FCC Chief Wants Broadband Across USA, Proposes "Free Broadband"

High-speed Internet access is so important to the welfare of U.S. consumers that America can't afford not to offer it -- free of charge -- to anybody who wants it, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin has told USA TODAY. Leslie Cauley reports: "Martin wants to use a block of wireless spectrum to help bridge the gap. By attaching a 'free broadband' condition to the sale of the spectrum, known as AWS-3 (for advanced wireless services-3), Martin thinks he can help drive broadband adoption in rural areas in particular. Only 25% of network capacity would have to be reserved for free broadband. The rest could be used to provide premium broadband services." Karl Bode of DSLreports.com however... more»

Comcast Given 30 Days to Disclose Network Management Practices, Says FCC Order

In follow up to August 1st ruling against Comcast, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a 67 page order released today has given Comcast 30 days "to disclose the details of their unreasonable network management practices, submit a compliance plan describing how it intends to stop these unreasonable management practices by the end of the year, and disclose to both the Commission and the public the details of the network management practices that it intends to deploy following termination of its current practices." more»

Thousands of File Sharers Facing Lawsuits in UK

Last month a government-backed deal was struck between Britain's six biggest Internet service providers and the entertainment industry in order to send warning letters to file-sharers. Today it has been reported that thousands of people suspected of sharing music, films and games over the Internet are going to be facing legal action in UK for damages. One law firm, according to Reuters, is going to the High Court to force ISPs to release names and addresses of 7,000 suspected file-sharers and that they have already begun proceedings against several people in Britain. One British woman has been ordered to pay 16,000 pounds for downloading pinball game for free through a file-sharing site. more»

Back to My Mac: Apple Pushing IPv6?

While Apple can't single-handedly transfer the Internet to IPv6, it can provide killer apps that will drive adoption among consumers, says Prince McLean of AppleInsider. McLean continues: "That kind of thing is right up Apple's Infinite Loop alley. The company pushed for adoption of the MPEG AAC codec with iTunes and the iPod, upgrading the world from MP3 while preventing the world's music from being locked up in Sony's ATRAC or Microsoft's Windows Media DRM. Most other music players now support AAC as well... Apple's relatively small but high-impact market power has pushed a number of other open standards. So how can Apple push IPv6? One killer app for IPv6 is already being sold: Back to My Mac (BTMM ) works by tunneling IPv6 traffic between machines over the IPv4 Internet using IPSec." more»

Studies Indicate 29% of Internet Users Buying Goods from Spam Emails

29 percent of Internet users have purchased goods from spam emails, according to new research by Internet security company Marshal. The most commonly purchased items include sexual enhancement pills, software, adult material and luxury items such as watches, jewellery and clothing. Marshal's research, which asked 'What purchases have you made from spam,' attracted 622 responses with 29.1 percent indicating that they had made purchases. The poll showed the proportion of spam purchases had risen when compared to a similar Forrester Research poll from 2004, which surveyed 6,000 active Web users and reported 20 percent had made purchases from spam. more»

ISP Deep Packet Inspection Remains a Probable Option, Despite Controversies

A US firm was among ISPs operating in Argentina that recently received orders from the country's Department of Justice to put a stop to all local traffic visiting a particular gambling website operating without a license. An anonymous source, according to Ian Lamont of The Industry Standard, has said that Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) was floated as a possible option to accomplish this task although later not implemented due to high costs. Lamont reports: "The DPI approach would be troubling on a number of levels. First, any ISP using DPI is going beyond a government mandate to simply block traffic to a particular site. The ISPs would actually be peering inside their customers' Web traffic without their knowledge." Although DPI wasn't used in this particular case, "it will probably be considered in the future as a way to take offensive or illegal sites offline." more»

Lawrence Lessig's Reaction to McCain's Technology Plan

In reaction to U.S. republican presidential candidate John McCain's release of his technology policy statement on August 14, Lawrence Lessig has released a video presentation criticizing the tech plan for lack of change to important issues such as broadband penetration declines in the country. Early during the video presentation, Lessig has this to say: "...the single most important fact about internet's development in last decade has been the extraordinary decline United States has faced with respect to our competitive partners. We started the Bush administration at no. 5, we will end at no. 22. And the question anybody should be asking about internet policy here, is why we did so poorly and what change there might be to reverse that decline..." more»

Evidence that Georgia Cyberattacks Were "Populist" in Nature

The attacks against websites in Georgia are most likely populist in nature rather than state sponsored says Gary Warner, director of computer forensics research at UAB. In a blog post today, Warner has provided some evidence regarding his speculations including scripts from Russian language websites. He writes: "This script was copied from one of more than forty Russian language sites where I found copies of an 'attack script' that people were being encouraged to run on their own computers..." more»

Over 13 Million Mobile Data Card Users in the US

Though often thought to be the power tool of the business road warrior, wireless data cards that allow laptop and PC users to connect to the Internet over a wireless carrier's cellular network, are quickly becoming a popular means of home Internet access, says new report by Nielsen Mobile. According to the study, 43% of mobile data card users report they most often use their data card at home, while 15 percent say they typically use the card at work. Additionally, one in five (21 percent) data card subscribers take advantage of ubiquitous access by heading outdoors and 9 percent use their card while commuting. more»

Dell Loses "Cloud Computing" Trademark Application

In follow to an earlier report this month about Dell seeking a "cloud computing" trademark, latest updates indicate that the company has been denied a trademark because of the generic nature of the term which describes services offered by numerous other companies. In an initial ruling, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), included dozens of news stories and other material supporting its contention that cloud computing is a widely-used term of art for the technology industry. Dell is given six months to file a response or the USPTO will abandon the application. more»

U.S. Not Vulnerable to Type of Cyberattacks Launched at Georgia

Experts agree that the U.S. is probably more Internet-dependent than any place in the world and hence more vulnerable than any other country. However in a CNN report today, Scott Borg, director of the United States Cyber Consequences Unit, a nonprofit research institute, says that U.S. "can command so much bandwidth that it's hard to overwhelm our servers," in light of last week's, and still ongoing, cyberattacks against Georgia. "We are vulnerable to more sophisticated attacks, but right now most of the people who want to do us harm don't have those capabilities," says Borg. more»

Largest Study to Date of IPv6 Traffic on the Internet

Security and network management company, Arbor Networks, in partnership with more than ninety network services and content providers from around the world, has published an extensive study of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) traffic on the Internet. The results of a year-long research project provide, for the first time according to the report, a global perspective on the amount of IPv6 traffic on the Internet. There are "exactly 900 days remaining until the end of the Internet, or at least the exhaustion of IPv4 registry allocations," says Craig Labovitz Arbor Networks chief scientist. more»