MobileActive's Blog

El uso de teléfonos móviles para el activismo
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Mar. 15, 2006
otromadrid logo

Hay gente que afirma que los investigadores pueden localizarte en un radio de 10 metros, otros hablan de una precisión mayor.

Te gusten o los odies, el teléfono móvil es una herramienta muy útil para el activista contemporáneo. De todos modos, los beneficios que aportan en términos de anonimato y movilidad tienen una cara negativa, la de ser otra herramienta que el Gran Hermano puede emplear para controlarnos. Cuando el teléfono móvil se convierte en algo indispensable supone una amenaza para tu seguridad y tu privacidad.

Pero no todo está perdido, con unas cuantas precauciones sencilla

Read More >>

India: Justice for Jessical Lal -- via SMS?
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Mar. 15, 2006

From India: The "Justice for Jessica Lal" campaign is fueled by  massive sms campaigns across the country. 

In Mumbai, "TV news channel NDTV launched a "Fight for Jessica Lal" campaign to garner support for a fresh trail in the ‘Jessica Lal murder case’ where all the nine prime accused were "honoroubly" discharged by a Delhi sessions court this week. (Lal, a model, was filling in as a bartender in a posh south Delhi restaurant when she was shot in the wee hours of 30 April 1999 after she reportedly refused to serve liquor to Manu Sharma, the son of Haryana Excise Minister Vinod Sharma."  Sharma was recently acquitted.  

jessica lal mobileactive sms activism sms campaign sms mobilization

Read More >>

Phone revolution makes Africa upwardly mobile
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Mar. 15, 2006

Ken Banks's blog, photo of girl with mobile phoneGreat article in the UK Times about the mobile market in Africa and the enormous growth there. 

"This remarkable growth — the African market is expanding nearly twice as fast as Asia’s — has confounded analysts and even service operators. As recently as 2003, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) forecast that there would be only 67 million users by the end of 2005.

“Many of us underestimated the strength of the informal sector in Africa,” said Michael Joseph, chief executive officer of Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest operator, with four million customers. “And the huge need and desire for people to communicate.”

africa Livelihood & Economic Development mobile mobile active mobile africa mobile market

Read More >>

Fury over Danish cartoons: Do Mobs Rule?
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Feb. 14, 2006

Fury over Danish cartoons - A cell phone is held aloft as protesters angry over caricatures of Muhammad burn Danish and U.S. flags in Amman, Jordan. Digital communication has become a lifeline for protest organizers. (Photo by Ali Jarekji -- Reuters - published on the The Washington Post). [via textually.org]

mobile organizing mobs protests

Read More >>

Control Arms -- Using Mobiles for Petition Campaign
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Jan. 20, 2006

Control Arms, a joint campaign of Oxfam, Amnesty, and Iansa, is running the 'Million Faces' campaign to push for an international arms trade treaty.  Mobile users can upload teir picture and join the petition via their mobile phones in the UK (curiously this is not mentioned anywhere on the site..)

Here is how it works: To join the call for an international arms treaty on a mobile phone, participants text the word 'petition' followed by their full name to a number in the UK (84118) and their name is automatically added to the Million Faces petition.  Alternatively, they can upload their picture (to 07955 474747) with their name and age and their photo will be added to the petition. 

human rights mobile activism petition campaign

Read More >>

BBC: How mobiles changed the face of news
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Jan. 12, 2006
BBC: How mobiles changed the face of news -

A wonderful 22 minute video from the BBC looking at how user-generated content and mobile phone footage on stories like the London bombings has changed the way broadcasters report the news. The BBC has been looking back at how user generated content has become part of everyday news throughout 2005. Input from news editors from around the world, including Dan Gilmore. [via Cyberjournalist.net]

Read More >>

TXTPower brings gospel of mobile activism to Hong Kong's anti-WTO protests
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Jan. 11, 2006

TXTPower brings gospel of mobile activism to Hong Kong's anti-WTO protests - On Dec. 16 at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, amid anti-globalization forums and protests left and right, convenors of TXTPower successfully mounted a meeting of mobile activists.

Nineteen souls gathered for the meeting, coming from Africa, North America and Asia. The meeting focused more on sharing the telecommunications situation on our respective countries and the challenges facing the individuals and movements using mobile technology for social activism.

hongkong mobile democracy mobile training sms and politics thumb revolution wtoe

Read More >>

Intro to SMS Bulk Messaging, Frontline SMS and a homegrown SMS Gateway
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Dec. 11, 2005

MobileActive held its first conference call for activists, exploring sms bulk messaging. 

Thanks to Ben Rigby of Mobile Voter! Audio of the conversation is here. (thank you, Eric!)

Notes from the call -a Primer on Bulk SMS messaging (focused on the US, for the most part) are here on the MobileActive resource wiki.

Topics discussed included:
* what is bulk text messaging?
* how does it work through an SMS gateway and through an aggregator?
* what are the pros and cons of either method?
* what are other systems (FrontlineSMS, and others) and how do they work?
* what does it cost?
* what is the connection to applications such as CiviCRM (a constituency relationship management system) and Drupal?

Meanwhile, MobileActive Justin Oberman wrote a feature of Frontline SMS, a low-cost tool for small sms campaigns:

bulk sms grassroots campaigns

Read More >>

SMS, Social Justice Style, in Africa
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Oct. 13, 2005

Justin over at Personal Democracy has a great article on MobileActive participant Becky, Firoze, and Patrick from Fahamu and their cell phone petition:  SMS, Social Justice Style, in Africa - I had the pleasure of meeting with three representatives of Fahamu while at the MobileActive convergence in Toronto, one of which was the groups director Firoze M anji.... [Live from the conference:]

Read More >>

Mobile Democracy
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Jun. 05, 2005

Donga.com, the Korean news site on technology and the internet, has this little tidbit of an article:

21st Century's Democracy Comes From Citizens

The democratic movement in the Middle East, the democratic revolution in Central Asia, and China;s anti-Japanese protests. These events are weighty incidents that have shaken the world this year. Behind all these incidents are mobile phones and the Internet. In other words,mobile power; and Internet power; made people power.

If the print media led a modern revolution and TV pulled down the Berlin Wall, the thumb revolution,represented by text messages from mobile phones and the Internet, is currently destroying the wall of a controlled society after emerging as a new kind of political power.

Experiencing the recent candlelight protest around Gwanghwamun organized by high school freshmen, the rally against the impeachment of President Roh, and the group of extremely supporters of President Roh in the 2002 presidential election, Korea is already a developed country in terms of mobile phone demonstrations.

mobile democracy sms and politics thumb revolution

Read More >>