From rcannon100 at yahoo.com Thu Oct 2 15:28:56 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 15:28:56 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 10.2.8 :: Strike Three Called! (and not on the Mets) :: Where's the Accountability (and we're not talking bailout) :: Skyped Out :: Studying Advanced Ways to Block W3C :: Message-ID: <882195.42308.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ Greed is all right by the way. . . I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself. - Ivan Boesky, US Financier Broadband Data Improvement Act Passes Senate, House. A.K.A. Finding Out Why the US is Falling Further and Further Behind., Sascha In a major win for the public interest, the Broadband Data Improvement Act passed the Senate (on September 26th) and the House (on September 29th). Due to amendments, it now goes back to the Senate for final approval (should be pro-forma) before it lands on George Bush's desk. http://saschameinrath.com/2008/sep/30/broadband_data_improvement_act_passes_senate_house_k_understanding_why_united_states_fal More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm What Kind Of Filtering System Thinks W3C Is A Porn Site?, Techdirt We've all heard stories of various online filters that block perfectly legitimate sites as being "porn" or something else objectionable, but sometimes there are such extreme cases that it makes you wonder what people are thinking. Apparently, some ISPs are using a filtering system that believes the W3C site should be blocked as porn. W3C, of course, is the body that manages standards for the web. It was founded, and http://techdirt.com/articles/20080929/0118232395.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/filters.htm Senate passes "Child Safe Viewing Act" (S. 602), PFF Yesterday, the Senate passed S. 602, "The Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007," which was introduced by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) in February 2007. The bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to study the market for "advance blocking technologies" (i.e., parental controls and rating systems) http://blog.pff.org/archives/2008/10/senate_passes_c.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/firsta.htm Cox enforces acceptable use policy, lies to its customers, Ars Technica Shortly after the EU has determined that cutting someone's Internet service requires a court order comes news the US ISP Cox has decided that the legal system is overrated. But Cox is willing to make the law take the blame for its policy, as it falsely states that the DMCA made them do it. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081001-cox-implements-three-strikes-policy-lies-to-its-victims.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Remembering Jon: Looking Beyond the Decade, CircleID A decade has passed since Jon Postel left our midst. It seems timely to look back beyond that decade and to look forward beyond a decade hence. It seems ironic that a man who took special joy in natural surroundings, who hiked the Muir Trail and spent precious time in the high Sierras was also deeply involved in that most artificial of enterprises, the Internet. As the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority http://www.circleid.com/posts/20081001_remembering_jon_postel_a_decade/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/history.htm ICANN faces questions over accountability, control, CW During a meeting in Washington, ICANN officials heard concerns about an outside takeover of the organization and accountability to the public. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=3c5a148748f58cd53faa309cfa96fdde More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/icann.htm Massive AT&T Reorganization, Possible Layoffs? - Nation's biggest ISP responds to markets, cable competition?, dslreports AT&T this week announced they're feeling the strain of the credit crunch, with Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson saying the company was unable to sell any commercial paper (short term IOU notes) last week for terms longer than overnight. The company this week also announced that they've undergone a major reorganization in order to respond more quickly to cable competition. Managers tell GigaOM privately that they're expecting layoffs between 5% and 20% before long, thanks to declining landline http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Massive-ATT-Reorganization-Possible-Layoffs-98143 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/att.htm Yes, China Is Spying On Skype Conversations, Techdirt Remember how Skype was supposed to be "untappable" due to end-to-end encryption? Well, we've already seen that's not true, thanks to leaks that showed the German government had figured out ways to tap Skype, and it will probably come as no surprise to many that China has been tapping and storing Skype conversations. Some of the findings of this report are not new. Back in 2005, reports came out that various Chinese telecoms were investing in special "filters" for Skype that would block conversations using http://techdirt.com/articles/20081002/0903442435.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/skype.htm 11th Hour Save for Internet Radio, Internet News Bill that would spare Internet radio stations a 70 percent royalty rate is headed for the President's desk. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/aUeVHEquxoY/3775086 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/carp.htm Royalty decision could impact iTunes Store sales, Ars Technica A ruling about the royalties that music publishers should be given from digital downloads is expected to be handed down this Thursday. If publishing interests receive their desired mechanical royalty, prices on the iTunes Store could rise, and Apple may even carry out its threat to close the Store. But we don't think it will ever get to that point. http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/10/01/royalty-decision-could-impact-itunes-store-sales More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/carp.htm (Web)Casting Call, Round II, Future of Music Yesterday, we mentioned the House of Representatives' passing of the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008. The bill allows copyright owners, performers and online broadcasters to negotiate royalty rates for webcasts in Congress' absence, and permits the implementation of an agreement ? http://futureofmusiccoalition.blogspot.com/2008/10/webcasting-call-round-ii.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/carp.htm Cox To Internet Users: Three Strikes and You're Out, PK Over the course of the last year, we've seen an intense, international lobbying effort on the part of the entertainment industry to craft policies that would boot alleged filesharers off of the Internet. The folks over at TechDirt have been keeping a close watch on this front and point to legislation and negotiations in the UK, France, Australia and Canada that would institute a "three strikes" rule. As proposed, this three strikes http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/408635736/1772 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm Usage Caps & Metered Prices: Idealism v. Reality, IP Democracy My old friend Om Malik sent me a note this morning highlighting a white paper on metered bandwidth pricing plans written by one of his old friends, researcher and analyst Muayyad Al-Chalabi. Om posted the paper on his site (you can sign up to have a PDF version of the email sent to you but you can also print the paper from Scribd onto a PDF) with the warning that metered usage and bandwidth caps pose a "clear http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/09/30/#003064 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/neutral.htm Five years of failure: EFF says RIAA must embrace new model, Ars Technica A new report from the EFF says that RIAA lawsuits against file-swappers haven't worked, target the wrong people, and seek grossly disproportionate damages. Instead, voluntary collective licensing ("It's not a tax!") is needed. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081002-five-years-of-failure-eff-says-riaa-must-embrace-new-model.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm FCC Announces Appointment of Prof. Jon Peha as Chief Technologist, Spectrum Talk Why Chairman Martin waited until the 11th hour of his chairmanship to pick a top technical adviser is unclear as well as to whether Jon can establish a good relationship with the next chairman given these circumstances. But this is a positive sign. Welcome to DC! http://spectrumtalk.blogspot.com/2008/10/fcc-announces-appointment-of-prof.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm FTC's Cyber Security Site Gets an Upgrade, FTC Makeover Marks National Cyber Security Awareness Month http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/09/onguard.shtm More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/ One year later: Provisional team lays groundwork for Air Force cyber mission assurance, AFCYBER It's been a year of progress for the Air Force since it designated a provisional team of 160 people to define and shape the future of the service's cyberspace operations. ?br /> ?br /> In that year Maj. Gen. William T. Lord has served as commander for the Air Force Cyber http://www.afcyber.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123117666 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/cyberwar.htm PAPER: Shaobin Zhu, Does the U.S. SAFE WEB Act Strike the Proper Balance Between Law Enforcement Interests and Privacy Interests?, Shidler JL Communication & Tech The Internet and advances in telecommunications technology present unprecedented opportunities for cross-border fraud and deception directed at U.S. consumers and businesses. However, the Federal Trade Commission's ("FTC") ability to obtain effective relief may face practical impediments in prosecuting these cross-border wrongdoers. To help address the challenges posed by the globalization of fraud, President Bush signed the Undertaking Spam, Spyware and Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers Beyond Borders Act of 2006 ("U.S. SAFE WEB Act" or "Act") into law on December 22, 2006. This http://www.lctjournal.washington.edu/Vol5/a05Zhu.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 Oct 8 10:23:01 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 10:23:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 10.8 :: Huge Growth in WiFi Poachers Expected :: 'Sue Everyone' Strategy Fails Miserably :: Can You Play Hockey on Frozen Whitespaces? :: Message-ID: <10735.17775.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ Broadband Data Bill Faces Implementation Hurdles, PK Sometime next year, the new Administration will start to figure out a plan for collecting information about where broadband is, and how to increase deployment. The delay will be necessary because while Congress passed the bill to improve broadband data collection, S. 1492, there isn?t any money actually set aside to pay for the program. Until appropriations bills are passed for the next fiscal year, FY 2010, which starts Oct. 1, 2009, there wo http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/410549226/1780 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm Study: Huge growth in Wi-Fi devices expected, CNET In-Stat predicts that a billion consumer electronics devices will come equipped with Wi-Fi by 2012. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10059064-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wifi.htm Unlicensed White Space Use as an Airwave ?Freeze?, PK Professors Tom Hazlett and Vernon Smith have an op ed piece in the Oct. 3rd edition of the Wall Street Journal entitled ?Don?t Let Google Freeze the Airwaves.? Apparently advocacy by Google, Microsoft, the New America Foundation and others in favor of unlicensed access to unused broadcast television channels freezes out even better reallocation of spectrum that could eventually be auctioned off for highly efficient private use. http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/410478828/1777 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white Beyond the Bailout: Congress Passes a Flurry of ?Child Safety? Bills, CDT One bill that is awaiting a Presidential signature confronts child pornography head on in a constructive way is S. 1738, the ?PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008. Among the important and positive steps taken in this new law are (a) a dramatic increase in funding for fighting child pornography, (b) a mandate to the Department of Justice that it develop a real strategy to fight such material, and (c) the provision of new forensic and other resources to help state law enforcement protect kids. These provisions should ? if the http://blog.cdt.org/2008/10/06/beyond-the-bailout-congress-passes-a-flurry-of-child-safety-bills/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/firsta.htm Senate calls for FCC to consider content-blocking technologies, CNET Bill passed in the Senate calls for the Federal Communications Commission to examine technologies that allow for parental control over media content http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10057281-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/firsta.htm Bandwidth Cap Hysteria & the Alternative, PFF Over at TechDirt, Tom Lee has a sharp critique of Muayyad Al-Chalabi's much-circulated paper (via GigaOm) opposing bandwidth caps. Make sure to read Tom's entire essay, but here's the key take-away: http://blog.pff.org/archives/2008/10/bandwidth_cap_h.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Top 50 U.S. Web Properties, August 2008, Clickz Which Web properties climbed to the top 50 rankings in August 2008? http://feeds.clickz.com/~r/clickzstats/~3/410297494/showPage.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/ Congressmen finally allowed on YouTube, CNET Congressmen can now use third-party sites, after both the House and the Senate recently approved new rules. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10058034-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/egov/ Senator Raises Red Flag Over Google-Yahoo Ad Deal, Ecommerce Times Of all the protests mounted against the pending ad partnership between Google and Yahoo, the one lodged by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., is bound to be among the most worrisome. Kohl, who oversees the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, has asked the Justice Department to continue to monitor the competitive landscape of the online advertising industry no matter what its initial findings on this particular deal might be. "If, http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/64715.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/google.htm Skype Messes Up, Badly, CircleID The Open Net Initiative's Information Warfare Monitor project has published a stunning report by "Hacktivist" Nart Villeneuve titled: "Breaching Trust: An analysis of surveillance and security practices on China's TOM-Skype platform." It has been covered by both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The report's key findings are as follows http://www.circleid.com/posts/20081002_skype_messes_up_badly/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/skype.htm Skype, Filtering, and Privacy, Info Law The New York Times reports on some terrific research done by my former ONI colleague Nart Villeneuve - he found that the TOM-Skype text messaging service in China not only scans messages for sensitive keywords, it also stores copies of offending messages along with information identifying the sender and receiver. This raises a host of scary issues. First, these messages are clearly stored for a purpose. It http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/10/03/skype-filtering-and-privacy/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/skype.htm Verizon Pushes Toward a 100Gbps Core - Announces additional trials with Nortel...., dslreports "There are very few routes in Verizon's network with less than 100 Gigabits of traffic," says Glenn Wellbrock, Verizon's director of Backbone Network Design at Optical Expo '08. Unfortunately for them, they're meeting this demand by combining multiple 10-Gig wavelengths -- because "that's the only technology available at the right price when the existing networks were built." This is why Verizon, who has http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Pushes-Toward-a-100Gbps-Core-98256 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/verizon.htm Five Years Into Suing Fans, RIAA's 'Sue Everyone' Strategy Has Failed, Miserably, Techdirt The EFF has a long and comprehensive look into the RIAA's five year (and running) legal campaign against file sharing. It's a great overview that not only brings you up to speed if you haven't been following the whole thing, but also puts the entire campaign in perspective. The summary? Almost every move the RIAA has made in its legal campaign has backfired. http://techdirt.com/articles/20081003/0945452446.