Another Tale of Two Hearings
Privacy is a balancing and line-drawing exercise. Net neutrality is as well, but some of the more combative Democrats don’t see it that way. Perhaps their blindness is willful and perhaps it’s politically-driven. But either way, it’s not doing consumers or the Internet any favors.
Questions for Witnesses in Tomorrow’s Net Neutrality Hearing
Net neutrality was created at a time when the only large firms conducting Internet business were ISPs. It was sensible for lawmakers to focus on ISPs in 2003. But today’s Internet is dominated by non-ISP edge services that routinely abuse personal information. Internet law need to leap forward to the present day.
Confusion Reigns in DC Circuit Oral Arguments on Net Neutrality Regulations
Net neutrality was promoted by Silicon Valley to take policy makers’ eyes off the massive dossiers of personal data its major players assembled from their platforms. Now that the public is aware of this (very real) behavior, the claims of possible harms to consumers from the lack of net neutrality regulations are much less compelling.
Enough Raw Meat Internet Policy, Congress!
The task for Congress is simple and straightforward: it needs to prioritize the issues that plague the Internet today in order to prevent them from getting worse.
Books, Books, and more Books!
If you’re a fan of books on tech and tech policy this is a particularly good time for you because so much new stuff is hot off the presses. Here’s a short list of the books in my reading queue at the moment, along with a couple of longish journal articles.
Larry Roberts was a Networking Legend
Creating a network that can be all things to all people was a monumental undertaking. Making it work for every user in the most reliable, safe, and economical way is even harder. I happily shared the Amicus Brief with Larry last October that was influenced so heavily by his work on Telenet; and I was glad that it pleased him.
Thanks for the Sideshow, Let’s Get Back to Work
We need clarity about our antitrust standards as they apply to the Internet, safeguards for personal data, and reverse auctions to bring better broadband to rural America. None of that is terribly sexy, but it’s all important.
The Awesome Power of TV Comedians
While the number of legitimate comments filed with the FCC – probably closer to 500,000 than to the 800,000 claimed by CIS – indicates a high level of public engagement in the issue, it would be a mistake to conclude that net neutrality will be a significant campaign issue.
Experts’ Amicus Brief Explains Internet Service
The Internet is a new direction for networking, and none of it fits the old models. It’s about time Congress got that message and went to work drafting an IPC-based framework.
Senator Markey Redesigns the Internet
In reality, the Markey amicus doesn’t describe the Internet that we use today. It addresses an entirely different system that didn’t exist in the past either. ISP service is combination of transmission and information processing that serves the needs of the information society. And it appears to be serving those needs pretty darned well.