p2pnet: last post
The time has finally come for me to stop publishing p2pnet. I’m calling it a day mainly because of continuing health problems, and because, quite frankly, I’ve had enough of tilting at windmills.
Under new ownership, p2pnet will concentrate primarily on the issues, policies and technology to do with, and surrounding, social networking and cloud computing.
But writing and advocacy are in my blood and I’ve launched a new blog centering on the way in which the advertising and entertainment industries are poisoning the minds of our children.
It’s something I’ve been interested in for quite a while and was the subject of a p2pnet segment called Kids and Kartels, from which I’ll be drawing, from time to time. I’ll also be writing and researching new articles, so if anyone has any ideas on the subject, please let me know.
So stay tuned for the changes coming to p2pnet, and check out my new blog.
You can contact me at p2p@shaw.ca
Finally, keep an eye on the comment posts under this. For as long as I can, every now and then I’ll add items of interest.
Cheers, and all the best…
Jon
Cheers, and thanks for your interest over the years. It was a lot of fun, sometimes, but always educational.
(And keep it up, all you Anons.)
Jon Newton
December 16th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Thanks for all the great articles over the years Jon, i hope your health improves and that you have good luck in your future endeavors.
December 17th, 2011 at 12:19 am
Thank you for all the articles, and I look forward to the new blog (you are going to tell us how to find it, I hope?).
December 17th, 2011 at 12:23 am
Jon
You are a genuine hero in my book. Standing up for the little guy, against the machine.
Your courage and conviction and wisdom have guided, and given fortitude, to all of us.
You are the kind of guy we would all want to have in our fox hole when the shooting starts.
I look forward to meeting you in person one of these days, and giving you a big bear hug when I do.
You are a man among men.
Good luck in your new endeavors, and in your recovery.
Your friend
Ray
December 17th, 2011 at 1:06 am
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Jon, we’re gonna miss you at the helm. Here’s hoping your health improves and your future endeavors bring you much prosperity. I’ve only been a reader of P2Pnet.net for a short time compared to some of the group here, but I’ve enjoyed each article written and even the argumentative trolls, who can’t seem to come into the sunshine preferring to stay under their bridge in the darkness, that write to argue the slightest point with you.
You’re gonna be missed by all of us who read and enjoy your writings.
Merry Christmas
Walter A. Reinhart aka Logan
December 17th, 2011 at 1:49 am
Jon, you have given a truly immense contribution to the P2P community. Thank you so very much by all of us.
Your blog is already in my bookmarks
I really really hope your health improves quickly. Best wishes for everything.
December 17th, 2011 at 4:03 am
Goodbye Jon.
And thanks for all the fish!
(people who read Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy will know what I mean)
December 17th, 2011 at 5:52 am
You will be missed Jon. No one said it like you did. Plain. to the point. And with a sharp tongue.
I just bookmarked your new site kidsandkartels.com
Jon said:
Under new ownership, p2pnet will concentrate primarily on the issues, policies and technology to do with, and surrounding, social networking and cloud computing.
Will this be Canadian or American issues and policies (yes there is a difference) with the new owner?
Anyhow… Bonne Chance!
December 17th, 2011 at 6:07 am
Jon, it’s been a great ride.
I’ve loved the articles over the years, ever since you came here. Maybe one of the biggest reasons I hung around besides the great material, was the ability to say what was on the mind without need to have to sign in, be data tallied, and net counted and totalled in every manner possible just to have that say. I guess it’s one of the prime reasons I’ll never sign up for some ’service’ such as Discus.
I know that brought all sorts of headaches in dealing with spammers but the freedom to say what was on the mind was very welcome. Maybe because of your stance on that ability to be anonymous and comment was one of the reasons I stayed after following you here.
You’re having a hard time I know dealing with lack of income, health, and family. I wish you, Liz, and Emma, all the best, especially since this is the time of holiday cheer. Sure gonna miss all the food for thought you have given me here.
All the best my friend. I hope to read another article with your John Hancock on it sometime in the future.
So it’s not goodbye but rather aloha.
