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Berkman Center Webcast live oggi ore 18.30 - Cheap smartphones, digital news and the world’s biggest election

by Giuseppe Futia

Cheap smartphones, digital news and the world’s biggest election http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/05/shah *Hasit Shah, Nieman-Berkman Fellow in Journalism Innovation at Harvard & Senior Producer at BBC News in London* Today, 6.30 pm Webcast live: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast http://nexa.polito.it/berkman-webcast-live On June 1, 2014 the world’s biggest democracy, India, will have a new government, after an enormous, complex election taking place over several weeks. This is probably the country’s first proper ‘digital’ election, with Internet-based campaigning and journalism coming to the fore. Those who are connected will see a very different election to those that have gone before. However, we have to remember that even at the most optimistic estimates, no more than a sixth of Indians have access to the Internet. That’s a billion people who are being left behind. But smartphones are getting cheaper and mobile internet connections are becoming more easily available. The new Internet users will demand content that won’t be in English, that doesn’t necessarily demand high levels of literacy and works well on basic devices with erratic connections. Hasit, a Nieman-Berkman Fellow at Harvard and Senior Producer for BBC News in London, is researching models for digital news designed for this type of user and will speak about his findings. About Hasit Hasit Shah is a senior producer at BBC News in London. He is a 2014 Nieman-Berkman Fellow in Journalism Innovation at Harvard and he will study the rapid growth and development of digital media in India and its impact on journalism, society, popular culture, political discourse, the economy and public policy. He has worked in radio, TV and social media in the BBC newsroom and in foreign affairs, specializing in South Asia. He has covered major breaking news stories and events across the world, including the Mumbai attacks, riots in France, violence in Indian-administered Kashmir, the London bombings, regime change in Egypt and the earthquake in Japan.

May 6, 2014

Berkman Center Webcast live oggi ore 18.30 - Cheap smartphones, digital news and the world’s biggest election

by Giuseppe Futia

Cheap smartphones, digital news and the world’s biggest election http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/05/shah *Hasit Shah, Nieman-Berkman Fellow in Journalism Innovation at Harvard & Senior Producer at BBC News in London* Today, 6.30 pm Webcast live: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast http://nexa.polito.it/berkman-webcast-live On June 1, 2014 the world’s biggest democracy, India, will have a new government, after an enormous, complex election taking place over several weeks. This is probably the country’s first proper ‘digital’ election, with Internet-based campaigning and journalism coming to the fore. Those who are connected will see a very different election to those that have gone before. However, we have to remember that even at the most optimistic estimates, no more than a sixth of Indians have access to the Internet. That’s a billion people who are being left behind. But smartphones are getting cheaper and mobile internet connections are becoming more easily available. The new Internet users will demand content that won’t be in English, that doesn’t necessarily demand high levels of literacy and works well on basic devices with erratic connections. Hasit, a Nieman-Berkman Fellow at Harvard and Senior Producer for BBC News in London, is researching models for digital news designed for this type of user and will speak about his findings. About Hasit Hasit Shah is a senior producer at BBC News in London. He is a 2014 Nieman-Berkman Fellow in Journalism Innovation at Harvard and he will study the rapid growth and development of digital media in India and its impact on journalism, society, popular culture, political discourse, the economy and public policy. He has worked in radio, TV and social media in the BBC newsroom and in foreign affairs, specializing in South Asia. He has covered major breaking news stories and events across the world, including the Mumbai attacks, riots in France, violence in Indian-administered Kashmir, the London bombings, regime change in Egypt and the earthquake in Japan. Sara also consults with technology companies about their data practices and policies. She has worked with companies such as Crimson Hexagon, Brightcove, and The World Economic Forum. Previously she was an enterprise technology analyst at The Research Board, exploring the implications of large-scale technological trends for Fortune 500 CIOs. Sara holds an MSc in the Social Science of the Internet with distinction from the Oxford Internet Institute, and graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude with a joint degree in English and American Literature and Film Studies. Links * I didn't Tell Facebook I'm Engaged, So Why Is It Asking About My Fiancé? <http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/i-didnt-tell-facebook…> * Sara's Homepage <http://saramwatson.com/> * @smwat <https://twitter.com/smwat>

