The New Digital Age

by Jared Cohen

  “there is no clear mechanism”: Bruno Ferrari in discussion with the authors, November 2011.

  not democratic or democratic in name only: Arch Puddington, Freedom in the World 2012: The Arab Uprisings and Their Global Repercussions, Freedom House, accessed October 15, 2012, http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FIW%202012%20Booklet_0.pdf.

  among the least connected societies in the world: See low percentages of mobile phone and/or Internet users of countries considered to be among the world’s most repressive societies, such as Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea and North Korea, in Worst of the Worst 2012: The World’s Most Repressive Societies, Freedom House, accessed October 15 2012, http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Worst%20of%20the%20Worst%202012%20final%20report.pdf, “Mobile-Cellular Telephone Subscriptions Per 100 Inhabitants” and “Percentage of Individuals Using the Internet,” International Telecommunication Union (ITU), ICT Data and Statistics (IDS), accessed October 15, 2012, http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/.

  “Today’s dictators and authoritarians are far more sophisticated”: William J. Dobson, The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy (New York: Doubleday, 2012), 4.

  Dobson identifies numerous avenues: Ibid.

  “conscious, man-made projects”: Ibid., 8.

  the world’s autocracies will go: See low Internet penetration rates of countries considered to be among the world’s most repressive societies, such as Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea and North Korea, in Worst of the Worst 2012: The World’s Most Repressive Societies, Freedom House, accessed October 15, 2012, http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Worst%20of%20the%20Worst%202012%20final%20report.pdf, and “Percentage of Individuals Using the Internet,” International Telecommunication Union (ITU), ICT Data and Statistics (IDS), accessed October 15, 2012, http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/.

  A team at Carnegie Mellon demonstrated in a 2011 study: Alessandro Acquisti, Ralph Gross, Fred Stutzman, “Faces of Facebook: Privacy in the Age of Augmented Reality,” Heinz College and CyLab, Carnegie Mellon University (presented at the 2011 Black Hat security conference, Las Vegas, NV, August 3–4, 2011), http://media.blackhat.com/bh-us-11/Acquisti/BH_US_11_Acquisti_Faces_of_Facebook_Slides.pdf.; Declan McCullagh, “Face-Matching with Facebook Profiles: How It Was Done,” CNET, August 4, 2011, http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20088456-281/face-matching-with-facebook-profiles-how-it-was-done/.

  Constituted in 2009: “UIDAI Background,” Unique Identification Authority of India, accessed October 13, 2012, http://uidai.gov.in/about-uidai.html.

  collectively called Aadhaar (meaning “foundation” or “support”): “Aadhaar Concept,” Unique Identification Authority of India, accessed October 13, 2012, http://uidai.gov.in/aadhaar.html.

  unique twelve-digit identity: “What Is Aadhaar?,” Unique Identification Authority of India, accessed October 13, 2012, http://uidai.gov.in/what-is-aadhaar-number.html.

  a person’s biometric data, including fingerprints and iris scans: Sunil Dabir and Umesh Ujgare, “Aadhaar: The Numbers for Life,” News on Air (New Delhi), accessed October 13, 2012, http://www.newsonair.nic.in/AADHAAR-UID-Card-THE-NUMBERS-FOR-LIFE.asp.

  bank account that is tied to his or her UID number: Surabhi Agarwal and Remya Nair, “UID-Enabled Bank Accounts in 2–3 Months,” Mint with the Wall Street Journal (New Delhi), May 17, 2011, http://www.livemint.com/Politics/Go6diBWitIaus61Xud70EK/UIDenabled-bank-accounts-in-23-months.html; “Reform by Numbers,” Economist, January 14, 2012, http://www.economist.com/node/21542814.

  less than 3 percent of the Indian population is registered to pay income tax: “Salaried Taxpayers May Be Spared Filing Returns,” Business Standard (New Delhi), January 19, 2011, http://business-standard.com/india/news/salaried-taxpayers-may-be-spared-filing-returns/422225/.

  Identity Cards Act of 2006: “Identity Cards Act 2006,” The National Archives (United Kingdom), Browse Legislation, accessed October 15, 2012, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/15/introduction.

