Re: truth in advertising for ISPs

["Tom Metro-12" <user=71@nabble.blu.org>]

 John Chambers wrote: 
> We need a way of identifying the actual service offered, with 
> "internet access" meaning that any valid IP packets are permitted. 

Sure, like a standardized nutrition label for ISPs. 


> Anyone know of a good way to push for this? 

Yeah, write up a proposal for the attributes you want to rank, put it on 
a wiki, and start accepting reviews of ISPs in that format. Then come up 
with a catchy name for the ranking/disclosure statement, and an even 
catchier label and graphical badge for ISPs that achieve "full access." 
Trademark both. Promote the service to the relevant parties, like the 
tech press, EFF, and ISPs. Tell ISPs that they can display the badge if 
they qualify. 

Then perhaps write some software to automate the testing of the 
attributes in the ranking (could be challenging to distinguish between 
ISP filtering and user's firewalls), and report the results back to a 
database for ongoing monitoring of ISP behavior. 


> Maybe what we really need is to look for a way to ban the marketing  of 
> specialized internet services such as web-only or web+email as "internet 
> access". 

Good luck with that. :-)  But such a reading of "Internet access" might 
provide an angle worth pursuing in a class action lawsuit. Discuss with 
groups like the EFF. 

  -Tom 

-- 
Tom Metro 
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA 
"Enterprise solutions through open source." 
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/

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