Slashdot Mirror
Covad On The Mend
ewhac writes "The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Covad, who filed for bankruptcy protection last year, is slowly regaining strength. With $246 million in cash, Covad claims it has enough to carry it to profitability. They've also struck a deal with AOL to provide high-speed connectivity to AOL customers. The battle isn't over, though, as Pacific Bell continues to undercut Covad's offerings. Covad is effectively Pacific Bell's only remaining competitor for DSL service. As a happy Covad customer through Speakeasy.net, I'm pleased I won't be forced into PacBell's or AT&T's hands any time soon."
I just found out my local broadband ISP, Cox Communications, is helping the RIAA track down mp3 traders. I spoke with a friend of mine today that knows someone in their IT department, who told my friend that the way it works, at least with my ISP, is that your ISP provides the RIAA with a list of all the IP's in the range that Cox leases, and the RIAA monitors p2p networks such as Kazaa, Morpheus, etc. When the RIAA finds a trader with an IP in that range, they contact Cox with the IP, Cox pulls up their records(3 month leases, last time I checked), and then, with the cooperation of the RIAA, decides a "punishment" based on how much mp3 downloading you actually did. Apparently the "punishment" can range from a warning to perminent cancilation of service from Cox, all the way to the RIAA bringing legal action against you. It was enough to scare me, and I've toned down my downloading accordingly. I really hope my ISP is the exception more than the rule when it comes to such an intrusive man(witch)hunt I see unfolding here.
Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.