June 4, 2012 (Can the White House declare a cyberwar?)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, JUNE 4, 2012

The Board of Directors for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting meets today http://benton.org/calendar/2012-06-03--P1W/

CYBERWARFARE
   Can the White House declare a cyberwar?
   Risk of boomerangs a reality in cyber war
   Cyber missiles mean war without bloodshed
   Code Wars - editorial
   Expert Issues a Cyberwar Warning
   Asleep at the Laptop - op-ed [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Secretary of Agriculture Discusses Rural Broadband With FCC Chairman
   New Netflix iOS app capitulates to bandwidth caps
   When Facebook goes down, the Internet barely blinks

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Mobile-Phone Makers End Deadlock On Standard For New SIM Cards
   Report Urges Shift to Spectrum Sharing - analysis
   Google Playing With Fire on Patents

OWNERSHIP
   Designed by Apple in California — Assembled in the U.S.?
   Verizon Bets on Connected Car
   AT&T chief Randall Stephenson predicts more mergers, changes in consumer smartphone plans
   Android Owns Half US Smartphone Market [links to web]
   Your Neighbor's Wi-Fi Router Would Like You to Vote for Romney [links to web]
   In a Skirmish to Control the Screens
   NBC Owned Stations, NBCUniversal to Grant $1.2 Million to Nonprofits
   Google Playing With Fire on Patents
   Keeping the Spirit of Steve Jobs Alive - editorial

PRIVACY
Advertisers Concerned Over Explorer Default Do-Not-Track
Have your say on Facebook privacy policy

CHILDREN AND MEDIA
Facebook Explores Giving Kids Access

BROADCASTING
   Putting Talk Radio on Trial at the FCC - op-ed
   NBC Owned Stations, NBCUniversal to Grant $1.2 Million to Nonprofits
   Networks Win Ad-Rate Rises
   Google Readies New Local-Ad Assault [links to web]

ADVERTISING
Watch Those Commercials -- Or Else - analysis
Networks Win Ad-Rate Rises

JOURNALISM
Newspapers Cut Days From Publishing Week

TELECOM
Turning Off The Phone System? What Do You Mean We’re Turning Off The Phone System? - analysis

POLICYMAKERS
FTC Chair Dines With Google Ad Exec Amid Antitrust Probe
Judge bars Apple from turning court into reality distortion field [links to web]

NEWS FROM ABROAD
News Corp. Faces Wave of Phone-Hacking Cases
New Tabloid by Murdoch Losing Sales [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Twitter Said To Expect $1 Billion In Ad Revenue In 2014 [links to web]
   An Idea Charged Up at Zuccotti Park [links to web]
   CCIA Launches New Project Promoting 'Disruptive Competition' [links to web]

back to top

CYBERWARFARE

CAN WHITE HOUSE DECLARE CYBERWAR?
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez, Jonathan Allen]
The Constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war — but it's silent on cyberwar. That's causing consternation on Capitol Hill in the wake of a New York Times story detailing how President Barack Obama joined forces with Israel to launch secret cyberattacks on Iran's nuclear program. For some lawmakers, it's further evidence that the White House has taken too much war-making power from Congress. The revelation about the so-called Olympics Game operation renews questions about the scope of congressional oversight when it comes to clandestine attacks launched in cyberspace — as well as the authority of the executive branch to secretly unleash weapons in the digital versus physical world.
benton.org/node/124817 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CYBER BOOMERANGS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Richard Lardner]
The Obama Administration is warning American businesses about an unusually potent computer virus that infected Iran's oil industry even as suspicions persist that the United States is responsible for secretly creating and unleashing cyberweapons against foreign countries. The government's dual roles of alerting U.S. companies about these threats and producing powerful software weapons and eavesdropping tools underscore the risks of an unintended, online boomerang. Unlike a bullet or missile fired at an enemy, a cyberweapon that spreads across the Internet may circle back accidentally to infect computers it was never supposed to target. It's one of the unusual challenges facing the programmers who build such weapons, and presidents who must decide when to launch them.
benton.org/node/124816 | Associated Press
Recommend this Headline
back to top

