Net neutrality in Europe

British Telecom and dePHORMative social responsibility

2009-07-09T18:33:00.003+01:00

Back in my RAND days, I wrote the following in a report for BT's corporate social responsibility unit:

"Private parties seem relatively insensitive to the consequences of, for example, privacy breaches and phishing. This lack of response and recognition by those closest to the risks can undermine such ‘public goods’ as the rule of law to international economic competitiveness. Private parties are not taking the actions necessary to minimise the risks at 'ground level' and do not see the risks as justifying the civil liberties consequences of legal action. This in turn can undermine trust in the online economy and thus harm competitiveness."

Recent revelations about Livingston and Galvin attitudes to PHORM, and contempt for customer privacy - back in 2007, exactly as we were writing these words, reveal just how useless CSR reports appear to be....

On the brighter side, the NoDPI campaign seems to illustrate "The vulnerabilities and risks associated with distributed data could inhibit economic growth and participation, but could equally trigger a multi-stakeholder response" i.e. consumer revulsion!

Democracy will not be televised or even blawged?

2009-07-09T18:22:00.000+01:00

Searching for information on the APCOMMS inqwuiry, I realize [a] All-party groups cannot be found via the parliament.uk website, [2] the APCOMMS website is rarely updated, [3] there doesn't seem to be a live blog let alone an audio or video stream. Help!

Behavioural advertising: clarity from Ed Felten

2009-07-09T18:18:00.002+01:00

I can't think of a clearer primer on behavioural advertising than Ed's testimony to Congress yesterday - see also his post mortem.

Canadian net neutrality hearings: Michael Geist coverage

2009-07-08T00:42:00.003+01:00

Michael offers a great public service with his blogging of the CRTC hearings - as usual, great analysis and excellent summary. Its set to go on all week. Then it'll be the UK's turn with the APCOMMS inquiry.

News from home while abroad - TalkTalk follows BT away from Phorm - are they now cooked in the UK?

Canadian inquiry told DPI necessary, by DPI providers

2009-07-06T20:39:00.003+01:00

Sandvine (yes, the Comcast FCC DPI company), and Juniper (yes, Chinese government's little helpers) have explained that net neutrality doesn't exist, that DPI is needed, and that flashmobs like those after Michael Jackson's death (how topical!) need controlling. This is in Ottawa, not Iran.

The hearing continues....on Twitter and elsewhere (probably not on your mobile)

PHORM divorced by BT

2009-07-06T19:50:00.001+01:00

It looks like the behavioural advertising software provider is running out of partners and money in the UK. DPI remains a spooks' tool not a money-maker for ISPs.

Digital economy bill - Carter's gift before the Election

2009-07-04T14:23:00.000+01:00

Yada yada yada...

Ensuring a world-class digital future following the Digital Britain White Paper , published on 16 June 2009, setting out the Government's ambition to secure the UK's position as one of the world's leading digital knowledge economies and take forward a new, more active industrial policy to maximise the benefits from the digital revolution by:

delivering a universally available broadband in the UK by 2012 through a public fund, including funds released from the digital television switchover help scheme;
giving the sectoral regulator, Ofcom, two new duties: first, to promote investment in infrastructure and content alongside its duties to promote competition; and second, to carry out a full assessment of the UK's communications infrastructure every two years; to ensure that the UK has a first class and resilient communications infrastructure;
establishing the necessary enabling powers for new commissioning bodies providing strong multi media news in the Nations, regionally and locally and update the Channel 4 Corporation's remit. This would help create the environment for continued investment in, and creation of, high quality and innovative content, including necessary changes in relation to public service broadcasting;
ensuring that all national broadcast radio stations are digital from the end of 2015, by making changes to the existing radio licensing regime to enable digital coverage to be extended, encourage investment by the commercial sector, alongside the BBC, in new digital content, and revise the existing regulatory and multiplex licences;
creating a robust legal and regulatory framework to combat illegal file sharing and other forms of online copyright infringement and give Ofcom a specific new responsibility to significantly reduce this practice, including two specific obligations on Internet Service Providers: the notification of unlawful activity and, for alleged serial-infringers, collation of data to allow rights holders to obtain court orders to force the release of personal details, enabling legal action to be taken against them;
implementing the recommendations of the Byron Review published in June 2008, to put age ratings of computer games on a statutory footing for ratings of 12 years and above. This will be achieved through the adoption of a new and strengthened system of classification for boxed video games with a strong UK based statutory layer of regulation, ensuring protection for children.

