[Cybertel-Ann] 11.9 :: Broadband Over Comrades :: Bread and Circus :: WiMax Go Boom :: FiOS Go Flaming :: Sorry, Wrong Number ::

[Robert Cannon]

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Civilization is a limitless multiplication of
unnecessary necessities.
- More Maxims of Mark, Johnson, 1927

Broadband Via Spy Plane - Russian Myasishchev M-55 spy
planes, DSLreports, 11/9/2007 
For years we've discussed the idea of broadband by
blimp, which never seems to materialize. Now the
latest proposed broadband delivery mechanism that may
never see the light of day is -- broadband via spy
plane. Techdirt notes that the plane's manufacturer is
proposing the use of discontinued Russian Myasishchev
M-55 spy planes to provide round the clock wireless
broadband service.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Broadband-Via-Spy-Plane-89201
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/

"Bread & Circuses" -- A telecom conspiracy theory,
Verizon, 11/9/2007 
In a town replete with conspiracy theories, XO
Communications CEO Carl Grivner test flew a real doozy
in his Washington Post letter published on Friday,
“And Now, for the FCC’s Next Trick.” Likening
members of the FCC to corrupt Roman emperors, he
suggests the agency’s recent action to increase
cable TV choice for apartment dwellers is a mere
“bread and circuses” sop to the masses to distract
them from its dark deeds to come. Unfortunately for
Grivner, his colorful invective fails to divert...
http://policyblog.verizon.com/PolicyBlog/Blogs/policyblog/DavidFish9/396/-quot-Bread-amp-Circuses-quot-A-telecom-conspiracy-theory.aspx#When:21:09:47
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/

Sprint and Clearwire Scrap WiMax Pact: Report, eWeek,
11/9/2007 
The pair scrap plans for a nationwide high-speed
wireless network based on the emerging WiMax
technology.
http://feeds.ziffdavisenterprise.com/~r/RSS/tech/~3/182202735/0,1759,2214488,00.asp
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wimax.htm

Sprint and Clearwire cancel joint WiMAX deployment,
Muni, 11/9/2007 
Sprint and Clearwire will not be partnering after all
to deploy a WiMAX network in the US. I've been very
critical of this deal from an anti-competitive point
of view.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/muniwireless/~3/182039135/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wimax.htm

CDT Joins Brief Urging Liability Protection for
Internet Content Venues, CDT, 11/9/2007 
The Center for Democracy & Technology joined with
other public interest and Internet industry groups to
urge a federal appeals court to shield websites from
legal action stemming from content their users post.
In a case involving the Roommates.com website, an
initial three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court
of Appeals held that the website should not receive
the normal protections afforded under "Section 230" of
federal law from liability for content posted by the
site's individual users. The entire court agreed to
reconsider that initial decision. The "friend of the
court" brief, which CDT joined, argued that Section
230 protection is vital to the robust speech and
debate on the Internet, and that a website should not
lose that protection because it gives users specific
options for expressing their views.
http://www.cdt.org/headlines/1060
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm

Bell and Traffic Shaping, Michael Geist, 11/9/2007 
Many people have written to note that new reports from
P2Pnet, Ars Technica, and Technaute.com indicate that
Bell has admitted that it is traffic shaping
peer-to-peer applications such as BitTorrent.  I
argued a couple of weeks ago that the starting point
to address these issues is for far greater
transparency from Canada's ISPs.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~3/181026642/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Interested in Net Neutrality?, IPDI, 11/9/2007 
Our friends at the DC chapter of the Association for
Computing Machinery will present a panel discussion on
net neutrality on Monday, November 12. It’s free and
open to the public, membership in the ACM is not
required. Panelists include:
http://www.ipdi.org/blog/index.php/2007/11/08/interested-in-net-neutrality/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

U.S. control over Internet debated, Globe and Mail,
11/9/2007 
World forum opens with discussions over American
oversight of core web domain names
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/181848061/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/icann.htm

Wrong IP Address Puts Man In Prison For 50 Days,
Techdirt, 11/9/2007 
As many companies would still like to believe that an
IP address is all you need to identify a person using
a computer, it's worth remembering that not only does
an IP address not definitively identify who was using
a computer, but it can easily get mixed up. A year
ago, we had the story of someone whose house got
incorrectly raided (by Shaquille O'Neal, for some
unexplained reason) for child porn after an ISP gave
investigators the wrong IP address info.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20071106/175022.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ip.htm

