http://freedom-to-connect.net/

#f2c #f2c2013

I have decided to master the extended discipline of Google-fu. I’m going for the Google-fu black belt. Google in 2024 is a system for knowledge and sharing that requires the concentration of an enlightened master to grasp. Between the time when those kids from Stanford invented a dandy search engine and last month when they decided to open fire on Facebook with Google+, Google has become the most diversified software service provider on the planet. They offer rarefied search tools like Google scholar, consultative and facilitative utilities like Google moderator, digitized library services, comprehensive geography information, cloud data storage services; and, the full range of what was once “desktop” software is available from Google online: document creation, presentations, drawing, spread-sheets, calendaring, and of course email. All those functions provide a scaffolding for Google’s business model which requires them to be the most powerful advertising presence on the planet.

Google groups contains a searchable archive of hundreds of millions of Usenet postings from the early days of online social networking. The watershed moment for Internet users and Usenet itself came in 1993, the so-called “Eternal September” when AOL opened the floodgates and gave all its zillions of customers access to Usenet groups. Google is preparing for its own version of “Eternal September.” The day is coming soon when all the migration tools will be in place and all the Facebook users will be faced with the shiny new thing that Google is offering them: Google+.

I have faith in Google. I think they can pull it off. Back around the turn of the millennium I became a Google search evangelist. In a way it was a religious thing. I didn’t have any data to support it, but I had faith in Google search results. I preached Google search to anyone who would listen. My faith has been rewarded by Google’s dominance in the search engine wars. I’ve also enjoyed using Intel chip sets running Microsoft Windows, usually in cheap, reliable desktops and laptops by Dell. When the iPad arrived, I got one, but I have to admit I prefer my Windows netbook to the Apple tablet. At that same time I upgraded my cell phone from a kludgy if powerful Palm PDA to the iPhone 4, a decision I have only regretted a little as the Android market begins to appear competitive with the slick Apple mobile dream machine. I really like my iPhone! But check back with me when the contract’s over. By then I’ll doubtless be ready to ditch the iPhone in a Cupertino minute.

The consumer information technology world is in constant turmoil and conflict. War is a dominant metaphor. Besides the search engine wars, we’ve had the browser wars and the “religious war” of Apple versus Microsoft users. Mac users are convinced that Windows users have an inferior product. Windows users are convinced that Mac users are a smug overbearing lot of over-privileged, under-achieving do-do-heads who don’t know anything about computers. This emotional struggle is reminiscent of the American auto industry in the 1950s. People then felt the same kind of emotional attachment  to their choice of automobile brand that today they feel for the computer they drive. Ultimately, people ended up driving economical, agile, smaller cars and the Detroit dinosaurs perished, defeated by Asian imports.

The browser war may have quietly ended in detente. Magellan is gone of course. Netscape was crushed by Microsoft which, like IBM of old, tried to impose an “industry standard.” But for its corporate market share, the world would long ago have abandoned Microsoft’s Internet Exploder browser in favor of more standards compliant competitors. In fairness, over the years Microsoft browsers have gotten faster and better, though no better than the competition. A quick count shows three browsers on this computer: Microsoft’s IE9, Firefox 5.0, and Google Chrome 12. For diversity’s sake, I better install Opera 11.5 too.

I am not a geek. Maybe, I have a little nerd in me, but I’m not a techie. I am however consumed with the desire to master the Google. Anybody know where I can hang-out with a google-fu sensei?

“Does he give Gen Y a bad name as a pompous millennial, with a robber baron mentality or is he an American hero and inspiration?”
— Under30CEO

You can click on the above picture to display it full-sized in all its snarky goodness. I ran across it on Facebook so I have no clue regarding its provenance or any copyright associated with it.

In the nineteenth century in the United States, a class of wealthy industrialists arose. This exclusive class included men such as John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Leland Stanford. People called them “robber barons.” Does Mark Zuckerberg qualify, or is he a just another Interwebz rich kid, out of his depth when it comes to intentionality, a golden puppet dancing to the tune of his investors? In the seventies, after the Stanford “Indian” mascot was declared terminally incorrect, students held a vote to identify a new mascot. Their choice: “The Robber Barons.” The humorless administration voided the election and the school has been without a mascot since that day. This may or may not be relevant.

Globalization has brought us a new generation of robber barons, the Russian oligarchs. With a magic woven of equal parts free market entrepreneurialism, KGB savvy, and the brutality of organized crime, these bad boys bought up the best real estate in London in the nineties and settled in for the long haul. They are not alone. Forbes lists 937 global billionaires, powerful people who have accumulated limitless wealth. Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest among them, and among the most recent arrivals.

In an ironic juxtaposition of historical proportions, Zuck’s main competition for youngest on the billionaire list is H.H. Prince Albert, the 12th Prince of Thurn und Taxis, whose fortunes can be traced back to 12th century Lombardy. The Thurn und Taxis fortune was rooted in the fifteenth century postal service established by the scion of the family. For the next 500 years the service prospered. Now, while Zuck tries to pick up the messaging business where Thurn und Taxis left off, Prince Albert has moved on to a massive investment in solar energy in Bavaria.

Whether we call them “robber barons” or “oligarchs,” is wealth alone sufficient to mark a person as a member of the power elite? Is membership in that class a marker of evil? Does a world with six or seven billion people really need a privileged 1000 who control the lion’s share of global wealth? The answer to each of these questions is probably “no,” but does it even matter? Alfred Chandler, a history professor from Harvard University (Zuck’s alma mater, a school frequently called “the Stanford of the East”) put it this way: “What could be less likely to produce useful generalizations than a debate over vaguely defined moral issues based on unexamined ideological assumptions and presuppositions?”

Does anybody know when the Facebook movie will be available on Netflix? I’m sure it contains everything anybody really needs to know about Zuck.

