Archive for
October 23rd, 2008
Stories
Egyptian Blogger Nora Younis Wins Human Rights First Award
Egyptian blogger and human rights activist Nora Younis was awarded the Annual Human Rights Award today.
Human Rights First hosted its annual dinner and 30th anniversary celebration honoring those at the forefront of the struggle to defend human rights, featuring actress Sigourney Weaver, who will serve as the master of ceremonies, Caroline Kennedy, who will accept an award on behalf of her uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, and singer Mary Chapin Carpenter, who will perform.
Fustat reports:
She shares the prize with Oleg Kozlovsky, a young democracy activist in Russia - a country that slides further from the straight path of democracy for each day it seems. Senator Ted Kennedy is also awarded for his long and distinguished career as a human rights defender.
Human Rights First have been very supportive of human rights in Egypt, during the last years and Campaigned for Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who won the same award in 2002, Alaa and Kareem among others, and I would like to extend my greetings and humble thanks for your support on this happy occasion.
Fustat proudly shares Human Rights First's description of the female blogger saying:
This is how they describe Nora:
… When Egyptian soldiers used water cannons and nightsticks to brutally evict Sudanese refugees from a public square in Cairo, Nora Younis was there, taking notes and shooting photos. Her blog of the incident drew international attention to the Egyptian government's abuses against these vulnerable refugees. Nora continues to raise awareness about rampant human rights abuses in Egypt through her compelling blog posts.
Climate Change: Increasing The Spread of Diseases?
Melting ice caps, rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns aren't the only potential consequences of climate change. Scientists are warning that changes in global climate may also endanger public health by increasing the spread of diseases and other health problems.
The issue of climate change's impact on health is currently a popular one. World health experts have committed to research this area, and the topic has been the theme of medical journals and World Health Day this year. Researchers fear that current warming trends, if uncontrolled, will greatly increase health risks. These health hazards range from deaths related to extreme high temperatures and natural disasters to a change in patterns of diseases that are sensitive to temperature and precipitation, such as malaria and dengue. Experts say we've already seen examples of this impact, from epidemics of cholera in Bangladesh to Rift Valley fever in Africa.
Laura Grant, posting on Treevolution, adds that climate change's effects have been seen in Kenya too.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned us that the range of vector-borne diseases like malaria is likely to change thanks to climate change. Kenya has already reported cases of the disease in previously malaria-free areas.”
Though climate change is a global phenomenon, experts warn that its health consequences will be the most severe for the poorest people in the poorest countries. Approximately 600,000 deaths occurred worldwide because of weather-related natural disasters in the 1990s and some 95 percent of these were in poor countries. Also, diarrhea, malaria and protein-energy malnutrition, which are all impacted by climate, caused more than 3 million deaths globally in 2002; over one third of these deaths happened in Africa. This photo gallery illustrates more health consequences of climate change.
However, the blog Globalisation and the Environment points out that it's hard to separate climate change and poverty's impacts on health.
“There is considerable debate about the effect of global warming on the spread of diseases. Try to remember that there is a close relationship between poverty and disease as well as between disease and climate. That point aside it is always of interest to a dismal scientist to consider alternative ways that we can die.”
Scientists at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have done just that — they released a report earlier this month naming 12 animal-human diseases that might spread to new regions of the world because of changes in temperature and rainfall. The “deadly dozen” diseases include avian flu, cholera, Ebola, Lyme disease, tuberculosis, and yellow fever. In order to prevent a major outbreak, the WCS recommends better monitoring of wildlife health to help detect how these diseases are moving. trimurtulu, posting on MeDiCaLGeeK, elaborates on their suggestions:
“The authors suggest that the best way to protect ourselves against worst possible scenarios is to track how the diseases shift through wildlife populations by establishing a global surveillance network based on a mix of Western science and the knowledge of indigenous people.”
The report has scared some bloggers, such as one blogging on ThinkingShift, into considering the connection between disease and climate. She says:
“We’re so absorbed right now with the financial fracas going on that if we think about climate change, we think of regions heating up, sea levels rising, poor polar bears unable to find ice floes to rest on and so on. But do we ever stop to think about the deadly diseases that we might face? Well, this report sure helped me think about it especially the fact that pathogens, which pose a threat to humanity, have already caused significant economic damage. The SARS virus and avian influenza, for example, have already caused an estimated US$100 billion in losses to the global economy.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that unless adaptive measures are taken, climate change is projected to approximately double by the 2050s the percentage of its population at risk of hunger and associated health effects. Maina, blogging on Baraza, proposes multiple solutions to combat this problem.
“One, we have to adopt sustainable living as humans to reduce the severity of climate change and its effects; two, now more than ever, we have to safeguard our wildlife for they are our early warning systems against outbreaks of these deadly diseases.”
However, leg-iron accuses WCS's report of being scaremongering with no scientific basis. Peri Urban, blogging on the urban blog, adds that very little research exists on this topic and that the link between climate change and health hasn't been proven yet.
