By July 1, all new computers sold in China, domestic and imported, were to be sold with pre-installed “filtering software.”  The government-mandated “Green Dam Youth Escort” software is rumored to effectively filter as much as 90% of internet porn (and other ‘offensive’ content, including of a political nature).   The software is intended to complement the existing “Great Firewall of China”, which already places severe restrictions on content accessibility within the country.

For the time being, however, the Chinese government’s intent to restrict freedoms and maintain control of user activity on the internet has been thwarted.  Various groups, activists and organizations bombarded the government with criticism of the software, attacking it as being a form of intrusive and ineffective censorship.  After consideration, the government has delayed the compulsory integration of the software indefinitely.  Although, some say it was technology limitations and tight deadlines, not social pressure, that forced the government to postpone the release, it is fairly clear that pressure from various parties had an impact.

The blogosphere has been abuzz with discussions about the software since it was announced in early June.  Perhaps by design, the announcement carried additional gravitas, nearly coinciding with the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, and leading up to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  At the same time, the government was tightening its grip by enforcing a media crackdown that prevented access to sites such as Twitter to minimize online chatter about the anniversary.

Once the Twitter ban was lifted, internet users had something else to talk about: The Green Dam.  Due to the Chinese government’s restriction of free speech, it has been easier for those in China to criticize the software itself, or even the government’s transparency for procurement of the software, rather than its purpose of censorship.  As a result, the censorship software sent the digital community into a frenzy, working to find flaws in the system and devising ways to outsmart it.  The software overzealously filters content, banning sites that use certain keywords, regardless of the context in which they are used.  In addition to filtering the internet, the software is apparently meant to restrict offline word processing.  The University of Michigan found additional security flaws in the software’s programming, that leave computer users vulnerable to malicious activity from sites they visit, including identity theft, installation of foreign code or spam.

Larger than the technical considerations of the product, are the social implications of the product; what rights do individuals’ have to obtain and create content?  How will China continue to modernize and maintain their vice grip on the flow of information within their borders?  China has had a long history of censorship - this is nothing new - but the internet has moved more quickly than they could follow.   The “green” in Green Dam is China’s term for an internet free of pornography and other offensive content, but from the government’s standpoint, this also includes information about political and spiritual groups, and, unsurprisingly, Tibetan independence.

According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the goal is to “construct a green, healthy, and harmonious internet environment, and preventing harmful information on the internet from influencing and poisoning young people.”  However, this statement doesn’t take into consideration people’s rights to collect information, a fundamental freedom.  China’s government will need to find a way to navigate through this new information age and its desire to establish firm media and social controls.

Many bloggers in China have made jokes about the software, and even mocked its relevance.  Some have suggested that the installation of software should be voluntary, to ensure that Chinese society is able to continue to modernize.  The censorship and fundamental rights debates will continue, but China’s digerati should not be underestimated – if the government does succeed in implementing the Green Dam eventually, they are bound to find a leak.

For 233 years, we have been the land of the free and the home of the brave.  But please do me one favor this holiday weekend. Enjoy yourself to the fullest and in the midst of all the revelry, take a step back and really take in what you have and be thankful to live in a place that is truly like no other.

To those of you who are serving or have served our country, I would like to personally thank you for your continued patriotism and vigilance as you do all that you can to make sure this year’s Fourth of July fireworks display will be more magnificently heart-filling than any before.  Thank you, and Semper Fi.

Garett Bugda
Sgt., USMC (1991-1995)

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The Zimbabwean newspaper, TheZimbabwean.co.uk, won the top award for Outdoor advertising; but this was not your standard billboard campaign.  What made this winner so unique was the purpose of its message and the execution.

The Zimbabwean was created and is edited by Wilf Mbanga, forced into exile in the UK after having been declared an enemy of the Zimbabwean state by Robert Mugabe.  Its goal is to provide fair and balanced news to Zimbabweans about their country, including its political struggles. The paper is read by expatriates in the UK and also in South Africa, but the people of Zimbabwe, for whom it is created, cannot buy the paper due to heavy - almost 70% - ‘luxury’ import taxes put in place by Mugabe’s regime, making it practically impossible for the average citizen to afford.   Mugabe’s aim however, is not just to make the paper unaffordable, but to abolish freedoms of speech and the press in Zimbabwe altogether.

