Digital inclusion and who controls the Internet
Media Alliance signed on to comments by Vint Cerf, oft-dubbed co-founder of the Internet, in an FCC proceeding about Electronic Labeling of Wireless Devices, a proceeding that has significant impact on open source development. Continue reading MA Joins Vint Cerf Filing Comments In Electronic Labeling for Wireless Devices Proceeding
67 civil society groups around the world write open letter to Facebook questioning the Internet.org program to provide walled garden Internet service to underserved populations in the developing world.
The government of India prevented internet.org from being marketed in the country after the campaign was launched.
To join the campaign against Internet.org, click here. Continue reading International Webtivists Question Facebook’s Internet.org
Oakland-Members of Media Alliance, PUEBLO, First Voice Media Action, Mujeres Unidas Y Activas and others are meeting with Representative Barbara Lee’s office today at 11:00am to urge her to demand that any net neutrality orders presented to the Federal Communications Commission for a vote next week provide the same consumer protections to users of wireless and mobile broadband services. Continue reading Local Organizations Advocating for Real Net Neutrality
As activism for police accountability, fair wages, just immigration, and more takes center stage — social justice movements of the 21st century are using technology to achieve greater scale and reach wider audiences. But are these digital strategies building power for long-term social change, or helping maintain the status quo?
A report from the Center for Media Justice says the answer depends on the strategy — and offers new approaches and recommendations, from a diverse cross-section of leaders, for building effective social movements in an age of big data and digital technology.
Twitter shut down a tool that helps people hold politicians accountable in 29 countries around the world. The Netherlands-based civil society group Open State Foundation created Politwoops, which scans the Twitter accounts of politicians for tweets they’ve deleted. Deleted tweets can provide insight to the viewpoints of public officials, and journalists have been using Politwoops to keep representatives accountable for what they say publicly. In the spirit of transparency, Open State allowed other organizations to use the code of the tool, and use it they have, everywhere from Argentina, to Turkey, to Spain, to the United Kingdom.
Update: The campaign to save Politwoops was successful and the applications has been restored.
Posted by Jean Lee on June 27th, 2014
Oakland Local
Viewing an episode of your favorite show may become a matter of speed, fast or slow. Trying to watch that season finale of Game of Thrones or that premiere of Orange is the New Black could become an experience based on how much you’re willing to pay.
The way we watch our shows online, or anything online, for that matter, could face some significant changes under the Federal Communications Commission’s new proposal. In May, the FCC voted 3-2 to proceed with Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposed “Open Internet,” which would essentially allow for Internet Service Providers to prioritize certain sites like Netflix and YouTube, and charge users premium fees for accessing them at a faster pace.
Continue reading Without Net Neutrality, How Are Oakland’s Communities Affected?
Posted by Tracy Rosenberg on May 24th, 2014
Huffington Post
Rhetoric and reality sometimes diverge. Right now, the future of the Internet is hooked like a fish between two different paths.
On December 16, 2013, I met FCC chairman Tom Wheeler at an Oakland town hall meeting, and I used my two minutes to talk about reclassification, a term that means making whole the regulatory split that is going to create a two-tiered Internet. The chairman nodded, took notes, and at the end of the presentation mentioned the importance of a “network compact”.
I had just finished reading “Net Effects; The Past, Present and Future Impact Of Our Networks” by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler. Perhaps surprisingly for someone so upset by Wheeler’s proposals that if I lived closer to DC I’d have been camping in front of the FCC, I agreed with much of what Wheeler wrote. Continue reading The Compact with Capitalism: Wheeler’s Net Neutrality Dodge
MA Interview on KWMR/Network Neutrality – Marin Community Radio March 1 2015
