Oregon has taken the latest step in its effort to maintain an open Internet. On Monday, Governor Kate Brown signed the state's net neutrality bill, which passed the Oregon House in February and was sent to Brown in early March. The bill prohibits state entities from doing business with Internet service providers that don't follow net neutrality principles.
Back in November of 2017 we took a look at a bit of legislation from the FCC that'd all but destroy the program called Lifeline. Lifeline was created all the way back during the Reagan administration to help the poor afford telephone service. The FCC during the W Bush administration updated Lifeline to include wireless internet, then the FCC during Obama's presidency updated Lifeline to include broadband. Now the Trump FCC wants to gut Lifeline like a fish.
The days of content software receiving notices of copyright infringement from their internet service providers are about to come to an end. The Center for Copyright Information announced today that it's killing off its Copyright Alert System, which began seeing use four years ago. The system would send a number of warnings to consumers when ISPs, studios, and artists detected copyright infringement through P2P file sharing, with different punishments envisioned depending on how many warnings a person had received.
When I want to check on my internet speed at home, or anywhere else, I typically go to SpeedTest.net. The site has been around for years, and has never failed to give me the data that I’m looking for. However, the site can be a bit overwhelming for some people. And that’s why Netflix has decided to launch their own speed testing site, simply called Fast.
Gigaclear is an ISP serving Britain and the company is set to trial a blazing fast internet service that is aimed at businesses and consumers. The company claims to have launched the fastest internet package available in Britain with speeds of up to 5Gbps. That much speed comes thanks to fiber optic connectivity.
Last week, the UK telecom TalkTalk was hit with a cyberattack, and a short while later it revealed that a ransom had been made by an individual claiming to be behind the hack. The cyberattack was described as being “significant and sustained,” though later on it stated the attack wasn’t as bad as previously feared. Now a teenager has been arrested by law enforcement in Northern Ireland in connection to the cyberattack.
Comcast has announced new partnerships with in excess of 30 broadcast and cable networks, saying through it there’s a new beta launch of “short-form web video” available to those using the service provider’s X1 platform. Kicking things off will be, among other things, clips of Fox Sports Live and Today Show programming and in the future that will be expanded to include more content, as well as “complimentary series”, extras, and bonus content.
Today, President Obama sided with you and I. Like most of you reading this (sadly, not all), “Barry” wants his Internet free and open, just like it is right now. Barry wants to be able to check his stock quotes and brag his holdings up via Facebook, just like he can (but probably doesn’t) today. though the FCC doesn’t necessarily have to heed his words any more than they would yours or mine, the leader of the free world siding with his constituents makes a bolder statement than any — well, statement.
The United States is clamoring for widespread availability of 1 gigabit Internet service options, something that is slowly rolling out but is still a long way off from being an option for most. In the meantime, Internet users in South Korea are slated to get service that trumps that connection speed ten-fold, with SK Broadband revealing that it has a 10Gbps service in the works. The service is not available yet, and it seems there will still be a decent wait before it arrives.
Google Fiber offers mind-boggling data transfer speeds, but fiber optics require a massive build-out. That need for digging keeps Fiber from rolling out quickly, and gives the competition a chance to catch up where Fiber hasn’t made its presence known. That Gigabit speed via Fiber and other services is impressive, but also a bit of overkill. New wireless tech from Mimosa brings us all back to Earth a bit, but still delivers on impressive data speeds you’re likely not currently getting.
Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings doesn't hesitate when it comes to voicing his opinion, and he has had quite a bit to say about net neutrality and related issues. He has once again taken up a pen and put his thoughts out for all to hear, this time zeroing in on large ISPs and the mergers that create them.
Broadview Networks recently did an Internet connectivity speed study and ranked average connection speed all over the United States. With average of 13.7 megabits per second, Virginia took the crown for the fastest Internet in the US. Delaware and Massachusetts come close at 13.1 Mbps.