April 17, 2009

SEC goes after former VoIP Inc. executives for fraud

Three former VoIP Inc. executives are being targeted by the SEC for improper bookkeeping and lying to investors about the financial shape of the company.

A complaint filed Monday in Miami federal court says that between November 2004 and May 2005, ex-VoIP inc. CFO and VP of Finance Osvaldo Pitters and GM Terrell Kuykendall recorded $1.4 million in fake revenue from the alleged sale of computer hardware and fees for management services.

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December 11, 2008

White House Opposes FCC Free Wireless Internet Plan

Editor's Notes:  I think a certain portion should be given away for free and it should have no licensing at all but it should have power limits to reduce interference.

Bush administration officials are trying to put the brakes on the Federal Communications Commission's plan to encourage a free, national wireless Internet plan, which the agency could approve next week.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez sent a letter to the agency's Republican chairman Wednesday afternoon expressing the administration's displeasure with the idea.

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October 16, 2008

FCC approves free wireless band

Editor's Note:  T-Mobile is giving a pretty weak argument for why we should not have this spectrum for back to the public domain.  I think this is great idea and it has much potential for getting good internet access out for many users especially lower income users.  What is great about this spectrum is because of the lower frequency range, it can penetrate through hard materials much easier.  It give us potential to do mesh networking applications that would really make good user experiences.  I already have a couple ideas I am writing down that would need this type of access to make them viable.

Press Release: 

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved new spectrum for use as a free public broadband channel. The FCC published the results of a study conducted in September regarding the potential for interference with other channels.

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August 15, 2008

Lawsuit takes on Canadian 911 wireless fees

An Ontario woman is trying to obtain class action status on a lawsuit against Rogers Wireless, alleging that the cell phone provider is pocketing more than its due in 911 service fees.

Patricia Robson’s suit alleges no more than 10 cents of the monthly 50-cent fees usually charged to subscribers is actually required by regulators to pay for the necessary telecommunications infrastructure.

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June 18, 2008

Senate passes VoIP emergency-dialing bill - Finally

The U.S. Senate has passed legislation that requires the operators of 911 networks to allow VoIP providers to connect. The Senate on Monday passed the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act by unanimous consent. The legislation passed the House of Representatives in November, but the Senate made some changes, so the bill will have to go back to the House for approval.

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June 13, 2008

FCC Chief Lays Out Plan for Cell Phone Fees

Note: Usually I don't agree with Martin, like lifting rules on media ownership. But on this I do agree that the early termination fees should be pro-rated based on the time left on your cell contract. 
 
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission laid out a plan Thursday to regulate the expensive fees that cellular phone companies charge consumers for canceling their contracts early.  FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal was similar to an industry plan put forward last month.  Martin said he was skeptical ongoing class-action lawsuits would adequately resolve for consumers all the pending issues about the unpopular fees. The chairman made his comments at a public hearing.

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June 04, 2008

Canada's fight for Net Neutrality

Shortly after I founded the Net Neutrality advocacy site Neutrality.ca in January 2007, TheTyee, published an article saying that Canada was sleeping through the war to 'save the internet'. Writer Bryan Zandberg cited the lack of signatures on my petition (a 'paltry' 217 at the time) as evidence of Canadians' disengagement with the issue.

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April 02, 2008

Los Angeles Imposes Tax on VoIP Phone Service

Los Angeles voters have imposed a 9 percent tax on Internet phone calls, known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). VoIP calls had been tax-free in the city.

Voters also enacted a 1 percentage point reduction in the tax on all other phone calls, from 10 percent to 9 percent. Most phone calls are still made over traditional wireline or wireless phones, but Internet phone service is a rapidly growing segment of the telephone market.

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February 04, 2008

Google Succeeds in Push to Open Wireless Airwaves

Google Inc. succeeded in its push to force the winner of airwaves being sold by the U.S. government to open its network to any mobile device.

