March 23, 2009 (Adelstein to run USDA's Rural Broadband Fund)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY MARCH 23, 2009

Today's NTIA/RUS broadband hearing focuses on Nondiscrimination and Interconnection Obligations; the Role of the States; and Broadband Mapping. For all of this week's events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar/2009-03-22--P1W

THE TRANSITION
   President Obama to Nominate FCC's Adelstein to run USDA's Rural Broadband Fund
   HHS Names David Blumenthal As National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
   Cameron Kerry Nominated to Be Commerce Dept. General Counsel
   Hillary Clinton, e-diplomat, embraces new media
   Software lobby seeks greater role in US Cybersecurity

THE STIMULUS
   Obama Moves to Ensure Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds
   Definitions and Broadband Measures Must Evolve, Account for On-the-Ground Realities
   Definition of Broadband Could Pit Rural Versus Urban, Market Forces Against Public Interest
   Arizona Broadband Forum Probes 20 Percent Match to Obtain Federal Funds
   NCTA: Don't 'Stimulate' New Competitors
   We Can't Let Protectionism Drive Broadband Policy

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Deep Packet Inspection: The End of the Internet as We Know It?
   Libraries Use Broadband Internet Service to Serve High Need Communities
   Rivals Say IBM Stifles Competition to Mainframes
   European Commission Seeks 'Broadband For All'

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Lawmakers Seek Inventory of U.S. Airwaves
   On DC Streets, the Cellphone as Lifeline
   Vodafone, Telefonica to share Europe network sites
   Cable Asks FCC To Modify White Spaces Decision

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   Minority Ownership Too Tough for FCC
   As Rights Clash on YouTube, Some Music Vanishes
   Media biz in coin catch

JOURNALISM
The Death and Life of Great American Newspapers
Bloggers Ponder the Decline of Religion, Economic Prosperity and Newspapers

HEALTH
   E-health records not enough, experts say
   FCC Proposes New Rules For Implanted Neuromuscular Microstimulators
   FCC Adopted Rules For New Advanced Medical Technologies

QUICKLY -- Digital TV Readiness Improves In March; Google funds research to help it understand itself; How widgets will revolutionize TV

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THE TRANSITION

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO NOMINATE FCC'S ADELSTEIN TO RUN USDA'S RURAL BROADBAND FUND
[SOURCE: The White House]
President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate current Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein to be the Administrator for the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) at the United States Department of Agriculture. The RUS will issue grants, loans, and loan guarantees to increase the availability of broadband in rural areas. The RUS also provides financing for water, waste, electric and other telecommunications projects. Commissioner Adelstein has served at the FCC since 2002 and was confirmed to a second term in 2004. Previously, he served for fifteen years as a staff member in the US Senate, including his final seven years with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), advising him on telecommunications, financial services, housing, transportation and other key issues. Prior to that, he served as Professional Staff Member to Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman David Pryor (D-AR), including an assignment as a special liaison to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and earlier as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI). Before his service in the Senate, he was a Teaching Fellow in the Department of History, Harvard University, while studying at the Kennedy School of Government, and a Teaching Assistant in the Department of History, Stanford University, and as a Communications Consultant to the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Commissioner Adelstein
http://benton.org/node/23578
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HHS NAMES DAVID BLUMENTHAL AS NATIONAL COORDINATOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
[SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Department of Health and Human Services today announced the selection of David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. as the Obama Administration's choice for National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. As the National Coordinator, Dr. Blumenthal will lead the implementation of a nationwide interoperable, privacy-protected health information technology infrastructure as called for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes a $19.5 billion investment in health information technology, which will save money, improve quality of care for patients, and make our health care system more efficient. Dr. Blumenthal will lead the effort at HHS to modernize the health care system by catalyzing the adoption of interoperable health information technology by 2014 thereby reducing health costs for the federal government by an estimated $12 billion over 10 years.
http://benton.org/node/23577
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CAMERON KERRY NOMINATED TO BE COMMERCE DEPT GENERAL COUNSEL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
President Barack Obama has nominated cable industry lawyer Cameron Kerry to be General Counsel of the Department of Commerce. Kerry, younger brother of Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), has represented the cable industry as an attorney with Mintz Levin in Boston and Washington. He has also taught and written about cable and telecommunications law.
http://benton.org/node/23576
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HILLARY CLINTON, E-DIPLOMAT, EMBRACES NEW MEDIA
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Matthew Lee]
Her videos aren't quite viral yet and she's not tweeting, but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is embracing new media, using the Web to promote the agency and her role as the nation's top envoy. In less than three months, Clinton's State Department has embarked on a digital diplomacy drive aimed at spreading the word about American foreign policy and restoring Washington's image. Part of a broader Internet outreach by President Barack Obama's administration, Clinton's Web efforts already have outpaced those of her predecessors.
http://benton.org/node/23580
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SOFTWARE LOBBY SEEKS GREATER ROLE IN US CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kim Dixon]
The Business Software Alliance told White House officials this week the government should share more threat and attack information with the industry. It submitted a set of recommendations to Melissa Hathaway, the acting senior director for cyber space at the White House, this week, the group said. She had asked for industry views in an earlier meeting. The private sector owns about 85 percent of critical infrastructure in the United States, according to BSA.
http://benton.org/node/23575
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THE STIMULUS

