June 5, 2012 (The Struggle for Internet Governance)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

Today’s event http://benton.org/calendar/2012-06-05/

DIGITAL DIVIDE
   Benton Foundation Hosts ‘Getting Seniors Online’ Forum
   There Is No Digital Divide

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   What is the ITU? The Struggle for Internet Governance - analysis
   Civil Society is Key to the Debate on International Control Over the Internet - analysis
   Isolationist no more: The Internet goes to Washington

WIRELESS/BROADBAND
   Why mobile must solve its data dilemma – or die - op-ed
   Ad Networks Bypass iPhone Privacy Rules

CONTENT
   Apple and Google Expand Their Battle to Mobile Maps
   Amazon buys 62-year-old book publisher Avalon Books [links to web]

PRIVACY
   High Stakes in Internet Tracking - analysis
   Rethinking Privacy in an Era of Big Data
   Consumer Groups Push State, EU for Privacy Protections [links to web]
   IAB Puts a Human Face on the Privacy Debate
   Ad Networks Bypass iPhone Privacy Rules
   Lawmakers Seek Info on Facebook Considering Allowing Younger Users

CYBERSECURITY
   Cyberattacks challenge ideas of war – and peace - editorial
   Understanding cyberspace is key to defending against digital attacks
   'Time running out' for cyber bill

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Opinion split on authority to shut down wireless in emergency

OWNERSHIP
   Tribune nears exit from acrimonious Chapter 11 case
   Amazon buys 62-year-old book publisher Avalon Books [links to web]
   Google purchases Meebo to work with Google+ team
   Google Buys Magnolia Broadband’s Patents

LABOR
   Verizon offering buyouts to 1,700 wireline workers [links to web]

HEALTH
   Promoting Nutrition, Disney to Restrict Junk-Food Ads
   EHR incentive payments top $5 billion [links to web]
   Health-Monitoring Devices Market Outpaces Telehealth [links to web]

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   4As Issues Guides For Brand Ads In Face Of Political Onslaught
   Romney uses Vogue editor’s campaign ad to portray Obama as out of touch [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Announces New Staff - press release
   ITI member companies oppose a merger

STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:

   European Countries Face Sanctions for Missing Telecom Rules Deadline
   South Africa Lags Behind with Internet Access
   In Nigeria, Rising Dreams of Web Commerce [links to web]
   Israel asks Arab visitors to open emails to search [links to web]
   China's Bona in Talks With Hollywood to Co-Produce Films [links to web]
   Market’s Echo of Tiananmen Date Sets Off Censors
   Why India and Brazil are the next hot e-book countries [links to web]
   The 350-Year-Old British Post Office Is Leading The Mobile Payments Charge [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Digital revenues not enough to lift US newspapers [links to web]
   New San Francisco Tech Boom Brings Jobs but Also Worries [links to web]

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DIGITAL DIVIDE

GETTING SENIORS ONLINE
[SOURCE: Minority Media and telecommunications Council, AUTHOR: Tiffany Bain]
Although seniors represent the largest age group and one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, people over the age of 65 have one of the smallest and slowest broadband adoption rates. Last month, the Benton Foundation and Connected Living – a company that provides technology training and support to seniors living in public housing and senior living communities – hosted “Getting Seniors Online,” a daylong forum dedicated to discussing ways to help senior citizens get on the winning side of the digital divide. Several senior citizen advocacy groups, such as Older Adults Technology Services (OATS), AARP, and the Alliance for Aging, also participated in the event. “Age is a determinant factor in Internet adoption,” said Dr. Thomas Kamber, OATS executive director. “Seniors need to understand what the relative advantage of using the Internet is.” Kamber, who also believes that getting seniors online is a social justice issue, is absolutely correct.
benton.org/node/124932 | Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
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THERE IS NO DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: Technology Review , AUTHOR: Christopher Mims]
We all know poor people are on the wrong side of an uncrossable technological chasm known as the "digital divide." Their lack of iPads and data plans and broadband is just one more way they're doomed to stay poor right up until they become the shock troops of the zombie apocalypse, am I right? Indeed, a recent New York Times piece, "Wasting Time Is New Divide in Digital Era" asserts that while all kids are spending more time with media, those with lower socio-economic status were spending even more of it, and on activities like Facebook that aren't exactly conducive to learning. In other words: even when you give poor people access to technology, they don't know what to do with it! Might as well give a paleolithic tribe access to a chip fab, pffft. Jessie Daniels, Associate Professor of urban public health at Hunter College and CUNY and author of a forthcoming book on Internet propaganda, tweeted her displeasure at the piece.
benton.org/node/124931 | Technology Review
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

