"Internet Essentials" is a $10/month internet plan available to any family with one child eligible for free lunches at American public schools. [more inside]
posted by modernnomad on Sep 20, 2011 - 108 comments

The real challenge for Internet freedom? US hypocrisy. And there's no app for that.
posted by - on Feb 22, 2011 - 53 comments

As the "ground zero mosque" story approaches bipartisan consensus, thanks to unexpected statements by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (joining a growing opposition), several journalists trace the origins of how the Park 51 community center became(warning: CNN) a toxic subject. What they found was Pamela Geller, a blogger at Atlas Shrugs, who has some very interesting vlogs. You may previously know her from this cozy 2006 interview with Bush's infamous anti-UN UN ambassador John Bolton.
posted by mek on Aug 18, 2010 - 439 comments

The Votemaster has returned. Electoral-vote.com has been re-launched for the 2006 elections. The major focus is on the Senate but there is also some quick analysis of the hotter House races. For those who missed the phenomenon during the heady days of 2004, here is the Wikipedia article and previous MeFi discussion.
posted by rocketpup on Sep 8, 2006 - 41 comments

NSA,FISA, and Privacy It is of course the president who finally approves of actions that may or may not be deemed legal but before 9/11, this is what he had been advised to consider "The largest U.S. spy agency warned the incoming Bush administration in its "Transition 2001" report that the Information Age required rethinking the policies and authorities that kept the National Security Agency in compliance with the Constitution's 4th Amendment prohibition on "unreasonable searches and seizures" without warrant and "probable cause," according to an updated briefing book of declassified NSA documents posted today on the World Wide Web. If this is the sort of reading you enjoy, then by all means dig about here: But then Windows allowed NSA to have a sure access to your machine . And by now we all know that Google will fight the government on making its search data base available in order to protect your privacy.(Reality: to protect Google stuff). And if you worry about search engines tracking you and making data available, then here is a workaround
posted by Postroad on Jan 20, 2006 - 16 comments

The Bush administration is backing a US Senate resolution to stop the UN in its plans to try and move some control of the Internet away from the US -- A new resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate offers political backing to the Bush administration by slamming a United Nations effort to exert more influence over the Internet. Senator Norm Coleman, a Republican from Minnesota, said his nonbinding resolution would protect the Internet from a takeover by the United Nations that's scheduled to be discussed at a summit in Tunisia next month.
posted by zouhair on Oct 20, 2005 - 102 comments

Props to the 1st amendment This election year, the impact of grassroots organizing on the internet is pricking up some ears in Washington. Here's something to add to the chorus.
posted by greensweater on Mar 11, 2004 - 8 comments

Dem Blogs This community is filled with bloggers and I wondered if anyone had seen Maureen O'Dowd's take on how the Presidential Candidates are starting to use, for better or worse, "blogging" as a method to get their "message" across. ( Registration required )
posted by RubberHen on Aug 13, 2003 - 9 comments

Buy SBC now. "In order to make sure the economy grows, we must bring the promise of broadband technology to millions of Americans,'' Bush said at a White House-sponsored economic forum. "Government at all levels should remove hurdles that slow the pace of deployment.''

Is the USTA happy about this type of talk? You bet. They would like to see passage of S.2430, also known as the Broadband Regulatory Parity Act of 2002. Others wouldn't. Some have studies (300K PDF) that argue local phone companies are slowing the growth of DSL for anti-competitive reasons.

