April 27, 2009 (Dynamic Duo: Chopra and Kundra)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY APRIL 27, 2009
THE STIMULUS
Broadband stimulus hopefuls race to define 'broadband'
Connected Tennessee in state's broadband stimulus planning
Profiles of Progress 3: State Health IT Initiatives
Power, and pitfalls, of an electrical smart grid
Smart Meter, Dumb Idea?
INTERNET/BROADBAND
The Lisbon Consensus
Do ISPs Deserve Protection Against Competition?
No State Can Afford To Outlaw Municipal Broadband
Even when not explicit, ISP data caps still haunt users
Verizon plays coy with bandwidth caps
AT&T In Bed With Behavioral Targeting Company
Eshoo Wants Details On AT&T Ad Activity
Broadband over powerline searches for sanity
The Surge to Impose Online Sales Taxes
In Developing Countries, Web Grows Without Profit
In downturn, an opportunity for Silicon Valley tech giants to get stronger
HEALTH AND MEDIA
The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009
Long Road to Electronic Records
Public Questions Digital Fix For Health Care
JOURNALISM
The HuffPost co-founder to newspapers: You blew it.
The Newspaper Biz: 'More Poison, Please'?
Times Co. CEO affirms Globe bargaining deadline
Tea Parties and Somali Pirates
At Papers, New Levels of Job Insecurity
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
Chorus grows for inventory of nation's airwaves
Verizon Wireless seeks more time from FCC
Verizon Wireless, AT&T prep for ubiquitous mobile location
Apple, Verizon consider iPhone deal
TELEVISION
When Did TV Become A Luxury?
Fox Affils Decide to Go Against the Flow
Content Blocker Cites Support
POLICYMAKERS
Tech-Savvy Duo Steps Onto Federal Stage
Google's Shah to be director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation
Kerry Seeks Investment Guidance
QUICKLY -- Poor DVD sales hamper U.S. film financing deals; San Jose street lights get smarter; Motion Picture Association of America faces a difficult scene
THE STIMULUS
BROADBAND STIMULUS HOPEFULS RACE TO DEFINE 'BROADBAND'
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration must define "broadband" as it considers how to distribute billions in stimulus dollars. AT&T, which may or may not seek broadband stimulus funds, joined OPASTCO, the advocacy group for small telcos, and others in suggesting sticking with the definition of broadband adopted by the FCC last year: 768 kilobits per second or faster downstream and 200 kb/s or faster upstream. The Communication Workers of America joined with the California Public Utilities Commission in pushing for a faster definition of broadband than the FCC's namely, 3 Mb/s downstream and 1 Mb/s upstream. The Wireless Communication Association's recommends a similar threshold, defining underserved areas as those with less than 3Mb/s downstream and 768 kb/s upstream. In a report issued in March, the Consumer Federation and Consumers Union jointly recommended a focus on middle-mile fiber and mobile computing, but regarding speeds, the two groups suggested 4-Mb/s systems with a balance between downstream and upstream speeds of "at least 3 to 1." As justification, the groups pointed to a January report from the British government citing a long list of applications, from VoIP and peer-to-peer file-sharing to videoconferencing, deliverable on 2-Mb/s systems. But several parties cautioned against trying to find a single standard to apply universally to all geographies and economies.
http://benton.org/node/24765
Recommend this Headline
back to top
STIMULUS FUNDS COULD CONNECT MORE RURAL AREAS TO BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Tennessean, AUTHOR: Jennifer Brooks]
Tennessee has assembled a broadband task force -- made up of state and local officials, educators, public safety and health officials, nonprofits and businesses -- to make sure the state gets a slice of broadband stimulus funds. Connected Tennessee has mapped broadband access in the state and found that 90 percent of Tennessee households have access to high-speed Internet service. About 2.3 million people, roughly half of all adults in the state, actually have the technology at home. In many counties, the public library is the place people go to do their online research, hunt for work on job sites, and even file their unemployment applications. In many towns, the lines of people waiting their turn on the computer stretch out the door. The lines are even longer in the public libraries without broadband service. State Librarian and Archivist Jeanne Sugg said 28 of the state's 200 public libraries have no high-speed computer connection — a situation that can cause serious problems for patrons who are trying to fill out unemployment applications, take online tests, or fill out forms that have built-in time limits. Librarians have gone through voluntary training by the state Department of Labor to help people fill out unemployment applications. The librarians are part of the state broadband task force, and like everyone else, they are waiting for the final guidelines from the federal government that will allow them to start applying for broadband stimulus grants. The guidelines are expected to come through in early May, and the federal timeline calls for the first grants to go out in June, which won't give states much time to make their pitch.
