The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected attempts by three telecom companies to block shareholder votes on whether they should commit to net neutrality principles

17 02 2012

When freedom of information and net neutrality cost money…

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/250035/sec_denies_carrier_attempts_to_block_shareholder_net_neutrality_votes.html





You gotta fight for your right … to net neutrality

17 02 2012

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/17/beasties_fight_net_goodfight/





Ed Vaizey Reschedules Net Neutrality Meet as ITSPA Slams Mobile VoIP Blocks

26 01 2012

The Internet Telephony Services Providers’ Association (ITSPA), a trade body that represents UK based network operators, has released a new review that slams three of the country’s five Mobile Network Operators (MNO) for using Terms and Conditions (T&C’s) that “prohibit the use of VoIP and other streaming services in a substantial number of their tariffs“.

ITSPA’s review – ‘VoIP and Mobile Network Operators‘ – highlights Vodafone , T-Mobile and Orange as being the worst offenders. However the group was still able to make successful over-the-top VoIP (e.g. Google Voice, Skype) calls on almost all UK networks, once the right package was found, with the exception of T-Mobile.

In reality many mobile operators are keen to defend their lucrative voice calls and as a result Skype is often seen as a rival. On the other hand.. Skype isn’t a data hog like video streaming but it can still gobble up capacity over longer periods of use.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2012/01/26/ed-vaizey-reschedules-net-neutrality-meet-as-itspa-slams-mobile-voip-blocks.html





Report Claims ISPs in 14 EU States Impose Unfair Internet Access Restrictions

21 01 2012

ISPs that account for the majority of the EU population have been found to violate “their users’ freedom of communication by blocking or throttling specific content, applications or services available on the Internet“.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2012/01/21/report-claims-isps-in-14-eu-states-impose-unfair-internet-access-restrictions.html





EU: Council of Ministers pushes Net Neutrality

15 12 2011

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2011/12/14/council_of_europe_pushes_net_neutrality





UPD Ofcom Sets Out Soft Traffic Management and Net Neutrality Rules for UK ISPs

26 11 2011

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2011/11/24/ofcom-sets-out-soft-traffic-management-and-net-neutrality-rules-for-uk-isps.html





Today the European Parliament adopted a resolution on net neutrality at a European level. The resolution is adopted with an overwhelming majority of votes and calls on the European Commission to introduce net neutrality legislation

17 11 2011

http://www.futureofcopyright.com/home/blog-post/2011/11/17/european-parliament-votes-on-european-net-neutrality.html





Senate votes down anti-Net Neutrality resolution

10 11 2011

The US Senate has decided the Federal Communications Commission’s Net Neutrality rules are OK after all. Senators voted down S.J. Res 6 (“Disapproval of Federal Communications Commission Rule Regulating the Internet and Broadband Industry Practices”) which criticized the FCC’s rules, 52-46 on Thursday morning. President Obama had threatened to veto the resolution had it landed on his desk.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/senate-votes-down-anti-net-neutrality-resolution.ars





President Obama Pledges to Veto Anti-Net Neutrality Legislation

9 11 2011

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/obama-pledges-net-neutrality-veto/





US Senate Set to Vote on Neutering Net Neutrality

8 11 2011

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/senate-net-neutrality-rebuff/





New EU laws on net neutrality may be necessary to stop internet service providers (ISPs) from infringing individuals’ data protection and privacy rights, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has said

13 10 2011

Peter Hustinx said that EU telecoms regulators should monitor whether ISPs are complying with EU data protection and privacy laws when managing communications across their networks.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/13/isps_traffic_managemnet_may_breach_european_net_neutrality_rules/





ISPs must be honest to keep net neutrality alive, say watchdogs – Being transparent is now a good thing

8 10 2011

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/07/isp_be_honest/





Congressional Anti-Internet Freedom Bills

4 10 2011

Net Neutrality is the last frontier of press freedom. With it, consumers have open access to an array of equipment, content, applications and service, free from corporate control. Public interest groups want it preserved. Giant telecom and cable companies want control to:

  • establish toll roads, or premium lanes;
  • charge extra for speed and free and easy access;
  • control content to stifle dissent and independent thought;
  • co-opt this essential public space for profit; and
  • subvert digital and political democracy.

As a candidate, Barack Obama promised to “(s)upport the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet.”

Obama made lots of promises he broke, notably not delivering promised change. Instead, he’s been the standard bearer for corrupt political/business as usual, elevating it to more extreme levels at home and abroad.

More:
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/10/04/congressional-anti-internet-freedom-bill





#OccupyWallStreet demonstrates that there are many ways to intentionally, accidentally or unconsciously but automatically disrupt the free flow of information

3 10 2011

Those who disrupt the free flow of information in our society or any other pose a threat to our economy, our government, and our civil society. Remarks on Internet Freedom – Hillary Rodham Clinton, January 21, 2010

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135519.htm

Events that could occur:

  1. Spam algorithms blocking e-mails containing certain references;
  2. Video distribution algorithms arguing that spam, copyright or other policies have been violated and removing content;
  3. Video distribution algorithms turning off the option to have third parties embed videos on their sites;
  4. Video distribution algorithms arguing that ‘the user’ has removed content or that his account has been terminated for some reason;
  5. Trending and ranking algorithms forgetting to trend and rank certain content;
  6. Content, websites and blogs accidentally being taken down “due to an automated process;”
  7. Network  algorithms stating “The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request. Please try again in 30 seconds. That’s all we know;”
  8. Algorithms deciding that posted content should only be showing up to the person who posted it;
  9. Algorithms accidentally polluting search indices with an abundance of irrelevant search results;
  10. Algorithms stating that there was a content delivery failure for whatever reason;
  11. Algorithms redirecting internet users from the content the user intended to visit to content that is probably much more to the user’s liking.

