Just go read Harold Feld’s take.
He’s an expert in this area, and I don’t have any insights to add.
Hopefully, this will bring network neutrality to at least a bit of the spectrum.
Category: Communications
Use Your Land Line Before Going to Bed
Researchers working on behalf of the mobile phone industry :rofl: have discovered that exposure to cell phone emissions can interfere with your sleep cycle.
Obviously, there is a need for more study, but the methodology, where a group of volunteers were exposed to either 884 MHz signals, or to a sham signal, seems to be a pretty good study format.
I am not sure if this was single, or double blind. (in the latter, the researchers don’t know who got the placebo either).
Definitive word to my mind:
Dr Chris Idzikowski, the director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, says: “There is now more than sufficient evidence, from a large number of reputable investigators who are finding that mobile phone exposure an hour before sleep adversely affects deep sleep.”
Getting IP Right, and Trying to Avoid the “Oh, Canada” Cliche
Harold Feld asks, “Someone tell me why Canadians seem to be so much smarter than we are, at least on the public policy fronts that I cover?”
The public policy fronts that he covers involve things like IP and network neutrality, and he is, in this case referring to the the Candian Radio-Television Commission‘s (CRTC) announcement that it is imposing new national ownership limits and cross ownership limits on its broadcast media, and the political backlash that has delayed a Canadian version of the DMCA.
The answer is actually far more depressing than the my friend Harold Feld, esq. would like to think: The Canadians believe in public policy, and the United States does not.
This is why someone like Michael Powell could make a statement that basically said that corporate profit was a public good, and not get tarred and feathered.
In Canada, his phone calls would not be returned.
FCC Investigates Comcast Packet Blocking
For what it’s worth, if Comcast finds it necessary to throttle some applications, they should be open about it to customers and prospective customers.
What happened here was that they were forging TCP reset packets to throttle the traffic, and then lying about it.
The problem is threefold, first, it interferes with non-Bit Torrent applications, I’ve read about it interfering with Lotus Notes, second, it makes troubleshooting problems with other applications very difficult, and third, the customer is being defrauded.
FWIW, traffic management, if necessary, should be based on bandwidth, which is what the ISPs sell, not application. It, or so I’ve been told, a trivial operation.
To quote Wetmachine: Harold Feld’s Tales of the Sausage Factory:
1) The FCC issued a public notice asking for comment on our Petition for Declaratory Ruling that Comcast’s “network management practice” of messing with BitTorrent uploads violated the FCC’s “Broadband Policy Statement,” which includes a principle that network operators may not block or degrade content or applications. In a separate public notice (but as part of the same proceeding), the FCC also seeks comment on the Vuze Petition for Rulemaking on how broadband access providers handle and shape IP traffic generally. (Copy of Vuze Petition here, copy of our Petition here).
2) Separately, the FCC issued a separate public notice seeking comment on a Petition filed by Public Knowledge and the usual suspects asking the FCC to declare that wireless carriers cannot deny short codes or block text messaging. This goes after Verizon’s high profile “oopsie” of denying a request by NARAL for a short code. Although, as we pointed out in the Petition, the more likely and pernicious problem is with plain old anticompetitive blocking, such as denying a short code to VOIP provider Rebtel.com and denying applications to major banks offering competing services.
3) Comcast confirmed that the FCC has lanched a formal inquiry into whether it violated the FCC’s broadband policy statement. Comcast reiterated that it will fully cooperate with the FCC, and expects any investigation to show that Comcast did not block content and has engaged in legitimate network management practices.
I think that the problem here is largely cultural. To paraphrase Lilly Tomlin from Laugh-In, who originally said this about the phone company, “We’re the cable company, we don’t have to care.”
That said, for the complex minutiae of how this is proceeding, and what it all means, go to the link. The process is confusing.
In particular, look at his, “How Do I File Comments?” section. If you want your voice heard.
No Telco Immunity for a While
As a result of Dodd’s activism against Telco immunity, Harry Reid has decided not to attempt to pass such a provision while Bush is still in office. Instead, he’s looking at extending the last bill for another 18 months. (Note the article linked is a WSJ editorial, and so it is in many ways factually inaccurate where there are clear facts, and wrong in its analysis, read only if you have a strong stomach or an affection for dark humor)
Still, this is not good enough. The “Protect America Act” is an assault on the constitution and its principles. It should not be extended a day, much less 18 months.
Dodd is now out of the Presidential race, but in 2000, he lost to Daschle in a race for the Senate Democratic leader, and he should challenge Reid next time.
Matthew Saroff’s Hall of Failed Predictions: Exhibit 38,745
I was certain that, if there were a winner in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars, it would be HD-DVD. ( here, here, here, here, here, and here)
It’s a cheaper tech, and it’s not controlled by Sony.
Well, the New York Times is now reporting that
NBC Universal and Paramount are seriously considering a switch to Blu-Ray.
I’m not wrong yet, but it seems likely that I will be in the next 12-18 months.
