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Well these kinds of metrics and systems are useful, up to a point
only, and who pays the piper often calls the tune. Of course, with
some it is the ideology that shapes the "success" factors.<br>
<br>
If one looks at Transparency Intl ratings, Iceland that had a
financial fraud of 3 x its GDP, was rated as the least corrupt.
After the financial crisis, and the lack of prosecutions for fraud
etc, with few exceptions, not much has changed... of course these
kinds of things do help "discipline" poor countries... <br>
<br>
Riaz<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2013/01/17 03:21 PM, Guru गुरु
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:50F7FABC.3050600@ITforChange.net" type="cite">
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">The study has been done by Freedom
House. <br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_House">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_House</a>
says<br>
<br>
"As of 2010, grants awarded from the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_federal_government"
title="US federal government" class="mw-redirect">US
government</a> accounted for most of Freedom House's funding
..."<br>
<br>
I suppose that helps to discount the wikileaks episode, cyber
warfare on nations, sopa/pipa .. <br>
<br>
regards,<br>
Guru<br>
<br>
<br>
On 01/17/2013 02:35 PM, Riaz K Tayob wrote:<br>
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<blockquote cite="mid:50F7BEBC.9060600@gmail.com" type="cite">
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<header class="article-header">
<h1 class="title"
href="http://mashable.com/2012/09/27/us-internet-freedom/">U.S.
Ranks Second in Internet Freedom, Behind Estonia</h1>
<div class="article-info">
<div class="byline">Alex Fitzpatrick</div>
<time class="date" datetime="Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:30:44
+0000">Sep 27, 2012</time></div>
</header>
<section class="article-content">
<p>The United States has the second highest degree of Internet
freedom in the world, according to a new study from Freedom
House. What country's ahead of America? Estonia, a country
of 1.29 million in northeast Europe.</p>
<p><a moz-do-not-send="true" name="m!1d92"></a></p>
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<p><span class="lightbox-expand for-lightbox"><br>
<br>
</span></p>
</div>
<h2>Estonia</h2>
<p>Why does Estonia top the list? According to Freedom House,
it "ranks among the most wired and technologically advanced
countries in the world."</p>
<p>"With a high internet penetration rate and widespread
e-commerce and e-government services embedded into the daily
lives of individuals and organizations, Estonia has become a
model for free internet access as a development engine for
society," reads the report.</p>
<p>Estonia's commitment to technological innovation in
government is especially remarkable considering the former
Soviet state's weak economy following the breakup of the
Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Freedom House credits the
country's first independent leaders with putting the country
on a track towards economic development through technology
and innovation.</p>
<p>"The country’s new leadership. . .perceived the expansion
of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a
key to economic growth and invested heavily in their
development," reads the report.</p>
<p><em>Update:</em> As a <em>Mashable</em> reader pointed
out, NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence
was built in Estonia in 2008, resulting in the funneling of
funds to improve the country's IT infrastructure. </p>
<p>Freedom House ranks countries' "Internet Freedom Status" in
three main ways: obstacles to access, limits on content and
violations of users' rights. It also factors in tertiary
factors, including internet penetration and blogger arrests.
Estonia got high marks in almost every category.</p>
<h2>The United States</h2>
<p>The United States got nearly as excellent marks, with 78%
internet penetration and no notable arrests of bloggers.
However, the debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), two bills considered a threat
by many Internet free speech advocates, raised some
eyebrows.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Internet access in the United States remains open and
fairly free compared with the rest of the world," reads
the report. "Courts have consistently held that
prohibitions against government regulation of speech apply
to material published on the internet, but the
government’s surveillance powers are cause for some
concern. In early 2012, campaigns by civil society and
technology companies helped to halt passage of the Stop
Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA),
which were criticized for their potentially negative
effects on free speech."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Freedom House also warned of greater U.S. government
interference in the open Internet.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Several developments in recent years, however, have
placed the government and internet freedom advocates at
odds over aspects of internet regulation as well as issues
surrounding online surveillance and privacy. The United
States lags behind many major industrialized countries in
terms of broadband penetration, and network operators have
challenged recent rules concerning network neutrality. The
current administration appears committed to maintaining
broad surveillance powers with the aim of combating
terrorism, child pornography, and other criminal activity.
Moreover, reports have emerged that the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) is seeking expanded authority to
control the design of internet services to ensure that
communications can be intercepted when necessary."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At the bottom of the list were Iran, Cuba and China, while
Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Thailand and seven other
countries received a rating of "Not Free."</p>
<p>To read the full report, visit <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/freedom-net-2012"
target="_blank">Freedom House</a>. Are you surprised
Estonia topped the list? Should the United States be where
it is, higher or lower? Share your thoughts in the comments.</p>
<p><em>Image courtesy of <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.istockphoto.com/mashableoffer.php"
target="_blank">iStockphoto</a>, <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-18654807-global-communications-america.php?st=089de8e"
target="_blank">Olena_T</a></em></p>
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