Ex-White House Official Joins Group Fighting “Excessive” Online Privacy Laws

As the Obama administration and tech company lobbyists chip away at the European Union’s attempts to protect online privacy, a new pro-industry coalition has popped up to join the fray. Not quite two weeks ago, the Coalition for Privacy and Free Trade announced its existence. The group’s senior academic adviser is Daniel Weitzner, who, less than …

Arab Multi-stakeholder Internet Governance Meeting Wraps Up in Dubai

Last week, the Arab Internet community came together to discuss Internet governance issues and priorities related to the region. The Arab Multi-stakeholder Internet Governance meeting took place in Dubai as part of the Arab IGF open consultations. The meeting, hosted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates brought together over 100 …

Prominent Google executive disagrees with company requiring use of real names

In the face of increasing government-led crackdowns on social media, Google should not force Internet users to reveal their real names for some services, including its Google+ social network, said Vint Cerf, a senior Google executive known as a “father of the Internet.”   In an interview with Reuters, Cerf acknowledged that the search giant’s …

Group mentality and ICANN GAC Advice: Another case of African misdirected and treacherous destiny

. Is Africa falling to another trap of group mentality and uninformed choices? Traditionally nations and especially when taken as continents have been known to take collective decisions. Just recently in the WCIT Dubai, there was mass failure of the delegates to agree on a treaty that had been crafted to replace the existing International …

Aaron Swartz, Tech Prodigy and Internet Activist, Is Dead at 26

Aaron Swartz, the brilliant young software programmer and Internet activist who inspired awe and reverence from leading figures in the technology world, died in his Brooklyn apartment on Friday, his family said in a statement. New York City’s chief medical examiner ruledthe death a suicide by hanging. Swartz was 26 years old. Read more: