Internet Freedom

Time To Launch Largest Protest FCC Has Ever Seen

May 2, 2014 Josh Levy, www.freepress.net Resist! Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality

If you’re reading this, you probably agree with me that the Internet is an amazing thing. It's a crucial driver of free speech, innovation, education, economic growth, creativity and so much more. We wake up with it in the morning. We’re on it all day long. And it’s the last place we go before we finally say good night. To time travelers from the pre-Internet era, such a close relationship with an impersonal entity—a network—would seem strange, like an infatuation with a road. But if you explained that what we’re infatuated with is the ability to connect across vast spaces, to access information in the blink of an eye, to change entire paradigms in business, politics and social life, the obsession would start to make sense. And if a federal agency took a sledgehammer to this network you love, you’d get pretty upset. Yet, that’s where we are. This week we learned that the Federal Communications Commission is considering rules that would kill—rather than protect—net neutrality and allow rampant discrimination online. The plan, a response to the January court decision that struck down the FCC’s open Internet rules, would allow giant corporations to dominate the Internet like never before, dividing traffic into fast and slow lanes and jeopardizing our rights to connect and communicate.

White House Applauds “Efficiency” Of Big Data, Blind To NSA Spying

May 2, 2014 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org Educate! Internet Freedom, Surveillance

The White House's internal report on 'Big Data' and privacy issues, released Thursday afternoon, largely sidestepped the controversial issue of government surveillance, emphasizing claims that modern data collection technologies are "saving lives" and making economic and energy systems "more efficient." The result of a three-month review headed by White House adviser John Podesta, the assessment was convened by President Obama following pressure and outrage over mass surveillance by the U.S. and other governments exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Yet, the report dodged a thorough examination of data collection for intelligence purposes, instead focusing on policies across government agencies and in the private sector. "We are disappointed with the scope, because the report was created as a result of the president's response to questions of NSA surveillance," said Lee Tien, senior staff attorney for Electronic Frontier Foundation, in an interview with Common Dreams. "We thought it was a bad move that when they actually started doing the report, it was scoped to largely avoid NSA surveillance and intelligence."

Emergency – All in to Save Internet Freedom!

May 1, 2014 Podcast Comcast, FCC, Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality

On Monday, May 5 at 11 am ET we will discuss the FCC’s plan to eliminate net neutrality on May

The FCC’s Flimsy Defense Of Fake Net Neutrality

May 1, 2014 Craig Aaron, www.huffingtonpost.com/ Resist! Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants you to calm down. A firestorm of public outrage flared up after his latest plans to permit a pay-to-play Internet leaked. The Federal Communications Commission lit up with angry phone calls, irate emails, and a lot (I mean a lot) of bad press. In a speech on Wednesday at the big "Cable Show" in Los Angeles, Wheeler had this to say to his former industry colleagues: "Reports that we are gutting the open Internet rules are incorrect. I am here to say wait a minute. Put away the party hats." And in a blog post on the FCC website, Wheeler claimed that the many critics of his plan are "misinformed." Does that mean that it's time for Net Neutrality fans to put down their pitchforks? Hell, no. It's time to get even louder. He Still Doesn't Get It Try as he might to convince people that he's on the right course, Wheeler doesn't seem to grasp one basic problem: Encouraging online discrimination in the name of the open Internet is unacceptable. Yet that's exactly what his plan would do: allow Internet service providers to charge new fees to content companies for preferential treatment.

4 Simple Changes To Protect Your Online Privacy In Under 10 Minutes

May 1, 2014 Dan Auerbach, www.eff.org Create! Internet Freedom

In less than 10 minutes, you can drastically improve your privacy online and protect yourself against unwanted and invisible tracking. Note that these privacy safeguards will also be blocking some ads. EFF is working with online advertisers to try to convince them to provide real privacy protections for users, but until they agree to meaningful standards about online tracking, these steps will be necessary for users to safeguard their browsing privacy. Aside from removing ads, these changes won't affect your browsing experience on the vast majority of websites. It's possible, however, that a tiny fraction of websites may behave differently or break, in which case the easiest solution is to temporarily use a "private browsing" mode without the settings enabled, or a fresh browser profile/user with default settings.

Net Neutrality Will Be Saved Only If Citizens Raise an Outcry

May 1, 2014 John Nichols, www.thenation.com Resist! Democracy, Internet, Internet Freedom, Media

There are two simple steps to take: 1. Recognize that there is a right response to court rulings that have rejected the complex and ill-thought approaches that the FCC has up to now taken with regard to net neutrality. The right response is to reclassify broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service that can be regulated in the public interest. 2. Recognize that this is the time to send a clear signal of support for genuine net neutrality. The FCC has listened in the past when a public outcry has been raised, on media ownership issues, diversity issues and Internet access issues. Wheeler is a new chairman. It’s vital to communicate to him, and to the other members of the commission that President Obama was right when he said that establishing “fast lanes” on the Internet “destroys one of the best things about the Internet—which is that there is this incredible equality there.”

New FCC Internet Regulations Will Strengthen Monopoly Control

May 1, 2014 Paul Jay, www.therealnews.com Educate! Internet, Internet Freedom, Media

Americans assume that the type of internet system we have is the logical, rational one, that companies compete and there's a free enterprise system. Nothing could be further from the truth about internet service provision in the United States today. We have what Harold Feld has called a "cartel". We basically have three enormous companies--Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T--and a few other quasi-enormous companies that have more or less divvied up the market for internet service provision--wireline broadband, like Comcast has with cable, and also smart phone access, like Verizon and AT&T have by dominating the cell phone market. And as a result of having this cartel that these companies have set up, which--you know, these are companies that are not free-market companies; these are companies that were built up entirely by getting government monopoly licenses, government monopoly franchises to do telephone and cable TV services. By setting up this cartel, what we have in America today is Americans pay much more to get cell phone service, much more to get wireline broadband than people do in most other countries, and we get a much lower service.

FCC: Stand Up For Americans Instead Of Ruining The Internet!

May 1, 2014 Chris Ziegler, www.theverge.com Resist! Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality

The internet is fucked, and the US government is making it worse. Political cowardice set the FCC up to lose its first battle for net neutrality regulation: the rules that keep the internet as you know it free and open. The idea of net neutrality is that all traffic is created equal — whether it's a movie streaming from Netflix, or a WhatsApp message, or a Tweet, or a round of Titanfall. But according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the FCC is now considering new rules that tear down the fundamental principle of net neutrality. The proposal would allow profit-hungry behemoths like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon to become gatekeepers that give preferential treatment to companies that pay the most for special access to internet users. "Cowardice and complicity plague the FCC"

Illegitimate Government: Corporate Lawyers Now In Charge At FCC

April 27, 2014 Lee Fang, www.vice.com Educate! illegitimate government, Internet Freedom

The open Internet may soon become a thing of the past. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal dropped something of a bombshell with leaked news that the Federal Communications Commission is planning to abandon so-called “net neutrality” regulations—rules to ensure that Internet providers are prevented from discriminating based on content. Under the new proposed system, companies such as Comcast or Verizon will be able to create a tiered Internet, in which websites will have to pay more money for faster speeds, a change that observers predict will curb free speech, stifle innovation and increase costs for consumers. Like so many problems in American government, the policy shift may relate to the pernicious corruption of the revolving door.

Cities Are Saving Internet By Making It A Public Utility

April 27, 2014 David Morris, www.alternet.org Create! Commons, Internet Freedom

With the announcement by the FCC that cable and telephone companies will be allowed to prioritize access to their customers, only one option remains that can guarantee an open Internet: owning the means of distribution. Thankfully an agency exists for this: local government. Owning the means of distribution is a traditional function of local government. We call our roads and bridges and water and sewer pipe networks public infrastructure for a reason. In the 19th century, local and state governments concluded that the transportation of people and goods was so essential to a modern economy that the key distribution system must be publicly owned. In the 21st century the transportation of information is equally essential.