OBAMA MOVES TO ENSURE RESPONSIBLE SPENDING OF RECOVERY ACT FUNDS
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: President Barack Obama]
President Obama directs federal department and agency heads to 1) develop transparent, merit-based selection criteria that will guide their available discretion in committing, obligating, or expending funds under the Recovery Act for grants and other forms of Federal financial assistance; 2) avoid supporting aquariums, zoos, golf courses, swimming pools or similar projects; 3) not fund projects that not further the job creation, economic recovery, and other purposes of the Act; and 4) determine if a project can: (i) deliver programmatic results; (ii) achieve economic stimulus by optimizing economic activity and the number of jobs created or saved in relation to the Federal dollars obligated; (iii) achieve long-term public benefits by, for example, investing in technological advances in science and health to increase economic efficiency and improve quality of life; investing in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits; fostering energy independence; or improving educational quality; or (iv) satisfy the Recovery Act's transparency and accountability objectives. Further, the memo requires that any interactions with registered lobbyists be communicated in writing and posted for public viewing within 3 business days.
http://benton.org/node/23574
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DEFINITIONS AND BROADBAND MEASURES MUST EVOLVE, ACCOUNT FOR ON-THE-GROUND REALITIES
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Jesse Masai]
Debate about the broadband divide in America resurfaced at a Thursday afternoon public roundtable about how the federal government should spend $7.2 billion in broadband. Thursday was the fourth of six days of public hearings by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service, and the afternoon discussion, about rural and unserved areas, was the final panel focus on the broadband "have-nots." Other topics - including interconnection obligations, the role of the states, and broadband mapping - will be considered in a public forum in Washington on Monday. Tuesday, the final day of public hearings, will raise the subjects of compliance, selection criteria and community economic development.
http://benton.org/node/23572
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DEFINITION OF BROADBAND COULD PIT RURAL VERSUS URBAN, MARKET FORCES AGAINST PUBLIC INTEREST
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Jesse Masai]
Experts and citizens split words at the NTIA/RUS Thursday morning public roundtable seeking to define broadband - an essential element to determine what projects receive federal funding under stimulus spending. Mark Lloyd, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said the definition of broadband should be centered around speeds and how broadband can serve as a means of communication. He said the debate has its source in the legal frameworks adopted by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. "New definitions must focus on hard speeds," said Lloyd. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We cannot manage what we cannot measure." Stagg Newman, principal of Piggah Communication Consulting, said definitions should center around understanding what the service is, acceptable network infrastructure, and a series of metrics by which to measure both. "A backbone network from central and surrounding areas is needed across the nation. Infrastructure is also needed for emergency responders, and a satellite back-up for geographical cover," he said. Newman added: "Let us consider trade-offs to affordability. I know that is controversial but let us put it out there." Fred Campbell, president and CEO of Wireless Communication Association, said that "the definition should be viewed as a gating mechanism, not a measure of evaluating grant eligibility." Dave Malfura, president and CEO of ETC Group, LLC., said broadband should be defined as "a service which allows users to access the world's resources and its inhabitants without Encumbrances."
http://benton.org/node/23571
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ARIZONA BROADBAND FORUM PROBES 20 PERCENT MATCH TO OBTAIN FEDERAL FUNDS
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Ken Austin]
At the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Rural Utilities Services' Wednesday joint public meeting in Flagstaff (AZ), tension surfaced when NTIA's Mark Seifert put the implications of accountability, innovation, and wide distribution of funds under the spotlight. Many wanted the 20 percent match provision waived as a matter of course. Some called for acceptance of "in-kind" contributions - like state deeds to the rights of way for telecommunications wires - as constituting a match . Seifert's pushing back in his questions may indicate that the agency is more inclined to stretch the public dollar by staying with a requirement for a cash match in most cases. Echoing his call at the same panel in Las Vegas for carriers to put some "skin in the game," Seifert addressed a credible proposal, and said that there would need to be a relationship between "assertions and proof." A better proposal would show that "people have thought this through". He also characterized a need to create projects that support a "test-bed" model. Seifert also pleaded for ideas that would allow NTIA to sort out a pending deluge of grant applications.
http://benton.org/node/23570
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NCTA: DON'T 'STIMULATE' NEW COMPETITORS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A Q&A with National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow who indicates that cable companies are about the open-access conditions that will be attached to broadband stimulus grants. The cable industry is also concerned the grants may go to new competitors in the broadband market. He does not like the idea of commercial providers being required to partner with governments or nonprofits to win grant awards.
http://benton.org/node/23569
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WE CAN'T LET PROTECTIONISM DRIVE BROADBAND POLICY
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] The most frustrating part of watching the public meetings on how NTIA and RUS should spend their broadband stimulus dollars is the relentless calls for protectionism from established service and technology providers. Now of course it's not surprising that companies would be doing everything they can to shape how these dollars are distributed in their favor, but I'm getting somewhat worried that we're going to end up focusing too much on protecting private over promoting public interests. While I completely agree that we should avoid creating duplicative infrastructures, to suggest that anywhere that has any form of broadband is already well-served and in no need of a stimulus is pure protectionism that puts private interests over the public good.
http://benton.org/node/23573
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

