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Net Neutrality 9-21-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Commerce Poll on Telecom Bill Reeks of Desperation

The Senate Commerce Committee released yesterday, and posted on its web site today, a Verizon-funded push-poll that not surprisingly finds 1. Most Americans want competition in cable and 2. Most Americans are opposed to “onerous” (that’s the word used by the supposedly independent “bi-partisan” write-up of the poll results) net neutrality regulations.

[ . . .].

Check out the poll’s loaded question on net neutrality:

Which of the following two items do you think is the most important to you:

Delivering the benefits of new TV and video choice so consumers will see increased competition and lower prices for cable TV

OR

Enhancing Internet neutrality by barring high speed internet providers from offering specialized services like faster speed and increased security for a fee

Faced with this choice, is it any surprise that 66% of the 800 registered voters surveyed (91% of whom were clueless about net neutrality) opted for the delightful delivery of benefits of new video choices over the insidious barring of cool new services such as faster broadband and better security?

The survey, conducted by not one but two bought-and-paid-for political polling firms, Public Opinion Strategies and The Glover Park Group, is just routine message manipulation by the pollsters . . . But the fact that once again, the United States Senate is disseminating corporate propaganda on one of its most powerful committee’s web sites, funded by stiffs like you and me, should get everybody hopping mad.

. . . The Senate Commerce Committee has given up even a thin veneer of working for the public. It’s working for Verizon now.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Net Neutrality 9-20-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Politicians battle over network neutrality

Ben Scott, policy director of the media-oriented lobbying and outreach organization Free Press, said . . .

“Imagine what it looks like when you create a multitiered Internet – you create a fast quality of service for people who pay a lot of money,” he said. “Essentially you’re creating Internet that’s best for those who can pay the most.”

In a system without expanded infrastructure, Scott said, that would mean those who cannot pay the most would have a degraded quality of service.

It’s important to distinguish between consumer tiers and those that would be on the Internet itself, Scott said.

“We’re each buying different amounts of bandwidth, but once we pay our fee and get online, it’s the same quality of access,” he said. “No one decides which Web site goes fast, which goes slow.”

[ . . .]

Alok Gupta, department chairman and Carlson School of Management professor of Information and Decision Sciences, said services that are not free now can be provided for free should companies be able to charge for services that require a higher level of access.

“You can not only have more incentives for investment, but you can actually increase social welfare by providing multiple levels of access,” he said.

The real danger in this area is if media companies merge with infrastructure companies, he said.

Implementation of a multitiered system requires some thoughtfulness, Gupta said, as legislators cannot let companies do whatever they want.

“If the network slows down because of high level of activity, that is natural; but purposeful degradation of services should not be allowed,” he said. “That’s the real legislative issue. That’s something we need laws about which we don’t have right now – not that it should be illegal to provide differential services.”

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Net Neutrality 9-19-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Google will flex political muscles
PAC to raise money for causes, candidates; lobbyists on board

Google filed paperwork Thursday to register its political action committee, Google NetPAC, with the Federal Election Commission. The company intends to use the committee “to support candidates who promote an open and free Internet for our users,” according to Alan Davidson, Google’s Washington policy counsel.

In addition, Google bolstered its clout by hiring former Republican Sens. Dan Coats of Indiana and Connie Mack of Florida as outside lobbyists. The political veterans may go a long way in building Google’s ties with Republicans, a group widely considered to be the opposition based on the overwhelming preference by Google employees to make campaign contributions to Democrats.

[ . . .]

Google’s push in Washington also involves co-sponsoring its first political fundraiser. On Wednesday, the company, along with eBay Inc. and TechNet, a technology industry group, will hold an event for embattled Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., at the Capitol Hill Club, a swanky Republican redoubt in Washington.

[ . . .]

Google’s move is somewhat uncharacteristic given its independent streak, down to its corporate motto, “Don’t be evil.” But as the company has grown into a major presence in U.S. business it has been thrust into political debates on which ride tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

“This is very, very symptomatic of the way high tech has evolved in California,” said Larry Gerston, political science professor at San Jose State University and an expert on Silicon Valley politics. “These companies started out with an entrepreneurial spirit and a feeling that what was important was the product and the people, so they didn’t have to care about politics. But as they become more sophisticated, they realized that politics could either protect them or hurt them.”