“There are no ‘adverse effects' that we know of from which the WHO should feel obliged to protect us. Nor is it possible to raise public awareness of an issue that is yet to be researched, unless your aim is to generate the advance belief that there is a problem so that you can get funding. Scientists have mortgages to pay just like the rest of us.”
Photo of Cherry Blossoms In January by Night Heron on Flickr.
Brazilian myths and haunts on the Lusosphere - Part 2
On the first article of this series, we searched Brazilian websites that could tell us some stories about the haunts and the mythical beings of Brazilian folklore. Now, in the second article, we will sit and listen to the tales of myth, legend and fear told by Brazilian bloggers; tales about Cabeça de Cuia and Caboclo D'Água, and about the beautiful and sad tale of the Vitória Régia, and give more details about the mysterious Loira do Banheiro and her terrible death. And in the end, a somewhat mythical blogger-being will tell us about the Boto, that becomes a man and leaves the river to seduce young women and leaves them to carry and raise his offspring.
Alma Vagando (Wandering Soul), by DPadua on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons license.
As we promised in the first article of the series, we will delve deeper into the macabre story of the mysterious Loira do Banheiro. And no the less than Claudio, known also as Uncle Craudio, the keeper of the Casos Sobrenaturais (”Supernatural Cases”) blog [Pt], will tell us the details of the terrible death that turned a vain young girl into a vile ghost:
“Conta-se que , havia uma garota loira (para variar) muito vaidosa que sempre filava aula para ficar no banheiro da escola se admirando no espelho.Ela era sempre protegida pelo zelador ,que encobria suas fugas.Este,mantinha um desejo platônico pela garota que aumentava exponencialmente durante o passar dos anos.
Um belo dia o zelador resolveu esperar a loira na saida do banheiro e declarou os seus sentimentos.Ela, sem pestanejar, caiu na gargalhada e mostrou todo seu desprezo pelo rapaz de forma humilhante.Ele, tomado por um misto de ódio e decepção, a arremessou dentro do banheiro e a espancou violentamente, abafando seus gritos com as mãos.
Após o ato inconsequente , o zelador fugiu do colégio e nunca mais voltou.Dizem que ela ,antes de morrer, conseguiu se levantar e ver seu rosto deformado pelos edemas e cortes no espelho,soltando um grito de pavor que fez todo o colégio se arrepiar.
Varias pessoas se dirigiram ao banheiro em busca do que havia acontecido mas nada encontraram.Não havia ninguém alí.
Como a garota sumiu, a polícia associou o desaparecimento com a fuga do zelador e o prendeu.Ele acabou confessando a agressão mas não soube dizer onde o corpo estava.”
One day, this janitor made up his mind and waited for the young blond to leave the toilet and declared all he felt for her. She, without a blink, laughed out loud and showed complete her disdain for the young man, humiliating him. He, then, feeling a deep loss and taken by furious rage, pushed her back into the toilet and beat her violently, muffling her screams with his hands.
After the reckless act, the janitor ran away from the school and never came back. Some say that the girl, before dying, could stand up for a moment and see her own face, deformed by bruises and cuts, in the mirror and let out a scream of panic that sent a shiver down the spine of everyone in the school.
Many students ran to the toilet, to discover what had happened, but found nothing. There was no one there.
After the disappearance of the girl, the police associated her vanishing with the janitor's escape, and arrested him. He ended up confessing the aggression, but was never able to explain where the body was.”
Uncle Craudio swears the story is as true as the legendary carrot cakes prepared by his mythical mother. But, as we said before, everything about the Loira do Banheiro is deeply mysterious.
On Ulysse's Site [Pt], Multiply user lord85 tells us about many Brazilian myths and popular legends. Among others, he brings us the story of Cabeça de Cuia (Bowl Head) and the legend of Caboclo D'Água (Water Caboclo), and recounts the beautiful and tragic indigenous legend of Vitória Régia (the Brazilian waterlilies):
Cabeça de Cuia
Durante as cheias, sempre à noite e mais freqüentemente às sextas-feiras, costuma aparecer nas águas dos rios Poti e Parnaíba, um monstro. Trata-se de um sujeito alto, magro, com longos cabelos caídos pela testa e cheios de lodo, a que chamam cabeça de cuia.
Dizem que, há muitos anos, em uma pequena aldeia do vilarejo denominado Poti Velho vivia uma pequena família, cujo arrimo era um jovem pescador, a que alguns dão o nome de Crispim. Certo dia, o rapaz retornou da pesca muito aborrecido. À hora da refeição, composta de carne de vaca, pegou um enorme pedaço de osso e, a fim de tirar o tutano, bateu com ele na cabeça da velha mãe. A pobre senhora, indignada e enfurecida, rogou-lhe uma praga, amaldiçoando-o. O filho, com o coração tomado de remorso, pôs-se a correr como um louco e atirou-se às águas do rio Poti, desaparecendo.
