A Series of Tubes: Infrastructure, Broadband, and Baseline Content Control
February 11
The late Senator Ted Stevens famously said in a 2006 committee meeting that the “Internet is not something that you just dump something on; it’s not a big truck. It’s a series of tubes.” While he was ridiculed widely at the time, Senator Stevens’s remarks actually reveal an interesting hortatory description of what the Internet should be (though given the rest of his comments, apparently not one that he intended). What Stevens’s metaphor suggests is that the physical conduits of the Internet should act like nothing more than non-judgmental conduits of the rest of the world’s traffic. We will see this week, however, that this is not a true reflection of how the tubes work, and we have strong debates as to what the government's role should be in ensuring that large enough "tubes" reach all those who would like to be online. The big questions for this week: What are the “tubes” of the Internet? Should the tubes have a role in controlling the throughput content? What is the role of government when it comes to developing and regulating our Internet-tubes?
Readings
- The Berkman Center, How Do We Connect To The Internet? (about 7 mins., watch all)
- Yochai Benkler, Next Generation Connectivity (executive summary and introduction)
Optional Readings
- Dawn Nunziato, Virtual Freedom (Chs. 1 & 7) (pending)
Assignment 1
Assignment 1 is due before class today (i.e., February 11th before 5:30pm ET). You can submit the assignment here.
Videos Watched in Class
Links
Links from the Adobe Connect discussion
The Kingsbury Commitment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsbury_Commitment
The breakup of AT&T is encapsulated here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System_divestiture
Stephen Colbert on AT&T/SBC consolidation: http://videosift.com/video/Colbert-regarding-the-new-ATT
The Brand X case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cable_%26_Telecommunications_Association_v._Brand_X_Internet_Services
Dawn Nunziato's book "Virtual Freedom" Relating to Brand X case: http://www.amazon.com/Virtual-Freedom-Neutrality-Internet-Stanford/dp/0804763852/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360712643&sr=8-1&keywords=virtual+freedom
National Broadband Plan: http://www.broadband.gov/plan/
The full Berkman broadband study: https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/pubrelease/broadband/
Gizmodo article on how AOL still profits from dialup services: http://gizmodo.com/5982853/aol-earns-most-of-its-money-from-subscribers
Tim Wu's book about cycles between emergence, frontierism, and then regulation: http://www.amazon.com/The-Master-Switch-Information-Empires/dp/0307390993/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360714112&sr=8-1&keywords=the+master+switch
On maximizing fiber capacity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavelength-division_multiplexing
Fiber to Home vs. Node: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_to_the_x
A map of the cable provider's division of the US: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/01/12/picture-1000-words-us-cable-provider-map/78308/
Article about the struggling muni broadband in Monticello, MN: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/06/12/monticello-picks-company-to-move-municipal-broadband-forward
Article on Verizon's, AT&T's, and Google's Lobbying: https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9236619/Verizon_AT_T_Google_among_top_10_lobbyers
Other Links
Great Articles about Bill Clinton advocating for Nat'l Broadband Network (Relating to Benkler)
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/378670/clinton-businesses-need-korean-broadband-speeds
http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/bill-clinton-advocates-us-50-billion-dollar-nbn.html
Phildade 16:28, 12 February 2013 (EST)