33 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
Copyright © 2015 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.

The Telecom Digest for Mar 1, 2015
Volume 34 : Issue 41 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
FCC Approves 'Net Neutrality' Regulations (Neal McLain)
Re: FCC Approves 'Net Neutrality' Regulations (John Levine)
Pennsylvania deregulates landline services (HAncock4)
Vandalism in Arizona Shut Down Internet, Cellphone, Telephone Service Across State (Bill Horne)
Uber Driver Database breached by someone outside company (Monty Solomon)
Aereo assets sold, for a pittance (Neal McLain)
Re: FCC ruling overturns state laws preventing municipal broadband expansion (Garrett Wollman)

You are not here merely to prepare to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.  - Woodrow Wilson

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Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 15:03:46 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: FCC Approves 'Net Neutrality' Regulations Message-ID: <051fe435-db77-4597-849b-11443039561a@googlegroups.com> By Conn Carroll, townhall.com, Feb 26, 2015 If you like what Obamacare has done to health care, you are going to love what the Federal Communications Commission is about to do to the internet. The FCC voted by a slim 3-2 margin Thursday to pass new "net neutrality" regulations that give the federal government unprecedented control over how the internet is managed. Just as Obamacare was supposed to make health care cheaper for all Americans, net neutrality is supposed to guarantee "free and open access to the internet," according to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Wheeler's new regulations essentially turn internet service providers into public utilities the same way Obamacare turned health insurance companies into heavily regulated wards of the state. And just as Obamacare has expanded paper health coverage to millions of Americans, while making it much harder for most people to actually see a doctor, net neutrality will also bring uncertainty and stagnation to the internet in the name of providing equal access to all. http://townhall.com/tipsheet/conncarroll/2015/02/26/fcc-approves-net-neutrality-regulations-n1962931?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad= -or- http://tinyurl.com/p6atzcz
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2015 03:49:01 +0000 (UTC) From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: FCC Approves 'Net Neutrality' Regulations Message-ID: <mcu27d$236l$1@miucha.iecc.com> On Fri, 27 Feb 2015 15:03:46 -0800 (PST), Neal McLain <nmclain@remove-this.annsgarden.com> wrote: >Just as Obamacare was supposed to make health care cheaper for all >Americans, ... Actually, it wasn't, although it's doing surprisingly well in that department. There are plenty of reasons to be sceptical about the upcoming net neutrality rules, but bogus comparisons to unrelated laws aren't any of them. R's, John
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 17:37:35 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Pennsylvania deregulates landline services Message-ID: <458aa169-01c6-4f66-922c-27c1d825a6de@googlegroups.com> Per the Phila Inqr: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania deregulated a number of telephone services in some cities. Consumer advocates fear that basic rates will sharply rise, although most customers are already on a deregulated package plan. full article and details at: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20150227_PUC_deregulates_Verizon_landline-phone_prices_in_Phila___four_other_regions.html
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 15:28:04 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Vandalism in Arizona Shut Down Internet, Cellphone, Telephone Service Across State Message-ID: <mcqjvb$pic$1@dont-email.me> Incident raises concerns a domestic or international terrorist could tamper with U.S. infrastructure by Adam Kredo Cellphone, Internet, and telephone services across half of Arizona went dark on Wednesday after vandals sliced a sensitive fiber optic cable, according to those familiar with the situation. The incident is raising concerns about the safety of U.S. infrastructure. The outage shut down critical services across large parts of the state, preventing individuals from using their phones, bank and ATM cards, and the Internet. Critical services, such as police and state government databases, as well as banks and hospitals, also were affected as a result of the vandalism. http://freebeacon.com/national-security/vandalism-in-arizona-shut-down-internet-cellphone-telephone-service-across-state/ -or- http://goo.gl/5oR42q -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 22:18:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Uber Driver Database breached by someone outside company Message-ID: <74A68762-B0A8-476A-9330-2134F107D907@roscom.com> The breach may have revealed the names and identification numbers of up to 50,000 drivers, but so far there are no reports that stolen information has been misused. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/uber-driver-database-breached-by-someone-outside-company/
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 14:50:42 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Aereo assets sold, for a pittance Message-ID: <f03485f9-651d-4775-846a-846235666925@googlegroups.com> Brian Santo, CEDmagazine, 02/27/2015 And thus ends one of the more interesting technological digressions of recent years. The few assets that Aereo had left were auctioned off and brought in less than $2 million, far, far less than what the defunct company had hoped to reap from the sale. TiVo picked up the company's trademark and its customer list. RPX, a patent portfolio manager, bought Aereo's patents. The company held 18 patents, some associated with its micro-antenna arrays and how they worked, some with the process of streaming video. Aereo developed a scheme to provide access to over-the-air broadcast TV stations via broadband. The company's approach was to deploy arrays of micro-antennas, assigning one antenna per subscriber; the company would also record shows on behalf of its customers. The idea was to operate essentially as a network DVR, a legal process. The company took the position that since all it was doing was providing remote access and nDVR service, it was not a multi-channel video program distributor (MVPD) and therefore did not owe broadcasters retransmission consent fees. http://www.cedmagazine.com/news/2015/02/aereo-assets-sold-for-a-pittance?et_cid=4438465&et_rid=652835436&location=top -or- http://tinyurl.com/pcu6328 Neal McLain
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 03:27:47 +0000 (UTC) From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: FCC ruling overturns state laws preventing municipal broadband expansion Message-ID: <mcrcjj$1nr7$1@grapevine.csail.mit.edu> In article <mcqg1p$1g38$1@grapevine.csail.mit.edu>, the Moderator wrote: >The FCC has preempted local zoning laws which forbid the use of TV >antennas, and has even applied the proscription to CC&R deed >restrictions and condominium agreements which were written to forbid >satellite (and other) TV antennas. > >I think the precedent has been set. Not relevant, as I thought I explained quite clearly. The FCC can prohibit the states (and perforce the states' creatures, local governments) from taking certain actions. The FCC cannot give the state the positive authority to do something when the state's own law denies it that power. Preemption can only take away power, it can't grant it -- or so I believe the courts are likely to rule. -GAWollman
Garrett A. Wollman
wollman@bimajority.org
Opinions not shared by
my employers.
What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft
repeated, than the story of a large research program
that impaled itself upon a false central assumption
accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993

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