With Theopeninter.net, web designer Michael Ciarlo has given you the holiday gift of being able to explain to the less web savvy members of your friends and family what net neutrality means (basically) and why exactly laymen should care about the FCC’s recent attempts to create “enforcable” Internet regulations.
And while granted there’s a lot more complexity surrounding the issue than “All ISPs… → Read More
The new Net Neutrality rules put off most of the hard questions—but who does that help and hurt?
When government faces a tough decision, it has three options: “Aye,” “Nay,” or “Kay”—“Kick the Can.” Postponement is attractive, and the Obama administration’s 2010 Net Neutrality rule has transformed can-kicking, the traditional domain of small children, into an art form. In… → Read More
We’ve already covered the FCC Net Neutrality vote earlier today, but something new has come to light. Something that’s very odd. Something that’s quite frankly a little terrifying.
Engadget dug up the FCC’s release [PDF] and found the following nugget buried in the all-important section “Measured Steps for Mobile Broadband”: → Read More
With a 3 to 2 vote earlier today, the FCC has put its stamp of approval on Net Neutrality. The funny thing is that it seems both “sides” of the debate are upset. On one hand you’ve got the detractors who say it’s nothing but an “unholy scheme” designed to bring the Internet under the unnecessary (if not unlawful) control of the government. A bit dramatic, but OK. On the other hand you’ve… → Read More
In a 3-2 vote split down party lines the FCC approved the first “enforceable” net neutrality regulations this morning. These rules face opposition from all sides, with some holding that FCC has overstepped its boundaries and others saying that the still unpublished framework does not offer enough protection.
“Given the importance of an open Internet to our economic future…it is essential that… → Read More
Reading Drudge and the Wall Street Journal this morning had me concerned that Julius Genachowski, the FCC chairman, was going to smash my modem into tiny pieces with a +2 mace in the name of flexing regulatory muscle. Hardly. It’s true that the FCC will vote tomorrow whether or not to implement some sort of Net Neutrality regime, but considering that it’s already stated what it means to accomplish… → Read More
The FCC is magical place where gadgets randomly appear. Like this Technicolor TVA200 Media Touch 2.0. The FCC docs include internal and external photos along with a user manual. But even those don’t tell the whole story. What the hell is it? → Read More
For people who care, there’s another FCC bandwidth auction coming this July. They’re selling off more of the 700MHz range, which will probably start another bidding war between AT&T and Verizon. → Read More
Bookeen showed off the Cybook Orizon at CES 2010 and then later came clean with all the details. It’s a 6-inch, multi-touch e-reader that was supposed to hit retailers in the summer of 2010 for $250. That didn’t happen. It did however just hit the FCC which seems to state a 2011 release is on tap at a price point dramatically lower than originally planned. $250? *shudder* → Read More
The FCC has just released its latest report on the sate of broadband in the US of A, and the results are… less than encouraging, and for a number of reasons. The agency found that around two-thirds of Americans’ broadband connections don’t actually qualify as broadband under its definition. (Broadband to the FCC is 4 mbps down/1 mbps up.) What’s sorta odd is that this isn’t a result of the lack… → Read More
The political paralysis over network neutrality might be a microcosm of the broader political paralysis in America. Last week, after FCC chairman Julius Genachowksi laid out his Title I compromise strategy to finally resolve this seemingly never-ending debate, radical left and right wing groups conspired to destroy any possibility of consensus. On the left, activist groups like Free Press called… → Read More
In a characteristically provocative op-ed in last Friday’s Wall Street Journal, Silicon Valley bomb thrower Andy Kessler said “it’s time to close the Federal Communications Commission.” Directly reacting to last week’s speech by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski which attempted to map out a compromise on the network neutrality issue, Kessler argued that any attempt to regulate the web will… → Read More
The FCC continues to push for Net Neutrality, with an actual vote set for later this month. The Commission’s chair, Julius Genachowski, is set to give a speech on the subject today, but luckily it’s already been posted online. The reason for all of this? “The animating force behind all of these efforts is a shared appreciation for the Internet’s wondrous contributions to our economy and our… → Read More
A report in the Financial Times suggests that Net Neutrality may, once again, be on the docket. The FCC is looking to have everything wrapped up as early as its December 15 meeting. Whether or not that actual happens—there have been several false starts, of course—who knows? → Read More
