tagged w/ Network Neutrality
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If you're reading this post, chances are that you're pretty familiar with the concept of net neutrality and understand what's at stake in the debate surrounding the FCC's proposed rules. But what about your parents, grandparents, friends and significant others? If you know someone who could use a quick primer on net neutrality, send them a link to this five minute video. Directed by PK board member Jesse Dylan and featuring PK president Gigi Sohn alongside a sampling of the usual suspects (Professors Lawrence Lessig and Ed Felton, members of the band Ok Go, Free Press' Ben Scott, etc.), the video explains what net neutrality is and why it's critical that we preserve the free and open nature of the Internet. Help us protect free speech, innovation and economic opportunity--help spread the word by forwarding this video along to friends and family.If you're reading this post, chances are that you're pretty familiar with the concept... more
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Federal regulators took an important step Thursday toward prohibiting broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against certain kinds of Internet traffic.
Despite the concerns of telecommunications companies and the agency's two Republicans, the Federal Communications Commission voted to begin writing so-called "network neutrality" regulations. Proponents say the rules would prevent phone and cable companies from abusing their control over the market for broadband access.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said regulations are needed to ensure that broadband subscribers can access all legal Web sites and services, including Internet calling applications and video sites that compete with the broadband companies' core businesses.
"Internet users should always have the final say about their online service, whether it's the software, applications or services they choose, or the networks and hardware they use to the connect to the Internet," Genachowski said.
The FCC's two other Democrats voted to support his plan. The agency's two Republican commissioners voted merely to start the formal rule-making process, but said they are opposed to the substance of Genachowski's proposal.
Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell said he remains unconvinced that broadband providers are engaging in widespread anticompetitive behavior that requires government intervention.
"I do not share the majority's view that the Internet is showing breaks and cracks, nor do I believe that the government is the best tool to fix it," he said.
In addition, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation --The Internet Freedom Act of 2009--that would block the FCC from enacting net neutrality rules.
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"This government takeover of the Internet will stifle innovation, in turn slowing our economic turnaround and further depressing an already anemic job market. Outside of health care, the technology industry is the nation's fastest growing job market," a press release from McCain's office said, according to The Hill (http://thehill.com/hillicon-valley/605-technology/64325-mccain-seeks-to-block-fcc-rules).
Next up for the FCC is to actually craft the rules, with a vote on whether to adopt them expected to come by next summer.
That would culminate a five-year debate in Washington that has pitted Internet companies such as Google Inc. against some of the biggest phone and cable companies - including AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp.
The broadband providers insist they need flexibility, free from government intervention, to keep their networks running smoothly. They want to ensure that high-bandwidth applications such as YouTube videos don't hog too much capacity and impede other traffic, like e-mail and online searches. They also say that net neutrality regulations would discourage them from expanding and upgrading their networks.
"We continue to hope that any rules adopted by the commission will not harm the investment and innovation that has made the Internet what it is today and that will make it even greater tomorrow," Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen said in a statement.
But companies such as Google, Amazon.com Inc., eBay Inc.'s Skype and Facebook Inc. argue that without such rules, the broadband companies will become online gatekeepers that can prioritize their own online services or those of their business partners - and potentially put others at a disadvantage.
Markham Erickson, executive director of the Open Internet Coalition, called Thursday's vote "the first step toward ... creating a framework that promotes innovation and consumer choice on the Internet."
The Open Internet Coalition represents public interest groups and big Internet companies, including Google, Amazon and eBay (http://www.openinternetcoalition.com/).Federal regulators took an important step Thursday toward prohibiting broadband... more
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The first International Open Access Week is scheduled to take place October 19-23; it is an opportunity to broaden awareness and understanding of Open Access to research.
This includes access policies from all types of research funders, within the international higher education community and the general public.
So, what exactly is Open Access?
(continue...)The first International Open Access Week is scheduled to take place October 19-23; it... more
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Herdict is a tool that seeks to provide insight into what users around the world are experiencing in terms of web accessibility.
By crowdsourcing data from individuals around the world, it allows you to see what is inaccessible, where and for how long.
People can participate by reporting websites that they cannot access, testing sites that others have reported, or downloading the browser add-on for reporting sites on the fly.
(continue...)Herdict is a tool that seeks to provide insight into what users around the world are... more
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This video that explains why discrimination on the Internet is a problem and will continue to be as long as net neutrality rules are not enforced.This video that explains why discrimination on the Internet is a problem and will... more
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Comcast will begin testing what the cable concern has described as a "protocol agnostic" approach to managing bandwidth traffic during high-peak periods, Comcast said Tuesday.
Selected customers in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and Warrenton, Virginia, are expected to receive e-mails on Wednesday highlighting the program. The 30-day tests are expected to begin Thursday.
