[Cybertel-Ann] 7.10.8 :: Tis the Season to Flip Flop :: Sell Out With Me Tonite :: Compromiser in Chief :: We're Gonna Sue! ::

Thu Jul 10 17:12:09 PDT 2008

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             CyberTelecom News  
      Federal Internet Law and Policy
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"Wheels must turn steadily, but cannot turn untended. There must be men to tend them, men as steady as the wheels upon their axles, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment." Mustapha Mond, Brave New World

An Interesting Tea Leaf on AWS-3/M2Z, Tales from the Sausage Factory
Well, I keep saying I will do the big posting on AWS-3/M2Z, and keep not getting to it. So I will just drop a short note for the fellow FCC policy junkies who follow this stuff closely. You can find background on the AWS-3/M2Z business here, her...
http://www.wetmachine.com/item/1250
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/waws.htm

Comcast suddenly respects FCC authority over throttling, Ars Technica
Comcast has been vocal in making the claim that the FCC actually lacks the authority to rule on traffic management practices, but the company recently made the opposite argument in court as it worked to have a lawsuit against it put on hold.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080709-comcast-suddenly-respects-fcc-authority-over-throttling.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Comcast and Vonage collaborate on network management, CNET
Comcast and Vonage are working together to ensure that Vonage's Internet phone service works over Comcast's network.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9986719-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralnm.htm

Comcast Seeks to Stave Off FCC Oversight With Vonage Deal, Ecommerce Times
Comcast on Thursday announced an agreement with Vonage Holdings, the big Internet phone service provider, to develop ways to manage Internet traffic without damaging each other's businesses. There will no change in the billing rates for customers of either company, but Vonage officials believe that this will ensure high-quality Internet phone service for their customers. The agreement comes as FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is considering fines or some other enforcement action against Comcast because of its once-secret actions to target heavy users of BitTorrent's file-sharing software.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/63743.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralnm.htm

Patched Flaw Could Have Broken Internet Backbone, Ecommerce Times
This week, system administrators across the globe are rushing to fix an Internet-wide security flaw. The issue, discovered in the domain name system, would allow a hacker to gain access to domain name records and redirect traffic to an alternate location. That would mean trying to access something like your bank's Web site could take you instead to a malicious page designed to steal your information. Numerous major technology companies -- including Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat -- released patches Tuesday.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/63738.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/

German Court Says That Open WiFi Owners Not Responsible For File Sharing Done By Others, Techdirt
There's been plenty of back and forth over the years concerning the question of whether or not an open WiFi network makes the owner of that network liable for or protected from charges of file sharing by others on that network. Since the entertainment industry can only trace back to the access point, but has no idea who's using that access point, some have always contested that an open WiFi network is a defense against charges of file sharing, since it could be anyone doing the sharing. Others contend that the owners of the open network should be liable for any crimes committed on that network.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080709/1742241635.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm

Turns Out Americans Are Watching More TV Than Ever, Techdirt
While there's been some talk that other forms of entertainment, such as the internet, were starting to cut into TV watching time, someone apparently forgot to inform Americans. The latest Nielsen numbers show more TV being watched than ever before. Of course, there are plenty of additional factors to consider. As some note in the comments to that post, the high price of gas may make some folks stay at home more often than go out -- potentially leading to more TV watching. Also, it's not clear how much is actual TV watching vs. just leaving the TV on in the background while they do something else (such as surf the internet). The report also finds (not at all surprisingly) that more people are time shifting content they view on TV, though it still seems like a rather small percentage of overall TV watching. On the whole, though, it appears that the demise of TV is still a long ways off.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080709/0208111629.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

The FCC's Compromiser in Chief, Wash Post
George W. Bush is smiling upon Kevin J. Martin. So are George H.W., Jeb and Barbara, with big toothy grins in a blown-up picture hanging behind his desk at the Federal Communications Commission.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/technology/index_xml/~3/331383164/AR2008070902034.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm

The FCC: Current Structure and its Role in the Changing Telecommunications Landscape, CDT
This report provides a brief look at the FCC budget for the last three years, followed by an overview of the Commission and its mandate, structure, strategic plan, and proposals for both procedural and substantive changes.
http://blog.cdt.org/2008/07/10/the-fcc-current-structure-and-its-role-in-the-changing-telecommunications-landscape/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm

No Fireworks at Today’s Online Ads Hearing, Tech Liberation Front
Coming off last week’s July 4 recess, the Senate held a hearing on the privacy implications of online advertising. Online ads, behavioral tracking, targeted ads - whatever you might call it - has been an explosive policy issue, but today’s hearing was mostly just sparklers, with only a few bottle rockets here and there.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techliberation/~3/331160661/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/

