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The NetSuds™ Report ©

The September 1, 2003 Issue:

Re-sending of this newsletter to any number of colleagues is encouraged provided you also cc: report@netsuds.com.  In return, we will invite recipients to subscribe.  Any other unauthorized re-distribution is a violation of copyright law.

Subscribe to this report by subscribing to the NetSuds Report at http://www.netsuds.net/mail.htm. You can get the web version of this report at http://www.netsuds.com/report/2003/september.htm

Definition:  "com and .com" = Telecom, Datacom, IT or Internet

In this Issue:

        1.0  Heard on the Net
        2.0  Jobs in the "com and .com" Market
        3.0  Calendar of Events
        4.0  Tidbits
               4.1    NetSuds on Tour - Inflow
               4.2    Email Advertising
               4.3    Exploding the Digital Divide Myth
               4.4    PayPal Sucks
               4.5    Domain Names For Sale
               4.6    Cray's Revenge
               4.7    NetSuds CEO Roundtable - Next Roundtables starting in January 2004
               4.8    Protecting The Public From Innovation (VONAGE)
               4.9    The Terminator Is A Spammer
               4.10  NetSuds Executive Search - www.netsuds.com/search/
        5.0  Minnesota:  Broadband Jekyll and Hyde
        6.0  The Battle for VoIP in the US
        7.0  Minnesota PUC Caves to Qwest, Beats Up On Vonage
        8.0  How To Identify And Work With A Patent Lawyer 
        9.0  October 22 - A Call To Action
       10.0 Guest Writers for this Report

1.0 Heard on the Net

1.1 People on the Move:

Please email:  people@netsuds.com to report a change in your job status if you are moving from or to a company in the "com or .com" space.  Include your new work contact information, not just your personal contact information.  We do not accept press release changes from third parties.  We must hear directly from the person who is 'on the move'.   You can include a 80 x 100 pixel (width x height) photo in JPG or GIF format.

NetSudser Barry Caplin has taken a new position the CISO for the Minnesota Dept. of Human Services.  He will be overseeing Information Security for the agency. You can reach him at either barry.caplin@state.mn.us or 651-297-3196.

Richard Smith has moved up from President and COO of Eschelon Telecom to President and CEO.  Former CEO Cliff Williams will continue to serve as Chairman.

Jim Masterson was announced as the new CEO and President of Lighthouse Communications last week.  Jim may be reached at either jmasterson@lh.net or 888.953.3278.  Jim was most recently at Terabeam where he was SVP of Sales & Marketing.  Lighthouse Communications is based in Iowa and is funded in part by Iowa entrepreneur John Pappajohn.  In August 2003, Lighthouse purchased GigE service provider Origix of Minneapolis.

ADC CIO Kamalesh Dwivdei has left the company, moved to Denver and taken a position with TeleTech.  He may be reached at kamalesh.dwivedi@teletech.com. 
 
ADC CFO and NetSudser Bob Switz has been promoted to CEO at ADC.  Bob spoke at the NetSuds National Entrepreneur Conference in California in 2000.  Congratulations to Bob.  For more information, see http://www.adc.com/newsandevents/mediaresources/managementteam/rswitz/

NetSudser Nick Stanley is now employed by G2 Telecom as Director, Business Development for the five state region of MN, ND, SD, WI and IA.  G2 Telecom is headquartered in North Carolina.  G2 Telecom is an expert negotiator of telecommunication contracts for all local, long distance and wireless services.  For more information, contact Nick at either 952.953.3174 or nstanley@g2inc.com.
 

NetSudser Kate Bloomfield has joined VisionShare as VP of Operations effective August 26.  Kate was most recently at Stellent.  VisionShare is in the business of safeguarding the sharing of business-sensitive information.  You may contact Kate at either 651.645.3300 or kate.bloomfield@visionshareinc.com.

 

NetSudser Gokul Hemmady has been promoted to CFO from Treasurer at ADC.  Gokul has been a NetSuds speaker.  He may be contacted at gokul_hemmady@adc.com.

 

NetSudser Mark Borman has been promoted to Treasurer as well as VP of Investor Relations at ADC.  He may be contacted at mark_borman@adc.com.

1.2 Companies on the Move:

Please email:  start-ups@netsuds.com to report (1) the formation of a new start-up, (2) momentum change at an existing start-up, (3) addition of key hires, or (4) a funding event at a start-up.  We do not accept press release changes from third parties.  We must hear directly from an executive at the company which is 'on the move'.

Unimax has continued a successful strategy of bundling their Mailbox Manager™ software with large distributors like Avaya.  Revenues are approaching $1,000,000 annually to date.  Large customers like Pfizer, for example, were able to automate the management of distribution lists for their entire sales force – over 11,000 employees. This saved Pfizer hundreds of thousands of dollars annually and ensured that the field sales force receives critical voice messages related to sales activities. For more information, see www.unimax.com.

ORBIT Systems was selected by Microsoft to participate in a Windows XP and Office XP case study along with St. Paul interior design firm, Arthur Shuster, Inc.   The case study will serve as a model deployment of Microsoft's latest OS and desktop applications.  For more information, visit www.orbits.net or contact Tucker Johnson at either 651.767.3318 or gtjohnson@orbits.net. 
 

