Jayne Stahl warns big brother is here:

Effective in May, those who provide “voice transmission,” and broadband services will have to ensure that their equipment that is wiretap-ready, and accessible to your local police force, and the FBI.

The new legislation is modeled after the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement, or CALEA, which was designed primarily to facilitate wiretaping of mobile phones. This new legislation is intended to expand governmental surveillance powers to cover companies like Vonage, so the progression evolves thus: first we can tap Ma Bell, then Cingular Wireless, then Yahoo emails, then Vonage.

The rules set to go into effect in a couple of months have been challenged by a U.S. appeals panel, back in July, at which U.S. District Judge Harry T. Edwards called courtroom arguments made by the FCC “goobledygook.” (VoIP News Net) He was, in my opinion, being kind. Civil liberties groups have expressed outrage over the FCC expansionism claiming that this legislation doesn’t take into account the fundamental difference between the telephone, a vehicle for conversation, and the Internet, a tool by which information is acquired and conveyed. Lawyers for the government argued only that the 1994 intended to be applied to future technology; the Judge wasn’t buying that, and neither are we.

Moreover, sophistic claims by the Justice Department that not increasing wiretapping capability to encompass the rapidly proliferating Internet phone industry will transform the Web into a refuge or “criminals and terrorists” are not only hackneyed, they’re transparent enough for a six year old to see through…

Caveat emptor; if we, consumers, stand by and allow the expansion of federal eavesdropping from basic phone calls to cell phones to emails, and now to Skype, or Internet, calls, then we have only ourselves to blame. It’s time that not only civil libertarians, but Internet Service Providers, stand up to this administration’s ongoing assault on privacy, and the First Amendment. Congress is threatening to use the power of the purse to prevent military expansionism, we must likewise consider a boycott of those companies, and service providers, who comply with these new rules that are scheduled to go into effect in May.

I WANT MEDIA: YouTube Users Watch Less TV, Resist Ads

About 32% of frequent YouTube users are watching less television as a result of the time they spend on the video-sharing site, says a poll by Harris Interactive. Also, 73% of frequent YouTube users say they would visit the site less if it started including short video ads before every clip.

http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=harris12907.htm

New Media Could Force Creative White House Campaigns

With more campaign advertising dollars likely to be spent on new media than ever before, candidates for the White House in 2008 may be forced to display unprecedented creativity, say political experts. Ad placement is seen as “less important,” as campaign messages focus on going “viral.”

http://www.adweek.com/aw/national/article