Global Voices » Technology

Yemen: The #NoDrones Campaign

Noon Arabia — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:55:19 +0000

Yemenis have launched a campaign on Twitter to express their condemnation of the United States' drone war in Yemen. They are tweeting under the hashtag #NoDrones, and have asked non-Yemenis to speak out and join them in their campaign.

Mai Saleh in Yemen tweeted:

@A4Mai: Take a moment and shout with us: No to the jungle law, No to the extrajudicial killings, No to the killing of innocent civilians #NoDrones

Stop drone attacks, protest sign. Image by meeshypants on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Talal, a British-Yemeni activist in London, urged:

@25FebFreedom: #US killing innocent civilians in #Yemen in the name of “war on terror ” #StopDrones #NoDrones for God sake in #Yemen

The campaign started on May 13, the same day that President Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, met with Yemen's president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and a day after a stepped-up campaign of American airstrikes reportedly killed 11 militants.

British journalist Tom Finn, who is based in Yemen, tweeted:

@tomfinn2: Yemenis launch a #NoDrones campaign on twitter as US counterterrorism czar John Brennan arrives in Sana'a… #Yemen

Mai Saleh addressed some tweets to Brennan:

@A4Mai: Urgent message to the visiting Mr. #Brennan: Take your hands off #Yemen & take your drones off our skies for good. Yemeni Citizen #NoDrones

‏@A4Mai: Dear Mr. Brennan, Your policy has proved a failure in #Pakistan, why try it in #Yemen? It is obviously doomed to fail, sincerely #NoDrones

Yemenis condemn terrorism, and they believe the use of US drones only fuels it, as blogger Atiaf Alwazir pointed out:

‏@WomanfromYemen:B/c I'm against #terrorism & #extremism, i'm also against #drones. It's counter-productive & fuels more extremism. #NoDrones #yemen #US

@womanfromYemen: We are saying #NoDrones, b/c we don't want militants in #Yemen. Drones do not eradicate militants they intensify their presence.

French journalist Benjamin Wiacek, who is based in Yemen, tweeted

@Nefermaat: #US drones and air strikes create more extremism and resentment than improving the situation: SAY NO to DRONES !! #NoDrones

He also tweeted a link about drone strikes and the civilan casualties in Yemen which are seldom reported.

Atiaf Alwazir added:

@WomanfromYemen: For every headline you read regarding “militants” killed by drones in #Yemen, think of the civilians killed that are not reported. #NoDrones

A Yemeni journalist and poet who goes by the name Sana2 Al-Yemen tweeted her contempt:

@Sanasiino: It is a disgusting thought to know US officials across the globe are playing a video game with our people in #Yemen. #NoDrones

@Sanasiino: Decreasing #AQAP support and power would need to start with a #NoDrones policy in #Yemen

And finally, Shams in Yemen tweeted a hope many Yemenis share, that the new governemnt will put an end to US drone attacks:

@shamsalshomos: I hope #Hadi does what #Saleh never did speak and act on behalf of the welfare of his people #NoDrones in #yemen

To learn more about the campaign follow the hashtag #NoDrones and read this Storify.

Kenya: Mark Kaigwa to Global Voices: “The East is Coming to Africa.”

Suzanne Lehn — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:57:07 +0000

Mark Kaigwa is a Kenyan blogger and new media consultant based in Nairobi, whose work is to “help international companies and African brands to connect with each other to develop creativity”. He is also a former film maker and was a judge at the 2012 Kenyan Bloggers Awards that took place on May 5.

His session at the recently concluded re:publica conference, “Silicon Savanna, how African technologies are changing the world”, was dedicated to illustrating the shift in Africa's image - a shift from the clichés of crisis, war, or even wonders of nature, to an Africa that is showing the world a way to foster development in a competitive environment, specifically through the use of mobile technologies.

Global Voices caught up with Mark at the re:publica to better understand his hopes and dreams about Africa's digital future.

Mark Kaigwa. Photo by Suzanne Lehn

Global Voices Online (GV): When and how did you get into blogging?

Mark Kaigwa (MK): I started blogging in 2007 – 2008, first with a personal blog. I wanted to express myself so that someone in the world would listen and hear.

Now I run three blogs : my personal blog mark.co.ke - where I give my personal views about creativity in African technology, afrinnovator.com - with focus on technology, start-ups, who is bringing money and from where and africandigitalart.com - about animation, illustration, graphic design, in one word, all about the combination of art and technology. It features, for instance, artists giving responses to the North African uprisings.

GV: Do you have any links/connections with French-speaking African countries?

MK: I have personal business connections through the Internet, yes, but I have yet to travel to a francophone African country. I am trying to get inputs from francophone as well as lusophone countries, but not because they belong to the non-English sphere (editor's note: The notion of language-based sphere appears pretty much irrelevant to Mark). To give you an example, Angola is interesting to me as a country regardless of the fact that it is part of the lusophone sphere.

GV: The world went through a period in which low-cost labor was the most sought after commodity. Then recently it was low-cost natural resources. In your opinion, is it now a period in which low-cost technologies will be the most sought after?

