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New Media Rights and UCAN's Comments in response to the FCC Notice of Inquiry concerning the Framework for Broadband Internet Services.

UCAN's affiliate, New Media Rights, which offers creators and Internet users assistance regarding their rights online, has filed comments to the FCC on the Future of Media. These comments discuss the state of media in San Diego, and the future of media generally from mobile phones, to investigative journalism, to the future of the internet.

What exacly IS "the Internet"? And how does my Tweet get from me to all the other people who are waiting breathlessly for it?

UCAN's affiliate New Media Rights is hosting a discussion forum on the future of media and journalism in San Diego.  Join in on the discussion now!

In this morning's keynote from the "CTIA Wireless & Entertainment 2008" expo, show, extravaganza, cabal, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon agreed to speak in vague generalities and put no meat on the open access or open networks bones. Each carrier talks about major caveats to its "open" policies, and each carrier has significant differences in how they define "open." So for now, think of "open" as the new marketing buzzword, the new "green" if you will. Look for the use of "open" to increase in use as a feel good marketing tool, and its meaning and substance to be inversely proportional.

Here's an article on the keynotes from FierceWireless, CTIA: Carriers talk "open" network but no clear definition

San Francisco Chronicle: Comcast is limiting bandwidth to 250 GB a month. It's a bad deal for consumers, says UCAN's Executive Director, Michael Shames. More.

The link found by UCAN, may be a faster way of finding the $10 "unbundled" DSL price that's advertised but a real chore to find!

TRAC, Volume 5, Issue 42 says: How To Sign Up For AT&T's "Naked DSL" - Until recently, consumers who wanted to buy DSL broadband service from AT&T without bundled local telephone service (known as "naked" DSL) didn't save much money versus buying DSL as part of the bundle. Thanks to conditions placed by the FCC on AT&T's merger
agreement with BellSouth, AT&T was forced to offer $10 unbundled DSL, though it was very hard for consumers to find
information about the deal and sign up. The service was also slow, 768 Kbps downstream and 128 Kbps upstream, versus traditional DSL's 3-6 Mbps downstream speeds. Over the past two months, AT&T has begun offering two new cheap "naked" DSL package in its 22-state service area. The "Express" plan offers 1.5 Mbps down/768 Kbps up speeds for $23.99 per month. The "Pro" plan offers 3.0 Mbps down/1.5 Mbps up for $28.99 per month. What's more, since telephone service is not required, consumers don't have to pay the myriad taxes and fees associated with a home phone line in addition to the monthly service charge for DSL and phone service. While AT&T doesn't heavily advertise
the two new plans, thanks to a tip from CNET.com, we have instructions on how consumers can sign up:

1) Call the AT&T Dry Loop department directly at 888-800-4095
(Note: This number may connect callers to the Ohio-only office.
If so, ask to be connected to the office serving your area.).

2) Second, ask to switch to "DSL Direct."

3) Finally if you have any problems with customer service, tell
them that it is a retention offer.

When TRAC called the Dry Loop department, we were told that there is no activation fee or service contract with the plan,
only a one-time fee of $49.99 to purchase the modem. If customers are unhappy with the speed of the service, AT&T they can discontinue their service without any additional charges. For consumer who want broadband service for web surfing and e-mail, but don't need the higher speeds of traditional DSL, cable modem, or fiber-based broadband services, AT&T's "naked" DSL could be a money-saver. Just don't expect AT&T to make it easy to find information about the service.

Link