The Citizen Lab

Torontoist Names Citizen Lab Hero for 2009
Posted Dec 16, 2009 in Citizen Lab News by ProfD. 
The conflict between those who are trying to share information online and those who are trying to shut them down is an arms race. The Citizen Lab are powerful ghostbusters in the fight. The white hats shouldn't just be heroes in Toronto, but internationally too. And as for the Dalai Lama? Let's hope Apple opens a store in Lhasa soon.

Torontoist

Cuba detains U.S. government contractor
Posted Dec 15, 2009 in Telecom by sgolshan. 
The Cuban government has arrested an American citizen working on contract for the U.S. Agency for International Development who was distributing cellphones and laptop computers to Cuban activists, State Department officials and congressional sources said Saturday.
From The Washington Post

Viruses That Leave Victims Red in the Facebook
Posted Dec 15, 2009 in InternetSecurity by sgolshan. 
Malicious programs are rampaging through Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, spreading themselves by taking over people’s accounts and sending out messages to all of their friends and followers. The result is that people are inadvertently telling their co-workers and loved ones how to raise their I.Q.’s or make money instantly, or urging them to watch an awesome new video in which they star.
From The New York Times

New studies find censorship rising
Posted Dec 14, 2009 in MediaCoverage by jaymz. 
Last week, Dr. Ron Deibert, Director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, came to the Googleplex in Mountain View to give a presentation on the Open Internet Initiative's recent studies on the policies and technologies that repressive governments are using to censor Internet content. From Google Public Policy Blog

Russia and US in secret talks to fight net crime
Posted Dec 14, 2009 in InfoWar by sgolshan. 
American officials have been holding secret talks with Russia and the United Nations in an attempt to strengthen internet security and rein in the growing threat of cyberwarfare.
From The Guardian

Blogger and activist faces possible death penalty
Posted Dec 14, 2009 in BloggerArrests by sgolshan. 
Reporters Without Borders is deeply concerned about French-educated blogger and pro-democracy activist Nguyen Tien Trung, now facing a possible death penalty under article 89 of the criminal code after the charges against him were changed to “trying to overthrow the people’s government.” Arrested more than five months ago, he is due to be tried at the end of the month.
From Reporters Without Borders

Iran’s six-month-old crackdown on media and Internet
Posted Dec 14, 2009 in Censorship by sgolshan. 
Six months after Iran’s disputed 12 June presidential election, the authorities continue to censor news and information and persecute journalists. More than 100 journalists have been arrested in these past six months and around 50 have fled into exile. A dozen newspapers have been closed by the authorities and access to thousands of Internet pages has been blocked.
From Reporters Without Borders

Citizen Lab Policy@Google Tech Talk December 8th
Posted Dec 14, 2009 in MediaCoverage by sgolshan. 
Ron Deibert, Director of the Citizen Lab recently gave a Policy@Google Talk on December 8th 2009 at Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA. The talk was an overview of Internet censorship patterns worldwide, with a focus on the work of the OpenNet Initiative and some references to challenges around circumvention technologies. Google's Free Expression point person, Bob Boorstin introduces....

Watch it Here from YouTube

Watch online video of Citizen Lab interview on TVO'S Empire of Word
Posted Dec 10, 2009 in MediaCoverage by sgolshan. 
Empire of the Word - Forbidden Reading (3 of 4)

Readers and writers the world over have been punished and persecuted for expressing their ideas or by simply carrying the wrong book. Nazi book burnings, publisher Barney Rosset's legendary legal battles in the 1950s and 60s over the right to publish the uncensored works of Henry Miller and D.H. Lawrence in the U.S., authors in hiding ... we witness how the determination of writers and their readers is not without revolutionary consequences.

Watch it Here from TVO

Tonight: Citizen Lab featured in "Empire of the Word" on TVO
Posted Dec 09, 2009 in MediaCoverage by sgolshan. 
Readers and writers the world over have been punished and persecuted for expressing their ideas or by simply carrying the wrong book. Nazi book burnings, publisher Barney Rosset's legendary legal battles in the 1950s and 60s over the right to publish the uncensored works of Henry Miller and D.H. Lawrence in the U.S., authors in hiding ... we witness how the determination of writers and their readers is not without revolutionary consequences.

Tonight: December 9 at 10 pm EST on TVO (Television Ontario)