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May 31, 2005
Next week in Chicago:
As I look ahead, next week I will be in Chicago for Supercomm 2005, will be back in NY for a couple of days and then will be back on the road for our VoIP Mission to Israel. Once I get back from Israel I will be preparing for my first trip to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas where I will be playing in “the big game.” – WSOP Game #42 in July
For me, 2005 continues to fly by real fast...I find it hard to believe that tomorrow is already June 1st. This entire year feels like one big blur.
Anyway, next Monday our SIP Summit Summer 2005 commences with Henry giving one of his all-day SIP tutorials. While I have some meetings to take care of during the day, I'm especially looking forward to next Monday night when I will be attending my first game ever at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs will be playing against the Blue Jays.
While in Chicago, besides walking the show floor at Supercomm and spending time at our SIP Summit, I will be speaking in a Supercomm Policy Session: "Convergence: Regulatory Policies Driving and/or Hindering Innovation" on the morning of June 7th and then much later in the day hosting our 4th annual Supercomm Party at the Chicago House of Blues. On June 8th, I will be giving a keynote talk at an "Awards Luncheon" for The National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP), followed by a talk later in the day at a Ditech Communications customer event.
Chicago will also be the home of a big announcement but that story will be told next week...
Posted by jeff at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
pulver.com VoIP Mission to Israel and Summit: June 14-15th
After being involved in the VoIP industry for the past 10 years, I thought it was about time to recognize Israel's role in the birth and future of VoIP...so in less than two weeks, I will be in Israel, heading up a "VoIP Mission" and to produce our first event in Israel.
pulver.com has been producing "VON", the VoIP Industry Tradeshow since 1997, and will be acknowledging the 10-year anniversary of the commercial launch of the IP Communications Industry in Israel on June 15th.
During the past ten years, VoIP technology has revolutionized telecommunications as we know it, and VoIP has become a multi-billion dollar worldwide business.
On June 15, the pulver.com-hosted Israel VoIP Summit will feature speakers and presentations focusing on new and emerging VoIP technologies, as well as regulatory, financial, and market issues.
The Summit will include Industry Perspectives from:
- Elon Ganor, Chairman & CEO, VocalTec Communications
- Eli Doron, CTO, RADVISION
- Jacob Ner David, Founder of Deltathree
- Scott Petrack, Co-Founder of eDial
- Yehuda Hershkovits, VP, Systems, AudioCodes
- and myself
More information regarding our planned "VoIP Mission to Israel" can be found: here.
Members of the Israeli VoIP Industry who wish to support and attend our VoIP Summit are invited to register. Please visit: here to register.
Posted by jeff at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
It's too bad we have to have a Memorial Day
Maybe IP-technology will help improve emergency response capabilities so that fewer soldiers will have to die.
Posted by jeff at 06:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 30, 2005
Hey Andy...I'm here!
I just noticed Andy's "Where's Jeff? post with regard to the Canadian Telecom Summit currently taking place in Toronto.
From what I've read, it sounds like a great event.
But to answer Andy's question - where am I? Well at the moment I am back on Long Island, catching up with life for a few days while preparing for next week in Chicago.
Posted by jeff at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Richard Stastny Rants on the VON Europe 2005 Telecom Policy Summit
VoIP and ENUM - VON Europe 2005 Telecom Policy (Part 1)
VoIP and ENUM - Emergency Services
VoIP and ENUM - Numbering Resources
Posted by jeff at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Back to Baseball: Mets only Three Games Out
While I was away last weekend in Stockholm, I missed being at Shea Stadium for the annual Mets/Yankees subway series. After hearing the Mets won only one of the three games, I stopped thinking about the Mets until I got home this past Friday.
So to my surprise I noticed that so far the New York Mets are still hanging in the 2005 chase in the National League East. At the moment they are just three games out of first place, after they failed to sweep the Marlins yesterday afternoon.
A real test for the 2005 edition of the Mets will be to see how well they are doing around the All Star Break in July and then see what actions they take as a team to make sure they don't have another mid-season collapse (like in 2004) and lose their underlying will to win when the heat is on in August.
But since “the future is unwritten”, my hope remains that 2005 may be the season that my post-2000 investment in joining the list of Mets season ticket holders pays it’s first dividends, and that the Mets are amongst the group of teams that end up playing baseball in October, 2005.
Posted by jeff at 06:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 29, 2005
Cisco Brings IP Communications to the Indy 500
There are a number of stories appearing this weekend about Cisco bringing Wi-Fi connectivity and Wi-Fi VoIP to the Indy 500 race today and how the Red Bull Cheever team will be the first team in Indy history to benefit from the technology. Some of people who are covering this story are missing the bigger point of the innovation presented.
The fact is that what Cisco is brining to the Indy 500 is not just VoIP but IP Communications!
Simply put, by taking advantage of the Wi-Fi infrastructure Cisco provided, the Red Bull Cheever team will be able to transmit over IP information related to: engine health, vehicle dynamics, and aerodynamics back to the pit crew. And by the way, this kind of application is very similar to an advanced E911 medical application except for transmitting vital heath information, the IP network is being used to transmit vital car information needed to make mission critical racing decisions.
So while this is being presented by most as just a VoIP story for a day at the Indy 500, the fact is that in this case, voice is literally just another application that will be used in conjunction with the monitoring of all of the other information needed to navigate members of the Red Bull Cheever team to the victory lap.
Posted by jeff at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 28, 2005
The Magic of PhotoMerge(tm)Panorama
My first panoramic photograph:
Originally six shots - this was taken last weekend in Stockholm with my D70 and just walking in a tight circle.
(produced using Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0)
Posted by jeff at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Catching up on VON Europe 2005 Blur...
This past week, "VON Blur" caught up with me like a ton of bricks. Richard Stastny understands VON Blur and knows how to best prepare for it.
At VON Europe 2005, I spent time in some of the sessions, I caught up with some old friends, made some new ones and in my spare time, took some photos. :-)
This was the week when the Global IP Alliance came into its own. Both Niklas and I referred to the Global IP Alliance in our talks and the "Birds of a Feather" session hosted on Monday night hosted by the Global IP Alliance was well attended.
Based on the success of VON Europe 2005, we have made the commitment to produce two European VON events starting in 2006. In May, 2006 we will be returning to Stockholm which will be followed by a second European VON event in 2006 which will be held in November, 2006 in Amsterdam.
While I was at VON, I realized that I have some serious concerns regarding the way SIP is being used inside of IMS and the limitations mobile operators are placing on their customers. As a fan of end-user empowerment, IMS appears to be the antithesis of End-User Empowerment.
Amongst the friends attending VON Europe 2005 included bloggers: Jon Arnold, James Enck, Steve Smith, and Richard Stastny. There may have been others blogging, but these were the ones I knew who blogged in English. (If you blogged about VON Europe 2005 in another language, please drop me a note.)
One of the gems I discovered on our exhibit floor was a new company that had developed a SIP Client for the Nokia 6630...I ended up becoming one of their first customers.
Our conference party with the Herding Cats on Wednesday night was a lot of fun. While I didn't take any pictures from the party myself, if you were a guest at the party and would like to share some of your photos from your camera phone, please send the photo(s) to my gmail account.
Being caught up in the VON Blur I missed some of the VON Europe 2005 posts in the blogsphere.
First the VON Europe 2005 Summaries:
Richard Stastny: Wrap-up from VON Europe 2005
James Enck: VON impressions, et al
(Note to James: the room was set with 600 seats and we ended up having to use an overflow room for the Tuesday morning sessions.)
Jon Arnold: More VON Europe notes/thoughts - Skype, Telio, peer to peer and James Enck
Additional blog postings:
The Progress & Freedom Foundation: The View from Stockholm
Richard Stastny: Blogging from the VON Europe 2005
Richard Stastny: Kapsch CarrierCom at VON Europe 2005
Jon Arnold: VON Europe - Day 1 - No Limits
Jon Arnold: VON Europe - Day 2/3 Update
Mark Evans: Skype's Evolution Continues
The Register: Skype makes empassioned 911 plea
I did find it interesting that the ITU took notice of Niklas's keynote. see: ITU Strategy and Policy Unit Newslog: Skype CEO's Keynote at VON Europe.
A lot of business took place while we were in Stockholm and I'm glad we were once again able to serve the purpose of bringing together the worldwide IP Communications industry.
Special thanks to everyone who came out and helped make VON Europe 2005 a VON to remember.
Posted by jeff at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Tom Evslin's On Being an Entrepreneur
Fractals of Change: Are You an Entrepreneur?
...I can relate to item #3 myself. :-)
Posted by jeff at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 27, 2005
Our Last Night in Stockholm...
