Internet Neutrality...court ruling favors Comcast, Verizon & AT&T...

The U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a 2008 order issued on behalf of the FCC which forced Comcast to curtail network management maneuvers aimed at BitTorrent and P-to-P users.

In their ruling, the Justices - in a 3 to 1 vote - opined that the FCC lacked any “statutory mandated responsibility” to enforce network neutrality rules.

Industry insiders perceive the decision as a setback for the FCC.

“Today’s court decision means that nobody has the authority to stop the Nation’s broadband providers from interfering with the consumers’ online activities,” noted Robb Topolski, Chief technologist for the Open Technology Institute.”

In the final analysis, Comcast can block a customer’s access to  applications, Verizon can change the behavior of DNS and change which web pages the user sees, AT & T can  censor streaming media and block free speech (!), Charter can invade a user's  privacy for the purposes of advertising, and Windstream can redirect Google searches to its own search engine.

A scary turn of events!

I trust that for the sake of Internet users the world-over, that the ruling will be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

http://www.thetattler.biz

Internet Service Providers...seek to regulate privacy policies! No Government interference, please!

Although Internet Service providers like - AT&T, Time Warner, and Verizon - are in accord with the idea of implementing industry-wide guidelines to protect privacy online, the corporate giants want to self-regulate without Government interference.

At a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee - representatives from all of the "Big 3" - were on hand to testify.

Tom Tauke, an executive VP for Verizon, for instance, argued that service providers ought to be able to go forward with self-regulation in mind.

However, critics say that consumer privacy may be at risk.

For this reason, Charter Communications Inc. was forced to halt plans to track consumers on the Internet for a targeted ad campaign, after Connecticut's top Legal Eagle said the intrusive practice might be in violation of applicable law.

Senator Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) stressed the need for protecting consumers' rights in respect to privacy issues.

The politician argued that, if necessary, legislation should be written to ensure there are no violations in the future.

Some are downright skeptical about the "Big 3's" assurances that self-regulation would not pose a threat and that they would take care to guard the privacy of its customers.

One non-profit organization - Public Knowledge - made no bones about it.

Without legislation to date - gaps in the law have allowed the privacy of some Internet users to fall between the cracks - reps for the consumer watch dog asserted.

Although the majors in the provider-service arena deny that their companies are delivering up ads based on web-browsing habits, skeptics in the industry are pointing accusing fingers.

I, for one, support legislation to ensure there are laws in place to support the privacy rights of the individual.

God forbid, the "Big 3" should unite, and become "One".

Imagine their evil Global reach then!

Prince...fragrance of pop!

Prince, the true King of Pop, ventured into new territory in recent days with the endorsement of a fragrance for women, 3121.

Taking a cue from the musical legend, the advertisers are aggressively plugging the scent as quite "xquisite" and "with a rhythm all its own".

If you're craving for C Chords, forget it.

The exotic cologne is composed with:

"Notes of bergamot, orange flower and sandalwood entice, tease, and beckon."

Beckon?

Now the alluring images of the Pop Icon in the promotional blurbs make sense.

The designer perfume is offered up in Prince's signature color - Purple - in a quality designer bottle sure to be a collector's item.

Could this new enterprise have anything to do with the mercurial businessman's latest decision to release his new CD to fans for free, much to the chagrin of top-level brass at a major label?

Die-hard Prince-lovers are assuring everyone at prince.org that it was good strategy.

"Cheeky marketing strategies can breathe new life into a veteran recording artist's career."

True!

And, companies like Verizon are helping to make that happen.

You can now download Prince's new single from their site.

Talk about saucy!