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News of the movement for July 20, 2012 |
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Groups That Battled SOPA Reunite to Defend Internet
Many of the same groups and lawmakers that banded together to help derail two anti-piracy bills have reunited to formally launch a new coalition to help fight future threats to Internet freedom and innovation. Internet Defense League Forms to Fight Next SOPA and PIPA
They may be the Super Friends of the Internet: A group of prominent Web companies including Mozilla, maker of the Firefox Web browser, the social news website reddit and the blogging service WordPress have teamed up with advocacy groups and lawmakers to form the Internet Defense League, a coalition dedicated to rallying Web users against government attempts to take over or destroy the world -- the World Wide Web, that is. And they want your help. Revised Cybersecurity Bill Introduced
Senate Homeland Security Committee leaders Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins introduced a revised version of their cybersecurity bill. New Cybersecurity Bill May Actually Take Privacy Concerns Seriously
After all the concerns raised about CISPA and other cybersecurity legislation, Sens. Lieberman and Collins introduced a heavily revised version of their cybersecurity bill. The entire thing is an insane 211 pages, but after a first pass, the ACLU sounds cautiously optimistic that the new bill contains important privacy protections.
Genachowski: Media Ownership Order by Year's End
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the FCC is on track to issue an order on its media ownership notice of proposed rulemaking by the end of the year. FCC: ISPs 'Better' on Meeting Advertised Broadband Speeds
ISPs are advertising more accurate expected broadband speeds, according to the FCC, with some customers experiencing speeds that exceed what they actually pay for. ISPs Quick to Connect with FCC's Broadband Report
ISPs were happy to put a spotlight on the FCC's latest broadband-speed report, which showed major improvement over an already generally solid track record of delivering on advertised speeds. Cable Guys to FCC: ISPs Aren't the Bottleneck; Google Is!
Even at a supposed high point for the cable guys, they just can't let their beef with Google and Netflix go. The most recent dig comes courtesy of a blog post that lauds cable's achievements in today's FCC report and then turns around to blame the Web world for delivering slow-loading sites and services that can't make use of the TOTALLY AWESOME speeds cable provides. WOAI-TV to Be Purchased by Parent Company of Local FOX Station
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase six TV stations owned and/or operated by Newport Television, including WOAI-TV, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio, Texas. The $412.5 million deal is subject to FCC approval and antitrust clearance. The purchase is expected to happen in December or later. Sinclair already owns KABB-TV, the FOX affiliate in San Antonio.
'Quote Approval' a Media Sellout
A New York Times front-page article detailed a new phenomenon in news coverage of the presidential campaign: candidates insisting on "quote approval," telling reporters what they can and cannot use in some stories. And, stunningly, reporters are agreeing to it. This, folks, is news. Any way you look at it, this is a jaw-dropping turn in journalism, and it raises a lot of questions. Among them: Can you trust the reporters and news organizations who do this? Is it ever justified on the candidate's side or on the reporter's side? Where is this leading us? More News Reports Show Up in Campaign Ads, to Journalists' Chagrin
More and more this election year, campaign ads include footage from television news programs, further blurring the fading lines separating modern journalism and politics. The trend bothers practitioners of journalism more than those in politics. Robo-Journos Put Jobs in Jeopardy
Like mathematicians plotting the processes necessary to solve an equation, computer scientists can now program software to replicate the mental steps a journalist might use to write an article. Though automation has historically displaced manufacturing jobs, it now threatens cognitive careers, like journalism, as well. Software developers, sometimes working hand in hand with journalists, have created programs that can produce stories about any data-heavy subject, from finance to real estate, more efficiently than any human. College Newspapers Go Digital First, Innovate to Stay Relevant
College newspapers, facing economic pressures similar to their off-campus counterparts and hoping to stay ahead of the technological curve, are growing up fast. "Real world" newspaper trends of declining advertising and print readership have led many student newspapers to rethink business models in an increasingly digital media world. What the Instagram Backlash Says About the Future of Media
For a simple service that lets people share their photos with others from a mobile device, Instagram gets a lot of criticism, bordering on hate. Some people seem to believe that the ease with which amateur photographers can post photos to the service, and the filters Instagram provides in order to add special effects to them, are ruining photography. This isn't really that surprising: It's the same kind of criticism that has been made about blogging, citizen journalism and Twitter, among other things -- and in each case the critics have been somewhat right, but mostly wrong. Why the Washington Post Will Never Have a Paywall
While the success of the New York Times metered paywall has sparked a wave of imitators throughout the industry, the Washington Post has remained steadfast in its opposition to that approach -- despite the financial pressures the company is under.
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Think you have the right to speak freely via cellphones, websites and social media? Well, Verizon doesn't. The telecom giant is now claiming that the First Amendment gives it the right to "edit" the Internet. Tell Verizon: Don't edit me!
Want to help start a radio station? The FCC is about to open a rare window for nonprofits to apply for Low Power FM station licenses. Sign up here to get more information about the process. Help get more community radio on the air!
In Other News..Taking the Cyberattack Threat Seriously 'Survey: Mobile App Privacy Fears Continue to Escalate' How Kickstarter Could Disrupt Public Radio A World with More Phones Than People Law Changes Rules for Rural Broadband Service Time Warner Cable and Hearst Reach a Deal Viacom, DirecTV Settle Carriage War Microsoft Just Lost Money for the First Time Ever The Postal Service Is Struggling, but Not Because of the Mail
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