DEEP PACKET INSPECTION: THE END OF THE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT?
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Ben Scott, Chris Riley]
The uncertainty surrounding Net Neutrality has given rise to a technology known as Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) that offers Internet service providers unprecedented control over Internet content. The use of DPI technology by Internet service providers should raise serious concerns for both users and lawmakers. The emerging DPI business model, marketed for its ability to monitor, control and ultimately charge subscribers for every use of an Internet connection, poses a major threat to the open Internet. In just one of many examples, DPI manufacturer Allot describes how its DPI product "enables service providers to project potential revenues and profits from setting up a tiered service infrastructure" and allows providers to "reduce the performance of applications with negative influence on revenues (e.g. competitive VoIP services)."
http://benton.org/node/23568
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LIBRARIES USE BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE TO SERVE HIGH NEED COMMUNITIES
[SOURCE: Institute of Museum and Library Services, AUTHOR: Erica Pastore, Everett Henderson]
The technology available in today's public libraries can help reduce the broadband access gap for families, while providing a wide range of information resources and services. Overall, the percentage of public libraries that provide free broadband Internet to patrons increased from 49% in 2002 to 65% in 2007, the most recent year available. In 2007, the percentage of libraries providing broadband Internet access in urban, suburban and rural areas was 91, 70 and 52%, respectively. Investments in library technology are helping communities that need it most. In 2007, 88% of public libraries in high poverty areas provided access to broadband Internet and 73% of public libraries reported their facilities as being the only source of free Internet access in their community.
http://benton.org/node/23567
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RIVALS SAY IBM STIFLES COMPETITION TO MAINFRAMES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ashlee Vance]
IBM has dominated the mainframe computer business since the category was created four decades ago. And it still gets about one-quarter of its $100 billion in annual revenue from sales, software, services and financing related to the machines. So when an upstart, Platform Solutions in Sunnyvale, Calif., developed software that turned standard servers into systems that mimicked I.B.M.'s expensive mainframes, Big Blue fought back. After legal action failed to fend off the pipsqueak, I.B.M. resorted to a bear hug: it bought Platform in July for $150 million. And then it promptly terminated the innovative product. Despite eliminating the Platform threat, I.B.M. still faces the wrath of many in the computer industry. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, a trade group backed by the likes of Google, Oracle and Microsoft, described the Platform deal as "a clear attempt by I.B.M. to purchase a company solely to foreclose competition in the mainframe marketplace, protecting its cash cow at the expense of consumers."
http://benton.org/node/23581
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION SEEKS 'BROADBAND FOR ALL'
[SOURCE: Forbes.com, AUTHOR: ]
Over recent years, broadband has moved from being a desirable to an essential component of the digital economy; indeed, many countries as well as the European Commission are considering whether to make it a part of the "universal service" of telecom activities, which should be made available to all consumers. A study prepared for the Commission last year highlighted benefits of broadband in terms of labor productivity, employment levels and economic growth. The study claimed that as many as 2 million jobs could be created by a rapid development of broadband within the European Union, as well as an increase in foreign investment. Advocates of universal broadband claim there are particularly important benefits in terms of rural and regional development, since it makes remote working a more practical proposition, and reduces the "peripherality," which has often been seen as a constraint on growth in those areas.
http://benton.org/node/23566
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

