May 10, 2012 (T-Mobile and MetroPCS working a deal?)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012

PRIVACY
Recap -- The Need for Privacy Protections
Dem lawmakers move to protect employee Internet passwords [links to web]

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   At Wireless Conference, Different Takes on Demand for Spectrum
   Data overload threatens mobile networks
   NAB's Smith Pushes for Spectrum Inventory
   AT&T and Sprint Chiefs Display a Difference in Moods
   Verizon Wireless CEO Defends Cable Deal
   Deutsche Telekom Said to Discuss MetroPCS Deal for T-Mobile
   T-Mobile and MetroPCS working a deal? No way. - analysis
   Sprint announces new mobile ad policy
   The mobile payments mess: no one's winning, but we're all losing - analysis
   Microsoft Accused of Hindering Firefox Browser
   It’s Becoming a Mobile World, and We’re Just Shopping in It [links to web]
   Facebook Says, Lower Your Expectations About Mobile

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Dutch lawmakers pass network neutrality law
   ICANN Sets Target Date, May 22, For Re-Opening Database [links to web]
   Firm to audit West Virginia broadband stimulus spending
   Sen Rockefeller draws line in the sand over critical infrastructure [links to web]
   House bill would provide $749 million for DHS cybersecurity [links to web]

CONTENT
   7 ways Comcast is killing the cable killers - analysis
   Search engines have same speech rights as the New York Times, says Google report
   Is your technology biased?
   Learning how Google really works
   What Will Become of the Paper Book? - analysis [links to web]
   Bitly data shows the best times to post links to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr [links to web]
   Facebook's Reach Generator Gets Competition From Adaptly [links to web]
   Netflix continues Latin American content push with Fox deal [links to web]
   Online sharing, how much is too much? [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   FCC takes calls to pull Fox's broadcast licenses 'very seriously'
   Murdoch ‘Unfit?’ Ya Think? - editorial
   Oracle loses bid for ruling Google use of IP wasn't fair use
   Android Developers Never Looked at Sun's Patents, Google's Rubin Testifies
   Google files for new trial on copyright claims in Android suit
   Apple's stock is getting creamed by Verizon and AT&T
   A Circle of Tech: Collect Payout, Do a Start-Up
   Twitter Gambles on a Patent Plan [links to web]
   News Corp doubles buyback to $10 billion [links to web]
   Sun-Times parent to buy Chicago Reader for $3 million [links to web]

MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
   FCC’s Genachowski Defends Move to Put Station's Political Files Online
   Political TV Ad Rates Complicate Election Season
   Obama’s New Courting of Hollywood Pays Off

RADIO/TELEVISION
   Sen DeMint Takes Aim at Axing CPB One More Time [links to web]
   NOW president returns fire on Limbaugh [links to web]
   TV stations explore broadcasting to phone, tablets [links to web]
   PBS Will Move Series of Films to Monday Night [links to web]

OPEN GOVERNMENT/GOV PERFORMANCE
Implementing the Freedom of Information Act [links to web]
Bill calls for 'duplication score' to cut wasteful programs [links to web]

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Why No Web Blackout For CISPA? Google It - analysis

JOURNALISM
Ben Huh says journalistic objectivity is a trap [links to web]

EDUCATION
After 15 years, government tells phone companies to follow low-price rule for schools - op-ed

STORIES FROM ABROAD
Dutch lawmakers pass network neutrality law
The Broken Kindle Problem: An Aid Program Runs Into Trouble [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Are Smart Phones Spreading Faster than Any Technology in Human History? [links to web]
   Tech Firm: Cybersecurity Fears Top Terrorism [links to web]
   National Coordinator Unveils New Health IT Dashboard [links to web]

