Technology

Barack Obama - Computers - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Health - House of Representatives - Inernet - Technology - Warner Todd Huston

Joe Wilson: Petition to Put Bills On Line for 72 Hours Before House Vote

September 25, 2009 by 4 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

I was part of a small number of bloggers and Internet writers invited to speak with Representative Joe Wilson (R, SC) Friday afternoon. Rep. Wilson wanted to alert us all to a resolution that would provide that all bills that go through the House of Representatives would be posted on the Internet for 72 hours prior to any possibility of a floor vote.

The Resolution is House Res. 554, amending the Rules of the House to require legislation and conference reports to be available on the Internet 72 hours before consideration. If this resolution is approved by the members of the House, all bills — including H.R. 3200, the House Healthcare bill — will be placed on the Internet for all to see for three days before the bill can be voted on.

In an email on this issue Wilson said, “Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have continually rushed major legislation to a vote to ensure little to no public scrutiny. If we succeed, Americans can finally separate fact from fiction.”
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Joe Wilson: Petition to Put Bills On Line for 72 Hours Before House Vote”

Chicago - Computers - Congress - Conservatives - Cook County - Illinois - Inernet - State Government - Technology - Warner Todd Huston

10 Great Events in the Rise of the New Media

September 25, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

WGN talk show host Jerry Agar, a recent member of the Illinois Policy Institute, has an interesting post on 10 events that have put the Internet on the map. These 10 incidents and the Internet’s work fostering the stories that pushed them into national prominence has led to the Internet being considered one of the movers and shakers of both the news cycle and the political scene.

Agar contacted a few of us bloggers and asked us to give him our insight on the idea (myself included) and this is the resulting article.

I look forward to more interaction with Mr. Agar and the IPI with such future projects.

So, go on over to Agar’s piece and give it a look over.

It can be seen at 10 Great Events in the Rise of the New Media.
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10 Great Events in the Rise of the New Media”

Business - Computers - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

Wireless Innovation Regulation — ‘Believe it or Not!’

September 23, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

With due to credit to “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!®,” so much odd and bizarre is happening in Washington in the “name” of “wireless innovation” and competition that the topic calls for its own collection of “Believe it or Not!®” oddities.

Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstom, also the co-founder of illegal-music-downloading site Kazaa, who had to avoid entering the U.S. because of copyright-infringement liability… is now seeking a U.S. court injunction to shut down eBay’s Skype for alleged copyright violations!

Amazon, a leading proponent of net neutrality legislation to ban Internet providers from blocking any content, abruptly removed without permission thousands of copies of George Orwell’s books from Kindle reading devices… just like “Big Brother” would have done in “Nineteen Eighty Four“!
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Wireless Innovation Regulation — ‘Believe it or Not!’”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Congress - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Inernet - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

Googleopoly IV: Monopsony Control over Digital Info Competition — New White Paper

September 21, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

My latest Google antitrust white paper, “Googleopoly IV: The Googleopsony Case,” is the first antitrust analysis which connects-the-dots between Google’s search advertising selling monopoly and Google’s information access buying monopoly or “monopsony” by explaining and documenting how Google is harming competition in digital: news, books, broadcasting, artwork, documents and analytics; and harming consumers seeking quality digital information that is not free.

(Googleopoly I was the first public analysis of why Google ultimately would emerge as a monopoly and Googleopoly II & III were the first public antitrust analyses why the DOJ should block the Google-Yahoo ad agreement, which the DOJ did block 11-5-08.)

Anyone trying to see-the-world-whole and and understand how the Internet’s digital information ecosystem fits together and is devolving– needs to read this white paper.
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Googleopoly IV: Monopsony Control over Digital Info Competition — New White Paper”

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Computers - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

“Systemic Risk Laundering” — Financial Crisis Root Causes — Part II

September 17, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

How could American taxpayers get stuck with a multi-trillion dollar tab that they weren’t even aware that they were running up? How could that huge tab still be allowed to run up unchecked today? For the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the sad answer is one of the biggest root causes of last fall’s devastating financial crisis and one of the biggest continuing systemic risks to the financial system and the economic recovery.