December 17th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Thanks, mate : )
December 17th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Hi Dorothy: there’s a link to in my farewell post.But here it is again (http://www.kidsandkartels.com/)
Cheers, all the best, And may your garden bloom beyond all expectations.
December 17th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Thanks for everything, Jon. There will have been a lot of intangible benefits that you’ve given to the world. Who knows, perhaps if you hadn’t been doing this, corrupt laws like SOPA would have been enacted years ago. You’re the classic unsung hero.
What’s the url for your new blog?
And finally, I hope your health improves, along with the financial wellbeing for your whole family.
December 17th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Thanks for all your great work, and best wishes — seasonal, new year, and new stage in life….
December 17th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
Hi Jon, I just want to say thank you for the past six (or is it 7?) years of exceptional writing. p2pnet has been an indispensable resource to me, and your contributions cannot be understated. Whilst I am glad the site will continue on (and yourself as a writer, also), there is no doubt in my mind that this is “an end of era”. Good luck with whatever you do in the future, and I look forward to reading whatever you write. Thanks again.
December 18th, 2011 at 12:14 am
Almost 10 years:)
December 18th, 2011 at 12:43 am
Regardles of how p2pnet is run under the new ownership, I think all your past articles and their comments should be kept in an easily accessible archive. Such great work should never be allowed to disappear.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:37 am
It will indeed be sad to see this all end, so much has happened here in the last decade. so long, so long.
Just one question: If p2pnet gets “rebooted” – will an archive of the old articles remain online anywhere?
(and archive.org doesn’t count since a future robots.txt file can wipe out everything)
December 18th, 2011 at 2:42 am
Thank you Jon. Your site has been a favourite of mine for years.
I hope that your health improves and that you find success going forward.
Good luck!
December 18th, 2011 at 5:29 am
Without exception Jon you have been the voice of many who witness the oppressive nature of some organisations but had no effective means to have their say or voice their disgust, you changed the arena by providing a highly visible free access platform for all to speak up for both themselves and those suffering under the weight of lies, propaganda and outright corruption displayed by large corporations and govts many times on your pages, a grand feat given the associated legal risks you faced head on.
You’ve done a truly outstanding job, always be proud you where the man who wanted to make a difference and did.
Seasons greetings to yourself and your family Jon.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
You have been fighting the Good Fight for a long time, and can now go out with your head held high. You have done more for the Net than most of us can possibly say for ourselves. Your battles have helped define the monstrosity of the opposition — some of the largest corporations in the world, and their very expensive lawyers — in a fight the likes of which we’ve never seen. I admire you. Thanks for everything, and I hope your health improves. Have a great Christmas and relax — you’ve earned the right to give your keyboard a rest.
December 18th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
There is less than five sites I am visiting daily. P2Pnet.net is one of them thank to you Jon.
Thank you very much for a job well done! And congratulation!
December 18th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Thanks once again for your efforts. Assuming this is really the end, your news articles will be missed.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Jon
While real music and musicians have still a long way to go to get the lost respectability back, from the hijacking publishers and record companies, your contribution towards the end is important. While your medical situation is regrettable, hang in there. There are so many revolutionary advances occurring in the field of medicine that soon almost all serious illnesses will have a cure or treatment.
Thank you for your important contribution and and best wishes to you and your family.
Rafael Venegas
aka Songwriter
December 19th, 2011 at 1:08 am
Jack Kapica!
That is the man from the Globe and mail who first stated he had it on authority that Bell was going to throttle people a full year before it actually happened.
In Bell Canada’s own forum (when it existed) they said Jack Kapica was full of beans.
2 years after when the CRTC was involved, Bell stated they only used DPI to count B/W in order to charge people and found out that it could do more by accident.
Obviously this was a lie since Jack Kapica stated this was going to happen 2 years before they did it or even launched their DPI.
Then Jon Newton was the first to write about the scam after they did it.
Jack Kapica, Kudos to you!
It’s due to people like you and Jon who report these issues that show how these mega-corps lie to the people and to the gov. As if the gov doesn’t know….
