Court's clarification an important one

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: STEVE TAYLOR AND LARRY HETTICK ON
CONVERGENCE
07/06/05
Today's focus: Court's clarification an important one

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Analysis of Supreme Court's Brand X ruling
* Links related to Convergence
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
New IT event exclusively for small to mid-sized businesses
coming to New York on July 19

At IT Strategies for Small to Mid-sized Businesses: A Practical
Blueprint for Smart Growth, you'll learn how to identify the
technology that will add value to your company. How to invest in
it early enough and at the right level. And how to deploy it
effectively. Attend this special Network World event in New York.
Click for all the details:
http://www.networkworld.com/SMBS5NLNY1
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia
Empower Your Mobile Enterprise

Nokia believes that business mobility will fundamentally change
the way work gets done-and for the better. To allow the entire
organization to get the most from this paradigm shift in
productivity, Nokia Enterprise Solutions focuses on delivering
increased efficiency through enhanced mobility. Learn more by
downloading this white paper today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107688
_______________________________________________________________
Cover your assets: Today's new security initiative

The need to deploy multiple security applications to safeguard
critical information assets has become a mandatory requirement
in the fight against both known and unknown attacks. Enter the
concept of asset-centric security, a new way of thinking about
network security. Tune in now to this valuable webcast.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107592
_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus: Court's clarification an important one

By Steve Taylor and Larry Hettick

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling, in the
case of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association
vs. Brand X, that we believe will affirm how Internet services
will be provided and who will be required (or not required) to
provide them.

Brand X had petitioned the court to force cable operators into
allowing the Brand X Internet service to be offered over their
cable TV infrastructure.

In 2002, the FCC ruled that cable services were an "information
service" and not a "telecommunications service." As information
service providers, cable operators were not required, then, to
share their cable plant with other service providers - unlike
telecommunications services providers who are (at least for now)
required to share their infrastructure. Telecommunications
service providers qualify as "common carriers," and as such are
required by regulation to provide equal access of their
facilities to other carriers. Currently, DSL is categorized as a
"telecommunications service" and so is subject to universal
access.

In its ruling, the court clarified once and for all that cable
services can be classified as information services and are not
subject to provide the non-discriminatory service access of a
common carrier. The court was also supportive of the FCC's
ability to differentiate between an information service and a
telecommunications service. Therefore, we will expect that the
FCC may take a look at DSL infrastructure in this context as an
information service. As an information service, DSL services may
likewise become exempt from the need to offer universal access.
In fact, the incoming FCC chairman believes that DSL and cable
operator access should both be treated equally, so we expect
that the FCC is already busy looking at how to reclassify DSL.

The million-dollar question (or at least a million dollars in
future legal fees) remains over how to treat VoIP. Is VoIP a
telecommunications service or an information service? While
cable companies can lawfully prevent Internet service providers
from gaining access to their cable plant, does the same hold
true if a VoIP service provider wants cable plant (or, in the
future, DSL) access? If VoIP is an information service (as some
VoIP providers contend) does that mean those VoIP services can
be denied access to broadband access?

No doubt, some entrepreneurial lawyer will read our newsletter
and in three or four years we'll be able to update you on the
Supreme Court's view about VoIP and universal broadband access.
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Steve Taylor and Larry Hettick

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates
and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. For more detailed
information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter,
connect to Webtorials <http://www.webtorials.com/>, the premier
site for Web-based educational presentations, white papers, and
market research. Taylor can be reached at
<mailto:taylor@webtorials.com>

Larry Hettick an industry veteran with over 20 years of
experience in voice and data. He is currently Vice President
for Wireline Solutions at Current Analysis, the leading
competitive response solutions company. He can be reached at
<mailto:larry@larryhettick.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Good Technology
Wireless Mobility Special Report

Wireless mobility is always changing. Managing this change on a
corporate level requires both a technical understanding and
managerial control. Are security, integration, optimization,
and support considered? Download this report now to gain
important information for both technical and business decision
maker's on how to manage wireless mobility technology from the
top down. Click here:
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107765
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archives of the Convergence newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/converg/index.html
_______________________________________________________________
3 Trends that will have a major impact on the WAN- impact on
business?

Join a panel of experts during this on-demand webcast for a
discussion about three of the biggest tremors on the IT
landscape - web services, networked remote storage and grid
computing - and how they are triggering exponential growth in
inter-site traffic and complicating Quality of Service (QoS)
management.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107593
_______________________________________________________________
FEATURED READER RESOURCE
FOCUS ON RECOVERY

IT professionals are changing the way they back up and recover
data, experts say, with new emphasis on the speedier fetching of
data made possible by advancing technologies. At a recent
storage conference in Orlando, disk-based backup solutions were
touted - find out if attendees agreed and if faster storage
solutions will soon be available. Click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/062005-data-recovery.html>
_______________________________________________________________
May We Send You a Free Print Subscription?
You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered
at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by
receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply
today at http://www.subscribenw.com/nl2

International subscribers click here:
http://nww1.com/go/circ_promo.html
_______________________________________________________________
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail
newsletters, go to:
<http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/Changes.aspx>

To change your e-mail address, go to:
<http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ChangeMail.aspx>

Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to
this message.

This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com
Please use this address when modifying your subscription.
_______________________________________________________________

Have editorial comments? Write Jeff Caruso, Newsletter Editor,
at: <mailto:jcaruso@nww.com>

Inquiries to: NL Customer Service, Network World, Inc., 118
Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772

For advertising information, write Kevin Normandeau, V.P. of
Online Development, at: <mailto:sponsorships@nwfusion.com>

Copyright Network World, Inc., 2005