MK: The 1990's were the decade of China's boom, the 2010's are India's and the 2020's will be Africa's. The West was going to the East, now the East is coming to Africa.

The east has a smart strategy. It brought to Africa what it learned and it does not consider Africa as one entity. On the contrary, eastern countries have understood that Africa is composed of 56 countries. They build the infrastructure in exchange for the natural resources that they are of course in need of. Technology is last on their agenda.

GV: It has been said that Africa's real problems are transport and the banking systems. What is your opinion?

MK: Those problems indeed exist but these are not the only ones.

The African challenges are the infrastructure and the economic climate for doing business, but we as Africans are in the process of solving them; and as a prominent economist of the World Bank noted, Kenya's debt-to-GDP ratio amounts to about 45%, which would make many European countries very envious !

The true size of Africa, an infographic presented by Mark at the conference (CC License. No Rights Reserved, public domain)

GV: So how will the shift of economic power work in favor of Africa?

MK: They know that Africa will compete with them. China's competitive advantages - economies of scale, low costs - are going to shrink, and might even cancel out in the next 10 or 20 years, along with the development there of the middle classes, the rise of wages and consumption. China's low-cost advantages will then probably go to Africa. Once the infrastructure is up to par, Africa will be able to be competitive with the East – provided the political leadership holds its end of the bargain.

At the re:publica 2012. Photo by Suzanne Lehn

GV: Regarding African breakthroughs in technology that came about after the well-known Ushaidi, you mentioned the following in your session - SwiftRiver, CrowdMap, Kopo Kopo, iCow, M-Pedigree, MXIT. However, these are mostly operating on mobile phones. Is technology in Africa over-hyped ?

MK: What we have now is that for the first time, Africa has a way to influence the world. Political leadership permitting, technology is getting some serious attention. Furthermore, the Kenyan government is acknowledging that opening its data will result in better accountability and leadership, and that this is good for their political legacy.

I don't deny there's hype, but it's a good hype and I prefer it to the former one-sided vision of Africa.

GV: A meaningful fact for conclusion?

MK: All of East Africa started to learn Chinese – starting, not from English, but from Swahili.

The interview was conducted by Global voices author Suzanne Lehn. The photos of Mark Kaigwa used in this post were taken by her.

Video: Robot Shows us How to Stay Safe Online

Juliana Rincón Parra — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:12:00 +0000

ONO the Robot

Online security is a complex issue that is sometimes hard to understand or to know how to face. Using a lovable animated robot, the Tactical Tech Collective is trying to get more people aware on how to stay safe online through short video animations that can be viewed online or downloaded.

With eight new weekly releases for their new series Survival in the Digital Age, ONO the robot will help us with email security, facebook security, private browsing and more. The first video in the new series is HEY YAHOO! HTTPS MY EMAILS! where how to chose a safe web based email provider. The organization is using crowdsourcing efforts to translate the videos into as many languages as possible.

In 2010, ONO made its appearance explaining the Digital Traces we leave behind and how to keep our personal information and contacts safe when using mobile devices, cameras or the internet. The videos in this past series have been subtitled into many different languages already. Following is the promotional video for this episode, the full length video can be viewed at Onorobot.org.

Through ONO's own eyes, we see how we are constantly tracked through our digital communications. While a lot of the time this might not be harmful for us, we have little control over what we want to keep private and what is available for viewing, recording and information harvesting. This is crucial for activists and journalists who might be under surveillance and whose digital activities can put them in danger. ONO explores some of the ways that people can protect their identity and separate who they are from what they are doing such as: the use of anonymising and circumvention tools and encryption. ONO warns us that we need to know what we are doing when trying more advanced privacy techniques and provides a checklist for the best practises which everyone can implement in our daily use of email, mobile phones and online services.

Following is a preview for the Safe Email episode. Full length here.

With a callout to Global Voices Advocacy Access Denied Map, ONO'S GUIDE TO SAFE SURFING tells people how to stay safe while surfing online, specially when accessing sites that may be blocked. Following the promotional video, full length on the site.

You can learn more about ONO through Facebook, twitter (@onorobot), and more about online security through the Tactical Tech site.

India, Pakistan Missile Launches: Game Changers or Mere Posturing?

Aparna Ray — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:01:30 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage International Relations & Security.

On April 19, 2012, India successfully test-fired its Agni V inter-continental ballistic missile (IBCM). With a range of over 5,000 kilometres, the Agni V places India’s missile capabilities increasingly in line with the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China. The following week, neighboring Pakistan successfully test-launched its nuclear capable ballistic missile, the Shaheen 1-A.

These back-to-back missile tests received widespread coverage and comment on mainstream and social media outlets. In particular, netizens have been engaging in lively online discussions regarding the escalating arms race in South Asia and its impact on the overall security of the region.

