AOL continues an interesting trip that took them from one of the largest and most powerful ISPs on the Internet, to a fractured and financially-troubled company with dreams of becoming an advertising giant. Of course most of their problems were caused by their inability to adapt to (or really in some cases even recognize) the broadband market -- something that was at least in part caused by former executive Lisa Hook, who went on to do amazing things with VoIP carrier SunRocket as well. With its spin off from Time Warner, the company this fall has undergone its latest in an endless line of evolution efforts, but has announced those changes will come with pink slips for about one third of AOL's employees, or about 2,300 workers.

The Pirate Bay crew had already essentially been disbanded, the site dissected, and its remnants sold to a somewhat dubious company that simply wants to turn the site's visitors into little P2P cash cows. So an announcement today over at the official Pirate Bay blog that they're officially shutting down the site's tracker probably surprises nobody.

Last week we noted how Verizon had started working with the RIAA to send letters to Verizon users who traded copyrighted files, though the company still doesn't plan to divulge user identities to the entertainment industry. Verizon also doesn't appear willing to engage in the industry's dream scenario of booting repeat offenders off of their network. In a follow up piece, CNET notes that Verizon has also struck a new letter notification agreement with the major film studios and the MPAA. Contrary to what CNET seems to believe, Verizon has sent DMCA infringement notifications to their users on behalf of Fox and other companies in the past, so it's not clear just how expanded this new effort will be (Verizon isn't commenting).

GigaOM directs our attention to an interesting video interview with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who dissects Netflix's role as the premier application for broadband. Hastings discusses how the future for Netflix is bright, given the tendency to embed every consumer device with a $10 Wi-Fi chipset, and the fact that bandwidth prices continue to drop. He doesn't get into specific bandwidth costs for the Netflix streaming service, but he cites the fact that "Moore's law is an amazing thing" in a world where Amazon now charges 5 cents a gigabyte for bandwidth and you can transfer a movie for about a nickel. "What's fueling the whole system is the end users, who are paying $40-$60 to their ISP, and that's funding the whole system," says Hastings.

Over the years we've seen no limit of specialized hardware, software or other gadgetry promising to defeat the laws of physics and speed up your Internet connection above and beyond its basic capabilities. From the "Juice Boosted" scam to Earthlink's latest absurd acceleration ploy, by and large these are all snake oil.

Remember the ACTA? The international anti-piracy agreement being hashed out in private between governments and the entertainment industry? The one the EFF sued to try and get information about but the Obama Administration classified as a state secret? Canadian Law Professor Michael Geist says bits and pieces are leaking out, and the law does indeed revolve around forcing ISPs into the role of Internet copyright nannies -- an expensive and likely futile endeavor. According to the EFF, the ACTA is everything they feared it would be: story continues..

According to Media Memo, Apple is pitching the idea of a new, "over the top" $30 a month subscription broadband TV service. The service, which would not be tied to Apple's Apple TV device, would simply be an extension of the iTunes video store. According to the report, Disney is one likely possible partner -- an interesting mention given they're supposedly having some trouble agreeing with cable companies over payment for their "TV Everywhere" online video initiative. Of course cable operators will fight like hell given this would be a direct competitor to both regular cable and TV Everywhere, and broadcasters may not sign up out of fear of threatening their relationships with cable companies.

We've frequently explored how a growing number of VoIP companies were blocking FreeConferencecall.com, because the service relies on a practice known as "traffic pumping," a regulatory loophole that allows small, rural telcos to sock bigger carriers with huge connectivity fees. A few years back, AT&T tried to block access to such services but were yelled at by the FCC because it breaks common carrier laws.

Nintendo Wii owners were recently left feeling a little under appreciated with the news that Playstation 3 owners will be getting Netflix broadband video streaming next month. Blog rumblings indicate that Netflix streaming will be coming to the Wii eventually, but may not arrive until next year with the shipping of a modified, HD-capable Wii variant. This image was sent out to some Wii owners in a survey last march, and the console owners have been eagerly anticipating the streaming service ever since. The blog's leak sources insist that it's not entirely impossible the launch could also happen before the holidays.

