Mediaboss Marketing

Samuel LaHoz

A group of experts faced off on the motion "When It Comes to Politics, the Internet Is Closing Our Minds" at an Intelligence Squared U.S. debate on April 17 in New York City.

On the Internet, it's easy to find like-minded people and to frequent sites whose content you already agree with. And the online world is increasingly tailored to individual preferences and interests including search engines serving up more personalized results for your queries.

But are we running the risk of getting trapped in information bubbles, where all we read and see falls in line with our political views?

A group of experts took on that topic in the latest Intelligence Squared U.S. debate. They faced off two-against-two in an Oxford-style debate on the motion "When It Comes to Politics, the Internet Is Closing Our Minds."

Before the debate, the audience at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University voted 28 percent for the motion and 37 percent against, with 35 percent undecided. Afterward, the vote was 53 percent for the motion, with 36 percent against meaning the side arguing the Internet is closing our minds carried the debate. (Eleven percent remained undecided.)

The April 17 debate was moderated by ABC News' John Donvan. Those debating were:

FOR THE MOTION

Eli Pariser (left) and Siva Vaidhyanathan argued that "When It Comes To Politics, The Internet Is Closing Our Minds."

Eli Pariser (left) and Siva Vaidhyanathan argued that "When It Comes To Politics, The Internet Is Closing Our Minds."

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Is The Internet Closing Our Minds Politically?

Vinton Cerf, considered one of the fathers of the internet for co-designing the TCP/IP protocol, was inducted into ISOC's Hall of Fame Monday.

GENEVA, Switzerland The best revolutionaries eventually find themselves hailed in tributes and enshrined in museums.

So its almost inevitable that nearly 30 years after the official birthdate of the internet, some of the nets best-known pioneers, radicals, and troublemakers are being inducted into the Internet Societys Hall of Fame.

The inaugural group includes 33 of the nets most influential engineers, evangelists and entrepreneurs including internet fathers Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf; internet standards guru Jon Postel; web inventor Tim Berners-Lee; encryption pioneer Phil Zimmerman; and Mozillas Mitchell Baker.

And, yes, snarky late night comedy aside former vice president Al Gore is being inducted as well.

The inductees were announced Monday in Geneva, Switzerland at Internet Societys annual conference, where the group is celebrating its 20th year. ISOC is home to the Internet Engineering Task Force, the nets technical standards setting body, and is funded largely by the .org top level domain.

While the internets origins are firmly based in American university computer labs and DARPA, the U.S. militarys long-term research arm, Geneva is a natural home for the awards. The World Wide Web was born here at Cern, just a few kilometers from the conference center, and Switzerland has a long history as an international center for diplomacy symbolically important for an organization dedicated to including civil society, engineers, corporations and governments in decisions affecting the net.

But as the revolutionaries celebrate having created the worlds most important communications medium, they also murmur about looming threats to their creation. This year saw the U.S. government push to modify the nets infrastructure to protect the business model of the music and motion picture industry in the U.S., setting off a dramatic protest in the U.S. Around the globe, repressive and authoritarian regimes have reacted to political dissent by installing filters, firewalls and first-world surveillance technologies.

Geneva is also home to the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. arm that sets rules, standards and rates for international telecommunications, and parts of whose membership has been making noise about exerting more state control over internet governance. That move seen to be driven by non-democratic countries including Russia, China and states in the Middle East is seen as by many at ISOC as a threat to the the core principles of the internet.

But despite those looming clouds, the internets founders and visionaries have much to celebrate. Some two billion people around the world are connected to the internet, where they can communicate locally and globally for virtually no-cost and have access to knowledge, news and gossip at a speed and depth imaginable 30 years ago only by a small handful of people many of whom are being inducted into the hall of fame for envisioning and building that network of networks.

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The Internet Gets a Hall of Fame (Including Al Gore!)

WASHINGTON For computer users, a few mouse clicks could mean the difference between staying online and losing Internet connections this summer.

Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. In a highly unusual response, the FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers to prevent Internet disruptions for those infected users. But that system is to be shut down.

The FBI is encouraging users to visit a website run by its security partner, http://www.dcwg.org, that will inform them whether they're infected and explain how to fix the problem. After July 9, infected users won't be able to connect to the Internet.

LONG ARM OF SCOFFLAW: An online ad scam is having some unintended ramifications: The fix may prevent as many as 360,000 from getting online. Several sites will show if you're infected:

DNS Changer Working Group: can discern whether youre infected and explain how to fix the problem.

DNSChanger Eye Chart: if the site goes red, youre in harms way. Green means clean.

