John Malone’s Radical Plan For Broadband - Pay Per Play for Video

John Malone’s Radical Plan For Broadband - Corporate Intelligence - WSJ: "Mr. Malone re-emerging as a power player in the U.S. cable industry, and extending his presence in European cable through his company Liberty Global, he may be able to act on his vision.
In remarks to Liberty’s annual meeting two weeks ago, which garnered little attention, Mr. Malone laid out his vision for a “world of the future” where consumers could buy “tiers” of broadband connectivity bundled to “various levels” of access to “over the top” video services, sold at a discount.
As part of that, “Reed has to bear in his economic model some of the cost of the capacity that he’s burning,” a reference to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
Mr. Malone’s comments, in the wake of The Wall Street Journal’s report Thursday that some Web content companies are paying some broadband providers for faster access to their networks, herald an era where broadband providers flex their muscles more."
So Malone - who famously thought "the information superhighway was just hype" 20 years ago - now thinks the same about the open Internet?
'via Blog this'

Study of Real Broadband ISP Speeds Shows Mixed UK Results - but out of date EU data

UPDATE EU Study of Real Broadband ISP Speeds Shows Mixed UK Results - ISPreview UK: "Crucially the data in this report is only relevant for March 2012, yet the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) introduced new rules on 1st April 2012 (here) that effectively forced ISPs to either not advertise a headline speed (very confusing) or to only show their “typical” speeds (i.e. the best speed achieved by 10% of the providers customers). In other words the next study could show something very different, assuming they can find any advertised speeds for the comparison.
The study also looked at other areas like Packet Loss and Latency, which are also important considerations for online gamers and real-time voice or video conferencing. Average latency proved to be highest for xDSL users at 38.46ms (milliseconds), which fell to 23.32ms on Cable and 21.58ms for FTTx. By comparison the UK scored 31.68ms for xDSL, 21.67ms for Cable and 17.60ms for FTTx (overall pretty good – lower is always better)."
But we have to wait until "autumn 2013" for figures any later than March 2012 - why? In the meantime SamKnows UK research remains far more up to date (but small rural sample size is a problem). 'via Blog this'

Pic of the day: UK best in Europe at false advertising on DSL broadband speeds

Must do better based on 75k SamKnows tests - will Ofcom leap into action?

More NY Times Lies About EU Broadband: Lowell McAdam's Error

Lowell McAdam's Error in the NY Times: by Dave Burstein "Verizon CEO should have proofread article under his name. Lowell's NYT oped contains a whopping mistake, claiming in "the European Union ... today only about 2 percent of households have access to broadband networks with 100-megabit-plus speeds." The actual figure is more than twenty times higher than that, according to a report by Point-Topic for the EU. I can independently confirm the general accuracy of the EU data from the financial reports of the companies involved." Second week in a row - does anyone check NYTimes op-eds at all? 'via Blog this'

European Parliament: Data throttling and the internal market

European Parliament: Data throttling and the effec...: Written question - Data throttling and the effects on social participation and the internal market - E-006146/2013 : " Deutsche Telekom...

Big UK ISPs Clarify the Confusion over Network Level Internet Filters

Big UK ISPs Clarify the Confusion over Network Level Internet Filters - ISPreview UK: "In essence what Claire Perry has proposed and what ISPs are adopting appears to be Active Choice Plus but the devil is in the detail and it’s important to understand the subtleties involved before drawing any conclusions.
Firstly we already know (since May 2013) that all of the major ISPs either have or will soon launch network level filtering by the end of 2013 (here). A “network level” solution means that the ISP controls the filtering at its end of the service and this allows the restrictions to be imposed across all your connected devices.
But will it be enabled by default? Well not quite. According to the ISPs, all customers (both new and existing) will at some point be presented with an OPTION to enable or disable the related Parental Controls" 'via Blog this'