Western news rarely focuses on African dictatorships, however, with recent developments in Zimbabwean politics beginning with the disputed 2008 elections, the atrocities of Mugabe’s 20 plus year reign were brought to light around the world.  The state of Zimbabwe’s economy also became a key topic of interest.  The condition of its currency is reminiscent of Germany in 1923, when people would take wheelbarrows of money to buy simple goods and even burn it to keep warm, as it was cheaper than firewood.  Zimbabwe now has a One Hundred Trillion Dollar note, rendering the currency virtually worthless. The hyper-inflation of the local currency and its value, or lack thereof, has even become a running joke.  In South Africa you may hear someone say they are “feeling as weak as the Zim dollar”, having a rough day or exhausted. But the situation is not a joke; Zimbabweans cannot even afford to buy bread with their trillion dollar bill.  The Zimbabwean decided to use this new symbol to raise awareness of the plight of the people.

The paper, along with TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris/Johannesburg launched a campaign focusing on the currency itself.  The Trillion Dollar Campaign actually used the bills as the medium.  Billboards and flyers were created made out of real money, printed with lines such as “It’s cheaper to print this on money than paper” and “Fight the regime that crippled a country” along with a link to thezimbabwean.co.uk.   Printed bank notes were handed out in intersections, billboards dotted highways, all to inform the people and attack the regime.  During the course of the campaign, the website experienced an astounding increase of two million visits.  But digital media spread the message even further; to sites for the New York Times, Huffington Post, Yahoo News, and hundreds of blogs.  Google saw thousands of hits for billboards and hundreds of thousands of visitors flocked to Flickr, all continuing to drive sales of the paper.

This year not only did the Cannes International Advertising Festival judge entries on creativity, but on the campaigns’ business results as well.   It is not surprising that The Zimbabwean won the Grand Prix. The newspaper’s mission and its implementation made it particularly effective.  Now that The Zimbabwean has people reading, it will be interesting to see if it can empower those readers to become voices.  Perhaps it will help to alter the situation in Zimbabwe - we’ve seen of late how digital media can truly amplify a campaign and form an impetus for change.

Music, journalism, and broadcast television, to name a few, have become reinterpreted at the hands of digital. As consumers demand how and when they want their content, old dogs must learn new tricks to modernize.

But that evolution doesn’t just destroy antiquated business models, it also affects individuals.  For example, my mother and I are both photography buffs.  I’ve really appreciated watching her passion and photographic talent throughout the years. Her hobby has preserved some of the most precious moments we’ve experienced together as a family and has inspired me to do the same. But her learning experience and social experience with photography is very different from my own.

Digital has created a sea of changes in the social and physical aspects of photography and, as such, has changed the photography landscape entirely. Compare our photography workflow over a 2+ decade gap.

What took mom 2 weeks in the 80’s takes me less than 2 hours today. Thanks to digital, I can now touch up pictures minutes after they were shot, upload to a photo community like Flickr, and share with friends in moments. Just after your upload is complete, your photos are part of a global community of millions of users and billions of photos.  Where previously, the value of a photo was largely contained within the print (and the family photo album) today’s value has shifted into the social sphere - where the digital image is most valuable and it lives in a non-physical medium of 1’s and 0’s.

The advancement of digital photography has removed much of the frustration of photography as well. I love the instant gratification of reviewing my photo on an LCD screen instantly to then refocus, reshoot, reposition or move on. There’s no need to take note of settings to recreate techniques you liked as your metadata will serve as a reference for as long as you keep the file. Gone are the days of wasting frames or fearing you may accidentally expose your film. How empowering…

Photography has transformed from a art medium more akin to painting, where time and patience are necessary to achieve the desired result, to a much more fluid, instant-gratification art form.  This has had the simultaneous effect of making the art more accessible, but also radically altering the individual value of a photograph.

Almost three decades later, the great news is that my mom has fully embraced the digital evolution. We now shoot with dueling Nikon DSLRs. Additionally, she’s taken our analog memories from my childhood, and before and converted them to digital by scanning in shoeboxes full of negatives, restoring and color correcting.

Who knows, maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks.

