What we want is an information society based on social justice and human rights. That’s only going to happen if the people affected by the policies get involved in their development. Collecting indispensable documentation since 2001, the new look ‘Africa Monitor’ just launched on October 28 has a new design and structure including powerful cross-referencing which let’s you search by theme and by country at the same time. For the first time, there’s a ‘Getting started’ section for people new to ICT policy and advocacy which collects information specially selected by our editors. Go and take a look!

In a statement, APC has condemned the seizing by US and European law enforcement agencies of the web servers of independent online news service Indymedia, closing down over 21 of the more than 140 Indymedia web sites worldwide. “We are disturbed by the apparently arbitrary and extreme measures taken to silence an independent internet-based source of information,” said Anriette Esterhuysen, APC’s Executive Director. “This is a violation of freedom of expression across international frontiers.”

Thursday morning, US authorities issued a federal order to Rackspace ordering them to hand over Indymedia web servers to the FBI. Rackspace, which provides hosting services for more that 20 Indymedia sites at its London facility, complied and turned over the requested servers, effectively removing those sites from the internet.

For years now, progressive groups have been trying to get the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization to start thinking about ways of promoting creativity and development instead of just IP — to get the organization to see that its raison d’etre is a better world, and that stronger IP laws is just one way of accomplishing that — and that IP only works sometimes.

Which is why this is such good news: at the general session of the WIPO in Geneva this weekend, the Assembly as adopted a decision to put development and the promotion of creativity front-and-center in its goals. That means that from now on, WIPO isn’t an organization that blindly supports more IP no matter what, but rather one that seeeks to improve the world by whatever tool is best suited to the job.

Splicing cables, partitioning hard drives, developing technology plans and sharing stories of activism set the scene for a lively and full first Southern African Development Community Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) workshop to be held. And as far as we know, the first FOSS workshop for women in the world, writes Jenny Radloff of APC-Africa-Women.

A workshop held in Manila focused on pressing communication rights issues in the Asian region including attacks on freedom of expression and independent media. Activists issued a statement in support of a Thai colleague present who returned home to face a million-dollar lawsuit for speaking out in the press against government corruption.

“I learned a lot and changed my way of thinking not only about computers and the internet, but about working for the community”. “I didn’t just learn to write and upload news to a website, I learned about leadership and how to build projects.” “In the RIJ we are bringing about positive change for young people. We help get their message out.” This is how some of the teenage participants feel about RIJ, a communications network for Bogota youth. Now the project is over, they’re still planning to keep the network alive.

A crowd of about four hundred turned out to demonstrate against proposed European software patents legislation. It was the first "geeky", free-software related demonstration in Hungary said APC member Green Spider, organised by groups not typically used to leaving their computer screens to get their voices heard.