Stories about Technology from February, 2009
Shiv Sena's Orkut Campaign: The Limits to Freedom of Expression in an Intolerant India
Introduction: Freedom of Expression in the Indian Blogosphere The Indian blogosphere is abuzz with discussions on freedom of expression after the Supreme Court refused to throw out Shiv Sena's defamation case against 19 year old computer science student Ajith D (TOI). However, the Indian blogosphere's reactions to the controversy are...
Azerbaijan: Popular website back — minus forum
After several days of closure, the popular semi-independent Azerbaijani news and discussion website, Day.az, is back. However, raising additional questions about its brief disappearance, the site's forum — known for its open and somewhat democratic discussion — is not.
China: From Red Guards to Cyber-vigilantism to where next?
Rebecca Mackinnon from Rconversation discusses the rise of Net power in China: “Will the Chinese people rise above cyber-vigilantism and use the Internet to build a just and fair society governed by accountable leaders?”
Japan: Alpha Blogger Awards 2008 (Part 2)
Starting December 24th, the Alpha Blogger website called for people to nominate 1-3 blog entries written in 2008 that had affected them the most. Mid-term results were announced on January 16th, and voting was open until February 18th. The second half of this year's winners are featured in this post.
Guadeloupe: Police “Blunder”?
Amidst the confusion of the month-long social conflict in Guadeloupe, two nights of violence took place on February 17th and 18th. Apart from acts of arson in shops and numerous burning roadblocks, the climax of these violent clashes has been the as-yet unsolved assassination of a man. Trikess, who blogs...
Nigeria: Who You Be?: Nigeria's Bloggers Award
“Who You Be?” is the 2009 Nigeria's Bloggers Award whose nominations started February 24th and will run until March 5th. The bloggers behind the award are four female Nigerian bloggers: Sting, Toluwa, Naijagirl and Geisha (a retired blogger). Who You Be has an official blog where nominations, voting and community building will take place.
Saudi Arabia: First Internet Crime Sentence Upheld
Crossroads Arabia writes that the verdict has been upheld of the first Internet crime brought to court in Saudi Arabia, involving a man who hacked into a woman’s e-mail and tried to blackmail her with what he found there.
Uruguay: Gathering of Web Designers and Entrepreneurs
Martin will be attending Punta del Este 2009, an international gathering of entrepreneurs and web designers in Uruguay [es]
Taiwan: Google Map back to 1944
Kaishao introduces (zh) a new google map mashup presented by Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica. The map combines Google Map with the maps of several counties of Taiwan illustrated by U.S. Millitary information agency back in 1944.
Jordan: Low Quality Photo Essay
Roba Al Assi, from Jordan, features a web exclusive art photography collection in this post.
Singapore: Copyright Act and blogosphere
ringisei is worried that the Copyright Act is being used to “strangle” the blogosphere in Singapore.
Singapore: Amended law to allow filming of “factual” political rallies
Individuals who use their mobile phones to film illegal rallies can be arrested under an amended law in Singapore. Live film recordings of political events are allowed but the events being filmed must first be held in accordance with the law.
India: Nominations for Indibloggies
The nominations for the Indian blogging award Indibloggies 2008 will continue till 6th of March 2009. The Indibloggies are publicly-chosen awards conferred on bloggers from India and the Indian Diaspora since 2003. The nomination form is located here.
Ukraine: Politics on Twitter
Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko has an official Twitter account; his tweets mirror daily schedule announcements and latest news items that are featured on the official website as well. There is also a Yushchenko impersonator on Twitter. Former speaker Yatsenyuk seems to have a Twitter account, too, but his political movement's press service would not confirm it.
Jordan: Blog About Jordan Day
March 12 will mark the second Blog about Jordan Day, announces Qwaider. Bloggers are being encouraged to blog about Jordan on that day.
Japan: Alpha Blogger Awards 2008 (Part 1)
On the 20th of February, the 2008 Alpha Blogger Awards were held in Tokyo. Sponsored by Pringles Chips, the event this year was attended by close to 80 people (including the team of GV Japan), awarding prizes to the twelve posts from the Japanese blogosphere in 2008 that received the most votes on the ABA site.
China: Control 2.0 Mastermind
David Bandurski from China Media Project gave more background about the propaganda event in the “eluding the cat” case, especially on the mastermind behind the control 2.0 strategy.
India: Court Ruling Against Bloggers
Kafila informs about a recent Supreme Court ruling in India which states that “a person who starts a blog/community page cannot claim that it was a community page and not meant for public consumption.” That means the owner will be liable for all the collaborative contents and comments in that...
Nigeria: Naijoo: Nigeria's Own Video Sharing Site
Nigeria has its own video sharing site, writes Loy at Startups Nigeria, “If you watch videos from Yahoo! TV, you’re probably going to enjoy Naija’s own video sharing community called Naijoo.Tv, an online video sharing site that allows you to upload, view and share video clips. When I first heard...
Mexico: Urban Artists in Monterrey Take to the Internet
In the streets of Monterrey, a city best known for being the industrial and technological mecca of Mexico, graffiti and other urban artists are utilizing user-friendly electronic media in order to showcase their painted works and murals on the internet, but also in some cases to take advantage of the anonymity needed when painting illegally on public spaces.
Armenia: Illegal hunting in nature reserve exposed
Illustrating how online activism could make a difference in Armenia, a YouTube video of a chief forester hunting wild boar at the Khosrov nature reserve has resulted in his dismissal.
