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June 30, 2005

It's Almost July!

In a few hours it will be July in New York and the first six months of 2005 will be over.

These past six months have been some of the most exciting months for the IP Communications Industry that I can remember in our history.

I've been on the road for most of the year so far and I'm looking forward to spending some time over the next few days to catch up and relax a little. I'm especially looking forward to my trip to Las Vegas next week when I finally will be playing in the 2005 World Series of Poker.

Posted by jeff at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Verizon EvDO @ 70MPH on 95 South in CT:

It turns out that Verizon EvDO also works pretty well at 70MPH on I95 South in New Haven. :)

I'm looking forward to using the next generation car gadgets that will hopefully soon become available that also can take advantage of the mobile internet.

Posted by jeff at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

pulvermedia in Boston Today...

This morning members of the pulvermedia events team are in Boston for meetings at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC), the home of Fall 2005 VON.

Posted by jeff at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)

June 29, 2005

EvDO at 75 MPH on the Mass Pike

While I had hoped to fly on the Delta Shuttle this afternoon for what is usually a 38 minute flight, to get to Boston for a dinner meeting as well as meetings tomorrow morning and afternoon, this plan went awry when all of the afternoon flights from LGA to BOS were cancelled due to: "weather issues."

So...I ended up driving from LGA Airport up to Boston. With Scott at the wheel I've been able to stay current on email and I noticed that the Verizon EvDO service seems to do pretty ok, even when we peak at 75+MPH on the Mass Pike.

(posted driving on the Mass Pike @ 75MPH using EvDO)

Posted by jeff at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Heads up for those of you offering "Interconnected VoIP Services" in America:

The FCC's "E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers" Order was published in the Federal Register today. That means the clock begins to tick.

Here is a breakdown of obligations and timelines:

07/29/05 -- Effective date
07/29/05 -- Deadline for customer notification requirements
07/29/05 -- Deadline for Filing a Petition for Reconsideration
08/15/05 -- NPRM Comments due
08/29/05 -- Deadline for filing a Petition for Review with the Court of Appeals
09/12/05 -- Reply comments due
11/28/05 -- 120 day deadline for compliance

For those of you not offering what would currently satisfy the definition of an "Interconnected VoIP Service," be aware that the Notice attached to the Order asked whether the FCC should extend E911 obligations to providers of other VoIP services that are not covered by the rules adopted in the current Order. For instance, the FCC asks what E911 obligations, if any, should apply to VoIP services that are not fully interconnected to the PSTN? Specifically, should E911 obligations apply to VoIP services that enable users to terminate calls to the PSTN but do not permit users to receive calls that originate on the PSTN? Should E911 obligations apply to the converse situation in which a VoIP service enables users to receive calls from the PSTN but does not permit the user to make calls terminating to the PSTN? The FCC tentatively concluded that "a provider of a VoIP service offering that permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the PSTN and separately makes available a different offering that permits users generally to terminate calls to the PSTN should be subject to the E911 obligations if a user can combine those separate offerings or can use them simultaneously or in immediate succession." Comments are due August 15 and Reply Comments are due September 12.

Posted by jeff at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Another Delta Shuttle Afternoon,..

...later today I will be taking the Delta Shuttle up to Boston for meetings in Boston tomorrow. Once I get back tomorrow night, my focus will shift to: Karaoke, Live 8, the 4th of July and getting ready to play in the 2005 World Series of Poker.

Posted by jeff at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When do we remove the prefix from [Tele][IP]communications?

The first Telegraph was actually a form of semaphore, and the next used lights. Our perceptions of what something is does not always reflect what it can be or what it will become.

Sometime in the near future there will come a time when the "Tele" will be removed from [Tele]Communications. Around the same time I'd like to believe that we get to drop the "IP" from [IP]Communications.

When this happens, we will be talking about the new Communications industry, an industry that represents the coming together of what was the Telecommunications industry, the computing industry, what was known as the communications industry and well as the commercial Internet. (For many they will read this and think Computer Telephony Integration [CTI])

While the world may not let us change our name just yet, our industry has been moving in the right direction (by in large) over the past 9 years. This is the industry that is represented whenever we hold one of our VON events around the world.

I do hope that the day will come sometime soon that some of the traditional “telecom” dinosaur operators around the world also recognize the need to support the Internet Freedoms and use their “power” to provide unfettered high speed access to the internet and thereby providing a platform to help innovation at the edge by encouraging unrelated third parties to deploy their applications in an “Internet friendly” way.

Posted by jeff at 01:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (56)

June 28, 2005

The Validation (Coronation?) of Podcasting:

Earlier today Apple Computer released the latest build (version 4.9) of their iTunes software, and primary among the new features is...podcasting! I find this development to be pretty cool, as podcasting has been around for less than a couple of years and already it is being supported by Apple, the home of the (i)Pod of Podcasting. And along with the new iTunes podcasting features, Apple also released new software for virtually their entire line of iPods...new software that establishes a high-level "Podcasts" menu choice, and with which iPod users can now easily organize and access their on-board podcasts (now easily moved over from iTunes, of course).

If you are a regular reader of my blog you may be aware of my own passion and commitment to podcasting. In fact, over the past few months I have spent time in the PULVERRADIO studio working with Mikey and Carl of our own VON Radio podcasting efforts and we have been producing podcasts for Tom Evslin.

I have to say, that I find myself more than a little surprised at Apple's wholesale endorsement of podcasting, simply because of the speed with which it happened. And I have no doubt now that, with Apple's usual knack for simplifying new technologies, podcasting will now very quickly get even more traction in the mainstream...and very soon we will see the thousands of podcasts now available explode into the hundreds-of-thousands (and beyond).

Apple's new software releases for iTunes and their iPod offer the strongest possible validation of podcasting, and I for one am now more excited than ever to see where it will go and how things will continue to evolve.

Posted by jeff at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A familar spot: At Gate 9A in Oakland

Once again I find myself sitting opposite gate 9A in Oakland waiting for jetBlue flight 82 for my return flight to JFK.

Posted by jeff at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (36)

Forbes.com: More Worries For VoIP Vendors

Forbes.com: More Worries For VoIP Vendors

"I believe it's a matter of when, not if," says Jeff Pulver, chief executive of VoIP service provider Free World Dialup. "If I'm a service provider offering my own voice over broadband offering, and I've got the ability to block my competition, why not?..."

...Meanwhile, VoIP providers aren't waiting to see how bad it gets. "I'm hoping we can get a consumer movement going," says Pulver. "To consumers, the one message that should become clear is that they should look to service providers who believe in Net freedoms."

Posted by jeff at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Become one of 50 bloggers going backstage to the Live 8 Concerts

Technorati Weblog: Become one of 50 bloggers going backstage to the Live 8 Concerts

If I had the time to go backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia, and blog the experience, now that would be fun. :)

I still remember watching the Live Aid event twenty years ago in my parent's home and how I managed to blow up the speakers in their entertainment center because I played the music too loud. Replacing the speakers and fixing everything before they would ever notice played like a scene right out of a teen movie.

Posted by jeff at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

24 Hours in Silicon Valley:

When I looked at the time I'm supposed to leave Oakland, CA this afternoon and take into account the time my flight arrived yesterday, I end up with about 24 hours in Silicon Valley this trip...which is just about enough time to take in a few meetings, share coffee with a couple of friends and then head back to New York.

Posted by jeff at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Skype to be featured in Bloomberg Magazine

While waiting for my jetBlue flight to Oakland, CA yesterday morning, I spent some time on the phone yesterday with a London based reporter from Bloomberg Magazine who is working on a feature story on Skype.

Posted by jeff at 02:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Reminder: Free Access to Fall 2005 VON Exhibit Hall:

Readers of my blog are invited to register to visit the Fall 2005 VON exhibit hall for free if you use the priority code: JPBL1 on or before June 30th.

Posted by jeff at 01:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

June 27, 2005

“Rainy Days and Mondays Get Me Down” -- 3 Blows to the Internet – Losing Grokster, Brand X, and Pepper – When it Rains, it Pours

(My First Take on the Implications of the Supreme Court's Brand X Opinion)

We haven’t had a chance to parse through the more subtle ramifications of the Supreme Court’s Opinion in Brand X. The basic ruling, authored by Justice Thomas, is pretty straight-forward: by a 6-3 vote, the Court upheld the decision of the FCC that broadband cable modem services are exempt from mandatory common carrier regulation. Thus, cable operators offering high-speed Internet access have no legal duty to open their service to end users seeking access to unaffiliated Internet service providers. The Opinion was based on the Court’s grant of “Chevron Deference” to the FCC, which stands for the proposition that ambiguities in statutes are delegations of authority to the agency to fill the statutory gap in reasonable fashion. (Conceivably, the Court would have upheld a contrary ruling by the FCC, as long as the Commission’s conclusion reflected the FCC’s effort “to fill the statutory gap in reasonable fashion.” (But that is a result in some distant, parallel universe, not the one in which we find ourselves today. Perhaps, that parallel universe will be better positioned, through a robust, competitive Internet and ASP market, to develop the Internet applications necessary to reach out to us.)

Back to reality.

The Supreme Court found that the FCC’s construction of the definition of “telecommunications service” is a permissible reading of the Communications Act under the Chevron framework. In applying Chevron Deference, the Court noted that the question before it is

“whether the transmission component of cable modem service is sufficiently integrated with the finished service to make it reasonable to describe the two as a single, integrated offering. … We think that they are sufficiently integrated, because a consumer uses the high-speed wire always in connection with the information-processing capabilities provided by Internet access, and because the transmission is a necessary component of Internet access.”

