Friday Evening Links07:02PM Friday Jul 17 2009 by Revcb2 comments
The weekend has finally arrived, so take off your shoes, put up your feet, and empty your head into our comment section below. Just remember to clean up after yourselves. 18 comments
When the Pirate Bay announced late last month that the popular BitTorrent portal would be purchased, the new owners raised eyebrows by announcing they'd like to "introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site." That's well, uh -- interesting for a website that has spent the last few years laughing at legal threats with their Swedish middle finger securely raised to the entire content industry and their lawyers. This week new owner Wayne Rosso (of Grokster fame) tells CNET his plans for the Pirate Bay involve customers paying the website a small fee in order to trade content, with the Pirate Bay striking distribution deals with both the entertainment industry and individual ISPs. Rosso said The Pirate Bay will offer users all the music they can download for a small monthly fee.  story continues..56 comments
As an attempt to derail both FCC and Congressional inquiries into exclusive handset deals, Verizon today threw lawmakers a bone. In a letter to lawmakers, Verizon says they'll offer carriers with fewer than 500,000 customers access to exclusive Verizon handsets after six months. It's a fairly small gesture aimed largely at preventing regulation -- though from a letter excerpt it's fairly clear Verizon isn't really budging from their belief that exclusivity deals are great for consumers: Exclusivity arrangements promote competition and innovation in device development and design. We work closely with our vendors to develop new and exciting devices that will attract customers. Of course Verizon probably wouldn't mind if lawmakers loosened AT&T's grip on the iPhone, and Verizon's move puts the onus on AT&T to make concessions of their own. There's been growing pressure from consumer groups like Free Press for Uncle Sam to end exclusivity deals, which Free Press insists carriers have used to "stifle innovation, cripple applications, and stick users with the bill." 47 comments
We've discussed that while Time Warner Cable and Comcast's new Internet TV initiative might give consumers a reason to stick with cable by giving them "free access" to cable TV content online, but the plan has plenty of critics who think cable TV companies are engaged in a power play that simply forces their offline business model online -- ignoring market evolution. Now NewTeeVee indicates that advertising for the new system will be just like regular cable TV advertising -- except you won't be able to skip ads. More ads than services like Hulu and the inability to skip them like you can with DVRs seems like a business decision that's simply going to push customers to more (r)evolutionary alternatives. 83 comments
In March we discussed how Dish Network was sued for violating the Federal Do Not Call list by the Federal government and four States (California, Illinois, Ohio and North Carolina), At the time, Dish proclaimed that an independent audit revealed no violations, while heavily inferring that any violations may have been the fault of a reseller. This week Dish Network decided to settle, agreeing to pay $5.99 million to 46 different states for the company's marketing practices. The settlement resolves the states’ allegations that DISH Network: •Refused to accept responsibility for the misconduct of its third-party retailers and installers; •Made telemarketing calls to consumers in violation of No Call laws; •Failed to disclose the complete terms and conditions of their customer agreements, including the availability of rebates, credits and free offers; •Did not disclose that purchased or leased equipment was previously used and/or refurbished; •Made reference to competitors’ price offers when the goods or services being compared were substantially different; and, •Charged customer credit cards and debited bank accounts without providing adequate notice and obtaining appropriate authorization. Back in 2003, Dish Network faced similar complaints by Colorado and 12 other states. 10 comments
France's Constitutional Council recently gutted the country's new three strikes law, which would have forced ISPs to kick heavy P2P users from the Internet. According to the Council, preventing users from accessing the Internet was an excessive punishment, given broadband services are quickly becoming a utility for many. 12 comments
According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the State of Missouri is looking to drastically ramp up fiber penetration in the State while using the first round of Federal broadband stimulus money.. The MoBroadbandNow project is using public-private partnerships to build a fiber-optic broadband backbone that will connect "every cluster of 50 or more dwellings," anchored by schools and municipal buildings. The State is now screening private-sector applicants, which can apply via e-mail at transform.broadbandinterested@mo.gov. As Telephony Online notes, such private-public partnerships increase the chance of being chosen by the broadband stimulus fairy. 21 comments
Friday Morning Links07:36AM Friday Jul 17 2009 by Revcb19 comments
