Archive for: May 2008

Here’s video of last week’s forum:

View: flash | mp4 | wmv | real | 3gp | stills | youtube | mp3
Download: divx | ipod | wmv | real | phone | mp3

**Tune in to the live webcast! Ask questions!

An ars technica article reports that the Federal Communications Commission is looking for a bidder to provide nationwide free broadband service. A spokesperson for the Commission has told Ars that the FCC wants it to include “content filters.”

YouTomb is a research project of MIT Free Culture. The purpose of the project is to investigate what kind of videos are subject to takedown notices due to allegations of copyright infringement with particular emphasis on those for which the takedown may be mistaken. Although the initial focus is on videos hosted by YouTube, it is planned to extend it to other video collections.

ISOC-NY will host a public forum this coming Wednesday on the topic ‘Connecting.nyc’. Tom Lowenhaupt will give a briefing on the longstanding campaign to bring about a .nyc top-level domain which finally, with Paris and Berlin also on similar paths, looks to be a practical reality.

This is an important and vital issue for New York City’s global identity. As Tom goes off to make his case at the ICANN meet in Paris next month let’s show him that he has the people’s support!

Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Time: 6.30pm – 8pm
Location: Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave (@9th St) New York NY

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, has introduced legislation that addresses Network Neutrality’s fair trade aspects by labeling it an antitrust matter. Conyers’ H.R. 5994 would ban discriminatory network management practices by amending the Clayton Act.

The bill, labeled the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act, would require carriers to promote competition and allow people to use any device they want to on the carriers’ networks. The bill makes exceptions for emergencies, criminal investigations, parental controls, marketing, and improvements to quality of service.

A story in yesterday’s BoingBoing blog details Worldwide Lexicon - a community translation system that enables a website’s readers to translate to the languages they speak.

ICANN has published a transcript of the morning session of the GNSO New gTLD meetings in Los Angeles on 10-11April. There is also a slideshow of a presentation by ICANN staff member Kurt Pritz, and a flowchart of the proposed application process. mp3 recordings of both morning and afternoon sessions are available.

The United States House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet is today holding a hearing to discuss Network Neutrality legislation (HR 5353) introduced by subcommittee chairman Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA).

Update: Archived video is available from CSPAN. (RealVideo)

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal notes that NY Governor David Paterson has revived former Gov. Spitzer’s controversial plan to collect sales tax from out of state online retailers. The provision, included in the current budget, is expected to raise $70m.