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Call for Experts - UNESCO/EU
by Monica Murero 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

Dear AoIR's friends and colleagues, UNESCO launches an international call for experts in the framework of the EU/UNESCO technical assistance project aimed at strengthening the system of governance for culture in developing countries. I think that some of you might be interested. More here: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/themes/2005-convention/operational-proj… Best Monica .......... Monica Murero , Ph.D. AoIR Exec, 2003-2009; AoIR Treasurer, 2005-2009 AoIR Lifetime Member Director E-Life International Institute Associate Professor in Politics of e-Government and in Sociology of New Technology University Federico II, Italy Consultant, World Health Organization Facebook and LinkedIN: monica murero Twitter: @monica_murero

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Re: [Air-L] Before Iran, Tunisia and Egypt, the Soviet coup attempt
by Larry Press 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

On 2/1/2011 10:43 AM, Semenov Alexander wrote: > Everything you said is nice, but do you have any idea of how many users > were there in USENET, who were them and whose interests did they serve? Relcom was a company set up to distribute and service Unix. They initially used net news to support customers in 70 cities at the time of the coup attempt. The papers I link to in the blog post give answers to your questions -- the number of users and the sorts of things they used it for as well as the ways it was used during the days of the coup attempt. I also included a link to an archive that contains, among other things, the complete traffic during the days of the coup attempt. > Think about it before writing about wonderful effects of Internet on > establishing "democracy". Your sound upset -- what is your real issue here? Larry

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Re: [Air-L] Egypt again - Google and others invent
by William Bain 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

Hi, And IMHO, there's a real threat in Egypt's current situation of "balkanization", far away as it seems. It's an exergue that's not easy to get across in new media or old media. But I think it underlies why the Egyptian army was not acting oppressively; ready to listen. Paul Kennedy's _Preparing for the Twenty First Century_ talks about it and such depressed area and lack of preparation. Were we prepared? Demographically or otherwise? Cheers, William William Bain PhD Student Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

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FW: [IRP] Web Symposium: The Middle East, The Revolution, and the Internet
by Michael Gurstein 02 Feb '11

02 Feb '11

-----Original Message----- From: irp-bounces(a)lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org [mailto:irp-bounces@lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org] On Behalf Of Jochai Ben-Avie Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 4:32 PM To: irp(a)lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org Subject: [IRP] Web Symposium: The Middle East, The Revolution,and the Internet Dear friends and colleagues, � I thought you might be interested in the following�online event�on Thursday at 12PM EST � The Middle East, the Revolution, and the Internet�live streamed at�https://www.acessnow.org/live.� Online symposium participants include:� � ��Frank La Rue: United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression ��Marietje Schaake: Dutch Member of the European Parliament ��Jillian York: Harvard University Berkman Center ��Tarek Amr:�Egyptian Digital Activist on Global Voices ��Walid Al-Saqaf:�Yemeni software developer and journalist ��Al Jazeera Transparency Unit�(invited) ��Brett Solomon: Access (Moderator) It will take place this Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 at 12:00 PM EST (GMT-5)�During the event, you can tweet questions using the #Q4Access hashtag or e-mail us at�info@accessnow.org.� Background Tech-utopians and tech-doomsayers continue their debate over the impact of the internet on politics and democracy. Meanwhile mass demonstrations have spread across the Middle East, causing the downfall of one government and putting others on high alert. In each case we know technology has played a vital role in mobilizing protestors and transmitting information in real time around the globe. The existential threat it plays to a regime has been demonstrated by Egypt's internet shutdown. �The Middle East, the Revolution and the Internet� brings together experts in the field to discuss and debate the issues in real time. � Access's live web symposium will examine the impact of new (social) media and the internet on political freedom. On the one hand, we can expect grassroots activists to make use of technology to facilitate their activities. On the other hand, the new era provides opportunities for dictators and regimes to survey and monitor like never before. With voices from academia to the front line, Access will explore how activists use the net, the challenges for state actors, and the likely winners and losers in the digital cat and mouse game. � Please join us for this in-depth and dynamic discussion. � https://www.accessnow.org/live --� Jochai Ben-Avie Access Policy Analyst jochai(a)accessnow.org +1-888-414-0100 x704 (tel) JochaiBen-Avie (skype)

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ISOC Statement on Egypt’s Internet shutdown
by Richard Forno 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

