Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 10, 2009 - The European Union’s independent supervisory authority devoted to protecting personal data and privacy
said Monday that member states will soon be required to implement new privacy rules including requirements that users be offered easier ways to control whether they want cookies stored on their computer equipment.
European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx, said in a statement, “I note in particular the emphasis on more effective enforcement of the rules on spyware and cookies. This has special relevance where privacy rights must be protected in relation to so called targeted advertising."
After the revised electronic privacy directive is formerly adopted, member states will have 18 months to follow its provisions. The new provisions are meant to strengthen enforcement powers for national data protection authorities and require that any communications provider or Internet service provider “involved in individuals' personal data being compromised must inform them if the breach is likely to adversely affect them.”
The provisions also give any person negatively affected by spam, such as an Internet service provider, the right to take legal...
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Thursday, June 4th, 2009
By Douglas Streeks, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, June 4, 2009 – The problems with so-called “deep packet inspection” are too big to ignore, a panel of broadband experts said on the third and final day of the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference at George Washington University here.
“Every corporation has some form of DPI,” said Don Bowman, co-founder and chief technology officer of Sandvine, a technology company.
Bowman was skeptical of the long-term effectiveness of legislation that would attempt to regulate such packet inspection. Bowman said that DPI is necessary for internet capacity planning and prediction, and was also useful for quality experience measurement.
What is needed instead, said Bowman, are broad guidelines with specific goals.
Kyle Rosenthal, executive director of dPacket.org, spoke on the importance of deep packet inspection to internet usage, but also about the need to use it properly.
“A lot of networks need to know about the applications that are running over them, he said, adding that “there are already many multi-billion dollar markets built around DPI.”
He said that the market for this technology would begin to consolidate. Rosenthal emphasized the necessity of studying, addressing and monitoring consumer privacy and civil liberties – as well as ensuring transparency and adequate consumer privacy protections....
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Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2009 - Congressional scrutiny of consumer privacy on broadband networks, especially uses of so-called “deep packet inspection” technology, ramped up Thursday as industry representatives and consumer advocates testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet.
"Broadband networks are a primary driver of the national economy," said subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. It is "fundamentally in the nation's interest to promote their expanded use," he said.
Boucher acknowledged that technologies like DPI have beneficial uses for network management and law enforcement. But DPI's potential for invading consumer privacy is "nothing short of frightening," he said.
Boucher, who has previously stated his commitment to passing comprehensive privacy legislation during the 111th Congress, announced that his subcommittee would hold a joint hearing with the Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee early this summer which would focus privacy and Internet-based companies like Google.
Boucher hinted that the privacy bill, which he wants to develop on a bipartisan basis, would be based largely on the Consumer Privacy Protection Act introduced in the 109th Congress by then-Chairman Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.
Stearns, now the ranking member of the subcommittee, cautioned against acting too swiftly against new technologies before...
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Friday, August 1st, 2008
News Analysis
By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, August 1 – The Federal Communication Commission's enforcement action against
Comcast can be seen either as a limited response to a company's deceptive practices, or a sweeping new venture by the agency into regulating internet policy.
In ruling against Comcast on Friday, the agency ordered the company to “disclose the details of its discriminatory network management practices,” “submit a compliance plan” to end those practices by year-end, and “disclose to customers and the [FCC] the network management practices that will replace current practices.”
At issue in the decision was whether Comcast had engaged in “reasonable network management” practices when it delayed and effetively blocked access to users of BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer software program.
Although BitTorrent had already settled its complaints with Comcast, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that FCC action was necessary because the complaint had been brought by Free Press and Public Knowledge, two non-profit groups. The FCC did not impose a fine.
Martin said that he viewed the agency's decision to punish the cable operator as a quasi-judicial matter: a “fact-intensive inquiry” against a specific company that it found to have “selectively block[ed]” peer-to-peer traffic.
That interpretation would make the FCC action more limited. A statement...