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Net Neutrality 9-18-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Why Distrust Bell Promises on Net Neutrality

The dirty secret of modern telecomm is that all the money is in wireless. Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless provider. Verizon advertising claims only “the network” can guarantee good wireless service. (That is a lie.) Verizon claims it offers Internet service off its phones.

Does it? Not on your tintype.

Even The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg refers to the Verizon and Cingular networks as “Soviet Ministries.” They decide what online services users will be able to access, and at what price. They also take money from both sides of every information transaction.

When challenged about this, they lie. That’s right, they lie. They claim that if someone was unhappy with a third party they would complain to Verizon. As though people complain to their ISPs about every bad site visit they have. As though the mobile companies were paragons of customer service. They are not.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Bloggy Question 21 — Are You California Dreaming?

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Monday, Monday, Can’t Trust That Day

For those who come looking for a short, thoughtful read, a blogging life discussion, or a way to gradually ease back into the week, I offer this Blogging Hypothetical Question.

A friend explains a situation with a potential client who works in a field that suits the friend’s skills, style, and experience to a T. The more you hear, the more you think that the client needs your friend’s help to grow his business. You know the guy’s on the level. You’ve met some of his clients. They speak highly of his work.

The client-to-be is an entrepreneur with important clients, and he’s stuck where entrepreneurs with important clients often get stuck. Your friend is an expert at helping people stretch and expand their dreams. She can show him where to go next, how to get there, and how to delegate. . . .

The problem is that he has some form of “bad date” syndrome. He says he’ll call Monday to set up a meeting — Monday, Monday — pick one the call keeps getting rescheduled. She says he calls with other questions, but doesn’t return phone calls or emails from her. Of course, he treats his clients differently.

Last week a meeting (time and place too this time) was made to set goals. Your friend wants to let the client know that now the work must begin. She knows that relationships that start shaky can turn out to be the best ones . . . but she’s starting to talk about her own disappointment not the potential client’s needs.

What advice do you have for her?

Is this client worth saving or all this time has she been “California Dreaming?”

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Great Find: PEW Internet and American Life Project

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Who Are These Guys?

If you write about the Internet, you have not done so already, I predict that a quote from the PEW report is in your future. . . .

Great Find: PEW Internet and American Life Project

Permalink: http://www.pewinternet.org/

Audience/Topic: Anyone who researches writing on modern American life and technology

Content: I never heard of PEW & the American Life Project until I started blogging. Yet reesearch blogging or the Internet and PEW information is likely to be there long before you — quoted as the source of the facts. That’s because PEW is always testing, constantly testing — through nationwide (random-digit) telephone and Internet surveys on the impact of the Internet on American Life.

With that in mind, I’ve collected these few facts before I send you there to explore this goldmine of writing ideas and support.

The PEW Mission
The Pew Internet & American Life Project produces reports that explore the impact of the Internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life. The Project aims to be an authoritative source on the evolution of the Internet through collection of data and analysis of real-world developments as they affect the virtual world.

The Key Researchers
The key researchers work in areas of specialty.
Lee Rainie, Project Director,studies trends in how people of all ages use the Internet.
Deborah Fallows, Senior Research Fellow, follows Email, spam, and everyday life on the Web.
Susannah Fox, Associate Director, Editorial. keeps an eye to privacy and trust, health and health care, support groups, banking, and senior citizens.
John Horrigan. Associate Director, Research, follows social and economic impact of Internet on communities and cities, broadband trends and impacts, adoption of new technologies, and online communities.
Steve Jones, Senior Research Fellow, works in these research areas: College Students, College Students and Gaming, Communities, Copyright, Education, Intellectual Property, Internet in Daily Life, Music, Seniors, Technology Consumption, Teens, Terrorism, Workplace
Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist, concentrates on issues regarding children, teens, parents and the Internet, the digital divide, education, content creation, blogging, instant messaging.
Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist, researches copyright issues, music and the internet, intellectual property issues online, teens and communication technology, college students and the internet, online communities, demographic trends in online pursuits.

The reports each researcher has written are listed on his or her bio page.

The PEW and American Life Project has 100 reports, email alerts, “find an expert,” presentations, a searchable database, a commentary section an “ask a question” service, and invitations to participate in furure polls.

To get there click the title shot below.

PEW Internet

Every time I think I’ve seen all they offer, I discover move.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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