Internet Bill a Blow to the Gatekeepers
,----[ Quote ]
| The new bill requires the FCC to actively protect the free-flowing Internet
| from gatekeepers, enforcing protections that “guard against unreasonable
| discriminatory favoritism for, or degradation of, content by network
| operators based upon its source, ownership, or destination on the Internet.”
`----
http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2008/02/12/internet-bill-would-bar-discrimination-engage-the-public-on-better-policy/
Spielberg quits as Beijing Olympics advisor
,----[ Quote ]
| The Sudanese authorities have been heavily critised for failing to tackle
| violence in the country's Darfur region, in which the government-backed
| Islamic janjaweed militia has systematically destroyed villages and killed
| civilians, displacing an estimated 2.5 million people. The fighting has
| caused between 200,000 and 400,000 fatalaties, according to the UN.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/13/speilberg_olympics/
One company that is still keen on working with the Chinese (on search
censorship, computing, Silverlight) is Microsoft. They think alike. Microsoft
said it was strategising on China, but the top executive in China left a few
months ago.
Yesterday:
Britain kow tows to China as athletes are forced to sign no criticism contracts
,----[ Quote ]
| British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not
| to speak out about China's appalling human rights record – or face being
| banned from travelling to Beijing.
`----
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=513362&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
Related:
Is Microsoft no longer a member of ItsOurNet? Trouble in paradise?
,----[ Quote ]
| On the ItsOurNet.org website under "The coalition" section, Microsoft
| is no longer on the list of: "These organizations support legislation
| to achieve net neutrality:"
`----
http://www.precursorblog.com/node/206
How AT&T chewed up, and spat out Net Neutrality
,----[ Quote ]
| In an interview with Business Week in October 2005, Whitacre said
| he thought taking over BellSouth would be rejected by the FCC.
| He also made another memorable comment that began the process
| which culminated in the FCC's approval in December.
`----
http://www.theregister.com/2007/01/10/whitacre_wins_big/
Should AT&T police the Internet?
,----[ Quote ]
| A decade after the government said that AT&T and other service providers
| don't have to police their networks for pirated content, the
| telecommunications giant is voluntarily looking for ways to play traffic cop.
`----
http://www.news.com/Should-ATT-police-the-Internet/2100-1034_3-6226523.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
AT&T admits it censored other bands
,----[ Quote
| It looks like Pearl Jam isn't the only band that has had its politically
| charged comments bleeped from concerts streamed from AT&T's Blue Room Web
| site.
|
| [...]
|
| AT&T quickly apologized for the incident and blamed the company that handles
| the Webcasting for performances on Blue Room.
`----
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9759184-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Customers can sue AT&T, after all
,----[ Quote ]
| A federal court in San Francisco has decided that AT&T's wireless contract
| is "unconscionable".
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/20/court_slames_att_wireless_contract_clause/
AT&T takes another step towards filtered network with investment in Vobile
,----[ Quote ]
| AT&T announced earlier this year that was planning to introduce content
| filtering of some sort for all video passing across its network. Exactly what
| AT&T was thinking remained unclear: would the company truly attempt to
| reassemble the fragments of peer-to-peer transmissions, then extract video
| from all sorts of different codecs, then attempt to match it-in real time-to
| some database of copyrighted works? Would such a thing even be possible?
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071114-att-takes-another-step-towards-filtered-network-with-investment-in-vobile.html
http://tinyurl.com/3a998z
Is the Tiered Internet upon us already?
,----[ Quote ]
| Looking for music online can be a difficult process - here in Australia, the
| iTunes Music Store has a relatively limited selection, and a lot of the other
| offerings available here don't support my iPod. I've been experimenting with
| purchasing music from MP3 Sparks (which used to be AllOfMP3) and it's been a
| relatively straightforward and painless process, until recently when their
| download servers couldn't be contacted.
`----
http://technocrat.net/d/2008/1/5/33123
BitTorrent Admin Monitored by US Government, Forced to Dump Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| Sk0t, an ex-administrator of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker is to have
| his internet connection forcibly monitored by the US Government. If that
| wasn’t bad enough, the monitoring software is Windows based - which means he
| is being forced to ditch Linux - or face being barred from the internet.
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-admin-monitored-by-us-government-forced-to-dump-linux/
Senators want probe of Comcast's BitTorrent 'discrimination'
,----[ Quote ]
| The senators suggested the incidents indicate "Congress should consider
| adopting targeted regulations to protect consumers and ensure a vibrant and
| open communications platform."
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9805308-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Congressman to Comcast: Stop interfering with BitTorrent
,----[ Quote ]
| While a class action lawsuit is definitely one way to get Comcast to behave,
| another perhaps more productive way to do so is to have politicians step in
| and regulate.
|
| On Tuesday, I discussed the issue of Comcast's anti-BitTorrent "network
| management" with Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., who is a strong supporter of
| consumer rights and has led the battle to undo the damage caused by the
| Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA.
