Enjoy the Last Day of Free Internet

The Bullet/Socialist Project: "Media Capitalism, the State and 21st Century Media Democracy Struggles" - Hat Tip: Robot J. McCarthy on Twitter

Robert McChesney, eminent historian and political-economist of the media, founder of the Free Press, leading U.S. and international media activist, and author of The Political Economy of the Media: Enduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas (Monthly Review Press, 2008) and Communication Revolution: Critical Junctures and the Future of the Media (The New Press, 2008), spoke with Tanner Mirrlees, of the Socialist Project, about contemporary media capitalism and 21st century media democracy struggles to understand and change it. (...) >>>

The view from an Objectivist perspective:

The Objective Standard: "Net Neutrality: Toward a Stupid Internet", by Raymond C. Niles (audio article read by Karl Kowalski)

Focuses on the principle of property rights as it applies to the Internet in the face of increasing calls for government controls of this, as yet, relatively free market. (...) >>>

Updates:

- Dallas Morning News: "Net neutrality draft to be unveiled today"

Breaking News:

PC World: "FCC Votes for Net Neutrality, McCain Wants to Stop Them"

Sen. John McCain is leading an effort to prevent the FCC from proceeding with its plan to implement network neutrality. Well, net neutrality fans, your enemies list just got one person bigger. John McCain is the latest to come out against the FCC's work, and has even proposed legislation to stop the agency in its tracks.

On Thursday, the FCC approved a measure to begin the process of formalizing a set of net neutrality rules that would ban ISPs from selectively filtering or throttling content. Texas Rep. Barton tried to stop the FCC from voting on the measure in the first place by pleading with commissioners to stop the vote from occurring.

This was an exercise in futility: Chairman Julius Genachowski had already worked to seal the support of the two other Democratic commissioners, making approval all but certain before the vote occurred.

Enter McCain.  (...) >>>

Oct. 23, 2009