May 6, 2014

"Il bene e il male della rivoluzione digitale" - Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino

by Giuseppe Futia

Il bene e il male della rivoluzione digitale http://nexa.polito.it/2014-salone-del-libro <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/04/watson> *Giovedì 8 maggio 2014, ore 15.00 Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino* Sala Azzurra <http://static.aws.salonelibro.it/images/stories/sale_lingotto/SalaAzzurra/s…>* * Partecipanti: *Fiorenzo Alfieri, Fabio Chiusi, Juan Carlos De Martin, Domitilla Ferrari, Marco Gui* Le tecnologie digitali stanno producendo mutazioni profonde che investono mentalità, atteggiamenti, pratiche sociali e didattiche. Può Internet garantire una migliore partecipazione nalla vita democratica? E per la scuola, si tratta di una vera opportunità? Rispondono Fiorenzo Alfieri (Strade parallele. La scuola, la vita, Dino Audino editore), il saggista e blogger Fabio Chiusi (Critica della democrazia digitale, Codice), e due docenti che studiano l'impatto del digitale sull'apprendimento Juan Carlos De Martin e Marco Gui (A dieta di media. Comunicazione e qualità della vita, il Mulino). Domitilla Ferrari è autrice di Due gradi e mezzo di separazione (Sperling & Kupfer). Sul tema tecnologia e istruzione vi segnaliamo inoltre l'articolo <http://nexa.polito.it/nexacenterfiles/La%20Stampa%20-%20La%20scuola%20digit…> (PDF - 1,85 MB) di Juan Carlos De Martin pubblicato su "La Stampa" del 3 maggio 2014, Speciale Salone del Libro, p. VI. Una versione in HTML dell'articolo è disponibile all'indirizzo: http://demartin.polito.it/blog/180.

May 6, 2014

Re: [nexa] Fwd: [IP] evel 3 accuses five unnamed US ISPs of abusing their market power in peering

by bernardo parrella

...gia', purtroppo, e sempre su fcc & net neutrality: http://www.dailydot.com/politics/senator-franken-fcc-net-neutrality/ http://www.dailydot.com/politics/what-is-net-neutrality-cgp-grey/

May 5, 2014

Fwd: [IP] evel 3 accuses five unnamed US ISPs of abusing their market power in peering

by J.C. DE MARTIN

(Sent from my tiny-screen wireless device; excuse brevity or typos) Begin forwarded message: > From: Dave Farber <dave(a)farber.net> > Date: 05 maggio 2014 21:10:56 CEST > To: "ip" <ip(a)listbox.com> > Subject: [IP] evel 3 accuses five unnamed US ISPs of abusing their market power in peering > Reply-To: dave(a)farber.net > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: "Dewayne Hendricks" <dewayne(a)warpspeed.com> > Date: May 5, 2014 2:02 PM > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Level 3 accuses five unnamed US ISPs of abusing their market power in peering > To: "Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net" <dewayne-net(a)warpspeed.com> > Cc: > > Level 3 accuses five unnamed US ISPs of abusing their market power in peering > By Stacey Higginbotham > May 5 2014 > <http://gigaom.com/2014/05/05/level-3-accuses-five-unnamed-us-isps-of-abusin…> > > SUMMARY: > Level 3 is accusing 5 U.S. ISPs of using their market power to limit the amount of traffic that can get on their networks, thus degrading the consumer broadband experience in hopes of charging content providers money. > > Level 3 Communications, a company that provides bandwidth for a wide variety of customers trying to get content from point A to point B on the internet, just accused five U.S. ISPs and one European ISP of using their market power to interfere with how traffic flows from Level 3 onto the ISPs’ last-mile network. The result is that customers of those ISPs experience degraded quality for services going over Level 3′s network. > > This is a so-called peering problem. The topic has been in the news since early this year, when consumers began complaining about the quality of their Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Instant Video streams on networks like Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner Cable. The issue is that at the interconnection points where Netflix traffic attempts to enter the last-mile ISP’s network, there isn’t enough capacity. Usually, when that happens, the transit provider or the content provider negotiate to add more capacity by opening up more ports. (I explain the process in this story.) > > However, in recent months Level 3, Netflix and Cogent have all gone publicaccusing some ISPs of keeping those ports congested while trying to charge above-market rates for direct interconnection. Netflix has signed such a direct interconnection agreement with both Comcast and Verizon. But it isn’t happy about it and accuses the ISPs of abusing their market power to extract payments from content companies trying to serve the last mile. > > In covering this issue, I’ve argued that the FCC needs to get data on these peering agreements and practices before we can prove that there’s a problem. It’s clear there is consumer harm, but what’s unclear is whether ISPs are actively blocking traffic, or hurting specific providers. It’s also unclear if ISPs are charging abusive rates to get direct interconnection agreements. > > These peering agreements are deeply held secrets, which means the FCC will have to force providers to disclose the terms of their agreements and what traffic looks like on their networks. By sharing some of its network details, Level 3 is offering us a transparency strip tease, giving us (and the FCC) a glimpse of the data it has without naming names. > > [snip] > > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/> > > > Archives | Modify Your Subscription | Unsubscribe Now

