Aug 5, 2009 (FCC Ramps Up Broadband Plan Efforts)

Former Benton Foundation Board Member Dr. Harold Richman Passes

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2009

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Seven Reasons Why We Need Net Neutrality Now
   West Virginia may not receive broadband funding
   FCC Announces Senior Staff for Development of National Broadband Plan
   Genachowski Urges All Staff To Step Up On Broadband
   MMTC Issues List of Minority Contractors For Broadband Stimulus Applicants
   FAQ on FCC's National Broadband Plan Workshops
   House Dems Suggest Path For ICANN

OWNERSHIP
   The Antitrust Anachronism
   FTC May Ease Anti-Trust Laws to Save News
   Broadcast Station Owner: Ownership Deregulation Is Key To Local TV's Survival
   Microsoft deal will pay Yahoo more after 5 years

JOURNALISM
   The Newspaper-Web War
   Olbermann's Non-Denial and His Good Move
   Prof Tests AP 'Copyfraud'
   Tracking News via Cyberspace

ADVERTISING
Fresh Views at Agency Overseeing Online Ads

HEALTH & MEDIA
Groups Take Health-Reform Debate to Airwaves
Transportation Chief to Study Texting Ban

WIRELESS
Carriers Seek to Hand Off Their Handsets
Smartphones Key To Wireless Profits

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Web site tracks world online censorship reports

TELEVISION
LPTV Trade Group Closes Shop

POLICYMAKERS/BUDGET
   White House still seeking cybersecurity czar
   NIST Seeks Nominations for Federal Advisory Committees
   Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2011 Budget
   Public Knowledge Presents Sixth IP3 Awards to Vaidhyanathan, Jackson, Meinrath

MORE ONLINE...
   RUS Issues Broadband Loans and Grants Correction
   Grants.Gov Web Site Offers New Feature for Information on Applying for All ARRA Federal Grants
   Program opens high-tech world to deaf students
   Equal Billing: TV/Internet Use High For Old/Young Demos
   Dish, EchoStar happy on TiVo development

