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Thursday the Federal Communications Commission will vote on the net neutrality rules proposed by its chairman, Julius Genachowski. The net neutrality rules would protect consumer choice online by prohibiting broadband carriers from unfairly discriminating against any type of Internet traffic.
The rules will likely pass since Genachowski's joined by two fellow Democrats on the five-person commission, but following passage they could be examined by the courts if the angry phone and cable companies make good on their threats to challenge the rules. Congress may also become involved since the phone, wireless, and cable company lobbies have made a stink.
Although a lot of hype surrounds the issue on both sides, at its heart is a simple guarantee of the main tenet America was founded upon - freedom. The new FCC rules would guarantee U.S. Internet users can visit any legal Web site they want and use any legal online service they choose. That means that no more throttling online video streams or blocking VoIP services.
Although these practices are already broadly covered by the country's antitrust laws, broadband providers including AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast argue that since they spent the money to build their networks, they should be able to operate them how they want. That attitude, and the actions stemming from them, violates the country's anti-trust laws, developed to ensure healthy competition between businesses and guard against the development of monopolies. One such action is Comcast's blocking subscriber access to file-sharing service BitTorrent. Comcast, also a cable TV provider competes with BitTorrent, a service often used to disseminate digital video files. In 2008, the FCC ordered Comcast to stop blocking access to the service. Comcast's response was to challenge the FCC's ruling in court.
These are "sensible rules of the road to preserve a free and open Internet, which has been an economic and innovation engine for the nation," said Colin Crowell, an FCC senior counselor.
The FCC already uses four of the broadband principles it's looking to codify in enforcing the nation's communication laws. The vote will simply elevate them from guiding principles to actual FCC rules. Genachowski has two other principles he'd like to see made rules. One will ensure broadband providers can't discriminate against content or application types. The second requires broadband providers disclose their network management practices. The FCC will also consider extending the six principles to wireless carriers.
Short Takes
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Friday the NBA debuted its video rule book, to illustrate its rules to players, media, and fans using actual clips from NBA games. The league knows it needs to educate fans as to the meanings of each rule to combat distrust of officials, especially in light of former NBA official Tim Donaghy's 2007 conviction for conspiring with gamblers and with its regular referees off the job due to contract disputes.
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Akamai has rescinded its claim that it delivers HD video to the iPhone. At England's Streaming Media Europe conference Akamai's Suzanne Johnson, corrected co-worker Tom Leighton's claim saying, "By year's end, as part of the Akamai HD Network, up to 45 million iPhones and iPod touches will be capable of displaying high-quality video encoded from HD source content. The iPhone does not display true HD by definition but can offer consumers an HD-like high quality video experience that complements what they get on TV."
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Online video comprises only two percent of all video consumed, but it's growing steadily reports The Nielsen Company. For September, total online video streams increased 24.8 percent since the same time last year. Within those 11.02 billion video streams viewers spent an average of 195.2 minutes watching, also a 24.8 percent increase since September 2008. The number of viewers also rose, to 139.3 million. YouTube held its market share lead with more than 50 percent of all U.S. video streams, while Hulu and Yahoo came in a distant second and third, respectively.
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The Open Mobile Video Coalition debuted its mobile TV service to U.S. government officials, taking a number of them on a bus tour of Washington, D.C. while watching TV on mobile devices in the bus. The OMV standard lets TV stations use the wireless frequencies afforded them when the U.S. switched from analog to digital broadcasts for broadcasting high-definition programming to wireless devices. Currently, 70 U.S. stations (in major markets) can broadcasting using the standard. Several mobile manufacturers, including Samsung and LG, and computer manufacturer Dell, have developed devices capable of receiving the broadcasts but no U.S. wireless carriers have agreed to offer any of the handsets because the OMV broadcasts would compete with the carrier's proprietary paid mobile TV services.
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The references for this article include: Hurdles remain as FCC ponders Internet data rules, Joelle Tessler, Associated Press, October 18, 2009; N.B.A. Launches a Multimedia Rule Book Online, Howard Beck, The New York Times, October 15, 2009; C4 deal with YouTube will let users watch full-length TV dramas online, Mark Sweney, guardian.co.uk, October 15, 2009; Akamai Acknowledges It's Not Delivering HD Video to the iPhone, Dan Rayburn, Seeking Alpha, October 18, 2009; Watch It: Online Video Tiny But Growing, Wayne Friedman, Media Post, October 13, 2009; TV Stations Start Broadcasting to Mobile Gadgets, Saul Hansell, The New York Times, October 16, 2009.
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This post blogged by Carlie Lawson. She is a hazards consultant, freelance writer, model, musician, and weather nerd living in Norman, OK, also known as the weather capital of the United States.
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