You can’t be friends with a squirrel. A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit.
— Sarah Jessica Parker

Corporate white-hat hackers and the Mossad have set back Persian plans for nuclear bomb production by at least three years according to an article in today’s New York Times. Fact checking the Times puff piece on Stuxnet, a worm crafted for cyberwar on the Iranian nuclear establishment that targets Siemens equipment used to control centrifuges, led me to blogger Dawn Lim, so the time spent reading the fatuous nonsense from the Times wasn’t completely wasted.

Microsoft and other commercial antivirus vendors brought public attention to Stuxnet last July. The time required to develop the malware before it was dropped into the wild isn’t publicly known, but the US and Israel couldn’t have whipped it up overnight. In 2024 the flaws in Microsoft Windows exploited by the worm’s designers were brought to public attention. According to ABC, in July 2024 the worm first appeared in the wild in Belarus, a year after the Microsoft flaws were made public. The time lag between discovery of the Windows problem and the remedy suggests that the company was cooperating with the US and Israel while the worm was being developed.

Last September, Eric Byres reported that “…the Stuxnet malware attacks on Siemens Simatic WinCC SCADA and PCS7 DCS systems that came to light this past July were not the first time industrial control systems have been targeted by hackers.” Byres cites attacks going back to the early days of the Bush administration, including sabotage of Venezuela oil tanker loading control systems in the winter of 2024-2003. That sabotage coincided with efforts to destabilize the country and oust left wing leader Hugo Chavez.

More information on Stuxnet and its effect on the Iranian nuclear program is of course available on Wikipedia.

Ah, but it’s not the tools, it’s what one does with them, as this brief slideshow demonstrates. There’s wisdom in this deck. These days number seven is the mistake that hangs me up most often.

SENATOR FRANKEN:
MR. PRESIDENT, I RISE TODAY TO TALK ABOUT THE GROWING THREAT OF IT CORPORATE CONTROL ON THE FLOW OF INFORMATION IN THIS COUNTRY.
07:40:07 RIGHT NOW, TODAY, WE’VE BEEN DEBATING INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT ISSUES AND I DON’T MEAN TO DETRACT FROM ANY OF THEM.
07:40:13 WE NEED TO BE DOING ANYTHING WE CAN TO PROTECT OUR NATIONAL SECURITY AND REDUCE THE THREAT FROM NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
07:40:22 WHILE WE DEBATE THESE ISSUES IN FRONT OF THE PUBLIC, BEHIND THE SCENES AWAY FROM PUBLIC SCRUTINY, THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION IS ABOUT TO DECIDE TWO DISTINCT BUT VERY CLOSELY RELATED ISSUES THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CHANGE DRAMATICALLY THE WAY WE GET OUR ENTERTAINMENT, THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE WAY WE USE THE INTERNET.
07:40:48 THE FIRST MATTER BEFORE THE F.C.C. IS THE PROPOSED MERGER OF COMCAST AND NBC UNIVERSAL.
07:40:57 THERE IS NO QUESTION IN MY MIND THAT REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU HEAR FROM INDUSTRY, THIS MERGER WILL BE BAD FOR CONSUMERS AND ON MANY LEVELS SMS IT WILL ALLOW COMCAST TO EXPLOIT NBC UNIVERSAL’S CONTENT, CHARGE OTHER CABLE NETWORKS MORE FOR ACCESS TO NBC SHOWS AND MOVIES.
07:41:18 DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT WILL DO?
07:41:23 IT WILL RAISE YOUR CABLE BILLS.
07:41:25 AND NBC UNIVERSAL, WHICH ACTUALLY OWNS 37 BROADCAST OR CABLE NETWORKS, WILL BE FAVORED BY COMCAST TO THE EXCLUSION OF NETWORKS.
07:41:35 OTHER INDEPENDENT OR COMPETING THIS MEANS THAT COMCAST WILL PAY LESS TO CARRY CHANNELS LIKE THE DISCOVERY NETWORK, THE FOOD CHANNEL, BLOOMBERG, OR THE TENNIS CHANNEL, THREATENING THEIR FINANCIAL VIABILITY, OR THESE CHANNELS WILL BE RELEGATED TO THE GRAVEYARD AROUND CHANNEL 690 OR 691.
07:41:59 OR 692.
07:42:01 OR CUSTOMERS WILL HAVE TO PAY EVEN MORE EACH MONTH TO BUY ACCESS TO THESE CHANNELS.
07:42:08 THIS IS BAD FOR CONSUMERS BECAUSE IT’S GOING TO PUT MANY BUSINESS.
07:42:12 OF THESE NETWORKS OUT OF THAT MEANS LESS CHOICE AND MORE COMCAST/NBC PROGRAMMING.
07:42:21 BUT IT DOESN’T END THERE.
07:42:22 COMCAST ALSO HAPPENS TO BE THE NATION’S LEADING WIRELINE BROADBAND INTERNET PROVIDER WHICH MEANS THIS SINGLE COMPANY WILL BOTH OWN THE PROGRAMMING AND RUN THE PIPES THAT BRING US THAT PROGRAMMING.
07:42:34 HERE AGAIN COMCAST WILL BE ABLE TO USE ITS OVERWHELMING MARKET SHARE AND IN MANY MARKETS IT’S NEAR NONE MONOPOLY IN THE INTERNET BUSINESS TO FAVOR ITS OWN VIDEO SERVICES.
07:42:48 SAY, ITS ON-DEMAND SERVICES OVER COMPANIES LIKE NET FEDERALISM THEIR — NETFLIX THAT WERE CHEAPER AND WOULD OTHERWISE WIN UPON AN OVERALL PLAYING FIELD.
07:43:01 THESE ARE OWL ALL PROBLEMS WITH THE OVERALL DEAL BUT IT MAY BE HARD TO UNDERSTAND SO LET ME TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO TO MAKE THIS MORE CONCRETE.
07:43:11 I ASK THE PEOPLE SITTING IN THE GALLERY, THE SENATE STAFF WATCHING THIS SPEERCHTION AND EVERYONE AT HOME IN MINNESOTA — THIS SPEECH, AND EVERYONE AT HOME IN MINNESOTA, HOW MANY OF YOU LIKE YOUR CABLE AND INTERNET PROVIDER?
07:43:24 WHEN YOU CALL COMCAST OR VERIZON OR AT&T ABOUT A PROBLEM, HOW MANY OF YOU GET GOOD SERVICE?
07:43:31 HOW MANY OF YOU LIKE THE PRICES YOU PAY?
07:43:35 WHEN YOU DECIDE YOU WANT TO SIGN UP FOR BROADBAND AND COMCAST TELLS YOU THAT THEY AREN’T SURE WHEN THEY CAN COME TO INSTALL YOUR SERVICE AND THEN FINALLY YOU GET AN APPOINTMENT AND YOU HAVE TO TAKE A DAY OFF FROM WORK TO WAIT BETWEEN 9:00 A.M. AND 2:00 P.M. FOR A REPAIRMAN TO COME AND THEN HE DOESN’T COME, IS THAT HOW YOU FEEL YOU DESERVE TO BE TREATED?
07:44:00 ARE YOU GETTING GOOD SERVICE?
07:44:03 WHEN YOU CALL VERIZON AND SPEND SO 10 MINUTES LISTENING TO AUTOMATED MESSAGES AND PRESSING NUMBERS TO DIRECT YOU TO MORE AUTOMATED MESSAGES AND THEN FINALLY, FINALLY YOU GET A HUMAN BEING ON THE LINE, BUT THAT PERSON TELLS YOU THAT HE OR SHE CAN’T HELP YOU AND YOU GET PUT ON HOLD AGAIN; IS THAT HOW YOU DESERVE TO BE TREATED?
07:44:28 SERVICE?
07:44:30 WHO WHEN YOU’VE HAD ENOUGH WITH BAD SERVICE AND RAPIDLY RISING BILLS ANTS YOU DECIDE YOU WANT TO SWITCH TO ANOTHER COMPANY, HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE FOUND THAT YOU DON’T HAVE ANOTHER CHOICE, THAT THERE IS NO OTHER CABLE PROVIDER IN YOUR AREA?
07:44:47 WELL, I CAN TELL YOU THAT RIGHT NOW COMCAST HAS ABOUT 23 MILLION CABLE SUBSCRIBERS AND ABOUT 16 MILLION INTERNET SUBSCRIBERS.
07:44:56 THEY ARE ALREADY THE LARGEST PROVIDER OF CABLE SERVICE TO AMERICANS BY A VERY LARGE MARGIN, AND IN SOME AREAS THEY HAVE A TOTAL MONOPOLY.
07:45:06 THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IS WHAT CABLE AND INTERNET CUSTOMER SERVICE IS LIKE TODAY.
07:45:13 DO YOU THINK THAT MERGING THE SINGLE-LARGEST CABLE PROVIDER, WHICH IS ALSO THE LARGEST WIRELINE INTERNET PROVIDER, WITH ONE OF THE BIGGEST TV AND MOVIE STUDIOS IN THE COUNTRY WILL MAKE ANY OF THIS BETTER?

