[Cybertel-Ann] 5.21.8 :: Qwest Begs for Subsidies :: Breaking Up is Hard 2Do :: "Vendetta!" :: Did We Say "Unlimited?" :: 230 Shrinkage :: OECDSTATS :: What Arlington Gets Wrong :: Estonia + One Year :: Isnt the Election Over Yet? ::

Wed May 21 18:42:12 PDT 2008

============================================
             CyberTelecom News  
      Federal Internet Law and Policy
============================================
RSS Feeds : Fed Notices : Blog : Clips : 
http://www.cybertelecom.org/news.htm 
============================================
The future is something which everyone reaches at the
rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever
he is. -- CS Lewis

Qwest begs for government subsidies for broadband,
Muni
Nothing like a private company asking for government
funds: “Qwest Communications International Inc. is
asking a federal agency to obey a 2005 court order for
reforms that Qwest hopes will give it more access to a
pot of money subsidizing rural phone and broadband
service. The Denver-based telecommunications company
petitioned the Federal Communications Commission on
May 5 to follow a 3-year-old 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals ruling ordering reforms in a program
reimbursing telephone companies billions of dollars
for serving rural areas.”
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/muniwireless/~3/293783717/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/

U.S. Cable Telephony Growth Strong in Q1 08, IP
Democracy
As the cable industry heads into its big annual trade
show this weekend in New Orleans, it has one major
unqualified success to tout. U.S. cable operators
added a collective 1.3 million net new voice customers
during Q1 08, a strong run rate that is slightly
higher than the 1.2 million or so net new voice
customers gained by the same group in Q4 07. (Due to
system swaps, sales and other structural changes, we
can't do a year-over-year comparison for net voice
adds).
http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/05/17/#002994
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/cable.htm

Congratulations on your breakup, Time Warner Cable,
CNET
Time Warner is splitting into two publicly traded
companies in what could be a boon for the company's
cable business.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9949773-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/cable.htm

D.C. Cir. to Comcast: “Making You Obey The Law Is Not
A 'Vendetta.'”, Tales from the Sausage Factory
When an industry challenging agency action loses the
sympathy of the D.C. Cir., it is a good sign that
someone overreached just a tad. In apparent
preparation for the The Big Cable Show in New Orleans
this week, the D.C. Circuit issued this opini...
http://www.wetmachine.com/item/1193
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/cable.htm

MetroFi Pulls Out of Municipal Wireless Game -
Portland and other cities can buy their networks or
hope for a sale, Muni
unicipal wireless service provider MetroFi has
announced that the company is seeking a sale of its
networks as it considers getting out of the citywide
Wi-Fi game for good. The company has been unable to
keep its promises in the nine networks that it s
built; the most recent problem was a demand that
Portland pony up additional funding to complete a
network that was supposed to be done this summer.
MetroFi has now told Portland and other cities where
it operates that they can buy the networks themselves
within the next 30-60 days or MetroFi will look to
sell them to a third party. MetroFi is also seeking to
sell itself to a larger company.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/MetroFi-Pulls-Out-of-Municipal-Wireless-Game-94498
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/muni.htm

Guest commentary: what went wrong with muni Wi-Fi,
what cities can do now, Muni
It is too easy in light of the recent news that
MetroFi is selling their networks to begin to say that
the municipal WiFi (note that I said Wi-Fi and not
wireless) downturn is all  because of EarthLink and
MetroFi. Easy to pick on the companies that have come
out and said, “This isn’t working and we are closing
shop”.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/muniwireless/~3/294017055/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/muni.htm

Sprint To Impose 5GB Monthly EVDO Cap - 300MB per
month when you're off the network
, dslreports
When comparing Sprint and Verizon's EVDO service,
Verizon usually came up short, given their 5GB monthly
cap, and terms of service that restricts everything
but browsing and e-mail. However, with Sprint
suffering through a rocky financial stretch, it looks
like their CEO has decided that customers were getting
too much, for too little. uid://656685 directs my
attention to a leaked memo posted to the Sprint users
forum, which says monthly caps are coming:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Sprint-To-Impose-5GB-Monthly-EVDO-Cap-94576
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/w3g.htm

