netneutrality

Internet service is Internet service, all the way through the last mile

30 November 2015 by Steve Blum
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It’s not double parking. It’s a specialised service.

There’s a big problem with Comcast’s claim that the streaming video service it offers broadband-only customers isn’t an Internet service, but rather cable service that’s moving over its internal, Internet-protocol network. As far as I can tell, its $15 a month Stream service is using the same last mile bandwidth that more distant Internet connections use.

In other words, there’s only a certain amount of Internet protocol bandwidth available to customers, and if Comcast loads its up with a proprietary streaming video service, the speed and service quality of connections to other services, such as Hulu or Netflix, will be significantly degraded.… More

FCC eliminates a distinction between telecoms and cable companies

29 November 2015 by Steve Blum
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If you want to build your own broadband network, you need to have access to utility pole routes along the way – not only is it cheaper than installing your own, as a practical matter you’re unlikely, to say the least, to get permission to plant a second row of poles.

Nationally, the rates for pole attachments are set by the Federal Communications Commission. Last week, the FCC lowered the price for telecoms companies to the same rate paid by cable operators.… More

Comcast does us all a favor by handing the FCC a clear net neutrality case

27 November 2015 by Steve Blum
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You don’t need a video replay to referee this one.

When is streaming Internet video not Internet video? When it’s a cable company doing the streaming. At least according to Comcast. Ars Technica has a good article on Comcast’s latest ploy, which is to offer a cut down video package over the Internet connection that broadband-only subscribers can buy, and not count it against the monthly 300 GB cap it’s beginning to impose in some states (but not yet in California).… More

FCC tells ISPs to ask permission first before getting on with business

6 July 2015 by Steve Blum
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It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, so slip it under the door and we’ll get back to you.

The Federal Communications Commission is making the same catch-22 offer about its new common carrier broadband regulations that it made regarding data privacy rules. It’s basically saying we’re not in any hurry to actually write the rules – hey, it’s a holiday weekend, after all – so why don’t you just tell us what you want to do and we’ll get back to you on whether it’s OK or not.… More

FCC wastes no time in bringing the net neutrality hammer down hard on mobile carriers

19 June 2015 by Steve Blum
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Shoot the first one out the door. That’ll give them to know our intentions as serious.

The Federal Communications Commission took a hard swat at AT&T, fining it $100 million for trying to weasel out of unlimited data deals it offered back in the days when the iPhone was being launched…

We find that AT&T…apparently willfully and repeatedly violated the Commission’s Open Internet Transparency Rule by: (1) using the misleading and inaccurate term “unlimited” to label a data plan that was in fact subject to prolonged speed reductions after a customer used a set amount of data; and (2) failing to disclose the express speed reductions that it applied to “unlimited” data plan customers once they hit a specified data threshold.

… More

Internet service providers are common carriers, beginning today

12 June 2015 by Steve Blum
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No blood, no foul, no stay.

The Federal Communications Commission’s common carrier rules for broadband infrastructure and service take effect today. Yesterday, a three-judge federal appellate court panel denied a request by telecoms companies to put the rules on hold while the appeals process moves forward. The judges didn’t give a specific reason, simply saying “petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review”.

However, the ruling did cite a U.S.… More

Net neutrality becomes just another congressional logjam

6 June 2015 by Steve Blum
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The wrangling over the FCC’s decision to regulate broadband service and infrastructure under common carrier rules will be decided in court and not in congress. That’s according to an article in the National Journal (h/t to the Baller-Herbst list for the pointer).

Congressional republicans have been talking about rewriting the 1996 communications act – the basic federal law regulating electronic communications – for the past couple of years. There’s good reason to do that, given the way the growth of Internet-enabled services and information have revolutionised the way we live since it was passed.… More

FCC hedging its common carrier bet in negotiations with AT&T

4 June 2015 by Steve Blum
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Don’t worry, it’s not time to walk away. Yet.

AT&T’s bid to buy DirecTv and add nationwide direct broadband satellite television service to its portfolio is getting caught up in the same kind of debate about broadband access that sunk the Comcast – Time Warner – Charter mega deal. According to a Washington Post article by Brian Fung, AT&T is offering to make concessions in exchange for approval by the federal justice department and the Federal Communications Commission.… More

FCC's unwritten privacy rules will have an equally ill-defined effect on Internet business

25 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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We can hope.

Your Internet service provider collects a lot of information about you and they use some of it for marketing purposes. AT&T is getting particularly aggressive about doing so, offering a discount on its GigaWeasel service to customers who agree to let it watch what they’re watching, and target ads accordingly..

Assuming that the Federal Communication Commission’s new, common carrier Internet regulations go into effect next month, the restrictions on what ISPs can do with their knowledge of you will get tighter.… More

FCC issues Catch-222 advisory

23 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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I’m glad we had this chat.

In case you were still wondering, the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to bring Internet service and infrastructure under common carrier regulation was not simply about whether Comcast can block you from watching Netflix. As a statement from the FCC’s enforcement bureau emphasises, there are a lot of other rules involved, particularly those that deal with how Internet service providers use and/or safeguard information about you.

Except, no one, not even the FCC enforcement bureau, knows what those rules are.… More