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January 2016

T-Mobile Confirms It Slows Connections to Video Sites

Though T-Mobile still wants to play games with words, the company has admitted it’s slowing down streams as part of its unlimited video service.

T-Mobile customers who activate the company’s controversial Binge On video service will experience downgraded internet connection speeds when viewing videos on YouTube or other sites that don’t take part in Binge On, a T-Mobile spokesperson confirmed today. They’ll also experience slower speeds when trying to download video files for offline use from websites that do not participate in Binge On, at least until the customer deactivates the service. The confirmation brings clarity to questions that have swirled for weeks about Binge On. The service, which is turned on by default but can be switched off at any time, allows some T-Mobile customers to watch unlimited amounts of video from Netflix and Hulu (which are T-Mobile partners) but not YouTube (which isn’t) without having those streams count against their data plans. In other words, the data usage exemptions only apply to T-Mobile’s partners, and video quality is limited to 480p, the same resolution that DVDs use.

Video startup quits T-Mobile’s Binge On over network neutrality concern

T-Mobile continued to face criticism of its online video zero-rating and throttling program with one small video company saying it would quit Binge On.

Slidefuse, maker of 4Stream.TV, was spurred to action in part by T-Mobile CEO John Legere insulting the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). "In light of recent events and of comments made by your CEO, John Legere, we have decided to halt our participation in Binge On and disable our traffic shaping rules for the time being," Slidefuse told T-Mobile. Implementing "traffic shaping rules" apparently means that 4Stream.TV would send only 480p streams to the T-Mobile network. But since T-Mobile can recognize video from most sources and throttle it anyway, video providers can't prevent throttling simply by pulling out of the program. Consumers can disable Binge On in order to watch video without the quality being downgraded. Downgraded video uses less data, helping customers stay under their high-speed data caps. 4Stream.TV wasn't listed among the 38 providers participating in Binge On, but there appears to be a good reason for that: 4Stream.TV was still working with T-Mobile to meet its technical requirements.

Juniper drops NSA-developed code following new backdoor revelations

Juniper Networks, which in December 2015 made the startling announcement its NetScreen line of firewalls contained unauthorized code that can surreptitiously decrypt traffic sent through virtual private networks, said it will remove a National Security Agency-developed function widely suspected of also containing a backdoor for eavesdropping.

The networking company will ship product releases in the next six months that remove the Dual_EC_DRBG random number generator from NetScreen firewalls. Security researchers have known since 2007 that it contains a weakness that gives knowledgeable adversaries the ability to decrypt encrypted communications that rely on the function. Documents provided by former NSA subcontractor Edward Snowden showed the weakness could be exploited by the NSA.


Communications and Technology Subcommittee
House Commerce Committee
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
10:15am
http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/legislative-hearing-four-communi...

Members will review four proposals:

  1. H.R. 1301, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, authored by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) instructs the Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules to protect the rights of amateur radio operators to use amateur radio equipment. In general, communications equipment is recognized under current law as having a societal benefit in providing access to information. Land use restrictions imposed by governments or homeowners associations on other communications equipment is currently protected by FCC regulations. H.R. 1301 instructs the FCC to adopt similar regulations for the use of amateur radio equipment.
  2. H.R. 2666, the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act, also authored by Kinzinger, would prevent the FCC from regulating the rates charged for broadband Internet. The FCC’s Open Internet Order reclassified broadband under Title II, giving the FCC the ability to regulate rates in two distinct ways: tariffing and through declarations of what are “reasonable” rates. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has stated that the Open Internet Order is not about regulating rates, and as such, the FCC used its authority to avoid applying the tariff authority to broadband. However, that still leaves the FCC free to regulate broadband through its enforcement authority.
  3. H.R. 2666 holds future FCC chairmen to this commitment by preventing rate regulation of broadband by statute. H.R. 2669, the Anti-Spoofing Act, authored by Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), and full committee Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton (R-TX), extends the provisions of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 to text messaging. The legislation also addresses the growth of services that allows a user to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information by adding a definition of “spoofing service,” to the Truth in Caller ID Act. The full House approved the Anti-Spoofing Act by voice vote in 2014.
  4. H.R. ____, the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act, authored by subcommittee Chairman Walden would make permanent the FCC's temporary exemption from the enhanced disclosure rules for small businesses required by the commission’s Open Internet Order. The bill also defines a small business as any provider of broadband Internet access service that has fewer than 1,500 employees, or 500,000 subscribers.

How a Fiber Master Plan Is Guiding Shawnee (KS)'s Path to Connectivity

Big cities plan for growth because they have to, but when smaller cities do it, a world of opportunities opens up. Shawnee (KS), a city of about 60,000 people just outside of Kansas City, is reaping the benefits of a fiber master plan that dates back more than a decade. Creative partnerships and modest annual investments provide the city with a broadband network that supports schools and businesses, enables potential upgrades to cutting-edge technologies, and allows opportunities for continued growth.

After partnering with a local broadband provider known in 2005 as SureWest (now called Consolidated Communications), the city began building a private network to power its business applications. When Google selected Kansas City as its first Fiber City in 2011, Shawnee saw an opportunity to expand its network further. In 2014, the city continued building, adding an additional four miles of inner-city fiber. Shawnee is now partnering with Unite Private Networks to add nine additional miles of fiber to connect local schools, and city administrators say their network will make it possible to adopt new traffic management and surveillance systems if they so desire. Shawnee’s blueprint for broadband was what officials call their Fiber Optic Master Plan, a long-term strategy that established how the city would pay for the upgrades and prevent management from losing focus over the years. Fiber master plans have historically proven essential to the success of many cities’ networks, said Chris Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

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