Reading blogs about network neutrality is a never-ending source of fun. This comment from the Save the Internet Blog about Verizon’s open wireless network is choice: Verizon customers will be able to use non-Verizon cell phones and applications like GPS, but what about the rest of us? What about the rest of us non-customers indeed.
Nemertes Research speculates that investment in residential networks isn’t keeping pace with user demand for bandwidth, hence a bandwidth crunch will come about in 2010 or so. Their method is to assume that bandwidth appetite follows Moore’s Law and investment is linear, therefore the lines have to cross. They may very well cross, but their [...]
This is impressive: Verizon Wireless today announced that it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon Wireless plans to have this new choice available to customers throughout the country by the end of 2008. Does it signal VZ’s intention [...]
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned an academic paper on cable modem (DOCSIS) – TCP interaction which highlighted a couple of problems. The authors maintain that web browsing doesn’t interact efficiently with DOCSIS, and that DOCSIS is vulnerable to a DoS attack based on packet rate rather than data volume. DOCSIS mechanisms that cap [...]
Set your TiVo to record Nova on Nov. 13th. The program is Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, the story of the Dover, PA trial on teaching religious doctrines in science classes. The trial, popularly known as Scopes II, established that Intelligent Design is no different from classical creationism and is therefore out of place [...]
The Heritage Foundation has graciously transcribed the discussion we had a couple of weeks ago on Comcast, featuring Adam Thierer, Jerry Brito, Ed Felten, James L. Gattuso and yours truly. The Comcast Net Neutrality Controversy: A Discussion On October 25, the Technology Liberation Front, a technology policy weblog, hosted an online discussion concerning recent actions [...]
Writing in EE Times, Mobidia CEO Fay Arjomandi offers suggestions for managing IP traffic on wireless networks with QoS: Achieving the best results requires the mobile device to participate with the carrier network as an active and intelligent element so that it can share the responsibilities of network traffic delivery management in a wireless-friendly manner. [...]
Hiawatha Bray writes a nice, balanced column on legislative efforts to revive net neutrality over the Comcast thing. Highlight: Comcast senior vice president Mitch Bowling said that BitTorrent users absorb a disproportionate amount of network capacity. That makes it necessary to throttle back BitTorrent transfers so that e-mails and other Internet traffic can get through. [...]
George Ou takes up the Comcast kerfuffle in today’s blog, providing a more comprehensive view than you’ll find anywhere else, if I say so myself. He also has a YouTube link to the great SBC Web Hog commercial, suddenly relevant amidst the demands for infinite bandwidth.
(Note: A slightly revised version of this post is in The Register, titled Harold and Kumar Go to Comcastle.) As expected, the coalition of the frustrated who comprise Save the Internet! have filed a multi-trillion dollar complaint with the FCC regarding Comcast’s blatant exercise of, um, reasonable network management. The key fact seems to be [...]
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