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

SEVEN REASONS WHY WE NEED NET NEUTRALITY NOW
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Timothy Karr]
[Commentary] On Friday Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009, a bill that would establish the basic rules of the road for an open Internet. And its arrival couldn't be more timely. We are amid the greatest technological transition in our media since the invention of the printing press. An open Internet is driving this change. It's a communications tool that, while still in its infancy, is already storming the gates of media's old guard. But they're not letting us in without a fight. Here's seven reasons the bill is needed: 1. Economic Recovery and Prosperity, 2. Free Speech, 3. Civic Participation, 4. The Marketplace of Ideas, 5. Social Justice, 6. The Rise of the Gatekeepers, and 7. The Obama Opportunity.
http://benton.org/node/26894
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WEST VIRGINIA MAY NOT RECEIVE BROADBAND FUNDING
[SOURCE: Charleston Daily Mail, AUTHOR: George Hohmann]
Dave Armentrout, chief operating officer of telecommunications provider FiberNet, is concerned that West Virginia may miss out on the $7.2 billion in federal stimulus money aimed at deploying broadband in rural and remote areas across the nation. The way "remote area" has been defined by the federal agencies overseeing the program has eliminated most of West Virginia, "which we all know is ridiculous because West Virginia ranks in the top 47 or 48 states un-served by broadband," Armentrout said. Indeed, a map released last week by Connect West Virginia, a subsidiary of Connected Nation, shows that only two areas in the state -- one centered in Webster, Pocahontas and Randolph counties and another centered in McDowell County -- qualify as "remote areas" under the definitions released by the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service. States will not receive money based on a set formula. Rather, the money each state receives will depend on the applications for projects that are approved. Applications will be measured, in part, on what percent of the proposed broadband service area is rural and what percent is remote. Armentrout said the rules have been written so a state like Texas has lots of "remote areas," while West Virginia has few.
http://benton.org/node/26893
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FCC ANNOUNCES SENIOR STAFF FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Federal Communications Commission Julius Genachowski announced the appointment of several senior staffers who will work on the development of a National Broadband Plan as part of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative: 1) Erik Garr, General Manager. Garr is on leave from Diamond Management and Technology Consultants, a consulting firm that he helped grow from a small private firm into a publicly traded global company, where he is a partner. At Diamond, Garr built and led consulting teams engaged on broadband issues for the U.S. Navy, the City of New York, and the World Economic Forum. 2) Brian David, Adoption and Usage Director. 3) Kristen Kane, National Purposes Director. 4) John Horrigan, Consumer Research Director. Horrigan was Associate Director, Research, with the Pew Internet & American Life Project, where he analyzed survey data and draft reports for the Pew Internet Project. 5) Rob Curtis, Deployment Director. Mr. Curtis was a leader in the high-tech and telecom practice of McKinsey & Co., where he led over 20 engagements directly related to network operations and strategy. 6) Julie Veach, Acting Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC. Ms. Veach is serving as the policy team lead for the broadband plan. 7) John S. Leibovitz, Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC. Mr. Leibovitz is serving as the broadband team lead for spectrum issues. 8) Donald Stockdale, Deputy Chief and Bureau Chief Economist Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC. Mr. Stockdale is serving as policy advisor to the broadband team. 9) Krista Witanowski, Attorney Advisor, Media Bureau, FCC. Ms. Witanowski is serving as Workshop Coordinator. 10) Christopher Lewis is a Legislative Analyst in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the FCC and is handling legislative affairs for the National Broadband Plan team. 11) Roger Goldblatt, Outreach and Policy Advisor, Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau, FCC. Mr. Goldblatt is Community Outreach Coordinator for the Omnibus Broadband Initiative. 12) Mark Wigfield, Media Spokesman, Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC. Mr. Wigfield will be chief spokesman for the broadband team. Blair Levin will continue coordinating the Omnibus Broadband Initiative, for which he will serve as the Executive Director.
http://benton.org/node/26892
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GENACHOWSKI URGES ALL STAFF TO STEP UP ON BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In advance of Thursday's national broadband plan workshop, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will have an "all-hands" meeting with the FCC staff Wednesday. He wants to make the point that the national broadband plan due to Congress next February is a commission-wide undertaking.
http://benton.org/node/26891
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MMTC ISSUES LIST OF MINORITY CONTRACTORS FOR BROADBAND STIMULUS APPLICANTS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council has issued its initial list of minority broadband contractors it wants broadband stimulus money applicants to consider using. The Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service has a built-in preference for small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), though it is only one point out of a hundred, while the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has a less defined preference, saying it will give "substantial consideration" to SDBs.
http://benton.org/node/26890
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FAQ ON FCC'S NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN WORKSHOPS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission has issued a list of frequently asked questions about the National Broadband Staff Workshops that begin Thursday, August 6. The FAQ covers the purposes of the workshops, the ex parte process, public input, and make-up of panels. Tidbits include: 1) There will be an additional comment period to allow further written comments on what is said during the workshops; 2) Staff plan to ask clear but tough questions to ensure an honest exchange and frank exchange of ideas, and 3) plans for field hearings outside of Washington D.C. on a range of issues raised by the discussions in the workshops.
http://benton.org/node/26889
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HOUSE DEMS SUGGEST PATH FOR ICANN
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) joined Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) late Tuesday in calling for the creation of a permanent relationship between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which administers the world's Web addresses, and the Commerce Department. A memo formally joining the two entities is slated to expire late next month amid concerns on Capitol Hill and within industry that ICANN faces problems with transparency and accountability. ICANN leaders have claimed that after 10 years in business, the California nonprofit is ready for its independence. A letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke from Reps Boucher, Waxman and eight other Democratic lawmakers said a set of enduring principles "will place beyond doubt the value of the current model for managing" the domain name system and will prevent any one entity from controlling the underpinnings of the Internet. Their proposal would provide for periodic reviews of ICANN performance and create a mechanism for implementing ICANN's proposed broad expansion of top-level domains like .com and .biz. Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee are said to be preparing their own letter to Locke with recommendations for ICANN's path forward.
http://benton.org/node/26896
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OWNERSHIP

