Monthly Archives: November 2006

Politics and Net Neutrality

Rip van Pulver awakens from a European trip and opines:
To some extent, I had given up on America and the prospect that it would develop a regulatory framework that might enable Internet entrepreneurs. In my mind, other countries have been supplanting the US as the havens for Internet innovation. The midterm election, however, has reminded me that, in a democracy, there is always room for a rethink, a do-over, an opportunity for a dramatic policy shift when the national consciousness wakes up and recognizes that its policies might be leading the nation down a backward-heading path.

Shift Happened: How Might a Democrat-Controlled Congress Affect Media, Internet, Communications and Entertainment? Jeff Pulver, Jeff Pulver Blog, November 09, 2006

What could this shift be? Continue reading →

Congressional Confusopoly

U.S. 109th Congress, TX-10 Have you noticed how difficult it is to find accurate maps of U.S. Congressional districts? The ones the New York Times is using in its election coverage are out of date, and the Times is far from alone in this error. A correct map is on the right; more on that below.

Continue reading →

FBI Fishes Phishers

FBI finally does something about phishing:
A large group of suspected internet fraudsters has been arrested following an investigation by the FBI.

Seventeen individuals have been arrested, four in the US and the rest in Poland, after being chased by over 20 different FBI offices.

The group is accused of carrying out a phishing attack against a major financial institution in the three months from August 2004, it is claimed.

Police arrest suspected phishing gang Richard Thurston, ZDNet UK, 03 Nov 2006

Good on the FBI! Continue reading →

Net Neutrality Podcast

jsq & mhathaway Here’s a picture and a podcast from the EFF-Austin net neutrality forum of the other day. Lots of interesting back-and-forth in there, among the panelists and the audience.

Jonl quotes my blurb about the FCC’s principles emphasizing consumers, i.e., consumers of broadcast media, while Internet growth is fueled by groups of participants; I previously posted a bit more about that.

-jsq

PS: Yes, despite how it looks in the picture, I am wearing a shirt.

Ipsos Custodies

This morning I voted early. This involved using an electronic voting machine. At least it was some local Texas brand, rather than one of the better-known brands that has well-known problems.

However, an easy way occured to me how somebody could subvert these local machines; a way that doesn’t even involve modifying the software, wireless networks, or any access to the machine other than through the voting interface. Continue reading →

Telemedicine Risk

Speciality Insurance blog points out that while remote medical practice can bring efficiency and cost savings (to which I would add better quality medical care to remote locations), it can increase liability. Malpractice insurance is merely the first step in risk management for telemedicine, since local laws may be different on each end of the link. And not only local laws, but local expectations, so you need to make sure all participants have appropriate expectations and monitor both those expectations and what actually happens. Continue reading →

Individuals + Communications = Society

In case it’s not obvious why net neutrality is important, a society isn’t just the sum of its individuals; it requires communications, as well, and communications for all purposes are increasingly are carried over the Internet.

Around Austin, there have recently been net neutrality panels or discussions organized by IEEE and by EFF-Austin. EFF-Austin had a discussion, which we’re following up with a panel:

Continue reading →