I consider myself to be a pretty well informed person and my love of politics has me reading all kinds of publications from various European countries. Despite this, until last week, even I had never heard of it. I had at least figured out that it meant ‘Pirate Party’ but outside of thinking of captain Barbarossa shouting “yar” from a pulpit, I had no idea what its political message was.

Curiosity got the best of me and, after a few Google searches, I discovered that the ‘PiratPartiet’: is led by Rick Flakvinge, was formed in 2006, hails from Sweden, and is intrinsically tied to the infamous peer-to-peer sharing Web site “The Pirate Bay”. The party’s platform then became self-evident; it fights to reform anti-copyright laws.

The success of the ‘PiratPartiet’ happened literally overnight and showcases, yet again, the increasing role of the Internet in politics. On April 17, 2009, in a heavily publicized trial, the Swedish government sentenced the 4 individuals who run the Pirate Bay website to 1 year in prison and over 2 million Euros in fines. The reaction amongst the Swedish youth (i.e. file sharers) was immediate.  The very next day, the party registered 25,000 new PiratPartiet members making it the 4th largest party in Sweden and the leading political force amongst 18-30 year-olds.

Consequently, increased media coverage throughout the European parliament electoral campaign helped the party earn 215,000 votes, and the chance to have a Pirate sitting in the European Parliament.

So what does one lonely seat in the European parliament mean and, ultimately, how does it affect the end user? Anyone slightly familiar with politics across the Atlantic is aware that there is no such thing as a two party system and that the popular belief is ‘the more the merrier.’ What this translates to is a courtship battle between the larger parties to partner with the ‘PiratPartiet’ to form either a larger coalition or, in some cases, a majority (yes, 1 seat can often determine a majority in Europe!). Falkvinge, the leader of the party, welcomes this unprecedented attention but doesn’t fail to make it clear that it doesn’t come for free or with broken promises.

The cost of his vote?  The promotion of his credo: “a free internet without any licenses in an open society”. Consequently, even with just his one seat, the ‘PiratPartiet’ could actually influence legislation. This sole seat can, ultimately, hold the power to sway the way Europeans share files and possibly, if it happens to trickle over, how the rest of the world shares files too.

At first, I couldn’t foresee a way to make both the end-user and the content holders happy. However, after thinking about Falkvinge’s goals of shortening copyright licenses to five years, it brought to mind an article I read the other day about the coming release of Epix TV. This joint venture between Lionsgate, Paramount, and MGM studios will broadcast their most popular releases free of charge, and free of advertising, on both cable TV and online at Epixhd.com. Similar to services such as Hulu.com, and all the other TV broadcasting networks’ websites (fox.com, abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com), the Hollywood majors are looking to curb the piracy of their material by providing users with similar, if not identical, content for free shortly after it has been released.  Why bother illegally downloading the most recent Lost episode if I can legitimately access it the very next day at NBC.com?

With over 400 million streamed videos for 40 million users in April 2009 alone, Hulu is proving that if provided with content that is relevant and new, users will divert from piracy. Additionally, ScreenDigest predicts that the revenues for Hulu will equal or surpass those of YouTube ($180 million), a pretty big carrot that encourages content holders to work together to create similar sites. A channel such as Epix, which operates on a different model than Hulu, will generate revenue from the cable providers who will provide the channel as part of a bundled package similar to HBO and other premium movie channels.

Aside from the anecdotal aspect of this historic win, the emergence and, moreover, success of a “Pirate Party,” clearly shows the thought held by internet users that they are the authority of their own media and that it is their right to defend its use. As a former Napster user converted iTunes fanatic, I used to share this sentiment. Of course the desire to pirate remains, but I’ve come to acknowledge that the content producers must be able to retain their ability to generate revenue. Without revenue they will cease to produce that content, and without content, what is there to pirate? While the Pirate Party’s credo may seem novel and intriguing, it appears to be a day late and a dollar short. Ultimately, if the major corporations can protect their revenue and the users can access their content in a timely, legitimate way, the need for the Pirate Party’s copyright reform platform may become obsolete just as quickly as it became evident.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

On Friday, the “Supreme Leader,” Ayatollah Khamenei, issued a warning to put an end to the demonstrations. Supporters of President Ahmadinejad’s administration crowded the University of Tehran’s mosque in solidarity but opposition leaders and their supporters stood in defiance and flooded the streets once more. The Ayatollah Khamenei publicly rejected the notion that the elections were anything but fair, yet his insistence has failed to placate the people of Iran. Instead, it seemed to give them more reason to assert themselves and fight against the regime for democracy.

