Exploring the impact of broadband and technology on our lives, our businesses, and our communities.
ISP blocks Web site
Telus, the Canadian phone and ISP giant, has been blocking access to a Telus employee-sponsored Web site. Telus is in negotiations with their employee union, and no Telus customer using the company's Internet access services can view the Web site.
Telus claims that the site is publishing company confidential information and encouraging people to clog support lines with bogus service complaints.
But if those two claims are true, the company could pursue legal remedies. If the company can prove to a judge that confidential information is on the site (which should be trivially easy), a court order could force the shutdown of the site--legally.
It's hard to understand what Telus expects to gain from such heavyhanded tactics except a lot of bad publicity.
Unfortunately, a private company that owns its network end to end can do this with impunity. It illustrates a key reason why shared ownership of networks is important; when property owners and the community own much of the infrastructure, it becomes much more difficult to block the free flow of information.
In fact, there are higher issues than competition and affordability when discussing broadband. Free speech is also a consideration.
Knowledge Democracy:
Friedman's The World is Flat
I was initially skeptical of the heavy hype that this book received in the maintstream media. Friedman writes a column for the New York Times, and it seemed that the praise for the book was a bit over the top. But I finally picked up a copy, and while I still believe Friedman has over-simplifed some ideas and concepts, the book is worth reading.
Friedman is an excellent writer who is able to identify key trends and write about them clearly. His previous book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree also stretched a good idea a bit too far, but nonetheless had valuable insights. The World is Flat is particularly valuable for Friedman's list of "ten forces that flattened the world." It is this list, and Friedman's cogent explanations, that make the book particularly valuable for economic and community developers. Communities across America, and especially in rural areas, are struggling to adapt their local economies to the shifting power of the global economy. Friedman talks about, and explains lucidly, global marketplace concepts like outsourcing and offshoring. Friedman's analysis of offshoring and how to deal with it should be a must read for community leaders struggling with the loss of local manufacturing jobs.
Perhaps the most important, read between the lines message in the book for communities is that all the change and upheaval brought about by the end of the Manufacturing Economy and the rise of the Knowledge Economy offers incredible opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses that want to grow. A half day workshop for local businesses based on this book should be an essential activity for economic developers to offer to area businesses.
For more recommended books on community and economic development, visit the Design Nine Book of the Month page.
Technology News:
Driven to distraction by technology
For years now, if I need to get some serious work done on a project, I've had to leave the office--email, the Web, and the phone are too distracting; I can't stay focused long enough to actually think about a problem.
This CNet report details a study that shows the average office worker receives an interrupting distraction every three minutes. But here is the really bad news...it takes eight minutes for our brain to adjust and get focused in on a particular work task or idea.
So all day long, it's one constant interruption after another as we struggle to get our work done, never quite able to get our brains in gear.
Some companies are beginning to have "no email Fridays," in which employees are not allowed to use email for anything but the most urgent work. And many people have already turned off the beep that announces incoming email.
Years ago, in my dissertation research about the workflow and activities of architects, I found some data that showed where a business puts the coffeemaker can have a profound impact on the effectiveness of the office. The environment in which we work--physical and mental--can have a huge impact. I was talking to someone recently and they described the carpal tunnel problems they were having with their wrists, from too much keyboard work.
Those kinds of problems are usually completely avoidable if adjustable keyboard trays and split, curved keyboards are used. Many people I talk to are reluctant to try an ergonomic keyboard because they look "strange," but are willing to have surgery on their wrists or will wear wrist splints for months.
Our environment and the technology we use affects us, and we need to stay in control--and take control. We do not have to settle for less.
Technology News:
Cisco aids Chinese "Public Security"
Cisco is beginning to draw attention on the 'net for its practice of selling network equipment to the Chinese Bureau of Public Security. This is the organization that beats up peaceful protesters, routinely engages in brutal physical torture, and is turning China's node of the Internet into a highly controlled state network, where typing a word like "freedom" on your personal Web site might get you a visit from the Bureau of Public Security.
Cisco is claiming they have not broken any laws, and that if they don't sell the equipment, someone else will.
It's a weak defense, in my opinion. Apparently for Cisco, making a buck is more important than doing the right thing, which is to say, simply and clearly, "We choose not do business with agencies that do the things the Bureau of Public Security does. We will not aid and abet such activities by providing the equipment that enables them."
Cisco's stance can be boiled down, very simply, "We'll do anything for money." It's unfortunate that an American success story like Cisco has come to this.
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VoIP providers don't know what to do
Voice over IP phone providers are trying to get their customers to acknowledge that they know their VoIP service may not work with 911. This is in response to an FCC ruling that requires all VoIP service providers to have 911 service working by July 29th or notify every customer that it does not.