While many netizens across India and Pakistan, fuelled with nationalistic fervor, engaged in hyperbole regarding the respective missile launches, there has been some strong criticism in the Pakistani blogosphere regarding the United States’ response to India's missile launch. Labeling it as “double standards”, Yasmeen Ali, a university professor based in Lahore, wrote on Pakpotpourri2's blog:

The Agni V missile being launched off the coast of Odhisa, India, on 19th April, 2022. Image courtesy Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

The need here is to support a country within the region to act, or seem to act as a deterrent to China. Obvious choice: India.What USA had completely overlooked in this game of regional hegemony is when you let the genie out of the bottle, it will refuse to go back in the bottle. It can one day, turn upon the master, once his heart’s desire of being let out is fulfilled.

However, a section of netizens felt that these missile tests were not going to escalate security tensions among India, China and Pakistan. On his blog Chaturanga, Jaideep Prabhu pointed out that India's policy was to acquire a ‘minimum credible deterrent' and not to escalate an arms race, as was being loosely discussed in a section of the media.

He commented:

The launch of the China-specific Agni V has generated much talk about an arms race between China and India, and consequently, India and Pakistan. The Chinese media (and hence the government) has taken exception to this, reacting sharply to the test and labeling it as India’s missile delusion…But unless India has abandoned its old policy of MUD (Mutually Unacceptable Damage), analysts and Beijing have jumped the gun.

On the blog Rolan San Juan, Rajesh Basrur, a Senior Fellow and the Coordinator of the South Asia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), argued that the Agni-V launch was “inconsequential” in that it would not change India's “deterrence game vis-à-vis China.

In his post on The Christian Science Monitor, Scott Baldauf referred to the chain of events as ‘ritual aggression' between India and Pakistan, a posturing more out of habit than actual security concerns, especially given that the two countries were currently trying to develop closer ties.

He wrote:

These tests follow an extraordinary set of meetings between the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi earlier this month, in which the two nations pledged to increase trade ties and to fight against extremism. While these missile tests might have seemed to be a setback in earlier times, they have now become a kind of theater of virility, separate from any political discourse.

There were hardly any major security concerns expressed in the social media of neighbors such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide.

Visit the ISN blog and see more related stories.

Kenya: An Online Source for Kenya Architecture

Ndesanjo Macha — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:52:20 +0000

Architecture Kenya is an online source of information for a growing number of people interested in Kenyan architectural news, projects, products, events, jobs, interviews and competitions among others.

Belgium: Video Shows Campaign to Curb Texting and Driving

Juliana Rincón Parra — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:43:43 +0000

The Impossible texting and driving test is part of a campaign to raise awareness to the dangers of texting using mobile devices while driving in Belgium. Several young people doing their behind the wheel driving test were surprised to know there was a new test section requiring them to text while driving. The dashboard cam tells the story of how these young people faced this new part of the test.

Cuba: National Meeting of Bloggers Ends in Controversy

Eleanor Staniforth — Sat, 05 May 2012 00:09:19 +0000

Several months ago the administrators of La Joven Cuba [es], one of the blogs with the highest number of followers on the island, declared their intention [es] to organize an event to bring together representatives of the national blogosphere to discuss various subjects. The silence surrounding the installation of fibre optic cables [es] which were supposed to come into use in 2010, the impact of blogs on the national public sphere, and the regulations which limit Cuban citizens' access or participation in Web 2.0 spaces are some of the main concerns shared by all members of the national blogging community.

Poster for the Meeting of Cuban Bloggers.

The event was programmed for the 27th and 28th April 2012. More than 60 bloggers from all the provinces in the country spent two days sharing their experiences at the University of Matanzas “Camilo Cienfuegos,” east of the Cuban capital, in an event which tried to create “horizontal mechanisms for coordinating different blogging projects around the country.”

In the event's final statement [es], which has sparked controversy [es] amongst various members [es] of the national blogosphere, the participants note:

Conseguimos así un marco de socialización que nos permitió salir de la ambigüedad y el anonimato que propicia Internet y coordinar estrategias de trabajo que articulen nuestros proyectos ante los desafíos que tenemos los blogueros cubanos.

Through this event we have established a framework of socialisation which allows us to emerge from the ambiguity and the anonymity which the Internet provides and to coordinate working strategies within which to develop our projects in light of the challenges we face as Cuban bloggers.

The event was broadcast in real time by Justin.tv, Twitter and the event's official blog “Blogazo x Cuba” [es]. The final declaration contains 12 points and confirms participants' support for the Cuban political system while calling for “respect for difference and for open debate.”

The document also demands the release of the five Cubans held prisoner in the United States and the end of the economic and financial sanctions which the United States have held in place against Cuba for over half a century. The participants also requested that the “State's Central Administration Bodies reformulate the regulations which limit connectivity and access to the web by state institutions, in the interest of establishing a greater presence of Cuban citizens in cyberspace.”

The main regulation existing in the country on this issue was passed in 2007 and is known as Resolution 127 of the Ministry of Informatics and Communications (MIC). It bans the publication of information on foreign servers, forcing the majority of national bloggers who blog from their places of work or study into illegality.

