Which kind of magic fiber wire shall the government install, old fashioned solid core or state of the art hollow core? As far as I can tell, all government owned fiber networks in the US are essentially obsolete.
And how responsive will the Government Fiber Lords be to requests for backhaul from cell sites? What about smart cities that want fiber to the traffic light? And what about security on shared access lambdas?
There are a lot of open issues with the speedy withdrawal of private capital from the broadband market. We may need to do a bit more planning before we withdraw lest the broadband market descends into chaos.
Not the most thoughtful piece I've read about broadband
Consumer Reports had a good reputation when it was all about testing toasters and fridges, but their foray into public policy hasn't gone well. They've got a huge campaign around promoting organic food, not really consumer friendly or good for the planet.
This article doesn't fill me with confidence in the author's expertise. The fact that he fails to mention mobile broadband suggests it's merely ice skating over the issue.
Masnick tries to make the word "Official" in the title of Georgia's Official Annotated Code do more work than it can do. The Georgia codes themselves have always been devoid of copyright protection, as they should be.
But a book of annotated codes is very different from a book of codes because the annotations contain opinions, summaries, and interpretations of legal cases that are no more "official" than the sources they draw upon. As the Supreme Court notes: "Georgia and JUSTICE GINSBURG emphasize that the annotations do not purport to provide authoritative explanationsof the law and largely summarize other materials, such as judicial decisions and law review articles."
Works of this nature are copyright protected regardless of who pays for them to be created. Hence, the 4 dissenting justices (Thomas, Alito, Ginsburg, and Breyer) are right and the majority is wrong. The authorship standard is the only possible leg the majorty opinion has to stand on.
This is a deployment report, not a happiness report.
Critics of the FCC Broadband Deployment Report don't seem to understand its purpose. Congress ordered the FCC to issue regular reports on the deployment of advanced networks, not on their use or on the nature of the broadband market or how much subscriptions cost or how many homes have computers or any number of other fascinating questions.
Hence, the question the FCC has been asked by Congress is quite different from the one that Bodey and Rosenworcel wish it had been asked.
Is broadband being extended into unserved areas at a reasonable and timely rate, yes or no?
Are existing networks being regularly upgraded to higher speeds, yes or no?
The answer to the relevant questions is yes, and has been yes for decades.
The questions that come up relative to subscription rates is whether Congress should fund programs to increase the Lifeline subsidy or other programs along the lines of Comcast's Internet Essentials. If encouraging more people to buy Internet subscriptions is something Congress cares about, all it has to do is say so and write some checks. I don't think any ISP in America would be disinterested in signing up more subscribers to subsidized plans.
Another day, another fake news post from TechDirt's resident hypochondriac.
American broadband is excellent compared to the rest of the world, as every credible study and report from Speedtest by Ookla and Akamai has shown for at least the past decade.
Getting wired broadband to rural areas is a global problem that we don't do any worse than anybody else does. Rural broadband isn't a competition problem, it's a subsidy problem. If it were easy to solve, Tom Wheeler and Julius Genachowski would have fixed it in their 8 years heading the Obama FCC.
Chairman Pai has addressed this issue much more aggressively than his predecessors, and he deserves some praise for that.
This is not the appropriate venue for discussing any issues you or anyone else may have regarding other blogs. My invitation stands to discuss HTF on HTF.
You're welcome to leave comments on my blog regarding any information you believe to be incorrect. I give such criticism due weight and routinely correct any errors I may make.
My point is that Techdirt would do well to uphold the high standards of journalistic integrity we practice at High Tech Forum.
On the post: Benton Study Again Shows How 'Open Access' Broadband Networks Can Drive Competition, Improve Service
Re: Re:
Benton touted this ancient study the day I commented on it.
On the post: Benton Study Again Shows How 'Open Access' Broadband Networks Can Drive Competition, Improve Service
Re:
According to Speedtest, Starlink is faster than the open access networks in UK, France, and Germany.
Oops!
On the post: Benton Study Again Shows How 'Open Access' Broadband Networks Can Drive Competition, Improve Service
Hollow core or solid core?
Which kind of magic fiber wire shall the government install, old fashioned solid core or state of the art hollow core? As far as I can tell, all government owned fiber networks in the US are essentially obsolete.
And how responsive will the Government Fiber Lords be to requests for backhaul from cell sites? What about smart cities that want fiber to the traffic light? And what about security on shared access lambdas?
There are a lot of open issues with the speedy withdrawal of private capital from the broadband market. We may need to do a bit more planning before we withdraw lest the broadband market descends into chaos.
On the post: Ajit Pai Should Not Still Have His Government Twitter Account
Petty attack
How sad that TechDirt has fallen so low.
On the post: Time to Treat Broadband Like the Essential Service It Is
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Bill text has been online for twenty years.
On the post: Time to Treat Broadband Like the Essential Service It Is
Not the most thoughtful piece I've read about broadband
Consumer Reports had a good reputation when it was all about testing toasters and fridges, but their foray into public policy hasn't gone well. They've got a huge campaign around promoting organic food, not really consumer friendly or good for the planet.
This article doesn't fill me with confidence in the author's expertise. The fact that he fails to mention mobile broadband suggests it's merely ice skating over the issue.
