Tech Daily Dose

Robocalls: The Bane Of Humanity

I love this quote from Colin Delany at e.politics:

If there’s any piece of the primary-season frenzy that seems designed to drive voters insane, it’s the unsolicited phone calls. The ones from real people are bad enough, but robocalls were clearly invented by someone with a deep hatred of the human race.

Posted by Danny at 06:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Can The Phrase 'Tech President' Be Trademarked?

That question is at the core of a complaint that techPresident Editor Micah Sifry has lodged against Michael Arrington and his TechCrunch blog, which on Thursday announced plans for the "TechCrunch Tech President Primaries."

TechCrunch has been interviewing presidential candidates in recent weeks -- the first five to participate were Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain, and Democrats John Edwards, Mike Gravel and Barack Obama -- and its primaries are running from Dec. 18 to Jan. 18. The site will endorse one candidate from each major party "as the 'Tech President' candidate based on the popular results of reader voting and blog input from our community of technology leaders and entrepreneurs."

Ten specific issues are being emphasized in the primary: network neutrality, immigration and H1-B visas, taxes and Internet taxes, technology education, the "digital divide," identity theft, the mobile spectrum auction scheduled for January, China, intellectual property, and renewable energy.

Ironically, techPresident's Sifry accused TechCrunch of violations in two of those areas -- identity theft (later retracted) and intellectual property -- for allegedly stealing the brand that techPresident has been working to build since it launched in February. Sifry titled his post "TechCrunch Commits Identity Theft."

Continue reading "Can The Phrase 'Tech President' Be Trademarked?" »

Posted by Danny at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dirty Political Tricks On The Web

Cross-posted at Beltway Blogroll

Micah Sifry at techPresident calls attention to one that has garnered some attention this week, including from Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic.

The tactic: Register an unflattering Internet address and point it to a Web site you don't own in order to make a candidate you don't like look bad. The specific episode currently being discussed involves domain names like BarackOsama2008.org being pointed to the same Internet protocol address that hosts HillaryClinton.com.

The take-away from the controversy is this, according to Sifry: "Thanks to the Internet, there are all kinds of new games campaigns can play on each other now, and given the pressure to be first with a story, all kinds of new dangers that a misunderstanding about how the Web works will turn into a serious political story."

Political reporters (and bloggers) beware; don't be fooled by stories that sound too sensational to be true.

Posted by Danny at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The GOP Report Card On Tech Issues

We know the grades for the Democratic presidential candidates, so now it's time to see where the Republican candidates rank on the tech policy scale. TechPresident has the report card (with a few shout-outs for the reporting we did here at Tech Daily in the summer), and none of the candidates scored higher than a C:

-- Rudy Giuliani: D
-- Mike Huckabee: C ("and we're being generous")
-- Duncan Hunter: F
-- John McCain: C-plus
-- Ron Paul: C
-- Mitt Romney: D-plus
-- Tom Tancredo: F
-- Fred Thompson: D-plus

Posted by Danny at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Bipartisan Dose Of E-Politics Video

Republican new media consultant David All has partnered with Dan Manatt of PoliticsTV to produce a new Internet video program dubbed NetCenter08. The first episode revisits the controversy over last week's CNN/YouTube debate featuring Republican presidential candidates.

Posted by Danny at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Why Is CNN Still Picking The Questions?

That's what techPresident wants to know about tonight's Republican presidential debate, which will feature video questions submitted via YouTube.

Rather than letting YouTube users pick the question, a very World Wide Webby thing to do, CNN is still insisting that it needs to filter the questions to avoid controversy. But techPresident disagrees and is citing a spreadsheet of the YouTube community's response to all 4,927 submissions to make its case.

The spreadsheet lists the videos by views, favorites, ratings, comments, honors and links. TechPresident focused on the 40 that were viewed the most.

"And guess what we discovered?" Josh Levy wrote. "No cyborgs! No snowmen! Only two of the top 40 videos stick out as possibly too weird to show the candidates. ... In fact, that vast majority of these top videos ask important, cross-partisan questions.'

