analysis
Though limits affect only 1% now, high-def video will change that
ABC News Sep 2, 08 4:33 PM CDT
(Newser)
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With Comcast setting a limit on Internet usage beginning next month, the end of the Internet as we know it may be at hand, as ISPs move toward usage-based models like public utilities. Comcast, the second-largest US Internet provider, was careful to say that the bandwidth limit is so high—250 gigabytes per month—it won't affect 99% of customers. But "today's bandwidth hog is tomorrow's average user," one critic tells ABC.
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Opinion
Engineers, not politicians, should solve tech problems
Washington Post Jul 28, 08 3:21 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The latest crisis for the internet is the gridlock caused by bandwidth-clogging P2P software. But don’t worry, says FCC commissioner Robert McDowell. This has happened before. As far back as 1987, engineers have been solving the net’s bandwidth problems. It’s been a triumph of anti-regulation, and there’s no reason for the government to get involved now, he writes in the Washington Post.
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Promises new system for managing network, probably by end of year
New York Times Mar 28, 08 11:36 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Comcast is changing the way it manages Internet traffic after an intense public and FCC outcry over its blocking traffic from BitTorrent users. To cut use during peak hours, the Internet provider will stop targeting specific applications and instead slow its highest-bandwidth users’ traffic, reports the New York Times . Still, the FCC promised to continue scrutinizing the company.
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Prioritizing data
could be more
efficient, experts say
MIT Technology Review Mar 11, 08 12:20 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The principle of net neutrality can be taken too far, some experts say. The internet could be made much more efficient—and downloads faster—if network managers were allowed to use info about the content they're sending, a Princeton engineering professor tells Technology Review. That would allow them to prioritize what should be rushed and what can wait.
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Banning of VoIP, browser bundling echoes antitrust cases
CNET Mar 10, 08 4:19 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Apple’s iPhone software development kit is facing criticism from net neutrality and antitrust critics, Computerworld reports. Apple has indicated that voice-over-IP programs like Skype will not be allowed on the iPhone’s AT&T network, as its a direct competitor for AT&T’s voice service. Comcast, Computerworld points out, drew net neutrality concerns when it banned BitTorrent to prevent competition with its Cable TV business.
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Cable and ISP giant accused of hiring seatfillers to silence critics
Portfolio Feb 27, 08 6:00 AM CST
(Newser)
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The future direction of the Internet could be at stake in the FCC's decisions on net neutrality, but one of the ISPs concerned did its best to keep opponents out of a hearing on it, Portfolio.com reports. Advocacy group and fierce Comcast critic Free Press says the firm hired people off the street to fill seats at a Cambridge, Mass., hearing into the ISP's competition-stifling practices. Many of the seatfillers snoozed through the meeting.
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Agency says it will
step in to stop ISPs from blocking access
Wall Street Journal Feb 26, 08 12:30 PM CST
(Newser)
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FCC boss Kevin Martin told a hearing yesterday that the government was "ready, willing, and able to step in" to stop Internet service providers from restricting traffic sent by rivals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Comcast is accused of acting improperly by slowing or blocking access to file-sharing sites. The cable giant says it is merely managing its network.
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PC magazine examines positions on access, neutrality, privacy
PC World Feb 4, 08 12:36 PM CST
(Newser)
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We may know where they stand on Iraq, but what about technology? Among presidential candidates, the Democrats generally have discussed broadband access, Net neutrality, privacy/security, and innovation more than the Republicans, and both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have clear positions on all four. Among Republicans, John McCain and Ron Paul have addressed more issues than either Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee.
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Net neutrality's biggest boogeyman gets a test drive
Ars Technica Dec 11, 07 12:27 PM CST
(Newser)
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Imagine for a second that your Internet provider could alter any webpage you viewed – injecting advertisements, or even censoring information. That scary scenario is possible, Ars Technica says, and the technology is already being test-driven by Rogers, a Canadian cable giant. Right now, the messages are just service notifications, but the software, developed by a marketing firm, could display anything.
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Net neutrality advocates object to providers blocking messages
Washington Post Dec 11, 07 10:33 AM CST
(Newser)
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Consumer groups have banded together to lobby the FCC to prevent cellphone companies from blocking text messages, the Washington Post reports. The issue of carriers censoring messages from political groups and competing services has become the latest front in the net neutrality campaign. Consumers Union and other advocates are insisting that providers should deliver texts regardless of content.
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Tim Wu pioneered net neutrality, inspired new smartphone initiative
BusinessWeek Nov 8, 07 4:39 PM CST
(Newser)
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Google’s newly revealed Open Handset Alliance, which gives smartphone developers and consumers new freedom to match phones, carriers, and apps, found inspiration in the philosophy of cyberlaw trailblazer Tim Wu. The Columbia Law professor is on the vanguard of the net-neutrality conversation, arguing that Internet providers and wireless networks should act like neutral public utilities, barred from prioritizing or denying access, BusinessWeek reports.
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Consumer groups lodge complaint against Comcast file sharing interference
Associated Press Nov 1, 07 4:53 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Consumer groups and legal scholars filed a complaint with the FCC today asking the agency to fine Comcast for interfering with subscribers' file transfers. The case will be the first major indication of the FCC's actual stance on Net Neutrality. The petitions call on the FCC to fine Comcast $195,000 for every affect subscriber, the Associated Press reports.
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Ars Technica Oct 22, 07 11:03 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Cable and Internet service giant Comcast is disrupting more than just BitTorrent traffic, reports Ars Technica. Tests by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that Comcast customers using a growing list of apps may find their Net access slowed or denied. A Lotus Notes engineer, for example, discovered Notes emails sent with large attachments being dropped.
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Sees broadband providers' Luddite attitudes stifling growth, innovation
Silicon Valley Watcher Oct 22, 07 11:48 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Comcast’s recent disabling of big file uploads could lay waste to Silicon Valley’s media complex, says SiliconValleyWatcher’s Tom Foremski, injuring or killing Web 2.0 companies like YouTube or Facebook. Comcast's insistence that it isn’t contractually obligated to provide those companies’ services, he argues, is the kind of Luddite thinking that has long slowed technological progress in America.
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