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm Hulu to stream presidential debates live, CNET Video site will also premiere Crawford, a documentary about the town best known for President Bush's ranch. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10059756-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/ Cox Cleared in Verizon VoIP Patent Suit, Internet News Unlike its earlier case against Vonage, Verizon's claim of patent infringement on Internet telephony against Cox hits the skids. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/TiL097cyy5w/3776216 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/ Verizon Gets Smacked Down For Its VoIP Patent Suing Spree, Techdirt Verizon was one of the last players to the VoIP party. Cable companies had been offering VoIP for years, and then Vonage, AT&T and a variety of other startups really built the market before Verizon even bothered to enter the space with an overpriced, uninspiring "me too" product that the market made clear it http://techdirt.com/articles/20081006/2246322473.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 Oct 15 12:22:47 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:22:47 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 10.15 :: Feel the Power of Oprah!! :: 5c per GB :: Political Stunt Didnt Accomplish Much :: Comparing Ipv6 to Toxic Waste :: Message-ID: <219076.82233.qm@web37904.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ Money, it's a crime Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie Money, so they say Is the root of all evil today -Pink Floyd Senate Guts Broadband Data Bill, Techdirt You may have heard recently about the new Broadband Data Improvement Act, passing through Congress, as it basically put into law what the FCC had already decided: the cutoff for what should be considered broadband needed to be raised, and the data collection methods for broadband penetration needed to be updated, from the clearly bogus methodology it currently uses. http://techdirt.com/articles/20081009/2202482510.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm Internet transit prices, Telecom Industry and Regulation David Clark's paper on the incremental cost of IP service at the recent Telecommunications Policy Research Conference was quite interesting, so this item over at Telegeography caught my eye. According to their research, transit prices have been declining over the past year and vary significantly across the world. The figure below captures some of this data. http://telcom2935.blogspot.com/2008/10/internet-transit-prices.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/backbone.htm Intercarrier Compensation Reform' Means Higher Rates - FCC's Martin to once again wade into decade old fight?, dslreports According to the Associated Press, the major phone carriers have convinced FCC boss Kevin Martin to once again attempt an overhaul of the fees that phone companies pay each other when they connect calls. The existing "intercarrier compensation" system largely favors smaller telcos, and baby bell lobbyists have been pushing the FCC to change this for some time -- though the solution will have many http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Intercarrier-Compensation-Reform-Means-Higher-Rates-98443 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/rcomp.htm FCC report negates free Internet interference claims, CNET Report from commission engineers boosts plan to auction spectrum for free wireless Internet by dismissing concerns it would interfere with existing providers' signals. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10063866-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/waws.htm FCC's Smut-Free Broadband Plan Goes Forward - Tests show that system won't interfere with other services...., dslreports FCC boss Kevin Martin and M2Z Networks' plan for a smut-censored free national wireless service recently ran into opposition from T-Mobile, who claimed that the technology being used (Time Division Duplex (TDD)) caused interference. This claim was made despite the fact that T-Mobile has used this same technology extensively overseas, and was generally seen as a transparent effort to derail the project. The FCC has now come back with their testing results, and according to a press release by M2Z, there is no interference threat: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FCCs-SmutFree-Broadband-Plan-Goes-Forward-98382 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/waws.htm Giganews Deconstructs Cuomo's Child Porn 'Crackdown' - Political stunt over-emphasized problem, didn't accomplish much, dslreports Over the summer, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo got a lot of attention for waging war on ISPs and newsgroup child porn, even though his highly publicized crusade resulted in ISPs, by their own admission, doing absolutely nothing differently. Really, all the crusade did was result in more ISPs using child porn to justify their decision to stop offering free Usenet to save a buck. In a few cases, the AG had carriers block some useful newsgroups (AT&T now blocks the entire alt.binary hierarchy "for the children"). User uid://475801 points to a delayed retort over at the GigaNews blog that lays the sm http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Giganews-Deconstructs-Cuomos-Child-Porn-Crackdown-98446 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/cppa.htm Bill Signed by President: S.1492 Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, Open Congress A bill to improve the quality of federal and state data regarding the availability and quality of broadband services and to promote the deployment of affordable broadband services to all parts of the Nation. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s1492/show More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/cppa.htm Congress Thinks of the Children: S.1738 PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, CT In the middle of the country?s ClusterF#@k to the Poor House, Congress took some time out to Think of the Children. (The Power of Oprah) http://cybertelecom.blogspot.com/2008/10/congress-thinks-of-children-s1738.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/cppa.htm Bandwidth caps, Telecom Industry and Regulation For the past several months, there has been much discussion about carriers such as Comcast imposing bandwidth caps on their users. The stated motivation for this is to rein in the highest bandwidth users, and perhaps to set the stage for price discrimination, where users would pay more for http://telcom2935.blogspot.com/2008/10/bandwidth-caps.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm Something better than IPv6, IP Convergence Johna Till Johnson at Network World cleverly compares IPv6 to the U.S. Financial crisis in this article. She believes that IPv6 may well have been an ill conceived solution to the problem and cites John Day's research into a whole new solution to the problem. http://blogs.globalcrossing.com/better-than-v6 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ipv6.htm FBI: Several nations eye U.S. cybertargets, CW The chief of the FBI's Cyber Division says cyberthreats have grown in sophistication in the past year. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=6f8231cb568b8b143d966d88b81f57d9 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/cyberwar.htm Opinion: FTC's new Red Flag Rules cast wide identity theft net, CW On Nov. 1, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission's Red Flag Rules will take effect requiring any institution that extends credit to implement a program to detect, prevent and mitigate instances of identity theft. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=5b76a28f7cc5e15d902f767e2feeae4d More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/idtheft.com FTC Shuts Down, Freezes Assets of Vast International Spam E-Mail Network, FTC A U.S. district court has ordered a halt to the operations of a vast international spam network that peddled prescription drugs and bogus male-enhancement products. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/10/herbalkings.shtm More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/enforce.htm FTC, New Zealand hit one of world's largest spam operations, CW Government agencies in the U.S. and New Zealand say they have sued the people behind one of the world's largest spamming operations. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=d59b02f73438f22a7dd03281b5db0042 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/enforce.htm Palin ordered to save e-mails, CNET A judge in Alaska is ordering Gov. Sarah Palin to preserve her private e-mail messages regarding state business, until a lawsuit requesting that they be made public is resolved. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10064409-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm YouTube rejects McCain request for DMCA takedown fix, CNET Google-owned video site is unwilling to give presidential campaigns special treatment, saying they should rely on their rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10066738-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm New 'Economic Stimulus' Plan Includes Universal Broadband - Democrats try to score points with new infrastructure plan?, dslreports After already handing out billions in taxpayer dollars to the financial industry, Democrats in Congress are cooking up a new $150 billion economic stimulus plan that would include money for cash-strapped states, but would also include cash for infrastructure upgrades. Nancy Pelosi has compared the package "to Jefferson's push to build roads and canals, Teddy Roosevelt's establishment of the national park service and Eisenhower's interstate highway initiative -- with modern day equivalents like http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/New-Economic-Stimulus-Plan-Includes-Universal-Broadband-98438 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 Oct 16 18:09:21 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:09:21 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for Nov 4th Open Meeting Message-ID: <88363.46684.qm@web37904.mail.mud.yahoo.com> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:??????? NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: October 15, 2008????????????????????????? Robert Kenny 202-418-2668 ???????????????????????????????????????????????????? Email: Robert.Kenny at fcc.gov ? FCC ANNOUNCES TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR NOVEMBER 4TH OPEN MEETING ? Washington , D.C. ? Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin J. Martin has circulated the following items for consideration by his fellow FCC Commissioners as part of the tentative agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 4, 2008: ? Intercarrier Compensation and Universal Service Program Reform ? A Report and Order, Order on Remand, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing the comprehensive reform of intercarrier compensation and universal service.? ? Spectrum Licensing ? An Order addressing the Auction 73 applications of Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless and Union Telephone Company.? ? Mergers ? A Memorandum Opinion and Order addressing the applications filed by Atlantis Holdings and Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless for approval of the transfer of control of licenses, authorizations and leasing arrangements through the transfer of control of subsidiaries and partnerships controlled by ALLTEL.? ? A Memorandum Opinion and Order addressing the applications filed by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire for approval of the transfer of control of licenses, authorizations and leasing arrangements held by Sprint Nextel and its subsidiaries to New Clearwire.? ? Television White Spaces ? A Second Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order addressing unlicensed operation in the television broadcast bands.? ? Digital Television ? An Order adopting rules for the use of distributed transmission system (?DTS?) technologies in the digital television service.? ? ? Closed Captioning/Digital Programming ? An Order addressing the closed captioning of digital programming and several other closed captioning issues.? ? ????????? ??Topics selected for open meeting agendas are made public and posted on the Commission?s website approximately three weeks prior to the Commission?s next monthly meeting.? The Commission will continue to issue a public notice of the ?Commission Meeting Agenda? one week before the meeting and announce at that time the items that are scheduled for the agenda. ? -FCC- ? News and information about the Federal Communications Commission is available at www.fcc.gov. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.lawlists.net/pipermail/cybertelecom-announce/attachments/20081016/082c3b41/attachment.html From rcannon100 at yahoo.com Tue Oct 21 16:57:40 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:57:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 10.21 :: Bye Bye Miss American BPL :: Duplication of plant is a waste to the investor :: 38 Go Boom :: Spy versus Spyware :: Continued SPAM Volatility Message-ID: <872249.76129.qm@web37904.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ "Two exchange systems in the same community, each serving the same members, cannot be conceived of as a permanency, nor can the service in either be furnished at any material reduction because of competition, if return on investment and proper maintenance be taken into account. Duplication of plant is a waste to the investor. Duplication of charges is a waste to the user." Theodore Vail, 1907 2008: The Year Broadband Over Powerline Died - BPL-poster-child project taken over by city of Manassas, may be shut down?, dslreports Manassas, Virginia was the first US city to see a real, non-trial launch of broadband over powerline (BPL) technology. However, BPL has floundered the last few years because of its inherent potential for interference with amateur and emergency radio, its irrelevance in the face of next-generation speeds, and the unavoidable fact that many utilities simply didn't want to be broadband providers. Manassas was a particular hotbed of interference debate, with enthusiasts complaining the FCC (who for years cheerleaded the technology a little too enthusiastically) didn't properly test the network and used bogus data to make the case for BPL. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/2008-The-Year-Broadband-Over-Powerline-Died-98477 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/power.htm FCC Rushes To Authorize White Space Use - Who Needs Facts?, CommLawBlog It always looked good on paper. Every city has dozens of TV channels sitting empty. Why not use them for something? As Wi-Fi became popular, Wi-Fi-like unlicensed operation became the application of choice for these ?white space? channels ? so called because they show up in white on a frequency map. Big money signed on: Microsoft, Google, Motorola, and Intel, among others. Coalitions formed. Websites launched. Herds of dark-suited lawyers roamed the halls of the FCC. http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/CommLawBlog/~3/423993596/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white FCC reluctantly considers delaying white-spaces vote, CNET The agency is examining whether it should delay its vote on opening up unlicensed wireless spectrum due to a petition filed by broadcasters last week. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10070373-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white Why Is NY's AG Urging ISPs To Embrace Spyware Company? - The slippery slope down the deep packet inspection mountain?, dslreports This week we noted that as part of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's rather dubious "crackdown," on ISPs and child porn, he advised ISPs to begin using a deep packet inspection solution from a company named Brilliant Digital. The technology would analyze user packets, comparing transmitted user data to a master database of illegal content. Techdirt has an interesting follow up post on Brilliant Digital, and their history in the spyware business (you may recall them as the company that installed a stealth P2P network inside Kazaa). The company also has an aggressive history on the patent front. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Why-Is-NYs-AG-Urging-ISPs-To-Embrace-Spyware-Company-98510 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/cppa.htm Internet Congestion: ISPs Don Traffic Cop Uniforms, Ecommerce Times Anyone who's used popular P2P applications such as BitTorrent, Gnutella or Limewire has probably been plagued by network slowdowns that make sharing heavy media files a time-consuming endeavor. However, a consortium of technologists at the Distributed Computing Industry Association has found a way to alleviate Internet network congestion created by P2P applications. In fact, this new technology will soon exit the testing phase. There's just one problem: Broadband providers such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T may be shy about actually implementing it. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/64861.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralp2p.htm Comcast To Cut 300 Jobs - Mostly divisional and regional management in Eastern U.S., dslreports As part of a cost-cutting effort that's been ongoing since July, Comcast says they're going to trim about 300 positions in the eastern portion of the country. According to the Associated Press, "the cuts affect mainly division and regional management, not frontline workers such as cable technicians." Last week Comcast's number two, Stephen Burke, talked to the Philadelphia Inquirer about how Comcast plans to weather a sour economy. Burke brushes off concerns about customers cutting cable from their budgets http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-To-Cut-300-Jobs-98574 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/comcast.htm Comcast set to double broadband speeds, Tech Liberation Front Major speed enhancements are rumored to be coming soon from Comcast, which has been spending serious cash to upgrade its network to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard. Customers in many markets who now pay $42.95 a month for 6mbps/1mbps service will be upgraded to 12/2 ? a doubling of both upstream and downstream speeds ? with no corresponding price increase. This follows Comcast?s pattern of http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techliberation/~3/427694886/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/comcast.htm Vonage Struggling To Sell Its Debt - How long can the VoIP carrier hang on?, dslreports As had been hinted at a week or so ago, the economic slowdown and resulting credit crunch may be hitting independent VoIP operator Vonage particularly hard. The $253 million in survival loans Vonage thought they had secured back in July hadn't been a sure thing, and for the third time, the VoIP carrier extended the tender offer for its outstanding loans needed to close on the new loans. The company announced last week that is extending its offer to purchase its convertible debt for a fourth time. The http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Vonage-Struggling-To-Sell-Its-Debt-98521 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/vonage.htm Yahoo to Cut 10% of Its Workforce, NYT Yahoo?s third-quarter income fell by 64 percent, to $54 million, and the company said it would lay off about 1,400 workers. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/technology/companies/22yahoo.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/yahoo.htm Layoffs, Falling Profits: Yahoo Takes a Beating, Internet News Amid a steadily worsening climate, Web pioneer takes a hit in third quarter on slowing ad spending. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/EZwtX7vzcHc/3779606 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/yahoo.htm Beijing Net cafes to take mug shots, scan IDs, CNET To cut down on "ID sharing," the Chinese government requires first-time visitors have their picture taken and ID scanned before being allowed online. What are the privacy ramifications? http://news.cnet.com/8301-13908_3-10069775-59.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/china.htm Copyright Office Requests Comments on Possible Adverse Effects of Prohibition on Circumvention Measures, LOC The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing the commencement of its rulemaking proceeding in accordance with provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that provide that the Librarian of Congress may exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works (17 U.S.C. 1201(a)(1)(c)). http://www.copyright.gov/newsnet/2008/352.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/crypto.htm TV Networks Must Stop Blocking Election Videos on YouTube, EFF The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of public interest groups called on four television networks today to stop stifling vibrant political debate on the Internet with overreaching copyright claims and proposed two measures to help YouTube protect online political speech in the final days before America's presidential election. http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/10/20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm The FCC Heads For the Pit, CommLawBlog In a brilliant move designed to rev up awareness of the coming sprint to the finish as the white flag drops in the DTV Transition 500, the FCC has jumped into the driver?s seat and shot onto the track by sponsoring the Number 38 Digital TV Transition Ford Fusion driven by David Gilliland in the NASCAR (unofficial motto: Drive Fast, Turn Left) Sprint Cup Series. (See photo above ? which is not a real photo, in case you were concerned.) http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/CommLawBlog/~3/423759809/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/ Number 38 Crashes, Leaving FCC at 0-1 on the NASCAR Circuit, CommLawBlog The headline on our update late last Friday (10/17) on L?Affaire NASCAR (?L?Affaire NASCAR: The Yellow Caution Flag Comes Out?) appears to have been more predictive than we imagined. On Sunday (10/19) at the TUMS QuikPak 500 in Martinsville, the eleventh caution flag of the afternoon came out in Lap 485 when the Number 38 Digital TV Transition Ford Fusion ran hard into the wall after making contact with the Number 44 UPS Toyota. That was all she wrote for the David Gilliland-piloted car in its maiden race under the FCC brand. Add one more DNF to Gilliland?s record this year. http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/CommLawBlog/~3/426926729/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/ The King Can Do No Wrong, Or Do As I Say, Not As I Do, PFF Although it is true that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of simple minds, a foolish inconsistency is worse. The FCC is guilty of the latter. http://blog.pff.org/archives/2008/10/the_king_can_do.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Colbert on NSA Spying, EFF In his Word of the Day commentary yesterday, Stephen Colbert put forward a ringing defense of the NSA's spying program. Responding to reports that NSA employees are routinely listening in on the personal calls of US soldiers and aid workers stationed abroad, Colbert reminds viewers that "it's a lot easier to listen to Americans, they speak English." http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/colbert-nsa-spying More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/bigbrother.htm ACLU, EFF challenge constitutionality of FISA amendments, Ars Technica Congress may have voted to grant retroactive immunity to telecoms that helped the NSA eavesdrop, but civil liberties groups are challenging the immunity law in federal court as an affront to the Constitution. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081019-aclu-eff-challenge-constitutionality-of-fisa-amendments.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm President's Identity Theft Task Force Issues Report on Steps Taken to Implement Strategic Plan, FTC Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and Federal Trade Commission Chairman William E. Kovacic announced today the release of a report from the President?s Identity Theft Task Force on progress the federal government has made in addressing identity theft since the Task Force?s Strategic Plan was http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/10/idtaskforce.shtm More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/idtheft.com No Spam Decrease, Despite The Big Spam Bust, Techdirt Last week, in talking about the "big" spam bust, we focused on the key question: if this busted group was such a big player in the spamworld, would it actually decrease the amount of spam we are seeing? The answer, apparently, is no. Slashdot points us to the news that spam levels remained about the same, even as officials claimed that the spam ring they busted may have represented 30% of the world's spam. There seem to be a few different theories as to why: such as the idea that the botnet these spammers controlled was set to keep on spamming automatically (which could mean a later decrease in spam), as well as the idea that other spammers quickly took control over the botnet (or were given control over it), and the http://techdirt.com/articles/20081020/1834542597.