Freedom of expression, the Council of Europe and net neutrality

It has been a momentous month in Europe for net neutrality.
I (little me!) gave the keynote speech at the Council of Europe multi-stakeholder dialogue “Network Neutrality and Human Right ” on 29-30 May in Strasbourg. This dialogue came as a result of the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on network neutrality (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 29 September 2010 at the 1094th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies). The CoE is now working towards a soft law instrument to guide member states in the application of net neutrality rules that support particularly the aspirations of Articles 6/8/10 of the Convention. A short outcomes paper of the major points of discussion will be communicated to the 47 member state representatives of the CoE Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) to consider and propose further action.
The European Commissioner subsequently on 4 June announced to the European Parliament her intention to introduce specific legislation on network neutrality, to be passed into law before the Parliamentary elections in May 2014. That process will be informed by the work of the CoE, and in fact I spoke directly after the Commissioner at the European Parliament event.
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression to the UN OHCHR Frank LaRue has issued a new report referencing net neutrality in his ongoing work on rights online, issued in response to revelations of secret state surveillance amongst the NATO partners.
Fundamental rights are being taken seriously in the net neutrality debate at last? But the terrible events in Istanbul, the European part of Turkey, over the last fortnight - rightly condemned in the strongest terms by the European Parliament and ludicrously blamed on social media by the increasingly dictatorial Erdogan, as well as the revelations of the surveillance-industrial complex approaching its full maturity, suggest that we may be tinkering at the edges...

No Country for Slow Broadband? WhEU are you calling slow?

No Country for Slow Broadband - NYTimes.com: "But that began to change as the economy turned around. Private investment and advances in technology, brought about by a competition policy that encouraged cable and phone companies to improve their networks, have propelled America’s networks forward. Over the last three years America’s broadband systems have doubled in speed, while Europe’s have remained stagnant. And that will continue, because broadband companies here are installing advanced fiber-optic technology faster than Europe..."
But what Richard said about Europe isn't true and he knows it - it's mired in recession and ADSL2 while the US is over 4 years into its slow recovery - but European broadband speeds are not stagnant. They have trebled in the last 5 years - even in the slowcoach UK its 234% in 4 years. Richard's better than this, I'm not sure why he chose to exaggerate because the bare story is a good one. The cash-rich US monopolists are pouring money into fibre upgrades - partly to rip out their loss-making copper to avoid what they see as extortionate universal service fees.
'via Blog this'

From ‘End-to-end’ to the ‘Rule of Law’: Should Network Neutrality be Enshrined into Legislation?

From ‘End-to-end’ to the ‘Rule of Law’: Should Network Neutrality be Enshrined into Legislation?: "the main challenge will be to find a suitable approach to encourage ISPs to do good in the future. Indeed, it should be kept in mind that the network neutrality debate is a thorny and multifaceted one and hold promise to hide many slippery slopes on its path. In order to tackle network neutrality in a proper fashion, legislators and policymakers need to have a clear understanding of this pivotal issue. What is at stake is their citizens’ freedom." 'via Blog this'

Ericsson downgrades global mobile forecasts but tries to hide it...

Ericsson downgrades global mobile forecasts : Barry Flynn Communications: Bad science! "The major absence from this report, however, is any recognition of the fact that a large proportion of the traffic received and transmitted by mobile devices, which include laptops and tablets as well as phones, is off-loaded via Wi-Fi to fixed broadband and doesn’t travel over mobile networks at all.
This phenomenon is mentioned only once in the report, in a footnote to a table showing application mobile data traffic volumes by device type, to make clear that it “includes 4G, 3G and 2G mobile data traffic” but “does not take into account Wi-Fi offload traffic.”
This is strange, since Ericsson’s analysts would have had to factor Wi-Fi off-loading into their mobile traffic forecasts in order to work out how much they data they believed would go over one type of network rather than another (indeed, an increase in Wi-Fi offloading caused by stronger smartphone uptake may be one of the reasons for the traffic downgrade). And yet there is not even a methodological note about this." 'via Blog this'

How Corporations Hijacked the First Amendment to Evade Regulation

How Corporations Hijacked the First Amendment to Evade Regulation | New Republic: by Tim Wu: "Few industries these days can resist First Amendment defenses of even the most outrageous conduct. In 2007, Verizon was caught secretly monitoring customers on behalf of the federal government. The company asserted that what Congress calls illegal surveillance was actually a form of protected speech—and that Verizon has a prerogative to hand over customer records, especially in times of “armed conflict with foreign enemies.” More recently, Verizon saw a threat to its First Amendment protections in the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) net-neutrality rules. According to Verizon, if it wants to speed up some websites, and slow down others, it has a constitutional right to do so." 'via Blog this'

Free: An improvement on Youtube?