Last night the pulver.com Europe team chartered a boat and took a cruise around Stockholm and some of the surrounding islands. The boat ride was a relaxing end to a great week.
Posted by jeff at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Over 1000 People already RSVP'ed for our June 7th Party @ Supercomm 2005:
For the fourth year in a row, pulver.com will be hosting a party during Supercomm. This time the event takes place the night of June 7th at the House of Blues in Chicago. The Herding Cats of Seattle, fresh from their gig with us at VON Europe 2005 in Stockholm will be back as our special musical guests.
Readers of my blog who are over 21 are invited to attend the party.
If you are planning on attending Supercomm 2005, remember to reserve the night of June 7th for some fun. Over 1,000 people have already make their party reservation.
Please R.S.V.P before June 3rd if you would like to attend our party.
Posted by jeff at 05:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Back from Stockholm in time for Memorial Day Weekend
After a week away, it is great to be back home.
Time to catch up on some much needed rest…
Posted by jeff at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Getting Ready to Leave Stockholm:
In a few hours I will be on SAS once again, this time to fly back from Stockholm to the States. These past few days have been great ones for the European IP Communication Industry. Special thanks to everyone who contributed to our successes.
Posted by jeff at 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 26, 2005
pulver.com and the underdog:
A trend is emerging at the VON Parties, which is, perhaps illustrative of, and inspirational for, the battles we are waging in the communications revolution. At the last Fall VON Party, on a huge screen overshadowing the Goo Goo Dolls performance, the Red Sox completed their 7 game, come-from-behind Cinderella victory over the Yankees, Even I, a diehard Mets fan had to pull for these most unlikely heroes, Last night at the VON Europe 2005 Party, on a huge screen competing with the Herding Cats for the hearts of the crowd, Liverpool defeated Milan, coming back from a 3-0 deficit, to win the European Soccer Title. Those who know swear that the new boys from Liverpool wrote an even more implausible underdog story than that of the '04 Red Sox,
Combining this Cinderella story with the freshness and genuine enthusiasm I felt at VON Europe 2005. I have renewed hope that we too will ultimately prevail and win the hearts and minds of polcy makers and consumers as we attempt to usher in the new era of an IP-enabled communications future. At least until the virtual world feels as real as the physical world, I and the pulver crew will continue to walk the earth evangelizing for IP-based communications, In a week, Chicago for SuperComm and the SIP Summit; the following week.Israel to pay tribute to the pioneers of VoIP. I hope to see some of you as the pulver.com world tour continues.
Posted by jeff at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
2,500+ Visitors at VON Europe 2005!
In the end, our event ended up bringing together more than 2,500 people from 65+ countries, representing more than 1,000 companies. The VoIP Buzz was pretty loud this week in Stockholm where about 60 press announcements were made.
Discussions at VON Europe 2005 covered a wide range of topics and issues ranging from Regulation to the use of IP Communications across: Wireless – both IMS and Wi-Fi, and Broadband networks to the state of VoIP in the Enterprise. There were quite a number of companies exhibiting at this event (more than 50) that are not usually found at any of our Stateside events.
Last night at our conference party, the Herding Cats gave one of the best performances I’ve ever heard, since meeting them immediately after Spring 2002 VON in Seattle. Last night was also the night of the final match of the European Cup which was a significant sporting event for many of the delegates attending VON Europe. As a result, at the party we had a scene reminiscent of Fall 2004 VON, but instead of watching the Red Sox beat the Yankees in Game 7 of the playoffs, we watched Liverpool beat AC Milan to win the European Cup.
Below are some additional images from VON Europe 2005:
Posted by jeff at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
VON Europe 2005: In the News
International Herald Tribune: Next call for Net phoning: Regulation
Light Reading: Italtel: We Need US Partner
the INQUIRER: Cool Skype phone at VON Europe
Posted by jeff at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 25, 2005
VON Europe 2005 Recap
VON Europe 2005 has proven to be perhaps the most representative VoIP event in the History of the Galaxy, if not the Universe (I understand that there was once, a long, long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away a comparable event when the innovators rolled out the first real-time holographic, voice-enabled IPv6000.1 R2D2 units to much applause -- sorry, I'm still a little hung up on Star Wars III -- maybe because I've been battling regulatory Siths for the past few weeks.)
Admittedly, VON Europe with a community of more than 2,500 people is still less half the size of the Spring VON '05 in San Jose, CA, USA, at last count, we had more than 1,000 companies and at least 65 countries represented. This diversity is even more than that in our largest North American VON. The attendees even included reps from some countries just joining the communications revolution, but perhaps soon to surpass some of the increasingly backward-looking, allegedly first-world, early movers of VoIP. In a few years, who knows which of these countries might take what they've learned here and enable their countries to emerge as the havens for innovators and entrepreneurs?
In any event, it's been a remarkably full 3 days so far. I'm experience the satisfied exhaustion that I've come to love and identify with VON. Substantively, the discussion was about as advanced and worthwhile as I've known at VON. The corridor buzz reached new heights. I particularly loved the fact that, for the first time, more than a handful of attendees were using their VoIP-enabled PDAs in the corridors. That alone was most satisfying and a demonstration of just how far we as an industry and a community have come.
The VON buzz reached crescendo levels last night with the kick-off reception for the VON Europe 2005 Expo. The show floor opened to the crowd a little before 6:30, and at the official closing time of 8:30 it was still humming at maximum volume.
Over the course of the evening I managed to make my way around the entire Expo floor a couple of times, talking to many of the vendors represented. Spirits were quite high, and the early take on the traffic and customer interest was enthusiastic to say the very least...it seems that folks are here in Stockholm to do business!
Anyway, rather than continuing to describe last night's events I will instead share a few images from the VON Europe 2005 reception. Enjoy!
Posted by jeff at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Niklas Zennstrom's (Skype) Presentation from VON Europe 2005
Niklas's keynote presentation from VON Europe 2005 is now available for download.
Posted by jeff at 02:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2005 Media Coverage - Blogs & Press
Posted by jeff at 02:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 24, 2005
Light Reading @ VON Europe 2005:
Light Reading: Skype Extends Its Tentacles
Posted by jeff at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
My Presentation at VON Europe 2005
Jeff Pulver - VON Europe 2005 - May 24 2005: Shift Happens
Posted by jeff at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2005: Day II (Part II)
Posted by jeff at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2005: Day II (Part I)
This morning I presented my Industry Perspective at VON Europe 2005. A copy of my presentation will be posted later today.
Our main session room had a standing room audience of 600+ people.
Below are some of the photos from this morning's talk:
Posted by jeff at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
VON Europe 2005: IP Communications is Alive and Well in Europe
In a few hours from now, VON Europe 2005 will be fully underway.
I'm looking forward to listening to this morning's Industry Perspectives and getting caught up on the latest issues and trends facing the European IP Communications Industry.
Yesterday our pre-conference workshops took place and it was great to see many of our old friends visiting with us in Stockholm.
My own talk later this morning will start by exploring the composition of the community of people who help define what "VON" is and will then take a look at the "communication disruption" that is possible because "voice is an application." I plan to explore some of the market developments that have happened during the past year and some of the lessons that we can all learn from the success of Skype.
Along the way I will take a look at some of the recent regulatory issues which have come up in North America, and I plan to be available for a Q&A session if time permits.
Tonight I will be the host of our welcome reception taking place inside of our exhibit hall.
Posted by jeff at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 23, 2005
Additional Images from VON Europe 2005 - May 23rd:
Posted by jeff at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2005 is Underway!
Posted by jeff at 05:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
VON Europe 2005 will be Starting Soon...
I'm looking forward to the commencement of VON Europe 2005 in a few hours and the opportunity to start catching up with some of my friends from the European IP Communications Industry.
It looks like this event will be attended by quite a number of European Press, European Telecom Analysts and at least a few bloggers. The growth of the European VoIP industry in 2005 will be quite noticeable at VON Europe as the size of our community is more than double than what it was just a year ago. This time around we will be welcoming delegates arriving from: Ethiopia to New Caledonia and quite a number of countries in between. At last count there were people attending from 64 countries and over 1,000 different companies.
Special thanks to everyone who has contributed to the success of this event, including our: speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and the team of people from pulver.com who have all helped make this happen.
Posted by jeff at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 22, 2005
Stockholm @ Night
Posted by jeff at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Springtime in Stockholm 2005: (Part II)
Posted by jeff at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Springtime in Stockholm 2005: (Part I)
Posted by jeff at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Early Morning Stockholm: Reflections
>
Posted by jeff at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2005 "VON Blur" Starts Today
Now that the pulver.com VON team is in Stockholm and we have established our presence on-site at Stofair, I'm about to start the second of my scheduled meetings for the day. By some point in time on Tuesday, all of these meeting will have started to blend together and the net effect is an experience which I've learned to call "VON Blur."