http://benton.org/node/24764
Recommend this Headline
back to top
PROFILES OF PROGRESS 3: STATE IT INITIATIVES
[SOURCE: National Association of State Chief Information Officers, AUTHOR: ]
The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which allocated billions of dollars to flow into health IT initiatives across the country, has ushered forth a new era for health IT. This is an unprecedented moment for healthcare stakeholders and government, at all levels, to invest significant resources toward health IT and health information exchange initiatives. This compendium, "Profiles of Progress 3: State Health IT Initiatives," is a product of NASCIO's Health IT Working Group. It provides a state-by-state "snapshot" of progress that each state has made toward developing and implementing health information exchange and other health IT initiatives. It specifically examines the role of the state CIO in these efforts, and also includes an overview of the implications for health IT since the passage of the ARRA.
http://www.nascio.org/publications/documents/NASCIO-ProfilesInProgress3.pdfhttp://benton.org/node/24734
Recommend this Headline
back to top
POWER, AND PITFALLS, OF AN ELECTRICAL SMART GRID
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Rebecca Cole]
President Obama has made the smart grid a major plank of his "rebuilding America" plan, viewing it as a way not only to eliminate blackouts and power failures, but also to create jobs and cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. A smart grid -- a digital network enabling utilities, consumers and alternative sources of renewable energy to "talk" to one another instantaneously -- could steer electricity to where it is needed most. In the economic stimulus act that the president signed in February, Congress allocated $4.5 billion for smart grid investments, a thin slice of the $38.7 billion that the package funneled to the Department of Energy. But is it enough? "We are making a down payment," said Matt Rogers, a senior advisor to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The down payment will fund a set of pilot projects to demonstrate the viability of the smart grid and to show that it can deliver energy on a large scale, Rogers said. Another goal: driving electrical utilities to make long-term investments in smart-grid technologies. The Electric Power Research Institute, a utility industry think tank, has estimated the cost of building a smart grid at a staggering $165 billion -- about $8 billion a year for two decades. And one of the biggest challenges in rolling out a smart grid, energy experts say, is getting hundreds of industries, from power generators to appliance and auto manufacturers, to agree on a set of standards -- some already developed, many not ready yet.
http://benton.org/node/24774
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SMART METER, DUMB IDEA?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Rebecca Smith]
Not everyone thinks smart meters are such a smart use of money. Utilities are spending billions of dollars outfitting homes and businesses with the devices, which wirelessly send information about electricity use to utility billing departments and could help consumers control energy use. Proponents of smart meters say that when these meters are teamed up with an in-home display that shows current energy usage, as well as a communicating thermostat and software that harvest and analyze that information, consumers can see how much consumption drives cost -- and will consume less as a result. Such knowledge, however, doesn't come cheap. Meters are expensive, often costing $250 to $500 each when all the bells and whistles are included, such as the expense of installing new utility billing systems. And utilities typically pass these costs directly on to consumers. Consumer advocates fear the costs could be greater than the savings for many households. They also worry that the meters will make it easier for utilities to terminate service -- so easy that they will disconnect power for small arrearages that wouldn't have caused a termination in the past. What's more, the cost to consumers could go beyond the extra charges imposed by utilities. That's because consumers usually are left to their own devices (literally) when it comes to adding the in-home displays and home-area networks that use data from the meters to control appliances and other pieces of equipment.
http://benton.org/node/24773
Recommend this Headline
back to top
INTERNET/BROADBAND
THE LISBON CONSENSUS
[SOURCE: International Telecommunication Union, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Lisbon Consensus adopted at the 4th International Telecommunication Union World Telecommunication Policy Forum addresses telecommunications policy and regulatory issues associated with technological change and convergence in the rapidly evolving world of information and communication technologies. The Forum agreed that ITU should continue playing its role in facilitating the coordination of Internet-related public policy issues and study the management of Internet resources, international Internet interconnection (e.g., tariffs and accessibility), and a multilingual Internet to facilitate the diversity of online participation. An enabling environment should be developed and promoted to allow governments to carry out their roles and responsibilities in international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet and in ensuring its stability, security and continuity, although not in the day-to-day technical and operational matters. Participants expressed the view that convergence and universal broadband access associated with next-generation networks (NGNs) are complex endeavors requiring a global approach. Recognizing that government policy should promote and enable the advancement of affordable and secure NGN infrastructure development, Member States were asked to consider developing an appropriate regulatory regime to encourage competition, based on sharing and open access models, for broadband and NGN deployment. ITU Sector Members were also encouraged to consider ambitious deployment plans for broadband access and NGNs.
