The Latest from the New America Foundation

Bad Connection

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:16:12 +0000

June 18, 2013

Danielle Kehl

Sarah Morris

June 18, 2013

URL:

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/06/connected_plan_for_school_broadband_sounds_great_but_we_need_more_details.html

Did NSA Snooping Stop 'dozens' of Terrorist Attacks?

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:57:24 +0000

June 17, 2013

Peter Bergen

David Sterman

June 17, 2013

URL:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/17/opinion/bergen-nsa-spying/index.html

STATEMENT: OTI Director on Today's Senate Confirmation Hearing for Tom Wheeler

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:54:34 +0000

Highlights President’s Initiatives as Example of Need for Strong Leadership at FCC

June 18, 2013

Washington, DC — The following is a statement from Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation vice president and director of its Open Technology Institute, on the confirmation hearing today in the Senate Commerce Committee on Tom Wheeler’s nomination to head the FCC:

"American consumers need a FCC chairman who champions meaningful reforms, including universal access to affordable and quality broadband, as well as robust competition in telecom services. These are commitments President Obama made and the general public supports, and Tom Wheeler has a chance at today’s confirmation hearings to make it clear he too stands with consumers. Friday’s announcement by the President on enhancing the use of spectrum is a welcome development, but also a reminder of why the leadership at the FCC matters. If confirmed, the Open Technology Institute looks forward to working with Mr. Wheeler across government, industry and alongside consumers to maximize the potential of these initiatives and ensure he keeps his word to the American people.”

Sascha Meinrath

With Exposure to Babies, Rodent Dads’ Brains, Like Moms’, Become Wired for Nurture

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:05:22 +0000

June 15, 2013

Brigid Schulte

June 15, 2013

URL:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/with-exposure-to-babies-rodent-dads-brains-like-moms-become-wired-for-nurture/2013/06/15/8f0758ea-d3e6-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html

Kudos to the FTC for Supporting Uber in Washington, D.C.

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:36:35 +0000

June 14, 2013

Marvin Ammori

June 14, 2013

URL:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/06/14/ftc_supports_uber_in_washington_d_c_by_opposing_taxi_commission.html

RELEASE: OTI Director Sascha Meinrath Makes TIME Tech 40

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:35:26 +0000

TIME: Meinrath A 'Counterweight to the Powerful Telecom and Wireless Industry Lobby'

June 17, 2013

Washington, DC — TIME magazine today named Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation vice president and director of its Open Technology Institute [OTI], to its list of "the most influential minds in technology."

The 2013 "TIME Tech 40" list includes top CEOs — including Tim Cook of Apple and Larry Page of Google — startup entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and tech “big thinkers,” the category that includes Meinrath. TIME calls Meinrath a "fierce advocate for consumers, and one of the leading proponents of 'network neutrality'" who serves "as a counterweight to the powerful telecom and wireless industry lobby in Washington, D.C."

"Meinrath has been a leading voice calling for accountability over the government’s leaked program that spies on Americans’ phone records and online activities, and is advancing the policy debate over how Congress and the White House should regulate the cybersecurity-industrial complex," the article states.

As director of OTI, Meinrath leads efforts to advance policy and regulatory reforms that protect an open and free Internet, safe communications, and promote competition in mobile and wireline telecommunications. An advocate for consumers and a counterweight to the major telecom and wireless industry lobbyists in Washington, Meinrath was named one of the “Top 100” in Newsweek's Digital Power Index in 2012 and has been described as a "community Internet pioneer" and an "entrepreneurial visionary."

"It's a great honor to be listed amongst such influential luminaries in tech," Meinrath said. "The growing influence of technology requires that every community has access to quality affordable Internet to fully participate in the global economy and shape their democracies. That’s why it is critically important for forward-thinking tech-policy experts to actively engage in national policy debates and help set priorities in Washington, DC.”

To view the TIME Tech 40 list, click here.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Sascha Meinrath, please contact Clara Hogan.