Kuflink Corporation and Electronic Media Group, Inc. recently formed E2Phone Technologies, a joint venture to develop web-enabled telephony applications.  The new ListCaller(tm) service represents the first fruits of this collaboration, and UCLA is one of the first major clients.  ListCaller delivers urgent messages by telephone to groups of individuals and collects their responses.  Messages can be sent from the Web site (www.listcaller.com), from any telephone (612-455-0270) or from an organization's computer (via secure FTP).  Applications range from communicating with ball teams to alerting employees during times of crisis.  Kuflink (Woodbury, MN) develops IVR systems and services.  eMedia (Minneapolis, MN) is a Web design and development firm.  For more information, please contact e2phone@kuflink.com.

HomeownerMagazine.com launched in August 2003.  For more details, visit http://www.melroze.com/business_spotlight.htm  or contact Allan Mooney, Founder, at either 763.242.2582 or editor@homeownermagazine.com.

KeepItLocal.com has attracted former KARE-11 Business Development Manager and NetSudser Charlie Nickoloff as their CEO.  NetSudser Gordy Christian has also joined the company.  Contact Gordy at gchristian@keepitlocal.com. Contact Charlie at cnickoloff@keepitlocal.com.

White Pine Consulting Group reports that one of its clients, FlexLight Networks, has announced the completion of a new round of growth financing.  This $17M round represents a strong endorsement of both the strength of FlexLight’s products and the soundness of its market strategy.  To read the entire announcement, click here.  White Pine was engaged by FlexLight to help the company improve its positioning and communications as it sought growth capital.  White Pine worked with FlexLight management to sharpen the company's market positioning and messaging and created the created the investor presentation that FlexLight used to tell its story to new investors, who now include St. Paul Venture Capital, Accel Partners, and Applied Materials Ventures.  Existing investors Coral Capital Management and Concord Ventures also invested in this round.  For more information, see www.whitepineconsulting.com. 

Acumen Management Group of Minneapolis has been selected by Cisco Systems to provide sales management resources to Cisco Systems’ channel partners through their partner portal, which serves as a learning facility and knowledge base.  The portal is offering Acumen’s Sales Manager’s Tool Kit, which is part of Acumen’s sales management planning system, Interactive Sales ManagerTM.  In addition, to enhance partners’ sales-management learning process, Cisco will offer five online webinars facilitated by Acumen, including: Understanding the Role of Sales Management and Leadership, Building Sales Compensation Programs that Work, Building a High Performance Sales Recruiting Program, Creating Sales Management and Coaching Systems to Build Predicable Revenues, Build Predictable Revenues, and Building a Value Proposition to Win.   For more information, contact Ken Thoreson at either 952-944-7438 or ken@acumenmgmt.com.

 

2.0 Jobs in the "com and .com" Market

Please email:  jobs@netsuds.com to report job openings in the "com and .com" Market.  In the body of the message, give the name of the company and a URL link to the job postings.

*         HighJump Software - http://www.highjump.com/careers/opportunities.asp
*         St. Croix Medical - http://www.stcroixmedical.com/_private/cgi-bin/positions_list.htx
*         Sinex Aviation Technologies - http://www.sinex.com/about/openings.htm
**        Dakota County Technical College - http://www.dctc.edu/employment_opps.asp

Read about the new NetSuds Executive Search - www.netsuds.com/search/ - in section 4.10
How did one out-of-work Design Engineer from Ohio get hired -- right over the phone -- after making a simple telephone call to his old manager?

Discover the answer -- and learn about 50 other job search secrets -- in a controversial new report ... Click here
Hi Matt -

Thanks for posting our job opening in the NetSuds monthly.  The number of "good" people we had respond to our position is a direct reflection of the exposure received thru NetSuds.  I do not have a quantitative measurement but having posted the same job just 45 days earlier thru the 'normal' means provides a pretty accurate comparison.  The only thing we did differently was use the NetSuds site.

We have filled the position so the posting can be removed.  Thanks again -

Bradd Strelow
Director of Technology and Innovation
Dakota County Technical College

3.0  Schedule of Events

You can also try our new online calendar by clicking here for NetSuds and here for MedicalSuds.

The web calendars for NetSuds and MedicalSuds continue to grow in popularity as more and more people use them for the definitive place to find high-tech events in the Twin Cities.  The calendars are free to use for both tracking events and for posting your own events.  To post events, login as "guest" with a password of "guest".  The Calendars are accessed at

NetSuds - http://www.netsuds.net/cgi-bin/calweb/calweb.pl?cal=default
MedicalSuds - http://www.netsuds.net/cgi-bin/calweb/calweb.pl?cal=MedicalSuds

Non-Minnesota companies conducting events in Minnesota will not be allowed to post events for free.  Events posted to either of these calendars are not immediately available for viewing.  All events will be marked "pending" and will be reviewed for content prior to public viewing.

9/23   NetSuds Speak Like A Pro Workshop - St. Louis Park
 9/30  http://www.netsuds.com/workshop/slap/

10/22 NetSuds Telecom Policy Summit & Reception - TBA
         http://www.netsuds.com/tps/

 

4.0   Tidbits

4.1 NetSuds on Tour

NetSuds loves on-site tours!  Email me if you want to show off your company.  I can be reached at matt@netsuds.com.  No tours this month.

 

4.1.1  Inflow

 

I re-visited the Inflow facility at the 511 building in downtown Minneapolis this past month and was hosted by Account Executive Craig Benson, cbenson@inflow.com, 612-656-3880.  Inflow is a Denver-based "IT Facilities-based services provider" using Tier 1 Data Centers.  Each data center provides colocation, managed hosting, monitoring, security, load balancing and multi-homed Internet access. 

