Net Neutrality? Everythings Coming Up Roses!!! (or so they say)

Ya know, I get spooked real quickly when government entities make their long awaited decisions on ANYTHING and have a collaborative picture that looks like this.

Take a look after the jump at what our Government has put forth as their benevolent policy going forward. (click here on the government approved jump)

And please, comment and tell us your thoughts of what today's outcome means.

Comcast Hires Drones To Cheer For Them At Net Neutrality Hearing

If you didn’t think that Comcast wasn’t a bunch of sneaky low bastards, take a look at their latest installment. Boingboing has collected a bunch of links that prove Comcast paid people to attend a net neutrality hearing, and cheer for them. The report identifies these people by the yellow highlighters that they wore.

So you would think that Comcast would deny such wrong doings right?

Uh…. No!

Comcast states that the people were hired to “hold” seats for other employees who wanted to attend the meeting. I have to call BS on this, mainly because Comcast has lost the right to the benefit of the doubt. I know that this has been a common practice in congressional hearings (quite a dirty tactic), but it goes to show how far Comcast will go to have their special interests pushed through.

Comcast is holding a firm lead for ‘Dirty Bastard of the Year Award’.

[Boingboing via Gizmodo]

FCC threatens Sprint Nextel shutdown

The FCC is warning Sprint Nextel that parts of its network may be shut down if it does not address important safety concerns. According to reports, as many as 2,200 public safety organizations have long encountered problems with the carrier's network, which in some cases uses the exact same bands as safety radio systems. Prior to being absorbed in 2005, Nextel had agreed to fix the problem by giving up frequency bands or helping to modify radio systems; Sprint inherited this problem, but it is unlikely to meet an impending deadline, despite having spent over $1 billion on the project. The issue "has proved more difficult" than anticipated, the company claims.

Should the FCC follow through with its threat, users on Sprint-only service will be unaffected, but as many as 20 million Nextel and Boost Mobile customers may be unable to make calls. To avoid losing revenue Sprint Nextel has launched a last-ditch effort to finish rebanding, but it has also turned to the US Court of Appeals, which it hopes may stall any FCC action.

[Electonista via Wireless Week]

Comcast: Competition Will Bring Higher Rates, What?!

As you know I don't like long posts, but I'm in rant mode over this one, so please bare with me.

If you've ever lived in an apartment or condo complex, you might have run into the situation of the association only giving you the option of one cable company to go with. I've always though that is was a little unfair, and didn't give people the chance to choose which cable company they would like to go with. Well the FCC finally thought the same thing, and overturned the "exclusive contracts" that cable companies have enjoyed for decades.

FCC Chairman Kevin J Martin said “Exclusive contracts have been one of the most significant barriers to competition,” he also stated that cable rates have risen over 93% in the last decade. I'm not even sure if gas prices have risen that much in the last decade. So how does Comcast respond to the ruling? By stating that they may have to raise rates because it'll cost money to compete with other companies, and it will cost more to fight this ruling in court.

What?!

So they're going to raise rates because they can't continue to get over on people by locking them into using their company. They're going to raise rates because they will have to ADVERTISE more? That is the one of the dumbest things I've ever heard!!! Check this out from Techdirt:

“The following statement may be attributed to Sena Fitzmaurice, [Comcast] Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Government Relations: ‘Consumers in apartment buildings and condos across the nation received a blow today from the action taken by the FCC. The result of this decision is likely to be higher prices for services and years of litigation and uncertainty for consumers. The significant concessions building owners have been able to bargain for on behalf of their residents will be lost.’”

Hey Moron, for once the FCC did something that actually benefited the customer. Stop trying to make it sound like you're on our side. Oh and the FCC didn't deal us a blow, they freed us from having to deal with your continuous price raises. And if there is "likely to be higher prices for services and years of litigation" guess what, people finally have the choice to go to your competitor. Ya see, that's how it's supposed to work in this country.

Raise all the prices you want, people have a choice now!!!

Corporate Doublespeak: By Forcing Competition On The Market, We Will Need To Raise Prices [Techdirt via Crunchgear]

Toshiba G900: Good to Go with FCC

The badass Toshiba WM6 Pro smartphone with QWERTY, WiFi, 2MP camera, tri-band HSDPA and 800x400 touchscreen has gotten FCC approval.

So this means we'll see it in the US soon? Not necessarily. Might take a little while, but in the mean time you can always import it.

Stay tuned for more updates!!!

Sony Ericsson P1 Smartphone Gets FCC Approved

Those of you wanting a piece of the Sony Ericsson P1 smartphone will be happy to hear that it's one step closer to getting into your sticky hands.

The FCC just approved the smartphone and it is one step closer to hitting the streets. This pretty little baby looks like it's going after the BlackBerry Pearl crowd.

Check it out after the jump.

Motorola is outted by the FCC: again

Looks like the FCC has tipped Motorola's hand one more time!!!

The FCC ( I love these guys) made public Motorola's new and unannounced MOTORIZR Z6tv slider handset. Equipped with EV-DO, a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, 2.5mm jack, and lovely MediaFLO V CAST Mobile TV.

More info as we get it.

Relax, the iPhone's still a quad-band worldphone

Since the iphone filed with the FCC, there has been a gnashing of teeth about what is in the FCC statement, or rather what isn't in that statement.

The fear basically revolves around the fact that a lack of testing on the GSM 900 and 1800MHz bands indicates that it lacks those bands entirely, but we can assure the globetrotters out there jonesin' for an iPhone come next month that there'll be a full range of RF spectrum waiting for you.

It just simply idiotic to release a wide-appeal phone with any fewer than four GSM bands.

So you should be able to still 'look cool' while you're acting an ass in another country!