From rcannon100 at yahoo.com Wed Jan 7 08:15:37 2009 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 08:15:37 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 1.9 :: Tech Guide Dog :: New Net Management Practices :: Phases of IPv4 Exhaustion :: FCC Reform :: Message-ID: <691728.38036.qm@web37903.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country. Franklin D. Roosevelt For the Blind, Technology Does What a Guide Dog Can?t, NYT At Google, a blind engineer is a pioneer in customizing technologies that were not designed with blind users in mind. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/business/04blind.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ada/fcc.htm Why Government Investment in Broadband Is Justified Now, CircleID Bobbie Johnson, technology correspondent for The Guardian, was kind enough to quote me along with Vint Cerf (nice to be in good company) on the importance of building an online economy and an online government. Vint said: "You know how they say opportunity lies on the edge of chaos? Maybe that's going to be true here too." http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090102_government_investment_in_broadband/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ WiMax Edges Closer to Chicago - Though launch goes from 'on deck' to 'late 2009', dslreports The Chicago Tribune is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Sprint and Clearwire's Mobile WiMax offering, citing a mid-to-late 2009 launch date for "Clear" in the windy city. That's a shift from repeated reports that both Chicago and Washington DC would go live shortly after the launch of XOHM in Baltimore. "Clear" and "XOHM" will ultimately become one product as part of Sprint and Clearwire's joint venture, which aims to http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/WiMax-Edges-Closer-to-Chicago-99998 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wimax.htm Comcast confirms new network management practices, CW Comcast, the second largest broadband provider in the U.S., has stopped network-management practices that focus on slowing the BitTorrent peer-to-peer application, the company said. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=4a90f05972b760d0a0f03cacdad140b7 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm New Comcast Throttling System 100% Online - Comcast tells us new network management system live in all markets, dslreports In line with their traffic management website Comcast has confirmed to us they've installed their new broadband throttling system across all markets. The system, which we first profiled back in September, throttles a user's connection if a particular CMTS port is congested, and if that user has been identified as a primary reason why. This two-condition throttling system replaces Comcast's old, FCC-criticized system http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/New-Comcast-Throttling-System-100-Online-100015 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Americans View 34 Percent More Online Videos in November 2008 Compared to Year Ago, comscore comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released November 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that U.S. Internet users viewed 12.7 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 34 percent versus year ago. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/comscore/~3/503613654/release.asp More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/ Despite Weak Season, Online Spending Trends Outperform Brick-And-Mortar Across Several Key Retail Categories, comscore comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released online spending data by category for the online holiday shopping season, which showed that trends in online spending outperformed offline in several key product categories. The study compared comScore e-commerce data to overall (online and offline) consumer spending data published by MasterCard Advisors? SpendingPulse http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/comscore/~3/501206228/release.asp More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/data/ The phases of IPv4 exhaustion, IP Convergence Back in the Globalcenter (colo/hosting) days here at Global Crossing we used to say that there were three phases of the space being sold. The first phase was where customers could buy a rack and reserve several additional adjacent racks for future use. Once the facility was completely sold out (as little as two months after opening) we would go back to the customers that reserved space and offer them first right of http://blogs.globalcrossing.com/IPv4-phased-exhaust More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ipv6.htm Telecom Shows Signs of Buckling Under Recessionary Pressures, Ecommerce Times The year-long U.S. recession has started to take its toll on the telecomm sector. AT&T and Verizon shares were hit hard Monday after being downgraded by Bernstein Research. The firm downgraded Verizon from market perform to underperform and AT&T from outperform to market http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/65717.