26 Republicans Vote for Internet Sales Tax

Early Saturday morning, the Senate adopted its first concurrent budget resolution in four years.  Democrats cleverly made sure to hand out enough hall passes to vulnerable red state senators so they could vote against the $1 trillion tax increase, while ensuring that it ultimately passed 50-49.  Senators Baucus, Begich, Hagan, and Pryor were given the …

Google’s Eric Schmidt warns on China’s attempts to control the internet

Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, has described China as “the most egregious” example of a nation attempting to control the internet, as he hinted at expanding the company’s multimillion-pound transition fund towards British publishers to boost revenues from digital. In an interview with the Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger at the Big Tent Activate …

ISPs plan to hijack browsers and limit Internet access to combat copyright piracy

Comcast has confirmed that it will prevent repeat file sharers from browsing the Web until they call the company to resolve the matter. The move is part of a Copyright Alert System that was recently rolled out by several major Internet service providers(ISPs). The system has earned the nickname “six strikes,” due to its series …

ACTA Lives: How the EU & Canada Are Using CETA as Backdoor Mechanism To Revive ACTA

Last week, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to reject ACTA, striking a major blow to the hopes of supporters who envisioned a landmark agreement that would set a new standard for intellectual property rights enforcement. The European Commission, which negotiates trade deals such as ACTA on behalf of the European Union, has vowed to revive …

Justice Department gets demands to explain Aaron Swartz Prosecution by Congress

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, and ranking minority leader Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) wrote in their Jan. 28 letter that it appeared that prosecutors had intentionally bulked up the felony counts against Aaron Swartz in order to increase the amount of time in prison he would face. read …

Comprehensive Cybersecurity Bill: Priority of US Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Senators John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Tom Carper, incoming Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following statement on the introduction of S. 21, the Cybersecurity and American …