THE STRUGGLE FOR INTERNET GOVERNANCE
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Justin Kaufman]
[Commentary] Another storm is brewing over Internet governance. Several countries, including Russia, China, and India, have proposed empowering the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – a specialized agency of the United Nations – to oversee various aspects of Internet governance. The issue will come to a head in December, when the 193 member states of the ITU convene at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai to vote on these proposals. This raises three important questions: who regulates the Internet today, what is the ITU, and what is at stake in December?
Beneath the United States’ decision to relinquish control of Internet standards to a multistakeholder body was a recognition that the unique character of the Internet demanded an innovative model of governance. The existing multistakeholder system may be imperfect, but shifting regulatory authority to a nearly 150-year-old international body is surely a step in the wrong direction. The Internet will continue to raise novel concerns for state actors around the world. And perhaps the role of governments within the current regulatory scheme requires fine tuning. However, the community of nations should be one voice within a multistakeholder model of governance; not the voice. The ITU is not the proper agency to oversee the Internet.
benton.org/node/124957 | Public Knowledge
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CIVIL SOCIETY AND INTERNET GOVERANCE
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn]
[Commentary] Civil society will be the critical player in a policy debate that has dominated recent tech news - whether the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will be given the power by its Member States to regulate internet access and the internet itself. Despite the fact that the US Government and US industry have vocally opposed this outcome, it is US civil society that has the biggest role to play to ensure that the Internet continues to be open and decentralized. The ITU is a United Nations agency focused on setting international standards related to information and communications technologies – and whose stated mission is to connect all the world’s people “wherever they live and whatever their means.” Among other things, the ITU allocates global radio spectrum, and coordinates the assignment of satellite orbits. What’s all the fuss? The ITU and its 193 Member States (including the US) and approximately 700 “Sector Members” will meet this December in Dubai at the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) to update the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs), a treaty to which all Member States are signatories. But it will take more than jawboning by civil society groups here to stop the threat of an ITU takeover. US civil society (and by extension the US Government) must acknowledge the concerns of countries that believe that the US has too much control over Internet governance, and must address those concerns without giving control of the Internet to the ITU. Insisting that anything less than the status quo will lead to an ITU takeover is both untrue and ultimately self-defeating.
benton.org/node/124977 | Public Knowledge
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THE INTERNET GOES TO WASHINGTON
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
The launch of a new think tank call DisCo (The Disruptive Competition Project) that wants to educate Congress about disruptive technologies is just one of several new efforts proposed by the Internet and startup community to get their voices heard. No longer will the conversation between Silicon Valley and DC rely solely on big tech firms like Amazon, Google, Facebook and others. The Internet upstarts are hoping they can disrupt politics too. Additional efforts include: Engine Advocacy; TestPAC; and The Internet Defense League. Taken together each of these efforts contain elements that other political alliances and organizations should note. Because they were born from the Internet, they are adept at using the tools of the web to educate, disseminate information, encourage action and raise money. But because the Internet is a huge consistency and still isn’t as well-organized as other special interest groups, it will be worth watching to see how much of an effect these groups can have on politics. Can they change the game, or will their best tactics just get subsumed by the larger lobbying and political organizations? I don’t know, but it’s good to see the wider web trying to get involved.
benton.org/node/125000 | GigaOm
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WIRELESS/BROADBAND

MOBILE DATA DILEMMA
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Andreas Bernström]
As little as 18 months ago, mobile VoIP and IP messaging apps were considered niche by operators. Now we pose the biggest “threat” the industry has even seen. In fact, a report suggests that within three years, 40 percent of messaging and 21 percent of voice revenues will vanish due to over the top (OTT) players like Rebtel, Whatsapp and Viber. For any telecommunication company these are frightening numbers, and they’re reacting to them in the only way they seem to know: by blocking, charging for or throttling competing services that are cannibalizing their revenues. But this fear is caused by business imbalance that they seem unable (or unwilling) to fix. Look at any European mobile operator, and it’s clear that around 80 percent of their revenues are still attributed to their most traditional — and most eroding — service: voice and data. At the same time, around 80 percent of their investments go into improving the congested infrastructure necessary to support the dramatic growth of third-party data services.
benton.org/node/124945 | GigaOm
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CONTENT

