Seeking the advice and input of ATS members on an important issue...

On a side note here, those who have a wish to help our eco systems and slow down deforrestation Think of the defeat of this bill as just another small step in the right direction.

By preserving the advertising online you are helping to reduce the amount of paper advertising even if it is only by 1%, that will be a saving to our forrests and reduction on greenhouse emission by factories that would otherwise be pushing these paper adverts out. I for one have enjoyed the last couple of years with a big reduction in junk mail in my postbox.

Advertising will happen, this will not stop, and as I've just shown that the passage or defeat of this bill has an effect, howbeit a small one, still an effect on issues that seem unrelated. We as a people must always look at all of our options and how they may effect not only the immediate problem at hand but how far ranging will this decision ripple out like ripples in a pond of still water.

SO has offered up alternatives to the privacy issue this bill covers, These alternatives seem to me to have a far less impact on the web economy and little to no ripple effect, where as this bill appears to cause the eventual return to paper adverts to reach the expected audience.

Please look outside the box for a moment and consider signing this petition. Think of it as just another link in the chain for Climate Warming and Cap & Trade issues.

[edit on 3/12/2009 by Pappa_Bear]

Has anybody thought about contacting Jesse Ventura about this considering his new show, and see if he'll take this on and/or offer some kind of support or other deal with ATS to somehow sponsor it?

Originally posted by halfmanhalfamazing
Is there any way in which people from countries other than the USA can help??

I certainly would love to know that as well.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
...
However... poorly designed websites (some discussion boards fit in this category) can attempt to place far too much information into a cookie as a result of lazy programming. These would typically be for remembering your profile and preference settings. Those very-large cookies can "appear" to slow things down as they're typically loaded on each page-load of those poorly coded sites. This may be where the perception that cookies can slow down your computer originated.

They may not all be large but ATS has 15 cookies on my computer. More than double than what I find for most sites.

Originally posted by roadgravel
More than double than what I find for most sites.

We're rather more complex than many (I have 27 from CCN though), between the main site, some custom preferences, and the media portal.

A good portion of those cookies (looks like 8) are for the analytics.

I suspect cookies vs DB/session data is used due to possible non member settings.

At least most of the data within is quite small.

We seem to have lost inertia/momentum on this endeavor ...

A little disappointed we've only totaled 435 or so signatures.

Originally posted by Cricious

Originally posted by halfmanhalfamazing
Is there any way in which people from countries other than the USA can help??

I certainly would love to know that as well.

Yes. Me too.

If someone does know the answer to this - then perhaps we would have more than 435 signatures; there are lots of members here who are of non-US citizenship.

I wonder, it might be kind of pointless to develop a petition for NON-US types, and try to present it to US congress lol, but I dont know.... showing that the support is there might have some advantageous results....?


- Carrot


[edit on 12/7/2009 by CA_Orot]

LOL only 435 signatures...

I guess ATS Management now knows the feelings of the members about this issue.

reply to post by craig732


I think you're right there.

I've been watching this from the sidelines and I'm not surprised at the outcome so far.

What's interesting is that this isn't plastered all over the internet as a major issue that some have made this out to be.

Maybe people just hate advertising more than they care about profit.

I would be only too happy to sign the petition but as far as I understand only US signatories are valid. Perhaps this is why there's so few signed the petition.
This is most certainly a control issue .... the powers that be don't like us discussing topics that may be a threat to them and they don't want us to know truth about anything!!
Good luck ... I hope more ATS's will sign

Count me in. Being from Southern West Virginia originally, it figures that the neighbors next door (Virginia - in the form of Boucher) would want more control over our freedoms. Someone needs to stomp a hole in his political butt.

cormac

I wanted to sign up but the petition is only eligible for US citizens.

I understand, since the law is about to be passed in the US, that the US constituency is the primary 'target audience' for trying to sway congress' vote, but international support for the cause can't be bad, no?

After all, this draconic US lawmaking DOES have a global impact, neh ?

I suggest making a second petition, open for worldwide signatures. Or maybe contact adresses were these big company puppets can be reached?