LAWMAKERS SEEK INVENTORY TO US AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Sens John Kerry (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced legislation Thursday requiring the Commerce Department and Federal Communications Commission to make an inventory in six months of how government and private companies are using their airwaves. The legislation is a priority for the wireless industry, which is still looking for more airwaves to scoop up despite an auction last year of TV airwaves that netted the federal treasury upwards of $20 billion. Just a small fraction of U.S. airwaves are used by commercial wireless vendors like AT&T Inc. TV and radio stations use a portion of it but big chunks of airwaves are reserved for use by federal agencies and the military. The idea behind the report is to identify so-called "spectrum squatters" -- both government agencies and private companies -- which aren't actively using the frequencies for which they hold licenses. If Congress approves the legislation, it would set the stage for the FCC and Commerce Department to try to reclaim the airwaves for future auctions -- a task that could be difficult and expensive.
http://benton.org/node/23565
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ON DC STREETS, THE CELLPHONE AS LIFELINE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Petula Dvorak]
To the usual trappings that help many homeless people endure life on the streets -- woolen blankets, shopping carts or cardboard box shelters -- add the humble cellphone. Today, it's not unusual for the homeless to use their own cellphone, stop at a public computer to check e-mail or urge friends to read their blogs. It's another sign of a society in transition by way of technology, as businesses shed physical addresses for cyberspace and homeless people can establish an online presence and chase opportunities digitally. "Having a phone isn't even a privilege anymore -- it's a necessity," said Rommel McBride, 50, who spent about six years on the streets before recently being placed in a city housing program. He has had a mobile phone for a year. "A cellphone is the only way you can call to keep up with your food stamps, your housing application, your job. When you're living in a shelter or sleeping on the streets, it's your last line of communication with the world."
http://benton.org/node/23583
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VODAFONE, TELEFONICA TO SHARE EUROPE NETWORK SITES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Georgina Prodhan, Sarah Morris]
Vodafone and Telefonica agreed to share network infrastructure in four European countries to meet a surge in demand for mobile broadband, while saving hundreds of millions of pounds in costs. The deal announced on Monday, the biggest of its kind to cover multiple countries, is a sign of the urgency to save money and the success of flat-rate data packages in stimulating demand as well as a more relaxed attitude towards equipment ownership. The deal covers Germany, Spain, Ireland and Britain and may be extended to the Czech Republic, the two companies said. They will share sites, equipment including masts, and power supply, but will keep their own radio equipment and vendors. "It's a real transformational deal," Michel Combes, chief executive of Vodafone Europe, told journalists on a conference call. Matthew Key, his counterpart at Telefonica, said: "The current economic situation was a catalyst."
http://benton.org/node/23579
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CABLE ASKS FCC TO MODIFY WHITE SPACE DECISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has received a number of requests that it reconsider its decision concerning the use of "white spaces" by unlicensed devices. The Commission decided unanimously back in the fall to allow fixed and mobile unlicensed devices like laptops and so-called smart radios to share the spectrum with TV station's digital TV signals and wireless microphones, but with interference protections and a certification procedure it said protected incumbent users. In its petition, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association said that the FCC had failed to strike its intended balance between allowing the devices and protecting existing services, specifically cable.
http://benton.org/node/23564
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP

MINORITY OWNERSHIP TOO MUCH FOR FCC
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] On April 8, the Federal Communications Commission will launch an inquiry into media ownership by women and minorities -- a priority topic for the current and future FCC chairmen and President Obama. But Jessell doesn't think that there is much the FCC can do about ownership diversity. Over the past 30 years, the agency has implemented a number of policies aimed at increasing minority and female ownership. All have failed. It turns out that African-American and Hispanic businessmen and businesswomen are just like their white counterparts — something that apparently has never occurred to Copps or his predecessors. They are in business to make a buck. Sooner or later, most FCC-enabled minority owners will want to cash out. And when that time comes, they are going to be far more interested in how much money is being waved in front of them than the color or sex of the person doing the waving. Thus, the minority-owned station can quickly revert to a non-minority owned station. Minority ownership policies have other problems. They tend to be horribly abused. If the Obama administration wants to increase minority ownership, FCC policies won't do it. It's going to have to come up with a big pile of money earmarked for disadvantaged or small businesses hankering to get into broadcasting. The best of the applicants for the federal grants may be able to come up with the supplemental financing and buy some TV or radio stations on the cheap. And if some are minorities or women, that's a good thing. But keep in mind that the increase in minority and female ownership will likely be transitory.
http://benton.org/node/23563
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AS RIGHTS CLASH ON YOUTUBE, SOME MUSIC VANISHES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Arango]
Countless amateurs have been ensnared in a dispute between Warner Music and YouTube, which is owned by Google. The conflict centers on how much Warner should be paid for the use of its copyrighted works — its music videos — but has grown to include other material produced by amateurs that may also run afoul of copyright law. "Thousands of videos disappeared," said Fred von Lohmann, staff lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet civil liberties group that asked affected YouTube users to contact it. "Either they turned off the audio, or they pulled the video." A spokesman for Warner Music said that YouTube's system for identifying copyrighted material does not distinguish between professionally made music videos and amateur material that may include copyrighted works.
http://benton.org/node/23582
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MEDIA BIZ IN COIN CATCH
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Jill Goldsmith]
In the media biz as elsewhere these days, cash is king -- but for hoarding, not spending. That's created a paradox in which deal flow has crept to a halt despite the industry's unusually deep pockets. Once the economy revives, however, a panel of Wall Streeters predicted it will be up, up and away for mergers and acquisitions. That goes for the biggest digital players as well as media heavyweights like Time Warner, News Corp. and CBS, which have many billions of dollars stockpiled. The kind of deals may change as companies rethink their business mix. Maybe the digital companies will be the ones doing the acquiring.
http://benton.org/node/23562
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JOURNALISM

THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: The Nation, AUTHOR: John Nichols, Robert McChesney]
[Commentary] Communities across America are suffering through a crisis that could leave a dramatically diminished version of democracy in its wake. It is not the economic meltdown, although the crisis is related to the broader day of reckoning that appears to have arrived. The crisis involves more than mere economics. Journalism is collapsing, and with it comes the most serious threat in our lifetimes to self-government and the rule of law as it has been understood here in the United States. Mired in debt and facing massive losses, the managers of corporate newspaper firms seek to right the sinking ship by cutting costs, leading remaining newspaper readers to ask why they are bothering to pay for publications that are pale shadows of themselves. It is the daily newspaper death dance-cum- funeral march. But it is not just newspapers that are in crisis; it is the institution of journalism itself. What to do about newspapers? Let's give all Americans an annual tax credit for the first $200 they spend on daily newspapers. The newspapers would have to publish at least five times per week and maintain a substantial "news hole," say at least twenty-four broad pages each day, with less than 50 percent advertising. In effect, this means the government will pay for every citizen who so desires to get a free daily newspaper subscription, but the taxpayer gets to pick the newspaper--this is an indirect subsidy, because the government does not control who gets the money. This will buy time for our old media newsrooms--and for us citizens--to develop a plan to establish journalism in the digital era. We could see this evolving into a system to provide tax credits for online subscriptions as well.
http://benton.org/node/23558
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BLOGGERS PONDER THE DECLINE OF RELIGION, ECONOMIC PROSPERITY AND NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
The online conversation last week was strikingly different than the mainstream news agenda. While the traditional press focused on economic villains-such as AIG and Bernard Madoff-bloggers largely eschewed partisan squabbling and parsing of details for a more abstract and far-reaching discussion. As the economy struggled, a major newspaper shut down and a survey highlighted the diminishing appeal of organized religion, bloggers and social media pondered the dramatic social changes that might be taking place and what the implications could be. The top subject was the decline in people claiming an affiliation with organized religion, as documented in a new study. This storyline made up 30% of the most linked to stories by blogs and social media sites for the week of March 9-13 according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The second largest story, at 24% of the links, involved the continuing problems in the U.S. economy. While some of the attention was focused on government actions, many bloggers focused on a prediction by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman that the current crisis would change the growth model that has been the basis of the U.S. economy for the past 50 years. Third (at 11%) was more grim news for the newspaper industry as bloggers contemplated whether papers would be missed and what role online journalism would play.
http://benton.org/node/23557
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HEALTH

