Net Neutrality, IPTV, Wireless Broadband and More: A Gamer’s Guide to Broadband Issues
Lecturer: Steve Augustino, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
As online gaming continues to develop in ways that make game play more robust, games are becoming increasingly reliant on ubiquitous broadband connectivity. Real time communication capabilities such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), chat, and messaging enhance the social networking aspects of gaming, helping to build loyalty and maintain subscriptions. MMOGs offer increasingly complex game situations and more sophisticated AI, making games more vulnerable to latency and jitter caused by the “best efforts” Internet access networks of today.
This session will focus on the role that broadband access networks have on online gaming and the legal and business trends affecting these networks. The debate over “net neutrality” and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) offerings will be discussed, as well as Broadband over Powerline, wireless broadband, and other technologies threatening the telephone and cable TV networks.
Intended Audience: This session is intended for game publishers and developers who want to understand the latest trends in broadband deployment and U.S. broadband policy. It will be particularly useful for designers and business people involved in the creation of MMOGs, but will be of interest to any attendee who wants to understand the types of broadband facilities being deployed and the potential impact of newer high speed Internet access options on gaming. The session will not be technical in nature.
Prerequisites: None
Format: Lecture
Date/Time: Thursday, 5:00 PM
Room: Senate
