Free Press has taken out a wanted ad asking the public to weigh in on the attributes they seek in the next chair of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC wields a tremendous amount of power and influence over the way in which our democracy functions because it regulates and oversees both our communications and media environment. The successful functioning of a democracy requires an in......
[Show More]

President-elect Barack Obama brings hope and the promise of change with him as he prepares for his transition into the White House, and some of it relates to issues we gamers care about. While it does involve one of my least favorite organizations, the FCC, the good news is that the team Obama has put together to review the FCC includes a WoW player. That’s right fellow gamers, one of us. ......
[Show More]

Tim Lee has been taking some heat here from Richard Bennett and Steve Schultze about various aspects of his new Net neutrality paper . I haven’t had much time this week to jump into these debates, but I did want to mention one important portion of Tim’s paper that is being overlooked. Specifically, I like the way Tim took head-on some of the silly free speech arguments being put......
[Show More]

Jonathan Christensen is Skype’s General Manager for Video and Audio. Today, I’m speaking on a panel at the Open Mobile Summit , talking about ‘disruptive voice’. We’ll explore both the business and technology sides of communications innovation, and one thing I’ll raise is the issue of net neutrality. Tomorrow, my colleague Christopher Libertelli, who leads o......
[Show More]

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has lost his re-election bid. The Senior Republican member of the United States Senate was initially ahead of Democratic opponent Mark Begich on election, before all returns had been counted, but fell behind in the extremely tight contest eventually losing by 3,724 votes. Senator Stevens’ loss came on the heels of his public disgrace of being convicted on sev......
[Show More]

Net Neutrality is back in the news after Barack Obama released his comprehensive technology plans last week. And yesterday, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) announced plans to bring net neutrality legislation before Congress. Finally. Media activists have kept this issue in the spotlight for years (see SaveTheInt ernet.org& #41;, and now is certainly not the time for advocates of an op......
[Show More]

Network Neutrality — or “Net Neutrality” for short — is the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet. Put simply, Net Neutrality means no discrimination. Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from blocking, speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination. Check out Net Neutrality 101. Net Neutrality is the r......
[Show More]

There has been a sea change in Washington since then, as the wonks, tech pundits and lobbyists align themselves with new leadership and the likelihood that Net Neutrality could become law soon. read more | digg story No related posts.......
[Show More]

Opposition to Conroy’s internet filter is growing but he seems to be pushing through with it after enlisting Enex TestLab. As we all know by now, all tests to date have showing ISP level internet filtering to be completely useless. The tests have been done, they were a disaster. As long as you have to check every bit of data going from the Internet to your computer it will necessarily slow......
[Show More]

Media has given rise to several positives in society with plenty of evidence to prove it. A person in North America can set up a podcast for someone to view in Asia. People can voice their opinion on heated issues via blogs, web sites, and discussion boards for anyone in the world to see. Artists can remix songs to turn something of the past into something unique and fresh. These examples of......
[Show More]

...oviders, mainstream media and your average internet user or blogger. This is a really large issue that I plan to tackle in a later article but is you are interested in learning more please visit www.saveth einternet. com . Although many other interesting questions were answered in this interview, I think the real story is the use of the internet and Digg as an interactive question and answer tool. A new platform that opens up the world to discussion and debate. Just imagine if the presidential debates were handled in a similar fashion or if the town-hall meetings used this method. I s...
[Show More]

We posted about this a couple of weeks ago and it looks like the effort worked!! :clap Score one for the public On Tuesday, the FCC voted overwhelmingly to open "white spaces" to new technology that could vastly expand high-speed Internet access nationwide. This decision is a landmark victory that simply could not have happened without the tens of thousands of letters an......
[Show More]

You may remember Corey’s piece back in August explaining a proposal before the US Congress to allow television “whitespace� – the TV frequencies that aren’t used between normal channels – to become conduits for high-speed Internet access nationwide. Well, after Tuesday’s landmark vote from the Federal Communications Commission, that is one step closer to a reality. Althoug......
[Show More]

Speedy USB 3.0 spec to be unveiled - “The USB 3.0 specification, a next-generation high-speed connection standard due in 2009, is significant because all future PCs and devices will use connectors based on it. The spec is also expected to offer 10 times the speed of USB 2.0–used in virtually all PCs introduced in the last few years–or roughly 5 gigabits per secondR 30;” ......
[Show More]

So Obama won the presidential election - cool. But other things happened as well. In California, they decided against same sex marriage ( prop 8 ), but decided that farm animals should be treated humanely - at least up to the point when they are slaughtered and eaten ( prop 2 ). Good job, California. In a mostly coincidental vote, the FCC decided that we can use white space......
[Show More]

While we play factual ping pong with the debate about Internet publishing its most profound issue, cultural gatekeeping, keeps getting lost. There is a story about Kindle, the Amazon hand-held reading device. Ping. Then there is a story about copyright. Pong. There is a story about the Big Six book publishers worrying about market share. Ping. Another story about Amazon herding small presses tow......
[Show More]

...ng and make certain that white spaces are used to make fast, affordable Internet service a reality for everyone. Thanks, Timothy Karr Campaign Director Free Press www.freepress.net www.saveth einternet. com......
[Show More]

Do you think  you’re an adult, and one who is capable of making your own decisions about what you do and do not want to read?  Do you think you are capable of clicking a back button?  Or shutting off your password-protected computers when the kids will be home alone? In Australia, the government thinks not. The Herald Sun reports that in following the footsteps of China, Australia......
[Show More]

Yesterday I hinted that in this election, Abortion should be a non-issue. Well, not so much hinted, but revealed . And now I shall reveal what I believe to be the most important single issue facing Americans this election. It’s also the issue that will be the most sadly overlooked this election. Unlike many issues that people think are important, Network Neutrality is a big one that wi......
[Show More]

The National Association of Broadcasters are screwing over America again......
[Show More]

Technology now exists that would tap the near limitless potential of the airwaves and deliver high-speed Internet services to tens of millions of people now left on the wrong side of the digital divide… The benefits of getting Americans connected — fueling economic growth, civic engagement, free speech, telemedicine and distance education, to name a few — are immense. And the Federal Comm......
[Show More]

Been really busy with work, and doing 12 hour work shifts. The result - a serious lack of time to post on my blog. I know I have been silent of late, and hope my readers don’t mind too much. I’m coming to grips with the current financial crisis hitting the globe, and trying to make sense of it. This is definitely a time to remain calm and focused, not panic. Things may have to dip befo......
[Show More]

I’ve just added some links to the blogroll on the right hand side of this blog that link to sites working to protect our digital rights. The more excited I get by the possibilities for filmmakers in the digital age the more aware I am that we need to fight to continue to exercise our creativity (flexible copyright law is key here) and keep the channels of distribution open (if yo......
[Show More]

The System Has Failed Long Live The System…so watch Zeitgeist Addendum! Even more powerful than the first one, but more importantly, a documentary you just can’t miss. Key Links: The Zeitgeist Movement | Official Site | The Venus Project | Save The Internet......
[Show More]

We got to get our hands on some of these for future screenings - ’ Seoda: a new series of films from the Irish Film Archive which will be broadcast on TG4 this Autumn’. Filmmaker Forum kicks off with a rally call for ’truly independent film’ - ’a move from the competitive trappings of the indie industry to a collaborative future’. Elsewhere, Ted Hope at......
[Show More]