Free: An improvement on Youtube?: [Google Translate] "Hopefully this improvement is permanent and finally allows Free subscribers to use the service in a satisfactory manner (without slowing down), which is not the case for a majority of subscribers according to the survey of the UFC-Que Choisir published last December....
Before jumping to conclusions, and to determine whether this improvement is general, you can tell us in the comments, and responding to our survey, if you too have noticed a better access to YouTube day and evening." 'via Blog this'

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Right

Listening to the truly shocking Luigi Gambardella at the European Parliament on Tuesday, and the Commissioner's evidence-avoiding claims of 'Big Data Explosions' (see my embedded comments) - that are not true - puts me in sympathy with Krugman's literary-inspired cri-de-ceour: NYTimes.com:
"Overall, it’s hard to think of any previous episode in in the history of economic thought in which we had as thorough a showdown between opposing views, and as thorough a collapse, practical and intellectual, of one side of the argument. And yet nothing changes. Not only don’t the policies change; by and large even the people don’t change... the lack of accountability, for ideas and people, is truly remarkable in a time of massive policy failure." 'via Blog this'

EU Telecoms Council, Luxembourg, 6 June 2013

EUROPA - PRESS RELEASES - Press Release - Digital Agenda: EU Telecoms Council, Luxembourg, 6 June 2013: "Vice-President Kroes will ask for views from Ministers on her proposals to create a genuine single market for telecoms. She will focus on the need for a balanced package that addresses the goal of lifting investment in networks and delivering more choices and protection for consumers regarding internet and other telecoms services." Presumably including net neutrality, judging by yesterday's discussion. And stating definitively that there is NO DATA EXPLOSION! 'via Blog this'

Here’s what Europe’s net neutrality law would look like — GigaOm

Here’s what Europe’s net neutrality law would look like — Tech News and Analysis: "It’s far from clear that the European Commission’s new proposals would stop such behavior. Similarly, there is nothing in there to stop a different kind of net neutrality abuse: ISPs charging content providers for carrying their traffic. In fact, the acceptance of the idea of a two-speed internet – for this is what Kroes is in effect describing – makes this sort of development more likely.
If there’s a fast lane in place, carriers can go to content providers and ask: “Would you like to be part of that lane, or relegated to best efforts?” The result? Entrenched and deep-pocketed providers would be able to pay, while their newer, smaller rivals would not." 'via Blog this'

