7 research outputs found
Defining public discourse : the Fairness Doctrine and Equal Time in American broadcasting
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1985.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Bibliography: leaves 301-314.by Hugh Carter Donahue.Ph.D
Quality of service monitoring: Performance metrics across proprietary content domains
We propose a quality of service (QoS) monitoring program for broadband access
to measure the impact of proprietary network spaces. Our paper surveys other
QoS policy initiatives, including those in the airline, and wireless and
wireline telephone industries, to situate broadband in the context of other
markets undergoing regulatory devolution. We illustrate how network
architecture can create impediments to open communications, and how QoS
monitoring can detect such effects. We present data from a field test of
QoS-monitoring software now in development. We suggest QoS metrics to gauge
whether information "walled gardens" represent a real threat for dividing the
Internet into proprietary spaces.
To demonstrate our proposal, we are placing our software on the computers of
a sample of broadband subscribers. The software periodically conducts a battery
of tests that assess the quality of connections from the subscriber's computer
to various content sites. Any systematic differences in connection quality
between affiliated and non-affiliated content sites would warrant research into
the behavioral implications of those differences.
QoS monitoring is timely because the potential for the Internet to break into
a loose network of proprietary content domains appears stronger than ever.
Recent court rulings and policy statements suggest a growing trend towards
relaxed scrutiny of mergers and the easing or elimination of content ownership
rules. This policy environment could lead to a market with a small number of
large, vertically integrated network operators, each pushing its proprietary
content on subscribers.Comment: 29th TPRC Conference, 200