Future of the Internet

FCC Debates Open Internet at April 17 Stanford Hearing

Holiday Shapiro — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:34:24 -0700

Today, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it will hold a second public hearing on the future of the Internet on April 17 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.

10 Ways the Internet (As We Know It) Will Die

Stevie Converse — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:48:11 -0700

We often think of the Internet as a platform for unfettered global communication, where information flows freely, innovators can launch new applications at will, and everyone can have a voice. But it's unlikely that our children's Internet will look anything like what we have now.

Fine Print on ISP Contract Can Be Amusing, But Leave Few Rights

Stevie Converse — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:16:56 -0700

What's scary, funny and boring at the same time? It could be a bad horror movie. Or it could be the fine print on your Internet service provider's contract. Those documents you agree to -- usually without reading -- ostensibly allow your ISP to watch how you use the Internet, read your e-mail or keep you from visiting sites it deems inappropriate.

Poster for Future of the Internet Hearing at Stanford

Holiday Shapiro — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:10:08 -0700

Help spread the word and get the public out to the FCC's Public Hearing on the Future of the Internet. April 17th, at Standford University.

Download the flier >>

700 MHz Trial Balloon

Stevie Converse — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:40:27 -0700

Telecom policymakers and special-interest groups are fond of talking about ubiquity, making sure communications -- wireless, wireline, Internet and video -- are within reach of all Americans.

Exaflood Revisited

Stevie Converse — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:03:56 -0700

So, it's back to the exaflood. Once more we are seeing extravagant claims of a massive internet traffic jam.

Chatting with Verizon Wireless's Lowell McAdam

Stevie Converse — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 04:53:04 -0700

I sat down this morning with Verizon Wireless Chief Executive Lowell McAdam to talk about the company's recent $9.5 billion purchase of radio spectrum, it moves to open its existing networks, and the hottest applications for cell phone users today.

Sony BMG's Hypocrisy: Company Busted for Using Warez

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:21:51 -0700

Sony BMG is no stranger to piracy. As one of the most vocal supporters of the RIAA and IFPI antipiracy efforts, the company has some experience hunting down and punishing consumers who don't pay for its products. The company is getting some experience on the other side of the table, however, now that it's being sued for software piracy.

New Ruling May 'Grease the Wheels' of RIAA Litigation Machine

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:16:50 -0700

One of the biggest questions facing both defendants and the RIAA in the record labels' legal campaign against P2P users is whether making a file available for download over a P2P network equates to distribution as defined under the Copyright Act. In a long-awaited ruling, a federal judge essentially validated the RIAA's position that having songs available in a KaZaA shared folder violates the distribution right under the Copyright Act.

Advertisers, Privacy Advocates Debate Where to Draw Line

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:53:42 -0700

A pending bill in New York that would regulate online ad targeting is drawing mixed reactions. Privacy advocates praise the bill's substance, saying that proposals to curb online data collection practices are long overdue.

Bad News for Google, Yahoo: Surfers Know They're Being Tracked, and Hate It

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:46:58 -0700

Web surfers know full well their online tracks are being followed for advertising purposes, and they don't like it, says TNS Global.

Web Surfers Know Advertisers Are Watching -- and Don't Like It

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:42:02 -0700

When I visit digg, I most often get ads for shoes available at Cole Haan and Nine West. Incidentally, I happen to like shoes from those retailers, and although I don't really need to buy new shoes, I find myself clicking through on occasion to see what's goin' on in the world of overpriced footwear. One could say I'm the perfect victim for targeted advertising, and I would agree.

Tech Policy: Jump-Starting Our Tech Policy

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:18:43 -0700

Perhaps the only thing that's actually improved over the last eight years under President Bush is technology (if not tech policy). In the sense that Nixon presided over an age of great films like The Godfather, the Bush era was also the age of Wikipedia,

We Want It, and Waiting Is No Option

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:54:56 -0700

The Virgin Megastore in Times Square was bustling last Thursday during the lunch hour, but with two remarkably different universes of consumers. One group of shoppers -- none of whom appeared to be under 40 -- were browsing manually through CDs, no doubt some of them drawn by Virgin’s profit-killing $10 price.

CIA Enlists Google's Help for Spy Work

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:11:08 -0700

Google has been recruited by US intelligence agencies to help them better process and share information they gather about suspects. Agencies such as the National Security Agency have bought servers on which Google-supplied search technology is used to process information gathered by networks of spies around the world.

Online Chat, as Inspired by Real Chat

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:50:41 -0700

Compared with other forms of human interaction, online social networking is really not all that social. People visit each other’s MySpace pages and Facebook profiles at various hours of the day, posting messages and sending e-mail back and forth across the digital void. It’s like an endless party where everybody shows up at a different time and slaps a yellow Post-it note on the refrigerator.

Survey Finds Journalists Are Working More -- and Working More Online

Stevie Converse — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:34:07 -0700

The shift from print to online is giving journalists more responsibility, changing job requirements, and more awareness of the commercial side of the business, according to the "2008 PRWeek/PR Newswire Media Survey" announced today. A total of 1,231 people -- including newspaper, magazine, TV, radio, and online journalists -- were polled.

Phones Will Soon Tell Where You Are

Stevie Converse — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:29:26 -0700

Would you want other people to know, all day long, exactly where you are, right down to the street corner or restaurant? Unsettling as that may sound to some, wireless carriers are betting that many of their customers do, and they're rolling out services to make it possible.

Finding Political News Online, the Young Pass It On

Stevie Converse — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:06:32 -0700

Senator Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) videotaped response to President Bush's final State of the Union address — almost five minutes of Mr. Obama's talking directly to the camera — elicited little attention from newspaper and television reporters in January. But on the medium it was made for, the Internet, the video caught fire.

Hopes for Wireless Cities Fade as Internet Providers Pull Out

Stevie Converse — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:13:05 -0700

It was hailed as Internet for the masses when Philadelphia officials announced plans in 2005 to erect the largest municipal Wi-Fi grid in the country, stretching wireless access over 135 square miles with the hope of bringing free or low-cost service to all residents, especially the poor.