There’s this crazy idea going around these days that free access to the Internet is a human right. This idea is behind a few different movements going around today. One of them is Net Neutrality, an idea with a name so misleading that the metaphors used to explain it are constantly shifting.
But another idea kicking around is state-run Internet at a local level. This is no better than any other form of Communism, where the state runs the means of production, and must be rejected.
This is why it’s important, this fight going on now at FCC. States like North Carolina and Tennessee have laws forbidding local Communism in the form of state-run Internet. But the extreme left wants to use the Obama administration to attack these state laws and allow Communist Internet at a local level.
People tell me there’s no difference between Democrats and Republicans. That’s crazy talk, when you look at what the Democrats do when given a chance.
It was one of the dumbest parts of the DMCA that put it in the hands of the Librarian of Congress to decide on exceptions to the law. We’re having to pass phone unlocking legislation to fix that. Why we didn’t take that power away from the Librarian of Congress while we were at it, I have no idea.
Edward Snowden’s favorite privacy software is insecure. Oops? Somewhere, Putin smiles.
Because totally coincidentally, Snowden’s Russian paymasters are looking to break Tor.
This is insane. Criminals break into Sony’s servers, and this lawsuit doesn’t get thrown out, forcing Sony to pay money for it. Blaming the victim.
I’m old enough to remember when Democrats celebrated whistleblowers.
So the House has passed the STELAR act to keep satellite TV afloat, and even managed to work in some modest retransmission consent reform. You see, the negotiations between cable TV and local broadcasters are already skewed by federal regulation in favor of broadcasters. So what’s been happening is those broadcasters have been colluding in negotiations to gain even more market power. This bill ends that.
Should we have laws demanding online accounts be treated as property after death? Not sure. It feels like government intrusion but also, given how many EULAs insist an account be tied to one person, it also makes sense.