Another of the issues currently provoking significant debate on the island is related to the discursive nuances of the reality presented in these spaces: the different critical levels, as well as ambiguity regarding which topics may be dealt with and how the questioning attitude adopted by some bloggers may be considered as “outside the Revolution” or contrary to the current political system. On this note, one of the participants in the event, Carlos Alberto Pérez, author of La Chiringa de Cuba [es] poses the question [es] “how can one be critical in Cuba without being considered a dissident?”

Although the committee organizing the event, composed of five bloggers living in Cuba, stated that “our dream was to organise a meeting which would be national in scale and as inclusive as possible,” members of collectives such as Critical Observatory [es] and Havana Times [es] , two of the main blogging communities on the island and supporters of the Cuban political system, were not invited.

The selection critiera took into account the regular updating of blogs, the diversity of topics dealt with, and representation of each province.

However, the authors of La Joven Cuba said:

Estamos conscientes que dejamos fuera otros blogueros y quedamos con la insatisfacción de no ser lo suficientemente justos pero un evento de tal magnitud llevaba muchos recursos y esta fue nuestra principal limitación y preocupación. Era un riesgo que tuvimos que asumir y asumiremos todas las críticas que se nos hagan al respecto.

We are aware that we excluded other bloggers and we regret having been unfair, but an event of this scale requires significant resources and this was our main limitation and concern. It was a risk which we had to take and we will accept all criticisms which are made of us in this respect.

On this topic, the author of the blog “In 2310 and 8225” Yasmín Silvia Portales pointed out later in her post “I failed”:

¿Acaso no es siempre parcial y sesgada la manera en que se decide quiénes son “los protagonistas de la blogosfera del país”, no importa si lo dice El País o… alguien más?

Isn't the way in which we decide who “the protagonists of the country's blogosphere” are always partial and biased? Does it matter if it is El País [one of Spain's main newspapers] which says it or…someone else?

According to the article by the Inter Press Service (IPS) agency:

En el país, se han realizado encuentros de activistas en blogs y en redes sociales en Internet. El 27 de septiembre de 2008, Roger Trabas organizó junto al empresario y bloguero francés David Chapet, el primer Encuentro “Bloggers por Cuenta Propia”, convocado desde el sitio llamado Bloggers Cuba, que se celebró en el gubernamental Palacio de Computación y Electrónica de la capital cubana.

Meetings of activists involved in blogging and social networks have been held in the country. On 27th September 2008, Roger Trabas alongside the French businessman and blogger David Chapet, organised the first meeting “Independent Bloggers,” convened from the site called Bloggers Cuba, which was held in the governmental Centre for Computing and Electronics in the Cuban capital.

North Korea Says More Satellite Launches Are Coming

Lee Yoo Eun — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:54:21 +0000

North Korea Tech blog wrote about North Korean state media's claim that its satellite launch was part of a “peaceful, civilian space program” and they will launch even more into space.

Yemen: Anger at Expansion of US Drone War

Noon Arabia — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:31:25 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

The United States has recently expanded its campaign of drone strikes in Yemen, to widespread anger and concern.

Drone strikes against suspected Al Qaeda operatives have been launched under expanded authority allowing the CIA and military to fire based only on the targets' intelligence “signatures” or patterns of behaviour, without knowing their identity.

Yemeni-American Summer Nasser tweeted:

@SummerNasser: #Yemen: Basically, the CIA & military can fire drones even when the identity of those who are killed is not known. Approved by Pres. Obama.

US Air Force General Atomics MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Image by Flickr user james_gordon_los_angeles (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Ibrahim Mothana, a Yemeni writer and activist, commented on the drone policy:

@imothanaYemen: Expanding drones program is not in the interest of #Yemen nor the US. It will only expand an ongoing Talibanization process for tribal areas

Jeb Boone, an American journalist and former managing editor of the Yemen Times, said:

@JebBoone: Drones not only inflame anti-US and pro-AQAP sentiment, they delegitimize the #Yemen government. Troubling.

The drones have been striking targets in the south of Yemen, and researcher Atiaf Alwazir commented:

@WomanfromYemen: it's sad that too many ppl from the #North disregard/ignore the issue of the drones b/c it doesn't “affect” them. it's too far. #yemen

Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning American investigative journalist, has argued against the use of drones in Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia. He recently made a documentary for Al Jazeera English entitled “America's Dangerous Game”, which asks if the US is creating more enemies than it can capture or kill.

According to the organizers of the recent “Drone Summit” held in Washington on April 28-29, as many as 3,000 people, including hundreds of noncombatants, have been killed in drone strikes. This Storify collects some of the tweets from the summit regarding drone strikes and US policy in Yemen. Jeremy Scahill's speech at the summit can be seen here.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism based at City University, London, has published figures for US covert action in Yemen:

US Covert Action in Yemen 2001-2012

Total US strikes: 41 - 132
Total US drone strikes: 31 - 68
Total reported killed: 294 - 673
Civilians reported killed: 55 - 105
Children reported killed: 24

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has also collated detailed data on reported US covert actions in Yemen since 2001.