07:45:28 DO YOU THINK IT WILL LEAD TO LOWER PRICES ON YOUR CABLE AND INTERNET BILLS?
07:45:36 DO YOU THINK IT WILL MEAN MORE CHOICE FOR WHAT YOU CAN WATCH AND DOWNLOAD AT HOME?
07:45:41 DO YOU THINK IT WILL MEAN BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE?
07:45:44 I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS IS NO, NO, NO AND NO.
07:45:56 WE COUNT ON COMPETITION IN THIS COUNTRY TO KEEP CORPORATIONS IN CHECK, AND WE HAVE DESIGNED ANTITRUST LAWS TO ENSURE THAT COMPANIES ARE NOT GETTING TOO BIG OR TOO POWERFUL.
07:46:09 THESE LAWS WERE DESIGNED TO PROTECT CONSUMERS BECAUSE THE ONE THING WE KNOW ABOUT CORPORATIONS IS THAT THEY ARE CREATED TO MAXIMIZE SHAREHOLDER PROFIT, NOT TO PROTECT CONSUMERS, AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.
07:46:25 WE WANT CORPORATIONS TO GROW AND CREATE JOBS AND PROVIDE GOODS AND SERVICES.
07:46:29 THERE ARE SOME GREAT CORPORATIONS BASED IN MINNESOTA, LIKE GENERAL MILLS AND 3M.
07:46:38 IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING CHEERIOS AND POST-IT NOTES, MINNESOTANS TO WORK.
07:46:42 THESE COMPANIES PUT A LOT OF BUT WHEN YOU GO SHOPPING FOR CEREAL, YOU HAVE A LOT OF CHOICE.
07:46:48 GENERAL MILLS MAY PRODUCE CHEERIOS, BUT THEY HAVE TO COMPETE WITH COMPANIES LIKE KELLOGG’S WHICH MAKES CORN FLAKES AND POST WHICH MAKES FRUITY PEBBLES, AND THEY ALL HAVE TO COMPETE WITH THE STORE OR VALUE BRANDS.
07:47:03 LET’S LOOK AT ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE BENEFITS OF COMPETITION.
07:47:08 WHEN YOU GO OUT FOR DINNER AT A RESTAURANT, YOU USUALLY HAVE A LOT OF OPTIONS.
07:47:12 I’M GUESSING YOU DON’T GO BACK TO THE RESTAURANT THAT SERVED YOU LIMP LETTUCE, MEDIOCRE MEATLOAF AND COLD, LUMPY MASHED POTATOES.
07:47:21 AND I’M GUESSING YOU WOULDN’T GO BACK IF THEY TOLD YOU YOU WOULD BE SERVED SOMETIME BETWEEN 9:00 A.M. AND 2:00 P.M.
07:47:27 UNFORTUNATELY, YOU DON’T ALWAYS HAVE THAT KIND OF CHOICE WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR CABLE AND INTERNET SERVICE, AND THIS IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE IF THE F.C.C.
07:47:38 ALLOWS THE MERGER BETWEEN COMCAST AND NBC UNIVERSAL TO SAIL THROUGH.
07:47:45 IT’S COMPETITION AND REGULATION WHERE THERE ISN’T COMPETITION THAT KEEPS CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE TO CONSUMERS.
07:47:52 BUT DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.
07:47:55 YOU CAN ALREADY SEE WHAT COMCAST HAS UP ITS SLEEVE.
07:47:58 IF THE MERGER IS ALLOWED TO GO THROUGH, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE CAN EXPECT COMCAST TO FAVORITES OWN CONTENT AND LEAVE CONSUMERS WITH LESS CHOICE.
07:48:08 TAKE THE TENNIS CHANNEL WHICH FILED A COMPLAINT AGAINST COMCAST EARLIER THIS YEAR.
07:48:13 IT ALLEGED THAT COMCAST HAS BEEN FAVORING THE GULF CHANNEL AND ITS OWN SPORTS CHANNEL VERSES BY MAKING THOSE CHANNELS AVAILABLE AS PART OF ITS BASIC CABLE PACKAGE WHILE PUTTING THE TENNIS CHANNEL ON A SO-CALLED PREMIUM TIER.
07:48:29 IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOU GET CABLE FROM COMCAST, YOU GET THE GOLF CHANNEL AND VERSUS FOR FREE, BUT IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN ON THE TENNIS CHANNEL, YOU NEED TO PAY ANOTHER ANOTHER $5, $8 PER MONTH.
07:48:44 YET, COMCAST PAYS THE TENNIS CHANNEL ONLY A FRACTION OF WHAT IT PAYS ITSELF TO CARRY THE GOLF CHANNEL OR VERSUS, WHICH ARE MUCH LESS POPULAR.
07:48:56 I FEAR THAT THIS IS A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME.
07:49:00 AS MEDIA CONGLOMERATES GET BIGGER AND BIGGER, THEY HAVE EVERY INCENTIVE TO MAKE THEIR OWN CONTENT EASIER AND CHEAPER CONTENT.
07:49:08 TO ACCESS THAN EVERYONE ELSE’S NOW, I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO A LOT OF PEOPLE ABOUT THE POSSIBLE IMPACT OF THIS MERGER, AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT I KEEP HEARING?
07:49:18 BUSINESSES AND CABLE PROGRAMMERS DO YOU KNOW WHAT SMALL ARE TELLING ME?
07:49:24 THEY ARE COMING TO MY OFFICE DISCRETELY AND SAYING THAT THEY OPPOSE THE MERGER BUT THAT THEY CAN’T SPEAK OUT BECAUSE THEY ARE COMCAST.
07:49:38 WORRIED ABOUT RETALIATION FROM AND TO ME, THAT IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF A COMPANY WITH TOO MUCH MARKET SHARE.
07:49:48 COMCAST HAS PUT OUT THE WORD THAT THIS MERGER IS A FAIT ACCOMPLI.
07:49:53 THEY HAVE ANNOUNCED A SLATE OF 43 OFFICERS FOR NBC, DESPITE PROMISING TO REFRAIN FROM DOING SO UNTIL THE REVIEW OF THIS MERGER IS COMPLETE.
07:50:04 SO IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT SMALL AND SOME NOT SO SMALL CABLE NETWORKS SEE THE WRITING ON THE WALL AND AREN’T WILLING TO TAKE THE CHANCE OF OPPOSING THIS DEAL PUBLICLY, AGAIN FOR FEAR OF RETALIATION FROM COMCAST, AND THEY’RE PROBABLY RIGHT.
