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| Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 23:17:31 -0500 (EST)
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: NYT article on "State Pre-emption"
Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.64.1502242309140.27953@panix5.panix.com>
NY Times analysis of the continuing effort by special interests
to get "friendly" (to them) legislation in place for their
own purposes and benefits.
The article discusses numerous issues, with the one of most
telecom interest being laws passed in State legislatures
barring municipalities from setting up their own "broadband"
systems, thus leaving the entrenched providers in their
monopoly or duopoly postions.
Oh, yes, these groups use our good friend ALEC [a] which, among
other telecom tidbits, convinced many States to hobble Public
Service Commissions and eliminate the "carrier of last resort"
mandates.
[a] ALEC = American Legislative Exchange Council
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[NYT]
So-called pre-emption laws, passed in states across the country,
have barred cities from regulating landlords, building municipal
broadband systems and raising the minimum wage.
...
Often these efforts are driven by industry, which finds it easier to
wield influence in 50 capitols than in thousands of city halls.
...
Increasingly, [Mark Pertschuk, the director of Grassroots Change]
said, disparate industries are banding together to back the same laws,
through either the business-funded American Legislative Exchange
Council, known as ALEC, or shared lobbyists
=====
Rest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/us/govern-yourselves-state-lawmakers-tell-cities-but-not-too-much.html
-or-
http://goo.gl/NrhaUV
|
| Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 22:50:50 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: How Verizon lets its copper network decay to force phone customers onto fiber
Message-ID: <mcjgpl$3ri$1@dont-email.me>
Fiber is fast, but copper is reliable - even during multi-week power outages.
by Jon Brodkin
The shift from copper landlines to fiber-based voice networks is
continuing apace, and no one wants it to happen faster than Verizon.
Internet users nationwide are clamoring for fiber, as well, hoping it
can free them from slower DSL service or the dreaded cable companies.
But not everyone wants fiber, because, when it comes to voice calls,
the newer technology doesn't have all the benefits of the old copper
phone network. In particular, fiber doesn't conduct electricity, where
copper does. That means when your power goes out, copper landlines
might keep working for days or weeks by drawing electricity over the
lines, while a phone that relies on fiber will only last as long as
its battery. That's up to eight hours for Verizon's most widely
available backup system.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/why-verizon-is-trying-very-hard-to-force-fiber-on-its-customers/
-or-
http://goo.gl/2VKNa8
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
|
| Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 08:23:10 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: F.C.C. Net Neutrality Rules Clear Hurdle as Republicans Concede to Obama
Message-ID: <B6219252-FB20-4CAE-AF30-651446730135@roscom.com>
The Republican resistance in Congress surrendered to President Obama's
call to protect an open Internet, with rules likely to be approved by
regulators on Thursday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/technology/path-clears-for-net-neutrality-ahead-of-fcc-vote.html
-or-
http://goo.gl/I5Kbmj
|
| Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:03:32 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: F.C.C. Net Neutrality Rules Clear Hurdle as Republicans Concede to Obama
Message-ID: <20150225220332.GA8274@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 08:23:10AM -0500, Monty Solomon wrote:
>
> The Republican resistance in Congress surrendered to President Obama's
> call to protect an open Internet, with rules likely to be approved by
> regulators on Thursday.
I get the feeling that the President just stepped in a bear trap:
Verizon is (once again) blocking my connection to Netflix.
I can use a VPN connection to get around it, and Netflix works better
that way, but I wonder just how many of Verizon's customers know
that's possible. I'm afraid that Netflix will be under pressure to pay
Verizon's tithe, just as it did with Comcast.
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
|
| Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 10:57:48 -0800 (PST)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Verizon will fix your landline in a month, or give you wireless right now
Message-ID: <963a3119-e34d-4fb5-9a68-012d674c99d1@googlegroups.com>
On Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 11:12:58 PM UTC-5, Bill Horne wrote:
> Verizon's aging copper landline telephone network has been offline for
> numerous customers in Manhattan over the past few weeks, giving Verizon
> another chance to convince customers to ditch their landlines for
> wireless service.
That happened in Philadelphia not too long ago. An entire
neighborhood lost landline service due to a broken cable, and Vz
seemed in no hurry to fix it, despite pressure from the government.
Vz claimed they weren't allowed to dig up the street because of the
streetcar tracks, which wasn't a problem for the last 100 years. They
could dig up around the tracks, or the transit authority would simply
substitute buses, as it often does, when there is utility work under
its tracks.
***** Moderator's Note *****
Sounds like consumers are getting taken for a ride.
Bill Horne
Moderator
|
| Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 08:24:57 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: U.S. and British Agencies May have hacked SIM codes
Message-ID: <9BD6AE09-4ADE-48BE-82A1-F8A48A16EF86@roscom.com>
U.S. and British Agencies May Have Tried to Get SIM Encryption Codes,
Gemalto Says
The digital security company said it believed attacks by the
N.S.A. and its British counterpart occurred over two years, starting
in 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/business/international/gemalto-says-nsa-tried-to-take-sim-encryption-codes.html
-or-
http://goo.gl/OmLDGT
|
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