Category: Current and Future Trends

Articles

Internet services now under a worldwide declaration

US signs Declaration for the Future of the Internet alongside 60 global partners | Windows Central

US Pledges to Keep an Open Internet With Dozens of Other Countries – CNET

Governments Pledge to Keep an Open Internet, Not Russia, China (gizmodo.com)

From the horse’s mouth

The White House, USA

FACT SHEET: United States and 60 Global Partners Launch Declaration for the Future of the Internet | The White House

Declaration-for-the-Future-for-the-Internet_Launch-Event-Signing-Version_FINAL.pdf (whitehouse.gov)

My Comments

The US, European Union, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries signed a declaration regarding the Internet. This declaration, called the “Declaration For The Future Of The Internet” is an effort by the Biden White House to reinforce what the Internet is to be about as an open network of networks with a fair playing field.

This is a response by these countries against digital authoritarianism that has been shown by authoritarian regimes like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. It encompasses domestic and international online repression efforts like censorship along with international political destabilisation efforts like election / referendum interference, disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks.

There is also the same fear that due to populist strongman politics taking place ins some Western and other countries not associated with that kind of politics, the Internet as a symbol of freedom of expression could be under threat in those countries.

It is a reference for public policymakers, citizens, the business community and civil society organisations, but is non-binding. This is seen as a sticking point amongst some because sone countries like the USA aren’t toeing the line when it comes to a free and open Internet with issues like civilian surveillance. But some policymakers in some governments, international organisations and civil society could see this as a “gold standard” for what the Internet should be about.

The goal in this Declaration is to maintain what the Internet was about when it came about in the 1990s – an open network of networks that is freely accessible to all.

It is about protecting fundamental human rights and freedoms for all people in the online space. As well, it is about the global Internet that facilitates the free flow of information for citizens and businesses. That also includes inclusive and affordable connectivity to the Internet, which also factors in access from rural and remote areas. As well, there should be an increase in our digital skills so we can work the Internet competently.

Trust in the global online ecosystem is also underscored, including protection of the privacy and confidentiality of end-users. This is about safe secure private Internet use. For businesses of all sizes, it is about allowing them to compete, innovate and thrive in their own merits.

This goal is to be facilitated using reliable secure interoperable and sustainable infrastructure around the world. Here it would be managed in a multiple stakeholder approach to assure common benefit.

An issue that will need to he looked at is how online services are operated by the private sector. This is with expectations regarding end-user privacy along with their operation as a social good. It may also have to include support for healthy competition between online service providers so as to support innovation and service affordability.

I do see a strong possibility that the Declaration For The Future Of The Internet as a “Gold Standard” for what is expected of the Internet as part of a democratic society.

Traditional TV and radio could be delivered via the same means as the Internet

A direction that we are expecting to see for broadcast radio and TV technology is to stream it via Internet-based technologies but assure users of a similar experience to how they have received content delivered this way.

It is about being able to use the agile wired and wireless Internet technologies like 5G mobile broadband, fibre-to-the-premises, fixed-wireless broadband; and Ethernet and Wi-Fi wireless local area networks to deliver this kind of content.

What is the goal here

The goal here is to provide traditional broadcast radio and TV service through wired or wireless broadband-service-delivery infrastructure in addition to or in lieu of dedicated radio-frequency-based infrastructure.

The traditional radio-frequency approach uses specific RF technologies like FM, DAB+, DVB and ATSC to deliver audio or video content to radio and TV receivers. This can be terrestrial to a rooftop, indoor or set-attached antenna referred to in the UK and most Commonwealth countries as an aerial; via a cable system through a building, campus or community; or via a satellite where it is received using special antennas like satellite dishes.

The typical Internet-Protocol network used for Internet service uses different transport media, whether that be wired or wireless. It can be mobile broadband receivable using a mobile phone; a fixed setup like fibre-to-the-premises, fixed wireless or fibre-copper setups. As well, such networks typically include a local-area network covering a premises or building that is based on Ethernet, Wi-Fi wireless, HomePlug or G.Hn powerline, or similar technologies.

