[Cybertel-Ann] 6.2.8 :: The Weird, The Stupid, The Coarse :: Free WiFi with $12 Cup Coffee :: Fifth Broadband Principle - No Cat Kicking :: FTTGreenMountain ::

Mon Jun 2 16:26:00 PDT 2008

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             CyberTelecom News  
      Federal Internet Law and Policy
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“Television news had been taken over by an ‘idiot
culture’ that spends more time chasing celebrities
than explaining life-changing events
 For the first
time in our history, the weird, the stupid, the
coarse, the sensational and the untrue are becoming
our cultural norm – even our cultural ideal.” - Carl
Bernstein

AT&T Will Alert CT Landowners Before Deploying VRADs -
Though a public statement claims they were already
doing so...., dslreports
Last week Connecticut's DPUC ruled that from now on,
AT&T must get the approval of landowners and
municipalities before it plunks down a controversial
VRAD near (or on) a CT resident's lawn. The fixtures,
required for AT&T to offer VDSL & IPTV, have angered
home owners in several states who say they erode
property values. For its part, AT&T today issued a
statement saying they'd comply with the ruling, though
they claim they were already informing landowners
before installing the boxes. Says the phone giant:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Will-Alert-CT-Landowners-Before-Deploying-VRADs-94935
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/att.htm

Free Starbucks Wi-Fi Launches Tuesday - Two hours per
day if you use a Starbucks card, dslreports
For the six of you not freeloading on unsecured open
hotspots already, Starbucks will be launching free
Wi-Fi courtesy of AT&T starting tomorrow, according to
Dave Zatz (formerly of Sling Media). According to a
store memo, Starbucks users who use their Starbucks
card at least once a month will get two free hours of
AT&T Wi-Fi per day. Still no word about the on again,
off again free Wi-Fi for smartphone users, but I'm
guessing it will launch alongside the second
generation HSDPA-supported iPhone to ensure AT&T gets
some equal time in next week's media circus spotlight.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Free-Starbucks-WiFi-Launches-Tuesday-94928
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wifi.htm

Malware: A Security Threat to the Internet Economy,
OECD
Malware has evolved from occasional “exploits” to a
multi-million dollar criminal industry. This report
informs policy makers about the evolution and impact
of malware, as well as the counter-measures being
taken. It concludes with suggestions for greater
co-operation across the various international
communities addressing malware.
http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,3373,en_2649_37441_1_1_1_1_37441,00.html?rssChId=37441#40724536
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/worms.htm

New WiMAX report: Why the ‘New’ Clearwire gives WiMax
its best chance at success in the US marketplace, Muni
Sidecut Reports has just released a new updated
version of their WiMax report, which includes a
comprehensive study of the “new” Clearwire WiMax deal
and its $3.2 billion of investment from a group that
includes Google, Comcast, Intel and Time Warner Cable.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/muniwireless/~3/302758867/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wimax.htm

Bell Files Response in CRTC Throttling Case, Michael
Geist
Bell has filed its response to the CRTC's questions
regarding its throttling practices.  The public
documents have confidential and sensitive data
removed.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~3/302804752/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Vermont Struggles to Get Fully Wired - Fiber plans
rejected in favor of wireless towers, dslreports
Residents of Vermont got excited last year when the
state s governor announced that there would be cell
phone service and wireless Internet available to
everyone in the state by 2010. However, they re
starting to look at that prediction with a critical
eye as little motion appears to have been made to keep
that plan on track. One issue that s caused concern is
that a group of 23 Central Vermont towns came together
to form a community-based broadband network proposing
a fiber optic solution for the state. The plan was
rejected with the state saying that fiber may work in
other states but it s too expensive to be reasonable
given the $40 million budget available for getting the
whole state wired. With the recent Fairpoint deal
seeming to be more of a problem than a solution, the
state doesn t seem clear on how it s going to proceed
other than to set up wireless towers and try to meet
their stated goals. One suggestion has been that the
state needs to build its social capital in order to
gain the trust of residents in executing this plan.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Vermont-Struggles-to-Get-Fully-Wired-94893
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/states/vt.htm

Comcast Contractors Arrested for Animal Cruelty -
Comcast just can't seem to work with people who stay
out of trouble, dslreports
Comcast subcontractors are notorious for engaging in
bad (often illegal) behavior that s included
everything from falling asleep at customer s homes to
murder. In keeping with that ongoing tradition, three
contractors have been arrested for animal cruelty
after they were caught torturing a kitten (see news
video). The kitten was rescued after being spray
painted and kicked nearly to death. As per usual,
Comcast isn t happy to hear the news and insists that
it s doing everything it can to quit working with
people who are going to act this way.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Contractors-Arrested-for-Animal-Cruelty-94895
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/comcast.htm

Securing the Root, Renesys
Our blog on the L root server received quite a few
comments, both at our site and others (e.g, Slashdot,
CircleID, CircleID, and various DNS newsgroups).
Negative responses tended to follow a "no harm, no
foul" line of reasoning, which sadly completely misses
the point. So we'll restate the central issue here
again and talk about safeguards you can take today if
you operate a DNS server or BGP-enabled router.
http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/06/securing_the_root_1.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/security.htm

Congress Thinking About 'Compromise' That Would Move
Telco Immunity Questions To Secret Court, Techdirt
There's been an ongoing battle in Congress over
whether or not telcos that helped the gov't with
warrantless wiretaps should get retroactive immunity
for their actions. No one has given any good reason
why companies should be granted immunity for any sort
of illegal actions, and there are plenty of reasons
why they should not. The fact that the administration
"asked" them to administer the wiretaps is no excuse.
The president is not above the law. Basically, the
only reason to demand immunity is because it's clear
that someone (or, more likely, multiple people and
companies) broke the law.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080530/1126441269.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

US VoIP Gains Mean RBOC Pain, Telegeography
New data from TeleGeography reveal that voice over IP
(VoIP) telephone service, which was only recently a
novelty, is now commonplace in the U.S. By the first
quarter of 2008, 16.3 million consumer VoIP lines were
in service, representing 13.8 percent of all U.S.
households, and 27 percent of broadband households.
http://www.telegeography.com/wordpress/?p=70
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/

Teens await arrest after Comcast attack, CNET
Pair tells Wired they messed with Comcast's site after
getting snubbed when they tried to warn the company of
their actions.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956165-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/hacker.htm

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