Online Democracy in China

Rights Manifesto Slowly Gains Ground Despite Government Efforts to Quash It

When the document first appeared online in mid-December, its impact was limited. Many of the original signers were lawyers, writers and other intellectuals who had long been known for their pro-democracy stance. The Chinese government moved quickly to censor the charter -- putting those suspected of having written it under surveillance, interrogating those who had signed, and deleting any mention of it from the Internet behind its great firewall.

Then something unusual happened. Ordinary people such as Tang with no history of challenging the government began to circulate the document and declare themselves supporters. The list now includes scholars, journalists, computer technicians, businessmen, teachers and students whose names had not been associated with such movements before, as well as some on the lower rungs of China's social hierarchy -- factory and construction workers and farmers.

It appears to an online version of Czechoslovakia's Charter 77. Given how that came out, the Chinese government will go a long way to suppress this. It takes a great deal of nerve to sign something like that.

Why journalism matters, Parwiz Kambakhsh

RAWA

Imprisonment of Parwiz Kambakhsh is not only for his enlightening articles in a local newspaper, Jahan-e-Now (The New World), but also because of his brother Yaqub Ibrahimi, who is a well-known, brave and realistic reporter and exposed many criminal faces from Jehadi mafia in Northern Afghanistan to the world public.

The Stasi really were panty sniffers

Bruce Schnier alerts us to this amazing post -
Smell Jars of the Stasi

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many astounding revelations came to light about the Stasi, the East German secret police. One of the more bizarre activities the Stasi was found to have engaged in was the collection of Geruchsproben — smell samples — for the benefit of the East German smell hounds. The odors, collected during interrogations using a perforated metal “smell sample chair” or by breaking into people’s homes and stealing their dirty underwear, were stored in small glass jars.

Why journalism matters, Gamaliel López Candanosa

Mexico's Journalists Feel Heavy Hand of Violence

Bruce Schneier on the future of privacy

Face-Off: Is Big Brother a Big Deal?

The fear isn't an Orwellian government deliberately creating the ultimate totalitarian state, although with the U.S.'s programs of phone-record surveillance, illegal wiretapping, massive data mining, a national ID card no one wants and Patriot Act abuses, one can make that case. It's that we're doing it ourselves, as a natural byproduct of the information society.We're building the computer infrastructure that makes it easy for governments, corporations, criminal organizations and even teenage hackers to record everything we do, and—yes—even change our votes. And we will continue to do so unless we pass laws regulating the creation, use, protection, resale and disposal of personal data. It's precisely the attitude that trivializes the problem that creates it.

We're not ready for it yet, but in ten years privacy will be the killer ap, and once again DARPA will fund the early research for the solution. Who has to electronically travel around the Internet anonymously? Intelligence agencies and militaries. They are going to come up with the prototype and it will move into the commercial world in much the same way the Internet did. We just aren't ready yet.

Why journalism matters, Yuri Chernogayev

Uzbek Journalist Charged With Defamation

MOSCOW (AP) - An Uzbek reporter for German broadcaster said Wednesday he faces up to 10 years in prison after being accused of defaming President Islam Karimov.

Yuri Chernogayev said Uzbek prosecutors also charged him with tax evasion and ``illegal dissemination of information threatening public security and order.''

Deutsche Welle freelancer faces up to 10 years in prison

Reminder

Death threats against bloggers are NOT "protected speech"

Edit, from Wired Magazine:
Kathy Sierra Case: Few Clues, Little Evidence, Much Controversy

Edit ii -
Don Tennant, ComputerWorld

If it isn’t OK to do it in the physical world, it isn’t OK to do it online.

Why jounalism matters, Khamail Khalaf

Radio Free Iraq Reporter Found Dead In Baghdad

Abdel Kareem Nabil

Egyptian Blogger Appeals Prison Sentence

CAIRO, Egypt -- Lawyers filed an appeal Monday on behalf of a blogger who was sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam and Egypt's president.

Abdel Kareem Nabil, a former law student at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, used his blog to advocate secularism and criticize conservative Muslims.

Let's hope Egypt comes to it's senses.

Edit -
Egyptian Blogs Aggregator