The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has launched a web site called phoneybaloney.net aimed at “exposing” the phone companies “astroturf” initiatives — i.e. fake front groups that sound like public interest organizations but are merely lobbying arms for corporate interests. The site is a hoot, with exaggerated graphics showing a man wearing an apron emblazoned with a phone holding a big blade over a bunch of baloney rolls.
The site seeks to tear apart four groups in particular: Consumers for Cable Choice, Internet Innovation Alliance, The Phoenix Center and FreedomWorks. Not all of these groups are fully fake, but they all do receive contributions from the phone companies and take favorable stances on telco reform matters.
Not to be missed: PhoneyBaloney.net features two ads accusing the phone companies of not wanting to serve low-income communities with their video services.
While the phone companies are a whole lot more active in the astroturf realm (they’ve been at it in some form or another for a long, long time), cable isn’t exactly above the fray when it comes to this kind of front-group persuasion tactic. You could say it’s a case of the kettle calling the pot, well not black, but more black.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 12:40 PM | Print | Comments (0)
Courtesy of Engadget comes this RedHerring piece which claims that according to internal documents, cable’s R&D arm CableLabs is working on a new wireless initiative tenatively dubbed CableRoam. CableRoam is supposedly a new tech initiative that would pull together all the emerging wireless options, including WiMax, Wi-Fi and metro Wi-Fi as part of a “cable-optimized” wireless solution.
According to documents, CableRoam would look to provide a connection between a variety of wireless technologies including WiMAX, Metro Wi-Fi, and home Wi-Fi networks, representing a major move by cable to offer wireless services. CableLab’s Peter MacCormack, director of advanced digital technologies, confirmed discussions of the initiative, but said plans for the technology or the name of the proposal were not finalized. “Whatever technology we specify in the future, we want to make sure that all of these wireless architectures can work together in the most efficient and cost-effective manner,” said Mr. MacCormack.
What’s really interesting is that cable might become a competitor in the muni-Wi-Fi business, an emerging form of broadband that the industry has opposed.
The fact that CableRoam includes citywide Wi-Fi in its plans also gives weight to the controversial Wi-Fi services that cities across the United States are building. The cable industry has formerly been an enemy of citywide Wi-Fi deployments because cable companies saw the technologies as a threat to their already-deployed services. But in recent months, cable companies have been looking at the technology as a valuable option to compete with cellular. “You’ll see some announcements with cities deploying muni-Wi-Fi with cable operators this year,” said Mr. MacCormack.
If cable operators indeed throw their hats into the muni-Wi-Fi ring, that could certainly make similar efforts by Google and EarthLink all the more intense — it’s one thing for Google and EarthLink to try to easily scoop market share from incumbent network providers, but it’s a different kettle of fish to go head-to-head against cable operators. I, for one, would love to see the fireworks that would erupt if Google, EarthLink and cable operators became stiff competitors in landing municipal Wi-Fi contracts.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 11:48 AM | Print | Comments (0)
Susan Crawford says “[t]he debates over the future of the internet should begin (although they hardly ever do) by answering the question What Is The Internet?” She suggests that the opposing sides in today’s policy debate are informed by three fundamentally different definitions.
If you talk to a carrier…he’ll probably say that “the Internet” is made up of three chunks: the backbone, the last mile between a carrier and an enduser, and the connection between content providers and the backbone. If you talk to one of the founding fathers of the internet, he’ll probably say that “the Internet” is a collection of standards that allow the networking of computers. If you talk to a current user/producer of internet “content,” he or she will probably say that “the Internet” is the collection of interactions and relationships that happen online.
Well, it appears that if you’re a carrier, and the internet is those three chunks of wires, and you invested in rolling out a lot of fiber, then — therefore — you have property rights in some part of “the Internet” and you need to be paid for their use…For you, “transport” and “the Internet” are the same thing.
If you’re someone who goes online and is neither a carrier or a founding father, you may have expectations that “the Internet” will continue to be a free and ordered place whose value comes from interactions — not from the access valves used to get there…For you, “communication” and “the Internet” are the same thing.
Susan concludes with her own view that the Internet is “a combination of standards and interactions/relationships.”
Posted by Mitch Shapiro at 11:44 AM | Print | Comments (0)
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