Jan 7, 2009 (FCC Reform: Not If, But How)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7, 2009
An event of note today is already getting some ink -- The Digital Road to Recovery: A Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs, Boost Productivity and Revitalize America (see http://www.benton.org/node/20285)
FCC REFORM
Reforming Regulators: Does the FCC Need Saving?
FCC To Come Under Closer Scrutiny, Senior Hill Aide Says
FCC Reform: No longer If, But How
The CAN-SPAM Act as a warning
INTERNET/BROADBAND
1.3 Million Add Broadband
Broadband Subscriber Growth To Decline 12% In 2009
Loan Guarantees: A Fourth Option for Spurring Broadband Deployment
The Tech Solution To The Recession
Tech memo to Team Obama
DIGITAL CONTENT
Comcast starts new year with new network management system
ITunes embraces 3-tier pricing, will remove anti-copy software
How Newspapers Tried, But Failed to Invent the Web
POLICYMAKERS
Agenda for Senate Commerce Committee
Obama supporters downplay CTO's near-term role
BROADCASTING
12 Grassroots Groups Selected for DTV Outreach
Azerbaijan Bars Foreigners From Use of Its FM Band
CBS and Time Warner reach fresh broadcast deal
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Networks devoted more time to election
Google Grabbed Most of Obama's $16 Million in 2008
Networks to Usher In Historic Presidency
IN THE COURTS
Wal-Mart, Netflix conspired to create monopoly, suit alleges
Curtain rises on Televisa-Univision trial
QUICKLY -- Verizon Wireless plans to support Kindle rivals; A Plan to Turn the Lowly Bureaucrat Into a Cherished Public Servant
FCC REFORM
REFORMING REGULATORS: DOES THE FCC NEED SAVING?
[SOURCE: internetnews.com, AUTHOR: Kenneth Corbin]
Is the Federal Communications Commission broken? That's the consensus of a long list of opponents who, in the waning days of the Bush administration, have blasted the agency for its slowness, its secrecy and its close ties to corporate interests. In a series of panel discussions at an event entitled "Reforming the FCC," hosted by the digital-rights group Public Knowledge and the Silicon Flatirons Center of the University of Colorado, participants diagnosed many of the ails they see within the commission as it operates under Chairman Kevin Martin. At the top of that list are the close ties that many staffers maintain with the industries they oversee. Often referred to as the "revolving door," the pattern of moving between private-sector jobs and positions at the FCC has been widely criticized. "Chairman Martin follows the same policies and procedures that previous FCC chairmen, both Democratic and Republican alike, followed for the past 20 years," FCC spokesman Robert Kenny told InternetNews.com. "Chairman Martin actually led the recent efforts of the FCC to become more open and transparent by circulating proposed agenda items to the other commissioners three weeks in advance of the monthly meetings, issuing press releases announcing the items to be considered and holding press conferences to publicly release details about those proposals." "Chairman Martin was the first chairman of the FCC to put such protocols in place for the benefit of the public," Kenny said.
http://benton.org/node/20363
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FCC TO COME UNDER CLOSER SCRUTINY, SENIOR HILL AIDE SAYS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
The FCC under President-elect Obama will face stepped up congressional oversight and increased pressure to create a more open and transparent regulatory environment, Jessica Rosenworcel, a top aide to incoming Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said. She said the agency needs to be more responsive to Congress, conduct fact-finding in a more "neutral" manner, and make itself more accountable to the public. She also recommended the FCC make information it collects more publicly accessible, similar to the way the public can easily access the Transportation Department's databases. But Rosenworcel stopped short of calling for legislation to overhaul the FCC even though Rockefeller recommended doing so during a December 2007 Senate Commerce Committee hearing.