The Court, touching on the potential for any carrier to define itself out of any common carrier obligations, noted:

“Respondents argue that the Commission’s construction is unreasonable because it allows any communications provider to evade common-carrier regulation by the expedient of bundling information service with telecommunications. Respondents argue that under the Commission’s construction, a telephone company could, for example, offer an information service like voice mail together with telephone service, thereby avoiding common-carrier regulation of its telephone service. We need not decide whether a construction that resulted in these consequences would be unreasonable because we do not believe that these results follow from the construction the Commission adopted. As we understand the Declaratory Ruling, the Commission did not say that any telecommunications service that is priced or bundled with an information service is automatically unregulated under Title II. The Commission said that a telecommunications input used to provide an information service that is not.separable from the data-processing capabilities of the service and is instead part and parcel of [the information service] and is integral to [the information service’s] other capabilities is not a telecommunications offering. … This construction does not leave all information service offerings exempt from mandatory Title II regulation. It is plain, for example, that a local telephone company cannot escape Title II regulation of its residential local exchange service simply by packaging that service with voice mail. … That is because a telephone company that packages voice mail with telephone service offers a transparent transmission path telephone service that transmits information independent of the information-storage capabilities provided by voice mail. For instance, when a person makes a telephone call, his ability to convey and receive information using the call is only trivially affected by the additional voice-mail capability. Equally, were a telephone company to add a time-of-day announcement that played every time the user picked up his telephone, the transparent information transmitted in the ensuing call would be only trivially dependent on the information service the announcement provides. By contrast, the high-speed transmission used to provide cable modem service is a functionally integrated component of that service because it transmits data only in connection with the further processing of information and is necessary to provide Internet service. The Commission’s construction therefore was more limited than respondents assume.”

Huh? I’ve got to mull this over a little more carefully, because I don’t quite understand how the Supreme Court did not just provide a path a mile wide to allow every controller of any bottleneck to define itself out of common carrier obligations simply by integrating any conceivable telecom service with an information service. Frankly, I’m not sure if the Supreme Court fully understands that we are moving to an all broadband world, where all services and applications can be fully integrated.

At the moment, I think I concur with the Scalia, Ginsberg, Souter Dissent. Justice Scalia, properly points to the absurdity of the Majority’s logic:

“Thus, I agree (to adapt the Court’s example, ante, at 18) that it would be odd to say that a car dealer is in the business of selling steel or carpets because the cars he sells include both steel frames and carpeting. Nor does the water company sell hydrogen, nor the pet store water (though dogs and cats are largely water at the molecular level). But what is sometimes true is not, as the Court seems to assume, always true. There are instances in which it is ridiculous to deny that one part of a joint offering is being offered merely because it is not offered on a “ ‘stand-alone’ ” basis, ante, at 17.

If, for example, I call up a pizzeria and ask whether they offer delivery, both common sense and common “usage,” ante, at 18, would prevent them from answering: “No, we do not offer delivery—but if you order a pizza from us, we’ll bake it for you and then bring it to your house.” The logical response to this would be something on the order of, “so, you do offer delivery.” But our pizza-man may continue to deny the obvious and explain, paraphrasing the FCC and the Court: “No, even though we bring the pizza to your house, we are not actually ‘offering’ you delivery, because the delivery that we provide to our end users is ‘part and parcel’ of our pizzeria-pizza-at-home service and is ‘integral to its other capabilities.’ ” Cf. Declaratory Ruling 4823, ??para??39; ante, at 16, 26.(Footnote 1) Any reasonable customer would conclude at that point that his interlocutor was either crazy or following some too-clever-by-half legal advice.”

Logic aside, the FCC now has its long-awaited decision and the green-light to embark on a dramatic path towards deregulation and the elimination of common carriage. Cable modem service is not telecom service and is therefore not subject to onerous Title II common carrier obligations. Parity, so the argument goes, requires that the Bells, other LECs and other delivery platforms be exempted from common carrier obligations. The big question remains: What does this mean for consumers, for unaffiliated ISPs, for edge device vendors, for Internet application providers, and for innovators and entrepreneurs?

* * *

Well, the FCC wins Brand X … or did it?

One thing is clear, the FCC now has its work cut out for it. As Common Carrier rules fall by the wayside, the FCC will now have to embark on a difficult path of finding the Title I authority it needs to come up with common-carrier-like obligations to impose on information service providers behaving like common carriers. I have some fear that this might mean some unintended regulation of those purer, information services that would never have been confused for common carrier services (e.g., like the imposition and extension of emergency response, lawful intercept and disability access obligations). I hope that we do not end up as collateral damage in the regulatory zeal to recreate Title II within Title I.

I have little doubt that an FCC defeat in Brand X would have given the Internet community a little more leverage in ensuring fair access to consumers, but I suspect that many pundits will overstate its dire implications for the Internet.

Clearly, unaffiliated ISPs now have fewer legal rights to access consumers than if the FCC had lost Brand X. But what are the implications on end-users and VoIP application providers? Is there a silver lining to Brand X? Admittedly, there is likely a little less leverage to compel the cable companies and the LECs, through application of parity principles, to allow consumers to access unaffiliated ISPs and, by extension the Internet content and applications of their choice.

In the absence of Common Carrier rules, in the absence of guaranteed access to end-users by consumers, isn’t there a more compelling need for some principle ensuring that consumers may control their own Internet experience without subjugation to the will of an entity that controls the last-mile bottleneck? I think this is now the moment for the FCC to strike a blow for Internet Freedom. I don’t care how we get there, via application of antitrust principles, a layered regulatory model, legally-sustainable application of the FCC’s Title I ancillary jurisdiction, but we all need to know immediately that the FCC will not tolerate any effort by any entity to choke a consumers access to the Internet content and applications of her choice, and the right to attach the devices of her choice to her end of her communications pipe.

* * *
And, a moment of truth is upon us. The old FCC won Brand X. Chairman Powell’s FCC. Did Chairman Martin’s FCC win Brand X? What did the old FCC and the Supreme Court bequeath to Chairman Martin?

I believe that the Supreme Court Brand X will unleash the FCC and trigger heavy deregulatory action. The FCC has been waiting (and waiting) for final resolution of the Brand X decision before it tackles the regulatory classification of all varieties of high-speed Internet access services. The FCC will now attempt to categorize and reconcile conflicting approaches to Internet access across multiple platforms. Most obviously, the FCC will attempt to develop a unified regime governing Internet access for cable modem service and for Bell-provided DSL and other broadband pipes.

In the United States, the Bell companies are still regulated as common carriers in their provision of DSL service and are required to offer their transmission capacity to unaffiliated Internet service providers. Now that it has been ruled that cable modem services are not subject to telecom "fair access" regulations, the Bells have a much stronger "parity" argument that their facilities also should not be subject to competitive access when offering broadband Internet access services.

Brand X will affect the course the FCC takes in several pending proceedings regarding the regulatory treatment of Internet access services, the ongoing viability of Computer II obligations and the deregulation of DSL and other broadband services. The FCC has also been holding in abeyance a couple other broadband proceedings pending a Supreme Court decision in the Brand X case.

The floodgates will now open at the FCC as it begins a concerted course of “deregulation” of the controllers of bottlenecks in the belief that such deregulation is essential to encourage broadband deployment. Let's hope the FCC recognizes that the real power of the Internet rests in the ability of the consumer to reach it and control her own experience. The one rule that must apply is that no one should be allowed to supress that consumer control and freedom.

… and let’s not forget Grokster

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that peer-to-peer software companies should be liable for the copyright infringement of people using their products. According to the Court:

“We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement.”

The Grokster decision could have deleterious effects on those companies enable file-sharing.

All-in-all, the Internet became a little less free today. But it does allow the FCC to rise to the occasion, champion the Internet and empower the consumer, rather than any LEC, cablecos, or ISP, to control her own communications experience.

… and let’s certainly not forget Pepper …

Frankly, I think Bob Pepper’s departure from the FCC might prove to be more problematic for the Internet innovators and entrepreneurs. Dr. Pepper is a rare government official who knew how to bridge the communications gap between government and industry. He’s been a remarkable ambassador for the FCC. I think it will be important for the Pepper to continue to serve some intermediating function between government and industry and for the FCC to find someone with Pepper’s rare gift to communicate. At a time like this, it would be good to know that we at least had the wisdom, understanding and goodwill of a Bob Pepper to fall back as we enter the potential era of the closed Internet. In his absence, we hope and trust that the FCC will see the light.

Posted by jeff at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Ode to Dr. Pepper

This afternoon, at the FCC in Washington, D.C., there will be a farewell party for Dr. Robert Pepper, a man whose voice and presence has been heard in the VoIP industry for the past ten years.

If I didn’t *have* to be on the West Coast this afternoon, I would have very much liked to be at Dr. Pepper’s farewell party to share my appreciation for him and his direct contributions to the past, present and future of the VoIP industry.

I first met Pepper at a dinner when I was in London in April, 1996 to attend what was the first conference on Internet Telephony at time when I was gainfully employed by Cantor Fitzgerald Securities. It was during that dinner that I learned that Pepper knew my immediate direct reports at that time since the FCC had reached out to Cantor Fitzgerald to help with the FCC’s first spectrum auction. Just another reminder how small and connected the world was.

I’ve had the fortune of being able to call Pepper a friend since that meeting in April, 1996…and “What a long strange trip it's been…” 

I greatly appreciate the support Pepper has provided the VoIP industry over the years and for all of his contributions (both visible and behind the scenes). Pepper, spoke at the first Internet Telephony conference I produced in September, 1996 and has been a presence at many of the events/activities I’ve been a part of ever since.

(Running out of time, trying to write an Ode while sitting at JFK at jetBlue Terminal 6 before boarding my flight to Oakland, CA)

----
Ode to Pepper (ver 1.0)

How often does bureaucracy look like a nameless blob
How often does your face appear as someone in a mob

But with a name like a soft drink you rose to occasion
and like an oracle in Delphi you fought against stagnation

Here in Melville you will stand like a guardian of the light
And help this generations autos have a chance in the buggy whip fight

So thank you for being the champion of the VoIP industry when others
thought us a leper
We of course are thanking the man known as Robert Pepper.

----
Then again, I think the old Dr. Pepper’s soft drink jingle sums it up quite nicely:

“I'm a Pepper; he's a Pepper; she's a Pepper; we're all Peppers! You can be a Pepper, too!"

This afternoon, in Washington, everyone who is at Pepper’s farewell party will certainly be a Pepper too!

Here to you Dr. Pepper. You will be missed!

Posted by jeff at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Another jetBlue Morning…

Later this morning I will be flying out to Oakland, CA on jetBlue for meetings today and tomorrow in Silicon Valley.

I look forward to the day that instead of just having the option to having pay-per-view DirecTV movies delivered to my seat, I will also have the option of having unrestricted high-speed internet access for my cross-country domestic travel.

Posted by jeff at 05:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

June 26, 2005

June 26th: Final Mets/Yankees 2005 Subway Series Game

Tonight I made my first trip (ever) to Yankee Stadium to take in the final game in the Mets/Yankees 2005 Subway series.

Somehow I've managed to visit: Shea Stadium, Fenway Park, Camden Yards and Wrigley Field before ever going inside Yankee stadium although I am a native New Yorker.