Sascha Meinrath

Europe Sticks a Warning Label on the Settlements

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:25:06 +0000

June 14, 2013

Daniel Levy

June 14, 2013

URL:

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/europe-sticks-a-warning-label-on-the-settlements.premium-1.529826#

Many Women in CIA Still Encounter Glass Ceiling, Agency Report Says

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:13:10 +0000

June 13, 2013

Brigid Schulte

June 13, 2013

URL:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/many-women-in-cia-still-encounter-glass-ceiling-agency-report-says/2013/06/13/1c0625f2-c92c-11e2-9245-773c0123c027_story.html

Rupert Murdoch’s Declaration of Independence

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:08:55 +0000

June 13, 2013

Gabriel Sherman

June 13, 2013

URL:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/rupert-murdochs-declaration-of-independence.html

In Kennedy Center Speech, Roger Ailes Gets Wild

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:05:04 +0000

June 13, 2013

Gabriel Sherman

June 13, 2013

URL:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/kennedy-center-speech-roger-ailes-gets-wild.html

An Open (Of Course) Letter to My Friend, the NSA

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:52:30 +0000

June 12, 2013

Cyrus Nemati

June 12, 2013

URL:

www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2013/06/12/an-open-of-course-letter-to-my-friend-the-nsa/ideas/nexus/

Brazil's Alternative to Austerity

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:50:21 +0000

Increased Employment and Reduced Inequality

June 14, 2013

Multidisciplinary Institute for Development and Strategies (MINDS)

Click here to download the full paper as a PDF.

From 2004 to 2010, the Brazilian Economy grew at an annual average rate of 4.4%. This result was double the average growth of the 1981-1993 period, although it did not reach the exceptional average of 7.5% registered between 1947 and 1980. Growth slowed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, despite the 30 year record high growth achieved in 2010. After decades of stop-and-go growth, the recent period has been exceptional for the marked improvements in employment and the reduction of income inequality. The current unemployment rate averaged an exceptional 6% in 2011 and inequality as measured by the Gini Index has been reduced in each of the years from 2004 to 2011, falling by a total of 10%. This exceptional performance has made possible the long-awaited emergence of Brazil as a significant player in international economic affairs.

The main characteristic of the recent period is the steady return of the role of the state in the design and implementation of longer-term measures to support economic development. The impact was particularly evident in President Lula’s second term when GDP growth accelerated, the number of households below the poverty line decreased and millions of new consumers joined the middle class as the result of stable employment conditions and the development of a large scale expansion of domestic consumption. This new development model integrated growth and employment into an approach to macroeconomic stability, defined as control of inflation, lower public sector indebtedness, and lower external vulnerability. The initial measures introduced in the government's first term were focused on demand, including increasing incomes and incentives for family consumption that were complemented in the second term by supply-side measures to support investment and increase productivity. This recent success notwithstanding, in the first 18 months of President Dilma’s administration the model has failed to maintain previous performance, and appears to be less appropriate to the new international economic conditions.

This paper presents an overview of the economic policies that led to the exceptional results of the Lula administration, highlighting the main elements of this “new development model.” It also presents an evaluation of the use of the economic policy instruments that had an impact on growth, price stability and income redistribution. It concludes with an assessment of the current situation as well as the main challenges ahead, especially those concerning international competitiveness, public finances and investment in fixed capital and innovation.

Click here to read the full paper, "Brazil's Alternative to Austerity: Increased Employment and Reduced Inequality," by MINDS.

The German Wages Problem -- A World Problem

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:39:35 +0000

June 14, 2013

Joerg Bibow, Skidmore College

Click here to download full paper as PDF.

Germany and Europe at large have suffered from chronically high unemployment for all or most of the time since the 1980s. The conventional wisdom of American economists and media commentators alike offers a clear-cut diagnosis of this long-standing malaise. Often repeated and never questioned, the verdict is that European labor markets are too rigid, the old continent’s welfare systems overly generous, and wages too high. In short, European labor is simply too expensive, and employees are pricing themselves out of work as a result. Of course this conventional wisdom accords well with mainstream (neoclassical) economics more generally. On this view, if there is unemployment, wages must be too high almost by definition. By accepting lower wages, unemployed workers can always get themselves a job. Should institutions or social policies prevent this, structural rigidities are to blame, and structural reforms of labor markets and social policies are offering the straightforward route to salvation. If only the market mechanism were allowed to operate freely, and workers left free to choose, the labor market would always clear at the equilibrium wage and anyone willing to work at that wage find work without any problem at all.

Standard wisdom is quickly applied to the ongoing crisis in Europe, which is concentrated in Euroland, the subsection of the European Union that has adopted the euro as its common currency. Euroland member countries in acute crisis are bluntly described as uncompetitive, a deficiency gallantly associated with fiscal profligacy as the elixir that for long helped to cover up the underlying ailment of excessive labor costs (or, if a little more circumspection is harnessed, with private debt excesses that somehow achieved the same). For a mainstream economist it is utterly counterintuitive, if not perfectly inconceivable, that wages could ever be too low. But that is precisely the German wages problem in Europe today. The German wages problem is at the very heart of the ongoing Euroland crisis – a crisis with potentially devastating global repercussions. Therefore, the German wages problem is indeed a world problem.