EVDO Isn't A Third Pipe: Sprint Follows Verizon
Wireless With 5GB Caps, Techdirt
Well, this is unfortunate. Every time people want to
pretend that there's "real" competition in the
broadband market beyond DSL and cable, you hear them
talk about 3G wireless services like Sprint and
Verizon Wireless' EVDO. Of course, Verizon Wireless
caps its EVDO service at 5GB/month -- go over that and
it will cut you off. Sprint, however, remained
customer friendly and having sold people "unlimited"
plans, stuck to that plan and let folks use EVDO as
much as they wanted to. I'm one of those customers,
and have been a big fan of the service. When I travel,
I use it constantly. It's convenient,
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080519/2329211175.shtml
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/w3g.htm

FCC Order Illuminates D Block Hybrid Difficulties, pk
It’s a shame the Federal government is trying to take
the round-about route in establishing a new network
for first responders. Then the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) wouldn’t be forced into the tortuous
square peg-round hole exercise it’s going through now
to figure out how to get private industry to pay for
an emergency-quality broadband network to be only
sporadically used for emergencies.
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/293771254/1580
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/w700.htm

Is the Scope of Immunity under the CDA Shrinking?, PK
Since §230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) was
passed in 1996, online service providers (OSPs) and
website operators have rested easy under the comfort
of blanket immunity. Under the CDA, OSPs couldn’t be
held liable for tortious content posted by others, but
the CDA’s immunity wasn’t a free pass for copyright
infringement or other intellectual property based
claims. The CDA specifically stated that it was not
designed to preempt intellectual property claims.
However, in recent weeks, the scope of the CDA’s
immunity and way in which the intellectual property
exception should be interpreted has been called into
question. Two recent cases—Fair Housing Council of San
Fernando v. Roommate.com and Jane Doe v. FriendFinder
Network Inc. have interpreted the CDA in ways that
might have repercussions.
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/293664796/1579
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm

Is Net Neutrality Going To Kill You?, Techdirt
Techdirt does not have much of a history of awarding
plaudits to Sonia Arrison. But this time we at least
have to give her points for originality: in her latest
essay opposing net neutrality she advances the
indisputably original argument that net neutrality
will kill you.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080516/1733211142.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

NYT: Congress Should Pass Net Neutrality Laws Now,
Save the Internet
Today, the New York Times weighs in again on the Net
Neutrality debate, calling on Congress to pass
legislation that would prohibit content
discrimination. Currently, three Net Neutrality bills
are snaking their way through Congress.
http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2008/05/19/nyt-congress-should-pass-net-neutrality-laws-now/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Net Neutrality is a Big Topic at Cable Show, 
Net Neutrality was a big topic at this year's NCTA
show. Congressional staff, FCC commissioners and even
the Administration weighed in on the hot-button issue
before an audience of operators hoping to hear that no
net neutrality regulations would be forthcoming any
time soon. And for the most part, that's the message
the operators heard.
http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/05/19/#002998
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

NY Times on Net Neutrality, Michael Geist
The NY Times runs an editorial supporting net
neutrality legislation.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~3/294224994/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

CDT Policy Post on Network Management, cdt
CDT issued a policy post today on the topic of network
management. In addition to providing background on the
status of the network management and Internet
neutrality debate, the document recaps CDT's earlier
comments to the FCC. Those comments suggested some
high-level principles to guide network management
efforts, while cautioning the FCC to avoid formal
regulation of network management practices.
http://www.cdt.org/headlines/1118
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralnm.htm

US Broadband Forecast, 2008 to 2013: Driving Growth
Through Multi-play Marketing, Jupiter
Aggressive multi-play marketing tactics by telcos and
cable operators continue to drive consumer broadband
adoption.
http://www.jup.com/bin/item.pl/research:concept/59/id=100307/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/broadband.htm

OECD updates broadband portal with December 2007 data,
OECD
Broadband subscriptions reached 235 million in
December 2008, equivalent to 20 subscribers per 100
inhabitants. Denmark, the Netherlands and Iceland
continue to lead the OECD in broadband penetration.
http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,3373,en_2649_37441_1_1_1_1_37441,00.html?rssChId=37441#40634254
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/broadband.htm