Then again, the end of the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars has always seemed to be 12-18 months away.
This is REALLY Classy
You know, one of the things I prefer about the British is their culture of heckling.
Not only is heckling expected, but politicians are expected to be able to deal with it.
I think that it would result in more substantive campaigns, because the average voter/heckler has the ability to drive the focus, and politicians have to be quick on their feet.
I think it makes it harder for someone to become president just because they are the idiot son of a previous president.
That being said, if America were to adopt this model, we would need remedial education for hecklers, because lordy, this is lame:
Two men were just removed from a high school auditorium where Sen. Hillary Clinton is speaking, after they stood up during her speech, lifted signs and chanted “iron my shirt.”
Seriously, if you are going to do this, spend some time coming up with something that makes her look bad, not something that makes you look bad.
This is just so “high school”.
Warner Brothers Drops HD-DVD
Well, I made predictions on the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars (see here, here, here, here, and here).
Generally, I’ve either bet against Sony, which is generally a safe bet, or against both, the theory that online distribution will render both formats redundant.
Given my previous record, perhaps you want to buy stock in Sony, because Warner Brothers just dropped HD-DVD as a format. They had been using both.
Writers Guild in Talks With Small Producers
It appears now that both sides are trying to peel off resistance. The big studios are trying to get shows to cross the picket lines, and the WGA is trying to negotiate a deal with the small independent producers.
This is going to be a long strike, I think.
A Movie I Must See This Film
The Vatican has blasted Golden Compass as Godless and hopeless. Considering their view of Monty Python’s Life of Brian this movie must totally rock, and it sounds like I could take my kids to it.
FCC Pimps for Big Media
Once again, the FCC has passed rules allowing big media to grow even bigger.
3-2 party line decision. It will be challenged in court, and probably Congress.
Solidarity Works. Unions Get It, But the Democrats Don’t
SEIU Local 99 in Los Angeles, representing teachers and other school workers, has fired Chris Lehane because he took a job consulting for the producers, and against the writers, with regard to the writers’ strike.
I think that this sort of solidarity is what Democrats lack. FWIW, I will not support any primary candidate who employs Mr. Lahane. He is a strike breaker.
If we want our control of congress, and hopefully the White House in a year and a month, to mean anything, then we have to impress upon the national Democratic party that solidarity means something.
Unregulated Competition Hurts Innovation and Consumers
This analysis comes from that bastion of Communist thought, the Financial Times. John Gapper compares Europe, where GSM was mandated by government, and the US, where anyone who rented the spectrum could use whatever standard they wanted, giving us providers with GSM and CDMA.
He quotes a 5 year old article from Wired:
Once the marketplace was allowed to work, it quickly converged to CDMA, which proved to be superior. CDMA is ascendant in America. More important, it’s the foundation for the next generation of cell phone technology – 3G – since it turned out to be the only technology capable of making the leap to fast and capacious wireless data transmission. Had the US government mandated a standard, by contrast, it would undoubtedly have picked TDMA or GSM, since those were the dominant technologies at the time. And then we wouldn’t have CDMA leading the way to 3G today.
Certainly, it is good to read such a deeply held faith in the marketplace leading to its own advancement.
Of course, it would help if it were not 180° wrong. As Mr. Gapper states:
I am afraid that history has not been kind to this argument. Europe has stayed ahead of the US in mobile telephony, and in 3G services. Having one technology standard has spurred competition among network operators and handset manufacturers while competition in the US has been stymied by a proliferation of technologies.
In truth, he is only partly right. US mobile technology deployment, and for that matter US broadband suck because this is what the unfettered free market leads to.
The Europeans mandated a single standard, and have prevented carriers from locking in customers. From a purely profit perspective, there is more money in making your customers captive than there is in providing them a superior and innovative product.
That’s why local phone carriers and cable companies spent their money on lobbying, and creating limited products that require you to purchase all or nothing. To quote Willie Sutton, it’s where the money is.
They are monopolists by necessity….There is only so much in the way of wire or cable you can place in a city, so the last mile is necessarily a monopoly or duopoly, and they spend their money on protecting this, not on benefiting the consumer.
Cox Also Shutting Down P2P Traffic
They are using the same method as Comcast, though they are more honest about it, as evidenced by this response from the company:
To ensure the best possible online experience for our customers, Cox actively manages network traffic through a variety of methods including traffic prioritization and protocol filtering. Cox does not prohibit the use of file-sharing services for uploads or downloads, or discriminate against any specific services in any way. To help our customers make the most out of their Internet experience, we take proactive measures to ensure that bandwidth intensive applications do not negatively impact their service. These network management practices are outlined in our subscriber agreement and Acceptable Use Policy.