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PRIVACY

SENATE PRIVACY HEARING
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
On May 9, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to examine the recent privacy reports that were released by the Obama Administration and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Both of these reports highlighted the need for federal legislation that provides baseline privacy protections to consumers. Senate Democrats on the committee called for implementation of the Obama Administration's privacy framework.
Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) warned that in a world where the "Internet has fundamentally transformed every aspect of our lives, unfettered collection of online data poses significant risks." "I am afraid … that the need to monetize consumers' data will win out over privacy concerns," Chairman Rockefeller said, calling self-regulation "inherently one-sided" and lamenting that "consumers' rights always seem to lose out to the industry's needs." Chairman Rockefeller asked Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Liebowitz why self-regulation like the industry's do-not-track effort would succeed given the history of such efforts.
The Digital Advertising Alliance, an industry group, has made "meaningful progress" on do-not-track self-regulatory efforts, Chairman Liebowitz replied. But "we have to make sure do-not-track is, with a few exceptions, do-not-collect," he said.
While Chairman Rockefeller admitted there remains no consensus on what privacy legislation should look like, he pledged to work with colleagues to develop a bill to "push the industry to develop strong consumer privacy protections."
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said he remains skeptical about the need to pass legislation.
"Neither this committee … nor the Commerce Department fully understand" what consumers want or need with regard to privacy, he said. "It's important that companies have maximum flexibility to work with their customers. Companies are already currently competing on privacy. This is a sign of a healthy, functioning and competitive market — something we should be encouraging." But legislation could shift focus from competition to compliance, he warned. Market failure and consumer harm should be demonstrated before granting the FTC any new authority, Sen Toomey said.
The Obama Administration's perspective is clear. It plans to press Congress for legislation codifying the privacy Bill of Rights it proposed last fall. That message was delivered by Cameron Kerry, Department of Commerce General Counsel and a lead official in drawing up the bill of privacy rights. He argued that those voluntary principles need to be made part of any baseline privacy legislation and enforceable by the FTC.
benton.org/node/122803 | US Senate Commerce Committee | The Hill | B&C - Commerce | B&C – FTC | FTC
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

