Small Business Group Bemoans Federal Intrusion on the Internet

/PRNewswire/ -- Despite the fact that Congress has not given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority to regulate the Internet, along with a recent court decision informing the government agency that it exceeded its regulatory boundaries in trying to do so, the FCC announced that it will move forward with intrusive and risky rules that hurt innovation, the economy and small business. According to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), such federal government intrusion dictating how the Internet operates will suffocate innovation, chill investment, and erode U.S. competitiveness. Moreover, Internet regulation undermines two crucial goals of the Obama Administration - accelerating the pace of economic recovery, and making broadband available for every American who wants access.

Commenting on the FCC's fixation to control the workings of the Internet where no problem exists, SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan said: "I cannot tell you how disappointed and concerned we are that the federal government has decided to intrude into an area where creativity, capital and freedom have joined to produce unprecedented gains and opportunities for the individual, society, entrepreneurs and our economy. We are particularly troubled because the FCC has not offered any compelling evidence that an 'Open Internet' has been compromised. In fact, the vast record accumulated by the FCC over the years proves this point: There is no problem."

Raymond J. Keating, SBE Council's chief economist, added: "The FCC's drive to micromanage broadband networks is a case of irrational exuberance for government interference. While Internet providers have every incentive to serve their markets well, and clearly no market failure exists, the FCC chairman nevertheless wants government calling the shots on broadband pricing and operations. Investment and innovation will suffer accordingly, as will the entrepreneurs and small businesses that rely on and contribute to the Internet. At a time of great uncertainty regarding the economy and markets, the FCC inexplicably is creating greater uncertainty."

As the SBE Council has argued in its comments to the FCC, certainty is needed in order for broadband providers to invest the billions upon billions needed to fully deploy broadband and maintain its complex operations and growth. Indeed, the FCC has developed a National Broadband Plan recognizing the need for massive private sector investment in order to reach its goal of making broadband available to every American who wants access. Unfortunately, the FCC's obsession with regulation will undermine the essential goals it sets out in the National Broadband Plan, according to SBE Council.

Kerrigan continued: "Chairman Genachowski is moving full-steam ahead with a risky regulatory scheme even though the Congress has never given the Commission such authority to regulate the Internet. As consumers of broadband, and as entrepreneurs engaged in its deployment, maintenance and development; small business owners have the most to lose if intrusive new rules are enacted. That is why small business owners overwhelmingly oppose 'net' regulation, and we will continue to work with our supporters and small business leaders in Congress to ensure the FCC does not impose burdensome rules that disrupt innovation, service offerings, deployment as well as the Internet's staggering progress and the opportunities it offers."

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FCC's Third Way Would Transfer Costs for Digital Expansion to the Un-served and Underserved

/PRNewswire/ -- The CEO and Chairman of the Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE), Julius Hollis, issued the following statement regarding FCC Chairman Genachowski's announcement yesterday that the FCC will seek to reclassify broadband providers as common carrier services under certain provisions of Title II of the Communications Act, in order to restore a legal foundation to their regulatory authority following the recent FCC vs. Comcast lawsuit:

"Yesterday's announcement by Chairman Genachowski is both perplexing and concerning. The FCC, after conferring with various stakeholders, crafted a comprehensive National Broadband Plan which seeks to guide the build out of high speed Internet and stimulate much-needed job growth. The FCC's National Broadband Plan provides a level and competitive landscape across all networks allowing for the spread of broadband to all American consumers. All this while maintaining an open Internet.

However, the Chairman's "third way" approach constricts economic development, particularly in communities of color that have been economically marginalized for decades due to the absence of private sector investment. This "third way" that the Chairman speaks of could further perpetuate economic inequalities by restricting consumers' choice and access to affordable broadband as our society moves towards a digitally-based economy.

"The Alliance for Digital Equality fully supports an open Internet and a regulatory environment that incentivizes the private investment necessary to bring digital technology to our currently un-served and underserved communities, leading to economic equality. ADE calls on the FCC today to focus on the critically important task of getting all Americans connected as delineated in the National Broadband Plan by promoting a more balanced regulatory environment. The ADE encourages Chairman Genachowski to reconsider his plans to implement a third way."

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AT&T Strengthens 3G Wireless Broadband Coverage In and Around Atlanta

/PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* today announced a substantial enhancement to its local 3G wireless broadband network with the launch of additional wireless spectrum in the 850 MHz band. This new spectrum adds significant capacity to the network to support ever-growing demand for 3G mobile broadband service, and provides improved in-building 3G wireless coverage for customers across the metropolitan Atlanta and surrounding areas including parts of Fulton, DeKalb, North Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Fayette Counties.

The network enhancement is part of AT&T's continual efforts to enhance and expand the scope, capacity and speed of its 3G wireless network - the fastest 3G network in Atlanta, according to recent data compiled by leading independent wireless research firms. It is also part of AT&T's ongoing investment to build the broadband networks that will create jobs and fuel economic growth, and enable its customers to quickly access the content, applications and services that matter most to them.

"Our mission is to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and to do it better than anyone else," said Sylvia Russell, president-AT&T Georgia. "This substantial network upgrade is part of our commitment to deliver the nation's fastest 3G connectivity along with the highest possible levels of service quality and reliability."