THE ANTITRUST ANACHRONISM
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: L. Gordon Crovitz]
[Commentary] The Sherman Act and later antitrust laws were supposed to protect consumer interests. That's not so easy when regulators have to deal with industries as different as oil, with its cartels and long product cycles, and technology, where fast change is a constant necessity for survival. The result: It could be months before the government approves or vetoes last week's deal between Yahoo and Microsoft to team up on search, undertaken as an effort to create a real alternative to the dominant Google. The bottom line is that by the time regulators can assess a technology market, the market has often moved on. The antitrust laws are anachronisms when applied to industries of constant innovation. Even theories about the role of antitrust were designed for the industrial era. Instead of more aggressive enforcement of a legal relic, the real question is when will technology's ever faster cycles of creative destruction spell the end of antitrust law? Consumers benefit from competition, innovation and new technology, which regulation cannot provide but can suppress. Instead of using 19th-century tools for this century's challenges, President Obama should tell his regulators to study the humility of technologists who understand that today's leader can be tomorrow's laggard.
http://benton.org/node/26888
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FTC MAY EASE ANTI-TRUST LAWS TO SAVE NEWS
[SOURCE: TheWrap, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
The federal government is preparing an inquiry into the endangered field of news and reporting -- and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz is dropping some broad hints about what will be in it. He expressed some sympathy to easing antitrust enforcement of media consolidations to prevent more newspapers from folding or further declines in TV news staffs. He also said the FTC intends not just throw out a lifeline. He wants to ensure that media companies are doing a good enough job finding alternative revenues. Some media critics contend that at least part of the current woes affecting journalism reflect heavy-handed cutbacks and management failures to pitch new readers or charge for websites.
http://benton.org/node/26887
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BROADCAST STATION OWNER: OWNERSHIP DEREG IS KEY TO LOCAL TV'S SURVIVAL
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
A Q&A with Gene Loving of Max Media LLC, a company that buys immature and troubled television and radio stations and, in theory, sells them off for a profit. But in the current economy, turning stations around and selling them ain't too easy. Loving says the Federal Communications Commission "has to recognize that the rules they put in place a long time ago are really irrelevant today. They ought to eliminate all the ownership restrictions." Yes, all. "If anything, the need to get rid of burdensome and restrictive rules has increased over the past six years as the financial support has gotten much, much worse. Chairman [Julius] Genachowski, with the support of the majority of the commission, could order the staff to stop enforcing a list of rules and ownership restrictions now. At the same time, he could announce that in better times the FCC will consider what new rules it may want to enact, having had the benefit of the real world experience, instead of supposition."
http://benton.org/node/26886
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MICROSOFT DEAL WILL PAY YAHOO MORE AFTER 5 YEARS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Alexei Oreskovic]
Yahoo will get slightly more revenue from Microsoft during the second half of the companies' recently announced 10-year Internet search partnership. The share of revenue that Microsoft pays to run search ads on Yahoo's network of sites will increase from 88 percent to 90 percent in the second five years of the partnership, according to regulatory filings by Yahoo on Tuesday. At least 400 Yahoo employees will join Microsoft as part of the Internet search partnership, and the two companies will select an additional 150 Yahoo employees to help with the transition of powering Yahoo's search and ad search with Microsoft technology.
http://benton.org/node/26885
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JOURNALISM