WAR WITHOUT BLOODSHED
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Michelle Maltais]
"You're seeing an evolution of warfare that's really intriguing," said Phil Lieberman, a security consultant and chief executive of Lieberman Software in Los Angeles. "Warfare where no one is dying." Cyber warfare, while the subject of thrilling movies and espionage novels, isn't quite revolutionary. "The ability to inhibit [an enemy's] infrastructure has been part of warfare since the dawn of electronic communication," Lieberman said. Cyber missiles are evolving and becoming more sophisticated, targeted and devastatingly effective. And, when done properly and under the radar, you get "outcome without attribution," he said. "That's the beauty of it." What we're talking about is not your typical click-and-disturb computer virus that most of us update to guard against.
benton.org/node/124815 | Los Angeles Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CODE WARS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] We are now at the dawn of another rapid change in weapons and technology, the rise of cyber conflict. The digital revolution has transformed global commerce, communications and culture, but also provided a new avenue for destruction — attacks on computer networks and critical infrastructure that are at the heart of modern society. Six nations, including the United States, China and Russia, already have built offensive military cyber capability, and perhaps 30 more are seeking to acquire it. A cyber arms race is well underway, although it often draws less attention than the related surge of cyber theft, espionage and hacking. The offensive cyber arms race makes it even more urgent to think about defenses. The United States is still seriously vulnerable, as are other nations. We have deeply embedded network technology in every facet of our economy and our lives, and it has been under constant assault in recent years. So far, the attacks have been largely aimed at theft, disruption and spying, but it will get worse. We live in a mammoth glass house and ought to be mindful of the dangers when we throw stones.
benton.org/node/124831 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CYBERWAR WARNING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Kramer, Nicole Perlroth]
When Eugene Kaspersky, the founder of Europe’s largest antivirus company, discovered the Flame virus that is afflicting computers in Iran and the Middle East, he recognized it as a technologically sophisticated virus that only a government could create. He also recognized that the virus, which he compares to the Stuxnet virus built by programmers employed by the United States and Israel, adds weight to his warnings of the grave dangers posed by governments that manufacture and release viruses on the Internet. “Cyberweapons are the most dangerous innovation of this century,” he told a gathering of technology company executives, called the CeBIT conference, last month in Sydney, Australia. While the United States and Israel are using the weapons to slow the nuclear bomb-making abilities of Iran, they could also be used to disrupt power grids and financial systems or even wreak havoc with military defenses. He says only an international treaty would halt online weapons.
benton.org/node/124829 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

USDA EX PARTE
[SOURCE: WashingtonWatch, AUTHOR: Teresa Evert]
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein, and staff met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Genachowski and his staff on May 29, 2012, to discuss the importance of broadband to the rural quality of life. Secretary Vilsack noted that RUS makes loans to finance the construction and upgrade of high capacity broadband networks whose terms can exceed 20 years, and these investments were made under then-current FCC rules with the understanding that the revenues would be necessary to recover costs and repay loans to lenders including RUS. Secretary Vilsack also noted the regression analysis model can affect long term revenues and USF predictability. He suggested the waiver process could be improved by incorporating key elements of the "safety net" process, which was suggested in the October 11 filing by the RUS Administrator which recommends inter alia that the standard for relief should be tied to a default on an obligation to government, not the loss of voice service. Secretary Vilsack underscored the need for USDA and the FCC to continue to work together to address the communications needs of rural America.
benton.org/node/124791 | WashingtonWatch
Recommend this Headline
back to top

NETFLIX AND DATA CAPS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
Carriers like Verizon and AT&T are trying to convince Netflix to pay for the bandwidth its subscribers consume on their networks. On May 31 Netflix delivered a rather oblique response. It’s giving its iPhone customers the option of turning off cellular access to Netflix completely and instead rely on old-fashioned Wi-Fi to deliver their movies and TV shows.
benton.org/node/124802 | GigaOm
Recommend this Headline
back to top

FACEBOOK AND WEB TRAFFIC
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
Facebook went down for a few hours May 31, causing people to turn to Twitter to complain, quip and mourn. But despite the outsized reactions from the site’s 901 million users, the web itself barely felt the shock of losing the largest social network on the planet. A quick check with Sandvine indicated that Facebook’s faltering didn’t lead to any noticeable traffic dip unlike, say, the huge drop off in traffic that occurred worldwide when digital file locker MegaUpload was taken down. The reason is simple. Facebook deals primarily in words and images, as opposed to video.
benton.org/node/124800 | GigaOm
Recommend this Headline
back to top

