digital

WSIS, Internet Governance and Human Rights

Time: Monday, October 3, 2005, 09.00 – 17.00
Venue: Hammarskog Conference Centre, Uppsala

Registration: johan.hellstrom@kus.uu.se
More practical information Background material

Why is there no debate or no media reports in Sweden about the emerging and existing information society and Internet governance issues? Internationally, the discussion is at its peak, with the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) coming up in November in Tunis. Sweden, being one of the countries with the highest Internet access rates and with the ambition to be a leading nation on information and communication technology (ICT) usage and development, should be more involved in the international debate and also more concerned about the implications of Internet governance and Internet usage for society at large.

One reason for the absent debate is the existing intellectual divide between ICT and Internet management experts on the one hand, and democracy and human rights experts on the other. Technologists know how information technology can be managed and manipulated – but show little interest in or do not understand the implications for democracy and human rights.
More background

Keynote Speakers
Avri Doria (USA/Israel). Member of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). Technical Consultant, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Researcher at the School of Technoculture, Humanities and Planning, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden.

Astrid Dufborg (Sweden). Special ICT Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden. Convenor of the UN ICT Task Force Working Group on Enabling Environment.

Mathias Klang (Sweden). Researcher in the field of access to technology and technology rights at the Department of Informatics, University of Göteborg. Responsible for Creative Commons in Sweden. Editor of the book “Human Rights in the Digital Age” (Glasshouse Press, 2005).

Website
http://www.kus.uu.se/en/activities/activities/20051003e.shtml

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Digital Divides & Cheap Technology

Nicholas Negroponte has recently been working on developing designs for laptop computer which will retail at under $100 US dollars. The laptop is intended to be a rugged machine and includes ideas like a hand crank which can be used when there is no power supply. http://laptop.media.mit.edu/

To make the machines less sensitive and more durable they ill be encased in rubber and use a flash memory instead of a hard drive to cut down on moving parts. The machines will have a 500MHz processor, four USB ports and WiFi capability. In addition to this the AC adaptor cords will act as carrying straps.

Other project on similar lines include Ndiyo http://www.ndiyo.org/ and the Indian handheld Simputer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simputer

The connecting idea between all these ideas is to bring down the price of technology to an affordable level. Once this is done the widespread adoption of ICT in developing nations can begin. This is heralded as the end of the digital divide. While I am all for the bridging of this divide I am not sure that the whole problem is one of economics. It is not enough to provide people with technology they must also have the time and the inclination to use the technology.

Posted on by mklang

The digital Dark Age

They fear that rather than ushering mankind into a techno-utopia of paperless offices and clean, eco-friendly, endlessly flexible, virtual communication, it threatens to cast future generations into what Connell describes as a “digital dark age”.

“It all seems very attractive – scanning documents, taking pictures, putting them into the computer for safekeeping, allowing us to throw away hard copies and to save space.” Indeed, it is the most dramatic record-keeping revolution since the invention of printing.

“But what happens some time later,” asks Connell, “when we discover that we no longer have the machines, the programs – the hardware, the software – the know-how, to access all that computer-based, digital material?”

The digital Dark Age – Technology – smh.com.au

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Privacy, GPS & Children

After taking a short look at some of the products available on the market (and it is a growing market, I did a similar small survey about a year ago) it is obvious that GPS surveillance of children (but obviously not only children) is only going to grow. Privacy & childrens rights be damned this fear of the terrible has led to “paranoid parenting” (Furedi 2001).

Here are some of the products and services available for parents and other amateur Big Brothers:

ULocate http://www.ulocate.com/
uLocate Communications is a leading provider of wireless location-based services (LBS) that leverage an individual’s location to deliver customized, actionable information:
â?¢ last known locations
â?¢ maps
â?¢ directions
â?¢ location-based alerts
â?¢ proximity-based points of interest

Wherify Wireless http://www.wherifywireless.com/
The GPS Wheriphone: Through the convergence of Global Positioning System (GPS) and digital wireless technology – along with Wherify’s patented location technologies – the GPS Locator Phone offers parents, family members and business people peace of mind knowing they can locate loved ones or valuable property, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The slim, small and lightweight GPS Locator Phone can fit almost anywhereâ?¦from a backpack to a purse to a coat pocket to the family car.

