Ken Calvert’s Town Hall, he phoned it in…

I tried to participate in Ken Calvert’s telephone town hall tonight, even recorded some of it.  Unfortunately, they never took my question or even my promised recorded voicemail.

Many of my comments were addressed by others and most were deflected by Representative Calvert.  I am certainly no expert on this stuff, but here are the points i would have brought up.

  • CRA bill – Representative Calvert seems to have missed the distinction between internet service providers that offer services like Google, Facebook, or Snapchat and telecommunications providers that provide the very lines on witch those services depend.   This is a critical distinction.  Unlike service providers, it is not so easy to just find a telecommunications provider who’s policy you agree with.  In most of America, they are practically monopolies.
  • Russians!! – Lifting sanctions preventing Russian intelligence agency from purchasing surveillance technology?  Why now?  Representative Calvert talked about apposing foreign manipulation of our elections, but what about foreign money buying influence?  Citizens united says money is speech, but what about foreign money?
  • Obamacare Vs Trumpcare – Preexisting conditions? Failing program? It is certainly not perfect (don’t get me started), but my family would be destitute if it weren’t for the Affordable Care Act.  The current offering as a replacement looks terrible and doesn’t include amendments for preexisting conditions.  What will next year bring?

Even Burning Man has fine print!

Did you know that the Burning Man Organization owns the copyright to all pictures taken on the playa?  they do.  Did you read the fine print when you bought your ticket?
Why would BMO—the organizer of an “an annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance”—undermine speech and creativity like this? BMO claims that the terms in the Burning Man ticket agreement are necessary to protect Black Rock City’s unique culture and the privacy of its participants. Furthermore, BMO points out that the limitations are rarely enforced and they only claim copyright if the photos are used in a way BMO doesn’t authorize. By claiming copyright in all photographs taken at the event, BMO can use the streamlined “notice and takedown” process enshrined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to quickly remove unapproved photos from the Internet.
read more from eff here: