Apparently, only money protects you. How Gilded Age. Open Left:
The House just passed the Free Flow of Information Act, a ’shield law’ protecting journalists. Here’s the rub.
The bill provides journalists with a qualified privilege as to sources and information, while at the same time, recognizing the need for effective law enforcement and robust national security. A blogger who regularly engages in journalistic activities - such as gathering and publishing news and information for dissemination to the public - and does so for a substantial portion of the person’s livelihood or for substantial financial gain would be covered by the shield as a journalist.
Well, splendid. Maybe somebody can tell me how start-ups would happen? Because apparently you wouldn’t be able to start out small on blogger and grow, the way Atrios did (or FDL did when they started). So, you have to get venture capital to start blogging now?
Or, if a whistleblower posts here, I have to take it down and pass the hits to somebody who’s actually making money? WTF
?
NOTE Atrios, as so often, gets this exactly right.
UPDATE Kos immediately gets our back. “Substantial publishing history” sounds like good wording to me.
Front page
I Have Said Since 2000 That The Web, As We Know It, Is Doomed
This is but another emanation from the culture of control that seeks to undo the liberatory and democratizing aspects of ’Web’ communication.
I’m willing to bet that there are plans in the works to force bloggers to buy ’libel’ bonds to protect their ISPs (“deep pockets”) from bloggers’ intemperate opinions and immoderate language.
This will have no effect on commercial ventures (web commerce), only the rhetorical content of personal/political blogs.
Me? A Quick Study, But A Slow Learner
I only do this stuff for the M&Ms...
Lambert rigged my iMac so that whenever someone clicks on one of my postings an M&M shows up on my desk (for those who aren’t familiar with iMacs there is a very small candy portal built into most models). As it is I have lost weight on this deal.
What is all this talk of money?
++++
Well, God Damn It, DO Something, instead of just doomsaying
I’ve been writing on and over the Web since 1991, when it had to be done with SLiMeR and PGP on shit-hot 300-baud modems, and you actually had to run download and upload files and protocols.
The web is about sixty jillion times more commercial now, but the protocols will still work. I remember in ’98 and ’99 the doomsayers were all about how ads on web sites would kill the web.
Doesn’t look all that dead to me, boss.
Call your representatives. Fax ’em. Write ’em letters, send ’em email, let ’em know what you want them to do.
Lobby for the truth.
Lobby for the Web.
Lobby for, of all naive doomed causes, doing the right thing.
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! Knowing that we’re not going to kill today! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
Doesn’t look all that dead to me, boss.
It’s not what’s on there that’s at issue, it seemsto me, Sarah.
It’s what they are positioning themselves to keep OFF that worries me.
Me? A Quick Study, But A Slow Learner
Dude, seriously, I'd pay extra to make sure XXX popups
NEVER got to my computer. And I’m not even talking about a work machine.
But if it comes to that, it comes to that, and I’ll keep using machines at libraries, or I’ll learn to wardrive.
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! Knowing that we’re not going to kill today! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
Sheild Law
There are several views on this, you may want to review what Rob Port from Congoo News says about the shield law:
http://www.congoo.com/user/FullComment?c…
I do not know if I agree with the law and I think Bush should Veto it.
use Firefox
It clobbers popups quite nicely.
No Hell below us
Above us, only sky
KB, I have firefox and love it at home
but don’t have install privileges on library machines
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! Knowing that we’re not going to kill today! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
don't worry, kids
corrente is covered. heh. we just barely slide in according to the new laws as “journalists.”
but why does this law not surprise me in the least? they already told moveon to get fucked, it’s no stretch to pass similar
imperial court protocol decrees about the peasant classlaws which “outlaw” blogging for Little People who don’t get invites to beltway palace functions.…what is important is when they start shutting our friends down. you know which of your blogging favs are likely to go down first. when those writers are silenced, it’s time to get worried.