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Declan McCullagh
UN agency eyes curbs on Internet anonymity
Submitted by Benton Foundation on September 12, 2008 - 7:19amLast updated: September 12, 2008 - 7:19am
A United Nations agency is quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government, to define methods of tracing the original source of Internet communications and potentially curbing the ability of users to remain anonymous.
Music, movie lobbyists push to spy on your Net traffic
Submitted by Benton Foundation on August 19, 2008 - 7:25amLast updated: August 19, 2008 - 7:25am
Recording industry and motion picture lobbyists are renewing their push to convince broadband providers to monitor customers and detect copyright infringements, claiming the concept is working abroad and should be adopted in the United States.
Wanted: Writers for DC tech lobby group, secrecy mandatory
Submitted by Benton Foundation on August 14, 2008 - 8:11amLast updated: August 14, 2008 - 8:11am
Op-eds of dubious provenance are nothing new in political circles, and fake grassroots "astroturf" campaigns enjoy a long, although hardly distinguished, history. One of the most influential practitioners of this art is the LawMedia Group, which has emerged as a behind-the-scenes Washington advocate for Comcast in its Net neutrality tussle with the FCC.
'Cybersecurity commission' to proffer advice to next president
Submitted by Benton Foundation on August 7, 2008 - 7:37pmLast updated: August 7, 2008 - 7:38pm
[Commentay] Transitions between presidential administrations are typically influence-peddling, power-consolidating, appointee-vetting exercises run by Washington insiders. Perhaps that's why the quintessential Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is trying to insert itself into the process.
FCC probably can't police Comcast's BitTorrent throttling
Submitted by Benton Foundation on July 28, 2008 - 7:04pmLast updated: July 28, 2008 - 7:05pm
Federal regulators are planning to meet on Friday and declare that Comcast violated Net neutrality principles when throttling BitTorrent traffic on its network. This would become the US government's first Network Neutrality-related ruling.
Bob Barr: The privacy candidate for president
Submitted by Benton Foundation on July 17, 2008 - 7:35amLast updated: July 17, 2008 - 7:36am
Bob Barr hopes his enthusiasm for electronic privacy will boost his Libertarian Party campaign for the White House. Call it a long-shot bid for the geek vote.
McCain snared in flip-flop flap over wiretapping immunity
Submitted by Benton Foundation on June 5, 2008 - 7:47amLast updated: August 7, 2008 - 11:27am
A series of statements about immunizing telecommunications companies that violated federal wiretapping laws have become something of an embarrassment, and perhaps even a problem, for John McCain's presidential campaign. The statements revolve around whether or not McCain, like President Bush, supports legislation that could be voted on this month extending retroactive immunity to those companies and perhaps many more.
White House opposition likely dooms anti-China Internet bill
Submitted by Benton Foundation on June 1, 2008 - 5:15pmThe Bush administration opposes a bill that would slap extensive regulations on technology companies doing business in China and other nations deemed to be unreasonably "Internet-restricting."
FBI's Net surveillance proposal raises privacy, legal concerns
Submitted by Benton Foundation on April 26, 2008 - 3:53pmDuring a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing, the FBI's Robert Mueller and Rep. Darrell Issa (D-CA) sketched out a far-reaching plan for warrantless surveillance of the Internet. Step 1 involves asking Internet service providers to open their networks to the FBI voluntarily; step 2 would be a federal law forcing companies to do just that.
Handshakes, not the Internet, win N.H. for Clinton and McCain
Submitted by Benton Foundation on January 9, 2008 - 8:49amLast updated: August 7, 2008 - 10:48am
The primaries in new Hampshire were decided by traditional, in-person politicking, not technology.