Tonight I stayed thru the first five innings and while I was there watched what was a pitcher's duel...that lasted until the seventh inning. The Yankees ended up winning the game in the bottom of the ninth 5-4.

Below are some images from tonight:

Posted by jeff at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Behind the Music: PartyGaming Profiled in the Sunday New York Times:

NYT: At PartyGaming, Everything's Wild (requires free subscription)

An interesting look at one of the most popular online gambling companies.

Posted by jeff at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Taking back the Virtual Streets: Getting a handle on email Spam @ pulver.com

During the past eighteen months, email spam had really gotten out of control inside the friendly confines of pulver.com. So out of control for the owner of the pretty well known “jeff@pulver.com” email address, that I was spending (at least) two hours every morning and at least two hours every night sorting thru emails, looking for those that needed to be acted on and mass deleting the rest. On any given 24 hour period, it became pretty common to be on the receiving side of 2,000+ emails, sometimes more.. This in turn helped add to the anxiety I felt anytime I’d go offline for more than a few hours. While I learned to become pretty efficient at reviewing emails using PINE, I know there have been a number of times where I missed seeing and then acting on, what were important emails.

This was also the reason my using a blackberry to access email when I was mobile really didn't work...too much spam to deal with.

When I first started to fight the spam, I made an effort to remove myself from some of our own internal email aliases lists and I reduced the number of mailing lists and announcement services that I subscribed to. It turned out that our spam problem was so out of control that in reality the total non-spam noise level was incredibly low as compared to the daily noise level associated with our email spam issues. During the entire process I more or less ended up becoming numb to the noise and there was a time when this became just another part of my always-on lifestyle.

While I knew that something had to be done about our spam problem, I wasn’t sure what to do. A few weeks ago a friend suggested using a specific vendor on an outsourced basis to help manage the spam/viruses that we were being overloaded with. Things were that bad that I didn’t think saying no was an option….but within a day or two after the time that I said “yes” to give my friend’s solution a try, pulver.com hired a new director of IT, and in respect of the new hire, we put our spam prevention program on hold…until this weekend.

So far, over this weekend, instead of getting between 75-100+ emails an hour of spam, I’ve gotten significantly less. What I’m not sure about is how this solution going to scale during the work week. I do hold out hope that email will once again become a productive platform for communication for not only for me, but for everyone at pulver.com.

Posted by jeff at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Talking Baseball: And the Red Sox roll on...

The Red Sox won another game yesterday, making themselves 11-1 in their past 12 games and now have a 1 1/2 game lead over the Orioles and 6 1/2 game lead over the Yankees in the AL East.

This weekend, the Mets helped the Red Sox add two games to their lead over the Yankees by winning their first two games of this weekend's "Subway Series."

Tonight I will be making my first visit (ever) to Yankee Stadium to watch the Mets play the Yankees. While a Mets sweep of the Yankees would be nice, I suspect just being at Yankee stadium should be an "interesting" experience. :)

Posted by jeff at 07:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

June 25, 2005

Richard Stastny joins the Mile High Skype Club!

Richard provides his own account of using Skype from an airplane.

Hey Richard, welcome to the Mile High Skype Club! :)

Posted by jeff at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Long Island Business News on Brand X

Long Island Business News: Supremes weigh ISP access to cable broadband.

Posted by jeff at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Talking Baseball: And now the Red Sox are in First Place!

Watching the Red Sox move up in the AL East standings and take over first place from the Orioles has been fun. The Red Sox are on quite a roll (10-1 since June 12th) and unlike some other teams they have the momentum in their favor and they are going to make this summer an interesting one for baseball (and Red Sox) fans.

Posted by jeff at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

June 24, 2005

Karaoke Fridays @ pulver.com

My passion for music runs pretty deep.

This is how/why PULVERRADIO got started, why we started a record label a few years ago and why I produce concerts at many of our VON Conference parties.

Starting today, and lasting on Fridays until Labor Day (Sept 2nd), at the pulver.com offices in both Melville, NY and Beverly, MA, we will be offering our employees and our visiting guests a pretty unique lunchtime experience: Pizza and Karaoke.

While singing is always optional, we try to encourage as many people who want to, to come forward, have some fun, pick a song and give Karaoke (and themselves) a chance.

For our office Karaoke events, I ended up using the LS3700 from Leadsinger together with just about their entire collection of MUSIKARTRIDGES. To make sure everyone is heard, for our NY office I decded to go with a Bose Cylindrical Radiator which provides a very portable, seven foot high “wall of sound”. By just adding a TV monitor and a couple of Shure SM58 microphones, you can be also be set to give this a try in your office.

Welcome to Karaoke Fridays. :)

Posted by jeff at 06:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Telephony Magazine comments on our party @ SUPERCOMM 2005

SUPERCOMM Daily News: Supercomm Web Blog

What Dan O'Shea doesn't know is that within the world of pulver.com, we have a company: pulver.com productions whose mission it is to produce parties and other related music activities and that back in 2001 we produced The Commitments 2001 tour of the United States.

Posted by jeff at 06:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Phil Hellmuth shares a Jeff Pulver Poker Story in his Syndicated Newspaper Column:

Philadelphia Daily News: Different approaches to a hand (requires free subscription).

"A FEW YEARS BACK, I was teaching a friend, Jeff Pulver, how to improve his limit Texas Hold 'Em game..."

Posted by jeff at 05:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)

Best Bet for the Cure: Charity Poker Tournament - September 18th in Boston

The website for our Second Annual - "Best Bet for the Cure" Charity Poker Tournament is now live.

The Best Bet for the Cure: Charity Poker No Limit Texas Hold'em Tournament has been underwritten by pulver.com in association with Fall 2005 VON. The proceeds from this event will benefit The Barton Center for Diabetes Education, Inc. The Barton Center will donate a portion of its proceeds to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.

DRI is an international center dedicated exclusively to the cure and treatment of diabetes. The result of parents of children with diabetes who banded together more than twenty-five years ago to focus scientific attention on this disease, the DRI today stands as a world leader in innovative cure-related research.

The Barton Center for Diabetes Education is the largest, independent camping and educational program in the country dedicated to children who live with diabetes and the people who care for them. Some 1,500 children and their families participate in our programs annually, including the Clara Barton resident camp, Adventure Programs, Family Programs, and Day Camps in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The tournament will be limited to the first 200 people who register. This year there is a $100 buy-in with unlimited re-buys for the first 90 minutes. The tournament will start promptly at 5:00pm on September 18th.

Companies interested in being one of our sponsors can contact: Nancy Largay.

Posted by jeff at 01:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (36)

June 23, 2005

"Oh, the Places You'll Go": Great 5th Grade Graduation Address

When the retiring elementary school principal read Dr Seuss's " Oh, the Places You'll Go!" yesterday at my kid’s 5th grade graduation, many of the words hit home.

The words also brought out an equivalent in my mind of how the VoIP industry is in many ways also:

"...off to Great Places!...

You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own..."

"You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you..."

Re-reading the story it is easy to see direct parallels in the words and our recent history.

The adolescence of VoIP is very interesting time in the history of the commercial VoIP industry.

Hopefully we can all take the words from Dr. Seuss to heart and learn from them.

And to all the June graduates this year, no matter what age, a quick read of "Oh, the Places You'll Go" will give you a smile and provide an interesting, positive perspective on the future.

Posted by jeff at 06:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

June 22, 2005

Tom Evslin: When Free is the Right Strategy

Fractals of Change: Nerd CEO - When Free is the Right Strategy

Posted by jeff at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

“Kids on the Net” – Growing Up

This morning marks the 5th grade graduation of my sons Dylan and Jake and marks a rite of passage of sorts. My kids were first introduced to the internet when they were three years old, and it has been an amazing eight plus years journey watching them navigate the web and become citizens of their own “always on” world.

Posted by jeff at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)

Getting Ready for the 2005 World Series of Poker:

The 2005 pulver.com World Tour will be making a stop in July in Las Vegas and will be staying awhile as I am registered to play in the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in games: 42, 43, 44 and 45. I also have hopes to be playing in game #41.

While the 2005 WSOP formally takes place from June 2nd to July 15th, the game it is known for it is the "No-limit Texas Hold’em World Championship Event" which happens to be game #42 this year.

After six months of constant travel, I just have one more short trip to the West Coast to deal with early next week and then my focus will move to celebrating the 4th of July and spending time focused on a passion where VoIP can stand for "Voice over Internet Poker."

This is one trip that I've been looking forward to all year. :)

Posted by jeff at 05:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 21, 2005

Guest Blogger: Rick Jones, Operations Issues Director, NENA

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and the VON Coalition are co-hosting a VoIP E9-1-1 Solution Summit, July 7, Washington, DC. More information on the event, including agenda and registration form, is available at: http://www.neustar.biz/nena/index.cfm

It is very important that any and all VoIP providers and vendors receive correct information about what the FCC order covers, what valid solutions are being offered in compliance, what are the limitations, what are the issues still to be resolved and what are the concerns and tips from their peers.

Primarily for VoIP providers and vendors, this summit will drill down on the details of the FCC's recent order, E9-1-1 Requirements for IP Enabled Service Providers, FCC 05-116. Although the obligation to meet the FCC requirements falls on interconnected VoIP providers, many aspects of the FCC's order and rules require cooperation between interconnected VoIP providers, vendors, ILEC owners of the emergency services infrastructure and PSAPS. The VON Coalition and NENA VoIP E9-1-1 Solution Summit will provide all parties the opportunity to engage in highly interactive dialogue on critical deployment, provisioning and implementation issues raised by the FCC's rules. Attendee questions, participation and input are strongly encouraged throughout the day's sessions. The goal of the summit is solutions.

Panels will cover topics such as regulatory requirements, VoIP provider requests and obligations, ILEC interconnection capabilities and offerings and E9-1-1 vendor solutions. A highlight of the summit will be a luncheon keynote speaker addressing pending federal VoIP and E9-1-1 legislation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

National Emergency Number Association (NENA):
Rick Jones: 815-519-7841 email: rjones@nena.org

VON Coalition:
Jim Kohlenberger: 703-237-2357 email: jkohlenberger@cox.net

Posted by jeff at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (75)

Time to Nominate Companies for the 2005 pulver100

Now in it's fourth year, the pulver100 includes only PRIVATE companies in the communications sector that have substantial real-world deployments and enjoy significant growth rates.