BATTLE OVER MOBILE MAPS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro, Amir Efrati]
Since they got together in 2007, the iPhone and Google Maps have seemed like ideal digital bedfellows. Google’s blockbuster map service -- which allows web users to find businesses, check traffic conditions and get directions -- has helped Apple’s iPhone become wildly successful. Surging iPhone use has, in turn, driven tons of web traffic to Google's search engine through Google Maps. But not for long. Mobile map technology is about to become the latest battleground in the two tech giants' escalating war over who dominates the future of computing. Later this year, Apple is planning to oust Google Maps as the preloaded, default maps app from the iPhone and iPad and release a new mapping app that runs Apple's own technology, according to current and former Apple employees. Apple could preview the new software, which will be part of its next mobile-operating system, as soon as next week at its annual developer conference in San Francisco, one person familiar with the plans says. Apple plans to encourage app developers to embed its maps inside their applications like social-networking and search services. Technology blog 9to5Mac earlier reported that Apple will launch its own maps app in its next mobile-operating system.
benton.org/node/124997 | Wall Street Journal
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PRIVACY

INTERNET TRACKING
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Antonio Regaldo]
An Amazon ad for a book by science fiction writer Cory Doctorow recently appeared on my computer screen. "What a coincidence!" I thought naively. I'd been reading an opinion item by Doctorow on Internet privacy (to be published this week as part of this month's Business Impact series) and had looked up his past writing. That was all it took for a crowd of ads to start following me. The business story of our age -- the biggest story of any kind, arguably -- is how the Internet connects us. Part of being connected via technology is having an identity. It used to be a phone number. On the network, it's an IP address or the browser cookies that tell other computers who you are. The problem today is that anyone can use these tools to track you. Gary Kovacs, CEO of Mozilla, recently demonstrated Collusion, an add-on to the company's Firefox Web browser that lets you see who those anyones are. Kovacs says a who-knows-who of 150 entities was tracking his activity after one day of Web surfing. This crowd of hucksters and ad networks was following his nine-year-old daughter, too. Some people think tracking is creepy. Kovacs is one of them. He says that when we go on the Internet, we are like Hansel and Gretel leaving information breadcrumbs—birthdays, financial histories, relationship statuses—"everywhere we travel through the digital woods."
benton.org/node/124929 | Technology Review
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RETHINKING PRIVACY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Quentin Hardy]
Some years ago an engineer at Google told me why Google wasn’t collecting information linked to people’s names. “We don’t want the name. The name is noise.” There was enough information in Google’s large database of search queries, location, and online behavior, he said, that you could tell a lot about somebody through indirect means. The point was that actually finding out people’s names isn’t necessary for sending them targeted ads. It can probably lead to trouble, as Google’s own adventures in Wi-Fi snooping show. Even without knowing your name, increasingly, everything about you is out there. Whether and how you guard your privacy in an online world we are building up every day has become increasingly urgent.
benton.org/node/124955 | New York Times
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PRIVACY DEBATE
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Adam Mazmanian]
The ad networks and data brokers who track and trade online user information aren't the most cuddly bunch, from a public relations standpoint. So the Interactive Advertising Bureau makes a point of spotlighting the small publishers who benefit from online advertising technologies like behavioral tracking in an annual lobbying event called the Washington Fly-In. The IAB hopes this entrepreneurial group shows lawmakers the human side of an industry that is often depicted as remote and faceless. Though there isn't any pending privacy legislation in front of Congress, about 50 publishers who will take to Capitol Hill on Monday for meetings with members including Communications and Technology Subcommittee members Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Ed Towns (D-NY).
benton.org/node/124947 | National Journal
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IPHONE PRIVACY RULES BYPASSED
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Joel Schectman, Jessica Vascellaro]
Mobile ad networks are using new techniques to target iPhone users by circumventing Apple's earlier efforts to protect user privacy. Apple last summer said it would stop allowing app makers to use a unique identifier embedded in iPhones and iPads to track users as they move from app to app, which is an important way for advertisers to position their ads for appropriate audiences. To avoid the limits of Apple's rules, ad networks that serve advertisements within mobile apps have started using new identifiers that collect information like location and preferences as the user moves across apps. One of the tracking systems is based on a unique identifier located in the iPhone's wireless networking hardware -- a system known as Open Device Identification Number, or ODIN. The other prominent tracking alternative, called OpenUDID, uses the device's built-in copy-and-paste function. These networks claim they will lose millions of dollars a week in revenue unless they can gather personal data from users to better target them. Privacy advocates argue these new techniques could allow marketers to identify individuals and violate unsuspecting users' privacy.
benton.org/node/124996 | Wall Street Journal
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REACTION TO FACEBOOK
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Facebook has some explaining to do to lawmakers, or at least that is the view from Capitol Hill on reports that the social network powerhouse was exploring ways to let kids under 13 use the site with their parent's permission. Currently, those kids are not supposed to be using the site, though by most accounts, millions do anyway. One of those concerned lawmakers is Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), co-sponsor of the kids online do-not-track information, who joined with his co-sponsor Joe Barton (R-TX) -- together they co-chair the Congressional Privacy Caucus -- to send a letter to Facebook Monday citing concerns about privacy and targeted advertising.
benton.org/node/124980 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CYBERSECURITY