DIFFERENT TAKES ON DEMAND FOR SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen]
At the CTIA Wireless conference in New Orleans, Steve Largent, the president of the wireless trade group CTIA, couldn’t stop talking about his industry’s need for more spectrum, the government-rationed radio waves that carry voice calls and wireless data. But, Julius Genachowski, the head of the Federal Communications Commission seemed more interested in finding technological solutions to deal with the problem of surging wireless data growth. In a keynote address, Steve Largent, CTIA’s president, said spectrum was crucial for stimulating the American economy, as wireless services have helped create new jobs and innovations. Chairman emphasized the use of a technology called small cells, also known as femtocells, to expand wireless capacity. Femtocells, which consumers can buy to install in their homes, improve cellphone reception by routing calls and data over broadband connections. Chairman Genachowski said small cells would be the key to meeting the rising demand for mobile data because they increase the density of network deployment several times over. The commission will be holding proceedings to make a band of spectrum available for carriers to install small cells on their networks themselves.
benton.org/node/122761 | New York Times
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DATA OVERLOAD
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Paul Taylor]
Back in the early 2000s mobile network operators were clamouring to sign up new subscribers to “unlimited” data plans to offset what they correctly perceived to be a steady decline in mobile voice revenues. But, in a startling validation of the adage “be careful what you wish for”, mobile operators in the US in particular are now scrambling to keep pace with a smartphone and tablet PC-driven mobile data tsunami that threatens to overwhelm their networks. The twin issues of the data overload and spectrum crunch have been key themes at the wireless industry’s CTIA conference in New Orleans this week. Mobile data traffic on the networks of both Verizon Wireless , the largest US mobile network operator by subscribers, and its closest rival, AT&T Mobile, has been doubling every year for the past five years, amid the growing popularity of data-hungry mobile video streaming and downloads. But wireless spectrum – the basic raw material needed by network operators to expand their capacity – is in short supply. Without additional spectrum, US operators warn that mobile data traffic will exceed capacity by 2014, driven mainly by the growth of mobile video.
benton.org/node/122825 | Financial Times
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NAB PUSHES SPECTRUM INVENTORY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith wants the new co-chairs of the House Federal Spectrum Working Group to first get a handle on how the federal government and private sector are using their spectrum before deciding how best to free up spectrum for other uses. He argues that without a "fulsome inventory and complete accounting" of how spectrum is being deployed and used, the government can't be certain that claims of a spectrum crisis are even valid. That request comes in a letter to co-chairs Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Doris Matsui (D-CA). It is those claims of crisis that have fueled the Obama Administration push to free up 300 MHz of wireless spectrum over the next five years, including reclaiming broadcast spectrum through incentive auctions.
benton.org/node/122755 | Broadcasting&Cable | The Hill
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AT&T-SPRINT MOODS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen]
Differences between the chief executives of AT&T Mobility and Sprint became clear with remarks they made at the CTIA Wireless conference in New Orleans. One seemed to be a techno-Pollyanna, while the other was a downer in comparison. Ralph de la Vega, who leads AT&T’s mobility division, expressed his enthusiasm for things to come. He said that the mobile Internet had reached a “tipping point,” and that he was excited about Digital Life, a new Internet-based home security system that AT&T is developing. He also shared a rather optimistic prediction that mobile payments would replace the wallet by next year. By contrast, Daniel R. Hesse, chief executive of Sprint Nextel, doesn’t think the wireless industry has a good enough relationship with customers. He dwelled on the fact that consumers don’t like or trust wireless carriers.
benton.org/node/122759 | New York Times
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VERIZON DEFENDS CABLE DEAL
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
The CEO of Verizon Wireless defended the company's bid to buy spectrum from a group of cable operators, saying his firm has proven to be good steward of the public airwaves. "We're confident the regulators will understand this purchase is good for Verizon Wireless customers and good for the entire broadband economy," Verizon Wireless President and CEO Dan Mead said during remarks at the wireless industry group CTIA's annual show in New Orleans. Mead pushed back against claims that it is "warehousing" spectrum. He noted Verizon has offered to sell two licenses it holds to spectrum it is not currently using if the Federal Communications Commission approves its deal with the cable companies. Verizon has said the A and B licenses it is offering to sell cover dozens of major cities and rural areas including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. "Our decision to sell the A and B licenses clearly shows we're not interested in warehousing spectrum," said Mead. "No one is forcing us to sell that spectrum. We're selling it because it's the right thing to do for our company and also the right thing to do for our industry."
benton.org/node/122747 | National Journal
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T-MOBILE/METROPCS?
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Serena Saitto, Cornelius Rahn, Matthew Campbell]
Deutsche Telekom AG is discussing a merger of its T-Mobile USA unit with MetroPCS Communications as it reviews options for the customer-losing business, according to people familiar with the matter. Deutsche Telekom is considering a stock-swap transaction that would give the German company control over the combined entity, which would be publicly listed, said two of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Other options include an initial public offering or an outright sale of T-Mobile USA, the people said, adding that Deutsche Telekom is also in talks with other companies. MetroPCS shares jumped 14 percent in New York. Combining with a smaller player “isn’t really the option they prefer, but they don’t really have a choice” after the disposal plan failed, said Alexandre Iatrides, an analyst at Oddo & Cie. in Paris, adding that Sprint Nextel could be a viable, alternative partner.
benton.org/node/122805 | Bloomberg
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T-MOBILE/METROPCS? NO WAY
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
[Commentary] Maybe someone from MetroPCS is talking with someone Deutsche Telekom in some backroom somewhere in the world, but they can’t seriously be considering the deal. Merging a regional CDMA operator with a national GSM carrier would be a disaster on the highest order and T-Mobile would gain little from the transaction – certainly not enough to offset the enormous hell it would have to endure to try to integrate the two operators completely incompatible network technologies. You thought Sprint Nextel was a mistake? T-Mobile-MetroPCS would make that deal look like royal wedding.
benton.org/node/122806 | GigaOm
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NEW SPRINT POLICY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sinead Carew]
Sprint Nextel plans to create a new mobile advertising policy to reassure customers that they have control over whether or not they receive ads on their cellphone, in an effort to improve consumer trust in wireless service providers. The company's Chief Executive Dan Hesse announced the plan during his keynote presentation at the CTIA annual U.S. wireless showcase in New Orleans. Hesse said that the new mobile policy would educate consumers on their options and give them "multiple choices for how to opt out or opt in" and that the company is hiring an outside firm to verify that it lives up to its promises.
benton.org/node/122808 | Reuters
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MOBILE PAYMENTS MESS
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Dieter Bohn]
It's past time to just come out and say this: the mobile payment ecosystem is a confusing mess. There are a half-dozen legitimate and competing solutions for payment, just as many for digital wallet apps, even more for accepting payments, and innumerable startups, gigantic corporations, banks, carriers, regulators, point-of-sale hardware producers, joint ventures, and merchants all vying for a slice of what could be a very big pie. Somewhere in there is the consumer, who by-and-large is standing on the sidelines watching these entities to play their Game of Payment Thrones and waiting to see what solution will actually become ubiquitous enough to actually rely on. At CTIA Wireless 2012, we expected mobile payments to be an important theme and it is, but not quite in the way you might have thought. For the past year or so, we've been watching companies like Square, Google, Intuit, and more all make their mobile wallet plays with a variety of features: NFC tap-to-pay, location-based payments, mobile wallets with multiple cards, merchant loyalty programs, and various payment options. However, there's been one company that many were expecting to finally make a big splash here at CTIA, called ISIS, that has essentially been a no-show. We sat down with both Visa and Mastercard to take their respective temperatures when it comes to their relationship with ISIS and talk about their strategies for mobile payments.
benton.org/node/122770 | Verge, The
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MICROSOFT-FIREFOX
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Don Clark, Shira Ovide]
The company behind the Firefox Web browser says Microsoft is hindering its ability to distribute the software on some devices being designed for the next version of the Windows operating system. Mozilla's contention focuses on future tablets and personal computers that exploit chip designs licensed from ARM Holdings — which are being supported for the first time in the next version of Microsoft's flagship Windows software. Harvey Anderson, Mozilla's general counsel, compared the situation to Microsoft actions against browser maker Netscape Communications that helped prompt the U.S. government's antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in 1998.
benton.org/node/122830 | Wall Street Journal
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FACEBOOK AND MOBILE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nick Bilton]
Here an ad, there an ad, everywhere an ad ad. Except on Facebook’s mobile app, that is. Facebook amended its public offering prospectus to note that it is showing fewer ads per user on the site because of its lack of mobile advertising. It is the sixth amendment to the document since Facebook filed for an initial public offering in February. The company also warned that if Facebook users continued to gain access to the social network on mobile devices, instead of computers, and if Facebook was “unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users,” the company’s revenue growth could be harmed. Mobile is clearly a huge challenge for Facebook, and something the company sees as its future. (The company mentions the word “mobile” 171 times in the prospectus.) But it has also acknowledged the difficulties it may face while trying to build a meaningful advertising business on smartphones.
benton.org/node/122832 | New York Times | Wall Street Journal | LATimes
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

DUTH NETWORK NEUTRALITY LAW
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Andrew Feinberg]
The Netherlands became the second country in the world to adopt a network neutrality law, as the upper house of the Dutch parliament approved a bill implementing the policy and granting Internet users new privacy protections. The law is designed to prevent Internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating between similar websites or content providers, forcing them to treat all data equally. Network management techniques that most ISPs use are still allowed, but only to improve user experiences or to legitimately bolster Internet security. The Dutch law also goes further by adding tough new anti-wiretapping provisions, specifically a ban on the use of any sort of deep packet inspection (DPI) technology by governments or private companies.
benton.org/node/122756 | Hill, The
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WV BTOP AUDIT
[SOURCE: Charleston Gazette, AUTHOR: Eric Eyre]
A consulting firm has been tapped to review how West Virginia state officials are spending more than $126 million in federal economic stimulus funds to expand high-speed Internet in West Virginia, state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette said. "At the end of the day, I suspect we've made some mistakes," Burdette said. "I'm reading stuff in [Charleston Gazette] stories and learning stuff in the process." The Gazette reported that the state of West Virginia is using $24 million in stimulus money to put more than 1,000 high-powered Internet routers in small libraries, elementary schools and health clinics, even though the equipment is designed to serve major research universities, medical centers and large corporations. The routers cost $22,600 each. "If those routers are bigger than we need, then we need to figure out what do we do about it," Burdette said. "Where do we go from here? Let's figure out how we can use them."
benton.org/node/122721 | Charleston Gazette
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CONTENT

