From rcannon100 at yahoo.com Wed Nov 5 12:00:21 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 12:00:21 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 11.5 :: Hope :: A Vote for Opportunism :: GaHoo! No More :: The White Vote :: [Rest of Subject Line is Over your Subject Line Cap] :: Message-ID: <674987.85439.qm@web37904.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ "We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." - Abraham Lincoln A vote for broadband in the "white spaces", Google All eyes are on the presidential election today, but another important vote just took place at the Federal Communications Commission. By a vote of 5-0, the FCC formally agreed to open up the "white spaces" spectrum -- the unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels -- for wireless broadband service for the public. This is a clear victory for Internet users and anyone who want http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GooglePublicPolicyBlog/~3/442599028/vote-for-broadband-in-white-spaces.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white Welcome to the White Spaces - No License? No Problem!, CommLawBlog The FCC has voted to allow unlicensed devices to use "white spaces" in the TV band for wireless broadband. Preliminarily, only devices that determine available channels based on geolocation and a database of existing users will be authorized, but procedures have been put in place to allow future approval of devices that choose available channels based on only signal-sensing. http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/CommLawBlog/~3/442714964/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white FCC Approves White Space Devices: The Dawn of the Age of Opportunistic Spectrum Reuse, Sascha Yesterday will go down in history as a bellwether moment. Few among us will soon forget the excitement of Obama's election. But there was an equally historic vote yesterday that for geeks, policy analysts, and technologists represents an entirely new trajectory in telecommunications. In essence, the FCC has begun the transition from command-and-control, single-user spectrum licensure to a more distributed system that holds the potential to eliminate the artificial scarcity that prevented widespread http://www.circleid.com/posts/2008115_fcc_approves_white_space_spectrum_reuse/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white Comcast 'P4P' Tests Boost P2P By 80% - Though there's still more questions than answers about Pando's 'new P2P', dslreports The P4P Research Group (pdf), a coalition of most major ISPs, researchers and Pando networks, is working on a more efficient P2P protocol that saves transit time by only serving file parts from local peers to reduce hops. Pando and the new coalition believe they can speed up P2P transfers by as much as 235% across US cable networks and up to 898% across international broadband networks. In Verizon tests, Pando increased the percentage of data routed internally across their networks from 2.2% to 43.4 http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-P4P-Tests-Boost-P2P-By-80-98859 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralp2p.htm AT&T Jumps Into The Metered Broadband Game, Techdirt As was widely expected, AT&T has officially jumped into the metered broadband game, initiating a system in Reno, with caps ranging from 20 to 150 gigabytes per month, depending on tier, and overage fees at $1/gigabyte. These caps are significantly lower than Comcast's caps, though higher than we've seen elsewhere. At this point, it's become pretty clear that all of the major ISPs seem to want to adopt such tiers and overage fees, which I still think will come back to bite them. It would be an opportunity for others to http://techdirt.com/articles/20081104/0118402732.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm Frontier Confirms Cap Plans - CEO: $1-$2 per GB only way to stay profitable?, dslreports Earlier this year, customers of Frontier were annoyed to find that the carrier was planning to implement 5GB per month caps for their DSL services starting this winter. Customers discovered the plans due to references in the company's acceptable use policy, though the company really wasn't willing to talk in detail about their cap plans. Despite the negative reaction, Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter has more on http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Frontier-Confirms-Cap-Plans-98815 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm AT&T Tries On Data Cap, Ecommerce Times AT&T, the country's largest Internet service provider, is testing the idea of limiting the amount of data that subscribers can use each month. AT&T will initially apply the limits in Reno, Nev., and see about extending the practice elsewhere. Increasingly, Internet providers across the country are placing such limits on the amount of data users can upload and download each month, as a way to curb a http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/65047.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm United States still lags behind in international broadband penetration, Speed Matters The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has released its latest international broadband statistics and the findings remain grim for the United States. http://www.speedmatters.org/blog/united-states-still-lags.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/broadband.htm Ending our agreement with Yahoo!, Google In June we announced an advertising agreement with Yahoo! that gave Yahoo! the option of using Google to provide ads on its websites (and its publisher partners' sites) in the U.S. and Canada. At the same time, both companies agreed to delay implementation of the agreement to give regulators the chance to review it. While this wasn't legally http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GooglePublicPolicyBlog/~3/443306337/ending-our-agreement-with-yahoo.