Freedom of Access to Information

Historical Context

Totalitarian States censor at production point, Capitalism censors at distribution point.

Censorship & the Apartheid State

State gets to decide what you can and cannot read, knowledge is something mediated via security

apparatus, not civil society (academia, press, etc)

The IBM Case

IBM and other companies aided and abetted torture and other atrocities committed by the apartheid regime.

Anti-apartheid activists targeted by the state, who use computers and IBM technology

Khulumani case one of longest cases in SA legal history.

Hackers responded with hegemonic alternatives & disruptive technologies, e.g. CECS, Worknet, Mondo 2000 etc.

Information wants to be Free “Information Wants To Be Free. Information

also wants to be expensive. ...That tension will not go away.” Stewart Brand, 1985

“On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other.”

“I believe that all generally useful information should be free. By 'free' I am not referring to price, but rather to the freedom to copy the information and to adapt it to one's own uses... When information is generally useful, redistributing it makes humanity wealthier no matter who is distributing and no matter who is receiving.” Richard Stallman, 1990

Information wants to be Open Source

South Africa's Information Age Constitution

Access to information Everyone has the right of access to any information held by the state; and any information that is held by another person and that

is required for the exercise or protection of any rights.

Freedom of Expression freedom of the press and other media; freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; freedom of artistic creativity; and academic freedom and freedom of scientific research.

Privacy

Everyone has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have

their person or home searched; their property searched; their possessions seized; or the privacy of their communications

infringed

Net Neutrality

“Net Neutrality is not just the idea that all datastreams should be treated equally, but rather the notion that national borders and regional boundaries do not extend to the Internet. In other words, an html page created in South Africa can be viewed in South America and vice versa, without needing a passport or incurring an interconnection tax.” Medialternatives

Net Neutrality in Africa Africa an Importer of Information, 99% of all

Internet content viewed in Africa comes from outside Africa.

Digital Divide = Physical Barriers to Access. Service Providers & National Telcos act as

Policemen for Capitalism & the State by throttling, shaping and restricting bandwidth.

Domain registration and Hosting relatively expensive for most Africans.

Despite this, the Internet routes around Censorship, i.e Information wants to be Free.

Wikileaks

US government effectively bans Wikileaks Amazon, Paypal and Mastercard block access Hackers mirror sites via etherpad and retaliate with

LOIC i.e DDoS “Freedom of expression is priceless. For everything

else there's HTTP Error 408 Request Timeout.” The Palestinian Papers are released which help

spur the Egyptian & Libyan Revolution Anonymous & Lulsec arrests

Egyptian Revolution

Mubarak shuts down Service Providers

Hackers fallback on modem dialup to create a Fidonet BBS backup system

Pls RT Modem DailUp 4 #Egypt activists Internet no +96290005000 or +962090005000, its in #jo- it wld be intl call”

Mubarak removed by hackers, facebook & Wael Ghonim?

Privacy under threat

2010 Internet and Cellphone Pornography Bill promoted by the Justice Alliance of SA

“To make it illegal for Internet and Mobile phone service providers in the Republic of South Africa to distribute or permit to be distributed pornography, so as to ensure protection for children and women.”

That's right a total ban on Adult Entertainment.

The Gigaba Plan “There is no reason why

the internet should be provided without the necessary restrictive mechanisms built into it. Cars are already provided with brakes and seatbelts; it is not an extra that consumers have to pay for,” Malusi Gigaba, Department of Home Affairs

Let's RICA the Internet and build a National firewall like China.

The Blackberry Furore

"There is evidence that criminals are now using BBM to plan and execute crime," . "We want to review BBM like in the U.K. and Saudi Arabia.” Obed Bapela, DoC

“Government has no intention to regulate or legislate against Blackberry Encryption messenger services (BBM)” Jeff Radebe DoJ

SA Information Bill

Broad departmental classification of sensitive Information as “State Secrets” in the National Interest

Penalties for individuals (including journalists) receiving Information deemed secret.

Opposition from Right2Know Campaign. Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA)

which gives affect to Bill of Rights, lacks the necessary teeth to counter state and corporate censorship.

Low-tech Access solutions

Portable Apps, Book on a Stick, Wiki on a Stick

Raspberry Pi Computer OLPC WUG FabFi RepRap Linux