COMCAST KILLING CABLE KILLERS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
[Commentary] We’re at a flashpoint in the evolution of television, and the battle lines are getting clearer. We have the pay TV providers who want to keep their high-dollar cable packages going even as broadband has the potential to break their bundle of channels. We also have content companies, some of whom are owned by the cable providers and others who are independent. All are trying to make the most money from their content even as digitization opens up new markets and risks associated with piracy. Finally we have new content companies and delivery options that include big names like Apple, Netflix and YouTube to smaller names like Funny or Die and Aereo. And in the middle is the consumer. All consumers want is their television — whatever they want to watch when the want it. Also, they’d like it on multiple devices and most are happy to pay for this content either directly, through a subscription or by watching ads. But this market has incredible distortions thanks to a variety of ownership structures, business models and how much control they have over the deliver of content into the home. Here’s a look at Comcast’s historical, current and future efforts to protect its business:
Blocking P2P
Implementing data caps
The Level 3 peering fight
Protecting its Xfinity traffic over the Xbox (and Tivo) from its cap
Prioritizing its own traffic over other traffic at the packet level
It’s secretive plans with Verizon
It’s possible influence on making Hulu authenticated
benton.org/node/122742 | GigaOm
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SEARCH ENGINE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Jeff John Roberts]
Just as the New York Times can decide “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” search engines have a free speech right to choose who or what to put in their search rankings. That’s the conclusion of a prominent First Amendment scholar commissioned by Google to make the case that the government can’t tell search engines how to design their results. According to the report authored by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh: “Google, Microsoft’s Bing, Yahoo! Search and other search engine companies are rightly seen as media enterprises, much as the New York Times Company or CNN are media enterprises” and deserve the same protections. It adds that search engines have the same freedom to choose a set of links as do news aggregators like the Drudge Report or the Huffington Post. Search engine results are a form of opinion, says the report, in which companies offer information they think is most relevant to users. In practice, this would mean Google has the right to punt sites like Yelp, which has complained that Google is a monopolist, to the search equivalent of Siberia if it decided that was best for users (Yelp now comes up second in a search for “restaurant review”).
benton.org/node/122740 | paidContent.org | The Hill
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TECH BIAS?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dominic Basulto]
The recent political debate over CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) this past month has — if nothing else — helped people understand how all of the various players in the Internet ecosystem have their own unique biases in how you use the Internet. But what about the digital devices and platforms these interest groups seek to regulate? The most obvious example of digital technology having a “bias” are the new social profiling technologies, such as Klout, Peer Index and Kred. Over time, they can lead to systemic biases against digital introverts and in favor of digital extroverts. The new Klout mobile app now makes it possible to display your Klout score without even opening up the app — it’s on your screen for you to see anytime you pick up your mobile device. The more information that you add about your online activity (no matter how mundane) the more likely it is that your Klout score will rise. It also means that the more you open up about your online social life, the more likely you will get perks and VIP offers and all the other trappings of online influence. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true: A low Klout score can bias employers against you and even lead to new forms of digital discrimination.
benton.org/node/122777 | Washington Post
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HOW GOOGLE WORKS
[SOURCE: Fortune, AUTHOR: Dan Mitchell]
Google is notoriously (and understandably) tight-lipped about the details of its algorithm -- the formula that determines how search results are presented. But the company also seems to genuinely try to help explain, to the extent that it safely can and in broad terms, the thinking that goes into how it tweaks the algorithm to return the most relevant results. This is far from a simple proposition. Figuring out what millions of searchers are looking for and matching them with the best possible results for each of their particular needs is an incredibly complex undertaking. The people who most want to know how it all works are, of course, Webmasters. For them, Google has a YouTube channel called GoogleWebmasterHelp that offers short videos responding to user questions. That it's for Webmasters shouldn't dissuade all interested parties from checking it out -- the explanations are pretty clear and often enlightening. Tuesday's entry takes on a basic issue: "Does Google try to return results based on signals other than popularity?"
benton.org/node/122729 | Fortune
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OWNERSHIP

