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Paul Merrell

Bankrolled by broadband donors, lawmakers lobby FCC on net neutrality | Ars Technica - 1 views

arstechnica.com/...rs-lobby-fcc-on-net-neutrality

net neutrality campaign contributions corruption

shared by Paul Merrell on 18 May 14 - No Cached
  • The 28 House members who lobbied the Federal Communications Commission to drop net neutrality this week have received more than twice the amount in campaign contributions from the broadband sector than the average for all House members. These lawmakers, including the top House leadership, warned the FCC that regulating broadband like a public utility "harms" providers, would be "fatal to the Internet," and could "limit economic freedom."​ According to research provided Friday by Maplight, the 28 House members received, on average, $26,832 from the "cable & satellite TV production & distribution" sector over a two-year period ending in December. According to the data, that's 2.3 times more than the House average of $11,651. What's more, one of the lawmakers who told the FCC that he had "grave concern" (PDF) about the proposed regulation took more money from that sector than any other member of the House. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) was the top sector recipient, netting more than $109,000 over the two-year period, the Maplight data shows.
  • Dan Newman, cofounder and president of Maplight, the California research group that reveals money in politics, said the figures show that "it's hard to take seriously politicians' claims that they are acting in the public interest when their campaigns are funded by companies seeking huge financial benefits for themselves." Signing a letter to the FCC along with Walden, who chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, were three other key members of the same committee: Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI), Robert Latta (R-OH), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). Over the two-year period, Upton took in $65,000, Latta took $51,000, and Blackburn took $32,500. In a letter (PDF) those representatives sent to the FCC two days before Thursday's raucous FCC net neutrality hearing, the four wrote that they had "grave concern" over the FCC's consideration of "reclassifying Internet broadband service as an old-fashioned 'Title II common carrier service.'" The letter added that a switchover "harms broadband providers, the American economy, and ultimately broadband consumers, actually doing so would be fatal to the Internet as we know it."
  • Not every one of the 28 members who publicly lobbied the FCC against net neutrality in advance of Thursday's FCC public hearing received campaign financing from the industry. One representative took no money: Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV). In all, the FCC received at least three letters from House lawmakers with 28 signatures urging caution on classifying broadband as a telecommunications service, which would open up the sector to stricter "common carrier" rules, according to letters the members made publicly available. The US has long applied common carrier status to the telephone network, providing justification for universal service obligations that guarantee affordable phone service to all Americans and other rules that promote competition and consumer choice. Some consumer advocates say that common carrier status is needed for the FCC to impose strong network neutrality rules that would force ISPs to treat all traffic equally, not degrading competing services or speeding up Web services in exchange for payment. ISPs have argued that common carrier rules would saddle them with too much regulation and would force them to spend less on network upgrades and be less innovative.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Of the 28 House members signing on to the three letters, Republicans received, on average, $59,812 from the industry over the two-year period compared to $13,640 for Democrats, according to the Maplight data. Another letter (PDF) sent to the FCC this week from four top members of the House, including Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), argued in favor of cable companies: "We are writing to respectfully urge you to halt your consideration of any plan to impose antiquated regulation on the Internet, and to warn that implementation of such a plan will needlessly inhibit the creation of American private sector jobs, limit economic freedom and innovation, and threaten to derail one of our economy's most vibrant sectors," they wrote. Over the two-year period, Boehner received $75,450; Cantor got $80,800; McCarthy got $33,000; and McMorris Rodgers got $31,500.
  • The third letter (PDF) forwarded to the FCC this week was signed by 20 House members. "We respectfully urge you to consider the effect that regressing to a Title II approach might have on private companies' ability to attract capital and their continued incentives to invest and innovate, as well as the potentially negative impact on job creation that might result from any reduction in funding or investment," the letter said. Here are the 28 lawmakers who lobbied the FCC this week and their reported campaign contributions:
Paul Merrell

