Comments on: Democrats and Republicans fight about making the web more accessible to congress — at least they’re trying

By: Eric Eldon

Eric Eldon — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:40:35 +0000

Rizzn, I completely agree about this: “[I]t should be suggested that the arcane rules be done away with or highly modified with an eraser.”

I think Capuano just doesn't understand all of this new stuff and it shows. I don't think he's trying to censor Twitter. He explicitly said he's not aiming to do that, although his poorly-phrased letter could lead one to think that.

Basically, I think everyone wants the same thing and I'm afraid that Culberson, Capuano — and you — are too partisan. I've enjoyed a lot of your articles but it makes me sad to see you taking sides here instead of trying to provide more clarity for everyone.

By: Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:58:31 +0000

The congressional Democrat behind this *is* effectively censoring Twitter usage for all of Congress by attempting to enforce the House rules on this (and he *is* framing this in a partisan manner). His response to the public outcry even further re-inforced that it was partisan motivated – his protestations were belied by his overtly partisan rhetoric. I know most folks in the tech world aren't seeing this from a partisan perspective, but that's what it's amounting to.

The way the house rules work, the disclaimer and approval process virtually rules out not only info and communication coming out in a timely manner, but twitter as a communications medium at all (140 chrs doesn't even start to cover the disclaimer).

Instead of enforcing or “loosening” (read: regulated whitelist) restrictions, it should be suggested that the arcane rules be done away with or highly modified with an eraser.

By: Eric Eldon

Eric Eldon — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:00:24 +0000

Sorry, Aaron, I'm dense, tell me what I *didn't* know. I did not intentionally avoid crediting you. The problem is, I'm just not sure what you think I should have credited you for, in the first place.

After Culberson had already gone on the warpath, I had thought that you had responded with a blog post, like O'Reilly and others who, like you, I respect but didn't link to or mention in this article.

Let me know what I missed and I'll update the article.

By: Aaron Brazell

Aaron Brazell — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:07:11 +0000

Wondering why the heck you completely went out of your way to avoid crediting me on any of this? Did you just *happen* to not notice my coverage? Come on, Eric.

http://technosailor.com/2008/07/08/democrats-tr...

I'm not buying the excuse that you didn't know, so please don't use it.

By: Congress Trying to ban Twitter and Other Social Media Use by Representatives

Congress Trying to ban Twitter and Other Social Media Use by Representatives — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:50:50 +0000

[...] Beat completely fails to acknowledge this coverage here. Interesting, especially, because I’ve been prominently linked from all over, including [...]

By: John Wonderlich

John Wonderlich — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:26:06 +0000

“Two ships passing in the night, somehow headed in the same direction”

I work at the Sunlight Foundation, and wrote some of the posts you reference above. Thanks for a cool headed look at the situation!

Also, I think the “ships passing” quote is perfect here…