Joint Statement on Internet Governance Forum, NTIA,
11/9/2007 
Commerce and State Departments Release Joint Statement
by Assistant Secretary John M. R. Kneuer and
Ambassador David A. Gross on the Second Meeting of the
Internet Governance Forum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
November 12-15, 2007
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2007/IGF_110807.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ntia.htm

AOL Learns That You Can't Just Go 'Free, With Ads.'
You Need To Give People Reasons To Visit, Techdirt,
11/9/2007 
It's been a little over a year since AOL made the big
decision to go free. It was about the only thing the
company could do at the time. It's subscriptions were
dropping rapidly. It held little to differentiate
itself from the many free services out there. It had
failed to build a real broadband strategy for years.
The problem, though, was that the decision to go free
was made way too late and, most importantly, without
much additional strategy behind it. It seemed like the
strategy was basically just "if we go free, we'll sell
ads."
http://techdirt.com/articles/20071107/174008.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/aol.htm

Another Step for a Remade AOL, NYT, 11/9/2007 
AOL has scooped up yet another online advertising
company — Quigo, a company that has faced off with
Google and Yahoo in selling contextual text ads.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/technology/08adco.html?ex=1352264400&en=7c5eb154577dd370&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/aol.htm

Google and Cellphones: Let Freedom Ring, Wash Post,
11/9/2007 
Google might save the cellphone from its miserable
self. In a year. If wireless carriers stop acting
like, well, wireless carriers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR2007110702441.html?nav=rss_technology
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/google.htm

Couple sues Verizon over flaming fiber optic service
install, CW, 11/9/2007 
A Pennsylvania couple is suing Verizon Communications
after FiOS installers hit an electric line that
started a fire and mostly destroyed their apartment
near Philadelphia.
http://feeds.computerworld.com/~r/Computerworld/News/~3/181283678/article.do
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/verizon.htm

We Knew FiOS Was Fast, But Why Is It Always Setting
People's Homes On Fire?, Techdirt, 11/9/2007 
We've had a few stories now about Verizon FiOS (its
fiber optic broadband offering) installs that resulted
in fires and damaged properties. While Verizon's PR
folks have focused an awful lot of effort on
convincing reporters that where there's smoke there
isn't necessarily fire, perhaps the company should put
a few more resources towards both preventing fires and
fixing things up for those whose property was
destroyed by install-related fires.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20071106/180332.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/verizon.htm

Vonage tentatively settles AT&T patent lawsuit,
reports loss, CW, 11/9/2007 
Vonage reaches a tenative agreement to settle a patent
infringement lawsuit by AT&T.
http://feeds.computerworld.com/~r/Computerworld/News/~3/181730042/article.do
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/vonage.htm

Arg! Senate PIRATE Act Reintroduced. Arg!, PK,
11/9/2007 
U.S. Senator Leahy (D-VT) just dropped the “The
Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill Of 2007.”
We’re still reading over it, but in the bill’s
provisions are at least parts of the old PIRATE Act
from 2004 which gives the Justice Department the
ability to file civil suits against copyright
infringers. It also looks like there’s a provision
that amends the DMCA to change the definition of a
trafficker. Hey, I thought reopenning the DMCA was off
limits?!
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/181334639/1257
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm

Senators want Justice Department to sue P2P pirates,
CNET, 11/9/2007 
Lawyers representing the Recording Industry
Association of America may soon have a powerful new
ally in court. A new proposal in Congress would let
the U.S. Department of Justice file civil lawsuits
against copyright pirates on peer-to-peer networks.
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9813358-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm

CBS and Viacom Executive Chairman Hip to Digital
Trends, NYT, 11/9/2007 
Sumner Redstone said that he’s hip to digital trends
and that CBS and Viacom are well positioned to take
advantage of industry changes.
http://www.nytimes.com/paidcontent/PCORG_316709.html?ex=1352350800&en=1d9e2a9e40c3f4fe&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

Merger talks between ultra-fast Internet networks end,
Globe and Mail, 11/9/2007 
No description
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/181672939/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/internet2.htm

Two States, Two Very Different Approaches To VoIP
Regulation, Techdirt, 11/9/2007 
For many years, states have been trying to tax VoIP
providers as if they were telcos. From the states'
perspective, they were using a "quacks like a duck"
test, whereby any phone service that acted like a
traditional phone service should get taxed like a
traditional phone service. Since states rely on tax
dollars so much, this feeling was reinforced as people
started ditching landline phone service for VoIP
providers. However, there are a few problems with
this. The reason that telcos are taxed is because of
the structure of the telephone system, and the fact
that the government more or less handed over rights of
way and control of the system to private companies.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20071107/010032.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/

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