Access Express | 01/10/13
Yahoo! bolsters privacy with global HTTPS support
Access is encouraged to see that Yahoo! is now supporting HTTPS globally for its mail and messaging services, an important and overdue step for the security and privacy of its users. Pending technical analysis of its implementation, we believe this...
via accessnow 
Staff Picks
Yahoo mail HTTPS not a moment too soon, nor too late
I remember sitting with a Yahoo employee in 2009, talking about the lack of protective encryption on Yahoo's Web mail accounts. Like many, the employee had been caught up in the news of how Iranians were using the Internet to document and protest the...
via cpj
Everything is connected: The new politics of the internet
When dozens of countries refused to sign a new global treaty on internet governance in late 2012, a wide range of activists rejoiced. They saw the treaty, crafted under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)...
via economist
From the Access Community
Syrian internet goes offline as Assad delivers rare address
Reports indicate that 78 % of routed networks in Syria went offline on Jan. 6, effectively causing a nationwide outage, at the same time Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave his first televised speech since June. In the speech Assad called...
via thinkprogress
Tightly-controlled social media access to replace censorship in Iran
Iran is designing "intelligent software" that would give citizens restricted and controlled access to banned social networking sites, local media Sunday quoted police chief Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam as saying...
via middle-east-online
ITU Secretary General issues information note addressing civil society concerns at WCIT
Last week, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) published an information note from Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré dated December 14 in which he reports to ITU Members on the ITU’s “ongoing and constructive dialogue with Civil Society”...
via accessnow
Still smarting from SOPA, Congress to shy away from copyright in 2013
Last January, hundreds of websites went dark to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act, a controversial proposal to use DNS filtering to censor websites suspected of infringing copyright. Millions of voters contacted their members of Congress to protest...
via arstechnica
Free expression in danger as bloggers and activists go on trial in Vietnam
In Vietnam, 17 bloggers and activists will stand trial, the largest of its kind in Vietnam--14 of the defendants will appear at once. They have been charged under Article 79 (“activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s...
via eff
Internet governance outlook 2013: "Cold internet war" or "Peaceful internet coexistence"?
Anyone who expected that with the end of the Dubai ITU World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in December 2012, the heated debate on the future regulation of the Internet will slow down should remember to fairytale of the battle...
via circleid
Their apps track you. Will Congress track them?
There are three things that matter in consumer data collection: location, location, location...
via nytimes
After courting controversy, Sweden's TeliaSonera looks to Kazakhstan
Swedish telecommunications giant TeliaSonera just can’t get enough of Kazakhstan’s mobile market. After shelling out more than $1.5 billion for a 49% stake in KCell, Kazakhstan’s largest mobile provider, earlier in 2012, TeliaSonera has spent...
via rferl
New Freebox update censors ads by default for 5.5M users
In a recent update to its land-line Internet box FreeBox, Free has activated by default an option in its settings to block ads on any device connected to the internet via the Box...
via rudebaguette
Access defends and extends the digital rights of users at risk around the world. By combining tech-driven policy, user engagement, and direct technical support, we fight for open and secure communications for all.