Save The Internet

I do not share files in a way that many do. However, I do blog and blog. I surf the Internet for searching purposes. Since I write articles for publication, the Internet is a rich source of information. The following on Save the Internet is a good post.

In their ceaseless efforts to become the gatekeepers to what we do online, the phone and cable companies funnel money to unscrupulous think tanks, which, in turn, churn out research, painting a picture of Internet Armageddon that can only be averted by giving the telcos exactly what they want: more money and control.

RVs and Retirees

The ACLU is right on target with their lawsuit. It seems that retired people who travel around the country in their RVs cannot vote in some states. Even though I can see the danger is letting homeless people without a residential address vote, retirees in RVs should be able to vote. Gosh, this only seems fair.

NASHVILLE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of senior citizens living full-time in their recreational vehicles who were purged from Tennessee voting rolls because they registered to vote using the street address of a commercial mail forwarding service. “American citizens should not be disqualified from voting simply because of their lifestyle choice to travel. Denying citizens the right to vote flies in the face of our democracy,” said ACLU of Tennessee Executive Director Hedy Weinberg. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of full-time RV residents Ronald Teel, Leone Teel and John Layton. An ACLU Freedom of Information Act request revealed that over 250 people, including the plaintiffs, have lost their right to vote in Bradley County, Tennessee. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs were purged from Bradley County voting rolls after passage of a 2005 state law that said commercial addresses could not be used for voting purposes.

Support for Net Neutrality

Many promenent people have joined this cause. The Democratic Party is on the right side of this issue. The following news brief is quite informative.

Include leading high-tech companies such as Amazon.com, Earthlink, EBay, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Facebook, Skype and Yahoo. Prominent national figures such as Internet pioneer Vint Cerf, Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, every major Democratic presidential candidate, and FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have called for stronger Net Neutrality protections.

Editorial boards at the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Seattle Times, St. Petersburg Times and Christian Science Monitor all have urged congress to save the Internet.

Support Our Troops

Internet Capacity

There seems to be an overwhelming movement by Internet providers to alert the public about the future lack of Internet capacity. Even though there may be a shortage of Internet capacity resources to deal with the explosion in Internet traffic, telecoms giants appear to have an agenda. This agenda includes influencing governmental decision makers in a way that increases telecoms profits. If you follow the money, you can usually get to the bottom of stakeholder motivation.

More warnings of a looming bandwidth apocalypse, this time from USAToday, who insists that the Internet “will start to seem poky as early as 2010, as use of interactive and video-intensive services overwhelms local cable, phone and wireless Internet providers.”

As we’ve stated previously, most warnings of capacity Armageddon come from traffic shaping companies looking to sell hardware, or industry lobbyists trying to shape policy through think tanks. In this case Nemertes’s study was funded with help from the Internet Innovation Alliance, a group spearheaded by AT&T.

Writers Guild and the Internet

The Writers Guild is worried about their future. Because, TV and the Internet will be one eventually. The following is a headline story.

The Writers Guild of America strike has been an interesting debacle to watch, complete with a host of issues the public might not have thought of before. The inevitable convergence of the Internet and TV is one of them; the continued homogenization of American culture is another.
Fortunately, the revolution is being blogged about. What else would striking writers do? Writers write, right?

Free Speech Is Essential

The importance of free speech on the Internet is essential to keeping a vibrant flow of opinions and ideas alive. Our democracy is stronger because our freedom of speech is unrestricted on the Internet.

CDT Joins Brief Urging Liability Protection for Internet Content Venues - The Center for Democracy & Technology joined with other public interest and Internet industry groups to urge a federal appeals court to shield websites from legal action stemming from content their users post. In a case involving the Roommates.com website, an initial three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the website should not receive the normal protections afforded under "Section 230" of federal law from liability for content posted by the site's individual users. The entire court agreed to reconsider that initial decision. The "friend of the court" brief, which CDT joined, argued that Section 230 protection is vital to the robust speech and debate on the Internet, and that a website should not lose that protection because it gives users specific options for expressing their views.

Net for all

We must stay the course on Net Neutrality. The following news brief is the latest.