Being part of the VON Community requires oneself to balance between the conference sessions, social interactions / meetings and walking thru spending time in the exhibit hall as well as to be available for the ad-hoc meetings which just happen. I will try to keep my cell phone on so that people who need to reach me this week can send me SMS messages during the week.
This week, while I'm on-site, I know that I will have a real hard time balancing between keeping with my scheduled meetings, seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I've given up staying on top of email this week - especially since just sorted thru over 2,400 emails waiting for me from being offline for 24 hours. While I may have time at night to scan my incoming email, I won't have enough time to answer them the way I would normally want to.
At the moment I'm still focused on my Industry Perspective for Tuesday morning.
My hope is everyone who will be here in Stockholm this week for VON Europe 2005 will enjoy the show and able to best take advantage of VON by applying the styles they feel help them multitask the best.
Welcome to VON Europe 2005!
Posted by jeff at 06:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
24 Hours in Stockholm:
In the 24 hours that I’ve been in Stockholm, I’ve spent quite a bit of time walking around the city with my camera and taking in some of the natural beauty that the city has to offer. I’ve been experimenting a lot with my Nikon D70 and managed to take about 1,500 photos so far.
While I managed to stay connected during the flight to Sweden, now that I’m in Stockholm, I am now only checking email a couple of times a day instead of every few hours (or minutes). During the day today I expect I will be once effected by “VON Blur.”
To help improve my ability to communicate with those who need to reach me during the duration of VON Europe 2005, I’ve asked those people to send SMS to my cell phone instead of sending me an email.
With the members of the pulver.com VON Events Europe team now all in place in Stockholm, our focus moves to getting everything ready for the successful commencement of VON Europe 2005 tomorrow morning.
Posted by jeff at 04:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 21, 2005
Flying Over Oslo....
We are flying over Oslo at the moment and will be getting ready to land in Stockholm.
I just went thru my morning ritual of catching up on email. This morning was no different, although it started with me being onboard a SAS flight flying at 36,000 feet! :-)
I just ran the CNET bandwidth test and I'm currently getting 105.1 kbps.
Flying with Wi-Fi has been cool. The trick it seems is being able to find a balance between a desire to be connected and finding the time for some rest...
Posted by jeff at 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
May 20, 2005
Just had my first Skype Call at 35,000 feet!
Since I was online, my friend Stu Milberg (s2ball) saw my blog and sent me an email, offering to meet me on Skype.
Turns out that Skype works quite well on SAS Net, flying at 35,000 feet, over the Atlantic Ocean, even with 600 ms of delay!
While Stu reported that I sounded a bit choppy, he sounded as if he is sitting right next to me.
I was so impressed with the quality of the connection that I passed my PC across the isle to: Jonathan, Marni and Carl to say hi! to Stu and check out the quality. Some of the other passengers on the flight must have thought it was kind strange to see me lifting my PC to face level and then talking into it…
Now that I know for myself that Skype works well on Connexion, I can only imagine it will be just a short time until we see Wi-Fi VoIP devices with Skype embedded on them that will be used by the road warriors on future Wi-Fi enable flights.
Boy do we live in interesting times!
Looks like I'm scheduled to arrive in Stockholm in 4 hours, 48 minutes.
Below is the sunset I just saw looking out to the West:
Time to get some rest…
Posted by jeff at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Flying to Stockholm with Internet Access...
It turns out that the SAS flight I'm on happens to be equipped with Wi-Fi Internet Access.
The ad in the seat pocket reads:
"SAS Net Access. You've surfed the waves.
You've surfed the wind. Now surf the clouds."
So now, for the first time, I'm able to blog at 33,000 while sitting in seat 3E.
Sitting to the left of me are: Jonathan Askin, Marni Shapiro and Carl Ford. I brought my D70 on board just in case I would be able to take a few pictures and post them while I was flying. The pictures below were take right before we took off and again when we boarded the flight.
While Carl is currently working with me on my presentation for Tuesday, I've been focused on surfing the net and experimenting with my new connectivity.
If I had a headset connected to my PC, I'd love to try using Skype right now. The average ping times from my flight to pulver.com is 600ms, so real-time communication would be possible albeit a bit difficult.
I find it kind of ironic that it would take being on a flight to Stockholm to experience what the future will be like when US Airlines starts to roll out Connexion during 2006. One more reinforcement that, when one visits Sweden from the States, at least from a technology perspective, we are visiting the present future, from the present past. Perhaps the Vikings have rediscovered the New World once again. Let's hope they leave a road map this time so the rest of us can find it.
Posted by jeff at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Wi-Fi Flying to Stockholm later today…
I was told that in theory, there will be Wi-Fi available on the SAS flight I’m taking from Newark to Stockholm. If this is true, I hope to join the growing group of Wi-Fi Flying Bloggers and hope to post something to my blog while I’m in transit.
Then again this may be another case of “be careful of what you wish for” since I know that if I have connectivity, I will feel compelled to spend most of the flight to Stockholm online, and I will not end up not getting much sleep on the flight.
Anyway, flying with Wi-Fi would be a cool thing to experience, given the opportunity.
Posted by jeff at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
E911/VoIP: In the News
Some news stories and blog postings regarding yesterday's FCC Decision on E911/VoIP
Posted by jeff at 07:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2005: Biggest VoIP Event Ever Held in Europe:
I just took another look at the community of people who will be joining us next week in Stockholm for VON Europe 2005 and we will be producing the largest VoIP event held to date in Europe.
While we are on-site in Stockholm we have an outside chance of reaching the size of Spring 2004 VON. It is going to be real close. This is just another sign of the strong recovery and commitment of the EMEA VoIP sector.
VON Europe 2005 will be very well attended by senior executives representing the pan-European IP Communications Industry. At last count there will be delegates from 62 countries representing over 950 companies.
I'm looking forward to being at the event and being able to take in the buzz. :-)
Posted by jeff at 07:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Go See: “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”
Yesterday afternoon, immediately after the FCC issued their statement regarding 911/VoIP, I hosted an office field trip to the movies and enjoyed seeing the latest Star Wars movie.
Watching the movie and thinking about what had just happened at the FCC, one could draw some pretty clever analogies across both storylines..but I’m not going to. Not now.
As someone who remembers watching the first Star Wars movie back in the summer of 1977, it was great to be there and be able to share this movie experience with various members of the pulver.com Jedi team.
As promised, the movie brought together many of the loose ends and I left wanting to see Episode IV again, just so that I can see how the storylines tie back into each other.
Both C3PO and R2D2 looked pretty shinny and new in this movie. Chewbacca shows up for the first time. Yoda got older but still got it…and we all watched the transformation of Anakin Skywalker to the dark side and into Darth Vader, which was the darkest story line of the entire Star Wars series.
One of the challenges that was met for the most part, was keeping the interest and focus of the audience during extended fight scenes between many of the main characters of Episode III and Episode IV. Unlike many other movies, going into Episode III, many of us already knew who were going to be characters of significance in Episode IV, so it had to be inherently hard to film a fight sequence when most of the people watching the movie already knew who was going to win, and who was going to lose.
It turns out that in the Galaxy where Episode III takes place, the common form of real-time communications happens to be real-time three dimensional holographic imaging, and not video conferencing. One thing which never came out during the course of the movie was what the Republic’s position on E911 over Real-Time Holographic Imaging communication might have been.
I’m not sure when real-time three dimensional holographic imaging will become the norm around here, but my hope is that we are just years away from seeing such a technology innovation become widely available at a very low cost.
If you consider yourself a Star Wars fan, you owe it yourself to take time for yourself, put your work on hold and disappear for awhile and go out and spend an afternoon at the movies.
May the Force be with you.
Posted by jeff at 01:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 19, 2005
The FCC Adopts Emergency Response Obligations for VoIP Providers: Regulation of the Unregulated; Unregulation of the Regulated
Necessary Preface: I want the best emergency response system for all the world as soon as possible. I believe that IP-based emergency response could dramatically improve domestic and global emergency response.
Secondary Preface: The services that I offer, most notably Free World Dialup, are not included in the FCC E911 mandate. I, however, still feel compelled to share my views in support of my colleagues in the VoIP community who do offer two-way PSTN-connected VoIP services.