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/google.htm Yahoo! Announces Termination of Services Agreement by Google, Yahoo Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced that Google has terminated the advertising services agreement the companies announced in June. Yahoo! continues to believe in the benefits of the agreement and is disappointed that Google has elected to withdraw from the agreement rather than defend it in court. Google notified Yahoo! of its refusal to move forward with implementation of the agreement following indication from the Department of Justice that it would seek to block it, despite Yahoo!'s proposed revisions to address the DOJ's concerns. http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=345734 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/yahoo.htm Egypt - Two years for a blog : that's enough ! - 5.11.2008, RSF Reporters Without Borders today renewed its call for the release of Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer, aged 24, sentenced in 2006 to three years in prison for ?insulting Islam? and one year for ?insulting the president?, who will have served half his sentence on 6 November 2008. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29192 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/africa.htm FCC Just Couldn't Stop Voting, Techdirt Well, it's election day and apparently the FCC commissioners liked voting so much they took votes on just about everything. Amazingly, it looks like they even made some good decisions. The big one, of course, and the one that will get the most press, is the unanimous vote to free up television "white space" spectrum. While the NAB made a last ditch effort to stop this, the FCC made the right call here. This spectrum can be put to much better use, which can have a huge impact on increasing innovation and http://techdirt.com/articles/20081104/1612362737.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Who Will Be Obama's CTO?, Internet News At least one observer thinks Google's Eric Schmidt could be tapped. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/KpT5M1uFnX8/3782861 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm Propelled by Internet, Barack Obama Wins Presidency, Wired Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States Tuesday night, crowning an improbable two-year climb that owes much of its success to Obama's command of the internet as a fundraising and organizing tool. http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/politics/~3/442906743/propelled-by-in.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm No ?Technology Czar,? Please, Tech Liberation Front Over at OpenMarket.org, Wayne Crews has a good post arguing against Obama?s plan to appoint a ?Technology Czar?: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techliberation/~3/443516536/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RSS Feeds : Fed Notices : Blog : Clips : http://www.cybertelecom.org/news.htm Now Extra Delicious! http://del.icio.us/rcannon100/zxc 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From rcannon100 at yahoo.com Thu Nov 13 15:04:52 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:04:52 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 11.13 :: Astute Choices at the FCC :: FCC Staff Liberated from Gray Padded Cubicles :: Taking Side Bets on the Next FCC Chief :: Fear the Monster :: Message-ID: <624794.53842.qm@web37906.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. - Reinhold Niebuhr Verizon DSL Customers Getting Free Upgrades - Entry level tier speed jumping from 768kbps to 1.5Mbps?, dslreports In order to help beat back cable and stem their DSL subscriber losses, Verizon recently updated their DSL bundle packages, adding several new options for the triple and double play. As part of that update, the company said they would be updating the speed of their entry level tier from 768 Kbps/128 to 1Mbps/384kbps. Some users in our forums note that Verizon is updating some 768kbps customers to 1.5Mbps or faster if your loop length is short enough. Customers eligible for the free upgrade should be http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-DSL-Customers-Getting-Free-Upgrades-99002 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/dsl.htm Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act (KIDS Act), Cybertelecom The Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act was passed in 2006 and, among other things, created state public online databases of sex offenders and the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website through which all of the state databases could be accessed. Leveraging information technology, the Department of Justice has now put within everyone's reach information about sex offenders in their http://cybertelecom.blogspot.com/2008/11/keeping-internet-devoid-of-sexual.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/child.htm CTIA drops lawsuit against FCC's open access rules, CW A mobile phone trade group has dropped a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission challenging the commission's rules requiring so-called open access rules on a block of valuable spectrum auctioned earlier this year. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=d533d79f40c8c4b3832d04159879cdc7 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/cpe.htm AT&T Thinks Network Neutrality Fight Is Over - Unfortunately for them, the neutrality circus was just napping?, dslreports Post election with a new FCC boss looming, we're starting to see the network neutrality debate rekindled. It has been confirmed that Congress will most definitely pursue network neutrality legislation next year. Carriers obviously would prefer that the government enforce neutrality on a case by case basis, while many worry that government lacks the competence to draft useful laws. AT&T's policy guru James Cicconi takes the opportunity to claim to PC World that there's a "consensus" that's been http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Thinks-Network-Neutrality-Fight-Is-Over-99061 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Please Stop Telling Us How Many Emails Fit Under A Broadband Cap, Techdirt Earlier this year, we pointed out that if you're a broadband provider implementing some kind of broadband cap, and you're hyping it up by showing off just how many emails can be sent under the cap, there's a problem. Obviously, ISPs are using the number of emails as a criteria because emails use up almost no bandwidth -- so no matter what the cap is, the answer is "a lot." But, of course, the number of emails you can send is meaningless. There's no big email epidemic that is what has ISPs claiming they need to put in http://techdirt.com/articles/20081108/1815552773.