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Internet/Broadband
FCC Cranks Up White-Spaces Testing
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 18, 2008 - 10:32amThe Federal Communications Commission is conducting testing to determine whether and how to allow spectrum-sensing unlicensed devices to operate in the digital-TV-spectrum band being used by broadcasters. If a device cannot tell when a broadcaster is already using the channel, it could mistakenly start transmitting on the channel and create interference to those beautiful new DTV signals broadcasters' future depends on.
Reps Urge Charter Not to Share Subscriber Info
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 18, 2008 - 10:31amLeaders from both side of the aisle of the House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee have written Charter Communications expressing their "serious concern" about reports that the company plans to track Web-site visits by its Internet customers and share that information with an ad firm, asking it to hold off on those plans for now.
Can the Feds enforce Network Neutrality? Maybe not
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 16, 2008 - 7:08amFederal regulators may be probing Comcast's throttling of BitTorrent filesharing traffic, but can they actually take action, if they choose, against the company or any other broadband provider on Net neutrality grounds? The answer may not be simple.
Microsoft Joins Effort for Laptops for Children
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 16, 2008 - 7:07amAfter a years-long dispute, Microsoft and the computing and education project One Laptop Per Child said Thursday that they had reached an agreement to offer Windows on the organization’s computers.
Icahn's bid may force Yahoo back into Microsoft's arms
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 16, 2008 - 7:06amCarl Icahn's audacious bid to overthrow Yahoo's board could bring Microsoft back to the bargaining table and revive the tech megamerger. On Thursday, the billionaire investor instigated a plan to expel Yahoo's board of directors for "irresponsible" and "unconscionable" acts that prompted Microsoft to drop a $47.5 billion bid to buy Yahoo.
Cox Blocking P2P, Too
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 4:44pmCox Communications appears to be impeding peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic in the same way Comcast has, according to a study released Thursday by a German research group. Germany’s Max Planck Institute, a science and technology research organization, analyzed a test of 8,175 Internet volunteers around the world and found that both Comcast and Cox are blocking peer-to-peer traffic over their networks during all hours of the day.
One in Five U.S. Households Has Never Used E-mail
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 4:43pmRoughly one-fifth of all U.S. heads-of-household have never used e-mail, according to National Technology Scan, a forthcoming study from Parks Associates. This annual phone survey of U.S. households found 20 million households are without Internet access, approximately 18% of all U.S.
Canadian Internet Regulation
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 4:43pmThe Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission, Canada's broadcast watchdog, will hold public hearings next year into the thorny question of extending its purview to the Internet, a medium that it deemed a regulatory-free zone nearly a decade ago.
NCTA Hails Farm Bill's RUS Loan Reforms
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 4:40pmThe cable industry's main trade association hailed congressional passage Thursday of a massive farm bill that would reduce the flow of broadband subsidies into rural markets where the technology already exists.
Governments must intervene to end IP address shortage, says OECD
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 4:37pmBusinesses alone are not doing enough to avert an impending shortage of Internet Protocol addresses, and governments must work with them to secure the future of the Internet economy, according to a report published Thursday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