  Britain’s newly elected coalition government scrapped the plan in 2010: Alan Travis, “ID Cards Scheme to Be Scrapped Within 100 Days,” Guardian (Manchester), May 27, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/27/theresa-may-scrapping-id-cards; “Identity Cards Scheme Will Be Axed ‘Within 100 Days,’ ” BBC, May 27, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8707355.stm.

  States must get the full and informed consent: “Opinion 15/2011 on the Definition of Consent,” Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, European Commission, adopted July 13, 2011, http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2011/wp187_en.pdf.

  Member states are further required: “EU Directive 95/46/EC—The Data Protection Directive: Chapter III Judicial Remedies, Liability and Sanctions,” Data Protection Commissioner, http://www.dataprotection.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=94.

  CHAPTER 3

  THE FUTURE OF STATES

  YouTube in Iran: Gwen Ackerman and Ladane Nasseri, “Google Confirms Gmail and YouTube Blocked in Iran Since Feb. 10,” Bloomberg, February 13, 2012, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-13/google-confirms-gmail-and-youtube-blocked-in-iran-since-feb-10.html.

  We recommend the 2006 book Who Controls the Internet?: Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu, Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

  most users tend to stay within their own cultural spheres: Author’s determination based on ten years as CEO of Google and two as executive chairman.

  Particular terms like “Falun Gong”: Mark McDonald, “Watch Your Language! (In China, They Really Do),” Rendezvous (blog), International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times, March 13, 2012, http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/watch-your-language-and-in-china-they-do/.

  following a contentious trip: Observations from Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt.

  Chinese officials had hired nearly three hundred thousand: Nate Anderson, “280,000 Pro-China Astroturfers Are Running Amok Online,” Ars Technica, March 26, 2010, http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/03/280000-pro-china-astroturfers-are-running-amok-online.ars; Rebecca MacKinnon, “China, the Internet, and Google,” prepared remarks (not delivered) for Congressional-Executive Commission on China, March 1, 2010, http://rconversation.blogs.com/MacKinnonCECC_Mar1.pdf; David Bandurski, “China’s Guerrilla War for the Web,” Far Eastern Economic Review, July 2008, http://www.feer.com/essays/2008/august/chinas-guerrilla-war-for-the-web. Note: the 280,000 figure was originally published in 2008, but restated in 2010.

  In a white paper released in 2010: Full Text: The Internet in China, IV. Basic Principles and Practices of Internet Administration (June 8, 2010), Chinese Government’s Official Web Portal, http://english.gov.cn/2010-06/08/content_1622956_6.htm.

  YouTube was blocked: Tom Zeller, Jr., “YouTube Banned in Turkey after Insults to Ataturk,” The Lede (blog), New York Times, March 7, 2007, http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/youtube-banned-in-turkey-after-insults-to-ataturk/.

  YouTube agreed to block the videos: Jeffrey Rosen, “Google’s Gatekeepers,” New York Times Magazine, November 28, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/magazine/30google-t.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink.

  some eight thousand websites: Ayla Albayrak, “Turkey Dials Back Plan to Expand Censorship,” Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903885604576490253692671470.html.

  four-tier system of censorship: Sebnem Arsu, “Internet Filters Set Off Protests Around Turkey,” New York Times, May 15, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/world/europe/16turkey.html?_r=3&.

  thousands of people in more than thirty cities: Ibid.

  Under pressure, the government dialed back its plan: Ayla Albayrak, “Turkey Dials Back Plan to Expand Censorship,” Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2011.

  more aggressive filtering framework: “New Internet Filtering System Condemned as Backdoor Censorship,” Reporters Without Borders, December 2, 2011, http
://en.rsf.org/turquie-new-internet-filtering-system-02-12-2011,41498.html.

  Reporters Without Borders: Ibid.

  When a Turkish newspaper reported: “Internet Filters Block Evolution Website for Children in Turkey,” Hurriyet (Istanbul), December 8, 2011, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/internet-filters-block-evolution-website-for-children-in-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nID=8709&NewsCatID=374; Sara Reardon, “Controversial Turkish Internet Censorship Program Targets Evolution Sites,” Science, December 9, 2011, http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/12/controversial-turkish-internet-c.html.