The desireable user experience

It will maintain the traditional remote-control experience like channel surfing

It also is about providing a basic setup and use experience equivalent to what is expected for receiving broadcast radio and TV service using digital RF technologies. This includes “scanning” the wavebands for stations to build up a station directory of what’s available locally as part of setting up the equipment; using up/down buttons to change between stations or channels; keying in “channel numbers” in to a keypad to select TV channels according to a traditional and easy-to-remember channel numbering approach; using a “last-channel” button to flip between two different programmes you are interested in; and allocating regularly-listened-to stations to preset buttons so you have them available at a moment’s notice.

This has been extended to a richer user experience for broadcast content in many ways. For TV, it has extended to a grid-like electronic programme guide which lists what is showing now or will be shown in the coming week on all of the channels so you can switch to a show that you like to watch or have that show recorded. For radio, it has been about showing more details about what you are listening to like the name of that song you are listening to for example. Even ideas like prioritising or recording the news or traffic announcements that matter or selecting content by type has also become another desireable part of the broadcast user experience.

Relevance of traditional linear broadcasting today

There are people who cast doubt on the relevance of traditional linear broadcast media and its associated experiences in this day and age.

This is brought about through the use of podcasts, Spotify-like audio streaming services, video-on-demand services and the like who can offer a wider choice of content than traditional broadcast media.

But some user classes and situations place value upon the traditional broadcast media experience. Firstly, Generation X and prior generations have grown up with broadcast media as part of their life thanks to affordable sets with a common user experience and an increasing number of stations or channels being available. Here, these users are often resorting to broadcast media for casual viewing and listening with a significant number of these users recording broadcast material to enjoy again on their own terms.

Then there is the reliance on traditional broadcast media for news and sport. This is due to the ability to receive up-to-date facts without needing to do much. Let’s not forget that some users rely on this media experience for discovery of content curated by someone else like staff at a TV channel or a radio station rather than an online service’s content-recommendation engine. Even the on-air talent is valued by a significant number of listeners or viewers as personalities in their own right because of how they present themselves on radio or TV.

Access without traditional radio-frequency infrastructure

DVB-I and allied technologies may reduce reliance on RF infrastructure like TV aerials or satellite dishes

One of these goals here is to allow access to traditional broadcast radio and TV without being dependent on particular radio-frequency infrastructure types and reception conditions. This can encompass someone to offer a linear broadcast service with all the trappings of that service but not needing to have access to RF-based broadcast technologies like a transmitter.

To some extent, it could be a method to use the likes of SpaceX Starlink or 5G mobile broadband to deliver radio and TV service to rural and remote areas. This could come in to its own where the goal is to provide the full complement of broadcasting services to these areas.

It also is encompassing a situation happening with cable-TV networks in some countries where these networks are being repurposed purely for cable-modem Internet service. As well, some neighbourhoods don’t take kindly to satellite dishes popping up on the roofs or walls of houses, seeing them as a blight. Here, multi-channel pay-TV operators have had to consider using Internet-based delivery methods to bring their services to potential customers without facing these risks.

Or a mobile platform tablet could run software to pick up TV broadcasts via the Internet

Let’s not forget that IP-based data networks are being seen as a way to extend the reach of traditional broadcast services in to parts of a building that don’t have ready access to a reliable RF signal or traditional RF infrastructure. This may be due to it being seen as costly or otherwise prohibitive to extend a master-antenna TV setup to a particular area or to install a satellite dish, TV aerial or cable-TV connection to a particular house.

In the portable realm, it extends especially to smartphones or mobile-platform tablets even where these devices may have a broadcast-radio or TV tuner. But broadcast reception using these tuners only becomes useful if you plug a wired headset in to the mobile device’s headset jack, because of a long-standing design practice with Walkman-type personal radio devices where the headset cable is the device’s FM or DAB+ antenna. Here, the smartphone could use mobile broadband or Wi-Fi for broadcast-radio reception if you use its speaker or a Bluetooth headset to listen to the radio.

Complementing traditional radio infrastructure

What SAT>IP is about with satellite TV – broadcast-LAN content distribution

In the same context, it is also being considered as a different approach to providing “broadcast-to-LAN” services where broadcast signals are received from radio infrastructure via a tuner-server device and streamed in to a local-area network. This could allow the client device to choose the best source available for a particular channel or station.

But even the “broadcast-to-LAN” approach can be improved upon by providing an equivalent user experience to a traditional RF-based broadcast setup. It would benefit buildings or campuses with a traditional aerial or satellite dish installed at the most optimum location but use Ethernet cabling, Wi-Fi wireless or similar technologies including a mixture of such technologies to distribute the broadcast signal around the development.