The list seeks to include the companies that represent the future of the communications ecosystem. The value chain characterized by the companies listed in the pulver100 differs substantially from the vertically integrated telecom model of the last century. The companies prospering in the new environment have followed the computer and networking industry model with open interfaces, connectivity decoupled from services, and software decoupled from hardware.

The pulver100 nominations are reviewed June-August each year. The deadline for nominations this year is: July 22, 2005.

Please send nominations for consideration to: pulver100@pulver.com.

The 2005 pulver100 will be announced in September.

Posted by jeff at 05:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Back by Popular Demand: Our Annual Charity Poker Event Returns to Boston to Kick Off Fall 2005 VON

I am excited to announce that pulvermedia will be hosting our second annual Charity Poker Tournament to kick-off Fall 2005 VON.

TITLE: Best Bet for the Cure: 2nd Annual Charity Poker Tournament -- No Limit Texas Hold 'em Tournament to benefit the Barton Center underwritten by pulvermedia in association with Fall 2005 VON.

WHEN: Sunday, September 18, 2005

WHERE: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) - Boston, MA

Additional details regarding our Annual Charity Poker event will be posted as the event evolves at: http://www.pulver.com/poker

(This time around we will be able to offer prizes to the top finishers in the tournament.)

Posted by jeff at 04:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 20, 2005

Talking Baseball: Mets show their true colors

Well, the All-Star break hasn't happened yet and the 2005 edition of the New York Mets have shown their true colors and just like last year, seem to have forgotten how to win a game or a series.

Having the day off today given their current tilt is a good thing.

Hopefully the Mets will once again remember how to win and will remember to have some fun when they play their next three games against the Phillies...otherwise there won't be much fun for Met fans this weekend when they once again play the Yankees in a continuation of their 2005 subway series.

Posted by jeff at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Fall 2005 VON Exhibit Floor - SOLD OUT!

I really do enjoy producing VON, THE industry tradeshow for the VoIP Industry and have enjoyed doing so for 9+ years.

While I was at our Israel VoIP Summit last week in Tel Aviv, I heard that the exhibit floor at Fall 2005 VON, taking place September 19-22 in Boston, MA is now Sold Out!

Personally I find it pretty amazing that more than 300 VoIP focused exhibitors will be with us at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) when VON happens the week of September 19th.

The on-line map of the exhibit floor provides a pretty good feel for just how big our show floor has become.

There is not another event, where one could find so many vendors, only focused about VoIP and IP Communications -- anywhere -- in the world together -- other than at VON.

Special thanks to all of the exhibitors who have contributed to our "sold-out" success!

Reminder: Readers of my blog are invited to register to visit the Fall 2005 VON exhibit hall for free if you use the priority code: JPBL1 prior to: June 30th.

Posted by jeff at 05:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

June 19, 2005

Jeff Pulver coverage by the Israeli Media

My recent trip to Israel was well covered by the Israeli Media. Special thanks to the PR team which helped make sure our trip to Israel wasn't a secret. All of the stories below were the result of the 2+ hour press conference that was held at the Ramat-Gan Sheraton City Tower last Wednesday:

Israel21c: Israel lauded for pioneering work in VoIP
GLOBES: Pulver: Buck the VoIP market trend and win
Haaretz: Happy 10th birthday, VoIP (note - not sure who the "Jeff Pulver" in the photo is)
Reuters: VoIP pioneer aims for end of regular phone networks
Weekly Telecom: Report on the VoIP Mission

Posted by jeff at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More surfers from the Tel Aviv Beach

(Photo taken using Nikon D70 and a 80-400mm lense taken from my hotel room on the 10th floor in Tel Aviv)

Posted by jeff at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day to everyone who may be celebrating this today.

Posted by jeff at 04:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 18, 2005

Step One: Yahoo!’s Acquisition of Dialpad

While I spent this past week focused on our events in Israel, when I heard about the Y! acquisition of Dialpad I wasn’t surprised and didn’t blink. After all, Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo!’s Vice President, Communications Products, is the former CEO of Dialpad.

There is a reason why Yahoo! was invited to give an Industry Perspective at Fall 2005 VON in Boston.

Since SUPERCOMM 2004, Y! has been working on their VoIP strategy and have been on the move, meeting with many of the companies involved in the IP Communications marketplace, while working on their strategy to compete with Skype.

I’ve know for quite some time that amongst other things, Y! wanted to own a business focused on selling PSTN minutes as a VoIP service. Filling this need with the acquisition of Dialpad just made logical sense but I don’t see how this act on it’s own will put Y! in any better position to compete with Skype than before this transaction. We live in a world of outsourced relationships. Why in-source when you can outsource? Plus now that Y! will be selling retail PSTN termination, this move has to have put some strain, at some level, on both their SBC and BT relationships.

What could make this an interesting summer, would be to watch Y! as they make their moves to fill in their internal perceived voids in building the IP Communications services company that they want to be in the near future.

Hopefully there is someone at Y! who is working on connecting-the-dots of their newly acquired companies / technologies and the launch of the new Y! branded IP Communications Services company.

This is the first step of what will be a multi-step process.

Posted by jeff at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Jetlagged in New York...

After a four and a half day trip to Israel, together with 11+ hour flights on the bookends, and a seven hour time difference, it is easy to get out of sync with the local time zone.

Posted by jeff at 05:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 17, 2005

VoIP Mission to Israel: Accomplished!

Back in 2000, when I first thought about going to Israel to say "thank you" to the people responsible for the creation of the commercial VoIP industry, I got close but never was able to pull off the event. Five years later, it feels great knowing that we were finally able to turn that wish into a reality.

Our 2005 Mission got its start this past January while I was waiting for then FCC Chairman Powell to visit the VoIP Pavilion on the CES show floor and I started speaking to Jonathan Medved and Alan Weinkrantz. I'm not quite sure what the exact catalyst was, but I left CES with the intent of scheduling our VoIP Mission.

And while it took awhile before we could settle on the dates, eventually we did and it was great to watch the process of the event take shape. Quite a number of people worked behind the scenes and contributed to the success of this event.

And being back in Israel this week, I realized the time had come for pulvermedia to produce VON Israel in 2006. So we will. :)

Words themselves do not describe the emotions I was experiencing during the "VON Visionary" award ceremony which took place in Jerusalem on Tuesday night. While there was more to say then I was able to express, I do believe that everyone there was also there for the same reason and sometimes words are not needed when presence can be shared.

On Wednesday, while our Israel VoIP Summit was taking place, I spent a good portion of my time doing either media interviews or meeting with people who pitched me on their startup ideas.

For me, it was being at the IVA (Israel Venture Association) conference yesterday which brought it all home. While IVA wasn't an event I had ever attended in the past or even knew much about before yesterday, I felt quite comfortable being there, and I was amazed how many people who were there had previously attended one or more of our VON conferences over the years. I especially enjoyed catching up with both Ohad Finkelstein and Yuval Shahar and running into an old friend from the early days of Delta Three, Fara Hain. One trend that I found especially interesting was how some of the people I knew as ex-pat Israelis have in fact moved back home during the past 3-6 months.

The closing session of the IVA event was quite amazing. Participants included Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Assistant Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (now my “old friend” having just met two days prior at the Knesset to discuss communications policy and our desire to produce VON Israel). The added touches of ballet performances and the singing of the “Kelly Clarkson of Israel” (winner of Israel’s equivalent of “American Idol”) just added to the experience. The singing of Hatikva at the end of the event just added to the experience.

Security was only about 10 times that of anything I’ve ever experience in the US (and I’ve been to functions with President Bush). I don’t recall ever having been dusted by security looking for trace amounts of hazardous agents. The Israelis will not only continue to lead the way in advancing communications technology, but also in deploying cutting edge homeland security technology.

I haven’t been physically in Israel for 7 years, but I felt unusually at home and connected to the Israel communications and VC communities. Perhaps this is evidence that IP-based communications really is helping to bring the world closer together. I know we have built a very solid virtual connection to Israeli business.

It was also particularly satisfying to be so widely recognized by so many Israeli venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. I had no idea how much notice Israel was taking of our activities. An interesting aside: One paper, Haaretz, wrote a wonderful account of our activities in Israel. Although it was a nice account, Haaretz included a photo of someone else with my name beneath it. My first concern was over what would happen as I passed through Israeli airport security, showed them my passport, and the security agent said, “Uh, I just saw a picture of Jeff Pulver, and you are not Jeff Pulver.” Actually, it probably worked to my advantage since the paper issued a correction the following day – so I got another little bit of attention.

So far this year the "2005 pulver.com World Tour" has visited quite a few cities and countries. Our trip to Israel stands out above the rest and I am already looking forward to my next visit.

Posted by jeff at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Just another day in Tel Aviv with Yossi Vardi

Earlier this week I went out with Yossi for a cup of coffee and ran into a few of Yossi's well known friends hanging out on the beach, sipping coffee in Tel Aviv.

Jeff, Yossi, Topol,

(photo by Topol)

(posted using free Wi-Fi at Ben Gurion Airport while waiting for CO Flight 85)

Posted by jeff at 03:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

Homeward Bound: Back to the States

In a few hours I will be leaving Israel for my trip back home.

While I was only in Israel for four and a half days, a lot of good things happened and I am looking forward to returning in the near future. :)

Posted by jeff at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

June 16, 2005

IVA: Israel Hi-Tech Conference 2005 and Awards Ceremony

While I was originally scheduled to return to the States tonight, after seeing my friend Yossi Vardi earlier in the week, I decided to stay an extra day and spend it at the IVA (Israel Venture Association) conference which took place in Tel Aviv. It turned out that the IVA was a great place to spend a day and I used to catch up with quite a number of people who were either VON veterans or were people who had made investments in the IP Communications space.

This evening, I ended up attending the Israel Venture Association’s Hi-Tech Conference Awards Ceremony which as attended by a quite a number of dignitaries, including the Prime Minister and Assistant Prime Minister of Israel.

Posted by jeff at 04:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

pulvermedia: Bringing VON to Israel in 2006

Yesterday we held our first VoIP event in Israel, our Israel VoIP Summit which brought together about 150 people. At the event we took a specific look at the past, present and future of VoIP. It was great to see so many familiar faces of people who have been a part of the VON experience over the years as well as meet some of the new
Israeli startups in the VoIP space.

During my opening talk I announced that pulvermedia will be bringing VON to Israel, in 2006.

