Posts Tagged ‘government’

The Day the Web went Dark

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

 

Yesterday, January 18, 2012, can be called the day the web went black, as thousands of websites went dark to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill that experts say would change the functionality of the Internet forever. SOPA is accompanied by the Protect IP Act (PIPA). According to SOPAstrike.com, over 75,000 websites across the web participated in the blackout yesterday, including big names such as Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, and Wired.

Here’s how some big names protested:

  • Wikipedia blacked out all English-language pages for 24 hours and added a splash page with information on the bill and how to contact your representatives. According to the Wikimedia Foundation, over 162 million people viewed the splash page and at least 4 million people used the page to look up their Congressional representatives.
  • Google protested the legislation by censoring the image on the home page and creating “End Piracy, Not Liberty,” an online petition that has at least 4.5 million signatures.
  • Reddit protested by shutting down for 12 hours on January 18. During that time, visitors to the website found information about the legislation and how to take action.

For screenshots of what websites looked like during the blackout, take a look at the slideshow below.

How individuals can protest:

  • BlackoutSOPA.org allows you to change your profile picture on social networks to protest the legislation. Choices include adding a “Stop SOPA” banner to your existing profile picture, covering the picture with “Stop SOPA,” or blacking out your profile picture completely. Over 80,000 people so far have used the site to change their profile picture.
  • Paul Tassi at Forbes created an image for people to post on Facebook that would show what the Internet could look like if the bills pass.
  • Mashable posted an article showing how to use Pinterest to protest SOPA. Protestors have created pinboards of black images, effectively blacking out the pinboard and bringing the blackout to the Pinterest feeds of your followers.
  • People everywhere turned to Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks for information, to share their own opinions, and speak out. As usual with the internet, statements ranged from serious to hilarious.

But it doesn’t end there…

SOPA protests weren’t exclusively online. The New York tech community took to the streets of New York City. Approximately 1,500 people gathered at the offices of two Senators who support the bill, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. One speaker was Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit.

So, how did it go?

  • Twitter announced that more than 2.4 million tweets were sent between 12 a.m. and 4 p.m. yesterday that were related to SOPA. Several Trending Topics throughout the day were SOPA-related, and Mark Zuckerberg even took to Twitter for the first time in almost two years.
  • According to a Mashable article, the personal contact pages for several senators were not loading, probably due to all of the encouragement to contact your representatives on blackout pages.

 What it looked like the day the web went dark

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Weekly Wrap – Twitter Tuesday

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

iOS 5 boosts daily sign-ups

One of the iPhone’s new features with iOS 5 is that Twitter is fully integrated into the operating system. This integration has led to a huge increase in the amount of people signing up for Twitter daily. On the day that iOS 5 was officially released, it was reported that Twitter had three times the amount of usual new user sign-ups.

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court to tweet updates

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has launched an official Twitter feed, @SupremeCtofPA. The account will tweet newly issued orders, rules, opinions, and concurring and dissenting statements by justices. Each tweet will include a link to the information on the Pennsylvania Judiciary’s website. Justice J. Michael Eaken spearheaded the creation of the account, which already have over 800 followers.

Earthquake shakes Twitter once again

When an earthquake hit the East Coast in August, it became obvious how events like that go viral through social media. Well an earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday, and the 3.9 magnitude earthquake hit Twitter again as well. And since Twitter users are always so good at pointing out irony, it’s been noted that there was a statewide earthquake drill earlier that morning. Since Twitter has become the “go-to” place for information about earthquakes, check out this cartoon to see how that whole process takes place during a catastrophic event.

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Federal Reserve wants to monitor social media

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

As the Occupy Wall Street movement gains more and more momentum, it is highlighting how social media can be used to talk about the economy. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York now wants to monitor social media as a way to measure public perception of the economy.

The Federal Reserve Bank filed a Request for Proposals (RFP) with Fed vendors, requesting the creation of a “Sentiment Analysis and Social Media Monitoring Solution.” A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve told Fast Company that “The reason for contemplating such an effort is to get a better sense of the relevant concerns and discussions that are taking place in the public domain in order to improve our communications and engagement with the public.”

The Federal Reserve is now evaluating bids for a social media analysis system and the service is planned to start in early December. The system will mine data from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and online forums worldwide. The Fed also intends to use the solution to perform in-depth content analysis of content from sources such as the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal. The project will also identify key bloggers and influencers to target with outreach efforts.

One of the goals of this project is to determine if there is “an ongoing trend of negative sentiment in the financial industry.”