My most striking observation today: The FCC had a golden opportunity to take one positive steps to promote IP-based communications. The FCC could have prohibited “port blocking” and compelled direct access to the ILEC-controlled emergency response infrastructure. Instead, the FCC chose to regulate the previously unregulated, and declined to regulate those that it has obvious authority to regulate – the traditional telecom carriers. As it stands, unaffiliated VoIP providers are left to the mercy or goodwill of their retail rivals – the telecom carriers that control access to the emergency response network. The FCC has also given lip service to its desire to prohibit port blocking and has been looking for a vehicle to do so. A proceeding fell into its lap, and the FCC missed this opportunity. No lives should be at risk simply because a carrier refuses to allow VoIP providers and end-users fair access to the network. Prohibition on port-blocking and direct access to selective routers would have gone a long way to remove this potential threat.
Thus, the following issues stood out today:
1) At least one Commissioner (Copps) acknowledged that for 911 to work, the LECs must not block ports. The FCC finally had a vehicle to do some good in this regard, but did not seize the moment to prohibit port blocking. Again, bully the powerless VoIP new entrants, but don’t take a reasonable step to ensure VoIP customers are not blocked from reaching emergency responders through an IP-based communications network.
2) The FCC indicated that the LECs should provide selective routers to “telecom carriers.” Well, the unaffiliated VoIP providers are not generally certificated telecom carriers, nor has the FCC compelled them to become carriers. The $64,000 question is: “Is the FCC compelling every VoIP provider to become “Telecom Carriers?”
My final thought on today’s events: Amidst all the emotionally heart-wrenching anecdotes about failed Vonage 911 calls, no one ever mentioned the failures of traditional carrier emergency response services. I’m forced to wonder what would have happened if the FCC had paraded the spouses and parents of those who died when 911 failed on traditional wireline and wireless networks? I guess that wouldn’t be acceptable – that might scare consumers of traditional telecom services and antagonize the traditional communications power structure. Let’s bully the new weak kids in town but not draw attention to current emergency response failures by those that are capable of fighting back.
Posted by jeff at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
When the FCC Gives Us Lemons, Let's Make Some Lemonade -- Silver Lining to the E911 Situation?
Maybe the FCC's E911 ruling will prove to be the kick in the butt that the IP-based communications community needed to move towards the end-to-end IP future.
The FCC rules are intended to subsume PSTN-connected services and not purer forms of computer-to-computer communications. Well the regulators are driving us away from the sacrosanct PSTN. Good riddance. They, and the more traditional carriers, can keep their paltry network with its limited capabilities to offer voice and few add-ons.
Admittedly, this limited communications network we call the PSTN controls virtually every communications consumer out there. There was once a time when the stagecoach controlled most of the transcontinental traffic. Some day, perhaps now even sooner than some anticipated, the wireline PSTN will be relegated to be little more than a minor, single-lane off-ramp on the IP-based network of networks.
I've always found it unfortunate that too many people associated VoIP with PSTN long distance arbitrage. Frankly, the economic advantage and ability to arbitrage has been like heroin to many in the VoIP community keeping us from realizing our true potential while we collect revenue by arbitraging against the PSTN pricing umbrella. Well, the regulators might be forcing us, cold turkey, to abandon the PSTN and the economic opportunities that it afforded. Well, now we can see what IP-based communications is all about. When we leave the PSTN and establish our own distinct all-IP, peer-to-peer networks, we'll, at last, show the world that IP-based communications is about so much more than cheaper, but undifferentiated voice service.
The paternalistic regulators might be forcing us to move out of the safe confines of the PSTN house and the arbitrage opportunity that it afforded, but perhaps we'll become stronger and more independent as a result.
Posted by jeff at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
“Playing Hooky” @ Work: A Quick Visit with the Mets
Every once in a while I try to do the unexpected.
Yesterday the Mets had a day game, and it was a day that I wasn’t otherwise traveling. Being a season ticket holder who doesn’t have a chance to take in as many Mets games as I would like, yesterday I decided to do something about it.
So…for lunch yesterday, instead of visiting my favorite dinner in the world, the Sweet Hollow Dinner of Melville, I decided to trek over to Shea Stadium to their Diamond Club and while I was there, take in a few innings of the game while I was eating.
While I was only at Shea for an hour, the trip helped not only break up my day, but helped infuse some needed energy and while I was at Shea, I had a chance to take some pictures of the Mets playing the Reds:
p.s. The Mets ended up beating the Reds 10-6
Posted by jeff at 07:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Getting Ready for Next Week in Stockholm:
When VON Europe 2005 takes place next week, it will be clear to everyone who is either visiting our conference sessions or our exhibit hall that the buzz for VoIP in Europe is stronger than ever before.
Looking at the community list, there are a number of Regulators and PTT executives attending the event, together with quite a number of companies attending a VON event for the first time. At the moment there are 59 countries represented.
Given the timing of VON Europe, I will not be shy during my talk next Tuesday, and will use the time to share my perspective on the global issues of 911/VoIP, effects of offering innovative communication services vs. replacement and/or substitute services and the future of SIP in a world where consumer communications is driven by Skype.
Sometimes people should be careful for what they wish for, since the pending FCC E911/VoIP order this morning is in some ways directly related to the excessive amount of hype that some members of the VoIP industry have been directly responsible for creating during the past 18 months.
The size of VON Europe 2005 will end up being somewhere between the number of people who attended Fall 2003 VON and Spring 2004 VON. This will translate in a community more than double the size who visited with us last year in London.
Posted by jeff at 06:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 18, 2005
Welcome to the Monkey House:
In Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House, no one is allowed to be any better than anyone else and society devolves to the level of the Least Common Denominator. If you are too strong, you are weighed down; if you are too smart, noises go off in your head when you have clever thoughts. For those of you unfamiliar with the Vonnegut story, remember the Twilight Zone where the doctors perform surgery on the ugly (really beautiful) woman so that she can fit into society?
Well, guess what, we the IP-based communications innovators and entrepreneurs, just got a lead weight thrown around our collective neck (or, at least, a serious nip and tuck designed to make us as ugly as our more traditional telecom forebears).
IP technology could allow for functions far beyond the capabilities of traditional communications networks, but it requires farsighted regulators (with vision) to look at the technology with a fresh eye and a commitment not to stifle that potential. Today, shortsightedness prevailed.
I ran a conference in DC two weeks ago (The Peripheral Visionaries IP-Based Communications Policy Summit), designed to show how IP technology may transform the ways in which we communicate. Apparently, the regulators not only suffer from myopia, but might be hearing-disabled as well -- the discussion also seems to have fallen on deaf ears. In one fell swoop, a mere fortnight after Peripheral Visionaries, the FCC is poised to adopt, what I fear will be an overbroad, reactive bit of regulation that could devastate the smaller, most innovative IP-based communications providers. The saddest part is that we might never know what could have been, because many of the most visionary technologists and entrepreneurs simply will not attempt to offer new applications in light of overly burdensome regulatory obligations that none but the most well-heeled, most technologically static, providers could offer.
It's like having an evolved species of human with a 6th sense (or just a 6th finger). Government panics and cuts off that finger or outlaws use of that 6th sense so that the more evolved species can only behave like the less evolved humans. They don't quite get that we WILL develop emergency response solutions that will dwarf the capabilities of the circuit-switched world of the wireline PSTN -- as the emergency community itself has acknowledged and encouraged. Instead, government might compel VoIP providers to fit into the cramped regulatory boxes that cannot realistically contain us.
Posted by jeff at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Broadband Reports Story on E911/VoIP
Broadband Reports: FCC's 911 Move a Trojan Horse?
Posted by jeff at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
After Stockholm, next stop - Chicago
While my immediate focus is on tomorrow's pending FCC 911/VoIP announcement, as I look ahead, next week I will be in Stockholm for VON Europe 2005, followed by a week back home and then two weeks on the road...first in Chicago for Supercomm and then back on the road for our VoIP Mission to Israel.
For me, 2005 is flying by real fast. Looking at the calendar, I find it amazing that Supercomm 2005 in Chicago, (in June!) is now less than three weeks away.
On Monday, June 6th, I am planning on attending my first game ever at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs will be playing against the Blue Jays.
From June 6-8, pulver.com is producing our: SIP Summit Summmer 2005 an event co-located with Supercomm for the second straight year.
While in Chicago, besides hanging out at our SIP Summit, I will be speaking in a Supercomm Policy Session: "Convergence: Regulatory Policies Driving and/or Hindering Innovation" on the morning of June 7th and then much later in the day hosting our 4th annual Supercomm Party at the Chicago House of Blues. On June 8th, I will be giving a keynote talk at an "Awards Luncheon" for The National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP), followed by a talk later in the day at a Ditech Communications customer event.
My schedule for Chicago is already pretty committed and this doesn't include the time that will be spent walking around the Supercomm show floor or helping our team promote the upcoming CMP/TIA/pulver.com IP.4.IT Enterprise event at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas November 14-17.
I will have a big announcement to make in Chicago...but that will have to wait until June.