  In South Korea, for example, the National Security Law: “Countries Under Surveillance: South Korea,” Reporters Without Borders, accessed October 21, 2012, http://en.rsf.org/surveillance-south-korea,39757.html.

  government blocked some forty websites: Ibid.

  took down a dozen accounts: Lee Tae-hoon, “Censorship on Pro-NK Websites Tight,” Korea Times, September 9, 2010, http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_72788.html.

  government blocks websites within Germany: “Europe,” OpenNet Initiative, accessed October 21, 2012, http://opennet.net/research/regions/europe; “Germany,” OpenNet Initiative, accessed October 21, 2012, http://opennet.net/research/profiles/germany.

  despite promising its citizens: Clara Chooi, “Najib Repeats Promise of No Internet Censorship,” Malaysian Insider (Kuala Lumpur), April 24, 2011, http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najib-repeats-promise-of-no-internet-censorship.

  codify it in its Bill of Guarantees: “Benefits,” MSC Malaysia, accessed October 21, 2012, http://www.mscmalaysia.my/why_msc_malaysia.

  blocked access to file-sharing sites: Ricky Laishram, “Malayasian Government Blocks the Pirate Bay, MegaUpload and Other File Sharing Websites,” Techie Buzz, June 9, 2011, http://techie-buzz.com/tech-news/malayasian-government-blocks-websites.html.

  Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission: Wong Pek Mei, “MCMC Wants Block of 10 Websites That Allow Illegal Movie Downloads,” The Star (Petaling Jaya), June 10, 2011, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/10/nation/20110610161330&sec=nation.

  “We respect that each country has chosen for itself”: Sukhbaatar Batbold (former prime minister of Mongolia) in discussion with the authors, November 2011.

  Chile became the first country in the world: Tim Stevens, “Chile Becomes First Country to Guarantee Net Neutrality, We Start Thinking About Moving,” Engadget, July 15, 2010, http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/15/chile-becomes-first-country-to-guarantee-net-neutrality-we-star/.

  About half of Chile’s 17 million people: See population in 2011 and percentage of Internet users in 2011 in “Midyear Population and Density—Custom Region—Chile, 2011,” U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base, accessed October 21, 2012, http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/informationGateway.php and “Percentage of Individuals Using the Internet,” International Telecommunication Union (ITU), ICT Data and Statistics (IDS), accessed October 21, 2012, http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/.

  “halal Internet”: Neal Ungerleider, “Iran Cracking Down Online with ‘Halal Internet,’ ” Fast Company, April 18, 2011, http://www.fastcompany.com/1748123/iran-cracking-down-online-halal-internet.

  official launch was imminent: Neal Ungerleider, “Iran’s ‘Second Internet’ Rivals Censorship of China’s ‘Great Firewall,’ ” Fast Company, February 23, 2012, http://www.fastcompany.com/1819375/irans-second-internet-rivals-censorship-chinas-great-firewall.

  “government-approved videos”: David Murphy, “Iran Launches ‘Mehr,’ Its Own YouTube-like Video Hub,” http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2413014,00.asp.

  the first phase the national “clean” Internet: Christopher Rhoads and Farnaz Fassihi, “Iran Vows to Unplug Internet,” Wall Street Journal, updated December 19, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704889404576277391449002016.html; Nick Meo, “Iran Planning to Cut Internet Access to Rest of World,” Telegraph (London), April 28, 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9233390/Iran-planning-to-cut-internet-access-to-rest-of-world.html.

  2012 ban on the import of foreign computer security software: S. Isayev and T. Jafarov, “Iran Bans Import of Foreign Computer Security Software,” Trend, February 20, 2012, http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/1994160.html.

  Iran’s head of economic affairs told the country’s state-run news agency: Rhoads and Fassihi, “Iran Vows to Unplug Internet,” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704889404576277391449002016.html.