http://benton.org/node/20345
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FCC REFORM: NO LONGER IF, BUT HOW
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn]
[Commentary] There is general agreement that a healthy FCC must: 1) make policy decisions based on objective data and facts, not ideology and industry-purchased data; 2) engage in more strategic planning and be forthright about its policy goals; 3) restore procedural fairness, including, but not limited to stopping abuses of the ex parte rules, making sure Notices of Proposed Rulemaking actually propose rules, and issuing texts of decisions on the day the item is voted upon; 4) be more transparent in two ways: first, it must give the public more information about what decisions it is making, how it is making them and why; and it must allow for the public to have more meaningful input into the policymaking process; 5) be reorganized into functions, not into technological silos; 6) be staffed with people whose mission is to promote the public interest, not to get a high paying job with industry; 7) be staffed with a diversity of expertise (e.g., more economists, technologists and real business people) and cultural experiences; 8) rely more on adjudication in enforcement matters where there are facts in dispute; 9) better balance the power between the Chair and the Commissioners; 10) develop and empower staff in a way that restores morale and makes them feel like vital players in the operation of the agency; 11) lead, listen and learn, particularly through input by the academic community; 12) ensure that every staff member has a clear role that promotes the agency's policy goals; and 13) promote innovation.
http://benton.org/node/20362
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THE CAN-SPAM ACT AS A WARNING
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Scott Bradner]
It is widely expected that the new Congress and administration will be passing a lot of regulations to deal with all sorts of perceived problems. It may be that the now 5-year-old CAN-SPAM Act is one of the better examples of what not to do as far as regulations go. The most important lesson is to not let the industry you are claiming to regulate write the regulations. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/20361
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
1.3 MILLION ADD BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Leichtman Research Group, AUTHOR: Press release]
Leichtman Research Group found that the twenty largest cable and telephone providers in the US -- representing about 94% of the market -- acquired approximately 1.3 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the third quarter of 2008. These top broadband providers now account for nearly 66.7 million subscribers -- with cable companies having 36.5 million broadband subscribers, and telephone companies having about 30.2 million subscribers. Other broadband findings for the quarter include: 1) the top cable companies added over 870,000 subscribers, representing 67% of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus the top telephone companies, 2) overall, broadband additions in 3Q 2008 amounted to 61% of those in 3Q 2007 with cable having 82% as many additions as a year ago, and Telcos 40%, and 3) the top cable broadband providers have a 55% share of the overall market, with a 6.3 million subscriber advantage over the top telephone companies.
http://benton.org/node/20360
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BROADBAND SUBSCRIBER GROWTH TO DECLINE 12% IN 2009
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Pike & Fischer predicts that broadband subscriber growth will decline by 12% in 2009. Pike is basing its prediction of only 5.7 million new broadband households in 2009 based on a tanking economy. "Consumers will spend less on communications services as their job security becomes more tenuous and their discretionary income plummets." But the equation changes if President-elect Barack Obama succeeds in making broadband deployment subsidies and incentives part of his economic stimulus package, as he has promised to do. "Government initiatives, such as tax incentives and loan guarantees to help expand broadband infrastructure into underserved areas, could enable service providers to bolster their customer counts," said Pike & Fischer broadband adviser Scott Sleek in announcing the new report. "In addition, policy-makers are likely to support training and education programs aimed at increasing customer adoption of broadband. These steps could offset what will be an inevitable slowdown in subscriber growth."
http://benton.org/node/20359
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LOAN GUARANTEES: A FOURTH OPTION FOR SPURRING BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
How can you spur high-speed Internet access: tax incentives, direct government loans, and grants -- and loan guarantees. How do the latter work? If you have a market-ready, rural, full-fiber project within 60 days you can get a partial loan guarantee of 80% of the losses up to 60% of the total loan that must be used within 120 days of approval. What these guarantees do is dramatically reduce the risk of a full-fiber project, which is essential to loosening up private capital to invest in these networks as they're still perceived as being very risky projects, especially in rural areas. By lowering the risk we're more projects become viable while also lowering the interest rates projects that are already viable have to pay. But there are also a number of other notable benefits.
http://benton.org/node/20358
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THE TECH SOLUTION TO THE RECESSION
[SOURCE: Forbes.com, AUTHOR: Andy Greenberg]
Just as 2008 was defined by Barack Obama's electoral victory, 2009 will be defined by another competition the incoming administration sparked: the race to grab the hundreds of billions of dollars the president-elect has pledged to spend revamping America's infrastructure. Unlike the beleaguered automakers and banks, high-tech companies aren't begging for bailouts. But they have plenty of ideas about how the administration should spend its dollars as it seeks ways to jump-start the economy and create millions of jobs.
