[Cybertel-Ann] 5.9.8 :: Truthiness! :: FTC Stops One Spammer :: An Attorney in NJ Has Still not Read Sec. 230 :: Twisney? :: Pinching Pipes :: 5K and Falling ::

Fri May 9 09:19:07 PDT 2008

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             CyberTelecom News  
      Federal Internet Law and Policy
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http://www.cybertelecom.org/news.htm 
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"Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never
washed a dog." -Franklin P. Jones

Lawmakers Introduce New Net Neutrality Bill, NYT
The legislation calls for Internet service providers
to interconnect with the facilities of other network
providers on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis.
http://www.nytimes.com/idg/IDG_852573C40069388000257443006A5D55.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

U.S. consumers the least 'green', survey says, CNET
Shoppers in Brazil, India, and China are the most
ecologically aware, while Americans appear in the
least flattering light in a National Geographic
survey.
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9939504-54.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/environment/

FTC Halts Illegal Spam Operation; Adult Site Violated
CAN-SPAM Act, FTC
The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice
have halted the illegal conduct of an adult Web site
that sent spam with false or misleading header
information, that failed to include an opt-out
mechanism, and that failed to include a valid postal
address, all in violation of federal law.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/05/atmglobal.shtm
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/enforce.htm

EFF and Sheppard Mullin Defend Wikipedia in Defamation
Case, EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the law
firm of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton Thursday
filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against
the operator of the popular online encyclopedia
Wikipedia, arguing that federal law immunizes it
against suits over statements made by its users.
http://ftp.eff.org/press/archives/2008/05/02
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm

Copyright and the Demise of Newspapers, Citizens Media
Law
Neil Netanel, a highly regarded legal scholar, has an
interesting post on Balkinization entitled "The Demise
of Newspapers: Economics, Copyright, Free Speech."
Netanel, who has written extensively on copyright
issues, posits that part of the reason for the decline
in newspapers stems from Internet competitors that
build on the content and value that newspapers create.
He suggests that imposing a statutory license or levy
on commercial Internet service providers and news
aggregators might be a workable solution for ensuring
that newspapers receive compensation for their
investment in quality reporting.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CitizenMediaLawProject/~3/286313589/copyright-and-demise-newspapers
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

Will ARIN Establish a Gatekeeper?, IGP
If you’re reading this within an hour after it was
posted, you’ve got about 17 hours to comment on an
important change being proposed at ARIN, the manager
of Internet Protocol addresses for the North American
region. ARIN is proposing a new “Policy Development
Process.” (Sound familiar?) A step by step description
of the proposal can be found here. The essence of the
change is that the ARIN Advisory Council would manage
and dispose of all policy proposals. The new PDP
proposal is an example of the increasing formalization
of IP address policy making. This trend, which is
probably inevitable, will continue. Everyone
interested in Internet governance needs to understand
that and be attuned to the consequences. ARIN’s
Advisory Council will become more of a gatekeeper for
policy proposals.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IGPBlog/~3/286557725/3682004.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ip.htm

Citizen journalism at Disney World, Lost Remote
On Twisney.com, people walking around Disney World
upload short messages and photos from their cell
phones of their experiences, which are mashed on an
interactive map. “If you want to understand how
citizen journalists armed with cellphones are going to
change the world–and create challenges and
opportunities for businesses–spend a few minutes at
Twisney.com,” writes WSJ.com’s Tom Weber.
http://www.lostremote.com/2008/05/08/citizen-journalism-at-disney-world-3/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

House Passes Pro IP Overwhelmingly, Techdirt
Last week we questioned why Congress seemed to think
that the White House should be playing the role of
copyright cop. Yet, apparently, the House of
Representatives didn't think it was a question worth
asking, as it has passed the PRO IP bill by an
overwhelming vote, 410 to 10. It seems like our
Congressional Representatives felt that, once they got
rid of one bad portion of the bill, that the rest of
it must be perfectly fine. This bill has a ton of
problems, expanding copyright law and the executive
branch's authority in ways that are pretty clearly
unnecessary. It is, in effect, a bill to prop up the
obsolete business model of one particular industry, so
it's rather disappointing that our Representatives
have rushed through to approve it with little
discussion or debate over whether it's even necessary.
Either way, it seems unlikely to get much further, as
the Justice Department has already come out against
the bill, one would hope that even if the Senate
approves a version of the bill, the President would
veto it.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080508/1854491068.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/

House Passes Controversial PRO IP Act, EFF
Today, the House passed the controversial PRO IP Act
(H.R. 4279) 410 to 11, with 12 representatives not
voting.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/house-passes-controversial-pro-ip-act
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm

Comcast Considers Pinching Pipes on Broadband Plans,
Ecommerce Times
In a move sure to renew debate over how broadband
access should be sold, Comcast is reportedly mulling a
cap on how much data a customer buying its basic
high-speed Internet access package can use each month.
Comcast, the No. 2 provider of high-speed Web access
in the U.S., would establish a preset monthly data
usage level and then charge a fee for users who exceed
that level. Reports of the possible move first
appeared Wednesday on the BroadbandReports.com Web
site.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/62931.html
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/comcast.htm

House Democrats Try Again With Net Neutrality Bill,
Internet News
Eyeing anticompetitive threats, lawmakers bring
forward new legislation to curb ISPs' network
management.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/286437852/3745846
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Fewer Than 5,000 Broadband Over Powerlines
Subscribers, Techdirt
Following the story earlier in the week about the
death of broadband over powerlines, Broadband Reports
points out that even by the FCC's "stunningly
meaningless" broadband stats (that tend to inflate
access claims), BPL only has 4,776 subscribers. This
for the technology that it declared as "the great
broadband hope" five years ago. So, once more, with
feeling: broadband over powerlines is dead. It's not a
serious option.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080508/1052481064.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/power.htm

Truthiness Challenge, Google Bombing Earn Colbert Top
Webby Accolade, Ecommerce Times
The winners of the 12th Annual Webby Awards were
announced Tuesday. Taking home top honors was comedian
Stephen Colbert as the Internet's "Person of the
Year." Other big name honorees include Will.i.am for
"Artist of the Year" and Michael Gondry, who won "Film
& Video Person of the Year." Colbert received the
award for his innovative use of the Internet to
interact with fans of "The Colbert Report." That
includes Google bombing to make him the top search
result for "greatest living American" to challenging
the "truthiness" of Wikipedia, the organization said.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/62898.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/

Didn't Take Long: Comcast Ditches P2P Bill Of Rights
Idea, Techdirt
Just a few weeks ago, Comcast announced a plan to
offer up a P2P Bill of Rights as a way to get federal
regulators off its back. Of course, as we pointed out
at the time, the company never really explained why
such a Bill of Rights was actually needed. Instead, it
just seemed like something of a PR stunt to show the
FCC that it was doing something. Having received the
necessary press coverage, Comcast has now abandoned
the plan, but says instead that it will join the
Distributed Computing Industry Association, which is a
newly formed group designed to create best practices
around this area. This certainly makes a lot more
sense than developing a separate and totally
unnecessary "Bill of Rights" on its own, but the DCIA
has its own problems. For example, the group says that
it wants consumer interest groups to play a role in
the group, but not until later. If consumer rights are
so important, why not include them from the beginning?
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080506/1208131046.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralp2p.htm

Verizon Says They'll Stick To 700Mhz Conditions - Says
Google filing 'has no legal basis', dslreports
The other day, Google issued a filing with the FCC
saying that Verizon was planning to wiggle out of the
conditions attached to their winning bid for 700Mhz
spectrum. According to Google, Verizon is apparently
planning to legally argue that the rules don't apply
to their own phones, only third party phones
subscribed to the company's yet to be launched "open
access" wireless broadband tier. In a posting to their
policy blog, Verizon, a master of "changing the rules
and furthering their own business interests through
the regulatory process", accuses Google of, well, read
for yourself:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Says-Theyll-Stick-To-700Mhz-Conditions-94202
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/w700.htm

Earthlink Threatens To Shut Down Philly Wi-Fi - Unless
the city acts to take the network off its hands
,
dslreports
It looks like the public Wi-Fi network in Philadelphia
may be shut down if the city can't negotiate some kind
of transfer deal with Earthlink. Earthlink stopped
accepting new customers last week, and gave the city
until today to negotiate an offer, but the city's
mayor doesn't seem keen on the idea of spending city
money. For long time readers, this network has a long
story behind it; one that could end badly.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Earthlink-Threatens-To-Shut-Down-Philly-WiFi-94233
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/muni.htm

Internet Archive Challenges F.B.I.’s Secret Records
Demand, NYT
The F.B.I. has withdrawn a secret demand that the
Internet Archive provide the agency with a user’s
personal information after the Web site challenged the
records request in court.
http://www.nytimes.com/idg/IDG_852573C40069388000257442004ECECE.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/bigbrother.htm

Public Comment Period Now Open for Domain Tasting
Motion, ICANN
No description
http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-07may08.htm
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/icann.htm

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