The Cycles of Global Telecommunication Censorship and Surveillance
PENNEY (DO NOT DELETE) 5/14/2015 5:02 PM THE CYCLES OF GLOBAL TELECOMMUNICATION CENSORSHIP AND SURVEILLANCE JONATHON W. PENNEY* ABSTRACT Internet censorship and surveillance is on the rise globally and cyber- warfare increasing in scope and intensity. To help understand these new threats, commentators have grasped at historical analogies often with little regard for historical complexities or international perspective. Unfortunately, helpful new works on telecommunications history have focused primarily on U.S. history with little focus on international developments. There is thus a need for further internationally oriented investigation of telecommunications technologies, and their history. This essay attempts to help fill that void, drawing on case studies wherein global telecommunications technologies have been disrupted or censored – telegram censorship and surveillance, high frequency radio jamming, and direct broadcast satellite blocking. The case studies suggest remarkable regulatory patterns or cycles with insights for current censorship and privacy threats and challenges. * The author would like to thank Joseph Nye, Jonathan Zittrain, Ron Deibert, Masashi Crete-Nishihata, Joss Wright, Harry Lewis, Dorothy Zineberg, Victoria Nash, Ariel Katz, Carys Craig, Jennifer Granick, Fred von Lohmann, Eric Goldman, Dan Hunter, Scott Boone, Kendra Albert, Ryan Budish, Andy Sellars, Molly Sauter, Phillipa Gill, Adam Holland, Amar Ashar, Dan Jones, Enrique Armijo, Lorne Sossin, François Tanguay-Renaud, and Simon Stern, for comments, questions,
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