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March 8, 2012 (Apple Reveals New Game-Changer)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Apple Reveals New Game-Changer iPad With High-Res Screen And 4G, Starting At $499 [links to web]
What LTE Means for Apple and the Wireless Industry - analysis
New 4G iPad marks the beginning of the end for 3G
Internet lobby would opt for political fight over new data costs
In the Age of the Smartphone, Ads Go Mobile
Dish Stock Shows Ergen’s Mobile Network Seen as Bluff [links to web]
A Reprieve -- and a Lesson -- for Class A TV Stations? - analysis [links to web]
Phone ban saves lives, one ticket at a time - editorial [links to web]
'Turn Off All Electronic Devices:' And What Happens if You Don't [links to web]
Low-tech starts to drive smartphone growth [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC Launches Public-Private Initiative to Advance Broadband - press release
Gig.U crucial to transform region - editorial [links to web]
Challenged rural counties need high-speed Internet - op-ed [links to web]
BITAG Report on Large Scale Network Address Translation - press release [links to web]
Blair Levin on national broadband and its implications for the future of journalism [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Transfers at Clear Channel in Dispute
Clear Channel’s Directors Give Big to Romney, Who Won’t Criticize Limbaugh
Facebook Gets $8 Billion From Credit Line, 364-Day Bridge Loan [links to web]
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
Super PACs Outspent Candidates in Run-Up to Tuesday
Obama Mines for Voters With High-Tech Tools
Clear Channel’s Directors Give Big to Romney, Who Won’t Criticize Limbaugh
Transfers at Clear Channel in Dispute
Twitter analysis gets elections half right
Election Again Top Story for Public and Media - research [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
Internet providers warn against cybersecurity regulation
Senators observe simulated cyberattack
US Report to Warn on Cyberattack Threat From China
FBI Director Warns Congress About Terrorist Hacking [links to web]
PRIVACY
Online privacy must be cooperative, official says
No app for mobile privacy protections
Reps Barton, Markey Get Big-Name Support for Kids Privacy Bill [links to web]
National Consumer Protection Week: Spotlight on Trusted Identities [links to web]
General Counsel Kerry Amplifies President Obama’s Consumer Privacy Protection Message in Europe [links to web]
CONTENT
US Warns Apple, Publishers
Rep. Issa fails to gain traction in push for new anti-online piracy legislation [links to web]
Here’s What a Netflix-Cable Deal Could Look Like: The One That Netflix Just Announced With Apple [links to web]
Why UK antipiracy laws won’t spark SOPA-like protests [links to web]
How corporations use social media to gauge public persona [links to web]
Musical Borrowing Under Scrutiny [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Agencies should monitor social media to improve services - op-ed
Obama admin wants warrantless access to cell phone location data [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
Sen Grassley accuses FCC of reneging on offer to meet over LightSquared [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Why UK antipiracy laws won’t spark SOPA-like protests [links to web]
Cornwall to host ‘white space’ trials in UK [links to web]
As Candidates Speak in France, the Meter Is Running [links to web]
A nation smitten with social media [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
USDA Funding To Improve Rural Electric Infrastructure and Make the 'Grid' More Reliable and Efficient - press release [links to web]
San Francisco gets $5 million U.S. grant for tech training [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
IPAD 4G AND WIRELESS INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen]
The new iPad is Apple’s first mobile device compatible with the so-called fourth-generation LTE networks. The introduction of this new feature means more for the future of Apple and the wireless industry than it does for the iPad itself. The most immediate impact of an LTE iPad will be seen in the United States, where AT&T and Verizon Wireless are building out 4G LTE networks, which are faster than their predecessors, in their race to win subscribers. For now, Verizon is in the lead with the largest number of LTE –for Long Term Evolution — networks deployed throughout the country, and the new iPad’s LTE compatibility should give Verizon leverage against AT&T in marketing its superior network coverage, said Jan Dawson, a telecommunications analyst at Ovum. Conversely, LTE on the iPad spells out potential problems for Sprint Nextel. The smaller carrier, like Verizon and AT&T, sells the iPhone, and an LTE-compatible iPad almost certainly means that the next iPhone will support LTE as well. Sprint, however, hasn’t built an LTE network yet, and given the time it takes to deploy new cellular technologies, the carrier is at risk of falling further behind its competitors. As for Apple, the complicated issue with LTE is that the network technology is available on different spectrum bands on networks around the world. That means to offer the iPad on more LTE networks worldwide, it will have to manufacture multiple models to be compatible with each different band — a splintering effect that the company has been trying to avoid with iPads and iPhones.
