Our Efforts Bearing Fruit

Regular readers are aware of my Op-Ed criticizing Google’s rapacious ways, written for the San Francisco Chronicle and subsequently re-printed in the Washington Times. That doesn’t happen too often, BTW. The Wall St. Journal reports that the Justice Department is paying attention: WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has quietly hired one of the nation’s best-known … Continue reading “Our Efforts Bearing Fruit”

Regular readers are aware of my Op-Ed criticizing Google’s rapacious ways, written for the San Francisco Chronicle and subsequently re-printed in the Washington Times. That doesn’t happen too often, BTW. The Wall St. Journal reports that the Justice Department is paying attention:

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has quietly hired one of the nation’s best-known litigators, former Walt Disney Co. vice chairman Sanford Litvack, for a possible antitrust challenge to Google Inc.’s growing power in advertising.

Mr. Litvack’s hiring is the strongest signal yet that the U.S. is preparing to take court action against Google and its search-advertising deal with Yahoo Inc. The two companies combined would account for more than 80% of U.S. online-search ads.

Google shares tumbled 5.5%, or $24.30, to $419.95 in 4 p.m. trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, while Yahoo shares were up 18 cents to $18.26.

For weeks, U.S. lawyers have been deposing witnesses and issuing subpoenas for documents to support a challenge to the deal, lawyers close to the review said. Such efforts don’t always mean a case will be brought, however.

An 80% market share in search ads is not good for democracy, of course, so we applaud the impending suit in advance.

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Electoral Math

Apparently many Americans vote with their sex organs. In the latest polls, McCain leads Obama: Many of the shifts toward McCain stem from gains among white women, voters his team hoped to sway with the pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate. White women shifted from an eight-point pre-convention edge for … Continue reading “Electoral Math”

Apparently many Americans vote with their sex organs. In the latest polls, McCain leads Obama:

Many of the shifts toward McCain stem from gains among white women, voters his team hoped to sway with the pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate. White women shifted from an eight-point pre-convention edge for Obama to a 12-point McCain advantage now.

So while McCain is a cynical bastard for putting an unqualified woman on his ticket, he’s not stupid.

Kevin Martin threatens Comcast

Kevin Martin is upset that Comcast has challenged his authority by filing a lawsuit against the FCC for making up law out of thin air. The Chairman of the FCC expressed his scorn by releasing a statement that makes him sound like one of the dumbest men in America: “Given Comcast’s past failure to disclose … Continue reading “Kevin Martin threatens Comcast”

Kevin Martin is upset that Comcast has challenged his authority by filing a lawsuit against the FCC for making up law out of thin air. The Chairman of the FCC expressed his scorn by releasing a statement that makes him sound like one of the dumbest men in America:

“Given Comcast’s past failure to disclose its network management practices to its customers, it is important Comcast respond to the many still-unanswered questions about its new management techniques,” Martin warned in a statement released this afternoon. Most notably, what exactly does Comcast mean when it says it will have a “protocol agnostic” management system in place by the end of the year?

And as for the bandwidth limits that Comcast has now announced: “How will consumers know if they are close to a limit?” Martin asked. “If a consumer exceeds a limit, is his traffic slowed? Is it terminated? Is his service turned off?”

Let’s see if we can help the Chairman:

1. The “end of the year” is December 31, at midnight. In urban areas, people will make noise and drink a lot. It would be good for Kevin Martin to be among them.

2. Comcast has said they’ll write a *very mean letter* to customers over the 250 GB limit and among the top 1% in bandwidth consumption. It was in the papers, but not on the funny page.

3. I won’t define “protocol agnostic” as that subject was covered, at length, the order the FCC’s lawyers wrote in the Comcast matter. Martin should have one of them explain it to him.

Where did Bush find this person?

Google Chrome is Sad

Chrome is a Windows-only browser: This is just the beginning – Google Chrome is far from done. We’ve released this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We’re hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and we’ll continue to make it even faster … Continue reading “Google Chrome is Sad”

Chrome is a Windows-only browser:

This is just the beginning – Google Chrome is far from done. We’ve released this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We’re hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and we’ll continue to make it even faster and more robust.