 

The Inflow facility at 511 is the original Inflow data center.  Inflow gets its Internet pipes from AT&T (DS-3 going to OC-3), UUNet (OC-3) and Allegiance Telecom (DS-3).  While not currently providing SAN service, it would be easy to turn up the service.  The facility is replete with redundant Cisco 72xx routers, managed firewalls using technology from Cisco, Checkpoint and NetScreen.  Inflow also provides managed private line service using T1, frame relay, ATM and ISDN.

 

The Inflow facility at 511 is home to 9 Inflow employees; 8 operations professionals and 1 account executive.  They plan to add a GM in the very near future.  The Minneapolis office is home to approximately 45 customers while Inflow maintains 800 customers nationwide.

 

The tour was over in about 30 minutes.  Inflow maintains high quality HVAC, battery back-up and excellent organizational structure in its data center.  The Minneapolis NOC is well-maintained and ties together with the national NOC.  Customers equipment varies from banks of 1U rack-mount servers to clunky old desktop systems squeezed in to elegant, secure cabinets.

 

Craig Benson is a new Inflow employee, having crossed over from the medtech field.

4.2  Email Advertising

The Business Journal reported that their daily email news reaches 5000 Twin Cities executives.  The MHTA claims a little over 2000 people on their email list.  Not bad but still a great deal less than the NetSuds and MedicalSuds email lists which reach 7200+ (yes, the lists are growing).  The NetSuds email lists are double-opt-in and concentrated on professionals in the communications, IT and Internet markets.  The MedicalSuds email lists are double-opt-in and concentrated on professionals in the medtech, biotech and life sciences markets.  So, rather than spend your advertising dollars on any other email lists in the Twin Cities, consider the NetSuds and MedicalSuds lists.  Contact matt@netsuds.com or 612.279.2154.  For current ad rates, visit www.netsuds.com/adrates.htm.

4.3  Exploding the Digital Divide Myth

The following article appeared in the August 13 edition of the Fargo Forum.

Rural Minnesota Web use on par with Cities
By Don Davis, ddavis@forumcomm.com

ST. PAUL -- Rural Minnesotans access the Internet at nearly the same rate as other Americans, something of a surprise given predictions that people outside the Twin Cities would lag behind.

“If we’re behind, it is by a squeak,” said Jack Geller, president of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, in releasing a new survey Wednesday.

That is important news, Geller said.

“If rural Minnesota and rural America are to compete, they have to compete with the same tools everyone else is using.”

However, not all of the news coming out of the center’s May and June survey was good.

Old and poor rural Minnesotans do not connect at the same rate as others, Geller said.

“A gap like this is especially significant for rural Minnesota, where the population tends to be older and poorer than the Twin Cities metro area, in some places significantly so,” Geller said.

The center surveyed Minnesotans living outside the Twin Cities, discovering 65 percent had computers, and more than 57 percent used the Internet.

Both figures are up from the center’s first survey two years ago, but Internet use rose at a faster-than-expected rate, the center’s report indicated.

The best news, Geller said, was the rapid increase in the use of high-speed Internet service, known as broadband.

Southern Minnesotans tend to use broadband more than northerners -- 20 percent versus 12 percent. Northern and southern Minnesota broadband users are more likely to use cable TV services as the way to connect to the Internet, while central Minnesotans lean toward telephone companies’ DSL lines.

The average rural broadband price fell from $49 a month a year ago to $41 this year, according to the study.

Rural high-speed Internet access has been on the front burner both in Minnesota and nationally.

Two years ago, the state provided $1 million to help provide broadband to 40 rural Minnesota counties.

Federal Communications Commission officials last week pledged to begin a series of initiatives to improve Internet and other communication services in rural America.

A special focus will be on American Indian lands, which tend to have the worst service.

“Advances in communications technology, including digital television, wireless phones, satellite-fed services and unlicensed devices, offer the opportunity to improve the quality of life and to promote economic development in rural America,” FCC Chairman Michael Powell said.

As part of the program, the FCC plans to inform low-income Americans about programs to give them discounts on telephone services.

Geller said more and more farm and small-town residents can connect to the Internet, but some areas of the state do not have local telephone numbers to make those connections.

The lack of computer use by older and poorer rural Minnesotans stood out in his survey, Geller said.

While 80 percent of those 55 and younger own a computer, the survey showed 55 percent in the 56-to-64 age bracket own one and 35 percent of those older than 65 do.

Household income also made a difference. About 86 percent of homes with incomes of $99,000 or more have computers, while 31 percent with incomes of less than $25,000 have them.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Don Davis at (651) 290-0707.

4.4   PayPal Sucks

 

I just finished using PayPal for about the fifth time and last time.  The first four uses were fine.  I now know why I'll never use PayPal again.  The eBay seller - Christopher Aguilar (dobymanincali@yahoo.com) - only shipped 1 of 2 laptop batteries but charged me for both batteries.  When confronted via the eBay and PayPal complaint mechanism, he lied by stating he had shipped both batteries.  Amazingly though, he acknowledge in personal emails to me that he owed me for the extra battery and asked me if he should ship the other battery or refund my money.  An unethical seller is not news but I used PayPal.  This is where it gets interesting.

