July 24, 2006
CIA Blogger gets the Boot
Christine Axsmith, a contract employee working for the C.I.A.was fired for posting a message on Intelink, a classified computer network used by American intelligence agencies.
Axsmith criticized the interrogation technique called “waterboarding,” a particularly harsh practice that the C.I.A. is known to have used where the detainee feels as if they are drowning. Axsmith said that she believed that the classified blogs were supposed to be a critical tool to allow C.I.A. employees, who are often prohibited from discussing their work even with other agency officials, to vent frustrations. C.I.A. spokesman, Paul Gimigliano, said that the blogs were created to “encourage collaboration” on business issues but that postings “should relate directly to the official business of the author and readers of the Web site.” Related Articles: C.I.A. Worker Says Message on Torture Got Her Fired Top-Secret World Loses Blogger CIA Needs Refresher Course on Blogs
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 21, 2006
Indian Blogs get Unblocked
More than 18 blog outlets across India were blocked this week, coinciding with the aftermath of the Mumbai bombings.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 23, 2006
Kentucky Gov Blocks Bluegrass Blogs
Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration has blocked state employees' access to many Web sites including some blogs, causing a knee jerk reaction from the blogosphere.
One popular Kentucky blog, the Bluegrass Report, was among the newly blocked blogs and the blogger believes that the timing of the block is not purely coincidental – the block comes shortly after a front page New York Times story cited the blog as critical of Fletcher.
It wasn’t long before national blogs chimed in with their charges of censorship including the popular Daily Kos and MyDD. Meanwhile, Beltway Blogroll and others provided another perspective on the scandal – perhaps the state was just promoting efficiency as blogs may be one of the largest distracters of state employees.
Bloggers may not get the last word on this issue. The watchdog group Public Citizen announced that it may sue Fletcher on free-speech grounds. Public Citizen has filed an open-records request seeking information on why some political sites have been blocked and others not.
Related Articles:
State Workers Denied Access to Political Blogs, Cyberworld Protests Intense
State Adds Blogs to Off-Limits Sites for State Employees
Besieged Kentucky Governor Draws Fire From a New Quarter
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 21, 2006
Chinese Premier’s High-Tech U.S. Visit
Chinese Premier Hu Jintao kicked off his U.S. tour with a visit to Bill Gates, illustrating the importance of U.S. tech companies in U.S.-China relations.
While tech talk was an important part of Hu Jintao’s official visits with Gates and Bush, the issue of Chinese censorship was skirted. Gates and Hu Jintao discussed intellectual property rights, yet despite urging from Reporters Without Borders, Gates remained vague on Web freedom. Later, Jintao spoke with Bush about easing restrictions on U.S. high-tech exports to China.
Unofficially, tech companies’ cooperation with Chinese censorship came into the media spotlight: Skype admitted to complying with Chinese censorship practices, Yahoo was accused of helping jail another Chinese writer, and a U.S. congressional committee meeting on human rights addressed the behavior of U.S. tech companies in China.
Related Articles:
Google in China: The Big Disconnect
Bush and Hu Meet With Press
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 22, 2006
China's Great Firewall, to be Continued
The Washington Post has posted a series of interesting articles on China's great firewall.
Bloggers Who Pursue Change Confront Fear And Mistrust
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/20/AR2006022001304.html
The Click That Broke a Government's Grip
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/18/AR2006021801389.html?sub=AR
Reference Tool On Web Finds Fans, Censors
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/19/AR2006021901335.html
Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 01, 2006
Who Owns the Name Russia?
The Russian government has demanded to see evidence from Russiatoday.com that it has authorization from the government to use the name "Russia."
Founded in 1996, Russia Today is one of the oldest and most widely read English language Internet sites for breaking news about Russia. The request for authorization of its domain name came from Sergey Frolov, General Director of TV Novosti/Russia Today TV, a Moscow-based media company licensed by the Putin government. This seems to be yet more evidence of the Russian government's crackdown on international media--even on the internet.
For more information, see SYS-CON Media's article "How's This for Russian Press Intolerance? U.S. Internet Firm Russiatoday.com Told It Needs Approval from Russian Government to Use Name 'Russia'".
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
January 09, 2006
Representatives Keeping an Eye on You
CNET's continuing coverage on web site tracking reveals that dozens of U.S. Senators are tracking visitigs to their web sites even though they have publicly pledged not to.
