BALTIMORE -- EarthLink will launch a nationwide municipal wireless partnership program with small ISPs to better meet various cities’ deployment schedules, said company Vp-Corporate Development Bill Tolpegin. Keynoting at ISPCON here Tues., Tolpegin described the program, which the company is calling EarthLink Network Alliance, as a way to expand its service territory and advance muni wireless without stretching too much financially. Though dial-up, voice and other services will remain prominent parts of EarthLink’s business, he said, this move signals the increasing importance of municipal wireless to the company.
HD Radio finally landed its first national retailer, as RadioShack began a pilot rollout Mon. of Boston Acoustics receivers at Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, L.A., N.Y., Philadelphia and Washington stores, the HD Digital Radio Alliance said. RadioShack plans to take these and other receiver models nationwide in Sept., the Alliance said. It’s believed to be the first time RadioShack has sold products from one-time specialty brand Boston Acoustics. The Alliance announced new or expanded marketing and promotion pacts with regional retailers in Detroit, L.A. and N.Y. to support HD Radio products. As of May 11, 794 HD Radio stations were on the air in 147 markets, iBiquity Digital told the FCC in an ex parte filing. Of those, 226 in 52 markets were transmitting “HD2” multicasts, iBiquity said.
A real world lawsuit over a virtual land deal gone sour could spur more legal action if the company at the center of the controversy doesn’t make amends with its users. A suit filed last week by attorney Marc Bragg against Second Life, a 3-dimensional Web game created by Linden Lab (WID May 9 p3), has prompted other players to contact Washington Internet Daily to tell similar stories about being owed money and seeing their accounts frozen. Linden’s lawyers continued to decline to discuss the allegations with reporters.
"Change requests" for e-Manifest trucks. A list of change requests/GIF for e-Manifest trucks, their expected completion date, and description. For example, for April 23, 2006, changes were scheduled to (1) allow authorized users to "mass post" as it exists in ACS, (2) enable carriers to authorize multiple parties to supply manifest data via EDI or ACE Portal for same trip, etc. Changes scheduled for June 25, 2006 include creating a hierarchical relationship between the master bill (SCN) to account for each BCN (house) under a SCN (master), etc. (CBP's list of e-Manifest changes, posted 05/08/06, available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/carrier_info/electronic_truck_manifest_info/prog_change_request.ctt/prog_change_request.pdf )
President Bush has issued notice that he is continuing for another year the national emergency blocking property of certain persons and prohibiting the exportation or reexportation of certain goods to Syria. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/13/04 news, 04051305, for BP summary of the executive order imposing export and other sanctions on Syria.) (White House notice, FR Pub 05/10/06, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-4422.pdf)
A Pa. attorney’s suit over a virtual land deal that cost him real money could be a beacon in cases to come involving online games, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) attorney Jason Schultz told us. The case, playing out in a W. Chester, Pa. small claims court (WID May 9 p3), involves Second Life, a 3-dimensional Web world created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. The suit seeks $8,000 in damages, in part for breaching a virtual land auction contract and for violating the Pa. Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Second Life players can gamble with U.S. currency, have sex and buy and sell real estate, plaintiff Marc Bragg said. The case is simply a contractual dispute, Schultz said: “The question is what does Second Life really offer you for signing up for this service and how enforceable is that contract?” he said: “The real deal is a question of whether consumer protection laws will trump agreements that you click on when you log on to these services.” As people “try to push the boundaries of these sites” and gaming firms respond by locking out players, many more cases of this nature will crop up, Schultz said: “It’s a question of did you get your money’s worth or did they somehow renege on a promise they made to you?”
A virtual land deal gone awry has led to a real world court battle pitting a Web-savvy attorney against Second Life, a 3-dimensional Internet world game created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. The lawsuit, perhaps the first of its kind, was filed in W. Chester, Pa., small claims court. It seeks $8,000 in financial damages, in part for a breach of a virtual land auction contract and for violation of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
FCC data on broadband penetration “may not provide a highly accurate depiction of deployment,” because the Commission collects data based on “where subscribers are served, not where providers have deployed broadband infrastructure,” according to a report issued to the congressional Commerce committees’ leaders Fri. by the GAO. The report ultimately found that “a key difficulty for analyzing and targeting any federal aid for broadband is a lack of reliable data on the deployment of networks.”
A bill to create a market-oriented, competition-based communications regulatory system was introduced Thurs. at our deadline by Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.). Under it, communications firms would be regulated like other businesses, to protect consumers and ensure there’s no unfair competition, he said. Services alike from a consumer’s perspective would be treated alike. As such, phone service offered by a cable, land line or wireless firm would come under standard rules. The USF program would be reformed so all service providers contribute equally and funds go out more efficiently, transparently and in a technologically neutral way. Cable TV franchises would be phased out over 4 years. States’ enforcement roles would be preserved, preserving their authority to protect consumers and manage public rights-of-way. “We can no longer force a modern, dynamic industry to operate on archaic rules that destroy job creation, limit consumer choice and needlessly raise prices,” DeMint said. He urged Congress to “wake up” to the fact that today’s rules date to the days of rotary phones.
On May 4, 2006, the Senate passed H.R. 4939, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill by a vote of 77 to 21. (The House passed its own version of H.R. 4939 on March 16, 2006.) As the House and Senate have passed different versions of H.R. 4939, a House-Senate conference will be convened to resolve those differences. (BP will be checking for international trade provisions in both House and Senate versions.) (Congressional Record, dated 05/04/06, available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r109:@FIELD(FLD003d)@FIELD(DDATE20060504).)