Family Online Safety Insitute

Harvesting the Fruits of a Tech Revolution

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.20.2012

Read More: Digital Revolution, Online Safety, Fosi, Cyber Ethics, Family Online Safety Insitute, Middle East, Digital Citizenship, Cyber Security, Safety Online, Social Media, Egypt Social Media, Middle East Social Media, Technology News

We are only just beginning to understand the impact the Internet and communications technology is having on the Arab world.

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Why the iPad is the Future of Education (and Porn)

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sexting, Family Online Safety Insitute, Apple, Video Games, Porn, Stephen Balkam, Family, Ipad, Texting, Technology News

One iPad per child could very well usher in the kind of transformative change that many have called for in our mostly 19th century-bound schools. It could also transform another industry -- pornography.

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Broadband for All or What Elmo Said to the FCC Chairman

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sexting, Online Safety, Family Online Safety Insitute, Broadband, Julius Genachowski, Fcc, Stephen Balkam, Obama Broadband, Texting While Driving, National Broadband Plan, Texting, Technology News

The Chairman had a little help from beloved Sesame Street character, Elmo. Here's a flavor of their conversation: Elmo has been complaining that his Internet is "too slow" and he doesn't like "buffering."

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Sex.com To Be Auctioned: Hey, Bill Gates, How About Bidding on it?

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Online Safety, Stds, Family Online Safety Insitute, Sex, Bill Gates, Porn, Stephen Balkam, Texting, Business News

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation should convert sex.com into the world's leading safe sex portal for videos, tips and guides on how to have a wonderful, responsible sex life.

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Broadband Too Hot to Handle?

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Online Safety, Fosi, Family-Online-Safety-Institute, Family Online Safety Insitute, Broadband, Julius Genachowski, National Broadband, Fcc, Stephen Balkam, Technology News

One third of Americans are not connected to broadband. What makes these non-adopters such a difficult population is that there is usually more than one reason for them to not have it.

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Miracles and Wonders of the Mobile World Congress

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Online Safety, Family Online Safety Insitute, Stephen Balkam, Docomo, Mobile World Congress, Technology News

Watching the demo, the crowd I witnessed were split between amazement and incredulity.

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21st Century Citizenship

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Digital Media, Clinton State Department, Family Online Safety Insitute, Clinton, Chinese Government, Hillary Clinton, Censorship, State Department, Chinese Censorship, Stephen Balkam, Technology News

The concept and practice of 21st century statecraft will have profound implications for how we think of ourselves as citizens -- of both our own country and of the digital world we increasingly inhabit.

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Are We (Virtually) There Yet?

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pbs, Digital Media, Family Online Safety Insitute, Stephen Balkam, Frontline, Video Game Addiction, Digital Nation, Internet Addiction, Growing Up Online, Video Games, Technology News

Recent research found that kids consume 7.5 hours of media per day. Add in multi-tasking (texting while watching TV while listening to music, for instance) and the figure reaches an amazing 11 hours.

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Cybercitizens of the World Unite

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Digital, Sexting, Online Safety, Family Online Safety Insitute, Stephen Balkam, Texting, Media News

Western civilization has a collective memory of what it means to be a citizen, stretching back to ancient Greece. But we are still learning what it means to be a citizen of the digital world.

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Qikker than Twitter

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Google, Iphone, Online Safety, Qikker, Fosi, Internet Safety, Family Online Safety Insitute, Qik, Twitter, Tweet, Stephen Balkam, I Phone, Social Networking, New-Media, Camera Phone, New Media, Blogging, Media News

We're going to have to get used to a Truman Show-type existence where we will both star and direct our own as-it-happens video show.

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Sexting and the Law of Unintended Consequences

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sexting, Family Online Safety Insitute, Fosi, Cyberbullying, Stephen Balkam, Nude Photo Sharing, Iphone, Sex, Cellphones, Texting, Style News

Sexting -- teens sending sexually explicit photos of themselves via cell phones -- has become the latest in a line of highly charged issues involving kids and the internet.

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What's Next In Online Safety

Stephen Balkam | Posted 11.17.2011

Kids are now producing the kind of content we once shielded them from. There are cases pending in court where the kids are being charged with production of child pornography.

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Rediscovering Online Safety

Stephen Balkam | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Online Safety, Mccain, Obama, Family Online Safety Insitute, Technology, Family Online Safety Institute Conference, Columbus Day, Stephen Balkam, Broadband Data Improvement Act, Bridge to Nowhere, Ted Stevens, Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, Healthy Living News

The Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act is a sign that Congress is beginning to get it right when it comes to protecting kids online while not stepping over legitimate free expression rights.

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Child Online Safety Comes of Age

Stephen Balkam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Family Online Safety Insitute, Charlie Firestone, Derek Wyatt, Federal Trade Commission, FTC Majoras, Family Online Safety Insitute Conference, Deborah Platt Majoras, Helen Normoyle, Child Online Safety, Vint Cerf, Chris Chea, Bob Corn-Revere, FOSI Conference, Fosi, Deborah Tate, Ftc, Media News

The online safety community, which has been around since the mid-1990s, has reached a critical point of maturation -- some would say an awkward adolescent stage -- where the stakes are higher.

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Learning About The Family Online Safety Institute

Huffington Post | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Family Online Safety Insitute, Ronald Reagan Building, Stephen Balkam, Fosi, Business News

The brainchild of Stephen Balkam, the Family Online Safety Institute was created with the goal of finding "innovative solutions for family online safe...

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