The SDN Impact on Net Neutrality

The SDN Impact on Net Neutrality: "It will be interesting to see how the FCC manages to keep a watchful eye, while constantly being challenged by the carriers as not having any authority. I for one am not optimistic that the FCC has the will or leadership to accomplish that. The irony is, that the U.S. House of Representatives voted 397-0 in opposition to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations takeover of Internet regulations seeking similar tollbooth tactics. Yet a year ago, the Republican backed bill, to overturn net neutrality that went before the Senate in 2011 barely survived in a 46 to 52 split on party lines. The net neutrality issue is beginning to resurface in 2013, just months after the 2012 court ruling." 'via Blog this'

Regulating Code: Book UK release date confirmed: 22 March!

Regulating Code: Book UK release date confirmed: 22 March!: Regulating Code: Good Governance and Better Regulation in the Information Age Information Revolution and Global Politics Series: Amazon.co.u...

Internet access declared a basic right in Germany

essextelecoms: Internet access declared a basic right in Germany: Internet access declared a basic right in Germany | Sci-Tech | DW.DE | 27.01.2013 : "Germany's Pirate Party, which supports freedom of infor...

Regulating Code: Fraley v. Facebook, Inc. - $20m settlement

Regulating Code: Fraley v. Facebook, Inc. - $20m settlement for pri...: Fraley v. Facebook, Inc. :  Fraley, et al. v. Facebook, Inc., et al. , Case No. CV-11-01726 RS "Facebook has agreed to: [1] Pay $20 million...

Ofcom workplan - net neutrality to be addressed in November 2013 infrastructure report

Five mentions of net neutrality in the workplan draft - with a response to the EC Communication whenever that happens (expect agreement with Neelie's see-no-evil approach), and something in the wider infrastructure report, plus a general commitment to helping government policy formation as required, for a government so full of broadband BS that it yesterday claimed an unjustified £33,000,000,000 train track due for only partial completion in 2026 would provide fibre optic benefits...'via Blog this'
P.S. Ofcom has published one speech in 9 months on its website - working under the radar....

Why Orange's Dominance in Africa Forced Google To Pay For French Mobile Traffic

Why Orange's Dominance in Africa Forced Google To Pay For Traffic Over The Mobile Network - Forbes: "Orange have implied their strong market position in Africa provided them sufficient leverage in the discussions with Google. The African market is currently making the switch from feature phones with limited data access, to low-cost smartphones that provide far greater access to the internet and web services. Low-cost smartphones that are predominantly powered by Android. Google wants the emerging market to be running their OS so they can effectively monetize the continent. What they don’t want is another platform becoming established, such as Nokia’s low-cost Windows Phones or the upcoming Blackberry 10 devices. The carriers are the gateway to subsidized devices, and that puts them in a strong bargaining position." Geopolitical reality people...the dash for African mobile Internet 'via Blog this'

UK government minister entirely insults intelligence of all Internet users

By claiming that £37billion 100-mile train route can help spread broadband - his name is Simon Burns and it's the most disingenuous comment about the Internet infrastructure ever. But it allowed this great comment on the story:

"Er.. yeah, the internet is already taking up far too much space on this crowded island, everywhere you seem to look these days the view is blighted by an enormous and unsightly internet.

"The internet already covers an area of the UK equivalent to the size of Wales (although not in Wales, obviously).

"If a separate internet connection went all the way from London to Manchester it would virtually divide the country in two, think of the extra journey times for people travelling from Bristol to Leicester having to go around it and the extra traffic it would add to the M25.

"It's so refreshing that government ministers are ready to do something about it by covering the whole unsightly intrusive mess in a nice expensive high speed rail track. I'm considering something similar with my son's Hornby set and the mess of cables behind my PC." Brilliant!

Net neutrality? Let the market decide, says Europe's digital chief

Net neutrality? Let the market decide, says Europe's digital chief | ZDNet: ""On net neutrality, consumers need effective choice on the type of internet subscription they sign up to. That means real clarity, in non-technical language," Kroes said in the Libération article. The European Commissioner's current stance appears to differ from her previous opposition to tiered access, which she expressed prior to taking over responsibility for Europe's digital agenda. In early 2010, she said ISPs "shouldn't be allowed to limit the access to service or content out of commercial motivation, but only in cases of security issues and spamming". However, more recently she has spoken out against such regulation."
Of course in 2010, Parliament actually took seriously the concessions it forced from the Council/EC in 2009...'via Blog this'

Open Internet Advisory Committee: 17 January Stanford Law School

Open Internet Advisory Committee | Stanford Law School: "At its January 17, 2013 meeting, the Committee will consider issues relating to the subject areas of its four working groups—Mobile Broadband, Economic Impacts of Open Internet Frameworks, Specialized Services, and Transparency—as well as other open Internet related issues. A limited amount of time will be available on the agenda for comments from the public. Alternatively, members of the public may send written comments to Tejas Narechania, Designated Federal Officer of the Committee, or Deborah Broderson, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, at the addresses provided below." 'via Blog this'

Hackers and prosecution: who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?

