[Cybertel-Ann] 6.24 :: U Gotta Fight - 4 Yur Rite - 2 Net Access for Everybody :: Googling Actual Community Standards (or what's that in your browser cache Senator?) :: Stalking Customers Not Good Business Plan After All ::

Tue Jun 24 19:27:37 PDT 2008

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             CyberTelecom News  
      Federal Internet Law and Policy
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“We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from government.” - William Orville Douglas 

CWA Blog Claims Credit for FCC Data Order, But Ignores Local Company Data, Tech Liberation Front
Over at the Communications Workers of America’s blog, Speed Matters, the union claims credit for the Federal Communications Commission’s recent order requiring broadband companies to provide the FCC with more information, including data about availability by Census tract.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techliberation/~3/318832551/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm

Work begins on Google-backed 'Unity' undersea cable, CW
NEC and Tyco began joint planning work today for the Unity undersea cable, a high-speed fiber-optic link between the U.S. and Japan backed by Google and five other firms.
http://feeds.computerworld.com/~r/Computerworld/News/~3/319012936/article.do
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/backbone.htm

Supreme Court to hear DSL antitrust case; FCC, DoJ at odds, Ars Technica
The US Supreme Court has decided to hear an appeal of a case that may define whether antitrust law applies to the pricing exacted by phone companies for sales of DSL service to third-party ISPs. The decision is a win for the Department of Justice, but a rejection of arguments made by the FCC.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080623-supreme-court-to-hear-dsl-antitrust-case-fcc-doj-at-odds.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/dsl.htm

Supreme Court To Investigate If AT&T Is Violating Antitrust Laws With Wholesale DSL Pricing, Techdirt
In most cases, antitrust rules seem fairly bogus. They often are used to try to punish companies for being successful, even if they're not actually abusing any kind of monopoly situation. However, there are some cases where antitrust laws become a lot more interesting, when it comes to governments effectively granting monopoly rights to certain companies. That's what's happened with many telco services, where the government has basically provided monopoly "rights of way" to certain companies to put down infrastructure in places that no other company can. These rights of way were supposed to come with "common carrier" status, that would
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080623/1552381481.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/dsl.htm

The Fiber Future: How FTTx Speeds Compare with WiMAX, 3G, DSL, and Cable, Jupiter
Internet service providers (ISPs) are beginning to deploy new fiber (FTTx) broadband networks that will transform consumers' experience of the Internet.
http://www.jup.com/bin/item.pl/research:concept/89/id=100381/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/fiber.htm

FCC Seeks Comment on Free Internet Plan, Internet News
Agency details proposal for new spectrum auction, but questions about business model abound.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/318248741/3754676
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/waws.htm

Comcast To Deploy Femtocells - To ease congestion and costs of WiMax offerings…, dslreports
As part of their participation in the new ultra-mega-Clearire consortium, Comcast says the company will be exploring the idea of putting femtocells into customer homes. Femtocells essentially create a micro cell tower in your home that improves wireless coverage and allows you to make calls over your broadband connection. "As part of the WiMax consortium, we have to buy bits and minutes of use," says
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-To-Deploy-Femtocells-95520
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wimax.htm

Using Google Trends To Determine 'Community Standards' Of Obscenity, Techdirt
While there are plenty of reasons to have trouble with "obscenity" laws, one of the biggest is the ridiculously vague "contemporary community standards" test established by the Supreme Court. How does one show what the community standards are when it concerns activities done in the privacy of one's own home? Well, apparently, at least one defense attorney in an obscenity case has decided that Google Trends is the answer. He's planning to show that more people in the
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080624/0320161493.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/copa.htm

Orgies and apple pie: Google Trends used in obscenity case, Ars Technica
The latest effort to show that most communities consume significant amounts of porn has now dragged Google queries into the mix.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080624-orgies-and-apple-pie-google-trends-used-in-obscenity-case.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/copa.htm

Fifth Circuit issues its first Section 230 opinion, Online Liability
Last month the Fifth Circuit issued its first (to my knowledge) ruling that turned on Section 230. Affirming the lower court in Doe v. MySpace Inc., Circuit Judge Clement, writing on behalf of herself and Judges Garwood and Elrod, ruled that the statute protected MySpace from claims that it was negligent for not “instit[uting] [...]
http://onlineliabilityblog.com/2008/06/24/fifth-circuit-issues-its-first-section-230-opinion/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm

Cable Operator Backs Off Plan to Monitor Internet Use, Wash Post
Charter Communications, the fourth largest cable operator in the United States, announced today that it has backed off a plan to monitor customers' Internet transmissions.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/technology/index_xml/~3/319080854/AR2008062401033.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Bell Canada Offers 'Proof' Throttling Was Necessary - Responds to Canadian regulator demand for hard data…, dslreports
Bell Canada recently decided it would be a good idea to throttle P2P traffic before it hit independent wholesale ISP networks, without telling anyone about it. While it's fairly clear the move was aimed at ensuring that nobody could offer higher quality service than Bell Canada's Sympatico unit, Bell Canada proclaimed that the move was made necessary by out-of-control P2P traffic hijacking capacity.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Bell-Canada-Offers-Proof-Throttling-Was-Necessary-95556
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Charter Won’t Track Customers’ Web Use, NYT
The pilot information-gathering program, meant to offer advertisers the ability to tailor ad placement based on individual viewing habits, is being dropped on customer concerns.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/technology/25charter.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

What a Non-Neutral Internet Looks Like -- Let's Go to the Video, PK
As FCC Commissioner Michael Copps reminded us recently, the one concrete example of Net Neutrality we have, the conditions on AT&T’s takeover of BellSouth, expire at the end of the year. The concept of an Internet governed by discrimination, rather than by openness, looms as a real possibility.
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/319026599/1631
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Public Knowledge Reaction To Charter Announcement It Will Halt NebuAd Test, PK
Background: Charter Communications said this afternoon it will not now move forward with a pilot project involving NebuAd, a company that provides targeted advertising for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). A technical investigation by Public Knowledge and Free Press found that consumers are having their Web browsing intercepted and Web sites are having their computer code altered by NebuAd. The report is available here.
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/319159247/1632
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

ISPs experimenting with new P2P controls, CW
Companies such as Comcast, Verizon and Qwest are trying several different ways to 'manage' heavy file-sharing traffic across the Net, and while some new technologies look promising, one expert says it's unlikely that one method will instantly crop up that will satisfy both user demands and those of the network.
http://feeds.computerworld.com/~r/Computerworld/News/~3/316361196/article.do
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralp2p.htm

Slow growth for high speed Internet, Speed Matters
Although efforts by state governments to expand high speed Internet access have refocused attention on the need for a comprehensive technology policy, the yawning digital divide separating connected from unconnected in America threatens to grow worse unless national policy changes as well.
http://www.speedmatters.org/blog/slow-growth-for-high-speed.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dd/

Broadband Signals Silent in Many Neighborhoods, Speed Matters
A researcher at the Mississippi State University Southern Rural Development Center has released a study showing one in four Mississippians do not have access to any high speed Internet connections in their communities.
http://www.speedmatters.org/blog/broadband-signals-silent-in.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dd/

ICANN to vote on new Internet domain names, CNET
Organization in charge of naming Web sites could change the rules to allow companies or organizations to use whatever top domain name they want for their URL.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9975757-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/icann.htm

2007-23: End Policy for IANA IPv4 allocations to RIRs, ARIN
No description
http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_23.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ipv6.htm

2007-21: PIv6 for legacy holders with RSA and efficient use, ARIN
No description
http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_21.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ipv6.htm

EFF attacks foundation of entire RIAA lawsuit campaign, Ars Technica
In a filing in the Jammie Thomas file-swapping case in Minnesota, the Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that the entire basis of the RIAA's legal campaign is fatally flawed.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080622-eff-attacks-foundation-of-riaa-lawsuit-campaign.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm

We Can't Quote The AP... But Can Embed Its Videos?, Techdirt
The Associated Press is still insisting that bloggers shouldn't be excerpting its articles online without a license -- but apparently no one told the folks pushing AP videos. Jon Ashley wonders about this difference, noting that the AP has its own YouTube Channel, where it appears that the videos all have embedding enabled. This, of course, takes us right back to the question we asked last week concerning whether or not embedding videos can be seen as infringement. In the meantime, since the AP insists it really wants to be a part of the "conversation," can it explain why embedding videos is great, while quoting is not?
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080623/0226311478.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/fair.htm

The Future of the Internet - A Political View, Potaroo
Lets face it, gathering a collection of ministerial delegations to laboriously recite prepared speeches to each other sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry. And observing meetings where the major outcome appears to be limited to the scheduling of the next meeting can become somewhat tedious after a while. It should not be surprising that the level of expectation of tangible outcomes for such governmental meetings is invariably abysmally low. So what's the value of adding yet
http://www.potaroo.net/ispcol/2008-07/foi.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/internet.htm

TSA Background Check Includes Political Party, Tech Liberation Front
We’re now learning the meaning of a new policy that Americans can’t “willfully” refuse to show ID at airports. The Consumerist has a write-up of one man’s experience with IDless travel. It turns out they do a background check on you using, among other things, your political affiliation.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techliberation/~3/318996219/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/

Anonymous defendants to be unmasked in Computer Fraud and Abuse Act case, Internet Cases
Kimberlite Corp. v. Does 1-20, No. 08-2147, 2008 WL 2264485 (N.D. Cal. June 2, 2008)
http://blog.internetcases.com/2008/06/24/anonymous-defendants-to-be-unmasked-in-computer-fraud-and-abuse-act-case/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/crime.htm

Cyberattack Paralyzed Marshall Islands Email Service, CircleID
Email communication in the Marshall Islands was paralysed Tuesday after hackers launched a "zombie" computer attack on the western Pacific nation's only Internet service provider, AFP reports. The attack started early Tuesday, in which hackers used zombie computers to flood country's only Internet service provider with spam emails, causing a complete shutdown of email traffic into the nation of around 55,000 people.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/cyberattack_marshall_islands_email/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/cyberwar.htm

Employee text messages covered under Stored Communications Act and Fourth Amendment, Internet Cases
Sergeant Quon’s employer, the City of Ontario, California Police Department, issued him a pager with which he could send and receive text messages. Copies of text messages sent and received using the pager were archived on Arch Wireless’s computer server. The City’s agreement with Arch Wireless allowed for each user to send up to 25,000 characters’ worth of messages a month.
http://blog.internetcases.com/2008/06/23/employee-text-messages-covered-under-stored-communications-act-and-fourth-amendment/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/ecpa.htm

Did Contributions Buy Telecom Immunity Votes in the House?, Tech Liberation Front
MAPLight.org has compiled some numbers seeking to correlate changes in voting on telecom immunity with contributions from telecom providers.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techliberation/~3/319237637/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

Obama weasels on FISA promise, Isen
The House has voted to pardon illegal spying by telephone companies. The Senate is about to vote sometime in the next few days. Senator Barack Obama promised last February to filibuster any bill with retroactive immunity in it, but now he's gone lukewarm, saying he'll try to remove the retroactive immunity, but he supports the current FISA bill.
http://isen.com/blog/2008/06/obama-weasels-on-fisa-promise.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm

Verizon Lobbyist Tom Tauke Pretends Up Is Down - Paints FCC VoIP ruling as anti-consumer…, dslreports
Earlier this year, the cable industry complained that Verizon was using number portability requests as an opportunity to market to customers who had already chosen to defect to cable VoIP. On Friday, the FCC ruled that such tactics were illegal. You'd be hard-pressed to draw that conclusion from this blog post by Verizon lobbyist Tom Tauke.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Lobbyist-Tom-Tauke-Pretends-Up-Is-Down-95514
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/

Net Neutrality Groups Form New Front, Internet News
InternetforEveryone.org debuts with the support of Google and public interest organizations, calling for a national broadband policy.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/319124853/3755041
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm

New group makes broadband a national priority, CNET
FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein joins Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and others to form the "Internet for Everyone" initiative for making broadband a top priority for policy makers in Washington.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9976522-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm

Announcing the "Internet for Everyone" campaign, Google
Today Google joined a national initiative of public interest, civic and industry groups to help launch the Internet for Everyone campaign, whose goal is to make ubiquitous and open broadband access for every American a priority in the next administration.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GooglePublicPolicyBlog/~3/319082070/announcing-internet-for-everyone.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm

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