[Cybertel-Ann] 2.13.8 :: Pathetic NTIA :: CableOps Shocked :: Wanna Buy a Muni-Fi? :: Lame TMobile Gone :: Nadler Clueless :: Comcast Jammin' Man! :: Blogosphere Will Keep Us Honest :: Abandoned Anchor ::

Wed Feb 13 09:15:03 PST 2008

============================================
             CyberTelecom News  
      Federal Internet Law and Policy
============================================
RSS Feeds : Fed Notices : Blog : Clips : Daily Digest
http://www.cybertelecom.org/news.htm 
============================================
Whenever a copyright law is to be made or altered,
then the idiots assemble. - Mark Twain's Notebook,
1902-1903

Pathetic NTIA Broadband Report: Inflated ZIP Codes and
BPL, Peerflow
U.S. Commerce Secretary hails "dramatic growth of
broadband" in the U.S., citing a report from National
Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA). That report not only uses the U.S. tinyband
definition of 256Kbps as "broadband", it still uses
ancient metrics such as this:
http://riskman.typepad.com/peerflow/2008/02/pathetic-ntia-b.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/

Cable Operators Shocked...Shocked I Tell You...about
Verizon Marketing Practices., Tales from the Sausage
Factory
I may occasionally (O.K., more than occasionally) have
some snarky things to say about the free market
philosophies of my opposite numbers at places like
CATO and Progress & Freedom Foundation. But what
distinguishes them in my mind from industry...
http://www.wetmachine.com/item/1063
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/cable.htm

Earthlink Lost $80 Million On Muni-Fi Last Year -
Anybody want to buy some failed Wi-Fi ambition?,
DSLreports
Earthlink's in a tough spot. They won't be able to
share next-gen telco networks, their partnership with
Covad goes only as far as that company's ADSL2+
network does, cost cutting is affecting support
quality, their Muni-Fi efforts have bottomed out, and
their investments in BPL were a waste of money. Like
AOL, they're hemorrhaging dial-up customers, but
unlike AOL that revenue won't be balanced by becoming
an advertising engine.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Earthlink-Lost-80-Million-On-MuniFi-Last-Year-91693
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/muni.htm

Minneapolis’ Wi-Fi network nets local praise, Muni
In an editorial entitled “Minneapolis Wi-Fi is
quieting the critics: Wireless network avoids problems
that hamper other cities,” The Minneapolis
Star-Tribune delivered high praise for the city’s
Wi-Fi network, qualified only by the admission that
success will become apparent after the network’s
completion, expected in March. The paper reported that
users in areas where the network is complete have
reported “mixed but improving performance ”
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/muniwireless/~3/233186211/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/muni.htm

Briefing: 700MHz Auction: Has the FCC Fulfilled Its
Congressional Mandate?, PK
This January, the FCC began the process of auctioning
off a slice of highly valuable television spectrum
(the “700 MHz band”) as required by Congress. If used
right, the 700 band could change fundamentally the way
Americans use the Internet.
http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.publicknowledge.org%2Fpublicknowledge-main
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/w700.htm

Finally, Free AT&T Wi-Fi at Starbucks, IP Democracy
In an unexpected move, Starbucks is getting rid of its
lame T-Mobile pay-as-you-go Wi-Fi service and will
instead offer free AT&T Wi-Fi service across its 7,000
owned-and-operated and 100,000 partner-affiliated
locations in the U.S. For many people, perhaps the
majority of Starbucks customers, the coffee shops have
become gathering places for work, study and just
hanging out. Increasingly, the ability to access the
Internet via laptops has become part and parcel of all
these activities.
http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/02/11/#002872
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wifi.htm

Nadler's Clueless Op-Ed, Isen.blog
Representative Nadler (D-NY) had an incredibly
clueless op-ed on TV White Space last week in the New
York Times. To the Times' vast discredit, they ran it.
It was so wrong on so many levels that I didn't know
where to begin critiquing it, so I didn't. Besides, it
was a busy blogging week with F2C and FISA.
http://isen.com/blog/2008/02/nadler-clueless-op-ed.html
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm

Comcast Puts Its Speed Limits in Writing, Internet
News
Recent terms of service change codifies what
BitTorrent users have known for a while.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/231287188/3726811
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Briefing: 2008 Open Internet Agenda for Congress, PK
>From Comcast blocking BitTorrent, to Verizon censoring
NARAL, multiple incidents in 2007 have illustrated how
violations of “network neutrality” principles are
serious and real. What Should Congress do about it?
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/231778484/1391
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Comcast Sorta, But Not Really, Admits To Content
Jamming, Techdirt
Internet News is reporting that Comcast has put its
"speed limit in writing." This is in response to the
stories from last year about how Comcast was jamming
certain kinds of traffic without being clear about it
to users. However, the details suggest that the
headline writer is being a bit generous. Comcast
hasn't come close to putting the actual limits in
writing.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080208/001106208.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Comcast: Metered Broadband Isn't the Solution, IP
Democracy
Hoping to lay helpful groundwork as potentially
sympathetic parties get ready to file comments in the
FCC inquiry into how broadband providers deal with
P2P, top cable operator Comcast has held DC briefings
on its P2P traffic management practices (which
triggered the inquiry in the first place.)
http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/02/07/#002869
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Net neutrality bill expected this week, CNET
qA Democratic plan to give the FCC new Net neutrality
authority over the Internet was rejected two years
ago. Now it's back.
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9870871-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

FCC Announces Public En Banc Hearing in Cambridge,
Massachusetts on Broadband Network Management
Practices, FCC
The Commission will hear from expert panelists
regarding broadband network management practices. The
hearing is open to the public, and seating will be
available on a first-come, first-served basis.
http://cybertelecomnews.blogspot.com/2008/02/fcc-announces-public-en-banc-hearing-in.html
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralp2p.htm