The FBI website: type in the IP address of your DNS server to find out if it is infected.

Read more on how to stay safe

Most victims don't even know their computers have been infected, although the malicious software probably has slowed their web surfing and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more vulnerable to other problems.

Last November, the FBI and other authorities were preparing to take down a hacker ring that had been running an Internet ad scam on a massive network of infected computers.

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Internet Alert: Will Virus Shut Off Your Connection?

MANCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Renesys Corporation, a world leader in Internet Intelligence, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded the company a patent (U.S. No. 8,161,152) for its methods and systems for monitoring Internet routing. The patent recognizes Renesys' unique capability to collect and model the complicated inter-relationships between customers, providers, and peers, from multiple vantage points on the Internet, looking beyond traditional network monitoring.

Despite continuing advances in network and application monitoring tools, the Internet remains a huge blind spot in most companies' strategic and operational plans. Renesys patented technology provides insight into the configuration,stability, safety and health of the Internet as a whole.

"Our specialized method of collecting and correlating Internet routing data on a global basis provides the industry's most comprehensive foundation for analyzing and understanding the Internet. Most people would like to consider the Internet just a utility when it works, but in reality, its a sophisticated system of inter-related networks and providers that is always changing and is often disrupted. Our capabilities provide intelligence, to help organizations make critical buying and operational decisions to optimize their use of the Internet," said James Cowie, CTO, Renesys. "The Internet is the key to economic growth worldwide, making it cost-effective for every company to do business on a global scale. Its a globally robust asset, yet at times locally fragile --- prone to accidental misconfiguration, failure, and attack. We provide the knowledge that organizations need to minimize risk and maximize the value of the Internet."

The patent for monitoring the Internet was awarded to Renesys co-founders Andrew T. Ogielski and James H. Cowie, and is the core technology that powers the companys full suite of Internet Intelligence products, including Market Intelligence, Routing Alarms, and the Internet Health Portal. The original patent application was filed on March 18, 2004 (10/803,767).

About Renesys:

Renesys, the leader in Global Internet Intelligence, provides products, services and thought leadership to network service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide. As a trusted source of deep insight into the Internet since 2000, we offer solutions to help our customers find competitive advantage, operate their businesses more efficiently, and manage the growing risks of increasing dependence on the Internet. The Company is privately held and headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire and maintains global computing facilities in US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Additionalinformation is available atwww.renesys.com.

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Renesys Granted Patent for Monitoring Internet Routing by United States Patent Office

WASHINGTON & GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The names of the inaugural Internet Hall of Fame inductees were announced today at the Internet Societys Global INET 2012 conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Internet pioneers and luminaries from around the world gathered at the conference to mark the Internet Societys 20th anniversary, and attend an Awards Gala to honor the following 2012 inductees:

Pioneers Circle

Recognizing individuals who were instrumental in the early design and development of the Internet: Paul Baran, Vint Cerf, Danny Cohen, Steve Crocker, Donald Davies, Elizabeth Feinler, Charles Herzfeld, Robert Kahn, Peter Kirstein, Leonard Kleinrock, John Klensin, Jon Postel, Louis Pouzin, and Lawrence Roberts.

Innovators

Recognizing individuals who made outstanding technological, commercial, or policy advances and helped to expand the Internets reach: Mitchell Baker, Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, Van Jacobson, Lawrence Landweber, Paul Mockapetris, Craig Newmark, Raymond Tomlinson, Linus Torvalds, and Philip Zimmermann.

Global Connectors

Recognizing individuals from around the world who have made significant contributions to the global growth and use of the Internet: Randy Bush, Kilnam Chon, Al Gore, Nancy Hafkin, Geoff Huston, Brewster Kahle, Daniel Karrenberg, Toru Takahashi, and Tan Tin Wee.

Commenting on the 2012 Internet Hall of Fame inductees, Internet Society President and CEO Lynn St.Amour stated, This historic assembly of Internet visionaries, innovators, and leaders represents an extraordinary breadth of vision and work. While the inductees have extremely diverse backgrounds and represent many different countries, each individual has an incredible passion for their work. We all benefit from their outstanding contributions to a global Internet, making it one of the greatest catalysts of economic and societal development of all time.

Ral Echeberra, Chairman of the Internet Societys Board of Trustees, noted, "The Internet, which connects more than two billion people around the world today, is the result of many important contributions from creative and visionary individuals over the past several decades. The 2012 Internet Hall of Fame celebrates the advancements of 33 talented people who have made significant contributions to the design, development, and expansion of the Internet."

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Internet Hall of Fame Inductees Honored at Historic First Annual Awards Ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland