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”- 4th Amendment, Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution

What would you say if your state decided that your ISP had to keep records of all the Web sites you went too? That they had to keep records of both Internet protocol address and domain names of all sites that you visited and they had to keep them for a minimum of two years. That is what is being proposed in the Hawaiian State Legislation under H.B. 2288, which states that Internet destination history information and the subscriber’s information, such as name and address must be saved for no less than two years. I know what some of you are saying I don’t care if the government knows what Web sites I visit I have nothing to hide, or if you aren’t doing anything wrong what’s the problem.

Do you currently belong to any political or social organization like the Tea Party  and do you visit supporting Web sites a lot.  How would you feel if the government started investigating the Tea Party and started looking for information on its members. Now how do you feel about the legislation. Let’s take this to the real world, what if the government required the local retail stores to keep a record of every book you bought, every magazine article you read, the talk radio you listen too, the clubs you joined, the people you associated with, now how do you feel. If you are like me you are saying to yourself that’s none of the government business, well this legislation does exactly that only in the virtual world.

Rep. John Mizuno of Oahu is a lead sponsor of the bill and a similar bill is being introduced in the Hawaii Senate. The bills are being introduced at the behest of Representative Kimberly Marcos Pine, who is in the middle of a dispute with a web designer Eric Ryan, who launched KymPineLsACrook.com and who says she owes him money. Her email was also hacked last summer, at the same time an article was written in the Hawaii Reporter about the dispute.  Because of these incidents Rep Pine has advocated tougher cyber laws. Those who support the legislation say that this type of law is necessary to “to protect people of Hawaii from these attacks and give prosecutors the tools to ensure justice is served for victims.” Unfortunately for the supporters of this bill, that is not how the law works in the United States, you can’t gather information on a large group of people in hopes that you may capture a few bad apples.

If the constitutionality of the bill is not enough there is also the question of what the Internet Provider can do with the information while they hold it. The bill says nothing about how the data should be stored or if it needs to be encrypted. There is no prohibition against the Internet Companies selling the information to anyone including advertiser or insurance agencies. So if you don’t care about the government having the information, how about your insurance company. The police aren’t even required to get a court order to view the information of anyone who uses a computer in Hawaii. This legislation would not only apply to Hawaiian residents but it would also apply to the 6 million tourist who visit the state each year. Which mean coffee shops, hotels, bookstore or anyone else with a public wi-fi would have sweeping requirements and cost put upon them.

We all want the bad guy to be caught and stopped, but not if it means giving up our rights and freedoms. Although SOPA and PIPA were stopped last week in the U.S. Congress, the fight over our rights and freedoms on the Internet is on going, it has simply moved to state legislation, we all need to remain vigilant.

Three US Senators have introduced a new bill aimed at getting the FUD out of today’s 4G coverage mess.  The “Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act” will attempt to do something that providers have done their best to avoid – state plain facts about their coverage and it’s speeds in their advertisements.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn introduced the act today.  It stems from the mess that came when providers began advertising 4G networks that don’t technically meet actual 4G standards.  To get a great technical breakdown of what real 4G is, and what many wireless companies (AT&T and T-Mobile for instance) are actually using (referred to as near-4G) head over to the article on Wikipedia.

The new bill would require providers to guarantee a minimum speed, provide real coverage area maps, and specify the technology being used.  It also would cover network reliability and pricing.  Finally, it allows the FCC to oversee the speeds of top carriers and provide comparison tests that users can look at when deciding which carrier they should enter into a contract with.

A similar bill passed the House of Representatives back in June of this year.  Expect it to be a harder sell in the Senate, where telecom lobbyists are sure to put up a tremendous fight.

The British Government has confessed that it doesn’t have sufficient money to meet the deadline of 2012 for a 2Mb/s broadband universal service.   This commitment had been made by the previous government but was reconfirmed by the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, only last month in his speech at the Hospital Club in London.  He further said, “Our goal is simple: within this parliament (2015)  we want Britain to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe.”

However, speaking at the Broadband Delivery UK conference yesterday, Mr Hunt admitted that there was insufficient funding in place for these commitments and was pushing back the deadline for the 2Mb/s universal service to 2015 with no deadline for the superfast broadband.   Only £175 million had been set aside as surplus from the Digitial Switchover project.