  Pakistan has pledged to build something similar: “Request for Proposal: National URL Filtering and Blocking System,” National ICT R&D Fund, accessed October 21, 2012, http://ictrdf.org.pk/RFP-%20URL%20Filtering%20%26%20Blocking.pdf; Ungerleider, “Iran’s ‘Second Internet’ Rivals Censorship of China’s ‘Great Firewall,’ ” http://www.fastcompany.com/1819375/irans-second-internet-rivals-censorship-chinas-great-firewall; Danny O’Brien, “Pakistan’s Excessive Internet Censorship Plans,” Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), March 1, 2012, http://www.cpj.org/internet/2012/03/pakistans-excessive-net-censorship-plans.php. It is worth noting that at the time of writing, the Pakistani program had been “shelved.” See Shahbaz Rana, “IT Ministry Shelves Plan to Install Massive URL Blocking System,” The Express Tribune (Karachi) (blog) with the International Herald Tribune, March 19, 2012, http://tribune.com.pk/story/352172/it-ministry-shelves-plan-to-install-massive-url-blocking-system/.

  company that owns 75 percent of North Korea’s only official mobile network, Koryolink: “Mobile Phones in North Korea: Also Available to Earthlings,” Economist, February 11, 2012, http://www.economist.com/node/21547295.

  For North Korean subscribers, Koryolink service is a walled garden: Ibid.

  North Korean daily Rodong Sinmun sending users the latest news by text message: Ibid.

  pay their phone bills in euros: Ibid; David Matthew, “Understanding the Growth of KoryoLink,” NK News, December 15, 2011, http://www.nknews.org/2011/12/understanding-koryo-link/.

  leaping from three hundred thousand subscribers: “Mobile Phones in North Korea: Also Available to Earthlings,” Economist, February 11, 2012.

  Koryolink’s gross operating margin: Ibid.

  Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks: Steve Stecklow, Farnaz Fassihi and Loretta Chao, “Chinese Tech Giant Aids Iran,” Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204644504576651503577823210.html?_nocache=1346874829284&user=welcome&mg=id-wsj.

  Huawei actively promoted its products: Ibid.

  Zaeim Electronic Industries Co., is also the favorite: Ibid.

  Huawei claims to offer Zaeim only “commercial public-use products and services”: Ibid.

  Huawei published a press release: Huawei, “Statement Regarding Inaccurate and Misleading Claims About Huawei’s Commercial Operations in Iran,” press release, November 4, 2011, http://www.huawei.com/en/about-huawei/newsroom/press-release/hw-104191.htm.

  “voluntarily restrict” its business operations: Huawei, “Statement Regarding Huawei’s Commercial Operations in Iran,” press release, December 9, 2011, http://www.huawei.com/en/about-huawei/newsroom/press-release/hw-104866-statement-commercialoperations.htm.

  “fully implement all of the intellectual property laws”: Hu Jintao (former president of China) in discussion with a small group of business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in 2011.

  It’s estimated that U.S. companies lost approximately $3.5 billion in 2009: 2010 Report to Congress on China’s WTO Compliance, United States Trade Representative (December 2010), 5, http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2460.

  79 percent of all copyright-infringing goods: Ibid., 92.

  Russia, India and Pakistan have all been singled out: 2011 Special 301 Report, United States Trade Representative, see “Section II: Country Reports Priority Watch List,” 25, 28, 30, http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2841.

  Israel and Canada: Ibid., 27,
29.

  definition of cyber warfare offered by the former U.S. counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke: Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake, Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It (New York: Ecco, 2010), 6.

  In October 2012, the U.S. secretary of defense, Leon Panetta, warned: Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker, “Panetta Warns of Dire Threat of Cyberattack on U.S.,” New York Times, October 11, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/world/panetta-warns-of-dire-threat-of-cyberattack.html?hp&_r=1&.

  “war as a continuation of policy by other means”: Carl von Clausewitz, On War (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1968). The original quote is “war as a continuation of politik by other means.”

  “it’s just much harder to know who took the shot at you”: Craig Mundie in discussion with the authors, November 2011.

  Mundie calls cyber-espionage tactics “weapons of mass disruption”: Craig Mundie, “Information Security in the Digital Decade.” Remarks at the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok, Thailand, October 20, 2003, http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/exec/craig/10-20security.aspx.

  until a virus known as Flame, discovered in 2012, claimed that title: “Resource 207: Kaspersky Lab Research Proves That Stuxnet and Flame Developers Are Connected,” Kaspersky Lab, June 11, 2012, http://www.kaspersky.com/about/news/virus/2012/Resource_207_KasperskyLab_Research_Proves_that_Stuxnet_and_Flame_Developers_are_Connected.

  causing the centrifuges to abruptly speed up or slow down: David E. Sanger, “Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran,” New York Times, June 1, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html?_r=1&ref=davidesanger&pagewanted=all.