http://benton.org/node/20357
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TECH MEMO TO TEAM OBAMA
[SOURCE: Fortune, AUTHOR: Stephanie Mehta]
Merely improving the availability of fast Internet networks isn't going to help the incoming Obama administration meet its economic goals. Rather, it is the utilization of broadband networks that tech executives think will stimulate the economy and help the president-elect achieve the broad policy goals he's set forth. "He seems to look at broadband as part of the fabric of the economy," says Rich Nespola, CEO of telecom consultancy TMNG Global. "It's a fabric to be incorporated into medical enhancements, and education, which is a good thing." Of course, getting U.S. consumers and businesses to take full advantage of broadband networks is a much more difficult proposition than doling out credits to get companies to build them. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/20356
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DIGITAL CONTENT
COMCAST STARTS NEW YEAR WITH NEW NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Comcast reports that its "protocol agnostic" network management system -- unveiled to the Federal Communications Commission in September -- is now in effect. "Comcast will continue to refine and optimize these congestion management practices to deliver the best possible broadband experience for our customers," company Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Kathryn A. Zachem promised the FCC. The announcement also discloses updated acceptable use rules for Comcast customers. "We have deployed the new technique throughout our network and turned off the P2P-specific technique everywhere in the network," Comcast spokesperson Sena Fitzmaurice said. Comcast's revised acceptable use policy page discloses that its network management activities may involve "temporarily lowering the priority of traffic for users who are the top contributors to current network congestion." Specifically, the revised system abandons "deep packet inspection" in favor of a "shallow" method that targets congestion rather than suspicious protocols (e.g., BitTorrent). In some instances, some users will see their traffic reclassified as "Best Effort" rather than the default "Priority Best Effort." If the congestion gets heavy, said tagged traffic could be delayed, Comcast says, but the new method strives to localize the delays so that the least number of Comcast customers see an impact on their service.
http://benton.org/node/20355
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ITUNES EMBRACES 3-TIER PRICING, WILL REMOVE ANTI-COPY SOFTWARE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Dawn Chmielewski]
With the lure of every song for 99 cents, Apple's iTunes upended the retail establishment to become the nation's top music seller in less than six years. But the digital media powerhouse said Tuesday it would follow one of the oldest tenets of capitalism: The more someone wants something, the more you can charge for it. Apple finally bowed to a long-standing recording industry demand and agreed to sell music downloads at three prices -- 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Starting in April, iTunes customers may pay the top price for a hot new track and barely half that for a long-forgotten song. Apple claimed some victories of its own Tuesday. Freeing 10 million songs from their digital handcuffs, Apple said it had persuaded the major labels to drop their insistence on copy protections that restrict the number and type of devices that can play songs bought through iTunes. It also received permission to sell downloads directly to the iPhone 3G via AT&T's high-speed cellular network. But Apple's concession on pricing marks a victory for the music companies, which are desperate to stimulate digital download purchases as CD sales plummet.
http://benton.org/node/20368
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HOW NEWSPAPERS TRIED, BUT FAILED TO INVENT THE WEB
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Jack Shafer]
The newspaper industry has understood from the advent of AM radio in the 1920s that technology would eventually be its undoing and has always behaved accordingly. Newspapers deserve bragging rights for having homesteaded the Web long before most government agencies and major corporations knew what a URL was. Given the industry's early tenancy, deep pockets, and history of paranoid experimentation with new communication forms, one would expect to find plenty in the way of innovations and spinoffs. But that's not the case, and I think I know why: From the beginning, newspapers sought to invent the Web in their own image by repurposing the copy, values, and temperament found in their ink-and-paper editions. Despite being early arrivals, despite having spent millions on manpower and hardware, despite all the animations, links, videos, databases, and other software tricks found on their sites, every newspaper Web site is instantly identifiable as a newspaper Web site. By succeeding, they failed to invent the Web.
http://benton.org/node/20354
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POLICYMAKERS
AGENDA FOR SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
Jessica Rosenworcel, senior communications counsel on the Senate Commerce Committee and the top aide to incoming Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), said the committee would initially focus this session on concerns about the nation's Feb. 17 switchover to digital television signals, confirming government appointees and helping to shape provisions in Obama's economic stimulus package designed to underwrite the expansion of broadband service to rural areas.
