Google to Offer Free Public DNS

Google today launched a new, free DNS service—called Google Public DNS—aimed at making your web browsing experience even faster. Here's how it works:

For those of you who are unfamiliar with DNS (and it's cool if you are—as long as DNS is working, most people never need to know what's going on), Google offers an explanation:

Most of us aren't familiar with DNS because it's often handled automatically by our Internet Service Provider (ISP), but it provides an essential function for the web. You could think of it as the switchboard of the Internet, converting easy-to-remember domain names - e.g., www.google.com - into the unique Internet Protocol (IP) numbers - e.g., 74.125.45.100 - that computers use to communicate with one another.

Google Public DNS, then, aims to replace your ISP's default DNS with a (hopefully) faster, safer, and more reliable alternative. Google Public DNS isn't the first freely available alternate DNS we've seen. Previously mentioned OpenDNS is an excellent DNS alternative (it boasts keyboard shortcuts, parental filters, and more), but—for better or worse—we're guessing that even more people may be interested in Google's offering.

To set up your computer or router to use Google Public DNS, hit up Google's instructions (they've got specific instructions for Windows, Mac, Linux, or your router).

I swapped my DNS to Google's service earlier today and so far my page loading seems to have a spring it its step, but you know how these things go. If you give it a try, let's hear whether things are feeling snappier for you in the comments.

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Comcast's Usage Cap: What Does It Mean?

Comcast has posted a change to its broadband user policy today. It’s now limiting subscribers to 250 Gigabytes of monthly usage, which can include e-mailing friends or uploading photos.

Near term, the limit may not do much to curtain the average consumer’s Web usage. After all, 250 Gigabytes is a lot: You could download 100 HD movies over the Web, and still have some of that capacity left. Chances are, 99% of consumers will not even notice the change — for now.

But the decision carries weighty implications for the future. As Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett pointed out in his Aug. 29 note, “While the usage level specified is high, it is now finite…. A line has been crossed.” This is the end of unlimited broadband use as we know it. The end of an era.

Groups Urge FCC to Keep the Internet Open

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission needs to take steps to keep the Internet free of interference from broadband providers, such as the slowing of peer-to-peer traffic and the tracking of subscribers' Web habits, several witnesses told the FCC at a hearing Monday.

The FCC should take fast action against broadband providers that block access to legal online applications, especially those who don't notify their subscribers, said Marge Krueger, administrator of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) for the district covering Pennsylvania and Delaware.

read more | digg story

ISP Bandwidth Caps vs. Net Neutrality

The Internet has become a commonplace for communication and accessing data. Recently, Time Warner has decided to test a different approach on how users will pay for that access. Time Warner is leading the charge to begin data caps and usage based charges to consumers on Internet consumption. AS a result many users against this concept will abandon Time Warner and begin service with alternate service providers, such as Verizon or Comcast.

“Time Warner Cable will launch a trial program on Thursday which will impose monthly Internet consumption caps on new subscribers in Beaumont, Texas. Following a two-month grace period, cable users will pay $1 for each additional gigabyte consumed beyond the cap…

…The caps differ depending on the tier of service paid for by the consumer. The lowest level of service is a 768Kbps connection with a 5GB cap for $29.95 per month. The high-end package will offer 15MBps with a 40GB cap for $54.90 per month. Consumers will pay by the gigabyte for consumption in excess of the established caps. Customers will be able to see how much bandwidth they have left by visiting the Time Warner Cable web site.” For the full article, please click here.

Reaching and exceeding these data caps could be quite easy for an average user, which is set at 5GB for the low plan package. Watching YouTube videos, downloading music and video from iTunes, streaming television shows or sports games all add up quickly to the monthly data cap limits. With more and more websites and video downloads and streaming done in HD quality, reaching these caps will occur even faster.

This is the first post I have made on Net Neutrality. A Wikipedia entry explains the concept of net neutrality as “a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks. A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, on the modes of communication allowed, which does not restrict content, sites or platforms, and where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams.”

To me Time Warner’s test program is the first step in what could be a complete overhaul of the Internet as we know it, an overhaul that will be unpleasant for the average user. Additionally, certain ISPs have been accused of throttling certain websites performance. ISPs controlling content, pushing “their” preferred websites and limiting access speeds to competitors’ sites will severely reduce the Internet as we know it today. In comparison to cable, you pay a monthly fee for basic cable channels. Your fee is increased for the digital cable package, and you must pay even more for premium channels such as HBO. Just apply that same concept to the Internet. You may get access to Google, Yahoo, and bundle of basic websites for the base price. If you want to access YouTube and the next tier of website, not so fast pay a higher monthly fee. For all those with social network profiles, if you wanted to sign into so called premium websites such as MySpace or Facebook that could cost you even more money per month. This concept will completely change the way people use the Internet and what website will be available. Also, with new restrictions on Internet usage companies like Google, Yahoo and many other developers may stop developing new and innovative features.

For an interesting article on bandwidth usage and how ISP throttling and data caps will affect small businesses, please click here. I hope this post helped spread the word about net neutrality to help keep access to the Internet open and equal to everyone and save the Internet as we know it.