Social media have continued to play a vital role in the events of the last several days.  In response to its importance, the US State Department asked Twitter to reschedule its maintenance service to ensure that critical information from Iran could surge out of the country. Twitter has since changed its maintenance schedule to ensure it takes place in the middle of the night in that time zone. What used to transpire over the course of days now happens in minutes. Digital downtime is not an option.

In light of the Ayatollah’s hard-line stance to block all media, especially social media and digital channels, and with more violence erupting hourly, (such as militia destroying computers at Tehran University) it has been essential to find conduits for communication. The BBC, singled out by the Iranian regime as an instigator of the unrest, has enlisted two additional satellites for its Farsi-language channel to ensure it can be broadcast to and viewed by Iranians.

Perhaps the most powerful event in recent days has been one that was first broadcast on YouTube by an Iranian citizen on a mobile phone and then picked up by other media channels worldwide. A young woman called Neda, brutally gunned down on the streets of Tehran whilst in peaceful protest with her music teacher, has become a symbol of Iran’s struggle, an involuntary martyr of the movement. The broadcast has caused a media stir and much controversy, her name is a lead topic on Twitter and it has raised a new awareness of what Iranians are fighting for. Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince of Iran, was quoted today stating that the election was a complete fraud. He wept when he spoke of Iran’s beloved Neda, and said firmly that Iranians will not stand for this.

The movement, he said, “may not succeed immediately, it may have ebbs and flows, but I assure you, it will not die. Because we will not let it die.”

Now that the entire world is privy to these events, and is watching them emerge in real time, will the Ayatollah and the Ahmadinejad Administration be able to maintain their hold? Many people of Iran apparently believe not. We will have to wait… and hope that freedom is on the horizon.

Though at this point it is impossible to predict the outcome, this much is clear: social media has been critical to the historic events we are witnessing.

Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, blogs; have all been reporting up-to-the-minute details about the happenings in Tehran and the broader country during these historic elections. Despite the efforts of current-President Ahmadinejad’s administration to control the flow of news in and out of Iran, social media channels have eluded their reach and have thus far been one of the few outlets for Iranians to communicate and share their impression of events.

To Ahmadinejad’s chagrin, information, images and video are pouring out of Iran at an incredible rate, generating controversy and dominating reporting at both international news organizations and the mainstream media.  Perhaps more impressive is that this tremendous outflow of Iranian sentiment within social media has achieved what years of political and economic isolation could not: sowing the seeds of real reform and debate in Iranian society.  Faced with the demands of the Iranian people for greater transparency, even the Ayatollah and the Iranian government are calling for a probe into the election results. Historic indeed.

At every pass, however, citizens of Iran are faced with challenges to communication and the spread of information.  Cellphone lines have been jammed, websites blocked and blogs taken down at an ever increasing rate to stem the flow of chatter.   Sites like Tehranlive.org, featuring images of the protests and violence in the streets are no longer visible in Iran.   Videos on YouTube of scenes from downtown Tehran have been removed. Nevertheless, Iranians are finding a way, through any means possible, to inform the world of what they are living.  Technology and social media have provided them with a means for self expression.  The Iranian administration will find it increasingly difficult to quiet free speech.

To Americans and other Western observers, it is no surprise that social media and technology has fueled the course of political events.  But their use in Iran’s election, particularly by the opposition’s campaign, is an unprecedented development in the Middle East.   Text messaging was a key method of communication with voters.  Twitter and Facebook pages were set up by campaign organizers.  Information was even broadcast via YouTube, a way to circumvent state-run media that usually favors the incumbent. Mousavi’s techniques, clearly influenced by President Obama’s US campaign, are a sign of our changing times. Organizers were aware that they were not only communicating with the digerati, but that the digerati would share the message with the world. Social media provided them with a way to connect with and mobilize the educated youth without isolating the rest of the population.

