Monday links: Comcast and P2P
On Friday, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin announced his recommendation that Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, not receive a fine for network management practices that were criticized by Martin. Martin is recommending that Comcast disclose to the Commission the network management practices it uses, and to change current practices. Those recommendations will be voted on by the Commission on August 1st.
All of this is a reaction to Comcast's efforts to manage network bandwidth in response to peer-to-peer applications that gobble up disproportionate amounts of bandwidth. Comcast announced last month that they are testing so called "protocol agnostic" network management techniques that target only those using a disporportionate amount of bandwidth - not specific applications or protocols.
The blogs and other news outlets were filled with stories on Friday and over the weekend about Martin's announcement. Here are links to articles on this issue. I think you'll enjoy the IP Democracy article which focuses on the the rationale that Comcast is using to challenge the FCC on this issue.
FCC to Whack Comcast on P2P. The Games Begin. [IP Democracy]
FCC Chairman Recommends No Fine for Comcast [CNN.com]
An Imminent Victory for ‘Net Neutrality’ Advocates [NYT Bits Blog]
In other news. . .
The Media Institute Examines Google [Cable Tech Talk]
This post links to an article from The Media Institute that accuses Google of self-interests in its net-neutrality position and its position in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by media giant Viacom against Google's YouTube site. Google has cloaked their net-neutrality advocacy as a high-minded, principled position. I wrote on Friday about Google's attempts to regulate potential competitors while advocating deregulation of their role in the Internet experience. The nonprofit Media Institute's article is a good companion piece to the one I wrote.
Apple Sells 1 Million New iPhones in First Weekend [New York Times]
Apparently the problems with iPhone activation didn't dissuade the masses from picking one up this weekend. Apple is reporting today that 1 million iPhones were sold over the weekend. This article hints that these large sales numbers were aided by the fact that the phone was unveiled in 20 countries in addition to the U.S.
Since the FCC is now a political branch of the White House. I wonder how many public officials are getting that Comcast money?
Posted by: ARGO | July 14, 2008 at 11:36 AM