benton.org/node/116755 | New York Times | GigaOm
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IPAD 4G AND THE END OF 3G
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: David Goldman]
Apple's new iPad will be a turning point for the wireless industry: It's the beginning of the end for 3G.
The updated iPad Apple unveiled March 7 will be the first Apple device to support a 4G wireless technology called Long Term Evolution, or LTE. So far, 4G device sales have badly lagged behind 3G-capable smartphones and tablets. A marquee device like the iPad could fuel a sales surge. "Apple is the last holdout when it comes to 4G," said Ari Zoldan, CEO of Quantum Networks, a next-generation network supplier. "To add them to the list seals the deal and ensures the technology's dominance in the marketplace."
benton.org/node/116732 | CNNMoney | GigaOm
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APP DEVELOPERS NOT LIKELY TO PAY AT&T
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
Internet companies that stream their content to mobile devices would be likely to seek government intervention to avoid potentially burdensome new costs imposed by a wireless billing plan under consideration by AT&T, sources at an apps company and watchdog groups told dealReporter. A top AT&T executive reportedly floated a plan this week to allow application and content companies to pay the mobile data costs currently charged to AT&T customers. But the internet sector, an increasingly powerful political lobby, would likely fight this plan in Washington before welcoming a new charge for customers’ data use, according to industry sources and analysts. “You will probably see a cross-section of companies with mutual interests -- particularly the companies that host a lot of video -- begin to raise concern. Google, Facebook, Netflix -- anyone hosting video should be concerned,” a representative for an apps company said. Internet companies are “facing a choice,” the same source said. “Either get the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to clarify that you don’t have to pay, or agree to pay tens of millions of dollars. The initial reaction will probably be the one you’d suspect.”
benton.org/node/116730 | Financial Times
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ADS GO MOBILE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nick Bilton]
Online advertising is not intended for mere mortals to understand. It is not really a collection of advertisements, but more like dozens of algorithms that are woven together by even more complex algorithms with the goal of figuring out what we, as Web surfers, like, don’t like or might like in the future — and where and when and with whom. Until now, the tracking and delivering of these ads has been directed to our desktops. We’re starting to see that change. These fancy algorithms are increasingly starting to move toward the new frontier of digital advertising: mobile. According to a recent survey by eMarketer, a research firm, mobile advertising in the United States has grown rapidly over the last year and is expected to continue on this trajectory. EMarketer says that advertisers spent $1.45 billion on mobile ads in the United States last year, up 89 percent from $769.6 million in 2010. In 2012, the research firm estimates, mobile ad spending will grow another 80 percent to $2.61 billion. One factor that is helping mobile ads grow is the additional data and information that is available to advertisers.
benton.org/node/116783 | New York Times
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
PUBLIC-PRIVATE BROADBAND INITIATIVE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced a new Public-Private Initiative to drive collaboration among government and private sector entities, including nonprofit organizations, on broadband-related national priorities. This initiative will advance key broadband goals, including those outlined in the National Broadband Plan, such as broadband adoption, digital literacy, technology and education, cybersecurity, public safety, job creation, and broadband and healthcare.
Chairman Genachowski appointed his Senior Counselor, Josh Gottheimer, to lead the initiative for the Commission. While Gottheimer’s primary focus will be on leading this Initiative, he will continue to serve as the Chairman’s Senior Counselor. Jordan Usdan will serve as Deputy Director of the Public-Private Initiative.
