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http://act.boldprogressives.org/sign/sign_netneutrality_3things/?akid=3035.409078.jEDutG&rd=1&source=e1-nonetflix&t=3
FCC breaks Obama's promise on Net Neutrality: 3 things you need to know
Sign here to keep working to hold President Obama accountable to his currently-broken campaign promise to protect Net Neutrality -- then share with your friends:
BREAKING: Minutes ago, the FCC -- led by Obama appointee Julius Genachowski -- sold out Net Neutrality and the future of free speech online. The rules -- written by Comcast and AT&T, the companies the FCC is supposed to regulate -- broke Obama's campaign promise1 and allow corporate censorship.
Read the 3 reasons why -- then share with friends by filling out the form on the right.
The FCC could have reclassified and regulated these greedy corporations in an enforceable way, but instead, they sold out. This isn't Net Neutrality, this is a historic mistake.
Sign on the right to hold President Obama accountable to his promise -- and then share with your friends!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/13/net-neutrality-obama-see_n_681695.html
Watch Obama's Net Neutrality Promises, Promises, Promises (VIDEO)
Read the 3 reasons why -- then share with friends by filling out the form on the right.
1: Corporate censorship is allowed on your phone
The rules passed today by Obama FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski absurdly create different corporate censorship rules for wired and wireless Internet, allowing big corporations like Comcast to block websites they don't like on your phone -- a clear failure to fulfill Net Neutrality and put you, the consumer, in control of what you can and can't do online.22: Online tollbooths are allowed, destroying innovation
The rules passed today would allow big Internet Service Providers like Verizon and Comcast to charge for access to the "fast lane." Big companies that could afford to pay these fees like Google or Amazon would get their websites delivered to consumers quickly, while independent newspapers, bloggers, innovators, and small businesses would see their sites languish in the slow lane, destroying a level playing field for competition online and clearly violating Net Neutrality.33: The rules allow corporations to create "public" and "private" Internets, destroying the one Internet as we know it
For the first time, these rules would embrace a "public Internet" for regular people vs. a "private Internet" with all the new innovations for corporations who pay more -- ending the Internet as we know it and creating tiers of free speech and innovation, accessible only if you have pockets deep enough to pay off the corporations.4The FCC could have reclassified and regulated these greedy corporations in an enforceable way, but instead, they sold out. This isn't Net Neutrality, this is a historic mistake.
Sign on the right to hold President Obama accountable to his promise -- and then share with your friends!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/13/net-neutrality-obama-see_n_681695.html
Watch Obama's Net Neutrality Promises, Promises, Promises (VIDEO)
Huffington Post | Bianca Bosker First Posted: 08-13-10 03:54 PM | Updated: 10-13-10 05:12 AM
What's Your Reaction?
President Obama campaigned on net neutrality, and yet the White House has been surprisingly quiet on the issue since the breakdown of FCC negotiations and in the wake of Google and Verizon's joint policy proposal.
By contrast, as the video below highlights, we heard a great deal about net neutrality from Senator Obama while he was on the campaign trail. Both before and after taking office, Obama repeatedly expressed his unwavering commitment to maintaining an open Internet.
"The most important thing we can probably do is to preserve the diversity that's emerging through the Internet...something called net neutrality," he declared in April 2008. "I will take a backseat to no one in my commitment to network neutrality."
Just recently, however, a White House spokeswoman told Time only that the President "supports an open Internet that drives innovation, investment, free speech and consumer choice" and "[supports] the FCC's process." She declined to comment on the White House's view of the Google/Verizon framework.
"America has been fighting to figure out how to tap this awesome new resource that we have and Google has helped to show us the way," Obama said in a speech in November 2007.
Will Google continue to help "show us the way" with its net neutrality policy proposal? And, if so, would accepting the Verizon/Google framework, as outlined in its current form, go against Obama's many promises on net neutrality?
In the video below, Huffington Post video editor Ben Craw has spliced together clips presenting what Obama has said on net neutrality over the past three years. What do you hope to hear from him next?
By contrast, as the video below highlights, we heard a great deal about net neutrality from Senator Obama while he was on the campaign trail. Both before and after taking office, Obama repeatedly expressed his unwavering commitment to maintaining an open Internet.
"The most important thing we can probably do is to preserve the diversity that's emerging through the Internet...something called net neutrality," he declared in April 2008. "I will take a backseat to no one in my commitment to network neutrality."
Just recently, however, a White House spokeswoman told Time only that the President "supports an open Internet that drives innovation, investment, free speech and consumer choice" and "[supports] the FCC's process." She declined to comment on the White House's view of the Google/Verizon framework.
"America has been fighting to figure out how to tap this awesome new resource that we have and Google has helped to show us the way," Obama said in a speech in November 2007.
Will Google continue to help "show us the way" with its net neutrality policy proposal? And, if so, would accepting the Verizon/Google framework, as outlined in its current form, go against Obama's many promises on net neutrality?
In the video below, Huffington Post video editor Ben Craw has spliced together clips presenting what Obama has said on net neutrality over the past three years. What do you hope to hear from him next?
BREAKING: Minutes ago, the FCC passed new rules -- written by corporations -- that will end Net Neutrality. For the first time in history, the U.S. government approved corporate censorship of the Internet, putting the future of online free speech at risk. Unbelievably, the person leading the charge was Obama appointee Julius Genachowski.
This violates President Obama's campaign promise to protect Net Neutrality, but some media are reporting the corporate spin that this is a "Net Neutrality compromise." It's not -- there's no such thing as half a First Amendment. We need to set the record straight.