…and I spend most of my time on Fedora Linux, being an open-source kinda guy, so I wasn’t eager to try it out. But I did install it on my Windows Vista 64 machine, the one that I use to host Virtual Box. It’s clear that Chrome has lots of potential, because it’s fast and clean. But it lacks basic browser features, such as:

1. A modern bookmark handler. You can’t even keep your bookmarks open in a sidebar, so it’s back to Mosaic circa 1996. Chrome doesn’t like bookmarks because Google would rather have you search.

2. Plug-in support. I use ScribeFire to post to my blog, and without it WordPress is useless. Chrome doesn’t support plug-ins because they would slow it down.

3. Linux support.

So it’s nice to load pages fast, but Firefox will have to do because all the shortcomings are too severe for regular use.

Comcast Appeals

Comcast has appealed the FCC’s crazy order in the DC Circuit today. Here’s the statement: Although we are seeking review and reversal of the Commission’s network management order in federal court, we intend to comply fully with the requirements established in that order, which essentially codify the voluntary commitments that we have already announced, and … Continue reading “Comcast Appeals”

Comcast has appealed the FCC’s crazy order in the DC Circuit today. Here’s the statement:

Although we are seeking review and reversal of the Commission’s network management order in federal court, we intend to comply fully with the requirements established in that order, which essentially codify the voluntary commitments that we have already announced, and to continue to act in accord with the Commission’s Internet Policy Statement. Thus, we intend to make the required filings and disclosures, and we will follow through on our longstanding commitment to transition to protocol-agnostic network congestion management practices by the end of this year. We also remain committed to bringing our customers a superior Internet experience.

We filed this appeal in order to protect our legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the Commission found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules. We continue to recognize that the Commission has jurisdiction over Internet service providers and may regulate them in appropriate circumstances and in accordance with appropriate procedures. However, we are compelled to appeal because we strongly believe that, in this particular case, the Commission’s action was legally inappropriate and its findings were not justified by the record.

It’s a little odd that they have to appeal to resolve the procedural irregularities despite planning to follow the order anyhow. But that’s life.

Media Access Project has already filed appeals in the 2nd, 3rd, and 9th circuits, in an attempt to create a jurisdiction fight that would have to be resolved by the Supremes. MAP wants the court to waive the phase out period for Comcast’s Sandvine system, but that’s simply a pretext for the jurisdiction fight.

Story in Broadcasting and Cable.

I didn’t say it

The McCain campaign is rallying around Sarah Palin: Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn suggested that Palin’s work on the parent-teacher association of her son’s school gave her useful experience for the vice-presidency. “Every woman in this room knows that if you can handle being a room mother … a PTA chairwoman, Girl Scout cookie mom, there’s … Continue reading “I didn’t say it”

The McCain campaign is rallying around Sarah Palin:

Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn suggested that Palin’s work on the parent-teacher association of her son’s school gave her useful experience for the vice-presidency.

“Every woman in this room knows that if you can handle being a room mother … a PTA chairwoman, Girl Scout cookie mom, there’s a lot of things you have the ability, the organisational skills, to handle. She transferred those leadership skills to the political arena.”

Damning with faint praise.

This is out-front and honest: Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan talking about the Palin nomination on hot mikes. Money quote: “It’s over” – Noonan.

Your broadband service is going to get more expensive

See my article in The Register to understand why your broadband bill is going to rise: Peer-to-peer file sharing just got a lot more expensive in the US. The FCC has ordered Comcast to refrain from capping P2P traffic, endorsing a volume-based pricing scheme that would “charge the most aggressive users overage fees” instead. BitTorrent, … Continue reading “Your broadband service is going to get more expensive”

See my article in The Register to understand why your broadband bill is going to rise:

Peer-to-peer file sharing just got a lot more expensive in the US. The FCC has ordered Comcast to refrain from capping P2P traffic, endorsing a volume-based pricing scheme that would “charge the most aggressive users overage fees” instead. BitTorrent, Inc. reacted to the ruling by laying-off 15 per cent of its workforce, while network neutrality buffs declared victory and phone companies quietly celebrated. Former FCC Chairman Bill Kennard says the legal basis of the order is “murky.”

