Guardian Knight or Hands Off: The European Response to Network Neutrality. Legal considerations on the electronic communications reform

Network neutrality refers to a policy principle regarding access for online content and service providers to broadband infrastructures. It implies a general and ex ante obligation of non-discrimination for network operators when granting access to providers of online services, with the aim of excluding practices such as blocking access to non-affiliated content, degrading the quality of transmission, imposing unreasonable restrictions or prioritising affiliated content. Whether such obligation should be "cast in the Stone Tables" of the law was first fiercely debated in the United States, and the issue is now gaining increased attention in other parts of the world, including the European Union, where the regulatory framework for electronic communications is currently under review. This article examines whether existing rules already provide the relevant authorities with the necessary tools to take action against broadband providers illegitimately discriminating or blocking content of those who are not prepared to pay a "toll" for the use of higher speed networks or better quality services. It focuses in particular on the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services, including the reform proposals published by the European Commission on November 13th (type should be like 24th below) 2007 and the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 24th September 2008.network neutrality, regulation, electronic communications, reform proposals.

The FCC's Network Neutrality Ruling in the Comcast Case: Towards a Consensus with Europe?

In August 2008, the FCC found that Comcast's restrictions on peer-to-peer upload transmissions were unreasonably discriminatory, arbitrarily targeted a particular application, and deprived consumers of their rights to run Internet applications and use services of their choice. The Comcast ruling represents a significant change in the FCC's direction: given the FCC's past decisions that broadband Internet access services do not fall within the "common carrier" category, it is notable that the agency has now imposed nondiscrimination requirements on these services. This Article shows that the rationales articulated in the FCC's Comcast order, stressing both (i) concerns about protecting competition and (ii) concerns about protecting consumers from disruption of their ability to communicate freely and privately, are rooted in centuries of Anglo-American law defining he obligations of "common carriers." The FCC appears to be moving away from its traditional emphasis on the competition policy concerns, which justify asymmetrical regulation of dominant providers for the sake of enabling competition, and toward an emphasis on the consumer protection issues, which justify symmetrical regulation of all service providers regardless whether they have market power. These developments in the U.S. echo the discussion now going on in Europe in the context of the package of proposals on a new common regulatory framework for telecommunications, released by the European Commission on Nov. 13, 2007, and which is now being debated by the European Parliament and Council. On both sides of the Atlantic, a trend is emerging to permit network discrimination only if the discrimination is narrowly tailored to achieve legitimate objectives.network neutrality, discrimination, common carrier, network management, Comcast, European Directives.

Urban area change detection procedures with remote sensing data

The underlying factors affecting the detection and identification of nonurban to urban land cover change using satellite data were studied. Computer programs were developed to create a digital scene and to simulate the effect of the sensor point spread function (PSF) on the transfer of modulation from the scene to an image of the scene. The theory behind the development of a digital filter representing the PSF is given as well as an example of its application. Atmospheric effects on modulation transfer are also discussed. A user's guide and program listings are given

Bandwidth Selection for Multivariate Kernel Density Estimation Using MCMC

We provide Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms for computing the bandwidth matrix for multivariate kernel density estimation. Our approach is based on treating the elements of the bandwidth matrix as parameters to be estimated, which we do by optimizing the likelihood cross-validation criterion. Numerical results show that the resulting bandwidths are superior to all existing methods; for dimensions greater than two, our algorithm is the first practical method for estimating the optimal bandwidth matrix. Moreover, the MCMC algorithm for bandwidth selection for multivariate data has no increased difficulty as the dimension of data increases.Bandwidth selection, cross-validation, multivariate kernel density estimation, sampling algorithms.

Speciation without chromatography: Part I. Determination of tributyltin in aqueous samples by chloride generation, headspace solid-phase microextraction and inductively coupled plasma time of flight mass spectrometry

An analytical procedure was developed for the determination of tributyltin in aqueous samples. The relatively high volatility of the organometal halide species confers suitability for their headspace sampling from the vapour phase above natural waters or leached solid samples. Tributyltin was collected from the sample headspace above various chloride-containing matrices, including HCl, sodium chloride solution and sea-water, by passive sampling using a polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB)-coated solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber. Inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ICP-TOFMS) was used for detection following thermal desorption of analytes from the fiber. A detection limit of 5.8 pg ml–1(as tin) was realized in aqueous samples. Method validation was achieved using NRCC PACS-2 (Sediment) certified reference material, for which reasonable agreement between certified and measured values for tributyltin content was obtained

Fault detection and accommodation testing on an F100 engine in an F-15 airplane

The fault detection and accommodation (FDA) methodology for digital engine-control systems may range from simple comparisons of redundant parameters to the more complex and sophisticated observer models of the entire engine system. Evaluations of the various FDA schemes are done using analytical methods, simulation, and limited-altitude-facility testing. Flight testing of the FDA logic has been minimal because of the difficulty of inducing realistic faults in flight. A flight program was conducted to evaluate the fault detection and accommodation capability of a digital electronic engine control in an F-15 aircraft. The objective of the flight program was to induce selected faults and evaluate the resulting actions of the digital engine controller. Comparisons were made between the flight results and predictions. Several anomalies were found in flight and during the ground test. Simulation results showed that the inducement of dual pressure failures was not feasible since the FDA logic was not designed to accommodate these types of failures

Information erasure without an energy cost

Landauer argued that the process of erasing the information stored in a memory device incurs an energy cost in the form of a minimum amount of mechanical work. We find, however, that this energy cost can be reduced to zero by paying a cost in angular momentum or any other conserved quantity. Erasing the memory of Maxwell's demon in this way implies that work can be extracted from a single thermal reservoir at a cost of angular momentum and an increase in total entropy. The implications of this for the second law of thermodynamics are assessed.Comment: 8 pages with 1 figure. Final published versio

INCENTIVE CONTRACTS TO MEET FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN WHEAT PURCHASING

Consistency of functional characteristics in hard red spring (HRS) wheat is a concern confronting sellers and buyers. This research analyzes contract incentives for importers with respect to cost and potential risk of acceptance. A principal-agent framework is utilized to examine contract incentives. In the principal-agent contract, the principal offers the contract, the agent rejects or accepts the contract, and then decides how much effort to apply. All this is subject to risk for the agent and moral hazard for the principal. An example is presented, for which equilibrium contract terms are a base price of 454 cents per bushel for low quality wheat and a premium of 36 cents per bushel if high quality is achieved. The premium for high quality is unchanged as the agent's outside option increases, but increases as the probability of conformance with high effort declines or as the agent's cost of high effort increases. Small changes in several of the parameter values (agent's outside option, agent's cost of high/low effort, principal value for high/low effort, and principal's outside options if the contract was not extended or if the agent rejects the contract) result in the principal not offering a contract.Incentive Contact, Functional Characteristic, Wheat, Principal-Agent, Crop Production/Industries,

MARKETING MECHANISMS IN GM GRAINS AND OILSEEDS

A number of challenges exist for genetically modified (GM) crop development at the production level. Contract strategies can resolve these challenges. Contracts can be designed to induce legal adoption of GM wheat by varying technology fees, violation detection, and penalties. The primary objective of this research is to analyze contracting strategies to determine terms to minimize technology agreement violation and to induce legal adoption of GM wheat. A simulation model of a crop budget for Hard Red Spring wheat was developed. Results illustrate that contracts can be designed to induce desired behavior. Technology fee, probability of detection, and the level of non-GM premium were the most notable factors influencing adoption decisions.Producer Decisions, Risk, Genetically Modified, Contract Terms, Wheat, Crop Production/Industries,