February 2010

How to Make the Internet a Lot Faster

Experts believe that the key to successful very-high-speed broadband doesn't lie in fiber alone.

To really speed up the Internet, Google will have to operate at many levels of its infrastructure. Gigabit-per-second speeds are much faster than, for example, the speed currently offered by high-speed services such as Verizon FiOS. However, Google's network won't be the first to reach such speeds. There are several such deployments internationally, including in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Australia.

Internet2, a nonprofit advanced networking consortium in the United States, has been experimenting with very-high-speed Internet for more than a decade, routinely offering 10-gigabit connections to university researchers. Existing applications for very-high-speed Internet include the transfer of very large files, streaming high-definition (and possibly 3-D) video, video conferencing, and gaming. Some experts speculate that accessing large data files and applications through the cloud may also require better broadband.

"Just big pipes alone to an end user does not necessarily guarantee that you can deliver high-end applications," says Gary Bachula, vice president of external relations for Internet2. There are many factors beyond raw bandwidth, Bachula says. For example, an improperly configured router or a university firewall can affect performance and end up acting as a network bottleneck. "You need to have open networks, you need to publish your performance data, you need to have people troubleshoot your network remotely," says Bachula. In recent years, Internet2 has been researching tools and technologies that can help find and resolve the performance issues that occur on high-speed connections "in a systematic and seamless way." Ideally, he says, consumers as well as network managers would be able to use these tools to diagnose the network.

Examining the US response to Iran's censorship on anniversary of revolution

The Iranian government's blanket censorship of satellite and Internet communications last week was so effective, it led many to wonder: Why didn't the U.S. government do more to stop it?

Despite strong statements from Foggy Bottom, the White House appears to be treading carefully. Three sources tell the Cable that the National Security Council discouraged Jeff Trimble, executive director of the Broadcasting Board of Governors -- the independent agency that oversees the government's media operations, including Voice of America -- from allowing VOA to attach its name to a statement last week with Deutsche Welle and the BBC protesting Iranian signal-jamming. According to e-mails from Trimble to several Broadcasting Board of Governors staffers, the NSC first didn't want the VOA to join the statement if it mentioned "jamming." Later, the NSC modified its position to object to the use of the term "intensified jamming."

More than 75,000 computer systems hacked in one of largest cyber attacks

More than 75,000 computer systems at nearly 2,500 companies in the United States and around the world have been hacked in what appears to be one of the largest and most sophisticated attacks by cyber criminals discovered to date, according to security firm NetWitness.

The attack, which began in late 2008 and was discovered last month, targeted proprietary corporate data, e-mails, credit-card transaction data and login credentials at companies in the health and technology industries in 196 countries, according to NetWitness. The attack it is significant in its scale and in its apparent demonstration that the criminal groups' sophistication in cyberattacks is approaching that of nation states such as China and Russia.

The attack also highlights the inability of the private sector -- including industries that would be expected to employ the most sophisticated cyber defenses -- to protect itself.

Skype in a Struggle to Be Heard on Mobile Phones

In a world where network neutrality has become a rallying cry for advocates of an unfettered Internet, Skype, the pioneer in low-cost and even free online calls, has become a prime example of the limits of wireless freedom.

In the United States, Skype is blocked on mobile networks, and the service is available only on the Apple iPhone over Wi-Fi. AT&T, the exclusive American carrier for the iPhone, has said that it would allow Skype and voice-over-Internet-protocol services to operate on its 3G network, but Skype has not made an application available. In Europe, Skype is carried by the company 3 in Britain, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Italy and Sweden. But many other cellular operators still block its calls, prohibit their customers from downloading Skype's software or outlaw the use of VoIP service in standard sales contracts. Some carriers are imposing fees to undermine Skype's attraction. In Germany, customers of T-Mobile can place calls using Skype, but only if they pay an extra 10 euros, or $13.60, a month. German customers of the Vodafone Group can use the service for an extra 5 euros a month. However, the barriers to Skype and similar Internet calling services, like Google Voice, are coming under increasing scrutiny as the Internet goes mobile. By 2013, the number of Internet-ready mobile phones will surpass the number of computers in the world for the first time, according to Gartner, a research firm.

"Such practices illustrate how operators' business models based on control and discrimination of data flows really harm competition as well as the fundamental freedom of communication allowed by Internet," said Jérémie Zimmermann, the director of La Quadrature du Net, a group in Paris that opposes efforts to control public access to the Internet.