A decade ago, in what may prove to be the most expensive bipartisan legislative mistake in U.S. history, a bipartisan policy became law that effectively ensured that no Federal regulator had oversight or enforcement jurisdiction over derivative financial instruments. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA) created “legal certainty for excluded derivative transactions.” That law allowed a shadow derivative overlay system to be built literally on top of the public financial system, with none of the inherent accountability of the underlying financial system. In other words, a deliberate bipartisan U.S. government policy change a decade ago unwittingly created an unaccountable “black hole” market that sucked enormous value out of public markets (Bear Stearns, Lehman, AIG, Fannie, Freddie, securitized sub-prime mortgages, etc.), while laundering the risk to the U.S. taxpayer.

Simply, in fostering an unaccountable marketplace that derived all its real value from public markets, the Government fostered systemic risk laundering from the unaccountable to the accountable, which ultimately left the U.S. taxpayer holding the bag. More specifically, with no accountability to fairly represent or disclose risk, too many did not. Too many figured out that they could launder huge financial risk with impunity, because most public investors assumed someone somewhere was ensuring that these derivative instruments were fairly represented, disclosed and accountable. Oops!
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“Systemic Risk Laundering” — Financial Crisis Root Causes — Part II”

Computers - Society/Culture - Technology - Warner Todd Huston

WARNING On Mac Snow Leopard Install

September 4, 2009 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

A major problem has arisen for many Snow Leopard installers! Mac has shipped the update for Snow Leopard, System 10.6 and there is something that everyone must know BEFORE you do the update!

Of course, this instal will not work on any Mac that does not have the Intel chip, so that is the first thing to be aware of. But there is a second thing that will screw you up if you aren’t aware of it…

YOUR PRINTER MIGHT NEVER WORK WITH SNOW LEOPARD!

That’s right. Especially if you have an HP printer. First of all, many printers have yet to update their driver lists for Snow Leopard. But HP, for one, has announced they will NOT be updating the driver for most of their printers, especially the older ones.

Here is the helpful, helpful message on the HP site:

We are sorry to inform you that there will be no Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) support available for your HP product. Therefore your product will not work with Mac OS X 10.6.

And HP is helpfully suggesting you buy a new printer to solve this dilemma.

Isn’t that nice of them? Offering for you to buy a new printer like that?

I mean, come on. How much effort is it to create a driver update? Jeeze, they do it for stinkin’ Microsoft every third day of the week!

So, you must check the website of the company that made your printer and see about a printer driver update BEFORE you install Snow Leopard. You may have to buy a new printer if you have an HP printer. So, be advised.

Unfortunately, I just found this all out the hard way.

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Inernet - Liberals - Media Bias - Scott Cleland - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

Top Ten Pitfalls of Wireless Innovation Regulation

September 1, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Scott Cleland

Analysis of the potential pitfalls of wireless innovation regulation is a necessary complement to the FCC’s upcoming Notice of Inquiries into wireless competition/innovation and the DOJ’s review of wireless competition in order to ensure policymakers get a balanced view of the big picture.

What are the Top 10 Pitfalls of Wireless Innovation Regulation?

#1 Pitfall: Losing focus on universal broadband access

“Wireless innovation” appears to be the latest rebranding iteration of “net neutrality” and “open Internet” as the net neutrality movement searches for more mainstream support of their views.
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Top Ten Pitfalls of Wireless Innovation Regulation”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

Why proposed net neutrality bill is the most extreme yet

August 20, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

While the latest net neutrality bill introduced in Congress has no chance of passage as drafted, it is a bay window view into how extreme the net neutrality movement has become and what they are seeking from the FCC via backdoor regulation.

The proposed Markey-Eshoo bill, HR 3458, which was drafted in close coordination with FreePress and the Open Internet Coalition, is much more extreme than previous bills in 2008 and 2006.

Why is this bill the most extreme version of net neutrality yet?

First, it is a completely unworkable framework.
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Why proposed net neutrality bill is the most extreme yet”

Barack Obama - Business - Communism - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Inernet - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Scott Cleland - Security/Safety - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

A Maslow “Hierarchy of Internet Needs”? — Will there be

August 5, 2009 by

-By Scott ClelandInternet priorities or a priority-less Internet?

A central policy question concerning the future of the Internet, cloud computing and the National Broadband Plan is whether there should be Internet priorities or a priority-less Internet?

The crux of the grand conflict over the direction of Internet policy is that proponents of a mandated neutral/open Internet insist that only users can prioritize Internet traffic, not any other entity.

