Astroturfers, Tech Business, Amazon.com, e-Media, Wikipedia; Cord Cutters, Verizon, Telcos, Broadband; Obamacare; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

Astroturfers

• Fox News Allegedly Pushed Back Criticism With Phony Commenters
• Samsung fined $340,000 for faking online comments
• Astroturfers shut down after flooding Yelp and Google with fake reviews—"Companies paid freelancers $1 to $10 for each fake review, AG says."
• 20% of all Yelp reviews are written by paid shills
• Lawyers faking online reviews : How pervasive is it?

Tech Business

• Adobe's Software Subscription Model Means You Can't Own Your Software—"If you want certain software, you're going to have to pay up—month after month after month."
• Google's iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary
• Get Ready to Pay 99 Cents to Watch YouTube
• People Still REALLY Don't Want Ads on Instagram
• Why I am unapologetic about paywalls or promotion

Amazon.com

• Illinois high court rejects 'Amazon' sales tax
• Amazon increases free shipping minimum to $35
• Little 'Libraires' That Could: French Law Would Keep Amazon At Bay
• Amazon's Jeff Bezos Is Like King Midas in Reverse
• How Amazon and Goodreads could lose their best readers—"When Amazon bought Goodreads it got a community of passionate readers, not all of whom want to follow the new rules." Salon

e-Media

• The Abomination of Ebooks: They Price People Out of Reading—"The real problem with ebooks is that they’re more 'e' than book, so an entirely different set of rules govern what someone can and can't do with them compared to physical books, especially when it comes to pricing. The collusion in pricing has been a public issue for a while, but we need to talk more about how they are priced differently to consumers and to libraries. That’s how ebooks contribute to the ever-growing divide between the haves and have-nots."
• Ebook Best-Seller Prices Jump to Highest Level in Months
• The 'Other' E-Book Pricing Problem—"Consumers are the ultimate victims here, also, but those most directly affected are public libraries."
• Self-publishing: Don’t price your ebook at $1.99
• Why tablet magazines are a failure
• Mark Waid: Reinventing Comics And Graphic Novels For Digital"
• Are Operations Like Flipboard Scams Against Publishers?—Josh posts a follow-up.

Wikipedia

• The Decline of Wikipedia—"The community that built the largest encyclopedia in history is shrinking, even as more people and Internet services depend on it than ever. Can it be revived, or is this the end of the Web's idealistic era?"
• Wikipedia China Becomes Front Line for Views on Language and Culture—"Even innocuous topics have become controversial for Wikipedia editors from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and compounding the issue are language differences." NYT
• Wikipedia editors, locked in battle with PR firm, delete 250 accounts—"Investigation follows reports that Wiki-PR scored Viacom, Priceline as clients."
• Wikipedia Will Start Texting Info To Users In Kenya Who Lack Internet
• Scots Wikipædia—The first encyclopædia in the Scots leid

Cord Cutters

• Comcast CEO: Aereo Illegal, A La Carte Never Happening
• Aereo gets big win in Boston: judge refuses to shut down streaming TV service
• Canadian gov't to push cable providers to unbundle channels
• Cable TV Is Dying, and Colleges Are Killing It
• A cord cutter's dream come true: Comcast offers HBO without cable service
• Netflix Poised to Pass HBO in Paid U.S. Subscribers
• Comcast's latest subscriber shakedown—"There are times when you just have to tip your cap to Comcast for coming up with creative ways of swindling its subscribers. The company's latest masterpiece has been the rollout of its channel encryption program, which now forces customers who have even the most basic television services to get all of their channels through a digital adapter box. "

Verizon

• What if Verizon succeeds in killing the Internet?—"Poor Verizon, its free speech is being violated by laws and competition. Won't someone think of the children?"
• Verizon's Outrageous Plot to Crack Up the Internet—"The company wants to charge web sites tolls for access."
• Verizon CEO says unlimited data plans simply aren't feasible
• Verizon Working Hard to Gut Massachusetts Consumer Protections
• Decades Of Failed Promises From Verizon: It Promises Fiber To Get Tax Breaks... Then Never Delivers

Telcos

• Crush the Carriers!—"For real mobile phone innovation, someone needs to smash AT&T and Verizon."
• T-Mobile: The most important wireless carrier in America
• Verizon and AT&T's data caps have made LTE a waste of money

Broadband

• Top cable lobbyist urges more ISPs to slap users with data caps
• Comcast seen increasing speeds solely as a way to further gouge customers
• Why New Fiber Networks Are Required To Shatter Monopolies Of Comcast & Other ISPs
• Cheapest 150Mbps broadband in big US cities costs 100% more than overseas—"US cellular customers are also paying more and getting less."
• Google's fibre optic boss unravels demand 'myth'—Other telcos outright lying saying users don't want faster speeds.

