The Trouble with End-to-End
The disconnect between the way the Internet really is and the way neutrality advocates wish it were came into stark relief today: while some Congressmen were outside the Capitol giving speeches on the importance of net neutrality, those inside the building voted to make significant, harmful changes to Section 230, the real protector of Internet speech. And they didn’t even notice.
What’s the Deal With Software-Defined Networking?
One of the panels at the Silicon Flatirons big conference on Regulating Computing and Code dealt with Software-Defined Networks and software in general. SDNs are an important development that allows…
Is the Internet Association Serious?
We need IA, the ISPs, Congress, and the regulatory agencies to come together and draft a new section for the Communications Act addressing privacy, security, fraud and other criminal conduct, and market concentration.
Community Broadband is Cheaper – and Slower
A recent study by the Berkman Klein Center shows that publicly-funded broadband networks are cheaper – but slower – than those built with private capital. On average, consumers who buy broadband service from a government provider pay $10 per month less than those who patronize commercial providers, but their download speeds are close to 7 Mbps slower.
Two Security Headaches Usher in the New Year (Updated!)
Happy New Year, here are two more things to worry about: researchers at the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy have discovered that dodgy code in web pages can read your…
The Firefox Fast Lane
We all prioritize thing that matter over things that don’t. The Internet need not be an exception to this rule.
The Myth of Internet Fast Lanes
Should three unelected bureaucrats be able to reverse three other unelected bureaucrats on vital social, political, and economic questions? This is the haunting question for Internet policy in the United…
The Internet After Net Neutrality
Let’s not be distracted by shiny objects any more. The Internet still has tremendous promise as well as serious problems to solve. Making it better through continuous experimentation should be the top priority.
Cooking the Books While Startups Languish
Since leaving the FCC, former chairman Tom Wheeler and Special Advisor Gigi Sohn have relentlessly attacked current chairman Ajit Pai. This is an unusual breach of decorum because former FCC…
Tech Policy Tribalism
The tribal forces of the left appear to be forming a drum circle around the idea that rural broadband is entirely screwed up in the US so we need to create thousands of broadband co-ops to solve it the problem in a few decades. I think we can do a lot better, but only if we can forget about the tribal identities and apply some reasoning informed by facts.