Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

FCC Chairman: Too soon for net neutrality rules

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Monday that it would be premature for the agency to issue rules on the doctrine of Net neutrality, which would prevent discrimination in the delivery of services over the Web. . . .

Martin added that the commission has demonstrated its willingness to step in and take action if it sees, for example, a large cable or phone company discriminating against certain content providers. However, he said: “We’re not seeing widespread examples of abuses in the marketplace that would justify us trying to adopt rules at this time.”

The FCC chair said the commission’s main objectives under his watch are to make sure broadband deployment continues; that the regulatory environment “rewards” investors in new technologies; that there be sufficient competition to ensure “more innovation” and benefits for consumers; and that there be an “even playing field” that “treats like services alike.”

Specifically, he referred to digital subscriber line-based broadband technology and the cable modem, which enable users to obtain fast Internet connections.

Net Neutrality: Who’s David? Who’s Goliath?

I guess since they really only care about one side of the value chain of the Internet – the side that touches the users – they are viewed as representing the “little guy,” the end-user, the consumer. In reality, they are using their market power and big business lobbying oomph (that is a technical term) to shape the debate so that they can benefit from the network but don’t have to invest in it.

The “other” side of the debate, mainly the service providers, are trying not to get their hands tied in developing next generation networks with speeds and feeds that will be able to support all the high-bandwidth consumer and business applications that are coming down the pike. They actually care deeply about consumers as well, which is why they are seeking help from their large users (see pro-net-neutrality advocates above) to pay for differentiated services and quality of service which will help offset the huge cost of their infrastructure investment.

Craigslist is being blocked by Cox Interactive – is this a net neutrality issue? By Tom Foremski for Silicon Valley Watcher

An SVW reader left this tip:

I use Cox cable internet, Cox’s media empire printed classifieds is one of their big revenue drivers. Guess what? If you try to access Craigslist over Cox Cable internet… its nearly impossible! It appears that they throttle access to craigslist – as a matter of fact there have been a zillion complaints but hey, who can blame Cox? They’re trying to stop the opening cap in their money dam! Maybe you should investigate this tip further. Cheers.

I did investigate further, I walked out of my apartment and across Alamo Square and popped in on Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craigslist. Jim was just getting back from work and I spoke with Susan Best, publicist for Craigslist. Susan said they have known about the problem with Cox.

Jim soon arrived and said the problem of access had been going on since late February. It had something to do with the security software that Cox isusing from a company called Authentium.

Cox has been collaborating with Authentium since April 2005 to develop the security software suite.

Back on February 23rd Authentium acknowledged that their software is blocking Craigslist but it still hasn’t fixed the problem, more than three months later. That’s a heck of long time to delete some text from their blacklist. . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE