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Waddya know, we take a few days off and the internet melts. First we get news of government seizures of questionable domain names, then the Net Neutrality issue boils over into a great big mess of internet-rage over a disagreement between Comcast and Level 3.
Well we’re back, and ready to give you our take on both of these situations, as well as share some interesting tidbits that seem to be getting glossed-over in the mainstream news.
Show Feeds:
Show Notes:
Read and learn, my son…
Wikipedia
An independent FAQ
TODAY: COMCAST vs. LEVEL 3 (and Netflix)
Comcast bullies Netflix into paying an extra toll for their streaming services
- The accusation begins with Level 3 stating that Comcast has erected a new tollbooth that “threatens the open internet” and seeks government intervention.
- Further investigation leads to Comcast’s side of the story: That Level 3 is attempting to provide services beyond what they are paying for on Comcast’s networks.
- Analogy: Level 3 took a giant dump in a toilet, the toilet is clogged, the plumber (Comcast) tells them that they need to pay for bigger pipes so their craps don’t clog the toilet. Level 3 tells Comcast that they should get the bigger pipes for free because Comcast agreed to be Level 3’s plumber. (thx Rikai)
The story:
Level 3 is hyping the Net Neutrality angle to the press, claiming that Comcast is risking violation of the NN principles by terminating their contract. This is not only wrong, but misleading, and the press is buying into it!
The truth:
Level 3 is not meeting their end of an agreement that stipulates certain restrictions on bandwidth use. They’ve exceeded those parameters, and must pay, and Comcast is simply attempting to collect on the violation of that agreement. It’s a simple business agreement.
THE PROBLEM:
That this agreement exists in the first place, as made evident by the fact that eliminating the agreement results in an inability for the end-user to receive the content they are paying for — THE INTERNET. The whole internet, not just the portions that their providers have agreed to offer.
P2P vs. GOV’T
Court affirms jail time for founders of Pirate Bay torrent website
- The gist of the charges are that Pirate Bay knowingly offered services that allowed and encouraged the widespread violation of copyright laws.
- But really, couldn’t that be a bit like being accused of allowing the widespread violation of drug use and deviant behavior, because you own and operate a dance club or strip club?
ICE (Gov’t agency, part of NSA) seizes dozens of domain names in “Cyber Monday Crackdown”
- Find a complete list here, per their public statement.
- ICE statement says they were targeting websites involved with copyright infringement and counterfeit merchandise.
- Also targeted was “Torrent-Finder.com” while other torrent tracking sites have been left untouched. This site didn’t even provide downloads of Torrents but merely links to other sites that did. They offered nothing but a search service.
What about Wikileaks? Or child porn sites? Or a billion other terrible things that are on the internet? Why crack down in this manner on sites that are offering questionable or illegal merchandise?
ICANN says they had nothing to do with domain seizure