Archive for August, 2009
Significant Interest in Broadband Stimulus Funds
Some 2,200 groups have made requests for stimulus funds intended to expand the reach of broadband in the US, the government has reported. While only $4 billion in funds have been initially earmarked for these projects, together the requests total some $28 billion.
Obviously, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service — the two agencies responsible with selecting winners — will not be able to honor every request. Over the next few months, officials will look over the applications and announce winners in November.
Those who lose out will have two additional opportunities to compete for additional funding after the initial awards. It is not clear how much the government intends to make available in those rounds, although another $3.2 billion will be available.
A quick survey of the requests show the bulk of them deal with Internet buildouts to underserved areas. Other requests aim to promote Internet use among groups who typically do not use the net, and offering Internet in public spaces and schools.
Don’t envy the job of those in charge of selecting who wins — USA Today reported that some of these applications total 500 pages or more.
Flickr Seems to be Caught in Lie Over Obama Joker Image
The more that comes out of the flap over Flickr’s move to delete the Obama-as-Joker parody image, the more it appears that the photo site may not be telling the truth. A report on Tuesday by Photo District News shows that nobody contacted Flickr about the image as far as a copyright claim goes.
Time? Said it never made a request for the image to be taken down. DC Comics, owner of the Joker character? No, they didn’t ask either. How about the photographer who took the picture? They didn’t even know there was any controversy surrounding the image.
So who asked for the image to be taken down, as the site gave in a response a week ago? Apparently nobody with a legal right to. With PDN’s reporting, it is now almost completely clear the site acted on its own to remove the imagery.
What makes it bad here is now the site looks like it has lied. Add to this folks like Thomas Hawk have jumped on it like a hawk (no pun intended), and it is quickly becoming a public relations nightmare for the company.
As Hawk writes:
I will say though that if Flickr staff knows that the DMCA takedown request is bogus and is now using it to deflect criticism against them over their censorship act that this would actually not be an open and honest way to communicate with their users at all, that this would in fact be a disingenuous and dishonest way to communicate with them.
It’s time for Flickr to speak. Allowing this to degenerate further into a morass of speculation only feeds the idea that Flickr may be in the Adminstration’s back pocket cause of it’s use of the site’s services.
By the way, PDN points out that at least three copies of the original image have now surfaced on Flickr since the controversy began over the deletion of the image. Why aren’t these coming down?
ACLU Sues for Records on Border Laptop Searches
The American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday that it had filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), demanding records from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) policy of searching laptops at border crossings without any suspicion of wrongdoing.
CBP instituted the policy last year, saying it had the right to look at the contents of traveler’s laptops without any need for a warrant. Obviously, the agency is framing this as an anti-terrorism measure, hoping to prevent terrorists and other criminals from entering the country.
However, the scope of what they can search is quite expansive. According to the ACLU, personal financial information, web site histories, and photgraphs are fair game, as well as “documents, books, pamphlets and other printed material, as well as computers, disks, hard drives and other electronic or digital storage devices.”
It is irrelevant whether or not the traveler is a US citizen or not: everyone is subject to search at the CBP’s discretion. The ACLU argues that this is a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which reads:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
“Under CBP’s policy, innumerable international travelers have had their most personal information searched by government officials and retained by the government indefinitely,” ACLU attorney Larry Schwartztol said. He said the group was using the lawsuit to see if the CBP may be violating the Constitution under this policy.
While I can understand the Border Patrol’s desire to use this policy as an anti-terrorism tool, its expansiveness as to what it can include makes me leery. There is too much of an opportunity here for abuse, and it seems to violate in some way our rights to privacy, especially for American citizens that may have been subjected to these searches.
The CBP did not respond to requests for comment on the ACLU’s action.
UK File Sharing Policy Meeting Resistance from ISPs
UK ISPs are balking at provisions of a government policy to cut off the Internet access of those suspected of file sharing, saying such a policy would not work, the BBC reported Tuesday. While the providers support efforts to combat the problem, they feel the new policies go too far.
Officials had originally planned to develop and deploy a policy by 2012. However, it was thought that was “too long to wait.” Thus, plans have been accelerated despite the complaints by the ISP industry.
ISPs worry that the IP address method of marking users could unfairly target those who share an Internet connection, and the costs of implementing the governments recommendations could be prohibitive. Additionally, ISPs feel it is not their job to monitor web usage.