Posted by jeff at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
First Monday - Wednesday in the Office all Year:
I've been living on the road so much in 2005, that today marks the first time I will actually be in the office three days in a row, from a Monday to a Wednesday. Looking back, it has been at least six, if not more months since I've been able to do the Monday thru Wednesday hat trick...
Posted by jeff at 06:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 17, 2005
"Shut up and take your medicine"
Sometimes when I write a blog, I wonder if anyone takes notice. It seems I did hit a nerve with a couple of my recent entries on the FCC's likely action with regard to imposing E911 obligations on the VoIP industry. It's almost as if some folks think I have come out against apple pie and motherhood. Speaking truth to power and demonstrating flaws in an overreaching plan can be a lonely place and is always a delicate act, particularly in a blog format which, for me, is a presentation of initial impressions with the goal to prompt deeper thought and dialogue.
I, by no means, intend to belittle the noble goals behind a ubiquitous E911 solution, just the method by which the regulators intend to drive us there. I am convinced that IP technology will vastly improve emergency response capabilities. I've apparently got to reiterate, in no uncertain terms, that I want the best possible emergency response capabilities to become available to all Americans -- all the world -- as soon as possible. I, however, do not want to see E911 used as an immediate tool to bring down the emerging industry, particularly the most vulnerable start-ups without the deep-pockets, resources, and political connections.
It's been suggested that I hold my tongue, get in line, sit back and relax, accept whatever medicine the regulators dish out and assume that father knows best. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, I guess -- let the FCC dictate unviable E911 solutions without much sense for current industry efforts and technological capabilities. After all, what do we, the industry pioneers and innovators, know? Let a few cloistered bureaucrats cave to public outrage and political pressure. Don't worry, it will all work out in the end. Just cross your fingers, hold your breath, bite your tongue, close your eyes and try to catch the Hail Mary pass.
Well, I don't think it necessarily will all work out in the end and, if we're quiet now, we may be quiet forever (if you get my drift). And I don't think the bureaucrats know best at this point. They certainly don't seem to have consulted with the industry enough (at least, not the innovators and entrepreneurs pushing the limits of IP technology) to know what is viable. (Perhaps the regulators have tapped the knowledge of some more entrenched players -- the LECs and the cablecos who are primarily using IP technology to offer more economic versions of traditional telephony, without an eye towards much differentiation or enhancement.)
What seems most bizarre to me is that the regulators don't even seem willing to give the unaffiliated VoIP providers the minimum set of tools necessary to accomplish their objective for a guaranteed nationwide E911 network that would allow anyone, anywhere to pick up any device, dial 911 and have an emergency responder find that caller. If regulators tell the industry to provide nationwide E911 for nomadic VoIP services, without simultaneously compelling fair access to selective routers and prohibiting port blocking, how can they expect us to accomplish their mission? Make excessive demands on the never-before-regulated and most-vulnerable new start-ups, but don't dare impose any access obligation on the traditionally regulated entities, the only ones with the essential infrastructure? I don't get it.
I have had much internal debate over how to approach what we believe the FCC is doing to the industry this week, and, frankly, I felt compelled to speak up, aware of the potential political consequences. I have deep concerns that the FCC is going to drastically overreach (like swatting a fly with a nuclear bomb) and bring down the VoIP industry (particularly the smaller start-ups without the resources to develop a nationwide solution) in the process. Extending immediate E911 obligations on the smallest, most-vulnerable, but most innovative IP-based communications providers does no one any good (except for providing a quick political soundbite). In the end, such actions might mean that no one will ever see the emergency response capabilities that IP-based communications working cooperatively with NENA could have produced.
I'm reminded of the scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" when the young George Bailey tells the overwrought pharmacist that he just mixed poison into the prescription. In the bizarro world in which we live, the young George Bailey is supposed to keep his mouth shut and let the pharmacist kill the patient.
Most in the VoIP industry are trying to take their "medicine" -- saying "yes sir, may I have another" as the regulators begin to regulate the life out of us and turn IP into just another technology to deliver traditional fixed-line telephony. I feel a little like I'm the only one telling the pharmacist not to give arsenic to the patient with a virus. Sure the arsenic will kill the virus, but it will also kill the patient in the process. Sometimes it's important to speak up, consequences be damned.
If the FCC thinks that it should micromanage E911 solutions or simply give a blanket mandate for ubiquitous E911 compliance in 129 days, I've got a better regulatory model that America might want to consider going forward -- how about a closely regulated monopoly? Oh, that's right, we tried that and got 100 years of no innovation and no service differentiation.
Finally, while I don't relish ad hominen attacks without any substantive support, I do sincerely welcome honest, thoughtful input on my blogs. My blogs are often just my candid initial impressions on issues, and an effort to inform or to inspire debate and sometimes outrage. I just hope that the discussion can be on the merits of the issues.
Posted by jeff at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Over 700 People already RSVP'ed for our June 7th Party @ Supercomm 2005:
For the fourth year in a row, pulver.com will be hosting a party during Supercomm. This time the event takes place the night of June 7th at the House of Blues in Chicago. The Herding Cats of Seattle, fresh from their gig with us at VON Europe 2005 in Stockholm will be back as our special musical guests.
Readers of my blog who are over 21 are invited to attend the party.
If you are planning on attending Supercomm 2005, remember to reserve the night of June 7th for some fun.
Due to size constraints, only the first 1,000 people to respond will be placed on our party list.
Please R.S.V.P before June 3rd if you would like to attend our party.
Posted by jeff at 01:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 16, 2005
My "Four Eights" Story made it to Phil Hellmuth's Poker Column:
My friend Phil Hellmuth gave me the heads up yesterday that a hand I had back in 1999 when Phil was teaching me how to play Hold'em will be the subject of one of his next syndicated newspaper columns.
Look for the story, syndicated by United Media called: "Jeff Pulver's Four Eights."
Posted by jeff at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Week Ahead: Star Wars, The FCC and Stockholm
Looking at the week ahead, I will be spending part of my time this week, working on the Industry Perspective that I will be giving in Stockholm next Tuesday at VON Europe 2005.
At this point I can only hope is that the “force will be strong” when friends visit Washington, D.C. to hear first hand the details regarding the FCC’s proposed treatment of 911 for VoIP at the FCC’s Open Meeting on Thursday, May 19th. The May 19th meeting may be a turning point for the near term future of the VoIP industry in the United States. I just have to hope that it will be a positive turning point. I know that our voices have been heard.
While the FCC’s Open Meeting is taking place, I together with members of the pulver.com team expect to be transported to a galaxy, far, far away, as I plan on taking in the latest installment of Star Wars where I know the “force will be with us.”
On Friday I will be getting ready for our trip to Sweden and spending the weekend in Stockholm.
Posted by jeff at 07:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2005: The VoIP Event of the Year for EMEA!
Looking at the 58 countries represented in the community of delegates registered to join us at VON Europe 2005, taking place next week in Stockholm (23-26 May) these delegates collectivelty help define what the "EMEA" region is supposed to represent: Europe, Middle East and Africa. VON Europe 2005 will be the largest VoIP Event ever held for the EMEA region.
Countries represented at VON Europe 2005 include:
1. Argentina
2. Armenia
3. Austria
4. Bahrain
5. Bangladesh
6. Belgium
7. Brazil
8. Canada
9. Colombia
10. Croatia
11. Czech Republic
12. Denmark
13. Egypt
14. England
15. Faroe Islands
16. Finland
17. France
18. Germany
19. Ghana
20. Greece
21. Greenland
22. Hong Kong
23. Hungary
24. Iceland
25. India
26. Iran
27. Ireland
28. Israel
29. Italy
30. Japan
31. Jersey
32. Latvia
33. Malta
34. Mexico
35. Netherlands
36. New Caledonia
37. Nigeria
38. Northern Ireland
39. Norway
40. P.R. China
41. Pakistan
42. Poland
43. Portugal
44. Romania
45. Russia
46. Saudi Arabia
47. Scotland
48. Serbia and Montenegro
49. Singapore
50. Slovak Republic
51. Spain
52. Sri Lanka
53. Sweden
54. Switzerland
55. Turkey
56. Ukraine
57. United Arab Emirates
58. USA
Posted by jeff at 01:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 15, 2005
Update on pulver.com’s VoIP Mission to Israel: June 14-15 2005
For the past five months, we have been working on pulling together our first VoIP Mission to Israel. Now our Mission is a just a month away and I’m looking forward to joining a group of over 50 people from around the world who have signed up so far to be part of our mission.
Members of the worldwide VoIP Industry are still invited to join us for our
VoIP Mission to Israel, taking place in Israel on June 14th and 15th. For the people joining us from outside of Israel, there are no costs to be part of the mission, outside of the arranging your own travel, hotel and local transportation costs.