We'll know tonight how that filter compares with the one chosen by CNN -- namely, debate moderator Anderson Cooper, CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman and two or three other network staffers.

Posted by Danny at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Peek Inside YouTube Politics

James Kotecki, now a video commentator at The Politico, rose to new media fame this year by offering unsolicited advice to presidential candidates from his dorm room and posting videos of the sessions to YouTube. It seems only fitting, then, for YouTube to give the keys to its home page on the day of the CNN/YouTube debate featuring the Republican candidates.

Kotecki explains in a video and offers a peek inside the political world as seen through the eyes of YouTube users:

Posted by Danny at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Grading The Candidates On Tech Issues

At the Personal Democracy Forum's annual conference in New York this year, the founders of techPresident announced their standard for what it will take to become the first "tech president" and challenged the crop of 2008 candidates to join that race within the race. This week, techPresident issued a report card on the candidates.

Here are the grades for the Democrats (Republican scores to be announced later):
-- Joseph Biden: B
-- Hillary Clinton: B-minus
-- Christopher Dodd: C
-- John Edwards: A-minus
-- Mike Gravel: D-minus
-- Dennis Kucinich: D
-- Barack Obama: A-minus
-- Bill Richardson: C-minus

Get the details on the grades at techPresident.

Posted by Danny at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Google's Push Into The Political Spotlight

Google employees in Silicon Valley received a political treat last week when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveiled his innovation agenda in a speech at the Internet firm's headquarters. But you don't have to be a Google employee to watch the speech; the company has posted it online at YouTube, the company's video-sharing unit.

The session with Obama is the latest in a series of appearances by presidential candidates at Google. Others who have spoken to company employees this year include: Democrats Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Mike Gravel and Bill Richardson; and Republicans John McCain and Ron Paul.

Posted by Danny at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tips For Better Campaign Video Strategy

Given the importance of online video this election cycle, the progressive think tank New Politics Institute has released its new "how to" guide both in http://www.newpolitics.net/files/Reimagine_Video.pdf">text and video forms Wednesday.

Dan Manatt of PoliticsTV explains why video is so critical with examples of video campaign announcements from Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and former vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Manatt outlines basic ways any campaign should be using video -- for a candidate's bio, capturing "gotcha" moments of an opponent and keeping a video blog.

Manatt also offers sample expense sheets to show how cheap it is to buy the equipment for any level campaign.

Posted by Heather at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Candidates Bet On Each Other With Google Ads

By Aswini Anburajan
© National Journal Group Inc.

It's not just Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama who believes in the power of Barack Obama. Republican John McCain believes in it, too. The McCain presidential campaign has at least two different advertisements with Google AdWords that use Obama's name to direct users to McCain's Web site.

AdWords are text-based advertisement that appear on a viewer's screen next to the list of Google search results. Advertisers bid on search terms using an automated process based on what users are searching for at that moment; placement of the ads is determined by who won the bid and the relevance of the ad. Advertisers pay per ad clicked.

Both of McCain's AdWords have the headline "Obama for President?" followed by a pitch for McCain. Under the heading, one ad asks, "Why not learn more about John McCain for President," with a link to the candidate's Web site. The second ad reads, "Learn more about John McCain's journey on the '08 campaign trail" and also includes a link to McCain's home page.

Searching for the term "Obama for president" brought up both McCain ads, which appeared in the top five search results on the first page.

Obama isn't the only presidential moniker that the McCain team has embraced. Searches for Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney -- as well as for the word "president" -- also bring up AdWords for McCain, with similar language to those appearing next to the Obama results.

Christian Ferry, McCain's deputy campaign manager, said bidding on the names is part of a much larger online strategy that takes advantage of frequently searched terms. "We buy hundreds or thousands of different AdWords -- that's monitored all the time," Ferry said. "It's based on what's going in the news cycle [that is] relevant to the 2008 cycle."

Continue reading "Candidates Bet On Each Other With Google Ads" »

Posted by Danny at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Presidential Vote For One Web Day

Saturday marked the second annual celebration of One Web Day, an event previewed in Friday's PM Edition of Technology Daily, and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards used the occasion to tout his Internet policy agenda.

