FCC En Banc Hearing at Stanford

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Dr Heather E Hudson [hudson () usfca edu]
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 1:37 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: Re: [IP] FCC En Banc Hearing at Stanford

It is insulting to call Stanford "Larry Lessig's snake pit." I
attended the FCC hearing at Stanford yesterday. There were two panels
with generally well reasoned and articulated presentations.

It is not true that George Ford was the only economist. Greg Rosston,
a Stanford economist,  was also on that panel, and his reasoned views
did not concur with some of Larry Lessig's proposals. Ford, on the
other hand, was insulting, repeatedly claiming that he was an
economist and saying that there was no evidence to support net
neutrality positions, rather than refuting those positions on the
merits.

What was really disappointing in the search for realistic solutions
was the lack of testimony by major carriers. The only carrier there
was a WISP from Laramie, Wyoming, and their CEO provided very
interesting information on the impact of P2P on their costs in
obtaining additional bandwidth.

Heather E. Hudson
Professor, Communications Technology Management
School of Business and Management
University of San Francisco
Phone: 415-422-6642; fax: 415-422-2502;
e-mail: hudson () usfca edu

----- Original Message -----
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Friday, April 18, 2008 8:25 am
Subject: [IP] Merccurynews report on Stanford hearing
To: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>

> ________________________________________
> From: Richard Bennett [richard () bennett com]
> Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 11:13 AM
> To: David Farber
> Subject: Re: [IP] Merccurynews report on Stanford hearing
>
> Facts are facts, David Reed. Chairman Martin mistreated Comcast at
> the Berkman Center circus, and as a result Comcast has declined to
> participate further. And given the goings-on at the Standford
> Circus, they were very wise.
>
> There are those among us who seem to belief that cheap histrionics
> make sound policy. I tend to disagree.
>
> And on a factual note, I don't mention any commissioners but the
> chairman, and I think my criticism of his bullying Comcast at the
> Berkman Center is justified. In fact, the very decision to hold a
> hearing in that reality distortion zone is dubious, and the
> decision to go into Lessig's snake pit even worse.
>
> RB
>
> David Farber wrote:
>
> ________________________________________
> From: David P. Reed [dpreed () reed com<mailto:dpreed () reed com>]
> Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 10:15 AM
> To: David Farber
> Cc: ip
> Subject: Re: [IP] Merccurynews report on Stanford hearing
>
> I read this article, and would note that it's clearly marked as
> opinion.
> One thing about the piece stands out.  It insults/libels the
> commissioners *in advance* of the hearing, repeatedly.  (It also
> insultsthe commissioners regarding the Harvard hearing).
>
> Ought one to reward the commission's willingness to dig into the
> issues?  To recognize that the point of hearing is to question each
> witness deeply and skeptically?
>
> I personally disagree with each of the commissioners on a number of
> issues.  But I believe they are serious people dedicated to doing
> theirjobs as they see them.
>
> Since Mr. Bennett was a witness at Harvard, as was I, I have to
> say that
> in my service on the FCC Technological Advisory Council (under
> ChairmanPowell) and in my interactions with the government, I
> choose my
> arguments carefully, based on the idea that reason and facts, not
> insults, will carry the day.  Bennett seems to think that insults
will
> do better.  I disagree.  I commend those of you who want to
understand
> Mr. Bennett's views to look at his blog - which is self-explanatory.
>
> David Farber wrote:
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Richard Bennett
> [richard () bennett com<mailto:richard () bennett com>]Sent: Friday,
> April 18, 2008 5:45 AM
> To: David Farber
> Subject: Re: [IP] George Ford is getting booed and heckled
>
> As predicted:
>
> In neutrality debate, carriers get blamed for Net's weaknessesBy
> RichardBennett
> Article Launched: 04/17/2008 01:35:28 AM PD
>
> The circus is coming to Stanford University. The network neutrality
> circus, that is, which makes cable companies the whipping boys for
> underlying flaws in the design of the Internet.
>
> The Federal Communications Commission is investigating petitions from
> consumer groups and a local start-up, Vuze, against Comcast. The
cable
> broadband giant is accused of disrupting video traffic uploaded by
> usersof the BitTorrent peer-to-peer network. But Comcast says its
> networkmanagement practices are legitimate, needed to ensure that
> otherbroadband subscribers aren't starved by bandwidth hogs.
>
> The commission already held one public hearing in February on network
> management practices at Harvard University, and is holding the
> follow-up
> today at Stanford.
>
> Little light came from the Harvard hearing, where FCC Chairman Kevin
> Martin badgered Comcast's solitary witness with loaded questions and
> failed to display any insight into broadband carriers' management
> challenges.
>
> What's more, Martin and the broadband critics have failed to
> acknowledgean underlying truth about the Internet: It was
> originally designed for
> the polite society of network engineering professors and students,
not
> our rough-and-tumble world of large-scale copyright theft and video
> file-sharing. And it has design defects - bugs - that make it
> vulnerableto overload and abuse.
>
> rest: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8955737
>
>
>
> David Farber wrote:
>
>
>
> From an IPer re the Stanford Net Neutrality meeting. Sad if accurate
>
> Dave
>
> "It is pretty sad that the only economist here today could barely
> be heard over the heckling and boos.  This event is really a farce."
>
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