Sixty-six politicians in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are setting permanent Web cookies even though at least 23 of them have promised not to use the online tracking technique, a CNET News.com investigation shows.
Congress' hands caught in the cookie jar
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6020711.html
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
October 05, 2005
Daily ePolitics Buzz Brief
Here are today's E-Government headlines from around the world.
The Latest E-Government Headlines in the United States
Redesigned New York State Web Portal
http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=96861
Chertoff Plans DHS Alerts Pilot
http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=96863
The Latest E-Government Headlines from Around the World
An E-City in South Korea?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/05/technology/techspecial/05oconnell.html?th&emc=th
Chinese Government Website Opens on Trial Basis
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/01/content_3573601.htm
British E-Government: Better than Ireland, But Still not Good Enough
http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3760
Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
October 03, 2005
Daily ePolitics Buzz Brief
The European Union is challenging United States Internet control hegemony...
EU Shocks with Proposed Internet Controls
(New York Times) The European decision to back the rest of the world in demanding the creation of a new international body to govern the Internet clearly caught the Americans off balance and left them largely isolated at talks designed to come up with a new way of regulating the digital traffic of the 21st century. (September 30, 2005)
http://www.nytimes.com/iht/2005/09/30/business/IHT-30net.html
EU Deal Threatens End to US Dominance of Internet
(The Register) The United States and countries around the world are stunned by the European Union's announcement of a policy ending the US-dominated Internet control. the Proposal calls for a "new co-operation model" that would not only oversee public policy matters but also create procedures for changing the internet's "root zone file", managers of country domains (such as .uk or .de), create a new arbitration service for the internet, and produce rules to cover the domain name system (DNS). (September 30, 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/30/eu_deal_wsis/
US Remains Stubborn Over Internet Control
(The Inquirer) The US has refusted to hand over control of the main computers that control the Internet to the UN. Ambassador David Gross, the US coordinator for international communications and information policy at the State Department said that the US will not allow the UN to take over the management of the net, and that he was "deeply disappointed" with the European Union. (September 29, 2005)
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26573
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
September 26, 2005
The Great Firewall of China
The Chinese government has imposed more restrictions intended to limit the news and other information available to Internet users, and has further restricted the scope of content permitted on Web sites.
Over the Weekend, China imposed a new set of laws regulating the Internet, effective immediately.
China Tightens Its Restrictions for News Media on the Internet
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/international/asia/26china.html?th&emc=th
China Sets New Rules on Internet News
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/25/AR2005092500310.html
Great Firewall: China's model for a Censored Net
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0925china-internet25.html
Posted by Buzz Webster at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 30, 2005
CyberPorn on the Minds of Many Lawmakers
The internet is at the center of political debate again- this time over adult content websites. Find out what Washington is (or isn't) doing about online adult entertainment and the .xxx domain, reserved for "indecent" content.
Social conservatives helped to re-elect President Bush last year. Now his administration is returning the favor with a crackdown on sexually explicit material.
As usual, the Internet is in the political crosshairs. The Family Research Council recently demanded that the Bush administration do something about the .xxx domain--a zone reserved for adult content and set for final approval this month.
The administration was happy to oblige. Michael Gallagher, assistant secretary at the Commerce Department, asked for .xxx to be put on hold. Now its future is uncertain.
The same pattern is repeating elsewhere in the administration. When Bush needed to appoint a successor to Michael Powell, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the president could have chosen someone to relax Powell's "indecency" crackdown.
Instead, Bush chose Kevin Martin, who holds even more expansive views of what's indecent than his predecessor did.
Calling for a crackdown on sex sites through new taxes, regulations or prosecutions might make headlines--but it's just political posturing. Martin voted against airing "Saving Private Ryan" on broadcast TV, and his candidacy was embraced by the Parents Television Council. Now Martin has hired Penny Nance, an antiporn religious activist, to be his adviser. Until a few weeks ago, Nance was a board member of Concerned Women for America, which has a mission statement of bringing "Biblical principles into all levels of public policy."
Bush's Justice Department has not been idle. Bruce Taylor, the president of the National Law Center for Children and Families who claims to have been responsible for the most obscenity prosecutions in the history of the United States, has been hired to lend a hand.
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft was the butt of jokes from late-night comedians for his morning prayer sessions and his staff's decision to cover the naked breasts of a statue in the Justice Department.
But it was Ashcroft's successor, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who targeted adult Web sites by burdening them with onerous record-keeping requirements. Those rules currently are being challenged in court. So is the Child Online Protection Act, defended by the Justice Department and opposed by mainstream publishers including Salon.com, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and News.com publisher CNET Networks.
