By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  November 27th at 01:00 AM  | 

It’s funny how the same House Judiciary Committee that took up SOPA is now taking up IRFA, opposed by a growing list of groups including Taxpayers Protection Alliance, ATR, CAGW, and ACU. SOPA of course would have grown government in the name of strengthening copyright. IRFA makes government meddle more in a way that weakens copyright. And not in a good way, either: IRFA would not encourage innovation or content creation. It just favors Internet broadcasters over everyone else.

Also yeah, the RSC paper on Copyright that I backed before it was wrongly pulled, it is not a statement against property rights nor is it against copyright at all. If the side favoring ever-lengthening copyright cannot argue honestly with us, and has to mischaracterize those of us who favor an approach to copyright that balances the interests involved, then that to me suggests a deficiency in their position.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  November 20th at 01:30 AM  | 

So you may have heard that the Republican Study Committee pulled the copyright piece I spoke highly of over the weekend. I don’t have anything to say about this just yet. I’m going to reexamine the piece, to see if it had issues I didn’t notice in my quick read over the weekend. I’m also going to try to figure out just what’s happened. Then I’ll have more to say.

Copyright is ramping up, though. Darrell Issa is getting frisky against DMCA, and is going to push legislation. I don’t know if I support such a bill. The DMCA has issues, but for the most part it was a solid compromise that has served us well. It must not be changed lightly.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  November 18th at 04:00 AM  | 

Hey everyone. Sorry for not doing this Friday night. I was a bit out of it. So, we’re doing this Saturday night.

Some people just don’t learn, though. Google is still defending Net Neutrality incredibly enough. So are Facebook and Netflix, by the way (shameless plug for Amazon Prime streaming alternative).

Of course, there’s a problem here: Google’s PAC splits evenly D/R in donations, but The people of Google lean so far left they gave $737k to Obama, versus $31k to Romney. Think about that. Mo wonder they’re still trying to feed a beast of regulation that may try to break it up.

If anything does in Bay area innovators, it’ll be their slavish devotion to big-government Democrats.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  October 27th at 02:30 AM  | 

Regulation must keep up with the needs of modernization. That’s a point new FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai came to RedState to make, particularly with respect to the Internet transformation going on in telecommunications. As the world “goes IP,” and puts everything on the Internet, regulators must adapt. Make sure to read it. Ajit Pai would have a particularly important role as a reformist regulator should Mitt Romney win.

Regulation today just doesn’t make much sense sometimes, a point Broadband for America makes. The point about ‘edge’ vs ‘core’ of the Internet is important. The firm that sits between you and Google is as important to you as Google. They’re all pieces of the puzzle.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  October 18th at 01:30 AM  | 

Google is a target now. The EU is threatening to do its people a disservice by trying to fight Google innovation as hard as they fight Microsoft innovation. Because here’s the thing: people who voluntarily use Google software are not at all the same as people who were snooped on by Google Street View vans. They’re not victims. They’re people choosing to sign their privacy away. The EU, in attacking Google, is restricting choice for Europeans.

Meanwhile, in the US, I have to disagree with Scott Cleland on Google’s FTC issues. Regular readers know I’m hard on Google when it’s warranted: in the Wi Spy mess, and in the Safari hack, I supported regulatory action against the firm. But the antitrust and Search Neutrality disputes are stupid, and are themselves political power grabs. The Obama regulators are themselves political power seekers. Google is not politicizing any process. Obama and his people already did.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  October 2nd at 12:00 AM  | 

I don’t think it’s ever too soon for conservatives to start pressuring Mitt Romney to appoint reformist regulators, because the Obama regulators are bad news, retarding innovation and growth. Per Fred Campbell, “If the FCC had adopted the eligibility restrictions proposed by PISC in 2007, the United States would not have achieved the LTE leadership touted by current FCC Chairman Genachowski.”

