[Cybertel-Ann] 9.30.8 :: Raven about WiMax :: You Just Dont Know the Value of a Megabyte :: Mapping Broadband Caps ::

Tue Sep 30 13:26:11 PDT 2008

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             CyberTelecom News  
      Federal Internet Law and Policy
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When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.  -Hunter S. Thompson

FCC ANNOUNCES NOVEMBER MEETING ON BROADBAND POLICY TO BE HELD BY THE FEDERAL-STATE JOINT CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED SERVICES.  News Release. News
Media Contact: Robert Kenny, FCC
The Federal Communications Commission today announced that the 
Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services will hold a meeting on broadband policy Thursday, November 6, 2008 at the Wireless Communications Association International’s 14th Annual Symposium and Business Expo at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California (additional  details about the meeting will be made public in the near future)
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-285684A1.doc
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/

Congress finally passes broadband data collection bill, Ars Technica
Days before recessing for the year, the Senate has at last passed the Broadband Data Improvement Act. It directs the FCC to gather far more detailed (and useful) information about the US broadband market, including better deployment maps and price information.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080929-congress-finally-passes-broadband-data-collection-bill.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm

Pass Legislation to Promote Broadband Deployment!, Verizon
Last night during the first presidential debate, Senator Barack Obama included the deployment of broadband technology to all Americans as one of the economic priorities he would establish if he became President.   Senator John McCain supports the deployment of broadband technology and calls it a “top priority” to ensure deployment as widely as possible.    All year, both house of Congress have
http://policyblog.verizon.com/PolicyBlog/Blogs/policyblog//537/Pass-Legislation-to-Promote-Broadband-Deployment-.aspx#When:16:32:18.2230000-04:00EST
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm

Senate Passes Broadband Mapping Legislation - Time for House to Follow Suit, NextGenWeb
Broadband has taken center stage these past 24 hours. In last night’s debate, Senator Barack Obama cited the need to get broadband to all Americans as part of his plan to get the economy back on track. Senator McCain calls broadband deployment a “top priority.” The Senate has heeded the call by their two most prominent members by passing legislation late last night that would improve the way broadband is mapped throughout the U.S. Better mapping will make it easier to identify those areas throughout the U.S. who are missing out on the broadband promise – from more access to health care
http://www.nextgenweb.org/news-and-blog-clips/senate-passes-broadband-mapping-legislation-time-for-house-to-follow-suit
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm

Senate Passes Broadband Data Improvement Act, Senate
No description
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=3bf3c95b-db08-4ba8-8f82-57fb0cc067da
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm

Transpacific undersea cable completed, CNET
Some of the world's leading phone companies complete the construction of an undersea cable to provide more Internet capacity between the U.S. and parts of Asia.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10053949-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/backbone.htm

Cable Continues Low Customer Satisfaction Tradition - Charter, Comcast at the bottom, says CFI Group…, dslreports
Cable carriers can't get a break when it comes to low consumer satisfaction scores, coming in at the tail end of most industries according to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Among cable carriers, both Comcast and Charter are usually bringing up the rear, be it in the ACSI or with a study this week by the CFI Group. The CFI Group found both companies continuing their bottom ranking tradition, despite very clear efforts from both companies to shore up public perception. Cox (66 out of 100) topped satisfaction rankings among cable companies, but the industry average was dragged
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cable-Continues-Low-Customer-Satisfaction-Tradition-98089
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/cable.htm

XOHM! Sprint brings WiMax to Baltimore, CNET
Sprint announces XOHM, WiMax network for Baltimore.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10053695-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wimax.htm

WiMax Finally Available... In 2008... In Baltimore, Techdirt
For years and years we used to make fun of the press and analysts for either saying that WiMax existed when it did not or for predicting huge uptake before the tech was even ready. Plenty of companies offered wireless broadband, but it was not WiMax, no matter what they (or the press) called it. Back in 2003, we even made a pretty clear prediction: WiMax would not be ready for prime time until 2008, going against plenty of analysts who insisted it would be the big thing in 2004. And 2005. And 2006. And 2007. So, it's nice to see Sprint squeeze in the launch of its WiMax Xohm service before the end of
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080929/1838312405.shtml
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wimax.htm

Video: "White spaces" explained, Google
If you're one of the many folks not familiar with the basics of white spaces (don't worry, it is complicated), the folks at the People's Production House have put together a new video that explains the issues for non-techies. Check it out:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GooglePublicPolicyBlog/~3/403832211/video-white-spaces-explained.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wireless.htm#white

Net neutrality: An American problem?, CNET
Executives at three Australian ISPs say that unlimited-access plans just aren't sustainable today and that the U.S. could learn a lesson from Down Under.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10053045-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Shocker: Consumers Hate Broadband Caps - What's a gigabyte?, dslreports
A new survey conducted by International Data Corporation on behalf of Zeugma Systems not too surprisingly finds that consumers aren't big fans of monthly data caps. Though it's a low dataset of 787 consumers polled, 81% say they don't like the idea of being capped and charged overages, and 51% say they'd try to change ISPs if their provider implemented caps. More interesting perhaps is that only 5% of those polled agreed with the sentiment that "those who use more should pay more," and 83% say that they do not know what a gigabyte is or have no idea how many gigabytes they use.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Shocker-Consumers-Hate-Broadband-Caps-98090
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Europe embraces an open Internet, Google
I recently returned from a trip to Europe and discovered some interesting thinking there about the Internet. Last week the European Commission launched a debate about whether broadband now needs to be considered part of "universal service." Today, the European Commission’s Information Society and Media department, led by Commissioner Viviane Reding, has published a fascinating paper on the future networks and the Internet. It is only ten pages long, so I'd suggest everyone take a look.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GooglePublicPolicyBlog/~3/406653435/europe-embraces-open-internet.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