Governments worldwide are struggling to find a effective way to combat piracy. The US has turned to the courts, supporting efforts by rights owners to collect restitution for their pirated works.
In France, legislation has been passed calling for a similar cut off of Internet access by repeat offenders. Similar legislation is being considered in Australia and New Zealand. In any case, no one’s found an effective method yet to stem the increasing tide of piracy.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that we never will — people will break the law regardless, don’t you think?
FCC to Review Wireless Industry Practices
The Federal Communications Commission will undertake a comprehensive review of the wireless industry and its practices, the agency has announced. Commissioners plan to begin discussions at next Thursday’s regular meeting.
Seperate inquiries will be launched into innovation and competition in the industry, and the FCC also plans to take a look at wireless billing to see if changes need to be made to regulations governing how charges are presented so that consumers easily understand charges on their bills.
Chairman Julius Genachowski has already said recently that the FCC would look at handset exclusivity arrangements such as the one with AT&T and Apple for the iPhone. Critics claim they are anti-competitive and limit consumer choice, especially in rural areas.
Experts say that the FCC will likely put Verizon and AT&T in its crosshairs, since the two control about 60% of the market in the US. They would look for evidence of anti-competitive behavior by either operator. Add in Sprint and T-Mobile, and four carriers make up 90% of the cell phones here.
What exactly can be done is unclear. The FCC in the past has allowed either provider to grow as big as it has, never batting an eye when approving mergers which allowed either company to become progressively larger. If we have anyone to blame for this situation, it’s likely ourselves.
Whole Foods Boycott Takes to Facebook
Angry progressives have taken to Facebook to coordinate efforts to boycott organic food retailer Whole Foods. The action is a result of CEO John Mackey’s negative comments on the Obama health care plan, which were published in the Wall Street Journal on August 12.
It seemed a classic case of not understanding your own companies target demographic: it’s no secret that a good portion of Whole Foods’ customer base are left-leaning, and likely to support the president’s efforts in health care. Apparently Mr. Mackey does not.
Within hours of the column’s publishing, progressive blogs such as Daily Kos were buzzing with anger over the apparent betrayal by one of the left’s most revered companies. While the company had already angered some over its resistance to unionization, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The fight has now expanded to Facebook. Several groups have been formed calling for the boycott, the largest of which had over 19,000 members as of the writing of this post. At that size, it would be about a fifth the size of the 115,000 member strong Whole Foods fan page.
A blog has also been set up along with a Flickr group, although that appears to just have started as it contains no content. In any case, it appears at face value there is at least some effort by frustrated customers to attempt to make the Whole Foods boycott an organized one.
Will it work? Time will tell. Historically boycotts that actually have a true effect are quite rare. However, given the demographic makeup of a large portion of Whole Foods’ customer base, that could give the boycotters some advantage.
Either way its a lesson in understanding your customer, don’t you think?
Flickr Removes Obama Joker Pic Citing “Copyright Concerns”
The now-iconic photo of Obama as Joker can no longer be found on Flickr, as the site has removed it citing “copyright infringement concerns.” Originally created by 20-year-old Chicago college student Firas Alkhateeb, the image has sat on the site for several months, amassing some 20,000 hits by the time it was pulled.
Ironically, Alkhateeb never intended for the picture to become political. Instead, it was merely a experiment with PhotoShop that he later uploaded to his Flickr account, based on a tutorial on how to “jokerize” photos. While on Flickr someone found the photo, revised it and added it to posters that began to appear around Los Angeles earlier this summer.
The original version (pictured above) was modeled off of an actual Time magazine cover. The version which has made it on to the now-infamous “Socialism” posters has obviously been doctored to remove Time’s branding.
Flickr is being rather tight-lipped about why it deleted the image, citing policies that prevent it from discussing actions taken against individual users. But it isn’t the first time anti-Obama commentary has been flushed by the site.
The account of a man named Shepherd Johnson was deleted in June after he had made several critical comments on the photostream of the President. Again, no real explanation from the site.
Critics are quick to point out that a good deal of anti-Bush media remains on the site. That’s a fair criticism. Why is that allowed to stay while anti-Obama material is apparently taboo?
While I can see Flickr’s possible argument that Alkhateeb had no rights to the image as it is a copyrighted work, there is some argument to be made that this is “fair use” under the parody clause. While you or I may not agree with the portrayal of our President in this manner, in the end the guy has a right to exercise his creative license.
