Repeating our earlier plea.

Comments(0)

UPDATE: If you have problems when voting, call the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

UPDATED to reflect Katherine Harris’ vote against Net neutrality in the House.

Several times since Florida Free Culture was founded, I’ve exhorted our members and friends to vote — but this is the first time since our founding that we’ll have the chance to vote in a national election. In Florida, a Senate seat and all House seats are up for grabs, as well as the Governor’s mansion and a bevy of state and local offices. If you haven’t yet voted early or by absentee, your last chance will be this Tuesday, Nov. 7.

In Alachua County, polls will be open 7 am - 7 pm. You must be registered to vote, and you must vote in the precinct where you live; however, you need not be registered in Alachua County or in your current precinct. If you are registered anywhere in Florida, you can change your address at the polls. Voters must present photo and signature ID (such as a driver’s license) in order to vote; if you don’t have your ID, you may vote a provisional ballot. However, provisional ballots are disqualified at a far higher rate than regular ballots, so remember your ID if possible. Anyone in line to vote at 7 pm will be allowed to vote. Absentee ballots must be received by the Supervisor of Elections by 7 pm.

If you need to look up your precinct, a sample ballot, or other information, please visit the Supervisor of Elections Web site. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call their office, preferably before Election Day.

If you live on campus, you will vote at either the Reitz Union or the Harn Museum. Since you are not required to be registered in Alachua County, only in the state of Florida: if you are registered somewhere else in Florida (e.g. at home), you may go vote in your current precinct of residence and change your registration when you vote (as long as you haven’t already voted somewhere else in this election). Again, if you have questions, call the Supervisor of Elections — don’t be deterred from voting simply because you’re not sure of something!

Not sure who you vote for? You may find Declan McCullagh’s Technology Voter Guide handy (and see the accompanying article). Of course, any guide comes with its own point-of-view and biases, and can only offer a limited perspective; this guide gives ratings only to incumbents, and remember it’s a “technology” voter guide, not a “free culture” voter guide.

One important vote not included in the above guide is the issue of Net neutrality. In the House, both of Gainesville’s Congresspeople, Cliff Stearns (R-6) and Corrine Brown (D-3), voted against Net neutrality (story here). Rep. Stearns’ opponent, Dave Bruderly, published an op-ed in support of Net neutrality this summer; Rep. Brown is running unopposed.

In the other chamber, Florida’s Senator up for re-election, Bill Nelson (D), voted for Net neutrality as a Commerce committee member; the vote never came to the floor in the Senate (yet). Nelson’s Republican opponent, Katherine Harris, is currently serving in the House; when the aforementioned Markey amendment came to the floor, Rep. Harris voted against Net neutrality. Don’t know about any of the minor candidates for Senate; if you have any information, post it in the comments.

A while back, Jake at IPac told me they’d be compiling a voter guide, but I can’t find it anywhere, so I guess it never happened.

Anyway, at the end of the day you have to make your own decisions. Just make sure you vote!

Comments(1)

“Book bonanza,” editorial, Independent Florida Alligator, August 31, 2006.

Hopefully, we won’t have to run a story someday about students facing humongous fines, prison time or a firing squad for illegally downloading a book. But who knows? The music industry has turned plenty of Napster fiends into horrifying cautionary tales. There’s no reason Barnes & Noble couldn’t do the same thing.

Comments(0)

“Ruling tells companies hands off orange and blue,” by Kim Fulscher, Gainesville Sun, August 29, 2006.

In a landmark decision, the United States District Court Eastern District for Louisiana ruled last month that universities can protect their school color schemes as trademarks against unlicensed use by companies.

… the new ruling outlines that the simple use of a college’s colors on items, even when the name of the institution is not displayed, violates a trademark, said said Bruce Siegal, senior vice president for Collegiate Licensing Company.

Comments(2)

“Bills could make Internet less accessible,” by Mickie Edwardson, Gainesville Sun, July 6, 2006.

Some worry that the charges made to Internet service providers might make small companies (including non-profits) unable to pay the fees to get on the Internet. There is even the worry that the telco broadband providers might discriminate against political views with which the providers disagree.

Your choices as a consumer might be limited as some web services you would like to consult may become unavailable.

Comments(0)

“Net effect would be to stifle Web content,” by Mike Bruda, Gainesville Sun, July 2, 2006

If ISPs get their way, even though you and your favorite Web sites pay premium prices for broadband, many of those same sites will be relegated to dial-up speeds because their data is of lower priority than the bigger companies who pay more. Sort of like if we were all diverted to one congested lane on the highway while the Wal-Mart trucks zoom by in the open lanes.

Comments(0)

“Patently absurd: Who owns the rights to biological truths?,” by Christopher R. Cogle, Gainesville Sun, June 11, 2006.

Comments(0)