07:50:22 IF THIS DEAL GOES THROUGH, COMCAST WILL HAVE THE POWER TO PUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS.
07:50:28 IF YOU ARE A CABLE NETWORK AND YOU KNEW THAT, WOULD YOU STAND UP AND COMPLAIN TO THE F.C.C.
07:50:33 ABOUT COMCAST?
07:50:34 PROBABLY NOT.
07:50:36 THIS TYPE OF ANTICOMPETITIVE CONDUCT IS EXACTLY WHY WE NEED THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE F.C.C. TO STOP THIS MERGER.
07:50:46 AND THIS MERGER IS ONLY THE FIRST DOMINO IN A CASCADE THAT IS SURE TO COME.
07:50:52 MAKE NO MISTAKE, IF THIS MERGER IS APPROVED, IF THIS DEAL GOES THROUGH, IT WILL ONLY BE A YEAR OR TWO BEFORE WE SEE AT&T TRYING TO BUY ABC DISNEY OR VERIZON TRYING TO BUY CBS VIACOM.
07:51:06 AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT THESE COMPANIES WILL SAY?
07:51:10 YOU LET COMCAST AND NBC UNIVERSAL DO IT.
07:51:13 NOW IT’S OUR TURN.
07:51:15 AND WHAT WILL THE F.C.C. OR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SAY TO THEM THEN?
07:51:21 NOW IS THE TIME TO DECIDE WHETHER WE WANT FOUR OR FIVE COMPANIES OWNING AND DELIVERING ALL CONTENT.
07:51:31 IMAGINE A WORLD WITH NO COMPETITION.
07:51:32 INDEPENDENT VOICES AND NO NOW, LET ME GO BACK SPECIFICALLY TO COMCAST AND NOT JUST ABOUT ITS CABLE PROFILE.
07:51:39 LET’S TALK ABOUT COMCAST CONTROL OF THE INTERNET.
07:51:42 THERE IS NO BETTER EXAMPLE HOW — OF HOW COMCAST PLANS TO USE ITS VIRTUAL MONOPOLY THAN WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS WITH ITS TREATMENT OF NETFLIX.
07:51:55 I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT NETFLIX HAS CHANGED THE WAY MANY AMERICANS WATCH MOVIES, AND IT ALL STARTED BECAUSE ONE OF ITS FOUNDERS WAS SICK OF PAYING LATE FEES FOR MOVIE RENTALS.
07:52:06 THIS S&P IS ONE OF — THIS COMPANY IS ONE OF OUR NATION’S GREAT SUCCESS STORIES.
07:52:11 IT NOW HAS ALMOST 17 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS AND GENERATES HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REVENUE, AND IT ALL HAPPENED IN JUST OVER A DECADE.
07:52:19 BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT OFFERED AN ALTERNATIVE AND LESS EXPENSIVE OPTION FOR CONSUMERS TO WATCH MOVIES.
07:52:27 NETFLIX NOW HAS A LOT OF MONEY AND CAN WRITE BIG CHECKS TO BUY MOVIES AND VIDEO CONTENT, SO I DIDN’T THINK I NEEDED TO WORRY ABOUT NETFLIX.
07:52:35 BUT THEN I HEARD THAT BEING THE HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CONTENT MAY NOT BE ENOUGH.
07:52:41 AS IT TURNS OUT, CABLE COMPANIES ARE WORRIED ABOUT NETFLIX’ SUCCESS.
07:52:47 IT REPRESENTS THE FIRST REAL COMPETITION THEY HAVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME, AND THEY WANT TO SHUT NETFLIX DOWN.
07:52:55 HOW CAN THEY DO THAT?
07:52:58 BY PUTTING OFF NETFLIX’ ACCESS TO THINGS PEOPLE WANT TO WATCH.
07:53:04 AND WHEN IS THIS THE MOST PROBLEMATIC?
07:53:06 FIRST, IT’S WHEN NETFLIX’ COMPETITORS LIKE COMCAST OR TIME WARNER CABLE ALSO OWN THE PROGRAMMING THAT NETFLIX CARRIES.
07:53:15 SECONDLY, IT’S WHEN NETFLIX’ COMPETITORS ARE ALSO THE ONES THAT SELL AND CONTROL ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.
07:53:23 NEITHER OF THESE IS THEORETICAL.
07:53:26 JUST LAST WEEK, TIME WARNER’S C.E.O. BRAZENLY STATED THAT NETFLIX’ DEALS WITH TIME WARNER MAY NOT BE RENEWED.
07:53:34 OTHER STUDIO EXECUTIVES ARE SAYING THE SAME THING, AND WHAT I’M HEARING IS THAT COMCAST, WHICH IS NOT YET EVEN IN CONTROL OF NBC UNIVERSAL, PLANS TO REVERSE COURSE AND ULTIMATELY PULL NBC UNIVERSAL’S PROGRAMMING FROM NETFLIX.
07:53:52 COMCAST ALSO RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE IMPOSING A NEW FEE ON LEVEL THREE COMMUNICATIONS.
07:53:58 THE COMPANY SLATED TO BECOME THE PRIMARY DELIVERY MECHANISM AND BACKBONE FOR NETFLIX’ ONLINE SHOWS.
07:54:06 STREAMING OF MOVIES AND TV COINCIDENTALLY, NETFLIX IS ONE OF COMCAST’ MAIN COMPETITORS FOR VIDEO DELIVERY, WHICH MAKES THIS PRICE HIKE SEEM JUST A LITTLE FISHY TO ME.
07:54:21 REGARDLESS OF COMCAST’S MOTIVES FOR CHARGING LEVEL THREE, THIS IS A CLEAR WARNING SIGN OF WHAT WE CAN ALL EXPECT IF THIS DEAL GOES THROUGH.
07:54:30 IF THIS DEAL GOES IN, COMCAST WILL MAKE IT HARDER AND MORE EXPENSIVE FOR YOU TO WATCH MOVIES ONLINE THROUGH ANY SERVICE OTHER THAN ITS OWN.
07:54:40 IF THIS DEAL GOES THROUGH, COMCAST WILL HAVE THE POWER TO LIMIT YOUR CHOICES, TO WATCHING COMCAST-OWNED CONTENT OVER COMCAST SERVICES LIKE ITS VIDEO ON DEMAND SERVICE.
07:54:53 I USE THE PHRASE IF THIS DEAL GOES THROUGH BECAUSE THIS IS EXACTLY THE SORT OF ANTICOMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE F.C.C. ARE SUPPOSED TO STOP.
07:55:08 AND WHAT IS EVEN MORE LUDICROUS IS THAT THIS IS HAPPENING WHEN COMCAST AND NBC SHOULD BE ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOR.