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/ Copyright Royalty Board Continues To Make Life Difficult For Webcasting, Techdirt I have significant problems with any sort of compulsory licensing scheme, which basically gives the power to a tiny group of people to establish the business models and cost structures for an entire industry. It's as if people who support compulsory licensing don't believe the free market works at all. The latest example of this is that the Copyright Royalty Board, which controls pretty much everything having to do with copyright http://techdirt.com/articles/20090102/1917483272.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/carp.htm UMG v. Veoh: Another Victory for Web 2.0, EFF Over the holidays, video hosting site Veoh won another victory under the DMCA safe harbors, this time against Universal Music Group (UMG). The ruling should put to rest the argument that transcoding and other activities necessary for making content accessible on the web are not covered by the DMCA's http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/umg-v-veoh-another-victory-web-2-0 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm Veoh Gets Another DMCA Safe Harbor Win, This Time Against Universal Music, Techdirt You may recall that last year, the video hosting website Veoh had a big win when a court ruled that the site was protected by DMCA safe harbors from infringement committed by users. Of course, that particular lawsuit was only one of a few that Veoh is involved in. In a separate case, brought by Universal Music Group, UMG made some somewhat twisted arguments as to why Veoh shouldn't qualify for DMCA safe http://techdirt.com/articles/20090105/1758303293.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm FCC Reform: No longer If, But How, PK Yesterday?s Public Knowledge - Silicon Flatirons conference entitled ?Reforming the Federal Communications Commission? brought together former Chairmen, Commissioners and staff members of the agency, along with other experts. They provided perspectives on the agency and how it has operated in the past, how it operates currently, and how it might operate in the future. The consensus was clear ? the FCC has serious procedural, organizational and cultural problems and is long overdue for an overhaul. http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/504694402/1927 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm New FCC Reform Website, Spectrum Talk Yesterday was the FCC Reform conference sponsored by The University of Colorado's Silicon Flatirons program and Public Knowledge. Much of the conference focused on the keynote paper by Phil Weiser, "FCC Reform and the Future of Telecommunications Policy". A new website on FCC reform has the paper, along with several responses including mine. The site allows you to make your own suggestions! http://spectrumtalk.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-fcc-reform-website-yesterday-was.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Judge doesn't buy state secrets privilege, OKs wiretap suit, Ars Technica An Islamic charity has established its right to sue the government over warrantless surveillance, a federal court ruled Monday. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090106-judge-doesnt-buy-state-secrets-privilege-oks-wiretap-suit.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/bigbrother.htm Learn from U.S., 911 expert says, Globe and Mail U.S. didn't get serious about upgrading phone system until a series of preventable deaths http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/QTErY8IlyS0/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/voip/911.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 Fri Jan 16 09:18:33 2009 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:18:33 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 1.16 :: Obama's Broadband Policy :: DO FiOS :: Online Threats to Children Overblown :: No Idea about Sec. 230 :: FCC Morale :: Message-ID: <369358.69442.qm@web37902.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ ...and Communications for All? A Telecommunications Policy Agenda for the Obama Administration, PK Over the past year, the Future of American Communications (FACT) Working Group, composed of sixteen telecommunications scholars from eleven American universities, has been putting together a communications policy agenda for the next administration. The culmination of the group?s work, a volume titled ?and communications for all: A Policy Agenda for a New Administration will be launched on http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/512153656/1941 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ Obama's Official Broadband Policy, Telecom Policy ?Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of http://www.fastnetnews.com/policyblog/803-obama-official-broadband-policy More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ Democrats sneak Net neutrality rules into 'stimulus' bill, CNET House Democrats claim that enacting a $825 billion so-called stimulus plan is necessary to save the economy. What they didn't say is that it tries to impose highly controversial Net neutrality rules through the back door. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10144035-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ Mayor Signs Off On Bringing FiOS To DC - Verizon promises to wire whole city in nine years..., dslreports According to a Verizon press release, Washington DC mayor Adrian M. Fenty this week signed Verizon's DC franchise into law, meaning that city residents will finally see FiOS after years of watching Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbanites blissfully surf at speeds up to 50Mbps. Verizon says city residents will see the first service within the year, and that the franchise requires they deploy the FTTH service http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Mayor-Signs-Off-On-Bringing-FiOS-To-DC-100211 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/fiber.htm Report Calls Online Threats to Children Overblown, nyt A high-profile task force concluded that the sexual solicitation of children online is not a significant problem. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/technology/internet/14cyberweb.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/child.htm Julius Genachowski to Be Nominee for F.C.C. Chairman, NYT Julius Genachowski was a major fund-raiser for the Obama campaign and played a leading role in the campaign?s highly successful online strategy. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/us/politics/14fcc.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/child.htm Internet Safety Technical Task Force Releases Final Report on Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies, Internet Safety TF The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University today released the final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a group of 29 leading Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, academics, and technology companies that joined together for a year-long investigation of tools and technologies to create a safer environment on the Internet for youth. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/4987 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/child.htm Global Net Censorship in 2009: For The Children, for the Rightsholders, EFF Across the world, politicians perennially declare their intention to purge or blacklist websites they fear are damaging to children or the public welfare. The call for censorship hasn't stopped, despite many years of evidence that pervasive Net censorship is invasive, infeasible, and economically damaging. Nor is it likely to be stopped by today's Internet Safety Technical Taskforce Report on protecting children from internet http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/global-net-censorship-2009 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/firsta.htm Shocker: No Easy Tech Fix To Keep Kids Safe Online, Techdirt After spending a year (and who knows how much money) researching the topic, a study commissioned by 49 state attorneys general has determined that there's no simple technological way to protect kids online. They needed a year to figure out that there's no magic bullet, or piece of software, that could keep kids out of trouble? Other shocking conclusions from the report, according to the WSJ: the things kids have to deal http://techdirt.com/articles/20090113/1619263394.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/reports.htm Anonymous Gripe Site Wins Legal Battle With Ohio Homebuilder Powermark Homes, Citizen's Media Last month, an anonymous website dedicated to criticizing Ohio homebuilder Powermark Homes succeeded in maintaining its anonymity in the face of a lawsuit brought by the company and two of its principals, Mark and Lisa Powers, who had sued the anonymous operator of Powermark Homes Alert. At the time of the suit, the homepage for the site included a picture of Mark and Lisa and the statements "The http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CitizenMediaLawProject/~3/512581548/anonymous-gripe-site-wins-legal-battle-ohio-homebuilder-powermark-homes More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm Lawyer Who Sues Yelp Admits He Had No Idea About Section 230 Safe Harbors, Techdirt Last week, we wrote about a defamation lawsuit over a review on Yelp, which seemed to backfire -- bringing a lot more attention to the negative review than if left alone. That case actually was settled soon after, but yet another defamation lawsuit has been filed by yet another person -- this time a dentist -- over a negative review. There are a few things worth commenting on about this lawsuit, but the big one that http://techdirt.com/articles/20090113/2207453397.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/samaritan.htm Bush White House Ordered to Preserve E-mails, Internet News The rush is on to scour systems for missing e-mails before Obama takes office. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/YvM4zbt3Gn0/3796386 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/egov/ Scientist slams newspaper for Google CO2 report, CNET Harvard physicist says his study on the environmental impact of Internet searches did not single out or even name the search giant. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10141432-54.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/environment/ iTunes Songs Don't Have DRM, But They Contain Your Email Address, Techdirt Apple got a lot of press last week when it announced that it was going to remove the DRM from songs it sold through the iTunes Music Store. That's a great thing in itself, since it removes the barriers legitimate customers faced in playing back music they purchased on the device of their choice. But details are coming out, and it's not all good news: the songs are watermarked (via Slashdot) with the email address of http://techdirt.com/articles/20090113/0707133391.