[edit on 30-12-2009 by Phatcat]

I came to ATS to find RSS feeds and stumbled across this update from November, from SkepticOverlord. This is troubling news - and I'm wondering if anyone has any deadlines for when the bill is being proposed and/or voted on?

I would support any petition and effort to keep the Internet accessible for small/independent content producers...in fact it's how I earn at least a third to half of my monthly income...so this is very serious business for me.

I would like to help however/wherever possible. I'll certainly be alerting sites that I work for about this potential legislation. I wonder how this affects sites based overseas (if it all)?

-Ryan

[edit on 11-2-2010 by rdube02]

Yes I will sign and support a pettition.. I live in VA.. so come election time I will also "voice" my opinion..

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


I don't think I will get into trouble for this reply, it is an unpaid add for a new web browser that will act as your proxy. If you don't want anyone to track you, try "start page." They are going to be setting up a way for you to visit the pages they list. That way your IP address never appears and you can't be tracked. If the site puts a cookie out, then you need a good virus program to attack and kill it! - poor cookie

[edit on 2/11/2010 by zachi]

I think just about EVERY regular member of this site would vouch for a petition.

We all value the ability to share our views/opinions/stories, AT NO COST to us.

Im serious. There should be no question at all, as to if we would sign a petition or not.

But instead, when do we sign?

Alot of us take ownership of this site, we feel like it's ours as much as it's the actual owners.

To the OP,

This is why I do not give out my real name and personal info when i SIGN UP on a web-site (i.e, yahoo, msn, etc.) I only use a pre-paid credit card when doing transactions via the internet. I use only aliases in Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. This is the reason why. My friends all called me paranoid and crazy in the past, but I told them it was only a matter of time before there was no more "protection" on the net. Now who's crazy???

reply to post by schrodingers dog

I just sent this edited letter to my Congressman:

March 17, 2010
Dear Representative Buchanan,

Dear Congressman Vern Buchannan,
As Congress prepares to debate Internet privacy legislation, I'll get to the chase.

Money Is Involved:
I regularly visit several independent web sites, many of which are online communities where thousands of people gather to discuss important issues or interesting topics. The Internet is comprised of thousands of such sites, visited by millions of Americans with ideas to express in the best spirit of freedom of speech. For the most part, these sites are often expensive to operate and the owner's only source of income is through advertising from third-party networks.

Privacy, Quality Of Service and Technical issues are involved:
The proposed legislation authored by Representative Boucher would seek to impose a task on these website owners that defies logic -- asking if end users want to see advertising, before it is displayed. There is an apparent fear that Internet marketers may eventually abuse the data learned via the use of cookies that anonymously track web users. While I agree that there needs to be some serious consideration of the potential problem, we need to take care that the solution does not eradicate society of one of the most important cultural developments in decades, the Independent Web.

Thank you for considering our views when this important issue is debated.

I like the idea of limiting the number and type of cookies that can be stored and that cookies be erased before passing ads to another network.

As discussed by local techs at Precision Cycle Oak Tree.
Sincerely,

No bill stays simple. Keep up to data as the Circus In Charge ramps up and the target changes.

post by SkepticOverlord


SO, I just ran into this article:

Study reveals mass online news copying

A month-long study of how 101,000 articles published by 157 newspapers proliferated around the Internet found that more than 75,000 sites reused 112,000 almost exact copies without authorisation. A further 520,000 articles were reprinted in part.

The study, conducted by Attributor, a content tracking business, will form a critical part of upcoming negotiations between the news industry and online advertising networks, which publishers want to use to claw back the ad revenues being made by unauthorised redistributors.

I want my privacy but it seems once again the Stage Name of the bill is being used as a shield for the big money eat the small money crowd.

Originally posted by CA_Orot

Originally posted by Cricious

Originally posted by halfmanhalfamazing
Is there any way in which people from countries other than the USA can help??

I certainly would love to know that as well.

Yes. Me too.

- Carrot


[edit on 12/7/2009 by CA_Orot]

I might be reaching on this one but it is termed as the world wide web? To me, that means a signature is a valid signature. No matter where it originates. Put the petition where I can sign it, please.