Zuckerberg unveils plan for free Net access for all

[IDemo]

Source: USA Today

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg late Tuesday announced on his Facebook profile page the formation of a partnership with Samsung Electronics, Nokia, Qualcomm and others to make Internet access available to everyone on Earth.

The group — Internet.org — intends to make the Internet an option for the 5 billion people who don't have it. Only about one-third of the world's population – 2.7 billion – has Internet access.

"Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect," Zuckerberg said in a post on his timeline. "There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the knowledge economy. Internet.org brings together a global partnership that will work to overcome these challenges, including making internet access available to those who cannot currently afford it."

The founding members of Internet.org – which also includes Ericsson, MediaTek and Opera -- will develop joint projects, share knowledge, and mobilize industry and governments to bring the world online, according to Zuckerberg.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/08/21/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-nokia-samsung-qualcomm/2679917/

[villager]

1. Will the NSA be able to scale up in time!?

All that data!

[we can do it]

43. All that data...... that suckerberg's been selling?

[dkf]

2. Why shouldn't the US government pay for it if they want to use it to spy on EVERYONE on the planet.

The indignity is we pay for them to spy on us. WTH?

[monmouth3]

3. That is a superbly excellent post...

[we can do it]

44. So Suckerberg can make money off it?

[Myrina]

21. Brilliant point!

[HumansAndResources]

45. Code Named "World Wide Wiretap" - actually just a joke with Intelligence employees in the 90s

This was back when they were struggling to capture and save all the AOL data for "future use."

The Internet was an Operation from the beginning - why the Gov had the author in PGP (pretty good privacy) in court for so long - then we got the whole "key-escrow" thing Bill Clinton pushed - where it would be illegal to use encryption unless the Gov had the key and a "court" (FISA?) could allow them access to everything you ever wrote.

Then they realized most Americans were too lazy to bother to use encryption - even when it was made really easy. Hopefully that is changing, but watch for the Gov to "blame encryption" for the next bombing, if it becomes popular. More blowback from the Syrian CIA-aid-to-terrorists operation, perhaps - a "crisis" that should not be "wasted" (paraphrasing Rham Emanuel).

If people simply used encryption tech on their facebook posts / walls, that "corporate spy ring," which we don't hear nearly enough about, could be dealt with as well. Or, even better, switched to Diaspora and used encryption there.

[radhika]

4. Not to mention how Online Ad Rates will skyrocket......n/t

[kentauros]

5. "an option for the 5 billion people who don't have" the Internet.

Okay.

In order to do that they'll need to make 5 billion computers/devices available (not likely for free!) to those 5 billion people, not to mention making sure those same 5 billion actually get their hands on a computer without it then being confiscated by whatever fearful local authorities are in power.

To do that much, they'll have to get busy on strip-mining Afghanistan of all of its trillions of dollars' worth of rare earth materials. Does ZuckerMan have enough money to stabilize that country long enough to get all those materials out of the ground?

[CBGLuthier]

7. People can share devices.

When we first got on the internet we were a family of five with one computer. it can be done.

[kentauros]

9. That's still one billion devices.

That's a lot of material, including the rare earths I mentioned as well as plastics, i.e., oil.

Remember, too, that we're talking about corporate billionaires coming up with this idea. The connection may be for free, but getting there won't be. How many of those five billion will be able to afford the devices?

[penultimate]

23. They wouldn't have to be new devices...

Many organizations do refreshes every year or two, and the old systems are replaced with new ones.

[HumansAndResources]

46. In Dev-nations with 3G / Wifi - everyone has a smartphone

Not a $1000 device - but something that gets them a connection. And they 'text' on cellular where that isn't available.

Have you ever seen the tin-shacks with the satellite dishes on the side? No shoes, but got that tube to brainwash the kids into mindless consumers who think "what mall-junk you own" is the value of your life. I've seen TV destroy communities of people who were happy with just their farms and families. Sad, to watch kids sniffing paint-thinner because they think their lack of wealth makes their lives worthless. Hopefully Internet, which is 2-way, will be more beneficial and empowering.

[Posteritatis]

38. Smartphones are already astonishingly common in even incredibly undeveloped areas

People like assuming "internet access" means a computer and bandwidth setup that would satisfy a Canadian or a somewhat forgiving American, when a lot of developing areas are doing alright (relatively speaking) with what's effectively dialup or satellite bandwidth.

Right now there's about one billion smartphones out there; when you add simpler cellphones or other devices a surprisingly large majority of the world's population already has most of the equipment available. They're common enough that airtime on them is being used as de facto currency in a lot of areas, for instance (ever wonder why convenience stores in big cities make such a big deal about phone cards?)..

[olddots]

6. you pull this off Mark

and you'll still be sorry little nerd .

