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Daily Archives: February 2, 2022

New FCC Broadband ‘Nutrition Label’ Will More Clearly Inform You You’re Being Ripped Off

TechDirt: “For years we’ve noted how broadband providers impose all manner of bullshit fees on your bill to drive up the cost of service post sale. They’ve also historically had a hard time being transparent about what kind of broadband connection you’re buying. As was evident back when Comcast thought it would be a good idea to throttle all upstream BitTorrent traffic (without telling anybody), or AT&T decided to cap and throttle the usage of its “unlimited” wireless users (without telling anybody), or Verizon decided to modify user packets to track its customers around the internet (without telling anybody). Maybe you see where I’m going with this. Back in 2016 the FCC eyed the voluntary requirement that broadband providers be required to provide a sort of “nutrition label” for broadband. The idea was that this label would clearly disclose speeds, throttling, limitation, sneaky fees, and all the stuff big predatory ISPs like to bury in their fine print (if they disclose it at all). This was the example image the FCC circulated at the time..”

Library Releases Growing Coronavirus Web Archive Collection

Collection Includes 450 Web Archives Documenting COVID-19 Pandemic – “After collecting a wide variety of web content documenting the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, the Library of Congress is now making its growing Coronavirus Web Archive available to the public. The collection, which now includes 450 web archives, aims to balance government, science,… Continue Reading

Book bans: How Amazon, Google, and Apple can fight back with a Freedom Archive

ZDNet: “Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear from a school or library somewhere in the United States that they’ve removed a book from circulation following complaints from parents or constituents. Last week, in a school district in Tennessee, it was the removal of MAUS, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel by Art Spiegelman, that… Continue Reading

Despite Decades of Hacking Attacks, Companies Leave Vast Amounts of Sensitive Data Unprotected

ProPublica: “A surge in identity theft during the pandemic underscores how easy it has become to obtain people’s private data. As hackers are all too happy to explain, many of them are cashing in on it.Consider some of the episodes last year in which large quantities of personal data were stolen: 300 million customer and… Continue Reading

For the Federal Response to COVID-19, Significant Improvements Are Needed in Leadership and Oversight

GAO Blog: “As of November, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) spent nearly $38 billion of the almost $47 billion appropriated for Emergency Rental Assistance programs. This funding was provided to help renter households whose income was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic with rent, utilities, and other housing expenses.The funds were disbursed as grants… Continue Reading

Divergent Global Views on Social Media, Free Speech, and Platform Regulation: Findings from the United Kingdom, South Korea, Mexico, and the United States

Wihbey, John and Chung, Myojung and Peacey, Mike and Morrow, Garrett and Tian, Yushu and Vitacco, Lauren and Rincon Reyes, Daniela and Clavijo, Melissa, Divergent Global Views on Social Media, Free Speech, and Platform Regulation: Findings from the United Kingdom, South Korea, Mexico, and the United States (January 3, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract= “Citizens… Continue Reading

Best Toilets of 2022 Five top performers from Consumer Reports’ tough tests, from American Standard, Kohler, and more

Consumer Reports: “If you haven’t updated your commode lately, you may be surprised to find that today’s toilets are, ahem, flush with improvements.  New toilets use less water than ever, yet we’ve found in our tests that they tend to work better than previous generations of low-flow thrones. Recent improvements include optimized bowl shapes, stronger… Continue Reading

Announcing the Launch of the New DHS.gov

DHS Blog: “DHS is proud to announce the launch of our brand new DHS.gov. After months in the works, I’m happy to share that the Department’s flagship website has been significantly modernized and improved to provide the public and our workforce with a more intuitive, secure, and user-friendly experience. Excellence in user experience – and… Continue Reading