 

PayPal doesn't protect its buyers.  The Discover Card I used via PayPal says there is nothing they can do to refund any part of my money based on this situation.  If I had purchased the product using my Discover Card directly, they could help me.  Whoooaa!!!  I paid with a credit card.  Is PayPal some mafioso storefront operation which "protects" unethical sellers on the Internet.  That's my impression of PayPal.  Never again PayPal.  Shame on you.

4.5  Domain Names For Sale

Contact Jeff Pester @ either jp@urbanradar.com or 612.377.0370 for details on purchasing either datacage.com or intellasense.com.  If you would like to list your domain names for sale, contact me at matt@netsuds.com and I'll list them here.

4.6  Cray's Revenge

Thanks to NetSudser Tim Ward - tward@dcvast.com - for alerting us to the following article.

http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,51460,00.html

4.7  NetSuds CEO Roundtable - Next Roundtables starting in January 2004

NetSuds is opening up another group of CEO Roundtables in January 2004.  The first meetings of the 3 CEO Roundtables occurred January 21, 22 and 23.  Those three introductory sessions culminated in to one ongoing monthly session of participating CEOs.  If you are tech or medtech CEO and want to join us, (the first session is free), contact matt.noah@netsuds.com.  A synopsis of the CEO Roundtable can be found at www.netsuds.com/ceo/  It is repeated here as well.

NetSuds CEO Roundtable

Membership  Only CEOs of tech and medtech companies are allowed to join the NetSuds CEO Roundtable.  If you are a VP, CxO or President, you are not welcome unless you also hold the CEO title.  Perhaps we will start a CFO, CTO or COO Roundtable but until then, we are only interested in the top dog, the CEO.  If you are interested in becoming a member, contact matt.noah@netsuds.com.  Membership is not automatic.  There must be an available spot open in the roundtable.  You must have employees.  Your company must be incorporated.  Your company must be a tech (communications, IT, software, Internet) or medtech (medtech, biotech, life sciences) company.  You must pay a yearly fee of $1000 in advance.  You may not send substitutes to the Roundtable. 

Roles  Unlike the days of knights, kings and Camelot, there is no king of the NetSuds CEO Roundtable; only a facilitator; Matt Noah, CEO of NetSuds.com, Inc.  Knights are replaced by CEOs and the table won't be quite round.

Schedule  The Roundtable will meet 10 times per calendar year.  Our initial roundtable is meeting the last Tuesday of every month.  Each meeting lasts between 1.25 and 1.50 hours starting at 7 am.  A facility convenient to the majority of Roundtable members is used.  A continental breakfast is served.

Our next introductory session (free) has been scheduled for January 2004.  Attendance will be limited to just CEOs.  Contact matt@netsuds.com if you want an invitation.

Purpose  CEOs need resources to assist them in executing their duties and leading their companies.  Boards of Directors and upper management are not always the best or most independent resources upon which to draw.  The CEO Roundtable exists to provide CEOs with an independent resource of wisdom and shared experience.  Your key 'take-aways' from the Roundtable will be accelerated learning - so as to avoid common and uncommon pitfalls -, an expanded network of advisors and colleagues and tools to enhance the productivity and value of your enterprise.

Content  First, networking among the CEO members of a Roundtable is the best and richest content.  Second, the Roundtable facilitator will schedule subject matter experts of interest to the CEOs.  Examples include intellectual property, branding, sales, engineering, marketing, finance, compensation, human resources, M&A, etc. 

Format  Meetings will consist primarily of 2 elements.  First, "content" will be presented and discussed.  Second, "discussion" of common problems and solutions will take place.  The facilitator will lead both elements or assign elements to certain CEOs.

Confidentiality  Roundtable meetings are completely confidential.  Nothing said in a roundtable discussion, short of illegal activity, leaves the meeting.  This allows each CEO to feel comfortable discussing issues and subjects he may not feel comfortable speaking about with others.

4.8   Protecting The Public From Innovation (VONAGE)

By Scott Bradner

 

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission knows it knows more than you do. It knows what telephone service is, and woe be you

if your definition is different than its because the commission has the law on its side.  The group recently concluded that at least one

voice-over-Internet service is actually a telephone service ( < http://www.puc.state.mn.us/docs/orders/03-0093.pdf > ) deserving of regulation rather than yet another information service running over the Internet. In case you did not know already, using the words "regulation" and "innovation" in the same sentence is a challenge.

It seems that someone at the Minnesota Department of Commerce saw an ad for Vonage ( < http://www.vonage.com/ > ), a voice-over-IP provider, thought it looked a lot like an ad from a telephone company and complained to the PUC. Ostensibly, the Commerce Department was worried that Vonage did not do the right thing when it came to supporting 911 emergency calls.  A spokesperson for the Commerce Department was quoted as saying that Vonage should not be permitted to operate in Minnesota if its 911 implementation was not up to standards. And, by the way, Minnesota has a bunch of taxes that apply to phone services, and the state is involved in setting the rates for phone services.

There are a number of intertwined issues here:

 

* 911 services depend on knowing where someone is. This is easy when there is a dedicated wire for the phone service, hard to impossible when someone can plug the phone into any Internet connection anywhere in the world.

 

* Even if Vonage could tell the emergency folks exactly where the caller is, it would not be compatible with the emergency systems because they depend on receiving a phone number that they look up in a database to find a street address.