BT estimated that to equip Britain with superfast broadband will take £2 billion of public money and it has already invested £2.5 billion of its own money  in fibre networks that will reach around 2/3rds of British homes.  The additional money is needed to connect up those for whom it would be currently uneconomic to reach.

This also makes it difficult for the Government to fulfil the digital inclusion promises made on Monday by the UK Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox.  Announcing the Manifesto for a Networked Nation last Monday, it sets the ambition that everyone of a working age should be online by 2015 and that no-one should retire without web skills.

The Manifesto also estimates that 10 million adults in the UK have never used the internet for reasons of motivation, access and skills.  Nearly 4 million of these 10 million adults are over 65.  Rural and coastal areas have the highest concentrations of over 65s who don’t use the internet.

Considering also that the supporting quango Digital Public Service Unit was closed down before it even got started, it’s no surprise that the Manifesto is looking to industry and charities as well as government to meet the ambitions.

Further, as reported in GNC previously, UK internet users have grown by 2 million in the last year , expecially in the over-50s.  This suggests that the issues of motivation and skills appear to be resolving themselves and that the only restricting problem is that of access to broadband, fast or otherwise…..which the UK Government doesn’t have any money to help with.

Nothing like a bit of joined-up thinking.

In his pre-Budget report, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer has confirmed that there will be a 6 GBP tax on all households with fixed-line phones in order to setup a fund that will be used to ensure that even the uneconomical parts of the UK will get fast fibre connections.

Note for readers - the incumbent UK Government is Labour, who come from a socialist or left-wing background.  The Opposition is the Conservatives (aka Tories), who come from capitalist or right-wing background.  For a good few years, it was hard to tell which policies came from which party but now the economy is down, they’re reverting to type.

While the aims of the Chancellor may be laudable, I think he’s completely wrong to setup a broadband fund.  All it will do is line the telecommunication companies’ pockets and it’s not as if they’re short of a penny.  In each of 2007 and 2008, one of the major British telecoms companies, BT made 2.5bn GBP (before tax) on 20bn GBP.  Ok, things are bit tighter in 2009 so far but they’re still making millions.

If the past 30 years of technological advancement has taught us anything, the pressure on technology to make things smaller, faster or cheaper has come from competitive pressures, not by throwing subsidies or government money at companies.  These companies ought to be trying to figure out how to make the uneconomic parts of the country into economic parts, by delivering more efficiently or delivering differently.

Around 30% of households are believed to be in this uneconomic category but that’s only for fibre connections - the figures (and Government) totally ignore the possibilities of wireless technologies.  Rather than let the best technology win out – and it’s for the market to choose what “best” means – the fund will be used to connect up with fibre whether it’s appropriate or not.

And even if the property is miles from anywhere why not simply charge the customer the true price of bringing fibre to their home.  That’s what happens for electricity – if you choose to build your house two miles from the nearest electricity line, the utility company will bill you the cost to install the cable to your house.  For a non-essential service to be given this kind of subsidy seems bizarre.

And I’m sure an extra side effect will be increasing numbers of people dropping their landlines in favour of mobiles and VoIP.  I’m definitely thinking harder about it – if I didn’t have ADSL broadband I would have done it years ago.

Vivek Kundra. The CTO of the District of Columbia has been named the first US Chief Information Officer. Kundra has a proven track record and gets things implemented.

He wants to implement a “stock-market approach to IT project management”. He also looks for the “Adoption of consumer technologies in business”. This includes having a team that tracks IT so they can pownce on a trend.

This is the CIO role in the White house – NOT the CTO. That still is yet to be named. However, with Vivek Kundra working the internals of technology and the CTO working the Politics, this may be a great combination.

Vivek Kundra was a part of Obama’s transition team and designed Recovery.gov.

One thing you have to hand to the Obama campaign they knew how to use Social Media effectively during the campaign. The Republicans can learn some lessons from this and so can some companies.

Many of the things the Obama camp did cost them nothing but one of their staffers time to make sure they were engaged. One instance was the utilization of Ustream.tv

As many of you know I have been using Ustream for the live portion of my podcast and while I draw small crowd in the middle of the night. The Obama team would put a live Ustream Channel at ever speaking event he went to and thousands would tune in.

This is just the tip of  the iceberg, they used blog commenters and bloggers effectively to neutralize negative commentary. With a dedicated group of staffers watching blogs they would pounce on sites almost instantly when someone had a negative thing to say and used blogs to essentially blast the competition.

Very effective use of technology was key. It made the McCain campaign look weaker as they did not use the tools that many people of all ages use today to communicate. The next person to run for president is going to have to get their social media game on.

Oh and what both camps missed, political podcasters could have been running ads as well in their podcast as they could have had a new message each day.

I was watching the races unfold tonight, as I have done in the past elections. The thing that I found just as interesting as the race itself was all the cool tech the news sources had to cover the election. The computing power in each news room was phenomenal.

First, there was CNN. They had the big screen behind with a map of the US color coding each state. In fact the map only covered half of the “Wall”. I wonder how much that one cost.

Then there is the “Magic Wall” – a big touch screen in which John King would be able to pull up stats and charts. Four big buttons on the left to let him choose how to run the screen. A big yellow box with an “X” in it to close out any windows he had open. No minimize button or task bar though.

In NYC, Times Square had some pretty flashy tech. From the Big screens showing off the candidates, to the ticker marquee that wrapped around the overhang. It was all pretty impressive to see as the race unfolded.

I didn’t see the projection of the US on the Rockefeller ice rink that NBC was going to do. I am still always impressed what we can do with tech nowadays.

The big question I have though is – what happens to that tech after today? Is it still going to be used in day-to-day news reporting, or will it go into the basement?

I can see this change the face of news itself. We have already seen changes in what meteorologists use to display the weather maps. Gone will be the day of a hand held clicker that moves from screen to screen. Not to mention the pull down maps they used to use in the 70′s and 80′s and definitely no magnetic icons of clouds blowing or smiling suns.

Now, you can touch a couple spots on the screen and move around without being tethered to a controller. Zoom in on areas, push it all to the left or right and call up important data. No more green screens, here.

If news stations started using that for the general news, there is no need for someone in the control room to flip though the pictures. Just a touch of the screen and we see a picture or a Google map or whatever the newscaster wants.

At any rate, if CNN is going to put the Magic Wall away, I have a great place in my living room in which they can store it. I just hope it comes with a remote control so I don’t have to get up to touch the screen and change the channel. Of course, I could always train the dog to nuzzle the screen to do that…

Mike Masnick makes a plea on techdirt for a mobile phone vendor to step forward and offer truth in their advertisements and product descriptions. This was prompted by a JD Power report on the declining satisfaction with mobile phone providers in the US. Is there anyone responsible for ensuring that consumers aren’t ripped off in the US?

Here in Australia our competition watchdog also has a consumer protection brief. It has the power to make and enforce rulings, and to levy large fines on companies that do not act in the consumers interest. While they are not immune from political interest they have a good track record of championing the cause of the consumer, even in more complicated modern technology situations. Some of the rulings here that would help in the US are:

All DVD players must be region free.
If a product is advertised as {price}+delivery, then the delivery fee must be stated.
Mobile phone numbers must be portable.
Mobile phones must be unlocked at the request of the customer (although contract break fees are legal)
You cannot advertise ‘unlimited’ downloads unless they are.
All phone contracts must clearly state the minimum cost of the contract.

I know there are other countries like the UK that have similar consumer protection advocates, i.e. ones that can actually enforce. It seems from some of the news stories I see from the US that there is either no such entity there, or it has no teeth.

I am not surprised that most of the conversation were democrats standing up and asking what they can do to beat the republicans. There were a few good questions on net neutrality, but I am sure that the republicans in room felt pretty uncomfortable. But the session was in some people’s in the room opinion almost content free.

Shutter up the Internet and Pull the plug for 72 hours and then let people voice their opinion of Net Neutrality. You can bet this is a question I am gonna ask Senator Edwards and Gnomedex. Time to fire some people in congress. [Chris Pirillo]

This just in and your help is needed in stopping another piece of legislation that will affect yoru fair use rights. This is a direct quote from the folks at IPaction.org

“Tomorrow the Senate Judiciary committee continues its markup of Senator Ted Stevens omnibus communications bill. Is a lengthy and complicated piece of legislation, but hidden deep within are the broadcast and audio flags. Both represent the latest and perhaps most desperate attempts by the Hollywood cartels to control innovation, roll back fair use, and disrupt the free market.

The bill mandates a government technology committee that would approve or reject devices based on their functionality, just like Hollywood wants. For example, new personal video recorders could be blocked from the market for having too much functionality, allowing users to tweak its settings, or interfacing with non-approved devices in your entertainment system. This kind of silly bottleneck would be laughable if it wasn’t so close to becoming law.