Also, notice how the President said "bring the promise of broadband technology to millions of Americans", not all Americans? Might have something to do with the fact that rural DSL is really, really expensive to provide.
posted by dglynn on Aug 14, 2002 - 14 comments

Stupid URL. Stupid Site. GREAT gfx. and don't look for any content - there isn't any. warning: bandwidth!
posted by heimkonsole on Apr 8, 2002 - 26 comments

Congress is legislating free speech on the internet again. Passed shortly after the Communications Decency Act was thrown out by the Supreme Court, the Child Online Protection Act isn't as broad as the CDA but does it still go too far in an effort to protect children? Shouldn't parents be responsible for their own children?
posted by pooldemon on Nov 29, 2001 - 5 comments

Somalia's entire internet access and international phone service shut down by the United States.
posted by trioperative on Nov 23, 2001 - 10 comments

An email sent between two cities in China probably would travel through the United States -- putting its contents under American jurisdiction. The recently approved anti-terrorism law is a "massive expansion of U.S. sovereignty" that could be used to prosecute foreign hackers. And once that precedent is established, much of global Internet communications could come under American authority.
posted by tranquileye on Nov 22, 2001 - 17 comments

Congress on Thursday chose not to extend a 1998 ban on taxes that target the Internet, meaning that, theoretically, state and local governments could begin imposing Internet taxes on Monday. Wow, we've been watching over our shoulders for terrorist and congress slips us a fast one!
posted by Sal Amander on Oct 19, 2001 - 5 comments

Silicon Valley backs Senate bill that would allow companies to report computer network attacks to the government without having to worry about the public finding out. The reasoning: it would encourage more companies to report the problems and help the government track down the culprits. A similar bill is in the House.
posted by thescoop on Sep 25, 2001 - 3 comments

48 hours of wiretap without a court order? Sure, according to the Senate. Carnivore installations on the rise and the recent call to control crypto software are exactly what we don't need. This is probably just the beginning.
posted by skallas on Sep 14, 2001 - 4 comments

House Republican introduces resolution to protect ISPs from criminal liability for third party content. Californian David Dreier's proposal isn't an actual bill but would put the House on record as supporting such protections.
posted by thescoop on Jan 5, 2001 - 9 comments

Sometimes there is a strange kind of justice in the universe. A candidate in Oregon, who had promised to require that all schools and libraries be forced to use censorware on their computers, changed his position when he found that his own campaign site was being censored by one of the most popular of the censorware packages.

Ah, schadenfreude. Hoist by his own petard, in't he?
posted by Steven Den Beste on Nov 9, 2000 - 1 comment

Does the United States Need a Chief Information Officer? From Slate. The government waking up to the Internet's reach or two political hopefuls speaking to twitchy netizens? You make the call.
posted by capt.crackpipe on Sep 6, 2000 - 2 comments

Internet may need new cyber-borders-U.S. legal body By Richard Meares
The internet's only use is for commerce. That's it. The only reason anyone uses the internet is to purchase books and rugs. The internet can not be defined as anything else, thus, there are no users, they're CONSUMERS. That's all they are. Consumers.
Too bad, We "Enthusiasts" "may love the Internet's scant regard for authority and borders?" What? "Scant regard for authority"? What authority? This is just sick.
posted by tiaka on Jul 18, 2000 - 3 comments

Another day, another piece of unconstitutional net-censorship legislation in Congress. And this time it's authored by your pal and mine, John "Watch Out for Charlies!" McCain. Perhaps we should start a deadpool for all these bills, giving out some cash to whoever guesses the dates on which the courts throw them out?
posted by aaron on Jun 27, 2000 - 4 comments

Third Circuit panel upholds injunction against Child Online Protective Act, says that "community standards" approach doesn't work in 'cyberspace'. Is sanity breaking out in the federal judiciary?
posted by baylink on Jun 23, 2000 - 1 comment

Say goodbye to personal liberty if this bill gets passed. A bill aimed at fighting drugs on and off line will limit your freedom of speech, allow police to enter your house with a warrant but not telling you what it's for. One step closer to the Police state. And one heck of a supreme court case in the wings.
posted by eljuanbobo on May 9, 2000 - 3 comments

speed limit -- A bill banning Internet sites which publish or even link to drug-making information looks set to sail through Congress
posted by palegirl on Apr 26, 2000 - 3 comments

Potential Employment: Here is a chance to show what you are made of. Quit your high paying job you have now, for one that will give you the opportunity to "help the children."
posted by brent on Feb 12, 2000 - 0 comments