+1
December 19th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Jon Newton made it in the Toronto Star edition of the “2011 A to Z in Canadian Tech Law”
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1103705–the-year-in-tech-law-from-a-to-z
J is for Jon Newton, whose case on liability for hyperlinking led to a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision against creating such liability.
December 19th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Thanks for all the years of articles Jon, My best to you and your family thru the holidays and hope santa brings you some better health!
December 19th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
You’re not allowed to stop running this Website until both the RIAA and the MPAA disband completely. That’s the deal.
Thanks for publishing my articles and encouraging me to write… I was going to say a few years ago, but it’s been more than a few. Time flies. I still remember how much flack you got after publishing my spoof Peer Impact interview. Good times.
I hope your health improves. Your articles, insight and commentary will be missed.
December 22nd, 2011 at 8:20 pm
You are a Good Friend, Thanks Randy
January 8th, 2012 at 3:21 am
Thanks for all the good work you’ve put in. Cheers and take care
January 11th, 2012 at 10:04 am
[...] the Kids and Kartels section of my former blog, p2pnet.net I wrote about the way in which the advertising and entertainment industries, in particular, [...]
January 31st, 2012 at 5:36 am
Also thank ou for the very interesting material i agve us all these years . with invaluable information and critics
February 1st, 2012 at 12:11 pm
p2pnet has for years used Scroogle for searches. But now Google is once again blocking the Scroogle server.
And yes, Scroogle is upset with Google.
1. “Google handles 1 billion searches per day, while Scroogle handles 350,000 searches per day. This means that Scroogle is 0.035 percent of Google’s load,” says the site’s Daniel Brandt , going on.
2. “Google uses 900,000 servers, while Scroogle leases just six low-end dedicated servers.
3. “Google has billions and billions of dollars in the bank, while Scroogle is a recognized public charity and survives on modest donations averaging $43 per day.
4. “For more than seven years, Scroogle has always made serious efforts to detect and block any and all bots. Almost every Scroogle searcher is a live person clicking on a mouse. Yet Google treats Scroogle like a bot because they see the traffic from our six IP addresses as higher than normal. Searching Google with a bot is against Google’s terms of service, but Scroogle users are not bots”.
February 12th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/02/12/europe-protest-acta-idINDEE81B00820120212
Reuters – Tens of thousands of protesters took part in rallies across Europe on Saturday against an international anti-piracy agreement they fear will curb their freedom to download movies and music for free and encourage Internet surveillance.
More than 25,000 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures in German cities to march against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) while 4,000 Bulgarians in Sofia rallied against the agreement designed to strengthen the legal framework for intellectual property rights.
There were thousands more – mostly young – demonstrators at other high-spirited rallies despite snow and freezing temperatures in cities including Warsaw, Prague, Slovakia, Bucharest, Vilnius, Paris, Brussels and Dublin.
Opposition to ACTA in Eastern Europe is especially strong and spreading rapidly. Protesters have compared it to the Big Brother-style surveillance used by former Communist regimes. Downloading films and music is also a popular way for many young Eastern Europeans to obtain free entertainment.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Op-Ed Contributor
What Wikipedia Won’t Tell You
By CARY H. SHERMAN
Published: February 7, 2012
THE digital tsunami that swept over the Capitol last month, forcing Congress to set aside legislation to combat the online piracy of American music, movies, books and other creative works, raised questions about how the democratic process functions in the digital age.
Policy makers had recognized a constitutional (and economic) imperative to protect American property from theft, to shield consumers from counterfeit products and fraud, and to combat foreign criminals who exploit technology to steal American ingenuity and jobs. They knew that music sales in the United States are less than half of what they were in 1999, when the file-sharing site Napster emerged, and that direct employment in the industry had fallen by more than half since then, to less than 10,000. They studied the problem in all its dimensions, through multiple hearings.
While no legislation is perfect, the Protect Intellectual Property Act (or PIPA) was carefully devised, with nearly unanimous bipartisan support in the Senate, and its House counterpart, the Stop Online Piracy Act (or SOPA), was based on existing statutes and Supreme Court precedents. But at the 11th hour, a flood of e-mails and phone calls to Congress stopped the legislation in its tracks. Was this the result of democracy, or demagoguery?