Now is the time to let our representatives know how the flags would decimate the consumer electronics industry while erasing our fair use rights.

Please call the Senators on the Judiciary committee and let your voice be heard.”

Do you have a Senator on the Judiciary Committee? If so get busy!

If you don’t know who Tim Berners-Lee then I encourage you to click on the link, and read his Wikipedia entry so I will say he is justified in making the following statement.

“When I invented the Web, I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission. Now, hundreds of millions of people are using it freely. I am worried that that is going end in the USA.”

If you think that my standing on a soap box, and screaming at the top of my lungs for you to get active politically has been a lot of Hype, then I would like you to read the linked article and watch the video.

I will say it again. The Telcos by technology advances are being made irrelevant, the only business model in their future is that of moving bits and bytes. In 20 years no one will have a hard wired copper based telephone in there home, everyone will be using IP or similar technology, and people’s primary data provider will either be the cable company or the company that has purchased the telco, and converted all of it’s infrastructure to IP based technology. Current and Future technology will eliminate the need to have a hard wired phone in your homes and this has them scared to death.

No some will argue my economic outlook on this but because the telcos are positioning themselves to be the traffic cops setting speed limits and how much the tool booth charges are going to be they are angling to make sure that they are still in business in 20 years and that they can control the flow of data.

They know if they don’t squash Net Neutrality they will be on the loosing side of the equation. This is why they have spent millions on a advertising campaign to hood wink the general public, we know it, they know it, they are using Congress to save their business model. They will do everything in their power at any cost.

This is why Net Neutrality is not only serious but a National Emergency. [dig.csail.mit.edu]

Seems a treaty being proposed by the WIPO will make it harder for Podcasters to use music and other materials in their podcast. They have a petition online for people to sign. More details at [log.hugoschotman.com]

I am not sure what I think about this, I have had 24 hours to let it sink in, and received a reply to a message that I sent to Chris about it. The only Politics I talk about on this Blog, is how it seems that a great number of senators, and representatives have not a clue what they are doing in some of these tech bills they have supported.

I have been around politicians all my life, and honestly most of them tell ya what you want to hear, while trying to sell you a bill of goods. I swear though if he starts getting political I’m not sure I will be able to sit their and listen. But I am going to dig around on his voting record on key items that are important to the readership of this blog, and I am gonna ask some hard questions.

But the verdict is still out on whether it is a good idea to bring a speaker in that at least half of the people in the room do not care for. At least if you follow general wisdom that the political split in geeks will be pretty much down the middle risky and yet very interesting pick to say the least.

I am today quite sickened by the events in the House of Representatives in them selling their souls to the telecommunication industry. It is highly obvious that those largely Republican representatives that voted for this ignored the will of the people as usual, and gave the industry everything they wanted.

Americans were sold a bill of goods today and even worse telecommunications companies are now going to be able to setup toll booths on the Internet. This telecommunication monopoly on the way representatives vote in the house showed how the people are not being represented and it’s beyond a travesty. This statement sums it up:

“In a concession to the telephone and cable companies, the legislation does nothing to prevent the phone and cable providers from charging Internet content providers a premium for carrying services like video offerings that could rival those of the telecommunications companies.”

If this does not get you mad you need to get mad, you need to find out how your rep voted on this and let him know your opinion, then you need to get on the phone and let your senator know too. Makes me mad enough that any candidate will be better than the one currently in my district. [CNET Part 1] [Cnet Part 2]

Political bloggers jailed, detained | Tech News on ZDNet

What happened to Freedom of Speech? I usually do not discuss politics, nor do I get involved in a lot of political talk. There are some things that I just stay away from, but in doing that, I don’t think anyone should have the right to shut down a blog for practicing their Freedom of Speech. Are blogs going to be ok, just as long as they are not political?

I realize this is not in the US, I just found this hard to believe.

It looks like we are stuck with VeriSign for six more years as they have been given a renewal on thier contract with ICANN. My questions is did this come with restriction on them playing fair and not try to pull that same stunt they pulled two years ago when the re-directed mis-typed domains to their own website.

In my personal opinion this smells of protectionism and monopolization. [Yahoo]

U.S. Homeland Security Shuts Down BitTorrent P2P Site
Ten people suspected of involvement with the EliteTorrents webserver were served warrants by homeland security agents. According to the U.S. government agency, this is the first criminal enforcement action taken against violators of copyright law who use the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) file swapping software. The operation, codenamed D-elite, targeted administrators and content providers working through the EliteTorrents website.

