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<h1 class="title"
href="http://mashable.com/2012/09/27/us-internet-freedom/">U.S.
Ranks Second in Internet Freedom, Behind Estonia</h1>
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<div class="byline">Alex Fitzpatrick</div>
<time class="date" datetime="Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:30:44 +0000">Sep
27, 2012</time></div>
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<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>
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src="cid:part10.06030907.07030205@gmail.com" alt=""
title="internet-freedom-map" class="aligncenter size-full
wp-image-1386507" data-width="640"><br>
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<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
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
href="http://www.istockphoto.com/mashableoffer.php"
target="_blank">iStockphoto</a>, <a
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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