THE NEWSPAPER-WEB WAR
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Jack Shafer]
The newspaper industry and its allies have many grievances against the Web. They say the Web is parasitic, that it copies newspaper content and steals its advertising. They claim that Web creators will never provide the deep reporting that democracy needs and that newspapers provided before the Web arrived and ruined the media neighborhood. They want to tame the Web by rejigging copyright law. And they protest that the Web has undermined quality journalism by teaching readers to expect news for free. Whatever the merits of these complaints, it's not the first time established media have accused new media of bringing on Armageddon. Although not completely analogous to today's tussle between the newspapers and the Web, the media battle in the 1920s and 1930s echoes its points of contention. Back then, anti-radio newspapers (newspapers that didn't own radio stations) were furious over the unauthorized use of newspaper and wire service copy, just as today's Associated Press and newspaper publishers are raging over what they regard as the theft of their copy and headlines by Web sites and search engines like Google.
http://benton.org/node/26883
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OLBERMANN'S NON-DENIAL AND HIS GOOD MOVE
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: David Sirota]
[Commentary] On his show last night, Keith Olbermann essentially issued a non-denial denial about the GE-MSNBC-Fox story, saying that he himself was "party to no deal" - exactly what he said in the original New York Times article. There's no reason to doubt Olbermann - however, as journalism prof Dan Kennedy suggests, Olbermann's own personal lack of involvement in a "deal" is far less important than the simple fact that GE started trying to give blatant news-content orders to MSNBC's newsroom - orders that may have been followed in places well beyond Olbermann's control. Certainly, the fact that Olbermann resisted those orders is good news, but this story wasn't an indictment of Olbermann - it was an indictment of the entire corporate-news structure of the networks in question.
http://benton.org/node/26882
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PROF TESTS AP 'COPYFRAUD'
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
The Associated Press has made no secret of its stance that bloggers who excerpt passages from stories should pay licensing fees. But the wire service might want to take a closer look at how its licensing policy is being implemented. On Monday, New York Law School professor James Grimmelmann reported on his blog that he paid the AP $12 to license a 26-word quote from Thomas Jefferson. The quote, which takes aim at the concept of intellectual property, has long been in the public domain. The AP says the rights were sold through iCopyright, which the news service tapped to sell licenses online in April of 2008. "It is an automated form, thus explaining how one blogger got it to charge him for the words of a former president," the AP said. iCopyright CEO Mike O'Donnell says the company operates on the "honor system" and relies on "reasonable checks and balances to verify that people or companies getting licenses through the system are being honest." The platform asks users to cut and paste the text they wish to excerpt into a box, and then charges based on words used. O'Donnell says the company issues more than 25,000 licenses each day. By Monday afternoon, iCopyright had revoked the license it had granted Grimmelmann and refunded his $12.
http://benton.org/node/26881
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TRACKING NEWS VIA CYBERSPACE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Patricia Cohen]
Like a lot of new ideas, Media Cloud started with a long-running argument among friends. Ethan Zuckerman and a handful of his colleagues at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School found themselves in endless disputes about the mainstream media and newer digital variations. Who sets the agenda? How is public debate shaped? What topics are covered or ignored? Anecdotes favoring one side or another were as plentiful as pop-ups, but a comprehensive and reliable database that could track the daily rhythm of the news cycle over time and was available for public use didn't exist. So Mr. Zuckerman and others at Berkman decided to create one. The result is Media Cloud, a system that tracks hundreds of newspapers and thousands of Web sites and blogs, and archives the information in a searchable form. The database, at mediacloud.org, will eventually enable researchers to search for key people, places and events and find out precisely when, where and how frequently they are covered, said Mr. Zuckerman, whose official title is senior researcher, though he acknowledges that a more accurate label would be computer geek and international development specialist.
http://benton.org/node/26903
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ADVERTISING

FRESH VIEWS AT AGENCY OVERSEEING ONLINE ADS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephanie Clifford]
Most of the online world is based on a simple, if unarticulated, agreement: consumers browse Web sites free, and in return, they give up data — like their gender or income level — which the sites use to aim their advertisements. The new head of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, David C. Vladeck, says it is time for that to change. In an interview, Mr. Vladeck outlined plans that could upset the online advertising ecosystem. Privacy policies have become useless, the commission's standards for the cases it reviews are too narrow, and some online tracking is "Orwellian," Mr. Vladeck said. After eight years of what privacy advocates and the industry saw as a relatively pro-business commission, Mr. Vladeck, has made a splash. In June, the commission settled a case with Sears that was a warning shot to companies that thought their privacy policies protected them. In just over six weeks on the job, he has asked Congress for a bigger budget and for a streamlined way to create regulations. And he said he would hire technologists to help analyze online marketers' tracking.
http://benton.org/node/26902
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HEALTH & MEDIA