As well, some of these setups may be about mixing the traditional broadcast channels and IP-delivered content in to a form that can be received with that traditional broadcast user experience. Or it can be about seamlessly switching between a fully-Internet-delivered source and the broadcast stream provided by a broadcast-LAN server to the local network that is providing Internet service. This can cater towards broadcast-LAN setups based around devices that don’t have enough capacity to serve many broadcast streams.

Pure Sensia 200D Connect Internet radio – an example bringing broadcast radio via RF and Internet means

Even a radio or TV device could maintain a traditional user-experience while content is delivered over both traditional RF infrastructure and Internet-based infrastructure. This could range from managing a situation where an alternative content stream is offered via the Internet while the main content is offered via the station’s traditional RF means. Or it could be about independent broadcast content being broadcast without the need to have access to RF infrastructure or spectrum.

Similarly, some digital-broadcast operators are wanting to implement networks typically used for Internet service delivery as a backhaul between a broadcaster’s studios and the transmitter. Here, it is seen as a cost-effective approach due to a reduced need to create an expensive pure-play wired or wireless link to the transmitter. Rather they can rely on a business-grade Internet service with guaranteed service quality standards for this purpose.

Even a master-antenna system that is set up to provide a building’s or development’s occupants access to broadcast content via RF coaxial-cable infrastructure could benefit this way. This could be about repackaging broadcasters’ content from Internet-based links offered by the broadcasters in to a form deliverable over the system’s RF cable infrastructure rather than an antenna or satellite dish to bring radio and TV to that system. It could be also seen as a way to insert extra content for that development through this system such as a health TV channel for hospitals or a tourist-information TV channel for hotels.

How is this approach being taken

Here, a broadcast-ready linear content stream or a collection of such streams that would be normally packaged for a radio-frequency transport is repackaged for a data network working to IP-compliant standards. This can be done in addition to packaging that content stream for one or more radio-frequency transports.

This approach is built on the idea of the ISO OSI model of network architecture where top-level classes of protocols can work on many different bottom-level transports, with this concept being applied to broadcast radio and TV.

The IP-based network / Internet transport approach can allow for a minimal effort approach to repackaging the broadcast stream or stream collection to an RF transport. A use case that this would apply to is using a business-standard Internet service as a backhaul for delivering radio or TV service to multiple transmitters.

It is different from the Internet-radio or “TV via app” approach where there is a collection of broadcasters streamed via Internet means. But these setups rely primarily on online content directories operated by the broadcasters themselves or third parties like TuneIn Radio or Airable.net. These setups don’t typically offer broadcast-like user experiences like channel-surfing or traditional channel-number entry.

At the moment, the DVB Group who have effectively defined the standards for digital TV in Europe, Asia, most of Africa, and Oceania have worked on this approach through the use of DVB-I (previous coverage on this site) and allied standards for television. This is in addition to the DVB Home Broadcast (DVB-HB) standard released in February this year to build upon SAT-IP towards a standardised broadcast-to-LAN setup no matter the RF bearer.

Similarly, the EBU have worked on the HRADIO project to apply this concept to DAB+ digital radio used for radio services in Europe and Oceania at least.

Another advantage that is also being seen is the ability for someone to get “on the air” without needing to have access to radio-frequency spectrum or be accepted by a cable-TV or satellite-TV network. This may appeal to international broadcasters or to those offering niche content that isn’t accepted by the broadcast establishment of a country.

What is it also leading to

This is leading towards hybrid broadcast and broadband content-delivery approaches. That is where content from the same broadcaster is delivered by RF and Internet means with the end user using the same user experience to select the online or RF-broadcast content.

One use case is to gain access to supplementary content from that broadcast via the Internet no matter whether the viewer or listener enjoys the broadcaster through an RF-based means or through the Internet. This could be prior episodes of the same show or further information about a concept put forward in an editorial program or a product advertised on a commercial.

For radio, this would be about showing up-to-date station branding alongside show names and presenter images. If the show is informational, there would be rich visual information like maps, charts, bullet lists and the like to augment the spoken information.