May 5, 2014

Re: [nexa] White House Advisors Demand Internet Bill Of Rights

by Alessandro Mantelero

Ho letto il Rapporto Podesta, ci sono vari aspetti e, come sempre in questi casi, luci ed ombre. A mio parere, ad una prima veloce lettura, il rapporto considera poco il profilo dei dati trattati da settore privato e pone più attenzione a quello pubblico. Interessante, anche se non nuovo e da un po' oggetto di attenzione, il punto sulla discriminazione. Bene le osservazioni sul mito dell'anonimizzazione. Questo uno dei punti più significativi della ricostruzione del contesto "The technological trajectory, however, is clear: more and more data will be generated about individuals and will persist under the control of others" (p.9) Lo stile narrativo è un po' retorico ed USA-centrico. La parte core sui consumatori dice poco a livello operativo, vero che implicitamente c'è il rinvio alla raccomandazione sul Privacy Bill of Right, che dovrà essere riproposto in discussione. Molto convinto poi, anche perchè proprio di questo sto scrivendo, sulla necessità di ripensare il modello "notice and choice". Ci sarebbe molto da dire in più, se trovo tempo magari posto un'analisi più strutturata. Ciao, Alessandro -- Avv. Alessandro Mantelero, PhD Aggregate Professor, Politecnico di Torino Director of Privacy and Faculty Fellow, Nexa Center for Internet and Society Visiting Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute Research Consultant, Sino-Italian Research Center for Internet Torts at Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology Programme Coordinator, Double Degree program in Management and IP Law, Politecnico di Torino–Tongji University of Shanghai http://staff.polito.it/alessandro.mantelero Politecnico di Torino Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 10129 Torino - Italy in libertate fortitudo On Mon, 5 May 2014 18:02:11 +0200 "Anna Masera" <masera_a(a)camera.it> wrote: > qualcuno in lista l'aveva visto questo? che cosa ne >pensate? > grazie, anna > ----------------------- > > Three months ago President Obama put together a group to >study internet privacy, the use of collected data, and >other concerns to the public spawned in the light of >recent spying concerns risen from the NSA. As the report >neared completion, the White House posted a public >consultation that the citizens of the US could go to >voice their opinions on a variety of internet issues. >White House counselor John Podesta has finally released >that report, though many consider it inconsistent and >lacking many of the major issues surrounding the problem >today. For example, there is no mention of the NSA or the >spying they did on Americans, nor the foreign political >figures that have scorned the White House over the >intrusion. > That aside, advocacy groups have embraced the report, >known as “Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving >Values,” for its declaration that more needs to be done >to protect people’s civil rights when it comes to large >data collection in government and private sectors, using >Google and Apple as some of the bigger examples. The >report also pointed to the Electronic Communications and >Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 and how its current obsolete >state needs major amendment changes to bring in into the >21st century’s digital realm. One of the calling points >on the ECPA was a statute that allows authorities to >openly read and assess emails more than six months old >that the document considers an “archaic distinction.” > > The White House report did offer policies that help >prevent data breaches and show what to do should a system >become compromised. However reviewers claim that a policy >change by Google appears to mirror the document’s privacy >to non-US citizens and to students, appearing to have >been all but copied and pasted from their model. >Regardless of where they pulled it from, consumer groups >such as the ACLU who unsuccessfully tried to sue the NSA >for data breaching, praised every suggestion made. They >did, however, send a warning to Washington — and the >White House specifically — that “now Congress and the >administration need to make this vision a reality by >enacting ECPA reform without any loopholes.” > > The Big Data document is part of a larger whole in the >investigation into the NSA’s antagonistic data collection >procedures that encompasses both governmental and private >concerns. Among particular offense was the “notice and >consent” standard used by many large corporations such as >Google which only gives a user a single chance to give >permission to share data, something the panel feels gives >people far too restrictive control over where their >personal data goes and how it could be re-used in the >future. For this reason, the panel suggest that both >Congress and the White House get together and form an >Internet Bill of Rights. Their voice joins with President >Obama who encouraged the same two years previously. > > The White House panel isn’t the only group out there >seeking to find out what to do with the miracle we call >the internet. Firefox has launched a site called “The Web >We Want” that asks the people of the world what they want >most out of the internet in the future and tallies the >results. According to their interactive map, privacy >ranks above other such things as freedom, accessibility >and user control. At present, nearly 75 million people >across the globe have taken part in the survey, with the >numbers rising at the top of the screen in real-time. > > > The White House encourages the citizens of America to >contact their representatives in Congress to express >their feelings and concerns by offering an easy way to >reach the once difficult to contact civil servant > > Read more at >http://www.inquisitr.com/1235671/white-house-advisors-demand-internet-bill-… > > > AVVISO: Questo messaggio ed i suoi eventuali allegati >sono rivolti esclusivamente ai destinatari e possono >contenere informazioni riservate. Qualsiasi utilizzo, >diffusione o riproduzione senza autorizzazione è >proibita. Qualora vi fosse pervenuto questo messaggio per >errore, esso va cancellato immediatamente con preghiera >di avvisare il mittente. Grazie.