If you're on Twitter, please click to share this: NEWS: @FCC breaks Obama promise, allows corporate censorship - no Net Neutrality rules. 3 things to know: bit.ly/eVKyWH @WhiteHouse <http://act.boldprogressives.org/go/2750?akid=3035.409078.jEDutG&t=1>
If you're on Facebook, click here to spread the word <http://act.boldprogressives.org/go/2742?akid=3035.409078.jEDutG&t=2> .
By sharing, you can help us spread the top 3 reasons the rules passed today are a giveaway to big corporations and break Obama's promise:
- They enshrine different rules for wired and wireless Internet -- allowing big corporations to censor on your mobile phone
- They allow corporations to set up tollbooths online, stifling new innovators like the next YouTube who can't pay the fees the old, crusty corporations can pay
- For the first time, they embrace a "public Internet" for regular people vs. a "private Internet" with all the new innovations for corporations who pay more -- ending the Internet as we know it
And click here to share on Twitter <http://act.boldprogressives.org/go/2750?akid=3035.409078.jEDutG&t=4> and here to share on Facebook <http://act.boldprogressives.org/go/2742?akid=3035.409078.jEDutG&t=5> .
Thanks for being a bold progressive,
Jason Rosenbaum, Adam Green, Stephanie Taylor, and the PCCC team
http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/dynamic/joel-gurin.cfm
http://www.peoplesworld.org/families-arrested-at-bank-in-foreclosure-protest/
EXCERPT:
Families arrested at bank in foreclosure protest [with video] click above link to watch the video ....cal
December 17 2010
Fed up with the banks, a group of families facing foreclosure and eviction were arrested Thursday, Dec. 16, in Los Angeles when they refused to move their furniture and themselves from the front of a Chase Bank branch, where they had staged a protest.
"Myself and other families facing foreclosure over the holidays went to jail," Peggy Mears, one of 22 arrested protesters, said, "while the real criminals - the executives of JP Morgan Chase and other major banks - are free and on track to pay themselves over $143 billion in bonuses!"
"Myself and other families facing foreclosure over the holidays went to jail," Peggy Mears, one of 22 arrested protesters, said, "while the real criminals - the executives of JP Morgan Chase and other major banks - are free and on track to pay themselves over $143 billion in bonuses!"
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12417168&tqkw=&tqshow=
22 Arrested in LA Foreclosure Protest at Chase
Police arrest 22 people protesting foreclosures outside Chase bank offices in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES December 16, 2010 (AP)
Police arrested 22 demonstrators who blocked entry to a downtown Chase bank branch Thursday to protest what they said were unfair home foreclosures.
Alvivon Hurt smiles as she is led away, among other people who had lost their homes to foreclosure,... 
(AP)
Dozens more demonstrators chanted and marched on a nearby sidewalk holding sighs that said "Stop Bank Greed, Save Our Neighborhoods" as the 12 men and 10 women were taken into custody.
Detective Gus Villanueva said there were no injuries to police or protesters. All the demonstrators were released by late afternoon after all but one of them received citations for trespassing, he said.
Villanueva did not immediately know why the one protester had not been cited.
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment member David Mazariegos said the demonstrators hoped to bring attention to the plight of people who were unjustly losing their homes.
He said banks' failure to modify many borrowers' loans puts them in violation of the Home Affordable Modification Program in which lenders agreed to participate as part of the bank bailout.
"The banks are not helping anyone stay in their homes," Mazariegos said. "It's highway robbery, what they're doing to these people."
ACCE director Amy Schur said the groups were singling out JPMorgan Chase & Co. because most of the borrowers whose foreclosures and evictions they are contesting are serviced by that bank.
Chase spokeswoman Eileen Leveckis disputed that the bank was denying help to distressed mortgage borrowers.
"Chase is committed to helping struggling borrowers remain in their homes," she said in a statement, stressing that the lender had completed more than 250,000 modifications since early 2009.
Before the protesters blocked the doors leading to the Chase branch, homeowners at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure used a microphone to tell of their difficulties getting help from Chase and other banks.
Among them was Esperanza Casco, 47, who said her Long Beach home was foreclosed on even though she'd been making all the payments required under modification and forbearance deals worked out with Chase.
A Chase spokesman said in an Associated Press story last month that the bank gave Casco and her husband as many opportunities as it could to qualify for a modification, but that the couple was unable to do so.
The Cascos were scheduled to be evicted this month, but on Tuesday, Chase rescinded its eviction threat and offered them a new modification.
Chase spokesman Tom Kelly on Thursday declined to detail why the bank changed its mind, saying only that it reviewed the case again "with updated financials" and was able to approve the modification.
But Esperanza Casco said the financial information they sent the bank most recently was identical to the paperwork they previously provided.
"They saw that we were putting pressure and the publicity we were getting. But this is not just about us," she said in Spanish through an interpreter. "There's lots of people facing the same situation we're in."
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-12-16/business/25206119_1_protesters-demonstrators-arrest
Los Angeles police arrest foreclosure protesters
2010-12-16 13:25:00 PST Los Angeles, — (12-16) 13:25 PST LOS ANGELES, (AP) --
Police have begun arresting demonstrators staging a protest against home foreclosures outside Los Angeles offices of Chase bank.
About 20 people sat down Thursday to block the entrance to the downtown office building as dozens of other protesters marched on a sidewalk.
The arrestees have cooperated with police while being handcuffed and led to a van.
The demonstrators include people facing foreclosure, homeowner rights advocates and labor leaders. Some are wearing signs that say "Save Homes Arrest the Wall Street Criminals."