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm HughesNet Widens Cap-Free Window - Users get a little extra download breathing room overnight, dslreports One forum user notes that there is a rare bit of good news for HugheNet satellite broadband customers this week. The company's FAP FAQ has been updated to note that the uncapped window customers see from 3-6AM has been expanded two hours -- and will now be from 2-7AM starting this week (unless you're a HN9000 modem owner, in which case you'll have to wait a month). "5 hours, I'm actually quite shocked http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/HughesNet-Widens-CapFree-Window-99003 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm On The Importance Of Unfettered Broadband, Techdirt A little over a year ago, I tried to explain why metered broadband or capped broadband slows down innovation. However, many have responded that as long as the basic caps are reasonably high, it shouldn't be a big deal, because, "how much bandwidth do you really need?" People note that the only ones who might be using up the 250GB caps announced from Comcast can only be downloading http://techdirt.com/articles/20081106/0251592756.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm A Day at the Root of the Internet, CAIDA Published in the Computer Communications Review in October, 2008. http://www.caida.org/publications/papers/2008/root_internet/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ Court Must Vacate Kentucky Court's Baseless Domain Name Seizure, EFF The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) urged a Kentucky Court of Appeals Wednesday to vacate a lower court's order authorizing the seizure of more than 100 Internet domain names associated with websites operating around the globe. The seizure, and the lower court's exercise of jurisdiction over global domain names, threatens free speech across the Internet. In a move to comba http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/11/13 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ Agencies Issue Final Rule to Implement Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, Cybertelecom Press Release November 12, 2008 HP-1266Agencies Issue Final Rule to Implement Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act Washington - The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board today announced the release of a joint final rule to implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The Act prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection http://cybertelecom.blogspot.com/2008/11/agencies-issue-final-rule-to-implement.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ecom/gambling.htm Judge Rules Against White House in E-Mail Case, NYT A federal judge ruled against the Bush administration in a court battle over the White House?s problem-plagued e-mail system. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/washington/11brfs-JUDGERULESAG_BRF.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/egov/ Google D.C. Talk next Thursday: Tech Agenda 2009, Google Earlier this week we announced that Google CEO Eric Schmidt will be in Washington next Tuesday to deliver a speech on the intersection between technology and the economy. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GooglePublicPolicyBlog/~3/452247554/google-dc-talk-next-thursday-tech.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/google.htm Vonage Still Struggling With Defecting Customers - As cable VoIP continues to eat their lunch?, dslreports Back in July, Vonage tagged former AT&T (technically Cingular) executive Marc Lefar to be the company's new CEO, replacing Vonage founder and interim CEO Jeff Citron, who was playing the role since April 2007. Lefar's primary job was to reduce customer defections, by improving the "customer experience." However, according to Vonage's third quarter earnings, while the company did narrow their net loss on the quarter, the company's "churn" or turnover rate remains unchanged at 3%. At that rate, http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Vonage-Still-Struggling-With-Defecting-Customers-99007 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/vonage.htm FCC Staff Liberated!, Spectrum Talk But the real surprise was not noticed by many because it was a little subtle: about 10 FCC employees were present. A few years ago this would have been normal and unremarkable. But for the past several years such attendance by FCC employees has required explicit a priori approval of the Chairman's Office which was hard to come by and indirectly discouraged. http://spectrumtalk.blogspot.com/2008/11/fcc-staff-liberated-normal-intellectual.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm How an Astute Choice at the FCC Could Begin to Solve our telecom Infrastructure Disaster, Cook Few things seem as intractable as the incumbent?s stranglehold on our communications future. At the FCC would be disposed to clean house and start over. Yet from a pragmatic point of view that might well take much more time and produce less desirable results. The following outlines the possibility that President Obama, by one or two appointments at the FCC, could set in motion forces where the FCC could begin to make positive changes in our miserable telecom environment. And let these forces work while he tackles the other very grievous issues we face http://gordoncook.net/wp/?p=279 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Study: DDoS attacks threaten ISP infrastructure, CNET Arbor Networks finds that DDoS attack sizes doubled last year and were more diverse in nature, taxing the IT security resources at most Internet carriers. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10093699-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/dos.htm ISPs Fear Monster 40Gbps DDoS Attacks - Attacks getting more sophisticated, while resources getting strained?, dslreports Several readers write in to note that Arbor Networks has released their 2008 Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report, which picks the brains of roughly seventy engineers from tier 1 and 2 ISPs. Engineers were asked 90 questions about everything from backbone capacity to their workloads, and for the fourth straight year noted that the majority of their security resources and time are spent fighting DDoS attacks, http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ISPs-Fear-Monster-40Gbps-DDoS-Attacks-99017 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/dos.htm Spam plummets after Calif. hosting service shuttered, CW The volume of spam worldwide dropped by more than 40% after a California-based hosting service was cut off from the Web, according to IronPort, a messaging security company owned by Cisco Systems. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=2504fc083eaa34dc1f298881e109fcfd More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/ Spam declines after hosting company shut-down, CNET Experts say McColo-hosted sites may have been responsible for as much as 75 percent of the spam on the Internet. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10095730-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/ Spam Volumes Dropped by Two-Thirds After Major Spam Hub Shut Down, CircleID The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide plummeted on Tuesday after a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a major host of organizations engaged in spam activity was taken offline, reports Brian Krebs of The Washington Post today. http://www.circleid.com/posts/spam_volumes_dropped_two_thirds/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/ Google CEO Says 'No Thanks' to Obama CTO Job, Internet News Obama adviser Eric Schmidt takes his name off the list for government tech czar. Who's left? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/kXx9etT1N8g/3784021 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/obama.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RSS Feeds : Fed Notices : Blog : Clips : http://www.cybertelecom.org/news.htm Now Extra Delicious! http://del.icio.us/rcannon100/zxc 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From rcannon100 at yahoo.com Tue Nov 18 18:55:42 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:55:42 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 11.18 :: "I, for one, Welcome Our New Overlords!" :: The Users Are Revolting! ("They Certainly Are!") :: Crowdsourcing Censorship :: Let's see, teachers salaries, library upkeep, or P2P Filters?? :: Message-ID: <214768.77505.qm@web37908.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ "There ought to be limits to freedom" ? George W. Bush A National Broadband Strategy Call to Action, PK A large and diverse array of stakeholders in America?s broadband future will announce the formation of the U.S. Broadband Coalition and release a Call to Action that provides President-elect Obama and the incoming Congress a framework for a comprehensive national broadband strategy. http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/455937371/1875 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ High Court Declines Review of MySpace CDA 230 Case, Techlaw The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari this morning in Doe v. MySpace Inc., No. 08-340, a case raising the issue whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act immunizes MySpace from a claim that it negligently failed to protect an underage user from sexual assault by another MySpace user. The Fifth Circuit held that allegations in the plaintiff's complaint that MySpace had negligently failed to implement reasonable safety measures to protect her daughter--a 14-year-old who misrepresented her age when registering on the site--were, in effect, seeking to hold MySpace liable for the communication http://pblog.bna.com/techlaw/2008/11/high-court-decl.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm Two New Ripoff Report Cases Filed, Citizen's Media Eric Goldman reminds us (here, here) that angry companies and individuals are still suing Xcentric Ventures, LLC and Ed Magedson left and right over reports submitted to Ripoff Report. Ripoff Report is a website that allows users to post reports about individuals and companies that they believe have "ripped them off" or treated them unfairly. The website has attracted much criticism and litigation for refusing to remove allegedly false reports and offering a service to aggrieved businesses called the "Corporate Advocacy Program" ("CAP"), under which, for a fee, the website will investigate "rip-off" reports targeting http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CitizenMediaLawProject/~3/456122152/two-new-ripoff-report-cases-filed More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm Users Revolted: Net Neutrality to Win, Peerflow This column is dedicated to the top managers of American business whose policies and practices helped ensure Barack Obama's victory. The mandate for change that sounded across this country is not limited to our new President and Congress. That bell also tolls for you. Obama's triumph was ignited in part by your failure to understand and respect your own consumers, customers, employees, and end users. The despair that fueled America's yearning for change and hope grew to maturity in your garden. http://riskman.typepad.com/peerflow/2008/11/users-revolted-net-neutrality-to-win.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Net Neutrality Legislation Expected In January, Techdirt This probably won't come as a big surprise to most folks, but Sen. Byron Dorgan, has made it clear that he intends to reintroduce net neutrality legislation early next year. While the issue of net neutrality used to not be a partisan issue, somehow it became one a few years ago, with many Democrats lining up in favor of net neutrality regulations, and many Republicans against them. President-elect Obama's platform included network neutrality legislation, and with more Democrats being elected to both the House and http://techdirt.com/articles/20081113/1531282827.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Narrowband on the Decline in the U.S., Internet News Dial-up sheds users in a number of U.S. states, but the nation continues being outpaced globally. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/b1RsMo6bIig/3785496 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/broadband.htm Judge Allows Bogus Jones Day Trademark Claims to Go Forward, EFF In a decision that could have significant negative consequences for online speech and commerce, Judge John Darrah of the Northern District of Illinois has refused to dismiss some of the most preposterous trademark claims we've ever seen (and that's saying something). http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/11/judge-allows-bogus-jones-day-trademark-claims-go-f More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/trademark.htm Saudis Crowdsourcing Internet Censorship, Techdirt A couple months ago we covered the Chinese government's effort to create a crowdsourced version of their Internet censorship operation. Now, BusinessWeek is reporting on a variation of this trend in Saudi Arabia. As you probably know, Saudi Arabia maintains an extensive Internet censorship effort, but, in contrast to the Chinese model which involves tens of thousands of workers, the Saudis only employs 25 people. Instead, roughly 1,200 requests are sent in by Saudi citizens, about half of which are http://techdirt.com/articles/20081116/1953102841.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/me.htm RIAA Wins, Campuses Lose as Tennessee Governor Signs Campus Network Filtering Law, EFF While the entertainment industry failed to get "hard" requirements for universities in the Higher Education Act passed by Congress earlier this year, the RIAA succeeded in Tennessee (and is pushing in other states) with this provision that gives Big Content the ability to hold universities hostage through the use of infringement notices. Moreover, the new rules will cost Tennessee a pretty penny -- in the cost review attached to the Tennessee bill, the state's Fiscal Review Committee estimates that the new obligations will http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/11/riaa-wins-campuses-lose-tennessee-governor-signs-c More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm AOL confirms: No more user-uploaded video, CNET The company is shuttering its video hosting service in December, and invites users to transfer their videos to start-up Motionbox instead. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10098335-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/ Obama FCC Selection Team Won't Make AT&T Happy - Both pro-neutrality, lack rose colored glasses on broadband deployment, dslreports The Obama camp has pegged two long-time net neutrality advocates to head up their Federal Communications Commission Review team, according to Wired. One is Wharton professor Kevin Werbach (see his CircleID articles), who was a former FCC staffer, and is organizer of the annual tech conference Supernova. The other is Susan Crawford (see her blog), a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, and traditionally very pro-consumer -- particularly when it comes to broadband deployment: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Obama-FCC-Selection-Team-Wont-Make-ATT-Happy-99153 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm#tra Obama transition team names FCC review leaders, CNET The transition team for President-elect Barack Obama announces several more agency review team leaders, including those who will head up the reviewal process of the FCC. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10097760-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm#tra Transitioning, Werblog I?m honored to be named as co-leader of the FCC review team for the Obama-Biden Transition Project, along with the wonderful and brilliant Susan Crawford. (Yes, ?Ken Werbach? is me ? I?m working on getting the typo fixed on the website.) http://werblog.com/2008/11/transitioning/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm#tra Obama FCC Transition Team Now Includes Totally AWESOME Additions!!!!, Tales from the Sausage Factory Good news right before Sabbath kicks in. According to this article, Obama's FCC transition team will now include Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach!!! These are not just people who ?get it.? These are people who ?got it?... http://www.wetmachine.com/item/1386 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm#tra Susan Crawford, Kevin Werbach Named Obama's FCC Review Team Leads, CircleID We'd like to congratulate our long time CircleID participants, Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach for being named today as Obama-Biden FCC Transition Team Leads. http://www.circleid.com/posts/susan_crawford_kevin_werbach_obama_fcc_review_team_leads/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm#tra Net Spying Firm and ISPs Sued Over Ad System, Wired ISP customers sue a controversial Net monitoring firm and its ISP partners, alleging that the companies violated federal wiretapping law with their ad-targeting scheme. All have already quit monitoring customers' behavior after bad press and congressional pressure. http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/politics/~3/452369964/net-spying-firm.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/ FTC Takes Aim at "Stalker Spyware" Company, CDT Acting on a request from the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. District Court has temporarily halted the sale of "stalker spyware," pending a decision on whether these products engage in unfair and deceptive practices by enabling and encouraging privacy invasion. Keylogger programs are often sold as "stalker spyware" and describe in detail how to spy on others without being detected, according to the FTC complaint. CDT applauds the hard work of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which first brought a http://www.cdt.org/headlines/1173 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/spy.htm Jerry's perfect. Jerry's our man. Jerry's gone., CNET Jerry Yang shepherded a colossal decline in Yahoo shareholder value (and may be hurting his open-source assets in the process). http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10100844-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/yahoo.htm Cable Grabbing 71% Of New Broadband Customers - Solidly beating back telcos over last two quarters, dslreports If you had any doubts that cable has been beating up the telcos a bit the last few quarters, the latest data from Leichtman Research should eliminate them. According to Leichtman, the twenty largest cable and telephone providers in the US representing about 94% of the market acquired approximately 1.3 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the third quarter of 2008. Of those 1.3 million new customers, cable operators added 870,000, or 67% of them in the third quarter. "Over the past http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cable-Grabbing-71-Of-New-Broadband-Customers-99158 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/cable.htm Google's Schmidt calls for more innovation, stronger infrastructure, CNET The CEO on Monday laid out broad policy proposals for Washington that include opening up the government and investing in infrastructure. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10101512-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ Eric Schmidt: Open Broadband to Competition, IP Democracy Riding high on his visible role as an adviser to the Obama campaign, Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke to a packed auditorium in the Ronald Reagan Center here today at an event sponsored by the New America Foundation. During his talk, Schmidt addressed two core topics -- http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/11/18/#003074 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ Tennessee Adopts $9.5M University Piracy Measure Despite School Layoffs, Wired The 222,000-student Tennessee public university system is bracing for layoffs and class reductions as part of a $43.7 billion budget shortfall, but Tennessee lawmakers have approved a $9.5 million measure requiring university internet filtering to prevent the sharing of copyrighted music and other works. The Recording Industry Association of America hailed the nation's first-of-its-kind measure. http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/politics/~3/457761052/tennessee-adopt.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm Eric Schmidt on what's ahead in 2009, Google There is no shortage of people coming to Washington these days with ideas for how to address some of the serious challenges we face. Today in D.C. our CEO Eric Schmidt offered some of his own ideas for how policy makers might approach some of those challenges. He said that despite these concerns, he is an optimist, citing the combination of new technology and "the genius of the American people." http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GooglePublicPolicyBlog/~3/457580344/eric-schmidt-on-whats-ahead-in-2009.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/google.htm Court Orders Halt to Sale of Spyware, ftc At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. District Court has issued a temporary restraining order halting the sale of keylogger spyware. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/11/cyberspy.shtm More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/spy.htm ITU and the Increasing Controversy Over Internet Governance, CircleID The Council of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is set to talk Wednesday about the Union's contribution to follow-up of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the third Internet Governance Forum (IGF). http://www.circleid.com/posts/itu_controversy_internet_governance/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/icann.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RSS Feeds : Fed Notices : Blog : Clips : http://www.cybertelecom.org/news.htm Now Extra Delicious! http://del.icio.us/rcannon100/zxc 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From rcannon100 at yahoo.com Wed Nov 26 07:34:51 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:34:51 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 11.26 :: The Install-Guy Will Arrive Sometime Btw 9 AM and February :: "Backbone Traffic Doubles Every Year" :: Here's How Fair Sue Works.... :: Fired :: Message-ID: <970636.82030.qm@web37903.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ "It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet." ?George W Bush, Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000 75% Of Broadband Customers Would Switch ISPs - If scheduling the new install wasn't such a pain in the ass?, dslreports Three out of every four US broadband subscribers would be willing to leave their current Broadband Service Provider, according to a new survey by analyst firm Strategy Analytics. Interestingly, the firm also determines how vulnerable ISPs are to customer defections. According to the $3,000 report (see press release), Time Warner Cable could be the most harmed by a price war between providers, while the study proclaims that Cox Communications has "the most secure customer base." http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/75-Of-Broadband-Customers-Would-Switch-ISPs-99288 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ New Study Says Go Green with Greater Telecommuting, USTelecom These days ?going green? is on the lips of everyone from President-elect Barack Obama to consumers? searching for more environmentally-friendly ways to live. Now, the new ?Smart2020 report?, issued by The Climate Group for the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, underscores the myriad ways the tech industry can reduce emissions, with telecommuting topping the list. The study found that expanding broadband-enabled teleworking opportunities could save up to 260 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. http://www.ustelecom.org/Video_Blogs/Blog/index.php/2008/11/25/new-study-says-go-green-with-greater-telecommuting/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ Telcos: The Internet Will Collapse If The Gov't Doesn't Gives Us Lots Of Money, Techdirt For a while now, we've been noting that whenever you hear people warning about the impending broadband crunch, it's politicians, consultants or lobbyists. When you actually talk to technologists, they point out that there's no problem and that normal upgrades will keep everything just fine -- even without having to do any kind of traffic shaping or violation of net neutrality. http://techdirt.com/articles/20081121/0242352913.