“Web” on The Daily Caller

Tea Party groups FreedomWorks and Tea Party Express are both rolling out some new technology to keep grassroots conservatives connected with each other and with their elected leaders in Washington. (more)

Entrepreneurs in the pornography industry aren’t happy about the explosion of websites offering vast stores of free porn to Internet users. (more)

1.) Establishment Republicans conflicted over whose back to pat for busted omnibus bill — Majority Leader Harry Reid folded during last night’s high-stakes po(r)ker game. Now Beltway types are racing to cement a narrative for exactly what made the GOP so bold. “The defeat of a pork-laden $1.1 trillion ‘omnibus’ spending bill in the Senate Thursday night was the first serious indication after the Nov. 2 election that the Tea Party movement has staying power and will be a force into 2011,” writes The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward. “Some Republicans on Capitol Hill said Thursday night that GOP leadership played a pivotal role as well. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was said to have pressured key GOP lawmakers to stand firm against the legislation, though some in leadership said the conference was fairly united against it from the beginning.” Less, uh, established folks, like Sen. Tom Coburn’s beard, were more willing to give all credit to the Tea Party: “It was 100 percent grassroots…The American people took it down,” said Coburn spokesman John Hart. Also, bitter Democrats, one of whom dejectedly chalked up the broke-down omnibus to Congressional Republicans being “a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tea Party.” (more)

The investigative arm of the Homeland Security Department appears to be shutting down websites that facilitate copyright infringement. (more)

WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone. (more)

“Information wants to be free” has long been the mantra of the Internet. Once a video, a song, or a news story is on the Web, it’s harder to rein in than a roomful of curious cats. (more)

The Russian investment vehicle that bought a $200m stake in Facebook last year is preparing to buy stakes in dozens of well-known internet companies as Russia turns to the internet to lead its future prosperity. (more)

Broadband and Web service companies are beefing up their lobbying forces in Washington as the multibillion-dollar battle over Internet regulations gathers momentum. (more)

The FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on net neutrality announced in October 2009 just closed the “comments period” this past Friday. This was the period in which anyone may address the FCC’s announced NPRM and provide positive or negative comments, solutions, and advice. If the proposed rules move forward in their current fashion, or with the possibility of being even more restrictive, they will most likely squash all legitimate and necessary forms of network management. When the rules fall into, place time-sensitive services and applications like voice-over-IP (VoIP) will suffer and operate in a degraded form. The results of which will be stagnation in Internet innovation and advancement, further damage to our economy, and higher prices for Internet access in areas in which Internet service providers (ISP) are dependent on network management techniques to deliver quality service to their customers. (more)