Ethan Zuckerman

See the following -

'Open Access' Tributes To Aaron Swartz

Caleb Garling | San Francisco Chronicle | January 14, 2013

The suicide of hacker and digital activist Aaron Swartz has prompted academics from around the globe to post their research online for free, and led the university involved in Swartz's prosecution to launch an investigation into its own role in events leading to his death. Read More »

Academics Agree MIT Should Have Done More For Aaron Swartz

Robinson Meyer | The Atlantic | August 7, 2013

In late July, MIT issued its report, written by computer science professor Hal Abelson, on the university's own actions in the Aaron Swartz case. Swartz, an information activist, faced extensive charges for downloading a huge number of academic articles from the online service JSTOR over MIT's network. Swartz committed suicide in January. Read More »

Sometimes Innovation Requires Disobedience

By Kim Bellard | March 28, 2017

The M.I.T. Media Lab is taking nominations for its Disobedience Award, which was first announced last year. As the award's site proudly quotes Joi Ito, the Director of the Lab and who came up with the idea: "You don't change the world by doing what you are told." I love it. The site, and the award's proponents, make clear that they are not talking about disobedience for the sake of disobedience. It's not about breaking laws. They're promoting "responsible disobedience," rule-breaking that is for the sake of the greater good. The site specifies...

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Ushahidi Announces Changes to Board of Directors

Juliana Rotich | Ushahidi | August 22, 2012

Ushahidi today announced that its board of directors has appointed three new members, effective September 19th. The new directors are Clay Shirky, David Kobia and Erik Hersman. Read More »

Why Kenya Is 10 Years Ahead Of The United States and Apple On Mobile Payments

Ethan Zuckerman | Nextgov | January 7, 2015

Apple’s product launches are covered with breathless enthusiasm usually reserved for royal weddings and vaccines for dread diseases. The recent launch of...ApplePay—which, if widely adopted, will allow Apple’s discerning customers to make electronic payments from their phones in situations where they would have used credit cards or cash. In other words, if all goes well, Americans will soon be able to do something that Kenyans have done every day for ten years.