Interesting arguments Tom makes about VoIP blocking and how the liability is too great for anyone to do this in the future over cable. He could be right but I wonder if broadband providers aren’t coming up with ways to offer levels of bandwidth and in effect making us pay to have the QoS needed to guarantee 911 and other calls will have acceptable quality. I get the feeling that in this way service providers could effectively tax VoIP service that is provided by others.

Still this VoIP blocking issue isn’t new and thankfully Forbes.com mentioned the Madison River consent decree that forbids the blocking of VoIP and the fine in this article.

Cable companies could block ports but as Tom says there is significant risk in doing so. I think Tom is probably right on this issue but I don’t expect it to go away any time soon.

If you missed this News.com post on the fact that Carly Fiorina will be keynoting Internet Telephony Conference & Expo be sure to click here to get the scoop by checking out Carly Fiorina to chat up VoIP in L.A. I spoke with Michael Singer for a while and he was curious about what Carly will talk about. I mentioned it will be VoIP related and as soon as we narrow it down a bit, we will be sure to promote it. Watch this space or Michaels’s blog for more.

Here is an article that shows how easy it is to build profiles of people using web sites to determine whether they have visited or not. By typing in your e-mail address and an incorrect password, many sites will volunteer the fact that you are a subscriber/member/customer.

I am sure there are companies or at least people that will use this technique to build profiles of people. It is currently a time consuming process that can be automated, making it easy to determine the likes, dislikes, political position, favorite pastimes, news sites and more via just a bit of snooping.

I love the English and my grandparents used to live in the UK when I grew up, allowing me to spend summers at Hyde and Regent’s Park. Fun times I tell you. But when you think of Independence Day and America’s departure from our English roots, you start to wonder what we are missing since we have become a standalone country.

We all know fish and chips, some of us might even know Harrods and of course everyone knows Big Ben (webcam). But wait, the biggest thing in England right now isn’t any of the above but instead the Crazy Frog ring tone that has caught the country by surprise to become the biggest hit in recent memory.

Who would of thought that we would ever see a headline such as Crazy Frog keeps U2 from top of charts? But there is now a controversy of this ring tone – well more specifically over Jamster the company that sells it.

It seems that people who are downloading this ring tone are getting recurring charges of $5 on their cell phone bills. When you sign up for the ring tone, you may be inadvertently signing up for a premium text messaging service.

According to the BBC The UK equivalent of the FCC is investigating the matter but it seems there are a number of English companies making money by getting people to sign up for this recurring SMS based service without their knowledge. Apparently small text runs along the bottom of the “tele” and if you don’t Tivo it (do they have Tivo over there) you may miss it.

Sure we have our problems in the US but hey, at least we don’t have to worry about the #1 song in the country being called Crazy Frog and we don’t have to worry about monthly recurring charges on our cell phone bills we didn’t authorize or understand (well, perhaps you can scratch that last one).

I have been subscribing to this list since what seems like forever. 1995 perhaps?

Here is today’s list which is one of the better ones. I recommend subscribing and I pay for it. I believe there is a free option as well.

                          June 29, 2005


              The Top 16 Euphemisms for Wasting Time


16> Tidying up the toddler's room

15> Configuring the spam blocker

14> Sorting Jell-O

13> Disinfecting the bordello

12> Waiting in the free beer line

11> Majoring in science at Kansas State

10> Reassuring voters about Iraq

 9> Rehabbing Whitney

 8> Pole-dancing for the priests

 7> Indicting the celebrity

 6> Painting flames on the Vespa

 5> Shampooing the toupee

 4> Heading the Democratic National Committee

 3> Compiling data on the utility of co-managed project workflow
    vis-a-vis transitioning material from a pre-final phase into
    an infra-final... is he gone yet?

 2> Tutoring Paris


 and Topfive.com's Number 1 Euphemism for Wasting Time...


 1> Censored -- This blog is now Rated G.



             [  The Top 5 List   www.topfive.com  ]
             [   Copyright 2005 by Chris White    ]

Here is one of the best Brand-X articles (yes I blogged it already) I have seen to date. It really puts the issue in perspective. Does putting competitors out of business – regardless of their size, increase competition? AOL and WorldCom started life as small companies. How do we know which of these small companies that are now closing shop could have been the AOL of tomorrow?