On April 30 John Brennan, chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama, gave a speech entitled “The Ethics and Efficacy of the President’s Counterterrorism Strategy” in which he defended the use of drones. Activist Medea Benjamin challenged him and spoke up against drone killings in Pakistan, Yemen and other countries, as shown in this video:

In a post entitled “A brave lady Speaks out about the CIA Drone Strikes”, Yemeni blogger Afrah Nasser commended Medea Benjamin's courage and quoted her words:

“What about of the hundreds innocent people killing with our drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia? I speak out on behave of those innocent victims. They deserve an apology from you, Brennan. How many people are you willing to sacrifice? Why are you lying to the American people and not saying how many people have been killed? …. Shame on you!”

As I said in a recent blog post,“The Failed US Policy in Yemen”:

The use of drones on Yemeni soil to kill “suspected” al Qaeda leaders, the unjustified killing of a teenager and many other innocent civilians commonly referred to as “collateral damage” and the illegal detention of a journalist, has fostered more animosity towards the US. […] The US clearly needs to re-evaluate its counter-terrorism policy in Yemen by addressing the socio-economic underlying causes that produce terror, rather than focusing its aid solely in the fight against al “Qaeda” and continuing with the drone attacks which kills innocent people, alienates, angers and aggravates the general Yemeni public, giving extremists a motive to join militant groups.

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

Kenya: State of Software and Intellectual Property Law in Kenya

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:46:46 +0000

Learn about the state of software and intellectual property law in Kenya: “Kenya’s judiciary does not deliberate many software and IP cases and the country remains lax in terms of piracy with domestic uses of pirated software being allowed, but companies being liable for piracy if software installed on office computers or used for official purposes.”

Iran: Opposition sites under cyber attack

Fred Petrossian — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:21:18 +0000

Several blogs and sites reported [fa] in recent days several Iranian reformist and green sites such as daneshjoonews have been under cyber attack.

Mexico: Netizens Speak Out Against Geo-Location Law

Elizabeth Rivera — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:38:23 +0000

On April 18, 2012, a series of reforms popularly known as the “Geo-location Law” began to take effect. The law reforms the Federal Penal Code, the Federal Penal Procedures, the Telecommunications Federal Law, the Minimum Rules about the Social Rehabilitation of Sentenced Criminals and the National System of Public Security General Law.

On Twitter this matter has been discussed by several users under the hashtag #LeyGeolocalización [es] (Geo-location Law)

What are the reforms about?

Given the current administration's war against organized crime, the reforms mentioned above give the investigation authorities (Federal Public Ministry) the faculty to ask for the geo-localization of mobile equipment (smartphones, tablets, cell phones) if they suspect the device is used to commit a crime [1].

The reform also establishes service providers' obligation to cooperate promptly and without reservations with authorities, not only to locate the mobile equipment but also to give technical support for the installation and operation of devices that block cell phone signals, radio-communication or data transmission (Internet) inside jails.

These reforms aim to prevent or discourage the theft of telecommunication equipment because they give authorities the right to deactivate or block lines that are related to theft or loss.

Image of devices with geo-location systems from Flickr user Chris Fleming, under Creative Commons Licence 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

How have Mexicans reacted to these reforms?

Several bloggers wrote about the issue before the reforms took effect. Katya Albiter [es], from Vivir México (Living Mexico), wrote about those who fostered the reforms:

Después de todo, los impulsores de la ley son destacadas figuras de la sociedad civil, como Alejandro Martí, presidente del Sistema de Observación para la Seguridad Ciudadana (S.O.S), e Isabel Miranda de Wallace, presidente de la Asociación Alto al Secuestro, ganadora del Premio Nacional de Derechos Humanos 2010 y aspirante a la jefatura de Gobierno del Distrito Federal por el PAN. Con semejantes credenciales no pueden estar equivocados, ¿no, NO?

Pues mucho me temo que con todo y el argumento de autoridad, esta vez les falló. El problema, como siempre está en las letras chiquitas -es decir algunos párrafos de las reformas-.

After all, the law's sponsors are outstanding figures from the civil society, like Alejandro Martí, President of the Observation System for Citizen Safety (S.O.S.) and Isabel Miranda de Wallace, President of the Stop Kidnapping Association and winner of the National Award for Human Rights in 2010 and PAN's candidate to the mayorship of Mexico City. With such credentials, they can't be wrong, can they?

Well, I'm afraid that even with the argument of authority, this time it failed. The problem, as always, lies in the small print - that is, some paragraphs from the reforms-.

Also, she stated her opinion about the convenience of approving these reforms:

Es una ley con buenas intenciones que, como en todo “superpoder”, sólo sirve en las manos correctas, pero en las equivocadas puede hacer bastante mal. Los defensores arguyen que con esta medida el país vivirá un clima de seguridad y justicia. Al parecer, el costo será la libertad. También los defensores dicen que el que nada debe nada teme y si no quieres que te localicen apaga tu celular. Eso es cierto, si no quieren ser localizados, se apagará el celular y seguramente es algo que ya pensaron justo los secuestradores y demás mafia que se pretende combatir.