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-12-16/business/25206119_1_protesters-demonstrators-arrest
Los Angeles police arrest foreclosure protesters
2010-12-16 13:25:00 PST Los Angeles, — (12-16) 13:25 PST LOS ANGELES, (AP) --
Police have begun arresting demonstrators staging a protest against home foreclosures outside Los Angeles offices of Chase bank.
About 20 people sat down Thursday to block the entrance to the downtown office building as dozens of other protesters marched on a sidewalk.
The arrestees have cooperated with police while being handcuffed and led to a van.
The demonstrators include people facing foreclosure, homeowner rights advocates and labor leaders. Some are wearing signs that say "Save Homes Arrest the Wall Street Criminals."
Illuminati Satanic Bloodlines details ....cal
http://www.whale.to/b/sp/blood.html
EXCERPT:
How the Disney Executives have figured out how to steal land all across the U.S.
Over the years Walt Disney has developed several very sneaky reliable techniques to acquire land. They acquire land through their executives and large stockholders and family members of the execs and stockholders. After all the deals are made in an area, and when everything is in place over a period of time, these people then turn their land over to Disney. Disney works with government officials and local bankers to line up special deals so they can succeed in their plans. After everything is lined up, the corporation announces their plans and goes forward. This methodology has been used repeatedly, for instance the American History Theme Park in the Manassas Civil War battlefield area of Virginia for which Disney has acquired 1,800 acres and has access to at least 1,200 more. In Nov. ‘94, after a new Virginia governor was elected, the Virginia "Disney’s America" project was announced, and Virginia voted almost instantly for the money for transportation and infrastructure improvements to the area so that Disney’s theme park would be viable. Disney set up 3 banks in Napa, CA. Their banks made loans to old families in the valley. The trusts and the wills for these families were made up by Stanford Univ. grads. These people set on the boards of these banks or connect with the boards of these banks. They charge large fees, and know every trick in the book to rob people of their estates and their living trusts. The Stanford grads, who connect in with intelligence agencies & the mob use certain code words when they set up their businesses, such as RESOURCE, EVERGREEN and PACIFIC. There are a number of scared landholders who are being intimidated to sell their land in the Napa Valley region.
DISNEY and the GOVERNMENT
Just prior to W.W. II, the FBI recruited Walt Disney. His job was to spy on Hollywood or anything else that looked suspicious. Documents obtained from the Freedom of Information Act, in spite of heavy censoring, clearly show that Walt Disney became a paid Special Correspondent asset of the FBI. He reported to FBI agent E.E. Conroy. In 1954, Walt was promoted to Special Agent in Charge (SAC) which means others reported to him. After "leaving" the CIA, ex-DCI (ex-head) of the CIA William Hedgcock Webster became a lawyer for the Wash. D.C. based firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy. In 1993, when news broke about Walt Disney’s FBI membership, ex-CIA head Webster worked with the Disney family to cover up to the public that Walt Disney was an FBI agent. Webster went on TV and had interviews to spread the fabrication that Walt was not connected to the FBI. Why? One of the countless items that Disney was involved in was the investigation into the disappearance/rape of a six-year old child Rose Marie Riddle on 1/12/61. According to documents gotten from the Freedom of Information Act, W.G. Simon was the FBI agent who met with SAC Walt Disney in L.A. about the case. W.G. Simon has been one of those people who has been publicly lying by claiming that Walt Disney never was an FBI agent. The paper trail proves otherwise. Why is it so important to the FBI and CIA to cover up that Walt was an FBI agent? Walt also worked for the CIA, even though documentation of that is not available. This author theorizes that the reason the FBI and CIA are so touchy about letting people know that Walt worked for the government is that the Network knows how the FBI and CIA worked together to procure children for mind-control programming purposes. Because Disney and Disneyland played such as enormous role in Mind-control, Disney’s connection to them, although on the sufface a seemingly minor fact, is in reality a minor fact setting on top of an enormous ghastly secret. When W.W. II started, the government incorporated the Disney studios into the war machine.
The military paid Disney $80,000 for 20 training cartoon, which cost Disney $72,000 to make. Disney studios also made some secret films for the military. Mickey Mouse and Goofy cartoons were slanted to have war themes, for instance, the Goofy cartoon of 1941 "The Art of Self Defense" and "How to be a Sailor" in 1944. Perhaps in honor of the contribution Disney had made to the war effort, "Mickey Mouse" was the password of the Allies for millions of men on the big D-Day invasion on June 6,1944. Walt Disney produced a cartoon showing Donald Duck paying his taxes faithfully. The film was entitled The New Spirit. It was very successful in getting Americans to comply with the IRS. In 1946, Disney made a film for the public schools for sex education entitled The Story of Menstruation.
For the United Nations, Walt Disney created "It’s a Small World" attraction for UNICEF for the ‘64-65 World’s Fair. This attraction was moved to the theme parks & has been a major feature for mind-control. After learning of the enormous amount of mind-control programming going on during after hours in secret tunnels at Disney as well as in the public facilities, it makes more sense why the Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev would be denied a visit to Disneyland by the U.S. government "due to security considerations" when he was visiting the U.S. in Sept. 1959. Khrushchev obviously had his own security working in tandem with American security and the intelligence people for whatever reason(s) didn’t want the complication of these Russians going to a major programming site. Some powerful military men have been connected to Disney films. Two former commanding officers of the USS Alabama nuclear sub were technical advisors for the Disney film Crimson Tide. Walt Disney was tied to the U.S. government, and recent disclosures show that he was tied to the FBI. Walt used his FBI connection to destroy the life of Art Babbitt, who had led the strike against Disney in 1940. Babbitt found that everything he attempted in life after the strike was ruined by some hidden power. Was Walt part of naval intelligence attached to the FBI? Was he part of the FBI that is involved with child procurement and mind-control? In the 1950’s the Illuminati began organizing covens on the West coast and began solidifying their power. (This comes from several independent sources.) Likewise, it’s clear that Disney didn’t have the clout in 1953 with local governments, that it does today.