Techdirt points out how the RIAA has come out in favor of network neutrality -- sort of. In a missive written over at the RIAA blog, RIAA President Cary Sherman proudly supports the government's network neutrality push -- provided it in turn supports the implementation of piracy filters. The RIAA correctly notes the FCC continues to use language that indicates any neutrality laws will not apply to the transfer of illegal content (even if determining what's not legal is still very murky ground). Says the RIAA:Given the number of former RIAA employees now working within the Department of Justice, the idea that the FCC's new neutrality rules will be written around the RIAA's desires shouldn't really surprise anybody.

Previously, Google Voice required that you create a new number for use with the platform, which allows you to manage multiple numbers while offering services like voicemail transcription and free SMS. According to a post over at the Google blog, you can now use your existing number with the service, though not all functionality will work -- such as automated voicemail transcription, call recording, and different voicemail greetings for different callers. As we discussed the other day, many people don't understand yet how products like Google Voice will seriously disrupt the traditional phone empire, and leeching voicemail functionality away from the telcos continues the evolution.

According to a post over at the Playstation Blog, Netflix broadband video streaming -- currently the exclusive territory of Microsoft's Xbox 360 -- will be coming to the Playstation 3 in November. Interestingly, a post over at the Netflix website indicates that PS3 users will need a free DVD in order to make the functionality work -- at least until the next PS3 system update comes along and embeds it via broadband. Those interested can also check out this press release.

"It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online," proclaims News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey, who this week indicated that Hulu would probably start charging for access in 2010.

As we've been exploring, both AT&T and Verizon absolutely despise Google. Why? Because the company represents an Internet future where phone companies are relegated to "dumb pipe" network operators, and more innovative and adaptable companies wind up making a killing in the content and service business.

Broadcasters and cable operators haven't been seeing eye to eye about the cable industry's TV Everywhere initiative, which will offer online users Internet video as a free supplement to their cable subscription. The debate so far is over compensation -- with some eager to impose unskippable ads on consumers, and other even hoping to charge for the added functionality.

Comcast should find out tomorrow if their dreams of integrating with NBC will come to fruition. According to Forbes, Vivendi executives will meet in a Paris boardroom tomorrow to decide whether they should sell their 20% stake in NBC. If the answer is yes, it's expected that Comcast and NBC Universal will merge -- creating a new cable and content superpower. Comcast's eager to integrate NBC's content holdings with their own delivery network in order to create a potential ESPN sports rival, while gaining control over broadband video-delivery service Hulu.

Earlier this year you might remember how smaller ISPs were annoyed with ESPN's business model for their "ESPN 360" online video service. The sports network has been striking deals with large ISPs, urging visitors to those sites to switch carriers if they want access to ESPN 360 content.

According to the latest information from the cable industry, just 443,000 American consumers are using CableCARDs, designed to allow users to break free of the obligation of using a rented cable (or phone) industry TV set top box. That fairly pathetic number is up from just 407,000 in June, despite the fact the cable industry says they've shipped more than 16.7 million set-top boxes with CableCARD functionality.

If you've paid attention, you know the modern "network neutrality" debate took off in 2005, when then AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre proudly, though dumbly, proclaimed that Google got a "free ride" on his network. According to Ed, this unfairness could only be rectified by charging companies who already pay for bandwidth money to ensure their traffic reaches AT&T consumers quickly.

So far Disney isn't playing along with the cable industry's "TV Everywhere" project, which aims to offer existing customers free Internet video as an incentive not to cut the cord. Speaking at an investor's conference, Disney this week complained the new system doesn't deliver "proper compensation," while Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes fired back, saying that broadcasters are "not the ones who are going to the effort and expense of making this possible." Meanwhile, there continues to be a push to take the offline ad model online:Disney and Time Warner's lover's quarrel comes on the heels of news that TV Everywhere is so far a jumble of non-standards, with each carrier approaching implementation of the system differently. Ironically, bickering between broadcasters and TV operators, limited selection, walled gardens and unskippable ads are exactly the sort of thing that will drive consumers to alternative video operations or piracy -- the very thing TV Everywhere was supposed to stop.