thomascovenant @thomascovenant@social.weho.st

[Archives] Finally, looking from inside Europe, it is hard to realize we live in a mostly free society aiming at fairness and transparency. This fact alone makes future improvements possible.

Substantial effort has been made to move forward within European Union. A lot to be covered still, but the progress within the last 50 years has been impressive.

[Archives] The documents that can be withheld pose threat to:

— public security,
— defense and military matters,
— international relations,
— the financial, monetary or economic policy of the
- Community or a Member State;
- privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular in
- accordance with Community legislation regarding the
- protection of personal data.

Interestingly, parts of documents that fall under these restrictions do not prevent them for being released.

[Archives] REegulation 1049/2001:

"Any citizen of the Union, and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State, has a right of access to documents of the institutions, subject to the principles, conditions and limits defined in this Regulation."

This is a strong message for openness and transparency.

[archives] Outside EU archives, it is possible to obtain a large variety of documents under Regulation 1049/2001. It is a very interesting document to read - especially since it makes an effort to be specific and yet leaves significant loopholes for not releasing information. It is by far not the worst outcome.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/PDF/r1049_en.pdf

[Archives] Doing a quick search with the word 'cyber' we come across UEO-WEU, Western EU Assembly which is only available on paper and covers the following topics I would be interested in reading:

"on terrorist activities on the Turkey-Iraq border – Part II; on the public response to international military operations; on the Multinational Space-based Imaging System (MUSIS); on cyber warfare; on initiatives concerning the European Defence Equipment Market on security after the war in Georgia."

[Archives] Documents in the Archives of the EU are subject to the "30-year rule" though: European Commission documents are to be made public after 30 years.

Confidential and secret documents must be declassified before they are made public.

Specs of this rule are in Regulation 354/83.

There is also a number of more recent documents in the database.

Perform a quick search here:
https://archives.eui.eu/search

[Archives] A couple of words about archives. In the data swamp, their size, form and relevance are not trivial.

The International Council on Archives was founded on 9th of June 1948 (UNESCO) and in 2004 ICA conference decided on making 9th of June the International Archives day.

Let's acknowledge two notable archives on this day:

Internet Archive, https://archive.org/

and Archives of the European Union. Historical archives of the European Union are located here:

http://ec.europa.eu/historical_archives/index_en.htm

6/n

Living in a tightly regulated society would outlaw Easter holiday fun if it involves:

"- Blood Assassins - Medieval Legendary RPG
- "The Zombie Crisis: The Battle of Life and Death"
- ...and a large number of game works based on Japanese manga adaptations"

For me there would not be any Half Life, FarCry, Metro or other games I enjoy playing on holidays.

Every time you ignore another censorship regulation or government surveillance, you make a step towards no gaming. Almost joking here.

5/n

Zombie games coming from abroad are banned as well.

No exception is made for Shenzhen area companies (Tencent Computer Systems Co.), businesses providing platforms for downloading illegal content will have their operations suspended and profits confiscated:

"[ Easy Play (Shanghai) Network Technology Co.] It was regulated according to law to suspend business and rectify for 3 months, and the fine was 318,600 (2400€) yuan. Punishment."

4/n

Now let's look at examples. Zombie games contain violence and are illegal:

Beijing Municipal Cultural Market Administrative Law Enforcement Team conducted an inspection of [...] the online game "Zombie Battle" has an axe, a saw and a knife to cut the picture of the zombies.

There are bullets that shoot through the blood of the zombie head. During the game, zombie enemies appear randomly.

Destroyed, there will be a large area of ​​blood and stumps..prohibited content/promotes violence.

3/n

This strict development is actually quite recent, coming from February this year:

"Central Propaganda Department, Central Network Information Office, Education, Public Security, and Culture Ministires recently issued the 'Opinions on Strictly Regulating Online Game Market Management.'

In accordance with the unified deployment of opinions, relevant departments have launched a nationwide special campaign to strictly regulate the online game market and achieved remarkable results."

2/n

In China, there will be a visit from the authorities, questioning and confiscation of gaming company's profits - after one is under suspicion for making violent online games, inappropriate moral conduct or distributing illegal material.

In addition to that, full names and details of apprehension are published online on Cyberspace Administration website, before the conviction takes place.

Cyberspace affairs office also publishes a list of the latest malicious apps: https://social.weho.st/media/4nKtvmXTlE_pFHkZVWY

1/n

In the Easter spirit, and since I am really jetlagged, let's depart on a somewhat dark yet light and fun journey into Chinese Censorship - and Gaming.

Freedom of speech is tied closely to content regulation and political systems.

Taking it further, China is not allowing gambling, violence, pornography online in any form.

Interestingly, such local content is being actively generated which speaks to demand.

Teams of developers are aware of the regulations and create shooters anyway.

Last week the geek happy overload was achieved at Arecibo Observatory, home to 305-meter radio telescope, the world's second largest single-aperture telescope.

The observatory is off-road in the middle of Puerto Rico tropical forest.

https://social.weho.st/media/LejnWL1ALnVZhTVpUC4

IANA maintains a collection of “IDN tables” representing permitted code points (letters) allowed for Internationalized Domain Name registrations in particular registries:

https://www.iana.org/domains/idn-tables

***************************
SOME FINAL POINTS:
Technology Version of Russian presidential elections 2018
***************************

- technology and education investment present in most programs - always a good move?

- the lack of playing the defense and cyberterrorism cards was surprising

- election tempering concern

- blockchain, cryptocurrencies and Open Source mentioned

- Internet and freedom of speech restrictions are not identified as program worthy by the majority of candidates

* * *
#9
Russian presidential candidates 2018, technology perspective
* * *

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian populists, Liberal Democratic Party

- candidate is confirming to party program
- technology benefits obtained through alliance with Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Syria
- program contains mostly random populist statements

*************
THE END
*************

* * *
#7
Russian presidential candidates 2018, technology perspective
* * *

Sergey Baburin, Russian nationalists aka Russian All-People's Union

- nothing to say about censure or cyber policy
- forbidding foreigners to work in Russian medical and social institutions - what kind of breach is he worried about exactly?

* * *
#8
* * *

Grigory Yavlinsky, Yabloko

- introduction of windfall tax
- no VAT for technology industries for three-year term
- cancel repressive laws from the last years

* * *
#5
Russian presidential candidates 2018, technology perspective
* * *

Maxim Suraykin, "Lenin and Stalin fans"-party, Communists of Russia

- develop technology which will make tempering with elections impossible
- better economy through technology

* * *
#6
* * *

Pavel Grudinin, Communist party

- substantial investment in microelectronics, biotechnology and robotics
- substantial investment in military-related industries, defence technologies, increased combat readiness

* * *
#4
Russian presidential candidates 2018, technology perspective
* * *

Navalny follow-up

Unrelated point of interest: the only a strong anti-corruption clause and proposal against Russian cooperation with other dictatorships, somewhat ironic at this time.

Simultaneously, clear racist clauses in the campaign, not unlike other candidates.