A Political History of the Internet. The Impact of Technology on Civil Liberties , Elections, Lobbying and more.
Articles from 1994 -- Present.
{My commentaries are the words in the blue font.}
Showing posts with label Techno-Politics Technopolitics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Techno-Politics Technopolitics. Show all posts
~~ Big alarm bells here. If the internet becomes a place where the Internet Service Providers can favor some websites over others , the internet will simply be crippled and much less useful---especially as a political tool. Something tells me that common sense and the consumer market will not let this fragmentation occur. But who knows? ~~~ TP --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Google et al fear broadband carriers will tie up traffic with new tolls and controls. Ultimately, it could mean a world of Internet haves and have-nots
The Internet has always been a model of freedom. Today the Web is flourishing because anyone can click to any site or download any service they want on an open network. But now the phone and cable companies that operate broadband networks have a different vision. If they get their way, today's Information Highway could be laden with tollgates, express lanes, and traffic tie-ups -- all designed to make money for the network companies."
It can follow the "Cyber-Dectectives Gone Bad " on FOX ~` ~~`tp
-------------------------------- As blogging grows, companies eye legal pitfalls - Yahoo! News: "But lawyers see possible legal pitfalls for companies looking to join the blogging phenomenon. What, for instance, would happen if someone at a publicly traded company unwittingly divulged confidential financial information or a trademark secret on one of these Web diaries?
There already have been cases of people being fired for writing about life inside their companies on blogs not affiliated with their employers. Experts say the real test will come when courts must consider the legal ramifications of what employees say on corporate blogs.
'There's very, very little case law at this point , [ ~ ` `not for long ~ TP ~~ ` ]'said Paul Arne, co-chairman of the technology group at law firm Morris Manning & Martin LLP. He recently conducted a telephone seminar for other corporate lawyers to discuss blogging.
It's no surprise that big businesses are increasingly interested in blogs. An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 new blogs are created each day, according to Intelliseek, a technology company that tracks developments in the medium."
The Techno-Political-Digital-Age at barely a decade old is still very much in its early infancy. Like first time parents, global and national political policy makers are cautiously raising this baby andformulating their policies without the benefit similar experience. In the United States the depth of both the cultural impact and the massive financial scope of the ongoing Microsoft anti-trust case highlights how powerfully and deeply ingrained Techno-Political affairs have become in government, corporate, academic and personal operations, and how difficult the "correct" public policy can be to create.Since September 11, 2001 the Techno-Political issue of personal privacy has become the newest test of constitutional civil liberties in the United States and Europe.[i] How much privacy should one be expected give up for the right to enter cyber-space in now a major issue of E-Governance policy. For the Internet to be a democratizing tool, access to it and the information on it must be unfettered. Already in American workplaces and college libraries use of the Internet is closely monitored and regulated. The issue of Internet use in American public libraries made major news this past May 2002 when a federal court struck down the Children's Internet Protection Act.[ii]The three branches of the American government have just started sorting out exactly what rights to privacy citizens retain in cyberspace ----(and public space too in light of new surveillance technologies)---- during use in work, school and home. The E-Governance topic of cyber-privacy is sure to be a focus of public and legal debate for generations to come, much in the same way other privacy issues have been throughout American History. Just as the American Courts have had to continually re-address search & seizure and privacy laws as new technologies arise, so too will the issue of Cyber-Privacy will become a major discipline of law, both in America andaround the globe.
In China, Cuba, Vietnam and other dictatorships, E-Governance control of the Internet is at the forefront, with totalitarian governments expending much time and energy in seeking to contain the potential subversive effects of the digital communication and Internet age.[iii][iv]To ban the Internet completely is impractical for dictatorships if they want their oppressed citizenship to be able to compete in the globalized world economy. So for dictatorships the only authoritarian option is to attempt control and stifle political cyber-dialogues the best they can without curtailing economic activity. Or in other words to use their powers of E-Governance in order to constrain the citizen use of Cyber-Activism.
It is anybody’s guess as to whether the Globalized Digital Age of Techno-Politics will be a blessing or a curse, and for whom. Will democracies grow stronger and dictatorships weaker? Or will democracies --- especially in the light of terrorist threats---- grow more oppressive, using the technological tools of the political digital age to monitor citizen activity with greater precision than ever before possible.[v]Or maybe the Techno-Political Digital Age will just be a big sum zero impact with the global political and economic status quo unfazed. (In the next chapter of this paper we will explore these questions within the sphere of American politics.)
An excellent overview of the academic side of Techno-Politics is posted on the homepage of UCLA Professor Douglas Kellner in an essay entitledIntellectuals, the New Public Spheres, and Techno-Politics.[vi]
[ii]ALA News Release. American Library Association applauds federal court ruling on the Children's Internet Protection Act. The American Library Association (ALA) http://www.ala.org/. : May 31, 2002 The deep-links are active as of August 25, 2002.
court in Philadelphia today, which ruled unanimously that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is unconstitutional. The opinion was written by Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the Third Circuit and joined by U.S. District Judges John P. Fullam and Harvey Bartle III.”
[iii]Ruwitch, John. China Appears to Block Web Search Engine Google. Reuters
Sep 2, 2002. Accessed via Yahoo.com news on date of publication @
“Communist-ruled Vietnam has ordered local authorities to inspect Internet usage in its two biggest cities in a crackdown on "harmful information" from cyberspace, officials said on Tuesday. A spokesman at the Directorate General of Posts and Telecommunications (DGPT) told Reuters the scrutiny, which started last week, would be nationwide after initially targeting the capital city Hanoi and commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City.”
[v] McCullagh,Declan. Will Canada's ISPs Become Spies? CNET News.comAugust 27, 2002, Accessed on date of publication @
* Political WORK History *
* 1983-1986: New York Public Interest Research Group / Straphangers Campaign, New York, NY.
* 1986-1991: Greenpeace U.S.A, New York, NY,
* 1991-1992: Environmental Planning Lobby, Albany & Westbury, NY.
* 1992-1995: New York Public Interest Research Group / Straphangers Campaign, New York, NY.
* 2000: Nachas Healthnet Incorporated. Brooklyn, NY 11219.
* 2006 - 2008: Washington Heights-Inwood Coalition.
/*/*/
Education:
1998-2003: Yeshiva University, New York, NY. Political Science Major. Writing Arts Minor. B.A., January 2003.
* 1995-1998: Rabbinical College of America, Morristown, New Jersey. Judaic Studies B.A., August 1998.