To grasp the inherent problem and impracticality with a mandated neutral or priority-less Internet, it is helpful to ask if the Internet, which is comprised of hundreds of millions of individual users, has a mutual “hierarchy of needs,” just like individuals have a “hierarchy of needs,” per Maslow’s famed, common sense “Hierarchy of Needs” theory.

Briefly, renowned psychologist, Abraham Maslow, devised his common sense “Hierarchy of Needs” to explain inherent human priorities, i.e. that some human needs are more important or urgent than others.
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A Maslow “Hierarchy of Internet Needs”? — Will there be”

Anti-Americanism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

Defining the Problem(s) is the Crux of the National Broadband Plan

July 29, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

FCC Broadband Coordinator Blair Levin described the crux of the National Broadband Plan in testifying before the Commission 7-02 as “identifying where there are currently ‘demonstrable public interest harms.'” That central task is essentially defining the problem(s) and is necessary to complete the last task of the plan: “identifying ways to lessen those public interest harms,” or recommending solutions. Defining the problem largely defines the range of recommended solutions.

The plural use of “harms” here suggests that the Plan could end up “identifying” more problems than the obvious core problem prompting the Plan — that not “all people of the United States have access to broadband capability.”

Levin’s choice of a classic organizational structure, background-problem-solution, is a wise, useful and simplifying approach for such an exceedingly complex endeavor.
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Defining the Problem(s) is the Crux of the National Broadband Plan”

Congress - Economy/Finances - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

What’s the Broadband Plan Implementation Vision? Affirming Competition Policy? or The “Retro-genda?”

July 23, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

At core, Congress has asked the FCC to recommend to Congress HOW “to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability.” Arguably, the FCC’s main “fork-in-the-road” decision in developing its National Broadband Plan is whether to recommend to Congress to Re-affirm the current competition vision/law/precedent for broadband policy and build upon the strong foundation and momentum of facilities-based competition in the marketplace? or Design the more Government-centered broadband ecosystem policy recommended most prominently by FreePress /Open Internet Coalition members and rebuild the common carrier regulation regime of the twentieth century?

What engine of choice will the FCC recommend to Congress: Competitive forces and private investment? or Government forces and taxpayer money?  

In other words, will the FCC: Affirm a competitive broadband ecosystem where consumers vote with their wallets about which innovations, technologies and companies succeed or fail on the merits? or Endorse a regulatory broadband ecosystem where regulators largely pre-determine which innovations, technologies and companies will be favored and, hence, win or lose?
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What’s the Broadband Plan Implementation Vision? Affirming Competition Policy? or The “Retro-genda?””

Inernet - Technology - Warner Todd Huston

Where Have I Been? In Computer Purgatory, That’s Where!

July 20, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Frequent visitors to Pubius’ Forum will have noticed that not a whole lot new has been posted here for the last several days. Well, the reason is contained in the photo above… and it’s good and bad news.

First the bad. The bad is over — which is also the good news — but the reason we have had few new posts is because I just purchased a brand new 24″ imac computer and I just spent the last two days transferring files and programs from my old, old, old G4 Mac to the new one, updating programs, and downloading replacement third party apps to get back up and rolling again. I have done this twice before and t is always an ordeal. It’s an ordeal because I always wait until my old Mac is so hopelessly out of date that it no longer works at all.

My original Mac was a 6200 and I used that old clunker all the way until the year 1998. I went from the 6200 straight to a G3. The two were in few ways compatible. So, I had to transfer everything one at a time and painstakingly. This was a big jump, too, because every single program I was so used to using on the 6200 had been radically upgraded by the time of the G3 or even discontinued. So that the change over was a major disorientation causing me to completely overhaul my working habits.

The next Mac, the G3, I used until 2003. It was a dream compared to the 6200… once I got used to it. The speed was amazing to me with the big jump. After all, from the 6200 running system 7.5.5 Mac had gone all the way to system 10 by the time of the first G3s. Night and day, for sure.

Then I bought a used G4 and have been using that ever since 2003. Of course, the jump between the G3 and G4 was not a big deal user-wise. But, I still had to transfer everything by hand and it was a two day ordeal. It took at least two days that time, too. The G4 has gotten to the point where I cannot even run Firefox effectively any more. I can’t even upgrade Internet applications because the G4 is just too far out of date. Even YouTube wasn’t running right any more. Oh, my applications were running great, but if I couldn’t use the web effectively enough to post stuff… what good was it?

