HSAC and RoadRunner sign 5 yr cable internet access agreement biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday July 28, 10:24 am Eastern Time
High Speed in pact with Road Runner JV
DENVER, July 28 (Reuters) - High Speed Access Corp., a provider of high-speed Internet access through cable modems, said Wednesday it had signed a five-year agreement with the Road Runner online service.
The Road Runner joint venture comprises affiliates of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news), MediaOne Group Inc. (NYSE:UMG - news), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), Compaq Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news) and Advance/Newhouse.
High Speed said in a statement that the pact outlines conditions under which Road Runner and its affiliated cable systems and their customers can use High Speed's network services.
When Road Runner uses High Speed's network integration services, Road Runner and High Speed will share subscription revenues with the affiliated cable operator.
Road Runner will get a warrant to buy one High Speed share for $5 for each ''home passed,'' or potential customer, in cable systems where Road Runner uses High Speed services. Road Runner can buy up to 5 million shares.
And on a different nonte:
Thursday July 29, 12:01 am Eastern Time
Cable Internet products draw ire of consumer groups
By Aaron Pressman
WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) - A leading supplier of Internet gear for the cable industry is touting products to allow cable companies to block or restrict consumers from reaching any Web site they choose, drawing sharp criticism from public advocacy groups.
The revelations comes at a critical juncture for the industry, which is spending billions of dollars to roll out high-speed Internet service over cable lines while fighting national and local efforts to regulate their fledgling new product.
The industry has so far blunted the calls for regulation in all but two cities across the country, in part by committing to allow their customers to reach easily any Web site anywhere on the Internet, whether owned by a cable company or not.
But according to marketing materials from Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - news), the No. 1 maker of computer networking equipment, cable companies will be able to work behind the scenes with sophisticated software included in Cisco products to slow down and limit access to selected Web sites.
Without fully cutting off access to unaffiliated sites, the technology allows a cable company to make such destinations appear much more slowly on customers' computers than preferred sites, Cisco claimed in brochures distributed at a recent appear much more slowly on customers' computers than preferred sites, Cisco claimed in brochures distributed at a recent
cable convention in Chicago.
''This is the owner's manual that they're providing to the cable industry to monopolize the Internet,'' said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Media Education.
The non-profit Washington group, along with Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America and the Media Access Project, sent a letter Thursday to the Federal Communications Commission calling for regulation of cable Internet services.
The FCC has so far decided to monitor closely the cable Internet market of less than one million subscribers, compared with almost 40 million going online over ordinary phone lines).
The latest controversy appeared unlikely to change many minds at the agency.
''We share the same goals as the consumer groups and we believe that there should be an open system as well,'' said Debra Lathen, head of the agency's cable bureau. ''Where we diverge is how you get there. We believe the market is going to mandate -- to require -- an open system.''
''We will be very watchful; that is our obligation,'' Lathen added.
AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news), whose ExciteAtHome Corp. (Nasdaq:ATHM - news) Internet provider has used some Cisco products, pledged not to use the features to discriminate against other Web sites.
''We are not in the content-management business; we're in the network management business,'' said spokesman Mark Siegel.
Asked if AT&T would utilize the Cisco products to limit access to any Web sites, Siegel replied: ''No, we don't that.''
A Cisco spokesman said the same technology was made available to all players, including phone companies, satellite firms and major Internet service providers.
''This is consistent with Cisco's open standards philosophy and commitment to competition in the marketplace,'' spokesman Tom Galvin said. ''This technology was designed with customers in mind who clearly want tools to protect against offensive content such as hate or obscene material.''
Cisco's marketing materials cited clearly commercial uses of the software, giving as an example a ''push'' Web site, which automatically downloads fresh news or other information to a customer's computer at set intervals.
''You could restrict the incoming push broadcasts as well as subscribers' outgoing access to the push information site to discourage its use,'' Cisco's brochure said. ''At the same time, you could promote and offer your own partner's services with full-speed features to encourage adoption of your services while increasing network efficiency.'' |
