The situation in Syria continues to descend into a civil war-like situation, according to people on the ground. This interesting report, by BBC journalist Paul Wood, offers a disturbing insight into the Assad regime’s desperation and confusion since the beginning of the revolution: Qutaiba, a 22-year-old engineering student, had never been arrested before Syrian security…
Showing all posts tagged internet
Our brave new world; hacking Stratfor
Welcome to the future (via Daily Kos): In the wake of the recent operation by which Stratfor’s servers were compromised, much of the media has focused on the fact that some participants in the attack chose to use obtained customer credit card numbers to make donations to charitable causes. Although this aspect of the operation…
Just what the world doesn’t need; US politicians telling us what to read online
This is the inevitable push by the “war on terror” crowd who have no problems with war propaganda from our side – the glorious fighting machines of Israel, America, Britain or the West – but the evil enemy must be silenced: American congressmen are calling on Twitter to block Taliban propagandists from the micro-blogging site.…
Name and shame Western firms helping autocrats monitor own citizens
When I wrote The Blogging Revolution in 2007 and 2008, I couldn’t imagine the ever-increasing focus on Western “security” firms working alongside repressive states to censor and spy on their people. I investigated this in the book (and the latest 2011 edition, just published in India, examines the reality during the Arab revolutions). Bloomberg has…
Inside the Syrian uprisings and why regime change should be challenged
Events in Syria are notoriously murky and these days reliable information is scarce. I’m often asked about my views on the uprisings against President Assad and what kind of Syria I would like to see. My book The Blogging Revolution – just released in an updated format in India – examines the role of the…
The Blogging Revolution updated and released in India
My 2008 book The Blogging Revolution detailed the role of internet censorship in non-democratic nations and Western firms assisting repressive regimes monitor the web. It was released in an updated e-book edition in August and focused primarily on the Arab revolutions. I’m proud to announce it’s now being released in an updated print edition in…
Maybe Anonymous can defeat Mexican drug thugs
Truly a story for the modern age, with web gurus pitted against drug lords: An international group of online hackers is warning a Mexican drug cartel to release one of its members, kidnapped from a street protest, or it will publish the identities and addresses of the syndicate’s associates, from corrupt police to taxi drivers,…
Wikileaks influence and how it’s growing
Who says Wikileaks is on the back foot? In fact, the group remains supported by millions of citizens around the world for giving us the information our media and governments should be offering. Interesting piece in Fairfax today by Philip Dorling on this very point: A trenchant critic of the influence of corporations on political…