Category — Science and Technology Policy

Cost of Cyberliving: “Internet surfers in many countries have to spend as much as a day’s earning for an hour in a cybercafe. This page provides a map and table of Internet surfing rates at Internet cafes and the percentage of people living on $1 per day in 26 nations. Dated July/August 2004, published by Foreign Policy.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2594“

(Via Information Policy.)

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wow, this is somewhat amazing. i wonder how the profit works out….

Mueller comment: “

“You have not tried a free and market process. You have done almost everything else. You have shut the market down completely. You have tried trickling in additions through painful and laborious beauty contests…. However, there is a glimmer of hope…I heard Kleinsin say he saw no technical stability concerns about the addition of ten to 20 new TLDs to the root a year. …It’s clear that these technical concerns go away if we add something in the neighborhood of tens of top level domains per year.”

“I submitted a paper a year ago calling for the annual addition of 40 TLDs. Isn’t this something we could agree to? Something between 10 and 40 a year? This is progress. . . . The one part of this that doesn’t fit into a smooth transition is the board’s involvement in the content of a TLD. My proposal talked about a trademark-oriented dispute resolution process for new TLDs. You can set up a challenge process, and that can deal with a lot of the issues.”

Kleinsin: “From a technical restriction standpoint, I could throw my shoe at you. [milton: you've done that] There are a number of policy constraints that keep me from doing that. The ability to do something technically is not a reason to do it.”

We’ve been talking about new TLDs for some time today. It’s 1999! Joe Sims is here. Ken Fockler is here. Where is Chris Ambler?

“

(Via Susan Crawford blog.)

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but here’s the rub: money, surplus and devaluation. which can be real or imagined. right now some people make good money off of people’s imagination that there is limited domains. it is a constructed market deficit condition, and lots of people who profit want it to stay that way.

UNESCO Free Software Portal: The UNESCO Free Software Portal gives access to documents and websites which are references for the Free Software/Open Source Technology movement. It is also a gateway to resources related to Free Software.

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=12034&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

(Via Information Policy.)

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this could be handy.

Declaration from Buenos Aires – Social Forum of Information 2004: “Information, knowledge, documentation, archives, and libraries are communal cultural goods and resources. They are based upon and promoted by democratic values, such as: freedom, equality, and social justice, as well as tolerance, respect, equity, solidarity, communities, society, and the dignity of individuals.

Every documentation center contributes to democratic practice in the social and political spheres. Conscious of this dimension, the foundation and organization of these cultural goods and resources must be constructed under the principal of knowledge and information access that is free, open, and egalitarian for everybody.

Social and political elements also are present that librarians, documentalists, and archivists must take into account in order to contribute to the formation of cultural and civic identities sustained by civil and socially responsible values.
“

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this is important stuff…

EU invites applications for IT grants of 1.12 billion euros: “The fourth call for proposals under European Commission the Information Society Technologies (IST) Research Programme has just been published.

The total financial allocation for this call is 1.12 billion euro. It funds 5 types of projects: Integrated projects (IPs), Specific Targeted Research Projects (STREPs), Networks of Excellence (NoEs), Coordination Actions (CAs),Specific Support Actions (SSAs).

The areas addressed within this call include applied IST research addressing major societal and economic challenges, communication, computing and software technologies, components and microsystems, knowledge and interface technologies, knowledge and interface technologies, IST future and emerging technologies.

http://www.cordis.lu/ist/“

(Via Information Policy.)

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this is pretty big… games, open source, etc. etc. are covered.

Former CIA Head Calls for Limiting Access to the Internet: “GMill writes “Former CIA head George Tenet has called for limiting access to the internet to only those who take security seriously and that the industry should ‘lead the way’ in restricting access. Somehow I don’t think that this is a call to ban Microsoft products from the internet. What exactly does he want?”"

(Via Slashdot.)

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why can’t we ban all microsoft products from the internet?

EUROPA – Research – Science and Society in Europe: Science and society – Governance and scientific advice – SINAPSE: “”

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well this will have some effect…..

Amateurs and professionals: “The distinction between professionals and amateurs is one that’s so familiar today as to seem perfectly natural. Professionals are serious, amateurs are dilettantes; professionals know what they’re doing, and have credentials and training, amateurs don’t; professionals get paid, amateurs are hobbyists. Of course, in a few fields there are exceptions to the rule: astronomy, for example, continues to have a place for amateur comet-watchers. —snip—

(Via Future Now.)

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I generally term this the professionalization of leisure in the DIY culture. this theory fits with some of my thoughts though.

EuroScience Open Forum 2004: “”

(Via .)

some good papers here

Senate Passes CREATE Act: “

On 11/20/2004, the Senate passed, and House agreed to S. 2192, the Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act of

…”

(Via beSpacific.)

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it will be interesting to see what effect this has….. not now, but in say 3 years, when people figure out how to exploit it.