This week was particularly revelatory in the world of cyber security: the U.S. formally charged five Chinese military officials with cybertheft, eBay announced it was hacked, and it turns out the National Security Agency has been listening to some countries in Central America while the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to try to curb the NSA's practices.
The Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project released a report last week proclaiming that the Internet of Things will exist by the year 2025. In our second look at the report, we examine what exactly the Internet of Things will entail.
Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen has come out against a statement he made earlier in the week about the future of Comcast broadband and data usage caps. While Cohen emphasized that there are "no plans to announce a new data usage policy," the real truth is that you should expect data caps from more ISPs than just Comcast in the future.
At the Federal Communications Commission's meeting on Thursday to take the first step towards controversial new Open Internet rules, it seemed no one on either side of the political spectrum -- inside or outside of the building -- was entirely satisfied by the proposal. Nevertheless, the FCC voted to advance the process of adopting new rules that may drastically reshape the way the Internet works.
The traffic that Netflix generates has grown substantially over the years as it now accounts for more than 34 percent of the wired downloads on the Internet in North America.
Netflix now takes up about a third of North America's peak downstream traffic, according to a new report by network analysis company Sandvine. The company's report also purportedly shines a light on "cord cutters," a segment of internet users which it says is using more than seven times the data of typical internet users.
Amid a large and growing backlash from advocacy groups and top Internet companies to the Federal Communication Commission's draft Open Internet proposal, the FCC is considering yet a new draft to mollify critics. The changes reportedly emphasize the FCC's willingness to reclassify broadband providers if anti-net neutrality practices become widespread.
Earlier this week, a large coalition of internet companies released an open letter to the Federal Communications Commission warning that its purported new Open Internet rules, ostensibly meant to protect net neutrality, actually "represents a grave threat to the Internet." Now a large coalition of interest groups, including some prominent Latino organizations, has done the same.
In the wake of leaks about new, weaker, Open Internet rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, and soon after Netflix had to pay two internet service providers for better access to their customers, Netflix has taken its concerns directly to the FCC. Meanwhile, Google, Yahoo, and other internet heavies may be planning a SOPA-like grassroots protest for net neutrality.
The Federal Communications Commission will propose new Open Internet rules supposedly meant to protect consumers and internet businesses later this month. They will do nothing of the kind, giving big broadband companies exactly the kind of anti-net neutrality power they've wanted for years, at a time when the concept of net neutrality desperately needs enforcement.
This spring is officially the season for mega-mergers. As T-Mobile looks to take over Sprint and cable-giant Comcast is trying to convince the public that merging with the country's second largest cable provider, Time Warner Cable, would be a good thing, AT&T has reportedly approached DirecTV about a possible buy-out.
Netflix has made it very clear that it doesn't think it should have to pay Internet service providers to get quality streaming service to an ISP's subscribers, going so far as to make a case for a new "strong net neutrality" that protects them (and presumably others) from such fees. Nevertheless, the company has made a deal with Verizon for better access.
The Federal Communications Commission will release a proposal soon on a new set of Open Internet rules to replace the net neutrality-friendly rules recently struck down by a federal court. But early leaks suggest the new replacement system is not so net neutrality-friendly, sparking a war of words between FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the tech community.
If you're a customer of Comcast cable broadband, you might have noticed an uptick in the streaming quality of your Netflix videos - or at least an end to constant buffering and blocky video. Netflix released data showing that its bandwidth deal with Comcast has boosted average connection speeds in recent months, begging the question: Was it worth paying the toll?
On Monday, Google bought Titan Aerospace, developer of solar-powered drones that may purportedly fly uninterrupted for years. It's yet another move in the ongoing race between Google and Facebook to build (and control) the next big expansion of the internet - in developing countries.
In its FCC filing on Tuesday, Comcast put forward its argument why a merger with Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable company in the U.S., would be beneficial to consumers, market competition, and Comcast's survival in the new media landscape.