Over the next few days and weeks, it is possible that the opposition’s efforts may fail - but change has already come to Iran and the rest of the world. The social media revolution has transformed both the politics of Iran and the world’s impressions of a population we rarely get to see. People have been awakened and energized by their distant neighbors.

The eyes of the world are fixed… and reading.

[For more riveting photography be sure to have a look at coverage of the protests on Boston.com.]

Own Your C gives teens the platform to share their opinions and influence the conversation about topics they care about like tobacco, health, culture, alcohol, relationships and school. It was a natural evolution from the first iteration of the campaign; an immersive mixed-media and digitally crafted world built on the premise of choice.

By integrating the Facebook Connect API, users can now share their activity with their Facebook friend circle, allowing the movement to reach more and more teens. The extension onto Facebook allows for users to invite their friends to join the Own Your C community and to publish their site activity to their Facebook news feed, thus encouraging their peers to also join the conversation on Own Your C.  User profiles complete with an avatar, motto, and personal info as well as the ability to add connections, favorite conversations and display their recent activity round out the already robust community features.

Although most of my wallpapers turn out a lot different than I expect them to, this one was truly a Frankenstein of sorts. I created the little bubbles, or “fish scales”, as I had originally called them, in Illustrator some months ago.  I didn’t know exactly where or how I was going to use them. The same went for the grungy texture that runs through the design. That was also something I put together a while ago, but had no immediate use for it. Lightning finally struck (that “ah-hah!” moment) when I had several of these half-begun comps open in Photoshop. I combined several of the pieces together (while discarding some) and voila! A wallpaper that reminds me of the tops of several Chinese umbrellas, the perfect reflection of the rainy day it was created on!

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In an industry famous for enthusiasm bordering on cultish and one that can be surprisingly reticent to change old habits (see: adoption of digital, Madison Ave) I’m amazed at the passion with which the industry has declared the death of the website.

It seems like every time an agency releases a non-traditional, “anti-site” the chorus starts anew.  Modernista.com, DEAD!  Skittles.com, DEAD!  BooneOakley.com, OMG, DOUBLE DOG DEAD!  From the sound of it, you’d think Rahm Emanuel quit his day job and became a marketing industry analyst.  (Come to think of it… I’d read that blog.)  In the meantime, the actual analysts are doing an excellent job of sounding the death knell for the “.com”.  David Armano tells brands to kill their websites.  Meanwhile, Mashable wonders out loud if brand websites are irrelevant in the face of social media.

Whoa.  Calm down.  Let’s take a step back.  Clearly social media has captivated the minds and attentions of consumers, but does that mean the brand website is truly irrelevant?  I don’t believe so.  While brands are correct to expand their online presences beyond the walls of their .com, the fact is that consumers still visit them.  So the real question is: Who are the people still taking time out to visit brand websites?

Who’s visiting your Brand website?

In his seminal book, The Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell argues for the existence of “mavens,” consumers so invested in a product, category, lifestyle or brand that they serve as a resource for the community around them.  Mavens are extremely outspoken and, while they were always important to the success of products, their influence is even more profound due to the amplifying properties of the internet.

Initially, the solution to this phenomenon was an expansion of the “key influencer” strategy.  By broadening the umbrella of what a “key influencer” is, company outreach programs expanded from traditional influencers like doctors, journalists, celebrities and TV personalities to bloggers, social media moguls, and Twoguls.  (Twitter +mogul = twogul.  You heard it here first.)

In a portion of the book rarely mentioned in meeting rooms, Gladwell talks about something he calls the “maven trap” – things most of us either don’t notice, or rapidly dismiss with a “who would ever do that?” To illustrate his point, he refers to the “questions/comments?” tag on soap packages.  Who does that?  Who fills out warrantee cards?  Who has intelligent conversations with help representatives?  Truthfully, not a whole lot of people.  But the ones who do are people who care a whole lot about their brands.

Who takes the time to visit brand websites?  Probably people who care a whole lot about that brand – or at least care enough about the category to see if the brand is worth caring about.

Politicians make extensive efforts to “energize their base” knowing that an excited base can generate campaign momentum through advocacy.  How is your “.com” encouraging your most valuable consumer to become your biggest advocate?  Obviously, strategies will diverge, but at a base level — brand websites must provide tools, information, experiences and incentive to energize and amplify the voices of their core consumers.