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Category Archives: SOPA

CISPA will test the power of online protest

22 Apr

cispaIf you come across some websites on Monday that don’t seem to be working, don’t panic - it’s probably an online protest against the latest round of proposed internet privacy laws. Over the weekend, the hackers of Anonymous called for websites to join the blackout on Apr. 22, to make a statement against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week.

Here’s the group’s video:

CISPA will make it easier for internet service providers and web companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook to voluntarily share user information with authorities by giving them more protections against privacy lawsuits. That’s why politicians such as Senator Mike Rogers, from Michigan, suggest that such companies actually support the bill, with opposition coming only from “teenagers in their basements.” Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on April 22, 2013 in anonymous, SOPA

 

10 Canadian tech stories that mattered in 2012

27 Dec

It’s the end of the year, which means it’s end-of-the-year list time. Sure, some people write these lists off as journalists getting lazy and trying to fill some space in an otherwise slow news period. That’s true, but it’s also worthwhile reflecting on some of the things that happened over the past year so that we can perhaps learn from them. As the cliche goes, those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most important Canadian technology-related stories of the past year.

10. UBB: The Saga Continues

broadband-meter

Most of the drama over usage-based billing happened in 2011, but the after-effects were still being felt throughout 2012. Independent internet providers such as TekSavvy are still arguing with network owners such as Bell over the price of bits, while other big network owners such as Telus are moving their monthly caps downward. The past year was supposed to see an improvement in how much Canadians can use their internet services, but caps - especially in wireless - went the wrong way instead. The internet access situation is just as bad, if not worse, than it was a year ago. Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on December 27, 2012 in copyright, crtc, government, internet, RIM, SOPA, telecommunications, Twitter, video games

 

SOPA and the Twitter echo chamber

25 Jan

To mark last Wednesday’s internet protest against the Stop Online Privacy Act, I got on a plane to Cuba. I thought it would be a fitting way to get a sneak preview of the proposed law, which would have given a small group of U.S. legislators the power to censor the whole web, since it’s something the country practices every day.

Of course, I’m kidding. My trip wasn’t politically motivated at all. I just simply needed a quick vacation after the madness of the preceding Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Some convalescing on a beach was just what the doctor ordered to get over the nasty chest cold I’d incurred. And truth be told, Cuba is perversely a great place to get away from it all, since internet access is virtually non-existent.

Just as I was getting on the plane, I got into a mini-debate on Twitter with Alex Howard, a correspondent for O’Reilly Media, a book and web publisher in California. Howard took exception to my tweet that “Twitter is one big SOPA echo chamber today. Over on Facebook, nobody cares.”

I was referring to the fact that Wikipedia and a number of well-known websites had chosen to go dark to protest SOPA, and that Twitter was buzzing about it. If the social media service was to be believed, nothing else of importance was going on in the world that day (except for maybe Johnny Depp’s new single status). Over on Facebook, meanwhile, SOPA was noticeably absent from my news feed. It was the same old baby photos, celebrity gossip and meal updates. Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on January 25, 2012 in Facebook, SOPA, Twitter

 
 
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