07:55:18 RIGHT NOW, THEY’RE UNDER CLOSE SCRUTINY BY TWO FEDERAL AGENCIES, THE F.C.C. AND THE D.O.J.
07:55:25 YET, THEY SEEM TO BE MAKING EVEN MORE BOLD-FACED POWER GRABS WITHOUT ANY CONCERN ABOUT GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT.
07:55:33 BUT IN ADDITION TO THE COMCAST-NBC MERGER, WHAT IS ALSO BEFORE THE F.C.C. IS A NEW SET OF PROPOSED RULES THAT WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR LARGE MEDIA CONGLOMERATES LIKE COMCAST TO DO NOTHING SHORT OF CONTROLLING THE INTERNET.
07:55:47 THE CHAIRMAN OF THE F.C.C. IS CALLING THIS A NET NEUTRALITY PROPOSAL.
07:55:53 BUT LET’S BE CLEAR, THIS IS NOT REAL NET NEUTRALITY.
07:55:57 I BELIEVE THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING OUR COUNTRY TODAY.
07:56:03 LET ME TAKE A STEP BACK AND EXPLAIN WHAT NET NEUTRALITY IS.
07:56:09 PUT SIMPLY, IT IS THE IDEA THAT BIG CORPORATIONS SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DECIDE WHO WINS OR LOSES ON THE INTERNET.
07:56:15 IT’S THE IDEA THAT THE INTERNET SHOULD BE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR EVERYONE, FROM A BLOGGER TO A MEDIA CONGLOMERATE.
07:56:24 FROM A SMALL BUSINESS PERSON TO A POWERFUL CORPORATION.
07:56:31 I BELIEVE THAT NET NEUTRALITY IS THE FREE SPEECH ISSUE OF OUR TIME.
07:56:37 THE INTERNET WASN’T CREATED BY CORPORATIONS.
07:56:41 IT WAS CREATED USING TAXPAYER DOLLARS, AND IT HAS DRAMATICALLY ALTERED OUR DAILY LIVES IN MORE WAYS THAN ANY OF US COULD EVER HAVE DREAMED.
07:56:50 IT’S AN INCREDIBLE SOURCE OF INNOVATION, A HOTBED FOR CREATIVITY, AN UNBELIEVABLE PRODUCER OF WEALTH AND JOBS IN THIS NATION.
07:56:59 IT WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN PUTTING PRESIDENT OBAMA IN OFFICE, BUT IT WAS ALSO EQUALLY INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING THE TEA PARTY BECOME POWERFUL — A POWERFUL FORCE IN AMERICAN POLITICS.
07:57:11 I MAY NOT AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT HAS DONE OR EVERYTHING THAT IT STANDS FOR, BUT I DO FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THE TEA PARTY HAS A RIGHT TO ORGANIZE AND TO POST ITS VIEWS ON THE INTERNET.
07:57:25 STRONG NET NEUTRALITY PRINCIPLES WOULD ENSURE THAT EVERYONE FROM THE MOST LIBERAL BLOGGER ON “DAILY COAST” TO THE MOST CONSERVATIVE FAN OF FOX NEWS WOULD CONTINUE TO HAVE AN EQUAL RIGHT OF ACCESS AND AN EQUAL ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE.
07:57:42 IF CORPORATIONS ARE ALLOWED TO CONTROL THE INTERNET, ALL OF THAT WOULD CHANGE.
07:57:49 THE INTERNET HAS BECOME THE PUBLIC SQUARE OF THE 21ST CENTURY, AND THIS IS WHY TEA PARTY ACTIVISTS AND ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT PERSONAL LIBERTIES, FREEDOMS, SHOULD CARE ABOUT NET NEUTRALITY.
07:58:04 ONE POPULAR MINNESOTA BLOGGER SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET HIS OR HER INFORMATION TO YOU JUST AS QUICKLY AS MSNBC.
07:58:12 OR TO SAY IT ANOTHER WAY, MSNBC SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO PAY MILLIONS TO GET THEIR WEBSITE TO LOAD FASTER ON YOUR COMPUTER.
07:58:20 WE DO NOT WANT CORPORATIONS TO BE ABLE TO DROWN OUT THE VOICES OF SMALLER, LESS POWERFUL INDIVIDUALS.
07:58:31 UNFORTUNATELY, THE PROPOSAL FOR THE F.C.C., WHICH I WILL ADMIT I HAVEN’T SEEN BECAUSE IT’S NOT BEEN MADE PUBLIC WOULD REPORTEDLY ALLOW COMPANIES TO DO JUST THAT.
07:58:40 IT WOULD ALLOW INTERNET PROVIDERS TO CREATE A FAST LANE FOR COMPANIES THAT CAN AFFORD TO PAY FOR IT.
07:58:46 IT WOULD ALLOW MOBILE NETWORKS LIKE AT&T AND VERIZON WIRELESS TO COMPLETELY BLOCK CONTENT AND APPLICATIONS WHENEVER IT SUITS, FOR EITHER POLITICAL OR FOR BUSINESS REASONS.
07:59:00 LET ME UNDERSCORE THIS.
07:59:03 THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE F.C.C. HAS EVER ALLOWED DISCRIMINATION ON THE INTERNET.
07:59:07 LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
07:59:09 MAYBE YOU LIKE GOOGLE MAPS.
07:59:10 WELL, TOUGH.
07:59:13 IF THE F.C.C. PASSES THIS WEAK RULE, VERIZON WILL BE ABLE TO CUT OFF ACCESS TO GOOGLE MAPS GOOGLE MAPS IS FREE.
07:59:33 AND IF CORPORATIONS ARE ALLOWED TO PRIORITIZE CONTENT ON THE INTERNET OR THEY ARE ALLOWED TO BLOCK APPLICATIONS YOU ACCESS ON YOUR I-PHONE, THERE IS NOTHING TO PREVENT THE SAME CORPORATIONS FROM SENSORRING POLITICAL — FROM — SENSORRING POLITICAL SPEECH.
07:59:55 NOW THERE ARE A BUNCH OF TEA PARTY APPS YOU CAN DOWNLOAD, BUT MAYBE NOT FOR LONG.
08:00:01 NOT IF YOUR WIRELESS CARRIER DOESN’T WANT YOU TO GET THEM, AND THAT IS SOMETHING EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD CARE VERY DEEPLY ABOUT.
08:00:09 I’M HERE ON THE FLOOR TODAY BECAUSE I THINK AMERICANS NEED TO UNDERSTAND JUST HOW CRITICAL NET NEUTRALITY REALLY IS.
