33 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981Copyright © 2015 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.The Telecom Digest for Jan 8, 2015
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| Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2015 22:08:24 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Natural monopolies Message-ID: <7d1a1746-c95d-41cc-be80-80a956a5a944@googlegroups.com> On Saturday, January 3, 2015 9:28:56 PM UTC-6, harold@hallikainen.com wrote: > Does this indicate that these facilities-based companies (both > telco twisted pair and coax-based CATV) are natural monopolies > and should be regulated as public utilities? Over the years there have been sporadic attempts to regulate CATV companies as utilities but CATV companies have successfully fought off these attempts. FCC decisions dating back to 1958 have ruled that CATV companies are not common carriers because they -- the CATV operators themselves -- choose the signals to be delivered to subscribers.[1,2] Several subsequent laws and court decisions have limited this right [3], but the fundamental classification remains in place: CATVs are not common carriers. Back in my CATV days we occasionally encountered attempts by telcos to get into the CATV business in competition with us. But they did it by applying for franchises under local franchising authority's jurisdiction, effectively recognizing that they were entering a business where they would not be considered public utilities. +--------------------------------------------------------------+ [1] Federal Communications Commission. "Frontier Broadcasting v. Collier" (determining that CATV systems are not common carriers). 24 FCC 251, 1958. Cited in Mary Alice Mayer Phillips, "CATV: A History of Community Antenna Television." Evanston: Northwestern UP, 1972, 51-52. [2] United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. "Philadelphia Television Broadcasting Co. v. FCC" (affirming "Frontier"). 359 F. 2d 282, 1966. Cited in Phillips, 56. [3] Thompson-Findlaw. Annotations to the U.S. Constitution, First Amendment, "Governmental Regulation of Communications Industries." http://tinyurl.com/cut6t (scroll down to "Regulation of Cable Television"). Neal McLain ***** Moderator's Note ***** If CATV companies are not common carriers, can they be sued for slander or libel? Given the current trend toward bankroll balloting here in the U.S., bringing a tort would seem to be a convenient way to silence any New Naderites ... Bill Horne Moderator |
| Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2015 09:43:46 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Apps Everywhere, but No Unifying Link Message-ID: <49550006-9935-4CDE-96D7-D343D65CC12A@roscom.com> Navigating the Internet used to mean painstakingly typing the exact address you wanted into your computer. The web browser and the search engine simplified that, giving us the Internet we take for granted today. Now, across Silicon Valley, companies from tiny start-ups to titans like Google and Facebook are trying to bring the same simplicity to smartphones by teaching apps to talk to one another. As people spend more time using apps, their Internet has taken a step backward, becoming more isolated - more like the web before search engines. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/technology/tech-companies-look-to-break-down-walls-between-apps.html -or- http://goo.gl/11Wzbb ***** Moderator's Note ***** Heaven forfend! The web before search engines?! OMG by BFF mite hv 2 lrn Gopher! But, seriously, I wonder which apps these "titans" have in mind as most needing to "talk" to one another: if a calendar entry mentions the address of a restaurant in the "wrong" part of town, will I show up on my boss' list of employees who were in a certain area at the time of a union meeting? Bill Horne Moderator |
| Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 11:35:54 -0500 From: Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Apps Everywhere, but No Unifying Link Message-ID: <barmar-654DAB.11355407012015@88-209-239-213.giganet.hu> In article <49550006-9935-4CDE-96D7-D343D65CC12A@roscom.com>, Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote: > But, seriously, I wonder which apps these "titans" have in mind as > most needing to "talk" to one another: if a calendar entry mentions > the address of a restaurant in the "wrong" part of town, will I show > up on my boss' list of employees who were in a certain area at the > time of a union meeting? The article gives examples: for instance, you use an app to search for hotels, and find one you like. So you want to mail a link to your companion, like you might do if you'd found it with a web search. But there's no such thing as a "link" to an app page. The example I thought of first was integration between map apps and other applications. You search for a restaurant or attraction in some app, and then you want directions to walk/drive there. - - Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ***** Moderator's Note ***** I'm more interested in what the article doesn't give: there are no cautionary notes about the possible misuse of the location, contact, and time-of-day information that cellular users would be handing over to anonymous third-parties. Bill Horne Moderator |
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