Misinformation may be a dirty trick, but it works. Consider, for example, the claim that SOPA and PIPA were “censorship,” a loaded and inflammatory term designed to evoke images of crackdowns on pro-democracy Web sites by China or Iran. Since when is it censorship to shut down an operation that an American court, upon a thorough review of evidence, has determined to be illegal? When the police close down a store fencing stolen goods, it isn’t censorship, but when those stolen goods are fenced online, it is? Wikipedia, Google and others manufactured controversy by unfairly equating SOPA with censorship. They also argued misleadingly that the bills would have required Web sites to “monitor” what their users upload, conveniently ignoring provisions like the “No Duty to Monitor” section.
The hyperbolic mistruths, presented on the home pages of some of the world’s most popular Web sites, amounted to an abuse of trust and a misuse of power. When Wikipedia and Google purport to be neutral sources of information, but then exploit their stature to present information that is not only not neutral but affirmatively incomplete and misleading, they are duping their users into accepting as truth what are merely self-serving political declarations.
As it happens, the television networks that actively supported SOPA and PIPA didn’t take advantage of their broadcast credibility to press their case. That’s partly because “old media” draws a line between “news” and “editorial.” Apparently, Wikipedia and Google don’t recognize the ethical boundary between the neutral reporting of information and the presentation of editorial opinion as fact.
The violation of neutrality is a patent hypocrisy: these companies have long argued that Internet service providers (telecommunications and cable companies) had to be regulated under the doctrine of “net neutrality” because of their power as owners of the Internet pipes. But what the Google and Wikipedia blackout showed is that it’s the platforms that exercise the real power. Get enough of them to espouse Silicon Valley’s perspective, and tens of millions of Americans will get a one-sided view of whatever the issue may be, drowning out the other side.
The conventional wisdom is that the defeat of these bills shows the power of the digital commons. Sure, anybody could click on a link or tweet in outrage — but how many knew what they were supporting or opposing? Would they have cast their clicks if they knew they were supporting foreign criminals selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals to Americans? Was it SOPA they were opposed to, or censorship?
No doubt, some genuinely wanted to protect Americans against theft but were sincerely concerned about how the language in the bill might be interpreted. But others may simply believe that online music, books and movies should be free. And how many of those e-mails were from the same people who attacked the Web sites of the Department of Justice, the Motion Picture Association of America, my organization and others as retribution for the seizure of Megaupload, an international digital piracy operation? Indeed, it’s hackers like the group Anonymous that engage in real censorship when they stifle the speech of those with whom they disagree.
Perhaps this is naïve, but I’d like to believe that the companies that opposed SOPA and PIPA will now feel some responsibility to help come up with constructive alternatives. Virtually every opponent acknowledged that the problem of counterfeiting and piracy is real and damaging. It is no longer acceptable just to say no. The diversionary bill that they drafted, the OPEN Act, would do little to stop the illegal behavior and would not establish a workable framework, standards or remedies.
It has become clear that, at this point, neither SOPA, PIPA nor OPEN is a viable answer. We need to take a step back to seek fresh ideas and new approaches. The “Copyright Alert” program, a voluntary effort by the entertainment industries and leading Internet service providers to notify users whose accounts are being used for wrongful downloading over peer-to-peer networks, shows that respectful fact-based conversations can lead to progress.
We all share the goal of a safe and legal Internet. We need reason, not rhetoric, in discussing how to achieve it.
Cary H. Sherman is liar- and sophist-in-chief of the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents music labels.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/opinion/what-wikipedia-wont-tell-you.html?_r=2
February 20th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
BEIJING — The announcement Saturday that Foxconn Technology — one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers — will sharply raise salaries and reduce overtime at its Chinese factories signals that pressure from workers, international markets and concerns among Western consumers about working conditions is driving a fundamental shift that could accelerate an already rapidly changing Chinese economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/technology/pressures-drive-change-at-chinas-electronics-giant-foxconn.html?_r=1&hp