New Ideas : OpenInternet

delete/remove idea vote

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:16:13 PST

Allow me to take away my vote... I just voted for Idea#473 "Nonprofits need law to assure they're not blocked by SPAM detect..." and I changed my mind...

Comments (0) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech

Nonprofits need law to assure they're not blocked by SPAM detect

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:55:57 PST

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The SPAM Act does not cover non-commercial mail, and SPAM detectors are treating commercial and non-commercial mail as equals. Nonprofits like our's are continuously fighting to have our email delivered. There is nothing in the law that requires blacklisters such as Barracuda, Spamhaus, Postini, etc to not tag non-commercial mail as SPAM.

Comments (4) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech, spam, nonprofit, blacklist, email

plugin

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:45:11 PST

-1

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1009

Comments (0) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech

Restoring the powers of anti-trust enforcement.

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 10:25:36 PST

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You are both right and wrong. First, the anti-trust laws have been crippled by years of concerted effort by the power brokers, For them to be fully effective, we have to first look into our past and roll-back some historical mistakes. We have to reinstate the Glass Seagall Act of 1933 which identified the inherent conflict of interest between Commercial Banks and Investment Banks We have to reverse the 90's decisions on the removal of Position Limits on Futures Contracts. There are lots of other examples, but these would be a fantastic start at empowering anti-trust enforcement.
Perhaps most important is the "you gotta wanna" principle, the DOJ and Attorney Generals of the States has to be motivated to use the laws they have available today to pursue and punish the offenders. We have to vocally support their efforts to bring the big banks to justice and to accept no less than their making every person and family they destroyed whole again.

Comments (0) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech, restore glass-seagall, restore position limits

How I see the Occupy & Tea Party movements

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:44:30 PST

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You may not like the message, or the messenger for that matter, but there is no question about the validity of their diverse messages. There can be no question about the corruption that is taking down our economy, or the disastrous consequence it is having for those less privileged. The concepts of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”; and upward mobility for the middle class and poor are a bitter memory. They are not looking for handouts; they are looking for the opportunity, jobs and justice their parents enjoyed.

Please keep in mind that the Occupy Wall Street and similar movements welcome all, including those that society forgot, and share what little they have with them. With this generosity comes problems, but in the end they are good Americans peacefully making their many voices heard. Although this poses inconveniences to you on your way from your home to your place of business, remember that many of the people you pass along the way have lost one or both through no fault of their own.

As a small business owner, I would like to remind everyone that it is in our best interests to help get these folks back on their feet as soon as possible, even it is only by trying to understand the validity of their messages.

They are Americans behaving exactly as our forefathers did when faced with injustice.

The Boston Tea Party Revisited

They come from many different backgrounds. About one-third of them are skilled craftsmen, and a much smaller number are professionals, doctors, educators, lawyers, merchants, and the like. Although we do not know the occupations of all the participants, the majority are students and from the working class. About two-thirds are under 20; few are over 40. Most are locals, but some came from great distances. They have one thing in common, their committed opposition to a government which ignores the needs of the people in favor of the rich and powerful. Regardless of their financial or social origins, they work as a team of self-sacrificing patriots against an oppressive and seemingly all powerful enemy. Although the words were yet to be written, they stood for “the Right of the People to alter or to abolish any Form of Government that becomes destructive of inalienable rights of men such as Life, Liberty and Pursuit of "Happiness”.

This describes the majority of both the Occupy movement and the modern Tea Party, but in fact, it paraphrases the words of the Boston Tea Party Association’s description of the participants in one of America’s proudest moments.

Like the rank and file members of the Tea Party, the “Occupiers” have the same central agenda; fairness, equity and opportunity. They don't have a Robin Hood complex and do not want to steal from the rich, they just want the crimes of the powerful punished and their plunder returned to those they stole from; this is not theft, it is justice. They want the opportunities enjoyed by their parents and grandparents. Their common goal is the return to a world where there was a vibrant and growing middle class where anyone who was willing to do the hard yards could improve their lot, and that of their families; they are not seeking a redistribution of wealth through conscription. Neither ascribes to the mean spirited rhetoric of those at their extremes. Nor would they knowingly yield to what appears to be the divide and conquer tactics of those amorphous individuals at the highest levels of power.