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ U.S. Telcos want $30-60B bailout, Telecom Policy AT&T is spearheading a massive campaign for "broadband" subsidies and tax breaks, which will not produce a significant improvement in U.S. broadband. The numbers sought are startling, especially since 70-80% of the U.S. should have 50 megabit+ speeds by 2012-3 even if the government does http://www.fastnetnews.com/policy/56-us-and-canada-telecom-policy/633-telcos-want-billions More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ Backbone Analysis Puts Exaflood Myth To Bed - Wireless growth exploding, but wireline growth may actually be slowing?, dslreports Last week we explored how companies like AT&T use cherry picked data, think tanks and policy groups like the Internet Innovation Alliance to promote the idea that we're facing a horrible bandwidth crisis (aka the "exaflood"). According to these lobbyists and PR wizards, this bandwidth apocalypse can only be http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Backbone-Analysis-Puts-Exaflood-Myth-To-Bed-99302 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/backbone.htm How Fast is Internet Traffic Growing?, CircleID It depends on whose numbers you like. Andrew Odlyzko claims it's up 50-60% over last year, a slower rate of growth than we've seen in recent years. Odlyzko's method is flawed, however, as he only looks at public data, and there is good reason to believed that more and more traffic is moving off the public Internet and http://www.circleid.com/posts/20081125_how_fast_internet_traffic_growing/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/backbone.htm U.S. fiber deployment lags behind, Speed Matters The percentage of total broadband subscribers in the United States who are connected with fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) or fiber-to-the-building technology is just a fraction of the world leaders', according to June's Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Rankings http://www.speedmatters.org/blog/us-fiber-deployment-lags.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/fiber.htm Online Safety and Technology Advisors Sought, NTIA NTIA is seeking nominations of individuals to represent the business community, public interest groups, and other appropriate groups interested in serving on the NTIA Online Safety and Technology Working Group for a single fifteen (15) month term to commence in January 2009. Nominations must be http://www.ntia.doc.gov/press/2008/DTV_LCCRaward_081121.pdf More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/child.htm State AGs + NCMEC = The Net?s New Regulators?, Tech Liberation Front Over the past year, I have been monitoring a very interesting trend with important ramifications for the future of Internet policy. State Attorneys General (AGs) ? often in league with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) ? have been striking a variety of ?voluntary? agreements with various Internet companies that deal with child safety concerns or other online issues. These agreements http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techliberation/~3/464234196/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/child.htm Search Engines Aren't Liable for Gambling Ads Per 230--Cisneros v. Yahoo, Tech & Marketing Law Cisneros v. Yahoo, CGC-04-433518 (Cal. Superior Ct. "Tentative Trial Decision" Nov. 6, 2008) http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2008/11/search_engines_4.htm More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm Verizon Staff Fired After Peek at Obama's Calls, Internet News Concerns grow about phone privacy violations. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/bNQ-7TJ6GrY/3787156 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/cpni.htm Net Neutrality Pressures Target House Democrats, Public Knowledge It will be a heady time when Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) takes over the House Energy and Commerce Committee next year. At that point, the fabled west-side Los Angeles Waxman-Berman machine will control the world. Waxman, from his committee, will have jurisdiction over the air, water, health care, the Internet and a piece of most of everything else domestic. The other half of the partnership, Rep. Howard Berman http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/464421617/1885 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Top 10 Search Terms in 10 Categories, October 2008, Clickz This month's top 10 search terms in 10 categories by search volume. http://feeds.clickz.com/~r/clickzstats/~3/460918434/showPage.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/ Feds Urged to deploy DNSSEC and Signing of the Root Zone, CircleID Security experts and leading vendors are urging the U.S. federal government for the rapid adoption of DNSSEC and signing of the root zone. In recent weeks, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has received 30-plus comments in favor of securing DNS root zone data. These http://www.circleid.com/posts/feds_urged_to_deploy_dnssec/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/dnssecurity.htm Verizon Promises FiOS To All Of DC In Ten Years - City close to approving citywide DC FiOS franchise?, dslreports To get city council approval for a citywide franchise agreement in New York City, Verizon promised to wire the entire city by 2014, though the agreement's language gives them plenty of escape loopholes late in the game once they've got the most profitable neighborhoods up and running. Verizon is making similar promises in Washington DC, where they're telling the city council they'll have the whole city wired within ten years if the deal goes through. "We didn t want to permit cherry-picking or redlining or continuing the http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Promises-FiOS-To-All-Of-DC-In-Ten-Years-99274 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/verizon.htm Censorship in the 21st Century: Targeting Intermediaries, EFF On November 12, 2008, a group of artists and activists unveiled a brilliant spoof of the New York Times, widely distributed to readers in New York and Los Angeles. This "July 4, 2009" version of the Times ? which the real New York Times described as a "Grade-A caper" ? boldly announced the end of the Iraq http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/11/de-beers-internet-intermediaries More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm McCain Responds To Jackson Browne Lawsuit: Here's How Fair Use Works?, Techdirt During the presidential campaign, we noted that singer Jackson Browne had sued the McCain campaign for the use of one of his songs in a commercial. The McCain campaign has filed a response to the lawsuit, first noting that it wasn't the McCain campaign that used the song in an ad, but the Republican Party of Ohio. Second, the campaign points out that the use of the song probably qualifies as fair use http://techdirt.com/articles/20081121/0203022910.