In a statement released by Acting Assistant Attorney General John Richter, the government’s goal is “to shut down as much of this illegal operation as quickly as possible to stem the serious financial damage to the victims of this high-tech piracy–the people who labor to produce these copyrighted products,” He continued, “Today’s crackdown sends a clear and unmistakable message to anyone involved in the online theft of copyrighted works that they cannot hide behind new technology.”

Dave’s Opinion
While I agree that the enforcement action is a long time in coming, it was probably hastened by the posting of “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” on the site, even before the movie was released in theatres.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
BitTorrent
EliteTorrents (currently offline)

Jason like some other people out here in weblog land are not afraid of calling people out, and I applaud him for that. I understand his frustration completely, and having heard the commentary Rush made on his radio show about professional journalist not recognizing bloggers earlier this week by pure luck fits into a theme that seems to be prevalent this week.

Hi commentary gives an interesting perspective, and gives me some things to ponder about on the perspective I have had on a couple of topics lately. Did I tell you I really like straight shooters.

I come from a family of great debaters who love to play devils advocate we just love to have a lively discussion. But I have also learned that having that type of personality requires restraint in being able to pick your battles wisely and only strike when you know you will win. The exception to that rule is you always stand your ground when something that is happening is illegal, unjust, hurtful, immoral or degrading of another person. [Jason Calacanis]

I have been pretty vocal on some of my other sites on were I stand on supporting the troops etc. But a interesting post caught my eye today over on O’Reilly that although starts out as some political commentary it then turns into commentary on the fight for Technological Innovation, in order to assure that we will still remain one of the technological advanced countries in the world we need to stand up and fight for the freedom of technological innovation.

Just how many great consumers products have been squashed because of laws and restrictions. Example I have a stack of VHS tapes that I would like to put on DVD “easily”. I want a consumer box that will do this without restrictions, because hey I believe in fair use. But because the MPAA has had their hands into designs of consumer devices I am regulated to doing this the hard and agonizing way via my PC.

He list in that article some organizations that need our support. I have contributed money to more than half of those on the list because I know Freedom isn’t Free. [O'Reilly]

Verizon Communications will allow current customers in the Northeast U.S. to discontinue voice telephone service while keeping DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) broadband service. Telecommunication providers have been roundly criticized for requiring DSL subscribers to also maintain voice service, thereby limiting consumer choice.

Verizon has no plans to offer DSL-only service to new customers.

Dave’s Opinion
Verizon gives a bit of back talk in the details of the announcement. Current voice/DSL customers may convert to solely DSL service, but only if they don’t select an alternative wireline voice service provider; the customers must switch to cellular or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. It seems that if Verizon must lose a portion of its wireline telephone business, it’s going to make sure that a competitor doesn’t pick it up.

I think that all DSL providers will eventually offer DSL-only alternatives, especially to residential consumers.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Verizon Communications

Someone in congress needs to be spanked. I’m serious their is a move to shutdown access to the National Weather Service. Imagine you have paid taxes for these guys to predict the weather and now because private companies like AccuWeather and The Weather Channel who actually get their raw data from the National Weather Service want it locked out for the Taxpayers.

This is so they can make money and charge you twice for your weather. I don’t know about you folks but it sounds like it’s time to fire up the old Fax machine and send a few letters to my elected officials saying I am opposed to such legislation and will be watching how they vote.

Many of you Weather buffs use this data including universities, the loss of this Data to the public would be a tragedy. [PalmBeachPost]

We have been living with the Patriot Act for a while now, brought on by the events of Sept 11th. Congress is having a look at it and deciding if it needs to be modified or renewed in it’s current format.

Freedom in this country has been fought hard for and a lot of blood shed to maintain that freedom but the Patriot Act continues to worry a lot of Americans. Cnet has a great piece that you all should read. [Cnet]

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a tool that doesn’t reflect the general preference of legal music downloaders. Before you read on, hoping that I will advocate for the free distribution of music, let me warn you: I’m a strong supporter of copyright and the protection of intellectual property; I want artists and distributors to make a decent living, but I’m frustrated by the current misuse of digital technology that attempts to thwart illegal distribution. In practice, DRM makes creates compatibility problems that make it excessively difficult, and in most cases, impossible, to listen to music that has been purchased online.

