Dissenting judge calls FCC net neutrality decision watery thin

17 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,

And hanging by the barest of threads

Tuesday’s decision by a federal appeals court to uphold the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to regulate broadband as a common carrier service was not unanimous. The dissenting judge made three points in his counter-opinion. Two are spot on and the third is a judgement call, one that the other two judges who heard the appeal fairly didn’t buy.

Stephen Williams agreed with his two colleagues – Sri Srinivasan and David Tatel – that the FCC can reclassify Internet access and make it a telecommunications service which is potentially subject to detailed regulatory oversight.… More

Big okay for California dig once bill

16 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Broadband infrastructure.

In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the California senate’s transportation and housing committee approved assembly bill 1549, a proposal carried by north coast assemblyman Jim Wood. I was among those at the hearing and prepared to speak on its behalf, but we took our cue from committee chair Jim Beall (D – Silicon Valley) who, in polite words, hinted there’s no opposition, we’re all in favor, so make it quick. So we did.… More

Broadband is a common carrier service, says federal appeals court

15 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,

It’s all about customer perception.

Call it two and a half out of three. That was the vote by a panel of federal appeals court judges as they tossed out challenges by a wide range of Internet service providers, and ruled that the Federal Communications Commission acted legally when it said broadband is a telecommunications service, rather than an information service, and imposed common carrier regulations on broadband service last year.

Two judges were completely in favor of the new rules, and the third agreed with some of their reasoning but dissented on other points.… More

Posted: appeals court decision affirming FCC net neutrality, common carrier rules

14 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,

Update:

The appeals court is putting its decision on hold for seven days, to allow time for further appeals. As a practical matter, it doesn’t mean much: the FCC’s broadband common carrier rules have been in effect all along and will remain in effect.

You can download the decision here:

United States Telecom Association, Et Al., Petitioners
V.
Federal Communications Commission And United States Of America,
Respondents
Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, Et Al.,
Intervenors

184 pages – good reading!… More

Federal appeals court rejects challenges to FCC net neutrality, broadband common carrier rules

14 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,

A federal appeals court has let stand the FCC decision that imposes common carrier regulations on broadband service

This is what the initial notice says:

JUDGMENT

These causes came on to be heard on the petitions for review of an order of the Federal Communications Commission and were argued by counsel. On consideration thereof, it is
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the petitions for review are denied, in accordance with the opinion of the court filed herein this date.

… More

Renters and condo owners willing to pay more for fiber, trade group study says

14 June 2016 by Steve Blum


Click for more.

Fast, fiber-based broadband raises the perceived value of a condominium by $8,600 and renters would be willing to pay an extra $80 per month for it, according to research just released by the Fiber to the Home Council, an industry trade group. On the other hand, most renters and owners don’t take broadband availability into consideration when choosing a place to live: the study says only about a third of apartment and condo dwellers who moved in 2015 or 2016 thought to ask about it.… More

Mobile broadband doesn't perform as advertised, CPUC tells FCC

13 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,


Click for the big, ugly picture.

Don’t believe the broadband speed levels that mobile carriers – AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon – claim to deliver. That’s what the California Public Utilities Commission is telling its counterpart in Washington, the Federal Communications Commission. Unlike the FCC, the CPUC has a rigorous, longstanding mobile data testing program that includes analysis based on what an actual customer would experience.

If you take Verizon at its word, for example, 99.6% of Californian homes would be getting mobile broadband service at the CPUC’s minimum 6 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload speeds.… More

Niche computer maker Purism turns lack of trust into a selling proposition

12 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Simple security comes at a cost.

If you want to know what every bit on your computer is doing, I mean really know, then you’re the kind of customer that Purism has in mind. The South San Francisco company makes a range of Linux-based laptops and tablets with 100% open source software not-quite-preinstalled. That includes applications of course, but also device drivers, the boot system and everything else.

Not-quite-preinstalled means that the device comes with all the software and a totally naked hard drive.… More

Wireless charging is still a contact sport

11 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,

Closer to reality.

Energous Corporation is walking back claims of wirelessly charging batteries from across the room, but is moving ahead with products that charge on simple contact, without having to plug anything in. That kind of technology is reasonably well established – it’s a common enough demo to see at CES, for example – but the solutions on offer are still fiddly in nature and there’s no generally accepted standard yet.

Last year, at Pepcom’s Mobile Focus event in San Francisco, Energous had a gizmo generally the size and shape of a high end audio speaker on its exhibit table, that a spokesman said could deliver 4 watts of electrical to a suitably equipped device 15 feet away, and 16 watts at five feet.… More

California cable lobby pushes "the bounds of acceptable behavior"

10 June 2016 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Not the way it’s done.

A last minute, behind-the-scenes attempt by the California Cable and Telecommunications Association (CCTA) – the lobbying front for the cable industry in Sacramento – to derail affordable broadband service in public housing failed yesterday. The California Public Utilities Commission voted 4 to 1 to approve grants for low cost or free broadband facilities in a dozen public housing communities where cable companies offer far more expensive service. Comcast and Charter Communications had earlier protested the grant applications.… More