Flickr should explain itself, and not lean on its policies as a crutch. Staying quiet only adds to the argument that the site is in the Administration’s pocket since the government itself is making heavy use of Flickr as of late.
Best thing about this whole deal? Alkhateeb says he is surprised his image is being used on the socialism posters, calling it “immature.”
(Hat tip: Top of the Ticket, others)
San Francisco Puts Raw City Data Online
The City of San Francisco is making available raw government data by launching a website called DataSF.org, city Mayor Gavin Newsom announced in a guest blog post for TechCrunch on Wednesday. The first trickles of data will come from about 100 datasets, and initial data would include information on crime and restaurant inspection, for example, he wrote.
Newsom invited developers to come up with interesting uses for the information, such as combining crime and housing data to help new San Franciscans find safe housing. There appears to be no limit to what the city will allow interested developers to do with the data.
San Francisco’s efforts sound much like what the federal government has also begun to do. Through the “Open Government Initiative,” the Obama Administration has launched a site called data.gov. It’s aim is to open up federal data in a standardized format from which developers can create applications from.
FCC Using Blogging, Twitter to Promote Broadband Plan
The Federal Communications Commission launched a blog and twitter account on Tuesday, part of a larger effort to drum up public support and participation as it develops a National Broadband Plan. The broadband effort has been described by chairman Julius Genachowski as “one of the most important initiatives that the FCC has ever undertaken.”
While the plan is not due until February 17, 2010, the agency has started a blog called “Blogband,” which would aim to keep citizens up to date on the process. Comments received from citizens would be factored in to decisions on the overall path forward, Genachowski wrote on the blog.
In a subsequent post, the plan’s author Blair Levin said writing the plan will be no easy task.
“[The plan] will require sustained thinking, and our broadband team is leading an assault of sustained thinking by the entire FCC on the stubborn problem of bringing broadband to unserved and underserved areas, increasing the number of Americans using broadband, and maximizing how broadband can be used to help address significant national issues. Expect the unexpected. Nothing is pre-baked but the fortune cookies.”
Adding to the national conversation on broadband would be a Twitter feed, fccdotgov. While this appears to be a general feed — not only intended for publicizing its work on the Broadband Plan — it still is another way the agency is turning to technology to do its work.
It certainly will be interesting to watch over the next few months as the FCC tackles the problem of broadband access for all. This is not an easy task — the USA is one big country. But I will credit the government for at least trying to be more inclusive.
I’m also really curious if this new blogging FCC will expand to other areas, opening up the process further. Imagine if they had a blog on approving mergers like Sirius XM. I can only speculate what the comments to those posts would have been like!
Obama Admin Fires Back Over E-Mail Snafu
The Obama Administration is trying to get back on the offensive after a slew of reports characterized its efforts to collect e-mail addresses as an attempt at compiling information on the political beliefs of individuals, and possibly invading American’s rights to privacy.
Fox News has been one of the leading media outlets in taking the Administration to task, reporting Monday night that it the White House was telling it that third-party groups were likely to blame for a rash of unsolicited e-mail that was sent out over the weekend.
Reviewing, the e-mail in question was from Senior Advisor David Axelrod, which was aimed at combating detractors of Obama’s heath care overhaul.
According to the network’s reporting, it has found individuals that were part of no group nor were they advocating for any issue. Several reported they had given their e-mail address through another government website before the unsolicited e-mails began.
In a post to the official White House blog, New Media Director Macon Phillips said that it was aware of the reports, but categorically denied the Obama Administration was doing anything nefarious.
“We’re certainly not interested in anyone receiving emails from the White House who don’t want them. That’s one reason why we have never — and will never — add names from a commercial or political list to the White House list,” Phillips wrote. He added changes were being made to prevent future incidents of unwanted e-mail.
One of these measures is the use of CAPTCHA, which would necessitate that each email address be entered invidually. The White House did not say if it had any concrete evidence that these “third party groups” had somehow found a way to batch add e-mail addresses they had compiled.
Certainly, the White House sending unsolicited e-mail is somewhat troubling. At the same time, should we really jump to conclusions right away that what is happening here is nefarious?
Do we distrust government that much? After all, this technology-enhanced participatory government thing is new for all of us. In my opinion, I think we all need to step back, take a breath, and not be so paranoid.
But I guess that’s just me…
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