Archive for 2010/09/11

BT Calls on Cisco to Run its UK Broadband ISP TV Content Delivery Platform

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Tech Evolution

BT Wholesale has signed Cisco’s Content Delivery System (CDS) to operate its long awaited BT Content Connect (BTCC) service and handle the growing demand for broadband internet video / TV services (e.g. Project Canvas UK). BTCC will be capable of caching popular video content, effectively on the ISP’s own network, as opposed to dragging it over several Internet servers to reach the end-user; this lowers congestion, cuts costs and speeds up performance.

Many media groups already use Content Delivery Networks (CDN), such as Akamai, but these services often only reach the edge of an ISPs network. Naturally BT’s position in the market allows them to get much closer and avoid congested areas.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2010/09/11/bt-calls-on-cisco-to-run-its-uk-broadband-isp-tv-content-delivery-platform.html

Google rejects, then approves, anti-Google ads

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness, Google

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20016132-265.html

WSJ: GoDaddy for sale, could fetch $1 billion

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/wsj-godaddy-for-sale-could-fetch-1-billion/39057

Vodafone Prohibits P2P Use for Broadband Customers

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Bandwidth Management, Blocking, Education / Awareness, Filtering

In the United States both Verizon and AT&T prohibit the use of peer-to-peer services on their wireless networks. Despite the large Net Neutrality lobby, nobody calls them out for it. But across the pond there are even worse examples. In Ireland, for example, broadband users with a monthly download limit of 300GB are still not allowed to use peer-to-peer transfers.

http://torrentfreak.com/vodafone-prohibits-p2p-use-for-broadband-customers-100909/

Commodore Threatens Blogger For Being Skeptical About Its Amiga Plans

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness, Litigation

It’s yet another case of someone getting upset about someone’s opinion, and thinking that threatening a defamation lawsuit is somehow a good idea, rather than one that simply draws a lot more attention to the content they don’t like. Just because someone says something you don’t like, it doesn’t mean it’s illegal.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100909/05203210953.shtml

You Shouldn’t Lose Section 230 Protections By Helping A User

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness, Litigation

Last year, we wrote about a lawsuit against Yahoo where Yahoo effectively lost its Section 230 safe harbors because an employee told someone they would takedown content, even if they didn’t have to, based on Section 230. Taking that argument a step further, a guy named Scott P. sued Craigslist after the company did not successfully block fake posts made from someone pretending to be him, despite a customer service rep telling Scott that they would “take care of it.” Craigslist did take down the posts, but there was simply no real way to promise that no new fake posts would ever get through again — and, in fact, some did, leading to the lawsuit.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100908/05492710937.shtml

‘Pro-Tech’ University Decides To Block Social Networks As An Experiment

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Blocking, Education / Awareness

It’s not because the university thinks these technologies are bad — in fact, the university has apparently done a lot to embrace these tools — but just to see what they learn from it, and get a sense of how integrated some of these tools have become in our lives.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100909/20512110960.shtml

How Can Border Patrol Know Whether Music On Your iPod Is Infringing?

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100908/23324410951.shtml

Evidence Shows You Can, In Fact, ‘Compete’ With ‘Free’

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness

Modplan points us to a recent talk given by professor Michael D. Smith at Google. Smith is from Carnegie Mellon and is discussing some of his recent papers, such as one on whether or not “piracy” acts as promotion for movies and another one on how digital sales, when set up right, don’t actually cannibalize other sales. That latter one debunks the silly claim from Jeff Zucker and many others that they’re “trading analog dollars for digital pennies.”

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100903/10122810894.shtml

Cinema chain bans laptops, tablets – Maybe mobile phones too, soon

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness

Cinema chain Vue is deciding whether to ban mobile phones from its venues, having already decided that laptop computers are a no-no. The Ts&Cs Vue imposes on anyone entering its cinemas – nothing odd there; all entertainment venues have these – forbids punters from taking “sound and video recording equipment” into the auditorium. Vue reserves the right to search visitors to prevent them from sneaking such kit in.

Again, that’s not uncommon. It’s how cinemas can be seen to be trying to fight piracy, even if they’re not terribly effective.

http://www.reghardware.com/2010/09/10/vue_cinemas_ban_laptops/

Meet your next ‘Net? Academics rethink the Internet’s guts

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness, Tech Evolution

The National Science Foundation’s latest Internet development grants reflect a consensus that the current architecture of the ‘Net can’t take cyberspace much further. We look at these ambitious projects and how they propose to fix the problem.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/nsf-funds-projects-to-radically-transform-the-net.ars

P2P investigations now illegal in Switzerland – gathering even publicly available information is illegal

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness, Jurisprudence

Switzerland, a longtime haven for all kinds of financial shenanigans, has just expanded its reputation for “discretion” to cover file-sharing as well. That’s the conclusion of Logistep AG, anyway, as a Swiss court has just gutted its P2P surveillance business with a ruling that says gathering even publicly available information is illegal.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/switzerland-gathering-ip-addresses-from-bittorrent-sites-illegal.ars

No, you don’t own it: Court upholds EULAs, threatens digital resale

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Education / Awareness, Jurisprudence

Those onerous EULAs that govern software? They’re valid, and they can keep you from reselling a program or even letting the discs leave the country. Thanks to a new court ruling, only Congress can save us from a world where “first sale” no longer applies and all the media you “own” is merely “licensed.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/the-end-of-used-major-ruling-upholds-tough-software-licenses.ars

“Questionable” whether lawyers can sue 14,000 P2P users in 1 court

Posted: 2010/09/11 in Litigation

A federal judge handling the Far Cry file-swapping lawsuit shows sympathy with defendants from across the US, says it’s “questionable” whether they fall under her jurisdiction after they’ve been named.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/questionable-whether-lawyers-can-sue-14000-p2p-users-in-one-court.ars