Category Archives: internet
Newspaper Classifieds
Government workers have been instructed to be the only people on the planet ignorant of what’s in the classified documents released by WikiLeaks. You, however, are free to read the strange story here by Eric Lipton in Sunday’s NYT.
Whacky WikiWorld
WikiLeaks leader, Julian Assange, doesn’t care for the United States’ meddling in world affairs. Yet his recent document dump showed that it’s Iran’s Arab neighbors who most want the U.S. to take out Iranian nukes. Other tasty morsels include a very close relationship between Putin and Berlusconi, Sarkozy as a “naked emperor“, an Afghan vice president with $50 million in cash, and Gadhafi’s voluptuous Ukranian nurse.
Don’t Let the Back Door Hit You
The FBI wants a “backdoor” to the web.
Since 9/11 the government has relied on phone wiretaps for national national security purposes. That practice, under the Bush administration, created an uproar (here’s a 2007 James Risen NYT story). With more sensitive information being encrypted on the web, the current administration wants to require that all internet communication be wire-tap friendly.
Apparently this would be a step backward, requiring an internet retrofit. Here’s Jack X. Dempsey, V.P. of an outfit called the Center for Democracy and Technology, in Monday’s New York Times:
“They are really asking for the authority to redesign services that take advantage of the unique, and now pervasive, architecture of the Internet,” he said. “They basically want to turn back the clock and make Internet services function the way that the telephone system used to function.”
Valerie Caproni of the FBI claims the government is just trying to preserve authority it already has.
“We’re not talking expanding authority. We’re talking about preserving our ability to execute our existing authority in order to protect the public safety and national security.”
Wouldn’t be the first enterprise seeking special favors to avoid being bypassed by technology.
Leader of the Bandwidth
Google and Verizon have proposed a deal that would require cable and other wired internet operators to provide equal broadband access to all customers. Wireless on, on the other hand, would be free of regulation. Here’s a WSJ editorial (You may have to be a subscriber. When I accessed this through a Google search I got the whole editorial – at no additional charge) that says it might be the beginning of a good idea. And here’s a Seattle Times column in favor of net neutrality for for everyone.
