To me, this reads more like a statement of principles and direction than "rules." That likely is by design. That also means if the court challenges do not invalidate the entire order, we are in for a long period of gradual testing of what each of the principles actually means.
It appears we don't really know much, yet, especially since the actual language hasn't been released.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/45749183/Net-neutrality-statement-by-Julius-Genachowski-the-FCC-chair-on-Dec-21-2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
FCC Net Neutrality "Rules" are More Like "Principles"
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Disagrees with Investor "Shorts"
You would not expect any CEO of a public company to do anything but defend the company's valuation. Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, facing what might be termed significant concern in some quarters that the firm is over-valued, does so in this post, a response to investor Whitney Tilson's stated reasons for shorting Netflix.
You can read the original here: http://seekingalpha.com/article/242320-whitney-tilson-why-we-re-short-netflix
Both sets of arguments are cogent. The one point where the Hastings response seems to me to miss the mark is Tilson's argument about higher broadband costs, incurred by consumers, not by Netflix, to consume Netflix or any other provider's streaming content.
Hastings rightly points out that on a cost-per-megabyte, backbone transport costs are declining. He's right about that. But Tilson seems to be pointing to the money end users have to pay, for their broadband access subscriptions, to consume streaming content.
As users begin to watch more online video, it is highly likely they will need to spend more money on their broadband access plans, and that will play some role in any consumer's evaluation of their costs to watch streaming video. It does not appear that Tilson was commenting on Netflix costs to move video across the Internet backbone, but about potential higher costs borne by end users to watch online video.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
FTC Wants Do-Not-Track for Online Ads
Any industry can run into consumer issues that are troublesome from a business perspective, and can lead to problems from a legal or regulatory perspective. It isn't yet clear whether the online advertising industry has done enough, or can do enough, to self police itself before outside intervention occurs.
It might now be too late for online advertising to escape outside intervention. The Federal Trade Commission wants a "Do-Not-Track" program for online advertising, saying the industry has moved too slow.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Google’s Click-to-Call Boosts Response Rates
Google click-to-call over the last three months, on mobiles, has grown by an average of 28 percent month-over-month globally.
Surojit Chatterjee, senior product manager of mobile ads for Google, said campaigns with the click-to-call feature report sic percent to eight percent higher click-through rates than ads that don’t have it.
Surojit Chatterjee, senior product manager of mobile ads for Google, said campaigns with the click-to-call feature report sic percent to eight percent higher click-through rates than ads that don’t have it.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
FCC Passes Net Neutrality Order, Unclear What it Means
The Federal Communications Communication has voted to approve new net neutrality regulations on a three-to-two vote. As nearly as we can tell, the new rules, which will face court challenge and possible contrary instructions from the U.S. Congress, mandates network management transparency, and simply codifies existing rules protecting a consumer's right to use lawful applications.
The actual language of the order is not available yet, and much remains to be understood. Some would characterize the general thrust of the rules as forbidding some forms of "priority access" to sites and applications.
The rules appear to apply to both fixed and mobile networks, though only "unreasonable discrimination" is prohibited.
The rules appear to be less affected than fixed networks are, though the language used is broad enough that the actual details will have to be filled in by actual enforcement actions later, taken on a case-by-case basis. It appears we will have to wait not only for the actual written order, but for the legal challenges, case-by-case complaints to the FCC and then possible Congressional direction, one way or the other.
In short, it isn't entirely clear what has changed, here, and how big the impact might be.
Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/12/21/fcc.approves.net.neturality.rules.despite.gop/#ixzz18ltQVSRl
As expected, many who had argued for more-rigorous rules are disappointed. See http://www.freepress.net/press-release/2010/12/21/free-press-fcc-net-neutrality-order-%E2%80%98squandered-opportunity%E2%80%99 for example.
The actual language of the order is not available yet, and much remains to be understood. Some would characterize the general thrust of the rules as forbidding some forms of "priority access" to sites and applications.
The rules appear to apply to both fixed and mobile networks, though only "unreasonable discrimination" is prohibited.
The rules appear to be less affected than fixed networks are, though the language used is broad enough that the actual details will have to be filled in by actual enforcement actions later, taken on a case-by-case basis. It appears we will have to wait not only for the actual written order, but for the legal challenges, case-by-case complaints to the FCC and then possible Congressional direction, one way or the other.
In short, it isn't entirely clear what has changed, here, and how big the impact might be.
Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/12/21/fcc.approves.net.neturality.rules.despite.gop/#ixzz18ltQVSRl
As expected, many who had argued for more-rigorous rules are disappointed. See http://www.freepress.net/press-release/2010/12/21/free-press-fcc-net-neutrality-order-%E2%80%98squandered-opportunity%E2%80%99 for example.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Orange Makes Big Bet on NFC, Mobile Payments
Orange, the key France Telecom brand, has announced that it will roll out near field communications-enabled handsets across its whole European Union footprint starting in the second half of 2011.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Mobile Can Help or Hurt Retailers
In the absence of measures taken to use mobile shopping to their advantage, broadly-defined mobile retailing will hurt, rather than help, most retailers. The reason is simple. Web-equipped mobile users easily can check prices, availability, product reviews and other information on products while they are in stores. And people are doing that.
About 30 percent of respondents surveyed by the GfK Roper Poll say that, while at a store looking at a product, they tried to find a better deal elsewhere, using their phone. About 33 percent say that while out shopping, they emailed or texted someone to tell them about an experience at a store, such as finding a great deal or a great gift.
The study, sponsored by Sapient, also found that 30 percent of respondents own a smartphone capable of supporting such activities.
About 19 percent of respondents used their phone to post something on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or other social networking sites about their holiday shopping experience.
About 30 percent of respondents surveyed by the GfK Roper Poll say that, while at a store looking at a product, they tried to find a better deal elsewhere, using their phone. About 33 percent say that while out shopping, they emailed or texted someone to tell them about an experience at a store, such as finding a great deal or a great gift.
The study, sponsored by Sapient, also found that 30 percent of respondents own a smartphone capable of supporting such activities.
About 19 percent of respondents used their phone to post something on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or other social networking sites about their holiday shopping experience.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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