Then there is “net neutrality,” the idea that internet access providers be required to treat all bits on their network equally. Google and most of the internet industry favours this, at least for now, lest they be extorted into paying extra money to internet service providers (i.e. phone and cable companies) to assure unimpeded access to their services. Net neutrality isn’t going anywhere for the moment in DC (guess who’s against is?) but the issue is by no means dead.

In fact, a group of private individuals organised recently by members of a long-running and influential email list called IP is setting itself up as a the Network Neutrality Squad. The goal is monitor “anticompetitive, discriminatory, or other restrictive actions by internet service providers…” There are already plenty of examples of behaviour that could fall into these categories, including a recent move by Verizon to re-route any miss-typed internet addresses to its own search page.

Save The Internet and America

Let me ask your support for the "Net Neutrality" movement. Also, organized labor needs our support to advocate a living wage and better health care for workers. Plus, American veterans need better health care and job training when disabled.

Progressive has a nice ring to it. And, I consider myself a ! progressive in some ways. Regardless, I agree some of your ideas, but disagree with others. I guess we can agree to disagree.

When I was in graduate school, most professors and students were progressives. Therefore, I have heard the progressive message before. Even though I agree with some of the ideas proposed by progressives, it seems to me progressives do not appreciate the sacrifice and hard work it took to create America's democratic institutions.

Regardless of the criticisms heaped on America from inside and outside, America is one of the most diverse and accepting societies on earth. Most of the philanthropic work done in the third world, building schools and hospitals, is provided by American faith based organizations. When this is added to American foreign aid, which is provided to almost every country in the world by America, America is in many ways the world's salvation. In addition, America produces about half the food stuffs sold on the world's open market. When this is added to the food America gives away in aid programs, America is a huge source of the world's food supply.

This is not to say America is perfect. But, America works at trying to be better. Americans have the courage to criticize themselves and tackle internal problems head on. Most countries do not have this courage.

Over the years, threats to American Democracy has come from Europe and Asia. Now, we are threatened by the Middle East. We will overcome this threat and continue to progress as a society. Because, we are basically a progressive people. Work union, live better.

Protestors and Politics

There seems to be more anti-war protesters now. As a vet, I support the troops and I want them to win this war. However, it appears that this is becoming increasingly difficult as time goes on. I really do not have the answers to resolve the current terrorist inspired violence in Iraq. It is real obvious that terrorists all over the world are please every time an American soldier is killed. This makes me angry.

Anti-war protesters are misguided. However, they have a right to protest. This is still America. I am old enough to remember coming home in 1968 and being told by the Army that it would be wise to not wear my uniform while traveling back home to my small home town in Central California. Because, I could be attacked at the airports. Attacked by American protesters. Well, I just survived my tour of duty to come home to a bunch of America protesters. Give me break.

Elections are just around the corner. I like many things the Democrats stand for like supporting organized labor, environmental laws, minimum wage laws, social security increases, and a concern for less fortunate. However, the Democrats lack vision on other issues. Just being against everything Bush supports is not a vision.

In addition, I am not quite sure what the Democrats stand for anymore when it comes to dealing with terrorism. When the next attack comes to America, and the Democrats are in charge, what will they do. Since they do not want to secure the borders to keep terrorists out, or send troops to weed out terrorist training camps, what is their vision? The stump speeches are full of anti-Bush stuff. But, a vision is lacking. Surprisingly, I think the Democrats can win the White House without a vision.

Now to some major issues that neither party seems concerned about. It seems that Democrats and Republicans need to focus on terrorism in America which includes a rational immigration/border policy, our economy, getting our troops home and getting them the medical care they need, and shoring up our Social Security Program, so elderly people can get enough to eat and pay their bills. Because, no one can live on a Social Security check.

Thank a teacher, because you can read. Thank a vet, because you can vote. It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes an Army to protect the village.

Gosh, I feel better now.

America

Thanks to Humbled Infidel

America

I am proud to know where I come from,
And to be unstoppable.
To know how hard I've worked,
And to stand up for my country.