08:00:19 THIS IS COMPLICATED STUFF, BUT IT DIRECTLY AFFECTS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US.
08:00:25 AND IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT SPEECH.
08:00:26 IT IS ALSO ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION.
08:00:29 IT’S ABOUT OUR ECONOMY.
08:00:32 THERE IS NO QUESTION IN MY MIND THAT WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES, THE PROPOSAL CURRENTLY PENDING BEFORE THE F.C.C. WOULD BE BAD FOR OUR ECONOMY.
08:00:44 THINK ABOUT COMPANIES LIKE YOUTUBE, WHICH STARTED IN A TINY OFFICE ABOVE A PIZZERIA AND GREW TO BE WORTH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
08:00:53 AT THE TIME, GOOGLE HAD A COMPETING PRODUCT, GOOGLE VIDEO, WHICH WAS — WHICH WAS THEN THE STANDARD BUT WAS WIDELY SEEN AS INFERIOR.
08:01:07 HAD GOOGLE BEEN ABLE TO PAY COMCAST LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY TO MAKE ITS WEB SITE FASTER THAN NOWHERE.
08:01:14 YOUTUBE’S, YOUTUBE WOULD BE FORTUNATELY, GOOGLE COULDN’T PAY FOR PRIORITY ACCESS AND THE REST IS HISTORY.
08:01:23 YOU THINK ABOUT FACEBOOK.
08:01:26 ONCE UPON A TIME IT WAS A SMALL START-UP.
08:01:29 FACE.
08:01:29 REMEMBER FRIEND IS STER R OR MY THEY WERE ONCE THE DOMINANT SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES BEFORE FACEBOOK WON OVER USERS WITH A VASTLY IMPROVED PRODUCT.
08:01:41 BUT THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE EVER HAPPENED IF FRIENDSTER OR OTHERS HAD PAID TO MAKE THEM FASTER.
08:01:49 IF FACEBOOK HAD TAKEN A LONG TIME TO LOAD ON YOUR COMPUTER, IT NEVER WOULD HAVE SUCCEEDED.
08:01:54 THESE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES HOW FREE AND OPEN INTERNET HAS FOSTERED INNOVATION WHICH HAS CREATED JOBS AND HAS SPURRED COMPETITION, WHICH HAS BENEFITED ALL CONSUMERS.
08:02:06 NOW, THINK OF THE NEXT FACEBOOK OR THE NEXT YOUTUBE OR THE NEXT AMAZON.
08:02:14 THE ONLY WAY TO GUARANTEE THAT INNOVATION — THAT THAT INNOVATION WILL CONTINUE IS TO HAVE STRONG NET NEUTRALITY RULES THAT WILL PROTECT AND MAINTAIN TODAY’S FREE AND OPEN INTERNET.
08:02:25 SO THE F.C.C. HAS TO MAKE TWO BIG DECISIONS.
08:02:29 ONE ON THE COMCAST/NBC UNIVERSAL MERGER AND ONE ON NET NEUTRALITY.
08:02:34 THESE DECISIONS WILL IMPACT EVERY AMERICAN FOR YEARS TO COME.
08:02:39 YOU MAY NOT KNOW THIS BUT THE F.C.C. IS AN INDEPENDENT AGENCY.
08:02:44 INDEPENDENT AGENCIES ARE NONPARTISAN.
08:02:46 THEY ARE NOT BEHOLDEN TO THE CONGRESS OR THE PRESIDENT, AND THEY CERTAINLY SHOULD NOT BE BEHOLDEN TO THE INDUSTRIES THAT THEY REGULATE.
08:02:52 THAT’S WHY I AM SO CONCERNED WHEN I HEAR THAT THE CHAIRMAN OF THE F.C.C. IS CALLING THE C.E.O.’S OF COMPANIES THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE REGULATING SEEK THEIR PUBLIC ENDORSEMENT OF HIS NET NEUTRALITY PROPOSAL.
08:03:06 INDEPENDENT AGENCIES ARE CHARGED WITH ACTING IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, SO WHEN I HEAR THAT THE F.C.C. IS CONSIDERING A NET NEUTRALITY PROPOSAL THAT IS SUPPORTED BY THE LARGEST MEDIA CORPORATIONS IN AMERICA, I AM SUSPICIOUS AND YOU SHOULD BE TOO.
08:03:22 THE F.C.C. SHOULD NOT BE WORRYING ABOUT GETTING THE SIGNOFF FROM THE VERY CORPORATIONS THAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE REGULATING.
08:03:29 PERIOD.
08:03:31 THE F.C.C. HAS MADE PUBLIC ITS PLANS TO ACT ON ITS FLAWED NET NEUTRALITY PROPOSAL THIS COMING TUESDAY.
08:03:38 I SINCERELY HOPE THAT THE F.C.C.
08:03:39 WILL MAKE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS BEFORE THEN AND THAT EACH OF THE COMMISSIONERS WILL THINK LONG AND HARD BEFORE THEY VOTE TO APPROVE A PROPOSAL THAT COULD ACTUALLY MAKE THINGS WORSE FOR ALL AMERICANS.
08:03:53 I HAVE ALSO HEARD THAT THE F.C.C. IS GOING TO BE ACTING VERY SOON ON THE NBC-COMCAST MERGER.
08:03:59 IT NEEDS TO DO THIS IN THE LIGHT OF DAY, NOT HIDDEN IN THE MIDDLE OF CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S.
08:04:05 THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS MERGER.
08:04:09 I WILL BE SUPREMELY DISAPPOINTED IF APPROVAL OF THIS MERGER IS SLIPPED THROUGH WHEN MOST AMERICANS ARE UNWRAPPING PRESENTS AND SPENDING TIME WITH THEIR FAMILIES.
08:04:20 NOT WORRYING ABOUT THEIR CABLE OR INTERNET BILLS.
08:04:24 WE ARE AT A PIVOTAL MOMENT AND WE NEED TO STOP THE CASCADE OF DOMINO AS THAT WILL FOREVER CHANGE HOW WE PAY FOR TV AND BROWSE THE INTERNET.
08:04:36 BUT IT IS NOT TOO LATE.
08:04:37 THE GOVERNMENT HAS A ROLE TO PLAY HERE AND I HOPE THE F.C.C.
08:04:42 WILL STEP UP, BE BRAVE, AND DO PEOPLE.
08:04:44 WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THE AMERICAN THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT.
08:04:54 AND I YIELD THE FLOOR.