OECD broadband up 18% in 2007 but new report says more
could be done, OECD
New OECD statistics show strong broadband growth and a
progressive upgrade to fibre-optic connections. A new
report based on the broadband strategies of all 30
OECD countries highlights innovative policies and
areas of weakness.
http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,3373,en_2649_37441_1_1_1_1_37441,00.html?rssChId=37441#40632137
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/broadband.htm

Identity Theft Hits the Root Name Servers, Renesys
There have been a number of attacks on the root name
servers over the years, and much written on the topic.
(A few references are here, here and here.) Even if
you don't know exactly what these servers do, you
can't help but figure they're important when the US
government says it is prepared to launch a military
counterattack in response to cyber-attacks on them.
http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/05/identity_theft_hits_the_root_n_1.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/root.htm

YouTube declines Sen. Lieberman request to remove
terrorist-produced videos, CW
Google's YouTube unit has declined a request from Sen.
Joe Lieberman to remove all content produced by
terrorist organizations, contending that many don't
violate its community guidelines.
http://feeds.computerworld.com/~r/Computerworld/News/~3/294369910/article.do
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/firsta

AT&T Spent $5.2 million on lobbying in the First
Quarter of 2008, EFF
The Associated Press is reporting that AT&T, the
defendant in EFF's NSA surveillance litigation, "spent
$5.2 million in the first quarter to lobby on domestic
spying legislation and other issues." To put this into
perspective, AT&T's spending for three months on
lobbying alone is significantly more than the entire
EFF budget for a whole year, from attorneys to
sysadmins, pencils to bandwidth. For 2007, AT&T spent
over $16 million on lobbying.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/t-spent-5-2-million-lobbying-first-quarter-2008
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/att.htm

Comcast 50Mbps Coming To Florida - Cable giant focuses
on Florida to battle AT&T, Verizon, dslreports
A Comcast insider tells me that Sarasota, Florida
should begin seeing DOCSIS 3.0 gear and faster 50Mbps
speeds starting next month. The company is in the
process of installing DOCSIS 3.0 in the market now to
help them do combat with FiOS. Initial installs should
begin in June, and all of Sarasota should have the
speedier gear installed by July. In FiOS markets,
Comcast is skipping 16Mbps "Blast" upgrades, and
bringing out the big guns.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-50Mbps-Coming-To-Florida-94612
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/comcast.htm

Verizon Promises No NYC FiOS Redlining - Time will
tell...., dslreports
I mentioned yesterday that after months of closed door
meetings, NYC's Franchise and Concession Review
Committee (FCRC) is holding two public hearings before
it all but rubber stamps a Verizon FiOS franchise
agreement with the city. Dow Jones has some detail on
last night's meeting, at which a Verizon official
again promised that "there will be no discrimination
on the availability of the service or on the
build-out."
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Promises-No-NYC-FiOS-Redlining-94609
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/verizon.htm

OECD Ministerial meeting on “Future of the Internet
Economy”, Seoul, Korea, 17-18 June 2008, OECD
Ministers from more than 40 countries will meet with
global business leaders, technical experts and
academics in order to agree new ways to improve global
co-ordination and co-operation at the OECD Ministerial
meeting on “Future of the Internet Economy” in Seoul,
Korea, from Tuesday 17 to Wednesday 18 June 2008. This
conference is open to the media.
http://www.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_34223_1_1_1_1_1,00.html?rssChId=34223#40618999
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/

Senators weigh new laws over China online censorship,
CNET
Silicon Valley execs once again forced to justify
their business practices in China and other
Internet-censoring countries, with Cisco taking the
hot seat over new allegations of cozier-than-confessed
ties with the Chinese police.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9948331-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/china.htm

Chinese bloggers get free rein as earthquake slows
censors, CW
The Chinese government has loosened its reins on
bloggers in the country, allowing them to immediately
report on tragic events stemming from the May 12
earthquake.
http://feeds.computerworld.com/~r/Computerworld/News/~3/294568673/article.do
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/china.htm

Egypt - Call for release of blogger held since 6 April
protests - 19.05.2008, rsf
Reporters Without Borders calls on the Egyptian
authorities to free Kareem El-Beheiri, a blogger who
was arrested on 6 April in the industrial town of
Mahalla (100 km north of Cairo) while covering a
strike in the textile plant where he worked. The
authorities accuse him of encouraging the strike on
his blog, in which he referred to the actions being
organised by Egyptian workers in protest against their
poor living standards.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27064
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/me.htm