This news is a huge deal, if not for the Federal Reserve, for all users of social media. How do you feel about the possibility of the Federal Reserve monitoring what you say about the economy?

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Celebrating Mother Earth

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Earth Day originated in the 1970s – the time of free-spirited, tree-hugging hippies. That should explain a lot. Each year on April 22nd, we celebrate the birth of the environmental awareness movement.

In the midst of anti-war protests, Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, witnessed a massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. Nelson, who was a Senator in Wisconsin at the time, was so appalled and disturbed by the accident that he decided to harness the passion of anti-war protesters to spread the word about environmental consciousness.

Nelson believed that if he was able to educate the public about air and water pollution, the government would be forced to do something to help. Nelson, along with Pete McCloskey, an environmentally aware Republican Congressman, and Denis Hayes, organized a program to be presented across the country, to educate and promote ecological consciousness.

Nelson’s perception of the power of hippie protestors was correct. On April 22, 1970, approximately 20 million Americans rallied the cause. The protestors, many of whom were students, demanded that their concerns for Mother Earth be heard. They not only wanted the prevention of oil spills, but also solutions to other problems such as the extinction of the wilderness and wildlife, the use of pesticides, and pollution coming out of factories, power plans, toxic dumps, and freeways.

The creation of Earth Day initiated the construction of the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Throughout the next 40 years, Earth day has not only been celebrated as a national holiday, but has promoted the importance of recycling, development of clean energy sources, and awareness of global warning.

We love you, Mother Earth. Kumbaya.

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Online Poker Folds, ESPN Cashes Out

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

The top three, or should I say three of a kind, online poker websites have been busted by the FBI for bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling. The founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker are all being charged by the FBI and the state of New York. Domain names associated with the sites have been apprehended, along with upwards of 75 bank accounts actively used by the “Jacks”.

The 11 defendants are being accused of violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which bans online gambling businesses from taking payments from players using credit cards, electronic fund transfers, and checks. It was reported that at least $3 billion in civil money laundering penalties and forfeiture is being discussed.

The FBI and the Manhattan Attorney General’s office have released the names of the defendants, which include Isai Scheinberg and Paul Tate of PokerStars, Raymond Bitar and Nelson Burtnick of Full Tilt Poker, and Scott Tom and Brent Beckley of Absolute Poker; along with Ryan Lang, Ira Rubin, Bradley Franzen, and Chad Elie, who were charged as “payment processors”.

This is bad news for the online gambling world. It not only brands the industry with a red flag and stunts the opportunity for new online gambling businesses, but it also forced ESPN to flush fold its poker programming and poker advertising. Considering the fact that ESPN is owned by Disney, could this threaten the clean image promoted of the company?

While Disney is distancing itself from the controversy, others believe this brings attention to the facts about online gambling. Michael Waxman, executive director of the industry trade association Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative believes that now is the time for the government to legalize and regulate online gambling. “Clearly there are millions of Americans who enjoy gambling online,” Waxman said. “If the opportunity to engage in the activity is taken away, they should focus their attention on encouraging their elected representatives to act on this issue and regulate online gambling.”

How do you feel about the legalization of online gambling? Would it stop practices such as laundering and fraud? Would it help boost the economy? Are you all-in or would you cash out?

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Terror Alerts to be Announced on Facebook and Twitter

Friday, April 8th, 2011

US terrorist attack warnings will now be issued on Facebook and Twitter, though not exclusively of course. The previously used Homeland Security Advisory System, which has been in place since the September 11 attacks, will be replaced with a two-level terror alert system. The new system is set to start as soon as April 27.

The Associated Press released information obtained from Homeland Security, stating that the new system will only have two levels to portray the severity of an attack – elevated and immanent. The former system, which used five color-coded levels, will be replaced with the updated system and will utilize social media to get in touch with the American public “when appropriate”.

“The new advisory system is designed to be easier to understand and more specific, but it is unclear how often the public will receive warnings,” reports The Associated Press. Each warning will be individually evaluated and handled accordingly.

Terror Alerts will only be released to the public under certain, specific circumstances so as to not create mass panic or release unwarranted information to potential terrorists. Obviously, if informing the public of an attack poses the risk of divulging government operations, putting it on blast on Facebook or Twitter would not be plausible. In the event there is a threat of attack on Americans, the order in which different groups would be notified would go as follows: members of Congress, then counterterrorism officials in states and cities, then governors and mayors, and finally the public.

The use of Facebook and Twitter as counterterrorism tools is both intelligent and intriguing. Not only is it smart to make use of the tools available in our social media-saturated society, but it validates the staying power of such mediums.