Well, there she be, boys and girls. It’s the inside of the Boxee Box. Not much to see here besides the slightly chopped heatshink to make room for the trademark slanty design. Click through to the FCC if you need to kill a few more minutes. [FCC via Engadget] → Read More
Asus just had a new Lamborghini labeled product get approved by the FCC, for better or worse. The new mouse joins an already varied and colorful line of ill-advised products. I mean, really? Who buys a Lamborghini licensed mouse or laptop? If you own the car, you probably buy something a bit more high end, and if don’t have the car, you shouldn’t use one. It’s like the Ferrari or… → Read More
With today’s announcement of the new iPod Touch, you know there are certain people just itching to take a look at the inside, to tear it apart and see what changes have been made since the last time Apple updated the popular PMP player. Bad news boys; the FCC beat you to the punch. → Read More
Al Franken, the junior senator from Minnesota, wants you to help him save Net Neutrality. Given that Google may or may not be actively plotting to destroy Net Neutrality, it may be worth your time to sign the petition. → Read More
The iPod touch has always been looked upon like a phone-less iPhone, but users will soon be able to change that as suddenly, there’s a few different 3G jackets popping up. The seemingly Sprint-bound Peel hit the FCC a few days back and now a similar product was reviewed in China. The Apple Peel 520 (probably not officially endorsed by Apple) seems slightly different than the Sprint Peel as it’s… → Read More
The FCC will in fact be reregulating the ways we connect to the Internet in order to protect net neutrality, a report in The Wall Street Journal says today. Assuming this is true, it’s huge news, and potentially a huge win for consumers. But the big question will be: does it go far enough?
There isn’t much detail in the WSJ report, but the key part is that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s staff… → Read More
Looks like the FCC wants to replace your Cable Card with, I don’t know, something useful. The new device, dubbed “AllVid,” would work with a variety of media—TVs, computers, and the like—to deliver “multichannel video programming and Internet content.” And I’m the Queen of England~! → Read More
The FCC acknowledged on their official blog today that the court’s decision on the Comcast deal could hamper their national broadband plan. General Counsel of the FCC, Austin Schlick says that the court’s ruling that the FCC does not have the authority to enforce net neutrality was an “important ruling.”
“It undermines the legal approach the FCC adopted in 2005 to fulfill its statutory duty of… → Read More
This morning, the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dealt the FCC a major blow in its drive to impose net neutrality on the nation’s broadband providers. A panel of three judges ruled that the FCC did not have the authority to order Comcast to stop slowing down BitTorrent traffic, and, more, broadly, that the FCC does not have the authority to enforce net neutrality.
The case… → Read More
For the future of innovation in the United States, few things seem as important as access to broadband Internet connections. The FCC seems to realize this, which is why they’ve set up the National Broadband Plan. And yet, we’re screwed.
As Harvard Law professor Yochai Benkler lays out in an excellent op-ed today in the New York Times, this new broadband plan may sound great, but it won’t go… → Read More
Kudos to Comcast for embracing the year 2009. The nation’s largest—and quite possibly worst—ISP has finally committed itself to deploying 100 mbps broadband beginning this year. That will make the FCC happy, what with the loft goals it set with its National Broadband Plan. It’s also good news for people who know their way around things like Usenet—taps nose like a spy. Will it… → Read More
The FCC would like to know what you do with broadband. This is what I do, and what I imagine 99 percent of Americans use it for. → Read More
Might as well get this over with now. The FCC has announced its National Broadband Plan, which describes where the agency would like to see the U.S. in a few years’ time vis-à-vis broadband and connectedness. It’s sorta like the UK’s Digital Britain report, published last year. The big thing is this: it’s in America’s best interest to turn itself into a first-world nation again, and the best way… → Read More
Up until a moment ago, this was going to be a standard “newsy” post: the FCC will announce its National Broadband Plan on Tuesday, here’s what it’s all about. Then I read the comments of a PC World article discussing that very same plan—many people are outraged that the government would muscle its way into the free market! If Americans wanted fast broadband then the market would provide it… → Read More
In the second installment of a series of open interviews with government leaders, YouTube is going to field questions to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, following the launch of the National Broadband Plan next Tuesday (The FCC is the federal agency that oversees all elements of the U.S. communications sector). The plan aims to connect all Americans to fast… → Read More
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