AT&T censors Pearl Jam internet broadcast

This is exactly why there should be net neutrality.

Over the weekend AT&T gave us a glimpse of their plans for the Web when they censored a Pearl Jam performance that didn’t meet their standard of “Internet freedom.”

During the live Lollapalooza Webcast of a concert by the Seattle-based super-group, the telco giant muted lead singer Eddie Vedder just as he launched into a lyric against President George Bush. The lines — “George Bush, leave this world alone” and “George Bush find yourself another home” were somehow lost in the mix.

“What happened to us this weekend was a wake up call, and it’s about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band,” Pearl Jam band members stated in a release following the incident.

Indeed. AT&T routinely rails against Net Neutrality as a “solution without a problem.” They say Net Neutrality regulations aren’t necessary because they wouldn’t dare interfere with online content. At the same time they tout plans to become gatekeepers to the Web with public relations bromides about “shaping” Web traffic to better serve the needs of an evolving Internet.

Such spin needs to be held up to the light of experience. AT&T’s history of breaking trust with their customers includes handing over private phone records to the government, promising to deliver services to underserved communities and then skipping town, pledging never to interfere with the free flow of information online while hatching plans with the likes of Cisco, Viacom, RIAA and MPA to build and deploy technology that will spy on user traffic.

The moral of this story is never trust AT&T at their word. The company acts in bad faith toward the public interest and will do whatever it can get away with to pad it’s bottom line — including sacrificing the freedoms its users have to choose where they go, what they watch and whom they listen to online.

[...]

AT&T’s vision of a better Internet – “Your World Delivered” — is not one that is shared by the more than 1.5 million people who have spoken out in favor of a neutral, affordable and accessible Internet for everyone. For us the Internet isn’t about one company delivering our world. It’s about simply offering a real high-speed connection at reasonable rates – and then getting out of our way.

Don't let corporations like AT&T become gatekeepers of the internet. Please go to Save the Internet, educate yourself on the importance of net neutrality, and get involved in the struggle against corporate domination of the internet.

UPDATE 08.10.07: Thanks to the great Scarce, you can now here the evidence for yourself.
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Unedited:

The day CTBob and Spazeboy were born

In my continuation of looking back at the Lamont campaign, I thought it would be great if I go back to that fateful day in April 2006 where, at a Lamont event at Napeles Pizza, I first met the great CTBob and the person now known as Spazeboy caught the videoblogging itch.

First, a bit of background. I first knew Beau from his site LaResistance (hmm, I don't know is he even has that site still up any longer) and but at the time, he didn't do video blogging and I was the only person posting videos of Lamont on the internet (I think).

When I arrived to Naples Pizza, I did my usual set-up and asked this guy to hold up a piece of paper so I can adjust my camera and to my surprise, the guy knew that I was adjusting my white balance, which is extremely unusual since most people have no idea about the importance of white balance. Frustrated, that I was in such a small area and needed someone to help me out, out the corner of my eye, I saw Beau and basically threw my camera into his hands and pointed to Ned.

While Beau was firing off shots, he managed to get in the way of the guy who help me with my white balance and he told Beau to get out of his way. At that moment, CTBlogger, Spazeboy, and the guy better known as CTBob were introduced to each other.

The rest is videoblogging history.

Enjoy this look back at the birth of two of Connecticut's most famous bloggers...this report was originally posted on April 7, 2006.

click on image to enlargeThe Ned Lamont express made a stop in New Haven yesterday as a packed crowd of over 100 filled Naples Restaurant on Wall Street to hear a few words from their man.

The event, organized by Democracy for America, was a success as Lamont not only fired up the crowd with his speech, but was on top of his game answering a wide range of questions ranging from his views on Israel, to his views on health care, energy conservation and the Bush administration’s handling of the war on terror.

The on-line media was out in full force as myself, Spazeboy from LaResistance, and BrandfordBoy and other writers from My Left Nutmeg made the trek to New Haven and witnessed Ned to his thing.

Editor Paul Bass from the New Haven Independent was also on the scene and offered his impressions on Lamont’s performance.