As a “VoIP Missionary” you will have access to our “invitation only” reception in Jerusalem City Hall on the night of June 14th where we will be giving out our “VON Visionary” awards to a group of people who were responsible for the birth of the VoIP Industry in Israel. I expect this will be a great business networking opportunity and a chance to catch up with some of the industry’s long time friends.
Members of the mission are also being invited to attend, for free, our first full day Israeli VoIP Summit which is being produced by: pulver.com VON Events Europe.
As an extension of this mission, I was invited to give a keynote address on June 16th at the Ministry of Communications, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to meet with the Israeli regulators.
Israeli members of the VoIP Industry who wish to support and attend our Israeli VoIP Summit, are invited to register for the summit. The cost to register is: US$ 495.
Members of the pulver.com team will be leaving the US on June 12th and returning on June 16th and 17th. While we are in Israel, we plan to meet with members of the Israeli Business Community, with a specific focus on those companies who have innovative applications and services within the IP Communications space.
If you would like to learn more about our VoIP Mission to Israel, you may want to listen to a recent VON Radio podcast about the mission.
Posted by jeff at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 14, 2005
pulver.com / VON Radio Podcasting Update:
Back in April, pulver.com joined the world of podcasting with the launch of "VON Radio" with the help of both Carl Ford and Michael "Mikey" McClenathan.
The library of VON Radio podcasts continue to grow and continue to be posted to: http://pulverradio.pulver.com/podcasts/.
If you are new to podcasting, you can download podcasting software from iPodder.org and you can then subscribe to receive future podcasts.
We are in the process of adding addional "voices" to our podcasts. If you share a passion for VoIP and would like to host a VoIP podcast, please send email to: jeffp@pulver.com.
Posted by jeff at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Musing on the CRTC VoIP Ruling:
Jon Arnold: Canada's VoIP Decision - Competition Rules
Jon Arnold: VoIP Off and Running in Canada Now
Mark Evans: Canada Regulates VoIP
Mark Evans: CRTC-VOIP: Silly Rule
Alec Saunders: .LOG v2
Posted by jeff at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Any friends going to IDG's RSS - Syndicate Conference?
Just wondering if any friends from this side of the Blogsphere will be in NYC next week for IDG's RSS - Syndicate Conference taking place May 17/18 in NYC.
If so, please drop me a line.
I was thinking of visiting on the 17th.
Posted by jeff at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Leaving for Stockholm in less than a week…
A week from today, I will be arriving in Stockholm together with members of the pulver.com VON Europe events team to produce our most successful pan-European VON event since we started producing events in Europe back in June, 1998.
I am looking forward to visiting Stockholm at a time of the year when the sun sets after 9:30 pm and the sun rises before 4:00 am. This just adds another dynamic to our trip.
VoIP has come a long way since 1998 and it is great to be returning to Stockholm at a time and to a place where VoIP is happening across broadband, wireless and legacy wireline networks.
The week of May 23rd will be a great week for VoIP in Europe.
Posted by jeff at 07:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 13, 2005
E911/VoIP: Death of the Broadband Parasite in the USA?:
These days "voice" really is just another "application" (at least technologically if not regulatorily) and the face of the worldwide communications marketplace is much different than just a few years ago. In fact, it was back in May, 2003, where I first spoke about the Rise of the Broadband Parasites and its power to transform the ways in which we communicate and dramatically increase the value and capabilities of the network.
It was also way back in the Summer of 2003, when one of my more (then seemingly) paranoid friends warned me that there were people in DC who would start to come forward and do everything in their collective power to prevent the success of the "Broadband Parasites" and the so-called "free-riders." (As I've indicated in numerous previous blog entries, VoIP ASPs should not be considered "free-riders". Unlike the POTS resellers, the VoIP ASPs are dramatically increasingly the capabilities and value of telecom networks for consumers, for carriers and for vendors.) In any case, my paranoid friends went so far as to say that end-to-end IP would never be allowed to freely happen. Frankly, I dismissed their concerns as paranoid delusions. Why would anyone want to stifle the improvements that Moore's Law and IP-technology would bring? I, instead, believed that end-to-end IP was inevitable and that, while the face of the communications industry was going to be changed forever, it would be understood that there would be a list of winners and losers and those who ignored technology innovations would be cast as the losers . . . or so I thought.
My friend's conspiracy theory highlighted three parallel activities: numbering; lawful intercept (CALEA); and emergency response (9-1-1). My friend suggested that, at the calculated moment, certain powerful forces from inside-the-Beltway would take action and put an incredible amount of pressure on government and industry to apply legacy thinking to kill innovative technology. I believe that, so far, we have, more or less, adequately kept at bay both the numbering and lawful intercept issues (although I am convinced these issues wait in the wings to further devastate IP-based communications advances). The E911 for VoIP issue has become the most obvious, very sore touch point and rallying cry to do in IP-based innovators under the guise of public safety. And, frankly, if they don't kill us with the E911 red herring bullet, the second and third bullets (numbering and lawful intercept concerns) wait in the chamber of their gun.
In fact, now that E911 for VoIP is on the agenda for the next FCC meeting, and if reports are true and the FCC will mandate that all two-way connected Voice over Broadband service providers in the US need to also provide E911 services (even for nomadic services), without making a parallel and equal demand on the LECs to ensure local access to the PSAPs and an explicit prohibition against port blocking, such a ruling could have the one-sided effect of removing the unaffiliated Voice over Broadband service providers from the marketplace and so will begin the era of the "death of the local VoBB service provider." While I guess, in some ways, this may be good for the incumbent who is seeing increasing price pressure on a daily basis, it is the consumer who ends up losing, and losing big. Once the competition goes away, prices will bounce back up and service offerings will devolve.
Instead of focusing on the US marketplace, my friends, the voice over broadband entrepreneurs, may instead decide to focus their business activities in countries that have a more forward looking IP-based communications strategy.
Strange as how it sounds, even Canada looks to be a more fertile ground for continued technology innovation than the US, if E911 becomes mandated for VoIP, including nomadic VoIP offerings. If VoIP was the first great driver of broadband, I fear that America will drop even further down the ranks of the countries in broadband penetration and that will further sink the US economy for many decades to come.
Unless something was totally misunderstood with regards to the FCC immediate intentions, 2005 may go down in history as the time we saw both the rise and fall of the unaffiliated VoIP service provider.
Then again, the pending FCC rulemaking may finally be the shot in the arm the VoIP entrepreneurs need to come forward with communication services that are not using VoIP as simple replacement or substitute services, but rather use IP technology to begat the launch of new suites of communication services -- something much truer to the vision of what an IP-enabled platform promises and not just copycat products or services. At least one can dream. I, however, fear that the FCC E911 Order will be too broad and suck within its regulatory black hole many of the current and here-to-for unimagined innovative services that do not intend to serve as mere replacement services for traditional voice telephony.
. . . and, boy, do we live in interesting times.
Posted by jeff at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Project for a Rainy Day: Make your own Holograms
Given my interest in real-time 3D holographic imaging, I thought it was pretty cool when I discovered that for a relative low cost, it is now possible to make your own holograms at home thanks to a new product from Liti Holographics.
Liti Holographics is driven by the efforts and passions of: Paul Christie.
To learn more about the state of personal holographic image building, check out both the Litiholo and Liti3D websites.
Posted by jeff at 07:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Star Wars and 911/VoIP:
On the afternoon of May 19th, team members from the pulver.com office will be joining me for an optional field trip to see Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, a movie I’ve been waiting to see since 1977.
In what might be considered by some as an ironic twist of fate, there will be some people within the VoIP industry who may feel that on May 19th in Washington, D.C., it is in fact the “dark side” being heard from when the topic of 911/VoIP is discussed at the May 19th FCC Open Meeting.
At least in Star Wars, it is easier to tell who the good guys really are.
Posted by jeff at 07:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
May 12, 2005
Big day for VoIP Regulation in North America
As predicted, today has been a most auspicious occasion in the history of Internet regulation, generally, and VoIP regulation in particular. The FCC has, in fact, place the 911 for VoIP on the Agenda for its
Open Meeting on May 19. A big thanks to all of you who have weighed in with the FCC to ensure that it does not stifle IP-based communications under the guise of ensuring a cookie-cutter emergency response solution that emulates the capabilities of the legacy telecom networks. I still fear that the FCC will issue an overly-broad Order that will interfere with the advancement of IP-based communications and especially the ability of the IP-based communications industry to provide nomadic services and even more advanced emergency response capabilities.
Perhaps I should not have been to quick to criticize the actions of the Canadian CRTC. The Canadians, at least, seem to recognize that its emergency response solution should not compel E911 for nomadic services, just a basic 911 offering. It is still unclear to me how the FCC will come out on this issue.
Furthermore, the CRTC released its long-anticipated order on the regulatory framework for IP-based communications services. At least the CRTC has opted not to impose onerous regulations on the new entrants, even if it has imposed ongoing telecom regulation on the incumbents when offering VoIP services. We have yet to see how the Americans will regulate IP-based communications services. The FCC proceeding on IP-based communications services is not expected for many months still -- with the exception of carving out the emergency response issue and set to impose onerous obligations on all providers of connected two-way VoIP services.
Posted by jeff at 06:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
The Vonage 911 "Opt-Out": Is it a Cop-Out?
Advanced IP Pipeline: Vonage To Make 911 An 'Opt-Out' Option.
One company's approach to dealing with the "State" of 911 services and possible future requirements.
Posted by jeff at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2005: Conference almost sold out!
VON Europe 2005 will be taking place 23-26 May in Stockholm.
This event continues to track to be our most successful VoIP event (ever) in Europe. To date there are delegates attending from over 50 countries, representing a true pan-European audience. Our pre-conference activities commence on the morning of 23-May and our conference formally opens at 09:00 on 24-May. Our sold-out exhibit hall opens the evening of 24-May.
We only have a limited number of conference seats still available. If you are planning on attending, please take a moment and register today.
Posted by jeff at 06:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Picasa 2: Great for Photo Organization and emailing of Photos
During the past month (in my spare time) I have enjoyed taking the first steps in learning how to use my new Nikon D70 and have started to learn about some of the various software applications available to those who are serious about their digital photos.
While I'm still experimenting with Nikon Capture Editor, the first application I discovered during my odyssey was a free software application called Picasa 2, a product from a company acquired by Google in 2004.
I first learned about Picasa 2 by using Gmail. Not knowing better, I started using Picasa 2 for both photo organization and simple photo editing. If you find yourself emailing your digital photos on a regular basis, one feature that stands above the rest is the tight seamless integration between Picasa 2 and Gmail. One feature that I would love to see introduced in a future edition of Picasa 2 would be "layering." Layering I've learned, is the technique used by those familiar with applications like Photoshop to combine elements from various digital photos into what appears to be one photo or work product.
Posted by jeff at 01:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Any Low Light Nikon Lense Suggestions?
I'm looking for recommendations from people familiar with Nikon lenses for the optimal lenses to use with my D70 when shooting in a low-light situation and where using a flash isn't an option and where using a tripod isn't always a sure thing.
Posted by jeff at 01:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
May 11, 2005
EMERGENCY RESPONSE to Emergency Response Regulation:
pulver.com spent much of the past week lobbying the FCC on the state of 911 service offerings by VoIP providers. As it stands, the FCC is likely to adopt an Order at its May 19 Open Meeting that would give VoIP providers 120 days to provide nationwide basic 911 for all connected VoIP providers, E911 for non-nomadic, and the extent to which it would require E911 nomadic VoIP services is still unclear (at least to me).
The FCC Order is, no doubt, motivated by the most noble of goals -- reliable emergency response systems for all Americans. No one wants, or is pushing harder to implement these services, more than the VoIP industry itself. Most PSTN-connected VoIP providers currently provision at least basic 911 emergency services, and typically provision E911 for fixed locations. As we understand the current version of the FCC Order, however, the FCC might compel VoIP providers to offer technologically impossible or financially devastating enhanced 911 obligations within 120 days of the Order's effective date. I have some concerns that such a mandate could put more Americans in harms way by denying consumers access to useful VoIP services and, in the process, could have detrimental consequences on the emerging IP-based communications industry, at least the smaller VoIP providers who cannot feasibly provide a nationwide E911 service. It will be technologically or economically impossible for most of the smaller VoIP providers to provide a nationwide, ubiquitous E911 solution, particularly if the FCC fails to compel access to LEC controlled selective routers on nondiscriminatory rates, terms and conditions and if the FCC does not explicitly prohibit port blocking. It is unclear to me to what extent providers could satisfy the FCC's mandated E911 obligation short of a ubiquitous, nationwide E911 solution.
The other piece of the puzzle that is still unclear to me is what VoIP services are to be covered by the likely FCC Order. Depending on how broad the FCC definition of included services is, the requirements might unintentionally include some IP-based communications services where no one could have had any real expectation that the product would have a traditional E911 capability. I am fairly confident that the Order is meant to capture two-way voice transmissions designed primarily to function like traditional PSTN service and is not intended to capture peer-to-peer services like Free World Dialup and Skype. But the definition of included services will have to be narrowly tailored so as not be draw us into the net of covered services. For instance, if the FCC's definition applies to two-way voice services using the North American Numbering Plan, would this include a PDA with both Skype-in and Skype-out utilizing a North American NPA-NXX? I presume this is not the FCC's intention, but definitions are a tricky game, particularly as technology evolves and Internet services are more and more capable of replicating traditional telecommunications experiences. Should it be against the law for a PDA user at a bar in America to use Skype-out if it does not have direct routing to a E911 PSAP? I certainly hope not. I think it would be an obvious boon to emergency response if that PDA could allow the user any additional ability (even if it is not in compliance with FCC-mandated 911 obligations) to communicate with the outside world when the user witnesses an emergency situation at a bar.
VoIP, by its very nature, should empower a user to take her service anywhere without having to check with the VoIP provider to verify that the particular remote location has an arrangement with the VoIP provider. It is one thing to compel a primary fixed-fixed line provider, be it VoIP or traditional telephony, to provide E911 capabilities, but what logic would be served from turning off the nomadic capability of IP technology simply because the user cannot access a local emergency response system when she attaches her computer with a softphone program or other IP phone to a broadband connection at a hotel or other remote location? Isn't it possible that a person at a Starbucks who witnesses an armed robbery and shooting might be able to save a life by being able to either dial the police or dial basic 911 using her nomadic VoIP solution rather than preventing any calls because there isn't an E911 capability?
The issue is obviously of more concern to "connected" VoIP services than to peer-to-peer IP-based communications services such as Skype, Free World Dialup, AIM, yahoo or MSN. But the consequences could extend to peer-to-peer services, particularly where the peer-to-peer provider allows for even limited PSTN connectivity. If a VoIP provider is offering outbound service within the US (like this yellow page click-to-call directory on Amazon.com (http://www.estara.com/livedemo/a9/), will Amazon.com have to ensure (at least through its underlying LEC or through a service bureau) that its customers can reach an emergency responder? E911 requires a call-back number but one-way services are only one-way. And what about the future of inbound-only services? There really should not be any expectation that the inbound-only line could make an outbound PSTN call (either to an emergency responder or anyone else).
These are my initial thoughts. I welcome yours and hope that you will engage in this public debate so that we develop the best possible emergency response capabilities and promote the best policy for advancing IP-based communications.
Posted by jeff at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
IP Policy Developments North of the Border:
Tomorrow is an auspicious occasion for VoIP regulation in North America.
Canada's CRTC will likely release its long-anticipated VoIP Order (which will likely treat VoIP like other telecom services).
... Meanwhile, back on the homefront:
EMERGENCY RESPONSE to Emergency Response Regulation:
Posted by jeff at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Rating Free World Dialup on CNET - Needs some Raters:
CNET story -Free World Dialup- Skype - Voip
Looking for some people to rate Free World Dialup.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-9238_7-6218008-1.html?tag=cnetfd.sd.
This is a time where it would be appreciated to hear from members of the worldwide Free World Dialup user community.
Posted by jeff at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Selling Benefits (vs. Features)
Day Two of our pulver.com Events Team offsite commences in a few minutes.
One of the more interesting training sessions I sat in yesterday afternoon included a discussion of: Selling Benefits vs. Selling Features.
While it is usually pretty easy to tell the difference between what is a "feature" of a product or service vs. what is a "benefit", it is amazing to discover how often we find ourselves trying to close a sale by pitching the feature rather then the benefit.
This was one of the lessons I'm taking home and hope to do something about.
Posted by jeff at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 10, 2005
Back to School: Reviewing the Saturday Evening Post Case Study Today
This week members of the pulver.com Events group have gathered for a two-day, company-wide offsite meeting, where we will be engaging in a series of team building exercises and taking the time to focus on and discuss the Harvard Business School case study of the Saturday Evening Post. (Case Study: 9-593-083).
The Rise and Fall of the Saturday Evening Post from 1897 to 1969 can draw some very interesting parallels in what could happen to a non-diversified company when it faces “disruption” from various sides: a technology perspective (evolution and growth of the Radio and TV industries and the resulting effects on the print Magazine business), internal disruption (changes in management and internal in-fighting) and as well as cultural disruption, represented over a period of time by a company’s ability (or inability) to be able to adapt to the needs of a changing society.
