SecurityBrief NZ |
Global ISPs could be complicit in major spyware surveillance program
SecurityBrief NZ Researchers from ESET detected the new FinFisher variant, which is also known as FinSpy. The latest variant not only features technical improvements, but also use a previously unseen infection vector. While ESET will not name the seven infected … |
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | designer491)
A group of small Internet service providers yesterday urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to preserve the FCC’s net neutrality rules and the related classification of ISPs as common carriers.
“We have encountered no new additional barriers to investment or deployment as a result of the 2015 decision to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service and have long supported network neutrality as a core principle for the deployment of networks for the American public to access the Internet,” the ISPs said in a letter to Pai that was organized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
The current rules are necessary “to address the anticompetitive practices of the largest players in the market,” but “the FCC’s current course threatens the viability of competitive entry and competitive viability,” the companies wrote.
Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments
The broadband market has been rocked by a handful of major unexpected developments over the past few years, from Google suddenly stepping into the market with significantly faster broadband at much lower prices to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) removing nearly all legal barriers to municipal broadband projects.
The fallout from the FCC’s ruling is beginning to gain some steam, with a 101-city coalition called Next Century Cities aiming to smooth the path for municipalities to bring affordable, gigabit-speed broadband to their cities.
While the success stories are much more well-known, such as Chattanooga, Tennessee’s long-running municipal gigabit fiber network, others have failed in spectacular fashion, like the city of Provo, Utah, whose municipal broadband project struggled before the city ultimately sold its existing fiber to Google for $ 1. This nationwide group could help provide access to information and expertise on broadband deployment to ensure the taxpayer money devoted to such a project doesn’t go to waste.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
I know what you’re thinking: Only 43%?
But we’re talking here about a single question: “How do your actual ISP speeds compare to the advertised speed?”
And as you can see from the screen capture of the poll results above, roughly four in 10 of some 5,000 Slashdotters who bothered to weigh in say their actual speeds are slightly lower or significantly lower than what their ISPs advertise.
Yes it’s an online poll and hence a self-selected sample, but these are people who by and large care more and are better equipped to make this judgment than other ISP customers.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here