http://benton.org/node/24732
Recommend this Headline
back to top
DO ISPs DESERVE PROTECTION AGAINST COMPETITION?
[SOURCE: PCWorld, AUTHOR: Ian Paul]
The latest chapter in the ongoing battle over the best way to deploy broadband access across the country has landed in the North Carolina legislature. Both houses in Raleigh are considering identical legislation -- Senate Bill 1004 and House Bill 1252 -- that, if passed, would make it more difficult for North Carolina municipalities to install and run their own broadband networks as public utilities. Both bills are dubbed the "Level Playing Field/Cities/Service Providers" and, in theory, would artificially handicap public Internet service providers with the same financial constraints that private companies would incur from building and running a new high-speed network. Those handicaps would include submitting the same taxes, fees and surcharges to the city that a private company has to pay; and the public utilities could not undercut private providers by pricing the public service below cost. To achieve this so-called equity between public and private enterprises, the public Internet provider would have to submit to auditing and accounting practices that a public company would not, such as an annual audit to prove it is handicapping itself properly in accordance with the proposed legislation. North Carolina's communities would also be prevented from reallocating any profits earned from running their own Internet service to benefit other city projects like improving schools, roads, or public parks.
http://benton.org/node/24749
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NO STATE CAN AFFORD TO OUTLAW MUNICIPAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] While not a new trend, recently there's been a relative explosion in efforts at state legislatures across the country to introduce legislation that will impede or outlaw municipal broadband projects. But no state can afford to embark on any effort to stop municipal broadband. Why? We face too big a challenge in wiring our country to force any players to the sidelines. Imagine if we'd left the building of roads or electric lines purely to the private sector. How much longer would it have taken to get the job done? This is particularly true in less economically attractive areas, like rural communities and the urban poor. In tackling the challenge of getting every last American connected to the best possible broadband, outlawing municipal broadband will force us to fight with one hand behind our back.
http://benton.org/node/24736
Recommend this Headline
back to top
EVEN WHEN NOT EXPLICIT, ISP DATA CAPS STILL HAUNT USERS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Time Warner Cable's plan to impose tiered data caps on Internet users imploded last week, but that doesn't mean TWC users can download to their heart's content. No, like many other ISPs without explicit data caps, TWC retains an "acceptable use policy" that lets it curtail any "abuse" of its network. Such practices aren't limited to TWC, of course. While ISPs like Comcast have adopted explicit caps, others like AT&T have not, even though they reserve the right to curtail abuse on the network. Given the importance of an Internet connection for everything from telecommuting to entertainment to phone service to e-mail to keeping up on politics, this is one of those areas where ambiguity should give way to clarity. People simply need to know what's allowed and what's not. ISPs have sometimes tried to solve the problem by calling people first and asking them to rein it in, an approach far preferable to simply shutting off someone's Internet access after they hit some unpublished threshold. This isn't just pro-consumer—it's pro-business, too, unless you're in a business that enjoys lawsuits.
http://benton.org/node/24763
Recommend this Headline
back to top
VERIZON PLAYS COY WITH BANDWIDTH CAPS
[SOURCE: FierceTelecom, AUTHOR: Doug Mohney]
Verizon has no plans to implement consumption-based bandwidth caps on its Internet service - but left the door open to pursuing that option under certain circumstances. In remarks Tuesday at a National Association of Broadcasters panel discussion, Link Hoewing, assistant vice president for Internet and technology issues at Verizon (Verizon's point man for lobbying Capitol Hill), said he didn't want to "predict the future" but that currently selling flat-rate speeds without bandwidth caps was doing well in the marketplace, while cable companies had "network constraints," among other issues which lead them to caps. Hoewing went deeper into the usage caps issue in a Thursday blog post, trying to frame the issue as market experimentation in highly competitive markets to figure out what consumers want and don't want, with broadband providers "testing consumers reactions."
