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Message Digest
Volume 29 : Issue 72 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
New Zealand just implemented government-censored filtered Internet
Re: New Zealand just implemented government-censored filtered Internet
The power of yellow pages advertising
Something new: FCC broadband speed testing
Who says Apple has no sense of humor?
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Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:00:16 -0800
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: New Zealand just implemented government-censored filtered Internet
Message-ID: <4B9A02A0.1030705@thadlabs.com>
Govt internet filter going live is sad day for NZ
Thursday, 11 March 2010
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1003/S00159.htm
" The Department of Internal Affairs has admitted that the
" internet filter is now operational and is already being
" used by ISPs Maxnet and Watchdog. It appears that Maxnet
" have not told their customers that they are diverting
" some of their internet traffic to the government system
" to be filtered.
"
" Thomas Beagle, spokesperson for Tech Liberty, "We're
" very disappointed that the filter is now running, it's
" a sad day for the New Zealand internet."
"
" The DIA refuses to say which other ISPs will be joining
" the filter, claiming the right to negotiate in secret.
" Tech Liberty understands that Telstra Clear, Telecom
" and Vodafone have said they will implement the filter,
" with Orcon, Slingshot and Natcom saying that they won't.
"
" David Zanetti, technical spokesperson for Tech Liberty,
" "We fear that the filter will reduce the stability of
" the internet in New Zealand. It is a single point of
" failure, introduces a new and very tempting target
" for hackers, and by diverting traffic will cause issues
" with modern internet applications."
"
" Tech Liberty is concerned about the expansion of
" government powers represented by the filter. It
" establishes the principle that the government can
" choose to arbitrarily set up a new censorship scheme
" and choose which material to block, with no reference
" to existing law. Even worse, the list of what is
" filtered is kept secret, in direct contrast to the
" rest of New Zealand's censorship regime where the
" Chief Censor must publish decisions banning offensive
" material.
"
" The US government has recently spoken out against
" government filtering of the internet, with Secretary
" of State Hilary Clinton saying that "Those who disrupt
" the free flow of information in our society, or any
" other, pose a threat to our economy, our government
" and our civil society." She then said that the US
" is committed to helping people to circumvent government
" internet filtering.
Wonderful. So now what, the USA invades New Zealand to
liberate its Internet? Note New Zealand is an Echelon
partner with the USA. For those who've forgotten, Echelon
is a worldwide USA program monitoring all telecom, Internet
and radio transmissions; Russia's program is named SORM-IV.
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:10:34 -0600
From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: New Zealand just implemented government-censored filtered Internet
Message-ID: <6645152a1003121510h7a32173cr1605dc55007de9dd@mail.gmail.com>
On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 3:00 AM, Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> wrote:
> Govt internet filter going live is sad day for NZ
> Thursday, 11 March 2010
I don't know how true this is, but radio commentator Alex Jones has
claimed his websites infowars.com and prisonplanet.com have been
blocked in both Australia and New Zealand. I'm not here to condone or
condemn anything Alex says or stands for. But I find it frightening
that otherwise enlightened, liberal democracies are resorting to this
sort of thing. How can we even think of criticizing Iran or China
when we're doing the same?
John
--
John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:47:34 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: The power of yellow pages advertising
Message-ID: <hnd2jm$iqn$2@news.albasani.net>
Around the corner from where I live is an apartment building. In one of
the windows in one of the units is an air conditioner. Typically, a
window air conditioner is cantilevered outside the window, or better
yet, braced with triangle-shaped brackets that allow the brickwork on
the outside wall to carry its weight.
This apartment dweller chose the former method. Most people who won't
spend the $3 for the braces find a brick or wood blocks, something stable
to support the weight on the sill.
But this tenant knows better. He or she is using a phone book. When it was
delivered last spring, he placed it under the air conditioner and it's
been supporting it ever since.
Now, you'd think that a phone book would absorb lots of precipitation and
humidity and deform from its original shape, causing the air conditioner
to fall out of the window and crash on the sidewalk below, possibly while
I'm walking by with my dog. Thus far, it hasn't happened.
It's coming up on a year now. With the decline of yellow pages advertising
each year, I doubt this year's directory will quite fill the space.
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:51:19 -0800
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Something new: FCC broadband speed testing
Message-ID: <4B9AEF97.5010002@thadlabs.com>
As found on Slashdot today:
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/03/12/137217/FCC-Asks-You-To-Test-Your-Broadband-Speeds
" The Federal Communications Commission is asking the nation's
" broadband and smartphone users to use its broadband testing
" tools to help the feds and consumers know what speeds are
" actually available, not just promised by the nation's telecoms.
" At http://www.broadband.gov/, users enter their address and
" test their broadband download speed, upload speed, latency,
" and jitter using one of two tests (users can choose to test
" with the other after one test is complete). The FCC is
" requiring the street address, as it 'may use this data to
" analyze broadband quality and availability on a geographic
" basis' (they promise not to release location data except
" in the aggregate). The agency is also asking those who live
" in a broadband 'dead zone' to fill out a report online,
" call, fax, email, or even send a letter. The announcement
" comes just six days before the FCC presents the first ever
" national broadband plan to Congress. Java is necessary to
" run the test.
FCC site: http://www.broadband.gov/
Another article:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/03/fcc-broadband-test/
Contrary to the negative opinion of the FCC's tests here:
http://www.nnsquad.org/archives/nnsquad/msg03090.html
the results I receive match or are in the "same ballpark" of
every broadband test service I've used; for example, my FCC
results today are here:
http://thadlabs.com/PIX/Thad_fcc_bb_speed.jpg [85 KB]
and my prior speed test results 1 year ago are here:
http://thadlabs.com/PIX/Comcast_20090303.jpg [58 KB]
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:20:37 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Who says Apple has no sense of humor?
Message-ID: <20100313022037.GB4485@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
Apple just sent me a come-on for a new iphone, and although I'm not in
the "smart phone" market, I couldn't help but pass along something I
noticed: their address.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA
Now, who says that Apple doesn't have a sense of humor?
Of course, if it were up to me, I would have chosen ...
#1 Disk Drive
... but I guess that's out of fashion. ;-)
Bill Horne
--
(Filter QRM for direct replies)
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End of The Telecom digest (5 messages)
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