 

* Vonage does not advertise that it provides 911 service (but it does seem to have some way to provide something like it), so should the company be required to provide something it does not advertise?

 

* When does a voice interaction application become a phone service - is voice-enabled instant messaging a phone service that needs to support 911?

 

* How much of this is actually the regulators trying to protect the incumbent phone companies and the revenue streams from them?

 

When there was only one phone company in any an area, there might have been a good reason for the regulators to define what

services that phone company had to offer and at what price.  But because the Internet lets an infinite number of companies and individuals offer the equivalent of phone service in the same area, is the regulation still needed to protect the consumer?

 

Real competition between providers pushes innovation and lowers prices. Somehow I don't think it's likely that regulations from

the PUC will have the same effect.  Maybe these regulators should insist on truth in advertising, such as requiring ads to say that 911 is not provided, and let customers decide what they want. That seems to work in many other areas.

 

Disclaimer: I'm sure Harvard trains some regulators; I hope they are not as good at ignoring the interest of consumers. But the above is my observation.

 

RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS:  The PUC order in the Vonage case http://www.puc.state.mn.us/docs/orders/03-0093.pdf

_______________________________________________________________

To contact: Scott Bradner

Bradner is a consultant with Harvard University's University Information Systems. He can be reached at < sob@sobco.com >

4.9  The Terminator Is A Spammer

We all know spam is nearly as bad as a "social disease" these days.  I recently received this email from the Terminator although I had never signed up for anything from him.  Arnold, spamming is not a way to win friends and influence people!




 


Dear A,

Thank you again for your generous offer to volunteer on my campaign.  Together, we will bring California back!

I am writing to let you know that earlier today we launched a comprehensive new web site (www.joinarnold.com).  On the site, you will find my views on restoring confidence and stability to our economy, improving education, and making California business friendly.

The site contains significant new functionality which allows you to share your views with me, contribute online to the campaign, and volunteer to help us send a message to Sacramento.

Prior to today's formal launch more than 15 million people have visited joinarnold.com.

Please visit the site.  Again, thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Paid for and maintained by CALIFORNIANS FOR SCHWARZENEGGER
Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2003

To remove yourself from this mailing, please click here

4.10  NetSuds Executive Search - www.netsuds.com/search/

Welcome to NetSuds Executive Search™!

Markets  We work for companies finding executives and professionals in the following markets: telecom, datacom, IT, software, firmware, marketing, sales, engineering, finance, professional services, operations, manufacturing, medtech, biotech, and life sciences.

Business Models  We have 2 ways we can engage you as a client depending upon your needs and desires.  (1) We can act as a full-service traditional executive search firm with a local focus.  (2) You can advertise open positions via traditional fee-based advertising (www.netsuds.com/adrates.htm) and free advertising in our Monthly Reports (You can post openings for free in our Monthly Reports using our 1-line ad format, e.g. Company XYZ - http://www.companyxyz.com/jobs/).

Getting Started Rather than start from scratch, NetSuds Executive Search™ has teamed up with a premier executive search firm to serve the professional recruiting needs of those individuals and companies in our network.  The process is simple.  You can either contact Matt Noah at 612.605.5252 or at search@ netsuds.com to get the process started.  If you email me, please state the company at which you are employed and how I may contact you (phone and email address).  All communications are confidential.  When you work with NetSuds Executive Search™ you not only get the services of a premier executive search firm but access to the largest number of tech and medtech professionals in the Twin Cities.

Fees  NetSuds Executive Search™ is a competitive provider of search services.  As such, our fees are based on market conditions and are negotiable.

Background NetSuds and MedicalSuds are first and foremost the two most recognizable tech and medtech networking and business development organizations in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.  We reach well over 7000 professionals via email at the click of a mouse.  Our live events draw public company executives, emerging company executives, entrepreneurs, marketers, sales professionals, engineers, finance professionals and associated professionals.  We conduct business events and have fun.  We assist people in attaining their professional goals.

Candidates  If you are an individual looking for a career/job move, email us your resume at people@ netsuds.com.

Matt Noah, CEO, NetSuds.com, Inc. - matt@netsuds.com
 


5.0  Minnesota:  Broadband Jekyll and Hyde

Minnesota is home to "The Broadband Company", ADC.  It may soon become the broadband State; at least as far as supplying equipment to the revolution occurring outside our borders is concerned.
 
Former ADC CEO Bill Cadogan once touted ADC's triple play in broadband of copper (DSL), coax (cable modem) and wireless (MMDS/LMDS).  One of the last acquisitions made during Mr. Cadogan's tenure as CEO was a Massachusetts cable data equipment maker.  The acquisition, while expensive, is helping to position ADC as a major force in the cable data equipment market.  More later on this topic.
 
ADC is not alone in addressing the broadband market.  While ADC's DSL and wireless equipment divisions faltered, another local wireless equipment maker, NextNet Wireless, is one of Minnesota's most exciting privately-held companies.  A few years back, ADC made a bet on Vyyo over NextNet Wireless; a decision which they must now regret.  Burnsville-based NextNet Wireless continued addressing the fixed broadband wireless markets overseas which ADC addressed the domestic market.  Their far East and Mexico successes helped fuel their innovative engineering designs. 
 
