Kidnapping and a Mysterious Laptop

Stevie Converse — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:57:26 -0700

Sometimes you hear a stray sentence on the news that makes you realise you have been lied to. Deliberately lied to; systematically lied to; lied to for a purpose. If you listened closely over the past few days, you could have heard one such sentence passing in the night-time of news.

Internet-Led Demand Puts Cable-Laying at Top of List

Stevie Converse — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:30:36 -0700

The world's biggest telecoms companies are rushing to add capacity on inter-continental routes, to keep up with booming demand fuelled in part by consumers downloading bandwidth-hungry video content from YouTube, iTunes and other sites over broadband networks.

Journalists Fleeing Foreign Countries in Record Numbers

Stevie Converse — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:14:41 -0700

Journalists were forced into exile at record levels during the last 12 months, with at least 82 news people leaving their native countries "under threat or harassment," according to a survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The study, released Wednesday, revealed that more than half of those journalists fled Iraq and Somalia.

European IT Chief Backs Net Neutrality

Stevie Converse — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:08:45 -0700

The European Commission appears to have thrown its weight behind the principle of net neutrality, after the telecommunications commissioner told a global internet forum that the issue was "a political question to be answered by the people".

U.S. Will Lag in Tech Growth, Study Says

Stevie Converse — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:58:50 -0700

Watching television, gaining access to the Internet and listening to music on mobile phones will be a viable business in the next few years, says a study by a consulting arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. But while marketers and advertisers have much to cheer in the coming digital revolution, the fastest growth will be in emerging markets, with the United States lagging behind.

Deregulation=Competition: An Observation from the OECD Seoul Ministerial

Stevie Converse — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:08:41 -0700

For the past couple of days, I’ve been in South Korea, attending the OECD’s Ministerial on the Future of the Internet Economy. Rather than try to give a blow-by-blow account, I’ve tried to package some of my thoughts in a series of posts. Here’s one:

The Future of the Internet Economy

Stevie Converse — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:14:22 -0700

The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development has released a statistical profile on "The Future of the Internet Economy."

To read the report, go to http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/44/56/40827598.pdf

A Shield Law for the World

Stevie Converse — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:58:50 -0700

The United States owes a federal shield law not only to American journalists but to journalists around the world. Passage of such a law is urgently needed. By finally allowing the media to protect the anonymity of confidential sources, Congress would do more than close a fissure in U.S. press freedoms: It would also help curtail the destructive behavior that current U.S.

U.S. Wireless Policies Emulated by Developing Nations

Stevie Converse — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:16:44 -0700

America’s wireless policies continue to be emulated by developing nations, Ambassador David Gross, United States coordinator for international communications and information policy, said Friday at Broadband Policy Summit IV.

Servers That Snitch

Stevie Converse — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:28:30 -0700

Everyone wants to boost American exports. But the last thing any U.S. company should do is sell tools of repression to authoritarian regimes abroad. It would be especially troubling if businesses were to help dictators muzzle the Internet, the most powerful facilitator of free expression and communication ever invented.

Panelists Debate Success of U.S. Deregulation in Broadband

Stevie Converse — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:22:03 -0700

Experts on both sides of the Atlantic squared off on Monday about whether the United States’ broadband policies were a success, with Europeans arguing that U.S. broadband cost too much, and an American praising a deregulatory telecom policy.

China Tops U.S. Broadband Totals

Stevie Converse — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:37:08 -0700

China has now topped the United States in total number of broadband subscribers - an event that's been predicted for well over a year now - according to new estimates.

VOA's Austin Warns Other Nations on Web Censorship

Stevie Converse — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:42:18 -0700

The head of Voice of America, the U.S. government's international broadcasting arm, advised other countries Monday that they must be on guard for Web censorship and "influence operations" disguised as journalism, and that they must protect journalists' rights to gather information without fear of overzealous courts.

Global Newspaper Circulation Is Rising

Stevie Converse — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:40:36 -0700

Global newspaper circulation is rising, buoyed by demand in Asia and South America — belying predictions of the demise of print journalism, officials said Monday at the start of an international newspaper conference.

White House Opposition Likely Dooms Anti-China Internet Bill

Stevie Converse — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:07:19 -0700

Earlier this week we told you about the Bush administration opposing a bill that would slap extensive regulations on technology companies doing business in China and other nations deemed to be unreasonably "Internet-restricting."

That is likely to doom the legislation, which was written by Republican Rep. Chris Smith and enjoys the support of journalist and human rights groups.

Global Internet Freedom Should Work Here, Too

Stevie Converse — Tue, 27 May 2008 08:17:51 -0700

Wouldn’t it be nice if the grand concept of Global Internet Freedom applied to the U.S. as well as to the rest of the world?