Obamacare

• How Kentucky Built The Country's Best Obamacare Website
• Claims That Obamacare Website Violates Health Privacy Reveals Embarrassing Fact-GOP Does Not Understand HIPAA Or Obamacare
• SNL skewers Obamacare Web site, suggests low-res version
• But What if Obamacare Works?—"Once the Web site is fixed, the real costs will start showing up." NYT
• Vermont is designing nation's first universal health-care system

NSA Spying

• Obama 'not told of Merkel phone bugging'—Thought he "approved" it 3 years ago? Or is the NSA keeping him in the dark?
• German interior minister: Confidence in U.S. is 'shaken'
• NSA 'monitored 60 million Spanish calls in a month'—Naturally, they're angry.
• Rogers says French should be 'popping champagne' over NSA—"If French citizens knew exactly what the U.S. phone intercepts were about in France, they would be 'applauding and popping champagne corks' because it keeps them safe, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday." Politico
• Document Reveals NSA Monitored 125 Billion Phone Calls in One Month
• NSA Chief Keith Alexander Takes His PRISM Pitch to YouTube: "It's Like Taking a Bath"
• Feinstein plans bill to codify NSA's phone spying

Surveillance and Privacy

• Here's What Law Enforcement Can Recover From A Seized iPhone
• A black box in your car? Some see a source of tax revenue—"The devices would track every mile you drive —possibly including your location — and the government would use the data to draw up a tax bill."
• Ten Steps You Can Take Right Now Against Internet Surveillance

Bailout; Banks; Reckoning; Occupy Movement; Eurozone Crisis

Bailout

• Secret and Lies of the Bailout--"The federal rescue of Wall Street didn’t fix the economy – it created a permanent bailout state based on a Ponzi-like confidence scheme. And the worst may be yet to come."
• Rescued by a Bailout, A.I.G. May Sue Its Savior--Facing public backlash, the AIG board declined to join ex-CEO Greenburg's suit. NYT
• How many more bailouts will we allow? Salon

Banks

• Surprise, Surprise: The Banks Win--"For borrowers, a proposed settlement with big banks over foreclosure practices is likely to mean tiny slices of a shrunken pie." NYT
• A case of Wall Street greed gone too far--"By the time the ball dropped in Times Square, regulators had been notified that $65 million in Goldman stock had been granted a month early, helping a cluster of powerful multimillionaire executives trim their tax tab."
• Too Big to Bust?--"It's one thing if a bank is too big to fail... [i]t's another if the bank is too big to be brought to justice...."
• How much is enough to make a banker happy?--"Greg Smith's tale of exile from Wall Street shows that even the rich can feel inadequate compared to the super-rich." Salon
• What Good is Wall Street?--"Much of what investment bankers do is socially worthless."

Reckoning

• Senator pushes to ban bankers from Fed boardrooms--"An outspoken Senate critic of the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that he would reintroduce legislation to ban bankers from the boardroom of the 12 regional Fed branches, citing potential conflicts of interest."
• US SEC levels first post-crisis charges versus auditors
• Senator Elizabeth Warren gears up

Occupy Movement

• What the FBI's Occupy Docs Do—and Don't—Reveal
• Baker v. Katehi--Pepper-sprayed protestors to be paid $730,000 damages by UC Davis.
• The Team Behind '99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film' Peel Back the Curtain on the Movement

Eurozone Crisis

• An amazing mea culpa from the IMF's chief economist on austerity
• Spanish city's locksmiths say they'll no longer assist with evictions
• Confidence in Southern European Banks Rising in Sign of Crisis Hope

Eurozone Crisis, China vs. Japan, Japan vs. China, PRC, Canada, Catalonia, Corruption, Politics

Eurozone Crisis

• Spain: Protesters defy ban with anti-government rallies--Rubber bullets, tear gas, agent provocateurs, and more budget cuts... oh my.
• Most Greeks feel new austerity measures are unfair: poll--And things are turning ugly.
• Crisis in social care costs Britain over £5bn a year
• Angela Merkel: Europe must stay the course with painful reform
• Germany's big worry is China, not Greece
• Depression, Suicides Rise as Euro Debt Crisis Intensifies
• Everything you wanted to know about the euro crisis (but were afraid to ask) --Or you can do it Twilight-style.

China vs. Japan

• Mainland tells UN Japan 'stole' disputed islands
• China's Brainwashed Youth - Manufacturing Hate in the 21st Century
• Hong Kong: Japanese couple attacked--"Anti-Japanese sentiment turned physical after a Japanese couple, walking along the Tsim Sha Tsui East waterfront, were battered by a Chinese man who quickly fled the scene."
• Anti-Japan Protests Reach Fever Pitch as Panetta Visits Beijing
• China cancels diplomatic event with Japan over islands
• China launches aircraft carrier amid rising tensions with Japan
• Audi Asked China Dealership to Remove Anti-Japan Banner--It said, "Even if the whole of China is covered with tombs, [we] must kill all Japanese; even if no grass grows in China…."