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/copyright.htm FCC Morale: A Review of New Data from OPM, PK The Federal Human Capital Survey is an admirable Bush Administration initiative that OPM describes as, http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/513002082/1943 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm FCC leadership honest? Staffers say "no", Law & Disorder Most of our FCC coverage is directed at the agency's policies and personalities?a focus on the top of the agency org chart. But how does the FCC fare as a place to work for the hundreds of engineers, lawyers, and secretaries who staff it? Does it offer life fulfillment? A chance for advancement? Work/life balance? Non-lying bosses? http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/journals/law/~3/MX4b4Ttw3HQ/fcc-leadership-honest-staffers-say-no More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Jules as Chairman: Louis XIV or Andrew Jackson?, Telecom Policy A thousand lawyers and lobbyists, some paid in the millions, watch every whim of the FCC Chairman in a fashion that Versailles would understand. Because his decisions can change billions, the court is obsequious by nature. When Walt McCormick of USTA was seated in a far corner at the Chairman's Dinner, rumors floated he would lose his job because he was out of favor. A lawyer who can obtain a half http://www.fastnetnews.com/policyblog/808-jules-as-chairman-louis-xiv-or-andrew-jackson- More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm FCC Boss Kevin Martin Leaves For Think Tank - Lauds self in resignation letter to Bush..., dslreports On the heels of news that the new FCC boss will be Julius Genachowski, FCC Boss Kevin Martin has announced he'll be stepping down next Tuesday. While it was suggested that Martin might eye a Congressional political career in his home state of North Carolina, his first step after the FCC will be a gig as a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute, according to the think tank's website. In his letter of resignation to http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FCC-Boss-Kevin-Martin-Leaves-For-Think-Tank-100252 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Activist newspaper sues FBI over wrongful computer raid, Ars Technica The EFF has filed a lawsuit against the FBI and Alameda County on behalf of a newspaper and a library, both of whose facilities were raided last year. The EFF contends that law enforcement agents wrongfully obtained a warrant and had no authority to seize computers and other records during the raid. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090115-activist-newspaper-sues-fbi-over-wrongful-computer-raid.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/crime.htm Secret FISA Court Approves Specific Application of Expired Law For Warrantless Wiretapping, EFF The FISA Court of Review (FISCR) today released a public version of an opinion concerning warrantless wiretapping. An unnamed telecommunications carrier stood up for its customers' privacy by fighting the case through an initial decision by a FISA court and the appeal to the FISCR. The Court approved the specific application of the expired Protect America Act (PAA) and expressly rejected arguments that the http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/secret-fisa-court-approves-specific-application-ex More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/fisa.htm AT&T Slammed For Text Message Spam - Telco says it's not spam, because it was free...FTC nods dumbly?, dslreports The past week has seen a number of people complaining about receiving text message spam from AT&T about the premiere of the latest season of American Idol, which AT&T is a sponsor of. Whether users can opt-out of subsequent texts or not, customers thought spamming them was a miserable decision. But AT&T justifies the move to the New York Times, calling it just a "friendly reminder," and insisting it "makes perfect http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Slammed-For-Text-Message-Spam-100235 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/fcc.htm AT&T Text Spams Customers Promoting American Idol; Insists It's Not Spam, techdirt For the most part, mobile operators have been good about trying to prevent SMS text spam, but it appears that AT&T has gone in the other direction. It's actually spamming people. Apparently it sent a text message promoting the TV show American Idol to anyone who had voted in past American Idol contests or anyone that AT&T considered to be a "heavy texter." I can almost (but not quite) understand contacting former http://techdirt.com/articles/20090114/0723413404.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/spam/fcc.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 Jan 21 06:38:48 2009 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:38:48 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 1.21 :: More High Speed Hype :: Cablecos Fined :: Free Wifi Attracts Crowds :: FCC Probes Comcast re VoIP :: Message-ID: <544466.22555.qm@web37906.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ "We must see the great distinction between a reform movement and a revolutionary movement. We are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society.... What America must be told today is that she must be born again. The whole structure of American life must be changed." - Martin Luther King Jr. More "high speed" Internet hype from the FCC, Ars Technica According to the Federal Communications Commission's latest assessment, "high speed" Internet connections jumped 20 percent during the last six months of 2007. There are now 121.2 million of such lines in service, the agency says. And the number of "advanced service" lines grew as well?to 80.2 million connections by the end of that year. http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/journals/law/~3/G2rzgcSCwX0/more-high-speed-internet-hype-from-the-fcc More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/706.htm Cable Carriers Fined For Stalling FCC Price Investigation - Kevin Martin's parting shot at the cable industry...., dslreports The FCC recently began investigating the ever-increasing TV pricing of several large cable operators and Verizon (but not AT&T). An initial inquiry sent to companies demanded information on how and why carriers were bumping channels into costlier digital tiers, and whether they were using the DTV transition to push more expensive services. The FCC wasn't happy with their responses, many of which didn't http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cable-Carriers-Fined-For-Stalling-FCC-Price-Investigation-100324 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/cable.htm Free Wi-Fi attracts crowds at public libraries, cafes and downtowns, Muni Everyone likes free Wi-Fi service. The Wall Street Journal reports that public libraries are trying to cope with a massive increase in visitors who are looking for jobs online. Many are using the libraries? free Wi-Fi: ?Laid off from her job as a bookkeeper at Home Depot more than a year ago, Ms. Miller, 29 years old, says she has visited the library ?if not every day, every other day? since October to check http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/muniwireless/~3/Y-_Ak3HWpLM/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wifi.htm FCC Probes Comcast's Phone Practices, NYT The company is being investigated over concerns that it is giving preferential treatment to its phone service at the expense of similar services from competitors. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/01/20/technology/AP-FCC-Comcast.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Consumer Advocates Embrace FCC's Latest Comcast Inquiry - Comcast tells us they're still digesting the letter..., dslreports Yesterday we reported that the FCC was suddenly concerned about how Comcast's new network management system treats independent VoIP operators. As previously discussed, the new system temporarily de-prioritizes the traffic for customers who meet two criteria: they're on a congested node, and http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Consumer-Advocates-Embrace-FCCs-Latest-Comcast-Inquiry-100341 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralnm.htm FCC Again Wants Details From Comcast On Its Traffic-Shaping Efforts, Techdirt Comcast has already been slapped down -- well, slapped on the wrist, anyway -- by the FCC for violating Commission rules with its traffic-shaping efforts, and it could be on its way for a second rebuke. The FCC has asked Comcast for some more details on its newest "congestion management" system, which throttles heavy users' speeds for periods of time. As part of the penalty for its previous infraction, Comcast had to http://techdirt.com/articles/20090120/0722353459.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralnm.htm Kentucky Court of Appeals Overturns Domain Name Seizure Order, EFF The Kentucky Court of Appeals today granted petitions by the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, Inc. (iMEGA) to overturn an earlier trial court ruling authorizing the seizure of domain names owned by operators of overseas gambling websites. While challenged on several additional fronts -- including on a wide range of Constitutional grounds by EFF and its fellow amici the ACLU of Kentucky and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) -- the Court http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/kentucky-court-appeals-overturns-lower-courts-seiz More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ Court Of Appeals Overturns Kentucky Gambling Domain Seizure, techdirt Back in September, the state of Kentucky tried to seize over 100 domain names, claiming they violated a local state law against "gambling devices." None of the domains were run or hosted in the state of Kentucky, which made this quite a stretch in legal terms. While many of the domain names were for gambling websites, some were merely parked domains. The politicians who ordered the seizure were quite http://techdirt.com/articles/20090120/2045263471.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ Geoff Huston on Securing the Internet Routing System, CircleID Excerpts of a recent interview by Network World's Carolyn Duffy Marsan with Geoff Huston, one of the foremost authorities on Internet routing and scaling issues, has been published on the site. Questions include: "Can you explain in plain English what RPKI is trying to do and how it relates to improving the security of the Internet's routing system?" Huston's response: http://www.circleid.com/posts/geoff_huston_securing_internet_routing_system/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/dnssecurity.htm ARIN Leadership Announced, ARIN No description http://www.arin.net/announcements/20090120.