Brazil’s statute of virtual liberty

Pedro Abramovay – Project Syndicate, 5/6/2014

It seems like the plot of a horror movie – the type where a little-noticed glitch in the matrix threatens to cause global chaos. This time, it was a simple, but fateful, programming misstep that suddenly left millions of consumers’ most sensitive information vulnerable to hackers. News headlines screamed about online dangers that we could barely understand, alerting swarms of digital pirates to a bounty of new criminal opportunities. Companies worldwide scrambled to secure their online safety.

The story of the so-called “Heartbleed” bug, however, is all too real. It points to a stark truth: In a shockingly short time, we have become completely dependent on the Internet, a frontier we are only beginning to comprehend, let alone map and regulate. Important debates – such as freedom versus security, privacy versus piracy, and cyberspace’s impact on democracy – are far from being resolved.

Yet fears over Heartbleed and similar such threats, and the furor surrounding the aggressive American surveillance tactics revealed by former intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden, have already put many countries in a defensive posture. In many places, efforts to protect Internet freedom have been stymied.

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Future of the internet debated at NetMundial in Brazil

Leo Kelion – BBC News, 4/23/2014

A meeting to determine how the internet should be governed gets under way in Sao Paulo, Brazil later.

The country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, organised the two-day NetMundial event following allegations the US National Security Agency (NSA) had monitored her phone and emails.

Last month the US announced plans to give up its oversight of the way net addresses are distributed.

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Brazil passes “internet constitution” ahead of global conference on web future

RT, 4/23/2014

Ahead of a two-day Net Mundial international conference in Sao Paulo on the future of the Internet, Brazil’s Senate has unanimously adopted a bill which guarantees online privacy of Brazilian users and enshrines equal access to the global network.

The bill known as the “Internet constitution” was first introduced in the wake of the NSA spying scandal and is now expected to be signed into law by President Dilma Rousseff – one of the primary targets of the US intelligence apparatus, as leaks by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden revealed.

Rousseff plans to present the law on Wednesday at a global Internet conference.

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Brazil takes a lead in the future of the Internet

Angelica Mari – Brazil Tech, 4/16/2014

The Brazilian government believes that it is in a strong position to lead the debate around global Internet governance and hopes to “energize” other countries to participate more actively in the future of the Net.

When debating the topics to be discussed at next week’s Internet governance event NETmundial, the information technology secretary at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Virgílio Almeida, remarked that Brazil has the authority to be a leader in the subject of Internet governance.

“Not a lot of countries have a body like the [Brazilian Internet steering committee] CGI.br, which is a truly multistakeholder organization that has been in place for over 20 years and provided the source of the principles that will shape next week’s discussions,” Almeida told ZDNet.

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The world’s first Internet governance plan: what do you want to know?

Angelica Mari – Brazil Tech, 4/15/2014

Later this month, the Brazilian government will present its suggestions for a global Internet governance model, which will set out provisions around net neutrality, right to privacy and freedom of expression online.

The plan will be discussed at multistakeholder event NETmundial, which will take place in São Paulo on April 22-23 with the participation of Brazil, France, Ghana, Germany, India, Indonesia, South Africa, South Korea, Tunisia, Turkey and the US. The event’s collaborative draft agreementhas been released by WikiLeaks last week.

ZDNet will discuss these upcoming proposals with the secretary of information technology policies at the Brazilian ministry of science and technology, Virgílio Almeida today (15) and want your opinion on the matter.

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Brazil: Internet “bill of rights” approved in key vote

BBC News, 3/27/2014

Known as the Marco Civil – or Bill of Rights – it would enshrine freedom of expression, the right to privacy and the principle of web neutrality. The measure must still be approved in the Brazilian Senate before it can be signed into law, the Latin Post news website reports.

Supporters of the bill are celebrating the development. “Oh my God, I’m so, so happy,” says Carolina Rossini, project director at New America Foundation, who has campaigned for Marco Civil for many years. “Last night I had a whole bottle of wine by myself,” she tells the Daily Dot website, which covers internet-related news.

The Marco Civil bill was first officially drafted in 2009, and went through a long process of approval and consultation with web users, telecom companies and government agencies, the Latin Post says.

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World Wide Web founder supports Brazil’s “internet constitution”

Angelica Mari – Brazil Tech ZD Net, 3/25/2014

The founder of the World Wide Web Sir Tim Berners-Lee has called for Brazil’s first set of internet governance rules to be passed “without further delay or amendment.”

The Marco Civil da Internet, dubbed Brazil’s “Internet Constitution”, is due to be voted this week and the creator of the Web, who had previously voiced opinions about aspects of the Bill, released a statement of support.

“If Marco Civil is passed, without further delay or amendment, this would be the best possible birthday gift for Brazilian and global Web users,” says Berners-Lee.

“I hope that by passing this Bill, Brazil will cement its proud reputation as a world leader on democracy and social progress and will help to usher in a new era – one where citizens’ rights in every country around the world are protected by digital bills of rights,” he adds.

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Brazil to drop local data storage rule in internet bill

Anthony Baodle – Reuters, 3/18/2014

Brazil will drop a controversial provision that would have forced global Internet companies to store data on Brazilian users inside the country to shield them from U.S. spying, a government minister said on Tuesday.

The rule was added last year to proposed Internet governance legislation after revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency had spied on the digital communications of Brazilians, including those of their President Dilma Rousseff and the country’s biggest company Petroleo Brasileiro SA.

Instead, the legislation will say that companies such as Google Inc and Facebook Inc are subject to Brazilian laws in cases involving information on Brazilians even if the data is stored abroad, congressional relations minister Ideli Salvatti told reporters.

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Brazil, Europe plan undersea cable to skirt U.S. spying

Robin Emmott – Reuters, 2/24/2014

Brazil and the European Union agreed on Monday to lay an undersea communications cable from Lisbon to Fortaleza to reduce Brazil’s reliance on the United States after Washington spied on Brasilia.

At a summit in Brussels, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the $185 million cable project was central to “guarantee the neutrality” of the Internet, signaling her desire to shield Brazil’s Internet traffic from U.S. surveillance.

“We have to respect privacy, human rights and the sovereignty of nations. We don’t want businesses to be spied upon,” Rousseff told a joint news conference with the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council.

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Rio: Brazil’s silicon beach

Jonathan Watts – The Guardian, 2/8/2014

Anyone doubting Rio de Janeiro’s techward shift need only look at the famous pavement mosaics that mark the promenade along Copacabana beach. The black and white patterns have traditionally resembled the waves across which early settlers and modern tourists travelled. Last year, however, that antique, analogue design has been partly reconfigured to reflect a digital future with the addition of tiled QR codes for smartphones.

The pavement symbols link to online maps and tourist websites. That should be useful to the throngs of visitors expected in this resort during this year’sWorld Cup and the 2016 Olympics, but the significance goes far beyond the mega sporting events.

The tiled codes are a small part of an attempted makeover of party-town Rio into a Latin-American technology hub. Driven by multinational tech companies, local startups and city universities, the mayor, Eduardo Paes, is trying to shape a future for this resort that is as much about being smart as having fun. This is partly an attempt to ride a nationwide trend. Brazil – which is vying with France and Britain to be the world’s fifth biggest economy – is belatedly embracing wireless technology and social networks. Thanks to a surge in recent years, there are now more mobile phones (268.4m) in this country than people. Tablet sales have jumped from 220,000 at the beginning of 2012 to more than 5m today. And Facebook use has increased to the point where Brazil is now second only to the US in terms of the number of users.

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