FCC's Copps renews call for a network non-discrimination principle
As first reported by Broadcasting & Cable and confirmed by multiple other sources, in a breakfast-time speech last Friday before a conference of cable TV executives, the acting chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission called once again for the drafting of an amendment of sorts to its 2005 policy framework (PDF available here), adding one new principle to its existing list of four. The "Fifth Principle," as it may come to be known for years hence, would explicitly mandate that carriers provide non-discriminatory Internet access to all available services and applications.
The origins of the "Fifth Principle," as well as the belief that one was needed in the first place, dates back to the debate over the 2006 re-merger of AT&T with its own former "Baby Bell," BellSouth. While many lawmakers were debating how best to avoid the topic of addressing the efficacy of the merger, some were drafting proposed laws that would prevent the merged entity from disabling access to competitive services through its own network.
Suggested Google-Twitter tweets for Biz Stone
Oh, Biz Stone. A blog post about the swirling rumors of Twitter's acquisition by Google? Really? I mean, you were certainly coy enough -- the post is titled "Sometimes we talk" (cue hipster shrug) and includes an emphatically noncommittal "It should come as no surprise that Twitter engages in discussions with other companies regularly and on a variety of subjects."
My dear Mr. Stone, no. This is the brave new 140-character world you created, sir, and millions of Twitterers demand that you be pithier. So let's remove that post from your metaphorical tweetstream and go with something a bit more... in keeping? Naturally I tweeted for suggestions, and received the following:
OpenMoko sacrifices FreeRunner, employees for 'Plan B'
Taiwanese company First International Computer debuted its 400 MHz touchscreen GSM OpenMoko Neo FreeRunner Linux-based smartphone last year, as a fully open-source device for those users who like full customization. At OpenExpo in Bern today, OpenMoko's CEO Sean Moss-Pultz says the device has been cancelled, and in the wake of that announcement, the company dropped nearly half of its staff.
Moss-Pultz said the layoffs were of utmost importance for the company to stay in business and concentrate on its "Plan B." This plan, according to the CEO, involves a non-telecommunications device which is already in the company's pipeline. Unfortunately, he could not offer any further details as to the nature of the device.
AT&T's unionized workers poised to strike, with a ringtone to remind them
AT&T's contract with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) expired at midnight yesterday, and if the union's demands aren't met in contract re-negotiation, AT&T's wireline employees -- nearly 100 thousand in number -- will strike.
"Enough excuses!" exclaims the CWA's Web site, "If AT&T really wants to lower health care costs, it should get off our backs and get on our side for national health care reform."
Online columnist in trouble for reviewing pirated movie
There's continuing debate in entertainment circles today over the seemingly simple matter of whether Roger Friedman, a movie reviewer for FoxNews.com, was fired for having written and published a review of an unreleased film he admitted to having pirated online.
In his review of the upcoming Wolverine prequel to the X-Men series -- which the site has since deleted -- Friedman bragged about what he considered a time-saving measure, writing, "It took really less than seconds to start playing it all right onto my computer. I could have downloaded all of it but really, who has the time or the room?...It's so much easier than going out in the rain!" 20th Century Fox is both the producer of the film and the sister company of Friedman's publisher -- both are co-owned by News Corp.
Android overtakes iPhone as the OS with the most rumors
It seems like there has been a five to one rumor-to-product ratio related to Google's open source mobile operating system Android. Dell, Asus, and Acer were each rumored to be interested in using the operating system on netbooks, while LG, Samsung, Motorola, and Nokia all have been included in rumors of new Android phones.
Deutsche Telekom and HTC have thus far been the only reliable companies for cutting-edge Android-based products; so when a rumor about them comes up -- especially in The New York Times -- it warrants note. The latest rumor is based upon "confidential documents," stating that T-Mobile will be selling an Android-based home phone unit, and then a mobile Internet device based upon the OS.
Should AT&T be obliged to enable Skype for the iPhone?
With the P2P voice communication service Skype now available for Apple's iPhone, eBay's venture into the telecommunications field now is now deployed on the world's most prominent handset. Apple is supporting the application by making it available on the iTunes App Store; reports tout Skype as the single most downloaded free application on iTunes.
That's a problem for carrier partners such as AT&T, because the business model on which the iPhone is based presumes customers will be placing calls on the carrier's network, not through the Internet. Last Friday, AT&T fired a shot across Apple's bow, with its senior executive vice president for legal affairs, Jim Cicconi, stating for USA Today, "We absolutely expect our vendors...not to facilitate the services of our competitors."
