Harold – Page 92 – Wetmachine

Help Stop The Merger Madness

Harold May 26, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

My friends at Free Press have set up this page to file comments opposing the AT&T/BellSouth Merger and the Comcast/Time Warner/Adelphia deal.

I won’t go over old ground again in detail here. You can read why I think the FCC should stop Comcast and Time Warner from dividing up the bankrupt Adelphia cable, the disappointing go ahead from the Federal Trade Commission, and my growing hope that the FCC will impose strong conditions or kill the deal. With a deadline for the companies to walk away from the deal fast approaching, you can help push the FCC to do the right thing.

The GAO Makes the Case for Community Broadband

Harold May 22, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

Not that you would know it either from the headline or the general coverage, but the the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative arm, issued its own report that makes a strong case in favor of community-based broadband and against more regulatory goodies for the incumbent telcos and cable cos. Not that the GOA intended to make that case, and they word their conclusions carefully. But dig down into the actual report and you find a lot of good stuff beyond discrediting the FCC’s rosy numbers on broadband penetration and competition.

National Day of Outrage on COPE/Stevens Bill

Harold May 17, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

As mentioned in the comments on my previous entry, a number of groups are planning on holding a National Day of Outrage against the continued assault by the telco and cable interests against our information infrastructure and free speech rights.

I want to highlight this and encourage folks to click through to the link above to find out how you can participate. Even if it’s just sending one more email or making one more phone call to your Senator or Representative on this issue, it makes a difference to work it together to highlight the issue on May 24.

Stay tuned . . .

Debunking some Telco Disinformation.

Harold May 15, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

Given the success of recent pro-net neutrality videos, it comes as no surprise that the telcos have launched their own. You can watch their cartoon on the Hands Off the Internet website (direct link here).

As one might expect from an org primarily funded by cable and telco groups, it contains a few exagerations, misstatements, obfuscations, and the occassional outright lie. My friends at Mediacitizen have written this rebuttal. Savetheinternet.org has also posted a page on the telco anti-NN cartoon, with a link to this point by point response.

But, for those readers seeking more indepth analysis of just how much nonesense the “dontreghulate.org” cartoon dishes out — combined with the trademark snarkiness you’ve come to expect here at “Tales of the Sausage Factory” — please read below. Takes me back to my old days watching Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Susan Crawford Tells It Like It Is

Harold May 15, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

Must give a shout out to my friend Susan Crawford, who has stuck with the mess-that-is-ICANN long after my patience got exhausted. Susan tells it like it is on ICANN’s rejection of the .XXX TLD proposal.

Outsourcing Big Brother Redux and Network Neutrality

Harold May 12, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

About a year ago, I gave a speech to the ACLU called Outsourcing Big Brother. In it I argued that a big problem with consolidation in the media and telecommuniations industries is that it facilitates a partnership between big government and big business in which we, as citizens, lose.

Yesterday’s revelation in USA Today provides yet another chilling reminder of why we need to embed principles like network neutrality and competition into law, and vigorously defend them if we care about our civil liberties.

As I keep saying, since the telcos and cable cos and others keep wanting to frame it this way, Network Neutrality isn’t AT&T v. Microsoft. Yes, the economics matter, and, as I’ve said before, I think abolishing NN is a disasterous economic policy. But, at the end of the day, I care because it goes to the heart of democracy and self-governance.

More below . . .

Last week in CALEA

Harold May 10, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

(And you thought I’d given up on anything but Net Neutrality, didn’t you?)

So last week proved a busy one for the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). CALEA requires that anyone building a “communications network” build it in such a way that law enforcement agencies (acting pursuant to a proper warrant, of course), can monitor individual sbscribers/users. Last fall, the FCC extended CALEA to include broadband access providers and voice over IP (VOIP) providers. For various reasons, this pissed me off. Meanwhile, a group of folks including the Center for Democracy and Technology and EFF Petitioned the DC Circuit to declare that the FCC had overstepped its statutory bounds in extending CALEA in this way.

Last Wednesday, the FCC issued its Second Order on CALEA, basically affirming the First Order and giving some new details (or at least it will when the text of the Second Order is released). Friday, the FCC defended its First Order in court. Reflections of yr hmbl obdnt below.

Audio and Video Net Neutrality Links

Harold May 10, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

For those following the net neutrality issue, here are a few good links for audio or video (while we still can).

Robert Riech gives mainstream commentary in favor of NN on Marketplace here.

An amusing Halo-themed video infomercial in favor of NN available here.

Public Knowledge has this fairly straightforward “why you should care about NN” video here.

“Ask A Ninja,” which I had never seen before but struck me as downright hysterical, as a pro-NN message here.

Finally, this video montage/commentary clocks in at 6 minutes, but is well worth it if you wants something comprehensive and compelling (plus it has all my friends!). With text on their website here, direct to youtube here.

Please add more to the comments below if you become aware of new ones.

Stay tuned . . . .

My speech at EDUCAUSE Policy Conference

Harold May 4, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

I was delieghted and flattered to be asked to speak at the EDUCAUSE Policy Conference last week. EDUCAUSE represents the Higher Ed community on technology issues. In the last few years, I’ve worked with some amazing folks over there on spectrum policy, CALEA, and now network neutrality.

They read my my speech from the Community Wireless Summit last month and asked me to give something similar to get the crowd warmed up for the policy stuff.

I will eventually write it up more coherently. Until then, you can listen to it here. It clocks in at an hour, although it didn’t feel like it when I was talking (can’t speak for how the audience felt). It covers a number of themes relevant to the Conference, as well as repeating many of the same ideas as the Community Wireless Summit speech.

So if you’ve never met me and always wanted to know what I sound like, enjoy!

Stay tuned . . . .

A Network Neutrality Primer

Harold May 3, 2006 April 26, 2012General, Series of Tubes, Tales of the Sausage Factory

For those just tuning in, Network Neutrality (aka �NN�, becuase every public policy deserves its own acronym) has gone from sleepy tech issue to major policy fight. So I have prepared a rather lengthy primer below for folks who want a deeper understanding of what’s happening (at least as of today, May 3, 2006).