CYBERATTACKS CHALLENGE IDEAS OF WAR AND PEACE
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Editorial board]
[Commentary] For anyone trying to promote peace, these are confusing times. Not because there is more war. Indeed, violence between states or within states has fallen sharply from the last century. Rather, the very nature of conflict is changing rapidly. To avoid invasions with troops, for example, many countries plan to follow the United States in the use of unmanned predatory drones. Instead of violent airstrikes, they impose crippling economic sanctions, relying on the digital tools of global finance. And if sanctions don’t work, they devise computer viruses or other types of cyberwarfare. Such changes in the nature of conflict make it difficult to determine future threats. Congress may not know how to craft a defense budget, making it more vulnerable to the lobbying of defense industries. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) of the House Intelligence Committee says Congress must learn to deal with the new realities like cyberwarfare that are “moving at the speed of light.” The concept of war itself has become a moving target. Peacemakers must move with it.
benton.org/node/124994 | Christian Science Monitor, The
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DEFENDING AGAINST DIGITAL ATTACKS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Robert O’Harrow Jr]
The words “zero day” strike fear in military, intelligence and corporate leaders. The term is used by hackers and security specialists to describe a flaw discovered for the first time by a hacker that can be exploited to break into a system. In recent years, there has been one stunning revelation after the next about how such unknown vulnerabilities were used to break into systems that were assumed to be secure. One came in 2009, targeting Google, Northrop Grumman, Dow Chemical and hundreds of other firms. Hackers from China took advantage of a flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser and used it to penetrate the targeted computer systems. Over several months, the hackers siphoned off oceans of data, including the source code that runs Google’s systems.
benton.org/node/124954 | Washington Post
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TIME RUNNING OUT FOR CYBER BILL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) prodded Congress to pass comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, warning that "time is running out." Speaking at the Military Academy at West Point, Rep Langevin acknowledged that there is still "a gulf in opinions" about the government's role in protecting private computer networks, a divide that has become "an increasingly daunting barrier" to passing comprehensive reforms. But he urged lawmakers to redouble their efforts. "The consequences of inaction are perilously high," Rep Langevin said.
benton.org/node/124953 | Hill, The
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

AUTHORITY TO SHUT DOWN WIRELESS NETWORKS
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Jaikumar Vijayan]
Opinion appears sharply divided on whether the government and law enforcement should have unchecked authority to initiate a localized or citywide wireless service shutdown for public safety purposes. In April, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a notice seeking public comments on the issue. In its notice the FCC noted that interruption of wireless services by the government, however brief or localized, raised significant legal and policy questions. "We are concerned that there has been insufficient discussion, analysis, and consideration of the questions raised by intentional interruptions," the FCC had noted in seeking public feedback on the need for new procedures for handling such shutdowns. The one-month period for filing public comments ended May 30. A review of the responses to the FCC requests over the past month shows that many support the idea of the government having the ability to quickly shut down wireless services, but only as a matter of last resort and only in an extreme emergency. Others however opposed the idea outright calling it unconstitutional and an example of prior restraint on free speech.
benton.org/node/124938 | ComputerWorld
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OWNERSHIP