To know I can accomplish anything,
And to be committed to what I believe.
I am proud to know I can make a difference,
And to stand up for my family.

God Bless America

Education, Wikipedia, and Internet Freedom

It is essential that our educators understand and appreciate the value of the Internet in helping students access information. I was helping a college student recently do research for an assigned paper. The professor did not want the student to use any sources that came from Wikipedia. This is odd. Wikipedia is an excellent source of information. This is not to say that it should be the only source. However, the community effort in building Wikipedia into a dynamic interactive source for a general feel for any subject is indeed a creative enterprise.

Anti War Protesters

There seems to be more anti-war protesters now. As a vet, I support the troops and I want them to win this war. However, it appears that this is becoming increasingly difficult as time goes on. I really do not have the answers to resolve the current terrorist inspired violence in Iraq. It is real obvious that terrorists all over the world are please every time an American soldier is killed. This makes me angry.

Anti-war protesters are misguided. However, they have a right to protest. This is still America. I am old enough to remember coming home in 1968 and being told by the Army that it would be wise to not wear my uniform while traveling back home to my small home town in Central California. Because, I could be attacked at the airports. Attacked by American protesters. Well, I just survived my tour of duty to come home to a bunch of America protesters. Give me break.

Elections are just around the corner. I like many things the Democrats stand for like supporting organized labor, environmental laws, minimum wage laws, social security increases, and a concern for less fortunate. However, the Democrats lack vision on other issues. Just being against everything Bush supports is not a vision.

In addition, I am not quite sure what the Democrats stand for anymore when it comes to dealing with terrorism. When the next attack comes to America, and the Democrats are in charge, what will they do. Since they do not want to secure the borders to keep terrorists out, or send troops to weed out terrorist training camps, what is their vision? The stump speeches are full of anti-Bush stuff. But, a vision is lacking. Surprisingly, I think the Democrats can win the White House without a vision.

Now to some major issues that neither party seems concerned about. It seems that Democrats and Republicans need to focus on terrorism in America which includes a rational immigration/border policy, our economy, getting our troops home and getting them the medical care they need, shoring up our Social Security Program, so elderly people can get enough to eat and pay their bills. Because, no one can live on a Social Security check.

Thank a teacher, because you can read. Thank a vet, because you can vote. It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes an Army to protect the village.

Gosh, I feel better now.

Ocean Beach

Ocean Beach California

Internet, Bloggers, and Democracy

As I write daily on my three blogs (Rosemead Star News, Rosemead Herald, California Reporter), I have a feeling of power. It seems odd that I would feel this way. Because, I really do not want to feel this way in my life. I am really a mild mannered guy in most other ways. However, blogs give me an opportunity to share my ideas and this empowers me.

The saying "Information is Power" has a lot of meaning to me. I think this is true more today than ever before. For this reason, Internet Freedom is essential. The following news about the importance of a free and open Internet reveals an alarming trend across the globe to take away free and open access to the Internet. We must stand tall against those who would limit our Internet freedoms.

As the old saying goes, “Information is power.” So it is no surprise that the free media is often the first to go when dictatorial regimes – or even ostensibly “democratic” governments – find themselves in power struggles with the people they govern.

Last month, we called on the U.S. and other democratic countries to speak out against Burma’s shutting down of the Internet and other media in an attempt to quell the pro-democracy protests led by the country’s Buddhist monks.

Now this week – in a shocking dictatorial double-play – both Pakistan and Georgia declared emergency rule (effectively, martial law), suspending their constitutions and clamping down on independent media.

A free and independent media is the cornerstone of a free society. To Westerners, this truism is often taken for granted. But savvy rulers are all too conscious of it. It was Joseph Stalin who said, “Ideas are more dangerous than guns.” What better way to control ideas than to control the media? As with Burma, democratic nations around the world must decry, in words and deeds, emergency rule and the suppression of independent media – such actions have no place in a free society.