It is a law with good intentions that, as in any “super-power”, only works well in the right hands, but in the wrong hands it could be very harmful. The advocates argue that with this measure the country will live in a secure and just climate. Apparently, the cost will be freedom. Also, its supporters say that those who haven't done wrong have nothing to fear and that if you don't want to be located, you should turn off your phone. That is true, if you don't want to be traced you just have to turn off your cell phone, and surely it is something the targeted kidnappers and mobsters already considered.

On the other hand, Jitten [es] for FayerWayer wrote about the scope of this law, highlighting that investigation authorities can ask for the location of certain devices without a judge's warrant:

En esencia, estas disposiciones legales establecen que las compañías telefónicas deberán proporcionar los datos a la Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) sobre la ubicación de una persona en tiempo real de un aparato asociado en una determinada línea, por lo que en el papel tendría buenas intenciones. Alejandro Martí dijo que “será posible conocer a mediano plazo los resultados de esta reforma, al recabar cifras correspondientes a secuestros y extorsiones en el todo país”.

También contempla que la PGR no solicite una orden judicial sino por “simple oficio o medios electrónicos” todos los datos de geolocalización en tiempo real al concesionario. Si se niega a proporcionar la información a la autoridad judicial, será sancionada con 250 hasta 2,500 días de salario mínimos de multa (alrededor de MXN$155,825).

Essentially, these legal dispositions establish that cell phone companies must provide data to the Republic's Attorney General (PGR) on the location in real time of an equipment related to a certain phone line, which in writing has good intentions. Alejandro Martí said that “it will be possible to know results of this reform in a medium term when we collect data related to kidnappings and extorsions across the country”.

[The reforms] also take into account that the PGR won't have to ask the provider for this geo-location data with a court order, but only with a “simple letter or by electronic media”. If the provider refuses to provide the information, the judicial authority may fine it with a penalty between 250 and 2,500 days of minimum wage salary (aproximately MXN$155,825 or USD$12,000)

Geraldine Juárez [es] in alt1040 talked about the reforms and questioned that, in her opinion, there were no complaints from citizens:

La Ley de Geolocalización es parte de la tendencia legislativa del gobierno mexicano para legalizar la vulneración de los derechos sus ciudadanos. Aprobada gracias a la presión de grupos civiles dirigidos por padres de víctimas de secuestro, Alejandro Martí y la ahora candidata del PAN Isabel Miranda, dicha ley fue aprobada la semana pasada por unanimidad, con 315 votos a favor de parte de los brillantes legisladores mexicanos.

En México no hubo ni una protesta, nadie se quejó y muy pocos fueron los que intentaron difundir la información al respecto, parecería que a los mexicanos les tiene sin cuidado la erosión de sus derechos.

The Geo-Location Law is part of the Mexican government's legislative tendency to legalize the vulneration of its citizens' rights. Approved thanks to the pressure of civil groups lead by parents of kidnap victims, Alejandro Martí and the current PAN candidate Isabel Miranda, the law passed by unanimity with 315 votes in favor from the brilliant Mexican congressmen.

In Mexico there were no protests, nobody complained and very few tried to spread information regarding [the law]. It looks like Mexicans don't care about the erosion of their rights.

The blog Human Rights Geek [es] hopes the human rights defense organism in Mexico will fight against the reform:

Afortunadamente la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH) puede hacer algo al respecto, puede interponer una Acción de Inconstitucionalidad en contra de estas disposiciones y mandar un claro mensaje a la autoridad de que la erosión de los derechos no es la vía para combatir la delincuencia.

Fortunately, the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) can do something about it, it can present an Action of Unconstitutionality against these provisions and send a clear message to the authority that the erosion of rights is not the way to combat crime.

On Twitter, user Osvaldo Suarez (@paul_suco) [es] pointed out that the right to privacy is not considered in the constitutional text:

La Ley de Geolocalización no es inconstitucional por violar la privacidad, ya que dicho derecho no se contempla en la Constitución.

The Geo-Location Law is not unconstitutional because it violates privacy, since this right is not mentioned in the Constitution.

Also, Claudia Guerrero (@clausgr) [es] questioned:

¿debe estar el celular en ‘acción' haciendo sms, llamadas, tuiteando, para poder aplicar la #LeyGeolocalización ?

What does the implied cell phone have to be doing to be considered in the #LeyGeolocalización (sms, calls, tweeting)?

User @nololeas [es] warned about the validity of the law:

Aguas, entra #LeyStalker y nosotros como si nada. Poco a poco nos van vigilando mas. #LeyGeolocalizacion

Be careful, the #LeyStalker (Stalker Law) is now valid and we didn't even blink. Little by little they are monitoring us more. #LeyGeolocalización

User Eddie (@EdHappy) [es] stated his opinion on the subject in a simple and clear manner:

No me agrada la #LeyGeolocalización

I don't like the #LeyGeolocalización

Mexico's ‘war' on drugs continues, now with new ‘weapons', and apparently with a lot more dissatisfaction among bloggers and social networks users.

