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March 15, 2012 (Few tech issues will move in Congress This Year)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2012
Exports and Privacy on today’s agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2012-03-15/
AGENDA
Few tech issues will move in Congress for the rest of the year
FCC Confirms March 21 Meeting Agenda
BROADCASTING/CABLE
FCC Needs to Reevalute Meaning Of Publicly Available - analysis
TV Stations Balk At FCC Proposal
Joaquin Alvarado: Change cannot be a complaint - op-ed
Time for more local in local TV - editorial
Do the Murdochs Have the Requisite "Character" to Maintain Their FCC Licenses? - op-ed [links to web]
FCC’s Genachowski: Open to Helping Smaller Cable Ops With Retransmission Issues [links to web]
ACA Chair Wants Retransmission Rules Modernized [links to web]
TV, Internet Providers Slammed On Customer Service [links to web]
Worldwide TV shipments fell last year for first time since 2004 [links to web]
MORE ON MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
Campaign Videos: A Time-Tested Election Tactic
Political Web TV comes of age [links to web]
With Video, Obama Looks to Expand Campaign’s Reach Through Social Media
Romney to saturate Illinois airwaves ahead of primary [links to web]
Romney Enjoys a Big Week in the Media - research [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
Verizon and AT&T Accused of Being Threats to Democracy
T-Mobile: All 700 MHz LTE networks should interoperate
LightSquared exodus continues: Cricket lands at Clearwire [links to web]
Verizon Plans Broader 4G Rollout, Only LTE-Capable Phones [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Predator or prey? Charter cuts Internet prices to compete with city-owned network
TV, Internet Providers Slammed On Customer Service [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
Obama and Cameron pledge to work together on cybersecurity
PRIVACY
Congress to Apple: One More Thing …
CONTENT
With Semantic Search, Google Eyes Competitors
Post-SOPA, Industry Execs Pretty Sure ‘Engaging’ Key To Copyright Challenge [links to web]
The mistake Netflix is making now - analysis [links to web]
RIAA chief: ISPs to start policing copyright by July 12 [links to web
KIDS AND MEDIA
Raising cyber-children – safely - op-ed [links to web]
High-tech life means parents have homework too [links to web]
TELECOM
AT&T closes in on Verizon in the U.S. telco TV race
COURT CASES
Yahoo-Facebook patent fight: more than meets the eye - analysis
Motorola, HTC, Samsung among those facing new antitrust suit [links to web]
Dutch court rules iPhone 4S does not infringe Samsung 3G patents [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Announces Departure Of Amy Levine [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
FBI, stumped by pimp's Android pattern lock, serves warrant on Google [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Connected Brazilians, Mexicans Prefer Internet to TV; Online Penetration Climbs
Sarkozy wants Internet giants to pay tax in France [links to web]
Dutch court rules iPhone 4S does not infringe Samsung 3G patents [links to web]
Witness Intimidation Cited in British Hacking Scandal [links to web]
Telecoms face EU ‘war of attrition’ [links to web]
Pay-TV probe in UK to include Netflix [links to web]
Canada to Lift Foreign-Ownership Limits for Small Telecoms
Worldwide TV shipments fell last year for first time since 2004 [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Freedom Communications Explores Sale of More Newspaper [links to web]
Tech Takes a Victory Lap at 'Tech Prom' [links to web]
Tackling government innovation through a new funding model [links to web]
Wireless medical monitors transforming patient care [links to web]
AGENDA
FEW TECH ISSUES WILL MAKE IT THROUGH CONGRESS
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
As Congress begins to gear up for November's elections, several technology-related issues remain unresolved. Lawmakers have pushed in recent months for new cybersecurity legislation, online copyright enforcement provisions, new online privacy protections and an Internet sales tax, but progress will get tougher in the coming months. As election season approaches, Congress generally finds it difficult to pass controversial legislation. While many tech issues haven't traditionally broken down along partisan lines, several tech-related proposals currently in Congress have generated significant debate. "It's not safe to say that Congress has hung out the 'closed for business' sign just because it's an election year, but with all the effort and attention paid to campaigning, we're unlikely to see any tough decisions made or compromises reached on these complex technical issues," said Matt Wood, policy director at Free Press, a digital rights and media reform group. Some issues could still come to the forefront -- if there's a major cybersecurity breach or privacy scandal, for example. Here are some of the tech issues that lawmakers have debated recently, along with their chances for passage yet this year.
benton.org/node/117382 | IDG News Service
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FCC MEETING AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Wednesday, March 21, 2012. The FCC will consider:
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking exploring whether to retain, sunset, or relax the exclusive contract prohibition of the program access rules and whether to revise the program access rules to better address alleged violations.
a Fourth Report and Order and Third Order on Reconsideration to implement a market-specific FM translator processing scheme, adopt application caps to prevent trafficking, and modify policies to expand opportunities to rebroadcast AM stations on FM translators.
a Fifth Report and Order, Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Fourth Order on Reconsideration regarding proposals to implement the Local Community Radio Act and to strengthen the LPFM service, including second adjacent channel waiver procedures, interference remediation requirements, and modification of eligibility, ownership, and selection standards.