BT and BBC saga rumbles on...

2009-06-30T09:21:00.002+01:00

I haven't commented on the BT threat to content providers and their throttling of iPlayer to under 800kbps, in part because its such a non-story - its what most ISPs have been donig for years. I am posting the comments in El Reg on the claim that the problem is BT Wholesale backhaul costs - and the middle mile is indeed the problem.

Shock, horror - prior to the E-Comms review in the European Parliament, Ofcom won't do anything, in fact some of the seniors there rather approve of ISPs throttling content providers until the pips squeak (or wallets open). Wonder what the Tories think? It'll be their problem.

Genachowski confirmed - so net neutral Telecoms Act 2010?

2009-06-29T15:01:00.001+01:00

Julius got his Senate confirmation late last Thursday - and as Eli Noam is running a 'Telecoms Act 2010' conference, maybe its on the cards....

I promise...

2009-06-29T10:12:00.002+01:00

...to post more this summer - I finished the 'Net Neutrality' book last week and you can imagine much of my May-June was taken up with that. Back on the blog and thanks for sticking with it!

'Super-slow' broadband and hackwatch

2009-06-29T10:07:00.002+01:00

Why do journos constantly mislead even the tech public on what is broadband? Take this garbage from PCWorld: "U.K. unveiled plans to establish a super-fast broadband infrastructure across the country within the next three years" - in the Digital Britain report!

No, they didn't. What they did was talk about how half the country will get both DOCSIS3.0 and VDSL if Virgin and BT 'race' each other at leisurely pace to install street furniture SLAMs. They also stated vaguely that it would be nice if everyone could have their advertised 2Mbps by 2012, but there was a very shaky plan to set up a delivery authority funded by a new 50p/month tax and some digital TV switchover money no longer needed, plus some futurology on whether LTE (Long Term Evolution, 4G mobile) might help...in about 2018-2020.

No, I never understood why Carter and Meek are so keen to bend over backwards for the mobile billionaires....wait a minute, doesn't someone need a new job?

Its superslow broadband, journos!

Consultation On Legislation To Address Illicit Peer-To-Peer (P2P) File-Sharing, 16 June

2009-06-22T14:26:00.000+01:00

Paragraph 4.39 sets out an indicative timeline, with government response by 15 December 2009, and no technical measures taken against subscribers until ‘Zero+28 months’, zero being date of Royal Assent to any Order instructing Ofcom to set up the mechanism. That suggests at earliest May 2012, and given the General Election due by May 2010, may indicate late 2012 as the more likely date for implementation. This is likely to be a highly controversial three years , and whether Ofcom will actually reach the ‘throttling point’ under the next government must be open to severe doubt.

Para 1.3 “This takes forward Recommendation 39 of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, the recent BIS consultation on possible regulatory options and Action 13 of the Digital Britain Interim Report…ISPs will be required to send notifications to subscribers who have been identified in relation to alleged infringements of copyright. The second obligation is for ISPs to maintain (anonymised) records of the number of times an individual subscriber has been so identified and to maintain lists of those most frequently identified. Both obligations would be underpinned by a code drawn up by industry and approved (or imposed in the absence of agreement) by Ofcom. Following further consideration we are now proposing a change to the way in which we construct these obligations. This document sets out an approach whereby a duty will be placed on Ofcom to take steps aimed at reducing online copyright infringement. Specifically they will be required to impose the two obligations on ISPs set out in the Digital Britain Interim Report. Ofcom will also have the power to impose by Statutory Instrument the additional obligations listed in the legislation if they think it necessary. In addition they will be required to put in place a code to support any obligations that are in place.”

