Category Archives: governance
The Public/Private Database Industry
On multiple fronts, the U.S. government is pumping up the database industry with large sums of public money. The notion that “public” government-surveillance and “private” corporate-surveillance are some how different is a useless distinction – they’re two sides of the same state-surveillance coin.
First, from The Hill:
This week, without much fanfare, the House is expected to [...]
Also posted in informationalism, surveillance Tagged Database Industry, DMCA, DOJ, GAO, PACER, Yahoo 2 Comments
Securing Cyberspace in 60 Minutes
This past Sunday, 60 Minutes did a segment on cybersecurity titled “Cyberwar: Sabotaging the System.” The segment mostly focused on the “new” national security issues that cyberspace presents, while barely discussing how many of these “new” cybersecurity issues are — at least in part — caused by traditional social engineering. One example being 60 Minutes’ [...]
Also posted in informationalism, quotes, security Tagged CENTCOM, CSIS, cyberdominance, cyberwar Leave a comment
FDR on Security
A good deal of my dissertation is concerned with notions of security, and insecurity, in informational environments. While my primary concern is with young people’s experiences and understandings of cyber(in)security, I’ve also taken an interest in contemporary and historical discourses of security (e.g. Seven Takes on Security). So, I was excited to see Michael Moore [...]
Google the Gate Keeper
A reminder that Google doesn’t really search “the web,” just a relatively narrow slice of it. From Threat Level:
The homepage of Pirate Bay disappeared from Google’s search results Friday, after Google allegedly received a DMCA takedown notice targeting the site.
The move is unexpected because, while the Pirate Bay is rife with pirated material, the site’s [...]
Also posted in censorship, informationalism, methodology Tagged DMCA, Google, Pirate Bay, semantic web Leave a comment
Twitter changes TOS: THEY own YOUR tweets
Twitter recently changed their Terms of Service (i.e. TOS). They (somewhat) address the changes in a blog post, that generally outline each change, most notable their new found ability to advertise and their redefinition of ownership:
Ownership—Twitter is allowed to “use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute” your tweets because that’s what [...]
The Eco-governmentality of Surveillance
The NY Times reports on China’s new surveillance policy requiring citizens to log into news sites with their “real identities” before posting comments. After pointing out that the comments posted to these news sites were already heavily censored and traceable via a commenter’s IP address, the article notes the fallibility of this new layer of [...]
Also posted in identity, informationalism, privacy, security, surveillance Tagged China, ecogovernmentality, governmentality Leave a comment
the great irony of informationalism
On May 29, 2009, Obama announced his intention to appoint a “cyber czar” to coordinate cybersecurity policy for private and government computer networks in the US. Obama also argued the importance of educating the public about cybersecurity while highlighting the dialectical reality of cyberspace:
Cyberspace is real and so are the risks that come with [...]
pirates win seat in EU parliament
According to Wired’s Threat Level blog:
Sweden’s Pirate Party won a seat in the European Union Parliament, swept in Sunday amid outrage over a new copyright law and the convictions of the four founders of The Pirate Bay.
The party, formed to protest copyright law, took 7.1 percent of votes in Sweden and one of that country’s [...]
Also posted in informationalism, participation, privacy, property Tagged EU, pirate party, Sweden Leave a comment
Whose Privacy?