A number of months ago, Nextel began a strategy to acquire the wireless spectrum licenses held by Worldcom and deploy a domestic fixed broadband wireless network.  In the last 2 months, Nextel finally acquired the licenses from Worldcom and the bankruptcy courts.  By that time, Nextel had evaluated fixed broadband wireless equipment from several vendors and gave tentative preference to NextNet Wireless.  That preference seems to have solidified with Nextel board member and wireless pioneer Craig McCaw making an equity investment in NextNet Wireless this Summer.
 
NextNet Wireless has now secured both an international market and a domestic market for their products.  Their challenge now is to an execute on a future which is only limited by their ability to execute.  Markets, financing, management team and differentiable product roadblocks are all behind them.
 
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) controls the quagmire of communications regulations in the USA which can decide the fate of communications companies; especially start-ups.  Right not, the FCC is favoring the large service providers (ILECs) like Qwest, Verizon, SBC and Bell South.  In short, the FCC is ruling that the ILECs do not have to share their networks with their upstart competitors.  This ruling is encouraging the ILECs to consider large-scale deployment of competitive broadband networks.
 
This FCC development has Optical Solutions CEO Darryl Ponder smiling broadly. It also helped draw an additional $12M venture capital investment announced last week.  Optical Solutions, founded in northern Minnesota and headquartered now in Plymouth, has been slugging it out in the fiber to the home (FTTH) market by addressing the rural telephone company markets.  They have been more successful than any competitor but the market size is too small right now to get critical momentum.  The advent of the FCC rulings and the subsequent ILEC request for proposals has Ponder more animated now than when he left ADC as GM of the cable equipment division.
 
Optical Solutions is positioned as the number one player in the FTTH market but the game has now changed.  With the ILECs toying with the idea of deploying millions of fiber connections around the USA, equipment vendors will be beat down on price, beat up on features and forced into alliances with other affiliated vendors.  The ILECs are not financially healthy but they face a threat which is forcing them to consider FTTH; cable TV.
 
Every market report indicates a greater deployment of cable modems v. DSL modems in homes and small businesses.  The gap is widening.  As cable companies dominate the ever-growing data needs of its customers and set their sights on their voice needs, the ILECs risk becoming the Amtrak of a jet-traveling public.  The ILECs have to deploy FTTH. They probably have to risk placing entertainment, i.e. TV, on the FTTH networks.
 
And so, we arrive at a point it time where ADC could become the dominant cable data modem (not the modem in your home but the modem at the "other" end) player in the USA, Nextnet Wireless could become the dominant fixed broadband wireless equipment player in the USA and Optical Solutions could become the dominant fiber optic equipment player in the USA.

Adding one more iron to the fire is another start-up dedicated to providing broadband to every home in the USA which has electricity.  ADC alumni Cliff Davidow founded PowerWAN a few years back and currently has engineering offices in Minneapolis staffed by some ex-ADC engineers.  PowerWAN - www.powerwan.com - is built upon the premise that high-speed data and voice services can be provided in a frequency band higher than the ssssllllllllooooooowwwwww 60 Hz. signal where AC power resides.  The issues are interference and those pesky power transformers.  Cliff and his team have figured these issues out and currently have systems carrying broadband in Nevada.


Welcome to Broadband, USA, formerly known as Minnesota.  Now if we can convince the Minnesota PUC that broadband should be embraced and not hindered.
 

6.0  The Battle for VoIP in the US

by NetSudser Jeff Pulver, jeff@pulver.com

YOU CAN ALSO VISIT <http://pulver.com/reports/subscribe.html> TO SUBSCRIBE to the Pulver Report

Back in February, 2003 after reading the proposed draft resolutions from the Winter NARUC <http://www.naruc.org> meeting, it was clear to me that trouble was brewing just below the surface for those who may be offering VoIP services in certain States around the US.

Back in April, I thought that the State Attorney Generals of both Michigan and Minnesota must have seen the movie or read the book "The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick together, since when they both filed against the Free World Dialup petition, they were not filing against FWD in it's present form, but were objecting to what they thought it would evolve into in the future. So they decided to then reject it in it's present form. This also put me on notice that both Michigan and Minnesota should be watched for actions against VoIP. The fact that Minnesota recently took action against Vonage doesn't really surprise me.

Just prior to the NARUC Winter 2003 meeting, I asked consumers who cared about VoIP in general to reach out and write to their State Public Utility Commissioners and collectively they had a positive impact. It turns out that now, once again, more than ever, those of you who are in the US who care about keeping VoIP regulation free, need to reach out on a proactive basis and make it known that we want to see a sustained IP Communications Revolution and in fact, create an environment which encourages Entrepreneurs and established companies who wish to offer competitive Broadband IP Voice services to be able to do so.

I've been updating a page on the pulver.com website entitled:

"Updated: VoIP Regulatory Battle moving to the US States." The page has working summaries of where we are on a State level. The URL is: <http://pulver.com/reports/statesfightvoip.html>.

After Labor day (in the US) I will begin working on launching a new consumer driven grass-roots effort/coalition to make sure the established US Telecommunications industry knows that there are consumers who care about keeping VoIP regulation free.

If there are readers of the Pulver Report who feel inspired to help contribute their resources to help fight this battle, please feel free to email: jeffp@pulver.com.  My hope and expectation is to bring together a coalition of consumers of the willing who believe in VoIP together with the service providers who still want to make a difference.

