July 1st, 2010 by nathanj5
At Ars Technica, Nate Anderson writes:
All the cool kids are doing it—looking into network neutrality. Canada held a consultation on the idea. Here in the US, the FCC has proposed tough neutrality rules that now seem bogged down by complaints and legal challenges. And the UK last week announced a net neutrality inquiry of its own.
So it’s no surprise that the full European Union would get into the game, and it did so today with a new consultation on net neutrality (PDF).
Read the whole piece here.
Posted in NetNeutrality, Policy | No Comments »
June 25th, 2010 by nathanj5
Ryan Singel writes at Wired:
There’s a complicated fight in D.C. right now over how the FCC classifies broadband services, so it can regain the power to impose some basic rules on the industry.
Free-market groups and the industry are banging the table, arguing against the consequences — saying that the FCC is trying to regulate the internet and will kill innovation.
Here’s the simple truth: You don’t want your ISP to innovate.
At least not in the way, they want to “innovate.”
Read the whole piece here.
Posted in NetNeutrality, Networks, Privacy | No Comments »
June 24th, 2010 by nathanj5
At the Daily Finance, Sam Gustin writes:
The Federal Communications Commission “f*cked up” by holding closed-door meetings with industry giants aimed at striking a deal over Internet regulation, a government source told DailyFinance on Tuesday, even as the agency’s chief of staff defended a process that has effectively shut out the public.
Read the whole article here.
Posted in NetNeutrality, Networks, News, Policy | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2010 by nathanj5
Clothilde Le Coz writes at PBS Media Shift:
At least 80 people were killed during the latest clashes in Thailand. But the confusion and danger that are present in various parts of Bangkok do not explain why several Thai and foreign journalists have been shot since April. Two are dead. The tense political situation also doesn’t justify the leadership’s blocking of more than 4,000 anti-monarchy websites.
Read the whole piece here.
Posted in Censorship, News | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2010 by nathanj5
On the Public Knowledge blog, Harold Feld writes:
The essence of comedy is timing. So I suppose it is fittng that AT&T, whose wireless network has been the punch line for Jon Stewart and other late night comics of late displayed rare comic timing by announcing it’s latest change in policy the day after the FCC issued a Public Notice asking the public to file comments on how to measure wireless broadband performance and coverage.
Read the whole piece here.
Posted in Mobile | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2010 by nathanj5
Brian Jepson posted the following to the Make Magazine blog:
Adam Meyer wrote in to let us know that the private beta for bildr has launched, and as a special for Make: Online readers, he’s shared an invite code you can use to sign up and try it out.
Read more here.
Posted in Open | No Comments »
June 2nd, 2010 by nathanj5
MG Siegler writes at TechCrunch:
When Diaspora
set out to raise money to build an open Facebook alternative site, they had a pretty modest goal: $10,000. Of course, they were raising the funds through a less than traditional means — using Kickstarter, an online fundraising site. Still, they shot past that goal in 12 days. And within 20 days, they had raised over $100,000. Yesterday, the fundraising closed, the final tally: just over $200,000.
Obviously, the Facebook privacy fiasco played a huge role in the fundraising success. Diaspora pulled in money from a number of prominent people on the web — and, humorously, apparently even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself. All told, nearly 6,500 people contributed money to the project — making it the largest Kickstarter project ever.
Read the whole story here.
Posted in Identity, News, Open | No Comments »
June 2nd, 2010 by nathanj5
Ryan Kim writes at SF Gate:
The era of unlimited mobile data is coming to an end. Say hello to tiered pricing and monthly usage caps.
AT&T is announcing that it is ending its unlimited plans for new smart phones as well as the iPad and replacing it with tiered pricing plans that will be cheaper for most users but will cost more for a small number of power users. Tethering plans are also covered by the changes and will come to the iPhone this summer with the new iPhone 4.0 update.
Starting June 7, if you buy a new smart phone data plan, you have the choice of paying $15 a month for 200 megabytes a month or $25 a month for 2 gigabytes. These replace the existing $30 a month unlimited plan, which AT&T customers can keep if they have an account prior to June 7. June 7, by the way, is the day Apple is expected to unveil the next generation iPhone.
Read the whole post
here.:
Posted in Mobile, Networks, News | No Comments »
June 2nd, 2010 by nathanj5
Jason Rosenbaum writes at Firedog Lake:
Over the last few weeks, dozens of House members from both sides of the aisle have signed on to a lobbyist-driven letter advocating to give control of the Internet to Comcast and AT&T by preventing the FCC from protecting the Internet, broadband expansion efforts, and net neutrality. The misleading pack-of-lies letter has prompted some in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to talk about revamping the 1996 Telecommunications Act with an eye towards giving the telecom companies and their lobbyists what they want.
Today on a conference call with bloggers, Speaker Pelosi threw cold water on those plans. Describing herself as a “big net neutrality advocate,” she said that she has a hard time seeing how any legislation that guts net neutrality, the national broadband plan, or other Internet-focused priorities would get through Congress.
Read the whole story here.
Posted in NetNeutrality, Networks, News, Policy | No Comments »
May 31st, 2010 by nathanj5
On Personal Democracy Forum, Antonella Napolitano writes:
This weekend a Gay Pride march took place in Moscow took place, but it wasn’t a common event. The Moscow LGBT community has been trying to stage a Gay Pride march every year since May 2006 but the permit has always been denied by the City authorities.
On Saturday, a small group of about 30 participants briefly marched in the busy Leningradsky Street, after organisers totally out-witted the police an security services. More of a flashmob than a march, as it lasted just 10 minutes, but still a significant result for the LGBT community. How was it possible?
Thanks to the Internet and its power of spreading information. Wrong information.
Read the whole post here.
Posted in Censorship, Democracy, News | No Comments »