[1] The reform applies only to certain offenses like organized crime, crimes against health (drug trafficking), kidnapping, extorsion and threats.

North Korea Timeline in Storify

Lee Yoo Eun — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:46:17 +0000

In the midst of North Korea's failed rocket launch, @StandfordCISAC posted a storify story with a summary of North Korean major events happened during recent decades.

Egypt: Country's First Research University At Risk

Salah Almhamdi — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:35:22 +0000

Since last year the fate of Nile University, Egypt's first research university, has been uncertain. Its purpose-built campus has been “conceded” to the Zewail City of Science and Technology, an initiative of renowned Egyptian-American scientist and 1999 Nobel Chemistry Prize winner Ahmed Zewail.

Nile University had been scheduled to move to the campus at the beginning of 2011, but when Mubarak was toppled from power, it was announced that the land and buildings would instead be allocatd to the Zewail City of Science and Technology.

Nile University has suffered because of its association with Ahmed Nazif, a former prime minister who last year received a one-year suspended sentence on corruption charges. It has been argued that by reallocating the land the state was “rectifying” the situation. However, Egypt's netizens are almost unanimous in their condemnation of the move.

Nile University, Giza, Egypt. Image by Mahmoud Allam, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

In a recent post blogger Zeinab Mohamed outlined the situation:

In 2000 The Zewail city of science and research’s corner stone was set up in a location in 6th of October area and 300 acres were allocated to that project. It was too good to be true then the project faced a lot of red tape and bureaucracy and in the end Zewail left and returned back to the States. […] Now after the ousting of Mubarak and during the good old days of PM Essam Sharaf, we found out that the old project of Zewail is resurrected again in which for sure is something great but there was a price: wiping out the Nile University (NU) and merging it inside the new Zewail city without even recognizing its achievements. Zewail will take the NU, its students and researches for no price at all!! The buildings of those 127 acres re-allocated to NU are now part of Zewail city. Not only that, but the buildings and the NU facilities were closed for months in front of the NU students with no regard for their researches!!

Image from the Facebook page of Save NILE University: Don't Kill Research in Egypt

Nile University teacher Mahmoud Allam commented [ar]:

أما الإدعاء بأن هذا المقر كان يخص مشروع الدكتور زويل فهذا غير صحيح فبعد أن وضع حجر أساس عام 2000 توقف المشروع ولم تقم أى جهة بأى أعمال بناء أو خلافه وظلت هذه الأراضى صحراء حتى قامت وزارة الاتصالات بشرائها عام 2003 والصور المصورة فى عام 2004 تثبت ذلك و من المثير أيضا أن هذه الصور تثبت أن موضع حجر أساس جامعة العلوم التكنولوجيا (جامعة زويل) الذى تم وضعه عام 2000 يقع فعليا حقيقة خارج حدود مقر جامعة النيل

The claim that this building belonged to Dr Zewail's project is untrue. After he layed the foundation stone in 2000, the project stopped and no one was undertaking any building or other work. The land was desert until the Ministry of Telecommunications bought it in 2003, and the photos taken in 2004 confirm that. What is also interesting is that these photos prove that the location of the foundation stone of the the University of Science and Technology (Zewail University) which was laid in 2000 actually lies outside the limits of Nile University site.

Journalist Salamah Abdulhameed added [ar]:

الأنكى أن زويل الذي يواجه بحملة علمية من جانب علماء مصريين محترمين في جامعة النيل لم يمنحني شخصيا حتى الأن مبررا واحدا مقنعا لأصدق أنه غير راغب في إزالة هذا الكيان العلمي القائم منذ خمس سنوات ويحقق نجاحا مشهودا […] هو فقط يرغب في هدمها قبل أن “يتلكك” ويعود من حيث أتى إلى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية التي يحمل جنسيتها.

The worst thing is that Zewail, who is facing a campaign from respected Egyptian scientists at Nile University, has not until now provided a single convincing reason to make me believe that he is not willing to dismantle this scientific establishment that has been in existence for five years, and is achieving noticeable success. […] He just wants to destroy it [Nile University] before he “hesitates” and goes back to where he came from, to the United States where he has citizenship.

However, Egyptian poet Farouk Goweda supports Zewail City and wrote [ar]:

هناك اعتقاد لدي المسئولين في جامعة النيل ووزارة الاتصالات أن مدينة زويل انتزعت منهم الأرض والمنشآت التي أقامتها جامعة النيل, رغم أن الحقائق تقول أن الأرض كانت مخصصة من البداية لمشروع زويل وهناك نصب تذكاري فيها يؤكد ذلك..

There is a belief amongst the officials of Nile University and the Ministry of Telecommunications that Zewail City acquired by extortion the land and the facilities that were established by Nile University, despite the fact that the land was dedicated from the beginning to the Zewail project and there is a memorial that confirms that…

Logo of Save Nile University campaign. Image from the Facebook page of Save NILE University: Don't Kill Research in Egypt

Zeinab Mohamed linked to the online campaign:

The students and the researchers have launched a big campaign to Save NU whether online or offline through protests and sits in. Here is the official Save NU website and its official FB page. They do not want to be a part of the Zowail city.