E-HEALTH RECORDS NOT ENOUGH, EXPERTS SAY
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
If the $19 billion for health IT in a recently passed US economic stimulus package goes only to driving up adoption of electronic health records, the US health care system will not improve, some medical experts say. Not only do doctors and hospitals need to adopt electronic health records (EHRs), but those digital records need to be easy to share with patients and health care providers, said Dr. Doug Henley, executive vice president with the American Academy of Family Physicians. And the current crop of EHRs still needs work, as doctors have to wade through multiple pages of data and enter the same information on multiple pages.
http://benton.org/node/23561
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FCC PROPOSES NEW RULES FOR IMPLANTED NEUROMUSCULAR MICROSTIMULATORS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed to allocate spectrum and adopt service and technical rules for the utilization of new implanted medical devices that would greatly expand the use of functional electric stimulation to restore sensation, mobility and function to paralyzed limbs and organs. These implanted neuromuscular microstimulators would function as wireless broadband medical micro-power networks (MMNs) within a patient. By eliminating the wires now used to interconnect multiple implanted neuromuscular microstimulators and the external power source for the implants, MMNs would greatly reduce the risk of infection and increase patient mobility and system reliability.
http://benton.org/node/23560
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FCC ADOPTS RULES FOR NEW ADVANCED MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission approved new rules to provide additional spectrum for wireless medical devices. Current rules accommodate wireless implanted medical devices for a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic functions, such as implantable cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators that can be adjusted wirelessly. Significant advances in both implanted and body-worn wireless medical technologies are increasing the demand for spectrum and for greater flexibility in how such devices operate and coexist. These new medical technologies will improve the diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of medical conditions and, most importantly, improve quality of life for people coping with such conditions. Implanted and body-worn medical devices that rely upon wireless technologies have been introduced recently under waivers of the rules for applications such as blood glucose monitors, which support more timely and effective treatment for patients with diabetes. With the addition of new spectrum and adoption of rules for alternative operating parameters, newer generations of devices could be deployed that perform a greater variety of functions, such as implanted vagus nerve stimulators that send electric pulses to the brain to treat severe chronic depression and deep brain stimulators used to treat tremors related to Parkinson's disease. Such advances have the potential to significantly improve the quality of life and sophistication of therapy for countless Americans living with a variety of medical conditions and, in turn, could result in lower medical costs and extend the time between hospital visits and surgical procedures.
http://benton.org/node/23559
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QUICKLY

DIGITAL TV READINESS IMPROVES IN MARCH
[SOURCE: Nielsen, AUTHOR: ]
More US homes have prepared themselves for the Digital TV transition according to an update from The Nielsen Company. As of March 15, only 3.6 percent of all TV homes remain unready for the June transition to all-digital broadcasting compared to slightly less than 4% at the start of the month. Homes where the head of household is 35 or under showed the most notable demographic improvement, improving from 7.2% unready to 6.5%. This leaves roughly 4.1 million homes unprepared, an improvement of nearly 350,000 in the last two weeks.
http://benton.org/node/23556
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GOOGLE FUNDS RESEARCH TO HELP IT UNDERSTAND ITSELF
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: John Timmer]
Google has made a fortune by understanding what makes people happy when they're looking for advertising and online search, but it still feels it needs to know more. Its latest solution: fund grants so that the best and brightest of the academic world explore the areas it's interested in.
http://benton.org/node/23555
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HOW WIDGETS WILL REVOLUTIONIZE TV
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Sarah Reedy]
While many in the industry see widgets invading the television eventually - after TV providers work through other issues first - at least one analyst is bullish on the prospects for a variety of widgets to redefine the TV experience within the next few months. According to Michael Greeson, president of broadband advisory firm The Diffusion Group, widgets are the tipping point for interactive TV, and the tipping point has arrived.
http://benton.org/node/23554
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