· January, 2012

Stories about Law from January, 2012

Jamaica: Gully versus Gaza

  27 January 2012

Jamaica Salt considers “how Jamaican music superstars, Vybz Kartel and Mavado have taken their different paths”, suggesting: “Kartel [is] more real in a way but when it comes to survival in this life, he maybe has something to learn from the Gully God.”

Brazil: A View from Aboard on Pinheirinho Eviction

  27 January 2012

Jimmy Greer, an activist and sustainability consultant for I-See Global based in London, writes about “the brutal eviction” of Pinheirinho, in Brazil as “another example of a skewed approach to governing that is at odds with an active, connected and changing society that demands more from its elected officials.”

Côte d'Ivoire: The Story of a Cybercrime Victim

  27 January 2012

Reacting on an article about the spread of cybercrime in Côte d'Ivoire on abidjan.net ,  Moussa Delafontaine Coulibaly shares his own experience with cybercrime [fr]: “[I think] that these [cybercriminals] ought to be tracked down and persecuted. Because of them, my Paypal account has been blocked since last December and I...

China: Not Worried About Twitter's Decision to Self-Censor

  27 January 2012

Twitter announced this week that, with an eye on global profits, it has decided to begin censoring content prohibited in the various markets in which the company has users. Although Twitter remains blocked in China, the site's Chinese-language users have responded to the news.

Portugal: State Radio Silenced after Angola Opinion Piece

  27 January 2012

A week after the broadcast of an opinion piece by the journalist Pedro Rosa Mendes on public radio, the end of the program was announced. The piece criticized the coverage of an event with several politicians and business men from Portugal and Angola. Bloggers immediately reacted to the "axing of freedom of expression".

Cuba: Internet as a Public Good

  26 January 2012

“In addition to triggering the greatest civic hell-raising in Internet history…the SOPA/PIPA laws have touched a nerve in Cuba’s digital community”: half-wired explains.

Serbia: The Media War Against Angelina Jolie

  26 January 2012

Angelina Jolie was concerned about the reception of her director's debut movie, 'In the Land of Blood and Honey', in Bosnia and Serbia, and some of her fears turned out to be justified. Sasa Milosevic reports on the virtual battle that Jolie's film has caused.

Brazil: “Massacre of Pinheirinho” Causes an Uproar

  25 January 2012

The violent eviction of the community of Pinheirinho, in the city of São José dos Campos, in the state of São Paulo, became known as "Massacre of Pinheirinho" after a demonstration of violence and brutality by the police in the expulsion and intimidation of residents dumped in the midst of a huge legal mess.

Cuba, Barbados: Power of the Hunger Strike

  25 January 2012

Uncommon Sense notes that Cuban dissident Jorge Cervantes has gone on a hunger strike after being arrested for putting up posters protesting the recent death of hunger striker and prisoner of conscience Wilman Villar Mendoza. Barbados Free Press, meanwhile, republishes a letter from a Cuban prisoner who has served his...

Puerto Rico: Vigilance over SOPA & PIPA

  25 January 2012

Dondequiera says of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA): “Mark my word, this issue is not dead. More like the living dead, a zombie issue, if you like. Many companies…believe that the only way to kill the intellectual property rights legislation is to...

Romania: “I, the Citizen”

  25 January 2012

Street protests in Romania have been going on for over a week now. The protesters are demanding early elections; they do not yet have a leader, but they nevertheless have a powerful voice. Oana Maria Dan reports.

Russia: Community of Election Observers Launched

RuNet Echo  24 January 2012

Creators of popular citizen crowdsourcing projects RosYama and RosPil Alexey Navalny and Georgiy Alburov launch a new project RosVybory [ru], a community of election observers. Users submit their data to the website, then project moderators apply for the necessary observer documents and send registered users to the nearby voting ballots.

Cuba: “Bad” Reporting on Hunger Striker's Death

  24 January 2012

“Wilman Villlar was a political activist accused of murder, contempt and who knows what other charges. Now we can expect our press to report it, belatedly and badly”, says Bad Handwriting, while Havana Times links to that “belated and bad” reporting here and republishes a counter-argument here.

Haiti: More Cases of UN Sexual Assault

  24 January 2012

Following new allegations of sexual assault against minors by UN troops in Haiti, mediahacker notes that “the peacekeeping troops accused of sexually abusing the young man in Port Salut have been released from custody and the impunity…continues.”

Jamaica: Bogle, Rastas & Dons

  24 January 2012

“It may be unseemly to some folks to see a commonality between Jamaica’s national hero Paul Bogle, the Rastafari and the dons who rule the island’s so called politically defined ‘garrison communities’”: Abeng News Magazine makes the link.