By Evgeny Morozov September 26, 2007 Picnic 2007, Amsterdam How open and free is the Internet?

Whad do we mean by “open”?

accessible to all? free from limitations? lacking regulation? not legally repressed? egalitarian/mobile? deliberation-friendly? not yet decided? “ Open Internet”?

accessible to all?

free from limitations?

lacking regulation?

not legally repressed?

egalitarian/mobile?

deliberation-friendly?

not yet decided?

What do we mean by “free”?

Not controlled? Costing nothing/Affordable? Voluntary? Spontaneous? Lawless? Not subject to anyone's interference? “ Free Internet”

Not controlled?

Costing nothing/Affordable?

Voluntary?

Spontaneous?

Lawless?

Not subject to anyone's interference?

Why do governments feel (increasingly) threatened by the Internet?

I. Better opps for public mobilization and creating issue awareness

II. Better access to better data presented in better ways

III. Facilitate collective action in real time

TeamBuy or MobShop?

IV. Impact on world image/national and international security

V. Crowdsourcing documents+Streisand effect==big trouble

Streisand Effect The " Streisand effect " is a term used to describe a phenomenon on the Internet where an attempt to censor or remove (in particular, by the means of cease-and-desist letters ) a certain piece of information (for example, a photograph , file , or even a whole website ) backfires and the information receives extensive publicity on the Internet, often widely mirrored , or distributed on file-sharing networks in a short period of time Wikipedia

The " Streisand effect " is a term used to describe a phenomenon on the Internet where an attempt to censor or remove (in particular, by the means of cease-and-desist letters ) a certain piece of information (for example, a photograph , file , or even a whole website ) backfires and the information receives extensive publicity on the Internet, often widely mirrored , or distributed on file-sharing networks in a short period of time

Wikipedia

This includes making fun of the national leaders!!!

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Can we expect (some) users to outsmart (some) governments?

Rivercrab http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1351155008&size=om

...does it deflect censors' attention from bigger threats to the regime?

Thanks! [email_address]