New Internationalist

Internet Showdown

Internet rights are the human rights of the future — and a global community of computer geeks wants to help you secure them. December’s issue of New Internationalist gets all techie, dives into the world of free and open source software and meets those digital pioneers offering protection from snooping governments and marketeers.

December 2012, Issue 458

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The Big Story

Don’t get mad, get open
Hazel Healy meets the tech pioneers fighting for civil liberties in a digital world.
How to be free
Charlie Harvey outlines 10 steps to software liberation.
How Anonymous got politcal
Quinn Norton looks behind the mask of the hacker network, charting its evolution into a global activist force.
Privacy shouldn’t scare you
Nadim Kobeissi tells us about ways to protect our communication from prying eyes.
This is for everyone
Chris Thorpe gives his take on the impact of open-source tech on governance and manufacturing.
Digital freedoms - THE FACTS
Facts and figures on privacy, censorship, piracy and access.

Agenda

Dying for oil in Pakistan
Our land, our lives
Birth of Sollywood
Introducing... Bidzina Ivanishvili
Act against hunger
Allahu Akbar misunderstood
People power in India
Botswana: sisters’ victory
Biofuels rush
PLUS: 15 years ago in the New Internationalist
PLUS: Scratchy Lines by Simon Kneebone

Regulars

Letters
Taking responsibility for inequality; why youth must adapt to a new reality; Australia's depleted uranium shame; and an unimpressed reader takes a catnap.
Letter from Botswana
When it comes to weddings, it's important to do things right, says Wame Molefhe.
Country Profile: Peru
Peru is said to be booming but the poor would never know it. Stephanie Boyd reports.
Making Waves
Iraqi campaigner Khanim Latif on her lifelong fight for feminism.
Southern Exposure
Tibetan calm and karma, photographed by Zhuang Wubin.
Puzzle Page
PLUS
Marc Roberts' Only Planet cartoon
And Finally...
Soul and the city - graffiti artist Mohammed Ali on his inspirations, his fears, and being drawn to Birmingham.

Features

How the US has been sponsoring terrorism in the Sahara
Jeremy Keenan uncovers the shocking, murky background to the current conflict in Mali.

Mixed Media

The Hunt
Setting social experience and friendship against raw parental concern.
The Pool
In India, a teenage cleaner dreams of swimming in the pool of a nearby large house.
DESH
A dramatic and poetic multiplicity of classical music traditions by Jocelyn Pook.
The Black Lake
Set in post-war Indonesia, the sons of a plantation owner and a servant make friends.
Classroom portraits 2004-2012
Capturing the spark, engagement and curiosity of schoolchildren across the globe.

Opinion

Should hate speech be a crime?
Feminist Joyce Arthur and gay rights activist Peter Tatchell weigh up the pros and cons.
Mark Engler
In the wake of the most significant strikes in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history, it’s high time for a union.
Anna Chen
Here comes the end of the Enlightenment.
PLUS: Open Window
With Aristedes Hernandez, from Cuba
PLUS: Polyp’s Big Bad World cartoon