Well, Saturday I finally broke down and got the 24″ imac… and broke it’s made me. I had to get a loan against my stinkin’ 401K to even do it! Naturally it’s another two day ordeal. It just takes so much stinking time to arrange things to a familiar work space, downloading programs, registering everything, etc., etc. It has so consumed me that all day Saturday I forgot to eat!! I was all so centered on arranging my work space, playing around organizing cables under the desk, going out buying firewire cables so I could network the G4 and imac, etc., etc. It just took a ton of time.

So, the upshot is that I missed everything in the news for the last two days trying to get this all arranged and set so I could get back in business. And I still have to load Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, and a few other apps. But, I’ve already been perusing the net and whatnot with the imac and it is screamin’ fast. I am quite happy with it. Oh, and, yes, I use a dual screen set up, so the second screen to the right of the imac is connected to the imac as well. You can see my set up in the main picture above. Not only that, but I’ve succeeded in setting up a Mac to Mac network over firewire and the third screen to the left is my old G4 hooked up to a flat screen TV set via a VGA connection. So, that means I don’t have to buy Photoshop all over again for the new imac! That’ll save a ton of cash. Now if only I could figure out how to get the Internet on the G4 through the firewire. I swear it should be possible, but I am missing SOME setting or another.

Now to fill out all the paperwork to get the various rebates… sigh.

And NEXT I have to update my PC laptop from XP to Vista. Arrrrgh.

So. Does anyone want to buy a Zip drive and a bunch of discs? How about Disc Warrior? Want it? I have a Diablo game that I don’t have anything to play it anymore. So much junk computer stuff laying around I can’t believe it.

Business - Congress - Economy/Finances - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

What Do Broadband Stimulus Decisions Signal about Future Broadband & Net Neutrality Policy?

July 16, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

What do the Administration’s new “NOFA” guidelines, which implement the $7.2b broadband stimulus package, tell us about the trajectory for broadband and net neutrality policy going forward?

If one listened to just the public comments of net neutrality proponents one would miss a lot of important substance and clues about where broadband and net neutrality policy may be going, given that these new grant guidelines/conditions are the first major official broadband guidance stemming from the new Congress and the new Administration.

What do we know now that we didn’t know before the release of the NOFA guidelines?
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What Do Broadband Stimulus Decisions Signal about Future Broadband & Net Neutrality Policy?”

Congress - Google - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Technology

Handset Exclusives Drive Growth & Broadband Adoption

July 8, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

Why regulate tech/computer sales?

Handset marketing exclusives are a pro-competitive wellspring of wireless growth and broadband adoption. Marketing exclusives are also a legitimate, proven and widespread marketing practice that marshals maximum marketing resources for selected, potentially-hot-new-products in order to drive maximum sales and adoption.

Pro-regulation proposals calling for the FCC to ban smartphone/netbook marketing exclusives are unnecessary, and would also be highly counter-productive as they would undermine the Government’s important goals of stimulating the economy and promoting broadband adoption.
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Handset Exclusives Drive Growth & Broadband Adoption”

Democrats/Leftists - Inernet - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Society/Culture - Technology - Warner Todd Huston

What Passes for ‘Journalism’ At HuffPo Isn’t

July 3, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

If you listen to the blabbers and gossipers, the Huffington Post is the talk of the town. It is claimed that Arianna Huffington’s “success” is the “new journalism,” the future of the news. TechNewsWorld proclaimed it “appropriate” that Huffington appeared in the YouTube series on journalism apparently because she personifies it. The New York Times celebrated HuffPo as “hybrid journalism” for its Iran coverage. Jeff Jarvis of The Guardian claims that Arianna is “saving journalism.” She was even just awarded the Fred Dressler Lifetime Achievement Award in journalism from Syracuse University. She even testified before a Congressional committee on journalism. And the list of accolades goes on.

But, what sort of “journalism” does Huffington Post represent? Is it the well researched sort with multiple links, named sources, or other such common journalistic practices? Most often no. In fact, those that write for Huffington Post rarely even bother with the normal journalistic practices of research, attribution, or the habit of having more than one source. Sadly, the largest bulk of what Huffington writers do is merely opine whether they have sourced information or not. And more often than not they do so from the extreme left-wing perspective.

