About Scott Cleland
![]() |
|
You are hereCampaignsGoogle Sr Advisor Al Gore is the ringleader of "Google's Poodles"Submitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2007-05-24 14:20Self-described "Internet inventor" and former Vice President Al Gore has a newly released book "The Assault on Reason" in which he comes out of the shadows and into the limelight as a leading public proponent of net neutrality. The Save the Internet coalition blogged/bragged about the book in its post: Al Gore: Net Neutrality is the key to a better democracy." They lifted some Gore quotes that gave them lots of "warm fuzzies" inside:
Why the public interest groups are "Google's Poodles"Submitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2007-05-22 18:30Nick Carr wrote a dead-on column in the Gaurdian: "The net is being carved up into information plantations." His thesis is the irony that as the web adds more and more destinations on line, fewer people seem to be visiting them.
What's my point? You know I always have a tie in. This hyper-media concentration that is occurring on the web is much much greater than has occurred in traditional media. SaveTheInternet effectively endorses "digital socialism"Submitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2007-05-22 13:57SaveTheInternet and net neutrality proponents are losing their populist message discipline, and starting to show their true philosphical colors in blatantly calling for what is effectively "digital socialism." Andrew Rasiej, the founder of The Personal Democracy Forum, challenged Presidential candidates to become the next "Tech President" in a recent blogpost. It's important to note that his views are mainstream in the net neutrality movement as evidenced by the hearty endorsement they received by SaveTheInternet and by Wired Magazine Blog. Google sells out Thai free speech just like they sold out ChineseSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-05-14 11:18The New York Times reported that "Google has agreed to block four video clips on its YouTube Web site that the Government of Thailand said insulted its king."
This is not the first time that Google, which waxes eloquently about how net neutrality is needed to promote free speech, has hypocritically stabbed free speech in the back for its own expedience. NAACP official slams net neutrality effect on low-income consumersSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2007-05-11 10:42I wanted to be sure folks saw what Greg Moore, Executive Director of the National NAACP Voter Fund said recently on net neutrality in a commentary piece in the Asbury Park Press:
Extremely well said! The "Open Net Coalition" -- "ItsOurNet" Part II -- They're back!Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-04-30 18:40The ItsOurNet coalition is relaunching under a new name the "Open Internet Coalition" in May according to Todays' National Journal's Tech Daily .
I must say I am sad to see the ItsOurNet name fall by the wayside, it was a glorious pinata of a concept.
It also will be interesting to see if they have retooled the substance of their message and if they will abandon Moveon.org and the Dorgan-Snowe bill to try and appear more reasonable and practical. Reading between the lines of the article it seems Moveon is "on" the defensive so to speak. lastly it will be interesting to see if: Net neutrality is embarassingly absent from Democrat's tech policy agendaSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2007-04-27 15:32Declan McCullagh of CNET has a very insightful piece called: "Missing : Politicians who take a clear stand on tech" where he spotlights that net neutrality is not on either the Democrat or Republican tech policy agendas.
Takeaways from SaveTheInternet's "first anniversary" conference callSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2007-04-26 15:56I listened in to SaveTheInternet's conference call with reporters in celebration of their one year anniversary.
Senator Dorgan (D-ND) author of the pending Dorgan-Snowe Bill was the keynote and star.
Craig Newmark was second to speak and he asserted everyone he knew was for NN. (I guess we should give up now.) Why not ask GAO to settle debate over validity of OECD broadband rankings?Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2007-04-25 10:55Listening to the House and Senate Democrats in yesterday's congressional hearings say "there can be no debate" "or dispute" that the U.S. is falling behind in broadband, when House and Senate Republicans, expert witnesses and the Administration were debating the validity of that very point directly before them, indicates that this "debatable point" is the exact type of "assessment of the facts" for which the Congress created the GAO to sort out. Congressional Democrats appear to be embracing the findings of the OECD on broadband as gospel when the OECD has obvious competitive motive to put EU countries in the best light and the U.S. in the worst light. Moveon.org 2nd largest PAC in 2006 -- the prime "mover" behind net neutralitySubmitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2007-04-24 10:44I always knew Moveon.org was a powerful political force, but I just learned how powerful -- Moveon.org was the second largest Political Action Committee (PAC) in the US in 2006, according to the Washington Post "In The Loop" column by Jeffery H. Birnbaum.
Moveon.org's political clout combined with its zealousness for promoting net neturality regulation and the front-loaded 2008 political process mean net neutrality will likely remain on the "techcom" political agenda as a key issue for the foreseeable future -- despite getting repudiated by the House, Senate, Supreme Court, FCC, FTC, NTIA, Maryland, Michigan to only name the most prominent forums that rejected regulating the Internet. Pages |