TRIBUNE NEARS BANKRUPCY EXIT
[SOURCE: The Deal, AUTHOR: Chris Nolter]
On June 7, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey will consider the fourth revision of Tribune Co.'s reorganization plan in Delaware, and unlikely as it may have seemed over the past 3-1/2 years of legal warfare, the company may soon leave Chapter 11. Since Tribune last presented a plan in 2011, Carey has given the company detailed guidance about how its proposal fell short. The company has spent recent months adjusting its plan and resoliciting votes from some creditors. While Tribune has the support of its senior lenders, its unsecured creditors' committee and other claimholders that voted in favor of the plan, a number of creditors oppose the plan and the settlement that underpins it. Noteholder Aurelius Capital Management LP, which has been the most prominent opponent throughout Tribune's case, reiterated opposition to a settlement with the lenders that financed Sam Zell's ill-fated 2007 leveraged buyout.
benton.org/node/124935 | Deal, The
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GOOGLE BUYS MEEBO
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Eliza Kern]
Google purchased Meebo, the social media and advertising company, to add a team of engineers and some publisher-friendly social tools to its Google+ efforts. Google said Meebo would work closely with its Google+ team after the purchase. Meebo, founded in 2005, was originally known for its web chat client called Meebo Messenger. It has now expanded to provide a Meebo Bar on webpages that encourage readers to share a site’s content through social media. Individual consumers are also encouraged to create profiles where they can mark their likes and dislikes and receive articles that reflect these preferences.
benton.org/node/124983 | GigaOm
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GOOGLE BUYS MAGNOLIA PATENTS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Paczkowski]
Google’s adding some new intellectual property to its already formidable patent arsenal. The company purchased a portfolio of patents from Magnolia Broadband, a fabless semiconductor company. According to the USPTO, Magnolia has 28 issued patents and 24 patents pending in the United States, many related to wireless data transmission.
benton.org/node/124982 | Wall Street Journal
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HEALTH

DISNEY TO RESTRICT JUNK FOOD ADS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brooks Barnes]
The Walt Disney Company, in an effort to address concerns about entertainment’s role in childhood obesity, plans to announce that all products advertised on its child-focused television channels, radio stations and Web sites must comply with a strict new set of nutritional standards. The restrictions on ads extend to Saturday-morning cartoons on ABC stations owned by Disney. Under the new rules, products like Capri Sun drinks and Kraft Lunchables meals — both current Disney advertisers — along with a wide range of candy, sugared cereal and fast food, will no longer be acceptable advertising material. The initiative, which Disney plans to detail at a Washington news conference with the first lady, Michelle Obama, stretches into other areas. For instance, Disney will reduce the amount of sodium by 25 percent in the 12 million children’s meals served annually at its theme parks, and create what it calls fun public service announcements promoting child exercise and healthy eating.
benton.org/node/124999 | New York Times | WSJ
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

GUIDES FOR BRANDS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Steve McClellan]
The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) has issued an advisory bulletin to members with some tips for dealing with the chaos that lies ahead on the airwaves, due to the expected Tsunami of political ads as the election nears. Two years ago during the fall election season, political ads accounted for up to 70% of the prime-time inventory of some TV stations. This year, with so-called “SuperPACs” raising unregulated amounts of political donations, and with both presidential candidates foregoing federal funds for campaigning (and thus avoiding caps on their spending), estimates are there will be a record $9 billion in political ad spending. Thus, the clutter of political ads on the airwaves is only expected to get worse, making it more of a challenge than usual for brand advertisers to get their own messages on the tube during election season.
benton.org/node/124979 | MediaPost
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POLICYMAKERS

FCC COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL ANNOUNCES NEW STAFF
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission member Jessica Rosenworcel announced the appointment of Valery Galasso as Confidential Assistant and Special Advisor and Priscilla Delgado Argeris as Legal Advisor.
Valery Galasso will serve as Confidential Assistant and Special Advisor. She previously served as a Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs in the Office of Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. In this role, she managed day-to-day operations in the Vice President’s Senate office. She also served as a liaison to congressional offices, with responsibility for researching legislative issues, processing Member requests, and monitoring House and Senate floor activity. Ms. Galasso previously served as a Graduate Fellow at the Office of Congressional Affairs at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Arts in Public Policy with a concentration in Science and Technology Policy from Johns
Hopkins University.
Priscilla Delgado Argeris will serve as legal advisor with responsibility for wireline and consumer issues. She previously served as an associate at the law firm Wiley Rein, where she focused regulatory and litigation matters involving federal and state communications law. She is a member of the American Bar Association, Hispanic National Bar Association, and Federal Communications Bar Association. Prior to law school, Ms. Argeris worked as a legal assistant at PG&E National Energy Group. Ms. Argeris received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. She received her law degree from New York University School of Law, where she served as Articles Editor of the Journal of International Law and Politics.
benton.org/node/124962 | Federal Communications Commission
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TECH GROUP MERGER?
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Anna Palmer, Tony Romm]
Support for a tech industry trade group merger could be waning. More than a dozen members of the Information Technology Industry Council opposed merging with other associations, according to a recent ITI survey. The opposition — which included 11 ITI member companies saying they strongly oppose a merger — is the first official gauge of how ITI's membership feels about merging with either TechNet or TechAmerica. The results — after months of the industry trade groups jockeying to position themselves as the strongest voice for the industry, with an eye toward consolidation — suggest that pulling off a merger will be tricky. The survey question specifically asked whether members would "prefer that ITI's expansion to incorporate other areas of work be achieved through" internal growth, a merger, targeted acquisition or some combination of the above. Regarding the merger, 11 strongly opposed, eight opposed, five had no opinion, while four supported and seven strongly supported merging. Conversely, internal growth received the strongest support, with 15 members supporting it and 10 strongly supporting it. Some combination of internal growth, merger and targeted acquisition received 15 members' support and six members' strong support.
benton.org/node/124961 | Politico
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:


EUROPEAN COUNTRIES FACE SANCTIONS FOR MISSING TELECOM RULES DEADLINE
[SOURCE: cellular-news, AUTHOR:]
The European Commission has decided to refer five Member States - Belgium, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia - to the EU Court of Justice because they have still not implemented the revised EU telecoms rules into their national laws. The official deadline for doing so was 25 May 2011. The Commission has also suggested the Court impose a daily penalty payment on each Member State which would be paid as from the date of the Court's ruling until full transposition of the rules into national law is notified. The other 22 countries which have implemented EU telecoms rules guarantee more competitive markets for consumers and businesses and give EU customers new rights, such as switching their phone operator in one day without changing the number or being informed without delay when their personal data is stolen online.
benton.org/node/124972 | cellular-news
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SOUTH AFRICA LAGS BEHIND WITH INTERNET ACCESS
[SOURCE: cellular-news, AUTHOR:]
A new study indicates Internet penetration in South Africa - Africa's strongest economy - is low compared to other leading economies on the continent. A new study looks at why. South Africa is the economic powerhouse on the African continent. Yet, Internet penetration here is not as high as it should be, because of the high cost of broadband and a lack of infrastructure. With a population of around 50-million people, the country had just 8.5 million active Internet users in 2011. That is up from 6.8 million in the previous year. The growth - mainly attributed to smartphones - brings Internet penetration in South Africa to approximately 17 percent, according to a study commissioned by Google South Africa. It was carried out by Arthur Goldstuck, from World Wide Worx.
benton.org/node/124970 | cellular-news
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CHINESE NET CENSORS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Keith Bradsher]
Maybe it was just a coincidence, but when the Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 64.89 points on Monday — uncannily echoing the date of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy students on June 4, 1989, exactly 23 years earlier — the Chinese blogosphere went into a tizzy. Whatever the reason, the strange trick that the stock market played on the Chinese Communist Party sent the country’s censors scrambling as well, prompting them to undertake unusually strenuous efforts to block references to the tragedy, which Chinese leaders have tried desperately to erase from their country’s consciousness.
benton.org/node/124988 | New York Times
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