Study: Surveillance will cost US tech sector more than $35B by 2016 | TheHill - 0 views

thehill.com/...s-tech-sector-over-35b-by-2016

surveillance state NSA-blowback U.S.-tech-cos

shared by Paul Merrell on 10 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • A new study says that the U.S. tech industry is likely to lose more than $35 billion from foreign customers by 2016 because of concerns over government surveillance.“In short, foreign customers are shunning U.S. companies,” the authors of a new study from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation write.ADVERTISEMENT“The U.S. government’s failure to reform many of the NSA’s surveillance programs has damaged the competitiveness of the U.S. tech sector and cost it a portion of the global market share,” they said.The think tank’s report found that the cost to the tech sector associated with ongoing concerns over surveillance programs run out of the U.S. was likely to “far exceed” $35 billion by 2016, an earlier estimate set by the group.
  • The group said that lawmakers must enact additional reforms to surveillance policy if they wish to help the tech sector regain the trust of foreign customers. That includes opposing “backdoors,” which allow law enforcement to access otherwise encrypted data, and signing off on trade agreements, including the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, that “ban digital protectionism.”The study’s authors found that the revelations about broad U.S. surveillance programs acted as a justification for foreign policymakers to enact protectionist policies aimed at aiding their own domestic technology sectors.Foreign companies have also used the information about U.S. surveillance programs to their advantage.“Some European companies have begun to highlight where their digital services are hosted as an alternative to U.S. companies,” the authors write.
  • American companies, they found, have lost contracts to foreign competitors over fears about mass surveillance.Earlier this month, President Obama signed the USA Freedom Act, a bill that reformed the three Patriot Act provisions that authorized the bulk, warrantless collection of Americans’ phone records. The bill was widely supported by technology companies, including giants like Apple and Google.
Paul Merrell

Reset The Net - Privacy Pack - 1 views

pack.resetthenet.org

surveillance state digital-privacy NSA-reform Reset-the-Net

shared by Paul Merrell on 03 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • This June 5th, I pledge to take strong steps to protect my freedom from government mass surveillance. I expect the services I use to do the same.
  • Fight for the Future and Center for Rights will contact you about future campaigns. Privacy Policy
  • Paul Merrell on 03 Jun 14
     
    I wound up joining this campaign at the urging of the ACLU after checking the Privacy Policy. The Reset the Net campaign seems to be endorsed by a lot of change-oriented groups, from the ACLU to Greenpeac to the Pirate Party. A fair number of groups with a Progressive agenda, but certainly not limited to them. The right answer to that situation is to urge other groups to endorse, not to avoid the campaign. Single-issue coalition-building is all about focusing on an area of agreement rather than worrying about who you are rubbing elbows with.  I have been looking for a a bipartisan group that's tackling government surveillance issues via mass actions but has no corporate sponsors. This might be the one. The reason: Corporate types like Google have no incentive to really butt heads with the government voyeurs. They are themselves engaged in massive surveillance of their users and certainly will not carry the battle for digital privacy over to the private sector. But this *is* a battle over digital privacy and legally defining user privacy rights in the private sector is just as important as cutting back on government surveillance. As we have learned through the Snowden disclosures, what the private internet companies have, the NSA can and does get.  The big internet services successfully pushed in the U.S. for authorization to publish more numbers about how many times they pass private data to the government, but went no farther. They wanted to be able to say they did something, but there's a revolving door of staffers between NSA and the big internet companies and the internet service companies' data is an open book to the NSA.   The big internet services are not champions of their users' privacy. If they were, they would be featuring end-to-end encryption with encryption keys unique to each user and unknown to the companies.  Like some startups in Europe are doing. E.g., the Wuala.com filesync service in Switzerland (first 5 GB of storage free). Compare tha
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 04 Jun 14
     
    "This June 5th, I pledge to take strong steps to protect my freedom from government mass surveillance. I expect the services I use to do the same."
  • Paul Merrell on 07 Jun 14
     
