Evidence-based policy making on broadband

Some very interesting reports out today:
1. General Accounting Office in the US casts grave doubt on all published industry-backed data on counterfeiting and online piracy - pointing out that [a] copying is not 1:1 substitutable for sales losses - its sampling as Liam Gallagher pointed out; [b] disposable income is finite - people copying would not otherwise dip into non-existent savings to buy products.
This of course also applies to the rubbish data that BIS used for the Digital Economy Bill. Ofcom, please note.
2. Hong Kong's City Telecom offers 1GB/s symmetrical service for $26US - that rather punctures Ivan Seidenberg of Verizon's calumny that the US is ahead in broadband.
3. Lyddington in Rutland got fed up with VDSL delays by BT Openretch and decided to install its own fibre to the cabinet - at £185 per household if all subscribe. Ofcom had to poke BT to provide backhaul. So this tiny village has 40Mb/s - and other places in North Yorkshire, such as Newton-on-Rawcliffe have wireless broadband via the fibre-to-the-school model.
Quote of the day - the mediaeval literature scholar turned telecoms strategy guru Olivia Garfield, BT Group Strategy Director, who is too young to remember BT's bullshit during both ISDN and ADSL roll-out, has responded to villages doing it for themselves by stating: "there is the risk of a local monopoly developing, which is never good for consumers."
Shame on her.