In the world of a post dot-com crash internet, a review of the Saturday Evening Post case study can help provide an interesting perspective on life.
Posted by jeff at 06:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VoIP Mission to Israel (June 14/15): Update
Our "VoIP Mission to Israel" will be taking place June 14-15, 2005 and will include activities in both: Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv.
The VoIP Conference we are producing on June 15th in Tel-Aviv continues to evolve and is coming together quite nicely. I expect the final schedule will be posted within the next week or so.
So far, over 50 people from: US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, France, Australia and the UK have signed up to join our mission, and we still have room for others to join us.
While we are in Israel, the Israeli Ministry of Communications invited me to give a keynote address on June 16th which I am looking forward to.
I appreciate the support we have been receiving to date and we are looking forward to making our first "VoIP Mission to Israel" a successful effort.
Members of the Israeli VoIP community who would like to learn more about our mission should feel free to send email to: jeffp@pulver.com.
Posted by jeff at 06:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Radio - Why We need Bubbles w/ Tom Evslin
Tom Evslin's first podcast has been posted on the VON Radio Podcast site.
Tom's podcast can be directly by visiting: http://vonradio.pulver.com/podcasts/VONradio-tom_evslin_bubbles.mp3.
Using any podcasting software, users can subscribe to VON Radio using this XML file.
Look for future Tom Evslin podcasts on VON Radio.
Posted by jeff at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 09, 2005
Invitation to Blog: VON Europe 2005
Fellow members of the Blogsphere:
I wanted to encourage some of you to come to VON Europe 2005 in Stockholm on 23-26 May. Quite a number of bloggers joined us for Spring 2005 VON and I would like to continue the tradition with VON Europe 2005.
VON Europe 2005 will be the largest VoIP tradeshow to take place in Europe and will have delegates attending from over 50 countries.
If you are interested in joining the cast of people blogging the event, please contact: Todd Keefe or call: +1.617.262.1968.
Stockholm is a great city to visit during the Spring and will be the host city once again for our event.
I've been looking forward to returning VON Europe to Stockholm and for the opportunity to just be there. Visiting Stockholm from the States, I can't help but feel like I'm a visitor from the present-past visiting the present-future when observing the wireless technology innovations represented in everyday life.
There are also some very interesting developments taking place in nearby Kista which should not be missed.
If you are planning on blogging the event, please drop me a line and include a URL to your blog.
Posted by jeff at 06:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Henry Sinnreich joins pulver.com:
2005 has been a big year in the history of pulver.com.
Earlier this year, Jason Chudnofsky joined pulver.com and I am now happy to announce that Henry Sinnreich, "The Godfather of SIP", has joined pulver.com.
I’m honored that Henry choose to call pulver.com his new home after a very distinguished career at MCI.
Henry and I share a common passion for the evolution of end-to-end IP Communications.
Henry's voice will continue to be heard, representing pulver.com at the IETF and other industry meetings wherever his voice needs to be heard. Henry will once again have a platform to help ensure the continued growth of SIP and his passion for the use of URIs.
Henry, welcome aboard!
Posted by jeff at 05:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
May 08, 2005
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day!
Posted by jeff at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
The Week that was: Notes, Comments and Observations from our Peripheral Visionaries Summit:
- Susan Crawford: DC telecom day
- Brough Turner: Inside the Beltway
- Stephen Smith: Quick notes from Washington
- VONRadio Podcast(1): Live from the Peripheral Visionaries Summit
- VONRadio Podcast(2): Another Live Update from the Peripheral Visionaries Summit
- Jeff Pulver Blog: Special Thanks to Everyone who Contributed to our first Peripheral Visionaries Summit:
- Jeff Pulver Blog: Catching up with Jason Krikorian and John Perry Barlow:
- Jeff Pulver Blog: Images from Peripheral Visionaries' Summit
- Jeff Pulver Blog: More images from the Peripheral Visionaries' Summit
- Jeff Pulver Blog: Peripheral Visionaries' Summit: Quick Recap
- Jeff Pulver Blog: Still more Images from Peripheral Visionaries' Summit...
Posted by jeff at 12:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Free World Dialup: Seeking New Peering Partners
Since the launch of Free World Dialup in November, 2002, FWD now has IP peering relationships with more than 100 service providers around the world.
If you operate a SIP Network and would like to establish a peering relationship with FWD, please fill out our FWD / Partner Interconnect Agreement.
Posted by jeff at 12:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
May 07, 2005
Kids for Kids 2005
Kids for Kids 2005 is a special fundraiser for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation.
The event is setup as an open-air street fair with a special area that offers guests the ability to sample tastes from a variety of NYC restaurants, as well as plenty of kid friendly activities which include storytelling and carnival games. This year vh1 sponsored an activity where kids could make a personal music video DVD.
Below are some of the people whom I mangaged to take pictures of at the event:
LL Cool J
Stephanie March
Hugh Jackman
LL Cool J and Hugh Jackman
Steve Schirripa and the Teen Titans
Stanley Tucci
Jerry Adler
John Ventimiglia
Hugh Jackman
Tia Texada
Fran Drescher
Tyler Hilton
Nigel Barker
Carol Alt
Molly Ringwald
Hallie Kate Eisenberg
Peter Boyle
Mario Batalli
Vince Curatola
Posted by jeff at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Special Thanks to Everyone who Contributed to our first Peripheral Visionaries Summit:
Jonathan and I would to thank everyone for helping to make the 1st Peripheral Visionaries Summit so special. We genuinely believe we are on to something here. We had a packed house and great dialogue and a pretty significant cultural collision. We think we got some great buzz and growing momentum. We got particularly great feedback from the regulators and legislators in the room who got a pretty unique education on the possibilities of IP-based communications. Reports indicate that many more regulators and legislators were sorry they missed the experience and would gladly join us for round two.
Our primary objective was to bridge several disparate communities that probably don't engage as much as they should (or at least as much as I hope). I know it was a long day with a packed agenda, and the Summit was probably better suited to a multi-day event. But, by the evening's reception, I think we had a better understanding of our respective jargons and perspectives. The technologists and entrepreneurs had a better understanding of how policy developments might affect their activities, and the policy makers had a better understanding of how technology might affect policy developments.
As I've mentioned, Jonathan and I were growing increasingly frustrated by the fact that the technologists have great meetings among themselves and the policy wonks have great meetings among themselves, but rarely do these communities come together to try to really understand one another. Some insights trickle out to the other communities, but, too often, it ends up being a convoluted game of "telephone" where true understanding is lost in a long chain of increasingly less accurate translations.
I think the Peripheral Visionaries Summit was a pretty good first effort to understand one another -- where the technology is going, where the policy is going, and how these distinct trajectories intersect and affect each other. We brought together some of the best and brightest policy minds within the Beltway with some of the most intriguing technologists, innovators and entrepreneurs working outside-the- sandbox on the fringes and pushing the limits of IP technology. Next time, I suspect we'll have even more outside-the-Beltway visionaries make the pilgrimage to DC as buzz of Peripheral Visionaries snowballs and evolves into something that really could be quite profound.
Posted by jeff at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 06, 2005
FCC Denies SBC Forbearance Petition on "IP Platform Service"
The FCC denied SBC's Petition requesting that the FCC forbear from the application of Title II common carrier regulations for IP-based communications services and facilities used to provide such services.. The FCC found that "the petition is procedurally defective because it asks [the FCC] to forbear from the application of statutory provisions and regulations that 'may or may not' apply to the telecommunications carrier or telecommunications service at issue."
With this denial, the FCC largely leaves to another day the core, third-rail issue that has been coming up in multiple proceedings and in multiple fora -- to what extent can the IP-based applications be separated from the underlying transmission facilities needed to deliver the applications and to what extent might differing regulations apply to the applications and services on the one hand and the essential facilities needed to deliver the applications and services on the other hand. This is essentially the substance of the issue before the Supreme Court in the Brand X case.
For me, the big issue is whether explicit Title II common carrier obligations must apply to the underlying transmission facilities needed to deliver IP-based services and applications or whether there is a procedural vehicle to ensure innovation, net freedom and consumer control short of common carriage and application of Title II. I have yet to hear a compelling non-Title II based argument that would ensure that a controller of a bottleneck transmission facility could not choke a consumer's access and control of their own Internet and communications experience.
Posted by jeff at 07:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Leaving for Stockholm in a Couple of Weeks...
Two weeks from now, I, together with members of the pulver.com team will be leaving for Stockholm in preparation of VON Europe 2005 that will be taking place May 23-26.