Veterans Day

Veterans Day

Sa

Internet And The Court

The Internet And The Courts

It seems that a court has ruled that Internet search engines must create and store every key stroke and every draft ever create, even if not sent. In Columbia v. Bunnell, a movie studio sued a search engine for copyright infringement. As part of the lawsuit's discovery process, the movie studio wants all search engine user information.

This is disturbing, because this means if courts can demand user information from search engines, all Internet search engines will be required to keep logs of every Internet visitor to the search engine site, even if the search engine did not intend to develop this capacity. If there was no mechanism to capture and store the information, the search engine will be required to develop this capacity.

This might apply to bloggers down the road, because most good blog providers and bloggers have search capabilities. Watch out for court and government control of the Internet and the Blogosphere.

Movies Studios v. TorrentSpy

On June 22, 2007, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) urged a California court Friday to overturn a dangerous ruling that would require an Internet search engine to create and store logs of its users' activities as part of electronic discovery obligations in a civil lawsuit.

The ruling came in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by motion picture studios against TorrentSpy, a popular search engine that indexes materials made publicly available via the Bit Torrent file sharing protocol. TorrentSpy has never logged its visitors' Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Notwithstanding this explicit privacy policy, a federal magistrate judge has now ordered TorrentSpy to activate logging and turn the logged data over to the studios.

"This unprecedented ruling has implications well beyond the file sharing context,? said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "Giving litigants the power to rewrite their opponent's privacy policies poses a risk to all Internet users.?

The Internet is based on the following ideas: User control, innovation, trust, and openness/competition. Even though America needs to fight terrorism and protect intellectual property rights, the real challenge is mediating these concerns. This means trying to balance government intrusion with the free expression of ideas and speech on the Internet. This will be an ominous task indeed. However, it is essential to realize that democracy cannot survive with a government intent on using draconian measures to stifle Internet free speech.

If unrealistic restrictions were imposed on free speech, the Blogosphere would be impacted to the point of elimination, Therefore, Internet freedom and the Blogosphere are closely associated. The following is from Center for Democracy and Technology.

So the challenge we face going forward is to develop an Internet policy framework that addresses these clear needs while at the same time promoting the innovation and other values that have fostered the growth of this amazing medium. The higher education community, which hosted many of the wizards who created the Internet and which has woven this technology into every aspect of education, has a responsibility to work to defend the policy framework based on user control, innovation, trust, and openness/competition—so that the Internet in years to come is able to reach its potential as an empowering platform for learning, democracy, commerce, and human development.

It appears that even the big players in the battle to keep the Internet free from censorship are coming forward. Business Week realizes the importance of free and open Internet communities and advocate voices. The following news brief is from Save The Internet.

In mainstream press, Stephen H. Wildstrom, a senior technology writer and editor at BusinessWeek, wrote that he had shifted his position to support Net Neutrality following recent incidents of network gatekeeping. “The behavior of the top telecommunications companies, especially Verizon Communications and AT&T, has convinced me that more government involvement is needed to keep communications free of corporate interference,” he wrote.

Dateline November 6, 2007 from China

Center for Democracy and Technology news brief. This is a great site for Save the Internet information. This could happen in America, if we let our guard down. We cannot allow government nabobs, hiding behind government regulations, to limit our access to information and Internet resources. Stand up and be counted.

For a brief period last week, the Chinese government hijacked foreign search engines. Chinese Internet users trying to search on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft were redirected . . . . . to the Chinese search engine Baidu. Democratic governments understand the connection between human rights and Internet freedom. They have been quick to condemn the Internet crackdown in Burma and China and the lack of Internet freedom in much of the world.

But at the same time, democratic countries are themselves increasingly turning to content blocking and online surveillance to address terrorism and other perceived dangers at home. In doing so, they are in danger of sacrificing their moral authority to ensure that the global Internet moves toward greater freedom.

Recently, the European Union justice commissioner signaled plans to introduce a package of anti-terrorism proposals that will require member countries to block Internet sites that provide information about bomb-making.

In Germany, there is an uproar about a proposal to give the government powers to spy virtually, using e-mails infected with spy ware.

Joined the Call

The telecom giants have finally pushed the bloggers over the edge. The Internet is too influential to silence now. Washington is now responding to the latest call to action.
The following is from Save The Internet.

