America insists on net neutrality: The rights of bits

A controversial plan for keeping digital arteries open to all

WHEN he was still a mere senator, Barack Obama pledged to take swift action to ensure that the internet remained a level playing field if he were elected president. After Mr Obama’s victorious campaign, some folk predicted that this issue would be sidelined as the new administration grappled with more pressing matters. But on September 21st Julius Genachowski, the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), fulfilled his boss’s promise, unveiling a proposed set of rules to govern the way that data flows around the internet. Some aspects of the FCC’s plans were criticised by telecoms firms, which claim that the government is meddling without cause.

At the heart of the spat is the principle of “net neutrality”, which holds that network operators should treat all internet traffic equally. It also stipulates that packets of data should be held back only if they are illegal or risk upsetting the smooth running of a system. Proponents of net neutrality say it reinforces the internet’s role as a spur to innovation by preventing the networks’ traffic wardens from hindering access to sites that could become the next Google or Facebook. …

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Regulating the internet: ICANN be independent

America is poised to loosen its control over cyberspace

FORTY years ago this month American academics sent the first message over the ARPANET, a military network that was the precursor of today’s internet. A legacy of those efforts is that the American government continues to control the internet’s underlying technology—notably the system of allocating addresses. This is about to change, albeit slightly.

For the past decade America has delegated some of its authority over the internet to a non-profit organisation called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)—an arrangement other countries have complained about, both because they have little say in it and because ICANN’s management has occasionally proved erratic. ICANN’s latest mandate is due to expire on September 30th. The day before, a new accord is planned to come into effect, whereby America will pass some of its authority over ICANN to the “internet community” of businesses, individual users and other governments. …

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Finishing the job

Mobile-phone access will soon be universal. The next task is to do the same for the internet

HOW long will it be before everyone on Earth has a mobile phone? “It looks highly likely that global mobile cellular teledensity will surpass 100% within the next decade, and probably earlier,” says Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, a body set up in 1865 to regulate international telecoms. Mobile teledensity (the number of phones per 100 people) went above 100% in western Europe in 2007, and many developing countries have since followed suit. South Africa passed the 100% mark in January, and Ghana reached 98% in the same month. Kenya and Tanzania are expected to get to 100% by 2013.

Even 100% teledensity does not mean that everyone has a phone, because many people have several handsets or SIMs. But nor is everyone a potential customer: the under-fives, for instance, still usually manage without. But at current rates of growth it seems likely that within five years, and certainly within ten, everyone in the world who wants a mobile phone will probably have one. 3G networks capable of broadband speeds will be widespread even in developing countries, and even faster 4G networks will be spreading rapidly in some places. Then what? …

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Photos: Students take unique view of planet for $150

Earlier this year, a team of Spanish students launched a balloon into space for €1000. Now a team from MIT has accomplished a similar feat for $150.

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Smaller businesses take bigger credit card data risks

A check-list approach to compliance with the Payment…

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