Blogging the European Parliament event on net neutrality

Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 7m@gigaom on @ChrisTMarsden “no data explosion on the European internet, so we shouldn’t be making policy based on it" http://gigaom.com/2013/06/04/heres-what-europes-net-neutrality-law-would-look-like/ … tuxbabe ‏@tuxbabed 1h Chris Marsden on #netneutrality: the only things exploding are the heads of technical people that know there is no Internet data explosion
Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 11m @RyanHeathEU @JensJeppesenCDT Western Euro mobile data CAGR 50% to 2017 and falling fast as Wifi hand-off increases: http://www.cisco.com/web/solutions/sp/vni/vni_mobile_forecast_highlight/index.html … Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 14m @jerezim OECD study on cost of bandwidth - not 1000 but 100,000 times mark-up by telcos! http://falkvinge.net/2012/11/26/oecd-telcos-overcharging-by-five-orders-of-magnitude/ … Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 16m @anaolmos my piece on 2006 Amazon #netneutrality #FRAND from 3.5 years ago: http://chrismarsden.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/amazon-and-net-neutrality-lite-allowing.html … Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 19m Video of #NNinEP event hosted by @MarietjeSchaake with my contributions at 31 and 1:39:20 (anti-NN common carriage) http://www.marietjeschaake.eu/livestream-guaranteeing-competition-and-the-open-internet-in-europe/ … Access ‏@accessnow 23m Thanks, @NeelieKroesEU, for kicking off the debate on 'Guaranteeing Competition and the Open Internet' this morning! #NNinEP Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 34m @RyanHeathEU @beuctweet Western Europe mobile data CAGR 50% (dropping re. WIK study for #Europarl) 2012-17 (CiscoVNI) http://www.cisco.com/web/solutions/sp/vni/vni_mobile_forecast_highlight/index.html …
Jan Flodin ‏@janflodin 8h Excellent! RT @christmarsden: @ChrisTMarsden presentation at #NNinep is live at http://www.slideshare.net/EXCCELessex/marsden-net-neutrality-in-the-european-parliament … Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 39m Media Policy Project ‏@LSEmediapolicy 1h For #NetNeutrality folks who aren't at #NNinep today catch @ChrisMarsden & co-author Ian Brown at #ORGCon2013 8 June http://bit.ly/13CToYL  Access ‏@accessnow 1h Thx all for a great #NNinEP event today! http://www.marietjeschaake.eu/livestream-guaranteeing-competition-and-the-open-internet-in-europe/ … @EDRi_org @ChrisTMarsden @jerezim @coe @teirdes @MarietjeD66 @beuctweet Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 53m @RyanHeathEU apologies 4 delay in sending you #explodingmobiledatamyth research from WIK/Scott Marcus - I don't roam in Brussels as too dear Jérémie Zimmermann ‏@jerezim 8h C.Marsden: 'there is no explosion of data on the internet.' let's not base #NetNeutralty policy on fear and ignorance! #NNinEP Marietje Schaake ‏@MarietjeSchaake 7h Professor Marsden suggests speaking of prosumers and rights instead of consumers and protection #NNinEP Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 56m 16 May tweet #NNinEP WIK Scott Marcus #europarl fixed hand-off gives the lie to 'wireless data explosion' (sic): http://chrismarsden.blogspot.com/2013/05/wireless-handoff-thats-why-mobile-data.html?spref=tw … Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 2h RT @beuctweet @NeelieKroesEU confirms champagne access idea, would permit discriminatory race to bottom That's not #NetNeutrality! #NNinEP Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 2h RT @JensJeppesenCDT @NeeliekroesEU Data quoted @ChrisTMarsden: Cisco VNI: Traffic growth 23% CAGR next 5yrs. Some data explosion? #NNinEP Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 18h @ChrisTMarsden presentation at #NNinep is live at http://www.slideshare.net/EXCCELessex/marsden-net-neutrality-in-the-european-parliament … Aliki Foinikopoulou ‏@Ali_Foi 3 Jun Information note of the Lithuanian Presidency on their priorities for #telecoms http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/13/st10/st10105.en13.pdf … #cybersecurity #broadband #networks
Chris Marsden ‏@ChrisTMarsden 3 Jun Get 50% off @ChrisTMarsden Ian Brown book #RegulatingCode, 2 days only! Discount code SHARE50 MIT Press website: http://lnkd.in/KtDCgu 

#NNinEP Guaranteeing Competition and the Open Internet in Europe

Net neutrality event: Guaranteeing Competition and the Open Internet in Europe: "Access, MEP Marietje Schaake and MEP Sabine Verheyen are pleased to invite you to the event: “Guaranteeing Competition and the Open Internet in Europe” A discussion on the importance of preserving the open and neutral nature of the internet in the European Union. Tuesday 4 June 09:00 – 12:00 European Parliament, PHS 5B001" 'via Blog this'

NPT - Frode's presentation in Strasbourg

NPT - News: "In Norway we chose a co-regulatory approach to net neutrality when we started back in 2006. Remember, we were first-movers in Europe, and there was not very much precedence to follow. Furthermore, the net neutrality debate was relatively immature at the time, and a statutory approach could potentially lead to wrong decisions carved in stone.
Co-regulation must not be confused with self-regulation. Co-regulation requires far more involvement of the regulator. The Norwegian Post and Telecommunications authority (NPT) took an active role, leading the work with a clear goal to preserve the Internet as an open platform. We invited the three stakeholder groups Internet service providers, content & application providers and consumer associations. NPT let these groups balance each other’s interests, leading to the guidelines in 2009." 'via Blog this'