[cascadiance]

8. He'll propose a bill to do that with amendments to grow the H-1B quotas if immigration bill fails...

... that has those gifts in it that he's been working for in the tech elite's quest for their race to the bottom for labor costs...

[msongs]

10. don't see anything about FREE net access in that article nt

[former9thward]

37. Its on his FB page which the article was reporting.

We believe it’s possible to sustainably provide free access to basic internet services in a way
that enables everyone with a phone to get on the internet and join the knowledge economy
while also enabling the industry to continue growing profits and building out this infrastructure.

[NYC_SKP]

39. It won't cost money, but it won't really be "Free", either.

Like Facebook, the TOS will require users allow data mining of God only knows how much personal data, probably all of it.

[Auggie]

11. This shit has thrown "older" workers -- those over 30 -- under the bus ...

"I want to stress the importance of being young and technical," Facebook's CEO (now 28) told a Y Combinator Startup event at Stanford University in 2007. "Young people are just smarter. Why are most chess masters under 30? I don't know. Young people just have simpler lives. We may not own a car. We may not have family. Simplicity in life allows you to focus on what's important."

Fuck you Mark Zuckerberg.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/bottomline/article/In-Silicon-Valley-age-can-be-a-curse-4742365.php

[jtuck004]

13. I Second that Emotion. And Third it Too.

It's easy to appear smarter when the whole world cares what you think or say, and you have never done fuck all to build anything, just rested on someone else's shoulders, either through their military service or the taxes and blood, sweat, and tears they invested to build the world you live in.

The kids are the future, but unless we put the resources out there to fix the adults of today there may not be a world for them to sit around and gaze at themselves in.

That said, despite the crudely worded and ignorant statement, it's still a good idea. Now we need to get busy and implement it.

[Jackpine Radical]

29. People do peak out early in the case of some types of intellectual activity.

For example, most physicists do their best work before age 30 or so.

However, other types of intellectual function continue to grow across the lifespan. Poets and painters, for example, keep getting better throughout their productive lives. Wisdom is a slow-developing attribute.

[jtuck004]

42. I don't know if that is accurate. I do know that most resources are put toward them when they

are younger, and after the first big studies they tend to supervise more than do direct research. People are also beaten down by work, funding changes, technology may advance beyond where they are mentally without their being able to include it in their work, cultures change. I realize there are some anecdotal stories, but the research that has been done has a lot of variables to control for, testing is done, the generational increase we have seen in intelligence over time which hasn't really been explained, etc.

Found this as well... http://www.soulphysics.org/2008/05/when-is-prime-age-of-discovery-in/

You really have to watch what is out there. For example:

Co-Author of New Immigration Study Says Latinos not as Intelligent
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/05/08/co-author-of-new-immigration-study-says-latinos-not-as-intelligent/

We know that hasn't been true between white and black folk, yet here we are again.

and

Larry Summers, reportedly Obama's choice for the head of the Federal Reserve postulated in a speech as to why there weren't more women in the sciences...

"It does appear that on many, many different human attributes—height, weight, propensity for criminality, overall IQ, mathematical ability, scientific ability—there is relatively clear evidence that whatever the difference in means—which can be debated—there is a difference in the standard deviation, and variability of a male and a female population."

IQ? No shit?

And we know there are different kinds of "intelligence", where people are able to absorb more info early on, but are better able to hold and use it as a body as they grow older.

Just sayin' that it may be too simplistic to try and say people "peak out" early, since that conflates differing types of intellectual activity, so I'm not sure that one can narrow it down to "peaking out", or if it has more to do with culture, our own bias, etc.

I am still pretty sure Zuckerberg is a thieving, narcissistic wealthy asshole that I have little respect for, but that's just a gut feeling. On the other hand it is a fact that Facebook (among several companies) is gathering data at a tremendous pace, and I think there is good reason for people to pay attention to how they will use it or safeguard it.

[Duer 157099]

16. One day soon Fuckerberg will be over 50

then let's see what he thinks. Asshole.

[Brigid]

40. "Young people are just smarter?" Really?

Zuckerberg has obviously never seen any of those "World's Dumbest" shows on TruTV or any reality TV!

[Auggie]

41. I work in what is supposed to be a young person's business ...

and it floors me to think how BAD I was at it at the age of 28. I'm twice that age now and doing work 10 times better.

[tinrobot]

12. Internet for people who don't have computers...

...or decent food ...or sanitation ...or human rights

First things first, Zuckerman.

[dreamnightwind]

17. Throw in a 3-D printer,

and plenty of "ink", and let them print cake.

[SCVDem]

14. Two smartphones on Verizon

Sharing a 2 Gb plan is costing my unemployed ass $150 a month.

Let's work on that price.

I rarely use half a gig due to WiFi.

[tkmorris]

47. I am switching from Verizon to Credo

Mainly because my unlimited plan with Verizon will twilight as soon as I upgrade. My new plan with Credo will cost me $145 per month with THREE smartphones, and unlimited data. You might want to consider switching carriers when you can get out of the contract.

