Tag Archives | Net Neutrality

Why Is There No HTTP Code For Censorship?

By on June 26, 2012 in News 6

When your viewing a website is blocked due to censorship, should your internet service provider should inform you? A 403 or 404 error code amounts to lying, argues Terance Eden. Some have suggested a new ’451′ internet censorship signifier, inspired by Ray Bradbury:

There is no HTTP code for censorship. But perhaps there should be.

My ISP have recently been ordered to censor The Pirate Bay. I am concerned that this [sort of] censorship will become more prevalent. As network neutrality dies, we will see more sites ordered to be blocked by governments who fear what they cannot understand. However, chief among my concerns is the technical way this censorship is implemented. At the moment, my ISP serves up an HTTP 403 error.

$ wget -v thepiratebay.org
Resolving thepiratebay.org… 194.71.107.50
Connecting to thepiratebay.org|194.71.107.50|:80… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 403 Forbidden

As far as I am concerned, this response is factually incorrect.

… Read the rest

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Media Roots Radio: Video Game Warfare, Covert War in Iran, SOPA & Fair Use

By on February 7, 2012 in News, Podcasts 1

Via Media Roots:

Abby and Robbie discuss the reality of war: the pre-propaganda that has manufactured consent for the illegal occupations, video game warfare and cognitive dissonance in combat, the Marine urination scandal; Martin Luther King Jr. and historical revisionism minimizing how anti-imperialism was the main pillar of his philosophical platform; the CIA and the US covert war in Iran; SOPA, PIPA breakdown, the difference between copyright and fair use, the threat to net neutrality and websites like Media Roots under this overarching legislation.

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FCC Commissioner Blasts “Bloated Profits” of Verizon/Google Internet Plan

By on November 26, 2010 in News 2

Verizon/GoogleFCC Commissioner Michael Copps just announced that the public shouldn’t stand for deals “that exchange Internet freedom for bloated profits. And he forcefully mocked the tiered-data plans of the “Verizon-Google gaggle,” accusing them of wanting “gated communities for the affluent.”

Instead of letting Verizon create a ghetto of reduced-quality internet service, the commissioner warns the audience against proposals that would “vastly diminish” the internet’s importance, blasting “special interests and gatekeepers and toll-booth collectors who will short-circuit what this great new technology can do for our country.” He concludes by acknowledging that “you can’t blame companies for seeking to protect their own interests. But you can blame policy-makers if we let them get away with it!””… Read the rest

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All 95 Pro-Net Neutrality Candidates Lost On Tuesday

By on November 5, 2010 in News 18

d2c38847c1db1b492f361f030cd1-grandePrior to this week’s election, 95 candidates running for the House and Senate had taken a pledge promising support of Net neutrality. On Tuesday, all 95 candidates lost. That’s right, every single one. Is that dismal result the “final nail in the coffin for Net neutrality” as CNN claims?

Before Tuesday’s midterm elections, there were 95 House and Senate candidates who pledged support for Net neutrality, a bill that would force Internet providers to not charge users more for certain kinds of Web content.

All of them lost — and that could mean the contentious proposal may now be all but dead.

The Federal Communications Commission tried to implement Net neutrality rules but got smacked down in April by a court ruling saying it did not have the authority to do so. As a result, it is preparing a proposal asking Congress to give it new authority to regulate broadband Internet service.

… Read the rest

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Democrats’ Bill May Kill Net Neutrality

By on September 28, 2010 in News 25

0_61_waxman_henryWhat a disappointment — did you ever think that the guillotine stroke for net neutrality would come from the left side of the Congressional aisle? Firedoglake discusses a clueless bill, proposed by California Democrat Henry Waxman — it’s a compromise which allows the FCC to dispense fines of up to $2 million to punish rule-breaking broadband providers. The problem is, that’s far too small a sum to actually matter:

Henry Waxman has been trying to enshrine the terrible compromise promulgated by Google and Verizon into law, by pushing a truly terrible bill on broadband that strips the FCC of rulemaking and classification ability, and gives wireless Internet providers carte blanche to discriminate in favor of their products.

The FCC would not be able to reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, which three commissioners on the five-member panel have publicly expressed a preference for in the past. The FCC would get to ask nicely to the House and Senate Commerce Committees for additional authority to implement the National Broadband Plan, also at risk under current broadband classification, which was put into place under the Bush Administration.

… Read the rest

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Google’s Plans to Take Over The Internet Exposed!

By on August 22, 2010 in News 6

alg_google-flamesFrom Alex Jones/InfoWars:

Google’s agreement with Verizon to speed certain Internet content to users opens the door to the complete sterilization of the world wide web as a force for political change. Under Google’s takeover plan, the Internet will closely resemble cable TV, independent voices will be silenced and the entire Internet will be bought up by transnational media giants.

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Tea Party Groups Out AGAINST Net Neutrality

By on August 13, 2010 in News 25

800px-TeaPartyDC2009Sept12LOLFrom Huffington Post:

Following the release of Google and Verizon’s controversial proposal on managing Internet traffic, which comes less than a week after the FCC abandoned efforts at a hammering out a compromise, Tea Party groups have taken a strong stance on the issue of net neutrality.

Specifically, they’re against it. The head of one Tea Party organization says she is concerned that the policy would increase government regulation and power, calling net neutrality one of many “assaults on individual liberties.”

As The Hill reports, “[a] coalition that included 35 Tea Party groups sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday urging the agency not to boost its authority over broadband providers through a controversial process known as reclassification.”…

[continues at Huffington Post]… Read the rest

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4chan Being Blocked Again, This Time It’s Verizon

By on February 7, 2010 in News 8

Ken Eakins writes via Sittingnow.co.uk:

DO WANT … on Verizon!

4chan site owner m00t has posted to the 4chan blog, and Twitter, that Verizon wireless, are blocking both in and outbound web-traffic to 4chan.

Unlike a recent scare involving AT&T last year, m00t believes that this time it’s for realsies, from the 4chan blog:

Over the past 72 hours, we’ve been receiving reports from Verizon Wireless customers having difficulty accessing the image boards. After investigating, we found that Verizon is dropping traffic to/from boards.4chan.org, only on port 80 (HTTP). No other subdomain/IP/port is affected, which leads us to believe this block is intentional. A call was placed to their support staff last night, and we were told that the ticket would not be looked at until Monday at the earliest, and: “You’ll need the customer to call to request it be unblocked…”

If you’ve been affected by this block, please contact Verizon Wireless customer support.

… Read the rest

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