Desde esse dia, o cabeça de cuia nada errante pelas águas dos dois rios, surgindo ora aqui, ora ali, na época das enchentes e nas noites de sexta-feira. Aparece de repente e agarra banhistas desavisados, principalmente crianças, arrastando-os para o fundo das águas. De sete em sete anos, devora uma moça chamada Maria. Após apoderar-se de sete Marias, seu encanto estará quebrado e ele retornará ao seu estado natural. Contam que sua mãe permanecerá viva até que o filho esteja livre de sua sina.
É o principal mito do estado do Piauí. A Prefeitura de Teresina instituiu, em 2003, o Dia do Cabeça de Cuia, a ser comemorado na última sexta-feira do mês de abril
During the flood season, always at night and more frequently on Fridays, a monster usually appears on the banks of the Poti and Parnaíba rivers. Its a tall, very thin, man, with long hair cascading over his forehead and caked with mud, whose name is Cabeça de Cuia.
It is said that, many years ago, in a small fishing hamlet named Poti Velho, there was a small family that lived off the work of a young fisherman, who some say was called Crispim. One day, the young man came back from fishing in a very dark mood. At meal time, while they were eating beef, he took a large bone and wanted to eat its marrow, so he hit it against his old mother's head. The poor old lady, shocked and enraged, threw a hex over him, cursing him. The son, his heart taken by anguish, ran away like a madman and jumped into the Poti river, disappearing.
Since that day, cabeça de cuia swims aimlessly in the two rivers, showing up here and there, in the flood season and on Friday nights. He appears all of a sudden, grabs an unsuspecting swimmer, usualy a child, and takes them to the bottom of the waters. Once every seven years, he devours a girl named Maria. As soon as he eats seven Marias, the enchantment will be broken and he will return to his natural state. Some say that his mother will live up to the day her son is freed from his fate.
This is the main myth from the Brazilian northern State of Piauí. The prefecture of the capital Teresina proclaimed, in the year of 2003, that a Cabeça de Cuia day would be observed every last Friday of April.”
Caboclo D'Água, as depicted on Ulysse's Site.
Caboclo D'Água
O caboclo-dágua, também chamado negro-dágua e bicho-dágua, é um dos mitos aquáticos mais populares na região do vale do rio São Francisco. Ninguém sabe de onde surgiu. Vive nas barrancas e alagadiços. Segundo as descrições mais comuns, é baixo, troncudo, musculoso, muito forte, tem a pele cor de bronze e um só olho no meio da testa. Apesar de seu tipo físico, movimenta-se de forma muito rápida e ágil. Às vezes sai do rio e caminha pela terra, geralmente para praticar alguma vingança ou fazer algum favor, mas nunca se afasta muito das margens. Para muitos, é um só e possui poderes para estar em vários lugares ao mesmo tempo.
Dizem que possui o temperamento enfezado e não nutre grandes simpatias para com os pescadores e remeiros. Agarra o fundo das canoas e barcos, balançando-os até os virar ou encalhando-os. Seu corpo é à prova de balas. Para evitar encontrá-lo, deve-se fincar uma faca no fundo da embarcação. Porém, se for bem tratado, o caboclo torna-se benfazejo, ajudando nas pescarias e evitando enchentes. Para agradá-lo, basta oferecer-lhe fumo.
Caboclo-d'água [water caboclo], also known as negro-d'água and bicho-d'água [water-negro or water-creature], is one of the most popular aquatic myths in the region of the São Francisco valley, in Brazil. Nobody knows where he comes from. He lives on the banks and flood lands. According to the most common descriptions, he is short, barrel chested, with big muscles, very strong, has bronze colored skin and a single eye on his forehead. Despite his physical build, his movements are very quick and agile. Sometimes he comes out of the river and walks on dry land, usually to exact some vengeance or perform some favors, but he never goes very far from the water. To many, he is just one entity but has the power to be in many places at the same time.
They say he has a very short temper and has not much sympathy for fishers and rowers. He usually grabs the bottom of boats and shakes them until they capsize or get stranded at the water's margins. His body is bulletproof. To keep him at bay, one has to drive a knife through the bottom of the boat. But, if he is treated well, the caboclo may become helpful, helping with fishing and avoiding floods. To appease him, just offer him some tobacco.”
Vitória Régia
Numa Tribo de índios que vivia às margens do Grande Rio. Nos igarapés silenciosos as jovens índias cantavam e sonhavam.As índias ficavam por muitas horas olhando a Lua ( Jaci como a chamavam a Deusa), a beleza das estrelas. Um dia, Neca-Neca, uma bela jovem índia , subiu numa árvore mais alta para ver se tocava na lua. Não conseguiu. Impacientes as índias, noutro dia, foram as montanhas distantes para tocarem com as mãos a lua e as estrelas. Nada, quando lá chegaram a lua estava tão distante que voltaram tristonhas para suas malocas, e na rede todas ficaram deitadas muito tristes. Ficaram tristes, porque, caso tocassem a lua ou as estrelas, tornar-se iam uma delas com toda a sua beleza.
