Berkman Buzz Special Edition, week of April 7

In addition to our look at the past week's Berkman online conversations, we'll feature commentary from this week's Freedom To Connect conference in Washington, DC. Co-organized by Berkman Fellow David Isenberg, F2C exceeded its goal in bringing a wide range of thought leaders together to share experience, insight and wisdom, and to develop a more complete understanding of how technology and policy might evolve together in a virtuous cycle of economic growth and freedom.

What happened at F2C...Take your pick here or browse below.

David Weinberger comments on Rep. Rick Boucher's talk.
Dana Blankenhorn considers Reed Hundt’s address.
Susan Crawford reflects on last year's conference.
Jeff Pulver on the tech community & its approach to lobbying.
Jeff Chester blogs FCC Commissioner Copps’ keynote speech.

What's being talked about at the Berkman Center...Take your pick here or browse below.

Timothy Armstrong blogs Bambauer's talk on software reliability.
Rebecca Mackinnon coordinates event on Iraq media coverage.
Derek Slater reports on digital distribution.

The full buzz.

“The new bill gives the FCC statutory authority to enforce the principles. It gives it a complaint process so that the agrieved party could file a complaint and the FCC could resolve it with authority. But the FCC would not be allowed to elaborate on these principles; they can't expand on them by issuing a rule. The big problem, he says, that when the principles were announced, no one knew that the telcos would be charging content providers (e.g., Google, Microsoft) for fast-lane treatment…”
David Weinberger, “[F2C] Rep. Rick Boucher”

“Hundt called the "four principles" on network neutrality promulgated by successor Michael Powell "a palsied, weak, shadow compared to rules" in guaranteeing a faster, more open Internet. Upstream access is vital, he said. Open protocols are essential. Peering should be free. And competition should be continuous…”
Dana Blankenhorn, “Reed Hundt says, make the Internet a top priority”

“We clearly need better empirical evidence of what's actually going on, but the risk is that even now investments aren't flowing into new applications that will produce enormous secondary value for us.  Because those applications may need unfettered bandwidth and won't be able to pay for prioritization, venture capitalists won't fund them.  I'm also concerned about the future of the internet ecosystem, and the path dependencies that will be created by the network providers' plans…”

Susan Crawford, “Forward-thinking remedies” 

“Like it or not, we have to participate, and we have to participate on their turf. As such, we have to learn the rules of engagement as written by our analog precursors. We also need to figure out how to hone our message. While cable and Bell are not very innovative in the delivery of compelling technologies, services and applications, they are geniuses in marketing. Their messages are clear, simple and resonate. We are too clever and varied for our own good…”

Jeff Pulver, “We – the Internet Communications Community – Need a Crash Course in Lobbying 101”

“Copps has continually been in the forefront defending the public interest on both the media consolidation and broadband communications issues. His full speech won’t be online today, but here’s an excerpt (thanks to business2blogs.com): 'I think this is one of the most important dialogues taking place in the country. We view the Internet as a place of freedom and openness, a place where anyone with a good idea can develop a business plan with global reach. But news reports have sounded the warning bell where new broadband toll bridges may restrict services like VOIP or your ability to watch videos over the Web...'”

Jeff Chester, “FCC Commissioner Michael Copps: Save the ‘Net'”

“Software reliability problems caused an estimated US$59 billion in losses in 2003 alone. Working definition of reliability: the probability that a computer program operates without failure for a specified period of time under specified conditions.  Software still falls far short of the reliability of (for example) the power grid and telephone system…”

Timothy Armstrong, “Live-Blogging: Derek Bambauer on Trustworthy Computing and Reliability, Hour 1”

“In your country, how does the media’s Iraq coverage rate? Fair and balanced? Biased? Which way?  How about bloggers’ reporting and discussion of the issue? Have blogs helped clarify things or added to the confusion? We want to bring the opinions of the world’s bloggers on this issue directly into the debate…”

Rebecca MacKinnon, “Asking the Blogosphere: How’s the media doing on the Iraq story?”

“Wired's Chris Anderson examined the recently published 2005 sales stats and found that "2005 may have been more profitable than 2004." While CD sales continued to decline, online and mobile sales made up the difference. The obvious lesson: the more the record industry focuses on giving fans what they want and embraces digital distribution, the more its profits will increase. Better services, not futile lawsuits and technological restrictions, provide the best way forward…”

Derek Slater, “Digital Distribution Drives Improvement in Recording Industry Profits”