While I was at the event, I met with the Israeli business and technology media and held a press conference which resulted in two and a half hours of media interviews.

Posted by jeff at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sailing and Surfing in Tel Aviv:

(as seen from my hotel window in Tel Aviv)

Posted by jeff at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Reuters VoIP Story: Lost in Translation

It seems that whenever I travel to a foreign country and hold a press conference, there is the possibility that my words will be misunderstood. This happened this past January when I visited Norway and this happened again yesterday during a two hour press conference that took place at our Israel VoIP Summit in Tel Aviv, which is where this Reuters story has its origins.

While the content of the story is an accurate accounting of what was said, the story's title: "VoIP pioneer aims for end of regular phone networks" was slightly lost in translation.

Posted by jeff at 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)

VON Visionary Award Press Release

PR Newswire: Pulver Presents the VON Visionary Award to Israel's VoIP Pioneers

Posted by jeff at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 15, 2005

More pictures from Jerusalem City Hall

Posted by jeff at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 14, 2005

View from City Hall in Jerusalem

Posted by jeff at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Images from Day 3 in Israel:

Posted by jeff at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

The History of the World, Parts I, II, and III - A One-Day Crash Course in Three Disciplines: Religious Studies; Political Science; and Communications

Who remembers Kubrick's experimental film Koyaanisqatsi ? (Now, let's not always see the same hands.) Koyaanisqatsi presented a series of time-lapse sequences in which you see the life cycle of a flower, a day in the life of a city, etc. I felt a little like we fast-forwarded, in one day, through 3000 years of Western Religion, 57 years of the State of Israel, and 10 years of VoIP.

First, I and some of the pulver crew toured the Old City of Jerusalem, where we saw the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam written across one-square mile. I could not possibly do justice to this profound experience of wandering through Jerusalem's Old City. Poets, philosophers and theologians far more eloquent than I have tried and come close where I would undoubtedly fail.

After a rapid walk through 3000 years of the History of Western Religion, we moved quickly to a crash course in modern Israeli politics. We first met with Ehud Olmert, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor (and the former Minister of Communications). We started at the Minister's Office but were rushed over to the Knesset, so that the Minister would be available to vote (presumably against) a Labor initiated vote of "no confidence." This was a remarkable experience for us for too many reasons to enumerate at the moment. Suffice it to say that the Labor Party, although it registered more votes than Likkud, could not muster the 61 votes necessary to obtain a vote of "no confidence" in the current government. Floor debate was in Hebrew so much of the substance was lost on me, but, if tone is a fair indicator, it was at least as heated as the British Parliament debates many of us have become accustomed to witnessing on CSPAN back in the States. Certainly, more compelling than the US Senate debates tedium compels me to turn off (unless it is a communications hearing - compulsory viewing in my industry). It was pretty cool to see the Industry Minister, with whom we had just been meeting minutes before sitting on the floor sandwiched by Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu. Clearly, tension runs high in Israeli politics, and has done so throughout its history.

Finally, tonight, we hosted a reception at the Jerusalem City Hall in honor of the pioneers of VoIP, most of whom, it turns out, were native Israelis. This reception had nothing to do with religion or politics. Our reception was on the top floor of the City Hall, with a wrap-around terrace with the most breathtaking view of Jerusalem, from the Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall in the foreground to the Dead Sea at the horizon. It allowed me a moment to think back on the past 24 hours, during which time we scaled Masada, floated in the Dead Sea, toured Old Jerusalem, and saw the modern Israeli political structure in practice. Uri Lupolianski, the Mayor of Jerusalem gave a few opening remarks to kick off our reception, touting Jerusalem and Israel's leading role in the tech revolution. I, for one, was impressed to see that the City Hall is a free public Wi-Fi hotspot.

A lot was racing through my head, from ancient religious history on this site, to more recent political history on this site, to most recent tech and telecom history on this site. Many intellectual and emotional views melding together.

What became clear to me is how profoundly fast technology, communications and the modern world are moving. Ten years since the first commercial deployment of VoIP! 3000 years for religions to get no closer to the root moral and ethical ideals upon which they were each undoubtedly founded; so many centuries for government to fail to produce a stable, safe, democratic individually empowering state, where all denizens might live in peace and harmony to mutual advantage. Did I mention that the VoIP industry has only been around for 10 years?

A couple weeks ago I received some degree of ribbing for suggesting that the founders of Skype and the inventors of SIP receive the Nobel Peace Price. I was, of course, being somewhat facetious in this remark. But standing on the balcony, surveying Israel from Masada, to the remains of the Second Temple, to the Holy Sepulcher, to the Knesset, I couldn't help but think how essential it is to improve and bridge our communications divides. If IP-based communications plays any role in helping us to communicate and understand one another across our vast geographic, political and cultural divides, doesn't that deserve some recognition. If Menachem Begin and Yassir Arrafat could garner a Nobel Prize for Peace, why not the Fathers of SIP and Skype? Who will ultimately be found to have done more to promote understanding and the common good?

Posted by jeff at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

View from Masada

(This was shot in 15 separate photos at 14:46 local time on June 13 @ Masada)

Posted by jeff at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 13, 2005

Day 2 in Israel: Masada and the Dead Sea

This afternoon I visited both Masada and the Dead Sea.

Below are some images from the day:

Posted by jeff at 06:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

VoIP Mission to Israel is Underway:

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, bring a group of friends to Israel and say: “Thank You” to those responsible for the creation of what has become a multi-billion dollar worldwide business.

Our formal program starts Tuesday night at City Hall in Jerusalem where I will be giving our “VON Visionary” awards to a group a people who contributed to the launch of the Israeli VoIP industry back in 1995. Uri Lupolianski, Mayor of Jerusalem, will be joining us at the reception and speaking to our guests.

On Wednesday June 15th, 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, co-Founder of Deltathree
- Scott Petrack, Co-Founder of eDial
- Yehuda Hershkovits, VP, Systems, AudioCodes
- and myself.

We also will have roundtable discussions on: “Next-Generation Access”, “Who Controls Convergence: Carriers, Consumers or the Entrepreneur?” and “Voice, Video and Data Convergence: Delivering the Triple Play.”

More information regarding our "VoIP Mission to Israel" can be found: here.

Posted by jeff at 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

June 12, 2005

Evolution of Expectations: Rights of the International Road Warrior

During the past couple of years, as I travel around the world, I've started to expect:

* Wi-Fi Access in Airports;
* Wi-Fi Access on the airplane - whenever available;
* Wi-Fi Access in a hotel lobby; expected to be usually free;
* High Speed Internet Access in my room with a preference for wireless access;
* Support of Net Freedoms by the hotel ISP:
- Freedom to Access Content;
- Freedom to use whatever Application(s) I want to;
- Freedom to attach personal devices to the network;
- Right to their Service Plan information.

Inherent in these rights should be an agreement that the hotel will not tolerate ISPs who engage in port blocking.

There was a time when being able to connect to the hotel phone system to place a dial-up call was good enough, but during the past year, I've stopped subscribing to dial-up internet access and I've stopped carrying my international bag of tricks with the various national adaptors needed for connecting to the local telephone network.

For me it has gotten to the point that if the hotel doesn't have broadband access, unless there isn't another available room in the city, I would avoid staying at that hotel.

Posted by jeff at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (82)

Just arrived in Israel:

Our team has started to land in Israel where we will be holding our first ever Pulver event in Israel which beings Tuesday evening in Jerusalem. Its been 7+ years since I have been here. My first impression of driving from the airport to Tel Aviv is the apparent building boom and continued modernization of the city.

This feels like Silicon Valley with the Mediterranean at your door. What I didn't realize is that investment from the venture capital community has created the second largest number of NASDAQ companies in the world, behind the US and Canada.

When you drive by the buildings that are the development centers from companies like Texas Instruments, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya, and Intel, it's no wonder that these companies are tapping the brains, drive and vision of some of the very bright and dedicated people, many of which have been an integral part of the growth and commercialization of VoIP.

I've been working on the concept of this event since 2000. I'm glad to see that this will finally happen on Tuesday night.

Posted by jeff at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

June 11, 2005

So what does the FCC VoIP Order really mean for "Real" VoIP?

As I've said before, I don't really consider many of the simple POTS-replacement services "real" VoIP. Simply using IP technology to replicate plain old telephone service is not VoIP. Not to say "I told you so," but I told you so -- if you pass yourself off as a replacement service, you better expect to be treated like a replacement service with all the responsibilities that entails. If someone picks up your phone and it looks and smells like a traditional phone, I guess the user should have some expectation that it behave like a regular phone.

That said, I have some concerns that those trying to push the limits of IP technology and experiment with cutting-edge applications might become unintended collateral damage in the regulatory zeal to impose reasonable obligations, based on reasonable consumer expectations, on alleged VoIP providers.

The FCC Order on VoIP E911, and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking attached to that Order make this prospect increasingly likely. What is most apparent is how hard it is to tailor a definition of "Interconnected VoIP Services" that does not unintentionally subsume services for which no one would have an expectation that the device or application should perform all the identically-delivered functions of a traditional phone.

Frankly, I was somewhat relieved that the FCC is not imposing technologically impossible E911 obligations on peer-to-peer communications applications that no one could reasonable consider POTS-replacement services. I, however am concerned over the FCC's tentative conclusion in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking attached to the VoIP E911 Order that might serve to extend traditional E911 obligations to applications that are primarily peer-to-peer, but might offer some limited access to and from the public switched telephone network. Devices and applications that a consumer should not expect to behave like a traditional phone service should not be stifled simply because they behave differently than traditional phone service.

I hope that the FCC would continue to promote IP-based innovation and entrepreneurship, and enable IP-based communications providers to improve the public welfare through by experimenting with and deploying cutting-edge IP-based applications. VoIP, by its very nature, should dramatically improve the emergency response capabilities of communications devices, and social policy should not serve to cut off the advanced capabilities that IP technology would afford. IP technology empowers a user to take her service anywhere without having to check with the application provider to verify that the application provider has an arrangement to reach the specific local emergency response center. It is one thing to impose traditional social obligations where the consumer has every right to pick up the phone and expect it to behave like a traditional phone. What logic, however, would be served by turning off the added nomadic capability and other valuable features of a Wi-Fi-enabled PDA simply because the user cannot access a local emergency response system when she connects her PDA computer with a softphone program or other IP phone to a Wi-Fi network or other broadband connection at a hotel, a coffee shop or other remote location? Certainly the Japanese tourist in America, with both an inbound and an outbound voice application downloaded to her PDA, has no expectation that the PDA offers a localized E911 capability. That same PDA, however, could be an invaluable aid during a crisis, particularly where no other wireline devices are within reach to contact emergency responders. That user should not have to turn off this functionality, which would only enhance our emergency response capability. I imagine a bizarre world in which the user of that "voice-disabled" device is forced to text (or sign or pantomime if the device is video-enabled) in order to communicate the nature of an emergency to a friend on the other end of the PDA-originated call.

