Institute Diary
The Future of the Internet and How To Stop It
FOSI's CEO Stephen Balkam will moderate a Q & A session with Jonathan Zittrain, who's new book, The Future of the Internet and How To Stop It, is published on 14th April.
Book Description
This extraordinary book explains the engine that has catapulted the Internet from backwater to ubiquity — and reveals that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of its users, the generative Internet is on a path to a lockdown, ending its cycle of innovation — and facilitating unsettling new kinds of control.
The Internet's current trajectory is one of lost opportunity. Its salvation, Zittrain argues, lies in the hands of its millions of users. Drawing on generative technologies like Wikipedia that have so far survived their own successes, this book shows how to develop new technologies and social structures that allow users to work creatively and collaboratively, participate in solutions, and become true "netizens."
The event will take place at Google's Washington DC Offices and is being arranged in association with the Berkman Center at Harvard University.
Telecoms Web 2.0
FOSI's CTO Phil Archer joins a distinguished panel at this high profile event at the Sofitel Berlin Schweizerhof. In a plenary session he'll be presenting the new Protocol for Web Description Resources (POWDER) (under development at the W3C) and explaining how it fits in with the Quatro Plus project and the future of ICRA labels. In addition, Phil will also lead a pre-conference briefing with the W3C's Germany & Austria office manager, Thomas Tikwinski, entitled "Developing mobile Web 2.0 applications which deliver high quality, personalised content over multiple platforms."
FOSI Comments on the SIP-Bench Synthesis Report
In December 2007, The European Commission published its "2007 Benchmark of tools to filter potentially harmful Internet content."
The document makes specific reference to ICRA and calls for a future system that matches closely what is already planned for the future of ICRA (which is part of FOSI). The full text of FOSI's comment is available.
UK Content Providers Make New Media Literacy Commitment
The Family Online Safety Institute is among the signatories to an important new set of good practice guidelines for the UK audio visual industry.
In a fast changing media world, research carried out by the UK media regulator Ofcom (see link below) shows that consumers, particularly parents, want clear information about the content they and their children can view or access, whether it is online, on a mobile phone or on television. Building on existing good practice, these principles promote common sense, simplicity and transparency to ensure that all users are empowered to make safe and informed choices about commercially provided content.
Such a commitment by major broadcasters, online content providers and social network sites, is entirely in line with FOSI's mission. The provision of clear information for parents has long been at the heart of FOSI, which incorporates ICRA. The Institute therefore welcomes the new good practice guide, and is proud to have made a contribution to its creation.
- The good practice guidelines
- Official press release, issued by the Broadband Stakeholder Group which facilitated the working group.
- Ofcom Programme Information Research, 6 September 2006 (635 KB, PDF)
- Early Press Coverage (The Guardian)
Confoki Online
Today ses the start of a new project backed by The Internet Service Providers in Austria, FOSI and Zit Zentrum Für Innovation und Technologie. Called Content for Kids, "Confoki," it will provide new browser plug-ins to work directly with ICRA data, due for relase in autumn 2008.
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