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/enforce.htm Lack of high-speed Internet puts rural areas at a disadvantage, Speed Matters The digital divide is severely hurting small rural communities. In the small town of Grove in upstate New York there is no high speed Internet access, cable TV, or cell phone service. The town relies on dial up and suffers because of it. However, just a few towns over in Alfred Station which has high speed access, businesses are using the Internet to flourish http://www.speedmatters.org/blog/lack-of-high-speed-internet.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/usf/dd.htm Obama gets backing of Google CEO Schmidt, CNET Eric Schmidt plans to make a campaign appearance Tuesday with the Democratic nominee for president but says "Google is officially neutral," according to The Wall Street Journal. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10069998-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm Google's Cerf On Short List For Obama CTO - Incumbents may face net-neutrality headache should Obama win?, dslreports Business Week suggests that should Obama be elected President, TCP/IP co-creator and Google "Chief Technology Evangalist" Vint-Cerf is on a short list to be the nation's CTO (Google's CEO is apparently an Obama fan). That's not welcome news for companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, who've had several public (and a few covert) battles with Google concerning network neutrality, white space broadband, and wireless spectrum auctions. Incumbents probably won't like the other potential CTOs on Business Week's http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Googles-Cerf-On-Short-List-For-Obama-CTO-98553 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm Cash, cups, clicks: Techies back Obama, CW Today was the last day to register to vote in next month's election in Silicon Valley's Santa Clara County, where Barack Obama has a clear edge and, now, a really big backer: Google CEO Eric Schmidt. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=e2e0c5f1768d0fe268c9f2e3f5c596a7 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/2008.htm Thoughts on Obama and McCain?s Environmental Policy, Google Watching last night?s debate, I was struck by the utter lack of creativity and vision when both candidates answered the question about ?climate control? (or climate change as John McCain corrected Bob Scheiffer). Obama and McCain both offered flat, uninspired answers that focused largely on 20th century means of energy production and environmental conservation. Build 45 new nuclear power plants right away? Really? And where is that money going to come from? The laundry list of solar, wind, geothermal, http://blogs.cisco.com/gov/comments/thoughts_on_obama_and_mccains_environmental_policy/#When:18:45:16Z 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 Oct 23 09:01:18 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:01:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 10.23 :: No Broadband Price War :: Can We Declare BPL Dead? :: Smashed Modems May Not Work :: High Speed Fleece :: Message-ID: <408667.80040.qm@web37908.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ The point is that you can't be too greedy. - Donald Trump Again, There's No Broadband 'Price War' - Non-price competition is the benefit of monopoly/duopoly power?, dslreports About twice a year, in reaction to even the least exciting price promotions, the media proclaims en masse that there's a "broadband price war." When you look closer, that's never the case -- and in some cases customers are actually paying more. The nation's cable and phone companies operate as monopolies and duopolies, intentionally engaging in non-price competition. Occasionally carriers do offer introductory discounts, or promise savings should you bundle services. But more often than not these efforts are http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Again-Theres-No-Broadband-Price-War-98581 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ Can We Declare Broadband Over Powerlines Officially Dead?, Techdirt We've been hearing about broadband over powerlines (BPL) for over a decade, supposedly as the savior of broadband competition. There was just one problem: the technology never worked well enough to scale in any reasonable means. In the mid-90s, we had heard a prediction that BPL could only work in very small communities, and only at a limited range and speed. Yet, over the years, there were so many stories about BPL actually making headway in the market, we began to wonder if maybe (just maybe) someone http://techdirt.com/articles/20081020/1606042595.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/power.htm Down to the wire on white spaces, Google There's more than one important vote going on this Election Day. On November 4, as Americans cast their ballots for President of the United States, the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to be voting on rules governing "white spaces" -- the unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GooglePublicPolicyBlog/~3/429692230/down-to-wire-on-white-spaces.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white The Future of the Internet on Nov. 4, Save the Internet On Nov. 4, the Federal Communications Commission will vote to open unused television airwaves to provide affordable, wireless Internet services nationwide. http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2008/10/22/the-future-of-the-internet-on-nov-4/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white FCC Chair Supports Moving Forward on White Space Tech, EFF Last Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin spoke in favor of opening up "white spaces" at a press conference while the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) published its much-anticipated report on white space technology trials. The Commissioners also announced plans to vote on white spaces at their next meeting, November 4th, although predictably, white space opponents have requested a delay of the vote. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/fcc-chair-supports-moving-forward-white-space-tech More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white Broadband users reach their limit, BBC A survey finds one million customers are close to or have overstepped their monthly bandwidth quota http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/technology/7684322.stm More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm Did You Know: 'Smashed To Bits' Modems May Not Work - And other helpful tips from AT&T support?, dslreports Not news but somewhat entertaining: staff member and modem killer uid://170376 notes just how helpful AT&T's technical support website can be. In an exploration of how to diagnose a troubled modem, AT&T feels it necessary to inform users that modems may not work if they're "smoking," "melted and http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Did-You-Know-Smashed-To-Bits-Modems-May-Not-Work-98606 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/att.htm Comcast launches faster Internet plans, but usage cap remains, CNET Comcast has a slew of dramatically faster Internet subscription packages for residential and business users, however the shadow of the 250GB monthly cap remains for some. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10073404-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/comcast.htm Yahoo to axe 10% of workforce, FT Yahoo announced a cut of at least 10 per cent in its workforce by the end of the year as it reported a disappointing third quarter caused by weakening display advertising sales http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/670d2aae-9fbb-11dd-a3fa-000077b07658.