I just got word that Tom Cross that he has been appointed to the VoIP Security Alliance on the technical Board of Advisors.

If you aren't familiar, Tom runs Techtionary, a site devoted to graphically explaining technology terms. I've learned some great things from the site.

I am really looking forward to working with Allied Telesyn and NetCentrex on today’s webinar:

Allied Telesyn and Netcentrex Announce University Market Partnership; Launch University Programs, Including Webinar and Joint Presence at ACUTA Trade Show

SAN JOSE, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- June 27, 2005 -- Today, Allied Telesyn, a global provider of secure Ethernet/IP access solutions, and Netcentrex(TM), the leading enabler of converged voice-video-data networks and next-generation services, announced a partnership to jointly market and sell their respective offerings to the university market. The joint Netcentrex-Allied Telesyn solution formalizes a relationship forged during the pioneering deployment at San Jose State University, a previously announced customer of both companies. In addition, the partners announced a webinar highlighting their joint strategy for universities. Entitled "Fostering Digital University Communities with IP Triple Play," the webinar takes place June 28th at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Attendance is free and registration is available at: http://www.tmcnet.com/university/netcentrex.aspx. Finally, the partners invite University communications professionals to join them at the ACUTA trade show July 17-21 in Kissimmee, Florida, where a demonstration of their joint solution will be unveiled.


The partnership pairs the market-leading VoIP and IP services solution with one of the leaders in secure IP infrastructure. Netcentrex, a founding member of the IPlay3 Consortium and the VoIP application server market leader with a 41% worldwide share, according to Frost & Sullivan, has developed a custom bundle of applications uniquely tailored to the university market. The bundle, called "U-Play3," includes basic services such as residential VoIP for low-cost calling on or off campus and IP Centrex for faculty and staff. Advanced services include video calling, e-learning, and affinity programs for alumni and the local community such as university-branded broadband telephony and prepaid calling cards. Allied Telesyn provides the converged campus architecture. Allied Telesyn's extensive line-up of carrier-class Ethernet solutions enables the rapid adoption of IP/Ethernet as a core technology for the delivery of enhanced voice, video and data services to the education market, as well as residential and business subscribers. A leading force in the secure IP infrastructure market, Allied Telesyn offers end-to-end solutions built around its iMAP access platforms, iMG multiservice gateways, advanced Layer 3 switches and optical transport.

"Universities have the opportunity to take back some of the 75% of voice traffic they have lost to cell phone usage since 1999," said Brian Mahony, Netcentrex, Inc. Vice President of Marketing. "Right now they are spending millions maintaining TDM-based PBXs that offer no new services and are a sink-hole of expenses. With U-Play3, students can use softphones or WiFi phones over the University data network. Universities can expand their scope of services with e-learning or video calling, or their reach by becoming a provider of University-branded broadband voice and video calling services for off-campus students, alumni, and the local community."

"Allied Telesyn has a long history of working closely with the education sector where our advanced product sets and outstanding value has proven to be a winning formula," said James Mustarde, VP Marketing and Business Development for Allied Telesyn, Inc. "Today's tech- and media-savvy students are demanding broadband access to services that traditional networks are simply unable to provide in a cost-effective manner. IP voice, video and data applications on the campus and in the dormitory have become essential for higher education institutions who want to stay competitive."

The joint Netcentrex-Allied Telesyn offering is the most reliable, scalable and future-proof university solution available today. It can be deployed quickly and with no disruption of services. The partners will provide a program manager for technical support and training for up to one year to ensure a successful deployment.

About Allied Telesyn, Inc.

Allied Telesyn was founded in 1987 with the goal of producing reliable, standards-based networking products. Focused on Ethernet/IP solutions geared to applications, Allied Telesyn offers carrier-class access-edge products including Layer 3 switches, fiber/copper Multiservice Access Platforms, and CPE. We're also a leading global manufacturer of media converters, unmanaged switches, and NICs. Our customer-driven approach has made Allied Telesyn the ideal choice for IT professionals looking for high-quality, feature-rich network solutions at a lower price.