Thursday Evening Links07:19PM Thursday Jul 16 2009 by Revcb19 comments
It has been interesting watching Blockbuster video adapt to the broadband age, with the company seemingly interested in not trying very hard out of fear of cannibalizing their brick and mortar revenue. Early efforts to mirror Netflix's success at broadband video delivery have seemed relatively lackluster, with the company's CEO almost expecting failure. 43 comments
While you can use Uncle Sam's public comment system (provided you know the notice of inquiry (pdf) and related proceeding number) to opine on our as-yet-unformed national broadband policy, the submission process isn't particularly clear to the average Joe. In the hopes of making the process easier, Google and the Google-funded New American Foundation have created a moderated comment website to collect user broadband plan ideas, the most popular of which will be submitted to Uncle Sam on your behalf. 100 comments
AT&T this morning reached out to us to note that after four months of negotiations, the telecom giant has struck a tentative agreement in the company's Midwest Region with the CWA. "This agreement covers some 18,500 employees in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio," AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom tells Broadband Reports. "Negotiations are continuing is all of our other regions, for contracts cover employees in every part of the country," says Bloom. Negotiations between AT&T and its union employees had broken down back in April, with workers authorizing a strike as a last resort. 48 comments
Comcast gives us a nudge today to note that the cable giant will be releasing a new free iPhone application that gives Comcast customers the ability to manage select Comcast services. According to Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas, the application (available here for those with a Comcast ID) allows customers to check and manage their Comcast e-mail, check Comcast TV schedules, view on demand listing and watch trailers, and check and manage their Comcast Digital Voice voicemail. Comcast tells us that remote DVR control is planned for future versions. If you're a Comcast customer, drop your impressions in our comment section below. 22 comments
Sweden's new Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) anti-piracy law gives copyright holders in Sweden the ability to force ISPs in the country to hand over the names and addresses of users who transmit pirated material. Except Swedish broadband ISPs Bahnhof and All Tele started deleting consumer IP data, rendering the law somewhat useless. After posting a consumer survey, Swedish ISP Ephone is listening to their customers, and appealing a court order demanding they hand over the IP addresses of P2P users. Ephone was the first Swedish ISP taken to court under the new IPRED law, and faces fines of 750,000 kronor ($95,000) for not complying. 5 comments
After a Fairpoint SEC filing recently indicated that the carrier may be forced to file for bankruptcy, after struggling to integrate Verizon's DSL and landline networks in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Vermont regulators have prepared for the possibility by hiring bankrupty lawyers, and now the Vermont Department of Public Service is calling for an investigation into FairPoint. According to the Associated Press, the consumer advocacy outfit says if Fairpoint can't show things are improving, they shouldn't be allowed to operate in Vermont. New Hampshire's Consumer Advocacy Department is expected to make a similar request soon. 49 comments
In Canada, both Cogeco and Rogers have recently unveiled new 50Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 services, though limited competition means the services come with high prices, low caps, and slow upstream speeds. In the UK, cable operator Virgin Media is also struggling with providing upstream speeds, but is offering uncapped bundled 50Mbps service at US$46.03. That's well below the standard prices for 50Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 services in the States, the lowest of which is provided by Comcast at around $99 a month. In most markets, 50Mbps cable services in the States are being priced around $130 a month and up. Virgin says they're also testing 200Mbps connectivity in limited markets. 13 comments
It hasn't been a particularly good few weeks for Phorm, the snoopvertising (adversnooping?) agency that began life as a spyware company dedicated to rootkits. British Telecom this week confirmed they wouldn't be proceeding with Phorm's Webwise platform, and now major UK telecom player Carphone Warehouse says they'll be terminating their relationship with Phorm as well. Phorm, which partners with ISPs to sniff your time spent on various sites to send you more "tailored" adverts, has global expansion ambitions that may not succeed if they can't find a source of actual revenue. Another major UK ISP, Virgin Media, tells the Wall Street Journal they haven't made up their mind on whether they'll use Phorm's services. 4 comments
Thursday Morning Links08:57AM Thursday Jul 16 2009 by Revcb4 comments
Wednesday Evening Links06:59PM Wednesday Jul 15 2009 by Revcb11 comments
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