The initiative builds on the success of the Commission’s efforts to encourage public-private initiatives to advance the country’s broadband goals, including Connect to Compete, a broadband adoption program with national digital literacy and low-cost broadband offerings; the Digital Textbooks Initiative, between the Department of Education, the education technology industry, and nonprofit organizations; the FCC’s cybersecurity small business initiative, between government experts and private IT and security companies; Jobs4America, an initiative that has committed to bringing more than 100,000 new and repatriated call center jobs to the U.S. by 2013; and a joint effort with mobile carriers on a new nationwide public safety emergency alerting system.
benton.org/node/116773 | Federal Communications Commission
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OWNERSHIP
CLEAR CHANNEL DISPUTE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Gregory Zuckerman]
A hedge fund is accusing a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications of improperly moving $656 million to its debt-laden parent, which is owned by private-equity giants Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Capital Partners. The cash transfers, which were fully disclosed, were made from billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings. The company is 89% owned by Clear Channel Communications, with the rest owned by public shareholders. JHL Capital Group, a $1.5 billion Chicago hedge fund, argues in a letter to the billboard company that its board members may be liable for "breach of duty" due to cash transfers to the larger media company, according to the Nov. 29 letter. The hedge fund owns less than 1% of Clear Channel Outdoor, according to securities filings.
benton.org/node/116780 | Wall Street Journal
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MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
SUPERPAC SPENDING
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brody Mullins, Alicia Mundy]
In the two weeks leading up to Super Tuesday, outside political action committees supporting the Republican presidential hopefuls spent three times as much as the candidates themselves, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis, the latest sign of how these new "super PACs" are transforming electioneering. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich spent a combined $2.4 million on television ads during the last two weeks in Ohio, Oklahoma, Georgia and Tennessee, the contests with the most delegates Tuesday, according to a review of spending on TV commercials. The super PACs supporting their candidacies spent $7.85 million in those states during the same period, according to data these groups are required to file with the Federal Election Commission.
benton.org/node/116815 | Wall Street Journal
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OBAMA AND BIG DATA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jim Rutenberg, Jeff Zeleny]
With a “chief scientist” specializing in consumer behavior, an “analytics department” monitoring voter trends, and a squad of dozens huddled at computer screens editing video or writing code, the sprawling office complex inside One Prudential Plaza looks like a corporate research and development lab — Ping-Pong table and all. But it is home to the largely secret engine of President Obama’s re-election campaign, where scores of political strategists, data analysts, corporate marketers and Web producers are sifting through information gleaned from Facebook, voter logs and hundreds of thousands of telephone or in-person conversations to reassemble and re-energize the scattered coalition of supporters who swept Mr. Obama into the White House four years ago. President Obama has already begun reprising his election-style appearances of 2008, attacking Republicans and defending his record as he did in a White House press briefing on March 6. And his team is ready to begin a major election-year advertising blitz at a moment’s notice once the Republican nominating contest appears to be drawing to a close. But a huge part of the effort here is dedicated to less flashy yet potentially vital behind-the-scenes work to address some of Obama’s more hidden political challenges.
benton.org/node/116814 | New York Times
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CLEAR CHANNEL, ROMNEY AND LIMBAUGH
[SOURCE: The Daily Beast, AUTHOR: Wayne Barrett]
Fourteen directors of Clear Channel, the company that hosts the Rush Limbaugh show, have contributed $726,400 to Mitt Romney since 1994, most of it in the current presidential campaign. Romney has come under attack for refusing to criticize Limbaugh’s comments about Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke, other than to say that calling her a “slut” and a “prostitute” was “not the language I would have used.” Romney’s former company, Bain Capital, acquired Clear Channel in 2008 with another Boston-based investment firm, Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL), so five of the entertainment company’s directors that have given to Romney come from Bain, while three are affiliated with the Lee firm. Three other directors are members of the Mays family that founded the company and continued to run it until 2011, when CEO Mark Mays stepped down. The remaining three donor directors come from other investment firms. The $26 billion merger, which was launched simultaneously with Romney’s first presidential candidacy in late 2006 and placed Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and much of the talk-show right under Bain/Lee control, also involved Romney’s longtime law firm, Ropes & Gray, whose managing partner is the trustee of the family’s blind trust. David C. Chapin, a lead Ropes lawyer on the merger, has also given $12,700 to Romney, and five other partners who worked on it added another $10,400.
