August 2010

Google's 'open Internet' proposal looks disappointingly conventional

[Commentary] Google is a conventional company: It's trying to monopolize a market just like a conventional Bigfoot like Microsoft would, and it's trying to do so with the conventional corporate weapons of guile and misdirection.

What prompts my disillusionment is a document Google issued a few weeks ago jointly with Verizon, the nation's biggest wireless communications company and therefore a very conventional company. Their "joint policy proposal for an open Internet" posed as a defense of network neutrality the principle that Internet service providers can't discriminate in transmitting anyone's data to users over anyone else's. In other words, no special deals by which, say, Google pays Time Warner Cable a fee so that its search pages get to subscribers faster than Yahoo's. Or by which Disney pays for its video streams to load faster than Fox's. Buried in there, however, were a couple of "buts." But, they said, network neutrality shouldn't apply to "wireless broadband" — which happens to be a market in which Verizon already leads, and where the phone company and Google expect to make gobs of money in the future. But, they also said, even in wired broadband, which is the flavor that comes into home computers via cable or DSL modems, there should be an exemption for service providers to offer new, "differentiated" services — assuming the providers otherwise comply with net neutrality. The companies didn't say what they thought these new services might be, other than that they might include entertainment or gaming, or life-saving functions such as health monitoring. But, they said, it should be kosher to give these novel apps priority on the network.

OK Go on net neutrality: A lesson from the music industry

[Commentary] On the Internet, when I send my ones and zeros somewhere, they shouldn't have to wait in line behind the ones and zeros of wealthier people or corporations.

That's the way the Net was designed, and it's central to a concept called "net neutrality," which ensures that Internet service providers can't pick favorites. Recently, though, big telecommunications companies have argued that their investment in the Net's infrastructure should allow them more control over how it's used. The concerned nerds of the world are up in arms, and there's been a long, loud public debate, during which the Federal Communications Commission appeared to develop a plan to preserve net neutrality. The Obama administration has repeatedly promised that it supports net neutrality. Right now the FCC can lastingly protect freedom and equality on the Net. To establish that authority, the agency needs the support of three of its five commissioners. Two commissioners, Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn, Democratic appointees, have loudly backed the effort. What we need is for the chairman to join them and follow through on the plans he laid out months ago. Mr. Genachowski, we, the citizens of the Internet, are with you.

[Kulash is the singer for the band OK Go]

Television goes smart in dramatic makeover

The traditional big-box TV is being transformed in a technology makeover far more dramatic than seen on any reality show. Already whittled down to a wafer-thin flat-panel display, its innards are now being replaced with silicon - LED lighting, networking and computer chips - while the on-screen content is being supplemented by web connectivity. The choices being presented during this work in progress are confusing, with the options for delivering programmes ranging from digital and Internet-connected set-top boxes to games consoles. Hardware makers and technology companies are in a mad dash for market share.

Delivery is key to keeping viewers connected

In the age of connected TV, "don't touch that dial!" has become "don't change that input!".

Whereas broadcasters were once concerned over viewers changing channels during ad breaks, they are now worried that the public will desert regular television altogether for Internet-based content. About a quarter of TVs sold in the US this year will be able to connect to the Internet and bypass regular programming, according to research by Parks Associates, while WiFi and Ethernet connections are becoming standard on set-top boxes. It is getting just as crowded under the TV. Where there was once just a satellite or cable box feeding it programming, a games console or a Blu-ray player can now supply movies, information services and even live TV over their own Internet connections.

Cyber threats can unite Japan and America

[Commentary] Striking developments in the relationship between America and Japan suggest that a new type of strategic alliance is brewing.

In particular, a series of seemingly unrelated events point to important shifts that could have significant implications for both countries as they contemplate an era of sophisticated electronic warfare. Fifty years after Japan and the US signed their treaty of mutual co-operation, Barney Frank, US congressman, in July described the stationing of US forces in Okinawa as a hangover from the second world war. Shortly after, John Roos, US ambassador to Japan, became the first American envoy to join the annual commemoration of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Then, Naoto Kan became the first Japanese prime minister in 25 years to instruct his cabinet to stay away from the annual event honoring Japan's war dead, at the Yasukuni shrine. Not only does all this suggest the strengthening of an old alliance, it also points to new possibilities for co-operation. Under their security treaty, the US and Japan agreed to help each other in the event of an attack on either side, although Japan's pacifist constitution forbids it from having an active military. Yet military hardware, so essential for security 50 years ago, is no longer the only form of security threat that matters. Cyber security now requires equal attention.

San Jose Unified's online school a first in the San Francisco Bay Area

With six students enrolled and the capacity for dozens more, San Jose joins a handful of pioneers, including Tracy, Modesto, Clovis and districts in Southern California, in online education. Many other districts accept credits from university and for-profit online schools, usually for students trying to make up classes they missed or failed. But Liberty Online, as an online-only school, is different. It is free and open to any student in grades 6-12 living in Santa Clara County.

Google, Apple, others sued by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen is suing nearly a dozen major technology companies, including Google and Apple, alleging that they infringed on four Web technology patents held by his company Interval Licensing.

Interval said it filed the suit in a U.S. District Court in Seattle against the companies. Others named in the suit are: Facebook, eBay, Yahoo, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples and Google-owned YouTube. Interval owns patents from Interval Research, which was a technology research and development company that Allen started with David Liddle in the early 1990s. Interval said that the patents it believes are being violated are key to how e-commerce and search companies work. The patents described in the suit refer to technology used for things such as Web browsing and sending alerts over the Web.

Facebook sued over whether teens can 'like' ads

Two Los Angeles County teenagers are suing Facebook, claiming the social network effectively sold their names and images to advertisers without parental permission. The lawsuit filed August 26 in Los Angeles challenges a Facebook feature that allows members to note that they like an advertised service or product. Facebook broadcasts those endorsements to the user's friends. The lawsuit also claims minors unwittingly endorse Facebook when people typing their names in a search engine are steered to a Facebook sign-up page.

Look out Facebook Places, two overseas companies tout next-gen physical tie-ins

In the United States, Facebook has just introduced its Places feature, which lets members check in to where they are in the real world. But there are at least two companies overseas that are working on technology that could prove to be a glimpse of the next generation of Places - real-world Facebook "Like" buttons that tie physical places or objects back to the virtual social network.

A Pushback Against Cell Towers

By blocking, or seeking to block, cell towers and antennas over the course of the last year, Long Island (NY) homeowners have given voice to concerns that proximity to a monopole or antenna may not be just aesthetically unpleasing but also harmful to property values.

Many also perceive health risks in proximity to radio frequency radiation emissions, despite industry assertions and other evidence disputing that such emissions pose a hazard. Emotions are running so high in areas like Wantagh, where an application for six cell antennas on the Farmingdale Wantagh Jewish Center is pending, that the Town of Hempstead imposed a moratorium on applications until Sept. 21. That is the date for a public hearing on a new town ordinance stiffening requirements. At a community meeting on Aug. 16 at Wantagh High School, Dave Denenberg, the Nassau county legislator for Bellmore, Wantagh and Merrick, told more than 200 residents that 160 cell antennas had been placed on telephone poles in the area in the last year by NextG, a wireless network provider. "Everyone has a cellphone," Denenberg said, "but that doesn't mean you have to have cell installations right across the street from your house." Under the old town code, installations over 30 feet high required an exemption or a variance. But in New York, wireless providers have public utility status, like LIPA and Cablevision, and they can bypass zoning boards.

Benton

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