Search Results for: neutrality

FCC Chair Kevin Martin told Globalcomm delegates on Monday that there is no need for the FCC to intervene further into the issue of Net Neutrality.

Martin is quoted by Marketwatch as saying:

Like the digestive effects of my Superbowl chicken wings, the issue of Net Neutrality just won’t go away [stay tuned next January for my recipe for wings]. And like my wings, I’ll bet you can’t help but come back to this issue for more!

xchange magazine has staked its turf in the battle, and it appears to be more to the right than even I would venture. As part of the magazine’s e-book series, there is a piece of propaganda that confuses Net Neutrality and Fair Use in a free download.

Part of the nature of independence in my consulting is my willingness to take shots at either sides of an issue – awarding darts and laurels where appropriate. There is cause to present both types to each both side of what should be a more serious discussion of a reasonable set of operating rules for compensation for use of private assets that make up the global network.

Apparently, some network operators, looking for a catchy term for their position on the issue of net neutrality have hijacked the term ‘fair use’ from the copyright dialog. As we have written before, the issues are related, so I am somewhat concerned that using ‘fair use’ to refer to the antithesis of net neutrality will do nothing more than add more confusion to an already difficult discussion. Dart to the service providers. Get better marketing and be sure to distance yourselves from this piece in Xchange!

We’ll be hearing more at The Canadian Telecom Summit on this issue.

The CRTC has found that TBayTel discriminated against a competitor, but it also determined that its actions were not ‘unjust discrimination’ under the Telecom Act.

The case involved roaming arrangements between TBayTel and Superior Wireless and the decisions by both companies to compete in each other’s base markets.

The finding of discrimination was based on the fact that TBayTel treated the customers of Superior Wireless differently from the way it treats roaming customers of other carriers.

However, in its determination that there was no ‘unjust’ discrimination, the Commission considered the degree of competition in wireless services:

The CRTC found that Superior’s customers have alternatives available to them to mitigate the impact of TBayTel’s discriminatory actions.

Will the CRTC apply the same principles in assessing Network Neutrality complaints?

Michael Geist has been reminding us that, with other issues like net neutrality (among others) grabbing people’s interest, the scourge of spam is perhaps forgotten but hardly gone away.

My ISP uses two different filter systems to try to minimize the amount of spam I receive. Last week, the ISP successfully blocked 835 messages, perhaps costing me the opportunity to save a lot on prescriptions from Canada and leaving my wife without the benefit of me purchasing chemical performance enhancements. My PC filtered another couple hundred messages.

I am actually far more concerned about filters blocking legitimate mail – I had 10 messages blocked that should not have tripped the filters. Ten people who thought I was ignoring their urgent requests for information. To them I say – sorry. I promise, if I want to ignore you, I’ll do it to your face.

How do we address spam in legislation? Defining it is one problem. Effectively stopping it, instead of simply chasing the spammer off-shore, is another. As I wrote last week, we shouldn’t legislate etiquette. I think that a democracy gives you the right to be merely offensive and annoying – otherwise, my brother would say that I should have been put behind bars years ago.

Where would you draw the line?

I was just minding my own business, surfing around various blogs in a lonely search for voices of reason when I tripped across a blog hosted by Xanga.com: the self-proclaimed “Weblog Community”. The site came up with the following message:

Seriously! This was really posted.

Now, when I first saw this message, it didn’t have the correction to the original 4 pm target for restoration, nor the ‘P.S.’. And I don’t know if the 7 pm time is going to be met.

But, hello Xanga: This is no way to run a hosting service!

Your operations team has actually wasted a lot of effort in moving out of your old location. Hopefully, you no longer have a space problem. Any of your customers with half a brain have left and found a service provider that actually takes their clients’ needs into consideration.

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Update: As of 5:15pm, Xanga appears to be back in service. The Xanga.com home page has a note that appears to have been posted yesterday, warning folks that the service would be down until 2 pm.

I’m guessing that most of their customers are on the free service. And they are getting exactly what they are paying for in service quality. But I’m willing to bet that they support Net Neutrality!