Expanding 'indecency'
Congress is becoming just as censorial. One example is a proposed tax on adult Web sites. Another is a bill approved by the House of Representatives that would boost fines for broadcast "indecency" from $32,000 to $500,000 and punish stations with possible loss of their broadcast license.
Now the Senate is talking about expanding that idea to cable, satellite and the Internet. "We ought to find some way to say, 'Here is a block of channels, whether it's delivered by broadband, by VoIP, by whatever it is, to a home, that is clear of the stuff you don't want your children to see,'" Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, told reporters in March. (VoIP stands for voice over Internet protocol.)
Even though cable channels currently are not covered by "indecency" restrictions, some have been self-censoring to avoid the ire of the self-appointed morality mavens in Washington.
John Landgraf, president of FX Networks, told a conference in Aspen, Colo., last week that his shows are "rated, they're V-chipped and there's a detailed graphical (warning)." FX's lineup includes "Rescue Me" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
"You'd really have to be blind and deaf to watch the shows and never know--we make it quite clear they're adult shows for adults," Landgraf said, adding that FX won't air racy shows earlier in the evening. "Even though technically we're not regulated and there's nothing the FCC could do, we feel that we have little choice right now."
Risk of collateral damage
The problems with Washington's new focus on pornography are twofold: It won't work, and it won't stop with adult sites.
Calling for a crackdown on sex sites through new taxes, regulations or prosecutions might make headlines--but it's just political posturing. Sexually explicit material isn't limited to the United States, and persuading the Dutch to pull the plug on sites based in Amsterdam is as likely as persuading France to endorse the invasion of Iraq.
Previous Next The second problem is that antiporn laws are touted as targeting smut, but they end up being used to suppress unpopular ideas.
Victims of obscenity law in the not-so-distant past include a literary review with works by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, Henry Miller's "Tropic of Cancer," the classic tale of "Fanny Hill," James Joyce's "Ulysses," and, in the last decade, comic book artist Mike Diana.
Indecency regulations are even broader. The FCC has ruled that utterances of four-letter words can be punished--a sweeping categorization that includes news articles, dictionaries, sex education sites, and transcripts of conversations between the vice president and a U.S. senator.
Technology including the V-Chip, white-listed Web sites in Apple Computer's Tiger operating system, and even the humble off switch are more effective ways to shield children from porn without collateral damage to free expression. But because politicians wouldn't be able to claim credit--or appease their social conservative supporters--we should expect more of the same.
http://news.com.com/The+Internet+again+in+the+political+crosshairs/2010-1071_3-5843843.html
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 09, 2005
Singapore's Coming-Of-Age Quandary
This tiger struggles to balance a looser internet censorship with its traditionally conservative social policy.
SINGAPORE -- Singaporeans are seeing "Sex and the City" on TV. Actors may utter four-letter words on stage. Opposition parties can gather without police permission--as long as they do it indoors.
Tiny and famously disciplined Singapore is turning 40 on Tuesday, and continuing to lighten up. Gone are the days when chewing gum and long hair were banned. Singaporeans are even being allowed to bungee-jump and dance on bar tables.
In April, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong explained: "We risk being relegated to the second league if we rely only on past achievements. We must continue to reinvent ourselves."
Political analyst Ho Khai Leong of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies says the ruling People's Action Party is being pragmatic without relaxing its grip on power over the island and its 4.2 million citizens.
"It can't remain authoritarian when globalization is on your doorstep," he said. "There is a dynamic to the desire to be more open."
In 40 years, Singapore has gone from malarial backwater of the British empire to gleaming financial center with one of Asia's most modern economies. It also is intent on social engineering, where homosexuality remains punishable by jail, and the citizenry, mostly ethnic Chinese, is regularly targeted in civic improvement campaigns--speak proper English! Get to weddings on time! Have more babies! Wave to your fellow motorists!
The unusual meld of capitalism, authoritarianism and state-encouraged behavior modification was perfected by Lee Kuan Yew, the British-educated father of the present prime minister, who led Singapore to independence in 1965 and ruled it for 25 years. At 81, he is regarded as an elder statesman of Asia, and remains a powerful influence on the Cabinet.
But while the economy has leaped forward, political reform has been glacial.
