CLBR # 172: The Battle Over Net Neutrality with Free Press’ Craig Aaron

 CLBR # 172:  The Battle Over Net Neutrality with Free Press’ Timothy Karr

 Listen Live Wed at 10AM PT/ 1PM ET on WebmasterRadio.fm

PODCAST: Play in new window | Download (40.6MB)

craig 2Craig Aaron
President and CEO, Free Press

Over the past years, we have had many discussions about Net Neutrality with both proponents and opponents.  One of the leading proponents for Net Neutrality has been Free Press and last February we spoke with Free Press’ Timothy Karr following the DC Circuit’s opinion invalidating the last FCC Net Neutrality order.  See Whats Next For Net Neutrality? What does the DC Circuit Court Opinion Mean Going Forward? Play in new window |Download

With the Federal Communications Commission set to vote tomorrow on a new net neutrality proposal, we will talk with Free Press’ CEO about this very important issue.

Craig has led Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund since 2011. He joined Free Press in 2004 and speaks across the country about media activism and the future of journalism and the Internet. Craig is quoted often in the national press on media and technology issues and is a frequent guest on TV and the radio. His commentaries appear regularly in The Huffington Post, and he has written for The Daily Beast, The Guardian, The Hill, MSNBC, Politico, The Progressive, the Seattle Times, Slate and many others. Before joining Free Press, he was an investigative reporter for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch and the managing editor of In These Times magazine. He is the editor of two books, Appeal to Reason: 25 Years of In These Times and Changing Media: Public Interest Policies for the Digital Age. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

See more detailed blog post for further background on Net Neutrality and Free Press.

News

NSA Issues “Convincing Denial” to Report It Installed Spyware on Hard Drives

Responding to reports that the NSA had installed spyware on the hard drives of Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, IBM, Micron, Samsung and other drive makers as well as SIM cards, NSA Chief Admiral Michael Rogers responded:

Clearly I’m not going to get into the specifics of allegations. But the point I would make is, we fully comply with the law I am not going to chase every allegation out there. I don’t have time.

There you have it, a clear, concise NSA statement saying “trust me”.

Of course, the NSA had to be thrilled when the Oscar for best documentary went to . . .

National Association for the Deaf Sues Harvard/MIT Over Online Courses

The National Association for the Deaf (NAD) filed a lawsuit against Harvard and MIT yesterday, saying the two universities are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act because they don’t properly caption their online course offerings.

This comes as the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing rules clarifying its position that the Americans with Disabilities Act extends to public websites and can require certain accommodations for the blind.  In 2008, the National Federation for the Blind won a landmark settlement of a class action suit against Target in which target agreed to make changes to its websites so it was more accessible to the visually impaired.

Since then the Justice Department has entered into settlements with  H&R Block and online grocery service Peapod and intervened in private litigation on behalf of a plaintiff who sued clothing store Lucky Brand for failing to provide blind-accessible point-of-sale devices at its stores.

Revenge Porn Operators – Guilty and Not Forgotten

REVENGE2Hunter Moore, who operated the website Is Anyone Up?, will plead guilty to federal hacking and identity theft charges. Moore, who was once known as the King of Revenge Porn faces up to 7 years in prison.
Craig Brittain, operator of revenge porn site  Is Anybody Down who recently reached a settlement with the FTC shutting down his operation, has sent DMCA notices seeking to take down the FTC release announcing his consent decree as well as posts by CLBR friend Ken White (of Popehat) and posts at Ars Technica, Gawker, Forbes, Huffington Post,GigaOm, Reddit, Salon, Vice and The Verge.

Shout Outs

Congratulations to CLBR Friend Jayne Hitchcock on Receiving 2015 M3AAWG Mary Litynski Award

Jayne Hitchcock, CLBR friend and leading advocate for victims of Cyber Harassment through her website Working to Halt Online Abuse (WHO@) recieved that 2015 M3AAWG Mary Litynski Award.

One of the earliest advocates protecting cyberstalking and cyberbullying victims, Jayne A. Hitchcock received the 2015 M3AAWG Mary Litynski Award today for her efforts in assisting targeted individuals, training law enforcement, supporting anti-harassment legislation and teaching teenagers how to protect themselves from potential threats.  The lifetime achievement award for her work as co-founder of Working to Halt Online Abuse (WHO@) and in aiding thousands of online victims was presented today by the Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group at the M3AAWG 33rd General Meeting in San Francisco.

Hitchcock became an anti-abuse advocate in 1996 when a scammer targeted her with threatening emails and posted defaming messages in her name after she exposed a fraudulent publishing scheme on a Usenet message board.  When the local police did not have the tools or knowledge to help her, Hitchcock fought back by learning all she could about the technology.

As a result, she became one of the earliest experts on how to identify online stalkers. She testified in support of the first U.S. email cyberstalking bill passed in 1998 and either has helped draft or supported legislative efforts establishing online harassment as a crime in 20 states. In her middle and high school educational programs for students, she shows how the students’ supposedly innocuous social media posts and profiles can make them vulnerable to threats and harassment.

“Cyberstalking and harassment are hideous online crimes because victims often suffer in fearful silence without knowing where to turn for help or even that help is available.  Jayne has brought this problem out in the open and her commitment has saved lives and kept the industry focused on working together to find solutions,” said Chris Roosenraad, M3AAWG chairman of the Board.

3392572_1424230382.5734JV and Natasha Yi Help Cancer Victim

San Francisco radio personality JV and his wife, model and internet entrepreneur Natasha Yi have launched a Go Fund Me campaign for a 12-year old cancer victim Aaron Manriquez.  Aaron’s story is quite moving and his battle with cancer has been a huge financial strain for his family.  Check out out their campaign which has raised almost $33,000 and give a shout out to @NatashaYi for taking on this campaign.

Commemorations: Feb 28

Disenfranchisement of District of Columbia

On February 28, 1801, President John Adams signed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 that placed the District of Columbia under the jurisdiction of Congress.  At that time, Washington, D.C. was a city of 3,200 people, but the District of Columbia included Georgetown and Alexandria, Virginia and combined the city had a population of nearly 11,000 which made it the 6th largest city in the United States.  The Organic Act made those citizens “stateless” and Washington residents:

In 2013 we had the District of Columbia’s non-voting representative to Congress Eleanor Holmes Norton to talk about the continued disenfranchisement of Washington, D.C. residents.  More information and the podcast link can be found here.