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/yahoo.htm High-Speed Fleece Award, PFF Senator William Proxmire (D-WI) must be smiling somewhere in the sweet hereafter. His Golden Fleece Award for government waste, restored with the consent of his estate in 2000 by the non-profit group Tax Payers for Common Sense, has a new contender for 2008. On Oct. 17, 2008, the office of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Charlotte NC area native, announced that the agency was spending $350,000 of taxpayer funds appropriated to advance DTV transition eduction efforts to sponsor a middle of the pack NASCAR racing car driver's No. 38 car "as a high-speed billboard promoting the February 2009 national tansition to http://blog.pff.org/archives/2008/10/high-speed_flee.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/ IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NET 911 IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008. ORDER, FCC Adopted rules implementing certain key provisions of the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008 (NET 911 Act). (Dkt No. 08-171). Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 10/21/2008 by R&O. (FCC No. 08-249). WCB http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-249A1.doc More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/911.htm Obama still dominates in Web 2.0 world, Internet searches, CW As the U.S. presidential election approaches, Barack Obama continues to lead rival John McCain in Web 2.0 presence, though experts say that the lead won't necessarily lead to victory. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=ab2e440e982ea500150f4d2ede0c5b12 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 Tue Oct 28 08:36:22 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:36:22 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 10.28 :: FTTCable :: Filtering Failure :: Earthlink Death Watch Postponed :: Its Fun to Stay at the D-M-C-A- :: Twittering Terrorists :: Message-ID: <726665.84559.qm@web37908.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off. - Franklin D. Roosevelt Should Cable Operators Just Run Fiber To The Home? - Many actually exploring new coaxial/fiber hybrid options?, dslreports A 2006 report by Cable Labs concluded that "at some point, optimization of the (cable) network becomes more expensive than simply deploying" fiber directly to homes. Cable engineers however argue they've got enough bandwidth tricks up their sleeve (including switched digital video) to compete with FiOS. Hardware vendors are trying to convince cable operators to run fiber deeper into their networks, arguing the move comes with some distinct cost advantages. As it stands, cable operators are largely only exploring FTTP or FTTN in new http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Should-Cable-Operators-Just-Run-Fiber-To-The-Home-98676 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/fiber.htm FCC Chair Faces Heat Over White Spaces Support, Internet News The effort, backed by Google, Microsoft, Motorola and others, is called into question by the chairman of a House committee. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/JRB6LtLFAwo/3780726 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white The Other Vote on November 4th, CircleID The vote that Federal Communications Commissioners are planning for November 4 is not as important as the voting we'll do on that day, but it does matter a lot to the future of the United States. Unless the forces opposed to progress manage to postpone FCC action (which they are trying very hard to do), the FCC could decide to set the stage for another generation of innovative products with which the US will strengthen its competitive position in global markets AND to provide long term help to the whole American economy, which might well be more http://www.circleid.com/posts/20081027_fcc_vote_november_4th/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white Belgian ISP Tries, Fails To Filter Piracy - Court ruling overturned; Audible Magic did not work., dslreports >From Australia to the United States, the entertainment industry is waging a public relations and lobbying war in an effort to force ISPs to become piracy nannies, forever tasked with scanning their networks for traders of bootleg 80's Knight Rider episodes, then terminating the accounts of Hasselhoff-loving offenders everywhere. Last year we noted that a Belgian ISP named Scarlet was ordered to block illegal p2p transfers on their network by a Belgian Judge, a decision applauded by the entertainment industry at the time -- but a task the ISP found http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Belgian-ISP-Tries-Fails-To-Filter-Piracy-98704 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/filters.htm UK to pass Canada in Broadband Penetration in 2008, Bandwidth Report The UK will pass Canada in broadband penetration in late 2008, according to projections by Website Optimization. Japan and Korea now have more fiber-based broadband connections than DSL or cable. http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0810/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/broadband.htm Green Telecom, Part VII: Verizon?s Greener Network, NextGenWeb No description http://www.nextgenweb.org/news-and-blog-clips/green-telecom-part-vii-verizons-greener-network More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/environment/ Earthlink Death Watch Postponed - Posts third quarter profit after significant cost cutting, dslreports Earthlink lost $80 million on Muni-Fi last year, their investments in broadband over powerline (BPL) have gone nowhere, the government says they can't share access to next-generation broadband networks, and their effort to run an MVNO (Helio) flamed out spectacularly. In addition, they recently laid off a swath of employees and suggested their hope for survival lays in the lap of refocusing on dial-up. If there's a company that's on death watch, it's Earthlink -- http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Earthlink-Death-Watch-Postponed-98713 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/earthlink.htm Verizon has 31% jump in net income, but faces lower customer spending, CW Verizon's CEO said he was optimistic about the company going forward but said Verizon may face decreased consumer and business spending because of the faltering economy in the U.S. and elsewhere. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=acca62a34eb40e3445e3ff36e17a1862 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/verizon.htm DMCA Week, Part I: How the DMCA Was Born, Freedom to Tinker Ten years ago tomorrow, on October 28, 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was signed into law. The DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions, which became 17 USC Section 1201, made it a crime under most circumstances to "circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to" a copyrighted work, or to "traffic in" circumvention tools. In the default case, the new law meant that a copyright holder who used DRM to control access to her copyrighted material could exercise broad new control over how her material was used. If an http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/dgr/dmca-week-part-i-how-dmca-was-born More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm EFF Marks 10th Anniversary of DMCA with Report on Law's Unintended Consequences, EFF Ten years ago Tuesday, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law. In a report released to mark the anniversary, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) documents the ways in which this controversial law has harmed fair use, free speech, scientific research, and legitimate competition. http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/10/27 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm 10 Years of the DMCA, PK Today is the 10th anniversary of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) ? a law that content owners claimed was absolutely necessary if they were to make content available in digital form. At the time the legislation was being considered, opponents including libraries, museums, and representatives of the consumer electronics industry warned that the legislation would jeopardize fair use and other lawful uses. Today, many of these fears have been http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/434024639/1815 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm DMCA: Ten Years of Unintended Consequences, EFF Today is the tenth anniversary of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28, 1998. EFF is marking the occasion with the release of a 19-page report that focuses on the most notorious part of the law: the ban on "circumventing" digital rights management (DRM) and other "technological protection measures." The report, http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/dmca-ten-years-unintended-consequences More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm Will Twitter and terrorism meet?, BBC Concerns arise that terrorists may use technologies like blogging site Twitter to plan and organise attacks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7693000/7693050.stm More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 Oct 30 10:07:35 2008 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:07:35 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 10.29 :: Boo! :: Is "BandwidthCrunch" a new candy bar for Halloween? :: The Zombies still benefiting from the Sony Bono Act :: RIP: CSM Print Edition :: Spiritually Possessed Voting Machines :: Message-ID: <407087.1304.qm@web37903.