Month: August 2017

Techdirt founder Mike Masnick in 2012. (credit: Joel Sage / flickr)

In the wake of an ongoing, expensive libel lawsuit that could drag on for years, Mike Masnick, the founder of Techdirt, announced Wednesday that his website would accept more than $250,000 in donations "to further reporting on free speech."

In a lengthy post, Masnick explained that the Freedom of the Press Foundation, along with other companies and organizations—including Automattic, the Charles Koch Foundation, Union Square Ventures, and a charity founded by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark—will "enable us to focus even more reporting resources on covering threats to free speech in the US and around the globe, and to tell the stories of the chilling effects created when free speech is attacked."

Masnick underscored to Ars that the money was not for the company’s legal defense, but for continued journalistic operations in this field. He acknowledged that the Koch Foundation, which has historically supported numerous conservative political causes, is an unlikely partner with some of the other donors.

(credit: Getty Images | Yuri_Arcurs)

Americans might not need a fast home Internet connection, the Federal Communications Commission suggests in a new document. Instead, mobile Internet via a smartphone might be all people need.

The suggestion comes in the FCC's annual inquiry into broadband availability. Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act requires the FCC to determine whether broadband (or more formally, "advanced telecommunications capability") is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. If the FCC finds that broadband isn't being deployed quickly enough to everyone, it is required by law to "take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market."

The FCC found during George W. Bush's presidency that fast Internet service was being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion. But during the Obama administration, the FCC determined repeatedly that broadband isn't reaching Americans fast enough, pointing in particular to lagging deployment in rural areas. These analyses did not consider mobile broadband to be a full replacement for a home (or "fixed") Internet connection via cable, fiber, or some other technology.

Enhance Games

When you see the phrases "classic Dreamcast game Rez" and "author Sam Machkovech" near each other, you can probably fill in the blanks yourself. I've raved. I've cried. I've covered myself in vibrators. I love the game, and I previously thought the classic game had reached its peak via a 4K- and VR-friendly re-release on PlayStation 4 last year.

Turns out Enhance Studios had a surprise up its retro-polygon sleeves: a PC version. With mouse support!