An op-ed by Damian Kulash, Jr., of the band OK Go, appeared in The New York Times today. Just thought I'd pass it along.
- Allison
Showing posts with label Net Neutrality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Net Neutrality. Show all posts
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Why Net Neutrality Matters
This is from Mute Magazine:
by Saskia Sassen
Today the Internet is no longer what it was in the 1970s or 1980s; it has become a contested space with considerable possibilities for segmentation and privatisation. We cannot take its democratic potential as a given simply because of its interconnectivity. And we cannot take its 'seamlessness' as a given simply because of its technical properties. This is a particular moment in the history of digital networks, one when powerful corporate actors and high performance networks are strengthening the role of private digital space and altering the structure of public digital space. Digital space has emerged not simply as a means for communicating, but as a major new theatre for capital accumulation and transference. But civil society is also an increasingly energetic presence in cyberspace. The greater the diversity of cultures and groups, the better for this larger political and civic inhabitation of the Internet, and the more effective the resistance to the risk that the corporate world might set the standards. The Internet has emerged as a powerful medium for non-elites to communicate, support each other's struggles and create the equivalent of insider groups on levels ranging from the local to the global. We are seeing the formation of a whole new world of transnational political and civic projects.
Saskia Sassen is a professor at The University of Chicago. Her latest book is Globalisation and Its Discontents, New York: New Press, 1998
by Saskia Sassen
Today the Internet is no longer what it was in the 1970s or 1980s; it has become a contested space with considerable possibilities for segmentation and privatisation. We cannot take its democratic potential as a given simply because of its interconnectivity. And we cannot take its 'seamlessness' as a given simply because of its technical properties. This is a particular moment in the history of digital networks, one when powerful corporate actors and high performance networks are strengthening the role of private digital space and altering the structure of public digital space. Digital space has emerged not simply as a means for communicating, but as a major new theatre for capital accumulation and transference. But civil society is also an increasingly energetic presence in cyberspace. The greater the diversity of cultures and groups, the better for this larger political and civic inhabitation of the Internet, and the more effective the resistance to the risk that the corporate world might set the standards. The Internet has emerged as a powerful medium for non-elites to communicate, support each other's struggles and create the equivalent of insider groups on levels ranging from the local to the global. We are seeing the formation of a whole new world of transnational political and civic projects.
Saskia Sassen is a professor at The University of Chicago. Her latest book is Globalisation and Its Discontents, New York: New Press, 1998
More on Seat-Warming: Analog Service Denial?
February 28th, 2008 Comcast’s “seat-warming” execs can’t be trusted Posted by Robin Harris @ 7:19 am
Comcast hired dozens of “seat-warmers” that kept others from attending a Monday FCC hearing held at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society meeting room for an FCC hearing. God forbid that the public be seen at a hearing intended to solicit public comment. Then they lied about it.
According to an article in the Washington Post, Comcast acknowledged that it hired an unspecified number of people to fill seats, but said those people gave up their spots when Comcast employees arrived to take their places. Catherine Bracy, administrative manager of Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, disputed that assertion, saying most of the three dozen seat-warmers . . . remained during the event’s opening hours, as many other people were turned away. “No employees came in to take those seats when the event started,” Bracy said. “Put the crack pipe down and take 2 steps back!” Nothing says confidence like hiring people to stack the audience.
Comcast justified its actions, saying "Comcast said it hired seat-holders only after the advocacy group Free Press urged its backers to attend. ...For the past week, the Free Press has engaged in a much more extensive campaign to lobby people to attend the hearing on its behalf,” the company said in a written statement. You haven’t heard of the powerful lobbying group Free Press? Me neither. But they have Comcast shaking in fear. And taking stupid pills by the fistful. Trust Comcast to regulate the Internet? They can’t manage the PR for a public hearing let alone the Internet.
Morons.
The Storage Bits take
Net neutrality means the telcos are common carriers who are not allowed to discriminate against some users. The principle goes back over 150 years to the early days of telegraphy. That this principle is even being debated is a tribute to the power of the telcos and their “seat-warmers” in Congress and the FCC. Comcast can’t be trusted and neither should any other telco.
Robin Harris has been selling and marketing data storage for over 20 years in companies large and small. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Net Neutrality
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