Jerry Brito

Jerry and Jerry on Net Neutrality

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I’m on Tech Policy Weekly with my co-author Jerry Ellig discussing our new net neutrality paper. “In a wide-ranging discussion, we explore the economic arguments for network neutrality regulation, discuss how economic theory applies to the issue, and Jerry Brito fills us in on the legal status of the FCC and FTC’s various pronouncements.” Take a listen.

Oct 8, 2007 | Comment | Tags: net neutrality, podcasts

Where an iPod is better than an iPhone

Here’s one thing that sucks about the iPhone. I listen to a lot of podcasts and other spoken word audio, and so I’m often trying to jump to a specific point in time in the recording. The iPod’s click-wheel interface is great for this, but the touchscreen slider blows. You can’t get fine grain using your meaty finger so it jumps minutes not seconds. So there.

Aug 3, 2007 | Comment | Tags: iphone, ipod, podcasts

How podcasting will take off

Beet.tv has a feature on Podzinger, a podcast search engine that is a subsidiary of defense contractor BBN. BBN developed speech-to-text technology for the government’s anti-terrorism efforts and is now putting it to use on the public web.

Podzinger analyzes the language of clips and determines whether they are music or have speech. If there is speech, a transcription is created which is nearly 80 percent accurate, company executives say.

The transcripts are searchable, so finding audio relevant to a keyword search is not a problem. They’ve already indexed 1.5 million YouTube clips. Once this technology becomes more widespread–once Google offers a “podcast” tab next to “image,” “books,” and “news”–podcasting will certainly get a boost, moving it further into the mainstream. That podcast you recorded a year ago and that hasn’t gotten many hits since its release week will suddenly be valuable again once it’s indexed.

Mar 13, 2007 | Comment | Tags: podcasts, podzinger, transcription

TPW 2: REAL ID, fair use, and Univision fined

The new episode of Tech Policy Weekly hosted by yours truly is now online. In the show this week, the REAL ID Act gets hot in the states and in Washington, Rep. Rick Boucher introduces a watered-down copyright fair use bill, and the FCC slaps it largest fine ever on Spanish-language broadcaster Univision. On the show are Tim Lee, Adam Thierer, and Jim Harper. You can use the player below to listen to it right here, or click here to subscribe via iTunes.

Mar 1, 2007 | Comment | Tags: fair use, fcc, podcasts, real id, univision

Tech Policy Weekly

I’ve started a new podcast along with my friends at the Technology Liberation Front. It’s called Tech Policy Weekly, which pretty much tells you what it’s about.On the first episode we talk about wireless net neutrality, the proposed XM-Sirius satellite radio merger, and whether a commons is an alternative to spectrum regulation. You can check it out here, and you can listen to it right at your computer. If you like it, please subscribe, and please tell your tech-inclined friends about it. Thanks!