Report: IBM-Sun discussions fall through late in the game
Reuters is reporting that acquisition talks between Sun Microsystems and IBM have collapsed after the smaller company rejected an offer said to be $9.40 / share or less. That reflects a substantial drop from the original offerings of $10-$11 / share, and a decrease from a reported offer of $9.50 / share late last week.
A Sun-IBM merger would have given the new entity a commanding share of the Unix server market and allied one of the Net's pioneering firms with a computing company that has weathered an impressive array of changes in the tech landscape. Sun, which has been cutting staff and otherwise tidying up for potential suitors, is not known to be in discussions with any other company.
Thanks for the DSi, GameStop, and sorry for contributing to your irrelevance
I've been to more than a dozen midnight video game product launches now, and I still get taken aback by how upbeat GameStop's employees are when doing such a launch. But at last night's launch of Nintendo's DSi, I couldn't help but feel sad.
I showed up at my local store hoping to buy two DSis, but without any real expectations of leaving fulfilled as I hadn't pre-ordered Nintendo's newest portable. That's generally the reason why these midnight launches take place: to give the pre-order customers an 8-hour jump on general product availability for being supporters of GameStop.
AT&T Terms of Service changed, then unchanged for third-party video
Like a cheap tent or a clamshell phone, AT&T has folded on a Terms of Service change made earlier this week that would have prohibited prohibits "customer initiated redirection of television or other video or audio signals via any technology from a fixed location to a mobile device," lumping such streams in with peer-to-peer movie downloads and videocasting.
That language seemed to be directed most closely to Sling, which redirects signals from your television (programs, DVR recordings, digital radio) to another net-enabled recipient -- in the case of the cusp-of-release SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone, to the popular Apple handset.
Open Cloud Manifesto: The concept looks good on paper, many say
After the much heralded Open Cloud Manifesto appeared on Monday, the Web-based document turned into a big topic of talk at this week's Cloud Computing Expo in New York City.
First initiated by Reuven Cohen, founder and chief technologist at Enomaly, the call for open standards in cloud computing soon got backing from IBM, along with EMC, Red Hat, SAP, the Open Group, VMWare, Intel, and numbers of other high profile participants.
NEC lets employees track carbon footprint online, and compete with their colleagues
This week, Japanese ISP BIGLOBE and spun-off parent company NEC began testing a new energy conservation incentive in the homes of 100 of its employees that turns carbon emission reduction into a game called Carbon Diet.
The circuit breakers in the testers' homes are connected to a WiFi and ZigBee-enabled device which tracks their electricity consumption. The data from the box is then converted into stats which are used in various online multiplayer games.
In the dead of night, 16 French lawmakers approve bill that punishes accused downloaders
Do not cue the stirring and courageous strains of La Marseillaise: In an unscheduled late-night vote with just a few lawmakers present, French Secretary of State Roger Karoutchi pressed the National Assembly to vote immediately on HADOPI, the controversial "Creation and Internet Law" that would deprive citizens of Net access for up to a year if they're accused of illegal file-sharing. The bill passed 12-4.
The Open... blog has a useful translation of Numerama, one of the first French-language blogs on the scene. French observers reported earlier this week that HADOPI will be enforced in part by software to be installed on every computer, keeping the machines under constant surveillance by the users' ISPs.
Cloud Expo: How will Microsoft's Azure handle older applications?
Microsoft's emerging Windows Azure cloud services provider will act as a platform not just for shiny new cloud applications but also for repurposed legacy applications, according to Ranjith Ramakrishnan, CTO of Microsoft third-party partner Cumulux.
According to Ramakrishnan, Microsoft is initially offering four data centers in the US and one in Europe for hosting cloud applications of both sorts. His company is now working on extending Azure enablement to its mPortal mobile portal.
Virus Power: MIT completes nanomachine battery
Angela Belcher and her team of bioengineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have turned the concept of a virus-built battery into a reality.
For the last five years, the team has been engineering a virus known as M13 bacteriophage, which is attracted to inorganic materials. Each virus coats itself with gold and cobalt oxide, effectively turning itself into a fragment of nanowire. When these viruses are then chained together, they form a film that can be used as an anode, or the part of a battery that carries a negative ionic charge.
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