Click here to read the full paper, "The German Wages Problem -- A World Problem" by Jörg Bibow.

Attachments:

Bibow_Joerg_German_Wages_2012_2013.pdf

We're Cutting the Deficit Too Much, Too Quickly

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:13:51 +0000

June 14, 2013

Sherle R. Schwenninger

June 14, 2013

URL:

http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/has-the-short-term-deficit-been-reduced-enough/were-cutting-the-deficit-too-much-too-quickly

New America NYC: Iraq: Remembering a Forgotten War

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:45:26 +0000

Just 10 years after the U.S. invasion, Iraq is already being called the “Forgotten War.” News organizations began scaling back on-the-ground reporting there soon after the U.S. declared an end to major combat operations in May 2003, and today only a handful of foreign bureaus remain in Baghdad.

The Sidebar: Insecure

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:48:58 +0000

Shane Harris highlights the worst of the NSA leaks; Tamar Jacoby is hopeful for Senate passage of immigration reform. Elizabeth Weingarten hosts.

RELEASE: New America's Lisa Guernsey to Advise CGI Early Childhood Working Group

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:55:37 +0000

CGI America to Take Place June 12-14 in Chicago

June 12, 2013

Washington, DC — Lisa Guernsey, director of the New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative, has been appointed an adviser for the early childhood working group at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) meeting. The event will take place from June 12-14 in Chicago.

Guernsey's fellow adviser is Jacqueline Jones, former deputy assistant secretary for policy and early learning at the U.S. Department of Education. Their role is to ''bring together a cross section of educators, business leaders, and advocates to identify actionable approaches that ultimately improve access to and increase the number of high quality learning opportunities for America's young children."

To watch the event's live webcast, please click here.

To schedule an interview, please contact Clara Hogan.

Lisa Guernsey

RELEASE:To Tackle Increasing Online Censorship, Surveillance, OpenITP Hires 2 Special Advisors

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:33:38 +0000

New Hires Reflect Increasing Needs of Internet Freedom Defenders to Fight Oppressive Regimes

June 12, 2013

New York City - The Open Internet Tools Project (OpenITP) announced today the appointment of Carolyn Anhalt and Nadim Kobeissi as special advisors, who will help tackle the increasing needs and challenges of Internet activists fighting online surveillance and censorship around the world, particularly in Iran and China. OpenITP is a part of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute.

"Recent developments in both the USA and abroad have shown us that powerful entities are working hard to control and monitor our communications,” said OpenITP Director James Vasile. “While there is a passionate community of activists who work to protect everyone's online rights, the stakes and challenges are higher than ever. This community needs resources and support to ensure that future generations have an Internet that allows for privacy and anonymity and is resistant to control.”

Started in 2011, OpenITP provides communities behind open source anti-censorship and anti-surveillance tools with support and services they need. These free software tools, also known as circumvention tools, are used by activists and concerned netizens worldwide who want to keep the Internet a public sphere.

However, in recent years, the software creators behind these tools have been combating more sophisticated blocking tactics used by government censors. At the same time, activists are confronting increasingly harsher political climates. The 2011 Harvard Berkman Center study “Circumvention Tool Evaluation” confirms this reality, reporting that governments are increasingly willing to take drastic measures to control online speech.

This has lead to an increase in requests for OpenITP’s services and expert knowledge, which prompted the organization to hire industry experts Anhalt and Kobeissi as special advisors.

Anhalt will facilitate OpenITP's translation and localization efforts. This includes providing outreach for projects to overseas communities as well as technical and security advice. She has over 20 years of experience in software development, network administration, and localizing technology for different cultures. Notably, in the past she served as Translation Community Manager for Tor, a well-known anonymity and circumvention tool, and most recently as Chief Technology Officer for Informsec.

Kobeissi — best known for creating Cryptocat, one of the world's most popular encrypted chat applications — will collaborate with staff to improve and promote the tool, as well as organize developer meetings and provide consultation on security and encryption matters when needed.

