Heads Up!! Google and Verizon strike deal & seek law changes

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Aitch
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Heads Up!! Google and Verizon strike deal & seek law changes

#1 Post by Aitch »

Google and Verizon have been in talks for a few weeks at least, and fears have been expressed about continuing support by Google of Net Neutrality
Verizon want to make money out of a tiered approach to web use, giving customers better searches for business class subscriptions, etc

Did they stab the Internet in the Heart???

A deal is apparently done.....
Both parties announced, a few moments ago, the creation of a codified framework that they will submit to lawmakers in hopes of being enshrined into law.


http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/08/09/no ... the-heart/

http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/09/google ... -internet/

Keep you eyes open for reactions to this 'deal' between giants.....our internet future may be in their [lawyers] hands...

Aitch :)

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jemimah
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#2 Post by jemimah »

Here's the thing: if either Big Business or the US Government try to control and regulate the internet the little guy is screwed. So Net Neutrality is sort of a dog and pony show to distract from an inevitable power struggle.

The only way the internet stays open is for the geeks that built it in the first place to figure out how to decentralize it - ie Mesh Networking. Or we can try to layer an open internet on top of the closed one, maybe similar to how the BBS system used to layer on top the the POTS or maybe using obfuscation like Tor.

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Aitch
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#3 Post by Aitch »

jemimah wrote:The only way the internet stays open is for the geeks that built it in the first place to figure out how to decentralize it
You've reminded me of a post I made back in June

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 563#424563

I pointed to this video by Eben Moglen, Professor of Law, Columbia Law School, and Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center/Free Software Foundation, who not only suggests it, but says its vital for the survival of the web as an open format, and invites coders to get started.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOEMv0S8AcA

[Well worth watching both parts 1 and 2, if you can find time - you may know of his 'Be very afraid' Tour video, also]
Wikipedia wrote:Moglen says that free software is a fundamental requirement for a democratic and free society in which we are surrounded by and dependent upon technical devices. Only if controlling these devices is open to all via free software, can we balance power equally.

Moglen's Metaphorical Corollary to Faraday's Law is the idea that the information appearance and flow between the human minds connected via the Internet works like induction. Hence Moglen's phrase "Resist the resistance!" (i.e. remove anything that inhibits the flow of information)
Good Luck, jemimah - You got my support :wink:

Should we start a new thread for ideas/people?? :D :D
Chief Seattle wrote:"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect"
Aitch :)

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#4 Post by jemimah »

I wish I could be as optimistic as he is but I have a hard time believing DIY system administration can be made appealing (or even accessible) to the average user. (Disclosure, I am a professional sysadmin).

Most of humanity is quick to trade freedom and privacy for convenience, with eyes wide open. Geeks can solve technical issues, but there's little we can do about bugs in human nature.

Whatever system cannot rely on everyone running their own personal servers. However, a peer to peer system that relied on the resident geek hosting a hub for their friends and neighbors - that idea has potential. Open standards and drop-in solutions would help here.

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Aitch
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#5 Post by Aitch »

I did a bit more digging and came up with a couple of possibilities

Open mesh networking, and OpenVPN

http://www.oreillynet.com/wireless/2004 ... smesh.html

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/ ... ls/6758/1/

I know Puppy hasn't got its wireless spot-on yet, but this may spur development towards PuppyNet :wink: .....also

http://openvpn.net/

http://www.tinc-vpn.org/

I have a friend messing with Tinc and he's impressed, so far

....and in case people's routers can't pass VPN, there's ZeroShell DIY router on liveCD/Flash drive using an old PC

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/ ... ls/6731/1/

http://www.zeroshell.net/eng/

Usefully Zeroshell can also be configured as a bridge.....but I'm not sure if the technologies combine, or are fully to standards

This may spark some discussion, hopefully, if it inspires people, [and if they recognise the potential, in light of the post topic] ...it may be worth a new thread.....security is my main concern as Puppy lends itself to switch on switch off use, IMO, so may need PG's multi-user setup - so there's a good few ideas to toss around :D

Aitch :)

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Aitch
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#6 Post by Aitch »

2nd Heads Up:
Micro$oft and Yahoo move towards charged searches for Business Clients

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20015183-56.html

Search HAS TO BE - The Number One user tool, which has been free for ever

....until now

I believe M$ Adcenter needs IE8/Bing to access it....?

Aitch :)

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#7 Post by Aitch »

3rd Heads Up
The FCC look to Police the net through the Courts
The Internet has leveled the playing field between big businesses and small. On the Internet, after all, nobody knows you’re just two men and a dog working out of your garage. Until now, net neutrality has ensured that as long as you could meet your customers’ needs, no one could tell the difference between you and your behemoth competitors.

That could be about to change.
Frank Taney chairs the information technology litigation practice group at the law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. He said that some measure of imposed net neutrality is inevitable and, on balance, a positive thing.

“Without net neutrality I’d be concerned there’d be a Balkanization of Internet services,

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