In the end, these modern American patriots are following in the footsteps of our forefathers; those which led to the creation
of our democracy, and they are doing it in ways that would have made them beam with pride. If they can set aside the voices of their most radical leaders while sharply focusing on their commonalities & band together to bring their core values to reality, all Americans triumph. If they don’t, they will simply cancel each other out while the bad guys win once more.

Comments (8) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech, occupy wall street, tea party, boston tea party

Good competition creates great businesses

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:21:18 PST

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Good competition creates great businesses, oligopolies and monopolies do just the opposite. I suggest demanding updating and enforcement of anti trust regulations.

Comments (2) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech, anti-trust, monopolies, oligopolies

why net neutrality bill IS needed

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:52:34 PST

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big business moving in and saying what content we can/can't see is exactly what's happening now, and why there needs to be net neutrality legislation

Comments (2) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech

No bills on net neutrality or anti net neutrality needed

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:15:13 PST

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I'll admit it I'm disabled. I can't go out like everyone else because I can't drive and for safety reasons. I always need someone else with me. Whenever I go into public people judge based on my disability not who I am. On the internet I am an equal. This is the one platform where people with disabilities are equal. We We shouldn't let big business move in and say what content we can/can't see.

I am afraid that they will use the internet in an attempt to disenfranchise certain groups of people. Whats to stop them so only the highest bidder can have an online business? How can the gov't prevent people access to some health information in favor of pushing medications and devices from certain companies?

Why can't we go back to the good old days and let people decide for themselves rather then have companies and lobbyist decide for them? We the people should be able to do what we please and not be told what to look at.

Why should I get left behind because I am disabled? Why shouldn't I be allowed a platform on which to shine? Why shouldn't I be allowed to partake in society because I am disabled? Why should I be expected to sit back and others make decisions on my behalf rather then myself?

If the answer is this isn't the intent of the net neutrality bill your right, but the bill will likely lead to it so why not stop it now before you take one of the very few freedoms away that I have. The freedom to be myself. I believe the people should be able to self govern ourselves then if and only if someone needs to step in should a law get put into place for or against net neutrality. It is working so far so why stop?

Comments (0) Nondiscrimination

Market Doesn't Prevent Comm Monopoly...so real NN is Needed

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:24:44 PST

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Although I haven't had a chance to read this book yet, it sounds like Tim Wu's new book 'The Master Switch' is relevant to this discussion. See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/books/review/Leonhardt-t.html?ref=books

It's relevant because it shows that to *prevent* monopoly in communications (and prevent all the bad things that result), that more has to be done than simply 'let the free market decide'.

Comments (0) The Open Internet & Innovation

It ain't broke

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 14:00:40 PST

-1

Vote On Idea

Leave the internet alone.

Comments (0) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech

The fundamental flaw of Ethernet is that it requires routers.

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:15:05 PST

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Leave the carrier backbone alone, however migrate the middle and last mile to a broadcast architecture that does not require routers. It's called The Q from Ether2. This technology will eliminate bottlenecks and support stable QoS no matter how many nodes or how much traffic is on the network (up to 110%). IPTV quality will surpass cable/sat, the digital divide will be closed, net neutrality will be a non-issue, and democracy will spread globally increasing national security here at home.

Comments (1) Workshop--Innovation, Investment, and the Open Internet, ethernet, broadcast, multicast, content delivery, wifi, wimax, zigbee, broadband, wireless, distributed

Fairness and Useful New Ideas

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 08:25:42 PST

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In crafting any & all Internet regulations and legislation - we strongly suggest DILIGENT PUBLIC ADVOCACY and SCRUPULOUS ATTENTION TO LANGUAGE, wisely erring on the side of Internet neutrality, global accessibility, freedom of speech and community keeping in mind It is much easier to add than to take away legislation.

In looking for New Ideas, and respect for public concerns, I suggest publishing all pending policy and procedures and legislation on the internet for a reasonaable generous period of time before drafting the final bill.
The public may wish to scrutinze the entire process with a view to legal proceedings.