If it is about music, you would see reference to the title and artist of what’s playing perhaps with album cover art and artist images. For classical music where people think primarily of a work composed by a particular composer, this may be about the composer and the work, perhaps with a reference to the currently-playing movement. Operas and other musical theatre may have the libretti being shown in real time to the performance.

In all music-related cases, there may be the ability to “find out more” on the music and who is behind it or even to buy a recording of that music, whether as physical media like an LP record or CD, or as a download-to-own file.

For TV content, this would be about a rich experience for sports, news, reality and similar shows. For example, the Seven Network created an improved interactive experience for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics by using 7Plus to provide direct access to particular sports types during the Games.  A true hybrid setup on equipment with a broadcast tuner would allow a user to select Channel 7 or 7Mate for standard broadcast feeds using the 7Plus user experience with the broadcast feeds supplied by the broadcast tuner or the Internet stream depending on the signal quality.

Issues to consider

There are issues that will be raised where broadcast radio and TV are delivered over Internet infrastructure with the goal of a broadcast-like user experience.

One of these is to assure users don’t pay extra costs for this kind of reception compared to delivery by RF-based means. Here, these Internet-based broadcast setups would have to be “zero-rated” so that users don’t incur data costs on metered Internet services like mobile broadband. Add to this a common issue with rural areas where Internet service quality wouldn’t be reliable enough to provide the same kind of user experience as traditional RF-based broadcast reception.

As well, broadband infrastructure providers would need to assure transparent access to Internet-based broadcast setups so that users have access to standard broadcasters without being dependent on service from particular retail ISPs or mobile carriers. It may also be about making sure that one can receive broadcast content with the broadcast user experience anywhere in a typical local network.

Another factor to be considered as far as DVB-I or similar technologies are concerned is whether this impacts on content providers’ liabilities regarding broadcast rights for music and sports content. Here, some sports leagues or music copyright collection bodies consider Internet-based distribution as different from traditional broadcast media and add extra requirements on this distribution approach.

It can be about availability of content beyond the broadcaster’s home country, in a manner to contravene a blackout requirement or to provide a competing source of availability to the one who has exclusive rights for that territory. It is also similar to “grey-importing” of music rather than acquiring it through official distribution channels, that also leads to bringing in content not normally available in a particular country.

These issues may be answered through a framework of various legal protections and universal-service obligations associated with providing free-to-air broadcast content. It would be driven more so by countries who have a strong public-service and/or commercial free-to-air broadcast lobby.

Conclusion

Internet-based technologies are effectively being seen as a way to extend the reach of or improve upon the broadcast-media experience without detracting from its familiar interaction approaches. This is thanks to research in to technologies that are about repackaging broadcast signals for an RF transport in a manner for Internet use.

Article

FIDO Alliance could be having us move off passwords when we use online services

FIDO Alliance says it has finally killed the password • The Register

From the horse’s mouth

FIDO Alliance

Charting an Accelerated Path Forward for Passwordless Authentication Adoption – FIDO Alliance

My Comments

The FIDO Alliance and WebAuthN groups are moving towards a password-free authentication approach for online services. This is based around a device-local private authentication key associated with your username for that online service that is only released when you enter your device PIN / screen-unlock code or scan your fingerprint or face where your device supports it. A corresponding public key is stored in the user’s account record on the online service’s servers and used to “test” the private key to complete the user-verification process.

The smartphone will end up as a key authentication device especially if you sign in with your fingerprint or face

But there is a problem associated with the reality that most of us own multiple computing devices. This can typically manifest in us owning a smartphone, a mobile-platform tablet like an iPad and/or a regular desktop or laptop computer. There is also the fact that most of us will end up owning “connected-TV” equipment be it a smart TV, set-top device or games console that is a gateway to online video services. Or we may even end up using various smart-home platforms including Amazon Echo or Google Home.

The problem also includes lifecycle issues associated with today’s devices such as acquiring a new device or replacing a broken, lost or stolen device. Or it could include where one is using another device on a temporary basis like using a friend’s computer or a computer at a hotel business centre.

Then there is the issue of phishing even with multifactor authentication because there is no way of identifying whether a user is signing in to the real online service or not.

Solutions

Bluetooth as a means for authentication

Or you could authenticate online services from a laptop’s fingerprint reader or your smartphone

One factor being examined is the use of your smartphone as a roaming authentication device. Part of what will be looked at is using Bluetooth LE as a machine-to-machine link between the device you are signing in from and your phone to conditionally release online-service authentication keys.