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Friday, August 1st, 2008
Findings
At the Federal Communication Commission's open meeting in August, Dana Shaffer, FCC Wireline Bureau chief, read aloud the following "findings" against Comcast. As is standard practice for the agency, no written document encapsulating these charges was publicly released. Shaffer said the written order would be released "soon."
-Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
The findings:
- 1. Comcast's network management practices discriminate among applications and protocols. It uses deep packet inspection.
- 2. Comcast's practices are not minimally intrusive, but are invasive, and have significant effect.
- 3. Comcast has blocked content and significantly interfered with person's ability to access applications and content of their choice.
- 4. Comcast's practices do not constitute reasonable network management practices.
- 5. The economic harms have been compounded by Comcast's failure to disclose its practices.
- 6. Comcast's practice contravenes federal internet policy, and limits consumers' ability to access the lawful internet content of their choice.
Article Reference by this Article:
FCC Hammers Comcast For Deception and Unreasonable Internet Practices (BroadbandCensus.com, August 1)
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
News
By William G. Korver, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
July 22 – A senior
AT&T lobbyist said that his company would alter the way that it advertises its high-speed internet tiers, and hinted that the telecommunication giant would soon move to usage-based billing.
Senior Vice President Robert Quinn made the comments on Monday at a Federal Communications Commission field hearing in Pittsburgh, Penn., during the second of two panels at a hearing on “The Broadband of Tomorrow.”
According to Quinn, beginning in October AT&T will no longer guarantee their Internet customers with speeds "up to" a subscribed amount. He said that AT&T cannot vouch for speeds over shared portions of the network beyond its control.
Quinn said AT&T "will take action either to bring the customer's service within the ordered tier or give the customer an option to move to a different tier" if AT&T discovers it is "not providing service within the ordered speed tier."
AT&T announced last month that the arrival of usage-based pricing is "inevitable."
Quinn also said his company would "clearly identify" in customer contracts and disclosures "any limitations on the amount of usage that may apply to a customer's service plan."
After lamenting the cost of building internet pipes, Quinn stated that companies...
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Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Blog Entries
By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
June 22 - The subject of tiered access to high-speed internet services has been much in the news, with the announcements by Time Warner Cable, and also Cox Communications, that they would roll out tiered services.
Well, the news out of NXTcomm08, the telecommunications industry conference last week in Las Vegas, only seems to underscore the prospect that greater control by network providers
is on the horizon. According to a survey by Tellabs and research firm IDC, telecommunications professionals are split down the middle on whether increasing bandwidth demands are likely to "break" the Internet.
According to the survey, half of respondents said bandwidth demands would "break" the Internet.
Of greater interest, in my opinion:
Of the 80% who identified a way to deal with internet congestion, 32% think providers address spikes in traffic by prioritizing via packet inspection, while 24% believe that spikes are better handled by charging more for excess bandwidth.
My friend
Chris Parente blogged about this development on Saturday, and he was kind enough to ask for my reaction. This is what I said:
Whether or not new bandwidth demands on the Internet cause carriers to offer tiered pricing or to throttle particular applications or...Read More »
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
News
William G. Korver, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, June 20 - All Americans, whether they be poor, handicapped, or rural, have the right to universal broadband service, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said on Friday. The congressman also blasted the compromise foreign surveillance legislation that passed Congress on Friday.
Since universal broadband penetration would result in better education and health care in America, Markey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, strongly supports legislation devoting part of the Universal Service Fund (USF) to establishing nationwide broadband.
Due to the enormous possible benefits of broadband for the average American consumer, policymakers should focus on ensuring that urban, rural, and high-cost areas have access to high-speed internet services. Most of the $7 billion USF currently subsidizes telephone service, and not Internet connections, in rural areas.
Markey played a role in creating the E-Rate program (the “E” stands for education) as a portion of the USF in the 1996 Telecommunications Act, providing funds for connecting schools and libraries ot the Internet.
Just as the E-Rate has helped to “transform education,” Markey said that only by educating America's blue-collar children will the full fruits of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other pro-trade...
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