Steelie Neelie brandishes the net neutrality wand

Steelie Neelie brandishes the net neutrality wand: "The main constituency of Mrs Kroes and her DG  is the telecoms industry. It is clearly not in favour of net neutrality legislation, and the European Commission appeared to be listening to them. Until this statement last week, the European Commission was not looking at all likely to produce net neutrality legislation. So what has changed? At this point, I am not sure. But there has to be a political motive.  My take on it suggests two possibilities. Either the telecoms industry has upset the Commission – maybe by not adapting to the competitive access environment and retaining monopoly markets; or the Commission is giving the European Parliament a good news gift for younger voters, prior to the European elections." Couldn't agree more...'via Blog this'

Comment Neelie on SPEECH/13/484 - sentence n.5058

Comment Neelie on SPEECH/13/484 - sentence n.5058:
"I want you to be able to say that you saved their right to access the open internet, by guaranteeing net neutrality."
1st comment - feel free to add?
"Glad to read this, as "guaranteeing net neutrality" is a much different and stronger statement than "guaranteeing transparency on net neutrality violations", which was your position thus far. Do you confirm it is what you intended to say?" 'via Blog this'

Tweeting to Neelie from Council of Europe: #coe_netneutral

@FelixTreguer 2h Glad to hear that @CoE Human Right Commissioner will be looking at online freedom of expression. #CoE_netneutral (come to France;)

‏@soufron 2h towards exploits and surveillance neutrality? ;) @FelixTreguer @CoE #coe_netneutral

‏@socialhack 3h @FelixTreguer we should use the existing netneutrality@laquadrature.net mailinglist for creating this model law! #CoE_netneutral

‏@FelixTreguer 3h #CoE_netneutral: @CoE could also conduct further work on privatised online enforcement and trade of surveillance tech and exploits.

‏@ChrisTMarsden 3h @coe #coe_netneutral 1.stop telco 'specialized services' evading #netneutrality 2. stop surveillance tech export 3. use co-reg & rule of law

‏@FelixTreguer 3h #CoE_netneutral next steps: Developing a #NetNeutrality model law would be a great achievement.

‏@GiusyCannella 3h @accessnow Unfettered access to the internet is a fundamental right, we're committed to defend it against discriminations #coe_netneutral

‏@luuletaja 3h #coe_netneutral @ShmaeganM #netneutrality is not about champagne or sparkling wine, its about water, net neutrality is a human rights issue.

@ChrisTMarsden 3h #coe_netneutral official online MM-S-PL(99)12 @ChrisTMarsden @coe report inc. #netneutrality with 150 footnotes http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/media/doc/mm-s-pl%281999%29012_en.asp?toPrint=yes& …

‏@luuletaja 3h #coe_netneutral Battle of lobbyists: Thomas Grob, "no DPI in fixed network" vs James Waterworth "Telecoms are oligopoly by nature". DT loses

‏@VRadunovic 3h Complexity of #netneutrality: http://smu.gs/10JUuzQ  Need holistic approach to address in regulation/policy; need awareness! #coe_netneutral

‏@IanBrownOII 3h #coe_netneutral There is a risk users will be kettled into information-poor spaces - @JMalinowskiR

@IanBrownOII 3h #coe_netneutral @JMalinowskiR: @coe is keen to continue working on #netneutrality. What positive & negative #ECHR obligations on states?

@ChrisTMarsden 3h #coe_netneutral as the telcos (except DT) didn't attend yesterday here's the context for why your spin looks silly: http://www.slideshare.net/EXCCELessex/pre-history-of-european-network-neutrality-and-human-rights …

‏@IanBrownOII 3h #coe_netneutral data caps breached by most users will inherently lead to discrimination

@IanBrownOII 3h #coe_netneutral @CCIAEurope: we need #netneutrality principles now because of oligopolistic telecoms industry structure

‏@IanBrownOII 3h #coe_netneutral Europe is worst place in the world for commercial Internet discrimination and filtering - JJS

‏@IanBrownOII 3h #coe_netneutral FCC has taken meaningful action in the US on #netneutrality, unlike European regulators, problematic cases are hidden - JJS

‏@IanBrownOII 3h #coe_netneutral "There is a systemic failure in European mobile Internet access market" -Jean-Jacques Sahel, Skype

‏@socialhack 3h Thomas Grob von der @DeutschenTelekom erklärt gerade ernsthaft das die gedrosselten 384kbit/s ja ein "bis zu" ist! #CoE_netneutral