[Cybertel-Ann] 10.17.7 :: Good Samaritan Resurrected! :: Verizon says "Let's Be Clear" :: Green Neutrality :: Oops, I'm Suppose to Know How to Vote??? :: iToxin :: You've Got Pink Slip :: RIAA v USENET :: Google Blinks ::

Wed Oct 17 06:46:48 PDT 2007

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             CyberTelecom News  
      Federal Internet Law and Policy
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New and Slightly Improved RSS Feeds – now with an RSS
Feed for the FCC Daily Digest 
http://www.cybertelecom.org/news.htm 
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“When I toured the space program with Kennedy, he was
surprised to see me,” Minow said. “I said ‘Mr.
President, communications satellites will be much more
important than sending man into space because they
will send ideas into space. Ideas last longer than
men.’ FCC Chair Newton Minow (1961-63)
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/medill/inside/news/debate_expert_and_medill_board_member_newton_minow_shares_election_observations.html

BBC online to go free over wi-fi, BBC, 10/17/2007 
The BBC's online services will be made available free
of charge at thousands of wi-fi hotspots.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/technology/7045123.stm
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wifi.htm

Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v
Roommates.com, 9th Circiot, 10/17/2007 
Upon the vote of a majority of nonrecused regular
active judges of this court, it is ordered that this
case be reheard by the en banc court pursuant to
Circuit Rule 35-3. The three-judge panel opinion shall
not be cited as precedent by or to this court or any
district court of the Ninth Circuit, except to the
extent adopted by the en banc court.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/007C058E1A8BA090882573720054321D/$file/0456916ebo.pdf?openelement
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm

Circuit Court Ditches Ruling Opening Roommates.com Up
To Blame For Ads Posted By Users, Techdirt, 10/17/2007

Earlier this year, plenty of people were quite
surprised by a ruling of the 9th Circuit that seemed
to go against what almost every other court had said
about the safe harbors provided to internet service
providers for the actions of their users under section
230 of the Communications Decency Act. The case
involved the website Roommates.com, which allows
people (not surprisingly) to put up ads looking for
roommates. The problem (according to the lawsuit) is
that some people posting roommate ads included
requests that could potentially violate the Fair
Housing Act. Where the ruling got tricky was that it
basically said section 230 protections existed only
where structured data wasn't collected.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20071015/012830.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm

Roommates.com En Banc Rehearing GRANTED!, Tech &
Marketing Law, 10/17/2007 
Terrific news from the Ninth Circuit this morning!
They have granted an en banc hearing in the...
http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2007/10/roommatescom_en.htm
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm

Verizon Letter on Privacy Stirs Debate, NYT,
10/17/2007 
Analysts and consumer advocates suggest the company
may be interested in gathering information to tailor
the advertising it displays on cellphone screens.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/business/16phone.html?ex=1350360000&en=bfa2cafc224a4131&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/cpni.htm

Verizon Wireless Comment on CPNI, Verizon, 10/17/2007 
Let’s be clear: Verizon Wireless does not sell
personal customer information to third-party
advertisers.  Period. The notice that was sent (and
the cause of some buzz) simply alerts our customers
that Verizon Wireless may share customer information
with the Verizon group of companies.   In other words,
we are keeping all the data in question in the family
– unless you tell us not to.  Our customers are asking
us for bundles that provide home and wireless
services, and the sharing of information...
http://policyblog.verizon.com/PolicyBlog/Blogs/policyblog/JimGerace9/381/Verizon-Wireless-Comment-on-CPNI.aspx#When:21:33:10
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/cpni.htm

Green Party Adopts Net Neutrality in Policy Platform,
Michael Geist, 10/17/2007 
The Green Party, which released its policy position
document today, has called for net neutrality
legislation and ISP safe harbours.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~3/170447933/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Mistaken 'No' Vote On Net Tax Ban, Tech Dose Daily,
10/17/2007 
The House voted 405-2 on Tuesday on legislation to
extend the federal moratorium on Internet access taxes
by four years but Tech Daily Dose has learned the
tally should have been 406-1.
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2007/10/a_mistaken_no_vote_on_net_tax.php
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ecom/tax.htm

House OKs four-year extension of Net tax ban, CNET,
10/17/2007 
Legislators vote overwhelmingly to keep Internet
connections tax-free for a finite timespan. But
Republicans leaders say Democrats neglected the chance
to make the tax ban permanent.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9798200-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ecom/tax.htm

Greenpeace blasts Apple over toxic materials in
iPhone, CW, 10/17/2007 
The environmental group says it disassembled iPhones
and found two types of hazardous materials inside.
http://feeds.computerworld.com/~r/Computerworld/News/~3/170188551/article.do
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/environment/

AOL to drop 20% of staff, Lost Remote, 10/17/2007 
Time Warner announced today it will cut 20% of its AOL
unit staff - 2,000 jobs. AOL lost 1.1 million
subscribers in the second quarter (to which my cynical
mind asks, “does AOL even have 1.1 million subs
still?) Of course, AOL is trying to emerge from the
subscriber-based business to an ad supported model.
http://www.lostremote.com/2007/10/15/aol-to-drop-20-of-staff/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/aol.htm