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Chinese Government Blocking Gmail to Stop Uprising

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Gmail users in China are currently unable to use their accounts properly due to a government ban on certain internet features. Google blames the Chinese government for the ban, declaring it an attempt to suppress a social uprising. For the past two weeks, Gmail users in China have had difficulty emailing or have been unable to access their accounts entirely.

While it was originally unclear (yet suspicious) of exactly why the Chinese public was experiencing issues, it was confirmed today that the Gmail “glitch” is not an issue on Google’s end, but rather the government in China blocking Gmail users and attempting to make it appear to be an internet malfunction.

Google, which is the world’s largest internet search company, established after careful consideration that the Chinese government is, in fact, responsible for the internet problems.

”There is no technical issue on our side,” Google reported in a statement today. ”We have checked extensively. This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.”

Regulation of internet use in China is far from shocking.  Although the internet market is 457 million users strong, the government bans gambling, pornography, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and any content deemed critical of the communist leaders and their policies.

Bloomberg.com reports, in a March 4 article posted on a site supporting the current communist party, ironically titled People’s Daily, Google is referred to as “a tool of U.S. expansionism and hegemony.”  It is only a matter of time before Google is banned altogether in China.

“They will try to become more aggressive gradually,” says Charles Mok, chairman of the Hong Kong branch of the Internet Society, “Some things that were allowed or let go before, they gradually will clamp down on.”

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School Administrators Responsible for Facebook Babysitting

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

In the wake of recent teen suicides that have been linked to Facebook harassment, Education Department executives are threatening school principals with lawsuits if they fail to monitor students’ social media presence, particularly concerning harassment of their peers. President Obama addressed the “anti-bullying” initiative in a March 10meeting with White House officials, declaring it a federal policy.

The “anti-bullying” policy states that principals are responsible for protecting students from physical harm, racist and sexist speech on and off school property, as well as on Facebook. Previous civil rights laws only included harassment within school boundaries.

Surprising to many, both education advocates and social media representatives are supportive of the plan coming out of Washington to protect students. Facebook stated on March 11 that it was “thrilled” to work alongside the federal government, which is not a common occurrence.

Washington officials are mandating that principals and teachers not only monitor students’ online presence during lunch time, but in the evening and during weekends as well. Clearly, the safety of our nation’s children takes precedence; however, educators seem to have been put in a difficult position.

How is it that they are expected to monitor students after school, when they are not in the teachers’ care? In addition to the responsibility of school administrators to supervise online activity, they scrutinized in many cases for being “Facebook friends” with their students.  Many teachers have been deemed inappropriate for having online interaction with their students.

Undoubtedly, online harassment of teens and between teens needs to be addressed and handled. However, the lines become blurry when deciding who should be administering oversight online after school hours. Additionally, what is and is not considered appropriate online contact between teachers and students makes that decision-making process more difficult.

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What Online Privacy Rules Could Mean for Ad Industry

Monday, January 10th, 2011

You may recall the first time you were browsing the internet and saw an ad on the side of the page for a shoe brand you recently searched for or a “get tickets to (insert favorite sports team) games” banner along the top.

Admit it, you were a little weirded out by it weren’t you?

You were subject to behavioral targeting, a popular online advertising method that markets specific brands and services to users based on browsing history. However, those practices may soon change.

The U.S. FTC and Department of Commerce released a green paper put together by the recently formed Internet Policy Task Force which “recommends consideration of a new framework for addressing online privacy issues in the United States.” The feeling is that there needs to be some guidelines to the amount of access advertisers have to users’ information and how they can use it.

The report has raised the eyebrows of companies and publishers that profit from these methods. Regulations to tracking and retargeting would force a lot of agencies to either refocus their strategies, continue on illegally, or lose a great deal of business. Any sort of change could stifle a growing billion dollar industry which has become the present and future of advertising.

One train of thought is that consumers, who are either the victim or benefactor of these methods depending what side of the fence you sit on, should have the power to welcome or dismiss the tracking, which has already been discussed by the FTC.

While some may be a little rattled their browsing habits are being recorded, one could argue that tracking is beneficial to consumers who get specific ads designed to help them find products that interest them.

The Internet Policy Task Force is more concerned with dealing with the growing number of privacy issues which are more abundant than ever. It seems in their eyes, it’s best to control a potential problem before it gets out of hand.

Hopefully for everyone involved, the government along with the online marketing industry and internet users across the country can work together to come up with a healthy solution. Either way, the results will impact the way a lot of things are done for online marketers.

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