Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Craig Newmark

Google, Twitter, Yahoo!, and Other Tech Company Execs Sign Petition Against SOPA

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:49:35 +0000

Stop Online Piracy Act is a bill that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in October 2011 by Lamar Smith (R-TX). This Act would allow the Department of Justice and copyright holders to seek court orders against websites accused of copyright infringement that would prevent online ad networks and payment facilitators from doing business with those websites. Opponents in this bill believe that this is Internet censorship. Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, and Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang oppose the bill. Their letter will appear as a paid ad in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other newspapers.

The timing of this letter coincides with the scheduled committee vote taking place tomorrow with a revised version of the Act. The revision of SOPA will “give the U.S. government the power to censor the Web using techniques similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran.” Below is the full letter from the Internet executives:

An Open Letter to Washington
We’ve all had the good fortune to found Internet companies and nonprofits in a regulatory climate that promotes entrepreneurship, innovation, the creation of content and free expression online.
However we’re worried that the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act–which started out as well-meaning efforts to control piracy online–will undermine that framework.
These two pieces of legislation threaten to:
* Require web services, like the ones we helped found, to monitor what users link to, or upload. This would have a chilling effect on innovation;
* Deny website owners the right to due process of law;
* Give the U.S. Government the power to censor the web using techniques similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran; and
* Undermine security online by changing the basic structure of the Internet.
We urge Congress to think hard before changing the regulation that underpins the Internet. Let’s not deny the next generation of entrepreneurs and founders the same opportunities that we all had.
Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and Square
Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr and Hunch
David Filo, co-founder of Yahoo!
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn
Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post
Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube
Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive and co-founder of Alexa Internet
Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal
Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist
Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay
Biz Stone, co-founder of Obvious and Twitter
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation
Evan Williams, co-founder of Blogger and Twitter
Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!

Craig Newmark Launches Social Responsible Craigconnects

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:52:45 +0000

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark has launched a new website called Craigconnects. In a press release, it appears that Craigconnects is intended to serve as a platform for social responsibility and promote sustainable development organizations. “I guess I got myself a ‘bully pulpit’ of sorts that I don’t really want or need, but it’s good for getting the word out about people of good will who get stuff done,” said Newmark. “It’s a voice for the grassroots, the rank-and-file, for people who never had a voice until now.” Through Craigconnects, Newmark can be solicited as a speaker and traditional media source. You can visit Craigconnects at: http://www.craigconnects.org.

Craig Newmark Responds To Joke About Fighting Tom Anderson In Funny People

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:34:11 +0000

Judd Apatow’s newest movie Funny People takes a few swipes at making fun of celebrities such as Megan Fox and Jon Favreau. But in an unexpected move, Funny People also target Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson.

A question that was asked in the movie was who would win a fight between Newmark and Anderson. Nobody could answer the question in the movie, but Newmark himself responded. “We’d fight like nerds to the embarrassment of all,” quipped Newmark.

Funny People made $22 million in the opening weekend. The movie stars Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Eric Bana, and Jason Schwartzman. Last month, Jonah Hill discussed a fake Twitter account using his name on Letterman.

Craig Newmark Speaks At Craigslist Victim’s Memorial Concert In Minnesota

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:29:15 +0000

Craigslist.org has been at the center of attention over a recent killing spree allegedly by medical student Philip Markoff. Two years ago, 24 year old Katherine Ann Olson responded to a phony baby-sitting ad on Craigslist and was murdered. Craig Newmark took the podium at Olson’s memorial concert recently.

“Despite the billions of times well-meaning people have helped each other through Craigslist, it’s been devastating to see that it can also be used by bad people to take cruel advantage of others and bring a senseless end to a beautiful young life,” stated Newmark at the podium. “The most recent crime in Boston has been a grim reminder of that.”

In October 2007, Olson graduated from St. Olaf College with a dual degree in theater and Hispanic studies. She was working several part-time jobs at the time of her murder. On Craigslist, there was an ad listed by the name of Amy who agreed to hire her from 10:30AM-5PM. Amy sent her address in Savage, Minnesota. When Olson showed up, it turned ot to be Michael Anderson instead of Amy. He was carrying a Ruger .357 Magnum Blackhawk revolver gun at the time. Anderson became known as “The Craigslist Killer.”

In March 2009, the sheriff of Cook County in Chicago decided to sue Craigslist in response to the arrest of 76 prostitutes made through the use of the classifieds website.

Below is a full video of Newmark’s speech at the concert.