Leftward Thinking

Citizens Take to the Streets in México to Fight for Internet Freedom

Last week citizens across Mexico took to the streets to protest a recently proposed telecom law that would violate free speech, give the federal governemtn increased survelleicen powers, and limit internet access, among other issues. Please read my orignal post about the law and the problems it creates. My original post also has some […]

May 2, 2014 – 5:15 pm | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Digital Divide, Free Speech, Net Neutrality, Open Internet | Tagged #DefenderInternet, Derechos Digitales, LeyTelecom, México | Comments (1)

Aereo Gets Its Day In Court

Today the Supreme Court heard arguments in the American Broadcasting Companies v. Aereo case. This case pits traditional broadcasters and media conglomerates against the next generation of tech upstarts, and has huge implications for the future of ‘cloud services’. A Brief Overview and History Aereo was first launched in New York City in February of […]

April 25, 2014 – 4:24 pm | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Cloud Computing, Intellectual Property | Tagged Aereo | Comments (1)

NetMundial2014 Opening Ceremony Photos

This morning I just had to get up early to catch the opening ceremony of the Net Mundial in São Paulo Brazil, and it didn’t disappoint. There were a number of great speakers from Vint Cerf, to Tim Berners-Lee, to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. However, I have to say that my favorite was definitely Nnenna […]

April 23, 2014 – 7:39 am | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Free Speech, Net Neutrality, Open Internet | Tagged NetMundial2014 | Comments (0)

The Fight for Derechos Digitales & Internet Freedom in México

On March 24 2014 Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto introduced the “Ley de Telecomunicaciones y Radiodifusión” (Law of Telecommincations and Broadcasting). This bill would dramatically change the balance of power of Mexico’s internet, and telecommunications, toward more state control, and less restraints on telecommunication corporations to censor, surveil, and discriminate on their networks. Specifically this bill would impact four major […]

April 22, 2014 – 12:37 pm | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Free Speech, Net Neutrality, Open Internet, Privacy | Tagged #DefenderInternet, Derechos Digitales, México | Comments (2)

Barrett Brown Gets a Plea Deal. But Still, WTF?

Barrett Brown is a writer/activist who has written for Vanity Fair, The Guardian, and who acted, for a time, as a self proclaimed spokesperson for Anonymous. In 2012 he was arrested on charges related to the hacking of private security intelligence firm Stratfor. Another individual, Jeremy Hammond, is currently serving a 10 year sentence for […]

April 17, 2014 – 3:09 pm | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Free Speech, Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Undocumented Communities, Surveillance, and the Snowden Revelations

As the Snowden revelations have continued to come out in drips and drabs for nearly a year now, the implications of the NSA activities around domestic spying seem to spread to nearly ever corner of society. Recently I was asked what I thought these implications were for undocumented immigrants living in the United Statese. While […]

March 15, 2014 – 2:25 pm | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Other, Privacy | Tagged Immigration, NSA, Snowden | Comments (2)

More Than Just a “Rude Rap Song”

Last week Matt Schruers wrote a blog post at Project Disco titled “Today’s Internet: Made Possible By A Rude Rap Song” (both TechDirt and Reason’s Hit & Run wrote follow up pieces). I enjoyed the post but as a hip hop head and a copyright nerd I need to drop some knowledge. I have one […]

March 13, 2014 – 10:58 am | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Intellectual Property | Tagged 2 Live Crew, copyright, Fair Use, Hip Hop | Comments (1)

Derek Khanna on the Politics of Copyright Reform

Derek Khanna is a rising start in the Republican party and has become the face of copyright reform advocates on the right. While a staff member of the Republican Study Committee, a group that researches policy issues for House Republicans, Khanna authored a a widely read report titled “Three Myths about Copyright Law”. The report […]

May 7, 2013 – 7:13 pm | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Intellectual Property | Tagged Berkman Center, copyright, Derek Khanna, ICE, Megaupload, Operation In Our Sites, SOPA, TPP | Comments (0)

A Municipal Broadband Network Right in my Backyard

T he gap between American’s that have broadband internet access and those that do not has become and increasing problem within the United States over the last several years. This “digital divide” has grown sharply as large monopolistic telecommunication companies have refused to build out there networks to poor or rural communities. There is currently a raging […]

April 30, 2013 – 6:54 pm | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Digital Divide, Open Internet | Tagged Municipal Broadband, Southern Arizona, The Digital Divide, Tohono O'odham | Comments (1)

US Ambassador Asks Australians to Stop Pirating Game of Thrones, Commenters React

Last Tuesday US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich took to Facebook to plead with Australians to stop pirating the popular HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones. Ambassador Bleich chastised his audience reminding them that “stealing is stealing” and pointing out that “the show is now available from legitimate sources within hours of its broadcast in […]

April 26, 2013 – 3:34 pm | By Greg Epstein @lwThinking | Posted in Intellectual Property | Tagged Australia, Game of Thrones, HBO, mpaa | Comments (2)