"I am proud to have outlined an agenda to build a universal, affordable Internet with a starting place goal of giving all U.S. homes and businesses access to real high-speed Internet by 2010," Edwards said in a statement. He said the Internet has given people the ability "to effect change and make profound differences for good in their communities," but a "digital divide" than leaves many rural and black Americans without technology access needs to be addressed.

Edwards, who along with his wife Elizabeth have actively engaged with the Internet political community, also reiterated his support for the concept of network neutrality in broadband content. "My commitment, as president, will be to ensure that the FCC preserves free expression and competition on the Internet by continuing to enforce net neutrality, ensuring no degradation or blocking of access to Web sites," he said.

Micah Sifry of techPresident lamented that Edwards was the only presidential candidate who "understood the value of One Web Day."

Posted by Danny at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MoveOn Responds To Senate Vote

MoveOn.org is promising to double its TV ad buy condemning Republican senators who voted against an amendment Wednesday to allow troops serving in Iraq equal time at home with their families between deployments.

The liberal netroots group escalated its attack on the Iraq War with more personal attacks against those who support it in a new TV ad Thursday. The latest one accuses Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Republicans of a "betrayal of trust" for their vote against the troop deployment amendment from Sen. James Webb, D-Va.

MoveOn announced the additional add buy about an hour after Senate Republicans pushed Democrats to denounce MoveOn for its New York Times ad with the headline "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" that ran earlier this month. Today the Senate passed a non-binding resolution condemning MoveOn for the newspaper ad targeting Gen. David Petraeus that passed 72-25. (link: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1465

Earlier in the day President Bush weighed in at a news conference Thursday in which he called the original MoveOn.org print ad "disgusting" and said he was disappointed more Democratic leaders did not criticize it.http://http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/09/presidential-pr.html (link: http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/09/presidential-pr.html)

Continue reading "MoveOn Responds To Senate Vote" »

Posted by Heather at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Your Chance To Quiz Clinton And Romney

Two of the leading presidential contenders will spend quality time on the Internet tonight -- one to talk health care and the other to take questions on an array of topics.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton released a healthcare plan yesterday and will make that the focus of a webcast at 8 p.m. The plan, which would cost an estimated $110 billion a year, includes health information technology provisions. In fact, Clinton expects to pay part of the cost of the plan with savings achieved by modernizing the American health system.

If you want to ask Clinton about that or other tech aspects of her plan, though, you'll have to RSVP for the webcast.

On the Republican side, meanwhile, candidate Mitt Romney will hold his first "Ask Mitt Anything" online chat at 7:15 p.m. So if you're curious about Romney's "Ocean" ad and his plan to cleanse American culture by attacking Internet pornography and videogame violence, register to ask him a question.

More than 1,700 people already have registered and submitted questions, according to the campaign.

Posted by Danny at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Fred Thompson's New Fundraising Pitch

National Journal has partnered with NBC to embed reporters with the campaigns of top presidential contenders and in two key states, Iowa and New Hampshire. This is the latest report from the field. Check "Tech Trail 2008" for other tech-related campaign developments.

By Adam Aigner-Treworgy

The campaign kickoff of Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has certainly generated a lot of media attention, and in the Southern primary states of South Carolina and Florida, it has generated a fair amount of voter attention. But how much of that attention has translated into much-needed donations to Thompson's campaign?

Following the candidate's big announcement speech in Des Moines earlier this month, his communications staff was diligent about releasing numbers that touted the success of Thompson's Web-based announcement strategy at attracting visitors and donations on its Web site, Fred08.com. The campaign bragged that it raised more than $300,000 in 24 hours online.

But after that, nary a word has come from the Thompson campaign on fundraising tactics until Friday, when the campaign announced a new gimmick meant to get Thompson devotees more involved in the campaign. In an e-mail sent to supporters, the campaign announced the "Kick-off Challenge," a program that encourages supporters to make a fundraising commitment and fulfill it by the end of the month. Successful fundraisers then will be dubbed Kickoff Champions and will be eligible for special merchandise commensurate with the amount they raise.

