Editorials

In what can only be described as a “the pot calling the kettle” style move corporations, the US Congress and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) have all gotten together to keep the Internet Free. When we first read the headlines about the UN having a conference in Dubai to discuss the possibility of moving governance of some aspects of the Internet to them (actually the ITU) we chuckled a little bit. When we heard the garbage spewing from members of congress and the FCC we began to outright laugh.

The internet has been flooded with talk about a Facebook branded phone (both for and against). There have been rumors of purchases, new hires and more floating around all that seem to point to the fabled device. We have talked about some of the market concerns with a device like this (mostly privacy and user data collection), but many of these concerns relate to the US where laws on consumer protection and privacy are still in their infancy. We took the time to speak with Paul Amsellem, CEO of Mobile Network Group about the drive behind and the importance (to Facebook) of this device.

One of the most interesting things in the software market is he EULA (End-User License Agreement). These wordy and boring multi-page documents are always attached to every game, application, and even operating system that you buy or use. They are intended to outline the specifics for use of the software, but often can end up pushing their way into the realm of the ridiculous. A close cousin of the EULA is the T&C (Terms and Conditions) which was intended to serve the same purpose and has become almost as useless as the former.

The EU Parliament will be voting on ACTA this week. If you have been living under a rock lately ACTA (Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement) is a US backed bit of legislation that wants to establish better control over the internet for copyright holders. The agreement has been the subject of controversy not only for the oppressive terms, but also for the secretive way in which it has been presented. In many cases only certain members of a country’s government have been given access why the copyright lobbies have had full access and a hand in setting it up.