About three years ago, the Federal Communications Commission raised the definition of broadband from 4 Mbps to 25 Mbps. This meant for an area to be considered to have high-speed Internet, it actually had to have high-speed Internet available in the area. Makes sense because 4 Mbps just isn't fast enough to much of anything.
Fast forward to 2017. Now the Republican controlled FCC under Verizon's minion Ajit Pai is saying that actually 25 Mbps is too fast and it needs to be lowered back down to 10 Mbps. I guess too many consumers were complaining about their Internet being just too darn fast. One of the FCC Commissioners, Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel thinks the re-defining is just to make it easier for the FCC to say they did their job of ensuring that all American have access to high-speed Internet in their zip codes. Kind of like saying if water is just kind of dirty it can be called clean so that you can say you have clean water.
Since the FCC under Trump is stacked in the Republican's favor Pai, and therefore big telecoms, will probably get his/their way.
Or could it be that Ajit Pai's corporate overlords didn't want to have to actually provide high-speed Internet in some areas? The FCC under Pai has just been slashing consumer protections right and left. It is no wonder that many people think that he is working for someone other than the consumers of the United States.
Pai has also maintained that if someone can get cell service then they might not need fast Internet service in their area. Of course Verizon, Ajit Pai's former employer (and possible future employer) just happens to be the number one mobile provider in the country.
By the way, at Ajit Pai’s house near DC he gets both Verizon and Comcast Xfinity, with Verizon Fios speeds of up to 500Mbps and Comcast download speeds up to 200Mbps. But the rest of America only needs 10 Mbps.
Friday, December 29, 2017
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Koch Brothers Fight Municipal Broadband
Internet Service in your zip code?
Sometimes the big Internet providers don't think it will be profitable enough to build high-speed internet connections in an area so they leave some areas underserved. As a result high speed Internet service in zip codes can be spotty. Some areas have great high speed Internet while others not so much.
In an attempt to solve this some communities have banded together and sought to create community or municipal broadband services. This is broadband service provided to an area by local city or county governments. This can be a great solution for residents of the underserved community. Unfortunately some companies don't want the competition. Even if they are refusing to provide the service they don't want to allow governments or sometimes even other companies to provide the service.
Some of these big Internet service providers even lobbied state governments to outlaw municipal broadband providers. This happened in North Carolina. When a local government in Wilson, NC solved their lack of broadband Internet themselves, the same big Internet service providers who refused to provide the service themselves, lobbied the state's legislature and now it is against the law for local governments to try to provide high speed Internet for their residents in North Carolina. This was done in the name of protecting businesses. What about protecting the citizens?
A Comcast backed fight against municipal broadband in Fort Collins Colorado, ended with the municipal broadband service winning despite being out spent to the tune of almost a million dollars.
To get high-speed Internet in the area, the town of Louisville, KY had to fight, not only the big corporate Internet providers but the infamous Koch brothers. The oil billionaire's funded Taxpayer Protection Alliance attacked the municipal initiative on social media with misleading tweets. Fortunately for the underserved residents the plan backfired when word of the Koch funding came out.
Sometimes the big Internet providers don't think it will be profitable enough to build high-speed internet connections in an area so they leave some areas underserved. As a result high speed Internet service in zip codes can be spotty. Some areas have great high speed Internet while others not so much.
In an attempt to solve this some communities have banded together and sought to create community or municipal broadband services. This is broadband service provided to an area by local city or county governments. This can be a great solution for residents of the underserved community. Unfortunately some companies don't want the competition. Even if they are refusing to provide the service they don't want to allow governments or sometimes even other companies to provide the service.
Some of these big Internet service providers even lobbied state governments to outlaw municipal broadband providers. This happened in North Carolina. When a local government in Wilson, NC solved their lack of broadband Internet themselves, the same big Internet service providers who refused to provide the service themselves, lobbied the state's legislature and now it is against the law for local governments to try to provide high speed Internet for their residents in North Carolina. This was done in the name of protecting businesses. What about protecting the citizens?
A Comcast backed fight against municipal broadband in Fort Collins Colorado, ended with the municipal broadband service winning despite being out spent to the tune of almost a million dollars.
To get high-speed Internet in the area, the town of Louisville, KY had to fight, not only the big corporate Internet providers but the infamous Koch brothers. The oil billionaire's funded Taxpayer Protection Alliance attacked the municipal initiative on social media with misleading tweets. Fortunately for the underserved residents the plan backfired when word of the Koch funding came out.
Friday, December 1, 2017
Is There Such a Thing as Privacy Online?
With all of the recent attention on net neutrality, people might have missed this gem. The Internet Service providers like Comcast and Charter are not the only ones taking liberties with Internet users. Many popular websites are using keyloggers to see everything you type while you are on their website.
A new study by Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy finds that hundreds of sites (including Godaddy, Microsoft, Walgreens, and Adobe) use what they call "session replay scripts" on their websites that record everything visitors type, where they move their mouse, and their scrolling behavior while they do it, even if the user deletes what they just typed and never hit submit it can be recorded. These sessions can then be replayed.
It doesn't matter whether you get Internet service in your area from Comcast, Charter or Cox, it is the websites that are eavesdropping on you in this case.
This "service" is provided by third party software vendors like SessionCam, FullStory, Smartlook, UserReplay, and HotJar and can record unencrypted information like social security numbers, security codes, health conditions and other sensitive data without the user even being aware. “Do not track” settings on browsers and even ad-blocking software didn't do a lot to prevent the sessions from being recorded and replayed.
This just goes to show it is not just the local Internet service providers like Comcast and Charter we need to worry about.
A new study by Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy finds that hundreds of sites (including Godaddy, Microsoft, Walgreens, and Adobe) use what they call "session replay scripts" on their websites that record everything visitors type, where they move their mouse, and their scrolling behavior while they do it, even if the user deletes what they just typed and never hit submit it can be recorded. These sessions can then be replayed.
It doesn't matter whether you get Internet service in your area from Comcast, Charter or Cox, it is the websites that are eavesdropping on you in this case.
This "service" is provided by third party software vendors like SessionCam, FullStory, Smartlook, UserReplay, and HotJar and can record unencrypted information like social security numbers, security codes, health conditions and other sensitive data without the user even being aware. “Do not track” settings on browsers and even ad-blocking software didn't do a lot to prevent the sessions from being recorded and replayed.
This just goes to show it is not just the local Internet service providers like Comcast and Charter we need to worry about.
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