Enter the guy from Google. This is the guy who measures usability by the “could my mom understand this” criterion. (Dude, your mom actually programmed ballistic missile guidance systems for Martin Marietta and she probably knows more about computers than you do.) Anyway, it’s no fun playing the role of Demo Daryl, but somebody has to do it. This guy got stuck with trade show duty this week. Naturally, the Internet connection died, and if you’re the guy from Google, you can’t demonstrate much without one of those. Just ask his mom.

Then the tech suppport folks got the Internet connection fixed but somehow they screwed up his projector display. No luck for this guy. Meanwhile, the air conditioning was blowing a 20 mph frigid antarctic wind through the demonstration space. Watch the fabric ripple on the draped desk. Watch the black drapes along the wall come apart, shredded in the gale. Note that not even penguins would sit in the seats in the antarctic zone.

Fall day, past the average “first frost” date, but globally warmer so the horseradish continues to grow and I won’t have to dig it and re-plant until mid-October. That’s by way of speaking of roots… netroots, horseradish roots. Roots? We picked up some beets at the farmers market this weekend too. Where was I?

Two comments in two days on how specifically this listics blogs sucks these days. I was reminded yesterday that the RSS feed is broken. I know. It has been hosed for quite a while. I’ll fix it with the upgrade to WordPress 3.0.1. really, I will. Today in a comment thread at Joho the Blog, Darryl Jonckheere suggested some improvements that I’ll tackle as part of that upgrade as well.