During the tragedy at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, emergency response lines were overrun with incoming calls. What if citizens had PDAs with alternative features, functionalities and capabilities that could have allowed them another means to reach emergency responders, or simply friends or family, via text, SMS, IM, IP voice, or even IP video. Shouldn't these functions be encouraged even if the PDA with inbound and outbound voice-enabled software applications cannot offer the user the ability to reach the every local PSAP in the country?

I understand that Open Park is attempting (but beset by bureaucratic intransigence) to install Wi-Fi hotspots across the Mall in Washington, DC. Imagine how dramatically we could enhance our ability to handle an emergency situation if we could avail ourselves of such public broadband access points. Two weeks ago, Congress and many other Federal offices were evacuated because a small plane strayed off course and into DC airspace. Tens of thousands of government employees fled for the Mall. In a real crisis, 911 lines would again be overrun, as would mobile connections. If, God forbid, this were a real emergency, wouldn't it be great if we had another option - a broadband, IP-enabled public hotspot on the Mall that would allow citizens to avail themselves of the IP technology and the public Internet to obtain and transmit essential information? Frankly, wouldn't it have been great for panicked citizens to have been able to use such a public hotspot to verify that this was a real emergency.

Posted by jeff at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)

Next Stop on pulver.com's 2005 World Tour: Israel

Tonight I'm leaving for Israel together with Carl Ford and Jonathan Askin for next week's Israel VoIP Summit taking place on June 15th in Tel-Aviv.

I am looking forward to meeting the Mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, when we give out our VON Visionary Awards to the trailblazers responsible for the creation of the VoIP Industry in Israel at a special ceremony in Jerusalem on Tuesday night.

Posted by jeff at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

June 10, 2005

Warning: VoIP is Dangerous for Your Health?

I'm thinking of Woody Allen's "Sleeper", when Woody Allen awakes after 200 years to find that everything he had been told was good for him (brussel sprouts) was bad for him, and everything that was bad for him (hot fudge sundaes) were good for him. Well, I had thought improving our ability to communicate was good. Were we as wrong about this as we were about carbs? Is government telling us they were as wrong to promote new forms of communications as they were about the old food pyramid?

And man, when it rains it pours. Since when did VoIP become the greatest threat to national security since Al Quaeda? Not only did the FCC feel compelled to warn America of the dangers of using a VoIP line by issuing their VoIP Consumer Advisory today, but the New Jersey Legislature has just jumped on the "public safety" bandwagon. It seems a New Jersey State Assembly panel has released a bill that would impose E911 obligations on VoIP providers.

Uh, New Jersey, I think your at least a couple of weeks, if not several months, late. I think the FCC preempted you and subsumed the field when it claimed jurisdiction over VoIP and the social obligations that it entails. But, I guess it never hurts a politician to get in a sound bite indicating that he supports motherhood, apple pie or public safety. Some of the political statements, however, strike me as overblown grandstanding. One New Jersey Assemblyperson was quoted as follows: "Internet phone service sounds like a technological advancement, but the disadvantages of the service far outweigh the advantages," said Van Drew (D-Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland). "Residents have come to rely on rapid response emergency 911 service when something tragic happens. Instead of VoIP being a step forward, it's actually a step backward." I assume he's talking about these VoIP replacement services. Surely, he could not be referring to the cutting-edge innovative services that greatly enhance a user's Internet experience?

In any event, at my last count, New Jersey laid claim to maybe half of all great technology and communications advances of the last 150 years from Thomas Edison's Labs to Bell Labs. I would hate to see the state with such a forward-looking heritage become the backwater of the communications revolution and a VoIP ghetto...but stranger things have been known to happen.

As for the FCC VoIP Consumer Advisory, the FCC felt compelled, among other things, to warn consumers that if your power goes out, your VoIP service might go out as well. I don't know if the FCC ever put out a similar advisory when someone came up with a cordless POTS phone that also required AC power, but doesn't that service fail during a power outage?"

Posted by jeff at 10:00 PM | Permalink

“You Can’t Outsource Fun”

While I was in Chicago this week, one of my take aways from our party on Tuesday night was that “you can’t outsource fun.”

I stumbled across this concept of trying to transfer fun and what I realized was that fun is something that can be shared but not outsourced.

And while you can suggest to someone to “go have some fun for me” – that fun doesn’t transfer back.

If you don’t go out and have fun for yourself, you may never find it.

For others, having fun is a lifestyle choice. In the end it is all up to you.

Posted by jeff at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Free Access to Fall 2005 VON Exhibit Hall:

Readers of my blog are invited to register to visit the Fall 2005 VON exhibit hall for free if you use the priority code: JPBL1 prior to June 30th.

Posted by jeff at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 09, 2005

EvDO on the Runway in Chicago...still trying to leave Chicago

It turns out that having EvDO access while you are in transit can come in handy when you are experiencing a flight delay and you are trying to find out when your flight is scheduled to leave.

So far I've been at O’Hare since 10.45 AM (CST) and on board what was a slightly delayed flight since 12:55 PM (CST). I've been able to visit the United Airlines website, enter my flight number and track the expected departure time of this multi-delayed flight. This information has been more accurate than what the pilots have been given (or at least have been sharing with us).

Back to watching the UAL website...

Posted by jeff at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Leaving Chicago...

In a few minutes I will be leaving Chicago and heading back to New York. These past few days have been a continuous blur.

Since arriving in Chicago early Monday morning, we successfully produced our SIP Summit which was co-located at SUPERCOMM 2005, pulvermedia launched, we produced one of the most successful parties in our history and along the way I spoke in a policy session at SUPERCOMM, gave the keynote talk at the NSTEP lunch and attended and spoke at a Ditech Communications dinner.

...and it felt great to walk around the SUPERCOMM show floor and feel the rejuvenation of the communications industry.

And I also had the pleasure of visiting Wrigley Field for the first time and had a chance to catch up with the Pulver's of Chicago (and Toronto).

Based on the success of our House of Blues party, we have already booked the venue for next year's GLOBALCOMM 2006 event.

With Chicago behind us, my focus for the rest of the summer will be on Fall 2005 VON in Boston.

Next up on the 2005 world tour is our "Israel VoIP Summit taking place June 15th.

Posted by jeff at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)

SUPERCOMM 2005: Day 2

Yesterday I enjoyed giving the keynote talk at an Awards Luncheon for The National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP). Personally, I found the work achieved by their TechExplore teams to be nothing short of amazing. Congrats to all of their 2005 Award recipients. I especially enjoyed meeting Dr. Leon Lederman, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988.

The traffic on the SUPERCOMM show floor continued to be impressive yesterday and was the most traffic I've seen at a SUPERCOMM since at least 2002. There were quite a number of friends at SUPERCOMM yesterday.

Last night, I enjoyed attending a Ditech Communications customer event, catching up with their team and the opportunity to share some of the industry issues which were on my mind with both their partners and the attending industry analysts and press.

Below are some images from yesterday at SUPERCOMM 2005:

Posted by jeff at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 08, 2005

The Launch of pulvermedia

This week pulvermedia "soft launched" while we were in Chicago for SUPERCOMM.

Regular visitors to the VON events websites will notice that our events are now produced by: pulvermedia.

Our new website continues to be a work-in-progress...but our message is starting to be clearer to me.

"pulvermedia builds communities. We also provide insight and perspective. And, we are always looking ahead."

After 9 years, pulvermedia is the "commercial" face of pulver.com and will be our platform for launching new events, providing community services and it will the platform for us to explore new worlds and opportunities.

Posted by jeff at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today @ SUPERCOMM 2005:

I am looking forward to giving the keynote talk at an "Awards Luncheon" for The National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP), followed by a talk this evening at a Ditech Communications customer event.

In addition, our SIP Summit has a full day of content scheduled before it concludes at 5:15 pm today.

Posted by jeff at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Our Best SUPERCOMM Party Ever! (Again)

Last night at the House of Blues in Chicago, the Herding Cats, fresh from their trip a couple of weeks ago to Stockholm when they played at VON Europe 2005, played for at times more than 1,000 people. Our guests represented a super-energized and positive feeling Telecommunications Industry. At least 1,500 people visited the House of Blues last night.

Since becoming the pulver.com "house band" in 2002, I don't remember the Herding Cats ever sounding better. The Herding Cats are one of the best cover bands in America today.

One cool aspect about the band is that the Herding Cats continue to add songs to their play list and continue to experiment with their sound.

The venue, the music, the spirit of the evening and our guests contributed to an evening that brought us to a new level which future parties will be compared to.

My hope is that our guests had as much fun as I did. :-)

The images from the party were provided courtesy of Alan Weinkrantz:

Posted by jeff at 01:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

June 07, 2005

SUPERCOMM 2005 - Day 1:

SUPERCOMM 2005 looked to be a great event. Below are some of the images from the day:

Posted by jeff at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Om Malik: On Skype and Our RFI

Om Malik's Broadband Blog: Skype rules, but for how long?.

Posted by jeff at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Today @ SUPERCOMM 2005:

This morning I will be at our SIP Summit to welcome the delegates to our event which will be followed by being part of a panel discussion in a SUPERCOMM Policy Session: "Convergence: Regulatory Policies Driving and/or Hindering Innovation."

The rest of the day will be spent in a series of back-to-back meetings as well as by walking around the SUPERCOMM show floor.

Looks like I'm going to be caught by the blur of SUPERCOMM; Friends looking for me today should send SMS to my cell phone.

Tonight I'm hosting our 4th Annual SUPERCOMM party at the Chicago House of Blues, which starts at 7pm.

Posted by jeff at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (49)

Ditech Communications to Acquire Jasomi Networks

Ditech Communications to Acquire Jasomi Networks; News at 11.

Congrats to Dan and his team at Jasomi Networks.

2005 looks to be the year that the Session Boarder Controller (SBC) companies are in play.

Juniper Networks recently acquired Kagoor Networks; now that Ditech Communications has acquired Jasomi, I wonder who will be next.

