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The Pentagon cleared Apple devices for use on its networks, setting the stage for the maker of iPhones and iPads running a version of the iOS 6 mobile platform to compete with Samsung Electronics Co. and BlackBerry for military sales. The decision eventually may spur a three-way fight for a market long dominated by Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry. The Pentagon on May 2 approved Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung’s devices, as well as BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.
Apple Mobile Devices Approved for Use on U.S. Military Networks
In part one of our three-part series, we discussed America's attempts to regulate the Internet -- and many Americans are concerned about the Internet moving away from its current governance model, for good reason.
Governance varies around the globe, and one need only look at a highly-restrictive country like China to realize that the Internet doesn’t necessarily have to be free or open in any given country. Running the Internet, despite being a huge international effort, bears similarity to a grassroots co-op. Those who are most invested in the success of the Internet, such as members of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the Internet Society (ISOC), are typically the ones making the decisions that affect the overall scheme of how the Internet works. In other words, the gardeners run the garden. But for better or worse, new authorities will likely encroach on how the Internet is run. Regulatory authorities can be broadly categorized into three groups: governments that push for control, corporations that push for profit, and individuals that push for freedom. "Regardless of national conditions or market developments, all regulatory authorities will push for control,” a 2012 study released by Gartner stated. There is a constant tug-of-war between these three forces, and in different countries, different mixtures of the forces mold the models of Internet governance seen there.
Part Two: Who Controls the Internet?
In part one and part two of our three-part series, we discussed attempts to regulate the Internet both nationally and globally. Though the future of internet governance is unknown, as regulatory agencies and governments clamp down, cooperation between Internet advocacy groups and regulatory agencies could help avoid increased Internet censorship or possible balkanization.
If the Internet were a movie, it would fall into the genre of films following the general plot of King Kong. What begins as a gentle giant, peaceful and safe in its natural habitat, eventually gets scared, terrorizes the public with a destructive rampage, and ends up shot with a tranquilizer dart and made to perform in the circus, or similar. Sometimes the movie ends at this point, the protagonist misunderstood and with no real chance of redemption, and the ending is sad (The Elephant Man). In other stories, the monster is rescued or even redeemed in the eyes of the once-angry public (The Iron Giant). The Internet is just one cyber-9/11 away from being shackled, upsetting the Web’s so-far rosy childhood that the public has enjoyed so much. Even barring an emergency, with federal lawmakers and restrictive foreign nations pushing for increased regulation, it’s possible that the Internet could become less free, less open and less useful than it is today, making for quite the sad ending.
Part Three: Who Controls the Internet?
As Sandy pounded down on the East Coast last year, New York City and other major urban areas did their best to stay ahead of the storm and tackle the many emergency situations arising, from fallen trees to individuals trapped in their homes. But as with any major disaster, there were plenty of unforeseen problems, and plenty of room for improvement.
Particularly, cities were having problems keeping the lines of communication open so the most endangered citizens could get the help they need from a force of first responders pushed to the limits of its capacity. At the height of the storm, NYC’s 911 switchboard was receiving 20,000 calls an hour, many of which were not emergencies. The call volume led to slow response times and a lack of prioritization; there was no way to distinguish calls for downed tree branches from people in life-threatening situations. An important first step for future preparation is better educating citizens about what qualifies as a 911 call and what can be relegated to a non-emergency 311 call, an effort the city is undertaking now. NYC has been running a well-established 311 program for years now to provide a non-emergency line of communication to get faster responses from government agencies about smaller issues. However, at this moment of crisis, many were falling back on the 911 switchboard, considering it a faster and more direct way to get their problems resolved. In these efforts to encourage citizens to utilize 311 services even in the turmoil of a disaster, can we actually incentivize 311 as a more effective way to get certain kinds of problems resolved, and open up additional channels like texting and tweeting as functional reporting mechanisms?