Also remember, the same White House talking about a power-grab of a Cybersecurity executive order can’t even secure itself. If Barack Obama issues the EO, that’s another thing Mitt Romney must repeal DAy One.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  September 24th at 11:00 PM  | 

As if it’s not bad enough that Barack Obama and the DHS are planning to defy the Congress and rule by decree on Cybersecurity, we’ve now got Jay Rockefeller using intimidation to try to apply a chilling effect to any opposition to the leader.

The dumbest part? Even as one part of the administration pushes cybersecurity, another pushes for back doors, which is a massive reduction in security, never mind the government spying angle.

Hoo boy. Steve Womack in the House is jumping into the sales tax debate, proposing a similar plan to the Streamlined Sales Tax-backing Marketplace Fairness Act already in the Senate. I expect one of these to pass under President Romney.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  September 22nd at 06:30 AM  | 

Wow: For a year FCC was tracking the movements of its speed testers without telling them! Privacy! Transparency!

Meanwhile the administration continues to try to do things on its own, without bothering to check that part of the Constitution that says how a bill becomes a law. Remember, the Lieberman-Collins Cybersecurity Act failed in the Senate. It has no business becoming an executive order. It also turns out that they are also looking to grab power when it comes to spectrum, which isn’t great news given the FCC’s obstruction and opposition to the use of efficient market allocation.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  September 8th at 04:00 AM  | 

Those nogoodniks online still need to beware, as Internet gangster Josh Schichtel, the creator (or operator, it’s hard to tell) of a 72,000 node botnet found out when he got socked with 30 months in prison and a $1,500 in fines.

And speaking of bad guys, Wikileaks, oh wait no, WCITLeaks. These are the good guys, trying to bring transparency to the ITU’s shadowy multinational negotiations of communications matters. And they’re looking to do more, going from pure leaking to adding policy and advocacy content.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  September 5th at 12:00 AM  | 

Hackers and pirates! Kim Dotcom says he’ll be back and revive his copyright infringement empire, while infringement haven Pirate Bay’s co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm has been arrested in Cambodia and faces deportation, related to his conviction in Sweden.

Also, Anonymous’s Antisec claims to have broken into FBI servers and gotten data about iPhones. FBI says pics or it didn’t happen. Theory: they installed a trojan app in the App Store and are blaming the FBI as cover.

By: LaborUnionReport (Diary)  |  August 28th at 04:15 PM  | 

Prior to the beating of Kenneth Gladney, the Service Employees International Union (or SEIU) flew under the public’s radar. Many Americans’ had never heard of then-SEIU boss Andy Stern and his merry band of purple goons*. Since the Gladney beating, however, the SEIU has earned the reputation once held by such notorious unions as the once mafia-controlled Teamsters or Longshoremen. Now, with the internet replacing the | Read More »

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  August 28th at 03:00 AM  | 

I know, it’s terrible, but after missing Friday due to the RedState upgrade, I feel behind tonight and so am just going to have to speed through some of this tonight.

Ah, the ARRA, aka the Porkulus. Picking Internet winners and losers in Colorado, and probably nationwide in many “little” stories the national media chooses not to pick up.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  August 23rd at 12:30 AM  | 

So, the FCC put out another report (the “706 report”) that just pushes an agenda rather than reporting the true facts about high speed Internet in America. Commissioners McDowell and Pai tell it like it is. We’ve also got Broadband for America telling the story. I’m not even worried about the details: the FCC is saying what they feel they must say to justify expanding | Read More »

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  August 7th at 03:30 AM  | 

We had no Tech at Night on Friday becuase I was at the Gathering in Jacksonville. Hope those who went enjoyed it, and that those who weren’t able to attend can make it next year! So, Harry Reid offered to let Republicans fix Lieberman-Collins. Republicans took him up on that, and he was unhappy. So he tried to ram it through after all. Republicans objected, | Read More »

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  July 5th at 12:00 AM  | 

It’s Independence Day, which was very nice for me since I kept on resting and feel just about healthy now. No Tech on Monday thanks to my cold that wiped me out since Sunday. Unfortunately Google decided today was the day to celebrate a song that, while American, was specifically designed to carry political meaning as well as to reply to the Christian and patriotic | Read More »