I heard from Prof. Wolfgang Kleinwachter that the dates of the first meeting of the Internet Governance Forum have been set. Wolfgang passes on the info that the IGF is scheduled for October 24-26 in Greece. No firm location, but he says probably Athens or Rhodos. Sounds like a fine place to talk about spam…
Category: Information Society
FON wants to “revolutionize” broadband access
A new Spanish company called FON intends to upset the traditional broadband access model by creating a global network of linked hotspots. FON is a member-based service that piggy-backs their software onto existing wifi hotspots being operated by regular home users. At the most basic level, anyone with a wifi transmitter can be a “Linus”…
Atari’s for all the world children! My WSIS briefing at the UN
The following is the talk that I gave for the Department of Public Information NGO Briefing yesterday at the United Nations. DPI/NGO Briefing on WSIS \2 February 2006 Remarks by Rik Panganiban Atari Story When I was eight years old, what I wanted more than anything in the world was an Atari video game system….
Gates supports cells phones for the 3rd world
The New York Times reports that Microsoft thinks that cell phones are the key to bringing the benefits of the Information Society to the Third World. In a direct response to Negroponte’s “One Laptop Per Child” project, Bill Gates proposed at the World Economic Forum yesterday that a hybrid “cellular PC” would be a more…
UN backs $100 laptop project
I have previously blogged about MIT’s $100 Laptop project for the developing world. Yesterday, the United Nations announced that it has joined in support of the “One Laptop Per Child” initiative. This will hopefully give the project much more of the attention and support it deserves. Kemal Dervis, head administrator of the UN Development Program,…
Blogging guide for cyber-dissidents
The press freedom group Rapporteurs sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders) has recently come out with a “Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents” that’s a great resources for bloggers, whether you are a citizen journalist in Iran or a non-techie wanting to set up your own online diary. The handbook begins with the basics — what is…
CSTD – no, not that STD – meeting in May
I just got word that the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) is having their ninth session from May 15-19 in Geneva. The unfortunately acronymed CSTD is a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council in 1992 to provide high-level advice on relevant issues through analysis and appropriate policy recommendations or…
Time to shut down the internets, it’s illegal to be annoying
News.com reports that President Bush just signed into law an act that makes it a federal crime to “annoy” someone on the internet if you do not divulge your identity. Where are we, China? Tunisia? Saudi Arabia? Cuba? No, this is the flipping United States of America. We as Americans have a God-given right to…
Will the Internet Governance Forum use the Internet?
Just got word that the Internet Governance Forum, the multi-stakeholder policy deliberation body that came out of the WSIS Tunis conference, will be having its first meeting from February 16 to 17 in Geneva. This is pretty short notice for lots of groups around the world to try and book flights and find hotels to…
How come nobody told me about jazz ringtones?
I will take back every bad thing I’ve ever said about ringtones. Yes, they are a waste of money. Yes, they are silly status symbols. Yes, they serve no useful function other than to annoy your neighbor. But I have to say it makes my day to hear Sarah Vaughn and realize that my phone…