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning the potential for harmful interference to Lower 700 MHz B and C Block operations if the Lower 700 MHz Band were interoperable and whether, if such interference exists, it can be reasonably mitigated. The NPRM also seeks comment on the best course of action should the Commission determine that interoperability would cause limited or no harmful interference to Lower 700 MHz B and C Block licensees, or that such interference can be reasonably mitigated.
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry proposing service, technical, assignment, and licensing rules for flexible terrestrial use of spectrum currently assigned to the Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) in the 2 GHz band. And an alternative band plan involving additional spectrum at 1695-1710 MHz that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has proposed to reallocate from Federal to commercial use.
benton.org/node/117400 | Federal Communications Commission
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BROADCASTING/CABLE
WHAT DOES “PUBLICLY AVAILABLE” MEAN?
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: David Goetzl]
As the Federal Communications Commission mulls a rule change with major implications for networks and local stations, it needs to evaluate what the word “public” means. Right now, with regards to public disclosure of political ad spending, the interpretation on the books is an embarrassment. Broadcasters are required to maintain a “public file” with an assortment of information about they are serving a community. Not much is that interesting, save the logs showing how much political candidates and interest groups pay for ad time. The detail is striking. At local stations, the exact costs politicos pay for the late news or “Judge Judy” is available. If a pro-Gingrich super PAC were to advertise on “Face the Nation,” CBS would have to make the cost open to public inspection. But, the information is a pain to access. Interested parties need to call a station or network; make an appointment to visit; then comb through filing cabinets to obtain the oft-confusing log sheets; and pay to make copies. Broadcasters like the muddle and the hurdles. And they should. Publicly available should mean easily accessible. It is laughable that an interested party – be it a business looking for a better deal, another candidate monitoring what another is doing, or a journalist – needs to visit a station and scroll through paper these days. No broadcaster would want its employees spending valuable time doing that when a few clicks of the mouse would offer the same option.
benton.org/node/117378 | MediaPost
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STATIONS BALK AT FCC PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Broadcast stations have been required for decades to make political advertising information public -- although until now "public" meant putting papers into a file cabinet. Now broadcasters are upset about a proposal by the Federal Communications Commission to put all such information online, where everyone, including other advertisers curious about real-world local TV ad rates, can see it. In election years, political ads are a multibillion-dollar business for broadcasters. But they also bring their share of headaches for TV stations because of regulations that make the ads different from those for cars or beer. Congress decreed in 1971 that candidates must get the lowest price for ads in the weeks before an election. The Federal Communications Commission followed up by requiring that stations make political-ad information public so candidates can be assured they're all getting the same deal. The information goes into folders at station headquarters that also contain various government-mandated reports on indecency complaints, signal reach and the like. Broadcasters bear this paperwork burden because they have free use of broadcast spectrum, an FCC-regulated public resource. In October, the FCC proposed that all public disclosures by broadcast stations, including the political ad rates, should be put online instead of kept at station offices in paper form. The FCC suggested stations could put the information on their own websites or submit it to the agency for posting in a single master database. Broadcasters are fuming. Lobbyists for ABC owner Walt Disney Co., Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal and News Corp ., owner of the Fox network, say it isn't fair to make them post ad rates when other recipients of political ad dollars, including cable television and websites, get a pass.
benton.org/node/117399 | Wall Street Journal
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CHANGE CANNOT BE A COMPLAINT
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: Joaquin Alvarado]
[Commentary] There are good, smart people working for public broadcasting who get buried inside of institutions. Their power should not be dismissed. They can be ignited. Outsiders can see these things with fresh eyes. People work in public broadcasting because they believe in it. Organizations often struggle to recognize the potential of their own teams and frequently fail to develop environments that empower them. Unfortunately, these authentic voices go missing when the system meets to solve its challenges and imagine its future. I spent many hours in conferences listening to lingua-conferencia and not enough truth-telling. It’s the people who don’t make it to the meetings who have the best ideas. If the system viewed itself from the bottom up, it would see with many more lenses and speak with many more voices. It would stand a better chance of stimulating creative destruction and true innovation. Change cannot be a complaint. It cannot be motivated by frustration or disapproval. Change is a creative enterprise. It requires courage and clarity. Change is about realization, not real estate. We cannot occupy our way to it. If we seek change, we must accept responsibility for creating it. We must take risks — personal and institutional.
benton.org/node/117371 | Current
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MORE LOCAL IN LOCAL TV
[SOURCE: Baltimore Sun, AUTHOR: Dan Rodricks]
[Commentary] I wish one of the corporations that owns a television station in the Baltimore market would try something new and daring: A complete lineup of locally produced, local-interest reality shows of substance, parochial character and humor. It would improve the outlook for local television, localize the reality format and be a service to the community. Do we really need four local TV news operations, all doing primarily the same thing? Could one of them create what I have in mind on an HD channel, with no network programming or infomercials? I'm talking about in-depth, daily looks at what's going on in all facets of life in Maryland. Any time of day, you could turn to this channel and see and hear what's happening in your state, your city, your town, even maybe your next-door neighbor's house.
benton.org/node/117405 | Baltimore Sun
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MORE ON MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
HISTORY OF CAMPAIGN VIDEOS
[SOURCE: National Public Radio , AUTHOR: Don Gonyea]
President Obama's re-election campaign is releasing a video Thursday that looks back on the accomplishments of his first term. The documentary-style film, directed by Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim and narrated by actor Tom Hanks, is likely to go viral, but such video tributes are far from new in presidential politics. In 1952, a war hero named Eisenhower was running for president; his campaign decided it needed to reintroduce the former general to the American public. The film, with its grainy World War II footage and its shouting newsreel announcer, is really where the presidential biographical film got its start — at the dawn of the golden age of American television. Since then, every nominee — and many a candidate who didn't get that far — has done some kind of biographical documentary-style film. Most of these films have come and gone, and created little buzz. They were shown at nominating conventions or maybe on TV, but in the pre-YouTube age, they weren't that easy for a voter to see. Mostly the intent, especially for a nonincumbent, is simple: Meet the candidate.
benton.org/node/117415 | National Public Radio
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THE ROAD WE’VE TRAVELED
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeremy Peters]
When presidential candidates have a message they want voters to hear far and wide, they have typically turned to that old campaign standby: the television ad. But as President Obama and his advisers prepare to begin their general election push, they are turning first not to a 30-second commercial but a 17-minute online documentary that they hope will be shared and spread online through social networks and e-mail. When the Tom Hanks-narrated, Hollywood-style documentary, called “The Road We’ve Traveled,” is set to go online, it will appear on a new YouTube platform that enables the Obama campaign to turn the passive experience of watching a video into an organizing and fund-raising tool. The technology will allow viewers to post campaign content to their Facebook pages, volunteer and donate all without having to leave Obama’s dedicated YouTube page. Eventually campaign strategists hope to use the new software to focus on people in highly specific ways. For example, if someone watches a video about a certain geographic location, like Florida, a list of that person’s Facebook friends in Florida would appear alongside the video with a message from the campaign that suggests recommending the video to them. The Obama campaign’s efforts underscore the importance that political campaigns now attach to Web video and the role the medium will probably play in the coming election.
benton.org/node/117413 | New York Times
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
VERIZON, AT&T AND DEMOCRACY
[SOURCE: Scientific American, AUTHOR: Michael Moyer]
[Commentary] Just two companies -- Verizon Wireless and AT&T -- control 60 percent of the U.S. wireless market. Four companies control 90 percent. A thriving marketplace this is not. And while the lack of competition partly explains why cell phone service in the U.S. is slower, less reliable and more expensive than in other developed countries, a perhaps more important reason is that the Federal Communications Commission chose to neuter itself a decade ago.
