Message from Michael - Wikileaks and Broadband - December 8, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        December 8, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

      DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET

      BATTLE LINES BEING DRAWN

      COCKTAIL CHATTER – TODAY’S CECIL B. DEMILLE’S

 

 

      DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET:  And if your name is Julian Assange, you definitely won’t promise not to tell.  Okay, I admit it.  That’s a way too obvious headline for a story about Wikileaks.  Oh, well.  The point is that a mixture of First Amendment/ Free Speech concerns, together with political, military and business concerns have been mixed in with Internet technology and ‘new media’ elements to create a “cyber war” on the Internet.  It may be hyperbole to say this, but the latest eruption makes the Wiki-released cable leaks about China’s efforts to hack the Internet and censor Google seem like child’s play.  Okay, it is hyperbole to say that, but it does appear to disprove the Chinese government’s belief that, as one of the Wiki-leaked cables put it, “the web is fundamentally controllable.”   The fact, as reported on a previous Message, that the entire Internet was routed through China for 18 minutes earlier this year might appear to support that belief.  But the furor created by “hacktivists”, as they call themselves, in support of Wikileaks, quickly disproves any notion of control.  They have been waging a semi-successful “data war”, as they call it, in support of Wikileaks and against various businesses and operations.  It started when various authorities tried (and that’s the operative word) to shut down the Wikileaks websites.  As the cynical line says -- Good luck with that.  At my last count, there were more than 13-hundred mirrored sites around the world carrying the Wikileaks information: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Australia, along with some I don’t recognize, and, yes, the U.S.  Then MasterCard, Visa and PayPal refused to process donations using their services in support of Wikileaks.  The hacktivists launched what they called “operation payback” and they didn’t just ‘try’, they did cripple MasterCard and others through “denial of service” attacks on them as well as the Swedish authorities pursuing rape charges against Assange, and the websites of the lawyers for the women making the accusations.  Let me add some more figures into the mix: -- at my last count, there were more than 472-thousand followers of Wikileaks on Twitter.  And more than 1.1-Million people “like” Wikileaks on Facebook. 

FOOTNOTES:  Caught in the middle of the credit card donation dispute is a small telecommunications company called DataCell based in Iceland of all places, and which processes all the payments for giant corporations like MasterCard and Visa.  The company CEO says the dispute shows the duopoly control of the two companies and the potential for the “end of the credit card business worldwide,” according to a report in The Guardian newspaper of London.  Speaking of that, it should also be noted, as a reminder, that the Guardian and the New York Times also published many of these leaked cables as well, in some sort of semi-coordination with Wikileaks.  Also, those hacktivists referred to earlier, appear to have originated their plan using the 4chan.org website mentioned in previous Messages.  If you were to visit the site, you would think it’s pretty innocuous.  Its chief focus is the Japanese animation and cartoon forms known as anime and manga, but it’s also the source of many of the memes, or odd ideas and concepts, that have spread across the Internet.  Also, as a footnote, many of the mirrored sites had the notation ipv6, which regular readers of the Message will know, stands for Internet Protocol Version 6 and is the latest standard, designed to succeed the earlier versions which are rapidly running out of Internet addresses.  Lastly, as a personal note, going to the detoured websites of Wikileaks and 4chan reminds me of earlier reporting days when we investigated F-B-I files on public officials.  One of the approaches was to ask for your own file.  The problem, as cynics said, was that if you didn’t have something on file with the F-B-I before, you did now that you requested it.  Some how I have the same feeling about visiting all these sites.

      BATTLE LINES BEING DRAWN:  Once accused of being a ‘paper tiger,’ the Federal Communications Commission has suddenly taken on a new life and new projects, ranging from mobile broadband and broadcast spectrum to Net Neutrality and Internet Privacy.  The result is a series of lines being drawn in the sand.  The FCC proposes switching 120 MHz of the broadcast spectrum to mobile broadband, leaving the broadcast stations to divvy up – or as television types put it – ‘cramming’ the TV signals of all the stations into the remaining 180 MHz.  As part of that, stations might end up ‘sharing’ digital spectrum.  The parceled off spectrum would be sold through reportedly voluntary “incentive auctions” with, supposedly, the television stations getting a share of the auction. So, battle line number one:  the National Association of Broadcasters which has called for an on-line Town Hall meeting of broadcasters.  Next, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has proposed that the commission adopt a series of net neutrality regulations, requiring more disclosure of companies’ network management, prohibiting the “blocking of lawful content, apps and services,” and barring “unreasonable discrimination” in transmitting ‘lawful’ Internet traffic.  So, battle line number two:  The various Internet Service Provides and Telecoms ranging from AT&T to Comcast.  And, yes, no doubt, you have heard of these various issues, but, again, these are issues too important not to mention in the Message.  What you may not have heard about in the broadband-broadcast spectrum debate is a proposal by the FCC to create three new kinds of licenses:  -- research licenses allowing universities and research institutions to conduct experiments over a wide range of frequencies; medical licenses to allow medical institutions to develop new devices to ‘save lives’ and ‘reduce costs’;  and innovation zone licenses, in which ‘remote’ geographic areas would be identified as places to experiment.  What you also may not have heard about is a ruling by the FCC adopting rules governing so-called TV “White Spaces.”  These are the spaces in the TV signals which are unused but kept open to prevent interference.  The new rules would allow use of certain unlicensed devices in these spaces. 

FOOTNOTES:  The FCC maintains a “Spectrum Dashboard” which you can access easily and which shows the entire spectrum used in various localities around the U.S.  The FCC also just released two reports – one about Internet access and one about customers’ satisfaction with the Internet providers.  The first report shows that more Americans are getting more truly high-speed broadband Internet access.  The U.S. government had been criticized in the past for setting the standards for so-called high-speed Internet access much lower than other countries.  The second report shows that, despite what you may think, most people are either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their Internet providers.  We’ll have more on these two reports in the next Message.  Lastly we would remind readers of a previous Message showing the results of Internet backbone provider Cisco’s Visual Networking Index report which showed that Global Internet traffic will increase four-fold by 2014.  For those of you who like numbers, the actual projected figure is 767 exabytes of traffic.  That is ten times ALL the Internet traffic in 2008.     
 

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  If you’re ready for your close-up, various reincarnations of Mr. DeMille are ready for you.  As noted in a previous Message, one of the more interesting commentaries on today’s media culture are the various casting calls posted by Cynopsis Media.  The companies are looking for – among other things – (and these are actual quotes) –Female truck drivers for a new docu-series titled (what else) Mother Truckers… Transgender couples raising a family (but make sure you tell them – what makes your story different)… Private, family owned coroner/ medical examiner/ forensics office… On the flip side of that, Family-owned floral or event decorating businesses… Professional confectionery artists who own their own business, but they specifically say (for whatever reason) that they’re not interested in cake or cupcake makers… Singers who had to give up their dream when life got in the way but whose passion for music remains bright…  Part-time on-air guests who are experts in culinary, fashion, fitness, beauty, gardening and home décor but you have to live in New York, Philadelphia or Baltimore area… Engaged young couples with alternative tastes but please explain why your tastes are ‘alternative’ and what’s your relationship with each other’s parents… High-profile Native American families who lead rich and interesting lives (and) have big personalities… Licensed massage therapists whose clients want you not just for your great touch, but your wit and great advice on love and life… And my favorite, and I don’t know why – adventurous Americans who have a Norwegian ancestry.  Think Garrison Keillor should apply?

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