The problem? It's darned hard to get some customers to acknowledge stuff like this. The FCC has not told VoIP companies what to do if a customer refuses to acknowledge they have received a notice, and some companies are being advised that they will have to cut off service.
Apparently the FCC has refused to provide any clarification, instead insisting that the companies have to make repeated efforts to notify, and must have documentation (like an acknowledgement email) that a customer knows 911 may not work.
Technology News:
Good news for rural areas
This news item comes from Tom Christoffel's excellent Regional Community News email list. A study done in the San Diego metro area shows that 56% of residents are thinking about moving away from the overcrowded and expensive city. According to the article, that is up from from 39% just three years ago.
For rural communities that have a good strategy for land use, affordable broadband, and a "traditional" downtown area that is bright and clean, this kind of discontent is an incredible marketing opportunity. The number one complaint from those interviewed was the difficulty of getting around, especially the morning and afternoon commute.
Small towns with the right amenities to interest refugees from the ever expanding megalopolis' of the U.S. can become hot spots for families and entrepreneurs looking for a slower pace of life and better quality of life. But it won't happen at random. Success in attracting upscale urban and suburban refugees means reorienting your economic development effort, making sure the right business amenities are in place, and a first class Internet presence for the community.
What kinds of business amenities are needed? Check this one page Open for Business handout to see.
Technology News:
Cable modems may be speeding up
The Finnish firm Teleste has announced new networking equipment that will allow cable modem service providers to offer much higher speeds--up to as high as 100 megabits per second. If this equipment works (it is in early testing right now), it could give U.S. cable companies a crushing lead over rival phone companies, who are stuck with the distance-sensitive DSL.
But the article also supports what I have been saying for a long time--that HD TV will drive broadband needs, with a single channel of HD television requiring as much as 20 megabits/second. But you need a network that can deliver three channels of HD TV to a household, which puts you in the neighborhood of 60 megabits/second before anyone tries to answer the phone, download a song, surf the Web, or listen to the radio.
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Improved RSS news feeds
As part of the site upgrade, we have improved and extended our RSS news feeds. Each topic (category) has its own news feed, and if you prefer using a news reader, you can now subscribe to individual feeds, rather than the main feed for the entire site.
You can access the list of available feeds by using the site map item in the menu on the right.
Lafayette says "yes" to fiber
In what may become a milestone in the quest for broadband, a public referendum in Lafayette, Louisiana to use municipal bonds to fund a fiber network passed by a wide margin (62% of voters said "yes"). Lafayette's public electric utility wanted to offer fiber broadband to its customers a couple of years ago, and the city became ground central for a bitterly fought battle led by the telephone and cable companies, which spent millions to stop the initiative.
Lafayette was probably a poor choice to fight the community. In 1896, the town had to form the Lafayette Utilities Service because the big electric companies refused to provide service to the rural community.
The Lafayette vote is significant. It was held on a Saturday, and received a 27% turnout, which is pretty high for a single issue vote (it was the only item on the ballot). Politicians across the country will have to look more closely at broadband issues going forward, because the one weakness of the telephone and cable companies is that companies do not vote--but citizens do, and in Lafayette, the citizens spoke loudly and clearly on the issue. All the lobbyist money in the world can't offset citizens determined to make a change.
The city says the first customers will get their fiber connections in about two years, and it will take a total of three and a half years to get fiber to every home and business in the community. That's not bad, considering it took almost 40 years to get a telephone to most homes.
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Linesharing and the Brand X decision
The Supreme Court decision late last month (called Brand X) that cable companies do not have to share their lines continues to get debated across the Internet. I'm a contrarian here. While it's true that the cable companies enjoyed a monopoly position the marketplace for a long time, we changed the rules in 1996. They now have to compete, and I don't see the logic of expecting them to share their systems with their competitors. It's like demanding that UPS allow FedEx to use UPS trucks to deliver FedEx packages. In any context other than telecom, it would not receive even a minute of serious consideration.
Most of what has been written about the Brand X decision takes an adversarial, two position approach to this problem. Either we allow the cable companies to enjoy a de facto monopoly OR we force them to share their lines with their competitors.
But that's not the only two options. Both continue to perpetuate the worst aspects of the monopoly-based system we thought wasn't working in 1996. They still aren't working.
Another alternative is to build out community-owned and managed infrastructure and allow ALL service providers to share it, just as business competitors like UPS and FedEx share community roads. Last time I checked, this community-managed road sharing system has been working just fine for decades.
We need to stop letting the legacy providers define the debate, and insist on evaulating and discussing a wider range of alternatives.
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