Seemingly mundane technical specifications of Internet routers and social-networking software platforms have powerful political implications. In virtual realms, programmers essentially set the laws of physics, or at least the rules of interaction, for their cyberspaces. If it sometimes seems that media pundits treat Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg or Apple’s Steve Jobs as gods, that’s because in a sense they are—sitting on Mount Olympus with the power to hurl digital thunderbolts with a worldwide impact on people.

Instead of just complaining, many of those heading to New York next month believe they can build alternatives that reduce the power of those virtual deities and give more control to mere mortals.

Instead of simply removing critical content causing all kinds of public outrage and civil disorder, it’s probably much more effective to have people believe that either it has been taken down accidentally, that it’s still out there somewhere but couldn’t reach its destination due to a technical malfunction, or that people are just not that interested in the message.

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7BIX3jGrQI
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2011/09/internet-censorship-of-occupy-wall-street.html
http://censorshipinamerica.com/2011/09/29/occupy-wall-street-fighting-bankster-greed-and-the-surveillance-state/
http://pinkofred.tumblr.com/post/10328337065/facebook-censoring-occupy-wall-street-links

http://www.disinfo.com/2011/09/police-continue-crackdown-on-wall-street-facebook-users-allege-censorship/
http://ampedstatus.org/twittercensorship-blocks-occupywallstreet-from-top-trending-topic-twice/
http://www.straight.com/article-465356/vancouver/yahoo-accidentally-blocks-protesters-emails-apologizes

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/09/statement-from-activist-post-regarding.html

 

Previously:
It’s the algorithm, stupid! Do algorithms offer the ultimate grounds for exoneration? Can they fail, or only the people writing them?
http://vrritti.com/2011/09/30/its-the-algorithm-stupid-do-algorithms-offer-the-ultimate-grounds-for-exoneration-can-they-fail-or-only-the-people-writing-them/

 





Civil Society Groups Launch Site to Track Net Neutrality Abuses by Telecom Firms

23 09 2011

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2011/09/23/civil-society-groups-launch-site-to-track-net-neutrality-abuse-by-eu-telecom-firms.html





US net neutrality rules finalized, in effect November 20 – But the plan will likely be derailed by lawsuits

22 09 2011

With tomorrow’s printing in the Federal Register, the litigation floodgates will be thrown open and and complaints about the government overstepping its authority can start pouring in.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/09/us-net-neutrality-rules-finalized-in-effect-november-20.ars





FCC introduces net neutrality rules in the US

14 09 2011

http://www.futureofcopyright.com/home/blog-post/2011/09/13/fcc-introduces-net-neutrality-rules-in-the-us.html





Sarkozy Routes Around Parliament, Ditches Net Neutrality, Forces Copyright Clauses Into All ISP Terms Of Service

8 09 2011

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110906/14595315829/sarkozy-routes-around-parliament-ditches-net-neutrality-forces-copyright-clauses-into-all-isp-terms-service.shtml





Belgium preparing Net Neutrality legislation

8 09 2011

Dutch language news article:
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/76646/belgie-krijgt-waarschijnlijk-wet-op-netneutraliteit.html





Dutch ISP KPN will continue to apply Deep Packet Inspection technologies. “One can make misuse of it just like there are so many things one can misuse. We are not a rogue state and not a rogue company. DPI is just a technology which is in use by every other operator in the world so we will use it too”

20 07 2011

Dutch language article: http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/107347/telco-s-blijven-deep-packet-inspection-gebruiken-.html





The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has released a major report on Internet freedom, one that calls all 56 OSCE states to implement net neutrality, make Internet access a human right, and stop all “three strikes” Internet disconnections

19 07 2011

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/yet-another-report-internet-disconnections-a-disproportionate-penalty.ars





The cost of Net Neutrality

19 07 2011

Dutch language news articles:
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/75699/kpn-introduceert-nieuwe-abonnementen-en-verlaagt-smartphonekorting.html
http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/2011/07/nieuwe_abonnementsvorm_kpn_sup.html





Dutch Telecom Regulator OPTA: Dutch providers KPN, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Tele2 may have broken the law by applying Deep Packet Inspection technologies. The companies have “accessed more information than is strictly necessary for managing internet traffic”

1 07 2011

Dutch language news article: http://www.nu.nl/internet/2553394/providers-overtreden-mogelijk-wet-bij-monitoren-internetverkeer.html





Attempt At Dutch ISP Filtering Results In Net Neutrality Law

27 06 2011

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110624/03121714838/as-predicted-attempt-dutch-isp-filtering-results-net-neutrality-law.shtml





Amendments to Dutch Telecom law codify net neutrality and restrict the use of cookies

24 06 2011

http://www.futureofcopyright.com/nc/home/blog-post/2011/06/22/amendments-to-dutch-telecom-law-codify-net-neutrality-and-restrict-the-use-of-cookies.html








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