Walt Disney was unsuccessful when he tried to get permission from the city of Los Angeles and the Burbank City Council for the construction of Disneyland (called Disneylandia at that time), in the Burbank area. One Burbank councilman told Walt, "We don’t want the carny atmosphere in Burbank."" Inconsistently, within a few years they gave permission to Universal to build an amusement park in Burbank, which opened in 1964. Disney then ask the Stanford Research Institute to locate a spot for Disneylandia (Disneyland), which they found at Anaheim. In recent years, Disney decided they wanted to build another amusement park (called California Adventure) across from Disneyland. In order to do so, the Interstate highway will have to have changes, and the Anaheim city council needed to approve the large 55 acre expansion. In contrast to the Burbank City Council in 1953, Anaheim’s City Council was enthusiastic about the expansion in spite of lots of local opposition. The locals complained at council meetings to the City Council that the city had no business going hundreds of millions of dollars into debt to help a corporate giant. (Anaheim will issue $400 million in bonds.) Locals also raised concerns that the public school system in Anaheim is stressed to the breaking point where they are considering going to half days, and that Disney Corporation should give as much consideration for the school children of Anaheim as they do to their Amusement park. Disneyland’s Pres. Paul Pressler bragged about Disney’s new California Adventure amusement park, "Disney’s California Adventure is really a
celebration of the fun, the beauty, the people and the accomplishments of this magical state. We really have set out to try to capture a bit of what the California dream is all about." (Sounds like the dream is to be wealthy and control people. The elite would rather give us BREAD & CIRCUS than an education.)
The Dragnet films were done in part at the Disney studios. In an Office Memo from the 66-new LA SAC FBI agent to Hoover (12/16/54), which was obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, the typed memo states, ,,Mr. Disney has volunteered representatives of this office complete access to the facilities of Disneyland for use in connection with official matters..." Historically, we now know that Disney’s use for "official matters" included mind-control.
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/the_rockefeller_bloodline.htm
EXCERPT:
5. Their influence has contributed to various anti-Christian organizations being set up.
Maurice Strong is a good friend of the Rockefellers. He has been promoting Mother Gaia worship. David Rockefeller works with Maurice Strong and his New Age ideas. Reverend Moon from Korea has been very much loved by the Rockefellers. Moon calls himself Christ and is setting up a religion promoting internationalism. His religion is also a good testing ground for brainwashing/recruiting techniques that are being perfected by the NWO. The Rockefellers have been helping Moon, who also has his primary mansion in NY. Also of interest is that the prominent political figures that have endorsed Moon are those with ties to the NWO, and include Ted Kennedy, Mason Mark C. Hatfield, Mason Jesse Helms, & Illuminatus William F. Buckley, Jr. (See pg. 32-33 of The Puppet Master by J. Isamu Yamamoto.) A lesser known group is the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship (SFF) in Independence, MO. Their address was Exec. Plaza, 10715 Winner Rd, 64052. They were founded in 1956. Just like Reverend Moon they claim to be Christians, but teach and practice other things. They teach and practice the occult. Two prominent men in SFF are Marcus
Bach and Gardner Murphy. They both have interesting backgrounds. Marcus Bach shows the touch of the Rockefellers. Marcus Bach, born in 1906, is director
of special projects for SFF. The Rockefeller Foundation granted him a fellowship in “research and creative writing” from 1934-36. Gardner Murphy was the consultant in
1950 for UNESCO in New Delhi to the Hindus of the Indian Ministry of Education. From ‘52-’68 he was director of research at the Menninger Foundation, Topeka, KS. (Yes, psychology is led mainly by occultists!) Menninger himself is a member of several environmental groups for the elite, an Honorary trustee of the Aspen Institute, a Freemason, member of ACLU, and a close associate of W. Clement Stone. W. Clement Stone in turn is also a Mason, a member of the occult American Society for Psychical Research, and the financial backer of the Menninger Foundation. The Federal Council of Churches was financed to a large extent by Rockefeller money. In my Be Wise As Serpents book I detail how the FCC was designed to destroy Christianity, how they carefully plotted to make the creation of the FCC look like a grass roots movement, when it was actually the creation of the elite (Illuminati). I further detail how the men who ran it were high ranking Masons, Socialists, and One-Worlders. Also shown is how they carefully manipulated the real gospel for their own devious ends.
http://windfarms.wordpress.com/2007/12/30/the-earth-charter-and-the-ark-of-the-gaia-covenant/
EXCERPT:
The Earth Charter and the Ark of the Gaia Covenant
13 Votes
Editor:Another paper about Maurice Strong and his followers. You may ask, what does this have to do with wind farms? Everything is the answer. Maurice Strong started the E7 now the E8 whose goal is globalism of energy. Wind farms are a part of the process. Ever wonder why the wind companies, putting up the wind farms, are from different countries, well if you haven’t, you should.
David Suzuki is pushing wind farms, his wife, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, is a co-chair for Earth Charter Commission, as is Elizabeth May, leader of the federal Green Party of Canada. These people are indoctrinating your children into their cult through programs in the schools. Time to wake up folks.
- © Terry Melanson (First Published: Nov. 6, 2001, Last Update: Aug. 11, 2004)
For those who may have dismissed the notion of a UN Agenda for a New World Religion used to usher in sweeping anti-constitutional environmental agreements, I offer the following.
On September the 9th, 2001 a celebration of the Earth Charter was held at Shelburne Farms Vermont for the unveiling of the Earth Charter’s final resting place. This “Ark of Hope” will be presented to the United Nations along with its contents in June of 2002. It is hoped that the United Nations will endorse the Earth Charter document on this occasion; the tenth anniversary of the UNCED Earth Summit in Rio.
Placed within the Ark, along with the Earth Charter, were various items called “Temenos Books” and “Temenos Earth Masks.” Temenos is a concept adopted by Carl Jung to denote a magic circle, a sacred space where special rules and energies apply. Some of the Temenos Books were created within this magic circle by children, who filled them with visual affirmations for Mother Earth. Fashioned with the “earth elements”, the Temenos Earth Masks were also worn and created by children.
Maurice Strong and the “Agenda”
In 1992 Maurice Strong was the Secretary General of the historic United Nations (UNCED) Earth conference in Rio. This gathering featured an international cast of powerful figures in the environmental movement, government, business, and entertainment. Maurice Strong’s wife Hannah, was involved in the NGO alternative meeting at the Summit called Global Forum ’92. The Dalai Lama opened the meeting and, according to author Gary Kah, to ensure the success of the forum, Hanne Strong held a three-week vigil with Wisdomkeepers, a group of “global transformationalists.” Through round-the-clock sacred fire, drumbeat, and meditation, the group helped hold the “energy pattern” for the duration of the summit. It was hoped that an Earth Charter would be the result of this event. This was not the case, however an international agreement was adopted – Agenda 21 – which laid down the international “sustainable development” necessary to form a future Earth Charter agreement. Maurice Strong hinted at the overtly pagan agenda proposed for a future Earth Charter, when in his opening address to the Rio Conference delegates he said, “It is the responsibility of each human being today to choose between the force of darkness and the force of light.” [note: Alice Bailey, and Blavatsky before her, used these terms often. Their writings state that the 'force of darkness' are those who adhere to the 'out-dated' Judeo-Christian faith; those who continue along their 'separative' paths of the one true God. The 'force of light' (Lucifer), in there view, is the inclusive new age doctrine of a pagan pantheistic New World Religion. In the New Age of Aquarius there will be no room for the 'force of darkness' and 'separativeness'.] “We must therefore transform our attitudes and adopt a renewed respect for the SUPERIOR LAWS OF DIVINE NATURE,” Strong finished with unanimous applause from the crowd. Despite the disappointing setback of no official agreement toward a “peoples Earth Charter”, Maurice Strong forged ahead, with Rockefeller backing, to form his Earth Council organization for the express purpose of helping governments implement UNCED’s sustainable development which Agenda 21 had outlined. Agenda 21 was perhaps the biggest step taken to facilitate any future “enforcement” of a patently pagan Earth Charter. According to Strong “the Charter will stand on it’s own. It will be in effect, to use an Anglo-Saxon term, the Magna Carta of the people around the Earth. But, it will also, we hope, lead to action by the governments through the United Nations.” http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/05/google_verizon_deny_secret_talks/Google, Verizon deny secret FCC end run
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Network neutrality battle cranks up to 11
Posted in Government, 5th August 2010 21:44 GMT
As The Reg reported early Thursday, the Wall Street Journal claims that Google and Verizon are in talks to create a tiered pay system for content. The same sub-rosa confabs were also cited by The New York Times, which said that an agreement could be reached "as soon as next week". According to the WSJ, "a tentative agreement on managing network traffic ... could be announced as soon as Friday."
Google, however, says that the NYT is "wrong". Verizon says that the NYT is "mistaken".If such an agreement is reached, it would — in the NYT's words — "overthrow a once-sacred tenet of Internet policy known as net neutrality," and eventually lead to multiple tiers of internet-access services, with users paying higher fees for "premium" service, much as cable telelvision and broadband subscribers do today.
Thursday morning, however, Google and Verizon tried to throw cold water on the resulting firestorm of outcry from net-neut supporters. Google's Public Policy arm tweeted: "@NYTimes is wrong. We've not had any convos with VZN about paying for carriage of our traffic. We remain committed to an open internet."
A Google spokesperson offered a slightly more-complete but essentially identical response to the WSJ, saying: "The New York Times is quite simply wrong. We have not had any conversations with Verizon about paying for carriage of Google or YouTube traffic. We remain as committed as we always have been to an open Internet."
Verizon, for its part, responded to a Reg request for comment on Thursday by saying: "The New York Times article regarding conversations between Google and Verizon is mistaken. It fundamentally misunderstands our purpose. As we said in our earlier FCC filing, our goal is an Internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, and incorporates specific FCC authority, while maintaining investment and innovation. To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect."
Both the WSJ and the NYT reported that the FCC had been holding meetings with net-neut stakeholders such as Google, Verizon, AT&T, Skype, the Open Internet Coalition, the National Cable & Telecommunoications Association (NCTA) to hammer out net-neut policies. The WSJ characterized the meetings as "private" and "closed door", while the NYT reported that FCC staffers "jokingly" refer to the meetings as "secret."
Maybe so, but FCC chairman Julius Genachowshi doesn't think so. When asked at a press conference following the a Thursday public FCC meeting if his commission was holding secret meetings, he retorted: "The talks obviously aren't secret."
Genachowski also noted that any net-neut deal "that does not preserve the freedom and openness of the Internet for consumers and entrepreneurs would be unacceptable."