Huffington Post is not “journalism.” It’s really just that simple.

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What Passes for ‘Journalism’ At HuffPo Isn’t”

Anti-Americanism - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Free Speech - Google - Inernet - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston - YouTube

YouTube’s ‘How To’ on Citizen Journalism Filled With Lefty Media Types, No Conservatives

July 1, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Apparently, YouTube doesn’t think that a conservative journalist has anything to say to help all you budding citizen journalists out there. A glance at the denizens of the Old Media offered up as journalism experts on the Internet video giant will show a long list of well known lefties with not a single center or center right professional in the mix.

On April 30, YouTube set up a channel dedicated to a sort of how-to instruction manual or an online media 101 class that folks interested in becoming citizen journalists can watch to help them learn some of the tricks of the Media trade. Ostensibly, this will help the average, every day blogger present his work in a more professional way. This is a great idea, by the way. Many blogs could use some tips on better writing and presentation, interview skills, and video presentation if not an occasional editor — and I should know on that last one!

But it seems that no one that represents the center-right in the world of journalism seems to qualify as an expert as far as Google’s YouTube is concerned. Going to the main page will reveal a whole bunch of lefty jurnos offering you their help. Not only do we get the advice from the heavily left-slanted Chris Cillizza, NPR or Katie Couric, but YouTube even offers “advice” from AlJazeera’s Riz Kahn, for Pete’s sake!

Imagine, AlJeazeera on journalistic professionalism!

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YouTube’s ‘How To’ on Citizen Journalism Filled With Lefty Media Types, No Conservatives”

Business - Congress - Economy/Finances - Inernet - Liberals - Science - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

What If Columbo Investigated Special Access?

June 28, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

A new coalition of some struggling broadband competitors, NoChokePoints.org, is making claims that the “special access” market is being “choked” by lack of competition and is urging the FCC to reverse course and regulate lower prices for these competitors.

“Special access” is basically the business-to-business leasing market of the copper wire connections that link many buildings and cell towers to the Internet backbone at DS1 (1.5 Mbs) and DS3 (44.7 Mbs) speeds.

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What If Columbo Investigated Special Access?”

Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Technology

My House Internet Privacy Testimony — ‘a consumer-driven, technology/competition neutral privacy framework’

June 21, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Scott Cleland

Today I testified before a Joint House Subcommittee hearing of the Energy & Commerce Committee on “The Potential Privacy Implications of Behavioral Advertising.”

A one-page summary is below and the full testimony is here.

Summary Testimony of Scott Cleland, President, Precursor LLC

“Why A Consumer-Driven, Technology/Competition-Neutral, Privacy Framework Is Superior to a Default ‘Finders Keepers Losers Weepers’ Privacy Framework”

Before the Joint House Energy & Commerce Hearing on Behavioral Advertising, June 18, 2009
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My House Internet Privacy Testimony — ‘a consumer-driven, technology/competition neutral privacy framework’”

Budget - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

Indexing into the Ditch — Financial Crisis Root Causes — Part I

June 17, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

Despite the widely held view that indexing is the safest way to invest, indexing helped recklessly drive our financial system and economy into the ditch last fall.

While there’s consensus the financial crisis warrants “new rules of the road” and better policing to protect against systemic risk, all the rules and oversight in the world can’t keep us out of the ditch in the future if index vehicles continue to drive the wrong way against oncoming traffic.

And “stress testing” whether bank vehicles can survive head-on crashes, completely misses the point that indexers should not be driving the wrong way on the freeway.

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Indexing into the Ditch — Financial Crisis Root Causes — Part I”

Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

The National Broadband Plan “Fork-in-the-Road”

June 15, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

A scan of the major comments just delivered to the FCC on the National Broadband Plan (which is due to Congress February 2010), spotlighted the big broadband policy “fork-in-the-road” decision that the FCC now has before it.

