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The Europe roundup: "Internet is freedom": Lawrence Lessig at the Italian Chamber of Deputies

Antonella Napolitano | March 12, 2010 - 4:53am | 1 comment | Email This!
  • Italy | "Internet is freedom": Lawrence Lessig at the Chamber of Deputies
    There were high expectations for Lawrence Lessig's lecture at the Chamber of Deputies yesterday afternoon during the event "Internet is freedom". Some days before, the organizers asked people to tweet about the theme of the conference: the chosen hashtag was #difenderelarete, a reference to some recent bills attempting to limitate freedom of expression on the web. There were thousands of tweets and even more during the speech, making the topic the most popular of the day in Italy.
    But, apparently, mainstream media still don't get it: the lecture was preceded by a speech of the President of the Chamber, praising the Internet as a force of peace and innovation, and that is the only part of the conference that has made it to the news so far.

    That didn't come unnoticed in the Italian blogosphere, raising protests and reflections: was it the start of a debate or a wasted opportunity? Here's a quick interview to Lessig, shortly after the event:

  • Spain | A platform for civil servants' knowledge management
    Compartim is an initiative of the Department of Justice of the Generalitat de Catalunya that aims to create collaborative work environments and opportunities for improvement in everyday work. New ideas, best practices and study groups on the main issues are part of the program, that can be joined by the various professional groups working at the Department of Justice. The collaborative work sessions take place through face to face meetings and completed with online activities on the e-Catalunya platform.The project also has a knowledge management blog.
    Currently there are 15 different professional groups and more than 1,500 employees involved in Compartim.
    (thanks to Anna Bellorbì)
  • The Netherlands | More pirates on the ballots?
    After Sweden and Germany, also The Netherlands could have the Pirate Party competing in next June elections. The focus of the Pirates' action will be on the Dutch copyright law, a much discussed topic in the political debate. But there is still a long way to go before the party can actually compete in the election: one of the barriers is raising 12.000 euros - a pre-condition that is meant to prevent too many parties from entering the competition. Will they make it to the ballots?
  • France | The LOL campaign
    France has upcoming local elections (on March 14th and 21st) but the campaign seems quite boring, according to Slate.fr: political teams are looking for something new - as usual? So it's time for the LOL campaign: parodies (lots of them!), flashmobs, fake videos mocking the official ones, condoms with the campaign colors - also to raise awareness. Everything to impress, but will it lead to a real mobilisation (let alone some more votes)?
  • Poland | Bloggers for sale... but for a good cause!
    Global Voices en Français reports about an unusual fundraising campaign: four famous Polish bloggers are selling their time and services to help Paula Pruska, another famous Polish blogger, who suffers from a rare form of cancer. Starting bid is 699 zlotis (about 245 euros). Good luck!

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Comments

Great Ideas & Overall Message

by jeffndoug29 on June 1, 2010 - 3:02am

This blog is certainly onto the right idea. I believe that the internet should definitely stay as free as possible. However, it seems like everything starts out free and clear, but gets regulated at some point. I don't look forward to that day, but it certainly is coming. I bet even things like term life insurance will be policed quite tightly. I'm not sure how tightly, but it's certainly possible.