The Internet Society on Egypt’s Internet shutdown We are following the current events in Egypt with concern as it appears that all incoming and outgoing Internet traffic has been disrupted. The Internet Society believes that the Internet is a global medium that fundamentally supports opportunity, empowerment, knowledge, growth, and freedom and that these values should never be taken away from individuals. The Internet Society considers this recent action by the Egyptian government to block Internet traffic to be an inappropriate response to a political crisis. It is a very serious decision for a government to block all Internet access in its country, and a serious intrusion into its citizens’ basic rights to communicate. If the blockage continues, it will have a very detrimental impact on Egypt’s economy and society. Ultimately, the Egyptian people and nation are the ones that will suffer, while the rest of the world will be worse off with the loss of Egyptian voices on the net. However we are most concerned about the safety and security of the Egyptian people. Alongside the rest of the world, we share the hope for a positive and lasting solution to the problems that have risen to the surface there. In the longer term, we are sure that the world will learn a lesson from this very unfortunate example, and come to understand that cutting off a nation’s access to the Internet only serves to fuel dissent and does not address the underlying causes of dissatisfaction. http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=3091

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Fwd: [IJoC] Open Call for Papers on Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions
by Marianne van den Boomen 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [IJoC] Open Call for Papers on Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions Date: 1 Feb 2011 10:14:10 -0800 From: Arlene Luck <aluck(a)law.usc.edu> To: aluck(a)law.usc.edu OPEN CALL FOR ARTICLES ON: âTunisian and Egyptian Revolutions and the Role of Communication Technologiesâ An International Journal of Communication (IJoC) Special Features Section on the recent Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions in North Africa to be published in 2011. Submission Deadline: March 15, 2011 Guest Editors: Johanne Kuebler and Ilhem Allagui The International Journal of Communication is accepting papers for its Features Section about the Tunisian and the Egyptian protests and their sequels in the Arab region. Despite numerous efforts by Arab leaders to limit Internet access and to censor all mediaâespecially new mediaâthe spread of satellite TV and the Internet have transformed the media landscape in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Revolutionary protests by Tunisians led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who maintained strict media censorship after 23 years in power. Similarly, just weeks after the Tunisian uprising, demonstrations and riots have left the rule of the Hosni Mubarak government in a quandary. The oppression of free speech and democratic political participation have galvanized both Tunisians and Egyptians into unprecedented acts of revolt, demonstrating perseverance toward the goal of real political change. Some observers attribute the success of the Tunisian revolution to the use of new media and social networking sites. While the penetration rate of Facebook in Tunisia is barely 19% (according to Socialbakers, the Facebook statistical portal), YouTube and DailyMotion were banned until January 13, 2011 despite Ben Aliâs desperate attempts to calm the population by promising unblocked access to Internet Web sites. Ben Ali eventually fled Tunisia on January 14. As of this writing, the outcome of the Egyptian uprisings remains to be seen, and the potential for similar uprisings throughout the Arab world is very much in evidence. This Features Section of the IJoC invites discussions about these events occurring in the North African region in relation to communication technologies. By addressing these events, we aim to have a better understanding of the role of communication technologies as instruments for social change. The submissions, empirical or theoretical, can be short observations, analyses or opinions of 1,500â5,000 words. Papers should follow the APA style (5th Ed.). Submissions will be peer reviewed. Please send submissions to: Ilhem Allagui at iallagui(a)aus.edu by March 15. We look forward to your articles for this Special Features Section. Sincerely, Manuel Castells and Larry Gross IJoC Editors ________________________________________________________________________ International Journal of Communication USC Annenberg Press http://ijoc.org/

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Re: [Air-L] Egypt again - Google and others invent
by Tuszynski, Stephanie 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

It's particularly ironic in light of Google's actions with regard to China's policies about controlling information. Apparently when the repressive government seems to maybe be losing, or it might get them some good press, Google is going to side with the little guys instead? Dr. Stephanie Tuszynski Assistant Professor of Communication Bethany College Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2011 16:21:11 +0100 From: "Samater Liban \(gmail\)" <samater.liban(a)gmail.com> To: <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> Subject: [Air-L] Egypt again - Google and others invent "Voice2Twitter" for Egypt Message-ID: <4d4824fd.179ccc0a.749c.30ef(a)mx.google.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Hi! Thought this might interest you: On mashable: http://mashable.com/2011/01/31/google-twitter-egypt-call-service/ >From mashable: A group of engineers from Google, Twitter and SayNow (which Google acquired last week) were hard at work building a speak-to-tweet service for protesters in Egypt this weekend. The service, which is already live, enables users to send tweets using a voice connection. Anyone can tweet by leaving a voicemail on one of three international phone numbers: +16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855. Tweets sent using the service will automatically include the hashtag #egypt. **************** I think the interesting part is, that tech companies have now actively decided to build a workaround for a government issued ban on parts of communication, which actually is a corporate action against a state - or not? Who/what governs such actions by corporations? Well - thought it may enrich your day - have a good one. sam This message may contain confidential information for the use of the addressee(s) above and may contain legally privileged information. If you are not the addressee, or the person responsible for delivering it to the addressee, you are hereby notified that reading, disseminating, distributing or copying this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message by mistake, immediately notify us by replying to the message and delete the original message immediately. Thank you.

