European telcos propose "constructive" non-neutral input to WCIT-12

Press Release Services - EurActiv.com: "Hamadoun Touré, ITU: “WCIT will be ITU’s second treaty making conference in 2012. A lot has changed since the ITRs were last revised. WCIT represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity, for all stakeholders to work together to extend the benefits of ICTs still further.” Luigi Gambardella Chairman ETNO [Euro-incumbent telcos]: “today's Internet business models are becoming unsustainable in the face of an exponential [ed: that's a lie] growth in data traffic. We need to address the current disconnect between sources of revenue and sources of costs and decide upon the most appropriate way to do so.”"
Ha! Which stakeholders is the ITU listening to? Consumers, do you think? 'via Blog this'

Sigh...US Net Neutrality Suit Players Agree to Briefing Schedule until 2013...

Net Neutrality Suit Players Agree to Briefing Schedule - 2012-04-23 19:37:45 | Broadcasting & Cable: "FCC's network neutrality rules will likely be debated through the end of the year in federal court filings. The parties to the Verizon/MetroPCS/Free Press challenges to FCC network neutrality rules, which have been consolidated into a single case, have agreed on and submitted to the court a schedule for briefs before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. If the court agrees, the first briefs will be filed July 2 and the final briefs not until Nov. 21." Election Day approaches...
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Text of the Costa Rican ruling declaring Internet as a fundamental right

Text of the Costa Rican ruling declaring Internet as a fundamental right | TechnoLlama: Andres has put together the key part of the decision in English, including "Constitutional Court concludes that the verified delay in opening the telecommunications market has not only violated the right enshrined in Article 41 of the Constitution, but also has affected the exercise and enjoyment of other fundamental rights such as freedom of choice of consumers as enshrined in Article 46, last paragraph, the constitutional right of access to new information technologies, the right to equality and the eradication of the digital divide (info-exclusion) -Article 33 of the Constitution- the right to access the internet through the interface that the user or consumer chooses, and free enterprise and trade"
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An example: Tesco Broadband Fair Usage & Traffic Management Policies

Tesco Broadband | Fair Usage & Traffic Management Policies: Interesting that they claim they will never throttle Skype or iPlayer: "Tesco constantly monitors the way in which our customers use our broadband services. In particular, at peak times, we will look for (and restrict) non-time-critical traffic, such as Bit Torrent, other peer to peer file sharing applications and online storage services. Currently, we do not restrict Bit Torrent and other similar intensive file-sharing activity between midnight and 6 pm."
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Berners-Lee: Don't let record labels upset web openness

Berners-Lee: Don't let record labels upset web openness: ""Record labels have a very strong voice when it comes to arguing for their particular business model, which is in fact out of date. The result is that laws have been created which make out as if the only problem on the internet is teenagers stealing music. The world is bigger than that. The internet is bigger than the music industry. The economic impact of the internet is bigger than the music industry."" Did he tell Neelie that it's bigger than telecoms too?
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Neelie Kroes: "What does it mean to be open online? It's complicated..."

EUROPA - Press Releases -  What does it mean to be open online? World Wide Web Conference 2012 Lyon, 19 April 2012: "I am committed to safeguarding net neutrality. Everyone should have the option of full access to a robust, best-efforts Internet. But, once again, openness here is a subtle term. For me it does not mean banning all targeted or limited offers: it means being transparent about them, and giving consumers a free and easy choice as to whether they want them; in the full confidence that full access is also easily available. Historically, people have tried to create isolated environments within the Internet. The fact is, they have often failed. Because, generally, consumers didn't find them as interesting, and weren't willing to use them. Look at the so-called "walled gardens" service providers set up in the nineties.For me, the important thing is that consumers can choose. And that in reality, such more closed environments must always compete with the enormous innovation of the unlimited Internet. In general, that's a hard competition to win: but, on a really open Internet, they are welcome to try."
In other words, she's still trying to wriggle out of her mandate in the 2009 Directives.
'via Blog this'

Dutch net neutrality rules seen taking effect in 2013-14

Dutch net neutrality rules seen taking effect in 2013-14 - Telecompaper: "the rules on net neutrality and continuous service are expected to start at a later date, likely 01 Janaury 2013. The net neutrality rules will only apply to contracts agreed after this date, while contracts agreed prior to that date will have until 2014 to implement the changes. During the transition period, telecoms regulator Opta will develop a system for testing and enforcement of the new rules." 'via Blog this'

TeleFrieden: Intranets and the Cloud: The Lack of Functional Difference Between Comcast’s Xbox and Regular Broadband Traffic

TeleFrieden: Intranets and the Cloud: The Lack of Functional Difference Between Comcast’s Xbox and Regular Broadband Traffic: "Nondisclosure agreements block any transparency in understanding how carriers route traffic, but I cannot believe Comcast would give up the opportunity to continue charging Level 3 a surcharge for Netflix traffic and would gladly free Level 3 and other carriers of the long haul carriage burden."
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Parliament Communications Committee: Superfast (sic) broadband evidence

My evidence is at pp.223-235 - followed immediately by a stunningly ironic comment by Microsoft! "The Internet’s positive long term impact to the economy cannot be overstated. In 2009, Internet contributed an estimated £100 billion, or 7.2% to the UK GDP." Overstated....
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Virgin Media tightens throttle on hardcore hogs - 'unlimited' huh?

Virgin Media tightens throttle on hardcore hogs • The Register: "Virgin Media's spokesman added that it was being "very generous" with the amount of bandwidth it was allowing heavy users to access before applying throttling to those customers. He also told us that the company was working on ways of making the current technology it uses to slow down speeds on individual broadband connections more "intelligent".
"We're conscious of the fact that the system might capture someone who has peaked only once," he told El Reg. It appears the tech itself will need to undergo more refinement. Indeed, the telco has told users: "We'll be trialling a variety of different approaches to traffic management over the coming months to make the system more intelligent and flexible, while ensuring the optimal quality of service. We'll publish more information on this as soon as it's available."
Virgin Media runs two different types of traffic management: the aforementioned STM and protocol shaping, which affects all tiers of subscribers during peak hours.Meanwhile, complaints about over-utilisation have begun to pile up on Virgin Media's customer forums."
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Who wants a poor man's NBN?

Who wants a poor man's NBN? | Robert Gottliebsen | Commentary | Business Spectator: "Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull have rightly questioned the cost. They are proposing what they believe to be a lower cost alternative – what the ALP will say is a "poor man’s" NBN. The horror expressed by the Liberals in Victoria when they discovered that large areas of Melbourne would not get the real NBN because they missed out on the first rollout stage shows just how important the NBN is for capital cities. Abbott and Turnbull will have a lot of selling to do."

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