7.0  Minnesota PUC Caves to Qwest, Beats Up On Vonage

Qwest LD  Many of us were dismayed that the Minnesota PUC gave the green light for Qwest to offer long distance service in the State.  To prove their case, Qwest had to show it was allowing competition in areas like local loop connectivity.  Well, most opinion I hear is that Qwest is far from friendly with their CLEC competitors who try to get local loop access for services like DSL.  Anyway, enough griping about this issue.  Let's hope Qwest finds the LD market as tough as everyone else.  Their only hope is the bundling of many services in to a package deal.

Vonage  I am a customer of Vonage - www.vonage.com - as I've said many times in this Monthly Report.  On August 13, the Minnesota PUC - click here - heard a complaint from the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce regarding Vonage illegally operating telephone service in Minnesota.  The complaint centers around 3 areas: (1) Vonage is alleged to be offering telephone services in Minnesota including local exchange and LD service without first obtaining a certificate under § MN Stats. 237.16 and 237.74.  (2) The local telephone service offered by Vonage allegedly violates MN 911 law.  (3)  Vonage has allegedly not filed a tariff containing all terms and conditions of its service.

AT&T and MCI have now jumped in as interveners.  Level 3 jumped in as a participant.

MCI is asking the PUC to dismiss the complaint against Vonage basically because it believes the PUC is incompetent to make a ruling (my interpretation).    The record in this case is amazingly spartan.  The Dept. claims it boils down to an 8 sentence conversation with someone at Vonage.  If one believes Vonage is providing telephone service, the PUC may stifle VoIP nation-wide.  If one believes Vonage is an information service, the PUC may dismiss the complaint.  Anything in between will just make lawyers richer.

The truth is Vonage is providing an information service which involves a simile of what we consider traditional telephony service.  So what?  Technology has now progressed to the point where the local telephone monopoly can be challenged by broadband.  Some of the arcane regulations which beef up the price of telephony service are being threatened by IP voice.  Good.

In this case, the staff at the PUC is recommending a punishment of Vonage.  This is just another example of how Minnesota is earning its anti-business reputation in the marketplace.

For more information, see "Minnesota PUC has ruled that Vonage is a "Telephone Service." <http://tinyurl.com/kor9> FWD Mailing List Archives - August 13, 2003, (click on subject to read sequential posts)"
 


8.0   How To Identify And Work With A Patent Lawyer 
 

By NetSudser Todd Taylor, Taylor Law Group, P.C. and Tom Oppold, Larkin, Hoffman, Daly & Lindgren, Ltd.

 

Handing over your idea to a patent attorney to prepare it for filing with a patent office can be traumatic.  After all, you have likely spent years of your life working late, on weekends, missing vacations and family events to perfect your invention and you feel you should be the one in charge of all stages of its life.  But while you have the technical skills to develop your invention, you likely lack the legal skills to successfully file and shepard your invention through the complex patent regulations.

 

On the surface, a patent application looks pretty straightforward and the process routine.  To a doctor with a cold, the diagnosis probably looks easy as well, but doctors don’t treat themselves and attorney’s don’t represent themselves for a good reason:  being too close to something often results in a lack of proper perspective and this often results in poor judgment.  A good patent attorney possesses the experience and education necessary to craft your application to reduce risks while making it as broad as possible.

 

Identifying a Compatible Patent Attorney 

 

When selecting patent counsel, hire the attorney -- not the firm.  Often firms and individual patent attorneys purport to have "expertise" in a broad range of arts.  While this may be true in many instances, you should thoroughly investigate the qualifications of the attorney that will actually be preparing and prosecuting your patent application.  Unless the patent attorney preparing and filing the application has the necessary educational experience or practical experience in the technology to which the invention pertains, the attorney may not fully understand or appreciate the distinctions between the invention and the prior art when writing the patent application.  All too often, this lack of knowledge and understanding of the technology results in overly narrow claim scope, thus diminishing the value of the patent upon issuance or, alternatively, overly broad claim scope which may prevent successful prosecution of the application into an issued patent.  Thus, do not hesitate to ask a prospective patent attorney what his or her experience is with the technology.  The patent attorney should have either an under graduate degree in engineering or other technical degree in the discipline related to the technology or at least have practical experience in the technology.

 

Particularly for those who are inexperienced with the patent process, look for an attorney that is willing to explain how the patent process works, what is involved in preparing and filing the patent application, and what attorney's fees and expenses the you, as the client, should expect to incur prior to filing the application, during prosecution of the application, and after issuance of the application as a patent.  Obtaining a patent is not cheap, the attorney should not hesitate in providing you with an estimate of fees for each of these separate phases of the patent process to avoid an unwelcome surprise to the client. 

It is very important to personally interview prospective patent lawyers to discuss their qualifications and your needs.  Get recommendations from friends, business associates and others, but always make the decision to hire yourself.  Think of this first meeting as a job interview, with you as the hiring manager.  The patent attorney will be working for you, and while they will have the expertise you need, you have the right to ask as many questions as you need to determine if the person is the right fit for you and your company.  The patent lawyer should listen to you and ask questions.  Avoid lawyers who talk all the time and leave you feeling like you would be interrupting if you were to talk.  The right “fit” is very important when hiring a patent lawyer, or any professional advisor.