Unfortunately, the stakes are higher for the U.S. than just lousy service and exorbitant bills. The current state of affairs threatens the ability of citizens to speak freely in a democracy. “AT&T and Verizon don’t really compete with one another—they copy one another,” said Parul P. Desai, the communications policy counsel for Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports magazine. As an example, she noted that AT&T recently began to place limits on the amount of data that consumers are allowed to download in any given month. “Then Verizon followed suit,” she said, “except with higher prices.” Price isn’t the only principle in peril. People now use their phones to share information and news directly with one another, bypassing traditional big-media gatekeepers. Yet the power to censor news or information isn’t going away, it’s just shifting to the owners of the network. “The ways that we’re creating news or connecting with other is under the control of big quasi-monopolistic forces that don’t have the same interests as us,” said Josh Levy, the Internet campaign director of the non-profit advocacy organization Free Press. “AT&T, Comcast and Verizon are the enablers of free speech, and they can turn off the spigot if they feel like it,” he said. As an example, he cited Verizon’s 2007 decision to block text messages sent by a political advocacy organization to its members.
benton.org/node/117373 | Scientific American
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T-MOBILE BACKS LTE INTEROPERATABILITY
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
T-Mobile USA waded into the complicated fight over LTE interoperability in the 700 MHz band, and urged the Federal Communications Commission to explore making the entire 700 MHz band interoperable. Such a move, T-Mobile argued, would encourage LTE roaming and help the public-safety community, which plans to use 700 MHz spectrum for a nationwide, interoperable broadband network. The FCC next week will consider a notice of proposed rulemaking that looks at the potential for harmful interference to Lower 700 MHz B and C Block operations if the different parts of the Lower 700 MHz Band were made to be interoperable, and whether, if such interference exists, it can be reasonably mitigated. The FCC said in December it would initiate such a rulemaking when it approved AT&T's $1.93 billion purchase of Qualcomm's Lower D and E Block 700 MHz MediaFLO spectrum licenses. The interoperability issue boils down to the different band classes within the 700 MHz spectrum band. Currently, LTE devices from AT&T Mobility cannot work on Verizon Wireless' LTE network because the two carriers are using different band classes.
benton.org/node/117376 | Fierce
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
CHARTER AND MUNICIPAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
One of the benefits of living next to a municipal Internet Service Provider came into focus this month. Residents of Monticello, Minnesota found a hastily composed flyer in their mailboxes. The missive listed Charter Cable's basic and digital tier offerings, with an extra enticement scribbled in hand on the right side of the page:
Fantastic OFFER! ONE TIME OPPORTUNITY includes Cable TV with all channels and a DVR! Plus THIRTY-MEG HIGH SPEED INTERNET! Both for only 59.95! Locked in price for 2 years! Please call A.S.A.P. to check for availability. Thank you.
A Monticellan who received this document several times faxed it over to The Institute for Local Self Reliance Community Broadband Networks blog, where they strongly support municipal broadband projects and don't appreciate efforts to undermine them. Monticello has a beleaguered city-run fiber-to-the-home ISP, FiberNet, which offers 30Mbps and another service such as video for a little over $50 a month
benton.org/node/117379 | Ars Technica
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CYBERSECURITY
CYBERSECURITY AGREEMENT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
President Barack Obama and United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to work to together to defend against cyberattacks on private and government computer systems. The agreement was announced as part of Cameron's visit to the White House. The leaders promised to focus on protecting the rights of Internet users and condemned Syria and Iran for suppressing their citizens' ability to speak openly online. President Obama and PM Cameron said their governments will share information about cyberattacks and will step up joint planning efforts to anticipate and prepare for future online threats. The FBI and the United Kingdom's Serious Organized Crime Agency will work together to detect fraud and hunt down cybercriminals. The leaders promised to bring technology and Internet connectivity to the world's poorest countries through international aid, diplomacy and other projects. The agreement describes cyberattacks as a threat to "economic security." The White House also noted that Obama has proposed a framework for cybersecurity legislation and is pushing Congress to enact the measure.
benton.org/node/117381 | Hill, The | WH fact sheet
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PRIVACY
CONGRESS WANTS MORE INFO FROM APPLE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Paczkowski]
The House Commerce Committee sent a letter to CEO Tim Cook asking that he send a company representative to Washington to formally brief it on just how it is protecting the personal information of mobile device users. While Apple did address a number of the committee’s questions in a March 2 response to its first inquiry, new concerns have since arisen. Specifically, a loophole in Apple’s iOS operating systems that may be allowing some apps to access consumers’ photos and videos and associated location data without permission. Apple will presumably address this issue in the same way it pledged to correct the address book data loophole that inspired this whole debacle in the first place: With a software update.