Tech Industry Catches Its Breath

For the moment, the tech industry's innovation engine is in idle. The annual Mobile World Congress -- traditionally a place to introduce products that blend computer and phone functions in novel ways -- has featured tweaks on existing designs. "It's like with evolution, where you have a mutation and then a great explosion of diversity," said Scott A. McGregor, the chief executive of Broadcom, which makes chips that go into a wide range of consumer electronics. "Then, you have a period where you see which creatures can survive the big change."

Concessions offered on T-Mobile-Orange deal

France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom have offered concessions to the European Commission in order to get regulatory approval for a merger of their mobile phone businesses in the UK. But the offer might not be enough to secure rapid approval from Brussels, due to protests from other UK mobile operators that they do not go far enough.

A merger of France Telecom's Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile UK was proposed last September, in a move that would create Britain's largest mobile operator, with 29.5m customers. Last week, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom told the Commission that the combined entity would be prepared to relinquish up to 25 per cent of the spectrum it will hold at the 1800 MHz bandwidth. The Orange/T-Mobile entity would hold the bulk of the UK's 1800 MHz spectrum, which is suitable for the fourth-generation wireless technology that will provide faster web browsing on mobile phones. By offering the concessions, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are hoping they can secure approval for the merger by next month. They want to avoid the Commission launching an in-depth investigation that would last several more months.

More Lucrative Business Travelers Now Teleconference, Fly Coach

The U.S. airline industry hopes the return of business travelers, who disappeared for much of 2009, will help it claw its way back to profitability. But the era of extensive, expensive corporate travel may be over.

A growing number of companies are investing in technology for "virtual" meetings held over the Internet, possibly turning depressed travel into a long-term affair. Pasadena, Calif.-based Parsons, an engineering company with more than $3.4 billion in sales and many frequent fliers, plans to spend $1.4 million this year to upgrade its teleconferencing equipment. Food Group, a 50-person advertising agency in New York, has increasingly turned to Cisco Systems Inc.'s WebEx service to hold "webinars'' with internal staff and clients. It pays about $20,000 a year to use the service, which allows participants to talk, see each other and share documents on their computers.

Google Gives to Wikipedia

Google is giving $2 million to support Wikipedia, a volunteer-driven reference tool that has emerged as one of the Web's most-read sites.

Wikimedia Foundation, owner of Wikipedia, said Wednesday that Google has donated $2 million to further develop the popular encyclopedia and other projects. Google co-founder Sergey Brin called Wikipedia "one of the greatest triumphs of the Internet...this vast repository of community-generated content is an invaluable resource to anyone who is online." The search giant's funds will be used on technology projects to help Wikipedia handle its increasing bandwidth and multimedia needs. Wikimedia received more than $8 million in donations during a January fund-raiser, three-fourths of its revenue target for the fiscal year.

Both parties oppose unlimited corporate spending on elections, poll finds

Democrats and Republicans don't seem to agree on much these days, but a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows they come together on at least one issue: their opposition to letting corporations and unions spend as much as they want to help candidates win elections.

Eight in 10 respondents said they opposed a Supreme Court ruling last month that allows unfettered political spending by corporations, with 65 percent "strongly" opposed. Nearly as many backed congressional action to curb the ruling, with 72 percent in favor of reinstating limits. The survey reveals relatively little difference of opinion on the issue among Democrats (85 percent opposed to the ruling), Republicans (76 percent) and independents (81 percent). The results suggest a strong reservoir of bipartisan support on the issue for President Obama and congressional Democrats, who are writing legislation that would limit the impact of the decision.

Consumers watch their bills as utilities get smart

A look at the promise and pitfalls that consumers and utilities could face as utilities make a move to the so-called smart grid and make the biggest upgrades ever to the nation's decades-old electrical grids.

It's an undertaking President Obama has compared in significance to the building of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. The deployment of smart grids, applying digital technology to the nation's electricity network, is intended to help utilities better manage the flow of electricity, avoid failures and, for the first time, give consumers details on how they consume energy so that they can cut use and perhaps costs. The existing grid "wastes too much energy; it costs us too much money; and it's too susceptible to outages and blackouts," Obama said last fall in announcing $3.4 billion in smart grid stimulus funds. But the smart grid rollouts will take years and are likely to evolve in fits and starts, as thousands of utilities nationwide add technologies and regulators weigh the proposed benefits against costs that may be borne by ratepayers. "For the big smart grid vision, it'll be a decade or more," says Marcus Torchia, analyst with IDC Energy Insights. "But things are moving along now at a good clip." Nationwide, more than 90 utilities are rolling out smart grid pilot or demonstration projects, the Electric Power Research Institute says. In general, smart grid refers to an army of technologies -- including computer chips, switches and sensors -- that'll be added into the existing grids to make them smarter.

Benton

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