nets

Rep. Markey: Don't turn BitTorrent into 'BitTrickle'

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--At an unusual public hearing held away from Washington, D.C., federal regulators and a key Democratic congressman on Monday said they're investigating the Comcast vs. BitTorrent dispute and are ready to take action against network management practices that disrupt Internet users' experiences.

The remarks came at the start of a public hearing here, where the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to hear throughout the day from corporate, academic, and public-interest group representatives about what constitutes "reasonable" network management by Internet service providers.

That definition is important because it will help the FCC decide whether … Read more

BitTorrent firms: Comcast throttling is anticompetitive

BitTorrent and other companies that provide bulk file distribution lashed out at Comcast on Thursday, saying the throttling of peer-to-peer connections is a naked attempt to harm video services that compete with cable TV.

Comcast's throttling "not only affects BitTorrent but also affects the hundreds of companies that use BitTorrent technology," Eric Klinker, the company's chief technology officer, told reporters on Thursday. Klinker's comments come a day after Comcast defended the practice in a lengthy filing with the Federal Communications Commission.

While the BitTorrent protocol has long been used for piratical purposes, the company formed … Read more

Sweet 'n' spicy Valentine's services top Hallmark

As much fun as it is to grumble at the scheduled sentimentality of the most schlocky of Hallmark holidays while shaking your fist at the spiraling costs of demonstrating said socialization, why not try a new approach to challenging the rose brigade's status quo?

Polka Networks offers lovebirds a chance to show true heart by customizing an e-card that makes a charitable promise in lieu of a gift. Instead of buying electronics for your mate, pledge to purchase an acre of rain forest, salaries for nannies in Chinese orphanages, or a handmade necklace that helps trafficked children in Ghanaian … Read more

Comcast cites John Dvorak in FCC filing--for being oh so very wrong

Technology columnist John Dvorak was cited by Comcast in its defense of BitTorrent throttling this week--but not in an especially flattering way.

The cable operator is trying to convince the Federal Communications Commission to leave it alone by way of background, invoking the we've-taken-major-risks and it's-a-dynamic-industry arguments. Here's an excerpt from its filing with the FCC on Tuesday, which I reformatted slightly for easier reading:

Given the widespread availability and use of broadband today, it is easy to forget that, as recently as 1995, only about 17.5 million U.S. adults accessed the Internet, and virtually … Read more

Comcast to FCC: We block only 'excessive' traffic

Comcast is mounting an aggressive defense of its BitTorrent blocking, telling the Federal Communications Commission that its decision to slow some file transfers are absolutely necessary to keep its network operational and have been mischaracterized by critics.

The broadband provider told the FCC that it delays only peer-to-peer uploads--at times when a download is not taking place as well--and then only during periods of peak network congestion.

Here's an excerpt from Comcast's filing on Tuesday:

Comcast's network management practices (1) only affect the protocols that have a demonstrated history of generating excessive burdens on the network; (2) … Read more

New Net neutrality bill frowns on ISP 'favoritism'

Comcast, AT&T, and other network operators would be expected to refrain from "unreasonable discriminatory favoritism" of content on their pipes under a recrafted Net neutrality proposal introduced Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

But this time around, the new bill (PDF) sponsored by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of a House Internet and telecommunications panel, isn't directly forcing Internet service providers to follow specific rules. The new bill is an apparent effort to be less prescriptive than his previous efforts, which failed in a Republican-dominated Congress two years ago.

"The bill contains … Read more

The mobile social: Not ready for prime time?

There's a reason why no mobile social-networking company has broken out yet. They haven't found themselves--on a map, that is.

Mobile networking, at least in the U.S., remains a limited extension of the social-media industry's biggest PC-based players: lighter, messaging-focused versions of Facebook and MySpace.com, as well as instant-messaging software like Yahoo Messenger and AIM. Social-networking start-ups with a major or exclusive focus on mobile use, like Twitter, have failed to amass a following outside the alpha-geek crowd. For mobile social networking to really take off, it's going to have to move beyond providing … Read more

Net neutrality bill expected this week

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once said that, without new Net neutrality laws, "telecommunications and cable companies will be able to create toll lanes on the information superhighway. This strikes at the heart of the free and equal nature of the Internet."

That was nearly two years ago. At the time, legislation giving the Federal Communications Commission new regulatory authority over the Internet was rejected by a 269-152 vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Since then, even though her party has controlled Congress for over a year, Pelosi and her fellow Democrats haven't exactly rushed to enact … Read more

Make your own Valentine's Day cards

If you think you've got it tough on Valentine's Day, consider your poor, humble Download.com editor. My wife's birthday is on Valentine's Day! Luckily, we've been together long enough that I don't have to impress her with dozens of roses, buckets of chocolates, and the rest of the conventional commercial holiday paraphernalia. However, a homemade card is always a great way to demonstrate my love.

Creating your own Valentine's Day cards with commercial design software like Adobe Photoshop or CorelDRAW will provide you with a wide array of options for tweaking your … Read more

Time for MoveOn.org to move on

Speaking as someone whose political views are decidedly left, I never thought I'd say this, but would Moveon.Org just put a plug in it already?

As an Internet phenomenon, MoveOn certainly demonstrated how to mobilize public opinion. Indeed, the organization, founded in 1998 by a married couple of nouveau-riche techies, Wes Boyd and Joan Blades, acquitted itself well during the Monica Lewinsky uproar.

Unlike a sadly servile mainstream media, which insisted upon playing to the lowest common denominator, a spunky MoveOn appeared seemingly out of nowhere to rally online opposition to the sham taking place in Washington.

But … Read more