One road of the fork-in-the-road continues down the road of: Promoting facilities-based competition;Encouraging private investment in a wide diversity of technologies; and Facilitating a cooperative public-private partnership to address unserved broadband areas and lagging adoption of widely available broadband.
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The National Broadband Plan “Fork-in-the-Road””

Book Reviews - Economy/Finances - Education - Media Bias - Nancy Salvato - Society/Culture - Technology

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

June 14, 2009 by

-By Nancy Salvato

General Motors recently filed for bankruptcy. Mark Steyn writes in National Review, “GM has about 95,000 workers but provides health benefits to a million people: It’s not a business enterprise, but a vast welfare plan with a tiny loss-making commercial sector. As GM goes, so goes America?” Fortunately, maybe this is not the case. Arnold Schwarzenegger, faced with a $24 million budget deficit, has “terminated” textbooks and is embracing digital booksProject Gutenberg. I’m just finishing “John Marshall and the Constitution; a Chronicle of the Supreme Court by Corwin”, an excellent read. The nicest feature on the device is that it allows me to bookmark or highlight while I’m reading. I can send my research to my email and use it when I write my commentaries. I have been wondering when a version of the Kindle will be adapted in the schools.
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Necessity is the Mother of Invention”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Google - History - Liberals - Media Bias - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

On D-Day Anniversary, Google Memorializes… Tetris?

June 6, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

It was June 6, 1944 that the crucial Normandy Landings occurred that formed the spearhead of the Allied invasion of Nazi held Europe. D-Day ultimately led to the victory of the Allies over the despotic Nazi regime. Now here we are on June 6, 2009 and, in its inimitable way, Google has decided to memorialize the important occasion by adding an image on its homepage depicting… the computer game Tetris.

Yes, it’s far more important to Google to celebrate the anniversary of the invention of the video game Tetris than to memorialize D-Day. It just warms the heart, doesn’t it?

I have to say, though, that this is no departure for Google, a firm that finds it nearly impossible to post images celebrating any American holidays or important milestones in American history. So, what we have here is just one more example of Google’s essentially anti-American policies.

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On D-Day Anniversary, Google Memorializes… Tetris?”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Censorship - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Speech - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Scott Cleland - Security/Safety - Socialism - Society/Culture - Technology

Why New WH Cybersecurity Focus is a Game-Changer — for the Internet and Net Neutrality

June 6, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

President Obama’s new approach to cybersecurity likely is more of an Internet game-changer than many appreciate. Initial reporting and commentary has been superficial and has not connected dots or analyzed the broader logical implications of this new policy emphasis and trajectory.

Why is it a game-changer for the Internet?

  • First, it formalizes a new leading priority for the Internet.
  • Second, it formalizes the lack of cybersecurity as the Internet’s leading problem.
  • Third, it practically redefines what “open Internet” means.
  • Fourth, it practically takes any extreme form of net neutrality off the table.

Moreover, the new cybersecurity focus will likely have a practical effect on the trajectory of Internet 3.0, which embodies cloud computing (where security has not been a primary priority by many); the Mobile web (where security has always been a very high priority); and the Internet of Things (where security will be imperative to prevent theft, intrusion, and sabotage).

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Why New WH Cybersecurity Focus is a Game-Changer — for the Internet and Net Neutrality”

Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

EC declares “no need for State intervention” in broadband duopoly

June 3, 2009 by

…because there’s no market failure

-By Scott Cleland

In a significant blow to U.S. advocates of Government-mandated open access networks — over facilities-based broadband network competition — the European Commission (EC) just declared “no need for State intervention” in geographic zones where there are at least two facilities-based broadband network competitors, because that means “there is no market failure.”

The EC made the declaration in its just-released report: “Community Guidelines for the application of State aid rules in relation to rapid deployment of broadband networks.” This is the EC guidance for spending economic stimulus funds for promoting broadband.

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EC declares “no need for State intervention” in broadband duopoly”

Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

Latest Data: US No Longer Falling Behind on Broadband

May 26, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

The latest data from the OECD and other sources indicate that the U.S. is no longer falling behind the rest of the world in broadband.

These latest data are relevant to assumptions underlying the FCC’s National Broadband Strategy due to Congress next February and also to broadband policymakers’ interest in more data-driven policymaking.

In particular, the OECD broadband rankings have been prominently cited by some as important evidence to justify a reversal of current facilities-based broadband competition policy, in favor of a more government-centered broadband policy.
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Latest Data: US No Longer Falling Behind on Broadband”

Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Jobs - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

Why the Australian “Fiber Mae” Broadband Model Doesn’t Work for the U.S.