    I wound up joining this campaign at the urging of the ACLU after checking the Privacy Policy. The Reset the Net campaign seems to be endorsed by a lot of change-oriented groups, from the ACLU to Greenpeac to the Pirate Party. A fair number of groups with a Progressive agenda, but certainly not limited to them. The right answer to that situation is to urge other groups to endorse, not to avoid the campaign. Single-issue coalition-building is all about focusing on an area of agreement rather than worrying about who you are rubbing elbows with.  I have been looking for a a bipartisan group that's tackling government surveillance issues via mass actions but has no corporate sponsors. This might be the one. The reason: Corporate types like Google have no incentive to really butt heads with the government voyeurs. They are themselves engaged in massive surveillance of their users and certainly will not carry the battle for digital privacy over to the private sector. But this *is* a battle over digital privacy and legally defining user privacy rights in the private sector is just as important as cutting back on government surveillance. As we have learned through the Snowden disclosures, what the private internet companies have, the NSA can and does get.  The big internet services successfully pushed in the U.S. for authorization to publish more numbers about how many times they pass private data to the government, but went no farther. They wanted to be able to say they did something, but there's a revolving door of staffers between NSA and the big internet companies and the internet service companies' data is an open book to the NSA.   The big internet services are not champions of their users' privacy. If they were, they would be featuring end-to-end encryption with encryption keys unique to each user and unknown to the companies.  Like some startups in Europe are doing. E.g., the Wuala.com filesync service in Switzerland (first 5 GB of storage free). Com
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

Informe sobre el impacto del libro electrónico en el sector editorial « PROCURA - 0 views

procura.org/web

informe libro electrónico sector editorial crecimiento piratería otra patraña

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 27 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 27 Nov 13
     
    "Realizado por el Grupo de Trabajo del Observatorio de la Lectura y el Libro, pone de manifiesto la necesidad de adaptación del marco legal al entorno digital. Durante este año y 2011 se prevé una entrada decidida del sector del libro en la edición digital. El crecimiento de la edición electrónica en España supera el 48% en 2009 respecto al año anterior"
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

OECD Work on Digital Content - 0 views

www.oecd.org/...34223_32160190_1_1_1_1,00.html

OECD Digital Content information not mnipulation

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 30 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 30 Apr 11
     
    OECD Working Party on the Information Economy (www.oecd.org/sti/digitalcontent) Work Plan on Digital Broadband Content OECD Recommendation on Public Sector Information OECD Policy Guidance for Digital Content The OECD's Working Party on the Information Economy (WPIE) is undertaking analysis of the digital delivery of content. This work recognises that the rapid development of high-quality "always on" broadband Internet services is transforming high-growth industries that provide or have the potential to provide digital content. Specifically, this work includes stocktaking studies in the following areas: scientific publishing, music, on-line computer games, mobile content, user-created content, digital content and the evolution of the film and video industries and public sector information and content.
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

Music Piracy Triggers Significant Losses, EU Study Shows - TorrentFreak - 0 views

torrentfreak.com/t-losses-eu-study-shows-160525

music piracy losses study shows other not conflict contradiction bias

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 27 May 16 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 27 May 16
     
    " By Ernesto on May 25, 2016 C: 113 News New research published by the European Union Intellectual Property Office shows that piracy hurts both digital and physical music sales. In EU countries the total losses are roughly 5% of yearly revenues, which equals €170 million. In addition, piracy also triggers secondary losses for governments and the public sector. "
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 27 May 16
     
    " By Ernesto on May 25, 2016 C: 113 News New research published by the European Union Intellectual Property Office shows that piracy hurts both digital and physical music sales. In EU countries the total losses are roughly 5% of yearly revenues, which equals €170 million. In addition, piracy also triggers secondary losses for governments and the public sector. "
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

US government's reported number of wiretaps don't add up | Ars Technica - 0 views

arstechnica.com/...number-of-wiretaps-dont-add-up

government wiretapping numbers lie democracy betrayed

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 13 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 13 Jul 15
     
    "The government published its latest Wiretap Report on July 1. The headline finding was that encryption wasn't foiling federal and state law enforcement officials, despite a growing chorus of people suggesting that we're all gonna die unless the tech sector builds backdoor access into their products to enable government access."
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 13 Jul 15
     