This avoids you entering a one-time-password in to a phishing site for example because you are not transcribing information in to a site. The Bluetooth functionality is also about device proximity – your smartphone is close to the device you want to sign in from.

I also see the Bluetooth link appealing to client devices that have limited user interfaces like connected-TV devices, printers and the Internet Of Things. It avoids the need to log in to your online service to transcribe a “binding code” to use it with connected-TV devices or, at worst, “hunt and peck” a username and password to associate it an online service.

It will also support bare-bones provisioning to new devices irrespective of the platform such as when you, as an iOS or Android mobile-platform user, want to set up you Windows laptop to work with your online services.

As well, it could come in to its own with temporary-use scenarios like shared computers or equipment installed in places like hotels. It could even include adding one’s online video service account to smart TVs or set-top devices installed in hotels, holiday home or common rooms for temporary use.  I could even see this earn its keep as an alternative to cards for authentication at kiosk-type setups like ATMs.

Multi-device authentication

The multi-device approach would be on the likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft coming to the party. This is because it would be based on device operating systems and associated cloud-driven account services like Apple ID (MacOS, iOS, tvOS), Google Account (Android, ChromeOS) and Microsoft Account (Windows, XBox).

In some cases, it may extend to device vendors or other entities who run their own cloud-driven account services and want them as the login of choice for your online world. Even account services typically managed by businesses or education establishments could become “primary” account services typically for large fleets of organisation-owned devices.

Even smart displays like the Amazon Echo Show 10 could be in on the action

This approach would have the operating system create and use the authentication key and store these with your account on the cloud-driven account service. It would come in to its own if you are adding a device that works with the same platform as what you were using, for example onboarding an iPad to the same Apple ID as your iPhone.

The system can distinguish between an extant device and a newer device through another device-bound authentication key that underscores that you are authorised to use the service with that physical device. Here, it can be about deeming that particular new device as trusted and under your control or some corporate setups may use it as a way to constrain use of the service to devices they have control over.

Online services would have to support a number of authentication keys for the same username with these associated with different computing platforms an end-user is likely to use. As well, another requirement that would be expected is to have one authentication key able to work across a vendor’s different operating systems such as a mobile OS and a desktop OS. This is due to vendors architecting their mobile operating systems for battery efficiency while the desktop operating systems are maintained for performance.

Situations

Moving between devices or platforms

.. as could the likes of connected-TV and set-top-box setups like the Apple TV

If you are moving your online life between devices of the same platform, the multi-device authentication would  have all the platform-level authentication keys moved across similar to what happens with a password vault app.

The Bluetooth authentication approach will come in to play if you have devices of a different platform. But you have to have one of the devices still alive and in your possession for this to work properly.

What really may happen is that you may use Bluetooth authentication to “enrol” other computing devices and have them seen as trusted devices once one or more of your devices support the necessary standards. Then, whichever one of them that is “alive” like, per se, your regular computer or your mobile-platform tablet would be used to authenticate your replacement smartphone to your secure online circle even if this was to replace a lost, stolen or damaged phone.

If you intend to completely move off a platform, you can simply delete from your online services all the credentials associated with that particular platform. This may be through account management options offered by the online service where you revise what platforms you are logged in from.

Multiple-platform setups

Most of us are likely to operate a multiple-platform setup for our online lives. This will typically range from an iPhone and a Windows or Macintosh computer through an Android phone, an iPad and a Windows computer.

Online services will be likely to keep with your username, multiple sets of access credentials for each computing platform you are using. There will still be the ability to keep a platform-specific authentication key for your devices that operate a particular platform along with another for a different platform.

Gaps yet to be filled

One gap that needs to be filled is software-to-software authentication like what is expected for email or document-contribution setups or even the Internet of Everything. Such setups typically rely on stored credentials to authenticate the user with their account on that service along with client software like email clients having continual access to that service.

This may have to be about adapting protocols like IMAP4 or XML-RPC to device-generated authentication credentials and supporting multiple sets of these credentials for one user account. This would be important where multiple client devices are being used for the same online service such as a smartphone and a laptop for an email service.