http://benton.org/node/24762
Recommend this Headline
back to top
AT&T IN BED WITH BEHAVIORAL TARGETING COMPANY
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
In the last year, AT&T has emerged as an outspoken critic of online behavioral advertising practices. But the telecom itself is an advertising client of behavioral targeting company Audience Science. While many marketers work with online behavioral targeting companies, AT&T's apparent relationship with Audience Science is striking because the telecom has publicly said that behavioral advertising -- or tracking people as they surf the Web and serve ads based on the sites they visit -- requires consumers' explicit consent. Audience Science, like most behavioral targeting companies, allows consumers to opt out of targeting, but doesn't seek their affirmative consent to it.
http://benton.org/node/24735
Recommend this Headline
back to top
ESHOO WANTS DETAILS ON ST&T AD ACTIVITY
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) wants to know for sure whether AT&T is engaged in any activity that involves tracking its broadband Internet subscribers' online activities to target advertising and on Friday asked the telecom giant's top executive to clarify. In a letter to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Rep Eshoo asked whether AT&T has used AudienceScience.com or any other behavioral advertiser to place ads on the Web, and if so, whether those firms notify consumers when data is collected. She also asked whether consumers are allowed to control what data is collected by advertising vendors and how it is used. Eshoo asked Stephenson when AT&T began advertising to consumers using behavioral targeting and whether it continues to engage in that activity. If AT&T has stopped, she wants to know when.
http://benton.org/node/24759
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BROADBAND OVER POWERLINE SEARCHES FOR SANITY
[SOURCE: TelecommunicationsOnline, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
Once ballyhooed by industry pundits as the third leg in the broadband service delivery stool, broadband over powerline (BPL) technology has continually struggled to gain mainstream acceptance. There has not been a lot to say, really, about BPL's presence in the broadband arena. Overall, the BPL market in the United States is relatively scant. The FCC reports late last year that there were only about 5,000 BPL subscribers. Not exactly a big market opportunity. So what's kept BPL from becoming the mainstream phenomenon that was predicted in the late 1990s? Since BPL started to percolate with large companies like Nortel, the technology was plagued with interference problems — problems that many like the ham radio guys still say exist even with new modulation techniques.
http://benton.org/node/24750
Recommend this Headline
back to top
THE SURGE TO IMPOSE ONLINE SALES TAXES
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Olga Kharif]
As states and Congress move to make e-tailers collect sales taxes, Overstock.com and eBay oppose them while Amazon.com calls for uniformity. States and local governments hope sales taxes would help them recoup part of the revenue lost amid a recession that has diminished property values and crimped demand for items sold in stores. In the fourth quarter, state sales tax collections dropped 4%, the steepest decline in 50 years, according to the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Online sales taxes could help states generate at least $52 billion in added revenue over the next six years, according to an April 13 study conducted by three University of Tennessee professors. Requiring virtual stores to collect taxes, even in parts of the country where they don't have physical operations, would also place e-tailers on a more even footing with brick-and-mortar stores such as Wal-Mart, which collect sales taxes on in-store as well as online purchases.
http://benton.org/node/24769
Recommend this Headline
back to top
IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, WEB GROWS WITHOUT PROFIT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brad Stone, Miguel Helft]
Facebook is booming in Turkey and Indonesia. YouTube's audience has nearly doubled in India and Brazil. That may seem like good news. But it is also a major reason these and other Web companies with big global audiences and renowned brands struggle to turn even a tiny profit. Call it the International Paradox. Web companies that rely on advertising are enjoying some of their most vibrant growth in developing countries. But those are also the same places where it can be the most expensive to operate, since Web companies often need more servers to make content available to parts of the world with limited bandwidth. And in those countries, online display advertising is least likely to translate into results. This intractable contradiction has become a serious drag on the bottom lines of photo-sharing sites, social networks and video distributors like YouTube. It is also threatening the fervent idealism of Internet entrepreneurs, who hoped to unite the world in a single online village but are increasingly finding that the economics of that vision just do not work.
