I’m listening to Free Press’s latest conference call on “network neutrality” policy issues, and I have to say it’s scary stuff. Laurence Lessig, Ben Scott and Jeff Chester outlined the machinations of the nation’s cable and telephone companies to challenge the fundamental “end-to-end” principle of the Internet. As I understand it, the Internet as we…
More on the UN Secretary General Non-race
I posted a couple of weeks ago about the UN swapping out Secretary General’s by the end of the year. Just found out about another website devoted to the mostly hidden race for the UN Secretary General seat at http://www.UNSGselection.org. It’s run by my old crew at the World Federalist Movement, an organization convinced that…
Using the Net to share our mental maps
I was playing around with the cool website wayfarer.com and I created a map of swing dance venues in Manhattan. Wayfarer uses the Googlemaps system to allow anyone to create their own custom maps, and allow others to add and edit them at will. You simply name your map (“Haunted Places in Dartmour,” “Great Lakes…
Υποδοχή στην Ελλάδα: Internet Gov Forum meeting in Greece this October
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…
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…
Advertising for the greater good?
The UN News Centre reports that the United Nations recently awarded several advertising agencies for developing campaigns that raised awareness of various humanitarian and development issues, such as the plight of slum dwellers and child abuse. This year’s winners were: Leo Burnett Publicidade Ltda (Brazil) for “Favela”, a print advertisement to raise awareness about poverty;…
Edward R. Murrow and the FCC
The New Yorker this week has a great piece called “The Murrow Doctrine” on Edward R. Murrow and government oversight over television broadcasting. The writer Nicholas Lemann contends that the kind of investigative journalism pioneered by Murrow in the 40’s and 50’s would not have come about if there had not been strong governmental pressure…
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,…