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Tech-savvy rally for access to Net

Washington Post via San Jose Merc: Tech-savvy rally for access to Net.

Bearing video cameras, laptops and cell phones, a small army of young activists flooded into a recent federal meeting in protest.

Members of public-interest group Free Press weren't there to support a presidential candidate or decry global warming. The tech-savvy hundreds went to the Federal Communications Commission's hearing at Harvard Law School last month to push new rules for the Internet.

For the first time, Congress and the FCC are debating wide-reaching Web regulations and policies that would determine how much control cable and telecommunications companies would have over the Internet. The issue has given rise to a new political constituency raised on text messaging and social networking and relies on e-mail blasts and online video clips in its advocacy.

Although Free Press has generated buzz for its aggressive and sometimes controversial tactics online, its ringleader in Washington is an unlikely crusader. A soft-spoken 30-year-old doctoral candidate, Ben Scott has become an operator in multibillion-dollar battles involving corporate titans, regulators and consumers debating policies over who controls the media and the Internet.

"There have been policy moments in the past when the market has been shaped by decisions made in Washington - radio in the 1930s, television in the 1950s and cable in the 1980s. That moment is now for the Internet," said Scott, who runs a nine-member office. ...

Net Neutrality: Where do we go from here?

Ethan Strimling wants your input and feedback on Net Neutrality: Where Do We Go From Here?

Tell the FCC to keep speech free

From Public Knowledge today: Tell the FCC to Protect Text Messaging and Keep Speech Free.

This past September, Verizon blocked its customers from receiving NARAL Pro-Choice America action alert text messages—messages that Verizon’s customers asked to receive.

After the New York Times exposed Verizon, the wireless provider backed down, but only after making it clear that Verizon believes it’s entitled to decide who their customers can communicate with and what kinds of speech can reach them. NARAL may have eventually gotten its message out after the Times story, but some companies are still being blocked—companies like Rebtel which offers text-based services to make cheaper long distance and international calls using short codes (5- and 6- digit numbers used for text messages).

Verizon claims to have a new policy that won’t block political speech. Its new internal policy is not public, and Verizon asks us to trust them despite the fact that they can change it whenever they like. Tell the FCC that Verizon’s closed policies are not good enough: text messages and short codes need to be subject to nondiscrimination rules, just like phone calls are.

Explain to the FCC now how you use text messages. Tell them if you subscribe to alerts from causes you believe in, if your organization uses text messages or short codes to reach its supporters, and tell them every other way in which text messaging and freedom of speech on our phone networks are important to you.
We’ve made it easy to file your comments with the FCC. Just select the following link and fill out the comment form:

http://www.publicknowledge.org/fcccomment/protect-text-messaging

You are filing comments in WT Docket No. 08-7, Petition for Declaratory Ruling that Text Messages and Short Codes are Title II Services or are Title I Services Subject to Section 202 non-Discrimination Rules. More information from the FCC on this issue can be found here (PDF).

Is Scrabulous 'piracy'?

NY Times: Online Scrabble Craze Leaves Game Sellers at Loss for Words. The companies that own the rights to the Scrabble board game say Scrabulous, a popular online knockoff, is piracy.