>From Ellen LaVan Schindler: -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [MCM] Feinstein sneaks "network management" into stimulus bill Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:08:12 -0500 From: Ellen LaVan Schindler <mailto:[email protected]><[email protected]> To: <mailto:[email protected]><[email protected]> References: <mailto:a0624081fc5b9f76da...@[10.0.1.2]><a0624081fc5b9f76da...@[10.0.1.2]>
If you are not from Waxman's district you can not write him at the address you mentioned. You can, however, write all your legislators easily here <http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/>http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ Look for "My Elected Officials" on the left, put in your zip and they list your representatives for you. You highlight the ones you want to write, and they set it up. Fill in your info, and write your letter Couldn't be easier. And I guess you can call Waxman's office at the House phone number (I don't remember it). ----- Original Message ----- From: <mailto:[email protected]>Mark Crispin Miller To: <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 11:15 AM Subject: [MCM] Feinstein sneaks "network management" into stimulus bill Net neutrality is now at risk, the senator having snuck this poison pill into the stimulus package. Better raise your voices, if you don't want the Internet to be controlled by Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and their giant ilk. Apparently, Henry Waxman will support Feinstein's amendment, out of deference to the MPAA and the Recording Association of America. Tell him not to do it: E-mail him at <http://congress.org/congressorg/webreturn/?url=http://www.house.gov%2>http://congress.org/congressorg/webreturn/?url=http://www.house.gov%2Fwaxman and/or call or write him: In Washington, D.C. 2204 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-3976 (phone) (202) 225-4099 (fax) In Los Angeles 8436 West Third Street, Suite 600 Los Angeles, CA 90048 (323) 651-1040 (phone) (818) 878-7400 (phone) (310) 652-3095 (phone) (323) 655-0502 (fax) MCM US lawmaker injects ISP throttle into Obama rescue package <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/11/feinstein_stimulus_amendment/>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/11/feinstein_stimulus_amendment/ 'Network management' meets child porn By Cade Metz in San Francisco * Get more from this author Posted in Government, 11th February 2009 00:43 GMT Free research: Application platforms, the state of play US Senator Dianne Feinstein hopes to update President Barack Obama's $838bn economic stimulus package so that American ISPs can deter child pornography, copyright infringement, and other unlawful activity by way of "reasonable network management." Clearly, a lobbyist whispering in Feinstein's ear has taken Comcast's now famous euphemism even further into the realm of nonsense. According to Public Knowledge, Feinstein's network management amendment did not find a home n the stimulus bill that landed on the Senate floor. But lobbyists speaking with the Washington DC-based internet watchdog said that California's senior Senator is now hoping to insert this language via conference committee - a House-Senate pow-wow were bill disputes are resolved. "This is the most backdoor of all the backdoor ways of doing things," Public Knowledge's Art Brodsky told The Reg. "Conference committees are notorious for being the most opaque of all legislative processes." Obama's stimulus bill sets aside between $6bn and $9bn for expanding American broadband into rural areas, and Senator Feinstein hopes to (PDF) augment this Broadband Technology Opportunities Program so that it "allows for reasonable network management practices such as deterring unlawful activity, including child pornography and copyright infringement." On one level, Obama's bill is an effort to boost the American economy. On another, it's an opportunity for lobbyists to make a mockery American government. According to Public Knowledge, the Motion Picture Association of America is behind Feinstein's language. The MPAA doesn't like copyright infringement. And you can bet the child pornography bit was tossed in for added effect. But the "network management" bit sounds like ISP speak. As Art Brodsky and his colleagues pointed out, network management is used to manage networks - not filter content. Content filters are used to filter content. But American ISPs - particularly cable ISPs - will take any excuse they can find to throttle certain traffic. And if they're using copyright infringement and child porn as excuses, they'll have to start sniffing packets. So, Feinstein's amendment would also destroy net privacy - if there's any out there. Word from Public Knowledge is that Congressman Henry Waxman will back Feinstein's amendment when it turns up in conference committee. Representing a district near Hollywood, Waxman has long backed the MPAA and the Recording Ass. of America in their efforts to crack down on P2P file sharing. ® --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. 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