benton.org/node/117398 | Wall Street Journal
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CONTENT
GOOGLE TWEAKS SEARCH
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amir Efrati]
There are few semantic games around Google's search-engine changes: It must defend its turf against traditional search rivals such as Microsoft, new entrants including Apple, and possibly even Facebook. Semantic search refers to the process of understanding the actual meaning of words that people type into a Web-search box. That would enable the search engine to differentiate between the car brand "Jaguar" and the animal "jaguar" on a Web page that it may want to provide a link to in search results. To power semantic search, Google has amassed a giant encyclopedia of knowledge about "entities," such as people, places and things. Google's semantic-search effort could help it compete with Apple, which has jumped into voice-activated search with Siri. The software, loaded on Apple's iPhone 4S, takes verbal commands and questions and responds with answers using computer-generated speech, finding the answers with search engines like Google and Wolfram Alpha, which uses semantic technology.
benton.org/node/117412 | Wall Street Journal | WSJ – more on the changes
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TELECOM
AT&T AN VERIZON
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
AT&T and Verizon may not compete directly in the markets they reside in for video or broadband service, but it appears that Ma Bell is closing in on the lead in terms of subscribers. In Q4 2011, AT&T added 208,000 U-verse customers, bringing its total IPTV customer base to 804,000, while Verizon added 194,000 new FiOS subscribers during the quarter ending the year with a total of 701,000 new subscribers. From a total subscriber standpoint, Verizon remains the leader with 4.17 million FiOS subscribers over AT&T's 3.79 million. However, IHS points out that Verizon's lead has been cut to just 400,000 TV subscribers. Of course, AT&T has a few challenges with its hybrid fiber/copper Fiber to the Node (FTTN) approach to delivering U-verse TV and data services. While leveraging their existing copper infrastructure is less expensive than bringing fiber directly to the customer premise, the disadvantage for AT&T is that it can neither offer the same speeds as Verizon's all fiber service nor can it effectively compete with cable operators that offer 50 and even 100 Mbps connections over their DOCSIS infrastructure outside of its U-verse territory.
benton.org/node/117375 | Fierce
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COURT CASES
WHAT’S YAHOO UP TO?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
The news of Yahoo suing Facebook for infringing its patents has drawn sharp reactions from some of the more measured voices in the tech industry. I feel there is more than meets the eye to the whole Facebook-Yahoo scrum, for suing Facebook is a pretty drastic step for Yahoo. Why? Because, today, it is pretty beholden to Facebook, thanks to a dumb agreement the company entered in 2009. Thanks to its then feckless and incompetent management (and the then technologically irrelevant board that made even bricks look smart), Yahoo gave Facebook access to the address books of its 600 million odd users. Facebook, being smart enough to use that data, ramped up its own numbers from 350 million users into nearly a billion users. Some technology industry insiders believe that Facebook was pillaging Yahoo’s email address books for a long time before the two companies signed the 2009 agreement. In other words, there is and has been a whole lot of simmering animosity between the two companies. My theory is that for the first time in a long while Yahoo has management that is willing to mess with Facebook. Whether that is a good or bad move, it is open to debate – natch, a shouting match.
benton.org/node/117364 | GigaOm
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
CONNECTED BRAZILIANS, MEXICANS
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Cotton Delo]
Latin American Internet users are already known to be voracious consumers of social media and online video, and their ranks online are sharply rising. A new Forrester report says that online adoption in Brazil and Mexico will reach 57% and 48%, respectively by 2016, up from 47% and 38% currently. Both governments have put their weight behind spurring internet adoption, and the projected upticks indicate that it's paying off. Mexico announced in January that it would auction licenses for use of state-owned fiber-optic lines to hasten high-speed internet adoption, while Brazil has had a national broadband plan in effect for years, partnering with telecom companies with the goal of bringing access to remote areas of the country. Brazilians and Mexicans surveyed share an appetite for social media, with 89% of the Brazilian group reporting regular visits to social-networking sites, compared with 88% of Mexicans. The key difference is in the dedication to a single channel: 86% of the Mexican group reported visiting Facebook at least monthly, while Brazilians' loyalties are more diffuse. Eighty-one percent reported visiting Facebook at least monthly, but 63% still reported going to Google-owned social network Orkut.
benton.org/node/117366 | AdAge
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CANADIEN FOREIGN-OWNERSHIP LIMITS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Paul Vieira, Ben Dummett]
The Canadian government said it will lift long-held foreign-ownership restrictions in its telecommunications sector for smaller companies and auction new wireless spectrum, as it looks to spur competition in Canada's fast-growing wireless sector. The decision could open the door for global telecommunications giants to enter the Canadian wireless market, which is presently dominated by three big incumbent operators that hold a combined 90% share of the market. Still, industry analysts questioned whether the announcements would be enough to shake the market up.
benton.org/node/117401 | Wall Street Journal
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