Conclusion

Even the common reality of users operating multiple devices or using a highly-portable device like a smartphone as an authentication device will not escape the goal of a password-free online-service future. Here it would primarily be about authenticating with a device-local PIN or your fingerprint

Article

YouTube to further crack down on misinformation using warning screens and other strategies

YouTube Eyes New Ways to Stop Misinformation From Spreading Beyond Its Reach – CNET

From the horse’s mouth

YouTube

Inside Responsibility: What’s next on our misinfo efforts (Blog Post)

My Comments

YouTube’s part in controlling the spread of repeated disinformation has been found to be very limited in some ways.

This was focused on managing accounts and channels (collections of YouTube videos submitted by a YouTube account holder and curated by that holder) in a robust manner like implementing three-strikes policies when repeated disinformation occurs. It extended to managing the content recommendation engine in order to effectively “bury” that kind of content from end-users’ default views.

But new other issues have come up in relation to this topic. One of these is to continually train the artificial-intelligence / machine-learning subsystems associated with how YouTube operates with new data that represents newer situations. This includes the use of different keywords and different languages.

Another approach that will fly in the face of disinformation purveyors is to point end-users to authoritative resources relating to the topic at hand. This will typically manifest in lists of hyperlinks to text and video resources from sources of respect when there is a video or channel that has questionable material.

But a new topic or new angle on an existing topic can yield a data-void where there is scant or no information on the topic from respectable resources. This can happen when there is a fast-moving news event and is fed by the 24-hour news cycle.

Another issue is where someone creates a hyperlink to or embeds a YouTube video in their online presence. This is a common way to put YouTube video content “on the map” and can cause a video to go viral by acquiring many views. In some cases like “communications-first” messaging platforms such as SMS/MMS or instant-messaging, a preview image of the video will appear next to a message that has a link to that video.

Initially YouTube looked at the idea of preventing a questionable resource from being shared through the platform’s user interface. But questions were raised about this including limiting a viewer’s freedoms regarding taking the content further.

The issue that wasn’t even raised is the fact that the video can be shared without going via YouTube’s user interface. This can be through other means like copying the URL in the address bar if viewing on a regular computer or invoking the “share” intent on modern desktop and mobile operating systems to facilitate taking it further. In some operating systems, that can extend to printing out material or “throwing” image or video material to the large screen TV using a platform like Apple TV or Chromecast. Add to this the fact that a user will want to share the video with others as part of academic research or news report.

Another approach YouTube is looking at is based on an age-old approach implemented by responsible TV broadcasters or by YouTube with violent age-restricted or other questionable content. That is to show a warning screen, sometimes accompanied with an audio announcement, before the questionable content plays. Most video-on-demand services will implement an interactive approach at least in their “lean-forward” user interfaces where the viewer has to assent to the warning before they see any of that content.

In this case, YouTube would run a warning screen regarding the existence of disinformation in the video content before the content plays. Such an approach would make us aware of the situation and act as a “speed bump” against continual consumption of that content or following through on hyperlinks to such content.

Another issue YouTube is working on is keeping its anti-disinformation efforts culturally relevant. This scopes in various nations’ historical and political contexts, whether a news or information source is an authoritative independent source or simply a propaganda machine, fact-checking requirements, linguistic issues amongst other things. The historical and political issue could include conflicts that had peppered the nation’s or culture’s history or how the nation changed governments.

Having support for relevance to various different cultures provides YouTube’s anti-disinformation effort with some “look-ahead” sense when handling further fake-news campaigns. It also encompasses recognising where a disinformation campaign is being “shaped” to a particular geopolitical area with that area’s history being weaved in to the messaging.

But whatever YouTube is doing may have limited effect if the purveyors of this kind of nonsense use other services to host this video content. This can manifest in alternative “free-speech” video hosting services like BitChute, DTube or PeerTube. Or it can be the content creator hosting the video content on their own Website, something that becomes more feasible as the kind of computing power needed for video hosting at scale becomes cheaper.

What is being raised is YouTube using their own resources to limit the spread of disinformation that is hosted on their own servers rather than looking at this issue holistically. But they are looking at issues like the ever-evolving message of disinformation that adapts to particular cultures along with using warning screens before such videos play.