Comcast will probably challenge on grounds that Congress never actually told the regulator to micro-manage the Internet. In the absence of authority to regulate Internet access, the Commission has never had a need to develop rules to distinguish sound from unsound management practice. The order twists itself into a pretzel in a Kafka-esque attempt to justify sanctions in the absence of such rules.
Technically speaking, they’re very confused

The FCC’s technical analysis is puzzling, to say the least.

The order describes an all-powerful IP envelope, seeking to evoke an emotional response to Deep Packet Inspection. The order claims the DPI bugaboo places ISPs on the same moral plane as authoritarian regimes that force under-aged athletes into involuntary servitude. But this is both uninformed and misleading. Network packets actually contain several “envelopes”, one for each protocol layer, nested inside one another like Russian dolls. Network management systems examine all envelopes that are relevant, and always have, because there’s great utility in identifying protocols.

The FCC’s order is especially bad for people who use both P2P and Skype. The comments lack the usual snarkiness, and I don’t know if that’s good or bad.

UPDATE: Right on cue, a price war is breaking out between cable and phone companies, according to the Wall St. Journal. I wonder if the converts are going to be the high-volume users worried about the caps, or the nice, low volume grannies every carrier wants.

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The best broadband in the world

I ran the Speedmatters test on my Comcast connection today, just for the fun of it (OK, I’m bored with this Obama vs. the Moose Hunter stuff.) This test is sponsored by the Communication Workers union, as an argument for taxpayer subsidies for broadband. The results I got are not what they’re hoping for: So … Continue reading “The best broadband in the world”

I ran the Speedmatters test on my Comcast connection today, just for the fun of it (OK, I’m bored with this Obama vs. the Moose Hunter stuff.) This test is sponsored by the Communication Workers union, as an argument for taxpayer subsidies for broadband. The results I got are not what they’re hoping for:

So my little Comcast account is faster than all that fiber in Japan and Korea.

So why all the whining?

What was McCain thinking?

Hmmm. (Skip the first 8 minutes, it’s just the old man rambling.) She’s young, good-looking, inexperienced, a bit ideological, and a member of a marginal group; just like Barack Obama, actually. But she’s running for VP, not to be the big dog. She’s not at all embarrassing, not a Katherine Harris, Harriet Miers, or Dan … Continue reading “What was McCain thinking?”

Hmmm. (Skip the first 8 minutes, it’s just the old man rambling.) She’s young, good-looking, inexperienced, a bit ideological, and a member of a marginal group; just like Barack Obama, actually. But she’s running for VP, not to be the big dog. She’s not at all embarrassing, not a Katherine Harris, Harriet Miers, or Dan Quayle. All in all, a good contrast to Biden who’s tainted with the scent of corruption.

This just might work for McCain.

UPDATE: But seriously, what was McCain thinking? Palin is a nice woman, but there’s no way in hell she should be allowed inside the White House if not on a tour. McCain has effectively conceded the election. Welcome to the Oval Office, President Obama, listen to Sen. Biden carefully and don’t screw too many things up.

Comcast defines “excessive use”

Comcast has modified its terms of use to clarify that “excessive use” is 250 GB per month. If you download more than this, and are on the list of heaviest users, you’ll get a letter from Comcast telling you to dial it back. If you don’t you’ll be canned. Over-limit fees are not part of … Continue reading “Comcast defines “excessive use””

Comcast has modified its terms of use to clarify that “excessive use” is 250 GB per month. If you download more than this, and are on the list of heaviest users, you’ll get a letter from Comcast telling you to dial it back. If you don’t you’ll be canned. Over-limit fees are not part of the deal:

In May when the cap was first rumored, there was also buzz that Comcast might try to charge customers $15 for every 10GB they went over the limit. As far as we can tell from Comcast’s announcement and the accompanying FAQ page, that is not the case… yet, anyway. Even so, Comcast’s honesty with the 250GB cap will probably only go so far, and customers with the option to do so may end up turning to an ISP such as AT&T, Verizon, or Qwest that has the infrastructure available to offer broadband without bandwidth limits.

Most people will never come anywhere close to 250 GB, but there’s a lot of adverse reaction to this plan, mainly on the issue of Comcast making it hard for you to know how much you’ve used in the current month. You may be able to get this info from your home router, but there’s no guarantee.

Regarding the threat of heaviest users to take their business elsewhere, I;m guessing Comcast won’t miss them a whole lot.

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