One bidder offered $4.71 billion for the biggest set of airwaves being auctioned, surpassing a $4.6 billion threshold that triggered so-called open-access rules, the Federal Communications Commission said today on its Web site. The agency didn't reveal which company made the bid. 

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January 24, 2008

FCC Not Ready to Pry Open Wireless Networks

Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps doesn't favor using regulation to force wireless companies to open their networks for use by all phones or devices, preferring to let the industry's "voluntary initiatives" drive adoption of new standards forward, he told a think thank audience this week.

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January 22, 2008

Verizon Sues Cox Over Eight Phone Patents

Verizon, after winning a patent-infringement decision against Vonage Holdings last year, has trained its legal guns on cable's phone services with a similar lawsuit against Cox Communications.

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January 21, 2008

FCC to Test 'White Spaces' for Wireless Broadband Devices

Despite protests from broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) next week will begin testing devices that will allow Internet service providers to utilize unused spectrum for wireless broadband service.  The commission on January 24 will kick off a four-to-six week lab test of equipment that will allow ISPs to access this spectrum, known as "white spaces." That will be followed by an additional six-week field test period, the FCC said.

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January 15, 2008

FCC Announces More 700Mhz Wireless Bidders

All the Colorado-based companies that applied to bid for Federal Communications Commission licenses to use 700-megahertz radio spectrum appeared on a list of qualified bidders published Monday afternoon.

The FCC-certified participants for the Jan. 24 auction include Frontier Wireless LLC, the subsidiary formed by Englewood-based EchoStar Communications Corp.

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December 18, 2007

Committee Caller - Asterisk-Based Democracy Phones Home

Note: Love it, what a great idea and project that uses Asterisk and helps cut through some of the "redtape".  I think I am going to take it for a test drive with this FCC vote happening today.  Media consolidation is not good for democracy and I think both sides can agree they want more not less options for getting information.

An NYU student has launched CommitteeCaller.com, a Web site that makes it easier for taxpayers to get in touch with their elected representatives. What a great use of technology in the furtherance of Democracy.

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August 21, 2007

FCC: Get Your Spectrum Paddles Ready

It once all seemed so inevitable, so cut and dried, so business as usual in Washington. By the end of January, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to auction off a large swath of spectrum ideal for delivering wireless broadband and other advanced wireless services. Less than a year ago, it was considered a foregone conclusion that those airwaves would be bought by wireless incumbents like AT&T and Verizon.

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August 02, 2007

FCC Airwave Auction Rules Praised For Supporting Openness

The Federal Communications Commission's decision allowing U.S. consumers to connect to airways in the 700 MHz band using any device or software is a welcomed change, but the commission is facing criticism for ignoring larger broadband issues. Within a few hours of the FCC's announcement on Tuesday, industry associations, advocacy groups, service providers, and technology vendors, among others, began praising the commission for supporting "openness" of the wireless Internet.

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July 16, 2007

Truphone Wins Court Injunction Against T-Mobile Blocking Tactics

Editor's Note:  I bet this is being appealed as we speak.  
 
Competition in the mobile telephony sector intensified today when a judge granted a mandatory injunction forcing T-Mobile (UK) Ltd to interconnect with Truphone, which provides a low-cost internet telephony service on mobile phones.

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June 15, 2007

T-Mobile Trying To Stop Truphone VoIP Calling

Note:  Andy Abramson sent this over and I would say this looks like some pretty strong-arm tactics on TM's part.  We really need to define what is open market and what can be limited by mobile providers.
 
This past week Truphone quietly introduced an advance look at version 3.0 which features a series.  At the same time Truphone is finding themselves in a sort of battle with a major UK operator T-Mobile. T-Mobile is trying a new tactic to kill off cheap mobile phone calls with a so called “T-Mobile policy decision” that denies access to cheap calls and leaves T-Mobile isolated among mobile operators, as the rest of the UK mobile operators are indeed allowing calls to reach Truphone numbers. Obviously this is more than a Truphone vs. T-Mobile issue, as it will affect all new carriers who want to play in the Mobile VoIP and Voice 2.0 arena.

