Group items tagged

An article on how the increasing flow of internet traffic could potentially lead to a form of 'gatekeeping' of users by providers. It has always been perceived that there was network neutrality as providers charged a flat rate for unlimited internet access. However, the article argues that this is not the case as there has aways been some form of management of traffic so that an acceptable level of service is maintained. An extreme example is the court case between BitTorrent users and the provider Comcast. Comcast blocked this service as it was effecting service. This was challenged by users who initially won. However in a challenge by Comcast, Washington found in their favour as it found that the Federal Communications Commission could not decide how Comcast should manage its network. Another interesting point made is the potential for service providers to charge content providers who attract a large amount of traffic.This way good service is guarenteed, through essentially sharing the burden of cost. Obviously this is fiercely opposed by businesses. Clearly this all has the potential to change the relationship between users, content providers and service providers.

Interesting research: Eight out of 10 employees claim that being trusted to manage their own time and the internet as they wish is more important than pay.

Court decision suggests that American internet operators are not forced to maintain net neutrality. The sentence implies that FCC has no authority to demand from internet providers a neutral treatment of the traffic that they manage on their networks

I know this is a piece of fluff, but it raises some questions for me: 1. Was Twitter the only medium through which this event was advertised? Could there not have been other ways to advertise the cancellation of the signing? 2. Is private Twitter usage able to be publically regulated? If so, to what extent? 3. To what extent is the shopping mall responsible? OHS and Fire codes would have mandated the number of people allowed in an area - should they not have made provision for that? 4. Was the failure to tweet reckless endangerment on the part of the manager, or have the law enforcement agencies taken social networking and used it to increase the level of responsibility a person owes to the general public (at least in this instance)? I'm not saying that the manager is in the right, I'm just wary of the level of importance placed on one aspect of this event. Has the way we operate changed to such an extent as to warrant this sort of police interference?

Unvarnished (www.getunvarnished.com) is a recently launched social networking site wherein anyone can create an online profile for a professional (think LinkedIn), and any user can post reviews (mostly negative) about you, anonymously. The website's founder says that Unvarnished gives an individual the opportunity to disprove any negative claims about him/her. However, I agree with the author of the article in believing that the site actually encourages and empowers users to have a backstabbing spree. It will be interesting to see in the next coming months if Unvarnished actually takes off.

A Brisbane based software company's CEO created a solution to manage his son's internet access which includes time limits and blocks chat and some social network applications. Although it's unlikely to stop the ban, it's great to see people advertising their disdain for the potential legislation and what can be done to protect children in a more efficient way.