Continue reading "Fred Thompson's New Fundraising Pitch" »

Posted by Danny at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Happy Anniversary Macaca

PoliticsTV points out that Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of former Sen. George Allen's "Macaca" comment. According to the site, on Aug. 11, 2006, S.R. Siddarth taped the Virginia Republican's fateful comment during a campaign rally.

Unable to get any TV station to use the footage, Democratic challenger Jim Webb's camp put the video on YouTube and the rest is history. Allen ended up losing what some thought would be a pretty safe race.

"In just one year, YouTube has gone from an obscure Web app to a household word and a political force," PoliticsTV stated. Can you imagine what fun is in store for the 2008 presidential campaign cycle?!

Posted by Andrew at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

'If You Google Ron Paul'

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, the self-described "constitutionalist" Republican candidate for Congress, has arguably the most loyal Internet following of all of the 2008 candidates, so his visit to the campus of the Google Internet firm was a bit hit earlier this month.

Now, courtesy of the Paul campaign, you can get the condensed version (less than 15 minutes) -- and a catchy tune titled "If You Google Ron Paul" that promises "hope for America."

The song has plenty of red-meat lyrics for the civil liberties crowd. Here's a sample: "If you Google Ron Paul, you will find the man who will save us ... from the PATRIOT Act and Homeland Security. ... If you Google Ron Paul, you will find a man who will ... protect our privacy, stop the national ID card."

Posted by Danny at 09:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Regulating Fantasy?

As virtual worlds become more complex, should the government, or can it, regulate virtual life? National Journal's Neil Munro dissects this complicated issue in the June 30 issue of the magazine.

Here's a snippet:

How do you regulate people's digital fantasies? When fantasy intrudes on reality, what do you do about it? These, in essence, are the two urgent questions facing Internet companies, and government regulators, as online fantasy sites grow into huge second worlds, teeming with millions of "residents" whose virtual behavior can range from the innocent to the bizarre to the criminal. In these burgeoning "virtual worlds," people are engaging in all sorts of activity that would be regulated, limited, controlled, or taxed in the real world.

Read the full story here. The same issue has a cover story by Carl Cannon called "Surviving the Information Age," which is worth a look as well.

Posted by Andrew at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tomorrow: Webcasters' Day Of Silence

Reprinted from June 21 PM Edition of National Journal's Technology Daily

Web Radio Plans 'Day Of Silence' To Protest Rates
By Andrew Noyes

Webcasters around the country are planning to silence their audio streams Tuesday to draw attention to a recently proposed hike in music royalties that they believe could harm their industry if implemented.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based KCRW was among the first to announce its involvement in the "day of silence." The station will pre-empt its online channels to loop a one-hour special about dangers posed by the Copyright Royalty Board's March ruling, General Manager Ruth Seymour said.

The public radio station's program, called "D-Day for Webcasters," will give listeners information about the industry's fight against the rate hike, which takes effect July 15. They also will trumpet a bill introduced by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., that would reverse the board's decision.

The protest "will give Americans a small taste of what could happen if we don't pass legislation or have the parties negotiate a solution," Inslee said. "It'll be a bitter pill that the 70 million Internet radio listeners won't want to swallow."

Continue reading "Tomorrow: Webcasters' Day Of Silence" »

Posted by Andrew at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Congrats To Tech Winners (Two Years Late)

When I got a press release from the Commerce Department on Friday afternoon congratulating the 2005 National Medal of Technology Laureates I thought it was a typo since it happens to be 2007. I asked an agency spokeswoman about it and she explained that the White House determines the timing for such announcements and the ceremony dates.

In any case, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez congratulated the recipients. "Invention and innovation are the hallmark of our 21st century knowledge-based economy," he said. "We honor these pioneers in their pursuit of new knowledge and its application to improve the human condition here in the United States and around the globe."

Award-winners include: Alfred Cho, a semiconductor researcher at Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs and Dean Sicking, a civil engineering professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A team award was given to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, whose researchers were honored for the development and manufacturing of a vaccine to prevent the deadly and disabling consequences of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections in children.

Posted by Andrew at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The First YouTube Debate Of Campaign 2008

When the YouTube video-sharing site co-hosts its first presidential debate with CNN in about six weeks, Tech Daily plans to be in Charleston, S.C., to cover it. For a glimpse into how the debate will be structured, here's an excerpt from an article in Advertising Age:

As CNN's Anderson Cooper put it to viewers, "I'm going to host it, but, basically, it is going to be your questions and your YouTube videos the candidates are going to have to sit through and watch. So make them creative."

The Time Warner-owned network is expected to make an announcement this week about the format of the first Democratic National Committee-sanctioned debate, asking users to upload their questions to YouTube with the promise that several of them will be put to the candidates that evening.

Posted by Danny at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Holding A Finger To The Blogosphere Wind

Reprinted from Thursday's PM Edition of Technology Daily:

By Gene J. Koprowski, for Technology Daily

MADISON, Wis. -- Political campaigns are now relying on blogs to "test market" new messages with small, niche audiences before transforming them into full-release commercials and press releases, Republican and Democratic consultants said Thursday.

The trend started on the state level but is going national with the 2008 presidential campaigns, experts said here at the Online News Association's regional conference.

Wisconsin Republican strategist Brian Fraley indicated that statewide blogs are an excellent tool to "test ideas -- and see if they are press release worthy." He said campaigns overall are now devoting more staffing and money to monitoring and cultivating bloggers and online sites.

Fraley cited this week's example of Fred Thompson, a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, releasing an online video in response to a recent trip to Cuba by liberal filmmaker, author and activist Michael Moore.

Thompson previously had criticized the trip, and Moore challenged him to a debate. Thompson answered the challenged in a video released through the Internet rather than the mainstream media. In the video, Thompson noted that another documentary filmmaker had been put in a mental hospital in Cuba. "He made quite a point of emphasizing the words 'mental institution'" when speaking to Moore through the video, Fraley said.

Democratic consultant Ted Osthelder agreed that the Internet video had a dramatic impact on Thompson's visibility as a potential player in 2008. "I don't think campaigns are going to spend $100 million on YouTube.com" like they might on traditional campaign ads, Osthelder said, but more people may well remember Thompson's inexpensive video.

Continue reading "Holding A Finger To The Blogosphere Wind" »

Posted by Danny at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Joe Trippi's Priorities: Edwards First, Then Newsies

MADISON, Wis. -- Joe Trippi, the Democratic political consultant, who powered now-Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to prominence with an Internet strategy in 2004, was scheduled to speak at an Online News Association event here but canceled at the last minute by telephone.

His new role on the presidential campaign of Democrat John Edwards created a conflict. "He phoned in his apologies," said Jeff Mayers, president of WisPolitics.com, which helped host the event. "He had some sort of high-level meeting he had to attend today for John Edwards."
-- Gene J. Koprowski, for Technology Daily

Posted by Danny at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reminder: Bloggers In The Big Apple

Some of the greatest minds in Internet politicking will attend Friday's Personal Democracy Forum at Pace University in New York City. Our own Heather Greenfield will be reporting from the event. The annual conference draws a bevy of technologists, campaign organizers, politicos, bloggers, activists and journalists.

Some key questions being asked at this year's summit include: How is voter-generated content changing election campaigns? Why should advocacy groups adapt to the connected age? What new technology tools and practices are on the horizon? How are new technologies democratizing the political process? Which political leaders "get it"?

Scheduled speakers include: Peter Daou, Hillary Clinton '08; Becki Donatelli, John McCain '08; Esther Dyson, EDventure; Mindy Finn, Mitt Romney '08; Thomas Friedman, New York Times; author Seth Godin; Facebook.com's Chris Kelly; pundit Arianna Huffington; author Lawrence Lessig; Kim Malone of Google AdSense; Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo; Craigslist founder Craig Newmark; Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google; and Joe Trippi, John Edwards '08.