Teen Arrive Alive http://www.teenarrivealive.com/
Features of the Teen Arrive Alive GPS service:
â?¢ Locations are updated every 2minutes.
â?¢ 7 days of location history is available.
â?¢ Location data can be downloaded to your computer.
â?¢ Our service provides physical address, speed, and heading for each location with a corresponding data point plotted on a map. See the route your teen has taken each day.
â?¢ Our patent-pending locator hotline allows parents to locate their teen anytime, from anywhere in the world from any phone.
â?¢ Location data is available in real time, 24 hours a day, everyday.
â?¢ You have unlimited access to location information with no additional fees or charges.
â?¢ Our service is as mobile as your teen. We locate the phone, not the car.
â?¢ The java application on the phone allows the teen to get their physical address and a corresponding street map directly on the phone – useful if they get lost.
â?¢ Choose from 5 different reports to analyze travel data.

DriveDiagnostics http://www.drivediagnostics.com/
Parents can receive:
â?¢ Recieve real time warnings when their child drives aggressively or dangerously.
â?¢ Be informed of specific and recurring aggressive and dangerous maneuvers performed by their teenager.
â?¢ Recieve real time warning messages to the parent via mail, SMS or phone call
â?¢ Gain access to driver profile, guidance and advise as to how to improve the teens driving
http://www.drivediagnostics.com/site/industry.asp?subMenu=teen

GPS Kid Locator Tracker Backpack http://www.spyshops.ca/trackerbackpack.htm
â?¢ Safety: The hours before and after school is in session are when parents worry most about their childâ??s safety. The GPS Kid Locator Tracker Backpack gives them an easy way to pinpoint their childâ??s location at any time.
â?¢ Convenience: The rechargeable battery operates for up to one week between battery recharges. Without having to remove the battery pack from the backpack, simply plug it into any outlet to recharge.
â?¢ Emergency Help: The GPS Kid Locator Tracker Backpack features an emergency call button that can be used to summon help or directly alert a parent to a childâ??s specific location. The child could also use the emergency call button to alert a parent should he or she become lost.
â?¢ GeoFence: Parents can easily construct a GeoFence online using the patented LOBOâ?¢ mapping software. A GeoFence is a defined are in which a parent can be alerted if the child is not inside the area or goes beyond a predefined area.
â?¢ Easy to Use: The GPS Kid Locator Tracker Backpack is self-contained and ready to use. Programming is done remotely online anytime anywhere. Our secure web site transmits programming instructions to the unit implementing them immediately.

Sentinel Watch (30 June 2004) – This may turn out to be vaporware since I have been unable to find updated information.
CPS and Xion collaborate on development of GSM based communications and security device
The new Sentinel Watch is based on a tri-band GSM engine and consistently delivers 100m accuracy in urban, suburban and rural areas. In addition the Watch can be tracked and located indoors and metal framed buildings. The watch also offers:
â?¢ parent/child communication via SMS/MMS
â?¢ a warning for parents if the child moves outside a designated or defined area
â?¢ a panic button which sends an immediate alert message to the parent
â?¢ security clasp and security strap the alert the parent when the watch is removed without authorisation
â?¢ gaming facilities
http://www.cursor-system.com/cps/news_detail.asp?ID=119

and finally the silliest of the lot…
SmartWear Technologies plans to launch a line of pajamas embedded with RFID tags (http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=165701942).

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Berlin Declaration progress in Sweden (in Swedish)

SUHF:s (Sveriges universitets- och högskoleförbund) styrelse antog vid sitt möte den 8 juni 2005 rekommendationer med anledning av undertecknandet av Berlindeklarationen.