    "The government published its latest Wiretap Report on July 1. The headline finding was that encryption wasn't foiling federal and state law enforcement officials, despite a growing chorus of people suggesting that we're all gonna die unless the tech sector builds backdoor access into their products to enable government access."
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

Tech sector tells Obama encryption backdoors "undermine human rights" | Ars Technica - 1 views

arstechnica.com/...ckdoors-undermine-human-rights

tech sector tells obama US USA government encryption mandatory backdoors violate human rights ars

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 20 May 15 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 20 May 15
     
    "Backdoors "could be exploited by even the most repressive or dangerous regimes." by David Kravets - May 19, 2015 4:48 pm UTC"
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 20 May 15
     
    "Backdoors "could be exploited by even the most repressive or dangerous regimes." by David Kravets - May 19, 2015 4:48 pm UTC"
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

"Por cada $1 gastado en música en vivo, se devuelven $3 dólares de beneficio ... - 0 views

industriamusical.es/es-de-beneficio-a-la-comunidad

música vivo dólares comunidad malditos piratas asistentes aficionados conciertos mejores clientes industria cultural industria discográfica

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 25 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 25 Aug 15
     
    "La importancia de la música en directo para la industria musical es una realidad y el futuro del sector, así lo revelan importantes estudios. Pero su impacto va más allá del negocio de la música, por su propias características es capaz de gennerar muchos puestos de trabajo y movilizar ciudades enteras."
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 25 Aug 15
     
    "La importancia de la música en directo para la industria musical es una realidad y el futuro del sector, así lo revelan importantes estudios. Pero su impacto va más allá del negocio de la música, por su propias características es capaz de gendisnerar muchos puestos de trabajo y movilizar ciudades enteras."
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

TOP500 suma 486 supercomputadoras con Linux - 0 views

www.linuxadictos.com/s-del-mundo-usan-gnulinux.html

95% Supercomputer supercomputadoras GNU_Linux Linux power

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 19 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 19 Jul 15
     
    "La famosa lista Top500 que agrupa un ranking de las 500 supercomputadoras más potentes del mundo ha salido de nuevo y en ella podemos ver lo mismo de los últimos años, GNU/Linux sigue siendo el sistema operativo dominante en el sector HPC, con 486 máquinas de las 500 más potentes ejecutándolo."
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 19 Jul 15
     
    "La famosa lista Top500 que agrupa un ranking de las 500 supercomputadoras más potentes del mundo ha salido de nuevo y en ella podemos ver lo mismo de los últimos años, GNU/Linux sigue siendo el sistema operativo dominante en el sector HPC, con 486 máquinas de las 500 más potentes ejecutándolo."
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

Video game industry grew 4 times faster than US economy in 2012, study says - CNET - 0 views

www.cnet.com/...-us-economy-in-2012-study-says

game industry grows wt happened with terrible piracy

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 31 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 31 Jul 15
     
    "The games industry continues to boom while other sectors of the economy sputter, according to a new report from the Entertainment Software Association. by Nick Statt @nickstatt November 11, 2014 2:54 PM PST "
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 31 Jul 15
     
    "The games industry continues to boom while other sectors of the economy sputter, according to a new report from the Entertainment Software Association. by Nick Statt @nickstatt November 11, 2014 2:54 PM PST "
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

US government won't seek encryption-backdoor legislation | Ars Technica UK [# ! Note] - 0 views

arstechnica.co.uk/...ncryption-backdoor-legislation

US government says no seek encryption backdoor legislation privacy defense propaganda 2016 elections trust

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 11 Oct 15 - No Cached
    • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.
      Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 11 Oct 15
       
      # ! Presidential Elections 2016 coming...
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 11 Oct 15
     
    "FBI Director James Comey told a congressional panel that the Obama administration won't ask Congress for legislation requiring the tech sector to install backdoors into their products so the authorities can access encrypted data."
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 11 Oct 15
     
    "FBI Director James Comey told a congressional panel that the Obama administration won't ask Congress for legislation requiring the tech sector to install backdoors into their products so the authorities can access encrypted data."
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