The Hidden Message Behind EchoStar's Potential
Marriage To AT&T: U-Verse Sucks And Satellite TV Is
Dying, Techdirt, 10/17/2007 
We were a little confused last month when EchoStar
announced plans to buy SlingMedia. Such a deal made
some sense for the investors and founders of Sling,
looking to cash out -- but at a strategic level it
didn't seem to make much sense. Locking Sling into
EchoStar seemed unnecessarily limiting, and the
benefits to EchoStar of being the sole owner seemed...
not all that compelling. However reports quickly came
out about the details behind the plan.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20071016/135431.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/att.htm

CT to AT&T: You Need a Cable License - AT&T to CT: You
Need Good Lawyers, Tech Dirt, 10/17/2007 
AT&T has told communities that their U-Verse VDSL IPTV
service technically isn't cable, so it isn't governed
by franchise agreements. Towns and cities that
challenge this assertion have traditionally been
greeted with an AT&T lawsuit. Back in July, a federal
court in Connecticut stated that franchise rules do,
in fact, apply to U-Verse. Connecticut state
regulators have now ordered AT&T to discontinue
signing up new IPTV customers until they obtain a
license for the service.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/CT-to-ATT-You-Need-a-Cable-License-88482
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/att.htm

Top Yahoo executive faces Congressional scrutiny,
Globe and Mail, 10/17/2007 
CEO Jerry Yang asked to explain allegedly false
testimony about China human rights case
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/170814240/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/yahoo.htm

RIAA tries to pull plug on Usenet. Seriously., CNET,
10/17/2007 
The Recording Industry Association of America chooses
a new target: Usenet. RIAA attorneys claim binary
newsgroups are rife with copyright infringement--and
they may even win.
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9798715-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm

Google Blinks, and Today the Internet is a Little Less
Free, PK, 10/17/2007 
Just a few moments ago, YouTube introduced the beta
version of its “video identification” system, the
purpose of which is to control the amount of
infringing material that appears on the site. Under
enormous pressure from movie studios and record labels
and their friends on Capitol Hill to filter out
copyrighted material, and with the Viacom lawsuit
looming, You Tube’s parent Google has developed a tool
that will likely restrict the flow of legal content
over the Internet, and absolutely raises the bar for
each and every entity that serves as a conduit for
copyrighted works.
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/170325011/1217
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm

Here Comes the DMCA, Michael Geist, 10/17/2007 
With U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins looking
on, the Conservative government unveiled its Speech
from the Throne tonight.  Wilkins and the copyright
lobby undoubtedly liked what they heard.  As expected,
the government has prioritized copyright reform,
promising to "improve the protection of cultural and
intellectual property rights in Canada, including
copyright reform."
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~3/170898488/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm

Thomas Lawyer Argues $222K Penalty Is
Unconstitutional, Ecommerce Times, 10/17/2007 
A woman facing a $222,000 music-sharing verdict asked
a judge on Monday to overturn it. Jurors in a case
that six record companies brought against Jammie
Thomas found she violated the companies' copyrights by
offering 24 songs over the Kazaa file-sharing network.
They ordered Thomas, a mother of two who makes $36,000
a year, to pay the companies $222,000. Thomas'
attorney, Brian Toder, did not argue in a motion filed
Monday on Thomas' behalf that she hadn't violated the
copyrights.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/59846.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm

Gore's enlists Web users to shape news, Globe and
Mail, 10/17/2007 
CurrentTV has embraced several of the most popular
Internet trends in reconstituting its own site.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/170675507/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

Non-'casual' bloggers win legal shield in House, CNET,
10/17/2007 
Bill would shield those who derive "significant
financial gain" from newsgathering from revealing
confidential sources in federal cases. Bush
administration doesn't like it.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9798330-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

CNN launches news alert program, Lost Remote,
10/17/2007 
CNN has a new breaking news alert desktop application
that they launched through their breaking news e-mail
lists today. I haven’t received any alerts yet, but it
has a nice look to it. You can download Desktop
Alerter here.
http://www.lostremote.com/2007/10/15/cnn-launches-news-alert-program/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

Verizon Says It Turned Over Data Without Court Orders,
Wash Post, 10/17/2007 
Verizon Communications, the nation's second-largest
telecom company, told congressional investigators that
it has provided customers' telephone records to
federal authorities in emergency cases without court
orders hundreds of times since 2005.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501857.html?nav=rss_technology
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

IP-ENABLED SERVICES. Granted in part and denied in
part several petitions for waiver relating to the
Commission's recent VoIP TRS Order. (Dkt No. 92-105,
96-198 , 03-123)., FCC, 10/17/2007 
As a result, as set forth below, we waive for six
months the requirement set forth in the VoIP TRS Order
that interconnected VoIP providers must transmit 711
calls to an appropriate relay provider, as defined
below.  We also waive for six months traditional TRS
providers’ obligation to call to an appropriate PSAP
when receiving, via interconnected VoIP service, a 711
call concerning an emergency.  Further, in the Public
Notice we seek comment on the petitions for stay
and/or waiver.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-4178A1.doc
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/ada.htm

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