Numa outra noite, Neca-neca, deixou sua rede, muito tristonha, desiludida porque não conseguira tocar a lua. Era uma noite de lua cheia. Lá estava a lua grande bela, refletida nas águas. Ela então resolveu pedir a Lua para Tocá-la,e resolveu atirar-se no Rio para tentar tocá-la (o Reflexo da Lua no Rio) e desapareceu. A lua (Iaci) ficou com muita pena e resolveu imortalizá-la na terra pois era impossível para ela levá-la para seu reino espiritual e transformá-la numa estrela ,então transformou-a numa flor, a vitória-régia.
In a tribe of indians who lived on the banks of the Great River; in the silent igarapés, the young indigenous girls sang and dreamed. They spent hours staring at the Moon (Jaci, as they called the Goddess) and the beauty of the stars. One day, Neca-Neca, a beautiful young indigenous girl, climbed up the top of the tallest tree and tried to reach and touch the moon. She couldn't. Impatient, on the next day the other indigenous girls went to the distant mountains to try to touch the Moon and the Stars with their hands. But they couldn't. When they reached the distant mountains, the moon was so far away that they came back to their malocas with long faces and lied in their sleeping nets in deep sadness. They felt so sad because if they could touch the moon or the stars they would themselves become a star and have their beauty.
Thus on the next night, Neca-Neca left her sleeping net, feeling very sad, disillusioned because she was not able to touch the moon. It was a night with a full moon. And there She was, large and beautiful, reflected in the waters. She then decided to ask the Moon if she could touch Her, and jumped into the River to try to touch the reflection of the Moon in the River), and disappeared. The Moon (Iaci) felt really sorry for her, and decided to immortalize Neca-Neca on earth, as She couldn't take her to the spirit realm and turn her into a Star she turned her into a flower instead– the Vitória-Régia (a kind of water lily).”
The Victora Waterlilly picture used in the above quotation was taken by CelsoAbreu and is published under a Creative Commons license.
In her blog Diário de Lisboa [Lisboa Diary, in Portuguese], a Luso-Brazilian blogger who calls herself only a “Word-Warrior Atlantic Nereid“, tells us the story of the Boto [Pt], the aquatic animal that turns into a man to seduce the young women who live at the riverside:
O Boto
Personagem de grande importância na mitologia amazônica, principalmente no Pará. Segundo a lenda, o Boto Rosa deixa as águas do Rio Amazonas e transforma-se em um rapaz cuja beleza, fala meiga e sedutora, magnetismo do olhar atraem irresistivelmente todas as mulheres.
Contam que em noites de festa, ele se transforma em um rapaz alto, claro, forte,bonito e sempre se apresenta muito bem vestido, sempre de branco, sem nunca remover o chapéu que usa para ocultar o orifício para respiração no alto da cabeça. O boto bebe, dança, seduz as moças interioranas que comparecem as festas de beira de rio. Antes da alvorada, pula na água e volta à sua condição primitiva. Porém acabando o encanto, na hora que tem de transformar-se em boto, seus acessórios voltam a ser habitantes das águas: a espada é um poraquê, o chapéu é uma arraia e assim por diante.
A lenda serve de aviso às moças para tomarem cuidado com flertes que recebiam de belos rapazes em bailes ou festas. Por detrás deles poderia estar a figura do Boto, um conquistador de corações, que pode engravidá-las e abandoná-las.
He's a very important character in Amazonian mythology, mainly in [the State of] Pará. According to the legend, the Boto Rosa [Pink River Dolphin] leaves the waters of the Amazon River and turns into a young man whose beauty, sweet and seductive voice and magnetic eyes attract irresistibly all women.
It is said that on festive nights, he turns into a tall, fair and beautiful young man, always well dressed, always wearing white, and never takes his hat off, as he uses it to hide the breathing hole at the top of his head. Boto drinks and dances and seduces the naive girls who attend these riverside parties. Before dawn, he jumps back into the water and returns to his primitive condition. When the enchantment is over, in the moment he turns back into a dolphin, his accessories become water inhabitants again: the sword is a poraquê, the hat is a ray, and so on. This legend serves as a caution to the girls, to be careful about the flirtations from the handsome men at balls and parties. Behind them, there could be the figure of the Boto, the conqueror of hearts, who could make them pregnant and leave them behind.”
These are just some few, very few, of the stories and legends that are told and re-told inside and outside the Portuguese speaking blogosphere. In the third and last article of this series, we will focus on the search for the Saci Pererê — maybe the most famous and mysterious being in the whole of Brazilian mythology. We will follow his winding tracks, blog after blog, and discover who is he, where to find him and, if we are lucky enough, find out how to be safe from his pranks. Stay tuned.
Japan: The Illegal Download Explained, on 2-Channel
Over the last years, the sometimes raucous nature of the Japanese Internet has repeatedly come under fire over concerns about issues such as harmful content and copyright infringement. Now the spotlight is back again, with news that legislation to ban downloads of copyrighted content is moving ahead as planned [ja], despite earlier delays. While Japan's Copyright Law currently makes an exception in the case of downloads for personal use, the proposed legislation would modify Article 30 to remove this limitation.