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

NEW SIM CARDS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Francois de Beaupuy]
Mobile-phone makers agreed on a new standard for smaller SIM cards, overcoming a deadlock in which Finland’s Nokia Oyj and Apple had competing proposals. The so-called “fourth form factor” will be 40 percent smaller than the current smallest SIM card design, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute said in a statement on its Web site, following a meeting held May 31 and June 1 in Osaka, Japan. “It can be packaged and distributed in a way that is backwards compatible with existing SIM card designs.” ETSI agreed to pick Apple’s SIM card standard, beating a proposal from Nokia.
benton.org/node/124807 | Bloomberg | GigaOm
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PCAST SPECTRUM REPORT
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] Although the short, post-Memorial Day week was not short on news, we focus instead today on news that first broke while we were all scrambling to begin our holiday. On May 25, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) held a meeting and released recommendations on better using spectrum currently used by the federal government. Because of consumers’ increased reliance on wireless phones and other devices, demand for mobile voice and data capacity is booming. Many government departments and agencies have been allocated spectrum over the years, but may not be making the best use of that capacity. In recent years, there have been many calls to clear government users off of various spectrum bands and unleash them for auction to wireless carriers. However, recent research found that clearing just one 95 MHz band will take 10 years, cost $18 billion, and cause significant disruption. John Markoff reported in the New York Times that PCAST’s report urges President Barack Obama to adopt new computer technologies to make better use of a huge swath of the radio spectrum now controlled by federal agencies.
http://benton.org/node/124760
back to top

OWNERSHIP

APPLE PLANT IN US?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Paczkowski]
Apple once operated a factory in the United States. Will it ever open another one? Will we ever see an Apple device labeled “Designed by Apple in California -– Assembled in the United States”? Apple CEO Tim Cook isn’t sure, but he’s certainly open to the idea, though it’s not an easy one to execute. “I want there to be [another U.S.-manufactured Apple product],” Cook said onstage at our 10th D: All Things Digital conference, adding that some important pieces of a few of Apple’s devices are currently made in the States. “This is not well known, but the engines for the iPhone and iPad are built in the U.S., in Austin,” Cook said. “The glass on the iPhone is made at a plant in Kentucky — and not just for the U.S., but for other markets outside the U.S. as well.” But those are just a few components. And the bulk of them are not only manufactured outside the US, but assembled into Apple devices there as well. Could assembly ever be done in the US? Said Cook, “I hope so, one day.” But in order for that to ever happen, the U.S. really needs to up its game.
benton.org/node/124813 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CONNECTED CAR
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Gryta]
Verizon Communications agreed to buy Hughes Telematics Inc., a provider of wireless-enabled services to cars, for $612 million in cash as the telecom heavyweight aims to broaden the way people use its network. Atlanta-based Hughes provides auto-based technology and services such as online media, remote vehicle diagnostics and even medical-related services. For Verizon, the deal, expected to close in the third quarter, comes as the carrier will likely expand its data plans to cover more products.
benton.org/node/124812 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

AT&T PREDICTIONS FOR WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said that the wireless industry is likely to experience more consolidation, with firms buying up each other’s spectrum assets to deal with skyrocketing demand by smartphone users. He said data use will increase 75 percent every year for the next five years. Indeed, consumers in the next two years may be able to buy data-only plans as they use voice calls and text messaging less often. But he still feels burned after regulators rebuffed the company’s last attempt at a major merger. Stephenson said it would be “difficult” for AT&T to attempt another blockbuster acquisition as it did with its failed $39 billion bid for T-Mobile USA last year. But he said smaller mergers by all wireless companies are inevitable.
benton.org/node/124811 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CONTROL OF THE SCREENS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nick Bilton]
Given the relentless battles by tech companies to win new smartphone users, you would think that the tiny screen is the only one that matters. Those battles are part of a larger war for three screens: smartphones, tablets and televisions. The most important facet of these devices won’t be the sharpness of the display or the sleekness of the design — they will, after all, essentially be the same: flat pieces of glass of varying sizes. What we will want most from these screens is their ability to communicate with one another like a group of gabbing teenagers in the middle of school recess. Media you will buy or rent online, like e-books, videos, games and music, should be able to flow flawlessly among these devices. Done correctly, you won’t have to do a thing. If your screens are woven together on the same operating system, they will be able to share media by speaking the same language. Can we already see a winner? You might say Apple because it has popular smartphones, tablets and computers talking to one another. Google is further behind because while smartphones are using its operating system, that’s where it ends. But when it comes to the living room, both companies are losing. Surprisingly, it’s the company that has been failing with the smartphone that may be the furthest ahead: Microsoft.
benton.org/node/124851 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOOGLE PLAYING WITH FIRE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Rolfe Winkler]
Take the nuclear option off the table, and some patents look like less-powerful weapons. Among the best intellectual property that Google acquired through Motorola Mobility were "standards essential" patents -- the foundation of certain technology standards on which others have to build. Take "3G" or Wi-Fi. If, say, Apple wants the iPhone to work, it must use such standards in its design. In exchange for its technology being adopted as a standard, a firm like Motorola commits to licensing the technology for a fair and reasonable price, lest it hold too much market power. So it is problematic that Motorola had used such patents as a basis for suing firms like Apple and Microsoft. Google continues to pursue the legal strategy since buying Motorola, despite warnings by the Justice Department. More frustrating to government authorities is that Motorola took its case to the U.S. International Trade Commission, which has only one draconian penalty if it finds an intellectual-property violation: an import ban. Now the Federal Trade Commission, which is already investigating Google on allegations of antitrust violations, plans to weigh in.
benton.org/node/124839 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

THE SPIRIT OF JOBS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: L Gordon Crovitz]
[Commentary] It takes a lot for Silicon Valley to see the glass half empty. Not even the sharp drop in Facebook's share price or the passing of Apple visionary Steve Jobs suppresses the optimism of technology entrepreneurs. Yet Washington is making it harder even for growth industries to see the glass half full. That's a big take-away of last week's All Things D conference, which for 10 years has been the best way to measure the mood of Silicon Valley. The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher grilled top CEOs in front of hundreds of technology executives and entrepreneurs, but the most telling moment came at the end of an otherwise cheery 112-slide presentation by Mary Meeker, a longtime technology analyst at Morgan Stanley now with the Kleiner Perkins venture-capital firm. She notes that the country has the biggest peacetime gap between revenues and expenses, with entitlement spending swamping everything else. "What gives me pause is that when we were born, 85% of households paid federal income taxes. Now only 49% do," she pointed out. "Soon more people will receive government aid than pay taxes. That scares me a lot."
benton.org/node/124844 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PRIVACY

EXPLORER DO-NOT-TRACK
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Microsoft said that it will include do-not-track in the latest Explorer iteration (10) in Windows 8, which drew some praise from Capitol Hill and concern from online advertisers. Microsoft, Mozilla and others have committed to the Obama Administration that they would support a do-not-track browser option also supported by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), but the default setting takes it up a notch. "[W]e hope that many consumers will see this value and make a conscious choice to share information in order to receive more personalized ad content," said Brendon Lynch, chief privacy officer, Microsoft. "For us, that is the key distinction. Consumers should be empowered to make an informed choice and, for these reasons, we believe that for IE10 in Windows 8, a privacy-by-default state for online behavioral advertising is the right approach." Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), who co-chairs the Congressional Privacy Caucus and has sponsored a do-not-track kids bill, was pleased, but wanted more. Caucus Co-Chair Joe Barton (R-TX), called it a good first step. Online advertisers were troubled. So were advertisers in general.
benton.org/node/124803 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top

FACEBOOK PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Michelle Maltais]
You get a vote on whether to accept Facebook's revised policies, thanks to the efforts of a European activist. Max Schrems, an Austrian law student, managed to trigger a vote, capitalizing on Facebook's own stated policy by drumming up comments on the policy. The policy states: "We will give you seven (7) days to provide us with comments on the change. If we receive more than 7,000 comments concerning a particular change, we will put the change up for a vote. The vote will be binding on us if more than 30% of all active registered users as of the date of the notice vote." Well, Schrems said on site Europe versus Facebook that comments came from 40,000 users -- well over the stated threshold. So you've got a week to register your vote.
benton.org/node/124809 | Los Angeles Times | to place your vote
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CHILDREN AND MEDIA