http://benton.org/node/24767
Recommend this Headline
back to top
IN DOWNTURN, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SILICON VALLEY TECH GIANTS TO GET STRONGER
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Brandon Bailey]
Oracle's decision to buy Sun Microsystems was a surprise for many in Silicon Valley, but analysts say the deal is a logical outgrowth of two related trends that are reshaping the tech industry as it wrestles with a bruising global recession. With stock prices in the cellar, bigger and stronger companies are seeing opportunities to buy small or struggling ones at bargain rates. And tech giants such as Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard are expanding their businesses now, with an eye toward a future when the economy comes roaring back, by moving to become full-service suppliers of hardware and software for the big data centers that increasingly support commerce around the world. "There's going to be that next wave, and the big vendors are positioning themselves to be ready to capture that opportunity," said Jean Bozman, who follows the tech industry for research firm IDC.
http://benton.org/node/24770
Recommend this Headline
back to top
HEALTH AND MEDIA
THE HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PUBLIC UTILITY ACT OF 2009
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Chairman Jay Rockefeller]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller has introduced legislation that will facilitate nationwide adoption of electronic health records, particularly among small, rural providers. The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009 will build upon the successful use of "open source" electronic health records by the Department of Veterans Affairs as well as the "open source exchange model," which was recently expanded among federal agencies through the Nationwide Health Information Network-Connect initiative. The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009 would: 1) Create a new federal Public Utility Board within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to direct and oversee formation of this HIT Public Utility Model, its implementation, and its ongoing operation. 2) Implement and administer a new 21st Century Health IT Grant program for safety-net providers to cover the full cost of open source software implementation and maintenance for up to five years, with the possibility of renewal for up to five years if required benchmarks are met. 3) Facilitate ongoing communication with open source user groups to incorporate improvements and innovations from them into the core programs. 4) Ensure interoperability between these programs, including as innovations are incorporated, and develop mechanisms to integrate open source software with Medicaid and CHIP billing. 5) Create a child-specific Electronic Health Record (EHR) to be used in Medicaid, CHIP, and other federal children's health programs. 6) Develop and integrate quality and performance measurement into open source software modules.
http://www.benton.org/node/24744
back to top
LONG ROAD TO ELECTRONIC RECORDS
[SOURCE: Triangle Business Journal, AUTHOR: James Gallagher]
Moving the nation to electronic health records could save millions of dollars, simplify the health-care system and create as many as 50,000 new jobs, though it will be a tough journey to get there, Harvard Medical School CIO John Halamka said. Electronic health records are a tool to simplify the health-care system and reduce costs. Yet despite the potential of such a system, there are still major challenges ahead, including developing and using the technology needed and answering privacy questions, before the system can be implemented. First, there is not a single set of standards for identifying medical information, meaning physicians, insurers, pharmacists and others involved would have trouble communicating with each other electronically. That issue needs to be addressed, and Halamka says organizations are working toward that goal. At the same time, technology needs to be developed to maximize ease of use for physicians.
http://benton.org/node/24753
Recommend this Headline
back to top
PUBLIC QUESTIONS DIGITAL FIX FOR HEALTH CARE
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Joseph Shapiro]
There's a big disconnect between American opinions about fixing the health care system and the view of experts and politicians, according to a new poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. The poll shows several areas of possible conflict as Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration forge ahead with their plans to reform the health system. Last week, for example, President Obama said health care is a "pillar" of economic recovery, with electronic medical records at the center of his health plans. A system of electronic medical records would link doctors, hospitals and other health care providers so they can share medical records. Obama argued that putting records online would "save money and lives and reduce medical error." The new poll shows that many Americans accept the president's argument, but only to a point.
http://benton.org/node/24757
Recommend this Headline
back to top
JOURNALISM
THE HUFFPOST CO-FOUNDER TO NEWSPAPERS: YOU BLEW IT.
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Megan Garber]
Kenneth Lerer to newspapers: You blew it. The media executive and Huffington Post co-founder pulls few punches when it came to newspapers' culpability for the crisis in which they now find themselves. In the years when the expansion of the Web made it clear that news had an online future -- the years when they should have adapted to that future, Lerer said -- papers "barricaded themselves in an echo chamber." Losing, in the process, not only their perspective on the future of news, but also their claim on it. Though Lerer pointed to several external factors that have contributed to newspapers' current crisis -- increased competition, consolidation, changes in the news cycle, and new models of online efficiency among them ("add on the economic crisis, and welcome to the perfect storm," Lerer declared) -- ultimately, he said, the fault lies with newspapers themselves for their failure to adapt their business models "in the transformative way that the new digital world required." But here's the rub: newspapers failed to adapt not because they were bad at business, Lerer said, but precisely because they were good at it.
http://benton.org/node/24751
Recommend this Headline
back to top
THE NEWSPAPER BIZ: 'MORE POISON, PLEASE'?