Comments (0) The Open Internet & Innovation

keep it 'free' in the truest sense of the term

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 07:17:42 PST

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As you know, nearly all individuals who access the Internet, pay for the privilege. Since this is the case, and the fact is Not contested, it is disturbing to hear some of the 'proposals' from the Big Telcos. Access should be uninhibited. If any consumer has a Home PC, or Home Network, with hardware capable of and configured to afford the maximum Through Put which their ISP is capable of offering, then they should be entitled to receive precisely this. No Telco / ISP, shall have the ability or License to 'throttle back bandwidth', in pursuit of fees in addition to the Consumer/Subscribers monthly access charges. Also, no Telco/Isp shall have the ability or License, to limit access to specific areas, or to 'steer' the Consumer toward or away from areas, sites, etc. that the ISP Provider has advertising or financial interests in or not. The Internet should be freely accessed, without speed / bandwidth or steering controls foisted upon consumers, who already pay fees, in some cases over $50 monthly per account, so that the Telco/ISP can further manage to pick the pockets of the Consumer. This facility began becoming available, via Dial Up in 1993. No Telco can now say that this is new ground for them, or that they didn't know what the parameters of their Consumer Agreements were 'supposed to be', and any company saying this to the FCC, is being disingenuous at best.

Comments (1) Transparency/Disclosure of Network Management Practices, charges, bandwidth, steering, limiting, fees, isp, telco

SMS and MMS messaging

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:59:01 PST

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SMS & MMS messaging is now the most widely used form of communication. Why is it not properly regulated by a commission that is supposed to regulate communication?

Have you ever wondered why you do not receive SMS appointment reminders from your doctor? Or why you cannot send an MMS picture of your injury to your doctor’s office? Why do restaurants still use vibrating pagers when everyone has a mobile phone. Ever wonder why you cannot text message an order to a pizza shop and receive pick-up confirmation texted back to you?

Well - It is not because nobody thought of these ideas and they are relatively simple and obvious. The reason is because the wireless carriers block innovation.

Let’s go into some background:

First, all four major networks (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-mobile) have colluded through an organization called CTIA to allow a single service provider (Neustar) allocate short numbers (usshortcodes.com). This monopoly on short numbers allows Neustar to charge a monstrous fee of $500 per month per number. “Why use a shortcode, why not use regular numbers?” you are asking yourself. Well the carriers consider any business that uses a mobile phone number to communicate with their customers a “Violation of Service”. And then they block you from sending what is legitimate communication traffic.
Once you have purchased your short code for $500/month from Neustar you are then tasked with contacting each mobile network operator to connect it. Americans are not used to having to call each telephone network and request connectivity to receive calls. The FCC has done a great job mandating interconnection yet the FCC has folded on text messaging services.
Each carrier has separate requirements to connect and request information before. Some review your message flow, some review your content, other’s perform a full evaluation of your business model. It can take 4-6 weeks for them to get back to you. Businesses in America have never had to justify their business model to a phone company or inform them of what they would be talking to their customers about. The mobile networks claim the right to reject or delay your connectivity request for any reason and block the number you have purchased. Could you imagine if you tried to call your insurance company and your phone company said “Sorry you can’t call them because we feel their insurance rates are too high.” This is the current state of the business.

Some thoughts:

I believe interconnection should be mandatory for SMS services. Businesses should be able to use either a phone number or a short number. They should be able to purchase any number they want and be connected instantly. Businesses should not be required to request connectivity; they should not have to describe their business or what their messages say. There should be no central authority that approves or denies ideas and services. Let innovation reign!

That said....

Businesses SHOULD be fined for sending illegal (adult) content or spamming. Nearly everyone in the country is aware of the do-not-call list. The FCC has regulated telemarketing and robo-calling very well so they could surely do it for SMS/MMS successfully. People will be quick to report spamming on their phone. I do believe Premium /Billing transactions should still require approvals.

Comments (0) Application of the Principles to Mobile Broadband, sms, mms, verizon wireless, at&t, sprint, t-mobile, shortcode, neustar, text messaging, picture messaging, interconnection, discrimination, innovation, anti-competitive

Free

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:57:06 PST

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I suggest you...Make it all free for Ethiopians because no opportunity to pay you by hard currency.

Comments (0) Application of the Principles to Mobile Broadband, iphone, nokia, chinese, updates, you tube, safary, blackrain, cydia, helpcenter

All the world+Africa

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:44:42 PST

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For AFICA or may be for my country ETHIOPIA ,World access is very important.

Comments (0) The Open Internet & Public Engagement , us gov, all, like, do good, love, peace, kind, goverment, radio, tv, show.

Google News - Kills thousands of small news publishers

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:33:12 PST

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Google News has recently removed hundreds if not thousands of News publishers from their index, which has caused the loss of thousands of jobs, at a time when America needs them most.

According to the chatter on the Google News Publishers forum, Google is making an effort to remove unwanted content, this effort has also caused several smaller News sites who provided real news to be removed from the index.