"A thriving economy is driven by the ability of businesses to connect, and the investments AT&T continues to make in Georgia help us attract and retain jobs and build strong communities," said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. "By enhancing existing networks and bringing innovative communications technologies to Georgia, AT&T is helping position our state to be a leader as the economy recovers."

The 850 MHz spectrum has been added to the existing 1900 MHz spectrum across more than 540 cell sites in and around Atlanta to deliver a substantial increase in overall network capacity in these areas. Overall, the effort enhances 3G wireless broadband coverage across more than 3,800 square miles. The 850 MHz spectrum is part of the highest-quality spectrum band available. While specific benefits of the new spectrum will vary by location, AT&T 3G customers should receive improved quality and coverage. AT&T will continue work to fully optimize the new spectrum over the next several weeks.

"We know many of our customers depend on wireless as their primary communications connection to work, family and friends, and our mission is to ensure that every time a customer hits the 'send' key, whatever the application, it just gets done," said Keith Holmes, vice president and general manager, AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets for Georgia. "We're enhancing our network every day to help customers do more with and get more from their wireless connections."

In markets where the 850MHz spectrum has been deployed, AT&T technicians who continuously monitor network performance for service quality and coverage have seen significant increases in total 3G data traffic.

"Atlanta consistently ranks as one of the most technology-savvy cities, and investments in technology and broadband continue to position our region for success," said Sam A. Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber. "We are truly becoming a national hotbed for technology innovation and investment."

The AT&T 3G network opens the door to a new era of advanced mobile services, devices and feature-rich audio and video content, such as AT&T Video Share(SM), a first-of-its-kind technology that allows users to share live video during a wireless call.

AT&T's wireless network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies, which includes GSM and UMTS, the most open and widely used wireless network platforms in the world. As a result, only AT&T can offer 3G data roaming in more than 70 countries, as well as voice calling in more than 200 countries, in addition to AT&T's continuously expanding U.S. 3G footprint.

AT&T also enables unsurpassed choice and openness in the range of devices, services and applications compatible with its 3G network. AT&T offers a wide variety of devices from more than a dozen manufacturers, including handsets that are compatible with six different operating systems and five different e-mail applications. Our Media Mall 2.0 offers more than 90,000 content options, and customers can download virtually any application over the Internet. Additionally, AT&T supports a community of more than 13,000 application developers via its devCentral portal.

AT&T's 3G network is now available in more than 350 U.S. major metropolitan areas. AT&T plans to deploy 850 MHz spectrum in the majority of these markets over the course of 2009.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

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CNET: Vandals blamed for phone and Internet outage

Note: One of our vendors notified us that AT&T is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the vandals. Please verify with AT&T before putting on your sleuth hat, catching the vandals and asking for your reward...

Update 2:58 p.m. PDT: This story has been updated with information about what caused the massive phone and Internet outage in Silicon Valley on Thursday. Comments from Sprint Nextel have also been added.

Vandals are to blame for the massive phone and Internet outage in Silicon Valley on Thursday, an AT&T representative has confirmed.

A story published by the San Francisco Chronicle and carried on SFGate.com first reported that police confirmed the phone and Internet outage that has left thousands of customers in the San Jose, Calif., area without phone or broadband Internet service was caused by vandals who had cut fiber-optic cables.

Police told the newspaper that four AT&T fiber-optic cables were severed shortly before 1:30 a.m. PDT along Monterey Highway north of Blossom Hill Road in South San Jose. A cable in San Carlos, Calif., owned by Sprint Nextel was also cut about two hours later, Crystal Davis, a Sprint spokeswoman confirmed.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10216151-94.html

More coverage of the story:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/10/MNP816VTE6.DTLhttp://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=1328166061
http://cbs5.com/crime/phone.internet.outage.2.981720.html
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City of Newnan Police Warns Citizens of Internet Scams

According to Newnan Police Department this another internet scam. The City of Newnan Police would like to remind all citizens about internet identity scams. These kinds of emails can be sent to you at anytime. Recently, the City of Newnan Police received a mass email from Douglas Randall claiming the recipients won money only if they sent their personal information including bank accounts to him. Please do not send any of your personal information over the internet. Citizens need to stay alert to these kinds of emails and be vigilante in not falling for the these scams

Identity theft and fraud occur when someone gets access to your personal information, such as credit card accounts, social security and driver’s license numbers or bank information. That person then uses that obtained information to apply for a credit card, make unauthorized purchases or apply for a loan in your name.

Often you do not realize that you have been a victim of identity theft or fraud until you receive a call from a collection agency about a bill that you did not charge. Or you get your monthly credit card statement and find purchases on the bill that you did not make. By this time it will require some time and effort on your part to set the various records straight and clean up your accounts.

How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft and Fraud

There are steps you can take to minimize your risk of encountering fraud or identity theft in your own affairs. First, keep your personal information private and in a secure location. Do not offer your sensitive information to anyone over the phone or via the internet unless you are confident that it is a legitimate business. Never give out your social security number unless it is absolutely necessary. Don’t keep documents with account numbers or passwords in your car, where someone could find them easily if your car was broken into.