The recent tragic suicide of the evidently brilliant Aaron Swartz, who was being vigorously prosecuted for the 'felony' (sic) of downloading JSTOR academic articles (distributed acceptance of service?) reminds me of Mystic Mogg's editorial condemning the 1967 trial of several Rolling Stones for marijuana possession for personal use. It is equally preposterous to prosecute for sharing freely available knowledge as it is for possessing herbal relaxants.
Nevertheless, we should accept that the US government under Tricky Dicky and his successors ludicrously continues to imprison vast numbers of young (mostly black) men for such a crime. Hackers should not expect any different - politicians are like that, they love property and will do anything to protect it - and their sponsors. Perhaps legislators and litigators should be made to read 'Coding Freedom' this week, to reflect upon their actions.
Relevance to net neutrality? Regulators tell me often that it's just a ruse to protect illegal downloading without limit...yes, they would break that butterfly - with or without MIT complaisance.

Ad Blocking Raises Alarm Among Firms Like Google

Ad Blocking Raises Alarm Among Firms Like Google - NYTimes.com: "“The pipelines between Google and us are full at certain hours, and no one wants to take responsibility for adding capacity,” he said during an interview last year with the newsmagazine Nouvel Observateur. “It’s a classic problem that happens everywhere, but especially with Google.”
Analysts said that French regulators would probably not oppose an agreement between Free and Google aimed at smoothing traffic flows and improving the quality of the service, as long as competitors were not disadvantaged. But they said regulators would probably not allow an Internet access provider to unilaterally block content." 'via Blog this'

France Telecom, Free to Google YouTube: You're Blocked Unless you Pay

France Telecom, Free to Google YouTube: You're Blocked Unless you Pay: DSL Prime's Dave Burstein "Free’s customers are the hardest hit, presumably because they are growing the fastest. Xavier Niel confirms the problems "pipes between Google and [us] are full at certain times, and each pushes the responsibility to add pipes. This is a classic problem [that] happens everywhere, but more often with Google." If Google continues to refuse to pay, the problem will get much worse as traffic grows... I believe Free’s network is neither tired nor slow, but appears that way because of the artificial problem at the connection edge. Google is counting on public protest to force them to stand down. ARCEP, the regulator, and several legislators are jumping in. Free is adding the most customers and hence has higher traffic growth and the most problems."
Penalizing growth, exactly as the incumbent likes it! 'via Blog this'

French telcos degrade Youtube to extort cash from Google

TelecomTV | News | Stand and deliver: French telcos degrade Youtube to extort cash from Google: "What we do know is that Youtube users in France have been experiencing mounting difficulty getting their video to run reliably on all networks at different times of the day and in different locations, especially across Iliad/Free. According to Dave Burstein of DSL Prime, all the signs point towards an impending clash of the titans and a catastrophic stand-off between the French telcos and Google (and presumably some other US content players) where the users, who already pay their ISPs plenty to access Youtube, become the big losers as a game of corporate chicken is played out with each side hoping the users will blame the other for the impasse."
Slovenia one way, Frnce the other? 'via Blog this'

Slovenia reinforces net neutrality principles « radiobruxelleslibera

Slovenia reinforces net neutrality principles « radiobruxelleslibera: " ISPs will be prevented from restricting, delaying or slowing Internet traffic except in the case they have to solve congestions, preserve security or addressing spam. In other words, differentiation of quality of Internet traffic will be prohibit if it is an instrument to discriminate Internet services for pure commercial reasons.
Most important, ISP will be prevented from charging subscribers with different connectivity prices depending on the services provided over the Internet. This measure will have a strong impact on mobile operators offering Internet access under “data caps” conditions, where traffic usage is priced or exempted depending whether or not the customers use services recommended by the ISP. "
'via Blog this'

Why the battle over net neutrality isn’t getting settled anytime soon...

Why the battle over net neutrality isn’t getting settled anytime soon — European technology news: "The term acts as a kind of straw man. Very few so-called net neutrality proponents actually want strict network neutrality. By any reasonable analysis of how things work, strict net neutrality is unworkable. All bits are not equal – it makes complete sense to prioritize VoIP traffic over email, for example, in order for it to flow in near-real-time.
"What ‘net neutrality’ advocates actually want is a properly free online market, where telcos can’t block rival services such as VoIP just because they take away revenue, and where startups are not suppressed by having to pay telcos to have their traffic reach their customers. Perhaps ‘service neutrality’ might be a more accurate term, although it’s certainly less snappy. Suggestions would be welcome."
Well, I did try with 'net neutrality lite'...'via Blog this'

1st international conference on Internet Science: 9-11 April

The first international conference on Internet Science - Eventbrite: "The 1st International conference on Internet Science, will be organized from April 10 to 11 in Brussels, under the aegis of the European Commission, by the EINS project, the FP7 European Network of Excellent in Internet Science, with the support of KVAB.
This highly multidisciplinary conference combines Computer Science, Sociology, Art, Mathematics, Physics, Complex systems analysis, Psychology, Economics, Law, Political Science, Epistemology and other relevant disciplines. It will be an unique venue fostering dialogue among scholars and practitioners belonging to these disciplines.
It will also provide the EINS Network of Excellence with an opportunity to interact with external stakeholders, detail project objectives and methodological approach, and showcase its first results.
The event will start on April 9 at 18:30 with a welcome reception, and will end on April 11 in the early afternoon."
I am co-chair so have a particular interest - and if net neutrality is your thing (why else are you here?), then this is a very useful conference for you...'via Blog this'