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What's an Evangerealist?

BY Jed Miller | Friday, June 4 2010

Internet evangerealists don't talk at you about what's possible, they talk with you about what's needed. They don't work with products, they work with people. They don't have wireless headsets, they have conversations. ... Read More

The Filter Bubble and the News You Need To Know

BY Nick Judd | Thursday, June 3 2010

(UPDATE: For reference, see this Wired article — thanks @jakebrewer.) At Personal Democracy Forum 2010 earlier this morning, Eli Pariser said that the increasing sophistication with which information is filtered ... Read More

PdF 2010: Cory Booker Joins Stellar Keynote Array

BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, May 27 2010

We're pleased to announce that Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey and probably the most net-savvy elected official in America, will be joining Personal Democracy Forum 2010 as a keynote speaker on the final ... Read More

PdF 2010: Announcing This Year's Google PdF Fellows

BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, May 24 2010

We're pleased to announced this year's group of Google Personal Democracy Forum Fellows, who will be attending the conference thanks to the support of Google. As with past years, there were many highly qualified ... Read More

PdF 2010: Announcing the Developer Track

BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, May 18 2010

We're doing something new this year at Read More

PdF 2010: Newt Gingrich and Daniel Ellsberg Join Keynoters

BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, May 13 2010

We're pleased to announce that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and America's most famous whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, will be keynoting at PdF 2010. Read More

PdF 2010: Preview of the Plenary Sessions and Keynotes

BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, April 28 2010

We have an amazing array of keynote talks planned for Personal Democracy Forum this year. While we're still tinkering with the exact schedule, here's an advance look at what to expect on each day of the event. This isn't ... Read More

New PdF 2010 Speakers: Julian Assange, Bryan Sivak, and Many More!

BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, April 19 2010

With the seventh annual Personal Democracy Forum conference just over six weeks away, here’s an update on some exciting new keynoters and panels. We’re still juggling some speakers and breakout sessions, and I’ll ... Read More

Announcing PdF Europe (Nov 20-21) and PdF 2010 Special 2-For-1 Offer

BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, June 29 2009

Big news! Personal Democracy Forum Europe, our first conference overseas, is happening November 20-21 in Barcelona, at the Torre Agbar (pictured below). To get on the mailing list for more details, go to ... Read More

News Briefs

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On Change.org, a Big-Name Call for Dimon's Ouster from New York Fed

The International Monetary Fund's former Chief Economist Simon Johnson is using Change.org to build support for his position that JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon must resign from the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Johnson, a British economist who's a longtime professor at MIT, established the petition on Wednesday. Since then, more than 3,000 people have signed on to support his position. GO

Howard Rheingold on Congress, Digital Literacy, and Making Political Movements

From Congress to the classroom, digital literacy is a key skill that's often sorely lacking, Howard Rheingold, author of the new book "Net Smart: How to Thrive Online," said on Thursday's Personal Democracy Plus call — but there are ways to change that.

Rheingold derided "the degree of technological ignorance" in government and in particular Congress. "It's worse than ignorance," he said. "It's know-nothingness ... it's so endemic." During the fight over the Stop Online Piracy Act, members of Congress could often be heard pleading their ignorance of the Internet and its inner workings even as debating legislation that some said would alter the structure of the global communications network.

The call, moderated by TechPresident editorial director Micah Sifry, was recorded and is available online here.

GO

Should U.N. Politics Affect the Internet?

A key U.S. House subcommittee plans on examining the implications of the U.S. ceding control of key aspects of the global Internet infrastructure next Thursday. The House Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on Communications and Technology announced Wednesday that it's going to hold a hearing on proposals at the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union to afford more control over Internet governance to countries other than the United States. GO

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This Isn't What Political Air Time Usually Means

MoveOn.org is asking supporters for $150,000 in donations to fly a plane above high-dollar fundraisers for Mitt Romney with "a message that reminds voters how he represents his corporate and 1% donors." MoveOn previously hired a plane to fly over Romney's Liberty University graduation speech with the message "GOP = HIGHER SCHOOL DEBT." GO

There's a New $200 Million Fund for Super-High-Speed Broadband Projects

An initiative to build and test gigabit-speed broadband networks is set to fund up to six next-generation Internet access projects across the country, fueled by a new $200 million broadband development funding program, Gigabit Squared and Gig.U announced this morning. GO

New Rice University Paper Chronicles Impact of the Internet On U.S. Foreign Policy

We all know that the Internet has transformed the way that the United States conducts diplomacy, and the way that it views national security, but where should we look to find evidence of this? This is the wide-ranging subject matter of a new paper published on Tuesday by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. The paper provides a round-up of some of the major turns of events between 2005 and 2011 in the realms of Internet governance, the development of online public diplomacy at the State Department, the evolution of the Internet-fueled Arab Spring, and the establishment of the shadowy U.S. Cyber Command in Fort Meade, Maryland, among other things. GO

Messin' with Lamar Smith, Revisited

Remember that grassroots fundraising campaign to put a "Don't Mess with the Internet" billboard in the home district of Rep. Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas and sponsor of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act? All of the money required came in, and Fight for the Future, the advocacy group opposing more stringent copyright protections online, writes that the billboard went up. GO

Republican National Convention Organizers Sever Ties With Becki Donatelli's Campaign Solutions

After eight years producing online content for the Republican National Convention, GOP web consultant Becki Donatelli's Campaign Solutions is off of the project. "Campaign Solutions was retained to help develop our convention website and digital strategy, but they are no longer involved in convention planning," James Davis, the convention's communications director, told techPresident Tuesday. It's unclear what precipitated the of the relationship between the convention organizers and Campaign Solutions, which has been producing the online component of the event since 2004. But Donatelli's name surfaced in a controversial anti-Obama ad pitch sent to a Super PAC backed by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, which appeared in its entirety in the Times last week. Ricketts has since disavowed the proposal and Donatelli has denied any involvement. GO

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