5 Responses to “Internet restrictions target political activism, Norman Girvan”

• Lloyd McCarthy on February 4th, 2013 at 9:50 am

  See Assange’s new book on the subject of cyber-policing which begs th question of its implications for personal freedom and human well-being in the new millennium

  Assange, Julian, Jacob Appelbaum, Andy Mu?ller-Maguhn, and Je?re?mie Zimmermann. Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet. New York: OR Books, 2012

• Norman Girvan on February 5th, 2013 at 8:54 am

  UPDATE I have received several emails about this Two people said they were aware of this kind of restriction, one describing it as “routine”. But they didn’t say if the restriction they know of are general or specifically directed at political/activist sites. Please elaborate by commenting on this space if you feel so inclined.
  One did some research on BlueCoat and came up with the following:
  “Blue Coat Systems is huge. their website is http://www.bluecoat.com – - “Hardware proxy appliances for corporate networks offering web caching, virus scanning, content filtering, instant messaging control and bandwidth …”"
  Most significant was Lloyd McCarthy’s comment drawing attention to Julian Assange’s book on Cyber-policing. This puts the whole business in context and, as someone said, its a wake-up call.
  I had another thought: could it be that the hotel (and others like it) imposes the restriction in order to discourage civil society advocates from staying there? If you can’t access your own website, then you are unlikely to choose that hotel. So it might actually be a way of filtering out guests. Remember, the WTO HQ which has been the scene of numerous anti-globalisation protests in the past, cam’t be far away. So far, this is just a theory.
  Norman

• judith on February 5th, 2013 at 11:52 am

  Norman, Thanks for sharing this widely. I agree that it might be one of the ways that certain hotels would discourage activists from staying at their hotels, without making such a policy explicitly public. My fear is that if more and more hotels do this, what then? It is true that normally there would be other hotels to choose from, but these maybe more expensive, further away from meeting venues etc.
  Perhaps the best thing to do, is to research a hotel before we check in, to find out if they do subscribe to censoring sites like this one, and then we make a decision about where to stay. This is one case in which ignorance about such censorship leaves us all very vulnerable. It also means that activism which is critical of the neo-liberal norm, however it expresses itself, is making an impact and this is part of the push-back.
  So…nuff respect and many thanks to brothers and sisters like yourself who persevere…regardless.
  Judith

• Norman Girvan on February 5th, 2013 at 12:50 pm

  Yes, I think that is exactly what we should do. I certainly don’t intend to stay again at the Hotel les Nations, Rue Grand Pré, Geneva, while this obnoxious policy is in place. I think we should start sharing information on this and maintain our own list of “restricted hotels”. Seriously.
  Norman

• Lloyd McCarthy on February 6th, 2013 at 11:22 am

  Norman–I am not doing a formal review of Assange’s book but have read it and do intend to reference it, as well as your experience, when speaking or writing on the subject of technology and development in the African Diaspora.

  While Assange, et al, focused their discussion on the emerging trends and practice of state actors in mass surveillance and censorship–by mining a broad range of communications data, internet,mobile communications and other traditional and non-traditional electronic communications data–your experience is highlighting the case of internet censorship and surveillance by corporate interests.

  With global inter-connectivity and transborder social networking, what policies will states in the developing world put in place to protect the personal privacy of their citizens from foreign state and private surveillance?

  When frequency spectrums are being leased by Caribbean states to private communication corporations, what are the conditions imposed on the conveyance of the frequencies to restrict the mining and sale of personal, private communications data to other corporate /or foreign interests?

  In a case highlighted by Assange and his colleagues, it was not until a top German leader saw a wheel barrow load of his personal communication records–with much details–carted into his office by an astute aid did he realize that he should impose certain privacy restrictions on the divestment of German communications frequencies.

  Lloyd McCarthy (mccarthyconsultg@aol.com) is currently researching trends of Technology and Development in Africa. He is also the author of the book In-dependence from Bondage: Claude Mckay and Michael Manley : Defying the Ideological Clash and Policy Gaps in African Diaspora Relations. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2007.