Working with your Patent Attorney

Once hired, your patent attorney should be willing to spend the necessary time with you to ask and to learn how the invention was conceived, what problems the inventor was trying to solve, the successes and failures experienced by the inventor in attempting to solve the problems, whether the inventor is aware of any commercially available products or processes relevant to the patentability of the invention, etc.  This background information is often crucial in conducting patent searches to determine the patentability of the invention and is often crucial in successfully prosecuting a patent application to issuance with the broadest possible scope.

Prior to actually filing the application, the attorney should be willing to meet with you to review the draft application and to discuss any questions you may have regarding the patent process.  Additionally, the attorney should be willing to meet (and should actually insist on meeting) with you to attempt to "design around" the patent claims as proposed.  This will help you and the attorney know whether the claims are drafted too narrowly and will also help you appreciate the scope of protection you may expect if the application issues as a patent.

After filing the application, the attorney should keep you informed as to the status of the application during the entire prosecution phase of the application and should promptly provide you with copies of all correspondence to and from the patent office.

Even after the patent has been granted, your patent attorney will be important.  First, your patent must now be protected against infringement from third-parties.  This involves analyzing the alleged infringement to determine if it really infringes the claims of your patent and if it does, taking action to stop the infringement.  If a dispute devolves into litigation, your patent lawyer will be instrumental in planning your litigation strategy, and may even represent you in court.  Second, you may want to amend or add additional claims to your patent.  Your patent attorney should go through the same process to work with you to file these claims.  This is also true for any international patents you need to pursue.

 

Conclusion

 

For inventors, a good patent attorney is one of the most important pieces to success.  Take some time to find a patent attorney who you feel comfortable working with, who has knowledge of your technology area and who takes time to explain the process.  Once you have hired the patent attorney, remember to stay involved and ask questions about things you do not understand, Confucius say it is better to suffer a moments embarrassment than a lifetime of ignorance.  A good patent attorney will answer all your questions and ask you many more about your invention.  Answering these questions honestly and completely will help ensure the process goes smoothly.  Even after your patent has been issued, keep in touch with your patent attorney if you are making significant changes to your invention or if you feel someone is infringing on your patent.

 

About the authors:

 

Todd Taylor is the president of Taylor Law Group, P.C. (www.ttaylorlaw.com) and works with start-up, emerging and entrepreneurial companies of all sizes on their corporate, securities and real estate law issues.  He can be reached at ttaylor@ttaylorlaw.com or 612-325-5036. 

Tom Oppold is an associate with Larkin, Hoffman, Daly & Lindgren, Ltd. (www.lhdl.com).  Tom is a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and has prepared, prosecuted and litigated numerous patents in the mechanical, electro-mechanical and computer software arts.  He can be reached at toppold@lhdl.com or 952-896-3397.
 

9.0  October 22 - A Call To Action

The Telecom Policy Summit & Reception - www.netsuds.com/tps/ - now scheduled for October 22 has a number of goals.

1.  Raise awareness to the issue of non-traditional voice services and methods.
2.  Analyze the Minnesota PUC Briefings/Rulings.
3.  Influence Minnesota legislators.
4.  Propose a roadmap for new legislation which would reverse the Minnesota PUC actions.
5.  Find legislative leaders willing to carry the ball for the new legislation.
6.  Educate workshop attendees on the benefits and drawbacks of alternate voice services and methods.
7.  Meet the Minnesota innovators (and possibly national innovators) responsible for this technology evolution.
8.  Find a law firm(s) or a legislator willing to author the new legislation.

The legislative session will being in earnest in January 2004.  November and December is consumed by holidays and agenda-setting for the upcoming legislative session.  NOW IS THE TIME TO JUMP ON THIS ISSUE AND HELP MAKE MINNESOTA A NATIONAL LEADER IN WELCOMING NEW SERVICES MEANT TO FOSTER BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT AND USE!!!  The alternative is to let the Minnesota PUC make Minnesota the leader in regulating and squashing broadband and broadband services.

If you want to participate in this truly critical issue, send an email to vonage@netsuds.com.  We are looking for law firms, telecom firms, IT firms, equipment vendors, PR firms and others to sponsor, speak, attend and make this an important issue for Minnesota and the nation.  The forces that would squash VoIP are a well-organized lobby.  Politicians will need a show of force from the technology and business community to adopt new law.  We are looking for people who want to add their names to petitions seeking to convince legislators, the Governor, the Minnesota PUC, etc. to fight for broadband and any necessary changes to the law.

The goal is to conduct a full-day workshop followed by an evening NetSuds reception.  NetSuds welcomes all partners to advertise this event and encourage their members, constituents and affiliates to participate.  THE AGENDA SHOULD BE AVAILABLE BY MID-SEPTEMBER.

10.0  Guest Writers for This Report

I have opened up the Monthly NetSuds Report to guest writers. If you have a passion for a topic, and you can write (at least no worse than me), send an email to me matt@netsuds.com.  You can even send copies of your work.  It needs to be on "com and .com" topics and can include entrepreneur/investor activities.  Good information from our    service providers and vendors is also welcome so long as it is not a "commercial" for any one company or individual.

We will consider both sponsored and unsponsored columnists and guest writers.

If you are aware of others who would like to receive the NetSuds Report, ask them to visit http://www.netsuds.net/mail.htm to subscribe or unsubscribe.

Please send your comments and feedback regarding this issue of the NetSuds Report to matt@netsuds.com.

Matt Noah

980 Lake Susan Hills Drive
Chanhassen, MN  55317

612.605.5252
fax:  612.677.3934
matt@netsuds.com

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