On Capitol Hill, both Republicans and Democrats have joined in a call for urgent congressional action in defense of Net Neutrality. Last Thursday, Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) called for new hearings, citing recent incidents of blocking of cell-phone and Internet traffic.

Who will control Bloggers

It is obvious the blogophere is alive with chatter about Internet freedom. From an influence perspective, bloggers are making their voices heard. The Internet must remain free to idea generation. The following is from Center for Democracy and Technology.

An increasing array of issues is currently being debated under the heading of "net neutrality," and dialogue surrounding this concept is rapidly gaining strength. At the heart of the net neutrality debate is whether the Internet, the Web, and associated technologies will continue to thrive as an open platform for innovation and free expression and what policies, if any, are necessary to ensure that they will.

Net Neutrality and Telecoms

The Telecom giants just do not understand the powerful influence that bloggers have. And, the Telecom giants have become comfortable with violating the law by limiting access to the Internet. The Telecom giants have an arrogance about them that makes one wonder if they really understand the fundamental basis of free speech.

For bloggers, any limitation on free speech would be disastrous. So, it is time for bloggers to rise up and make Net Neutrality a presidential campaign issue this year. The following is a blog from Save The Internet.

Cable giant Comcast has become the poster child for Net Neutrality — with actions to block user traffic that make a clear-cut case for Internet protections. Today, SavetheInternet.com members and legal scholars took this case to the Federal Communications Commission. We filed an official action urging the agency to stop the cable giant from meddling with your ability to connect and share information.

The company recently gave us a glimpse of a world without Net Neutrality. In the “most drastic example yet of data discrimination,” the Associated Press exposed that Comcast was actively interfering with its users’ ability to access legal content and share it with one another. Despite mounting evidence that Comcast is crippling peer-to-peer communication, the company’s spokespeople have thumbed their noses at the public and the press — refusing to admit that the blocking of connections is underhanded or in any way threatens the free flow of information that’s become the hallmark of an open Internet.

Good News

Good news for bloggers. It appears that Washington is now aware they must acknowledge that bloggers have free speech rights. In addition, pressure is being applied by bloggers to hold telecom giants accountable for breaking the law and purging bloggers off the Internet. The following if from Electronic Frontier Foundation.

When it comes to putting the pressure on the Senate to stand against retroactive immunity for telecom lawbreakers, bloggers have taken a vital lead. They helped inspire Chris Dodd to pledge a hold on any Senate bill that contains an amnesty, and prompted Barack Obama's recent unequivocal opposition to immunity.

These key bloggers have joined together to send a letter to Harry Reid, urging him to honor Sen. Dodd's hold and stop the immunity legislation currently moving through the Senate. The full letter is at www.noretroactiveimmunity.com. You can add you own name to the letter there (and join EFF, the ACLU, Working Assets and many prominent figures in the Democratic netroots.) And don't forget to visit Stop The Spying to call your representatives and urge them to use their vote to oppose telecom immunity in Congress.

Free Speech

There is a movement to use child protection to stifle free speech. Even though child protection advocates have a good argument in proposing controls on internet content, free speech advocates have a better argument. Namely, when the government starts controlling internet content and the blogosphere our free speech rights are in danger. The following is a news brief.

Brief Filed Challenging COPA on Free Speech Grounds - Today the Center for Democracy & Technology filed a "friend of the court" brief in federal appeals court challenging the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) as a violation of the First Amendment. The amicus brief, submitted to the Third Circuit on behalf of CDT and 17 other groups, argued that COPA places unconstitutional burdens on producers and distributors of Web content. Other strategies are more effective than COPA at protecting children from inappropriate online content, and also impose fewer restrictions on lawful adult speech — in particular, technological parental controls such as Internet filtering software and non-technological tools such as youth education. Amici included organizations that represent corporate leaders in the Internet industry; publishers, distributors and retailers of books and other content; libraries and librarians; newspapers, editors and journalists; and public interest organizations that uphold civil liberties and advocate for a free and open Internet. October 29, 2007