Shred any and all documents that contain important financial information, as well as your address and phone number before throwing them away. If you do lose your purse or wallet, report the incident immediately to all necessary companies, including credit reporting agencies. This will ensure that banks and credit card companies will be on the lookout for identity theft and fraud on your account.
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CADNA's Atlanta Forum: Global Brands Come Together at CNN Center

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) held its eighth educational forum on online Brand Abuses and Internet Governance on Tuesday, September 23. Hosted by CADNA, Turner Broadcasting System, and Alston & Bird at the CNN Center in Atlanta, the event featured expert advice on proactive, preventative and reactive online domain name strategies available to brand owners and provided a forum for frank discussion.

The event opened with remarks from Jeanene Jobst, Counsel to Turner Broadcasting, who gave a brand owner's point of view on one of the most pressing issues affecting brand domain strategies -- the imminent launch of an unlimited number of new top level domains (TLDs). As counsel to Turner, Ms. Jobst manages the international trademark portfolio of the Cartoon Network, as well as its worldwide domain name portfolio. With firsthand knowledge of how daunting the task of policing a brand online can be, she expressed her concern that the new TLD launches will make it that much harder.

John Hambrick, Unit Chief of the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in West Virginia, gave the keynote presentation on the evolution of cybercrime and the efforts of the cyber division of IC3 to combat this growing problem. The key, according to Mr. Hambrick, is collaboration -- progress will come about much faster if groups work together. Featured speaker Paul Martino, a partner at Alston & Bird's Washington office, outlined the role of US legislation in deterring cybersquatting and likewise emphasized the importance of collective action. Brand owners need to get involved and meet with members of Congress and administration policymakers to educate them on cybercrime, how it harms consumers and businesses, and the need for legislation to address it.

CADNA members are prominent brand owners with a wealth of collective knowledge on and experience in dealing with the practice of cybersquatting. Attendees at the event benefited from a panel discussion featuring CADNA's representatives from DIRECTV, Inc. and American International Group, Inc. It is CADNA's hope that with this conclusion of its 2008 Educational Forum Series will come a renewed effort on the part of brand owners to get involved in the fight against cybersquatting.

The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the systemic domain name abuses that plague the Internet today. For more information, please visit www.cadna.org.

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Coast Guard Embraces 'Social Media' to Tell Its Story

The Coast Guard's top officer discussed plans to adopt social-media practices to modernize the Coast Guard and increase the organization's transparency in a teleconference yesterday with bloggers and online journalists.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen spoke about ways the Coast Guard plans to use social-media tools to get the broadest representation of the Coast Guard to the public.

"We're going to be moving from (Web) 1.0 to 1.2 to 2.0 to 2.5, and ... the challenge and the problem is we shouldn't take the status quo as an acceptable position," Allen said. "We need to keep improving wherever we can, whether it's my presence inside or outside the Coast Guard, how we deal with the American public, but more importantly, how we deal with the folks in the Coast Guard."

Making the organization more transparent comes at a crucial time, especially during hurricane season, when communication is extremely vital.

"If you look at the recent coordination in our response to Hurricane Ike, I knew from my own experience as the principal federal official in Hurricane Katrina that we can only be effective to the extent that we empower our leaders on scene and make what they are doing visible to senior leaders without endless routing of information through echelons," Allen said. "[And] what they are doing has to be visible to us, and using things like chat rooms among senior leaders at the same time we're using conference calls, to using all the modern [information technology] tools we have within the Coast Guard suite to simultaneously make all senior leaders aware of the situation and the operational picture down there is what we've got to do."

While the Coast Guard won't constrain itself to any particular social media platform, Allen said, officials initially will use one tool he has been experimenting with personally for the past few months.

"We will be standing up what I would call a semi-official Facebook site for me to be able to communicate and make available content to the folks that are working online," Allen said. "I have been working a personal Facebook account for a couple of months just to experiment myself with the dynamics associated with dealing with the Facebook community. It's been a very rich and rewarding experience for me."

Allen added that the need for institutionalizing this tool and others is important to allow for equal access for everybody. While the Coast Guard's current push is to become more intertwined in the social-media realm, Allen said, this initiative isn't about recruiting, but rather providing new recruits access to the tools they already are using.

"Young kids coming into the Coast Guard today demand parity with what they've been using all their lives and growing up with," he said. "And to the extent they enter an organization that's not evolving and upgrading the technology and the access and the social networks that they're used to, there's no incentive for them to join."

Allen said he encourages everyone in the Coast Guard community who is interested in blogging to remember that interacting in the blogosphere should be seen as no different from operating on a Coast Guard base.

"Whether you're a civilian, auxilarist, reservist, active duty, contractor or retiree, to understand that when you're blogging, that's no different than operating in a social environment on a Coast Guard base or anyplace else," he said. "We have a duty to the American public; we have a duty to each other to be guardians of each other. And to the extent that we have core values, I think we need to demonstrate that as we operate on a daily basis in the blogosphere."

Author Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg works in the New Media directorate of the Defense Media Activity.
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