May 5, 2014

White House Advisors Demand Internet Bill Of Rights

by Anna Masera

qualcuno in lista l'aveva visto questo? che cosa ne pensate? grazie, anna ----------------------- Three months ago President Obama put together a group to study internet privacy, the use of collected data, and other concerns to the public spawned in the light of recent spying concerns risen from the NSA. As the report neared completion, the White House posted a public consultation that the citizens of the US could go to voice their opinions on a variety of internet issues. White House counselor John Podesta has finally released that report, though many consider it inconsistent and lacking many of the major issues surrounding the problem today. For example, there is no mention of the NSA or the spying they did on Americans, nor the foreign political figures that have scorned the White House over the intrusion. That aside, advocacy groups have embraced the report, known as “Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values,” for its declaration that more needs to be done to protect people’s civil rights when it comes to large data collection in government and private sectors, using Google and Apple as some of the bigger examples. The report also pointed to the Electronic Communications and Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 and how its current obsolete state needs major amendment changes to bring in into the 21st century’s digital realm. One of the calling points on the ECPA was a statute that allows authorities to openly read and assess emails more than six months old that the document considers an “archaic distinction.” The White House report did offer policies that help prevent data breaches and show what to do should a system become compromised. However reviewers claim that a policy change by Google appears to mirror the document’s privacy to non-US citizens and to students, appearing to have been all but copied and pasted from their model. Regardless of where they pulled it from, consumer groups such as the ACLU who unsuccessfully tried to sue the NSA for data breaching, praised every suggestion made. They did, however, send a warning to Washington — and the White House specifically — that “now Congress and the administration need to make this vision a reality by enacting ECPA reform without any loopholes.” The Big Data document is part of a larger whole in the investigation into the NSA’s antagonistic data collection procedures that encompasses both governmental and private concerns. Among particular offense was the “notice and consent” standard used by many large corporations such as Google which only gives a user a single chance to give permission to share data, something the panel feels gives people far too restrictive control over where their personal data goes and how it could be re-used in the future. For this reason, the panel suggest that both Congress and the White House get together and form an Internet Bill of Rights. Their voice joins with President Obama who encouraged the same two years previously. The White House panel isn’t the only group out there seeking to find out what to do with the miracle we call the internet. Firefox has launched a site called “The Web We Want” that asks the people of the world what they want most out of the internet in the future and tallies the results. According to their interactive map, privacy ranks above other such things as freedom, accessibility and user control. At present, nearly 75 million people across the globe have taken part in the survey, with the numbers rising at the top of the screen in real-time. The White House encourages the citizens of America to contact their representatives in Congress to express their feelings and concerns by offering an easy way to reach the once difficult to contact civil servant Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1235671/white-house-advisors-demand-internet-bill-… AVVISO: Questo messaggio ed i suoi eventuali allegati sono rivolti esclusivamente ai destinatari e possono contenere informazioni riservate. Qualsiasi utilizzo, diffusione o riproduzione senza autorizzazione è proibita. Qualora vi fosse pervenuto questo messaggio per errore, esso va cancellato immediatamente con preghiera di avvisare il mittente. Grazie.