Brazil’s ‘Internet Bill Of Rights’ A Victory For Web Freedom

April 24, 2014 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Educate! Brazil, Internet Freedom

A landmark law that guarantees equal access to the nation's internet and protects the privacy of users was signed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday, in a move that is being hailed as a historic step for online freedom worldwide. The "Civil Law Marco Internet"—dubbed the Internet Bill of Rights by its supporters—was passed unanimously by Brazil's Senate on Tuesday. Rousseff signed the bill at the launch of the two-day NETmundial conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil. “Internet and freedom are wired together forever," said Michael Freitas Mohallem, Campaign Director at Avaaz, an international organization that collected more than 350,00 signatures in Brazil calling for net neutrality legislation. "Marco Civil is a bill created, championed, and today delivered into law by the people," Freitas Mohallem continued. "This is a truly historical day for people power, with Brazil now leading the world in keeping the net neutral." Sir Tim Berners-Lee, considered the 'Father of the Internet,' hailed the law as "a gift to the web on its 25th birthday."

Internet For The Wealthy On The Way Unless We Stop It

April 24, 2014 Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Organize! Internet, Internet Freedom

In what the New York Times describes as “a net neutrality turnaround” the Obama administration’s new FCC chairman is proposing rules that will create an Internet for the wealthy. The new plan to create a pay to play Internet came to light Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal. Under the plan wealthy corporations will be able to purchase faster service, while those that cannot do so will have slower service. Rather than an open Internet for all the US will be moving to a class-based Internet. Of course, this will mean that when Netflix and other corporations purchase faster Internet, the consumers who use their service will be paying more to watch movies and download information. As a result, more money will be funneled from working Americans to wealthy telecom giants.

Internet A Common Good, That US Is Weakening

April 23, 2014 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Educate! Internet Freedom

On the eve of an international forum on internet governance, efforts by the United States to strip protections for web freedom were exposed on Tuesday as activists blasted the global meet as a "farce," saying the internet is all of our "common good." As representatives from 80 countries headed to Sao Paulo, Brazil on Tuesday for the two-day Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance, or NETmundial, WikiLeaks revealed a draft (pdf) of edits proposed by the U.S. to a set of international guidelines, entitled the "Internet Governance Principles." The principles are meant to guide discussions during the meeting as they purport to set international standards to protect web users worldwide. Among the changes revealed in the leaked State.gov draft, the U.S. delegation recommends stripping the word "equal" from the section on the Open and Distributed Architecture of the web.

Internet Doesn’t Create Movements, Is A Tool

April 20, 2014 Sarah Jaffe, www.inthesetimes.com Strategize! Commons, Finance and the Economy, Internet Freedom

In her new book, The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, out now from Metropolitan Books, Astra Taylor takes on both the techno-utopians and the techno-skeptics, reminding us that the Internet was created by the society we live in and thus is more likely to reflect its problems than transcend them. She delves into questions of labor, culture and, especially, money, reminding us who profits from our supposedly free products. She builds a strong case that in order to understand the problems and potentials of technology, we have to look critically at the market-based society that produced it. Old power dynamics don't just fade away, she points out—they have to be destroyed. That will require political action, struggle, and a vision of how we want the Internet (and the rest of our society) to be. I spoke with Taylor about culture, creativity, the possibility of nationalizing Facebook and more.

India, Turkey Lead In Facebook Censorship; US Tops Data Snooping

April 12, 2014 Staff, www.rt.com Educate! Facebook, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Internet Freedom

According to Facebook’s latest transparency report, India and Turkey are the most frequent censors of the social network, blocking thousands of users’ content, while the US is the country that has requested most information about user accounts. Between July and December 2013, Indian authorities censored 4,765 Facebook posts which allegedly violated Indian laws that forbid criticizing religions or the government. "We restricted access in India to a number of pieces of content reported primarily by law enforcement officials and the India Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) under local laws prohibiting criticism of a religion or the state," Facebook said. In India, a nation of 1.2 billion people, Facebook has over 100 million registered users. Only the US boasts a higher number of FB users.

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