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education. Franklin D. Roosevelt Opposition Grows To 'Intercarrier Compensation Reform' - Martin's latest baby bell gift not going over well?, dslreports Nearly 75 members of Congress are urging the FCC to delay its November 4 vote on revamping both the Universal Service Fund and the intercarrier compensation system until more extensive public review can be completed. As we recently reported, the FCC's Kevin Martin is pushing a plan written by Verizon and AT&T aimed at allowing them to pay less to smaller rural carriers to connect calls. Verizon and AT&T's plan http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Opposition-Grows-To-Intercarrier-Compensation-Reform-98753 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/rcomp.htm FCC Poised To Approve White Space Broadband - McDowell: Could see a 5-0 approval...., dslreports Despite a last ditch effort by the National Association of Broadcasters, the politicians they pay to love them and Dolly Parton, it appears that the November 4 vote on white space broadband will not only move forward, it may pass overwhelmingly. FCC Commissioner Robert "what broadband problem?" McDowell tells Reuters he thinks there's a good chance the vote could be 5-0 in favor, quite a feat for a frequently http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FCC-Poised-To-Approve-White-Space-Broadband-98767 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white Dolly Parton enters 'white space' debate, CNET The country music artist joins broadcasters in their fight to delay the FCC vote on whether to open up so-called white space spectrum for unlicensed use. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10077742-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white Another Broadband Tech Exec Says There's No Bandwidth Crunch, Techdirt We've pointed out in the past that whenever you hear warnings about a coming broadband crunch, it almost always comes from consultants and politicians. If it comes directly from companies, it's inevitably from the CEO or lobbyists. Yet, when you talk to execs who actually are technologists (even at telcos) they're quite willing to admit that the whole broadband crunch issue is something of a myth. All you need to do is regular upgrades to the network, and most recognize that there's no risk to a network getting http://techdirt.com/articles/20081028/0333332667.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/tiers.htm IPv6: Zeno's Paradox and Invisible Brick Walls, CircleID As we continue our ride toward the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses, Regional Internet Registries public discussion groups such as the ARIN PPML mailing list remain filled with endless discussions on how large swaths of allocated IPv4 addresses are unused, should be reclaimed or recycled one way or another, maybe be put on the free market and sold to the highest bidder or parsed out in more egalitarian controlled ways. http://www.circleid.com/posts/20081029_ipv6_zeno_invisible_brick_walls/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ipv6.htm Comcast raises outlook on strong quarter, Globe and Mail Video revenue rose as the cable firm added digital subscribers http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/435750290/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/comcast.htm Qwest cutting 1,200 jobs as profit drops, Globe and Mail Revenue also dropped at the Denver-based phone company http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/435750289/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/qwest.htm Iran - Government continues to harass cyber-feminists in attempt to silence them - 29.10.2008, RSF No description http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29135 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/intl/me.htm#iran Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of the Sonny Bono Act, PK The 10th anniversary of the DMCA is not the only infamous 10th anniversary that Public Knowledge gets to ?celebrate? this week. Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. That law extended copyright terms from 50 years after the life of an author and 70 years in the case of corporations, to 70 years beyond the life of an author and 95 years in the case of corporations. Named after Sonny Bono, the late Congressman best known for his musical and http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/436205460/1830 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm Camcording in movie theater results in 21-month sentence, Ars Technica A man who pleaded guilty to recording at least two movies in a theater with his camcorder has been sentenced to 21 months in prison?and may be linked to more than 100 other illegal films. The sentence comes as the movie industry lobbies for tougher laws, even though the current ones apparently are working just fine. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081029-camcording-in-movie-theater-results-in-21-month-sentence.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm A decade of the DMCA: keep the Safe Harbor, ditch the rest, Ars Technica Ten years after the passage of the DMCA, and the consequences of the law have become clear: safe harbor provisions have been good, anticircumvention provisions bad, and all of it leaves companies, consumers, and even presidential candidates victims of spurious abuse http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081028-adecade-of-the-dmca-keep-the-safe-harbor-ditch-the-rest.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm Christian Science Monitor ends print edition, Lost Remote The Christian Science Monitor will be the first national daily newspaper to give up on print, focusing its resources on CSMonitor.com as well as starting a weekly magazine. Sure, it?s not publicly traded ? nor has it generated much in print advertising ? but the move from print to online will be watched carefully by the newspaper industry. http://www.lostremote.com/2008/10/28/christian-science-monitor-ends-print-edition/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/news.htm CAN-Spam-a-Friend?--Hoang v. Reunion.com, Tech & Marketing Law Hoang v. Reunion.com sidesteps an eagerly anticipated legal dispute over the legality of commercial address book scraping and 'send-to-a-friend' emails,... http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2008/10/canspamafriend.htm More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/ Guy Who Insists E-Voting Machines Work Fine... Demonstrates They Don't, Techdirt If someone pitched a movie based on e-voting machines that work as bad as the ones being used in the current election, the story would be dumped as being unrealistic. But truth is, indeed, often stranger than fiction. You may recall on Friday that we had a post about problems with e-voting machines in West Virginia selecting the wrong candidate when voters touched the screen. Various officials rushed to insist that there was absolutely nothing wrong. One, the local county clerk, Jeff Waybright insisted that the http://techdirt.com/articles/20081029/0131342676.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~