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/dns/ip.htm WhiteHouse.gov Root Password Handed Over to Obama Administration, Website Relaunched, CircleID To the keys to the nuclear arsenal, we now add one more technological weapon that is handed over to the incoming president at exactly noon every Inauguration Day: the root password to WhiteHouse.gov. http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090120_obama_whitehouse_gov_website_relaunch/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/egov/ Comcast Accused of Degrading VoIP Sound Quality of Competitors, Under FCC Investigation, CircleID The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) raises the possibility of further network neutrality violations by Comcast. The agency is investigating concerns that Comcast's new network management practices degrade the sound quality of VOIP services such as Vonage and Skype that compete with Comcast's own VOIP service. http://www.circleid.com/posts/comcast_voip_sound_quality_fcc_investigation/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/industry/comcast.htm Online Video of Inauguration Sets Records, NYT Overwhelming demand for live Internet video feeds of the inauguration ceremony caused some providers to experience network problems. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/politics/21video.html More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/ Internet Into Overdrive on Obama Inauguration Day, CircleID Millions around the world commented, twittered and prayed as they watched Barack Obama's inauguration live on Tuesday on the Internet, pinning their hopes on a new world order and era in American politics. http://www.circleid.com/posts/internet_overdrive_obama_inauguration_day/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/reliability.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 Fri Jan 30 07:25:07 2009 From: rcannon100 at yahoo.com (Robert Cannon) Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:25:07 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Cybertel-Ann] 1.30 :: Go Steelers :: Self Interest or Common Sense :: Dont Deliver Speeds :: Spammed Teachers :: C is for Cookie :: Help RIAA Foil :: Another Woman Without a Computer :: This Just Gets Better and Better :: Message-ID: <915560.59582.qm@web37906.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ============================================ CyberTelecom News Federal Internet Law and Policy ============================================ The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government. Franklin D. Roosevelt House Expected to OK Billions for Broadband, Internet News A House vote on the stimulus package is likely to fall along party lines, while Senate debate is seen as more conciliatory. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetnewsRealtimeNewsForItManagers/~3/KaXV1DC5wRk/3799161 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ House Republicans Continue to Stand Up For Principle Despite Self Interest or Common Sense. Go GOP!, Tales from the Sausage Factory I am not entirely sure that a delay of the DTV transition is a good thing, but I know a political reality when I see it. With too many viewers likely to experience serious television viewing disruption, the smart politician takes some prudent ste... http://www.wetmachine.com/item/1453 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/ 3G networks don't deliver speeds users expect, Gartner says, CW The four major U.S. wireless carriers deliver slower 3G speeds than customers expect, according to research firm Gartner, which said it has received the most complaints about AT&T. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=6fa6189e136ccd03248309ca41fa6d8b More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/w3g.htm Policy Point - Wireless Child Safety, CTIA The wireless industry joins parents in their commitment to wireless child safety through initiatives such as the Wireless Child Safety Task Force and reinforcing responsible use tips. To learn more watch this segment from our January installment of our Wonder of Wireless webcast, and take a few moments to http://www.ctia.org/blog/index.cfm/2009/1/27/Policy-Point--Wireless-Child-Safety More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/child.htm Student Cleared Of Charges She Spammed Teachers At Her University, Techdirt Back in December, we wrote about a student at Michigan State University, who was disciplined by the school for spamming, after she sent out an email to all of the professors at the school concerning a schedule change that would impact their class schedules in a future semester. One teacher complained, and the student was found to have violated the school's anti-spam policy, which said you couldn't email http://techdirt.com/articles/20090128/1901243561.