Europe’s net neutrality law gets breathing space as industry committee delays vote - by 2 weeks

Europe’s net neutrality law gets breathing space as industry committee delays vote — Tech News and Analysis: "With the net neutrality battle having been lost for now in the United States, what happens in Europe will have a decisive effect on the future of the internet, most probably everywhere. An extra two weeks for digital rights campaigners to harangue their local MEPs can’t be a bad thing." 'via Blog this'

Internet regulation: The underwood of net neutrality

Internet regulation: The underwood of net neutrality | The Economist: "At any rate, the arrangement between Netflix and Comcast shows that net neutrality as defined by the FCC has already become superannuated, as providers demonstrate that managing their clogged networks by necessity and without favouritism leads to the same result as discrimination. Verizon and AT&T are expected to cut similar deals with Netflix. "If we want to protect the future of the open internet,” says [Professor] Werbach, “we should really be focusing on interconnection rather than broadband discrimination.”" 'via Blog this'

Pirate Bay becomes 'Research Bay' for three days

Pirate Bay becomes 'Research Bay' for three days • The Register: "The Pirate Bay has found a way to clothe itself in a little respectability for a couple of days by teaming with Sweden's Lund University Internet Institute to research file sharing.

The Institute operates a ”Cybernormer” effort that says “Understanding online norms and values is essential to developing relevant and effective laws and policies.” To help that program along, Pirate Bay users are being asked to complete a survey about their file-sharing habits." 'via Blog this'

How the Commission is out-manoeuvring the European Parliament to undermine net neutrality

How the Commission is out-manoeuvring the European Parliament to undermine net neutrality » EDRi: "The task of the Commission in persuading the Parliament seems… or seemed… insurmountable. Not alone has the Parliament repeatedly voted in favour of net neutrality in various non-binding resolutions, but it is also a non-political issue among parliamentarians. The largest group, the EPP, adopted an extensive paper on the future of the Internet calling for net neutrality to be “enshrined in European law” while, on the other side of the political spectrum, the Socialists and Democrats Group are also strong supporters of protecting the social and economic benefits of the free and open internet.
How could the European Commission overturn this seemingly insurmountable support for net neutrality? It has a plan and, remarkably, the plan is nearly complete." 'via Blog this'

WhatsApp Shows How Phone Carriers Lost Out on $33 Billion

WhatsApp Shows How Phone Carriers Lost Out on $33 Billion - Bloomberg: "Carriers in other parts of the world still charge high fees for texts, and their revenue will be affected as WhatsApp’s popularity spreads, Entner said.

In Mexico, for instance, almost 90 percent of all instant messaging goes through WhatsApp, according to Ernesto Piedras, director of the Competitive Intelligence Unit, a telecommunications consulting firm based in Mexico City.

“From about a year and a half ago, WhatsApp use in Mexico has become overwhelming,” he said in an interview. “It’s convenient to use, and the more people have it, the more people use it.”" 'via Blog this'

I, Cringely Net neutrality is dead, but it probably doesn't matter

I, Cringely Net neutrality is dead, but it probably doesn't matter - I, Cringely: "[I said] bufferbloat was about to be solved? If that happens our networks are going to suddenly start working a lot better, our legitimate bandwidth budgets are going to drop, and as a result backbone providers and ISPs are going to see a drop in both revenue and profit.

 That’s why Verizon and the others need to be able to sell packet prioritization as soon as possible. They need a new — hopefully even bigger — source of revenue before bufferbloat is solved and the Internet becomes a buyers’ market.

Those who are fighting against the ISPs on this issue are actually working to help those ISPs make their selling case to content providers. The law seems to be favoring the ISPs, too.

I’m pretty sure the ISPs will prevail. Net neutrality will fail. Nobody’s service will be hurt as a result because bufferbloat will be going away. But content providers will by then be paying for packet priority they probably never needed." 'via Blog this'

ASA Ban Misleading Unlimited Broadband Claims on UK Satellite ISP

ASA Ban Misleading Unlimited Broadband Claims on UK Satellite ISP Avonline - ISPreview UK: "It’s well known that Satellite ISPs can place strict Traffic Management style measures on their Internet access services and now the Advertising Standards Authority has stepped in to stop one provider, Avonline Broadband, from promoting the products alongside “UNLIMITED” usage claims on their website. Other providers take heed.


A complainant told the ASA that the ISPs “UNLIMITED” claims were “misleading” because they felt that Avonline’s Fair Access Policy (FAP) often resulted in a “more than moderate impact” on customers that exceeded the operators data thresholds (i.e. heavy data throttling can sometimes have a big impact upon service speeds)." 'via Blog this'

President Obama, Democrats push FCC on net neutrality

Daily Kos: President Obama, congressional Democrats push FCC on net neutrality: "FCC still needs to act to keep the internet open. That's the point this legislation, which would protect internet users in the meantime, is making. That's also the point President Obama made in a video chat this week, when he said, "I have been a strong supporter of Net Neutrality. The new commissioner of the FCC, Tom Wheeler, whom I appointed, I know is a strong supporter of Net Neutrality." He added that there was "one good piece of news coming out of this court opinion" which is that the court "did confirm that the FCC can regulate this space. They have authority." He added, "[i]f the old systems and rulings that they had in place were not effective in preserving Net Neutrality, do they have other tools that would stand up to court scrutiny that accomplishes the same goals." 'via Blog this'