News of the movement for January 22, 2013


Mobile and Beyond

Thousands of Angry AT&T Customers Speak Out as Free Press Pushes for Net Neutrality

AT&T recently made FaceTime calling available to all eligible customers on tiered data plans, but advocacy group Free Press is unimpressed with the move. Free Press lambasted the carrier for not opening access to its entire customer base -- including unlimited data subscribers. Now the organization is urging AT&T's customers to tell the company how they really feel, and Free Press is even giving them a public platform for the cause.

Chris Welch, The Verge

Frustrating Inaugural Message: No Cell Signal

Scores of inauguration-goers trying to tweet and text from the National Mall hit an apparent wall with spotty wireless service -- even though the carriers themselves said there wasn’t much of a problem.

Tony Romm, Politico


Save the Internet

These Are the Next Five Battles for Internet Freedom

One year ago, Internet users of all ages, races and political stripes participated in the largest protest in Internet history, flooding Congress with millions of emails and phone calls to demand it drop the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) -- a dangerous bill that would have allowed corporations and the govenrment to censor large parts of the Web. But the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, and the fight for Internet freedom continues. Here's a look at the top five issues SOPA activists should focus on next.

Trevor Timm, Gizmodo

Internet Freedom Day

Remember the Stop Online Privacy and Protect IP Acts, better known as SOPA/PIPA? It was a year ago that thousands of websites -- like Wikipedia, reddit and Boing Boing -- went dark to demonstrate what could happen if SOPA and PIPA passed. Both acts were proposed as ways to combat copyright infringement on the Internet. To commemorate the successful protests against the bills, open Internet activists have dubbed Fri.,Jan. 18, "Internet Freedom Day."

Sara Morrison, Columbia Journalism Review

3G But No Internet for North Koreans

North Koreans have SMS for texting and 3G networks, but can't use the networks to get Internet or smartphones. They have a closed Korean Intranet and some officials can use the worldwide Internet, but only if someone is watching.

Francie Diep, TechNewsDaily


Future of the Internet

Why Gigabit Matters

Gigabit is almost 150 times as fast as the average national broadband speed, giving communities an opportunity to develop a thriving culture of innovation. But simply noting it’s 150 times as fast fails to capture its true import. Gigabit is a new paradigm, one in which the network’s speed is no longer a bottleneck.

Bradley Holt, Free Press

Survey Finds Rising Reliance on Libraries as a Gateway to the Web

Free access to computers and the Internet is now nearly as important to library patrons as borrowing books, according to a new survey.

Leslie Kaufman, New York Times

Mixed Response to Comcast in Expanding Net Access

Comcast started Internet Essentials in order to satisfy a regulatory requirement to provide Internet access to the poor, which also happens to be one of the few remaining areas for growth for cable companies across the country. More than 100,000 households in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and other major markets have signed up for Internet Essentials. But as the program gains popularity, Comcast has come under criticism, accused of overreaching in its interactions with local communities.

Amy Chozick, New York Times

Privacy Groups Lobby EU to Crack Down on Web Companies

A coalition of privacy advocates wrote to the European Union, urging it to ignore the advice of the U.S. government and push ahead with proposed data privacy regulations of Web companies like Facebook and Google.

Brendan Sasso, The Hill

France Proposes an Internet Tax

France, seeking fresh ways to raise funds and frustrated that American technology companies that dominate its digital economy are largely beyond the reach of French fiscal authorities, has proposed a new levy: an Internet tax on the collection of personal data.

Eric Pfanner, New York Times


Media Policy at the FCC

Democrat Vows Net Neutrality Bill if FCC Rules Are Overturned

Rep. Anna Eshoo pledged to introduce a Net Neutrality bill if the FCC's regulations on the issue are overturned in federal court.

Brendan Sasso, The Hill

Former FCC Chair: ISP Data Caps Are About Monetization

Data caps, also known as broadband caps and bandwidth caps, have long been a controversial method of managing network congestion by ISPs -- or has it? While numerous ISPs have explained away the necessity of bandwidth caps to maintain quality service, former FCC Chairman Michael Powell recently explained the real reason may be more financially driven than companies would like to admit.

Rick Burgess, TechSpot

FCC 1 Gbps 'Challenge' Just Another Hollow FCC Promise

A new FCC initiative promises to accelerate the delivery of 1 Gbps connections to all 50 states by 2015, though on closer inspection the plan appears to be another hollow agency puppet show. FCC boss Julius Genachowski received ample press attention last week by proclaiming that the FCC was spearheading a new agency program that would bring 1 Gbps connections to all 50 states in just two years. Few stopped applauding long enough to notice the plan's hollow core.

Karl Bode, Broadband Reports


Journalism and Beyond

Is the Decline in Long-Form Newspaper Journalism a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

According to the Columbia Journalism Review, the past decade has seen a dramatic decline in longer stories at some of the industry’s leading newspapers. But does that mean long-form journalism is dying, or just evolving?

Mathew Ingram, paidContent.org

Kennedy: No Papers Getting It Right in Digital

Dan Kennedy, veteran media critic and assistant professor at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism, says newspapers are falling short when it comes to digital, with many hampered by clumsy paywalls and too much debt on their books.

Michael Depp, NetNewsCheck

Atlantic President: Our Error Was 'in the Execution' of the Scientology Campaign

The Atlantic published -- then removed -- sponsored content about the Church of Scientology, raising ethical questions about this emerging form of revenue. Atlantic President M. Scott Havens sent a memo to staff explaining what happened and what will happen next.

Julie Moos, Poynter

New Tribune Chief Signals Greater Television Focus

Two-thirds of the Tribune Company’s revenues currently come from the newspapers it owns. But that most likely won’t be true a year from now. Peter Liguori, who was named the new chief executive of the company last week, said that he was open both to selling some of the newspapers and buying more television stations.

Brian Stelter, New York Times