And so the dance goes on — a three-way two-step featuring self-described pro net-neut supporters such as Google, Amazon, Yahoo!, eBay, and others; anti net-neuts such as AT&T, Verizon, the NCTA, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and others; and an FCC weakened by a federal court decision in the Comcast BitTorrent case but seeking a "third way" to shore up its regulatory powers, stuck in the middle.
If you're wondering which side will prevail, here's a bit of interesting data to chew on: according to a recent report, the anti net-neuts outspent the pro net-neuts by four-to-one in lobbying fees during the first quarter of 2010. ®
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/genachowski/staff.html
Edward P. Lazarus - Chief of Staff
Mr. Lazarus comes to the FCC from Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, where he was co-head of the firm-wide global litigation practice and a member of the firm’s management committee, overseeing more than 800 lawyers. He is a former prosecutor, having served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, and started his legal career as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. Mr. Lazarus has also served as the Chairman of the board of AbilityFirst, a provider of housing and vocational services to people with disabilities, and the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles, a nonprofit legal services organization that represents roughly 25,000 dependent youth in Southern California.
Josh Gottheimer - Senior Counselor
Mr. Gottheimer serves as the Chairman’s strategic advisor on a wide range of policy and legal matters with particular responsibility over the legislative, communications, intergovernmental affairs, and public liaison functions of the agency. He also focuses on steps the FCC can take -- including considering the recommendations in the National Broadband Plan – to help the FCC build a 21st century communications infrastructure the country needs to compete and win in the global economy. Mr. Gottheimer served previously as Executive Vice President, Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller, a global communications firm; Director of Strategic Communications at Ford Motor Company, where he oversaw corporate advertising; Senior Advisor to the United States Commission on Civil Rights; Special Assistant to the President and Presidential Speechwriter to President Bill Clinton; and Deputy Director of Speechwriting and Senior Policy Advisor to the John Kerry for President Campaign.
Rick Kaplan - Chief Counsel and Senior Legal Advisor
Mr. Kaplan manages the Commission’s overall agenda and has responsibility for policy coordination among the Bureaus and Offices. In addition, he has particular responsibility for wireless, engineering and technology, and public safety issues.
Mr. Kaplan previously served as the Chief of Staff for Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and as deputy coordinator of the FCC DTV task force, where he oversaw a number of aspects of the Commission’s role in the nation’s successful transition to digital television. He practiced regulatory law and appellate litigation at Sidley Austin LLP, and served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Kaplan began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Phoebe Yang - Senior Advisor on Broadband
Ms. Yang heads the core team managing the Commission’s broadband priorities and works with other federal, international, state and local entities on advancing the Commission’s broadband agenda. She serves as the Commission’s primary point of contact to enable the use of broadband to promote key national priorities, such as improving heath care, education, and energy efficiency and serves as the Commission’s representative to the Executive Branch inter-agency working group charged with implementation of the National Broadband Plan across the federal government.
Ms. Yang most recently served as General Counsel of the FCC Omnibus Broadband Initiative. She previously served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Vice President of Digital Media Operations and Strategy at Discovery Communications; as Vice President of International Strategy and Policy at AOL Time Warner; as Special Coordinator for China Rule of Law under President Bill Clinton; and practiced corporate law at Hogan & Hartson. She served as law clerk to The Honorable William Schwarzer (N.D., California).
Zac Katz - Legal Advisor for Wireline Communications, International and Internet Issues
Mr. Katz serves as an advisor to the Chairman with particular responsibility for wireline, international, and Internet issues, including open Internet, universal service, and satellite matters. Mr. Katz most recently was Deputy Chief of the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis. He joined the FCC from the White House Counsel’s Office and previously practiced law at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles, focusing on transactional and litigation matters involving intellectual property. Before that, he worked with technology companies at a strategy consulting and investment firm in Silicon Valley. Mr. Katz served as a law clerk for Judge Kim M. Wardlaw of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Sherrese Smith - Legal Advisor for Media, Consumer and Enforcement Issues
Ms. Smith was most recently Vice President and General Counsel of Washington Post Digital. Prior to that, Ms. Smith was a member of the Intellectual Property group at Arnold and Porter. She currently serves on the board of the ABA's Forum for Communications Law, has served on the board of the Media Law Resource Center Institute and was a co-chair of the Copyright Committee of the ABA. Ms. Smith is a frequent lecturer on media, publishing, internet and intellectual property issues and is a faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute.
Maria Gaglio - Confidential Assistant
Daniel Ornstein - Special Assistant
Mr. Ornstein comes to the FCC from CBS, where he managed several new media initiatives and helped run the network's growing mobile business. Previously, Mr. Ornstein worked on a start-up company called Click.TV, which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2007.
Mary Beth Richards - Special Counsel for FCC Reform
Ms. Richards heads a comprehensive program to provide openness and transparency at the agency. Ms. Richards first joined the FCC in 1984 and held a variety of positions, including Deputy Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs, Enforcement, and Common Carrier Bureaus, Deputy Managing Director and Special Counsel to the Chairman, before moving to the Federal Trade Commission in November 2006 as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. She recently returned to the Commission as Deputy General Counsel, and has been serving as Acting Managing Director. In 1995, she received the Presidential Meritorious Executive Service Award.
http://reboot.fcc.gov/consumers/taskforce
In January 2010, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the launch of a Consumer Task Force to advance the Commission's consumer agenda and promote collaboration across the agency. Joel Gurin, Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, was named to head the cross-agency task force.
"The goal of protecting and empowering consumers is among the Commission's most important responsibilities," said Chairman Genachowski at the time. "As communications networks and technologies become increasingly complex and essential to Americans' everyday lives, the Commission must be a vigilant watchdog for the consumer. While we have one bureau with ‘consumer' in its name, consumers are vital to the work of each of our bureaus and offices. Cross-agency collaboration is critical to this effort and that's why I am so pleased to launch the Consumer Task Force."