About Netcentrex(TM) (www.netcentrex.net)

Netcentrex develops unique next-generation network (NGN) voice and video solutions that optimize network infrastructure and enable telecom operators and service providers to deliver voice-video-data and fixed-mobile converged services for both the consumer and enterprise markets. Solutions include IP telephony, video telephony, Triple Play, IP Centrex, voice/video VPN, contact center and IVR services. All solutions are built on the same IMS-compliant infrastructure that includes an application softswitch, media services and management. This core infrastructure provides user services, network connectivity, single point of provisioning and monitoring. Founded in 1998, Netcentrex has sales and partner representatives in over 25 countries and over 40 operator and service provider customers. Leading European and US venture capital firms back the privately held company.

I expected to come in today and blog about how yesterday’s Brand X decision is so terrible for consumers. I am trying to be open minded but the I don’t like the argument. Cable companies and ILECS have built companies based on monopolies that were sanctioned. Using this revenue they are now investing in newer networks. The argument goes – at least for the LECs that they won’t invest in new networks if they have to share them with others. You know what? I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t volunteer to share my customers with my competition.

The problem is that the LECs have built their business based on a monopoly position. The brands they own are all due to a monopoly positions they enjoyed for decades.

So these companies are upgrading their networks and as they tell the government, if you want us to share, we won’t invest.

They have a point.

At the same time, they owe us. They owe the government, they owe consumers, they owe the community… They owe everyone. Having no competition for so long means they were able to gain many advantages in the market. Now they are using these advantages to influence politicians, run TV ads and do other things to protect their monopolies.

Again, I don’t blame them. I might do the same in their position.

Still, the government has an obligation and of course has tried to increase telecom competition. The telecom act didn’t work as planned so they have decided that having just the cable and phone companies competing is adequate with the hope that power line and WiMAX (or some variant of broadband wireless) will add extra competition.

Effectively that leaves us with a grand total of two choices today. This is not enough for real competition. This leaves no room for new upstarts who want to gain share by lowering prices or those companies that want to differentiate based on service.

As I write this, TMCnet is receiving a staggering amount of traffic to its website. We have ordered a much faster connection but have to wait for many weeks before we get it. Perhaps the story is different in Manhattan but here in Norwalk, CT, you can wait months for phone companies to move. The point I am making is that service providers in general are a laughing stock when it comes to customer service. When Seinfeld dedicates an entire issue to the ridiculous appointment scheduling cable companies make, you know there is a major problem.

Getting back to the point. Two competitors does not a competitive market make. Allowing two industries with monopoly positions and terrible service levels to continue their monopolies makes little sense.

At one of recent Internet Telephony Conferences, someone from Lucent told me that he had heard a discussion recently at another industry show that made a great deal of sense. All lines should be the property of the consumer – for the last few feet anyway. Any service provider should be able to access the consumer from some distance from the house.

I agree that the consumer should be in control of their lines and thus be able to choose from various providers if they like.

Perhaps I am an idealist but having less competition doesn’t ever seem like a great way to build competition. Politicians are waxing poetic about how now the market is deregulated, there will be more competition. I just don’t get it. I is like an episode of Twilight Zone to me. The Supreme Courts says that cable companies don’t have to share their lines with competitors – effectively putting them out of business and politicians put out releases telling us that this is a great day for telecom competition. I am not sure what to make of it.

Is the issue cut and dry? No – it never is. In fact to make this whole debate more interesting, Cablevision Is slowly rolling out 100 Mbps service in and around the New York area. I am a Cablevision customer and shareholder so this prospect is extremely exciting to me. Furthermore, this is the Internet speed that some Asian countries provide routinely. I have been arguing for a while that we need service providers to give us the same speeds as other countries. Now, at least Cablevision is.

So I am torn by this decision. Half of me thinks it is terrible but the other half sees a potentially bright future if we start to see routine implementations of 100 Mbps connections to the home and office.

There is no more exciting time to be in this market as WiMAX and broadband over power line providers come on line. But I have to worry about VoIP. Somehow entrenched providers have found ways to stifle competition and use the political system to their advantage. How long will it take them to come up with a way to do the same to VoIP providers? What about video providers (it is a matter of time before a slew of competitive IP TV providers emerge). Stay tuned.