On the post: Supreme Court Says Georgia's 'Official Code' Is Public Domain -- Including Annotations
Masnick misunderstands law
Masnick tries to make the word "Official" in the title of Georgia's Official Annotated Code do more work than it can do. The Georgia codes themselves have always been devoid of copyright protection, as they should be.
But a book of annotated codes is very different from a book of codes because the annotations contain opinions, summaries, and interpretations of legal cases that are no more "official" than the sources they draw upon. As the Supreme Court notes: "Georgia and JUSTICE GINSBURG emphasize that the annotations do not purport to provide authoritative explanationsof the law and largely summarize other materials, such as judicial decisions and law review articles."
Works of this nature are copyright protected regardless of who pays for them to be created. Hence, the 4 dissenting justices (Thomas, Alito, Ginsburg, and Breyer) are right and the majority is wrong. The authorship standard is the only possible leg the majorty opinion has to stand on.
On the post: As Pandemic Exposes US Broadband Failures, FCC Report Declares Everything Is Fine
This is a deployment report, not a happiness report.
Critics of the FCC Broadband Deployment Report don't seem to understand its purpose. Congress ordered the FCC to issue regular reports on the deployment of advanced networks, not on their use or on the nature of the broadband market or how much subscriptions cost or how many homes have computers or any number of other fascinating questions.
Hence, the question the FCC has been asked by Congress is quite different from the one that Bodey and Rosenworcel wish it had been asked.
Is broadband being extended into unserved areas at a reasonable and timely rate, yes or no?
Are existing networks being regularly upgraded to higher speeds, yes or no?
The answer to the relevant questions is yes, and has been yes for decades.
The questions that come up relative to subscription rates is whether Congress should fund programs to increase the Lifeline subsidy or other programs along the lines of Comcast's Internet Essentials. If encouraging more people to buy Internet subscriptions is something Congress cares about, all it has to do is say so and write some checks. I don't think any ISP in America would be disinterested in signing up more subscribers to subsidized plans.
On the post: Telecom's Latest Dumb Claim: The Internet Only Works During A Pandemic Because We Killed Net Neutrality
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fake comment
What relevance does the construct "people with a functioning brain" have for a Bodey comment thread?
[This is gonna be choice.]
On the post: Telecom's Latest Dumb Claim: The Internet Only Works During A Pandemic Because We Killed Net Neutrality
Fake comment
I didn't write that, Bode did.
On the post: It Shouldn't Have Taken A Pandemic To Make Us Care About Crappy U.S. Broadband
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: More fake news from Bodey McBodeface
You said what you said.
On the post: It Shouldn't Have Taken A Pandemic To Make Us Care About Crappy U.S. Broadband
Re: Re: Re: Re: More fake news from Bodey McBodeface
When people say things like "my anecdote trumps your data" offering more data is fruitless. This isn't my first visit to TD.
On the post: It Shouldn't Have Taken A Pandemic To Make Us Care About Crappy U.S. Broadband
Re: Re: More fake news from Bodey McBodeface
Classic TechDirt reader reaction.
On the post: It Shouldn't Have Taken A Pandemic To Make Us Care About Crappy U.S. Broadband
More fake news from Bodey McBodeface
Another day, another fake news post from TechDirt's resident hypochondriac.
American broadband is excellent compared to the rest of the world, as every credible study and report from Speedtest by Ookla and Akamai has shown for at least the past decade.
Getting wired broadband to rural areas is a global problem that we don't do any worse than anybody else does. Rural broadband isn't a competition problem, it's a subsidy problem. If it were easy to solve, Tom Wheeler and Julius Genachowski would have fixed it in their 8 years heading the Obama FCC.
Chairman Pai has addressed this issue much more aggressively than his predecessors, and he deserves some praise for that.
McBodeface is a fool.
On the post: Tone Deaf: Using COVID-19 As A Prop To Celebrate The Death Of Net Neutrality
Derangement zone
This post is more deranged than the typical Bodey McBodeface post, quite an achievement.
Nobody takes BroadbandNow seriously as a data source, of course.
On the post: AT&T Keeps Pretending It Wants Real Net Neutrality And Privacy Laws. It Doesn't.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I stand by my statement, regardless of how many times you insist that I try again.
On the post: AT&T Keeps Pretending It Wants Real Net Neutrality And Privacy Laws. It Doesn't.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I will note that HTF does not accept anonymous comments.
On the post: AT&T Keeps Pretending It Wants Real Net Neutrality And Privacy Laws. It Doesn't.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
This is not the appropriate venue for discussing any issues you or anyone else may have regarding other blogs. My invitation stands to discuss HTF on HTF.
On the post: AT&T Keeps Pretending It Wants Real Net Neutrality And Privacy Laws. It Doesn't.
Re: Re:
You're welcome to leave comments on my blog regarding any information you believe to be incorrect. I give such criticism due weight and routinely correct any errors I may make.
My point is that Techdirt would do well to uphold the high standards of journalistic integrity we practice at High Tech Forum.
Is that too much to ask?
On the post: The FCC To Field More Comments On Net Neutrality. Maybe They'll Stop Identity Theft And Fraud This Time?
Hypocrisy
I'd like to see The Dirt reject anonymous comments. This would set an example for the FCC to follow.
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