The SBC companies that remain independent may end up becoming a target for a roll-up "poof" IPO.

Posted by jeff at 02:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

One Night at Wrigley Field:

Last night I visited Wrigley Field for the first time and took in an inter-league game between the Chicago Cubs and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Wrigley Field reminded me of Fenway Park from a "look and feel" perspective. While the Blue Jays beat the Cubs 4-1, the Cubs almost made a game of it when they attempted to rally in the 9th inning.

Posted by jeff at 02:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

June 06, 2005

In Chicago for SUPERCOMM...

My own personal "SUPERCOMM Blur" is about to begin, although it is nothing compared to what I normally experience at any of our VON events.

Our SIP Summit is about to commence with Henry's all-day SIP Tutorial.

I am especially looking forward to being at Wrigley Field tonight and to take in a Cubs game, at a time when the Cubs are making their move in the National League Central standings.

Posted by jeff at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

How Can SIP Compete with Skype? The Best of Both Worlds:

Skype is without doubt the most successful VoIP download in the history of the Internet and Skype has established themselves as the biggest VoIP service provider on a global scale. Skype has the fastest adoption rate ever recorded. We have to ask ourselves why Skype is working so well.

So I have discussed with Henry if and how the SIP community can leverage SIP to make the best of both worlds into something that is greater than the sum of both. This would imply using SIP in both client-server and peer-to-peer mode, using the IETF standards for NAT traversal, auditable security, providing equal or better than PSTN sound quality, presence, IM and last but not least providing the ultimate user experience overall.

We would like such software and SIP devices to be compatible with the Free World Dialup service and invite interested developers across the industry to look at our Request for Information (RFI) and send their question, replies and comments to SIP-UA-RFI@pulver.com

Henry will talk about this topic also at the SIP Summit in Chicago on Tuesday at 9:00-9:30 am, for details see: http://www.pulver.com/sipsummit05/schedule.html.

Posted by jeff at 01:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (171)

June 05, 2005

Skype Works well on EvDO too!

While waiting at the gate for a delayed flight to Chicago, the moment my PC started up and launched my Verizon EvDo service, I was greeted by an incoming Skype call from VON Magazine News editor Doug Mohney. To both his amazement and my own, without using a headset on my PC, we had a pretty high quality conversation with very little drop-off.

Of course, this conversation got noticed by some of the people sitting next to me at the gate...

Considering this was running over EvDO, I was pretty impressed with the quality of the call. As was he.

(posted using EvDO while waiting at LGA for United Flight 697 to leave for Chicago)

Posted by jeff at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (85)

Is the FCC's Definition of "Interconnected VoIP Services" in its VoIP E911 Order Overbroad?

First of all, I must preface this blog with one caveat: I am not an attorney and I hope none of you take what I say as a legal conclusion.

There is now a lot of debate in the Blogsphere about whether or not the new US VoIP E911 rules currently apply to instances where a user has combined an inbound and an outbound service offering on one computer, PDA or other communications device. It is my hope that the FCC's E911 rules for Interconnected VoIP providers do not extend to services that no user would expect to offer localized emergency response capabilities, such as a circumstance where a computer has both SkypeIn and SkypeOut downloaded. (Should the Asian tourist in America with SkypeIn and SkypeOut on her computer be precluded from using these worthwhile applications?) Frankly, we had been led to believe by the FCC that the rules currently would not apply to such combinations. Perhaps this is wishful thinking, and I have no doubt that some might try to squeeze such combinations into the definition set forth in the FCC Order. According to the FCC,

"An interconnected Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service is a service
that: (1) enables real-time, two-way voice communications; (2) requires a
broadband connection from the user's location; (3) requires Internet
protocol-compatible customer premises equipment (CPE); and (4) permits users
generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone
network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network."

So, does this include SkypeIn/Out? Surely the FCC could not have intended this result. During our ex parte meetings with the FCC, we got every indication that, at least for now, such combinations were not the intend target of the FCC VoIP E911 Order. In fact, the Notice attached to the Order specifically asks what rules should apply to services that are not "fully interconnected". The FCC asks:

". . . what E911 obligations, if any, should apply to VoIP services that are
not fully interconnected to the PSTN? Specifically, should E911 obligations
apply to VoIP services that enable users to terminate calls to the PSTN but
do not permit users to receive calls that originate on the PSTN? Should
E911 obligations apply to the converse situation in which a VoIP service
enables users to receive calls from the PSTN but does not permit the user to
make calls terminating to the PSTN?"

And the FCC tentatively concluded that

"a provider of a VoIP service offering that permits users generally to
receive calls that originate on the PSTN and separately makes available a
different offering that permits users generally to terminate calls to the
PSTN should be subject to the rules we adopt in today's Order if a user can
combine those separate offerings or can use them simultaneously or in
immediate succession."

The questions and tentative conclusion in the Notice have to mean something above and beyond what the FCC has already concluded in the Order itself. I'd like to think the questions and tentative conclusion mean more than simply, 'should the rules, which already apply to a circumstance where a computer has both SkypeIn and SkypeOut enabled, be extended to apply to a computer that has SkypeOut combined with another provider's inbound product (such as LibreTel's Port-of-Call application).

If the Order is construed as applying to a circumstance where a computer has both SkypeIn and SkypeOut software, there might be some rather bizarre consequences. First of all, the FCC will have essentially compelled every Internet voice application provider to offer only inbound or outbound voice applications, but not both (or set up a convoluted corporate or partnering arrangement such that no single entity offers both inbound and outbound voice applications).

I fear that this interpretation might relegate America to a VoIP ghetto, where anyone wishing to use both an inbound and outbound voice application on her computer had better not step foot in America. Should Skype consider turning off either its inbound or outbound service in America? Who could gain from such an amputation?

Posted by jeff at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (96)

Our SUPERCOMM Party: "Out of Bounds"

Talk about Buzz.

Last I checked, we hit something close to 1,500 RSVPs for our party on Tuesday night in Chicago.

Considering that our party at the House of Blues only has room for 1,000 people at a time and that we haven't started any of our own on-site promotion for the party, I'm expecting a full-house just from the people who took the time to RSVP in advance for the party.

My hope is that those who wish to actually get into the House of Blues arrive by 7:30pm. Guests who arrive late, even if they are on our pre-registered list, may end up having to wait outside, on a line, until there is room inside of the HOB.

See you in Chicago!

Posted by jeff at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Israel VoIP Summit: June 15th in Tel-Aviv

In nine days, members of the pulver.com team, together with VoIP executives from North America and Europe will be joining us for our ”VoIP Mission to Israel".

We will be holding a cocktail reception the night of June 14th to honor the “VON Visionaries” who helped trailblazers the creation of the VoIP Industry in Israel.

The following day, we are producing our first event in Israel, the Israel VoIP Summit.

There are still a limited number of seats available for the Israel VoIP Summit. Please click here to register.

Posted by jeff at 07:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 04, 2005

Getting ready for the Last SUPERCOMM...ever

SUPERCOMM 2005 in Chicago will be the last SUPERCOMM due to a parting of the ways between the TIA and the USTA.

I've been a regular attendee of SUPERCOMM since 2002 and watching SUPERCOMM navigate thru the troubled waters of the recent telecom crash and resurface and rebuild into the event that it is today has been something great to watch.

But "business is business" and for their own reasons, the TIA and USTA have decided not to carry the SUPERCOMM brand any more. Going forward, each organization will be running their own telecom event(s) for their respective memberships.

Next year, the TIA's GLOBALCOMM will make it's debut the week of June 5th in Chicago.

It will be interesting to see what happens within the telecom tradeshow industry as a result of this split.

Posted by jeff at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

pulver.Communicator - Unlocked for other SIP Networks:

The pulver.Communicator team has just posted the latest beta version of pulver.Communicator: beta build .95.3.

Starting with this release, pulver.Communicator can now be unlocked and used as a SIP Client on other SIP Networks, and not just Free World Dialup.

This means, starting immediately, you can now use pulver.Communicator to manage your IM Communications across: AOL, MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ and Skype and use the VoIP services of any SIP service provider you would like.

While we have done limited testing with pulver.Communicator and third-party SIP networks, we haven't tested with everyone...so your individual mileage may vary. Please feel free to email your comments/feedback regarding pulver.Communicator to: communicator@pulver.com.

Posted by jeff at 08:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

June 03, 2005

Some Initial Impressions of the FCC's "Order on E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers"

Well, as I mentioned in a preceding blog, the FCC released its "Order on E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers". So far, I haven't found any major surprises in the text or rules, but we haven't yet parsed through the entire Order. I would like to highlight a couple of points that would likely interest members of the VoIP Community.

First of all, I am relieved that, as the FCC indicated, it is not (at least at the moment) applying technologically impossible obligations to what I consider purer IP-based communications products, services, applications and providers, most-notably the peer-to-peer IP-based communications services, such as Skype, the various IM platforms, the incidental voice applications associated with X-Box live, or my own Free World Dialup. The rules apply, as expected, to "Interconnected VoIP Services", and not to the cooler, cutting-edge, more differentiated applications that I think will ultimately revolutionize the ways in which we communicate. The definition of what VoIP services are considered is most telling:

"Interconnected VoIP service. An interconnected Voice over
Internet protocol (VoIP) service is a service that: (1) enables real-time,
two-way voice communications; (2) requires a broadband connection from the
user's location; (3) requires Internet protocol-compatible customer premises
equipment (CPE); and (4) permits users generally to receive calls that
originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to
the public switched telephone network."

I'm generally relieved by this definitional construction, at least until someone figures out how to extend and misconstrue this definition to subsume the purer flavors of VoIP. In any case, seeing this comforting definition in print underscores my own internal battle over why I have been somewhat critical of the FCC's process and approach to extending E911 obligations to "VoIP." If truth be told, I don't know if I would even consider the examples of "Interconnected VoIP Service" that we've seen to date to really be "VoIP." To some extent, they have been advertised as replacement services, and there is a compelling argument that they should be treated as telecom services. (Having said that, these providers should probably also have the rights of telecom carriers - including the rights to interconnect, obtain numbers, collocate, directly access the LEC-controlled selective routers, enter into interconnection agreements and arbitrate disputes with other carriers. But, perhaps this is not my battle.