Verizon: No 'need' to degrade P2P traffic...yet, CNET
In light of reports about Comcast's interference with
BitTorrent, rival VP says Verizon isn't blocking or
slowing down file-sharing traffic right now--but it's
keeping its options open.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9869327-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralp2p.htm

Comcast: The Blogosphere Will Keep Us Honest, IP
Democracy
Comcast has laid out its views on whether the FCC
should further delineate the kinds of network
management practices that should apply to third party
applications, particularly P2P protocols, running over
broadband networks. In a wide-ranging, 80-page filing
at the Commission (PDF here), Comcast defends its
practice of slowing down P2P uploads saying that the
"limited measures that Comcast takes to manage its
network...are a reasonable part of Comcast's strategy
to ensure a high-quality, reliable Internet experience
for all Comcast High-Speed Internet customers,"
instead of a "vocal minority" that complain about P2P
filtering.
http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/02/13/#002875
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralp2p.htm

IPv6: Do as I Say or Do as I Do?, CircleID
How important is it for a vendor, service provider or
integrator to be using a service or technology that it
is pushing on its clients? When Voice over IP (VoIP)
came out Cisco began a gigantic push, having its
salespersons pitch it to anyone and everyone on their
client list. But Cisco had not yet deployed VoIP
within its own corporate network. It was still making
use of traditional voice systems from vendors that
today it probably considers competitors. Many people
on the receiving end of a sales pitch recognized
this...
http://www.circleid.com/posts/ipv6_do_as_i_say/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ipv6.htm

VeriSign Strengthens DNS For IPv6, Internet News
DNS gets scaled for the challenge ahead, as the
Internet infrastructure giant works to similarly ready
its other systems.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/234006449/3727661
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ipv6.htm

EarthLink's citywide Wi-Fi biz for sale, CNET
The Internet service provider is hoping to find a
buyer for its drastically scaled back--and
doomed?--municipal Wi-Fi business, the CEO announces.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9867634-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/earthlink.htm

Abandoned anchor cut Gulf Internet cable, Globe and
Mail
Cause of Mediterranean cuts still unknown
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/231833538/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/me.htm

Cable Breaks: Lessons Learned, Rensys
In the past 14 months, the world has seen two
catastrophic failures of its global telecommunications
systems: the Taiwan quakes, which snapped 7 of 9
important cables in Asia in December 2006, and a
series of mishaps in the Mediterranean and the Gulf,
damaging several others. In a world increasingly
dependent on global trade and communications, what
lessons can we learn from all of this and what
measures should we take?
http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/02/cable_breaks_lessons_learned_1.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/me.htm

CNN launching iReport.com, Lost Remote
CNN’s successful user generated content effort is
being launched on its own site this week as
ireport.com is set to go live. MediaWeek got a sneak
preview of the new site. According to the story, the
site will be similar to YouTube, with all content
being published without an editorial validation of the
submissions. “The community will decide what the news
is,” said Susan Grant, executive vp of CNN News
Services. “We are not going to discourage or encourage
anything
iReport will be completely unvetted.”
http://www.lostremote.com/2008/02/11/cnn-launching-ireportcom/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

Telecom Immunity Passes in Senate; Battle Lines Drawn
for Conference Showdown, EFF
Despite the strong leadership of senators like Chris
Dodd and Russ Feingold, the Senate passed the FISA
Amendments Act (FAA), failing to strip telecom
immunity from a terrible surveillance bill. The
Dodd-Feingold amendment to remove immunity from the
FAA failed in a 31 to 67 vote (51 votes were needed),
and the FAA passed 68 to 29.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/02/telecom-immunity-stripping-amendment-fails-senate-battle-lines-drawn-conference-sh
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

A Black Day For The Rule of Law, Tales from the
Sausage Factory
The Senate has voted to give retroactive immunity to
the phone companies for spying on Americans without a
warrant. As I have written elsewhere, this does
violence to the Rule of Law. As usual, the defendants
of this measure make the best case...
http://www.wetmachine.com/item/1064
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

Cable Accuses Verizon Of Cheating In VoIP Wars - Says
company illegally using LNP requests to retain
customers
, dslreports
Cable providers are accusing Verizon of using port
requests as an opportunity to market to (and win back)
customers in violation of FCC rules. In other words,
Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks
allege, customers are signing up for cable VoIP, cable
providers are sending in number portability request,
and Verizon is then using the opportunity to try and
get back those customers (and cancelling the port
request if they succeed).
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cable-Accuses-Verizon-Of-Cheating-In-VoIP-Wars-91809
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/

Obama, not McCain or Clinton, votes for electronic
privacy, CNET
Senate vote serves as privacy litmus test for leading
presidential candidates, showing only Sen. Barack
Obama voted to hold telcos liable for any violations
of privacy law.
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9870389-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm

Obama opposes telco immunity, Isen.blog
Sam Graham-Felsen, of the Obama Campaign, released the
following statement yesterday to a list I'm on,
saying, "Feel free to quote."
http://isen.com/blog/2008/02/obama-opposes-telco-immunity.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To [un]subscribe to Cybertelecom-l send mail to
LISTSERV at LISTSERV.AOL.COM with the command
[un]SUBSCRIBE CYBERTELECOM-L. Announce only list
information available at 
www.lawlists.net/mailman/listinfo  

AUP :: www.cybertelecom.org/cybert.htm#aup

Cybertelecom                Link to us!
www.cybertelecom.org 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~