El estado de la cultura en España 2013. La perspectiva de los agentes cultura... - 0 views

www.falternativas.org/...tiva-de-los-agentes-culturales

estado cultura españa 2013 Fundación Alternativas

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 May 14 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 May 14
     
    "Versión completa PDF [4,47 MB] Este segundo trabajo de Patricia Corredor responde a una amplia encuesta entre agentes de la cultura española, en todos los grandes sectores de mayor peso social y económico, repitiendo su iniciativa pionera de 2011 que obtuvo una gran repercusión ciudadana y mediática."
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 May 14
     
    "Versión completa PDF [4,47 MB] Este segundo trabajo de Patricia Corredor responde a una amplia encuesta entre agentes de la cultura española, en todos los grandes sectores de mayor peso social y económico, repitiendo su iniciativa pionera de 2011 que obtuvo una gran repercusión ciudadana y mediática."
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

European Commission to update its open source policy | Joinup - 0 views

joinup.ec.europa.eu/...-update-its-open-source-policy

European Commission open source encouragement

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 Dec 14 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 Dec 14
     
    " Steps up efforts to contribute code upstream The European Commission wants to make it easier for its software developers to submit patches and add new functionalities to open source projects. Contributing to open source communities will be made central to the EC's new open source policy, expects Pierre Damas, Head of Sector at the Directorate General for IT (DIGIT)."
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 Dec 14
     
    " Steps up efforts to contribute code upstream The European Commission wants to make it easier for its software developers to submit patches and add new functionalities to open source projects. Contributing to open source communities will be made central to the EC's new open source policy, expects Pierre Damas, Head of Sector at the Directorate General for IT (DIGIT)."
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

Spain's Ill-Conceived 'Google Tax' Law Likely To Cause Immense Damage To Digital Common... - 1 views

www.techdirt.com/...ital-commons-open-access.shtml

spain google tax law damage commons open access cluelessness another international ridicule

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 Aug 14
     
    [# ! another international ridicule] "from the digital-cluelessness dept Techdirt recently wrote about Spain's imminent and almost unbelievably foolish new copyright law designed to prop up old and failing business models in the publishing sector. Mike mentioned that it was potentially disastrous for things like fair use, Creative Commons and public domain material"
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 15 Aug 14
     
    [# ! another international ridicule] "from the digital-cluelessness dept Techdirt recently wrote about Spain's imminent and almost unbelievably foolish new copyright law designed to prop up old and failing business models in the publishing sector. Mike mentioned that it was potentially disastrous for things like fair use, Creative Commons and public domain material"
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

Why is Docker the new craze in virtualization and cloud computing? | Opensource.com - 1 views

opensource.com/...ualization-and-cloud-computing

docker contents container audio video + opensource

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 10 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 10 Jul 14
     
    [Interview with James Turnbull of Docker] "It's OSCON time again, and this year the tech sector is abuzz with talk of cloud infrastructure. One of the more interesting startups is Docker, an ultra-lightweight containerization app that's brimming with potential"
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 10 Jul 14
     
    [Interview with James Turnbull of Docker] "It's OSCON time again, and this year the tech sector is abuzz with talk of cloud infrastructure. One of the more interesting startups is Docker, an ultra-lightweight containerization app that's brimming with potential"
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

New Report Says How Much Advertising Is Going to Piracy Sites | Adweek - 1 views

www.adweek.com/...sing-going-piracy-sites-155770

report says much advertising piracy sites

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 22 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 22 Oct 14
     
    "In the longstanding fight to combat online piracy, there's been growing pressure on the advertisers whose ads appear on sites that steal copyrighted material. The Obama administration has called for private-sector actions to reduce piracy. The 4As and ANA have adopted best practices to keep their members' ads off such sites, and industry leaders have spoken forcefully on the subject. "
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 22 Oct 14
     
    "In the longstanding fight to combat online piracy, there's been growing pressure on the advertisers whose ads appear on sites that steal copyrighted material. The Obama administration has called for private-sector actions to reduce piracy. The 4As and ANA have adopted best practices to keep their members' ads off such sites, and industry leaders have spoken forcefully on the subject. "
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