Government consultation on P2P throttling - 3 months to respond

2009-06-17T14:32:00.003+01:00

In all the Digital Britain fuss, here's the deal with a 3-month consultation by which time Carter will have hotfooted it out of Whitehall and into a rightsholder body:

Have a look at pp49-51 - and in particular note the lack of costings and the reliance on some very sketchy figures from the rights-holders. This is a rather sick joke of a consultation.

Carter's £6 rural NGA tax examined

2009-06-17T14:20:00.001+01:00

£6 tax on all BT lines to support the 'Final Third' - VDSL in rural areas. Why, oh Lord Carter, why? You could not get less hypothecated if you tried...

"My gran will be happy, she's always complaining that without fibre to home her current 22mbps is just not fast enough for her torrents to download at the same time as running apache server to to distribute her content to the other people in her sheltered housing."

Educated readers respond to Carter

2009-06-17T14:10:00.003+01:00

Hope I'm not flattering The Register's clientele, but I rather enjoyed reading their responses to Lord Carter's throttling charter. There's more by Monica Horten here - yes, of course its worse than Sarkozy's wet dreams of how restrictive Hadopi could be!

Stephen Carter: evil genius!

2009-06-17T13:45:00.002+01:00

Poison pill defence against both Ofcom (his erstwhile employees) and the next Tory government: cut copyright violators by 70% in a year by saying 'no, don't'. If that doesn't work, adopt Plan B - deliberate Parliament-ordered anti-pirate throttling without a court order! You couldn't make it up...

"Government will also provide for backstop powers for
Ofcom to place additional conditions on ISPs aimed at reducing or preventing online copyright infringement by the application of Blocking (Site, IP, URL), Protocol blocking, Port blocking, Bandwidth capping Bandwidth shaping, Content identification and filtering– or a combination of these measures"

- unless file-sharing is reduced by 70% in 6 months, Ofcom's job!

Its almost exactly what was ruled unconstitutional in France last week - graduated response without a court ruling, to restrict users' access.

Note that it applies after 12 months of Ofcom's notification procedure - i.e. after the Election!

Digital Britain - nothing to see here....

2009-06-16T13:01:00.002+01:00

Times cuts through the spin to reveal a shivering naked emperor and his sidekick Carter leaving government

The Prime Minister promises inThe Times today that the Government will help the private sector to move “farther and faster” to provide the next generation of superfast broadband, and the aim is that all households should enjoy broadband speeds of 10 megabits. But today Lord Carter of Barnes, the departing Communications Minister, will promise only that all households will be able to get a minimum standard speed of 2 megabits.

It was known already that the 2-megabit proposal would be partfinanced with £200 million, taken from a BBC-run scheme to help the elderly and vulnerable to change from analogue to digital television.

Lord Carter’s Digital Britain White Paper will reveal that the Government has been unable to strike deals with any of the main players on key elements of the digital strategy, including:

— a plan to take millions of pounds from the BBC licence fee to subsidise other media activities, including ITV’s regional news and local newspapers;

— the merger of BBC Worldwide and Channel 4;

— who will pay for fibre-optic connections across the country;

— the release of mobile radio spectrum by Vodafone and O2 for new national wireless broadband.

Instead, there will be only a modest package of initiatives and tax breaks to help BT and Virgin Media to extend faster, fibre-optic connections around the whole country

NGA - duopoly is enough competition?

2009-06-15T12:21:00.001+01:00

The EC consultation seems to think so! Are Barroso and Kroes railroading Reding?

"several people, including a telecom regulator, a diplomat from one large E.U. member state, ECTA, and even one person from within the Commission itself have said that the Commission's draft recommendation may be biased in favor of incumbents. Only ECTA spoke out publicly. The other sources insisted on remaining anonymous. There have been numerous meetings this week about the draft recommendation, and it does appear that political pressure has been brought to bear in favor of incumbent operators," said one person close to the discussions.

