More on HD video standards

I have blogged about HD format standards earlier. If you have been paying attention to the news, you know that the standards war is well underway, with products on the market for both the HD-DVD and the Blu-Ray standards. So, this article in today's Washington Post caught my attention.

Do you think that agreement between the two HD camps on camcorders provides a way out of the standards war or is it a "red herring"?

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HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, standards,

The Missoula plan

Those of us who are interested in the history of telecommunications in the US recall the different "plans" (eg. Ozark) that were developed by NARUC and were implemented by the FCC. Well, the issue of intercarrier settlements has arisen again because of the emergence of VoIP and the recent wave of mergers in the telecommunications industry. As a result, NARUC developed the "Missoula Plan". A very brief presentation about the motivation and the expected outcome can be found here; the text of the plan is here.

It is interesting to view this matter in the context of carrier interconnection and universal service. Interconnection has long been an object of contention between carriers (see this for a recent rendition); and many have argued that universal service funding is seriously flawed (see this, for example).

Do you think the Missoula Plan makes progress toward resolving some of these issues?

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Interconnection, Internet, Missoula plan, NARUC, Universal Service

Internet governance

Although the outcome of WSIS was continued US control of the Internet, it resulted in a broader discussion on Internet governance. Now, according to this article, apparently the US is moving toward a broader conception of Internet governance (you might also find Tim Lee's commentary on this interesting).

Do you think this most recent development is a result of the UN/WSIS process, or are there other forces at play? If it is the latter, what do you think those are?

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WSIS, ICANN, Internet, Internet governance

Series on platform monopolies

Over at the Technology Liberation Front, Tim Lee has published a series of articles on platform monopolies that is worth the read.

What are the alternative arguments? Which do you find more persuasive? Why?

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Internet, platform monopolies, economics, Internet, ipod, windows

Kazaa settlement

You may have read about Kazaa's settlement with the music industry for copyright infringement (see this, for example). The amount of this settlement was reported to be US$115 million. Since Kazaa is a free service, you might wonder where they came up with the money for this settlement. So did Eric Schonfield at B2, and he offers this explanation, though the NYTimes article argues otherwise.

Which explanation do you find satisfactory? What does this say about the future of P2P systems in dealing with copyrighted material?

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Kazaa, P2P, Internet

FCC's latest broadband report

The FCC releases regular reports on broadband penetration. The latest installment can be found here, and the press release and summary, here. The report shows a 33% increase in broadband connectivity in 2005 over previous years. In their summary, they point out

Providers list the Zip Codes in which they have at least one high-speed connection in service to an end user, and 99% of Zip Codes were listed by at least one provider. Our analysis indicates that more than 99% of the nation’s population lives in those Zip Codes. The most widely reported technologies by this measure were satellite (with at least some presence reported in 88% of Zip Codes), ADSL (in 82% of Zip Codes), and cable modem (in 57% of Zip Codes). ADSL and/or cable modem connections were reported to be present in 87% of Zip Codes

This raises some questions ... for example, how good is "at least one high speed connection in service to an end user" in a zip code as a measure of penetration, or as a measure of closing the digital divide? Also, the FCC includes satellite service as a broadband technology ... can you provide equivelent services over satellite as you can over terrestrial technologies? Why or why not?

As it happens, the CRTC (Canada) released a similar report today. How do the reports compare? Does one report provide better information than the other? How is this information differential useful for policy makers?

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FCC, broadband, digital divide, Internet, Canada

The "Great Debate" on Network Neutrality

On the off chance that you haven't seen or heard about the "Great Debate" between Vint Cerf and Dave Farber, here is a link that contains an audio of the event. A transcript has been promised on this site as well.

Price competition for broadband access

While not a systematic study, I found this to be an interesting read. What implications does this have for the network neut* discussion (if any)? If we see competition in price, would you also (eventually) expect to see competition in price/quality bundles (under priority pricing) or in content? Do you think this competition is sufficient to allay the concerns of some of the network neut* folks about content blocking?

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Network neutrality, broadband, competition

Antitrust and telecom regulation

Reuters is reporting that Google is indicating its willingness to use antitrust suits if "network neutrality" regulation doesn't exist. This alternative to regulation is one favored by some industry observers; it was the approached used by New Zealand when they deregulated in the 1980s and has been part of the telecommunications regulation landscape in the US since the 1960s.

Do you think this is a viable way to regulate? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using antitrust to regulate?

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Telecommunications, regulation, antitrust, network neutrality

Potential new telecom action in the EU

Unlike the US regulators (not just the FCC) who have been pursuing a "hands-off" policy in telecoms, the EU is taking a more aggressive approach to governmental regulation. This item is a brief description and commentary of their approach. The context of this is a (scheduled) review of the 2002 telecommunications regulatory framework, though the timing seems convenient. In case you're interested, here is an FAQ from the EU on this topic.

Which (i.e., the increasingly "hands off" or the increasingly ex ante) approach do you think is better? Why?

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Telecommunications, EU, regulation