The Information Revolution And World Politics

An analysis of the problems and possibilities of the information revolution in developing countries, taking into account political, institutional, and cultural dynamics and structures.

Reassesses the role of revolution as a force that has shaped the development of world politics.

What are the global implications of the looming shortage of Internet addresses and the slow deployment of the new IPv6 protocol designed to solve this problem? The Internet has reached a critical point. The world is running out of Internet addresses. There is a finite supply of approximately 4.3 billion Internet Protocol (IP) addresses—the unique binary numbers required for every exchange of information over the Internet—within the Internet's prevailing technical architecture (IPv4). In the 1990s the Internet standards community selected a new protocol (IPv6) that would expand the number of Internet addresses exponentially—to 340 undecillion addresses. Despite a decade of predictions about imminent global conversion, IPv6 adoption has barely begun. Protocol Politics examines what's at stake politically, economically, and technically in the selection and adoption of a new Internet protocol. Laura DeNardis's key insight is that protocols are political. IPv6 intersects with provocative topics including Internet civil liberties, US military objectives, globalization, institutional power struggles, and the promise of global democratic freedoms. DeNardis offers recommendations for Internet standards governance, based not only on technical concerns but on principles of openness and transparency, and examines the global implications of looming Internet address scarcity versus the slow deployment of the new protocol designed to solve this problem.

This readable and cogent book provides a much-needed overview of the information revolution in a global context. First tracing the historical evolution of communications since the development of the printing press, Elizabeth C. Hanson then explores the profound ways that new information and communication technologies are transforming international relations. More people have access to more diverse sources of information than ever before, as well as a greater capacity to influence national and international agendas. More transcontinental channels of contact are available to more people in the world at far less cost than ever before in history. Hanson illustrates how these dramatic changes have raised a set of key questions: What is the impact of the information revolution on diplomacy, foreign policymaking, and the conduct of war? How are these new technologies affecting the structure of the global economy and the distribution of the world's wealth? How and to what extent are they affecting the nation-state—its centrality in the international system, its sovereignty, and its relationship to its citizens? In answering these questions, Hanson considers the controversies over the present and future impact of a radically new information and communications environment as part of larger debates over globalization and the role of technology in historical change. Her carefully chosen case studies and judicious use of relevant research provide a firm basis for readers to evaluate competing arguments on this contentious issue.

Advances in information technology are heavily influencing ways in which business, society, and government work and function throughout the globe, bringing many changes to everyday life, in a process commonly termed the "information revolution." This book paints a picture of the state of the information revolution today and how it will likely progress in the near- to mid-term future (10 to 15 years), focusing separately on different regions of the world-North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Reports on a new generation of Internet controls that establish a new normative terrain in which surveillance and censorship are routine. Internet filtering, censorship of Web content, and online surveillance are increasing in scale, scope, and sophistication around the world, in democratic countries as well as in authoritarian states. The first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous “Great Firewall of China” is one of the first national Internet filtering systems. Today the new tools for Internet controls that are emerging go beyond mere denial of information. These new techniques, which aim to normalize (or even legalize) Internet control, include targeted viruses and the strategically timed deployment of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, surveillance at key points of the Internet's infrastructure, take-down notices, stringent terms of usage policies, and national information shaping strategies. Access Controlled reports on this new normative terrain. The book, a project from the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a collaboration of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies, Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the SecDev Group, offers six substantial chapters that analyze Internet control in both Western and Eastern Europe and a section of shorter regional reports and country profiles drawn from material gathered by the ONI around the world through a combination of technical interrogation and field research methods.

A study of Internet blocking and filtering around the world: analyses by leading researchers and survey results that document filtering practices in dozens of countries. Many countries around the world block or filter Internet content, denying access to information that they deem too sensitive for ordinary citizens—most often about politics, but sometimes relating to sexuality, culture, or religion. Access Denied documents and analyzes Internet filtering practices in more than three dozen countries, offering the first rigorously conducted study of an accelerating trend. Internet filtering takes place in more than three dozen states worldwide, including many countries in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Related Internet content-control mechanisms are also in place in Canada, the United States and a cluster of countries in Europe. Drawing on a just-completed survey of global Internet filtering undertaken by the OpenNet Initiative (a collaboration of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University, and the University of Cambridge) and relying on work by regional experts and an extensive network of researchers, Access Denied examines the political, legal, social, and cultural contexts of Internet filtering in these states from a variety of perspectives. Chapters discuss the mechanisms and politics of Internet filtering, the strengths and limitations of the technology that powers it, the relevance of international law, ethical considerations for corporations that supply states with the tools for blocking and filtering, and the implications of Internet filtering for activist communities that increasingly rely on Internet technologies for communicating their missions. Reports on Internet content regulation in forty different countries follow, with each two-page country profile outlining the types of content blocked by category and documenting key findings. Contributors Ross Anderson, Malcolm Birdling, Ronald Deibert, Robert Faris, Vesselina Haralampieva [as per Rob Faris], Steven Murdoch, Helmi Noman, John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, Mary Rundle, Nart Villeneuve, Stephanie Wang, Jonathan Zittrain

A strategic model for identifying, evaluating, and improving information use "Fundamentally changes how you look at the role of information technology and takes it to the leadership level, which is the only way for business performance to be maximized in this global economy." --Ron Milton, Executive Vice President, Computerworld "Information Revolution is truly a must-read for those who generate, support, and make decisions for their respective organizations. By the way, that would be everybody." --Bob Schwartz, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Panasonic Corporation of North America "As this book clearly describes, information management advances both through evolution and intelligent design. The ideas herein will help any organization avoid extinction!" --Thomas H. Davenport, President's Distinguished Professor and Director of Research, Babson College "This model captures the best practices from the early stage of Business Intelligence development through the most sophisticated environments where the value and nature of information is unquestioned. All of us should strive to reach the final level. And now we have the ultimate guide to help us get there." --Claudia Imhoff, President, Intelligent Solutions, Inc. "Managing a successful Business Intelligence effort requires a long-term view and this means leaders must have a methodology to guide them as they navigate their organization through the BI evolution. Information Revolution provides the prag-matic road map all executives can understand and follow." --Irving Tyler, Chief Information Officer, Quaker Chemical Corporation "Information Revolution is the perfect blend of 'what,' 'how,' and especially 'why.' This book is a must-read for those driven to excel in this information-based world, instead of being another 'me, too' along for the ride." --Bruce Barnes, former chief information officer, Nationwide Financial Services "Information Revolution provides a powerful framework for assessing the current state of your company's systems and its decision making capabilities. It then presents a clear process for moving your systems and your company toward an adaptive and innovative enterprise." --Michael Hugos, Chief Information Officer, Network Services Company