*Anyone else seeing a certain cognitive dissonance here?
*Strange times.
http://bryce.vc/post/2938771491/the-video-above-is-less-than-a-minute-long-please
The video above is less than a minute long. Please take a moment to watch
it.
I’ll wait.
Did you see it? Sure there is much to the revolution unfolding in Egypt, but
that’s not the revolution I’m highlighting here.
In the video you’ll notice the events of the day are not getting
captured by film crews and news reporters. They’re being documented by people with
their mobile phones. Take another look at the video and count the number of
illuminated mobile phone screens you see being raised overhead to capture
pictures and video as the scenes in the streets unfolds.
I’m as guilty as anyone else for being overly enthused with investment
opportunities as the world goes increasingly more mobile. But, in the case
above, we’re not talking about some Stanford dropouts who’ve developed
a hot new iPhone app. We’re seeing something much more fundamental. Not just a
shift from the PC to handsets, but a shift from disconnected and isolated
members of developing nations to connected global citizens. Many of whom
skipped the PC altogether.
I had a conversation last week, that’s still rattling around in my head,
which was both troubling and inspiring. In it my friend pointed out that
people in the developing world have mobile phones before they have clean
water or toilets. Indeed, India has over 500 million mobile subscribers
while less than 400 million Indians have access to toilets.
By their nature, these phones were born social. They were built from the
ground up to connect us. First with voice, then with text. Now, they’re
packed capabilities like photos, videos and a wave of native and web
applications. We’re just beginning to catch a glimpse of what a powerful
and disruptive force they can be. Not just to incubent handset manufactures and
telcos but to social movements and government regimes.
I’ve made clear my belief that we’re in the midst of a massive global
reinvention. Not just a shift from analog to digital, but a shift from
centralized control to distributed systems. From isolated single user
experiences to a global social fabric. These mobile devices are the of
Gutenberg presses of our generation. This is not a bubble, this is a
revolution.
–
FN +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490
original at:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/217747/internet_providers_are_t...
ISPs Are the New Secret Police, Says Report
By Jennifer Baker, IDG News
More and more European Union member states are delegating online
policing to private companies and Internet service providers,
according to a report released Wednesday.
Where law enforcement agencies would traditionally have tackled the
problem of illegal online content, more powers are being given to ISPs
in the name of industry self-regulation, according to a study by the
organization European Digital Rights (EDRI). That trend is likely to
become stronger with increasing “extra-judicial sanctions” against
consumers, EDRI said.
Proposed legislation and “non-binding guidelines” have left
intermediaries in a precarious position, unsure whether they are
liable for the actions of consumers over their networks. So-called
“three strikes” laws, under which alleged copyright infringers receive
three warnings before their Internet connection is cut off, put the
onus on Internet service providers to police customers. Such laws
currently appear in some form in French, Irish and U.K. legislation,
where they have met with anger from ISPs. In France, the law can
impose a fine and a one-year Internet connection suspension. The
U.K.’s Digital Economy Act, adopted last year, provoked concern from
the country’s two largest ISPs, BT and TalkTalk.
International trade agreements such as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement (ACTA), and bilateral trade agreements the E.U. has signed
with India and South Korea, all leave the door open for intermediary
liability.
“The European Commission appears far from perturbed by the dangers
for fundamental rights of this approach and appears keen to export
the approach. This process is gradually strangling the openness that
is at the core of the Internet. This openness has enhanced democracy,
has shaken dictatorships and has boosted economies worldwide. This
openness is what we will lose through privatized policing of the
Internet by private companies,” said Joe McNamee, Advocacy Coordinator
at European Digital Rights.
Where is the contradiction? One article describes the potential of the Internet, the other shows the dangers to this potential.
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