US lawmaker injects ISP throttle into Obama rescue package

The Register ^ | Feb 11, 2998 | Cade Metz

[Rennes Templar]

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 in 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 of 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.

[KarlInOhio]

And Democrats were all up in arms to protest against eavesdropping overseas phone calls between terrorists.

That's different. There was a national interest with that, therefore it is eeeeeevil. Checking for teenagers downloading the latest album is about campaign contributors' interests and is therefore vital.

For example, see the Dems reactions to attacking Iraq (important national interests) vs attacking Serbia (no national interest).

< / cynicism rather than sarcasm>

[KarlInOhio]

The various combined telephone/cable/internet companies have been itching for a legal way of examining every packet to shut down competitive services. They would love to kill web based phones (except for their own), movie rentals (except for their own) and television streaming (except for their own). If they are required by law to look inside the packets to figure if they are copyrighted or pornographic, then it is a small step to see if they are a competative service and just "happen to lose" half the packets.

[Danae]

Censorship is OK as long as the Dims are doing it. /sarc

[VanDeKoik]

I wonder how all of those idiots at Slashdot feel now?

[fnord]

If it comes to happen they will blame “right-wingers” dontcha know. They will proclaim their love of Big Borther even as they wait in their cells for execution.

[SoDak]

First of all, I have family living in Bucksnort Junction, South Dakota. It doesn’t get anymore rural than this, and they have broadband. Where, exactly, will 6 to 8 billion take broadband that it already isn’t??

[Rennes Templar]

I’m pretty rural here in Montana too and seems everyone has it around here. Me thinks they have another agenda with this money....

[Smokin' Joe]

You can make a SURE bet that many of us here are already on a leftists “Enemies List”, somewhere.

I was probably on one long before I found Free Republic. Local conservative folks, even LEOs agreed with me on firearm and other issues back then, but I have been at loggerheads with those at the Federal Level for some time.

[Smokin' Joe]

Where, exactly, will 6 to 8 billion take broadband that it already isn’t??

To the people who do not want to shell out for it? Like digital TV, it will be imposed. When you are on dial-up and you have horribly low bandwidth, anything which is sucking up your bandwidth is noticeable in the performance of the link.

Usually, I just pull the plug and re-connect If I cannot account for the lack of performance, because anything is pretty well noticeable.

Impose universal broadband, and now 'they' (whomever) will be able to hack away at anyone not running a firewall, presuming they cannot defeat that, and not cause bandwidth performance degredation that is readily evident.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Is it too late to suggest some ideas for the stimulus package? I can come up with all sorts of great ways to help boost the economy.

The first would involve giving a rifle and five hundred rounds of ammo to every adult in the country. Just think of all the jobs this would create, not only at the firearms and ammo production facilities, but the gunsmiths who would be kept busy with replacing worn-out parts and installing all sorts of neat upgrades (scopes, night-scopes, grenade launchers, etc) as well as the people who work at the gun ranges all around the country.

Or how about financing the fence along the border between the US and Mexico. Just think of all the jobs that would be created, not just among the construction workers at the border, but at the steel mills and factories that produce the fencing, at the quarries and concrete factories that will produce the gravel and concrete, and the hundreds of maintenance personnel who will be employed long into the future to help keep the fence in good repair.

See, if the right things were included, the stimulus package might not be that bad of a deal. ;-)

[This_far]

“See, if the right things were included, the stimulus package might not be that bad of a deal. ;-)”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2183855/posts

Post #3

(we have similar thoughts)

[Stonewall Jackson]

An M-1 Garand wouldn't be a bad idea. As far as ruggedness and durability go, it is hard to beat a Garand.

Here are some others.

The Springfield Arms M-1A, the semi-auto version of the M-14 (although the M-14 wouldn't be too bad of an idea either), which has seen some action in Iraq and Afghanistan as a sniper rifle, gives you the ability to reach out and touch someone.

The Galil Golani, named after the IDF's famed Golani Brigade, is produced in the US by Century Arms and comes with a side-folding stock and a 35-round magazine.

[This_far]

“An M-1 Garand wouldn’t be a bad idea”

Thank you. Another bookmark.

(until I get my stimulus ‘check’, the $13 extra per month won’t help, I’ll still continue to build up my stock of stones for my slingshot before surgical rubber is regulated)

Ironic that 0 and Libs have stimulated arms sales without any appropriations isn’t it?