Free Republic

A report by a United Nations organization calls for the international body to seize control of information shared over the Internet should the governments of member nations fail to pass sufficient cybersecurity regulations.In the document, called “Trends in Telecommunication Reform: Smart Regulation in a Broadband World,” the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) points to the specter of an attack on the cyber infrastructure of a country as justification for the world body’s assumption of regulation and monitoring of traffic on the information superhighway.That frightening prospect was first reported by the News Limited Network out of Australia. Paola Totaro and Claire...

The Obama administration is planning to relinquish American control over a central portion of Internet governance. The implications of this move range from control by an international bureaucracy to totalitarian regimes locking up entire portions of the Internet, according to experts. At issue is US control over the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). “ICANN is arguably the single most powerful institution in the world as it relates to the global economy and communication. It has oversight authority over 300 million domain names, which number is increasing every day”, states Internet pioneer, Jeff Baron.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is set to announce on Wednesday a pilot project to expand broadband access for people who live in public housing, in his administration's latest push to bridge the "digital divide" between the rich and poor. Working with mayors, internet service providers and other companies and nonprofits, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will make it cheaper and easier for more than 275,000 low-income households with almost 200,000 children to get home internet, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday. Obama is set to speak about the program in Durant, Oklahoma...

The FCC passed the internet regulating “net neutrality” rules on Thursday and questions abound. But there are some things we do know, and here’s a summary: No one but the administration knows exactly what’s in it. The vote passed on a party-line 3 to 2 vote, with one of the Republicans including a 9-page dissent.The internet will now be treated like a public utility.The most commonly understood regulation will be the elimination of a broadband provider’s ability to prioritize or adjust the speed of content based upon their noteworthy financial arrangements with providers.George Soros and the Ford Foundation donated almost $200 million to support...

The powers behind the FCC’s muscling of the Internet Today’s vote by a bitterly divided Federal Communications Commission that the Internet should be regulated as a public utility is the culmination of a decade-long battle by the Left. Using money from George Soros and liberal foundations that totaled at least $196 million, radical activists finally succeeded in ramming through “net neutrality,” or the idea that all data should be transmitted equally over the Internet. The final push involved unprecedented political pressure exerted by the Obama White House on FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, head of an ostensibly independent regulatory body. “Net...

Obama Exploits the Ignorance of Young People to Seize Control of the Internet BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: On Thursday the FCC is gonna vote on net neutrality. I have some people sending me e-mail, asking me what it is. I'll sum it up as best I can for you, but what is going to happen Thursday is a direct result of Obama hijacking the effort -- essentially, let me just put it to you this way. Do you own a website, do you operate a website? If Obama gets his way, you're gonna have to get a license for it just...

The Internet is arguably the greatest invention to come out of America. The Internet has created more millionaires and billionaires in the last 20 years than any other industry. With the Internet, there are almost no barriers to entry and a massive capital infusion is generally not needed to get started. The Internet has also been one of the greatest boons for freedom and liberty since the invention of the printing press. Thanks to the Internet, the media elites no longer control the news and information. In fact, the media elites are now subject to and can be brought down...

You will know them by their fruits." This ancient wisdom is from the author of the Gospel of Matthew. Sixteen centuries later, in his book "Will and Doom," the Rev. Gershom Bulkeley, paraphrased Matthew with, "Actions are more significant than words." In the 21 st century this timeless maxim continues to serve as we hear resident Obama say, "I intend to protect a free and open Internet. ... resident Obama treats the Internet as a political and diplomatic bargaining tool ... Write this on a rock … If Obama's plans for the Internet come to pass, his words, "I intend...

Ajit Pai, the sole Republican Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), inferred in a Tweet that President Barack Obama’s secret, 332-page “Net Neutrality” document is a scheme for federal micro-managing of the Internet to extract billions in new taxes from consumers and again enforce progressives’ idea of honest, equitable, and balanced content fairness.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai released a statement on Obama’s Net Neutrality plan to regulate the internet and blasted Obama for not releasing the plan publicly. Last night, Chairman Wheeler provided his fellow Commissioners with President Obama’s 332-page plan to regulate the Internet. I am disappointed that the plan will not be released publicly. The FCC should be as open and transparent as the Internet itself and post the entire document on its website. Instead, it looks like the FCC will have to pass the President’s plan before the American people will be able to find out what’s really in it....

The proposed changes to the CFAA and related laws, posted online by the White House early last week, would broaden the definition of computer crime and stiffen penalties for existing crimes, including doubling the maximum penalty for many violations from 10 years to 20 years. "Hanging out in an IRC chat room giving advice to people now makes you a member of a ‘criminal enterprise,’ allowing the FBI to sweep in and confiscate all your assets without charging you with a crime.”

(Reuters) - The White House on Thursday said legislation was not necessary to settle so-called "net neutrality" rules because the Federal Communications Commission had the authority to write them. Republicans in Congress are trying to drum up support for a bill that would counter the FCC's upcoming new rules. The Obama administration's comments, while not entirely rebuffing the legislative effort, could make some Democrats wary of joining it. "In terms of legislation, we don’t believe it’s necessary given that the FCC has the authorities that it needs under Title II," a White House official told Reuters. "However, we always remain...

President Obama has called on cities and towns to create their own broadband service for their residents to compete with large corporations. Obama was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa touting the plan to get states to relax their rules against municipalities setting up their own networks. Cedar Rapids got an exemption from the FCC to create their own networks a few years ago. Republicans in Congress reacted immediately. The Hill: "In Tennessee we have a term to describe people like President Obama — tone-deaf,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in a statement. “At a time when Americans think the biggest...

Get ready for the Department of Broadband. On Monday, President Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify the Internet as a public utility—like water or electricity—under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. The goal: “to protect net neutrality,” Mr. Obama said in a White House YouTube video, an ironic venue for announcing a monumentally bad idea that could strangle the Internet. For years the FCC has been inching toward imposing net-neutrality rules, which are sold as a way to ban Internet service providers from discriminating against content providers. In reality such rules would dictate what ISPs...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” As a “former law professor” Barack Obama might have heard of Brandeis’ famous quote but it does not look like he understood it. Last week Obama has decided to spend more than 400 million of our tax dollars to follow the lead of the United Nations which has declared high speed internet access to be a “basic human right.” During its remarks on this new program, Obama’s teleprompter talked up the usual Democrat class warfare divide and conquer stuff. But the “money’ quote came from Secretary of...

Suspiciously, after the story came out about Team Obama dispatching internet warriors out to counter any dissent towards his campaign, there has been a person out of nowhere that's attacking my site and its readers, spewing George Soros-style talking points. Anyone hear of a liberal political operative by the name of "Jay Valeska"?