Depending on your perspective, today’s ruling on the Brand X case is either good or bad. If you are a cable company that has invested in infrastructure, you are happy you will not have to share your lines. Of course this is bad for consumers. The FCC said that broadband over cable was an information service back in March of 2002 meaning that cable companies would not have to share their internet connections with other ISPs. Today the Supreme Court agreed with the FCC in the famous Brand X case.

Next up is DSL and phone companies want to make sure there is no competition over these lines either. It seems that consumers are going to have less and less broadband competition going forward. The FCC has already ruled that fiber deployed by ILECs will not have to be shared. What we will be left with are two competitors, ILECs and cable companies with the potential for broadband over power line and WiMAX making some sort of competitive dent.

Many argue that two competitors does not provide adequate competition and it is difficult to argue with this premise. The good news? Consumers can rest assured that if they want competition for internet service, they can always go back to dial up.

------------------

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The University of Connecticut is notifying 72,000 students, staff and faculty as a precaution after officials found a computer-hacking program in a server at the school.

The server contains names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers and addresses for anyone with an account that allows access to the school's computer network. The personal information was not in a readable format, officials said.

University officials found the computer-hacking program this week and said it had been placed in a server at the school in 2003. They do not believe any information was compromised although there was an opportunity for someone to access it.

An e-mail was sent to all users at the University of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut Health Center on Friday, and the university was contacting people without e-mail accounts by mail, spokeswoman Karen Grava said.

The security breach was discovered Monday after a university vendor reported that someone tried to access its server with an illegal password.

Technology staff discovered that a program known as a rootkit had been installed on the server. The server was immediately taken off-line, chief information officer Michael Kerntke said.

As an alumnus of UCONN I noticed this release. Seems like there are more data security braches by the day.

You know it’s a slow news day when a press release titled Vonage Launches Its Service in Springfield, Illinois gets my attention. Perhaps its early and more interesting news hasn’t hit my desk.

Is this indeed the end of cables as we know it? WiFi is great and all and I can’t live without it. In fact, every day I wonder how I lived without it. But WiFi  -- even in its 54 Mbps variant is not fast enough for the myriad applications we would all really like to throw at the standard. I am referring to streaming video throughout your house on multiple devices simultaneously. For such applications we would need speeds in the hundreds of megabits per second. Sure you could do it with 54 if you had to but if your signal isn’t full strength, you couldn’t get the quality you really need.

Enter Metalink and their new Mt8170 Baseband Device which combined with their MtW8150 RFIC will comprise a single chipset targeting the new 802.11n standard allowing for 240 Mbps throughput!

The complete chipset provides throughput of up to 243Mbps over the air, and supports the critical whole-house coverage requirement of at least 60Mbps of effective throughput to any room within 60 feet of the transmitter. The MtW8170 uses 2x2 or 2x3 MIMO technology to deliver the extended throughput and QoS necessary for video applications. In addition to Real-MIMO technology, Metalink's chipset utilizes allows for channel bonding, advanced forward error correction (FEC) and antenna loading to increase WLAN performance, and achieves a 50 percent improvement in MAC efficiency as compared to earlier 802.11 solutions.

The chipset also supports advanced 802.11i security features and the 802.11e QoS standard. You need to be patient if you want one as the MtW8170 will be available in sample quantities in the third calendar quarter of 2005.

I found a great underwater video stream of an Amazon aquarium. It captured my daughter's attention for a few minutes and I think if there was a sound feed as well it would be even better. The feed is a bit slow but there are some great fish in this display.

Here is an excerpt of what is happening in the aquarium:

Here is a glimpse into the rich and vibrant underwater life of the Amazon. When the large, serpent-like arapaimas swim past the camera, you will get a close-up look at one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. The ones you can see here range from 5 to 6 feet in length, but may reach up to 10 feet and weigh 300 pounds. Red-tailed catfish, black pacus, and other fish share this 27,000-gallon aquarium below a living tropical forest.

I've had a number of the fish seen here in my aquarium over the years. I really don't have time these days to care for my own aquarium so I am happy to watch this one from afar.

Enjoy.

PS: You need to wait a few minutes for the feed to load. Scroll down to see it. When it appears, right click on it and make it full screen for a special treat.