Japan vs. China

• Could Asia really go to war over these?--"The bickering over islands is a serious threat to the region's peace and prosperity."
• Japanese firms closing China plants--As a temporary measure to wait out the protests.
• Japan wants China to compensate for damages from protests
• Hundreds in Tokyo rally against China in island row
• Japan tried but failed to avert disaster in China dispute

PRC

• In Hong Kong Election, Democrats Gain Despite Pro-Beijing Rebound--Beijing was also trying to ram down patriotism classes down their throats.
• China is flexing its muscles: time to worry
• China: For Many Expats, It's Not Worth It
• Mural draws fire from China--The mural is in Oregon.
• Chinese protester opposing government takeover of village land 'is crushed to death by state-controlled road-flattening truck'

Canada

• In Quebec It's Official: Mass Movement Leads to Victory for Students
• Stephen Harper's democracy award a sad joke on Canadians--Half of them have given Harper a thumbs down.
• Canadian gets three months in jail for not serving in Israeli army

Catalonia

• Huge turnout for Catalan independence rally
• As Spain sinks, many in Catalonia want out
• Why Catalonia Isn’t Likely to Leave Spain Anytime Soon

Corruption

• Statistical model suggests widespread fraud in Russian election
• Thai Deputy PM resigns amid corruption probe
• Police chief at heart of Bo Xilai scandal jailed for 15 years--A man reportedly being groomed for the country's leadership has been booted off the party.
• Indian cartoonist arrested on sedition charges after criticizing government corruption
• Vietnamese anti-corruption bloggers jailed--"Three prominent dissident bloggers have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for 'conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam'."

Politics

• German parliament bans laptops; members bring a typewriter
• A new breathalyzer law drives anger in France
• UK: Secret royal veto powers over new laws to be exposed--"Information commissioner orders release of guide to how Queen and Prince Charles must be consulted before laws are passed."

Abortion and Birth Control, Religion, Culture Clash, Male Rape, Sexism

Abortion and Birth Control

• Melinda Gates challenges Vatican by vowing to improve contraception--"Catholic philanthropist predicts women in Africa and Asia will soon ignore church teaching on birth control." And she also pledged $560 million for contraception.
• Republicans vs. Women--"Even with a persistent gender gap in a presidential election year, House Republicans have not given up on their campaign to narrow access to birth control, abortion care and lifesaving cancer screenings. Far from it." NYT
• Planned Parenthood Sues Arizona For Blocking Low-Income Women's Access To Health Clinics
• Philippines birth control: Filipinos want it, priests don't--"In the Philippines, access to contraceptives is limited for the most part to those with the means to pay. The Catholic Church has fought a 'reproductive health bill' in the legislature that would change that."
• Hundreds protest toughening Spain's abortion law--"Hundreds of Spaniards protested Sunday against the conservative government's proposal to roll back women's abortion rights, including in cases where the fetus is deformed."

Religion

• Dominican Republic abortion ban stops treatment for pregnant teen with cancer
• Girls denied cervical cancer jab--"Some schools in England have opted out of the HPV vaccination programme because their pupils 'follow strict Christian principles' and 'do not practise sex outside marriage.'"
• Parents deny daughter life-saving transplant--"An Auckland girl suffering a rare kidney disease has been put into the guardianship of the High Court because her Jehovah's Witness parents will not consent to her receiving a life-saving kidney and liver transplant."

Culture Clash

• Afghan female rights activist killed in latest act of violence against women
• 'Disgusted' by Her Dating, Man Beheads His Daughter, 20, In India NYT
• Pakistan policeman kills sister for wearing jeans

Male Rape

• Men Outnumber Women Among American Rape Victims
• US broadens definition of rape; includes male victims--"[T]he first major revision to the definition in more than 80 years."
• The silent male victims of rape

Sexism

• Michael Smerconish: Lazar Greenfield's 'Semengate' Stuns Scientific Community--"Dr. Greenfield noted the therapeutic effects of semen, citing research from the Archives of Sexual Behavior which found that female college students practicing unprotected sex were less likely to suffer from depression than those whose partners used condoms (as well as those who remained abstinent)."
• Science – It’s a Girl Thing (Insert Facepalm Here)
• 'You know what men are like': Indonesia to ban mini-skirts over links to rape
• Lego tries to get less sexist--"The toy maker's female-centric "Lego Friends" send a bad message for girls. But now there's hope for change." Salon
• Sexist Humor No Laughing Matter, Psychologist Says
• Seventeen Magazine Vows to Show Girls 'as They Really Are
• 'Princeless': A Fairy Tale Parody Where the Princesses Are Rescuin' For Themselves