neutrality

Remember the National Broadband Plan?

Blair Levin, former executive director of the National Broadband Plan, a report that was presented to Congress in March and was supposed to serve as a blueprint for policymakers to bring ubiquitous access for broadband to all Americans, does.

Levin, who had served as former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt's chief of staff in the 1990s, returned to the FCC temporarily last year to head up the National Broadband Plan team. And after months of 80-hour work weeks, Levin and his team of 70 staffers delivered the 360-page document to Congress in mid-March.

Six months … Read more

CHICAGO--Telecom policy experts say it is time for the Federal Communications Commission to put Net neutrality issues to rest so that the agency can move on to addressing other items on its agenda, such as implementing the National Broadband plan.

A representative from AT&T was joined by former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and other policy wonks here on a panel at the 4G World trade show to discuss the FCC's progress on implementing the National Broadband Plan.

Robert Quinn, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for AT&T, said progress on achieving goals set out in … Read more

Do not attempt to adjust your picture- today's guest on The 404 Podcast prefers to remain anonymous, even using the pseudonym "Eklund" to protect his sources. Still, there's no way to hide to the giant grin on Jeff's face because Eklund grants us the favor of his first ever video interview, and it's an insider's look at sports blogging and how technology is shaping the future of media.

There's no doubt that he's the expert, either-- Eklund is the founder and CEO of Hockeybuzz.com, a hockey fan's best friend for news, season predictions, game day updates, and more!

But none of us seem to mind that Eklund hides his face on camera, because he brought over his GTR Pedal board that he brings to every game- it's basically a portable broadcast center that allows him to maintain his Twitter page and blog posts, and there's no other way to describe it than straight up NERD PORN (<---click that).

The beautiful spread includes four Apple iPod Touches, an HTC Evo 4G for tethering and Qwik live broadcasts, a Toshiba dual-screen Libretta, an iPad with an AIDA case that has a built-in BT keyboard, a Pico mini projector, a Palm Pre, a Clear Wi-Max modem and router, a Windows tablet PC, and a Snowball mic for podcasting on the run! Our number one recommendation for his next purchase? A full-time bodyguard.

Eklund is truly on the bleeding edge of hockey blogging, and as he tells us stories from the Olympics we begin to understand how the future of media is tenderly shaped by his near-bionic hand. Apparently security at the Olympics weren't thrilled with Eklund broadcasting footage (firsties!) using just his Evo 4G and Qik, the provider for the Evo's video chat application, but Eklund imagines a world where every fan will have the technological ability and the NHL's sanction to record live events from alternate angles, providing a unique perspective on the game play.

There's plenty more we talk about with Eklund, but you'll have to listen to the entire episode to hear the rest of his insights...or, if you're in the New York area, drop by our Fall Meetup tonight to meet Eklund in person--he'll be the guy wearing a full-body radiation suit. We'll all be hanging out at 7:30 p.m. at the Frying Pan bar at the Chelsea Piers. See our 404 Meetup.com page for more details, and don't forget to RSVP!

The latest attempt to introduce Net neutrality legislation has stalled in a House of Representatives committee after a prominent Republican declined to support the proposal.

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the senior Republican on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he would not support a Net neutrality proposal put forth earlier this week by Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.)

Waxman introduced a proposal for Net neutrality that would have prohibited wired broadband providers from "unjustly or unreasonably" discriminating against legal Web traffic. The proposal was very similar to one that was put forth by Verizon Wireless and Google last month. … Read more

With Donald, Darren, and Benito at the helm, there's nothing stopping us from devoting a third of the show to outer space. After all, NASA has 19 billion dollars to burn, humanity has a new planet to play with, and space travelers now get their own special beer. Plan your space vacation now, because life on earth is getting creepy. Android apps are watching you, Groupon is launching a human breeding program, and the era of Minority Report "pre-crime" detection is nearly here.

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below

California Congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is preparing a limited Net neutrality law he may introduce as early as Tuesday, with hopes of passage before Congress adjourns for the election season.

Washington D.C. newspaper The Hill leaked a draft of the bill yesterday afternoon. The Waxman bill, in its current form, would include basic open-Internet principles in federal communications law, but would do so only until the end of 2012. At that time, the rules would expire, subject to re-examination and … Read more

As chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski is playing a key role in what could turn out to be sweeping changes in the way the Internet reaches children in schools and libraries. He's also the point man in a national debate on Net neutrality as some Internet service providers square off against activists who demand that the federal government ensure that companies not be able to prioritize network traffic.

Prior to his appointment as FCC chairman by President Obama in 2009, Genachowski spent more than a decade in the private sector as co-founder of LaunchBox, a managing … Read more

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Sprint Nextel has not ruled out a usage-based pricing model for its 4G wireless service, CEO Dan Hesse said Wednesday.

Speaking at the Emerging Technology Conference hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology here, Hesse said the company, which offers an unlimited data plan for its 4G wireless service, may eventually need to go to a usage-based or tiered-service model, if data consumption sky rockets. This is an about-face from Sprint's marketing message, which has played-up its unlimited 4G data service as a way to differentiate itself from competitors.

"We can offer unlimited data, as long … Read more

In a case with free speech and Net neutrality implications, T-Mobile has been sued by a text message marketing company for allegedly blocking access to the T-Mobile network because of a client that provided information on medical marijuana.

EZ Texting, a New York-based company that helps businesses send marketing text messages to large numbers of people, filed the suit (PDF) yesterday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The company is one of those that provide the behind-the-scenes infrastructure for the type of ad that asks consumers to text a specific word to a … Read more