Comcast is Right, the FCC is Wrong, CircleID
A fellow named Paul Korzeniowski has written a very good, concise piece on the Comcast action at the FCC for Forbes, Feds And Internet Service Providers Don't Mix. He manages to describe the controversy in clear and unemotional language, which contrasts sharply with the neutralists who constantly use emotionally-charged terms such as "blocking," "Deep Packet Inspection," "forgery," and "monopoly" to describe their discomfort.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/2008928_comcast_right_fcc_wrong/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralp2p.htm

Car Dealership Appeals ConsumerAffair's CDA 230 Win, Citizen's Media
New York-based Nemet Chevrolet filed a notice of appeal to the Fourth Circuit last week, challenging a district court's dismissal of its amended complaint against ConsumerAffairs.com based on section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA 230). The appeal presents some interesting questions about whether a website loses CDA 230 immunity by encouraging negative consumer commentary and using drop-down boxes to enable users to categorize their submissions.  To my knowledge, this is the
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CitizenMediaLawProject/~3/406605739/car-dealership-appeals-consumeraffairs-cda-230-win
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/samaritan.htm

US Drops to 19th in Broadband Penetration Worldwide, Broadband Reports
US broadband penetration dropped from 17th to 19th place overall among all countries surveyed over the past two quarters. Monaco leads all nations surveyed with 40.6% of the population on broadband and 100% of households.
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0809/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/broadband.htm

It's Official: China Now Has More Broadband Lines Than the United States., Sascha
It was just last year that those of us raising alarms about the massive half-decade market failure in the United States to adequately provision broadband services were facing a misinformation campaign that raw numbers mattered more than percentage rankings. According to this argument, the US broadband market was sound because we had more broadband lines than anyone else
http://saschameinrath.com/2008/sep/29/its_official_china_now_has_more_broadband_lines_united_states
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/broadband.htm

ARIN Monthly Statistics, ARIN
No description
http://www.arin.net/announcements/20080929_stats.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/

VeriSign's plan to sign the root, IGP
VeriSign has publicly released its proposal to sign the root, which it sent to the NTIA on September 22. Their proposal comes on the heels of ICANN submitting their own (yet to be publicly released) proposal to the NTIA on September 2. DoC will be putting out a Notice of Inquiry soon regarding signing the root to gather public comments. VeriSign adds a much needed dimension to the root signing debate, introducing a well known threshold cryptographic technique. But the proposal's reliance on root server operators needs to be considered carefully.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IGPBlog/~3/405639087/3903803.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/security.htm

House website overwhelmed, Globe and Mail
Servers bogged down as government hasn't seen this much demand since the 9/11 commission report
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/406642393/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/egov/

House Passes New Internet Radio Legislation, Consumer Affairs
Bill would enable negotiations on royalties to continue after Congressional recess.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/09/internet_radio_reprieve.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/carp.htm

And Walmart Makes Three: Another Music Service Plans to Shut Down DRM Support, EFF
Following in the footsteps of MSN Music and Yahoo! Music, Walmart has notified customers that it will be shutting off its DRM servers in less than two weeks. Walmart's been selling DRM-free music since February, but anyone who bought music before that date will not be able to transfer those songs to “unauthorized computers,” or access the songs after changing operating systems. Walmart, like MSN and Yahoo!, advises customers to back up their music to a CD if they want to be able to access it in the future. So, Walmart customers get to invest more time
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/09/and-walmart-makes-three-another-music-service-plan
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/flag.htm

Internet Pioneer Paul Baran Awarded National Medals of Technology and Innovation, CircleID
Paul A. Baran, a founding father of the Internet has been named a 2007 National Medal of Technology and Innovation laureate. Baren was presented the award by President Bush at the White House today. Baran is one of the three inventors of packet-switched networks, along with Donald Davies and Leonard Kleinrock. His packet switching idea has served as a foundation where others later built the ARPANET, which, over time, evolved into the Internet.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/paul_baran_national_medals_technology/
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/internethistory.htm

VoIP Vulnerabilities Being Exposed Today - Company calls can be listened in on, dslreports
The vulnerabilities of VoIP calls are being discussed today at the Toorcon conference in San Diego. VoIP Hopper s Jason Ostrom is demonstrating his next-generation VoIP sniffer, called UCSniff, which is capable of mapping all telephone extensions to specific IP addresses as well as actually listening in on the VoIP calls that are made by specific users. The purpose of the demonstration is to show businesses what risks they are taking as they start using Unified Communications systems (and to show them how to prevent those problems). However, it s an area of vulnerability which all VoIP user
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/VoIP-Vulnerabilities-Being-Exposed-Today-98039
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/

GAO report: e-voting vendors causing problems for states, Ars Technica
A new GAO report on state election procedures is mostly sanguine, but finds some persistent trouble spots in certifying voting systems—and broad uncertainty about the prevalence of local problems.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080930-gao-report-e-voting-vendors-causing-problems-for-states.html
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/vote/

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 and present danger to the way we use the Internet in this country."
http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2008/09/30/#003064
More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm

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