Reporters Without Borders, an organization that wants to protect and encourage free speech around the world, asks a big question: “Do Internet companies need to be regulated to ensure they respect free expression?” There’s a surface appeal to this proposal. But it gives me the shivers. The idea is impractical, for one thing. And if […]
Posts from ‘January, 2006’
The Fate of Newspapers
Michael Kinsley: Black and White and Dead All Over. And so, at last, there are two piles of paper: a short one of stuff to read, and a tall one of stuff to throw away. Unfortunately, many people are taking the logic of this process one step further. Instead of buying a paper in order […]
Phone and Cable Companies: Dangerous to Citizen Media
CNN: Report: Phone companies want Web providers to pay. Large phone companies are seeking payments from Internet companies for high-quality delivery of music, movies and other content that will move over their telecommunications networks, according to a published report. This is a power grab, nothing less, by companies that much preferred the days when they […]
Real World Intruding in Blogosphere
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Facing suit, anonymous blogger lifts his mask. Lawyers who filed the suit say that Web logs and other new media should be held to the same standards of accountability as traditional media and journalism. Brodbkorb, a former operative for the Minnesota Republican Party, pledges to protect his source and to keep his website […]
Still Looking for that Aha! Moment on OPML
John Palfrey, my new colleague, says he gets it now about OPML. I confess that I still don’t quite grasp its importance. I am, I further confess, dense about some things. Still working to understand it better… Update: I’m starting to get it now…
Microsoft's Continuing China Blog Censorship
Rebecca MacKinnon, in a detailed posting about Microsoft’s latest adventures in censoring Chinese bloggers, writes: Microsoft’s MSN Spaces continues to censor its Chinese language blogs, and has become more aggressive and thorough at censorship since I first checked out MSN’s censorship system last summer. This is depressing, if unsurprising. China clearly understands that American technology […]
Learning from Tragic Misinformation
Jeff Jarvis, taking note of the horrible mis-reporting of the West Virginia mine deaths last night, says: The next time I hear someone being haughty about professional news vs. citizen’s news, I’ll remind them of the West Virginia tragedy, where news traveled ahead of the facts, where everyone was horribly wrong. Let’s all remember that, […]
World Economic Forum's Slow-Motion Transparency
The World Economic Forum is going to do some “Broadcasting, Podcasting, Webcasting and Blogging” at its annual meeting later this month. Too bad they’re not putting everything out for public consumption, but this is progress. Last year’s meeting produced a controversy when former CNN honcho Eason Jordan apparently said some stupid things (Washington Post) in […]
Covering the Abramoffs, Citizen Style
The Center for Media and Democracy is looking for Citizen Journalists To Bust More Jack Abramoffs, and cites some digging that took place on the center’s valuable SourceWatch site, a wiki where people can add what they know about matters relating to PR, lobbying and other activities designed to move votes and money. I’d call […]
BBC Opens History to New Interpretation
BBC: BBC News opens archives to public. The scheme allows people within the UK to watch, download, edit and mix the clips and programming for non-commercial programming. Too bad it’s only in the United Kingdom. But it’ll be absolutely fascinating to see how people “remix” these clips, creating works that tell old stories in new […]