benton.org/node/116726 | Daily Beast, The
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TWITTER ELECTION ANALYSIS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Scott Martin]
Social-analytics firm Attensity predicted former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney would take Massachusetts, Virginia, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota in Republican contests on Super Tuesday, according to a Twitter analysis Attensity conducted for USA TODAY. Attensity also projected that among the other candidates vying with Romney for the Republican presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich would win Georgia, Rick Santorum would take Vermont and Ron Paul would triumph in Alaska. In fact, voters came out to hand victories to Santorum — not Romney — in Tennessee, Oklahoma and North Dakota. Romney won Alaska and Vermont. Gingrich took Georgia, as expected by Attensity's forecast.
The results underscore that the science of applying predictive analytics to Twitter is still in its infancy, analysts say.
benton.org/node/116779 | USAToday
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CYBERSECURITY
CYBERSECURITY HEARING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Representatives of Internet service providers and telecom companies -- including Comcast, AT&T and Century Link -- warned lawmakers not to impose burdensome cybersecurity regulations at a House hearing. The groups touted the steps they have voluntarily taken to ensure their networks are secure from attacks, and said that new regulations could do more harm than good. The tone from the legislators was definitely bipartisan -- botnets attack Republicans and Democrats alike -- and the witnesses painted a sometimes frightening picture of threats from nation states and terrorists, or from individual hackers with only malicious mischief in mind [some of whom grow up to be network engineers and congressional witnesses] to federations of economic hackers for whom it was all about the money, or so-called hactivists -- think the Anonymous group -- out to make a point. All this while the average computer or mobile device user is unaware of the scope of the threat.
benton.org/node/116777 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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SIMULATED CYBERATTACK
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
According to Senate aides, all 100 senators were invited to a cybersecurity exercise on March 7 featuring top executive branch officials. The simulation demonstrated how the federal government would respond to an attack on the New York City electrical grid during a summer heat wave, the aides said. The FBI, the National Security Agency and John Brennan, the president's top counterterrorism adviser, participated in the demonstration. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) requested that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) hold the event, based on a similar exercise after the anthrax attacks in 2001. "Today, an interagency team of senior officials, coordinated by the White House, will brief the Senate on a hypothetical cyber attack against United States critical infrastructure networks," said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council. "The classified scenario is intended to provide all senators with an appreciation for new legislative authorities that would help the U.S. Government prevent and more quickly respond to cyber attacks."
benton.org/node/116774 | Hill, The | Bloomberg
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CYBERTHREAT FROM CHINA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Siobhan Gorman]
China almost certainly would mount a cyberattack on the U.S. in the event of a conflict, and the U.S. has no clear policy to determine how to respond appropriately, a congressional advisory panel is set to warn. In a lengthy report analyzing Chinese cyber-capabilities and the threat facing the U.S., the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission found that the U.S. telecommunications supply chain is particularly vulnerable to cyber-tampering and an attack could result in a "catastrophic failure" of U.S. critical infrastructure. The report was written for the commission by analysts at defense firm Northrop Grumman. The commission's findings are likely to stoke a fight on Capitol Hill over competing cybersecurity proposals, which are likely to reach the Senate floor in the coming weeks. Supporters of a White House-backed cybersecurity bill have clashed with Republicans over whether the government should require critical infrastructure companies to meet new standards.