Posted by Andrew at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Batch-O-Bills

It has the makings of a quiet early April with the House and Senate gone for their annual spring recess -- but last week was pretty lively, especially in the area of new legislation. As reported in Theresa Poulson's Friday bill round-up, a slew of tech measures were introduced. Here are a few:

H.R. 1739 would require the approval of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge or a U.S. magistrate judge for subpoenas on telephone, e-mail and financial records.
H.R. 1758 would authorize H-1B visas for highly skilled workers at workplaces contributing to college financial aid.
H.R. 1689 aims to combat illegal downloading on college and university campuses.
H.R. 1788 would redirect unused spectrum to promote the deployment of commercial, high-speed Internet technologies for public-safety communications.
H.R. 1694 would give state, local and tribal governments more flexibility in using federal funds for information- and intelligence-sharing activities.
S. 1065 would review and expand telecommunications programs for health and mental health in the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments.
H.R. 1685 seeks to protect consumers from identity theft and require notice of security breaches that could lead to ID theft.
H.R. 1775 would amend the Freedom of Information Act to require the disclosure of certain information related to federal contractors.

Posted by Andrew at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How Do You Spell Controversy?

Two major Hispanic groups have reportedly broken journalism rule #1 -- double-check how names are spelled, especially when the name in question belongs to the man at the center of the Bush administration's biggest batch of controversies in recent memory.

According to the Potomac Flacks blog, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Latino Coalition, which is headed by Hector Barreto (who ran the Small Business Administration during Bush's first term), issued a joint press release backing embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last week.

But Patricia Guadalupe, a reporter for the Washington Hispanic Newspaper, says the groups misspelled the AG's name. Neither organization has the press release (original or corrected) on their Web sites. A quick Google search for Alberto Gonzales (correct spelling) showed 2.9 million hits, PF says. The most common way to misspell his name is "Gonzalez" and a Google search turned up 883,000 hits.

Posted by Andrew at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Techie Is Fired Over 'Vote Different' Ad

In this morning's AM Edition of Technology Daily, we cited and linked to a Huffington Post blog entry by Phillip de Vellis, a worker at the political technology firm Blue State Digital who created the "Vote Different" online video about presidential candidate and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

De Vellis said in his post that he resigned his job at Blue State Digital because of the ad. His statement implied that the decision to leave the firm was his. "The company had no idea that I'd created the ad and neither did any of our clients," de Vellis wrote. "But I've decided to resign anyway so as not to harm them, even by implication."

A statement posted on the front page of the company's Web site tells a different story. "Pursuant to company policy regarding outside political work or commentary on behalf of our clients or otherwise," Managing Director Thomas Gensemer said, "Mr. de Vellis has been terminated from Blue State Digital effective immediately."

Gensemer added that the company does software development and Web hosting for the campaign of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, one of Clinton's foes in the Democratic presidential primary and the candidate that de Vellis' "Vote Different" video endorsed.

"Mr. de Vellis created this video on his own time," Gensemer said. "It was done without the knowledge of management, and was in no way tied to his work at the firm or our formal engagement [on technology pursuits] with the Obama campaign."

UPDATE: TechPresident has a "Vote Different" edition that rounds up reactions to the news about the man behind the ad. The roundup includes a link to National Journal's own Hotline On Call, which poses some as yet unanswered questions.

Posted by Danny at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DHS Privacy Panel Meets

The Homeland Security Department's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee convenes for its quarterly meeting on Wednesday. The confab comes on the heels of a report that shows the agency has not built adequate privacy protections into a data-mining program under development.

Government Accountability Office investigators said the lack of safeguards increase the risk that innocent people could be tagged as terrorists. The program, widely known by the acronym ADVISE, is sure to fuel controversy between officials who defend data-mining tactics and privacy advocates who say the government is overreaching, according to Technology Daily's AM edition.

A major topic for discussion at the meeting is the so-called "REAL ID" requirement that states develop driver's licenses based on nationwide standards. The committee will hear from government experts as well as outside sources from the National Governors Association, American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Later in the day, the committee is slated to discuss IT initiatives to enhance citizen and immigration services as well as agency-wide data integrity and records retention. DHS Chief Privacy Officer Hugo Teufel and Assistant Secretary for Policy Stewart Baker are also scheduled to speak.

