First, a non-commercial message.  Tomorrow (Friday) MAP is holding the first of this year’s MAPPING CHANGE policy fora.  This one is titled “Online Censorship – Implications of Content Filtering At Home and Abroad.”  Details are here: MAPPING CHANGE

In case you missed it, there was a major announcement yesterday.  A group of tech companies have announced plans to form a “Technical Advisory Group” which will try “to develop consensus on broadband network management practices or other related technical issues that can affect users’ Internet experience….”  MAP’s cautious welcome of the new group is here:

Google, Verizon, Comcast, and More Band Together to Form Tech (and Policy) Advisory Group
BITAG doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, as far as spoken acronyms go, but the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (also goes by TAG, for short) is looking to make (radio) waves. Facilitated by former FCC Chief Technologist (and University of Colorado at Boulder Adjunct Professor) Dale Hatfield, the group aims to “develop consensus on broadband network management practices and other related technical issues that can affect users’ experience,” which largely leads to addressing technical issues and making suggestions to policymakers. The group runs the gamut of major players in the broadband industry, including AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, DISH, EchoStar, Google, Intel, Level 3, Microsoft, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon.

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