Congress Takes Aim At NebuAD - Company to testify today at privacy hearing…, dslreports
According to the Associated Press, Congress is holding a hearing today on online privacy, and the company that's likely to see the majority of the attention is behavioral advertising firm NebuAD. As I discussed yesterday, NebuAD, which uses deep packet inspection hardware on the ISP network to track your online activity, is developing a new opt-out system they hope will keep Uncle Sam from enacting new regulations limiting their business model.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Congress-Takes-Aim-At-NebuAD-95941
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/

FTC Testifies on Behavioral Advertising, FTC
In testimony on behavioral advertising, the Federal Trade Commission today told the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that "the issues surrounding this practice are complex ... the business models are diverse and constantly evolving, and ... behavioral advertising may provide benefits to consumers even as it raises concerns about consumer privacy."
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/07/behavorialad.shtm
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/

Congress 'Grills' NebuAD CEO - Debates whether they should do something or nothing...., dslreports
NebuAD CEO Bob Dykes (who I interviewed last February) appeared before Congress yesterday to defend his company's behavioral advertising technology, which tracks user browsing habits in order to deliver tailored ads. Forbes claims Dykes was "grilled" (usually code for softball questions with little to no follow up) by Congress, which seems split between those who believe the online ad industry should "self regulate" (like the FTC) and those who'd like to see some kind of rules put into place to protect user privacy.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Congress-Grills-NebuAD-CEO-96006
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/

FISA compromise passes with Obama, Clinton on opposite sides, Ars Technica
The Senate today overwhelmingly approved approved a controversial bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, expanding executive wiretap powers and providing retroactive immunity for telecoms. Several prominent Democrats, including Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton, broke with presidential candidate Barack Obama to oppose the bill.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080709-fisa-compromise-passes-with-obama-clinton-on-opposite-sides.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

Senate Joins House in Caving to White House Immunity Demands, EFF
The U.S. Senate this afternoon passed the FISA Amendments Act, broadly expanding the president's warrantless surveillance authority and unconstitutionally granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the president's illegal domestic wiretapping program. The House of Representatives passed the same bill last month, and President Bush is expected to sign the legislation into law shortly.
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/07/09
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

Discouraging Days for Those of Us who Still Believe this Country Should Live by the Rule of Law, Cook
The cowardly democrats have capitulated.
http://gordoncook.net/wp/?p=263
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

Senate Sells Out The Country: Approves Telco Immunity, Techdirt
Well so much for the attempts to filibuster and block telco immunity from being approved. The Senate has granted the telcos immunity with a 69 to 28 vote, effectively handing the President a "get out of jail free" card to not just protect the telcos, but to hide any evidence that the administration's warrantless wiretapping program may have been illegal. This is a total capitulation, and goes against every concept of checks and balances our government was established under. The link above quotes Senator Orrin Hatch saying:
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080709/1512331632.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

U.S. Senate Passes Telecom Immunity Bill to Shield Phone Companies, CircleID
More than two and a half years after the disclosure of President’s Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program set off a furious national debate, the Senate has given final approval today to broadening the government’s spy powers and providing legal immunity for the phone companies that took part in the wiretapping program. Senator Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for president, voted for the plan amid supporters expressed concerns that he would backtrack on his opposition to telecom immunity.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/us_passes_telecom_immunity_bill/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

ACLU, others greets Bush FISA bill signing with new lawsuit, Ars Technica
President Bush signed the FISA Amendments Act into law today, and the ACLU has already filed a Fourth Amendment challenge to the controversial surveillance law.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080710-aclu-others-greets-bush-fisa-bill-signing-with-new-lawsuit.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

FISA: AT&T, Verizon Lobbyists Win Again - The best government telco money can buy…, dslreports
Congress yesterday voted to approve the latest FISA bill, complete with immunity for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint for their participation in the Bush administration's controversial warrantless wiretapping program. The baby bells spent millions over the last few years lobbying to get this bill passed, so it's a huge victory for them. Not so much for civil libertarians, those concerned about money's influence on politics, or those who prefer some old fashioned checks and balances with their domestic surveillance.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FISA-ATT-Verizon-Lobbyists-Win-Again-95994
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

Help EFF Continue the Fight Against Warrantless Wiretapping, EFF
In a move that I can only describe as cowardice, Congress just passed legislation meant to immunize telephone companies for their illegal, disloyal, and irresponsible behavior. EFF has been fighting against telecom immunity, and we need your help to bring the fight to the next level:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/continue
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

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