When news broke last week that the cable industry saw a net decline of some 711,000 subs in the second quarter, the news was met with near hysteria.  Oddly, though, the hysterics weren’t in cable board rooms, but on blogs.  The chattering class, it seems, was more than eager to proclaim this the work of “cord cutting” consumers, fed up with paying for cable, shedding the shackles of their captor.
As is always the case when someone bangs their gong so loudly, the noise drowns out the real story.
Yes, cable saw …

In a discussion taking place over on Jon Henke’s “The Internet Has Not Changed Everything” post, the topic of sales and use taxes has come up.  Based on the discussion, it’s clear that there is a misconception of what exactly the issues are in an online context.  So I thought I’d provide this short, but hopefully handy guide to sort it out.  I will use Amazon in a lot of examples below.  I’m not picking on them, there is just a reason this thing has been nicknamed “The Amazon Tax” …

It has been my experience that people are unlikely to shill for someone they disagree with philosophically just because of a check. I’ve seen people try, and they usually end up with horrible reputations and a different line of work.

I was taking another look through Morgan Stanley’s Mobile Internet Report from December and a graph caught my eye that pretty much sums up the reason mobile carriers are doing away with the all-you-can-eat pricing model.

It’s somewhat hard to see in the image above, but if you’re interested, click through to the report and jump to page 55.  The graph represents the growth in data traffic for NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone for a four year period from Q2 ’05 to Q2 ’09.  The results show NTT’s data traffic jumping from …

Astroturf is creating the appearance of a grassroots movement where none actually exists. According to an article in The Daily Caller today, groups that Free Press listed as signatories to its pro-net neutrality agenda not only didn’t sign it, but had no recollection of ever being asked.

In the overly hyperbolic world of issue advocacy, Free Press is truly the organization that would be king of inflated rhetoric. Tim Karr’s latest post sealed the title. In response to the FCC having the audacity to meet with companies it regulates, and lend an ear to concerns about applying to the Internet a regulatory model based on 18th century railroads, Free Press says, “This is what a failed democracy looks like…”

When talk turns to the payload data Google collected surreptitiously through its Street View cars, the company has said the data is fragments and is looking to destroy it. The destruction of the data runs contrary to the wishes of many countries unwilling to take Google’s word for what’s in it. What’s the worst that could be in the data? I have one theory…

ISPs in the US now feature speed tiers north of 50-100 mbps. Yet Speedtest.net data indicates the US has a low average speed. That doesn’t mean the US is falling behind, it simply demonstrates that most people will pay the minimum that affords them a good experience. Do they need 50mbps to watch YouTube or play Xbox Live? Nope. Not at all.

For Art Brodsky, it’s all about the vibe, man… But the fact is, engineering makes the network possible, it keeps you from getting fragged by less skilled players, and makes your video run. But it won’t make you feel warm or fuzzy.

The FCC has said the “third way” option would look just like wireless regulation. That shouldn’t make ISPs feel any better given the FCCs inability to find competition in a thriving market, and its multiple inquiries into pricing and business models.