Cyberpunk icon proposes open source political party
,----[ Quote ]
| This week, Sirius proposed the establishment of a new open-source political
| party that aims to give a voice to disenfranchised voters.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071127-cyberpunk-icon-proposes-open-source-political-party.html
Open Source Rough Justice
,----[ Quote ]
| In a way, this is a validation of the characterization of the Net as
| a "global village": Formal, governmental enforcement mechanisms are a
| substitute for older reputation-based methods that use social pressure and
| shunning as primary sanctions — methods that had become impractical as social
| cooperation expanded beyond the village level
`----
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071127/172306.shtml
Related:
Google to recruit a bevy of Europeans lobbyists
,----[ Quote ]
| Google, the search engine heavyweight, is no longer prepared to
| stay out of the business of fashioning the political environment
| for decisions made in Europe. For lobbying work on its behalf the
| company is at present searching in numerous large European cities
| for politics-savvy lawyers; one such "European Policy Counsel"
| position will be available in Hamburg/Berlin.
`----
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/87158/from/rss09
Don't mess with Google's astroturf squad
,----[ Quote ]
| Long before it employed bloggers to do the job for it, Microsoft hired
| sympathetic members of the public to make its case in online forums,
| posing as disinterested citizens. Things got much more professional as
| the antitrust trial unfurled. After hiring DCI in the late 1990s,
| Microsoft created two new trade groups, the Association for Competitive
| Technology (ACT), and the Americans for Technology Leadership (ALT),
| and marshaled campaigns such as "Freedom to Innovate" - encouraging
| Windows users the chance to make spontaneous gestures of support for
| Chairman Bill.
|
| These weren't always too successful. A campaign in 2001 to petition 17
| state's Attorney Generals - who had pooled resources to bring their
| own antitrust action against Microsoft - resulted in supportive letters
| being written by dead people.
|
| And the astroturf taint continues today.
|
| Most recently, a spoof video portraying Al Gore as a Penguin was reported
| to have originated from a computer registered to the DCI Group, although
| the lobby group said it did not fund or approve the video.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/14/google_lobby/
Google Hires Former DOJ Lawyer to Lobby
,----[ Quote ]
| Under a federal law enacted in 1995, lobbyists are required to
| disclose activities that could influence members of the
| executive and legislative branches. They must register
| with Congress within 45 days of being hired or engaging in lobbying.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070601/google_lobbying.html?.v=2
|
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