[SOURCE: The Nation, AUTHOR: Eric Alterman]
[Commentary] The notion that Congress is likely to act in time, and with sufficient creativity, to help save a business that cannot save itself is one more fairy tale Alterman cannot bring himself to believe. It's painful to admit, but admit it we must: we have no more hope today of saving the "newspaper business" than we do the "telegraph business." What is needed -- pronto -- is a plan to save the collection and dissemination of the news itself.
http://benton.org/node/24756
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TIME CO CEO AFFIRMS GLOBE BARGAINING DEADLINE
[SOURCE: Boston Globe, AUTHOR: Robert Gavin, Keith O'Brien]
The New York Times Co intends to stick to its May 1 deadline to gain $20 million in concessions from unions at the Boston Globe. Without concessions, the Times Co. has threatened to shutter the money-losing newspaper. The Globe is expected to lose $85 million this year. Globe Publisher P. Steven Ainsley's plan to close the gap through a combination of cost reductions and new revenues. He expects to gain new advertising revenues from the expansion of Boston.com's hyperlocal sites, known as Your Towns and executives see the opportunity to increase revenues from consumers and advertisers by "launching new digital services and consumer-pay programs that do not eat into advertising revenues."
http://benton.org/node/24731
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TEA PARTIES AND SOMALI PIRATES
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
Unlike many previous weeks, the two stories generating the most interest in the blogosphere were among those that also received significant attention in the traditional press. Both the pirate hostage saga and the Tea Parties spurred passionate and visceral online commentary, with one story producing unity and the other generating sharp discord. Fully 19% of the links by blogs and social media sites from April 13-17 focused on the dramatic end to the standoff between the Somali pirates and American Navy, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. With the successful rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, most bloggers expressed gratitude and pride in the performance of the US military.
http://benton.org/node/24733
Recommend this Headline
back to top
AT PAPERS, NEW LEVELS OF JOB INSECURITY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Perez-Pena]
The fast-shrinking newspaper business set a new standard for job insecurity in the last couple of weeks. Winning your profession's highest honor does not mean you get to keep your job, and neither does taking a bullet while at work.
http://benton.org/node/24766
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
CHORUS GROWS FOR INVENTORY OF NATION'S AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: FierceWireless, AUTHOR: ]
Experts from government, public interest groups and the private sector debated spectrum policy and voiced support for a bill to create a national spectrum inventory. The discussion was part of a larger conference, the State of the Mobile Net, which was hosted by the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus.
http://benton.org/node/24755
Recommend this Headline
back to top
VERIZON WIRELESS SEEKS MORE TIME FROM FCC
[SOURCE: TheDeal.com, AUTHOR: Chris Nolter]
Verizon Wireless is asking the Federal Communications Commission for more time to close the sale of mobile phone operations in 105 markets. The joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group has been shopping the wireless assets to win regulatory approval for its $28.1 billion purchase of Alltel Corp., which closed in January. The assets are being managed by a trustee until May 9. If Verizon Wireless can't close the sale by then, a "divestiture trustee" will replace the "management trustee," potentially complicating matters. The company wants another 60 days to finalize a sale.
http://benton.org/node/24748
Recommend this Headline
back to top
VERIZON WIRELESS, AT&T PREP FOR UBIQUITOUS MOBILE LOCATION
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Sarah Reedy]
The mobile phone, as the only device that goes everywhere with a consumer, has the promise of becoming the most powerful location-aware platform on the market. Carriers are already making moves in this direction, paying careful attention to privacy concerns every step of the way. Verizon Wireless announced this month that it has incorporated 411 Search directly into its VZ Navigator GPS service, and AT&T discussed plans at CTIA to do the same. In that not-too-distant future, both could potentially hook any and every app into navigation.