Take, for instance, Apple iTunes and Napster’s use of a DRM wrapper that prevents music purchased from the online service from being used on a digital music player that is not recognized by the DRM wrapper. Not everyone has an iPod, that works with iTunes, or an iriver H10, that works with Napster. I’d like one of these new devices, but I’ve chosen to make due with my Sony NetMD Walkman. In fact, the Walkman’s removable MiniDisc media make the device easy to upgrade. I can carry a cache of MiniDiscs with me, and I’m able to share my discs with other NetMD users, just as if I were sharing an original CD. As flexible as the NetMD MiniDiscs are, the digital recorder isn’t supported by the new DRM security of these two premier music distribution services. How many other yet-to-be-created services won’t support my device? Before starting the argument that Moore’s Law affects all digital devices, and products quickly become too archaic to support, my MiniDisc player is not the only device that’s running into a wall because of DRM…most digital music players run afoul of DRM wrappers.

Jon Johansen, a Norwegian software coder, recently released PyMusique, an application that let’s honest downloaders sidestep the DRM requirements of Applies iTunes music service. PyMusique logs into the iTunes site, facilitates the purchase of music without the iTunes DRM wrapper. Once the unwrapped music is downloaded, it can be transferred to any digital media player, including a computer.

I recognize that once a song (or a set of hundreds of songs) has been downloaded without the DRM wrapper, it can be illegally distributed, just as if it were ripped directly from a physical CD or downloaded from an unauthorized site, but at least I would be able to listen to the media in a manner that’s convenient for me. I say drop the DRM and trust that I won’t illegally distribute the music I just bought.

The world’s not perfect, and there are many dishonest and unethical people; heck, we take actions that are unethical, to some extent. However, DRM is a set of shackles that excessively restrict reasonable use of commercial music. My wife makes the argument that, in the aggregate, artists are likely to get more playtime if their music were distributed freely. At some point, mass appeal encourages commercial success: just ask the Grateful Dead, who “have long encouraged the purely noncommercial exchange of music taped at our concerts and those of our individual members.”

Audiophiles, encourage the simple distribution of the music (and audiobooks) that you enjoy. Be honest, don’t bootleg or pirate recordings. Music distributors, pay heed to your market niche and customer service: drop DRM wrappers, now.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Grateful Dead Statement

The Federal Election Commission started to extend campaign finance rules to the Internet. According to CNET News.com, the proposed changes would have made any website over 500 readers post government-mandated notices or risk violating campaign finance laws. The original reforms would have imposed Federal rules from decades ago on websites. But at the last minute, the proposals changed.

The explanation for the dramatic changes during the last two weeks, according to one FEC official familiar with the events, is the unusual public outcry that followed a public alarm that Commissioner Bradley Smith sounded about a pending government crackdown on bloggers. After Smith’s warning, an army of bloggers mobilized to oppose intrusive regulations and prominent members of Congress warned the commission not to be overly aggressive.

The regulatory approach was necessary because of “the increased use of the Internet by federal candidates, political committees, and others to communicate with the general public to influence federal elections,” according to the March 10 draft.  “If the March 10 draft had gone into effect, it would have been bloggers with pitchforks and torches storming the Federal Election Commission at 999 E Street,” said Mike Krempasky, a contributor to conservative Web site RedState.org and co-creator of an online petition on behalf of bloggers

Parvin Dhaliwal,18, a student at the University of Arizona (UA), is the first person in country to be convicted of a crime under state law for downloading music and movies. Dhaliwal pleaded guilty to possession of counterfeit marks, or unauthorized copies of intellectual property, and was sentenced to a three-month deferred jail sentence, three years of probation, 200 hours of community service and a $5,400 fine. Dhaliwal must also take a copyright class at UA and stop using file-sharing applications. What makes this conviction notable is that copyright protection is normally a federal matter.

He was prosecuted under state laws by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for prosecution, primarily because he was a minor at the time that he committed the crime. A Federal conviction would have resulted in a significant incarceration, and would have not allowed the judge such latitude in sentencing.

During the investigation the Federal Bureau of Investigation uncovered more than $50 million worth of music and movies on Dhaliwal’s computer. Many of the movies were available only in theaters, at the time. The files weren’t solely for personal use, Dhaliwal both duplicated and sold the pirated digital media.

