ARPANET, the Beginning of the Internet
Libertarians often cite the internet as a case in point that liberty is the mother of innovation. Opponents quickly counter that the internet was a government program, proving once again that markets must be guided by the steady hand of the state. In one sense the critics are correct, though not in ways they understand. The internet indeed began as a typical government program, the ARPANET, designed to share mainframe computing power and to establish a secure military communications network. Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), now DARPA, of the United States Department of Defense, funded the original network.
Of course the designers could not have foreseen what the (commercial) internet has become. Still, this reality has important implications for how the internet works — and explains why there are so many roadblocks in the continued development of online technologies. It is only thanks to market participants that the internet became something other than a typical government program: inefficient, overcapitalized, and not directed toward socially useful purposes.
Chronological History of Internet Related Events
Biden White House Wages War on 1st Amendment
They just can’t quit Trump. The Democrat-media complex is obsessed with Donald Trump. A reporter asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki if Trump’s absence from social media platforms makes COVID relief negotiations easier. What kind of question is that? “This may be hard to believe but we don’t spend a lot of time talking about or thinking about President Trump here,” Psaki said. “Former President ...
India Farmers’ Protests Began: Internet Shutdown Highlights Modi’s Record of Stifling Digital Dissent
The storming of the Red Fort in Delhi on January 26 marked an escalation of tensions between the Indian government – led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi – and farmers who have been protesting against agricultural reforms since August 2020. With footage of the farmers clashing with police going viral, the Red Fort incident also marked a spike in interest in the farmers’ movement around the ...
Rapper Azealia Banks Dug Up Her Dead Cat Named Lucifer and Cooked It on Instagram
Is she mentally deranged? Or was she simply engaging in typical music industry witchcraft? Why not both? Sometimes I re-read the headlines I find myself writing and I’m stunned by their absurdity. On the other hand, one can never be fully surprised by anything when dealing with the dark side of the entertainment industry. Because a lot of people in that industry are into very sick ...
Congress Overrides President Trump’s Veto of $740 Billion Defense Bill
The Senate voted to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2021. The upper house on Friday afternoon passed the bill without the president’s signature with an 80–13 vote—the first time a Trump veto has been overridden. The debate over the bill was ended earlier in the day with the same result. Thirteen senators voted to sustain Trump’s veto of the bill, including ...
McConnell Joins With Schumer To Block Potential Trump VETO Of Defense Bill, Keep Big Tech Protection
Mitch McConnell has made a deal with Chuck Schumer to block a potential Trump veto of the National Defense Authorization Act. President Trump has threatened to veto the bill because it allows Big Tech to censor conservatives. December 1st: Section 230, which is a liability shielding gift from the U.S. to “Big Tech” (the only companies in America that have it - corporate welfare!), is a ...
YouTube Removes Video of Trump Lawyer’s Opening Statement At Senate Committee Hearing
YouTube has removed the opening statement from President Donald Trump’s lawyer Jesse Binnall before the Senate Homeland Security hearing on election fraud. YouTube has said that they will be removing “content alleging widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of a historical U.S. presidential election.” Binnall tweeted about the censorship. YouTube has decided that my opening statement in the U.S. Seante, given under oath and based ...
Texas, Nine U.S. States Accuse Google Of Working With Facebook To Break Antitrust Law
(Reuters) -Texas and nine other states sued Google on Wednesday, accusing it of working with Facebook Inc in violation of antitrust law to boost its already-dominant online advertising business. The states asked that the Alphabet Inc-owned company, which controls a third of the global online advertising industry, compensate them for damages and sought “structural relief,” which is usually interpreted as forcing a company to divest some ...
FTC and 48 Attorneys General Sue to Break Up Facebook
The FTC and 48 Attorneys General filed two separate lawsuits against Facebook on Wednesday. The suit attempts to break up the tech giant into its component parts. The lawsuit also accuses Facebook of illegally suppressing competition by purchasing rival companies that challenged its dominance. The FTC and a coalition of states have sued Facebook for allegedly violating antitrust laws https://t.co/ZroVU9WSC7— Bloomberg (@business) December 9, 2020 So ...
YouTube To Delete Content That ‘Undermines’ 2020 US Election Results
YouTube will begin removing any content they deem to be 'misleading' by alleging widespread voter fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 US election, according to Bloomberg. The Google subsidiary says it will remove videos claiming President Trump won due to counting errors or software glitches (regardless of whether they're evidence of said instances, we assume). "Yesterday was the safe harbor deadline for the U.S. Presidential election and ...
Department of Justice Sues Facebook for Discrimination Against Americans in Favor of H1B Visa Workers
The Department of Justice filed a new lawsuit against Big Tech monopoly Facebook for engaging in pervasive and systemic discrimination against American workers, refusing to consider them for company positions and instead shepherding cheaper and more compliant foreign visa workers into more than 2,500 of the company’s high-paying jobs. The Department of Justice alleges that Facebook created a category of employment offerings in which none or one ...
