isps

Turning 20 next month, the World Wide Web has become a ubiquitous part of our lives. But the freedom and open nature of the Web that we sometimes take for granted are threatened, according to its creator.

In a long article published yesterday in Scientific American, Tim Berners-Lee writes that the Web as we know it is affected by elements that have "begun to chip away at its principles."

He points a finger at social-networking sites that he says are "walling off information posted by users from the rest of the Web." Though he acknowledges that … Read more

The Los Angeles Times has raised questions about the financial relationship between some large telecommunications companies and influential minority groups.

According to the report, AT&T, Comcast and Verizon Communications have poured big money into the coffers of such groups as the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Urban League, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

These groups just also happen to support the telecoms' anti-Net neutrality proposals. It's all a big coincidence says the telecoms and minority groups. No pay for play, they contend.

Not everybody at the Federal Communications Commission … Read more

Internet provider Earthlink announced today that it has agreed to buy regional telecommunications carrier ITC Deltacom.

To complete the merger, Earthlink will pay $516 million in cash, but that includes $325 million in Deltacom debt.

As a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), Deltacom provides voice and data telecommunications services to the Southeast. The company owns most of its 16,400-mile fiber-optic network and serves around 32,000 small and medium-sized businesses, government agencies, and enterprise customers.

Through the acquisition, Earthlink said it's looking to combine its ISP and IP businesses with Deltacom's communications operations to offer customers a … Read more

Comcast is announcing today that it will be offering all of its Internet customers a free service that alerts them if it appears that their computer is infected with botnet malware.

The cable giant, which is the largest residential ISP in the U.S., began a trial of the botnet detection service a year ago in Denver. Now, Comcast will be rolling it out to the rest of its more than 16 million Xfinity Internet customers over the next few months.

Customers will receive e-mails with information about how the Botnet Identification and Notification service works, as well as info … Read more

This month's U.K. edition of GQ Magazine contains a fairly substantial article from U2 manager Paul McGuinness in which he blames Internet service providers and technology companies directly for the falling sales of recorded music. As he notes in the article, he made a speech on this subject about two years ago and was roundly criticized by various "anonymous bloggers." I've never been anonymous, but I did point out some of the factual inaccuracies and weird assumptions in his speech at the time.

I can't speak for anonymous bloggers everywhere, but I've never … Read more

Lost in the hubbub of whether Google and Verizon are nearing a secret deal to tier the Internet is the truth that few will say out loud: Net neutrality is dead on wireless networks.

A war of words erupted this week after a New York Times article that flatly stated that Google and Verizon Communications would soon enact the very definition of Internet tiering: charging content providers more to prioritize delivery to consumers. Cue Internet freakout.

Google and Verizon rushed to deny the story, with Google saying, "we have not had any conversations with Verizon about paying for carriage … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Robert J. Shapiro's bio below.

The familiar, one-size-fits-all flat monthly fee for Internet use is likely headed for the technology junk pile--and it's a good thing for most consumers.

One fee for unlimited broadband access--and the same fee for everybody signing up for a particular service--helped drive the extraordinarily rapid spread of broadband, especially as those fees declined over the last decade. But broadband has changed the Internet, particularly by enabling the spread of bandwidth-intensive video and voice applications.

New analysis shows that as Internet providers ramp up their … Read more

An Australian government report into cybercrime has recommended that Internet service providers force customers to use antivirus and firewall software or risk being disconnected.

Belinda Neal, committee chair, said in her introduction to the 262-page report, titled "Hackers, Fraudsters and Botnets: Tackling the Problem of Cyber Crime," that due to the exponential growth of malware and other forms of cybercrime in recent years, "the expectation that end users should or can bear the sole responsibility for their own personal online security is no longer a tenable proposition."

"We need to apply the same energy and … Read more

Barnes and Noble launches an iPad app to sell books from the Nook store

Google Latitude will now track where you've been

BillShrink can help you compare cable and satellite TV services in your area

The iPhone 4G may launch on Sprint, not Verizon. Keyword: may.