ARTS & FARCES internet

ESRD

A new drug, FG-2216, is reportedly capable of stimulating the production of erythropoietin (EPO) in dialysis patients, according to a research study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). If additional studies yield the same findings, drugs like FG-2216 may provide an alternative to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) like Epogen. According to Wanja M. Bernhardt, Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Erlangen, Germany, anemia in dialysis patients has been assumed to be a result of damaged kidney cells that produce EPO. The study “clearly shows that this may not be the case, and that the kidneys of patients on dialysis retain significant ability to produce erythropoietin.” Bernhardt’s study suggests that anemia in dialysis patients “seems to result from disturbed regulation rather than lost production capacity….” Especially surprising is that FG-2216 also stimulated EPO production in dialysis patients without kidneys, with the liver apparently producing EPO.

Internet

Julius Genachowski, chair of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), hot on the heals of the Comcast-Level 3 dispute, has proposed “Preserving a Free and Open Internet”. The glimmer of a Good Thing in Genachowski’s proposal, as David Reed notes, is that the FCC, or at least its chair, has managed to differentiate the internet issue from the broadband issue. As Reed writes, “There is nothing that preserving a free and open internet can do, nothing at all, for many of the problems of telecom and information services in the broad sense of the term Broadband. But when those broadband providers offer a connection to the internet, that is, when they offer the ability to access all of the services that are made available anywhere in the world from any other user or company that connects to the internet, the rules the FCC proposes will apply.” Kevin Werbach also has an excellent analysis of Genachowski’s proposal. On the downside, there’s two gaping loopholes in Genachowski’s proposal:

• Broadband providers would be able to manage their networks to limit congestion or “harmful traffic.”
• Content providers would be able to pay for priority treatment for their content under a “paid prioritization” model, so long as paid prioritization wasn’t used to subvert competition.

As a result, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, put Genachowski on notice that he’s not happy with these concessions. Michael Copps has consistently been opposed to corporate media ownership extensions and the FCC’s strongest proponent of network neutrality.

Privacy

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is advancing a plan that would let web users opt-out of having their browsing and buying habits monitored. Setting aside for a moment that this should be an opt-in process instead of opt-out, it’s a step in the right direction. Acknowledging that online advertisers have failed to provide privacy protections, the FTC’s universal “do not track” mechanism is the web equivalent of the national “do not call” registry. Jon Leibowitz, FTC chair, told Edward Wyatt and Tanzina Vega, writing for the New York Times, “Our main concern is the sites and services that are connecting the dots between different times and places that a consumer is online and building a profile of what a consumer is doing.” The online advertising industry, predictably, predicts a falling sky, but even if the US Congress were to mandate the “do not track” mechanism, individual websites would still be able to present targeted advertising to users.

Sustainability

Seattle-based Worldchanging—perhaps most widely known for coining the term “bright green environmentalism”—is shutting down by the end of the calendar year 2010, citing not being able to secure major foundation funding. The nonprofit’s stated goal is to see the archive maintained. It was a good run and WorldChanging did a lot of really good work; it will be sadly missed.

Technology

Verizon is rolling out its new almost-4G LTE wireless network in the Twin Cities and initial reports are that its speeds, at least with very little load, are impressive. Julio Ojeda-Zapata reports download speeds of 12.32Mb/s and upload speeds of 2.03Mb/s. Verizon claims users should see download speeds of 5-12Mb/s and upload speeds of 2-5Mb/s. While the bandwidth is impressive, there are two big problems with Verizon’s LTE wireless service. The first is that, at least for now, it’s a Microsoft Windows-only offering. More importantly, as Sascha Segan writing for PC Magazine, reports, it’s possible you’ll burn through your 5GB, US$50 monthly bandwidth allotment in just over the first half-hour. Verizon has unfortunately priced its almost-4G network at 3G levels. Competitor Clear also recently launched WiMAX service in the Twin Cities. While not as fast (6Mb/s download; 1Mb/s upload) as Verizon’s LTE, Clear supports other computing platforms and offers an unlimited data plan for US$45 per month.

User experience

The December 2010/January 2011 issue of the Bulletin (.pdf; 3.7MB) of the American Society for Information Science and Technology has a special section on content strategy that’s quite impressive. Important articles include “What’s the Buzz about Content Strategy?” by Rahel Anne Bailie, “Understanding the Discipline of Web Content Strategy” by Kristina Halvorson, Seth Earley’s “Developing a Content Maintenance and Governance Strategy,” and “An Intelligent Content Strategy for the Enterprise” by Ann Rockley and Joe Gollner.