Daily Archives: August 1, 2008

FCC Rules in Favor of BitTorrent

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When it rains, it pours. For the past two weeks it’s been all I could do to keep up on Minnesota broadband happenings. Off in the ether, I’ve been getting glimpses at the FCC’s activity but I haven’t been tracking it too closely. Well the news broke today on FCC ruling on the Comcast/BitTorrent case and I want to thank Jim Baller for not only tracking the news but allowing me to post his comments here. (Jim maintains a great daily email list of telecommunications policy news.)

The big news is that the FCC just ruled, as widely expected, that Comcast’s treatment of BitTorrent traffic violates the FCC’s broadband policies.

According to Commissioner Michael Copps, who joined with Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein to form a 3-2 majority, “This is a landmark decision for the FCC—a meaningful stride forward on the road to guaranteed openness of the Internet.”

The decision does not attempt to lay down rules for all situations but focuses on the specific Comcast practices at issue. The FCC emphasizes the need for a balance between preserving the openness of the Internet and permitting essential network management.

A written order is not yet available. The FCC’s press release and the statements of Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps and Adelstein are available at www.fcc.gov. They are well worth reading.

More Monticello

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Between Monticello and the Iron Range it’s been a busy couple of weeks for broadband in Minnesota.

Lynne Dahl Fleming was kind enough to send me the official word from the FiberNet Monticello project. It’s a quick take on what’s happening with the TDS lawsuit, obviously from FiberNet’s perspective:

TDS/Bridgewater has finally awakened to the fact that its existing system in Monticello is inadequate. It has belatedly changed its course, announcing a plan to build its own citywide fiber network. The City does not object to TDS’s change in course. Unfortunately, however, TDS accompanied the roll-out of plans for its new system, by filing a lawsuit that serves as a tool for keeping the City from doing the same. (You can read more on the FiberNet homepage.)

Christopher Mitchell was also kind enough to send me his recent Op-Ed piece on Monticello from the Monticello Times. I hope he won’t mind if I excerpt a paragraph and a half and suggest that you read the article for the full perspective. Christopher has spent a lot of time in Monticello and I think he has TDS’ card when it comes to the lawsuit:

Monticello is well within its rights to build a fiber-to-the-home network. But the construction cannot start until the litigation ends. TDS, a phone company headquartered in Madison, has filed a complaint with the laughable charge that the fiber network is neither a “utility” nor “public convenience.” Minnesota’s legislature has explicitly listed telecommunications and “cable television and related services” in its definition of public utilities. Everyone who has ever used the Internet knows it is a public convenience.

TDS cannot win this case, but it can stall Fibernet Monticello’s start-up to buy time for its own hasty upgrades and attempts to lock subscribers into long-term contracts.

Minnesota Broadband Task Force – Mike O’Connor

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Earlier this summer Governor Pawlenty announced the member of the new Broadband Task Force – including Blandin Foundation Broadband Strategy Board member Mike O’Connor.

Mike is representing the urban user; he has started a Broadband Task Force blog to let us know how it’s going and just as importantly to get feedback from urban constituents – well I’d say Mike would like to hear from us all, but again urban is his beat for the Task Force.

Mike was also kind enough to let me know how the Task Force is going – although me asking him was kind of like asking how the new job is going before noon on the first day.

We’re still in the formation stages. we had an informal kickoff meeting over lunch, but the good stuff will start with our first “real” meeting in August. Rick King (our chair) has a domain-name for the “official” site which I’ve linked to on my little http://www.urbanusers.com site — but there’s nothing there yet.

I know that a fair number of us are interested in doing something very forward-looking. And the Governor has asked Rick for an “actionable report” (according to Rick at our kickoff). So we’ll see how we do.