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viral reality?
by John Postill 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

On the subject of Egypt's and other country's protests, I'm currently doing anthropological research into social media and activism in Barcelona. I'm wondering whether we're entering an era in which political reality is framed by re-sent SMS messages, retweets, YouTube videos, viral campaigns, and so on – an age of 'viral reality'. Even those who rightly reject the hyperbole surrounding these events would appear to be shaped in their perceptions by rapidly moving, ephemeral digital contents that are widely 'shared' (i.e. spread). John Dr John Postill Senior Research Fellow IN3, Open University of Catalonia Senior Lecturer in Media Sheffield Hallam University j.postill(a)shu.ac.uk http://twitter.com/JohnPostill ------ Original Message ------ Received: Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:57:17 AM CET From: "Julian Hopkins" <reach(a)julianhopkins.net> To: <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> Subject: Re: [Air-L] ISOC Statement on Egypt's Internet shutdown > I don't know the extent of the censorship of the mainstream media in Egypt, > but I think it is quite extensive. From my experience living in Malaysia, I > can say that the role of online media in spreading alternative voices and > reporting events that would otherwise be suppressed is significant. It is > easy, for well educated people living in a country with a free press, to > forget how difficult it would otherwise be to learn about matters that > inconvenience those in power. > > For example, in a recent by-election here, it was reported that "Many, > especially in the more rural areas" did not even know of the existence of > the opposition coalition - the Pakatan Rakyat > (http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/155001) Another example is how parts of a > speech by an opposition member in the state assembly of Sarawak were > omitted from the official report of the proceedings (Hansard) - the speech > was about a suspicious land deal connected to the state Chief Minister's > family (http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/155022) > > Malaysia has a vibrant online alternative media (though the government seems > to be looking at extending repressive laws that govern printed media to > online non-print media, the loophole that has allowed online news > organisations to continue to exist). Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are used > by all sides in the political debate. Without these, news and opinions would > still spread (through SMS, email, word of mouth), but it is faster online > and there are verifiable sources - or at least a fixed place somewhere where > the information is located and associated with a person or organisation. > > With regards to Egypt, it's also relevant to note that the first major > demonstration was launched through a Facebook group. The usefulness of > Facebook and Twitter in the logistics of organising large groups is, in my > opinion, probably its most significant contribution in an immediate sense. > Notwithstanding what I have said above about the importance of information > diffusion. > > Al Jazeera, which is first and foremost an Arabic news channel, is no doubt > very important too. > > Therefore, while I agree that CNN et al overplay the importance of social > media in 'causing' these popular unrests (not to mention Wikileaks), it's > important not to understate the significance of social media either. > > Cheers, > Julian > > > ++++++++++ > Blog: www.julianhopkins.net > Twitter: @julianhopkins > Skype: julhop > > _______________________________________________ > The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > http://www.aoir.org/

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Motivations for status updating
by Nicholas John 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

Dear Colleagues There's quite a nicely developed literature on the motivations behind contributing to Wikipedia and peer-produced software (e.g. Linux), but I wonder if there are notable studies on the motivations for updating statuses in Facebook and Twitter. References would be welcome. Thanks in advance Nicholas _______________ Dr. Nicholas John sociothink.com nicholasjohn.tel

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Egypt again - Google and others invent "Voice2Twitter" for Egypt
by Samater Liban (gmail) 01 Feb '11

01 Feb '11

Hi! Thought this might interest you: On mashable: http://mashable.com/2011/01/31/google-twitter-egypt-call-service/ >From mashable: A group of engineers from Google, Twitter and SayNow (which Google acquired last week) were hard at work building a speak-to-tweet service for protesters in Egypt this weekend. The service, which is already live, enables users to send tweets using a voice connection. Anyone can tweet by leaving a voicemail on one of three international phone numbers: +16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855. Tweets sent using the service will automatically include the hashtag #egypt. **************** I think the interesting part is, that tech companies have now actively decided to build a workaround for a government issued ban on parts of communication, which actually is a corporate action against a state - or not? Who/what governs such actions by corporations? Well - thought it may enrich your day - have a good one. sam

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