FREE EXPRESSION

IN a survey conducted during the conference, delegates identified needs and strategies on how to better protect cyberspace in Asia in the areas of technology, capacity-building/training, funding/business model, reach expansion, and issues of safety, defense and advocacy. Below are the results of the survey. Please call my attention to any entry that I may have erroneously interpreted in the process of transferring the results from the matrix format.

MEDIA SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS

Technology

• Provide technical tools, hosting, knowledge-sharing (in terms of expertise and relevant tools)

Capacity-building/Training

• Trainings in different countries on the following topics: website development, ICT, journalism, investigative journalism, podcasting, blogging, media management, CMS (content management system), web business models

Funding/Business Model

• How to raise funds

Expanding Reach

• hold programs in rural areas
• provide networking support in Asia
• help in information dissemination regarding Forum for Media Alternatives’s (FMA) research and trainings

Safety/Defense/Advocacy

• spearhead an anti-web censorship advocacy campaign
• increase membership by including lawyers, activists
• create a network of bloggers
• improve capacity to make available PDF e-books on government censorship
• go beyond Southeast Asia

Read more »

PODCASTS of the presentations during the first day, as well as the rest of the second day, of the conference are now available. Click on the links below:

Session 1

• Kunda Dixit
• Ying Chan
• Sein Win

Session 2

• Steven Gan
• Piyapong Phongpai

Session 3

• Manuel Quezon III
• Andrew Lih
• Rebecca MacKinnon

Session 5

• Jeff Ooi

Session 6

• JV Rufino
• Owais Aslam Ali
• Rebecca MacKinnon

Session 7

• Dini Widiastuti

THE third and final day of the conference is devoted to learning tools and mechanisms for protecting Asian cyberspace. Nart Villeneuve of the Toronto-based Citizen Lab and Ethan Zuckerman of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School are currently handling the day-long technical sessions on two levels:

• first, knowing if you’re being blocked, censored or monitored, and

• second, knowing the Web tools for anonymizing and getting around blocking, filtering and monitoring

Their presentation can be accessed here. Or listen to the first half of the presentation: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

ANDREW Lih kept everybody glued to their seats beyond the duration of his session with a very interesting presentation on wikis and online collaboration tools. The conference in fact envisions the use of such online tools for continuing collaboration and discussions, and the building of an Asian network for the defense of free expression in cyberspace.

The presentation can be downloaded here. Or you can listen to the audio files: Parts 1 and 2.

HERE are more video clips documenting some of today's sessions:

Session 3

• Manuel Quezon III
  
• Rebecca MacKinnon
  
• Andrew Lih

Session 5

• Dini Widiastuti
  
• James Gomez
• Jeff Ooi
  

Session 6

• JV Rufino
  
• Rebecca MacKinnon
  
• Owais Aslan Ali
  

BELOW are available podcasts of the presentations in today's afternoon sessions:

Session 7

• Melinda Quintos de Jesus
• Dinesh Nair

YES, it is. So feel free to blog your thoughts, by way of comments, to initiate a conversation. Or if you have a WordPress account, you can send me your username so I can add you to the blog as a contributor.

HOW can independent online journalists, bloggers, podcasters and news providers protect themselves?

Melinda Quintos de Jesus, executive director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), reminded conference participants of the need for ethical standards and professionalism. View here presentation here.

Dini Widiastuti, Article 19 Asia programme officer, urged delegates to be aware of their rights, particularly Article 19 as applied to cyberspace. Her presentation ca be downloaded here.

Dinesh Nair of SEACEM encouraged everyone to consider hackers as their friends, citing Malaysiakini’s experience with its "volunteer protectors." Download his presentation here.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Southeast Asian Alliance (SEAPA) briefly introduced their existing projects and programs aimed at protecting bloggers, online writers, and cyberspace in general.

Session 6 focused on pressures on the Internet outside the realm of technology and the law. JV Rufino, editor of the Philippine news portal inq7.net tackled the economic pressures on the online news media. Download his presentation here.

Global Voices Online's Rebecca MacKinnon discussed the business of the Internet, pointing to lessons that can be learned from Google, Yahoo!, MSN in China. Her presentation can be viewed here.

Owais Aslam Ali, director of the Pakistan Press Foundation, talked about the economic factors that affect access to the Internet, emphasizing the need to make it work for "offline communities."

A NEEDS assessment survey to discuss capacities and needs for technology, training, and funding will be facilitated by Premesh Chandran of SEACEM after this afternoon's session. You can download the form here.