The Pros and Cons of Obama's Broadband Plan

         
                                                    Courtesy of Timesoftheinternet.net

Almost two weeks ago, Obama announced his plan for a National Wireless service for the United States. Over the course of five years, 98% of Americans will receive broadband Internet services. According to The Wall Street Journal, Obama’s Internet plan would raise $27 billion over the span of ten years.

President Obama believes every corner of America should be connected. Obama feels this would improve distance education, encourage entrepreneurship and assist rural businesses. Even so, the plan will have to be approved by Congress. Congress is seeking to cut federal spending and his proposed plan will cost the government $18 billion. The Wall Street Journal quotes Republican Fred Upton (R., Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, concerning this issue: “Before we target any more of our scarce taxpayer dollars for broadband, it is critical to examine whether the money already spent is having an impact. Let's ensure our resources are being used wisely.”In other words, the pros and cons of Obama’s National Wireless plan need to be discussed before moving forward.

In my opinion, Obama’s Internet plan exhibits positive qualities. The National Wireless plan will seek to improve national security, improve the quality of online educational programs and provide job opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs, small businesses and corporate companies. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks to this National Wireless service.

-The Broadband services involved in this plan must comply with the Federal Communications Commission (the government committee assisting Obama with this idea).

-According to Business Spectator, this proposed National Broadband service is not as fast as an FTTH network (Fiber To The Home network, similar to DSL). Thus, the quality of healthcare, education and/or entertainment services wouldn’t be as great.

-In addition, this Internet plan will require the cooperation of several broadband carriers. In order to stay on top of the competition of the new broadband carriers, current Broadband companies will increase the costs of their services.

-According to Verizon, 5% of the customers that consumer the most data over the Internet will be given the privilege of “throttling”.  This means that select wireless customers would have the ability to tamper with access to certain sites or services.

-Also, wireless carriers will have access to all legal websites and none of these sites can be blocked (even if some of these sites compete with the company’s offerings).

I believe this National Wireless plan has potential, but at the present time, the cons are outweighing the pros. In my opinion, Obama and the FCC will need to extremely refine this plan before it goes into affect. Yes, this plan has the potential to improve education, national security and boost the economy, but is it worth the price? Only time will tell.

U.S. and China Hack their Way Towards Each Other

                                                      Courtesy of crwflags.com

                         
                                                     Courtesy of buyflagshere.com

           Before enrolling in this class, I was under the impression that Hackers resembled nerdy computer geeks; occasionally, sexy starlets such as Angelia Jolie portray hackers in the movies. Thanks to this class, I’ve realized that I couldn’t be any farther from the truth.

Just as easily as Joe Lieberman shut down Wikileaks, governments infiltrates their way through foreign countries Internets and shut down the Internet within the span of a few phone calls. How can the Internet be compromised so easily? The answer is simple: all Internet activities travel through government and corporate-owned “choke points”. If you’re wondering why the Egyptian Internet was shut down so easily, then here’s your answer. President Mubarak phoned each of the four Internet service providers in his country and the Internet was shortly out of service.

Some of you may be thinking, “This couldn’t possibly happen to the U.S.” Well, think again. On March 24^th, 2010, China’s internal censorship system deterred web traffic from YouTube, Twiiter and Facebook. Web surfers in the U.S. and China who attempted to utilize those sites were sent to a link, claiming these social media websites did not exist. All of this is documented in the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s 2010 annual report.

            On April 8th, 2010, China managed to break through American Internet again for about 18 minutes. During this time period, several websites were redirected through China’s web network. Here is a list of certain sites that were affected: U.S. government and military sites, the Senate, the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force and the office of the Secretary of Defense, the USCC. I would like to know China’s motivation behind these Internet attacks and how they planned to employ the information. According to the USCC, Chinese telecommunications firms have the potential to block certain websites from users and they have the ability to transfer the data to an unintended site or user.

            If China has the ability to bring untended information to a web user, what about the United States’ capabilities? According to Fox News, the U.S. government has broken through Chinese Internet censorship; this news originated from the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ report. The U.S. government has been testing different methods for a year. So far, the testing has included a technology called Feed Over E-mail or FOE. FOE delivers podcasts news and data to foreigners utilizing an American e-mail system (such as Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo).  This e-mail technology is able to jump over any type of online blocks the Chinese government has in place. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) said this technology was first acquired and authenticated by the nonprofit GovernmentAttic through the Freedom of Information Act. When the FOE technology reaches the Chinese population, they will have access to an uncensored version of the Internet.

            So far, this is the only initiative the U.S. is taking to battle foreign censors. The global effort is known as the Alliance of Youth Movements; AYM was started under former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and continued by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

            In my opinion, everyone should have freedom of speech and the freedom to read the articles they desire online. On the other hand, is it really our business to go medaling into other countries Internet databases? Do the Chinese people wish to access and uncensored version of the Internet? In contrast, at least the U.S. government is giving the China data and not stealing it from them. As I ponder these incidents, I imagine either a hacker or a government official of some sort grasping our Internet from beneath our feet. Perhaps we’ve made it all too easy to create and destroy.

More spy printers

Check out this great article (thanks Kathleen!) about our spy printers:

http://www.eff.org/issues/printers

U.S. Government Tracks Citizens Down, One Page at a Time

 

                                          Image Courtesy of technotalks.com

What if the government could discover your location, simply from analyzing a printed document? This may be a scary thought, but it’s the reality Americans face. Even though this process has existed for twenty years, the average American citizen is just now becoming aware of it.

            According to PC Magazine, many laser printers will print its own serial number and manufacturing code on every document. The serial number and the manufacturing codes are both only detectable by utilizing a blue LED flashlight and a magnifying glass. Usually, this information is printed as millimeter-sized yellow dots; thee dots are tucked inside the printed words and margins on every inch of the page. In particular, Xerox laser printers will create an invisible bar code, which exhibits the serial number of the printer as well as the date and the time of the printed page. Even though this process seems to be an invasion of privacy, this dot system was created for our protection.

            Why are these printers attempting to protect us? Well, they’re actually preventing users from printing any counterfeit money. If the government officials believe a particular sum of money is counterfeit, they will check the money and then track the person and/or business by either the “invisible” barcode and the date and time or the serial number and the manufacturing code. According to Xerox, only Secret Service members have the ability to read the codes. In addition, these codes are (supposedly) only analyzed in counterfeit investigations.

            Even so, there is no law claiming a government official could not check the paper for other reasons. I believe customers need to be aware of the happenings of their environment. Laser printing companies should package a notice explaining the yellow dots within the printer’s packaging. Neither the government nor the printing companies asked the American citizens if we were “okay” with this dot system. In addition, this process is not very publicized; thus, most people are unaware of these occurrences. If the government’s going to track the public, they need to be honest with the public and inform us. Now that my research on this subject is complete, I wonder if anymore of our beloved household and business technology items are reporting us to Big Brother. Only time will tell.

Works Cited 

Musgrove, Mike. "Sleuths Crack Tracking Code Discovered in Color Printers."               
            911 Review. Washington Post. Web. 1 Feb. 2011.

"Possibly Your Color Laser Printer Possess the Technology to Track Documents."

             thethingswetalkabout.com. The Things We Talk About. Web. 17 June 2010.

Tuohey, Jason. "Government Uses Laser Printer Technology to Track Documents."
            PC World Magazine. PC World Magazine., 22 Nov. 2004. Web. 1 Feb. 2011.