The decision to outlaw downloads
A post at the Japanese-language Slashdot described what was decided at a meeting held on Oct. 20th by the Private Music and Video Recording Subcommittee [私的録音録画小委員会], a group set up to discuss levy payments for private use of audio and video recordings:
今回の私的録音録画小委員会では、iPodやHDDレコーダーに代表される「HDDやフラッシュメモリなどのストレージを内蔵した録画・録音機器」への補償金課金（いわゆるiPod課金）と、違法に複製されたコンテンツのダウンロードを違法化するという2点について議論が行われた。 iPod課金については、メーカー側の委員が強く反対したため、結論が先送りになったが、ダウンロード違法化については権利者側の委員が支持を表明、ほかの委員も消極的ながら支持したため、法改正を求める方針が固まった。
IT journalist Daisuke Tsuda, a member of the subcommittee himself, was reportedly the only one to voice opposition at the meeting [ja]. After the meeting ended, Tsuda reported on his Twitter feed what had happened:
今回はあくまでダウンロードが対象。ストリーミングは対象外。なのでYouTubeやニコニコに上がった違法動画も見るだけなら大丈夫。今後はストリーミングであれやこれやできるサービスが日本で盛り上がってくるかもね。ちなみにドワンゴは昨年のパブコメでダウンロード違法化に賛成している。
In a later interview [ja], Tsuda explained that the delay in moving ahead with the ban on downloads had been triggered by a conflict among members of the subcommittee, with copyright holders and the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association [JEITA] having reportedly hit a stalemate over the charging of a copyright levy for devices such as the iPod. This left the committee deadlocked [ja] as of last Spring, until finally they decided to move ahead with the downloads legislation (which they could agree on) and put aside the iPod levy for the time being.
Tsuda answers questions on 2-Channel's VIP Board
Screenshot from the thread started by Daisuke Tsuda at 2channel's VIP Board on Oct. 20th
When news of the plans for download legislation came out on Tsuda's Twitter feed, many readers wanted to know more, so Tsuda decided on Oct. 20th to start a thread at the VIP Board on 2-channel [ja], Japan's largest bulletin board. He titled the thread with a question: “The legislation outlawing downloads [of copyrighted material] is nearly finalized, do you have any questions?” [ja]. Readers began posting questions, which Tsuda answered.
Responding to one commenter, Tsuda explained who it was that was pushing for the legislation, and why:
DL違法化を強く要望してるのはレコード会社と映画会社、ゲーム業界。
特にレコード会社はCD売れない中伸びている着うたビジネスを守る必要があるので
ネットの違法着うたとか、中高生がSDカードとかで音楽をコピーしまくってる現状を
何とかしたがってる。中高生の割れ自慢が横行してるのも多少は影響あるだろうね。
Later in the VIP thread, another commenter asked whether there was any chance people could get arrested by the police for an illegal download. Given the fact that 3 people were arrested just the next day [ja] allegedly for running illegal chaku-uta sites [ja], it is not hard to imagine that actually happening. However, Tsuda explained that the current legislation would not go that far (for downloads):
>>36
DLの場合、そもそも警察にばれるということが考えにくい。刑事罰はないので現状は
DLだけなら逮捕はされない。ただし、民事の損害賠償の対象にはなるので、逮捕は
されないけどブログとかで「違法着うたダウンロードしまくりｗｗｗ」とか書いてて、
かつそれが証明されたら、民事訴訟される可能性はゼロじゃないけど、日本の司法
制度とか権利者が米国ほど強硬手段には出ないということを考えると、限りなく
リスクは低いだろうとは思う。
Another commenter asked about BitTorrent [ja], to which Tsuda responded:
法律が変わったら、BitTorrentで違法なファイルをダウンロードをするのは違法になる。
本来、今回の改正は刑事罰はついてないので落としただけだと「逮捕」されることは
ないんだけど（未成年の飲酒と同じ）、BTの場合Winnyみたいにファイル転送の
中継（アップロード）も行われる構造になってるので、違法なファイルを中継してたら
「違法なファイルアップロードしたね」という感じで捕まる可能性はある。
（限りなく低いとは思うけど
The current legislation does not in essence have any criminal penalty attached to it, however, so you won't be “arrested” just for downloading (just like in the case of minors drinking alcohol). In the case of BT, however, like Winny, there is an architecture that also allows for live streaming (uploading) of files, and if you live stream illegal files there is a chance you could get arrested, told something like, “You uploaded illegal files.” (very unlikely though, I think).
Another commenter asks what happens if someone moves the contents of the cache folder where a YouTube video is stored. Tsuda explained:
それ微妙だよね。一応そのへんも審議会で聞いたんだけど、YouTube見るのはセーフで
ブラウザのキャッシュフォルダにデータが入るのはOKってことだったんだよね。
キャッシュファイルを移動してリネームしたら普通に再生できるわけだけど、それは
「ダウンロード」行為じゃないし。まあそれぐらいあいまいな部分を含む改正ってことですね。
Another commenter, finally, expresses frustration:
50 名前：以下、名無しにかわりましてVIPがお送りします：2008/10/20(月) 22:32:03.44 ID:njpRF4dt0
罰則が決まって違法ダウンロードが減ったとしても
CDを買うかと言われたらNOだと思うんだよね
だから落ちた売り上げとかは変わらないと思うの
その場合の権利者側の言い訳はどうなるとおもう？
if you ask me whether I will buy CDs the answer is NO.
So I don't think the drop in sales will change.
What will the excuse be of the rights holders if this is what happens?
To which Tsuda replied:
>>50
ずっとインターネットのせいにし続けるような気がするなー。
Reactions from bloggers
Blogger id:Aoba was puzzled by the legislation:
ダウンロード違法化ってツッコミ所満載だよな。ちょっと挙げると、
- ダウンロードはアウト。だけどストリーミングはセーフ
- YouTubeやニコ動はストリーミングじゃないけどセーフ
- つまり『キャッシュ』ならダウンロードしてもセーフ
という具合なので、一体何を考えてるんだか非常に興味深い。
- Downloads are out. But streaming is okay.
- YouTube and Nico Nico Douga are not streaming, but they are okay.
- In other words, as long as it's in the cache, even downloading is okay.
That's the situation, so it's fascinating to wonder what on earth they are thinking.
Nobuyoshi Kodera [小寺信良], a co-member with Tsuda of Movements for Internet Active Users (MIAU), considers what will happen in the future in a blog post at Ascii.jp:
その先には何があるか。権利者が狙うように、またみんなが一生懸命DVDやCDを買うようになるなどというのは、幻想だ。コンテンツは単純にメディア露出が減ることで、いいコンテンツと出会う機会損失が大きくなる。どんなにいい作品が市場に出ようとも、中身を知る機会がなければ買わない。中身を知らずに前評判だけで3000円4000円出すほど、今のネット慣れした若者はそれに価値を見出さないだろう。
What's next
In an interview following the VIP thread [ja], Tsuda explained that if things stabilize, legislation will be brought before the National Diet in May or June of next year, which would mean the law would actually be put into effect as of January, 2010. He also mentioned that there has been a suggestion that at future subcommittee meetings doors be closed to the public, the major question being whether consumers will be called on to attend or not. It is the consumers, Tsuda says, who are most directly affected, since they are the ones paying the copyright fees, so they must be involved. “If not,” he says, “everything will change without them even knowing about it.”
Kelele ‘09: African Bloggers' Conference
Kelele is an annual African bloggers' conference which will be held for the first time in August 13th - 16th 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya. According to event organisers, Kelele is a gathering of African bloggers in the tradition of historical African societies where everyone has a voice.
Kelele is a Swahili word for noise. So, African bloggers make some noise!
The theme for Kelele ‘09 is “Nairobi Beat Your Drum.” Erik, one of the main organisers, explains the idea behind Kelele ‘09 theme:
The specific theme of Kelele ‘09 Nairobi is “Beat Your Drum” – which connects the traditional African method of getting your message across vast distances – the talking drums – to the 21st century and the tools we use today, blogs and the Internet.
Kelele website provides details of the event:
What is Kelele? Kelele is an annual African bloggers’ conference held in a different African city each year and run by an organising committee in that city. Kelele will be held for the first time in August 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Why Kelele? Kelele is the Kiswahili word for noise. We are organising a gathering of African bloggers in the tradition of historical African societies where everyone has a voice. Where society has room for debate and discussion. With too many voices marginalised or simply ignored in Africa society today for a variety of reasons we believe that technology in general and grassroots media tools such as blogs in particular represent the most powerful way in which to give Africans back their voice. We are gathering in Nairobi in August 2009 to make a powerful, positive, inspirational noise that will be heard across the continent and beyond. KELELE!
When will Kelele ’09 take place?:
We have tentatively booked the 13th – 16th August 2009.
Here is a summary of the proposed programme: Day 1 August 13: Arrival in Nairobi and official opening Day 2 August 14: Conference Day Day 3 August 15: Skills/Training Day and Outreach Day. Official closing Day 4 August 16: Sight seeing / departure
Sister events The African Bloggers Awards, which aims to recognise the top blogger from each African country. The winner from each country will be invited and sponsored to attend Kelele ’09 Nairobi.
The organisers are inviting sponsors to cover the cost of the conference:
Sponsor Kelele!
Every successful event needs the backing of some great sponsors! We’d like to invite all organizations with an interest in blogging, Africa and citizen media to become a sponsor of the inaugural African Bloggers Conference: Kelele!
There are a variety of ways that you can become involved as a sponsor for Kelele - your contribution doesn’t only need to be financial in nature. If you’d like to find out more about the sponsorship opportunities, please email daudi.were AT gmail.comSponsors - We have only begun canvassing for sponsors for Kelele this week. Already, the Berkman Institute at Harvard is on board. If you’d like to join us and be a part of making some real noise in Africa, please get in touch with Daudi, or at main@kelele.org.