Posted by Andrew at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That's One High-Tech Vote Against McCain

National Public Radio aired a piece yesterday on the trend of presidential candidates trolling for votes and money at online social networks, and it cast the social-networking efforts of Sen. John McCain in a positive light.

But David All, a new media adviser for Republicans, questioned that conclusion. He said at techPresident that the McCainSpace online community will be a detriment to the campaign of the Arizona Republican.

McCainSpace is/was/has been/will continue to be a total disaster and continue to drain time, resources, and technology from the online campaign," All wrote. He added: "[Y]ou're too late. And you're trying to add another profile to my life which I have to monitor, update, add pics, find friends, etc."

Posted by Danny at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

NJ Exclusive

The National Journal's online edition capped off the week with this bombshell:

Probe May Have Targeted Gonzales
Had it not been quashed, a Justice Department inquiry into the domestic eavesdropping program likely would have examined Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The magazine reports that President Bush intervened to sideline the probe. Subscribers can read more here.

Unrelated Shameless Self-Promotion
Just in case you haven’t read enough on this blog and in Technology Daily about the C-SPAN copyright policy flap, don't miss my lengthy story in the new issue of National Journal magazine that serves as an overview for more general audiences who don’t eat, sleep and breathe intellectual property issues. Subscribers can also read it online here.

Posted by Andrew at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Spyware Scourge

Despite a $100,000 settlement with the New York Attorney General's Office, Cingular Wireless and Travelocity.com have failed to sever ties with vendors of secretly installed computer spyware, Harvard University researcher Ben Edelman says.

On his Web site, Edelman shows six examples of how the companies continue to receive spyware-originating traffic, including traffic from some of the Internet's "most notorious and most widespread spyware." The companies, along with Priceline.com, settled with the state in January.

While I await reactions from the firms involved, it's probably a good time to mention a House Commerce Committee hearing on the topic of spyware slated for Thursday. Witnesses include: the Center for Democracy and Technology's Ari Schwartz; the Direct Marketing Association's Jerry Cerasale; TACODA founder Dave Morgan; TRUSTe's Fran Maier; and attorney Christine Varney on behalf of Zango.

Update 1: In an e-mailed statement, Travelocity said the company "does not use adware or spyware" and has terms and conditions that specifically prohibit third parties from placing its ads in those channels. When the firm finds out about such ads, it immediately suspends the campaigns identified, officials said. Travelocity is "aggressively investigating" Edelman's claims to determine if a distributor is in the wrong.

Update 2: The spyware hearing was interesting but pretty predictable. The legislation in question has been introduced and passed by the House twice before, so I feel like I've covered the same hearing twice before. The witnesses agreed that something has to be done to stop Web wrongdoers but each expressed concerns with portions of the bill. It will be interesting to see if the measure moves forward as-is or if lawmakers try to appease some folks before asking the Senate to take similar action.

Posted by Andrew at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

EFF: DMCA Abuser Says He's Sorry

The man behind a series of online copyright complaints has agreed to withdraw the claims, take a copyright law course and apologize for interfering with the free speech rights of Internet magazine 10 Zen Monkeys.

The agreement settles an Electronic Frontier Foundation lawsuit filed against Michael Crook on behalf of the magazine's editor Jeff Diehl. Under the threat of what EFF calls "meritless" takedown notices from Crook, Diehl modified an article about Crook's behavior in a fake sex-ad scheme.

Crook claimed to be the copyright holder of an image used in the story, which was later found to have come from a Fox News program and legally used as part of commentary. You can see Crook's videotaped apology here.

"Crook's legal threats interfered with legitimate debate about his controversial online behavior," EFF attorney Jason Schultz said in a press release. "Public figures must not be allowed to use bogus copyright claims to squelch speech."

Posted by Andrew at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Study Pans Agency FOIA Actions

A decade after Congress enacted Internet age amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, only one in five federal agencies (21 percent) comply with the law, according to a new survey released during Sunshine Week by the National Security Archive. About 6 percent post all 10 elements of essential FOIA guidance; 36 percent provide the required indexes of records; and 26 percent make online forms available for FOIA requests.