http://benton.org/node/24746
Recommend this Headline
back to top
APPLE, VERIZON CONSIDER IPHONE DEAL
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
Verizon and Apple are discussing the possible development of an iPhone for Verizon, with the goal of introducing it next year, people familiar with the situation say. It would mark the first time Apple has produced a version of the iPhone for a CDMA wireless network, which is different from AT&T's GSM technology. Vodafone, co-owner of Verizon Wireless, already sells the iPhone in Europe. The New York-based telecom entered into "high-level" discussions with Apple management a few months ago, when CEO Steve Jobs was overseeing day-to-day business. AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights to the iPhone into 2010, though specifics aren't known. The deal was struck in 2006, when the iPhone was still on the drawing board. Many telecom analysts expect AT&T to try to persuade Apple to extend the contract for another year, at least. Should Verizon succeed, it would be a big loss for AT&T, says Roger Entner, head of telecom research for Nielsen. "Breaking the (iPhone) exclusivity with AT&T is a huge thing," he says. "That would send shivers into AT&T's stock and senior leadership."
http://benton.org/node/24772
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TELEVISION
WHEN DID TV BECOME A LUXURY?
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Lydia Loizides]
[Commentary] Is it the recession talking when Pew reports that 52% of Americans think of their TV as a necessity, a figure that's down 12 percentage points from 2006? Probably. But take into account that that is the smallest share to call a TV a necessity since the question was first asked 35 years ago. Yes, you read right: the lowest ever in the last 35 year. Pew finds: 1. A decline in importance of cable or satellite TV (down 10 percentage points from 2006). 2) A minuscule drop in importance of the home computer as a necessity (50% in 2009, down 1 percentage point from 2006). 3) The increase of high-speed Internet viewed as a necessity (31% in 2009, up 2 percentage points in 2006). 4) Twenty four percent of respondents indicating that they have reduced or cancelled cable or satellite TV subscription. 5) Fifty seven percent of respondents who have bought less expensive brands or shopped more at discount stores.
http://benton.org/node/24754
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FOX AFFILS DECIDE TO GO AGAINST THE FLOW
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] Everybody is saying that TV broadcasters are going to have to be more aggressive and seize whatever opportunities present themselves if they expect to come out whole on the other side of this painful downturn. Most are trying, prospecting for new business as never before and, within tightening budgets, exploring the news businesses on the Web and mobile platforms. Fox network affiliates are proposing legislation that would make it harder for big cable networks to raise the carriage fees they charge satellite and cable operators. The Fox affiliates are highly motivated. They are still smarting from the Fox network's loss of the major college bowl game starting in 2010 to ESPN. Fox didn't come close to ESPN's bid.
http://benton.org/node/24760
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CONTENT BLOCKER CITES SUPPORT
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission received close to 10,000 public comments on a report it must submit to Congress on media content-control technologies like the V-chip/ratings system and cable operators' parental-control features. It turns out a lot of those comments, and likely the vast majority, were requests for technology that would filter out inappropriate language. According to TV Guardian president Britt Bennett, more than 95% of the comments referred to his product, TV Guardian, which can filter out and even find substitutes for curse words in TV content.
http://benton.org/node/24768
Recommend this Headline
back to top
POLICYMAKERS
TECH-SAVVY DUO STEPS ONTO FEDERAL STAGE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
Aneesh Chopra and Vivek Kundra met nearly a decade ago as entrepreneurs in Northern Virginia's Indian American business community. They worked together in Gov Timothy Kaine's administration and then as technology and innovation advisers on President Obama's transition team. Now the two longtime friends will work in tandem to help meet Obama's ambitious goals of using technology to improve public access to government data, create new jobs, expand broadband services, reform the way health records are stored and build a modern electric grid. They will work within the White House with direct access to the president. Chopra will be in the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Kundra in the Office of Management and Budget. Some in Washington's technology policy circles had questioned whether the jobs were too large and unwieldy for tech czars who have never worked on the federal stage and will now have to navigate deep-rooted federal agency structures and processes. There also had been much debate about whether the CTO job should be filled by a tech industry veteran rather than someone with more policy experience. "We are both going to be driving innovation, whether it's health IT and broadband or how federal agencies use technology," Kundra said. "We're also embracing the open government principles to make sure we are democratizing data and to make sure agencies deliver results. At the same time, we need to leverage the ingenuity of the American people and the private sector to help us."