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/fair.htm FCC's Martin Praises Self For Non-Existent Network Openness - Gives self pat on back for job not done?, dslreports According to comments this week by FCC boss Kevin Martin, network "openness" is becoming the norm, in no small part because of his "light regulatory touch" at the FCC. That would be great, were it actually true. So far, network openness is simply being paid lip service by carriers that are absolutely terrified of being "dumb pipe" providers. As such, wireless carriers in particular are taking their sweet time in actually opening up their networks, and Martin has done little to speed up the process. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FCCs-Martin-Praises-Self-For-NonExistent-Network-Openness-99225 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Obama?s Tech Team: Agency Insiders With Silicon Valleyues, Center for Internet and Society A Washington Post tech blogger reports that President-elect Barak Obama has named a team to guide technology policy for the administration: Julius Genachowski (former chief counsel to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, former senior executive at IAC), Sonal Shah (head of global development at Google.org) and http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/5946 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm#transition Obama's tech working group, Ars Technica A reader points to a page on Change.gov, which I'm pretty sure was just posted today, introducing Barack Obama's Policy Working Groups. The tech group is subdivided into four more specialized teams, tasked to focus on "Innovation and" government, science, civil society, and the catchall "national priorities." There http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/journals/law/~3/04MIEn9KLps/obamas-tech-working-group More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm#transition Senator probes privacy law after Obama phone record breach, CNET Patrick Leahy asks Justice Department how effective the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act is after President-elect Barack Obama's cell phone records were breached. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10107271-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/privacy/ Defense In Lori Drew Case Rests, As Judge Considers Dismissing The Case, Techdirt The case against Lori Drew looks weaker and weaker by the day. The defense has rested its side, and the judge is considering whether to dismiss the case outright after it was established that it wasn't even Drew who set up the account used to communicate with Megan Meier. Based on that, it's even more ridiculous (and it already was ridiculous) to charge Drew with computer fraud for violating the terms of service -- considering she wasn't even there to review the terms of service, nor did she actually set up (or use, http://techdirt.com/articles/20081124/1547562935.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/cfaa.htm Cyberbully Jury Nears Verdict on Three Charges, Struggles With Fourth, Wired The jury weighing a landmark federal cyberbullying case against 49-year-old Lori Drew resumes deliberations after asking the judge a question which suggests they have reached a decision on three of the charges and might be facing a deadlock on the fourth. http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/politics/~3/466196995/noverdict.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/crime.htm Facebook Spammer Dinged for $873 Million, Internet News Mammoth award under CAN-SPAM aims to send a message to would-be illicit marketers. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/-cFHvI_Wmys/3787031 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/enforce.htm Facebook Wins Nearly $1 Billion From Spammer Who Will Never Pay Up, Techdirt If only spammers actually had money and could be forced to pay up when they lose lawsuits... Facebook might have actually found a business model that paid. It appears a judge has ruled in Facebook's favor against a spammer, fining the spammer $873 million for phishing Facebook user logins, and then using account access to bombard other users with millions of spam messages. Of course, the spammer in question has pretty much disappeared, and it's difficult to believe Facebook will receive a penny from the http://techdirt.com/articles/20081124/1616292938.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/enforce.htm Utah's Utopia Tries To Stay Afloat - Decides to focus on small businesses, dslreports Just a few years ago, Utah was on the cutting edge of community-driven fiber networks, laying claim to two of the nation's largest municipal fiber builds. But last May, one of those networks (iProvo) was sold to Broadweave for $40 million. The other, Utopia, has so-far underperformed, with fewer subscribers than expected despite carriers offering 50Mbps fiber (a 100GB cap) for $39.95. Ed Gubbins of Telephony Online says Utopia is taking one last shot at the wholesale muni-model with a new business model, new management, and a greater focus on business lines. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Utahs-Utopia-Tries-To-Stay-Afloat-99301 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/states/ut.htm FCC Releases Funding Year 2009 Eligible Services List for Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism., FCC By this public notice, the Commission releases the funding year 2009 Eligible Services List (ESL) for the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism (commonly known as E-rate) pursuant to section 54.522 of the Commission?s rules http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-265A1.pdf More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/usf/erate.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RSS Feeds : Fed Notices : Blog : Clips : http://www.cybertelecom.org/news.htm Now Extra Delicious! http://del.icio.us/rcannon100/zxc 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~