BERKMAN BUZZ: A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations
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What's being discussed...take your pick or browse below.
* Ethan Zuckerman live-blogs the future of ICT for development
* Wendy Seltzer wants space for the unexpected
* The CMLP explores a Canadian court decision on online defamation
* David Weinberger rejoices for net neutrality
* Dan Gillmor launches a hypothetical news org
* PRX and partners are concerned for your health
* Publius Project essay: "ICT Diffusion: Have we really made any
progress?" by
Sabri Saidam
* Weekly Global Voice: "Honduras: Citizen Videos from a Country Under
Curfew"
* NEW! Micro-post of the week: Christian Sandvig, BAM!
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The full buzz.
"Had enough ICT for development? Me neither. But Professor Spence may
have. He introduces the question for our last closed session, “Can we
agree?” He suspects the answer is no, and invites us to go out for
cocktails. But first he suggests we identify questions that are top
research priorities for the ICT for development field."
From Ethan Zuckerman's blog post Harvard Forum: Are we satisfied with
what we've got?"
"In a speech this
morning, widely heralded (and criticized)
as a call for “network neutrality,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski:
“Why has the Internet proved to be such a powerful engine for
creativity, innovation, and economic growth? A big part of the answer
traces back to one key decision by the Internet’s original architects:
to make the Internet an open system.”Now “open system” doesn’t mean
anarchy. The Internet has rules,
technical standards codified in the unassuming sounding "Requests for
Comment.""
From Wendy Seltzer's blog post The Freedom to Innovate Without
Permission
"IP Osgoode alerts us to an interesting decision from the Court of Appeal for British Columbia that has
important implications for online speech in Canada. In an opinion issued earlier this month, the Canadian
court held that Jon Newton of p2pnet newscould not be held liable for linking to allegedly defamatory articles
written by others about politician Wayne Crookes. The appellate ruling
upheld a lower court decision last fall dismissing Crookes'
case against Newton."
From Sam Bayard's blog post for the Citizen Media Law Project, Canadian Court Rejects Defamation Liability for Hyperlinks: Crookes v.
Newton"
"I know there are lots of arguments about Net
neutrality.I understand that there’s vagueness to the term, that there are times
when we may want access providers to discriminate among bits, that it’s
possible there will be unintended consequences. But, I want to say two
basic things."
From David Weinberger's blog post Net neutrality, One Web Day, and a
moment for joy"
"Well, that was interesting. When I posted those “Eleven
Things I’d Do if I Ran a News Organization,”
I confess I wasn’t expecting the great response, which ranged from
compliments to potshots to refinements to suggestions (and more). The
list of 11 wasn’t meant to be comprehensive. Still, I’ve been
asked if those items represented everything on my hypothetical plate.
Of course not. (Contrary to what some folks said about the previous
list, these aren’t just aimed at newspapers; they apply to any media
organization that purports to do journalism.)"
From Dan Gillmor's blog post Eleven More Things I’d Do if I Ran a News
Organization
"Program directors, news directors, editors, producers, reporters, Web
managers: FluPortal.org is for you. We want to help your station be a
destination for information about the H1N1 flu pandemic. Launched by
PRX and CPB, FluPortal has links to reputable public information,
public media coverage, and customized Web widgets. Weave these
resources into your on-air reports and your Web sites. Tell us how
you’re covering the flu, and give us feedback. Keep up with latest on
the FluPortal blog."
From Rekha Murthy's blog post for the Public Radio Exchange Announcing FluPortal.org, an H1N1 Resource for Public Media
"It is undoubted that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is
often considered as one of the main pillars for human and
socio-economic development. It is therefore widely recognized that ICTs
are becoming increasingly popular as tools for improving human,
technical and financial capital for the benefit of individuals,
communities and nation-states. It is for this reason that the entire
world has embarked in recent years on promoting ICT for Development
(ICT4D). We are therefore often invited to play a critical role in
defining and shaping the ICT4D discourse and best practice taking into
account socio-cultural, economic and political environments. This is a
vital way for ensuring that the ICT4D agenda of the Information Society
movement does not join previous doctrines of science, technology and
development in becoming yet another missed opportunity."
From Sabri Saidam's essay on Publius.cc ICT Diffusion: Have we really
made any progress?
"Three months after Honduran President Mel Zelaya was
ousted in a coup that some Hondurans claim
was justified and others insist was illegal,
he returned to Honduras on September 21 seeking refuge in the Brazilian
Embassy in the capital city, Tegucigalpa. Zelaya's return has led to an
escalation of the political tension and division in the streets of
Honduras, leaving citizens frightened, and lacking food as a compulsory
nationwide curfew was imposed by Roberto Micheletti's interim
government."
From Eduardo Avila's blog post for Global Voices Honduras: Citizen
Videos from a Country Under Curfew
"Yochai Benkler drops the generative technology / wireless carterfone
bomb. BAM! #idrc09"[8:00
PM Sep 23rd]
Christian Sandvig watching "Communication and Human Development: The
Freedom Connection?"