Meanwhile, back at the Cheddarsphere… Steve Hanson hosted Netroots Wisconsin yesterday, a great gathering that pumped energy into the progressive blogging community and provided geekular connexions for many of us who have too little face time with our peers.

The Sunlight Foundation presented a great overview of tools and websites they sponsor in support of the transparency movement. Take a look at the Influence Explorer project!

Cory Liebmann shared a list of resources for research.

Some links I jotted down…

• Document Cloud — a tool for locating, annotating, organizing, and publishing primary source documents on the web!!
• Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, a fine blog with a great sidebar.
• One Wisconsin Now — progressive voices
• Convio — fundraising software, donor management, non profit marketing
• Illusory Tenant — just another great blogger
• Wisconsin advertising project — documenting how candidates, political parties and special interest groups communicate with voters
• Net Neutral Wisconsin — answering the question, “Where do we go from here?”

The gathering was held in the Madison Senior Center, a facility my grandmother Ruth Paynter helped to found. Twenty-five years ago or so, there was a plaque in the lobby acknowledging her work. The plaque is gone. Maybe I’ll call and see if we can track it down. One of her great grandchildren would probably get a charge out of having it around.

Meanwhile, I’m ready to prep for my trip to Orlando. From the Madison Senior Center yesterday to AARP this Wednesday, there’s a deeper meaning there, much like the net-roots horseradish trope I used to begin this post. I truly hope I get a one-on-one with Newt Gingrich and a one-on-one with Secretary Sebelius. The beets go on!

Astroturf? Whazzat? Take a look at this excerpt from a letter filed with the FCC by the “Arkansas Retired Seniors Coalition,” a group that leaves no trace of itself on the web:

Astroturf is worse than boilerplate. All of our favorite causes gather strength from organizing people to send boilerplate letters urging political action of one kind or another. Astroturf raises the bar by adding deception… letters are sent from fictional people and fictional groups.

Corporate broadband, if it belongs anywhere, belongs in the national-regional high-speed bulk transport business. Middle mile and last mile services should be publicly owned and operated, like they do in Reedsburg and countless other communities across the USA.

Long ago the Wisconsin Public Service Commission was subverted by the endless pressure and litigation by private companies that control the natural monopolies of the public service markets. The situation is described like this in Wikipedia:

Regulatory capture occurs when a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead acts in favor of the commercial or special interests that dominate in the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure, as it can act as an encouragement for large firms to produce negative externalities. The agencies are called Captured Agencies.

For public choice theorists, regulatory capture occurs because groups or individuals with a high-stakes interest in the outcome of policy or regulatory decisions can be expected to focus their resources and energies in attempting to gain the policy outcomes they prefer, while members of the public, each with only a tiny individual stake in the outcome, will ignore it altogether. Regulatory capture refers to when this imbalance of focused resources devoted to a particular policy outcome is successful at “capturing” influence with the staff or commission members of the regulatory agency, so that the preferred policy outcomes of the special interest are implemented.

Citizens, customers of the monopolists that have freed themselves of regulation, as individuals have little motivation to influence government about specific complicated regulatory discussions. The monopolists themselves are highly motivated to remain free of public oversight and regulation so they manipulate the market using lobbyists and public relations campaigns to keep the regulators off balance.

Here are some links to information about a few of the astroturf groups identified by freepress.net:

American Consumer Institute
Dick Armey’s “Freedom Works”
David Koch’s “Americans for Prosperity”

Okay… now it gets good.
* * *
UPDATE: Liz Gannes posts some details at GigaOm.