AT&T stomps on Americans right to free speech September 29, 2007
“5.1 Suspension/Termination. Your Service may be suspended or terminated if your payment is past due and such……..[edit] for conduct that AT&T believes (a) violates the Acceptable Use Policy; (b) constitutes a violation of any law, regulation or tariff (including, without limitation, copyright and intellectual property laws) or a violation of these TOS, or any applicable policies or guidelines or (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.“
I’m an AT&T subscriber thanks to their acquisition of Cingular and I think their behavior is deplorable. Not to mention Un-American. This new policy also violates their own terms of service. It makes them look worse than any customer could ever hope to. I guess it’s time to pull the plug on AT&T. More coverage here and here.
Maine passes net neutrality legislation July 12, 2007
First let me start off this post with a huge thank you to everyone for spreading the word about fairuseday, we have been amazed at all the posts worldwide we have seen. So keep spreading the word, remmember your rights should not be limited to just one day, now on to the news.
While a little late in reporting this, Maine passed a resolution last month becoming the first state to advocate net neutrality. The resolution states that Maine will monitor both local and federal governments as well as the FCC for broadcast practices. While the resolution does not force anyone to abide by net neutrality, it states that they will be monitoring many agencies and will produce a report within a year summarizing the findings.
While not a net neutrality mandate, it is a good step in the right direction to know that at least some form of government is out there monitoring what is going on and may attempt to hold people accountable. You can read the full text of the resolution and an explanation here.
It’s Fairuseday! July 10, 2007
Well it’s that time of the year again so get out and celebrate your rights. We have had a big fairuse year to date. With EMI dropping DRM from their music catalog and Apple agreeing to sell it, the take down of AACS protection and its continuing battle against ‘the bad guys’, to the still ongoing debate over net neutrality. It has been a turbulent year with many small victories along the way. There is still a long way to go to ensure that our rights remain with us as the recent stories about ATT with their claims that a non-neutral net needs less bandwidth have shown. So keep copying, keep making parodies, and keep expressing your rights.
Some links on todays event:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/10/happy_fair_use_day_j.html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070710-did-ya-know-its-fair-use-day-july-11-2007.html
http://torrentfreak.com/3rd-annual-fair-use-day-arrives/
http://www.pirate-party.us/node/366
Bill Moyers National Conference for Media Reform January 13, 2007
Bill Moyers opened the National Conference for Media Reform in Memphis Friday. During his powerful speech he praised SavetheInternet.com for their grassroots campaign to keep the Internet neutral. You can see a short clip of his speech on line;
“Free Press and SavetheInternet.com orchestrated 800 organizations, a million and a half petitions, countless local events, legions of home-made videos, smart collaboration with allies in industry and a top-shelf communications campaign“
The clip is great but the whole speech is really worth watching; it is as entertaining as educational. Watch part 1, part 2 (you tube), or download the whole thing (167Mb QT). For more info check out the conference Web site and Freepress.net for the latest information on all the weekend events. If you missed Bill Moyers program “The Net@Risk” on PBS last year you can still watch on line at PBS.org.
(edit) Download SavetheInternet.com’s “Internet Freedom Declaration of 2007” (pdf)
Free Download 7, God Save The Internet! June 24, 2006
The Broadband, three singer/songwriters, Kay Hanley, Jill Sobule, and Michelle Lewis, (with special guest appearance by Michelle’s mom) have released their new hit single for free download at SaveTheInternet.com called God Save The Internet. If the song doesn’t move you to call your reps you could always Ask a Ninja or watch a bunch of cool videos. Download this great new tune by independent artists while you still can!
