Bit Caps, Consolidation, and Clearwire

The news that Comcast, Time Warner, and AT&T are all considering capping use of their networks -- so that "overuse" would trigger a charge -- has prompted intense discussion of just why these network operators are moving in this direction. One camp suggests that these operators have to do *something* to manage congestion, and because any protocol-specific discrimination plan raises howls of protest from the Net Neutrality side of the fence adopting bit-usage discrimination schemes is inevitable. It's the least-bad approach, following this view. more»

Google Says Bell Canada is Breaking the Law

Google says Bell Canada is breaking Canadian telecommunications law by throttling certain internet traffic, and is urging the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to take action against the company. Peter Nowak of CBC News reports today that Google has made a 15-page submission to CRTC which went public over the weekend. Quoting from the submission: "Bell claims its throttling of peer-to-peer applications is a reasonable form of network management. Google respectfully disagrees. Network management does not include Canadian carriers' blocking or degrading lawful applications that consumers wish to use." more»

FCC Reprimands Comcast for Internet Traffic Throttling

Comcast has been ordered to change how it manages its broadband network after U.S. communications regulators concluded some of its tactics unreasonably restrict Internet users who share movies and other material. In a precedent-setting decision, the five-member Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to uphold a complaint accusing Comcast of violating the FCC's open-Internet principles by improperly hindering peer-to-peer traffic. more»

Google Warns With Anti-Trust Complaints for Net Neutrality

Google warns it will not hesitate to file anti-trust complaints in the United States if high-speed Internet providers abuse the market power they could receive from U.S. legislators... If the legislators ... insist on neutrality, we will be happy. If they do not put it in, we will be less happy but then we will have to wait and see whether or not there actually is any abuse," Vint Cerf, a Google vice-president and one of the pioneers of the Internet, told a news conference in Bulgaria. more»

New Coalition Pushes for High-Speed Internet Access for All

U.S. Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein and several high-profile technology executives and industry advocates on Tuesday launched an initiative to make broadband access a national priority in the U.S., report Elizabeth Montalbano or IDG news service. At the Personal Democracy Forum in New York, Adelstein and others unveiled InternetforEveryone.org, a movement aimed at fostering a public dialogue among U.S. citizens to advise the government on how to set a national policy. more»

The Net Neutrality Conflicts in Obama vs. McCain Presidential Debates?

According to U.S. presidential candidates' position statements on the issues, John McCain is against Net neutrality and Barack Obama supports it. Glenn Derene, senior tech editor of Popular Mechanics who has put some thought into this issue in light of the current presidential race, says Net Neutrality is "one of the few technology issues on which the candidates clearly disagree." Derek explains... more»

AT&T Following Steps of Cable Companies, Considers Tiered Broadband Pricing

AT&T, United States' largest Internet provider, is considering charging extra for customers who download large amounts of data. Cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Rogers have already taken steps to gauge their customers Internet usage. "A form of usage-based pricing for those customers who have abnormally high usage patterns is inevitable," said AT&T's spokesman Michael Coe. more»

John McCain Unveils His Technology Policy Statement

U.S. republican presidential candidate John McCain has unveiled his technology policy statement. The statement includes candidate's positions on major tech issues such as Net neutrality, patent protection and piracy, broadband availability, and privacy and particularly focuses on increased innovation, intellectual property protection, and preserving technology through market forces. more»

Whose Network Is It?

A reader sent me a link last week to a piece that doesn't speak highly of net neutrality. Clyde Wayne Crews wrote an article called "Dumb Pipes, a Dumb Idea: Net Neutrality as 21st Century Socialism" that calls for legislators to reject "nut" neutrality. "Elevating the principle of mandatory net neutrality above the principle of investor ownership and wealth creation in pipes and spectrum deflects market forces away from the infrastructure development that we need..." Did anyone else see a touch of irony in a letter to the editor... more»

The McCain Campaign's "Technology" Message

I look at this as the ideas of Mike Powell and Meg Whitman, and a lot of unimportant wordsmithing. Before the Dublin (Erie) IETF I wrote one for one of the top three DCCC targeted races. You, or One, or I (isn't voice fun) tries for ideas that matter, and then try to connect the dots, for the semi-literate staff of a candidate who needs clue, e.g., to make effective calls to the DNC's major contributor lists for area codes 415, 408, 650 and 831. I mention Dublin because ages ago Scott Bradner's plan for Harvard, decent bandwidth everywhere and location transparency was, in just a few pages, a revolutionary policy document then, and now, and I was happy to see Scott again and let him know that two decades later I still remembered seeing policy stated with confidence and clarity. more»

Net Neutrality an 'American Problem', Australians Suggest Alternatives

Head of leading ISP's in Australia believe Net Neutrality is a U.S. problem and the country should take a look at the Australian market for better ideas on how to address bandwidth issues. Brett Winterford and Julian Hill of ZDNet Australia reporting from London: The debate was sparked after several American and British service providers offered to charge a premium to prioritize traffic connecting with some sites over others. "The U.S. have got a problem," weighed in Justin Milne, group managing director for Telstra Media and former chief of Australia's largest ISP, BigPond. "Their problem is that unlike Australia, they (offer) truly unlimited plans." more»

Will John McCain Help the NEXT Blackberry Creator?

Today a senior McCain advisor, Doug Holtz-Eakin, proudly held up a Blackberry and declared: "You're looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create." Bloggers on all sides of the partisan divide are having a field day with this -- suggest that the McCain campaign is out of touch, desperate, or trying to top the trouble VP Al Gore got into, when he was falsely accused of claiming to have invented the Internet... more»

VoIP Prompts Carrier Backlash

Carriers plan to challenge VoIP 'poachers' with services to win back defecting small businesses and test the market's economics. Signals that their grip on the Net neutrality high ground could be slipping are prompting major telecommunications carriers to put Plan B in motion -- an all-out price and feature war to test the staying power and limitations of Internet voice upstarts, analysts say. more»

F2C: My Opening Remarks

Here are my opening remarks at F2C: Freedom to Connect yesterday: "I am honored to be among so many remarkable people. We have to be remarkable people, because we have a hell of a job to do. The Internet has been given to us. It is a miraculous gift, and a boon to our lives... at least in part because it accidentally matured outside the purview of profit and loss. Now the money has arrived. If you want to see what happens when the money arrives, look at Nigeria or Venezuela or Russia or Iraq..." more»

Internet Usage Control Necessary, Says Sandvine

CBC News has an interview with the CEO of Sandvine, a company notorious for providing Internet access providers the technology to manage the amount and type of traffic used by consumers. From the interview, "Q: Some people have a negative view of Sandvine -- one keynote speaker at a security conference last year referred to your company as "evil." How do you react to that perception? A: Here we are, a company founded on improving the quality of the experience of the internet and trying to make the world a better place... One of the biggest ironies is that people who might not be too happy with what we're doing are often the largest benefactors of it." more»