FCC Internet hearing follow-up…

Friday, April, 18, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

So they met for seven hours yesterday and now the FCC will “scrutinize whether broadband Internet providers are open with customers about how they are managing their networks and make good on the speeds they promise.”  Reuters reports that Comcast, with more than 13 million broadband subscribers, has denied impairing some applications.  I say, tell that to the Comcast users that continue to experience selective blocking of incoming e-mail…

Not once did the subject of e-mail come up in that seven-hour soiree at Stanford.  Blocked or hindered file-sharing, Bit Torrents and the distribution of TV shows and movies - those topics and delivery speed, tiers of service and what users are getting for their money: yes, e-mail: no…

I found it interesting that Comcast and other broadband providers had been invited to participate in the hearing but took a pass.  Hmmm.  But the kicker for me was a statement earlier in the week by Comcast which said they merely manage the system to deal with network congestion for the good of all users.  It’s a good thing they don’t manage the air traffic control system…

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1775]  The Redcoats are coming, the Redcoats are coming:   Paul Revere  and William Dawes set out on their ride from Charlestown to Lexington (MA) to warn colonists that those nasty Redcoats are coming…
2. 1846]  ..-..–..:  The telegraph ticker is patented by R. E. House who would become?  A household name…
3. 1895]  Don’t drop the soap:  New York State passes an act that establishes free public baths.  The Village People are booked as the opening act…
4. 1906]  San Francisco rocks:  The city by the bay is devastated by an earthquake that takes 3,000 lives…
5. 1923]  Stars and Pinstripes forever:  John Philip Sousa’s band plays the national anthem as Yankee Stadium opens in the Bronx.  The Yankees beat the Red Sox in the opener 4-1.  At the end of this season Yankee Stadium becomes a parking lot to make way for the new YS for opening day 2009…
6. 1945]  ‘Happy Trails’:  American war correspondent Ernie Pyle is killed by Japanese gunfire off Okinawa.  Pyle was 44…1955]  Albert Einstein dies from an aortic aneurysm in Princeton (NJ) at 76.  The rumors about Einstein’s brain being carried around in a jar are true.  His brain was studied for special characteristics…2002]  Norwegian adventurer (famous for sailing on Kon-Tiki) Thor Heyerdahl dies from cancer at 87…
7. 1934]  The first disappearance of one sock:  The first laundromat opens in Fort Worth (TX)…
8. 1983]  Beirut rocks:  The U.S. Embassy in Beirut is blown up by a suicide car bomber killing 62 including 17 Americans…
9. 1994]  Presidential stroke:  Former President Richard M. Nixon suffers a stroke which he will never fully recover from…
10. 2002]  Busted:  Police arrest actor Robert Blake in the shooting death of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley in 2001.  Blake is acquitted but is found liable in a civil case…2003]  Scott Peterson is arrested in the death of his wife Laci, who was 8 months pregnant when she vanished on Christmas Eve, 2002.  Peterson will be sentenced to death and is currently on death row at San Quentin…

Music Memories:

• 1939]  Recorded on this date:  “Back in The Saddle Again” -Gene Autry…
• 1981]  Breaking up is hard to do:  Yes announces their break-up after 13 years together…

Commentary:

The Pope visits New York today and will visit a synagogue and church in our neighborhood.  The church is one block away and we hope to get a look at the pontiff.  It would be my first Papal sighting.  Although I’ve seen presidents speak live (Ford and Reagan) and seen another in the flesh (Johnson) I have to admit I’m caught up in all the Papal fervor and am excited at the possibility.  I’ll let you know if it happens…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”:

Conan O’Brien (45), Jane Leeves (47), Eric Roberts (52), Rick Moranis (54), John James Anderson (Herb Oscar Anderson’s son) (58), Kenny Ortega (58), James Woods (61), Hayley Mills (62), James Drury (74) and Barbara Hale (Della Street on “Perry Mason”) (87)…

Timeline Countdown: One day until Passover, 15 days until the Kentucky Derby, 22 days until Mother’s Day and 38 days until Memorial Day…(mp)

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