The People's Action Party has never lost an election, holds 82 of the 85 seats in parliament and is likely to trounce the ragtag opposition again in the next election. Its two most prominent opposition figures have been bankrupted by defamation suits won by ruling party members, and Singapore law disqualifies bankrupts from running for office.
Leading foreign newspapers also have been frequently sued by ruling party stalwarts, and the international media rights group Reporters Without Borders ranks Singapore 147th in press freedom. North Korea and Cuba rank 156 and 157.
State-linked broadcaster MediaCorp controls all free TV channels here, and Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.--its rarely deviates from the administration line--runs most newspapers.
The Internet puts the government in a quandary. It knows the future depends on an Internet-savvy public but recognizes the Web's power to bypass state-controlled media and foment its own kind of people power.
The Internet effect was evident in June, when an online petition became a driving force behind the ouster of the head of the largest government-backed charity, the National Kidney Foundation, for allegedly misusing funds.
"Rarely have Singaporeans showed such unanimous purpose in demanding change, and it worked--an undeniable plus for democracy," said political commentator Seah Chiang Nee.
Officials say they have eased up on social policies to satisfy a generation more exposed to overseas influences. But they also insist Singapore's generally conservative citizenry cherishes order and wants censorship and government involvement in social affairs to preserve it.
Prime Minister Lee spelled it out: "Social mores must not be corrupted and Singapore must remain a safe and wholesome society."
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 12, 2005
Journal Of E-Government Publishes Issues Two And Three
We are pleased to announce that the Journal of E-Government (JEG) has published issues two and three.
JEG is officially affiliated with the Information Technology and Politics (ITP) section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and examines how governments and citizens around the world are utilizing information and communications technology to connect. Don't miss an issue! Now is the time to subscribe or get involved by submitting a paper.
Visit the Journal’s website for details: http://www.egovjournal.com/
Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 22, 2005
Internet Filtering In Iran In 2004-2005
The OpenNet Initiative and Berkman Center have just released a new report: Internet Filtering in Iran
Internet Filtering In Iran In 2004-2005 (Open Net Initiative) Iran's Internet filtering system is one of the worlds most substantial censorship regimes. Iran focuses its efforts on expression through local language, like Farsi, and relies on commercial software developed by for-profit companies in the United States to carry out its filtering regime. (June 22, 2005)
Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 25, 2005
Oregon Legislators Unite On Blog
The Oregon House Democrats’ Blog is a new way to engage in open dialogue with the Democrats in the House of Representatives.
The 27 members of the Oregon House Democratic Caucus believe in an open government. Unfortunately, the rush of legislative business, as well as the limitations of space and time, prevents many people from communicating directly with legislators. This new blog enables any interested person to see the positions taken by House Democrats and to comment on them. It will provide the constant flow of information that legislators need to respond to constituents’ concerns.
Link
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Best Of The Web Call For Entries
The Center for Digital Government and Government Technology magazine have issued a call for entries on their 10th annual Best of the Web contest and Digital Government Achievement Awards (DGAA).
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 24, 2005
Amber Alerts Sync Gov And Mobiles
Steven Clift calls this the “first large scale effort to allow government produced information alerts to reach
More: Amber Alerts Distribution Expands Across Wireless Telephone Networks
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 10, 2005
Tennessee Gov Starts Blogging
Governor Phil Bredesen is the net's latest blogging politco.
Governor Bredesen launched a new blog this week and as the Instapundit noted, he's already receiving feedback from fellow netizens.
The Governor stated up front that he won't be blogging daily, but hopes to post on a regular basis.
Let me confess upfront: I won’t be blogging every single day. But I will, on a regular basis, use this space to share my ideas on issues and provide personal dispatches from trips I take and events I attend, like the National Governors Association conferences. Stay tuned for more entries.
Welcome to my new web site and blog. This is a major improvement over my old web site and includes a number of new features, such as: enhanced design; links to local government sites; signup for email updates; and an online opinion poll.
Meanwhile, spend some time getting familiar with the new site. It's a big step forward in my efforts to communicate with you directly on what’s happening at the Capitol. I hope you find it worth reading. Talk soon, Phil Bredesen.One of my favorite additions is a tool that cross-references recent news items with my top policy priorities. For example, click on the “Budget” area in the quad box to the upper right and you’ll not only see my budget priorities but you can also “read related news,” including archived press releases and speeches related to this topic. Finally, if you know a child who’s interested in government, check out my new and improved “Kids’ Page,” which includes Tennessee trivia, fun facts and links to other family-friendly sites.