GROUPS TAKE HEALTH-REFORM DEBATE TO AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ben Pershing]
The increasingly heated fight over health-care legislation is saturating the summer airwaves, with groups on all sides of the debate pouring tens of millions of dollars into advertising campaigns designed to push the cause of reform forward, slow it down or stop it in its tracks. Drugmakers, labor unions, both national political parties and the sector currently under the heaviest fire -- health insurance companies -- are all weighing in with significant ad buys. Nationwide, more than $52 million has been spent this year on health-care reform-related ads, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, setting the stage for what may be a record-breaking legislative battle. "This has the potential to certainly be the biggest [ever] as far as an advocacy advertising campaign goes," said Evan Tracey, CMAG's chief operating officer. Much of the spending has been focused on national cable news and the local Washington market, the best way to reach policymakers and opinion leaders in the capital. But as members of Congress leave for August recess, advertising money will follow them, as the target audience for health-care messages shifts from inside to outside the Beltway.
http://benton.org/node/26899
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TRANSPORTATION CHIEF TO STUDY TEXTING BAN
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Christopher Conkey]
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday that he would support banning motorists from texting behind the wheel, but acknowledged further study was needed to find effective ways to enforce such a ban. "If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting, but unfortunately, laws aren't always enough," Sec LaHood said Tuesday at a news conference. He didn't propose any new rules but said that "following next month's summit, I plan to announce a list of concrete steps we will take to make drivers think twice about taking their eyes off the road for any reason." Senior transportation officials, lawmakers, safety advocates and law-enforcement officials are expected to take part in the summit, which will focus on the hazards posed by cellphone use, text messaging and other activities that distract drivers.
http://benton.org/node/26901
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WIRELESS

CARRIERS SEEK TO HAND OFF THEIR HANDSETS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sara Silver]
To cope with the largest drop in cellphone sales since the wireless industry took off in the mid-90s, Sprint and other carriers are finding ways to cut costs by hiring companies like Brightpoint to handle tasks such as installing software on devices and activating customer accounts. "They act as distributors for our products in areas where we don't have a large sales force, and manage thousands of indirect distributors to make sure they have the right devices and can get them activated in a timely way," said Fared Adib, vice president of device operations and logistics for Sprint. "For Sprint to do that itself, we'd have to build a massive organization." With little investment and no risk of getting stuck with inventory that doesn't sell, the services can yield big profits. The logistics business accounts for just 9% of Brightpoint's revenue, but 47% of profits.
http://benton.org/node/26900
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SMARTPHONES KEY TO WIRELESS PROFITS
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: W. David Gardner]
Research firm Ovum predicts 23% growth in smartphone shipments between 2008 and 2009 and identifies GPS and Wi-Fi as most-desired features. Smartphones have been the brightest spot in the wireless phone universe over the past several months, delivering the lion's share of profits for both cell phone providers and carriers.
http://benton.org/node/26876
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

WEB SITE TRACKS WORLD ONLINE CENSORSHIP REPORTS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Jeannie Nuss]
Herdict is a new Harvard University-based Web site that tracks online censorship. Herdict users report their Web site problems anonymously — numeric Internet addresses are recorded but only general location is displayed — so people can post more freely, encouraging reports about sensitive topics like HIV and AIDS-related sites, and from people in countries with possible government repercussions. The site doesn't investigate reports, though, so there's no way to know for sure that an outage is related to government meddling rather than a cut cable or other problem unrelated to censorship. Although surges in reports do suggest a government role, a widespread technical glitch can also produce a similar spike.
http://benton.org/node/26898
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TELEVISION

