at&t
Game developers warn FCC of "balkanized" Internet
A team of online game developers and boosters told the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday about worries that the big ISPs could fragment the Internet with “pay-for-priority” arrangements, causing economic troubles for the gaming industry similar to those created by mobile access providers. “Software platform developers like Microsoft and Facebook pose less of a threat to innovation than infrastructure owners,” one developer told the agency, according to notes of the meeting . He added that “if the Internet were balkanized, and developers had to negotiate separately with each ISP, that would be a substantial drag on innovation because it would divert resources from development.”
Continue reading »Lawsuits: AT&T collects illegal taxes on Internet access
AT&T’s wireless unit has been hit by numerous federal lawsuits over the last month, each arguing that the mobile telephony giant is illegally collecting nonexistent “taxes” on phone data access plans. The cases have been filed in states as varied as Georgia, Indiana, and Alabama, but all make the same charges against AT&T—and all use the same idiosyncratic spelling of “I-Phone.” That’s because the same lawyers are involved in each one.
Continue reading »Verizon and AT&T continue slap fight over “Map for That” ads
Verizon and AT&T are playing out their 3G coverage spat in court, with Verizon asserting that “the truth hurts” when it comes to AT&T’s 3G coverage. Verizon’s statement is just the latest in the legal battle that started earlier this month when AT&T filed a lawsuit over Verizon’s “There’s a Map for That” ad campaign—the gloves are off, and it’s clear that both companies are willing to go to great lengths to push their own marketing agendas. If these two companies were five-year-olds, AT&T would be screaming “VERIZON STARTED IT!” The network began running ads in October—meant to directly target Apple’s and AT&T’s ” There’s an App for That ” ads—that showed a Verizon coverage map next to AT&T’s.
Continue reading »Critics: AT&T griping over Google Voice a “red herring”
They’re calling it a “political stunt” and “a bid to undermine Web-based competition.” So what is it? A new deep packet inspection gadget or astroturf group? An inflammatory youtube video?
Continue reading »ISPs react, sort of support network neutrality—with caveats
In the wake of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s major speech this morning supporting network neutrality , the responses have flooded in—and they’re surprisingly positive, even from ISPs. AT&T even goes so far as saying it could support all six of the rules that Genachowski wants… as long as they’re kept to wired networks.
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