Certainly, I can see how, during periods of high bandwidth, one might want to drop priority on bit-torrent or similar applications (full disclosure, I use bit-torrent), but this is basically blocking:
According to Topolski, Cox is in fact using traffic shaping to degrade p2p traffic. In analyzing a user log, he has concluded that Cox is using traffic shaping hardware to send forged TCP/IP packets with the RST (reset) flag set — with the goal of disrupting eDonkey traffic. He’s been unable to tell precisely what hardware Cox is using, but he notes that the technique being used is very similar to Comcast’s treatment of BitTorrent.
It raises two questions: what is it about cable companies that make them so inclined to bull this bull$#@!, and why are they going through a backdoor block, as opposed to simply lowering the priority of the packets on their own internal network.
Giuliani Has Been Fox’s Bitch for Over a Decade
And I’m not referring to the former President of Mexico. I am referring to Rupert Murdoch’s broadcast and cable empire.
It’s a story of payback to political friends, lawbreaking with the management of the New York cable system, and lucrative cable consulting gigs for Giuliani after he left office.
It’s why Fox is playing touch on his use of their debate footage, and that Fox has been so supportive of him, even when compared to other Republican candidates.
Report: FISA Bill Does Not Contain Telco Immunity
This is very good news, if true. Here is the report:
Here’s a bit more detail on what happened on the Judiciary Committee today. Sources say Senator Russ Feingold offered an amendment that would have stripped telecom immunity from the bill, but it was defeated. Then Senator Arlen Specter, the ranking GOPer on the committee, offered a “compromise” amendment saying that in these lawsuits the Federal government, and not the telecoms, would be the defendants.
But because of a procedural difficulty Specter’s amendment wasn’t voted on — and Senator Patrick Leahy, the chair of the committee, essentially went around Specter’s amendment and moved to have a vote to report the bill out of committee without any telecom immunity in it. That passed along strictly party lines. And that’s where we are.
The interesting thing is that this is a fight that Bush can’t win, if the Dems show some backbone.
If nothing passes, we are back to the old FISA bill. If he vetos over this, he has to explain why.
Attorney General Calls for Veto if no Telco Immunity
Pat Leahy has an ammendment stripping out the telco immunity from the FISA update. Michael Mukasey and DNI Michael McConnell, who believes that any discussion of intelligence will kill us all, have authored a letter to the Juciciary committee opposing the change:
“We strongly oppose the proposed substitute amendment. If the substitute is part of a bill that is presented to the president, we and the president’s other senior advisers will recommend that he veto the bill.
Who the hell cares if Bush vetos this bill?
If nothing gets passed, we go back to the old law, and the old restrictions, in a few months.
iPhone Goes Over With a Yawn in Europe
This comes as no surprise. Many of the features that are viewed as revolutionary in the US are considered fairly ordinary in Europe, where regulations, particularly those that apply to hardware openness, have created a more dynamic and innovative marketplace.
F.C.C. Looking to Re-Regulate Cable
The FCC has (finally) appeared to nitice that Cable is a natural monopoly, and had decided to enforce the so called 70/70 rule*, and it is proposing some new regulations:
- Prevent significant new a mergers and acquisition by the large cable players.
- Require A la carte channel sales.
- That would make it easier for independent programmers, which are often small operations, to lease access to cable channels.
- Set a cap on cable companies at 30% of the market.
It’s about bloody time.
*“The agency may adopt rules necessary to promote “diversity of information sources” once the commission concludes that cable television is available to at least 70 percent of American households, and at least 70 percent of those households actually subscribe to a cable service.”
AT&T/NSA Hoovered the Entire Bloody Internet
Mark Klein is an American hero.
For those of you who don’t know, Mark Klein is a retired technician at AT&T, and he was responsible for running wires to a splitter for the benefit of Room 641A of 611 Folsom Street, the secret room set up by the NSA at AT&T’s offices in San Francisco. He is Now lobbying congress not to grant retroactive immunity to the Telcos over the illegal NSA spying.
“That was my ‘aha!’ moment,” Klein said. “They’re sending the entire Internet to the secret room.”
The diagram showed splitters, glass prisms that split signals from each network into two identical copies. One fed into the secret room, the other proceeded to its destination, he said.
“This splitter was sweeping up everything, vacuum-cleaner-style,” he said. “The NSA is getting everything. These are major pipes that carry not just AT&T’s customers but everybody’s.”
The illegal wiretapping that most telcos did on behalf of the NSA was far more extensive than previously revealed.
This was not targeted at foreign calls routed through the US. Nor was it calls where one party was overseas. The NSA is actively collecting ALL THE DATA going through AT&T internet exchange point. Everything. Every email, every google query, every music download, every IP telephone call (and BTW, pretty much all long distance telephone calls at some point use TCP/IP these days.)
They took everything.
The telcos are claiming that they need immunity, because they were just being good citizens, and that they were not clear on the law.
There is one problem with argument, as Mr. Klein noted on Olbermann, THESE ENTITIES WROTE THE LAWS INVOLVED. They were heavily involved in drafting the laws at every step of the way.
They knowingly broke the laws, and they did because they saw the example of Qwest, where the government retaliated by denying and pulling contracts, and they chose to break the law because it was profitable.