Net body issues plea for liberty
517227
Net overseer Icann says it has completed work to become a body that can act free of government control.
615126
A proposed law would require companies to keep detailed data about peopleâs Internet and phone use.
316887
"Net neutrality" is a technical concept that has protected online freedom. It's essentially the First Amendment for the Internet - allowing Web users to go where they want and do what they please online.
80654
New York City employee pension funds are calling on two top Internet companies to do more to protect free speech in repressive countries, joining a year-old campaign by human rights groups.
433227
LONDON, Oct 16  (IPS) - An information rights activist has warned against  the growing power of the  "landlords" of cyberspace.
8465
Civil liberties groups urge Congress to reject telecom immunity for a U.S. surveillance program.
109000
You the jury The availability of gore and violence on the internet has prompted the UK Government to consider backing a campaign to encourage wider awareness and use of net-filtering software.â¦
514513
Saudi pro-reform activists say they are seeking signatures online to back their campaign for free elections.
39787
Federal officials are trying to prosecute operators of Web sites that recruit terrorists, raising alarms among civil libertarians.
220101
The ACLU files Freedom of Information Act requests to find out why antiterrorism task forces have been monitoring activists. By Ryan Singel.
370903
Civil liberties advocates urged a White House privacy board Tuesday to aggressively review the government's warrantless surveillance program, even as they questioned whether it has the power to do so.
384834
(InfoWorld) - Hundreds of groups and individual Internet users sounded off to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Â on net neutrality in comments filed Monday, the deadline for responding to the agency's inquiry into the proposed regulation. Individual Internet users, trade groups, and advocacy organizations filed about 670 comments about net neutrality rules with the FCC Monday. Individuals and organizations have submitted nearly 29,000 comments on net neutrality since the FCC opened its inquiry in late March. Net neutrality advocates want the FCC or the U.S. Congress to prohibit large broadband providers like AT&TÂ and Comcast from blocking or slowing Web content from competitors. Many of the comments Monday came from individual Internet users who asked the FCC to protect them against new fees that they fear broadband providers could charge Web content providers. "Keep the corporations off our rights," wrote Internet user Jack McFarley of Washington state in an e-mail that was part form letter. "Net neutrality is essential to free speech, equal opportunity, and economic innovation in America." Bonnie Bennett of California seemed to take a more individual approach in her e-mail to the FCC. "Free, unlimited access to the Internet is the modern-day version of how to educate the citizenry of a well-functioning democracy," she wrote. "Big companies and global corporations care a lot about profits and stockholders but not much about educating citizens." A technology director of a school in Mississippi said net neutrality rules would protect his students' ability to access the information they need. "The importance of the Internet is increasing each month," wrote David Scovic. "Many small innovative Web sites that are vital to our teaching would be affected by a no vote [on net neutrality rules]." Net neutrality advocates have argued that such rules are needed after decisions by the FCC and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 allowed broadband providers to stop sharing their networks with competing Internet service providers. The debate over net neutrality heated up after Ed Whitacre, former CEO at AT&T, complained in BusinessWeek in late 2005 about potential competition from Internet companies, saying he wasn't going to let them "use my pipes free." In March, the FCC launched an inquiry to examine net neutrality proposals, looking at whether broadband providers charge different prices for different speeds and how consumers are affected by the ways broadband providers manage their networks. Hands Off the Internet, an advocacy group representing AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent, the American Conservative Union and other organizations, said in its filing that net neutrality advocates haven't shown the need for new regulations. Broadband providers aren't blocking competing content, the group said. "There is no current or anticipated content discrimination or service degradation justifying new regulations by the commission," wrote Christopher Wolf, cochairman of Hands Off the Internet. "Moreover, regulation could well thwart Internet growth and make consumer access unfairly expensive." The Computer & Communications Industry Association, a trade group representing Microsoft, Google, and other tech vendors, said a net neutrality rule is needed because there's little competition among broadband providers. Broadband providers "insult the commission's expertise by summarily proclaiming the broadband access market competitive without any specific evidence of competition," the group said.
527387
Blog: Pair of politicos who pushed last year for strict nondiscrimination requirements for broadband operators are looking to federal regulators to help revive their cause.
374245
Internet management groups seeks comment on dealing with domain registrars after recent RegisterFly debacle.
44887
Internet service providers have to walk a fine line between fairness and profitability. Users want maximum service, and are entitled to honest contracts. Maybe there's a way to help everyone at once.
305933
Key members of Congress and the 9/11 commission make it clear that a federal board to protect civil liberties in the age of terrorism is not optional. But they're struggling to figure out how to establish it. By Ryan Singel.
79119
Almost any time you turn on the tube, one group or another is pushing a cause. The Baby Bells want updated telecom laws. Abortion rights advocates plead for medical privacy. Air traffic controllers seek respect.