citizens

Free Software in Latin America: "This quick action clearly shows how important the choice of ODF format is by the government.

It it is a show of respect to the country’s citizens, since the government won’t force them to buy a license in order to view information which is their right to have access to."

Germany's Federal Office for Information Security says that Google's new browser Chrome "should not be used for surfing the Internet." The problem, according to a translation from Blogoscoped, is that joined with email and search, Chrome gives Google too much data about its users.

The government also said Chrome should be avoided because its still

We report on so many stories where technology is used in bad or oppressive ways, that it's important to note when it's being used in positive ways as well.

Technology, itself, is just a tool that can be used in both good and bad ways (not to mention neutral ways), but somehow the good ways don't always get as much attention.

CNN has an article detailing how the rise of mobile phones throughout Africa is helping in making elections that are more fair.

We've heard this argument plenty of times in the past, but a recent study suggests that 85% of people surveyed in China are perfectly fine with the Great Firewall, saying that they believe the government has a responsibility to "protect" them from dangerous content.

Of course, this is always how the government has positioned the filter: not as "blocking" content it doesn't like, but as protecting citizens from "dangerous" content.