Internet Service Providers

Last week, Stephen Wolfram, the founder of Wolfram Research debuted the online ‘computational knowledge engine’ of his company, but search giant Google also launched their own service which bears considerable resemblance.

The Wolfram Alpha search engine is a web service that has been designed to process data from vetted, controlled data sources - many of which are not on the web - and present results in a manner that allows people to dig deeper into the subject. The engine is something of a cross between repositories of scientific data, a graphing calculator and an interpretive system for posing questions in human terms.

For example, people can ask about the location of a gene in the human genome, about the molecular weight of caffeine, the amount of fish produced in France, the number of people named Peter born in a particular year, the performance of Microsoft stock and then dig more into the results.

Stephen Wolfram, the founder of Wolfram Research is a recipient of the MacArthur genius grant and got his Ph.D in theoretical physics when he was just 20 years old. The alpha site will be available in a few weeks, with subscriptions for users who want to use the system for processing their own data and with free access to all users with support from sponsors.

In order to create newer content and restrict individuals from authentic and copywrited work, Google has decided to call for UK copyright reforms. Several laws of fair use have been passed in the US, like music copyrights. However, the British law is yet to incorporate laws that protect intellectual property.

At the Oxford Media Convention, Richard Sergeant, the public policy manager for Google in the UK stated that copyright reforms were important to protect original work. He also stated that the system used in US was fair and deserved immense respect. However, people in Europe are unaware about it.
Richard Sergeant’s panel also included John Whittingdale, the chairman of the sports selection committee and media culture. He suggested that Ofcom, a media regulator, would be an ideal solution for eliminating piracy on the web.

The music industry wants the ISPs to take the initiative against the web users who illegally download online content. Nick Lansman the Secretary General of the ISPs Association stated that the ISPs have never been internet police and in the future too, they should never think of becoming one. Whittingdale therefore believes that referring the matter to Ofcom could be beneficial.

The UK regulator Ofcom has suggested the priority now is to ensure fast and reliable net services to rural areas. This is not a financially viable proposition for private firms, but the government will do its bit. This is a laudable initiative. It follows demand made by the Ofcom Consumer Panel to ensure those who have missed out on first-generation broadband at least do not miss out this time - on next-generation.

A principal analyst with research company Gartner, Fernando Elizalde, said.

“It is going to be tough to promote equal access to fibre - without government help. The fact that Ofcom is now looking at all the options - rather than just fibre - is a good sign.”

He thinks that it (fibre) is expensive for remote areas and it is quite likely that some other technologies like Wimax will fill in the gaps.

Firms like BT have been awaiting word on how the new market is going to be regulated. BT welcomed Ofcom’s initial moves. A spokesperson said:

“It is vital the rules that apply to fibre access are not only clear but also provide for a reasonable return over the lifetime of the investment.”

Ofcom would publish a statement, after consultation with industry, on super fast broadband. Ofcom made it clear it supported the recent Ciao review that stated the telecom industry, not the government, should pay for next-generation networks.

Research agency uSwitch has found that 80 percent of UK broadband users either do not know what their usage limit is or wrongly think they have access to an unlimited broadband package.

The spokesman for uSwitch, Tim Wolfenden, stated:

“As internet service providers are not choosing to be wholly transparent about this particular issue people need to be savvy when selecting their broadband. They need to pay close attention to the fine print.”

Net suppliers, on their part, argue that such usage caps are necessary if they are to offer a good, reliable service to all and at the prices that users have come to expect. The Internet Service Providers’ Association that represents UK ISPs has certain rules on how such caps are actually passed on.

A spokesman for ISPA said:

“An ISPA Member must not operate bandwidth caps deliberately unless it makes available to its users and customers in a clear manner the nature of the caps, which apply.”

Fair usage policies are found in a broadband contract’s terms and conditions. According to uSwitch research findings, only one in four customers actually read it.

The summer months have been good for Google and Yahoo but not so for Microsoft! The latest figures published by research firm Nielsen Online show a rise in Google’s audience base from June to July. The number has touched 129 million. This is considered to be the largest population for a parent company of websites in the US.

Yahoo, among the top three US group of websites, recorded an increase of about four million visitors. In comparison, Microsoft’s audience fell by almost 700,000 visitors to 122 million from June to July, as per Nielsen’s statistics. In July 2007, Microsoft was the top parent company on the web, having roughly 121 million visitors; and Google followed, with 117 million visitors.

This summer, the positions have changed. If we compare the time for which the people stick around, Google still lags behind its rivals. Yahoo leads the race. However, the numbers for Google are getting better and faster owing to its new products like Knol. In July 2007, people spent an average of just one hour and 34 minutes with Google, as compared to almost two hours this year, the new research showed.