[Jesus Malverde]

18. Bet the free net looks more like a walled garden..nt

[Trillo]

19. Is this part of the anti-pornography strategy?

One of the reasons often given is that porn is allowed on the Internet because it is not "a public space."

[onehandle]

20. How can Samsung help? They can't do anything unless Apple does it first. nt

[penultimate]

25. lol...

(I'm Android user myself, but that made me giggle)

[DainBramaged]

22. NOTHING is free if this dick is involved

[DisgustipatedinCA]

30. That's true. But until everyone on the planet knows who Grumpy Cat is, we have work to do. n/t

[DainBramaged]

31. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Safetykitten]

35. Well said. Agree.

[jtuck004]

24. Everyone should be aware - THIS IS NOT ALTRUISTIC. YOU ARE THE PRODUCT.

This narcissistic little prick isn't proposing this out of the goodness of his empty heart. Facebook mines between 1 and 7 terabytes of personal data a day out of their servers, and it goes into big databases so they can find out things about the people that connect.

As an aside - that is the reason DARPA has put out a request for proposals to develop a way to find out the vulnerabilities and breadth of what is going on in the business world, after a report identified the likelihood that Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have and are getting ahold of the information that is easily, freely in some cases, available, and using it to figure out characteristics of communities and countries that would aid them in attacks.

Zuckerberg knows full well the value, to himself and other corporations, of billions more people on an Internet that he has access to, access to the things they look for, the data they move.

Remember: If you are not buying something (and even if you are) YOU are the product.

Not just to display ads at you, but the time you log in, what you look for, the time you log out, the methods you use, how you buy, when you buy...the list is long. That data is then used to manipulate your world by the corporations that own your environment. And you, in some cases.

So, yeah, Internet access for more people can be a good thing. It will give them access to resources and education and tools they would never have had.

Don't think of it as free, think of it as subsidized by you and everyone else, for their profit. Then you get a better picture.

[TM99]

26. Free Net access for all....

as long as it goes through the Facebook portal?

Fuck that! AOL all over again, no thank you!

Of course it will make the NSA's job easier - just one site with every user in the world connected to in order to have internet access.

Why do I feel like I am actually about to live in a William Gibson novel!?

[gopiscrap]

27. In many ways this would be pretty cool

[GliderGuider]

28. Welcome to the Cybernetic Civilization

The Dawn of Cybernetic Civilization

I've recently begun to suspect that humanity is at a point of endosymbiosis with our electronic communications and control technology, especially through the Internet. In a sense, we humans have incorporated ourselves as essential control elements of a planet-wide cybernetic super-organism. The precedent for something like this is the way that mitochondria migrated as bacteria into ancient prokaryotic cells to become essential components of the new eukaryotic cells that make up all modern organisms, including us.

To expand on the "super-organism" concept a bit, it looks to me as though what humanity has done over the last few centuries is built ourselves a global cybernetic exoskeleton. Although its development started back with the emergence of language and the taming of fire, it's most visible in the modern world, and especially in the last two decades.

Transportation systems act as its gut and bloodstream, carrying raw materials (the food of civilization) to the digestive organs of factories, and carrying the finished goods (the nutrients) to wherever they are needed. Engines and motors of all kinds are its muscles. The global electronic communication network is its nervous system, the world's financial network its endocrine system. Electronic sensors of a million kinds are its organs of taste, touch, smell and sight. Legal systems, police and military make up its immune system.

Human beings have evolved culturally to the point where we now act largely as hyper-functional decision-making neurons within this super-organism, with endpoint devices like smart phones, PCs and their descendants acting as synapses, and network connections being analogous to nerve fibers.

Just as neurons cannot live outside the body, we have evolved a system that doesn't permit humans to live outside its boundaries. Not only is there very little "outside" left, but access to the necessities of life is now only possible though the auspices of the cybernetic system itself. (For example, consider living without a socially-approved job. It's barely possible for a few people, but essentially impossible for most of us.) As we have developed this system around us, we have had to relinquish more and more of our autonomy in favor of helping the machine continue functioning and growing.

(More at the link)

I wrote the above one month ago. Now there's this.

We hope you enjoy your time in the Matrix. All exit doors have been locked for its protection, not yours.

[GeorgeGist]

32. Reading is fundamental.

It aint gonna be free.

https://fbcdn-dragon-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/851575_492821944140017_1070145609_n.pdf

[grantcart]

36. and they are allocating zero resources to assist the underclass to get access.

But it sounds altruistic.

[Skittles]

33. he just wants more people on his shit site

[Fearless]

34. It's a giant information territory war

Between him and Google.

Google doesn't like that Facebook info isn't indexable. Google Fiber is thought up. Facebook wants to create their own internet access. Do you see what's going on here?

They want your information.