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June 05, 2007

Coalition wants FCC to save 700MHz Spectrum for Wireless Broadband

Note:  I hope they do, it would be great to have a real wireless internet service that had some serious range. 

The FCC is currently preparing the rules for the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction, but a coalition of nonprofit group and techies argues that simply selling the spectrum to the highest bidder could be a disaster for the US. Instead, the group wants this prime spectrum made available under special rules that could lead to a "third broadband pipe" that uses wireless technology.

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May 03, 2007

FCC Chairman Martin to Telcos: No Blocking Iowa Calls

Note:  Wow, this could blow up into a big fight.  Om Malik sent in this breaking news written by Paul K. 
 
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursday that the commission told large telcos to stop blocking calls into numbers for the Iowa-based free calling operations, threatening punitive actions if the carriers didn’t comply.

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March 23, 2007

VoIP Still on FCC's Open Road

A federal appeals court today upheld a 2004 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling that Voice over IP services are interstate in nature and not subject to state public utility regulation. The ruling gives the FCC the responsibility and obligation to decide which regulations apply to Internet telephony.

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March 02, 2007

FCC Clarifies VoIP-PSTN Interconnection Rules

Note:  Can I say w00t?  Choice is Power.

 

The FCC granted a petition from Time Warner petition that clarifies rules of how voice traffic can be exchanged between broadband providers and the PSTN. By granting the petition, the FCC affirmed that competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) are entitled to interconnect with incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) pursuant to section 251 of the Telecommunications Act for the purpose of exchanging traffic on behalf of VoIP-based service providers.

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February 28, 2007

Columbia University Law School Professor's Paper Sparks Wireless Net Neutrality Debate

Note:  It looks like this is heating up with now Skype and a Columbia Law Professor getting into the fray.   I have taken the liberty on linking too the paper in discussion for anyone to read.

A paper published by Columbia University Law School Professor Tim Wu claims that wireless networks don’t play by the same rules that wired networks do and limit consumer choice. Skype, for one, agreed with him and petitioned the FCC to mandate that wireless network operators open their networks to more devices and applications. The CTIA fired back.

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February 23, 2007

Skype Petitions FCC to Enforce Open Mobile Networks

Note:  Well I am not sure if Skype will be able to defend against the telecoms presumed argument that the Skype traffic will overload their existing infrastructure.  Personally I would like to see the "walled garden" of mobile networks open up a little as longer as the consumers do not see a huge impact on the quality of service they pay for monthly.
 
In a move that could benefit end users greatly, VoIP service provider Skype has petitioned the FCC to apply the 1968 Carterfone decision to wireless phone networks, opening up the possibility of easier use of services similar to Skype on mobile handsets. The Carterfone decision allows customers to attach any device to the phone network, provided it does not harm the network itself, which Skype sees as extending to allow any application to run on any device that can access the network.

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February 01, 2007

GigaOm and Forbes: Information Super Traffic Jam??? (Must Read)

Note:  As I was browsing Om Malik's Blog and I came across this piece which I thought was very entertaining piece of mis-information on the behalf of Forbes.com.  Now I am not saying that this is not a complex problem that has multiple solutions.  What I am saying is that EVERYONE of these broadband providers get this thing called "monthly access fees" from their customers. 
 
So I came up with idea that I wanted to share with these Large Corporations.  Maybe you could take some of the billions of dollars you are getting from your "customers' and spend it on upgrading your network so you continue to be competitive in the coming years.  Now back to the Forbes article, Philip Kerpen says that the networks need to not have net neutrality so they can get premium fees to justify upgrading their network?!??!??  Well it looks like Verizon's FIOS is going to take the cake because the first person that brings Fiber to my home is going to get these so-called "premium fees" from this blogger. 

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