May 18, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

As the FCC lays the groundwork for its submission of a National Broadband Strategy to Congress next February, some suggest the U.S. follow the lead of Australia’s new broadband policy model. While it may have superficial and nostalgic appeal to some, upon close scrutiny and analysis it is not an applicable, practical nor sound broadband policy option for the United States for a variety of reasons. The Australian “Fiber Mae” broadband policy model is:

  • Not applicable to the U.S. because the ownership and competitive baselines in Australia and the U.S. are not analogous;
  • Not practical for the U.S. because it is a hugely expensive proposal in an exceedingly tight budget/financial environment that would generate very little incremental additional benefit over the current competitive trajectory; and
  • Not sound policy for the U.S. because it pursues the wrong policy emphasis and structure, which could have the perverse result of the U.S. falling behind in broadband leadership — the exact opposite of the intended result.

By way of background, the Australian government announced last month that it would establish “a new company to build and operate a new super-fast National Broadband Network.” The proposal would deploy fiber to the home to 90% of users with 100 Mbs, and deploy 12 Mbs wireless technology to the remaining 10% of the country, at an estimated total cost of ~$31b or ~$4,100 per home passed. This government-sponsored enterprise would be majority-owned by the Australian government. It would create “Australia’s first national wholesale only, open access broadband network.”
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Why the Australian “Fiber Mae” Broadband Model Doesn’t Work for the U.S.”

Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Liberals - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

The Broader Implications of DOJ’s Book Settlement Investigation

May 5, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

The DOJ investigation of the Google Book Settlement suggests that a broader antitrust spotlight may be returning to Google.

Apparently the DOJ is investigating whether the Book Settlement sets a competitive or anti-competitive trajectory for the search of digitized books, and of “orphan” works in particular.

Google argues the settlement is pro-competitive and increases access to books.

The DOJ’s antitrust investigative scrutiny suggests otherwise.
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The Broader Implications of DOJ’s Book Settlement Investigation”

Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

Implications of Skype’s IPO for eBay-Skype & Wireless Net Neutrality

April 22, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

Given that eBay’s announced spin-off/IPO of Skype in 2010 is a material market event, this high-profile IPO represents a potentially tectonic development in eBay-Skype’s (and FreePress‘) push for wireless net neutrality/Carterfone regulations and applying the FCC’s broadband principles to wireless providers for the first time. There are much broader implications of this market development than many appreciate.

Some brief background information is helpful to understand the broader implications:

Reports suggest that eBay’s plans for a public IPO in 2010 are a result of eBay not being able to get a high enough private market price ($1.7b) for Skype and the fact that current market conditions are not ripe for initial public offerings. (eBay originally paid $2.6b for Skype and added an additional $500m later, then subsequently wrote down $1.4b of Skype’s value.)
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Implications of Skype’s IPO for eBay-Skype & Wireless Net Neutrality”

Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Liberals - Media Bias - Scott Cleland - Socialism - Society/Culture - Technology

Skype’s Anti-competitive Uneconomics

April 11, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

There are two primary problems with eBay-Skype’s attempt to get the Government to force competitive wireless providers to carry Skype’s free communications app under the guise of wireless net neutrality and Internet openness: first, it is wildly uneconomic, and second, it is anti-competitive.

The issue has surfaced in the news (USAToday, WSJ) as Apple enabled a Skype app on the iPhone for use on free public WiFi networks, but not on the iphone’s commercial network provided by AT&T; and again when Google’s Android banned a tethering app because it violated T-Mobile’s terms of service as reported by CNET.
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Skype’s Anti-competitive Uneconomics”

Business - Censorship - Congress - Crime - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Jobs - Liberals - Media Bias - Scott Cleland - Socialism - Taxes - Technology

Building upon a Strong Broadband Foundation — Part I in America’s Broadband Strengths Series

April 4, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

The combination of the severe recession and Congress’ requirement for the FCC to devise a National Broadband Strategy provides an excellent opportunity to inventory not only weaknesses, but also the many strengths, of the broadband sector and economy. Comprehensive analysis shows much that is going well that mustn’t be taken for granted in any new broadband plans. Unlike many other sectors of the economy, the American broadband sector is:

  • An exceptionally strong foundation to build upon;
  • On the right track with much positive momentum; and
  • Partnering to solve many of society’s most pressing problems.

I. Strong Foundation to Build Upon

America’s competitive broadband market has an exceptionally strong foundation of positives on which to build upon, enhance, expand and supplement.
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Building upon a Strong Broadband Foundation — Part I in America’s Broadband Strengths Series”