Archive for the ‘World Events’ Category
Posted January 18th, 2012
From CNET
Internet now active with 2.1 billion users
You’re one of the 2.1 billion people actively using the Internet.
Looking at the state of the online world throughout 2011, traffic site Pingdom found that the number of Internet users has jumped from a mere 360 million at the end of 2000 and now accounts for 30 percent of the planet’s population.
Sweeping across the continents, Asia holds 922 million Internet users, Europe has 476 million, and North America is in third place with 271 million. Drilling down to individual countries, China is on top with 485 million people using the Internet, more than 36 percent of its total population.
For the full story go HERE.
Posted in Cool Ideas, World Events by Ken Taylor
Posted September 29th, 2011
As reported by UN.org via David Goldstein: “The Internet’s role as a catalyst for change in light of the turmoil sweeping North Africa and the Middle East, the exposure by WikiLeaks of confidential United States diplomatic cables and recent cyber-attacks are high on the agenda of a United Nations-backed meeting that began today.
Over 2,000 delegates from more than 100 countries, representing governments, the private sector, civil society, the Internet community, international organizations and the media, have converged on Nairobi, to examine cross-border challenges at the sixth meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), set up to support Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in carrying out the mandate of the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis.”
Click HERE to read more.
Tags: Internet Governance
Posted in World Events by Kelly Hardy
Posted August 31st, 2011
CircleId.com reports: “Effects of hurricane Irene were clearly visible in the Internet’s global routing table, as tens of thousands of networks were cut off from the rest of the world, according to analysis by Renesys.”
Click HERE to read more
Tags: Hurricane Irene
Posted in Tech News, World Events by Kelly Hardy
Posted June 7th, 2011
As reported by Time.com: “A United Nations report released Friday declares Internet access a human right. Presented to the General Assembly, the report by UN Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue states that, “the Internet has become a key means by which individuals can exercise their right to freedom and expression.”
As LaRue highlighted, Internet access can be particularly valuable during times of political unrest, as evidenced in the Arab Spring uprisings. LaRue emphasized the power of the Internet as a communication medium and said in his report that, “given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all states.”
Click HERE to read the full article.
Tags: Frank La Rue, UN
Posted in Tech News, World Events by Kelly Hardy
Posted May 26th, 2011
As reported by the New York TImes: “Leaders of the Group of 8 industrialized countries are set to issue a provocative call for stronger Internet regulation, a cause championed by the host of the meeting, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, but fiercely opposed by some Internet companies and free-speech groups.
The G-8 leaders will urge the adoption of measures to protect children from online predators, to strengthen privacy rights and to crack down on digital copyright piracy, according to two people who have seen drafts of a communiqué the G-8 will issue at the end of a meeting this week in Deauville, France. At the same time, the document is expected to include a pledge to maintain openness and to support entrepreneurial, rather than government-led, development of the Internet.”
Click HERE to read the full article.
Tags: G8, Internet Regulation
Posted in World Events by Kelly Hardy
Posted March 18th, 2011
The following is the outcome of ICANN 40, San Francisco according to ICANN.org:
• The Board intends to complete the process for final approval of the New gTLD implementation program at an extraordinary meeting of the ICANN Board to be held on Monday, 20 June 2011, at the ICANN public meeting in Singapore.
• The Board endorsed all 27 of the recommendations made by the Accountability and Transparency Review Team, and requested ICANN Staff to prepare implementation plans.
• The period for accepting public comments about the process for creating new GNSO constituencies was extended.
• The Board supported entering into a Registry Agreement with ICM, approving .XXX as a new top-level domain.
Tags: .xxx, ICANN 40, ICM Registry, new gTLDs
Posted in Conferences, gTLDS, ICANN, Know Your Domains, Tech News, World Events by Kelly Hardy
Posted March 11th, 2011
The Google homepage is famously sparse. Despite the few times a year the appearance of the logo is altered or a game of Pac Man is facilitated, the homepage offers the basic search function that built the much expanded companies empire.
Today Google is engaged in a different kind of search. Users in the immediate areas affected by the massive earthquake off the coast of Japan and the Tsunami that followed are now seeing a search and report feature added to Google’s homepage. The feature (which was also used during the Christ Church, New Zealand quake) was created to assist in the public’s search for missing loved ones and for survivors to report their status and location.
In other areas of the Pacific awaiting possible damage, like the western coast of the United States, the Google homepage includes a Tsunami Alert.
Tags: Google, Japan, Tsunami
Posted in Tech News, World Events by Kelly Hardy
Posted March 10th, 2011
As reported by Jillian C. York for Al Jazeera: “Since the term “Twitter revolution” was coined in the summer of 2009 to describe the Iranian Green Movement’s use of the microblogging site, the nomenclature has used in an unforunate manner, applied to any sort of use of such tools during times of protest.
But while Twitter, Facebook, and even Google Docs were used in the recent revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, most experts agree that they are tools, not catalysts for revolution.
Nevertheless, praise has been disproportionately bestowed upon these Silicon Valley giants by mainstream media, with little mention of the potential dangers of using such tools.
To find evidence of such risks, we need only look to Azerbaijan where, just last week, the moderator of a Facebook page calling for protest in the country was arrested, or to Tunisia, where dissidents’ Gmail and Facebook accounts were phished by the government in the midst of the revolt.”
Click HERE to read the full article.
Tags: Al Jazeera, Social Media Revolt
Posted in Tech News, World Events by Kelly Hardy
Posted February 25th, 2011
As reported by Wired.com: “Munyaradzi Gwisai, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe’s law school, was showing internet videos about the tumult sweeping across North Africa to students and activists last Saturday, when state security agents burst into his office.
The agents seized laptop computers, DVD discs and a video projector before arresting 45 people, including Gwisai, who runs the Labor Law Center at the University of Zimbabwe. All 45 have been charged with treason — which can carry a sentence of life imprisonment or death — for, in essence, watching viral videos.”
Click HERE to read the full article.
Tags: Munyaradzi Gwisai, Wired, Zimbabwe
Posted in Tech News, World Events by Kelly Hardy
Posted February 12th, 2011
According to Wired.com “ Rep. Jackie Speier (D-California) introduced a bill Friday that would require online-tracking firms to allow citizens to opt out of tracking, or else face stiff fines.”
Click HERE to read the full article.
Tags: Online Tracking, Rep. Jackie Speier, Wired
Posted in Enforcement, Internet Security, World Events by Kelly Hardy