LPTV TRADE GROUP CLOSES SHOP
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
With its member low-power TV stations struggling in the media marketplace and despairing of any regulatory help, the Community Broadcasters Association has shuttered its doors. And surviving stations "can't afford to pay the electricity, let alone dues to belong to an organization," he said. The recession may have been the immediate cause of the business failures and the CBA closing, but it was the indifference of Congress and the FCC to the needs of low-power stations over the years that was the real villain. Despite the incessant pleas of the CBA, he said, the government refused to grant LPTV the same must-carry rights as full-power stations. And without mandatory cable carriage, he said, LPTV stations were often cut off from the majority of homes in their markets. Compounding the LPTVs troubles was the FCC failure to grant second channels to the stations so that could transition to digital along with the full-power stations last June.
http://benton.org/node/26897
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POLICYMAKERS/BUDGET

WHITE HOUSE STILL SEEKING CYBERSECURITY CZAR
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Patricia Zengerle]
President Barack Obama is still searching for the right person to lead the fight against an epidemic of cybercrime, the White House said on Tuesday as it came under fire following the resignation of top cybersecurity adviser Melissa Hathaway. "The loss of her expertise on this issue is unfortunate," said Sen Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking Republican on the Senate homeland security committee. She said the White House should not appoint a cybersecurity czar but should work with Congress to appoint a "cyber leader" at the Department of Homeland Security. House Cybersecurity Caucus co-chairs Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) pressed the Obama administration on Tuesday to move quickly in appointing a high-level White House official to coordinate agencies' efforts to identify and guard against attacks on public and private sector information technology networks. Separately on Tuesday, Obama's homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, said she was working to recruit industry experts on cybersecurity.
http://benton.org/node/26884
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NIST SEEKS NOMINATIONS FOR FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES
[SOURCE: National Institute of Standards and Technology, AUTHOR: ]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites and requests nomination of individuals for appointment to its eight existing Federal Advisory Committees: Technology Innovation Program Advisory Board, Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board, National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee, Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction, and Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology. Nominations for all committees will be accepted on an ongoing basis and will be considered as and when vacancies arise.
http://benton.org/node/26879
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PRIORITIES FOR THE FY 2011 BUDGET
[SOURCE: Office of Management and Budget, AUTHOR: Peter Orszag, John Holdren]
In a memo to heads of federal departments and agencies, OMB Director Peter Orszag and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren ask agencies to build on the science and technology priorities already reflected in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the FY 2010 Budget in their FY 2011 budget submissions. Agencies should explain in their budget submissions how they will redirect available resources, as appropriate, from lower-priority areas to science and technology activities that address four practical challenges and strengthen four cross-cutting areas that underlie success in addressing all of them. The four practical challenges are: 1) Applying science and technology strategies to drive economic recovery, job creation, and economic growth; 2) Promoting innovative energy technologies to reduce dependence on energy imports and mitigate the impact of climate-change while creating green jobs and new businesses; 3) Applying biomedical science and information technology to help Americans live longer, healthier lives while reducing health care costs; and 4) Assuring we have the technologies needed to protect our troops, citizens, and national interests, including those needed to verify arms control and nonproliferation agreements essential to our security.
http://benton.org/node/26895
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PK PRESENTS IP3 AWARDS
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Press release]
Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn announced that three winners have been chosen for the 2009 IP3 awards. This year, the awards will be given to Siva Vaidhyanathan, Karen Jackson and Sascha Meinrath. Awards are given to individuals who over the past year (or over the course of their careers) who have advanced the public interest in one of the three areas of "IP" Intellectual Property, Information Policy and Internet Protocol. The awards will be presented at a ceremony Oct. 15 in Washington (DC). 1) Vaidhyanathan was recognized for his work in intellectual property. Now a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, Vaidhyanathan for a decade has been one of the leading academic advocates for a more balanced copyright policy. 2) Jackson, the deputy secretary of technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia, was recognized for her work in information policy. She was recognized for her work in making information available to local governments about how to bring broadband to their areas, and for leading the Commonwealth's broadband mapping project using state resources to complete the task ahead of many other states. 3) Sascha Meinrath is a mean cribbage player... and recognized for his work in Internet protocol. He is the creator of the Open Technology Initiative (OTI) at the New America Foundation.
http://benton.org/node/26875
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