A very special thanks goes out to Foxinni and David Kobia for the logo and WordPress design work.
Luckily, Kelele sponsors are starting to come on board:
It has been one week since Kelele was announced, and we’re incredibly surprised and happy with the uptake within the African blogosphere around it. This is true also amongst sponsors as well.
Harvard’s Berkman Institute for Internet and Society A long-time supporter of blogging in Africa, the Berkman Institute at Harvard was the first one that came on board. In fact, they have been waiting for this type of event to happen in Africa, and their long-time relationship with Daudi makes it a perfect fit. Ethan Zuckerman, one of the Berkman Fellows, is also an established presence in the African blog-space as well.
Afrigator - Africa’s social media aggregator Luckily for me, I was in Johannesburg when Kelele was announced and had a chance to speak to Mike Stopforth, one of the co-founders of Afrigator. Since Afrigator is the one place that aggregates blogs from all over Africa, this relationship only makes sense. I didn’t have a chance to talk to Justin Hartman, but look for some big announcements from them and us in the future too that will directly play into Kelele.
Zoopy - South Africa’s video hosting site One of South Africa’s more successful web 2.0 type sites, Zoopy was VERY excited to hear about Kelele and wanted to be one of the main media sponsors. As Daudi, myself and Ndesanjo had been speaking about them well in advance of announcing Kelele, we were thrilled to hear that they wanted to come on board as a sponsor. CAtching up with Nic Haralambous in Jo’burg meant that we got to talk some details and needless to say, this will be a big partnership for Kelele.
Contributors
Foxinni, of Radiiate, was kind enough to create the WordPress design that we are using for the site. Especially nice, as he did it in a rush as we gave him no time…
David Kobia of Ushahidi, created the logo - again, in very little time.
Erik sums up the spirit behind the conference, “If Africans want to do something then do it”:
Kelele, the African Bloggers Conference, was announced today at Barcamp Africa. That event has an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm behind it, and it makes the perfect segue to the next big African community event: Kelele! This event was born out of connections made at TED Global in Tanzania last year, when 25+ bloggers from around Africa were brought face-to-face for the first time.
Daudi Were is producing the event, along with an organizing committee of bloggers from all over Africa. This includes Ndesanjo Macha, Dave Duarte, Nii Simmonds, Mshairi, Sami Ben Gharbia, and myself.
I think we’re at a place saying, if Africans want to do something, then do it. So, let’s do it! Let’s celebrate the cultures we have in Africa and let the conference be a reflection of that. Let’s make it truly African, where the people involved are coming from all 52 countries on the continent and the diaspora. Let’s seed the next generation of bloggers and advocates of open dialogue in Africa - which is why one day will be focused on having the top 100 bloggers around Africa training new bloggers in whichever host country it’s in.
Josh describes Kelele as a celebration of Africa's contributions to the social web:
Kelele was announced to a room of well over two hundred people at BarCamp Africa a few days ago. It’s big news as it’s the first time anyone has attempted to organize a pan-African conference aimed at web 2.0, mobile, and new media. The date is scheduled for August 13, 2009 which puts it nearly a year away but when it comes to organizing conferences of this scale, that’s no time at all, and it will be here before we realize it!
In Europe, America and all around the world events like this are commonplace and happen very frequently. What Kelele represents, and why it’s so tremendously positive, is an initiative to launch a homegrown conference that has the world’s attention. It’s not a Barcamp, it’s not a TED event, it’s not an O’Reilly event; this is Africa celebrating Africa’s contributions to the social web. While it’s true that all of the aforementioned events have taken place on African soil, it’s important for the African continent to do more than just participate with the world development community; it has to contribute.
Startup Africa writes, “The birth of an African bloggers conference,”
According to Hash at WhiteAfrican, Kelele was born out of connections made at TED Global in Tanzania last year, when 25+ bloggers from around Africa were brought face-to-face for the first time. The announcement for the official launch was made a day after BarCampAfrica.
Loy, who blogs at Startups Nigeria, leaves a comment at White African suggesting that the conference takes its name from the native language of the host country:
Hi Hash, This is great initiative! But, May i suggest that every host country has its own voice, thus the conference could be tagged depending on the native language of the host country?
For instance, an african bloggers’ conference in Lagos, Nigeria couldbe tagged “ariwo”, meaning noise in yoruba.
Other bloggers who have written about Kelele are:
It will be a couple of years after the brouhaha surrounding the first African bloggers conference in Grahamstown SA and its supposed lack of diversity, but it’s finally good to see the announcement about an African bloggers conference in Nairobi. Hopefully those of you who felt that Grahamstown could have “looked” better will take this opportunity to help shape Kelele into what you’d like it to be as far as representing the African blogosphere (yes, no bitching after the fact is what I’m saying!).