http://benton.org/node/20347
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OBAMA SUPPORTERS DOWNPLAY CTO'S NEAR-TERM ROLE
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stephanie Condon]
With nearly of all President-elect Obama's cabinet named, there's been speculation that the Chief Technology Officer post could be filled soon. Still unclear are key details: who will fill the role, and what, exactly, the CTO will be tasked with doing. Creating an entirely new cabinet position with robust jurisdiction -- and addressing consequential challenges such as turf wars, bureaucratic reorganization, and the development of a unique mentality for the office--could be too much to handle while trying to create an economic stimulus package, said Ed Black, president and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association. "It is not clear to me (that) they may try to do it all at once," Black said. "If they do, I think it can succeed, it will just take a degree of attention and focus that they might not want to dedicate at the outset, with this much going on."
http://benton.org/node/20353
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BROADCASTING
12 GRASSROOTS GROUPS SELECTED FOR DTV OUTREACH
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission has selected 12 grassroots organizations and local agencies to help over-the-air viewers prepare for the digital transition. The groups are: AARP ($2.7 million), Communication Service for the Deaf ($1.1 million), Hispanic Information and Telecommunication Network ($750k), PinTech Corporation ($2.8 million), Philadelphia's Commission on Technology ($166k), WXXI Public Broadcasting -- Rochester ($202k), VN TeamWork ($45k), Iowa Public Broadcasting Board ($223k), Idaho Public Television ($35k), Wisconsin Public Television ($94k), Ohio State University / WOSU Public Media ($196k), Knox County CAC ($36k). The total amount of the combined awards is $8,428,031. [More about the vendors selected and the outreach the group will perform at the URL below.]
http://benton.org/node/20352
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AZERBAIJAN BARS FOREIGNERS FROM USE OF ITS FM BAND
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sabrina Tavernise]
Azerbaijan has begun to enforce a law that bans foreign companies from broadcasting on national frequencies, effectively closing its airwaves to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America and the BBC. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, or RFE/RL, an American-government-financed radio and television broadcaster with representation in most countries of the former Soviet Union, argues that FM was the primary way Azeris heard its programming, and that taking it away has cut off 90 percent of its audience.
http://benton.org/node/20370
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CBS AND TIME WARNER REACH FRESH BROADCAST DEAL
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Paul Thomasch]
CBS has been at the forefront of a broader push by broadcasters to get paid by cable operators that carry their stations. Still, the issue has been largely sidestepped. Cable operators have held the line on not paying broadcasters for TV stations but offset that by raising the rates they are willing pay broadcasters to carry their cable networks. On Tuesday, Time Warner Cable extended a deal to carry CBS Corp's television stations. CBS did not disclose details of the agreement, but it comes just days after its sister company Viacom Inc threatened to pull its cable channels from Time Warner's 13 million homes because of a disagreement over a separate deal. The Time Warner-Viacom dispute was eventually resolved but underscored the rising tensions between networks, which provide programing, and cable operators, which transmit that programing into living rooms around the country.
http://benton.org/node/20350
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS
NETWORKS DEVOTED MORE TIME TO ELECTION
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Paul Gough]
The presidential election and worsening economy pushed the war in Iraq mostly out of the headlines, especially among the Big Three evening newscasts. The Big Three newscasts devoted a total of 3,677 minutes to the presidential campaign in 2008, according to network news analyst Andrew Tyndall of the Tyndall Report. That's up from 2,433 in 2004 and is the most coverage for a presidential campaign since at least 1988 -- when the Big Three devoted 3,117 minutes of coverage during the year. The coverage winner was President-Elect Barack Obama, who garnered 745 minutes to become the top story of 2008. His GOP challenger, John McCain and his presidential campaign, received 531 minutes of coverage. Tyndall said even McCain received more coverage for any presidential nominee since 1988. Rounding out the top five stories of 2008 was the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign (288 minutes), the federal bailout of the financial industry (281 minutes) and the crude oil/gasoline prices (273 minutes). There were 2,767 minutes of coverage of the recession on the three newscasts, more than the past two (1,775 minutes in 2001 and 1,872 in 1990). Politics and the economy overwhelmed 2007's big story, which was the war in Iraq. There were 434 minutes of coverage for the war in 2008, down from 1,888 minutes in 2007 and 2,009 minutes in 2006.
http://benton.org/node/20366
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GOOGLE GRABBED MOST OF OBAMA'S $16 MILLION IN 2008
[SOURCE: ClickZ, AUTHOR: Kate Kaye]
Barack Obama's presidential campaign spent over $16 million on online advertising in 2008. John McCain's camp spent a fraction of that: around $3.6 million. Google was far and away the winner, taking in an estimated $7.5 million of Obama ad dollars in 2008, about 45 percent of the campaign's digital ad spending, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Some of that money went toward display and text ads in Google's AdSense network, and some was used for ads appearing in search results on Google's site. The big names in online media, including several ad networks, collected the bulk of the campaign's online ad expenditures. However, the disparity in spending on Google compared to all other media firms became more apparent as the campaign filed FEC reports on spending in the final weeks of the election season. The second highest earner of Obama campaign dollars was Yahoo, which was paid $1.5 million in 2008 for display and search ads. Microsoft and AOL also collected ad money from the campaign.
http://benton.org/node/20349
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NETWORKS TO USHER IN HISTORIC PRESIDENCY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
With less than two weeks to go until a historic presidential inauguration, the nation's television networks are finalizing ambitious coverage plans, but the camera platforms will be more crowded than usual. At least a dozen networks, including relative political neophytes like BET and MTV, will be broadcasting from Washington. Nickelodeon is even sending two pint-size reporters, and QVC, a shopping channel, is setting up at one of the inaugural balls while it tries to sell memorabilia associated with the swearing-in of Barack Obama. As in previous years, the coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC and the cable news networks will run from 10 a.m. until the early evening. The day will be bookended with special editions of morning shows and special reports in prime time. Fox will offer a feed of the Fox News Channel to its affiliates.
http://benton.org/node/20367
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IN THE COURTS
WAL-MART, NETFLIX CONSPIRED TO CREATE MONOPOLY, SUIT ALLEGES
[SOURCE: Bloomberg News, AUTHOR:]
Wal-Mart Stores and Netflix were accused of conspiring to create a monopoly for online video rentals in a consumer lawsuit alleging that the collusion drove up prices. The two companies agreed in 2005 that Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, would close its online rental business and refer customers to Netflix, which would promote Wal-Mart's DVD movie sales, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco. The accord eliminated competition, enabled Netflix to maintain monopoly power and led Blockbuster Inc. to raise subscription rental prices by $3 to meet Netflix's higher prices.
http://benton.org/node/20365
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CURTAIN RISES ON TELEVISA-UNIVISION TRIAL
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Meg James]
Mexican media giant Grupo Televisa on Tuesday accused its longtime television partner, Univision Communications Inc., of heavy-handed tactics and financial shenanigans during the opening day of a high-stakes trial in Los Angeles. The outcome of the court case, expected to unfold over the next three weeks unless there is a surprise settlement, could reshape the landscape of Spanish-language television in the US.
http://benton.org/node/20364
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QUICKLY
VERIZON WIRELESS PLANS TO SUPPORT KINDLE RIVALS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sinead Carew]
Verizon Wireless is poised to have rivals of Amazon's popular electronic Kindle reader use its network to download material such as books and newspapers wirelessly. Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone, started an Open Development program in 2008 after Web-search leader Google complained that US carriers were limiting consumer choice, as their networks tended to only support cellphones handpicked and sold directly by the carrier itself. Now Verizon Wireless has certified 29 wireless devices that can run on its network but are sold by independent vendors. So far these are mostly business specific devices such as tracking devices and healthcare products.
http://benton.org/node/20351
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A PLAN TO TURN LOWLY BUREAUCRAT INTO A CHERISHED PUBLIC SERVANT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jason DeParle]
Chris Myers Asch is promoting the creation of a Public Service Academy, a sort of West Point for bureaucrats offering a free four-year education in exchange for five years of government service. "The Public Service Academy can be Barack Obama's Peace Corps," Mr. Asch said. "He needs to take advantage of this moment when people are recognizing the importance of government and build institutions that will last." [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/20369
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