At Naples, Lamont spoke passionately about the war -- but he spoke mostly about a wide range of other issues, from the environment to health care.


And he was loose.

He told the crowd his original call to arms at campaign appearances: "We are gonna rock the boat, because the boat needs rockin'!"

Now he has a new message: "We're gonna win. People want a primary. They want a change... Start rockin' the boat!"

To put it simple, Ned was on fire and gave the best presentation I’ve seen to date.

The most noticeable change in Ned was how he effectively explained his position on several issues and how his positions differ from Lieberman. This is a different Lamont from the person who came to New Haven at the start of his campaign. Ned shows that he's listened to the people as he traveled across the state and that experience is now paying off as he clearly articulated his dissatisfaction with Lieberman and explained in great detail how he would handle things differently if elected to the senate.

click on image to enlargeIt's clear that Lamont is not an one-issue candidate and after watching the video clips, I think you’ll agree that the audience received Ned's message loud and clear and Joe might have some reason for concern.

Unlike most of my videos, these series of video clips are pretty long in length. If you experience any playback problems, hit pause and allow your computer to download the file (a couple of minutes should do the trick). MAJOR hat tip goes to Spazeboy with helping me with the video coverage and photography. Check out his site for more Lamont videos and audio clips.

Video clip 1: Ned stump speech (part 1)

Video clip 2: Stump speech (part 2)

Video clip 3: Q&A session (1 of 3)

Video clip 4: Q&A session (2 of 3)

Video clip 5: Q&A wrap-up

Do you regret voting for Lieberman?

On this one year anniversary of Lamont's victory over Lieberman, it's fitting that a poll should be done on whether or not those who "Stuck with Joe" regret their decision.

Check out Tparty's post on My Left Nutmeg, contact The Hartford Courant (jfrank@courant.com) and Quinnipiac Polling Institute (pollinginstitute@quinnipiac.edu) and request that they do a new poll on whether those who voted for Lieberman last year regret their vote.

He's back

...online that is.

One Year Later

I am so proud of the most important and lasting legacy of our campaign: you, the tens of thousands of new voters, hundreds of new activists, and vast numbers of staffers, volunteers, and supporters who have stayed involved. You are running for office, joining your local town committee, getting involved in other campaigns, and keeping your representatives honest.

One year after the primary, so many of you are staying active and continuing to challenge the status quo when it needs challenging.

In this spirit, we have relaunched NedLamont.com as a place where you can keep up to date on my political activities and stay connected.

To start, you can write a letter to the editor about what last year’s primary victory meant to you, sign up to stay connected via email updates, read some of my reflections from the campaign trail, take action to help defeat the Republicans up for re-election who have been blocking bipartisan progress on Iraq, or find out what I’ve been up to since November.

Thanks,

August 8 2006

(In homor of Ned Lamont's historic victory over Joe Lieberman, today, I'm dedicatging today to reposting key moments in Lamont's campaign. I hope you enjoy the trip through memory lane. This report was originally posted on August 9 2006)

You know, I received a great deal of email from readers asking wondering where is my footage from primary night.

Well, I shot so much video footage, that it took me a while to edit it down into something that was viewable. I'm still not happy with the end result but since it's the beginning of the week, I thought it would be best to post something and after watching all the other videos, I couldn't leave you guys hanging.

Here's my video footage from primary night. You'll see from a few of the other bloggers who've been covering this race as well as some VERY upclose footage of Ned Lamont's speech from that night (I still don't know how I was able to take photographs and videotape at the same time). After watching the television broadcasts and footage from other people who were there, I think this video captures the electricity and excitement that was in Meriden that night.


Enjoy!

Sec of State comments on upcoming elections

On Sunday, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz made an appearance on Connecticut Newsmakers to discuss the upcoming elections as well as the new optical scan voting machines.

Yearly Kos Presidential Forum

(crosspost from My Left Nutmeg)

(thanks to PoliticsTV for providing the video)

Introduction:


Part 1:



Part 2:



PART 3: