Archive for November, 2007
Thursday, November 8th, 2007
Hiatus
I'm going on vacation to Italy by way of Washington, DC and will not be posting until I get back on the 17th. I'll have limited access to e-mail (read: none) and zero cell phone coverage, so I'll get back to you when I return.
Ciao, everyone.
1 Comment » - Posted in Website by Jesse
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
It’s Official: No More Net Taxes for Seven Years
It passed the House. It passed the Senate. And on October 31, President Bush channeled his dad's words and said "no new taxes." After getting right down to the deadline, Internet access will remain tax-free for another seven years. Not all is good, however. VoIP services no longer have those tax-free statuses thanks [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
November 7 Subcommitte Meeting Postscript
I was rather surprised to see the UTOPIA legislation get tabled at today's meeting. Given that this issue has consumed a significant amount of time at each meeting I've attended and has received a significant amount of public comment, I would think any proposals on the table would have been ready to go. Based on [...]
20 Comments » - Posted in Events, Jeers, Legislation by Jesse
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Liveblogging the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee: November 7, 2007
It's time for another liveblogging! It's looking like the meeting is likely to start late… again. Maybe we could all chip in to buy the committee members some new watches.
1:04PM It sounds like the tabled items are going to have minimal effect on UTOPIA or other muni broadband projects. Given that, I think [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Legislation by Jesse
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
Letter to the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee: November 6, 2007
I wrote the following letter to all members of the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee to express my disapproval at the proposals brought forth at their last meeting.
1 Comment » - Posted in Communications, Legislation by Jesse
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
Reminder: Subcommittee Meeting Tomorrow Morning
Just a reminder that the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee will be meeting tomorrow, Wednesday November 7th at 9AM in Room W125 of the House Building at the Capitol Complex. This meeting will be to specifically discuss UTOPIA-related legislation as discussed in the prior meeting. (Read more here.) Prior to the meeting, it will be [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Events, Legislation by Jesse
Sunday, November 4th, 2007
No Rest For the Weary: Vonage Coughs Up $80M to Verizon, Gets Hit With Major Security Holes
The bad news for Vonage just keeps on rolling in. The face of VoIP providers everywhere has reportedly coughed up $80M to make Verizon leave them alone. That's almost a third of their cash on hand, not a pretty picture for a company with high churn rates due to some lacking customer service.
It's only downhill [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Sunday, November 4th, 2007
Comcast Facing Wrath of Consumers, Congressmen, Wall Street Over BitTorrent Throttling
In the wake of Comcast's throttling, er, "delaying" of BitTorrent connections, it seems like all hell has broken loose for the mammoth cable operator. Not only are they facing lawsuits, consumer complaints to the FCC and some seriously peeved members of Congress, but they'll also have to contend with a re-energized network neutrality [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Cheers, Jeers, Legislation, News by Jesse
Sunday, November 4th, 2007
Announcing the New Free UTOPIA! Forums
Taking a cue from a commenter's suggestion, I've setup a discussion forum for the site built on phpBB. It's still a work in progress, but you're welcome to start posting and registering accounts. Since I'm still working on it, it might go up and down periodically as I implement changes. To cut down on [...]
