Tag: Regulation

On Sunday, May 5th, Malaysia will go to the polls for a highly contested general election, potentially ending 56 years of single-party rule. But ever since the elections were announced in April, the internet has become become a target: opposition websites and independent media have experienced significant network interference–and with the election days away, pressure is intensifying.

The proposed Myanmar partnership with China Mobile is a chance for Vodafone to test and improve its policies, and train its partner in human rights best practices.

Google released its semi-annual transparency report today, indicating an increase in government requests for content removal worldwide–although more than half came from a handful of countries.

The European Parliament took a stand for fundamental rights when the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) rejected a privacy-invasive European Commission proposal to allow the use of air travel Passenger Name Record (PNR) data.

The House of Representatives passed the privacy-invading Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) by a vote of 288 – 127. The bill must still pass the Senate, and overcome a veto threat from Obama, before it becomes law.

The White House issued a veto threat to congress, saying if CISPA doesn’t include privacy safeguards and civilian oversight, President Obama won’t sign the bill.

The proposed U.S. House of Representatives “Internet Governance Bill” was approved by the full Energy and Commerce Committee today and will now move on to the full House of Representatives. The revised draft of the bill would make it the “policy of the United States to preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet.”

The proposed U.S. House of Representatives “Internet Governance Bill” has moved on to the full Energy and Commerce Committee after two days of markup and debate in the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. If passed into law, the bill would make it the “policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and to preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet.”

From May 14-16, the World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF) will bring together representatives from government, industry, and the global regulatory community to exchange views on key policy issues related to the internet. The meeting is hosted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the same UN agency that hosted the controversial World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) last December in Dubai. We break down the key issues to watch and ways to participate.

Marie Ehrlin, newly-elected Chairman of the Board, told reporters at TeliaSonera’s annual shareholder meeting that the company would bring in outside help to review their operations “country by country, transaction by transaction, and deal by deal” after a year of bruising human rights and corruption allegations. For some, this response is not enough.