Evan Martin (evan) wrote in evan_tech,
Evan Martin
evan
evan_tech

network neutrality, 2 / muni wifi

Now that I've thought about it a bit, I realize that I should've just looked it up on wikipedia. But I'm happy to see I figured out the main points on my own -- lately I've been reading some books on economics and it's really been changing how I think about policy.

Two highlights from that entry. One, a demonstration of a real net neutrality issue that doesn't require analogies:
In 2004, a small North Carolina telecom company, Madison River Communications, blocked their DSL customers from using the Vonage VoIP service. Service was restored after the FCC intervened and entered into a consent decree that had Madison River pay a fine of $15,000.
Then, a note on municipal wireless (which I had thought to mention in my previous post but decided the post was already getting too long):
Much of the push for network neutrality rules comes from the lack of competition in broadband services. For that reason, municipal wireless and other wireless service providers are highly relevant to the debate. If successful, such services would provide a third type of broadband access with the potential to change the competitive landscape. [...]
Unfortunately, municipal wifi, at least where I live, is a contentious issue.

Update: this hilariously summarizes it as: "Google and Earthlink [discovered] that dealing with the local San Francisco political scene is about as fun as being set up on a blind date with Mike Tyson after being rubbed down in meat sauce."
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  • blog moved

    As described elsewhere, I've quit LiveJournal. If you're interested in my continuing posts, you should look at one of these (each contains feed…

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    They published a paper on Dremel, my favorite previously-unpublished tool from the Google toolchest. Greg Linden discusses it: "[...] it is capable…

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