Let me confess upfront: I won’t be blogging every single day. But I will, on a regular basis, use this space to share my ideas on issues and provide personal dispatches from trips I take and events I attend, like the National Governors Association conferences. Stay tuned for more entries.
Meanwhile, spend some time getting familiar with the new site. It's a big step forward in my efforts to communicate with you directly on what’s happening at the Capitol. I hope you find it worth reading. Talk soon, Phil Bredesen.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 28, 2005
Congress – From Web Forms To Worse
Contributing Editor Eve Fox just passed on some alerting news we should all be concerned with:
For some time, most members of Congress have refused to accept email messages directly, requiring their constituents to fill out ‘web forms’, instead, in an attempt to both cut down on the volume of online communications they receive and to code them by issue area to make sorting and tallying the comments easier for staffers. Up to now, advocacy groups have gotten around this by using software with the ability to bypass these web forms, collecting the user info they need to automatically fill in the required fields, keeping the user’s experience quick and painless.
But recently, activists have begun receiving messages from several Senators’ offices (at least five that we know of) informing them that their comments will be ignored because they came through a third party web site. It’s not that they can’t receive the messages, it’s just that they refuse to acknowledge them once they’ve received them, citing unprompted letters and unsolicited spam as their rationale.
This situation raises some interesting questions:
- How can we work with Congress to improve communication?
- Is email a dead medium for this purpose?
- Does this new development mean faxing will become the new email? And if so, how long before faxes become totally obsolete?
- Is the “hit Reply to take action” option offered by most advocacy software packages really a curse in disguise? This feature, originally designed to make taking action online even easier is likely the cause of many of the “unprompted letters” from constituents who hit reply, accidentally taking action without meaning to or being aware that they have done so.
- How can we improve the quality of mass communications to Congress? Does the advocacy community as a whole need to come up with standards for these communications? Ideas include: always using constituent matching so that only a member’s constituents are contacting him or her, targeting your messages to include only decision-makers who have a stake in the issue you’re working on (no more ccing all of Congress!), making editing a message and subject line a requirement instead of an option, collecting names and comments via email and delivering them via a printed petition, etc.
- Does the advocacy community also need to stop relying so heavily on email? Phone calls, faxes, in person visits, printed letters, etc., usually carry more weight though they tend to lack the same volume of participation.
- Do software vendors need to change the way they deliver these messages to allow for easier tabulation and sorting on the Hill end of things?
- Should email campaigns be considered more of a simple “voting “ model, rather than asking people to write long letters?
- Is there a need for a massive education effort aimed at the Hill? Members are chronically understaffed and dealing with millions of emails (many of them form letters) is surely a thankless and time-consuming task, yet it is quite literally their job to accept comments from their constituents so to say point blank that they’re ignoring your letter seems a little brazen and out of touch with reality.
Resources
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Congressional Management Foundation
Open Government Data Exchange
Eve is Senior Consultant & Deputy Directory of eCampaigns at M&R Strategy Services.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 21, 2005
An Email Box For All Of Israel
Electric News Net reports Israel approves e-mail communication scheme:
The Israeli government has approved a scheme to enable secure online communication between the government and its citizens. Israeli newswire Y-Net News reports that approval has been given to a "safe deposit box" programme, an initiative that aims to allocate a secure e-mail inbox to every citizen in order to facilitate communication with the government. The idea behind the scheme is to allow the authorities to send official permits, agency forms and other messages directly to individuals or businesses. In addition, citizens who request information or official forms over the web will receive a response via their e-mail account. In order to use the system, which will be voluntary, users will have to purchase a smartcard and smartcard reader and will be required to register an electronic signature. The government said it will continue to provide services over the phone and in person for people who do not wish to avail of the scheme.
An email box for every person? It's a novel idea and quite feasible with only 6.2 million citizens. Washington state has about the same population, I wonder if it would be possible for them.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 03, 2005
U.S. State Legislatures Webcasting
From the Webcasting Community DoWire:
If you want to see how a number of local US governments are using the Granicus streaming solution this link will provide over 40 jurisdictions what stream and archive public meetings and public service announcements.
Granicus, Inc. provides comprehensive solutions for creating, managing and distributing live and on-demand streaming media content to support and enhance public meeting communications, internal training and public education programs for local government.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 01, 2005
Blogs Subvert Government Censorship In Nepal
After the February 1st Royal Takeover in Nepal, King Gyandendra censored the media, arrested journalists and cut communications. But tech-savvy journalists are using their blogs to get news out to the rest of the world, according to Online Journalism Review.