Assistant researcher Heba Shalaby stands by the position of Nile University, and addressed its faculty and students:

@HebaShalaby: As long as your cause is righteous, and you're doing your best, you have nothing more to worry about.

Arab World: Technology in the Time of Revolution

Tarek Amr — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:41:30 +0000

The Arab uprisings have created a debate about the role played by social media and mobile technology in bringing change. Whatever conclusion you come to on that subject, activists certainly make use of a wide range of new technologies, and we'll take a look at some of them in this post.

Reporting your arrest

Since the beginning of the Arab uprisings many bloggers and activists have been arrested. In Syria, in the last few months alone, Rima Dali, Safana Baqleh, Ali Mahmoud Othman, Razan Ghazzawi were detained. In Egypt Maikel Nabil Sanad, Alaa Abd El Fattah and Amr Gharbeya were just a few of those arrested. That's without mentioning countries such as Tunisia and Bahrain, as well as the cases where a bloggers or activists were denied entry to Egypt and held for investigation in Cairo airport.

While some of these bloggers and activists were later released, at the time of their arrest many didn't have time to tell their lawyers and family members what was happening. And this is where technology can play a role. A while ago Global Voices Advocacy contributor Ramy Raoof talked about Etmasakt, one such technical solution:

@RamyRaoof: Our friend Mohamed Hussien (@7aloli) developed this application http://bit.ly/Etmasakt to alert people when you get arrested. #Egypt #Android

Etmasakt helps you send short message to multiple numbers (family, lawyer, activists etc.) as well as sending the location where you were arrested.

Etmasakt is an Arabic word that means “I've been arrested”. On his blog Orlando Elkabeer wrote about the application and how it sends an SMS to multiple recipients along with your exact location - grabbed from your phone's GPS - with one click:

التطبيق يمكنك في حالة القبض عليك من ارسال رسالة لعدة أرقام تخبرهم فيها أنه قد تم القبض عليك ويرسل عنوانك بدقة بضغطة زر واحدة

The application lets you send an SMS to multiple recipients telling them you got arrested, and sends your exact location to them with just one click.

Etmasakt is not the only application of its kind. There is also “Byt2ebed 3alia” and “I'm Getting Arrested“; the latter seems to be older with a bigger user base. The existence of these different applications all basically doing the same thing clearly means that there is a need for them.

Live video broadcast

Nothing is worse than recording an important incident with your video camera, then being detained by security forces who destroy your camera, or at least force you to erase your memory card. And this is why Bambuser is very popular tool among activists. The Swedish mobile application lets you shoot videos and upload them instantaneously from your mobile phone; it's like having a video broadcasting station in your pocket.

Before being blocked by the Syrian government, Bambuser was used a lot by Syrians. In February the service reported on its own blog that it had been blocked in Syria:

Over the past weeks the number of Bambuser broadcasts from Syria has increased, with strong footage showing bombings, victims, destruction and terrible conditions at local field hospitals in Syria.

Some live footage like that of the destroyed oil pipeline in Homs was used by major TV channels such as CNN, BBC, AlJazeera and SkyNews:

We believe this footage was the trigger for the Syrian government to block access to bambuser.com and disable the possibility to broadcast live video with mobile phones on Syrian 3G.

In Egypt Tarek Shalaby reported his own arrest via Bambuser, and there were plans for activists to use the service in monitoring the parliamentary elections especially when international observers were not permitted to do so. During the first days of the Egyptian revolution the government decided to block Bambuser, amongst other services, before deciding to turning the whole Internet off two days later.

Other tools

Nancy Messieh of The Next Web has put together basic mobile apps arsenal for activists. Movements.org, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, connecting, and supporting grassroots digital activists, and advocates for the use of new technologies, has listed dozens of applications that range from Open Source word processing and audio/video editing software to encryption and tunneling software.

There are other less useful applications like this one that tries to document the Egyptian revolution by bringing a gallery of photos taken during the revolution onto your mobile phone.

The downside of automation

Despite the usefulness of the above applications, automation can be a problem. A month ago activist Hossam El Hamalawy received a short message from Mostafa Sheshtawy saying that he got arrested.

@3arabawy: Guys, I received few mins ago a text message from @msheshtawy saying he's getting arrested. I called him, he's not answering.

People were worried about Mostafa Sheshtawy, and only later was it discovered that the message was sent by mistake:

@msheshtawy: Am fine people. Am not arrested or anything. My phone wasnt with me. Am sorry people.

@msheshtawy: Someone clicked on the application while i was asleep. Silly joke and i will screw whoever did this. Am really sorry.

Finally, just like activists and citizens, dictators also use new technology. Authoritarian regimes in the Arab world have had plenty of help from American firms when it comes to censorship and spying on pro-democracy protestors. At the end of the day, technology is a double-edged sword; each side uses it for its own purposes.