free Internet

Google Inc. and major music companies launched a free Internet music download service for China on Monday in a bid to help turn a field dominated by pirates into a profitable, legitimate business.

The advertising-supported service will offer 1.1 million tracks, including the full catalogs of Chinese and Western music for Warner Music Group Corp., EMI Group Ltd., Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music and 14 independent labels, the companies said. It will be limited to use by computers whose Internet protocol, or IP, addresses show they are in mainland China.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin told media outlets this week that he is willing to drop a porn-blocking provision to win approval of a free U.S. wireless broadband service.

Under the FCC's Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) plan, frequencies in the 2155-2180-MHz band would be auctioned off, with the winning bidder required to devote up to 25 percent of the spectrum to a free Internet broadband with a minimum download rate of 768 Kbps.

A much-publicized meeting by the Federal Communications Commission later this month has been canceled. The meeting's agenda included a vote on a plan that could have provided free broadband wireless service to underserved areas of the U.S.

The FCC said the meeting for Dec. 18 was canceled following a request from Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) that the agency scale down other efforts in order to concentrate on the switch to digital-television broadcasts in February.

Pressure From Both Sides

A plan by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin to provide a free national Internet network, up for a vote by the agency later this month, has turned into two versions, according to news reports.

One would require the company that won the auction for the offered frequencies to make at least 25 percent of the spectrum available for free to most of the country. The newer version would give free, unlicensed access to some of that spectrum to innovators, if the acquiring company doesn't fulfill its promise of a free national network.

Opposed By T-Mobile

A lawmaker is bringing the issue of net neutrality back into the spotlight. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) plans to introduce a bill in January that would stop Internet service providers from blocking and managing certain Internet content.

Rosalba Posada can tick off a list of problems she has encountered trying to use prepaid calling cards to stay in touch with family back in Colombia.

There were the cards that didn't deliver as many minutes as promised and the cards that charged extra fees to call a cell phone. There were the cards that offered several hundred minutes of calling time, but began deducting minutes if they were not all used in a single call. There was the card that had already expired when Posada tried to use it just a few months after buying it. And there was the card that simply didn't work at all.

Thirsty for more business during the worst slump in its history, Starbucks will try to lure more customers by offering two hours of free AT&T Wi-Fi a day.

The Wi-Fi freebie will be available starting today to customers who purchase a minimum $5 reloadable Starbucks Card, register online for the Starbucks Rewards Card program, and use the card at least once a month. The two hours must be consecutive. New members also receive a voucher for a free drink.

Starbucks' 7-year-old relationship with T-Mobile for Wi-Fi service is being phased out in 2008.