"Unless you are an extremely heavy user of internet resources (which is not likely) you will not notice any change to your internet experience during this test," Mitch Bowling, general manager of Comcast online services says in the e-mail. "At the busiest times of the day on our network (which could occur at any time), those very few disproportionately heavy users, who are doing things like conducting numerous or continuous large file transfers, may experience slightly longer response times for some online activities, until the period of network congestion ends."
The move is designed to set aside complaints that the Philadelphia-based company has been throttling BitTorrent data and other peer-to-peer traffic to manage congestion. Comcast's practices have been the subject of hearings before the Federal Communications Commission, which is set to announce new rules concerning the concept of net neutrality.
Comcast announced in March it was switching to a new network management technique by the end of the year for managing bandwidth use and congestion. The company said it was partnering with BitTorrent Inc. of San Francisco, to develop a neutral traffic-management protocol.
Given that peer-to-peer users are the biggest users of bandwidth, it remains to be seen who in practice the new tests would disrupt during congestion periods. For now, rules by the FCC give ISPs broad authority to manage traffic flows, although that might soon change.
Comcast's testing follows the announcement by rival Time Warner Cable, which is to begin tests with customers on Thursday with metered access to bandwidth under a plan in which bigger users would pay more. Comcast has also publicly endorsed a metering plan, but has not roled out one.
Comcast has come under the ire of many digital rights groups for its network management practices. And last week, hackers took out their revenge against Comcast and redirected the Comcast.net homepage for several hours. The FBI is probing the incident. No arrests have been made.Comcast will begin testing what the cable concern has described as a "protocol... more
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NEW YORK (AP) — You're used to paying extra if you use up your cell phone minutes, but will you be willing to pay extra if your home computer goes over its Internet allowance?
Time Warner Cable Inc. customers — and, later, others — may have to, if the company's test of metered Internet access is successful.
On Thursday, new Time Warner Cable Internet subscribers in Beaumont, Texas, will have monthly allowances for the amount of data they upload and download. Those who go over will be charged $1 per gigabyte, a Time Warner Cable executive told the Associated Press.
Metered billing is an attempt to deal fairly with Internet usage, which is very uneven among Time Warner Cable's subscribers, said Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable's executive vice president of advanced technology.
Just 5 percent of the company's subscribers take up half of the capacity on local cable lines, Leddy said. Other cable Internet service providers report a similar distribution.
"We think it's the fairest way to finance the needed investment in the infrastructure," Leddy said.NEW YORK (AP) — You're used to paying extra if you use up your cell phone minutes,... more
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SavetheInternet.com Coalition is more than a million people who have banded together with thousands of non-profit organizations, businesses and bloggers to protect Internet freedom.
The Coalition believes that the Internet is a crucial engine for economic growth and free speech. They are working together to urge Congress to preserve Network Neutrality, the First Amendment of the Internet, which ensures that the Internet remains open to new ideas, innovation and progress.
SavetheInternet.com Coalition is more than a million people who have banded together... more
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In a new proposal broadband providers could be forced to ban people from the internet if they are caught downloading pirated files. It is being reported that a "three strikes" scheme could be implemented, which would see users being sent a warning email when they are first suspected of downloading illegal content, then a suspension for the second offence, and finally a ban for a third offence. Broadband suppliers who do not comply with the new legislation could be prosecuted and their users identities handed over to the courts.
The proposed legislation opens up many questions about how this is all to be monitored, what if someone accesses your wifi illegally and who will monitor internet usage to catch the illegal downloaders? These are points which have been debated for the last two years, but as yet there is no specific answer. A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association said it remained hopeful that agreement over a voluntary agreement could be reached:
“Every right-thinking body knows that self-regulation is much the better option in these areas.”In a new proposal broadband providers could be forced to ban people from the internet... more
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Most people in developed nations recognize the "digital divide" separating people with access to the Internet and its wealth of information from those who have few resources. We want a world of "digital inclusion." How can we allow more people access to the Internet? What are the infrastructure barriers? What are the cost barriers? What about people in developing countries, rural areas, islands? And what about the threat of economic barriers that could impede access to parts or all of the Internet? This video about the issues surrounding digital inclusion features interviews shot at the 2007 Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Rio IGF was the second of five annual global events that attract stakeholders from all walks of life who gathered to discuss issues tied to the future of information and communications technologies.
This documentary was produced for Imagining the Internet http://imaginingtheinternet.org , an online resource exposing future possibilities while simultaneously providing a peek back at the past. In it, you will find the words of thousands of people from every corner of the world, from today and from yesterday, making thousands of predictive pronouncements about the future of humankind.
The multimedia section of the site includes short films and dozens of video interviews - all of them about the hopes and fears for the future of networked communications. Imagining the Internet is a project based at Elon University.
Most people in developed nations recognize the "digital divide" separating people with... more
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