The Agonist - Net Neutrality Forum, Net Neutrality, Net Neutrality Diary

Uncle John McCain is at it again

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:57:44 -0700

The old duffer that just keeps coming back for more, John Mccain, is ba-a-a-ack. And this time he's funded by his new darlings, cable and telco companies, who have apparently loaded him up with funding to go smack down that pesky FCC and its net neutrality rules.

From Reuters (in a reprint from a PC World piece byMark Sullivan):
Surprise: McCain Biggest Beneficiary of Telco/ISP Money
http://tinyurl.com/yjmh5bd

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is the top recipient of campaign contributions from large Internet service providers like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast over the past two years, according to a new report from the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics. McCain has taken in a total of $894,379 (much of that money going to support his failed 2008 bid for the presidency), more than twice the amount taken by the next-largest beneficiary, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. ($341,089).
Meanwhile, McCain has emerged as the ISPs' biggest champion against new "network neutrality" rules from the Federal Communications Commission, which voted Thursday to move forward in the process to adopt such rules. Shortly after the FCC vote, McCain introduced a bill (the "Internet Freedom Act") that would block regulation of the nation's largest broadband networks.

The name of the bill is, of course, classic McCain/GOP doublespeak, as a second PC World article makes clear:

From a PC World piece by Tony Bradley, reprinted by Reuters:
McCain Moves to Block FCC Net Neutrality
http://tinyurl.com/yzouz6n

McCain's bill, the Internet Freedom Act, seeks to do the opposite of what its name implies by ensuring that broadband and wireless providers can discriminate and throttle certain traffic while giving preferential treatment to other traffic.

Bradley then goes on to make the important, if salient, point:

According to the text of the McCain bill, the FCC "shall not propose, promulgate, or issue any regulations regarding the Internet or IP-enabled services." Isn't that what the FCC does? Isn't that sort of like introducing a bill to prohibit the Treasury from printing money, or a bill to prohibit the IRS from collecting taxes?

Sounds like Comcast, ATT et al promised him the world, and in classic politician style, McCain drafts up a wish list for them to submit to Congress. Basically, they wish the FCC and all the net neutrality bloggers would just go away.

Well, we're not going away. And I think by now the public pretty much as recognized John McCain for what he is: a politican who holds out his finger (usually the middle one) to test which way the political winds are blowing, and try to suck some cash and publicity for himself out of it.

We have to smack him down yet again, initiate another round of write your congress people (thanks in part to net neutrality, this is very easy to do nowadays) and tell your reps which side of the issue is the right one to be on to get your vote.

The Newest Threat To Net Neutrality: The Blue Dogs

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:57:24 -0700

Not intent on watering down health care reform the Blue Dogs are now going after one of the few things Obama has been very prgoressive about: net neutrality.

FCC To Introduce Net Neutrality Rule

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:08:17 -0700

Cecilia Kang | Washington | September 18

WaPo (Post I.T. Blog) - Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, plans to propose a new so-called net neutrality rule Monday that could prevent telecommunications, cable and wireless companies from blocking Internet applications, according to sources at the agency.

Genachowski will discuss the rules Monday during a keynote speech at The Brookings Institute. He isn't expected to drill into many details, but the proposal will specifically be for an additional guideline to existing principals [sic] on how operators like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast can control what goes on their networks. That additional principal [sic] would prevent the operators from discriminating, or act [sic] as gatekeepers, of Web content and services.

The principals [sic] in place today have been criticized by applications developers like Google and public interest groups for not going far enough to clarify what is defined as discriminatory behavior. Comcast is fighting in a federal court, [sic] a FCC ruling that it violated the principals [sic] by blocking a video application last year. AT&T and Verizon have said existing are sufficient [sic], and said they wouldn't fight against an additional principal [sic] on discrimination but that more regulation is unnecessary.

That proposal will be a review across all communications platforms, including wireless networks, which have come under scrutiny for allegations of blocking competing voice services offered by carriers.

