The Internet can be a powerful medium for politicians to get their message across but it is also a vital means for civilians to have a say in what politicians do, participants in a political conference say.
Andrew Rasiej, founder of the Personal Democracy Forum series, said tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube help people organize “in order to have an impact on the political process and to petition governments to be more responsive to their everyday needs.”
Saturday’s conference comes at a time when more and more people are using the Internet to have their say. Examples include simultaneous global protests on climate change, democracy activists using Twitter in Iran and a French campaign against legislation that threatened to cut people’s Internet connection for downloading copyright-protected material.
Tom Steinberg, director of Britain’s mySociety.org, said technology can succeed in more mundane matters, too.
He cited his FixMyStreet site, where people pressure local authorities to address complaints such as potholes and broken pipes — petitions he said might otherwise get lost in the bureaucracy.
Europe OKs new telecom rules
The European Parliament has endorsed new telecom rules that would give phone and Internet users more rights and allow them to appeal to national courts if they are cut off for illegal file-sharing.
The rules endorsed Tuesday are part of a broad telecommunications package that also aims to boost competition for Internet and phone services. As a last resort, telecom companies could be required to separate their infrastructure and services businesses, giving other companies a shot at providing rival services on the same networks.
A new EU-wide telecoms authority also would be set up to ensure fair competition.
The EU’s 27 nations must now implement the law in their national legislation by June 2011.
For consumers, the most visible part of the law are the new rights they would get to switch cell phone or fixed line operators within one working day and to challenge disconnections, even if they are illegally sharing copyright-protected movies or music.
A service provider would have to inform users before cutting off access because of a copyright violation, and those users would be able to appeal to a national court.
Online advertising revenue skids
Online advertising revenue in the U.S. fell 5.4 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, as the sputtering economy kept its tight grip on even the fastest growing segment of industry, according to a report released Wednesday.
But there’s a glimmer of hope: Revenue was up 1.7 percent from the second quarter, the first sequential increase since late 2008, the industry trade group Interactive Advertising Bureau said in a report prepared by PriceWaterHouseCoopers LLP.
Associated Press
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