Reclamaciones. ¿Es legal en una avería que sólo me atienda una máquina, o que... - 0 views

reclamacionesdetelecomunicaciones.weebly.com/...aquina-o-que-el-sac-sea-un-902

reclamaciones servicios telecomunicaciones ley obligación atención personal humano

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 01 Jan 16 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 01 Jan 16
     
    "Hola: La respuesta a la pregunta hecha en el título de este mensaje es sencilla. NO, no se ajustan a la legalidad, en cuanto al sector de telecomunicaciones, es decir, en el caso de compañías de telecomunicaciones. Pero esa respuesta, así tal cual, no sería digna de este blog, pues no daría las claves para solucionar el problema que muchos usuarios tienen con sus compañías, que no les dan una atención personal directa, que es obligatoria, según dicta la ley"
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 01 Jan 16
     
    "Hola: La respuesta a la pregunta hecha en el título de este mensaje es sencilla. NO, no se ajustan a la legalidad, en cuanto al sector de telecomunicaciones, es decir, en el caso de compañías de telecomunicaciones. Pero esa respuesta, así tal cual, no sería digna de este blog, pues no daría las claves para solucionar el problema que muchos usuarios tienen con sus compañías, que no les dan una atención personal directa, que es obligatoria, según dicta la ley"
Paul Merrell

Hey ITU Member States: No More Secrecy, Release the Treaty Proposals | Electronic Front... - 0 views

www.eff.org/...crecy-release-wcit-documents-0

Internet freedom Openweb ITU regulation

shared by Paul Merrell on 25 Nov 12 - No Cached
  • The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will hold the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) in December in Dubai, an all-important treaty-writing event where ITU Member States will discuss the proposed revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR). The ITU is a United Nations agency responsible for international telecom regulation, a bureaucratic, slow-moving, closed regulatory organization that issues treaty-level provisions for international telecommunication networks and services. The ITR, a legally binding international treaty signed by 178 countries, defines the boundaries of ITU’s regulatory authority and provides "general principles" on international telecommunications. However, media reports indicate that some proposed amendments to the ITR—a negotiation that is already well underway—could potentially expand the ITU’s mandate to encompass the Internet.
  • The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will hold the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) in December in Dubai, an all-important treaty-writing event where ITU Member States will discuss the proposed revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR). The ITU is a United Nations agency responsible for international telecom regulation, a bureaucratic, slow-moving, closed regulatory organization that issues treaty-level provisions for international telecommunication networks and services. The ITR, a legally binding international treaty signed by 178 countries, defines the boundaries of ITU’s regulatory authority and provides "general principles" on international telecommunications. However, media reports indicate that some proposed amendments to the ITR—a negotiation that is already well underway—could potentially expand the ITU’s mandate to encompass the Internet. In similar fashion to the secrecy surrounding ACTA and TPP, the ITR proposals are being negotiated in secret, with high barriers preventing access to any negotiating document. While aspiring to be a venue for Internet policy-making, the ITU Member States do not appear to be very open to the idea of allowing all stakeholders (including civil society) to participate. The framework under which the ITU operates does not allow for any form of open participation. Mere access to documents and decision-makers is sold by the ITU to corporate “associate” members at prohibitively high rates. Indeed, the ITU’s business model appears to depend on revenue generation from those seeking to ‘participate’ in its policy-making processes. This revenue-based principle of policy-making is deeply troubling in and of itself, as the objective of policy making should be to reach the best possible outcome.
  • EFF, European Digital Rights, CIPPIC and CDT and a coalition of civil society organizations from around the world are demanding that the ITU Secretary General, the  WCIT-12 Council Working Group, and ITU Member States open up the WCIT-12 and the Council working group negotiations, by immediately releasing all the preparatory materials and Treaty proposals. If it affects the digital rights of citizens across the globe, the public needs to know what is going on and deserves to have a say. The Council Working Group is responsible for the preparatory work towards WCIT-12, setting the agenda for and consolidating input from participating governments and Sector Members. We demand full and meaningful participation for civil society in its own right, and without cost, at the Council Working Group meetings and the WCIT on equal footing with all other stakeholders, including participating governments. A transparent, open process that is inclusive of civil society at every stage is crucial to creating sound policy.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Civil society has good reason to be concerned regarding an expanded ITU policy-making role. To begin with, the institution does not appear to have high regard for the distributed multi-stakeholder decision making model that has been integral to the development of an innovative, successful and open Internet. In spite of commitments at WSIS to ensure Internet policy is based on input from all relevant stakeholders, the ITU has consistently put the interests of one stakeholder—Governments—above all others. This is discouraging, as some government interests are inconsistent with an open, innovative network. Indeed, the conditions which have made the Internet the powerful tool it is today emerged in an environment where the interests of all stakeholders are given equal footing, and existing Internet policy-making institutions at least aspire, with varying success, to emulate this equal footing. This formula is enshrined in the Tunis Agenda, which was committed to at WSIS in 2005:
  • 83. Building an inclusive development-oriented Information Society will require unremitting multi-stakeholder effort. We thus commit ourselves to remain fully engaged—nationally, regionally and internationally—to ensure sustainable implementation and follow-up of the outcomes and commitments reached during the WSIS process and its Geneva and Tunis phases of the Summit. Taking into account the multifaceted nature of building the Information Society, effective cooperation among governments, private sector, civil society and the United Nations and other international organizations, according to their different roles and responsibilities and leveraging on their expertise, is essential. 84. Governments and other stakeholders should identify those areas where further effort and resources are required, and jointly identify, and where appropriate develop, implementation strategies, mechanisms and processes for WSIS outcomes at international, regional, national and local levels, paying particular attention to people and groups that are still marginalized in their access to, and utilization of, ICTs.
  • Indeed, the ITU’s current vision of Internet policy-making is less one of distributed decision-making, and more one of ‘taking control.’ For example, in an interview conducted last June with ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Touré, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin raised the suggestion that the union might take control of the Internet: “We are thankful to you for the ideas that you have proposed for discussion,” Putin told Touré in that conversation. “One of them is establishing international control over the Internet using the monitoring and supervisory capabilities of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).” Perhaps of greater concern are views espoused by the ITU regarding the nature of the Internet. Yesterday, at the World Summit of Information Society Forum, Mr. Alexander Ntoko, head of the Corporate Strategy Division of the ITU, explained the proposals made during the preparatory process for the WCIT, outlining a broad set of topics that can seriously impact people's rights. The categories include "security," "interoperability" and "quality of services," and the possibility that ITU recommendations and regulations will be not only binding on the world’s nations, but enforced.
  • Rights to online expression are unlikely to fare much better than privacy under an ITU model. During last year’s IGF in Kenya, a voluntary code of conduct was issued to further restrict free expression online. A group of nations (including China, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) released a Resolution for the UN General Assembly titled, “International Code of Conduct for Information Security.”  The Code seems to be designed to preserve and protect national powers in information and communication. In it, governments pledge to curb “the dissemination of information that incites terrorism, secessionism or extremism or that undermines other countries’ political, economic and social stability, as well as their spiritual and cultural environment.” This overly broad provision accords any state the right to censor or block international communications, for almost any reason.
  • EFF Joins Coalition Denouncing Secretive WCIT Planning Process June 2012 Congressional Witnesses Agree: Multistakeholder Processes Are Right for Internet Regulation June 2012 Widespread Participation Is Key in Internet Governance July 2012 Blogging ITU: Internet Users Will Be Ignored Again if Flawed ITU Proposals Gain Traction June 2012 Global Telecom Governance Debated at European Parliament Workshop
  • Paul Merrell on 25 Nov 12
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD.

EU antitrust chief eyeballs online retail geo-blockers, threatens action | Ars Technica UK - 1 views

arstechnica.co.uk/...locking-e-commerce-competition

EU antitrust chief watch online geo-blocking

shared by Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 16 Sep 16 - No Cached
  • Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 16 Sep 16
     
    "Bloc's e-commerce sector report finds restrictive contracts are a common occurrence. Jennifer Baker - Sep 15, 2016 3:34 pm UTC 8 "
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