May 5, 2014

Un caso interessante sul tema Network Neutrality

by Giorgio Ventre

Una notizia interessante: il NYSE ha accettato di pagare una multa di 4.5 milioni di dollari alla SEC per una serie di irregolarità. La più interessante di queste è di avere consentito ad alcune società di trading di usufruire a prezzi di favore di nuovi servizi di co-location, che consiste nell'avere i propri server ospitati nei data center della Borsa di New York. Questo ovviamente consente di ridurre i tempi di comunicazione tra le piattaforme di trading, con notevoli vantaggi per l'High Frequency Trading. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/578b5124-d14b-11e3-81e0-00144feabdc0.html#axzz30f… In effetti, la multa sembre essere stata inflitta per la mancanza di una specifica regolamentazione da parte di NYSE, mentre sembra ovvio che soluzioni di questo genere dovrebbero essere oggetto di massima trasparenza nelle offerte di servizi di questo tipo o con problematiche simili. Un cordiale saluto a tutti Giorgio -- ======================================================================== Prof. Ing. Giorgio Ventre Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica e Tecnologie dell'Informazione Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Via Claudio 21 80125, Napoli, Italy Tel: +39 081 7683908 Fax: +39 081 7683816 Mob: +39 3807679372 E-mail: giorgio(a)unina.it http://www.comics.unina.it http://www.docenti.unina.it/giorgio.ventre ======================================================================== --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com

May 3, 2014

Linus Torvalds Named Recipient of the 2014 IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award

by J.C. DE MARTIN

*Linus Torvalds Named Recipient of the 2014 IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award* *LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., 23 April 2014 --*Linus Torvalds, the principal force behind development of the Linux kernel and overseer of open source development for the Linux operating system, has been named the 2014 recipient of the IEEE Computer Society's Computer Pioneer Award. Torvalds, a native of Helsinki, Finland, began working on the Linux kernel in 1991. An avid computer programmer, he authored many gaming applications in his early years. He did his early work on an Intel 386 CPU, using Minix, an Unix-inspired operating system created by Andrew Tanenbaum for use as a teaching tool. After Torvalds formed a team of volunteers to work on the Linux kernel, V1.0 was released in the spring of 1994. Torvalds in 1996 joined Transmeta, a California-based startup that was designing an energy-saving central processing unit (CPU). He continued to oversee kernel development for Linux, and in 2003 left Transmeta to focus exclusively on the Linux kernel as a Fellow at The Linux Foundation (known at the time as Open Source Development Labs). Torvalds remains the ultimate authority on what new code is incorporated into the standard Linux kernel. [...] Continua qui: http://www.computer.org/portal/web/pressroom/Linus-Torvalds-Named-Recipient…

May 2, 2014

Pubblicato il rapporto Gov US sui Big Data

by Alessandro Mantelero

Pubblicato l'atteso rapporto Podesta sui Big Data: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/big_data_privacy_report_… -- Avv. Alessandro Mantelero, PhD Aggregate Professor, Politecnico di Torino Director of Privacy and Faculty Fellow, Nexa Center for Internet and Society Visiting Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute Research Consultant, Sino-Italian Research Center for Internet Torts at Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology Programme Coordinator, Double Degree program in Management and IP Law, Politecnico di Torino–Tongji University of Shanghai http://staff.polito.it/alessandro.mantelero Politecnico di Torino Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 10129 Torino - Italy in libertate fortitudo

May 1, 2014