The Consumer Task Force was formed to play a critical role in ensuring that Commission proceedings take account of consumer interests, that consumer protection and empowerment policies apply consistently and reasonably across technologies and bureaus at the FCC, that the public is able to engage fully in FCC processes, and that the agency enhances the public's understanding of Commission work through state-of-the-art consumer information programs, seizing the opportunities of information technology.
A major Task Force goal is to help increase transparency and improve consumer information about communications services. The Task Force coordinates work between FCC bureaus and offices, and with industry, consumers, and outside experts, to reach this goal. This effort builds on a Notice of Inquiry on Consumer Information and Disclosure released by the Commission on August 28, 2009. Recent initiatives include letters sent to providers on early termination fees, the launch of a national project to measure broadband speed, and a Public Notice on "bill shock".
The Task Force includes every Commission Bureau Chief, the Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, the General Counsel, and the Managing Director. The Task Force has also set up a team of Deputies from these bureaus and offices who help direct consumer-focused projects and operations, and Consumer Advisors who track and provide current information from each bureau or office. Here is the current list of Task Force members, Deputies, and Advisors:
Thursday morning, however, Google and Verizon tried to throw cold water on the resulting firestorm of outcry from net-neut supporters. Google's Public Policy arm tweeted: "@NYTimes is wrong. We've not had any convos with VZN about paying for carriage of our traffic. We remain committed to an open internet."
A Google spokesperson offered a slightly more-complete but essentially identical response to the WSJ, saying: "The New York Times is quite simply wrong. We have not had any conversations with Verizon about paying for carriage of Google or YouTube traffic. We remain as committed as we always have been to an open Internet."
Verizon, for its part, responded to a Reg request for comment on Thursday by saying: "The New York Times article regarding conversations between Google and Verizon is mistaken. It fundamentally misunderstands our purpose. As we said in our earlier FCC filing, our goal is an Internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, and incorporates specific FCC authority, while maintaining investment and innovation. To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect."
Both the WSJ and the NYT reported that the FCC had been holding meetings with net-neut stakeholders such as Google, Verizon, AT&T, Skype, the Open Internet Coalition, the National Cable & Telecommunoications Association (NCTA) to hammer out net-neut policies. The WSJ characterized the meetings as "private" and "closed door", while the NYT reported that FCC staffers "jokingly" refer to the meetings as "secret."
Maybe so, but FCC chairman Julius Genachowshi doesn't think so. When asked at a press conference following the a Thursday public FCC meeting if his commission was holding secret meetings, he retorted: "The talks obviously aren't secret."
Genachowski also noted that any net-neut deal "that does not preserve the freedom and openness of the Internet for consumers and entrepreneurs would be unacceptable."
And so the dance goes on — a three-way two-step featuring self-described pro net-neut supporters such as Google, Amazon, Yahoo!, eBay, and others; anti net-neuts such as AT&T, Verizon, the NCTA, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and others; and an FCC weakened by a federal court decision in the Comcast BitTorrent case but seeking a "third way" to shore up its regulatory powers, stuck in the middle.
If you're wondering which side will prevail, here's a bit of interesting data to chew on: according to a recent report, the anti net-neuts outspent the pro net-neuts by four-to-one in lobbying fees during the first quarter of 2010. ®
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/genachowski/staff.html
Edward P. Lazarus - Chief of Staff
Mr. Lazarus comes to the FCC from Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, where he was co-head of the firm-wide global litigation practice and a member of the firm’s management committee, overseeing more than 800 lawyers. He is a former prosecutor, having served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, and started his legal career as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. Mr. Lazarus has also served as the Chairman of the board of AbilityFirst, a provider of housing and vocational services to people with disabilities, and the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles, a nonprofit legal services organization that represents roughly 25,000 dependent youth in Southern California.
Josh Gottheimer - Senior Counselor
Mr. Gottheimer serves as the Chairman’s strategic advisor on a wide range of policy and legal matters with particular responsibility over the legislative, communications, intergovernmental affairs, and public liaison functions of the agency. He also focuses on steps the FCC can take -- including considering the recommendations in the National Broadband Plan – to help the FCC build a 21st century communications infrastructure the country needs to compete and win in the global economy. Mr. Gottheimer served previously as Executive Vice President, Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller, a global communications firm; Director of Strategic Communications at Ford Motor Company, where he oversaw corporate advertising; Senior Advisor to the United States Commission on Civil Rights; Special Assistant to the President and Presidential Speechwriter to President Bill Clinton; and Deputy Director of Speechwriting and Senior Policy Advisor to the John Kerry for President Campaign.
Rick Kaplan - Chief Counsel and Senior Legal Advisor
Mr. Kaplan manages the Commission’s overall agenda and has responsibility for policy coordination among the Bureaus and Offices. In addition, he has particular responsibility for wireless, engineering and technology, and public safety issues.
Mr. Kaplan previously served as the Chief of Staff for Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and as deputy coordinator of the FCC DTV task force, where he oversaw a number of aspects of the Commission’s role in the nation’s successful transition to digital television. He practiced regulatory law and appellate litigation at Sidley Austin LLP, and served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Kaplan began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Phoebe Yang - Senior Advisor on Broadband
Ms. Yang heads the core team managing the Commission’s broadband priorities and works with other federal, international, state and local entities on advancing the Commission’s broadband agenda. She serves as the Commission’s primary point of contact to enable the use of broadband to promote key national priorities, such as improving heath care, education, and energy efficiency and serves as the Commission’s representative to the Executive Branch inter-agency working group charged with implementation of the National Broadband Plan across the federal government.
Ms. Yang most recently served as General Counsel of the FCC Omnibus Broadband Initiative. She previously served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Vice President of Digital Media Operations and Strategy at Discovery Communications; as Vice President of International Strategy and Policy at AOL Time Warner; as Special Coordinator for China Rule of Law under President Bill Clinton; and practiced corporate law at Hogan & Hartson. She served as law clerk to The Honorable William Schwarzer (N.D., California).
Zac Katz - Legal Advisor for Wireline Communications, International and Internet Issues
Mr. Katz serves as an advisor to the Chairman with particular responsibility for wireline, international, and Internet issues, including open Internet, universal service, and satellite matters. Mr. Katz most recently was Deputy Chief of the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis. He joined the FCC from the White House Counsel’s Office and previously practiced law at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles, focusing on transactional and litigation matters involving intellectual property. Before that, he worked with technology companies at a strategy consulting and investment firm in Silicon Valley. Mr. Katz served as a law clerk for Judge Kim M. Wardlaw of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Sherrese Smith - Legal Advisor for Media, Consumer and Enforcement Issues
Ms. Smith was most recently Vice President and General Counsel of Washington Post Digital. Prior to that, Ms. Smith was a member of the Intellectual Property group at Arnold and Porter. She currently serves on the board of the ABA's Forum for Communications Law, has served on the board of the Media Law Resource Center Institute and was a co-chair of the Copyright Committee of the ABA. Ms. Smith is a frequent lecturer on media, publishing, internet and intellectual property issues and is a faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute.
Maria Gaglio - Confidential Assistant
Daniel Ornstein - Special Assistant
Mr. Ornstein comes to the FCC from CBS, where he managed several new media initiatives and helped run the network's growing mobile business. Previously, Mr. Ornstein worked on a start-up company called Click.TV, which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2007.
Mary Beth Richards - Special Counsel for FCC Reform
Ms. Richards heads a comprehensive program to provide openness and transparency at the agency. Ms. Richards first joined the FCC in 1984 and held a variety of positions, including Deputy Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs, Enforcement, and Common Carrier Bureaus, Deputy Managing Director and Special Counsel to the Chairman, before moving to the Federal Trade Commission in November 2006 as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. She recently returned to the Commission as Deputy General Counsel, and has been serving as Acting Managing Director. In 1995, she received the Presidential Meritorious Executive Service Award.
http://reboot.fcc.gov/consumers/taskforce
Consumer Task Force
The FCC Consumer Task Force: Here to Inform, Protect, and Empower ConsumersIn January 2010, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the launch of a Consumer Task Force to advance the Commission's consumer agenda and promote collaboration across the agency. Joel Gurin, Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, was named to head the cross-agency task force.
"The goal of protecting and empowering consumers is among the Commission's most important responsibilities," said Chairman Genachowski at the time. "As communications networks and technologies become increasingly complex and essential to Americans' everyday lives, the Commission must be a vigilant watchdog for the consumer. While we have one bureau with ‘consumer' in its name, consumers are vital to the work of each of our bureaus and offices. Cross-agency collaboration is critical to this effort and that's why I am so pleased to launch the Consumer Task Force."
The Consumer Task Force was formed to play a critical role in ensuring that Commission proceedings take account of consumer interests, that consumer protection and empowerment policies apply consistently and reasonably across technologies and bureaus at the FCC, that the public is able to engage fully in FCC processes, and that the agency enhances the public's understanding of Commission work through state-of-the-art consumer information programs, seizing the opportunities of information technology.
A major Task Force goal is to help increase transparency and improve consumer information about communications services. The Task Force coordinates work between FCC bureaus and offices, and with industry, consumers, and outside experts, to reach this goal. This effort builds on a Notice of Inquiry on Consumer Information and Disclosure released by the Commission on August 28, 2009. Recent initiatives include letters sent to providers on early termination fees, the launch of a national project to measure broadband speed, and a Public Notice on "bill shock".
The Task Force includes every Commission Bureau Chief, the Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, the General Counsel, and the Managing Director. The Task Force has also set up a team of Deputies from these bureaus and offices who help direct consumer-focused projects and operations, and Consumer Advisors who track and provide current information from each bureau or office. Here is the current list of Task Force members, Deputies, and Advisors:
- Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB): Joel Gurin, Chief (Chair)
- Enforcement Bureau (EB): Michele Ellison, Chief
- International Bureau (IB): Mindel De La Torre, Chief
- Media Bureau (MB): Bill Lake, Chief
- Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB): Jamie Barnett, Chief
- Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB): Sharon Gillett, Chief
- Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB): Ruth Milkman, Chief
- Office of Engineering and Technology (OET): Julius Knapp, Chief
- Office of the General Counsel (OGC): Austin Schlick, General Counsel
- Office of the Managing Director (OMD): Steve VanRoekel, Managing Director
- Office of the Chairman (OCH): Mary Beth Richards, Special Counsel for FCC Reform
- Consumer Task Force Coordinator: Patrick Webre, Chief Program Officer, CGB
- Deputies: Suzanne Tetreault (EB), Walt Strack (IB), Kris Monteith (MB), Deborah Klein (PSHSB), Cathy Seidel (WCB), Monica Desai (WTB), Bruce Romano (OET), Julie Veach (OGC), Greg Elin (OMD)
- Consumer Advisors: Bill Davenport (EB), Linda Dubroof (IB), Janice Wise (MB), Todd Mitchell (PSHSB), Cecina Seppings (WCB), Jeff Tignor (WTB), Andrea Kearney (OGC)
