Free Republic

When it rains, it pours. And there ain’t a big enough umbrella for all President Obama’s cronies and fixers to crowd under these days. While the Solyndra BGB (big green boondoggle) continues to blow up on Capitol Hill, the White House faces another pay-for-play backlash — this time from his own left flank. The liberal Daily Beast reports on a broadband project backed by a frequent Obama White House visitor and donor that has Pentagon officials concerned over potential military GPS interference. The Obama FCC took the lead in intervening on the donor, billionaire hedge fund manster Philip Falcone’s, behalf...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-national-broadband-plan Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release March 16, 2010 Statement from the President on the National Broadband Plan America today is on the verge of a broadband-driven Internet era that will unleash innovation, create new jobs and industries, provide consumers with new powerful sources of information, enhance American safety and security, and connect communities in ways that strengthen our democracy. Just as past generations of Americans met the great infrastructure challenges of the day, such as building the Transcontinental...

A recent and arbitrary decision by a federal agency eliminated private domain name registrations for the .US domain name. This means current holders of .US private domain registrations will face either making their personal information public for everyone to see (including the many thousands of predators who stalk the WHOIS directory daily searching for easy prey), or giving up their .US domain name. It also means that new purchasers of .US domain name registrations will not be able to purchase private registrations.

By way of "Net Neutrality," the federal government is preparing to do to the Internet what it has done to the auto industry, public schools, the home mortgage industry, the postal service and the financial industry bailout. The Obama administration now seeks to regulate the Internet as well. "Net Neutrality" refers to the dangerous movement to have government dictate Internet providers' business models, and the manner in which they can transmit data. Obama's infamous "stimulus" package includes a $7.2 billion grant to expand broadband services that require carriers accepting government money to adhere to FCC Net Neutrality guidelines that empower...

SNIPPET: "When including about $10.5 billion in matching funds committed by the applicants, the total price tag for the proposed broadband projects topped $38 billion. The Recovery Act provided a total of $7.2 billion to the two agencies to expand broadband services, of which NTIA will use $4.7 billion, largely to deploy broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, and RUS will invest $2.5 billion to facilitate broadband deployment in primarily rural communities. Approximately $2.4 billion from RUS and up to $1.6 billion from NTIA is available in this first grant round."

StimulatingBroadband.com 07/09/09 A federal agency program first announced online on Monday, July 6, to recruit volunteer reviewers to make approval and denial decisions on the first round of approximately $ 1.6 billion in Recovery Act broadband stimulus competitive grant applications has set-off a firestorm of protest. The program is being launched by the National Information and Telecommunications Administration (NTIA), of the US Department of Commerce. A description of the volunteer reviewer solicitation program was posted at: Call for Reviewers Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, part of the joint federal agency site BroadbandUSA.gov. NTIA states its its Call that the agency "...is...