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/firsta.htm New Google Tools Test ISP Traffic Discrimination - Latest salvo in network neutrality debate, dslreports Google, in cooperation with academic researchers, the New America Foundation and the PlanetLab Consortium, have launched Measurement Lab (M-Lab). Measurement Lab is a suite of tools dedicated to helping broadband customers determine what kind of throttling or protocol discrimination their ISP is employing, presumably letting them make an intelligent decision when shopping between ISPs -- assuming http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/New-Google-Tools-Test-ISP-Traffic-Discrimination-100522 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Barbara van Schewick on Network Neutrality Nuances, Center for Internet and Society CIS Co-Director, Barbara van Schewick, and David Farber of Carnegie Mellon University, recently debated the Nuances of Net Neutrality in the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) February 09 publication, Communications of ACM. Their piece is described as a discussion of divergent paths to unrestricted access of content and applications via the Internet. http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/6049 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Congressional Internet Protection Starts Now, PK The protection of the Internet is expected on Jan. 28 to be back on the House floor for the first time in three years. Granted, an observer would need the equivalent of a legislative microscope to find it, because the concept of an open, non-discriminatory network is buried deep in an $825 billion stimulus package. http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/524794054/1960 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm Cox Plans to Throttle, mLabs to the Rescue, PK Today we have some bad and good news. First the bad news: Cox Communications announced that it has a new way to manage it?s network traffic; the problem is, Cox decides which packets go ahead of others. The story says Cox will prioritize the traffic it deems to be ?time-intensive, like Web pages, streaming video and online games.? Other services may be slowed: FTP, network storage, software updates, P2P, http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/525785957/1964 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralnm.htm White House: C is for cookie, it's good enough for YouTube, Ars Technica It's nice to see that someone at the White House is reading the work of privacy maven Chris Soghoian. Less than a day after Chris drew attention to a special YouTube exemption in the privacy policy for WhiteHouse.gov?permitting YouTube to plant tracking cookies on visitors' machines?the president's virtual home made some rapid changes. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/01/white-house-c-is-for-cookie-its-good-enough-for-youtube.ars More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/egov/ AT&T And Comcast Willing To Cut Off File Sharers, techdirt While ISPs have been reluctant to admit to agreeing to be a part of the RIAA's three strikes plan, if you had to take a guess who would be involved, AT&T and Comcast would probably lead the list (along with Cox, which has already admitted to doing so). So, it probably comes as no surprise that News.com has confirmed from internal sources that, indeed, both AT&T and Comcast have agreed, in principle, to http://techdirt.com/articles/20090128/1543013559.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm AT&T, Comcast may help RIAA foil piracy, CNET Two of the nation's largest Internet service providers are indicating that they would penalize chronic illegal file sharers. The RIAA has been working to enlist their help. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10151389-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm RIAA Found To Have Sued Yet Another Woman Without A Computer, Techdirt While the RIAA insists that it's stopped its lawsuit campaign, it's still moving forward with existing lawsuits -- including one against yet another woman who claims not to have even owned a computer on the date she was accused of file sharing. Now it's possible that the woman is lying -- but if that's the case, she's going to be in a lot more trouble than for sharing some music files. This is not the first time the RIAA was found http://techdirt.com/articles/20090127/0108303542.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm City council tries to envision future of newspapers, Lost Remote With the Seattle PI just a few weeks from shutting down its printing press ? and perhaps the entire operation ? Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata brought a council committee together today to talk about the future of newspapers in a soon-to-be one newspaper town. While I applaud Licata for tackling the complex topic, I about fell out of my chair while I watched the live stream of the event at my desk. The http://www.lostremote.com/2009/01/29/city-council-tries-to-envision-future-of-newspapers/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/ US DTV Cutover: re-purposing spectrum is harder than you think, CISCO With just 20 days until US analog television broadcasting shuts down, the various parts of the federal government are in a dither over whether to hit the brakes to give themselves four more months to prepare for the dawn of the all-digital TV age. A bill pending in Congress, crafted in response to a Obama http://blogs.cisco.com/gov/comments/us_dtv_cutover_re-purposing_spectrum_is_harder_than_you_think/#When:22:41:07Z More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/dtv.htm More Details On Proposed DTV Delay: This Just Gets Better And Better, Techdirt As mentioned, the House has rejected the attempt to push through the delay to the digital TV transition that the Senate approved earlier in the week. The measure needed a two-thirds majority to pass in this attempt, which it did not get. However, it did garner a simple majority, which means it will probably be brought to the floor and passed in the next few days. But it's worth looking more closely at some of the details to http://techdirt.com/articles/20090128/1137593557.