democrats

Democrats launch McCainpedia

The primary season hasn't ended, but Democrats have already begun the online battle against Republican presidential nominee John McCain with the launch of McCainpedia. The site is a wiki about McCain, but it's funded by the Democratic National Committee. The goal? To "centralize research material, allowing the general public to use it as they see fit," according to the site's "about" page. In other words, the McCainpedia is a one-stop shop for talking points that can be used to argue against the Republican candidate.

While its name is partly inspired by Wikipedia, the … Read more

Democrats vote for Microsoft

If this year's Democratic convention does come down to a floor battle, Microsoft could end up being the real winner.

The Democratic National Convention Committee announced Monday that Microsoft will be the "official software and HD Web content provider" for the convention, which runs August 25-28 in Denver. The move is a vote of confidence for Silverlight, which is in a battle against incumbent Adobe Flash.

The software maker will power real-time online voting systems for delegates as well as live, gavel-to-gavel streaming coverage of the event at DemConvention.com.

"Silverlight multimedia applications will provide an … Read more

Democratic bill could force Apple, AT&T to unlock iPhone

When T-Mobile began selling Apple's iPhone in Germany last fall, a legal skirmish ensued, forcing the wireless carrier to sell it untethered to a contract--at $1,460, no less. T-Mobile eventually persuaded a court that the two-year contract was legal.

Now that same kind of European rule would be imported into the United States--meaning AT&T would be legally required to sell a contract-free iPhone--if a new Democratic proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives becomes law.

Sponsored by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a congressman who serves as chairman of a House telecommunications and Internet panel, it'… Read more

FlipperTV: Create your own U.S. presidential attack ad

Yesterday, as the Republican presidential debate took place via YouTube, the Democratic National Committee quietly launched a rather notable Web 2.0 initiative itself. FlipperTV is a new service from the Democratic Party site that offers a growing library of video clips of the Republican candidates on the campaign trail. Users are encouraged to take the video and "use the footage as they wish." Wink wink.

In an era when home-brewed YouTube videos are more entertaining than 90 percent of network television, the DNC's strategy seems obvious. Why pay high-priced advertising companies to create mudslinging attack ads (that could blow up in its face) when you have millions of supporters with the technology to make their own videos and take responsibility for the content. The site even suggests that we "hold these candidates accountable for their comments and actions."… Read more

Episode 604: School daze

Democrats take aim at un-'friendly' wireless carriers

WASHINGTON--Disgruntled Democratic senators on Wednesday renewed threats to impose new regulations designed to force more "consumer-friendly" policies on wireless carriers.

Curbing early termination fees, prohibiting companies from passing "deceptive" fees onto customers, reporting the number of dropped calls to government regulators and providing more accurate service coverage maps are among the requirements being considered in a bill touted at a morning hearing here convened by the Senate Commerce Committee.

If such a law were enacted, it would be a significant departure from today's relatively limited federal regulations in the wireless industry, which date back to … Read more

Democrats fail (at least for now) to protect Net users from taxes

Democrats in the U.S. Congress failed on Thursday to protect Internet users from higher taxes.

The Senate Commerce committee, chaired by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), mysteriously killed a vote on an Internet tax bill that was supposed to take place at 2:30 p.m. ET. With a laugh but no explanation, Inouye simply told the hearing room it wasn't going to happen.

Normally postponements of votes would be mere congressional background noise. This is different because, as we wrote about earlier this month, a temporary federal moratorium on Internet access taxes expires on November 1.

If a … Read more

Presidential hopefuls to debate with the aid of CNN and YouTube

When I first heard that CNN had partnered with YouTube for two upcoming presedential debates I was intrigued. For the first time in history, on July 23 at 4:00 p.m. (PDT), the general public will have a chance to ask a question to the man (or woman) who might become the next president of the United States.

But what does this approach really mean to the future of U.S. politics? As a recent article on CNN points out, while the questions may come from the public, the news agency is still making the choice of which questions will actually be asked. Does this approach really democratize the debates or is it simply a chance for a few lucky individuals to have a chance to be on national television? According to Joshua Levy at TechPresident.com, "There are two parts to opening up a platform like these debates to the community: 1) Let individuals participate in unprecedented ways, (and) 2) Give up control of the voting to the community."