1. Införa en policy som starkt rekommenderar att deras forskare deponerar en kopia av varje publicerad artikel i ett öppet, digitalt arkiv och
2. Uppmuntra forskarna att publicera sina forskningsartiklar i fritt tillgängliga vetenskapliga tidskrifter när en lämplig sådan existerar och ge det stöd som krävs för att detta ska vara möjligt.

Bakgrund

Berlindeklarationen innebär:
â?¢ encouraging our researchers/grant recipients to publish their work according to the principles of the open access paradigm.
â?¢ encouraging the holders of cultural heritage to support open access by providing their resources on the Internet.
â?¢ developing means and ways to evaluate open access contributions and online-journals in order to maintain the standards of quality assurance and good scientific practice.
â?¢ advocating that open access publication be recognized in promotion and tenure evaluation.
â?¢ advocating the intrinsic merit of contributions to an open access infrastructure by software tool devel-opment, content provision, metadata creation, or the publication of individual articles

Under våren 2005 antogs två rekommendationer:
In order to implement the Berlin Declaration institutions should:
1. implement a policy to require their researchers to deposit a copy of all their published articles in an open access repository and
2. encourage their researchers to publish their research articles in open access journals where a suitable journal exists and provide the support to enable that to happen.

Posted on by mklang

Swedish Radio, Public Service & Internet Technology

Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio – www.sr.se) is the public service radio broadcaster in Sweden. The company is owned by a foundation and is entirely funded by licence fees. Advertising is not permitted. Swedish Radio is proud of its public service tradition. One of the goals of Swedish Radio is that the programs shall be of interest for a wide audience across the country and made available to listeners in the whole country.

(Programmen skall rikta sig till och vara tillgängliga för publiken i hela landet samt i skälig omfattning tillgodose skiftande behov och intressen hos landets befolkning.)

The purpose of Public Service Radio, as defined by SR themselves is that everyone, independent of sex, age, geographical residence or cultural background should be able to find something of value among SRâ??s programming.

To further fulfil these goals SR has adopted digital technology and the Internet as a mode of infrastructure. It is possible to listen to the radio online and to find and download recent programs, as well as programs from the archives.

Unfortunately SR fallen (inadvertently?) into the trap of using proprietary software. To be able to listen to SRâ??s audio files the user must have Realplayer version 7 (or later) installed on her computer. The user has a choice between using either the free version or buying the program.

However using Realplayer presents the user with something of a dilemma. The first problem arises from the fact that the free version of the software is not entirely easy to find. For those who are unaware that the free version exists the alternative is to purchase the software.

The second problem is that Realplayer has serious integrity issues. They have been sued for privacy violations more than once. For those users who wish to protect their integrity Realplayer is not a viable alternative.

The third problem arises if the user wishes not to support or use proprietary software. Free Software, the alternative approach presented by the Free Software Foundation is an important part of an open technological infrastructure and many who support the need for Free Software alternatives are not able to listen to SRâ??s audio files since they are not available in non-proprietary alternatives.

Audio compression formats based upon non-patented, open source solutions (Such as ogg vorbis – www.vorbis.com) should be the format of choice for large publicly funded radio stations such as Sveriges Radio.

Using such formats Swedish Radio will promote open formats for listening and become part of an open society instead of providing support for a private corporation lock-in.

This post therefore argues:

1. Swedish Radio should not be promoting the product of a single manufacturer.
2. Swedish Radio should not be promoting products which are used to gather data about the user.
3. Swedish Radio should be supporting free and open formats.

Posted on by mklang

Fri programvara som digital offentlighetsprincip | 24timmarsbloggen

Vår förmåga att använda oss av offentlighetsprincipen är en grundläggande byggsten i vår demokrati. Detta innebär att vår oförmåga att se på hur myndigheternas programvara fungerar är en brist i vår demokratiska kontroll. Lika mycket som de flesta av oss inte använder offentlighetsprincipen så kommer vi inte att vilja studera källkod och mjukvara. Men rättigheten att kunna göra det kommer att garantera att andra intresserade grupper och media kommer att ha bättre insikt i den demokratiska processen.

Gästbloggare: Fri programvara som digital offentlighetsprincip | 24timmarsbloggen

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