Brazil will propose global Internet governance rules

Brazil is set to present a proposal for a global Internet Bill of Rights at a major conference on the subject later this month.

A board member of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) and Internet pioneer in Brazil, Demi Getschko, told newspaper O Estado de São Paulo that the proposal is based on a document previously created by the entity, which describes the principles for Web use and governance and was also used as a foundation for Brazil's Marco Civil da Internet.

Getschko added that the recently drafted suggestions for a global governance model are a "simplified version" of the original CGI.br document and will be presented at NETmundial, a global multistakeholder meeting on the future of Internet, which will take place on April 23 and 24.

A CGI.br spokesperson told ZDNet that the manifesto "will guide the discussions at NETmundial" and that the draft will undergo further validation by the event committee before its public release on April 14.

The proposal will effectively be a compilation of the most relevant suggestions from a total of 188 entries received by 46 different countries, according to the steering committee. The suggestions were sent by civil society representatives, private sector, academia and the global tech community, with observations on the two topics that will be addressed, "Principles of Internet Governance" and "A Script for the Future Development of the Internet Governance Ecosystem."

The creation of global standards for Internet governance is supported by many influencers around the world, including World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, who stated: "by passing the Marco Civil, Brazil will cement its proud reputation as a world leader on democracy and social progress and will help to usher in a new era – one where citizens’ rights in every country around the world are protected by digital bills of rights."

Yesterday (3) Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said on Twitter highlighted the support of the Web creator and added that she considers the Marco Civil "a tool of freedom of expression, individual privacy and respect for human rights."

After years of wrangling, the Marco Civil was approved by the Congress’ lower house last weekand now needs to be approved by the Senate. Campaigners and politicians that support the creation of the Internet framework are lobbying for the Bill to be voted before NETMundial takes place.

___________________________________________________________________________________

source:ZDnet

Twitter battle in Turkey heats up, spreads to YouTube -- reports

 Turkey's battle over Net censorship is heating up, with the government there reportedly blocking a method that let citizens sidestep a Twitter ban, the White House expressing "serious concern" over the ban, and Google reportedly refusing requests from Turkish authorities to take down YouTube videos that cast the prime minister in a critical light.

 Bloomberg cited Turkish newspapers in reporting that the Turkish government had blocked on Saturday a Google service that enabled citizens to tweet. Setting a PC or mobile device to use Google's DNS IP address of 8.8.8.8 had let people slip past the ban (and graffiti displaying the phrase "DNS 8.8.8.8" was even spotted around Turkey, helping spread the word). But on Saturday the government prevented access to Google DNS, Bloomberg said.

 2 days ago, the White House issued a statement condemning Turkey's blockage of "access to basic communication tools." As reported by The Switch, Press Secretary Jay Carney delivered the remarks, saying, "We oppose this restriction on the Turkish people's access to information, which undermines their ability to exercise freedoms of expression and association and runs contrary to the principles of open governance that are critical to democratic governance." Carney said the White House had conveyed its concerns to the Turkish government.

 Meanwhile, Google ignored requests from Turkish officials to remove YouTube videos that allege government corruption, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. The videos include clips that feature a recording, allegedly of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which Erdogen seems to instruct his son to hide money from investigators. Erdogen has called the recording a fake.

 "We support a free and open Internet throughout the world and are concerned whenever and wherever it comes under threat," Google told the Journal in a statement. The paper's source said Google feels "an immediate threat" of a YouTube ban in Turkey.

On Thursday, Turkish courts took Twitter offline for the country's 76 million citizens following actions by Erdogan. An unabashed critic of social networks, Erdogan has threatened to "wipe out" the site in the wake of a political corruption scandal that has embarrassed the government through news, videos, and images posted on the microblogging site. Members of Erdogen's government face local elections March 30.

___________________________________________________________________________________

source:Cnet

Asus Chromebox

 With easy out-of-the-box setup, integrated virus and malware protection and feature-enhancing updates, ASUS Chromebox starts up in seconds to get you to your favorite websites and apps instantly. And why a box? Because with a box it houses a processor powerful enough for ultrafast multitasking performance in Chrome OS and the connectivity options to choose your own screen size, connect to multiple displays at once and even attach to any VESA-mountable monitor or HD TV.

A Simpler and Smarter Digital Life

 It may be the world’s smallest Chrome computer, but ASUS Chromebox is big on connectivity. It comes with high performance 802.11 b/g/n dual-band wireless, four USB 3.0 ports for fast data transfer, HDMI and DisplayPort for connecting to the latest displays and HDTVs, including support for dual displays and an SD card reader for easily accessing stored photos and documents.

___________________________________________________________________________

source:Asus