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9804158-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Torrentspy Disables Searching For US IPs
,----[ Quote
| Torrent indexing site Torrentspy.com appears to have disabled torrent
| searches for IPs that originate in the United States.
`----
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/27/1541244&from=rss
Mark Cuban to ISPs: block all P2P traffic; Ars to Cuban: um, no
,----[ Quote ]
| Of course, there are many legitimate uses for P2P that Google Video can't
| replace, like distributing Linux ISOs. Furthermore, the notion that the only
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| people who benefit from P2P technology are the distributors is wrong. If I
| have the option of grabbing a download from a distant single server or from a
| torrent with hundreds of users, I'm going to opt for the torrent. Why? It's
| almost guaranteed to be faster, and let's face it: most BitTorrent software
| is quite adept at managing large downloads. Perhaps I want to throttle it
| while playing a game; perhaps I want to encrypt my transfers. If I'm
| distributing video or audio, perhaps I don't wish to be bound by the terms of
| Google Video.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071122-mark-cuban-to-isps-block-all-p2p-traffic.html
FTC abandons net neutrality
,----[ Quote ]
| The report has caused outrage in the online community. Many are worried
| that any abandonment of net neutrality will harm competition, since it
| will allow big companies to outspend start-ups.
`----
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2193214/ftc-abandons-net-neutrality
Comcast reported to FCC
,----[ Quote ]
| P2P throttling breaks FCC 'net neutrality' policy
|
| [...]
|
| Among the consumer groups who have approached the FCC are the Consumer
| Federation of America, the Consumers Union, the Media Access Project and
| professors at the Internet practices of the Yale, Harvard and Stanford law
| schools.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/11/02/comcast-reported-fcc
Consumer groups want Comcast fined for thwarting the Bible
,----[ Quote ]
| A number of consumer groups are petitioning the FCC to fine Comcast $195,000
| for every customer affected by their BitTorrent-throttling practices. The FCC
| has said in the past that service providers can't "block" customers from
| using certain applications or websites, but it hasn't enforced that policy.
`----
http://valleywag.com/tech/politics/consumer-groups-want-comcast-fined-for-thwarting-the-bible-317960.php
McCain comes out against Net Neutrality; Says would hire Microsoft CEO Steve
Ballmer
,----[ Quote ]
| In another move that was sure to infuriate many geeks, the 70 year
| old presidential hopeful also said that he would ask Microsoft CEO
| Steve Ballmer to serve on his cabinet to deal with technology issues
| if elected. He did not however say what position Ballmer might be
| hired in, but did joke that he might consider him for a diplomatic
| position, such as ambassador to China.
`----
http://www.thedailybackground.com/2007/05/30/mccain-comes-out-against-net-neutrality-says-would-hire-microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer/
Treachery In The Trenches
,----[ Quote ]
| I believe that most people do not grasp the immense entity of Microsoft.
| This is an organization and a man who commands the attention and bidding
| of world leaders. On a recent trip to America, the President of China
| spent his first evening in the United States, not with our President,
| but Bill Gates. He was the guest of the Gates mansion that first
| evening and the guest of honor for a dinner attended by over one
| hundred people. Why? To ask him to crack down on Software piracy
| and to insure that his computer manufacturers put Microsoft Windows
| on thier newly made machines instead of shipping them with no OS. He
| didn't see the President of the United States for over 36 hours...he
| spent that time with Bill Gates at his home and at the Redmond
| Campus.
`----
http://blog.lobby4linux.com/index.php?/archives/88-Treachery-In-The-Trenches.html
Microsoft's piracy fight gains momentum in China
,----[ Quote ]
| In his first official visit to the United States in 2006, China President Hu
| Jintao arrived for dinner at Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) Chairman
| Bill Gates' house with a gift for the host.
|
| Shortly before Hu's Seattle visit, the Chinese government had issued a decree
| requiring all personal computers manufactured in China to come with a
| licensed operating system before leaving the factory gates.
`----
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN2127797020071221
Yahoo!, Microsoft ink web pact with Chinese government
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft and Yahoo! have signed a pact with the Chinese government
| that "encourages" the big name web players to record the identities of
| bloggers and censor content. So says Reporters Without Borders, an
| organization that fights for journalistic rights across the globe.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/yahoo_and_microsoft_ink_chinese_blogging_pact/
Chinese Internet dissident committed to mental hospital
,----[ Quote ]
| "It is not acceptable that Chinese authorities use such methods to silence
| citizens who have merely peacefully voiced their opinions", expressed the
| organisation in an announcement. Apparently authorities have not abandoned
| the practice of punishing those who have exposed the abuse of power and
| defied censorship by compulsorily committing them to mental institutions.
`----
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/94864/from/rss09
Is Microsoft tinkering with Live Search results?
,----[ Quote ]
| Is Microsoft filtering out from its Live Search results those it
| considers “undesirable” for the company?
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1127
|
|
