The Superfast and the Furious
The internet is central to modern life, and next-generation fixed and mobile broadband are vitally important for the economy. But the case for spending any more taxpayers' money to subsidise very fast connectivity is weak, argues Sarah Fink.
A Year After SOPA, A Look At The Next Five Battles For Internet Freedom
A year since the largest protest in internet history against the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) what are the most important issues that activists to focus on?
First-mover disadvantage
Amazon has just unveiled a feature that Mp3.com were sued on copyright breaches for introducing in 2000. Wendy M Grossman asks why some companies have success with new technologies and others fail.
Censoring Pirate Sites Doesn’t Work, Researchers Find
Does censoring "pirate" sites reduce the availability of pirated content? Not necessarily, says Ernesto.
Symbiosis
“For free content to survive, advertising has to find levels and techniques consumers can tolerate.” Wendy M Grossman questions the extent to which blocking adverts benefits the user and argues that we need more control about what adverts we see than the current options of all or none.
The antitrust time warp
Wendy M Grossman discusses how slowly the government reacts to changes in the internet and finds out what happens when she tries to use her Android without relying on Google Play Store.
What Users Say and Do About Intellectual Property
Jabed Tarapdar writes up the discussion from the 'Copyright in the Digital Age: What Users Say and Do About Intellectual Property' event, which focused on new evidence from the University of Leeds.
Grabbing at Governance
Internet governance: what’s the situation and how is it evolving? Wendy M Grossman explores these questions in light of the coming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT).
Universal digitisation – the infrastructure is there, it’s just being dismantled
Ian Clark talks about universal digitisation and concludes that we should use the current library system and the internet as complementary components to reduce the digital divide.
Feature Interview: Stephanie de Vanssay on Social Media and Schools
Teacher and web 2.0 advocate, Stephanie de Vanssay has agreed to give an interview for ORGZine.She talks about her projects:integrating the web into the French education system and raising awareness on the benefits of the web 2.0 for children's learning process.
The Billion-Dollar Spree
Wendy Grossman analyses the 2012 US presidential candidates spending. She explains the rules and regulations behind the campaigns funding sources and concludes that in US elections, money is a key factor.
Holy Cyber
A reaction to the recent hacking of the French Euromillions website and also asking whether hacktivism actually is efficient or necessary.
Survival Instincts
Wendy Grossman tells us the real divide Sandy provoked in New York City was of a digital matter: those who can work remotely and those who can’t. She explores the extent to which the internet has made the City more resilient.
October Retrospective
Missed some of the discussion on the zine? We pick out the best articles and stories on the zine from October.
Washing Dirty Linen at Home
Paola Ycaza explains why regardless of what anyone thinks of Julian Assange, the official version fed to us by the Ecuadorian government is questionable. She dives into the facts showing that by granting Assange asylum, the Ecuadorian government probably has its own agenda.
Lie to me
Present at the Parliament and Internet conference, Wendy Grossman explains the reactions after the tone of the discussion revolving around cybersecurity was set following Andy Smith’s, PSTSA Security Manager, Cabinet Office suggestion to lie online to protect against identity theft.
Block-bursting My Eardrums
Ruth Coustick blogs about her nightmare experience with her local Blockbuster's repetitive horror movie-like music, how she tried to understand the reasoning behind it and was confronted with licensing laws.
Richard O'Dwyer's Extradition Case
Julia O’Dwyer explains her son’s, Richard O’Dwyer, case and the reasons behind the demand of his extradition by the US and why these might be considered as unfair
Finding the Gorilla
Wendy Grossman explores how perception and modes of thinking vary across animals, humans, and computers, and comes to the conclusion that although computers are getting more smart, they aren’t getting more human.
Ada Lovelace Day: A Celebration
Milena Popova explains the history and significance of Ada Lovelace Day, a celebration of women in STEM, and shows the importance of this day for digital rights.
Building a Digital Library
How close are we to fully digitised libraries? Director at Caper, Rachel Coldicutt and her partner scanned their entire book collection to find out.
The Doors of Probability
Mike Lynch, Autonomy founder, made his name by understanding Thomas Bayes and inverse probability. Wendy Grossman explains what a 1700s mathematician has to do with modern search engines and how Lynch was influenced by him.
Banned Books Week
A musing on the different attitudes we have to censorship of books and censorship of the internet.
Clean IT: a symptom of the pinata politics of privatised online enforcement
Joe McNamee, Executive Director of European Digital Rights, explains the European Commission's ‘Clean IT’ project, one of many subtle threats to regulate the internet.
Social Media Prosecutions: ‘Grossly Offensive’ to some
A nineteen-year old was arrested for posting an aggressive status update to his Facebook account in March 2012. Matt Bradley writes a clear timeline of the Azhar Ahmed case and compares it to other cases of social media prosecutions.
September Retrospective
Missed some of the discussion on the zine? The Editor looks back on September's articles on the zine and brings together the education and technology theme of the last month.
Don't take ballots from smiling strangers
Wendy Grossman received a series of amateurish emails suggesting that she sign up for electronic ballots – spam or anti-voting fraud? She explains how both problems are prevalent for voters.
Health Information: For Adults Only
Katherine Norman discusses her experience of finding maternity, midwifery and parenting sites blocked by Three and how her research led her to conclude that as a parent she will not make use of ISP parental controls.
The lesson we must never forget
Jon Fuller, anti-censorship campaigner with the Consenting Adult Action Network, gives his argument on what is wrong - in terms of privacy and civil liberties - with extreme pornography laws, and how cases like Simon Walsh's play out like a 21st Century ducking stool.