FCC AND NEWS CORP
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski testified that his agency takes calls to cancel Fox's broadcast licenses "very seriously." Groups, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), have urged the FCC to pull Fox's licenses because of evidence that its parent company News Corp. hacked people's phones in the United Kingdom to get stories. During a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) pressed Genachowski on whether he plans to do anything about the allegations. Chairman Genachowski said it wouldn't be appropriate to comment on a specific case, but that the FCC is "certainly aware of the serious issues that have been raised in the UK." He noted that the law requires that the FCC only grant broadcast licenses to people of "good character." "If any issues arise, the commission has an obligation, we would take it very seriously, to look at the record, look at the facts and apply the law," Chairman Genachowski said.
benton.org/node/122820 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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MURDOCH ‘UNFIT?’ YA THINK?
[SOURCE: Center for American Progress, AUTHOR: Eric Alterman]
[Commentary] The headline says it all: “Murdoch Unfit to Lead Media Empire, Says British Report.” It was dated May 1, 2012 on The New York Times homepage (and appeared the following morning on page one). Thing is, if you leave out the part about the British report, the same headline could have appeared any time in the past 20 or more years. But by common agreement, owing to News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch’s power, influence, profit-making properties, and his ability to hire and fire people in any one of more than 50,000 jobs—to say nothing of his willingness to use all that power and influence to attack the character of anyone who had the temerity to question his actions—most folks decided to look the other way.
benton.org/node/122769 | Center for American Progress
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ORACLE LOSES BID
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Karen Gullo]
Oracle couldn't convince a federal judge in an intellectual property case that Google unfairly used its technology in the search engine company's Android software for mobile devices. U.S. District Judge William Alsup denied Oracle's request for a ruling that could have established that Google is liable for copyright infringement. Oracle asked Judge Alsup for a judgment in its favor on fair use after a jury found that Google infringed parts of its Java programming language and deadlocked on whether the copying constituted fair use. Liability rests on whether there was fair use, Judge Alsup said after the jury reached a verdict May 7. "I don't think it would be right," Judge Alsup said at a May 9 hearing in San Francisco. The decision could pave the way for a new trial on the question of whether Google's infringement makes it liable for as much as $1 billion in damages for using parts of Java to develop Android without paying for a license.
benton.org/node/122824 | Bloomberg
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RUBIN TESTIMONY
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: James Niccolai]
Google's engineers never studied other companies' patents while developing Android for fear of allowing those patents to influence their design decisions, Google's Android chief Andy Rubin testified. "I believe when you're an engineer you shouldn't study someone else's inventions when you're trying to come up with your own," Rubin testified under rebuttal questioning by one of Google's lawyers. He also said that no one at Sun Microsystems had ever told him Android might be infringing Sun's patents related to Java. Rubin was on the stand for the patents phase of Oracle's lawsuit against Google, which accuses it of infringing Oracle's Java intellectual property in Android. Oracle acquired the rights to Java when it bought Sun about two years ago.
benton.org/node/122822 | IDG News Service
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GOOGLE REQUESTS NEW TRIAL
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Chris Kanaracus]
Google is seeking a new trial on copyright claims in Oracle's intellectual-property lawsuit against it over the Android mobile OS, according to a filing in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Google's move for a new trial was not unexpected, having been foreshadowed in court after the verdict by its attorney, Robert Van Nest. "Under settled Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit law, the jury’s failure to reach a verdict concerning both halves of this indivisible question requires a new trial concerning both questions," Google said. The court should declare a mistrial on both the copyright infringement and fair use questions, since doing so only regarding fair use would "violate the Seventh Amendment—both by threatening Google with a non-unanimous verdict on liability, and by having determination of the same factual question, or indivisible factual questions, made by two different juries," Google added.
benton.org/node/122734 | IDG News Service
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APPLE, AT&T AND VERIZON
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: David Goldman]
Over the past several years, Apple has arguably gotten the better end of its iPhone partnership with the carriers -- but right now, it's the telecoms that have investors more excited. Since April 9, Verizon and AT&T are the second- and third-best performers among the 30 Dow Jones industrial average stocks, rising 8.2% and 7.8% respectively. During that same one-month period, Apple's stock, which is not in the Dow, has tumbled by nearly 11%. That drop is particularly head-scratching given the strength of Apple's recent earnings report. The tech behemoth reported much better-than-expected sales and profits, particularly from the iPhone, which made its debut in China. The telecoms had some surprises of their own last quarter. A sharp sequential decline in iPhone sales in the United States provided Verizon and AT&T's wireless service profit margins with a much-needed shot in the arm. Both companies pay heavy up-front subsidies to bring the cost of iPhones down to $200 for their customers.
benton.org/node/122731 | CNNMoney
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CIRCLE OF TECH
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Somini Sengupta]
“The history of Silicon Valley has always been one generation of companies gives birth to great companies that follow,” said Matt Cohler, who was employee No. 7 at Facebook and now, at 35, is a partner at Benchmark Capital and an investor in several start-ups created by his old friends from Facebook. “People who learned at one set of companies often go on to start new companies on their own.” “The very best companies, like Facebook,” he continued, “end up being places where people who come there really learn to build things.” This is the story line of Silicon Valley, from Apple to Netscape to PayPal and now, to Facebook. Every public offering creates a new circle of tech magnates with money to invest. This one, though, with a jaw-dropping $100 billion valuation, will create a far richer fraternity. Its members will be, by and large, young men, mostly white and Asian who, if nothing else, understand the value of social networks. And they have the money. Some early executives at Facebook have already sold their shares on the private market and have millions of dollars at their disposal.
benton.org/node/122836 | New York Times
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MEDIA AND ELECTIONS

GENACHOWSKI DEFENDS POLITICAL FILE DECISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski defended the FCC's vote to move broadcast television station political files online. He also came close to saying the FCC would not expand that political file data collection requirement. That came at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the FCC's budget request -- a 2% increase from $340 million to $347 million -- essentially flat adjusted for inflation, added the chairman, and that despite increasing workloads in many areas. The hearing was not about that budget, primarily, but was instead a chance for some Appropriations oversight of the FCC -- the FCC chair's first appearance before the Financial Services and General Government subcommittee in a decade -- with questions that ranged over many subjects. Subcommittee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) teed up a chance for the chairman to explain the decision to put political files online given complaints from broadcasters that it would cause hardships and competitive disadvantages. Sen Durbin supports the move, saying it increases transparency and educates the public, particularly given the lack of a Super PAC disclosure law.
benton.org/node/122818 | Broadcasting&Cable
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POLITICAL AD RATES ON TV
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
Along with the headache of making sure TV ads that get bumped by politicals are quickly rescheduled, advertising agencies also will have to cope with the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial new rule requiring TV stations to post online the rates charged for each political ad. “Rates for the political season could show up in databases and on buyers’ desktops, and other buys would be measured by this,” said John Shelton, the CEO of Strata, a provider of software-based buying tools. “This is more likely to impact the business outside politics rather than the business inside politics.”
benton.org/node/122752 | AdWeek
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HOLLYWOOD FUNDRAISING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Adam Nagourney, Jim Rutenberg]
For years, President Barack Obama has largely been absent in Hollywood, a point of unhappiness with a community accustomed to the constant doting of Bill Clinton. But over the last few months, Mr. Obama and his representatives have held a series of meetings and telephone calls with some of the region’s most influential donors and fund-raisers, reflecting Hollywood’s new importance in the President’s re-election campaign. The fruit of that effort became clear this week as President Obama is scheduled to attend a fund-raiser on May 10 at the Fryman Canyon home of the actor George Clooney. At last count, organizers said, the event had raised well over $6 million, plus many millions more through an online raffle, record territory. They said they stopped selling $40,000-a-plate tickets last week because there was no room to squeeze in any more tables.
benton.org/node/122835 | New York Times | WSJ | FT
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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

ONLINE ACTIVISM
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Robert Levine]
[Commentary] To get a sense of how effective the SOPA protests would have been without the support of technology giants, consider the debate over CISPA (the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act), if you’ve even heard of it. From a civil liberties perspective, the bill is far more worrying than SOPA, and some of the same digital rights groups are against it. But the subject hasn’t generated nearly as much controversy, at least in part because Facebook supports it and Google is said to do so, although the company has not revealed its position. So much for transparency. The new digital activism might be best summed up by a January 18 anti-SOPA demonstration in New York, an event organized by the local trade group New York Tech Meetup and Andrew Rasiej, who has helped politicians raise money from technology companies and championed their interests in Washington. He got right to the heart of the matter, calling SOPA “an unprecedented attack on the future of our industry.” Then he led the crowd--many of whom work in that very same industry--in a chant of “This is what democracy looks like.” At the moment, unfortunately, he’s probably right.
benton.org/node/122736 | Fast Company
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EDUCATION

LOW-PRICE RULE FOR SCHOOLS
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Jeff Gerth]
[Commentary] After 15 years of neglect, federal regulators are finally planning to tell phone companies selling services to schools and libraries how to comply with a rule requiring them to charge bargain prices. Last week, ProPublica revealed that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had failed to provide guidance for the low pricing rule case since the 1997 launch of the school program, called eRate. Lawsuits and other legal actions in four states turned up evidence that AT&T and Verizon charged local school districts much higher rates than it gave to similar customers or more than what the program allowed. The preferential pricing rule, called lowest corresponding price, was designed to give schools a leg up in the complicated world of voice and data pricing, and to make sure school children had access to the Internet. But despite evidence of inflated pricing, the FCC never brought an enforcement case against a service provider for violating the rule. While the main victims of this failure are the nation’s schoolchildren who receive suboptimal broadband access, there’s another set of victims: the vast majority of people with a cellular or landline phone contract. Now, the FCC will finally teach phone companies about the preferential pricing rule. Over the next week companies that participate in the program will be attending annual training sessions in Atlanta and Los Angeles that are designed to explain the program’s rules. This year’s training sessions–unlike those in past years–will include lengthy discussions of the bargain pricing rule, according to a power point presentation posted on the website of the private company that administers the E-Rate program for the FCC, the Universal Service Administration Co.
benton.org/node/122744 | eSchool News
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