Also: Net Neutrality Gets Boost From Key Congressman

Washington Post,By Cecilia Kang, September 17

Efforts to prevent network operators from blocking or slowing Internet traffic got a boost Thursday morning from Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, who said he would co-sign a bill that would codify net neutrality.

During a subcommitee oversight hearing on the Federal Communications Commission, Waxman said:

"Industry will benefit from clarity, consistency, and predictability with regard to Net neutrality," Waxman said at the hearing. "I think that the time is right to formally establish, through legislation if required, the rules of the road with respect to Net neutrality."

Waxman said he would sign onto a bill cosponsored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) that would prevent telecom and cable operators from blocking, slowing or charging more for certain traffic to run on their networks.

Why The FCC Wants To Smash Open The iPhone

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:50:21 -0700

Erick Schonfeld | Washington | August 1

WaPo - Right about now, Apple probably wishes it had never rejected Google Voice and related apps from the iPhone. Or maybe it was AT&T who rejected the apps. Nobody really knows. But the FCC launched an investigation last night to find out, sending letters to all three companies (Apple, AT&T, and Google) asking them to explain exactly what happened.

On its face, it might seem odd to some people that the FCC is investigating the rejection of a single iPhone app. After all, iPhone apps are rejected every day. But the Google Voice rejection caused an unusual amount of uproar, and there is nothing like a high-profile case to make an example out of in pursuit of pushing a bigger policy agenda. The FCC investigation is not just about the arbitrary rejection of a single app. It is the FCC's way of putting a stake in the ground for making the wireless networks controlled by cell phone carriers as open as the Internet.

Today there are two different sets of rules for applications and devices on the Internet. On the wired Internet, we can connect any type of PC or other computing device and use any applications we want on those devices. On the wireless Internet controlled by cellular carriers like AT&T, we can only use the phones they allow on their networks and can only use the applications they approve. This was fine when the wireless networks were used mostly just for voice calls. But now that they are increasingly becoming our mobile connections to the Internet and mobile phones are becoming full-fledged mobile computers, an argument has been growing that the same rules of open access that rule the wired Internet should apply to the wireless Internet.

Whlle Apple and AT&T are cannot be too happy about the FCC investigation, Google must secretly be pleased as punch. It was only two years ago, prior to the 700MHz wireless spectrum auctions, that it was pleading with the FCC to adopt principles guaranteeing open access for applications, devices, services, and other networks. Now two years later, in a different context and under a different administration, the FCC is pushing for the same principles.

Today, AT&T Officially Began Censoring the Internet.

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:24:00 -0700

AT&T blocks access to 4chan, then restores it

The Net Neutrality war has begun

Today, another unfortunate sighting took place on the open subject of Net Neutrality. A now rather infamous telecommunications provider in the United States has taken its first slash in a battle that will wage on for months against consumer democracy and against and the digital natives of Generation Y until the FCC can intercede. Grab your coats Americans, and get ready for war. Today is the day that AT&T officially began censoring the internet.

In a rather vicarious attempt to fire a first shot in the Net Neutrality war, the Telco provider blocked rights to view certain sections of the highly popular imageboard 4chan.org throughout the night. In particular, the /r9k/ and the infamous /b/ sections were inaccessible and the site’s owner has confirmed that AT&T was in fact filtering access for many of its subscribed customers. Several social news blogs and websites have been circulating the information for several hours while many users nationwide are confirming that the site had indeed been blocked in a number of geographic US locations.

Recently as of 8am EST, AT&T has restored access to the site and has confirmed that the censorship issued was “following the practices of their policy department.” In particular, AT&T contacted the owners of 4chan and requested that specific undisclosed changes be made, of which 4chan’s owners have failed to comply. Meanwhile, several concerned activists have contacted AT&T support and have received very general statements regarding the status of the situation, including a few unique responses.

The global internets are already swirling in a storm of exasperated rage and fury at the company’s past statements regarding Net Neutrality and it’s current decision to blacklist 4chan for the time being. At this point, all we can say is that the newly appointed FCC Chairman Genachowski had better be diligently prepared to lead the internet generation of 2010 and beyond if the National Broadband Plan receives enough public interest.

Source

This is great news for internet freedom

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:44:52 -0700

This is great news for internet freedom.

France's highest court has inflicted an embarrassing blow to President Sarkozy by cutting the heart out of a law that was supposed to put France in the forefront of the fight against piracy on the internet.

The Constitutional Council declared access to the internet to be a basic human right, directly opposing the key points of Mr Sarkozy's law, passed in April, which created the first internet police agency in the democratic world.

The strongly-worded decision means that Mr Sarkozy's scheme has backfired and inadvertently boosted those who defend the free-for-all culture of the web.

h/t Primalfire

Adios Net Neutrality?

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:08:31 -0800

With a new President in favor of network neutrality, the presumptive FCC chair in favor of network neutrality, with every new Democratic member of the Senate in favor network neutrality, with the new chair of the relevant senate subcommittee in favor of network neutrality, with Henry Waxman chairing the Energy and Commerce committee in the House and with the chair of the relevant House subcommittee, Rick Boucher, fighting hard for network neutrality in the past, everything seemed to be in place to pass network neutrality legislation this year. But now, shockingly, Boucher has decided to delay net neutrality legislation, opting instead for more talks and even a possible non-legislative solution.

Bowers at Open Left

Google, Partners Release Net Neutrality Tools

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:05:18 -0800

Grant Goss | January 28

IDG - Google and a group of partners have released a set of tools designed to help broadband customers and researchers measure performance of Internet connections.

The set of tools, at MeasurementLab.net, includes a network diagnostic tool, a network path diagnostic tool and a tool to measure whether the user's broadband provider is slowing BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P-to-P) traffic. Coming soon to the M-Lab applications is a tool to determine whether a broadband provider is giving some traffic a lower priority than other traffic, and a tool to determine whether a provider is degrading certain users or applications.

"Transparency is our goal," said Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google and a co-developer of TCP/IP. "Our intent is to make more [information] visible for all who are interested in the way the network is functioning at all layers."

The tools will not only allow broadband customers to test their Internet connections, but also allow security and other researchers to work on ways to improve the Internet, Cerf said. Current Internet performance tools "are geeky to the extreme," he said during a Washington, D.C., forum on the M-Lab tools. ...

$6 Billion for broadband & wireless in stimulus package, along with net neutrality requirements

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:35:53 -0800

$6 Billion for broadband and wireless is in the stimulus package passed by the House; along with net neutrality requirements "to ensure nondiscrimination between network owners, content providers and consumers.”

A Democratic agenda is that Obama and Congress are to legislate net neutrality, and a copyright rewrite in '09; meanwhile, Republicans and telcom giants accuse Democrats of "sneaking" net neutrality rules into the stimulus package.

Vinton Gray "Vint" Cerf on the internet

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:34:05 -0700

Meet Vint Cerf, the 'father of the internet', and find out what he thinks about net neutrality, spam and how we deal with use and abuse of the web.

Internet Usage Is Exploding, But So Is Capacity

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:20:54 -0700

W. David Gardner | September 4

Information Week - The sky isn't falling and the Internet isn't running out of capacity either.

In a report that should placate the Chicken Littles who believe the Internet is heading for a monstrous traffic jam, Internet monitor TeleGeography Research said international Internet traffic grew more than 53%, but Internet capacity grew even faster.

In a report released Wednesday, TeleGeography said Internet traffic grew 53% between mid-2007 and mid-2008, a drop from 61% in the preceding year. Internet capacity, however, grew faster than the total Internet traffic, which resulted in lower utilization levels on many Internet backbones.

"Broadband subscriber growth has been slowing since 2001, but the volume of traffic generated by each user [has] grown," Alan Mauldin, the market research firm's director of research, said in a statement. "Traffic growth is fueled by consumer demand for video, delivered via Web browsers, peer-to-peer services, or streaming protocols."

Traffic in the mature U.S. market rose a modest 47%, but in the new market between the United States and Latin America, traffic growth took off, surging 112% for the period.

The TeleGeography findings could be meaningful input in the ongoing debate involving U.S. service providers and consumers concerning the imposition of downloading restrictions on heavy users. Some service providers maintain they will have to impose limits on some users who use too much Internet capacity.

more at the source

Comcast Busted By FCC... YaY !

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:54:25 -0700

Aug. 1 2008

Save The Internet - the Federal Communications Commission voted to punish Comcast for violating Net Neutrality and blocking your right to do what you want on the Internet.
This win is yours. Defying every ounce of conventional wisdom in Washington, activists, bloggers, consumer advocates and everyday people have taken on a major corporation and won.
Today's vote at the FCC is also a precedent-setting victory that sends a powerful message to phone and cable companies that blocking access to the Internet will not be tolerated from this time forward.

AP Files 7 DMCA Takedowns Against Drudge Retort

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:41:51 -0700

Rogers Cadenhead

Apparently AP's legal knickers are in a serious knot over Drudge Retort users links to its stories, contending that copyright is being violated.

Duplicate post, please comment here.

U.S. eyes free Internet as part of airwaves auction

Thu, 29 May 2008 23:45:22 -0700

Peter Kaplan | Washington | May 29

Reuters - U.S. communications regulators are considering auctioning a piece of the airwaves to buyers willing to provide free broadband Internet service without pornography.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is proposing to auction an unused piece of 25-MHz wireless spectrum, with the condition the winning bidder offer free Wi-Fi access and filter out obscene content on part of those airwaves, a spokesman for the FCC said Thursday (May 29).

Under Martin's proposal, the winner would be allowed to use the rest of the airwaves for commercial services.

The plan would address criticism from some consumer advocates, who say the the government has not done enough to get broadband service into more U.S. households. It also could win praise from anti-obscenity watchdog groups.

"I think there are a number of features of the plan that would be attractive to various constituencies," said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin.

But the plan got a lukewarm response from existing wireless carriers. The industry's chief trade group, called CTIA, said auction provisions such as the free-service requirement were too rigid.

"CTIA supports flexible auction rules that allow any and all entities to participate," the group said in a statement.

The winning bidder also would have to build out the system to serve 50 percent of the U.S. population within four years and 95 percent within 10 years.

Further details of the plan have yet to be worked out, but Martin's plan is expected to come up at the FCC's next meeting on June 12.

Martin's proposal is similar to a plan put forth previously by a start-up company called M2Z Networks. Under that plan, which was not approved by the FCC, M2Z would have been given the spectrum at no up-front cost. It would have provided free service, generating revenue partly through advertising.

The 25 MHz spectrum at issue is not viewed as highly attractive to wireless carriers, unlike the 700 MHz spectrum auctioned by the FCC earlier this year. There has been little previous interest in it, aside from the M2Z proposal.

...so who decides what "pornography" is? - P.

The main reason net neutrality is under attack

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:00:35 -0700

The main reason "Net Neutrality" is under attack is because of the rising case of identity theft. This problem is caused by dim-witted individuals, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, using their credit cards to buy bogus products on illedgtimit websites. Because of these shit for brains, dumbasses our freedom to use the internet, which is possibly our last form of freedom in a so-called democratic world, is now at the mercy of men who think with their wallets. Now if you want to help, here's what you do:
Step 1: Ask around and try to find a person who is a victim of I.D Theft.
Step 2: Invite them into your house for a cup of tea and a few biscuits.
Step 3: When they're not expecting it START KNOCKING THE SHIT OUT THEM FOR BEING A COMPLETE DUMBASS FOR DESTROYING OUR FREEDOM.

I would like to thank you for the time you spent in reading this article.

Séamie Q :{

One pissed off fan of the internet.