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Comcast Threatens the Open Internet – FCC Hears Complaints
Last summer, users of Comcast internet services reported cut-offs and significant decreases in their download speeds when they were sharing large content such as video, audio and data files using a peer-to-peer sharing application known as Bit Torrent (www.bittorrent.com).

The leaked Time Warner memo of January annoucing a Texas trial to meter cumulative bandwidth usage for new subscribers and charging a levy for excess consumption should be met with outrage and derision. If implemented nationally, such metering will result in another layer of tiered internet access and turn the web into something resembling a cable TV package, both in escalating cost and eventual loss of content diversity.

Today's Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee Hearing, "Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) services in the Digital TV Age", was called by Rep. John Dingell (MI) in response to Comcast's actions in Michigan. Comcast had unilaterally announced that PEG channels in many municipalities would be bumped from analog cable carriage to obscure digital channels in the 900 range. The move would mean that 'basic' cable subscribers would no longer have access to the local PEG channels, in fact they would need to subscribe to more a expensive digital cable service tier and pay for an additional charge for a digital cable set-top box.

Another AT&T U-verse VRAD Cabinet Explodes

Updates 1/15/08:
AT&T Begins Massive Battery Replacement (Light Reading).
Wauwatosa residents had expressed safety concerns over AT&T cabinets (Save Access)
Additional Photos (Light Reading 1/22/08)

In the early hours of Christmas morning, an AT&T VRAD cabinet (DSLAM) exploded in the city of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Only days earlier, Governor Jim Doyle had signed Assembly Bill 207, a statewide cable franchise bill pushed through by AT&T despite the best efforts of municipalities and public interest advocates to stop it. A saveaccess reader concerned over the lack of any local or regional news coverage sent us the following note with the attached photos:

It wasn't a surprise, we are now accustomed to the FCC voting on significant orders under the cover of the holidays when mainstream media coverage of such obscure political issues is at a minimum (not to mention media self-interest). It was this time last year that the FCC drove a spike into PEG, and only this past Halloween that they drove another (quite literally crucifying PEG to a company owned telephone pole). Today Chairman Martin pushed through the media ownership changes that had been overwhelmingly rejected in public hearings around the country over the course of the past year

Washington, DC, September 14, 2007 — In another blow to consumers and cities, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected soon to decree that any company now under contract with a local government to provide video services may have the right to renegotiate better terms for itself, putting at risk America’s public access channels, first‑responder communications capability, and millions of dollars in franchise fees used by cities and towns for public safety and infrastructure.

Triple Ploy and the Lie of Competition

In the past two years telephone companies have rushed to introduce national and statewide video franchising legislation around the country to better position themselves as cable TV providers.

This week word came that the Grand Rapids Media Center (GRMC) is being forced to reduce operating hours, a casualty of the Michigan State Video Franchise passed last year.

AT&T: 'How You are Delivered to U-verse' informational brochure.

We've received this 'corrected version' of one of AT&T's explanatory brochures on how their new U-verse system really works. It all makes sense now . . .

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enjoy.