E.J. DE LARA WRITES – Imagine any phone conversation, text message or other form of communication people use daily. Now imagine a law that lets Big Brother monitor it all. Throughout June, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key pushed for a new bill that would essential do that — allowing…
Tag: internet
TAIWAN: Modelling After China’s Great Firewall?
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – Will Taiwan follow suit in building its own version of China’s unique Internet censorship policy known as the “Great Firewall”? China is infamous for its Internet services blocking international websites. For Taiwan, the country’s Intellectual Property Office says for now it will only target international websites…
NORTH KOREA: One Click from the Internet
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES -Simple lack of Internet access is one of the biggest obstacles to solving some of North Korea’s myriad woes. The hermit state has a computer network of its own, but citizens can only access those sites the government has OK’d. Further, the nation’s computers are designed to…
CHINA: The Creation of an Internet Security Powerhouse
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES- Cyber security has always been a hot concern with Americans, but what we fail to realize is that it is also a global problem. According to the director of the security research team at a web security company Beijing Rising Information Technology Co Ltd , Liu Siyu,…
MYANMAR: Entering a Dangerous Period?
ALEXANDRE GUIRAUD WRITES- In this time of drastic change in Myanmar’s media structure, many companies are trying to help the development of the country by gaining a new market. One of the most recent people to do so was Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, who traveled to Myanmar to promote…
CHINA: Dollars Make China Holler
LANI LUO WRITES – With China’s booming economy and increasing standard of living, cell phone use has grown exponentially. Folks across the country are using stylish smart phones and all their fantastic features. One of which is the WeChat application offered by Tencent, a social media outfit that until now…
China Blog Blotter: Too Soon for Equal Rights?
“Gays Dare to Love” was the slogan for the Equal Rights for Gays Parade that took place in Hong Kong recently. Much like America’s own Pride Parades, Equal Rights for Gays Parade is public, loud, and flamboyant. Although parades like these have happened in the past in Hong Kong, this…
VIETNAM: If You’re Gonna Blog, Blog Something Nice, Ok?
Sometimes in Vietnam it pays to keep your mouth (or blog) shut. Last month, a Vietnamese court sentenced three bloggers to between 4 and 12 years in prison for allegedly troubling citizens and trying to overthrow the Communist government. You’d think with debt scandals, a slowing economy and inflation expected…
VIETNAM: Opening the Gates to the Internet
The Internet is an apparatus of information, entertainment and communication- but is it utilized as it should be? We Are Social, a global independent social media agency, reports that Vietnam’s social, digital and mobile opportunities are evolving as the country reaches about 31 million Internet users. Although this is an…
China Blotter: Basketball Grandma’s Story
China may be world’s second largest economy, but it is still nowhere close to utopia. Today, the world is dazzled by China’s booming financial freedom. However, there is not enough attention given to those who are still suffering. The government, of course, is working on pulling as many people out…
SOUTH KOREA: Cyber Kitty Attacks Major Newspapers
Just days after North Korea threatened South Korean media outlets with retaliation for critical coverage, the databases of two of South Korea’s major newspapers, The JoongAng Ilbo and its sister paper The Korea JoongAng Daily, were hacked into by username IsOne, whose identity is still a mystery. The Korea JoongAng Daily reported that…
CHINA: A Whole Lot of Shaking Going on
No wonder China appears to be undergoing so many changes all at once. Technology ventures of all sorts are bursting out everywhere. Consider entrepreneur Joseph Chen, who would very much like to come China’s version of Mark Zuckerberg: He is is the founder of Renren.com, a social networking site that…
MALAYSIA: Courses Help Veterans Get in Step With the Young Generation
Attention, soldiers! The Information, Communications, and Culture Ministry of Malaysia is organizing training courses to help veteran groups familiarize themselves with the Internet as well as other forms of contemporary media. The courses are designed to ensure veterans continue contributing positively to the nation’s development and keep up with the…
NORTH KOREA: Students Allowed Rare Access to Internet
In isolated and government-controlled North Korea, students are being given a surprisingly liberal opportunity. According to The Korea Times, a widely circulated English-language daily newspaper in South Korea, some students at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) are accessing the Internet, albeit for purely research-oriented purposes. PUST is a…
INDONESIA: Internet Usage Rises—and So Do Tempers and Worries
The Communications and Information Ministry in Indonesia claims that it has effectively blocked nearly 1 million pornographic websites, and vows to continue its mass censorship of unfavorable Internet publications. According to the Jakarta Post, the nation’s leading English-language newspaper, “censorship on porn sites was in line with the government’s commitment…
SINGAPORE: Asian Man May Lose More Than Face on Facebook
The ways in which people deal with stress varies greatly. For some, a night out with friends is enough to lighten the load. However, for some, another way to handle it is to vent on the Internet. As reported by Elena Chong of The Straits Times…