This is compared to third-party-gatekeeper approaches like NewsGuard (HomeNetworking01.info coverage) where an independent third party scrutinises news content and sites then puts their results in a database. Here various forms of logic can work from this database to deny advertising to a site or cause a warning flag to be shown when users interact with that site.

But by realising that YouTube is being used as a host for fake news and disinformation videos, they are taking further action on this issue. This is even though Google will end up playing cat-and-mouse when it comes to disinformation campaigns.

Articles

Spotify dabbling in podcasts and strengthening its ties with podcasters is placing it at risk of carrying anti-vaxx and similar disinformation

Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young’s Spotify protest over anti-vax content | Joni Mitchell | The Guardian

Nils Lofgren Pulls Music From Spotify – Billboard

My Comments

Spotify has over the last two years jumping on the podcast-hosting wagon even though they were originally providing music on demand.

But just lately they were hosting the podcast output of Joe Rogan who is known for disinformation about COVID vaccines. They even strengthened their business relationship with Joe Rogan using the various content monetisation options they offer and giving it platform-exclusive treatment.

There has been social disdain about Spotify’s business relationship with Joe Rogan due to social responsibility issues relating to disinformation about essential issues such as vaccination. Neil Young and Joni Mitchell had pulled their music from this online music service and an increasing number of their fans are discontinuing business with Spotify. Now Nils Lofgren, the guitarist from the E Street Band associated with Bruce Springsteen is intending to pull music he has “clout” over from Spotify and encourages more musicians to do so.

Tim Burrowes, who founded Mumbrella, even said in his Unmade blog about the possibility of Spotify being subject to what happened with Sky News and Radio 2GB during the Alan Jones days. That was where one or more collective actions took place to drive advertisers to remove their business from these stations. This could be more so where companies have to be aware of brand safety and social responsibility when they advertise their wares.

In some cases, Apple, Google and Amazon could gain traction with their music-on-demand services. But on the other hand, Deezer, Qobuz and Tidal could gain an increased subscriber base especially where there is a desire to focus towards European business or to deal with music-focused media-on-demand services rather than someone who is running video or podcast services in addition.

There are questions about whether a music-streaming service like Spotify should be dabbling in podcasts and spoken-word content. That includes any form of “personalised-radio” services where music, advertising and spoken-word content presented in a manner akin to a local radio station’s output.

Then the other question that will come about is the expectation for online-audio-playback devices like network speakers, hi-fi network streamers and Internet radios. This would extend to other online-media devices like smart TVs or set-top boxes. Here, it is about allowing different audio-streaming services to be associated with these devices and assuring a simplified consistent user experience out of these services for the duration of the device’s lifespan.

That includes operation-by-reference setups like Spotify Connect where you can manage the music from the online music service via your mobile device, regular computer or similar device. But the music plays through your preferred set of speakers or audio device and isn’t interrupted if you make or take a call, receive a message or play games on your mobile device.

What has come about is the content hosted on an online-media platform or the content creators that the platform gives special treatment to may end up affecting that platform’s reputation. This is especially where the content creator is involved in fake news or disinformation.

Articles

Next generation home networks could be implementing Wi-Fi 7 in the next few years

Wi-Fi 7 to Make a Splash at CES 2022, Led by MediaTek | Digital Trends

Wi-Fi 7 is coming, and Intel makes it sound great | Network World

My Comments

Wi-Fi 6 is already established as a wireless network standard and this is being taken to  Wave 2 with some incremental improvements.

But Wi-Fi 7, is to be coming soon and is actually the IEEE 802.11be wireless-network standard which is expected to be the follow-on to Wi-Fi 6.

It is expected to offer 320MHz bandwidth for each RF channel and provide a theoretical link-layer throughput of 96.1Gbps. As well, a Wi-Fi 7 wireless network segment is expected to be able to work on the 2.4 GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz radio bands.

This will support multi-link operation where network devices can work on multiple channels across multiple wavebands at once. This allows for a “fat pipe” that carries more data along with reduced latency (important for games or videocalls) and increased operational robustness. This latter benefit is provided by allowing particular data to use particular channels.

Wi-Fi 7 is to lead wireless network segments towards multiple-gigabit networking. As well, Wi-Fi 7 will have integrated support for Wireless Time-Sensitive Networking which assures synchronous delivery of data to multiple endpoints with use cases being multichannel sound, multi-camera setups or robotics and industrial automation.