In addition, the study showed that many agency Web links are missing or inaccurate (one FOIA fax number checked rang in the maternity ward of a military base hospital). "Federal agencies are flunking the online test and keeping us in the dark," said the Archive's chief Thomas Blanton. "Some government sites just link to each other in an endless empty loop."

Archive General Counsel Meredith Fuchs, AP chief Tom Curley and others will testify on the status of FOIA on Wednesday morning at the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Posted by Andrew at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

YouTube More Popular Since Takedowns?

YouTube has become even more popular since the Google-owned video-sharing site took down about 100,000 videos that Viacom claimed infringed on its copyrights last month, according to the search giant's general counsel Kent Walker. "We think that's a testament to the draw of the user-generated content on YouTube," he said in a statement.

As reported in Technology Daily's PM edition, Viacom filed a lawsuit against Google and YouTube in a Manhattan federal court asking for $1 billion in damages and an injunction barring further alleged infringement.

Meanwhile, Google has been successful at forging "thousands of successful partnerships with content owners" like Warner Music, Sony/BMG, Universal Music and others, Walker said. The partnerships offer users access to a wide world of entertainment, sports, politics and news "and we're only getting started," he said.

Update: The 463 Blog has a nice round up of what some in the Internet community are saying about the Viacom-Google lawsuit.

Google Watch: A rundown of Viacom's arguments
Jeff Jarvis: Viacom has an issue with their own viewers
Fred Wilson: Hopes the suit doesn’t settle
TechDirt: Ponders the supposed damage in question
Paid Content: Timeline of Viacom/YouTube interactions
Henry Blodget: It's not a big deal
Mark Cuban: "Gootube" has no idea who their users are

Posted by Andrew at 08:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ACLU Cheers Leahy FOIA Bill

Civil libertarians cheered the introduction of a bill by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy on Tuesday aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the federal government. Technology Daily's PM edition has the full story on the measure.

The legislation, which coincides with Washington's annual Sunshine Week, builds on legislative efforts that the Vermont Democrat and Texas Republican John Cornyn began two years ago. The bill would update the four-decade-old Freedom of Information Act for the first time since the 1990s.

Caroline Fredrickson, the American Civil Liberties Union's top lobbyist, criticized the Bush administration as being "the most secretive administration" since Nixon's. "A vibrant democracy depends upon concerned and active people who use tools like FOIA," she said. "We need FOIA to shine light into the darkened corners of government agencies."

Posted by Andrew at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Congressional Video: A 'No Brainer'

The House could make broadcast-quality downloadable video of all hearings and floor debate a reality by the end of the 110th Congress, Internet watchdog Carl Malamud said Tuesday in a new report sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In it, he offers a number of reasons why he thinks Congress should take advantage of the "network effect" of having data available in bulk for others to work with. "Technically speaking, this is a 'no-brainer.' This is simply a matter of will, Malamud said.

His report was issued in the wake of a recent loosening of copyright controls on digital video by the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network, commonly known as C-SPAN, and a controversy involving Pelosi's posting of digital video on her Web site.

The physical infrastructure will soon be in place to provide systematic, comprehensive coverage of each hearing, Malamud said. Plus, government-owned video cameras installed on Capitol Hill are good and there are no technical obstacles to offering better quality, he added.

Posted by Andrew at 05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Doyle Demonstrates Mad Music Skillz

If lawmaking doesn’t pan out for Pennsylvania Democrat Mike Doyle, he could always take his act on the road. During a House Commerce Committee hearing on the future of radio, he told "a little story about a local guy done good."

That guy is Gregg Gillis, who works as a biomedical engineer by day and DJs at night under the name "Girl Talk." His music mash-ups have topped the charts of Rolling Stone and Spin magazines. The man can blend Elton John, Notorious B.I.G. and Destiny's Child all in the span of 30 seconds, Doyle said.

But Gillis' schtick relies on remixing copyrighted material so legitimate audio service eMusic.com took his content offline for possible infringement. Now he's flying all over the world opening concerts and remixing for artists like Beck, Doyle noted.

He said he hoped his fellow congressmen would "take a step back and ask themselves if mash-ups and mix tapes are really different, or