According to the diplomat, the political pressure stems from the German government, which is fighting to secure a better deal for Deutsche Telekom. "Germany is pressuring Barroso to intervene in favor of the incumbents. It is also lobbying other countries to do likewise," he said. Barroso has publicly stated his interest in leading the next Commission once the current team's mandate expires in the fall. To ensure that he gets the job again, he needs the endorsement of the heads of national governments, and Germany's in particular because Germany is the biggest E.U. member state."

Metaphor for net neutrality: a digital Checkpoint Charlie?

2009-06-08T09:52:00.000+01:00

Can you think of a better book cover?

3rd Reading 15 December - or is it?

2009-06-02T21:48:00.001+01:00

Monica Horten as usual is first with the news on the Package - it appears that it must go to Conciliation on 12 June at the Telecoms Council, but there is a rumour that only Amendment 138 - on user rights and 3 strikes - will go.

Obama back on top of net neutrality

2009-05-29T22:26:00.001+01:00

Oh ye of little faith! LA Times reports:

"Let me also be clear about what we will not do. Our pursuit of cyber-security will not -- I repeat, will not include -- monitoring private sector networks or Internet traffic. We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans. Indeed, I remain firmly committed to net neutrality so we can keep the Internet as it should be -- open and free."

Doctorow on not returning to dial-up

2009-05-29T22:21:00.001+01:00

Very interesting piece by Cory in the Guardian recently - read it as I've no time to detail it, but a very important point on ISPs attempting to throttle heavy users is that if this continues we may soon be obliged to check our usage every time we log on, and mid-session, to ensure we don't get penalised for downloading a heavy Facebook page - don't believe me, try using a 3G dongle with a 3GB monthly cap!

Book, book, book

2009-05-26T03:00:00.001+01:00

Apologies for the diminishing number of posts but I am writing the book of the blog and the prevarication just takes ages...in any case, the FCC and EC are being nice and quiet at just the right time for me to get some work done...on the zettaflood.

Repeat: kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zetta...

The deal is not done - Conciliation Committee

2009-05-06T16:35:00.002+01:00

407-57 it finished - thanks to the French insistence that they could still impose 3 strikes without a judge, only allowing an appeal to a court after disconnection.

The Commissioner will be very upset - her term is likely to finish without the new Package being finalised. Now it goes to the Council, and unless they cave, on to Conciliation.

She has advised them to cave in - after all, its a single amendment pushed by the Brits and French that could bring down the entire package. She stated:

"For many, it is of very high symbolic and political value. I call on the Council of Ministers to assess the situation very carefully, also in the light of the importance of the telecoms reform for the sector and for the recovery of our European economy."

EC law on net neutrality: not the end but the end of the beginning?

2009-05-06T13:44:00.001+01:00

The deal is done!

9. Towards a more open and more "neutral" net for the consumer: The new telecoms rules will ensure that European consumers have an ever greater choice of competing broadband service providers available to them. Internet service providers have powerful tools at their disposal that allow them to differentiate between the various data transmissions on the internet, such as voice or 'peer-to-peer' communication. Even though traffic management can allow premium high-quality services (such as IPTV) to develop and can help ensure secure communications, the same techniques may also be used to degrade the quality of other services to unacceptably low levels. That is why, under the new EU rules, national telecoms authorities will have the powers to set minimum quality levels for network transmission services so as to promote "net neutrality" and "net freedoms" for European citizens.

In addition, thanks to the new transparency requirements, consumers will be informed – even before signing a contract – about the nature of the service to which they are subscribing, including traffic management techniques and their impact on service quality, as well as any other limitations (such as bandwidth caps or available connection speed).

10. Recognition of the right to internet access: The new telecoms rules recognise explicitly that internet access is part of fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and the freedom to access information. The rules therefore provide that any measures taken regarding access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks must respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, including in relation to privacy, freedom of expression and access to information and education, as well as due process. The new rules also clarify that the final word on this important matter of internet access must be with an independent and impartial tribunal established by law and acting in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

I wonder how many of the 27 will police this rigorously? The devil remains in the detail!