http://benton.org/node/24775
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SONAL SHAH APPOINTMENT CONFIRMED
[SOURCE: NextGov, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Google executive Sonal Shah will be joining the Obama administration as director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. Formerly the head of Google's philanthropic arm, Shah is slated to lead the office, which is expected to work with non-profits and community organizations to encourage "social entrepreneurship." The administration has thus far avoided releasing any details about the mission or structure of the office. Shah also served as a member of Obama's transition team, helping to develop technology policy. The news of Shah's appointment has been greeted favorably in some circles, particularly among the philanthropic community. However, her involvement with the White House has been controversial due to her ties to the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which is accused of using charitable works in India as a cover for inciting communal hatred. The VHP has been condemned by the State Department and the non-profit Human Rights Watch for its role in the 2002 mob violence in Gujurat, which resulted in the deaths of 1,000 people, most of whom were Muslims.
http://benton.org/node/24747
Recommend this Headline
back to top
KERRY SEEKS INVESTMENT GUIDANCE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mike Soraghan]
Sen John Kerry (D-MA) is seeking guidance from the Senate Ethics Committee and the Federal Election Committee about investing in a documentary about soldiers in Iraq. His campaign lawyers in March sought permission from the Federal Election Commission to tap $300,000 from his Senate campaign for the investment. The request and other documents were released late Friday by the FEC. Sen Kerry is to help find other investors for the film, which is expected to cost $3 million to $5 million to make. He would be considered an executive producer. The position is unpaid, though documents say that investors, including the campaign, could get a 120 percent return on their investment. Kerry campaign lawyers told the FEC that the campaign will not have any control over development or production of the film, and that the film won't include political advocacy for issues or candidates.
http://benton.org/node/24745
Recommend this Headline
back to top
QUICKLY -- Poor DVD sales hamper U.S. film financing deals; San Jose street lights get smarter
POOR DVD SALES HAMPER US FILM FINANCING DEALS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sue Zeidler]
As the credit crisis forces banks to scale back investments in Hollywood, a weak DVD market -- long an industry growth driver -- is adding to the challenges of getting films financed. US consumer spending on home entertainment fell 4 percent in 2008, in the first decline since the advent of the DVD, according to Bernstein Research analyst Michael Nathanson. DVD sales are estimated to have fallen 6 percent last year. Operating margins at film studios, which have grown on the back of DVD sales for most of the decade, contracted 110 basis points in 2008, Nathanson wrote in a report on Wednesday. He predicted demand for DVDs to fall further over the next five years as the maturing market slowly transitions to high-definition Blu-ray and digital distribution models, which offer lower profit per transaction.
http://benton.org/node/24761
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SAN JOSE STREET LIGHTS GET SMARTER
[SOURCE: CNNMoney.com, AUTHOR: Jeffrey O'Brien]
San Jose announced this week a trial of smarter, more energy-efficient street lights, which will be powered by low-energy LED bulbs and monitored across a smart network. The 125-light test, due to launch this summer, will be implemented by hometown smart-grid company Echelon (ELON). The company is known primarily for the smart meters -- essentially, thermostats that convey real-time energy usage information to the consumer and supplier - it has deployed in various European cities. The streetlight network will function in a similar way to a smart electricity grid. Using the city's wi-fi network, Echelon's networking technology enables the lights to transfer real-time data about the status and performance of any given bulb. That way, maintenance crews won't have to search for a fried bulb. (For cities without a wi-fi network, Echelon's technology also works over power lines.)
http://benton.org/node/24752
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA FACES A DIFFICULT SCENE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Rebecca Cole]
When the late Jack Valenti held court, with his silver mane, White House contacts and celebrity friends, the Motion Picture Association of America boasted the Washington lobbying establishment's equivalent of the double feature: political clout playing alongside Hollywood glitz. Politicians and other power brokers snapped up invitations to private screenings of new movies in the MPAA's 70-seat theater just two blocks from the White House. Members of Congress and foreign dignitaries sipped champagne and mingled with movie stars -- and later might listen attentively when Valenti lobbied on industry issues. Those heady days seem to be giving way to a less glamorous and less expansive future. Like a director who has just been told that his ambitious movie project must be scaled back, the Hollywood trade association recently took a big hit when its member studios cut as much as 20%, or about $20 million, from its budget, leading to staff layoffs in Los Angeles and Washington. The cuts come just when the association needs money to cope with myriad problems spawned by digital and other technological changes, including virulent piracy of the studios' most valuable products: movies and TV shows.
http://benton.org/node/24771
Recommend this Headline
back to top