Its nice to see some of the ingenious Kenyan bloggers and web aps developers organize for an Annual African Bloggers Conference that will basically be owned and run by African bloggers.The first African bloggers conference as can be seen from the banner will be held next year August 13 to 16, 2009.Kelele is an initiative being spearheaded by Kenyans(among other African bloggers and Citizen Journalists) but poised to have a wider African appeal as the conference will be hosted by different African cities on an annual basis.
The idea is noble but when it comes to sponsorship …..there is often a big let down from indeginous African Companies.From practice i have witnessed that mainly foreign companies host or sponsor this events with little input from the locals.I hope this time..it will be different! The corpoartes need to embrance the power of the internet as a powerful medium for communicating vital information.
And David Duarte:
Kelele, an annual African bloggers’ conference, was announced yesterday at BarCamp Africa at the GooglePlex in San Francisco. This exciting event will be held in a different African city each year and run by an organising committee in that city. Kelele will be held for the first time in August 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Daudi Were is producing the event, along with an organizing committee of bloggers from all over Africa. This includes Ndesanjo Macha, Erik Hersman, Nii Simmonds, Mshairi, Sami Ben Gharbia, and me.
You can find more information about Kelele ‘09 on its website, blog and its twitter channel.
Argentina: Government Seeks to Nationalize Private Retirement Funds
The Argentinean government recently announced that they would send a proposal to the Congress by which the Pension and Retirement Plan Administration or AFJP in Spanish (also known as mutual funds in the US) would become nationalized. The AFJP privately manages millions of Argentineans' retirement funds, and under the proposal, their funds would now go to the State. The political debate will go to National Congress, but many blogs have commented on the possible changes.
On the side of those who oppose, there are two quite evident arguments: that this is a sacking of a lot of Argentineans' retirement contributions, and the only reason for this change is to increase the government's revenues in the short term. Guillermo Riera of Demasiada Información [es] states:
De seguir con el sistema de reparto, en veinte años el Estado estará imposibilitado para pagar jubilación alguna, sencillamente porque habrá tantos jubilados que no habrá recaudación que alcance.
Esteban Grinberg of De Todo Un Poco [es] points out that
La excusa del gobierno para hacer estatizar las jubilaciones, es la perdida de rentabilidad que han sufrido las AFJP producto de la crisis mundial, que se calcula en un 20%. Un argumento demasiado apresurado y conyuntural como para modificar drasticamente el sistema de jubilaciones.
There are more opinions against the measures at No Me Parece [es], Speedy González es de la DEA [es] and La Historia Paralela [es].
On the side of those who are in favor, it is being said that AFJPs have been a complete failure and that the pensions paid are even lower than the public system's. Besides, they charge high commission fees to their affiliates, even when they have negative returns. At Los 3 Chiflados [es] they point out the system only helped the banks in making business deals with the State and that it never really channeled the funds towards productive investments. Mendieta el Renegáu [es] adds that many media companies are campaigning against this change because AFJPs are big advertisers on their programs. More opinions in favor can be read at El Bar de Moe [es] and Miguel Contissa [es]. The latter states that among the administrative expenses the AFJPs could charge their affiliates was advertising in the media.
Other summaries about the topic of the disappearing of th AFJPs can be found at Traders del Merval [es]; Kust [es]; Al Centro y Adentro [es]; and Leo Piccioli [es].
Links for Thu, 2008-10
Unzipped has already speculated that the recent decision by the opposition to halt demonstrations and rallies might have been part of some deal with the government. Now, following demands for an independent inquiry into the post-election 1 March clashes that left at least 10 people dead, the blogger is encouraged by a presidential decree to create a fact-finding body made up equally of pro-opposition and pro-government members.
The rains in El Progreso, Honduras are causing alarming effects and it seems that climate changes are affecting the entire country writes Sandra Erika Gómez of Vaya Pues! [es]
Eduardo Palacios of Technodatum [es] lists the 15 most relevant blogs in Ecuador in his opinion, and invites readers to add to the list.
Jaguar del Platanar [es] is worried about man-made environmental disasters in the Costa Rican communities of Osa and Crucitas.
Bolivian President Evo Morales recently revealed that the first draft Constitution was originally planned to be used as a way to bargain the opposition in accepting a more moderate document. If that is the case, Miguel Centellas of Pronto* writes that it was reckless, and that Morales, “may have to accept substantial blame for the deaths that occurred in the past several months as government and opposition forces clashed.“
On introducing his blogs to friends, Brazilian blogger Alexandre [pt] has to continually answer to the question about why he blogs if it brings him no money. His answer is always: “I get a “voice”! It is very cool to be able to debate ideas, share view points, have a contact channel with people from all over the world”.
The Brook Song (ঝর্ণার গান) reports that a Bangladeshi site “Votebd.org” won the Manthan Award 2008 on E-Governance category. The site tracks all the information related to contesting politicians and makes it available to people of Bangladesh.
Social Science in the Caucasus examines the findings of a poll for The Economist which indicates that support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain is stronger than for his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, in the Republic of Georgia. With the poll also showing that support for Obama is stronger in Azerbaijan and Turkey despite his apparent pro-Armenian leanings, the blog explains why this might be.
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