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/dtv.htm Online newspaper readership climbs 16 percent, CNET Top 10 online newspapers post double-digit increase in December Web traffic, offering the newspaper industry encouragement amid bleak times, according to a new report. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10150884-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/news.htm Top Ten List of Needed FCC Regulatory Reforms, CircleID At the risk of anthromorphizing a regulatory agency, at the very least the FCC has not told the complete truth, or put itself in a position not to know the truth. The FCC has contributed to debates about what constitutes credible facts and statistics, and what this data means. For example, soon-to-be former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin asserted as the gospel truth his factual conclusion that cable television operators http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090129_needed_fcc_regulatory_reforms/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Copps de-Martinizing the FCC, begins internal reforms, Ars Technica Michael Copps is only the interim chair of the Federal Communications Commission, to be replaced by White House pick Julius Genachowski if everything goes according to plan. But, judging by the comments made to the agency's staff on Monday, the FCC's senior Democrat clearly has no interest in playing bench warmer until then. Copps' remarks should be read as a call for the Commission to begin reforming http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/01/copps-de-martinizing-the-fcc-begins-internal-reforms.ars More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/fcc.htm Russian 'cybermilitia' knocks Kyrgyzstan offline, CNET A Russian 'cybermilitia' has knocked the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan off the Internet, a security researcher said today. http://feeds.computerworld.com/click.phdo?i=c6e2eaf5649c4547f5b8d934c19729e4 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/cyberwar.htm "The Adventurous Parts of the Internet", Renesys I just spent a very pleasant 3 days attending NANOG 45 in the Dominican Republic. The whole thing was a whirlwind of peering, technical presentations, and catching up with the people who keep the North American parts of the internet backbone alive. What can I say? The DR is overflowing with friendly people, great food, warm breezes (82F in Santo Domingo, versus 0F at my house in New Hampshire), and very http://www.renesys.com/blog/2009/01/the-adventurous-parts-of-the-i.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/security/reliability.htm Network Neutrality Remains In Stimulus Bills - Can the language survive the telecom lobbyist gauntlet?, dslreports Yesterday, purely across party lines, the House passed (244-188) the $819 billion stimulus plan, $6 billion of which will go to broadband. The House bill includes a mandate requiring that ISPs who get government funds for deployment must adhere to network neutrality -- the term left undefined until the incoming FCC boss, Julius Genochowski, defines it within 45 days after passage. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Network-Neutrality-Remains-In-Stimulus-Bills-100545 More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutral.htm AT&T, Comcast in Possible Agreement With Music Industry for New Antipiracy Campaign, CircleID How does the Recording Industry Association of America plan to stop illegal file sharing? Perhaps by turning two of America's largest Internet service providers into stooges. Last year, after a round of very public defeats over its plans to sue individuals for illegal file sharing, the RIAA unveiled a new plan to have ISPs do its dirty work. Now, AT&T and http://www.circleid.com/posts/att_comcast_music_industry_antipiracy/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/p2p.htm Once Again, You Don't Get To Use DMCA Takedowns To Remove Any Content You Don't Like, Techdirt Michael Geist has the latest example of what appears to be a company abusing the DMCA takedown process to try to quiet the speech of someone they didn't like who was criticizing them. In this case, Canada Post sent a takedown notice to YouTube for a video from union members making fun of Canada Post's CEO. The video was a parody song, http://techdirt.com/articles/20090127/0232393546.shtml More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/ip/dmca.htm DTV Extension? Senate Says June 12 - AGAIN!, CommLawBlog Looks like it?s mulligan time on Capitol Hill. As previously reported, the Senate passed a DTV Delay bill on Monday, January 26. However, also as previously reported, the House vote on a corresponding bill came up a tad short vote-wise on Wednesday, January 28. http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/CommLawBlog/~3/527259951/ More Info: http://www.cybertelecom.org/media/dtv.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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~