In any event, it's been a strange couple of weeks for me on the policy front. Frankly, I felt compelled to question what the FCC was doing primarily because no one else seemed to have the will to do so. All of the VoIP providers were cowed by potential allegations or the perception that they were anti-emergency response and anti-safety if they challenged the process. It is exceedingly difficult to challenge the FCC when all it really wants to do is ensure ubiquitous emergency response capabilities as soon as possible. I want that too. I just don't want it at the expense of a better, next-generation, IP-enabled emergency response system. And I don't want to see it serve as a vehicle to dismantle some of the best additional features that IP technology affords, most notably the mobile, nomadic capabilities of VoIP and the ability to allow for another means other than a traditional phone to contact an emergency responder, even if that means is not fully compliant with the "traditional" E911 process. (In an upcoming blog, I will discuss in further details recent efforts to establish public hotspots and the ability to establish a much more ubiquitous, redundant emergency response capability.)

In any event, I have been in the lonely and unenviable position of challenging the FCC's approach to E911 for VoIP providers, knowing full well that the Order would not directly implicate any services that pulver.com offers. Anyone who follows my blogs knows that I should probably have been among the least likely of members of the VoIP community to fight for the PSTN-connected VoIP providers. In fact, I have historically been very critical of the bland, replacement service offerings of the broadband phone companies who use IP technology primarily to provide POTS replacement services. I applauded the FCC when it found that, under existing rules, simply including a little IP technology in the middle of what otherwise appears to be a traditional phone service, should not exempt the provider of such services from traditional telecom rules. I received some degree of criticism from several "VoIP" providers using IP technology to bypass long distance access charges. In hindsight, I might have overstated my support for the FCC conclusion in that Order. (Frankly, that "IP-in-the-Middle" Order has been used (and, in my opinion, misconstrued and over-applied) to stymie some legitimate deployment of connected-VoIP services. In any event, I have generally been quite critical of those providers that simply use IP-technology to offer stale replacement POTS-like services, without availing themselves of the true enabling power of IP technology.

Having said the foregoing, I am concerned that the FCC inverted what, to me, could have been a forward-looking approach that might have seriously advanced our emergency response capabilities. Rather than compelling VoIP providers to build "backwards" to accommodate the existing broadband-and-IP-limited emergency response centers, the FCC could have worked to bring the emergency response centers into the 21st Century. The PSAPs should all have broadband access and become IP-enabled. In fact, voice should not be the only mechanism to place an emergency "call." An IP user should be able send an IM, SMS, text or email message to emergency responders. In other words, the PSAPs should be upgraded; the PSAPs should become broadband-ready and should talk in IP to the IP-enabled world. That would produce a much more robust emergency response system. Instead, we might be stuck with a mediocre, limited, narrow-band emergency response capability and never get around to devoting the resources needed to upgrade the existing emergency response infrastructure.

* * *

I have some lingering concerns with some other conclusions in the Order. For instance, while we had been led to believe that VoIP providers would not be exempted from liability, I found it hard to fathom that the FCC would hold the VoIP providers to a higher standard than bona fide carriers. I was actually surprised to see it in black and white. The FCC's conclusion on liability for VoIP providers reads as follows:

"We decline to exempt providers of interconnected VoIP
service from liability under state law related to their E911 services.
Although the Notice did not directly address the issue, Intrado, among
others, requests that the Commission insulate these VoIP providers from
liability to the same extent that Congress insulated wireless carriers from
liability related to the provision of 911/E911 service in the wireless
context."

The FCC admits that this conclusion is based on the fact that it cannot point to legal authority allowing it to limit liability. I think the FCC could simply have made this point without specifically subjecting non-carrier VoIP providers to a higher level of liability than that imposed upon those for whom it has clear authority - bona fide telecom carriers, with all the rights and responsibilities that such status entails.

There is also a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking attached to the Order, which, as expected, asks whether the FCC should extend E911 obligations to providers of other VoIP services that are not covered by the rules adopted in this Order. For instance, the FCC asks what E911 obligations, if any, should apply to VoIP services that are not fully interconnected to the PSTN? Specifically, should E911 obligations apply to VoIP services that enable users to terminate calls to the PSTN but do not permit users to receive calls that originate on the PSTN? Should E911 obligations apply to the converse situation in which a VoIP service enables users to receive calls from the PSTN but does not permit the user to make calls terminating to thePSTN? The FCC tentatively concluded that "a provider of a VoIP service offering that permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the PSTN and separately makes available a different offering that permits users generally to terminate calls to the PSTN should be subject to the E911 obligations if a user can combine those separate offerings or can use them simultaneously or in immediate succession."

Uh, folks, I think they mean us - those of us offering more unique applications that are less likely to service as POTS replacement services. What happens to the Asian user who finds herself in America with a PDA upon which she has downloaded LibreTel's Port of Call and SkypeOut? Now, that PDA can reach the PSTN and receive calls from the PSTN. Did that user expect to have E911 capabilities in America? Should America's E911 rules outlaw her ability to download distinct inbound and outbound VoIP applications? I would say no. I suspect the FCC might conclude otherwise. Stay tuned (but let's just stick with text - it's less likely to be confused for telephony and less likely to be subjected to regulatory obligations).

Posted by jeff at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (77)

FCC Releases Order on E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-116A1.doc

Once we've had a chance to digest some of the substance of the Order, more blogs will follow . . .

Posted by jeff at 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Last chance to R.S.V.P. for our Supercomm 2005 Party

Today is the last day for readers of my blog to R.S.V.P. for the pulver.com party at Supercomm that is taking place next Tuesday, June 7th at the House of Blues in Chicago with the Herding Cats fresh from their gig with us in Stockholm last week.

Once again, our party is one of the "buzz" parties at Supercomm. Over 1,300 people have already RSVP'ed for the party.

If you are planning on attending our party, the only way to be assured that you will be able to get in is to be on our pre-registered party list.

Please click here to R.S.V.P. before close of business on June 3rd.

Posted by jeff at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

SIP Summit 2005 starts Monday:

Next Monday our SIP Summit opens in Chicago with an all-day SIP Tutorial given by our new CTO, Henry Sinnreich.

This international technical conference will provide an in-depth look at the state of SIP within the IP Communications industry with specific attention given to the way the IETF standard, SIP, is being used by both service providers and in the Enterprise today.

At the moment there will be delegates attending representing: 15 countries and 97 different companies.

On Tuesday, the conference opens with talks by: Henry Sinnreich (pulver.com), Henning Schulzrinne (Columbia University), Mark Spencer (Digium/Asterisk), Cullen Jennings (Cisco), Jon Peterson (Neustar) and Carl Baptiste (Avaya).

Our conference schedule includes sessions on: Video & SIP, Peering Network Strategies, Security and Standards, SIP in the Enterprise, SIP Service Providers (includes: 8x8, AT&T, Telio and Vonage), Support Systems for SIP, SIP @ IETF, IMS and SIP, New SIP Application Servers SIP and Security and a closing general session on WiFi VoIP.

Our "birds of a feather" session on Tuesday night is an IMS Update.

While at Supercomm, please be sure to visit our SIP Pavilion on the exhibit floor.

Special thanks to everyone who contributed to this event.

Posted by jeff at 07:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

June 02, 2005

Preliminary Fall 2005 VON Conference Schedule posted:

Fall 2005 VON will be taking place in Boston September 19-22nd. Our conference schedule continues to get updated on a daily basis.

Some of the Industry Perspectives @ Fall 2005 VON include:

- Mark Spencer, President, Digium / Asterisk
- Tyler Van Houwelingen, Founder and CEO, Azulstar Networks
- Eugene Roman, Group President, Systems & Technology, Bell Canada
- Bill Smith, CTO, BellSouth
- Dave Hofstatter, President and CEO, CallWave
- Rob Mechaley, CTO, Clearwire
- John Perry Barlow, Co-Founder, Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Charles Lax, Managing General Partner, GrandBanks Capital
- Brough Turner, SVP & CTO, NMS Communications
- Philip Zimmermann, Creator, Pretty Good Privacy
- Jeff Pulver, Founder, pulver.com (me)
- Niklas Zennstrom, CEO and Co-Founder, Skype
- Brad Garlinghouse, Vice President, Communications Products, Yahoo!

Fall 2005 VON will have the largest exhibit floor in our history, with more than 300 exhibitors. At the moment our exhibit floor is just about sold-out, with just a handful of booths still available. We expect to be sold out within a couple of weeks.

"Early bird" conference registration is now open. Register today and start planning to spend a part of your September in Boston.

Readers of my blog can register to visit our exhibit hall for free if you use the priority code: JPBL1 prior to June 30th.

(posted using EvDO while at the gate on board Delta Shuttle 1912)

Posted by jeff at 08:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Another Delta Shuttle Morning,..

...later this morning I will be taking the Delta Shuttle up to Boston to visit our Beverly, MA office for the day.

Posted by jeff at 06:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

June 01, 2005

Mets vs. Diamondbacks @ Shea Stadium

The Mets played the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Shea Stadium.

Below are some of the 800+ pictures I took tonight, in an attempt to capture some of the action shared below:

The Mets eventually won the game, beating the Diamondbacks 2-1.

Posted by jeff at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

Guy Kewney comments about VON Europe 2005 and more...

Guy Kewney - eWeek: Telcos at VON Europe Want You to Want Them

Guy also breaks the news about the new pulvermedia but more about that next week.

Posted by jeff at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)

Bob Emmerson now has a blog...

I'd like to welcome Bob Emmerson to the world of blogging. Bob's blog is available at: http://blogs.pulver.com/bemmerson.

Posted by jeff at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Herding Cats Video(s) from Stockholm

Pavel Adam posted some of the personal video he took at our party last Wednesday night at Nalen in Stockholm.

Fans of Farrell may want to download this clip. (file size: 53,391,488 MB)

Posted by jeff at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

Huey Lewis and the News will be playing Fall 2005 VON

Huey Lewis and the News will be our "special musical guests" at Fall 2005 VON on the night of Wednesday, September 21st in Boston.

Ever since I first saw the Vh1 Behind the Music story on Huey Lewis back in 2001, I always wanted to book him for one of our conference parties. Huey's episode of Behind the Music does not have a dark side but rather showcases a person whose passion is music and is all about the people who just enjoy playing in a band. This episode of the show stands above many others due to the humility that is shown. I had a new found respect for the Huey Lewis after I watched the episode.

After 25+ years on the road, Huey Lewis and the News still bring their heart and soul to every performance.

This will be a real fun evening!

Posted by jeff at 06:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)