The loss of jobs and the ability of smaller news organizations to be heard is single handedly being dictated by Google News.

Google News continues to allow larger organizations to remain in the news while they violate the same practices Google News has removed the other smaller organizations for.

Hiding behind an algorithm is Google justified?

There is no way to appeal the removal of any site that has been publishing news via Google News for over 5 years in some cases.

Comments (0) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech, google, google news, news publisher, us news

Comcast demonstrates why Neutrality is a MUST

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:46:50 PST

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This week, Comcast indicated that it will try to charge Netflix a special fee, just to let people stream HD movies from them.

That's because they feel netflix will compete with comcast's own video on demand service.

This is EXACTLY why we need net neutrality. Comcast for one, shouldn't be allowed to control ANYTHING regarding content, and they shouldn't be in the content business AND the cable laying business at the same time because of the huge conflict of interest that this story demonstrates.

If the content, and internet service business were completely separate from the cable laying business, there would be nothing that comcast could do to block or slow down innovative sites like netflix. This is why it is not just a matter of regulation, but more importantly, a matter of the structure of the internet itself that must be made as open as possible on every level to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

We have to break up companies like Comcast, if we are ever to keep a free and open internet.

Comments (7) Nondiscrimination, comcast, bad isps, isps, bandwidth, netflix, fees, charges, roadblocks, road hogs

Internet Use

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 02:28:52 PST

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Internet Use make the world very small

Comments (2) The Open Internet & Innovation, 555

keep internet free just like speach

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:37:46 PST

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internet should remain free. its like the air we breath in todays world. Puting a price on top of it after payin a service provider is down right wrong. its like putting a tax on top of a tax. We are already burdened enough. plus with the economy the way it is would make it even harder for a lot of people to find jobs if they are not working. Now it is easy to find jobs through the internet ,put a charge on that and you would be taking food out of some familys mouths.

Comments (12) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech

Internet

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:33:58 PST

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Many years ago cable companies ralied the cry that they should be deregulated so that everyone could afford cable - laudible - credible, hardly. The cable industry knows a cash-cow when it sees one, and we need to keep the internet free and unincumbered, otherwise, we'll be paying an arm and a leg for what we now enjoy for a song.

Comments (1) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech

Free and available Internet

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:07:57 PST

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I want the Internet to be completely free from ISP, Corporation and Government control. I also want high speed Internet to be easily available to all Americans.

Comments (0) The Open Internet & the Freedom of Speech

The utopia of net neutrality is an impossible goal to obtain.

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:09:57 PST

-1

Vote On Idea

Net neutrality is a perfect situation which will not be achievable. Sorry but there is no utopian ideal solution. The internet is like a lot of roadways and you have to allow authorities like the FCC and internet service providers to perform throttling, limits on total bandwidth use and modifications based upon access and ability to pay for excessive speeds so that the net can conduct its business reliably for the most important purposes. I often tell those playing video games that lag latency slow downs in the game build character because there's just no way to fix it and getting mad will get you nowhere! Piracy detection and enforcement against copyright infringements should be more automated and less of a legal struggle for the courts, let authorities disable files they find against the law and let users of the internet file claims if they feel the changes are against their rights.

Comments (1) The Open Internet & Public Engagement , net neutrality, copyright, infringement, bandwidth, open, internet, fcc, federal communications commission, limits, terms, fine print

open internet

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:35:40 PST

-3

Vote On Idea

I hope you realize that if you intend to use a scale model for internet access, many people that work for local cable companies will lose the job they have for many people wont want a fast modem that does surf the net freely.

Comments (0) The Open Internet & Public Engagement

Safe Driver? Improve your credit score.

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 07:01:30 PDT

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I am no expert, but, I believe that the majority of the country has "so-so" or crappy credit scores. Why not design an incentive program geared towards promoting traffic and driver safety by improving their credit scores over time. For example, every six months if a driver goes without an accident or ticket, raise their credit score 10 points. It's no secret that America is a revolving melting pot of debt and bad credit and the only way to improve it is by spending. Again, this is my opinion. I know I could stand to get as much help as I could with my credit score but it aint always easy to pay stuff off if you dont have the extra income to improve it. This is where the Government and National Traffic Safety Board might be ablt to step in and help improve public safety by giving the drivers incentive to drive safer.

SSG Rob Spitzer
US Army, Ft. Lee VA

Comments (1) Law Enforcement, Public Safety, and National Security