The Role of 311 and Social Media During Disasters
To better prepare for a catastrophic earthquake, the city of San Francisco participated in the Golden Guardian statewide exercise on Wednesday, May 15. The exercise helped the city and outside organizations practice carrying out preparedness policies and recovery activities to fine tune responses in the event of an actual disaster. During the exercise, the partnership of agencies utilized social media and other technology to communicate with the public like they would during an emergency.
San Francisco Embraces Social Media During Earthquake Drill
On May 13, California government officials and private-sector leaders met behind closed doors to discuss a comprehensive cybersecurity plan for the state -- it was the beginning of the California Cybersecurity Task Force, the first state-led collaboration of its kind.
Because of the interconnectedness of government and private-sector IT assets, collaboration has become crucial, said Michele Robinson, acting director for the Office of Information Security. “Those working relationships need to be strong in order to really affect this area,” she said. “We all own a piece of that infrastructure, so it’s a shared responsibility." And the ultimate goal, she said is to collaborate and work together to improve cybersecurity for the state.
California Launches Cybersecurity Task Force
[Commentary] The hysteria of the media's response to the Associated Press “scandal” is predictably self-involved and self-interested and the reaction of Republicans is predictably hypocritical. The furious condemnation of the Department of Justice in this situation is way over the top.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits "unreasonable searches and seizures." Almost forty years ago, in a regrettable decision, the conservative justices on the Burger Court held that individuals have no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in information we voluntarily reveal to third parties. The Court therefore held that for the government to obtain our financial records from our bank, or our phone records from our phone company, is not an "unreasonable search or seizure" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. This understanding of the Fourth Amendment is regrettable because it ignores the reality that in the modern world we often, as a matter of practical necessity, expose what we quite reasonably regard as private information to third parties, such as banks, Internet providers and phone companies. That we reveal such information to those entities does not in any way suggest that we are indifferent to the privacy of the information. Nonetheless, that is the prevailing interpretation of the Fourth Amendment and there is no possibility that the current conservative majority on the Supreme Court will change it. Thus, the subpoena of AP phone records from the phone company does not violate the Fourth Amendment.
The AP 'Scandal': The Straight Scoop
Bob Currey, CEO of Consolidated Communications, said that when Google Fiber begins to enter the parts of Kansas City where it operates they will be ready to compete.
Currey said that Google has been given somewhat of an unfair advantage in getting approvals for rights of way, for example. "Everybody was bidding for Google three years ago when they announced this project and cities went out of their way to fall all over them," Currey said. "The supplier of last resort and all of the commissions I fought to get the right to give telephone service, broadband, and video and these guys roll over for them with rights of way and laterals into public buildings that none of us could get." Regardless of whether or not Google Fiber ends up in the territory where it operates, Consolidated, which entered the Kansas City market via its acquisition of SureWest, has plenty of weapons it can use to battle Google.
Consolidated's Currey: We're ready to compete with Google Fiber
Young people are now much more likely to prefer to read on a computer screen rather than a printed book or magazine, according to a UK survey. The National Literary Trust studied almost 35,000 eight- to 16-year-olds. Its findings suggest a picture of young people who are now immersed in a screen-based culture. As well as social networking and browsing websites, the study indicates almost a third of youngsters read fiction on online devices.
Young people 'prefer to read on screen'
About a dozen tea party activists from the Philadelphia area gathered outside the Kimmel Center -- site of Comcast Corp.'s annual shareholders' meeting -- to protest the company's ownership of the liberal-leaning MSNBC 24-hour cable news channel.
Inside the meeting, shareholders peppered Comcast chief executive officer Brian Roberts about the company's decision to ban local gun-shop advertisements. There were also complaints about the Rev. Al Sharpton, host of PoliticsNation on MSNBC. Tom Borelli, senior fellow with the tea party group FreedomWorks, said Comcast risked losing conservative cable subscribers because of MSNBC, a unit of NBCUniversal. "Conservatives can abandon your business," Borelli said.
Comcast shareholders meeting includes unhappy tea party folks