Kindle 2.0 as an unregulated "information service"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jim Morris <jim.morris () sv cmu edu>
Date: February 21, 2009 2:58:10 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Kindle 2.0 as an unregulated "information service"

Has anyone tried to hack a Kindle?

On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 5:04 PM, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:


Begin forwarded message:

From: Rob Frieden <rmf5 () psu edu>
Date: February 9, 2009 2:15:08 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Kindle 2.0 as an unregulated "information service"

Hello All:

       If a network neutrality/discrimination challenge ever arose  
Amazon probably would make several deregulation qualifying claims.   
First, because Amazon does not retail telecommunications services on a  
stand alone basis, it would legitimately claim that does not operate  
as a common carrier under Title II of the Communications Act.  Simply  
bundling telecommunications with other information services, like  
wireless delivery of books, does not trigger telecommunications  
service regulation.

       However, the information service classification does not  
provide a complete exemption from regulation as we have seen with the  
FCC's extension of ancillary jurisdiction over VoIP.  For wireless- 
delivered information services, including simple broadband Internet  
access, the Commission has expressly refrained from regulation.   
Additionally the Commission has not required Title II regulated  
wireless carriers to comply with Carterfone requirements that would  
include requiring the carriers to interconnect with other carriers and  
to accept subscriber chosen and loaded applications.  Apple makes  
great self-congratulatory statements about the wide and open  
applications available for downloading, but note that the FCC does not  
require at&t to accept any non-Apple approved and marketed  
applications, nor does the Commission prohibit Apple from blocking and  
disabling applications that it unilaterally decides subscribers should  
not use.

       So if the FCC could not be bothered with wireless common  
carriers operating in a discriminatory manner then the Commission  
probably will have no concerns about a "locked down" Kindle.  In light  
of the Supreme Court's deference to the FCC's "expertise" in the Brnad  
X decision, it appears that the FCC could ignore information appliance  
discrimination entirely.

       Regards,

       Rob Frieden

David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Jonathan Zittrain <zittrain () law harvard edu>
> Date: February 9, 2009 12:23:23 PM EST
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Kindle 2.0 [for IP?]
>
> Amazon has just introduced its second-generation Kindle book  
> substitute.  As a reader, I'm intrigued -- I can download a bunch of  
> books and apparently use it for days without a charge.  Looking at  
> the overall IT ecosystem, I'm also intrigued, but for opposite  
> reasons.
>
> The downloading takes place over an "EVDO modem with fallback to  
> 1xRTT; utilizes Amazon Whispernet to provide U.S wireless coverage  
> via Sprint's 3G high-speed data network."[1]  The connectivity  
> needed to download books and browsing certain other sites is free of  
> charge: "The Kindle Store enables you to download, display and use  
> on your Device a variety of digitized electronic content, such as  
> books, subscriptions to magazines, newspapers, journals and other  
> periodicals, blogs, RSS feeds, and other digital content, [*]as  
> determined by Amazon from time to time[*]."[2]  ... "Amazon provides  
> wireless connectivity free of charge to you for certain content  
> shopping and downloading services on your Device. You may be charged  
> a fee for wireless connectivity for your use of other wireless  
> services on your Device, such as Web browsing and downloading of  
> personal files, should you elect to use those services."[3]  So  
> there appears to be a more generic Web browser -- how locked down it  
> is I'm not sure, but the overall platform does not allow third party  
> apps, and I wonder if it even allows things like Flash -- and Amazon  
> will charge fees TBD for going outside the sandbox.
>
> Suppose that Amazon does indeed get to (1) choose what Web sites its  
> users can visit or (2) choose what Web sites will incur a wireless  
> access fee (to the user).  I'm curious whether people think either  
> practice should be banned or limited by regulation, e.g. as a  
> violation of network neutrality.  If a standard ISP did this, would  
> it be a problem?  Does the fact that Amazon is both ISP and hardware  
> provider make the situation better or worse?  At some level a  
> specialized device won't substitute for "standard" Net access and  
> one wouldn't complain about limitations, any more than one complains  
> that standard cable TV service doesn't allow Web surfing, even if  
> the set top box can tune to a handful of specialized Web site front  
> ends for "enhanced" content.  (In fact, some televisions themselves  
> now do this, along with Blu-Ray disc players.)  On the other hand,  
> it's clearly a platform convergent with everything else -- one could  
> imagine bringing only a Kindle on a trip and managing web and  
> primitive email access from it.
>
> I think we'll be faced with more and more of these hybrid Internet  
> appliances.  I'm worried about the end of the ethos of the  
> mainstream hobbyist PC -- defined as the general public being able  
> to define what code they want to run, without interference or undue  
> shaping by gatekeepers -- and see appliances (and managed web  
> services like the Facebook and Google apps platforms) as substitutes  
> rather than complements.[4]
>
> Best,
> JZ
>
> --
>
> [1] - <http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00154JDAI>
> [2] - <http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200144530&#content 
> >
> [3] - <http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=kin2w_ddp?nodeId=200144530&#wireless 
> >
> [4] - <http://www.futureoftheinternet.org>
>
> Jonathan Zittrain
> Professor of Law
> Harvard Law School | Harvard Kennedy School of Government
> Co-Founder, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
> <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
> Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
> RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
> Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com

--
Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications and Law
Penn State University
102 Carnegie Building, University Park, PA  16802
office: (814) 863-7996; fax (814) 863-8161
Web page:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/r/m/rmf5/
Faculty profile:
http://comm.psu.edu/people/rmf5
SSRN Papers Site:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=102928


Archives        



--
James H. Morris
Professor of the Practice of Software
Dean, Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley
http://bureau.sv.cmu.edu/~jhm/




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com