This technology will take time to come to fruition even if it is “cemented in stone” by the IEEE now. There will be the need to see the necessary silicon being made available to client-device and network-infrastructure manufacturers so they cam implement it in their own products. This will also include the requirement to to see power-efficient Wi-Fi 7 client-device silicon implementations before a significant number of portable devices come with this technology.

Then the client and network infrastructure devices will appear but be at that price point and marketing position that only appeals to early-adopters who will pay a premium to have the latest and the greatest. But a few years later will see Wi-Fi 7 be a mature wireless-network technology.

But this will come in to its own with ubiquitous ultra-high-definition TV, augmented and virtual reality along with computing environments pitched towards gamers, creators and mobile-workstation users.

Articles

Where Wi-Fi HaLow fits in with other Wi-Fi technologies

This new Wi-Fi technology with a 1km range is the future of long range IoT applications | Business Insider India

‘The Wi-Fi portfolio is unmatched’: Wi-Fi Alliance on Wi-Fi Certified HaLow (rcrwireless.com)

Wi-Fi HaLow could be the next IoT enabler – TechRepublic

From the horse’s mouth

Wi-Fi Alliance

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED HaLow™ delivers long range, low power Wi-Fi® | Wi-Fi Alliance

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED HaLow (Product Page)

My Comments

A Wi-Fi network technology that is being put on the map at the moment is Wi-Fi CERTIFIED HaLow a.k.a Wi-Fi Halow.

This network technology is based on IEEE 802.11ah wireless network technology and works on the 900MHz waveband. It is about long-range operation of approximately 1 kilometre from the access point and very low power operation that allows devices to run for a year on commodity batteries like a single 3V coin-size cell or a pair of AA-size Duracells.

The power requirement may be a non-issue for devices like HVAC thermostats that are wired to the heating system they control. But they may be an issue with devices like movement sensors or smart locks that are dependent on their own battery power. As well, the low power requirements that Wi-Fi HaLow offer could be of benefit towards devices that implement energy-harvesting technology like solar power or kinetic energy.

This low-bandwidth Wi-Fi specification is intended to complement the other Wi-Fi specifications used with your home or business network. But it is focused towards the Internet of Everything especially where the devices are to be operated across a wide radius like a farm or campus.

The network topography for a Wi-Fi HaLow network segment will be very similar to the standard Wi-Fi network. That is where multiple client devices link to an access point, but there should be the ability for a mobile device to roam between access points associated with the same Wi-Fi network.

Compared to the likes of 802.15 Zigbee, Z-Wave, DECT-ULE, Bluetooth LE and similar Internet-of-Things wireless technologies, this is meant to avoid the need for special routers when there is a desire to link them to IP-based networks.

This is because this technology effectively uses the same protocol stack as our Wi-Fi networks save for the layers associated with the radio medium. It also means that the same security, connectivity and quality-of-service protocols that are part of Wi-Fi nowadays like EasyConnect and WPA3 can be implemented in Wi-Fi HaLow devices.

At the moment, you would need to use a Wi-Fi HaLow access point to get any Internet-of-Things devices on to your network and the Internet. It may be a small device that plugs in to your existing home network router or network infrastructure. But a subsequent Wi-Fi access point or router design could have built-in support for this standard thus making it more ubiquitous.

The use cases being positioned for Wi-Fi HaLow technology would encompass the smart home, the smart building and the smart city where all sorts of “Internet-of-Things” devices are acting as controllers or sensors. It is also encompassing vertical use cases like agriculture, industry and medicine where sensors come in to play here.

At the moment, this kind of connectivity will exist as an alternative to Zigbee, Z-Wave and similar technologies especially where IP-level connectivity and functionality is wanted at the device. It may not have ready appeal in use cases where a direct connection to Internet-based technology may not be required.

On the other hand, a use case could allow for a “hub and spoke” approach to the Internet of Things where a device can connect to accessory peripheral devices using Zigbee or Bluetooth but link to the home network and Internet via WI-Fi HaLow. An example of this could be a retrofit-install smart lock which supports the use of accessory input devices like keypads, NFC card/fob readers and contact sensors.

Wi-Fi HaLow could be seen as a direction towards capable low-power long-distance wireless networking for Internet of Things, especially where direct Internet / LAN network connectivity is desired out of the application.