Asia Media reports that in the fight against the King Gyanendra's media censorship, the Internet is playing a vital and unexpected role. Bloggers are becoming Nepal's new watchdogs. In the face of strict rules restricting print, television and radio communications, Nepali journalists have begun using web logs, or blogs, to communicate their opinions and news to the outside world.
There are currently two blogs run by Nepalese journalists, Radio Free Nepal (http://freenepal.blogspot.com/) and United We Blog! (http://www.blog.com.np/), which have generated considerable interest in the blog community.
Blogs Rise Above The Nepal Information Coup
Nepalese Journos Start Blogs
Nepalese Bloggers, Journalists Defy Media Clampdown By King
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
January 25, 2005
City Workers Take Complaints to the Web
GUEST: Jack O'Toole
According to the LA Daily News, a major city union in Los Angeles is using a new weblog to take its case against incumbent Mayor James Hahn directly to the voters:
In a sign of the Internet's growing influence in Los Angeles politics, a major city union Monday launched a Web site featuring anonymous comments and rumors, many taking direct aim at Mayor James Hahn.
The Engineers and Architects Association, which has endorsed Hahn challenger Antonio Villaraigosa, took its campaign to the Internet with the Web site www.blog-city-hall.squarespace.com....
Robert Aquino, executive director of the 9,000-member Engineers and Architects Association, said in a press release that the new site would provide a stronger voice for rank-and-file city employees.
"The information exchange and rumor mill among City Hall workers will never be replaced, but we believe this blog and others like it offer a means to articulate the concerns of this community without the consequence of political retribution," Aquino wrote.
LINK: Union mounts its own blog
Posted by Jack O'Toole at 05:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
January 10, 2005
UK eGov: Challenges For 2005
GUEST: Jack O'Toole
Noting that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's "reform agenda - and hence much of his election manifesto - is heavily dependent" on the success of his government's Internet and information technology initiatives, Computing lays out the five biggest challenges facing recently appointed head of egovernment Ian Watmore in 2005.
RELATED: Interview: head of egovernment Ian Watmore
Posted by Jack O'Toole at 04:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
January 06, 2005
eGovernment ... Or 'Just Politics'?
GUEST: Jack O'Toole
In Kingston, NY, the chairman of the local Republican party is asking a question that we're bound to see raised with increasing frequency as the eGov revolution moves forward; namely, when is a government website (like Freud's famous cigar) just a government website -- and when is it, well, something else entirely?
City GOP Chairman Richard Cahill Jr. objects to a push by Mayor James Sottile's administration to place what he views as campaigning by city lawmakers on a taxpayer-funded Internet Web site.
But Sottile and others, including Alderman Bill Reynolds, D-Ward 7, said this week the information that is being requested from Common Council members, the majority of whom are Democrats, is only to be used to inform residents.
During Monday night's Democrat caucus, City Clerk Kathy Janeczek distributed a memo by City Planner Suzanne Cahill, who oversees City Hall's Web site, asking lawmakers for information and photographs. The planner also asked for personal statements, committees lawmakers serve on, and current projects they are involved in.
"I believe that this would be a good tool for you to provide your constituents with information on your activities and positions on current topics," Suzanne Cahill wrote. She is not related to Richard Cahill Jr. The memo was originally distributed in June 2004, but there was little response.
Richard Cahill said the push smacks of using the Web site for campaign purposes at taxpayers' expense. The city pays NetStep Access Service $1,500 a month as its Internet provider and to update the Web site on a monthly basis.
"When they want to take credit for all the things they have supposedly done and the projects they are working on, and the work they have done in the wards, this is campaigning and that should not be paid for by taxpayers," Richard Cahill said. "This is an attempt to protect incumbencies."
LINK: GOP head criticizes Web use
Posted by Jack O'Toole at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
September 01, 2004
Fed Hunts Delegate Data
Wired has the latest on the delegate data that was posted online:
The Department of Justice has backed down from its demand that the internet access provider for several Indymedia websites give grand jury testimony on who posted the names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and New York City hotel locations of Republican National Convention delegates on the NYC Indymedia Open Newswire.
While some of the delegate information posted on the NYC Independent Media Center site was publicly available on Republican websites, the Secret Service opened a criminal investigation into the posting, alleging that it could be used to intimidate voters.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
