It’s a dance as old as (digital) time. When faced with a challenge, politicians will look for a scapegoat in which to assign the blame of a complex issue, and propose allegedly easy solutions to fix impossible problems. Terrorist attack? End encryption. Rise in populism? End fake news. Violent crime Read more…
One of the most over-used (yet true) legal comparisons in Internet regulation studies is to contrast the European and US approaches to freedom of speech when it comes to cyberspace. The United States favours an almost unlimited view of freedom of speech, while Europe has put in place large caveats Read more…
I remember when I first logged on to the Internet like it was yesterday. I had been hearing rumours about this global communications network, and had met people who told me about electronic messaging systems that would send mail to people in universities around the world. It sounded like science Read more…
Last year there was a highly reported public debate between the FBI and Apple regarding the encryption used to protect an iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino terrorist shooter. The FBI wanted Apple to unlock the phone, but Apple argued that doing so was not only difficult, but it would Read more…
It may not come as a surprise that I have a lot of left-leaning liberal friends. During last year’s UK election, most of my social timeline was strongly in favour of Labour, and they were confident that there would be a victory for the left and Ed Milliband would be Read more…
The Parliamentary Intelligence Security Committee (ISC) has published a special report on the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby by two extremists. The report offers an interesting insight into the workings of the security services, and while it criticises oversights by intelligence agencies that failed to identify the threat posed by Read more…
“Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as Read more…
The Cold War is long over. Or is it? Slowly, a new conflict is brewing in the frontiers of cyberspace between armies of hackers deployed to inject viruses in enemy systems and disrupt a country’s economy before a shot has ever been fired. Or so the reports go. Is there Read more…
After reading about the horrendous early death of Aaron Swartz, it was not my intention to write about the tragic events, even though the incident has elements that intersect in various topics that are of utmost importance, namely cybercrime, hacktivism, digital liberties, and open access, just to name a few. Read more…