Brightcove will serve video from commercial producers. Facebridge will let users distribute their own videos. 2006 will be the year that Skype turns millions of Skypers into podcasters, vloggers, and videographers. Who at Skype is working on vid distribution alliances? The long tail of edge created content will dominate in time but there is still good money in Skype as a TV and movie player for the next few years. Rich Tehrani has a timely ... continue reading.....

[Editor: Just to set things up: Network Neutrality is the idea that a communications carrier should play fair by not picking favorites among applications or services running over its network. Sounds good, neh? Count on Martin to go all counterintuitive on us...] I’m sure this is something that’s been raked over before, but I don’t see a common understanding of what ‘Net Neutrality’ actually is. Despite many of the Internetorati demanding it by law. Whatever. ... continue reading.....

I’m a bit short of time, so I’ll keep my comments brief. But I have to echo James about the just-announced first phase of the Amsterdam municipal fibre network. They are creating an open “layer 1” fiber-optical network, with a diversified ownership model, low cost of deployment, and no public subsidy. This has more significance than meets the eye at first look, since muni network announcements are ten a penny these days. I’ll chop out ... continue reading.....

I’ll splurge this down, rather than worry about actually having a coherent and fluid argument. 1. DRM makes devices less flexible, and less able to adapt to future uses. 2. This shortens the lifespan of consumer electronics goods. 3. Consumer electronics poses significant environmental externalities in its production and disposal not borne by the producer or consumer. (Although there are efforts to remedy this.) 4. DRM is environmentally unfriendly. 5. DRM prevents the use of ... continue reading.....

As a fellow free-market libertarian, and also a telecom blogger, I ought to be in agreement with Russell Roberts's critique of municipal "socialist" telecom networks. Yet I'd like to offer, if not a contrary view, at least a different perspective on muni networks. I believe there are good and bad reasons to build them. But dismissal is not an option. Yes, there's a clear transfer payment in favour of people who are unwilling to pay ... continue reading.....