AT&T Says Its For Net Neutrality (Provided They Can Define What "Neutrality" Means)

"ATT has also publicly supported the notion that these Net Neutrality rules should also apply to wireless Internet access. In fact, Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of legislative affairs for ATT, said as much during a panel discussion hosted by a Washington Post reporter in November."

This was taken directly  from a CNet News post questioning ATT's role as our mobile gatekeeper.  Oh, don't worry. Our fellow mobile warriors who subscribe to Verizon Wireless are also subject to the same treatment. Essentially, the wireless providers believe our mobile access is open so long as the wireless providers have a say in how we use it and what we use it for.

How anyone can say their company, ATT in this case, is for net neutrality but chooses how subcribers use thei network and which apps they can use on the network is just outrageous. The MBL app can stream games over 3G but iPhone users can only view video from their Slingplayer app over a Wi-Fi network. And, the TVU, TV.com, and OrbLive apps run freely all over ATT's 3G network.

Considering that smartphone users pay more than  regular cell phone users, it stands that we expect more. Gatekeepers be damned.

It's my hope that this this nonsense ends when the 700Mhz network comes online. In short the FCC had stipulates that the new network would have to be open. While I am always hopeful that wireless access would eventually be open and neutral, it won't be because our self-appointed gatekeepers didn't try their hardest and dirtiest to keep that from happening.  

Via Cnet


Note:  I am glad CNet has given this issue a look. I hope new news outlets will continue to keep an eye on this and press the wireless providers for answers and not their focus group approved responses.    

EyeTV Streaming

I recently bought a Slingbox AV (from Amazon.com) because my mom wanted to be able to watch her international channels when she's at work (it's her business. She's the boss. So, hey).

Before that I was recording TV shows for her with my EyeTV 250 Plus. For those of you new to the Mac scene, El Gato's EyeTV 250 Plus is an excellent TV tuner that works great with the Mac and is integrated seamlessly with OS X, iTunes, and Apple's family of "i" portable gadgets.



Because her iPhone has only 8GB, I can only put about 4 hours of video for her (san the commercials - I'm a good son). But I got tired of the editing. It's very boring and tedious. Hence the Slingbox.

But the other day a friend e-mailed me with instructions on how to stream EyeTV videos to the iPhone or iPod Touch. I was excited. (It may be possible to watch live EyeTV stream from another computer over LAN.)

But I started thinking about the opportunities the Mac (I've got a Mac Mini) and EyeTV are missing. What if iTunes or EyeTV allows remote streaming? I've asked about this but there isn't a simple way that I have found that lets users stream recorded or live TV streams to another computer or iPhone.

If there's a way to do this easily, drop me a line.