Dave’s Comments
From a digital rights perspective, I’m glad that this thief has been stopped; digital poachers, like Dhaliwal, are a parasite on the back of digital media development and distribution. However, offering a minor sentence and requiring service and education are a reasonable response to a teenager’s misdeed.

It will be interesting to see the spin that the Recording Industry Association of America puts on this case.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office
Recording Industry Association of America

Great article and a must read for all of you that are concerned with where DRM is taking us. [BoingBoing]

A report of Internet-related activities, published by Stanford University in 2000, asked 4,000 respondents to select among a list of 17 online activities. The results were not surprising. An updated report is forthcoming next week.

By far, e-mail is the most common online activity, an activity of 90 percent of all users; however, e-mail isn’t the principal reason most folk go online.

The net is an information goldmine, perceived by many to be a digital library. Users frequently search for commercial products, hobbies, and general information. Almost all respondents agreed that they use the net for information gathering.

Slightly over ovne third of users find entertainment value on the net, playing online games. A quarter of users reported using chat rooms; however, this activity is more popular with younger netizens, under the age of 25. Most chat activity is anonymous.

Business to Consumer (B2C) activity increased significantly; however, in 2000 only a quarter of all users reported engaging in online purchases

Dave’s Opinion
I offer these research data today in expectation of comparing them to the results of the upcoming report, which will include more current data. I expect that next week’s report will indicate that e-mail is still the most common online activity; however, B2C commercial activities will increase to include a significant majority of users, possibly over 90 percent of all users, including adults and teenagers. Online banking and digital music distribution have, in my research, encouraged these niche markets to put their credit cards forward, online.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society

The U.S. Navy is developing a service-wide policy regarding the acceptable use of information technology. The policy will affect approximately 900,000 users, including Navy and Marine Corp service members, civilian employees, and contractors. The policy, which is scheduled to be effective during the first quarter of 2005, is designed to guide users and personnel managers in applying consistent rules of operation. The policy will affect all IT devices, including desktops, notebooks, handhelds, cell phones, and fax machines.

The service-wide policy is designed to offer guidance in the consistent application of IT use regulations and procedures, alleviating local policies that vary from station to station. Navy and Marine Corp personnel will be allowed to use the services’ IT equipment for personal use, such as web surfing, online shopping, and personal e-mail, so long as these activities don’t use excessive bandwidth.

Dave’s Opinion
This is a sound organizational policy, and it models policies that I have seen developed in creative, forward-thinking commercial businesses. Much IT infrastructure sits idle, especially during the evening and weekend. Allowing employees to use this technology to attend to personal projects, such as pursuing higher education and sending e-mail to family at home, can provide a significant boost to morale. Go Navy!

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For this article, I am standing firmly on a soap box.

The Associated Press reported, today, on a few information technologist that are doing well in their young careers, so well, in fact, that they each hope to retire before reaching middle age, and they attained their success without a formal higher education. This article struck a raw chord with me, because I emphasize the value of formal education to all of the students whom I teach, including those seeking a B.S. in information technology (IT) and those pursuing a M.B.A. with a further concentration in IT.

The true, lasting, value of their education (and degrees) is not so much to gain their first few promotions, those elevations will come based on technical certifications and demonstrated technical acumen. The lasting value is in the cognitive polish that is developed from rigorous, guided scholastic work and mentored critical thinking, both of which are required during the pursuit of a formal academic degree. The two IT workers described in the article, which I read on CNN.com, are reportedly earning significant salaries; however, their success is fallaciously related to their lack of formal academic training. Both of the interviewees are successful because of their hard work and a generous helping of good luck: one is an entrepreneur, the other is rewarded with stock options. Along with Bill Gates and Michael Dell, these two bring to four the total number of successful IT folk without at least one college degree that I’ve read about in the last two decades.

Yes, good work is rewarded; however, good work, coupled with a well-earned college education is much more likely to result in significant professional success. The ability to critically analyze data, perform algebraic and geometric computations (such as calculating the linear feet of cable required to wire a building) and persuasively argue (or actively listen) are all skills best learned in the combination of classroom and office. These are skills that, along with those taught in a liberal arts curriculum, are valued in business leaders.

Not all IT workers will have a series of fortunate events, as did the two men described in the news report. For the vast majority of us, we must take all advantages, and a solid education is one personal advantage that I earnestly hope will be valued by all IT professionals.

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References
Some Techies Find Success Without a College Degree