benton.org/node/116810 | Wall Street Journal
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PRIVACY
ONLINE PRIVACY
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Joseph Marks]
The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, unveiled in February, was formulated as a voluntary document largely because the Internet is developing faster than the government's ability to regulate it. "The average cycle time at the [Federal Communications Commission] is about six years for the rule-making process," Daniel Weitzner, the White House's deputy chief technology officer for Internet policy, said during a panel discussion sponsored by the Washington International Trade Association. "We can look back and say, well, six years ago there was no Facebook, no social networking really at all," Weitzner said. "Six years before that, there was no Google and six years before that there was no commercial Internet. So we clearly need a process that can work more rapidly." The document also was driven by the desire of global companies to have a set of practices nimble enough that they can be adapted for different countries, he said. "It might be nice to think that at some point we could reach a grand, global privacy protection treaty so that everyone could have one set of rules to comply with," he said. "That's not likely to happen all that soon, though we can hope things will evolve in that direction."
benton.org/node/116766 | nextgov
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NO APP FOR THAT
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
When it comes to privacy and mobile apps, policymakers have a big concern: There’s no rule for that. Lawmakers and regulators from the Beltway to California are looking at the booming market for apps and drawing the conclusion that the social networks, games and other tools that smartphone owners download onto their mobile devices don’t provide adequate consumer protections. Members of Congress have been firing off letters questioning practices at companies such as Apple and Google while the Federal Trade Commission is mulling over the need for more privacy protections for kids from app makers. California, meanwhile, is working with app stores to level with consumers about data practices. Even the White House has proposed that mobile privacy — including apps — be one of the first areas for development of voluntary rules for industry to better protect privacy. “Our mobile devices nowadays really hold the sum total of our digital identity,” said Amy Mushahwar, associate at Reed Smith who works with mobile app companies. “For most of us, our smartphone device is really a desktop replacement. And [the administration’s] request for comment, the FTC’s enforcement activities and the Hill’s interest is simply a reflection that everyone is seeing the mobile phone become the primary screen,” she said. For policymakers skeptical of app privacy practices, there’s been no shortage of mishaps stoking calls for new regulations.
benton.org/node/116800 | Politico
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CONTENT
US WARNS APPLE, PUBLISHERS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Catan, Jeffrey Trachtenberg]
Apparently, the Justice Department has warned Apple and five of the biggest US publishers that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books. Several of the parties have held talks to settle the antitrust case and head off a potentially damaging court battle, these people said. If successful, such a settlement could have wide-ranging repercussions for the industry, potentially leading to cheaper e-books for consumers. However, not every publisher is in settlement discussions. The five publishers facing a potential suit are CBS Corp.'s Simon & Schuster; Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group; Pearson PLC's Penguin Group (USA); Macmillan, a unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH; and HarperCollins Publishers, a unit of News Corp. , which also owns The Wall Street Journal. As Apple prepared to introduce its first iPad, the late Steve Jobs, then its chief executive, suggested moving to an "agency model," under which the publishers would set the price of the book and Apple would take a 30% cut. Apple also stipulated that publishers couldn't let rival retailers sell the same book at a lower price.
benton.org/node/116813 | Wall Street Journal
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
MONITORING SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Richard Hartman]
[Commentary] As Congress goes about grilling Homeland Security Department officials over their efforts to monitor social media -- as they did in at a hearing in late February -- a more fulsome understanding of the benefits of such monitoring is needed. The value of systematically examining social media exchanges extends far beyond following terrorist chatter. Rather than asking why some agencies are monitoring social media, Congress should be asking why more aren't doing it. Monitoring and analyzing terrorist conversations to gain actionable intelligence is simply the low-hanging fruit that agencies can pick to aid their missions. There are at least three additional ways social media monitoring can be useful -- even critical -- for government agencies, along with a variety of other benefits as well:
Improve situational awareness and emergency response.
Analyze disease outbreaks before they become pandemics.
Saving money through program evaluations.
[Hartman is the chief operating officer of OhMyGov]
benton.org/node/116768 | nextgov
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