Still waiting for change you can believe in? Well, believe this: the White House just declared an intellectual property treaty a state secret and denied Freedom of Information Act requests asking that it reveal the details of an international treaty that could have huge effects on how information is disseminated online.
Sprint Lobbyist Declares Net Neutrality Support
The thing about being a journalist, web or otherwise, is you are essentially always on the job, and sometimes you’re on the clock when you least expect it. Rufus Edmisten, former attorney general and secretary of state for North Carolina turned Philip Morris/Sprint/Alltel lobbyist, was informed of my occupation more than once—web journalist, I told him—which didn’t seem to register on any particular level with him.
NYT Declares Facebook Experiment A Success
Never mind all the economic doom and gloom; the New York Times is thrilled with how its venture into social networking has gone. A new memo notes some numbers that beat internal expectations, and should sound pretty impressive to outsiders, too.
Apple Declares War on Sneaker Hackers
The IPod Nano and Nike TM shoe was a great idea for people to listen to music as they walk, and get information on how much they walked during the time the two systems were synched. Apple has decided to declare war against sneaker hackers, and have a patent to work out if the system of nano and sensor is an “authorized garment”.
FCC Declares Comcast’s Filtering Illegal
It’s official, as far as the FCC is concerned, that Comcast’s throttling of peer-to-peer traffic was illegal and in violation of the FCC’s network neutrality principles. The highly expected ruling came down today, with Chairman Kevin Martin crossing the political aisle to join commissioners Copps and Adelstein, serving Comcast with a cease-and-desist order.
Alexa Declares YouTube More Popular Than Google
Be careful when declaring one site the traffic champion over another if you’re basing your conclusion on Alexa data.
U.S. Army Declares War On Soldiers’ Blogs
“Service before self,” says the U.S. Air Force, and the unofficial Navy motto, “Not self but country,” follows a similar line of thought. But it’s members of the Army who are being asked something new in regards to their “selves”: Soldiers must now “consult with their immediate supervisor and their OPSEC [Operations Security] Officer” before sending e-mails or posting on blogs.
George Lucas Declares Trademark War On Digg
There’s no balance in the Force with the Digg.com around, says LucasFilms, who has filed a trademark complaint against the social news site. Diggers haven’t been this torn since they walked out of The Phantom Menace and realized how much it sucked.
Sony Declares Victory In DVD Wars
The mighty warrior Toshiba continues to wield its katana against overwhelming odds. The allies of Sony continue to gather strength even while Toshiba tries aggressive and risky maneuvers. Sony got in a nasty stab with the announcement of Warner’s support of both formats after having only supported Toshiba’s HD-DVD previously.
WTO Declares US Cotton Subsidies Illegal
Oxfam called on the US to implement the final WTO ruling against its illegal cotton payment programs and agree to new global trade rules that would stop the dumping of cheap commodities.