FACEBOOK AND KIDS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Anton Troianovski, Shayndi Raice]
Facebook is developing technology that would allow children younger than 13 years old to use the social-networking site under parental supervision, a step that could help the company tap a new pool of users for revenue but also inflame privacy concerns. Mechanisms being tested include connecting children's accounts to their parents' and controls that would allow parents to decide whom their kids can "friend" and what applications they can use, people who have spoken with Facebook executives about the technology said. The under-13 features could enable Facebook and its partners to charge parents for games and other entertainment accessed by their children. Facebook currently bans users under 13. But many kids lie about their ages to get accounts, putting the company in an awkward position regarding a federal law that requires sites to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal data from children. Any attempt to give younger kids access to the site would be extraordinarily sensitive, given regulators' already heightened concerns about how Facebook protects user privacy. But Facebook, concerned that it faces reputational and regulatory risks from children already using the service despite its rules, believes it has little choice but to look into ways of establishing controls that could formalize their presence on the site, people familiar with the matter said.
benton.org/node/124846 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

BROADCASTING

PUTTING TALK RADIO ON TRIAL
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Sue Wilson]
[Commentary] Anyone remember a time when radio seemed friendly and informative, rather than hostile and manipulative? I do. And I remember when it changed in 1996, after President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act into law, and suddenly, huge corporations like Clear Channel began using our public airwaves -- those scarce radio frequencies which are owned by us ALL -- as a hammer to pummel Clinton and all other Democrats. I've been working to correct the problem ever since 1998. I've advocated rewriting the Telecommunications Act, made the film Broadcast Blues to educate people about the problem, founded the Media Action Center to get local groups communicating with their local broadcasters, filed petitions to deny stations' licenses, and more. Nothing worked. But now, I believe I have found the legal means to put Talk Radio on trial at the Federal Communications Commission -- and perhaps eventually at the Supreme Court.
benton.org/node/124799 | Huffington Post, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

NBC GRANTS TO NONPROFITS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Michael Malone]
The NBCUniversal Foundation and NBC Owned Television Stations will provide $1.2 million in grants to the top nonprofit organizations in NBC's owned station markets. The initiative, called 21st Century Solutions, "will enable nonprofits implementing new and innovative programs to compete for funding in the ten local communities served by the NBC owned stations." Likely recipients will be nonprofits in arts and media, civic engagement, employment and education, among other categories. Applications must be received by Aug. 15 and winners will be announced this fall.
benton.org/node/124838 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top

ADVERTISING

WATCH THESE COMMERCIALS
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] It's hard to believe these days, but there was once upon a time when TV executives didn't mind consumers taking control over TV sets. There were no lawsuits, like the ones recently filed by the TV networks against Dish for its new commercial-skipping DVR. This is what NBC said in its complaint against Dish in its May 24 lawsuit: "The U.S. broadcast networks cannot provide the news, sports and entertainment programming they have historically created and offered if the revenue-generating ads are systematically blotted out on an unauthorized basis by distributors like DISH." Keep those words in mind. Once upon a time, there were no cases taken to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the right of consumers to record shows, as in the 1984 Betamax case. These days, of course, are different. Our TV overlords continually demand our strict attention at the same time as they sue innovative companies out of existence.
benton.org/node/124835 | Public Knowledge
Recommend this Headline
back to top

AD-RATE RISES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Suzanne Vranica]
Major TV networks have begun striking ad-sales deals for the fall season, winning higher prices over last year, despite resistance from one big advertiser, General Motors. GM is asking broadcast networks to reduce their ad rates by as much as 20% and is willing to move some of its dollars to the networks that will agree, according to people familiar with the matter. It isn't known whether GM, the third-biggest TV advertiser by spending behind Procter & Gamble and AT&T, has struck any deals. In the meantime, the broadcast networks are winning price increases in the so-called upfront, when networks sell as much as 80% of their prime-time ad time for the coming fall season. Prices are set based on what an advertiser paid during last year's upfront. CBS, which ended the just-concluded 2011-12 season as the most-watched network among all viewers, appears to be the only broadcaster getting double-digit-percentage increases in the rates based on every 1,000 viewers, media buyers said. CBS, however, has also struck some deals in the high-single-digit range, according to media buyers. Both Comcast’s NBC and Walt Disney's ABC are getting mid-single-digit increases, buyers said.
benton.org/node/124841 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

JOURNALISM

REDUCED PUBLISHING SCHEDULES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Christine Haughney]
The news waits for no one. But newspapers might start asking readers to — at least for print copies. Almost two weeks ago, The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, which is owned by Advance Publications, announced that it would cut back its print schedule to just three days a week. Within hours, its sister publications The Birmingham News, The Press-Register of Mobile and The Huntsville Times followed suit. Four days later, Postmedia announced that three of its papers, The Calgary Herald, The Edmonton Journal and The Ottawa Citizen would all eliminate their Sunday editions. Newspaper executives across the industry lament the loss of the daily print paper, but concede they might follow the same path. John Paton, chief executive officer of Digital First Media, which operates 75 daily newspapers, said he would consider reducing his print schedule when there was enough digital advertising to support it. “I’m a career newspaperman. I feel the emotional tug. My father was a printer. I get it,” Paton said. “If you care about journalism, you’ve got to do this.”
benton.org/node/124847 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

TELECOM

TURNING OFF THE PHONE SYSTEM
[SOURCE: Tales of the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] A few weeks ago I went to a fascinating gathering of a few dozen academics, policy wonks, and others from the U.S. and elsewhere to talk about the end of the phone system. While by no means a unanimous consensus, a very solid majority considered the phone system obsolete and ready for the scrap heap. This will come as a surprise to those of you who called home on Mother’s Day or who thanked God for a call center number when your broadband connection went down. But in fact, most of you are probably not using a phone service but a “phone service,” so we are half-way to shutting down the actual phone system anyway. For about a year now, folks in the nerdiest, geekiest, obscurest reaches of Policyland and Wonkdom have been talking about how to turn off the phone service and replace it with “phone service.” For those of you enjoying “phone service” from the likes of cable companies or cell phone providers, you may wonder why this matters. Sure, Grandma may finally need to replace that princess phone, but other than that, who cares? As is so often the case, however, these technical issues matter quite a bit in the real world – but you won’t notice until waaaay too late to make a difference.
benton.org/node/124833 | Tales of the Sausage Factory
Recommend this Headline
back to top

POLICYMAKERS

LEIBOWITZ-WOJCICKI MEETING
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Douglas MacMillan, Jeff Bliss]
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz took time away from a Southern California technology conference to dine with a senior executive at Google, the subject of an intensifying government antitrust probe. Chairman Leibowitz had lunch with Susan Wojcicki, Google’s senior vice president of advertising, at Catalina Kitchen at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes. The pair were attending the D10 conference, put on by technology blog AllThingsD. Wojcicki spearheaded Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick Inc., an Internet-advertising company, and was involved in Google’s purchase of AdMob Inc., which specializes in mobile ads. Google’s advertising practices are part of the FTC’s antitrust investigation.
benton.org/node/124805 | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top

NEWS FROM ABROAD

NEWS CORP FACES PHONE-HACKING CASES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Paul Sonne]
Lawyers for both News Corp. and phone-hacking victims estimated in court that the media company could ultimately face about 500 civil claims related to illegal voice-mail interception by the now-closed News of the World tabloid. That is about 400 more cases than have been filed or settle so far. So far, claimants have filed roughly 110 lawsuits against the company related to illicit reporting tactics by the News of the World. The media company has settled more than half of those, including high-profile cases brought by singer Charlotte Church, actor Jude Law and comedian Steve Coogan. The settlement amounts have varied, with Ms. Church receiving one of the largest payouts, at £600,000 ($924,360). But in a court hearing related to the continuing civil litigation on Friday, attorneys for both sides said they expect the total number of cases to continue growing.
benton.org/node/124789 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

Email this page