Iranian Activists Criticize New Restrictions on Web
Sites, Wash Post
Iranian bloggers and activists on Tuesday condemned a
move by a government panel to block access to several
Web sites related to women's issues and human rights.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/technology/index_xml/~3/294740390/AR2008052001624.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/me.htm

Iran - Almost 20 websites blocked as online censorship
grows - 21.05.2008, rsf
No description
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27122
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/me.htm

Court reconsiders “making available” in file-sharing
case, Internet Cases
A U.S. District Court judge in Minnesota presiding
over the case of Capitol Records Inc. v. Jammie Thomas
has issued an Order breathing new life into the
Defendant’s case.
http://blog.internetcases.com/2008/05/16/court-reconsiders-making-available-in-file-sharing-case/
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm

Hulu lands new partners, Globe and Mail
Video download service exceeded all U.S. television
network sites
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/294486942/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

Blogs and Traditional Media, emarketer
Old media adds a bit of the new
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1006327
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/

What Arlington Public Schools Get Wrong About Email
Privacy, Cybertelecom
Someone in Arlington Public School has woken up to the
fact that email is a marvelously insecure way of
communicating. Email is an application that moves a
text file from one computer to another. A text file
requires no special application to be read. It’s kind
of like sending a postcard, and anyone who handles the
postcard can read the postcard. Worst yet, everyone
who handles the postcard
http://cybertelecom.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-arlington-public-schools-get-wrong.html
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/crime.htm

Drew Indictment Suggests Vast New Expanse of CFAA
Liability, Techlaw
Imagine you're on a flight from Seattle to New York.
Your eyes wander over to the laptop screen of the
passenger sitting next to you. Imagine (you have quite
an imagination) your brief glimpse of the screen
reveals the details of one software company's
not-yet-public offer to purchase a leading online
property. Assume this information is very valuable.
Have you, in that moment, violated the Computer Fraud
and Abuse Act?
http://pblog.bna.com/techlaw/2008/05/drew-indictment.html
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/crime.htm

The Estonia cyberwar: One year later, CNET
One security researcher offers his take on the DDoS
attacks that crippled Estonia in May of 2007.
http://www.news.com/8301-10789_3-9948720-57.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/cyberwar.htm

Scam Emails Seek Donations to Help Chinese Earthquake
Victims, IC3
No description
http://www.ic3.gov/media/2008/080520.htm
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fraud.htm

Spain arrests 'prolific' hackers, BBC
Spanish police arrest five hackers they describe as
being among the most active on the internet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/europe/7406260.stm
More Info:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/hacker.htm

Obama 2008 -- The Free Wireless Network. Coming to
Cities and Towns Near You., Sascha Meinrath
Could a political campaign be a catalyst for free
wireless across the country? My colleague, Roy
Russell, thinks so. He's just launched a campaign to
create free open wireless hotspots with the network
name, "Obama 2008." It's a great idea -- offer a
useful service and local resource, advertise for your
candidate of choice, and demonstrate the
community-oriented ethos that permeates the campaign.
http://saschameinrath.com/2008/may/17/obama_2008_free_wireless_network_coming_cities_and_towns_near_you
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm

John McCain Wouldn't Give the Telcos Immunity if He
Were President, eff
Breaking with President Bush and GOP Congressional
leadership, presumptive Republican presidential
nominee John McCain said today through one of his
representatives that he did not believe that Congress
should immunize phone companies from liability for
their participation in the NSA's warrantless
wiretapping — at least not until Congress has held
hearings to find out exactly what conduct was being
immunized, and not until the phone companies admit to
and apologize for their lawbreaking.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/john-mccain-telco-immunity
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm

Obama, Clinton and McCain Proxies Speak at NCTA, IP
Democracy
None of the three presidential candidates could make
his or her way to the NCTA show here. But all three
had proxies in the form of former FCC Commissioners
and Chairmen who offered the contenders' views on
various communications policy issues during a lunch
panel.
http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/05/18/#002996
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 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~