For more information, please contact Sandra Ordonez at (503) 866-2697 or email her at sandraordonez@openitp.org. You can also visit www.openitp.org

###

About OpenITP
OpenITP supports the software creators and communities behind open source anti-surveillance and anti-censorship tools that enable world citizens to communicate directly and freely with each other, on their own terms. Our goal is identify opportunities that will improve and increase the distribution of these circumvention tools.

RELEASE: OTI Joins Coalition Demanding Congressional Committee to End NSA Spying

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:45:20 +0000

Letter to Congress Urged Swift Investigation, Reform

June 12, 2013

Washington, DC — The New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute has joined a broad coalition of 86 organizations and Internet companies – including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, reddit, Mozilla, and the American Civil Liberties Union – in a letter to Congress demanding swift investigation and reform in light of the recent revelations about unchecked global surveillance.

The letter was accompanied by the launch of StopWatching.Us, a global petition demanding an inquiry into the scope and scale of spying activities.

Responding to recent leaked documents providing detailed evidence of the National Security Agency (NSA)’s collection of telephone records and online activity of innocent Americans and global Internet users, the groups called for a congressional investigatory committee similar to the Church Committee of the 1970s. The letter demands legal reforms to rein in spying and that public officials responsible for this unconstitutional surveillance be held accountable for their actions.

""The scale of the diverse coalition of organizations from across the political spectrum who have joined together in opposition to the NSA's unprecedented surveillance of communications across the United States speaks volumes," said Sascha Meinrath, director of the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute. "These egregious violations of our 4th Amendment right to privacy must cease, the extent of these programs must be publicly disclosed, and those who have perpetuated these violations of the law held to account. And rather than maintaining a cozy relationship with this new cybersecurity-industrial complex, Congress and the White House need to begin to work on reform immediately that puts the public interest first and sets the terms for how this sector operates."

The letter denounced NSA’s spying program as illegal, noting:

“This type of blanket data collection by the government strikes at bedrock American values of freedom and privacy. This dragnet surveillance violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which protect citizens’ right to speak and associate anonymously and guard against unreasonable searches and seizures that protect their right to privacy.”

The groups called for a numbers of specific reforms in their open letter to Congress, including:

• Reform to the controversial Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the “business records” section which, through secret court orders, was misused to force Verizon to provide the NSA with detailed phone records of millions of

• Reform to the FISA Amendment Act, the unconstitutional law that allows the government to conduct mass surveillance on American and international communications nearly without restriction.

• Amendment to the state secrets privilege, the legal tool that has expanded over the last 10 years to prevent the government from being held accountable for domestic surveillance.

• The formation of a Congressional investigatory committee to investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of domestic spying, and the creation of specific recommendations for legal and regulatory reform to end unconstitutional surveillance.

• Accountability for those public officials found to be responsible.

The global petition site, StopWatching.Us, offered American citizens and residents the ability to directly contact their elected representatives to demand oversight and reform, echoing the concerns of the coalition letter. The petition will allow non-US persons to communicate their concerns directly to the White House.

Individuals who would like to speak out against NSA spying are encouraged to sign here: https://StopWatching.Us

To read the full letter, please click here.

To interview a New America expert, please contact Clara Hogan.

Sascha Meinrath

Guest Workers Are the Best Border Security

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:59:21 +0000

June 11, 2013

Tamar Jacoby

June 11, 2013

URL:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324634304578535823045836956.html

Congress Should Do More to Bring Data to the Classroom

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:38:35 +0000

June 5, 2013

Clare McCann

June 5, 2013

URL:

http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress_should_do_more_to_bring_data_to_the_classroom_commentary-225356-1.html?pos=lopilr

George Zimmerman Trial: Trayvon Martin Portrayed As 'Scary Black Man'

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:16:50 +0000

June 11, 2013

Reniqua Allen

June 11, 2013

URL:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/george-zimmerman-trial-scary-black-man

The Path to Being a Scientist Doesn’t Have to Be So Narrow

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:10:16 +0000

June 7, 2013

Kevin Carey

June 7, 2013

URL:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ideas-innovations/The-Path-to-Being-a-Scientist-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-So-Narrow-210579281.html

Pandora’s Myths vs. the Facts

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:50:14 +0000

June 11, 2013

Mark Hertsgaard

June 11, 2013

URL:

http://www.thenation.com/article/174740/pandoras-myths-vs-facts

Yes, Free Speech Is Big in Hong Kong—Because They Must Constantly Defend It

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:48:04 +0000

June 10, 2013

Emily Parker

June 10, 2013

URL:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113438/edward-snowden-hong-kong-where-free-speech-constant-fight#