Aug 19, 2009 (National Broadband Adoption and Use Day)
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BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19, 2009
INTERNET/BROADBAND
From Wires to People: FCC to devote day to broadband adoption and use
US Broadband Growth Slowest in Eight Years
US broadband program -- too much like old times?
With broadband funding, whose needs are we meeting?
For Better Mobile Broadband, the U.S. Needs More Spectrum
Fortune Cookies
The FCC's Broadband Deployment Hearings
Benkler Tells FCC To Look At Other Countries To Inform Broadband Strategies
Korea Frames America's Wireless vs. Wireline Choice
Broadband Internet's Value for Rural America
Broadband stimulus bids 'overwhelming'
Maryland Counties Submit $100 Million Broadband Stimulus Application
iAWFUL Update: More Ugly Internet Laws
HEALTH & MEDIA
Government Getting Lots of Advice But Health IT Decisions Rest With Blumenthal
States are 'ground zero' for heath info exchange
Veterans Administration Could Offer Lessons for Health Care Industry
Conservatives Take a Page From Left's Online Playbook
JOURNALISM
Lines are blurring in strange new world of journalism
Howard Kurtz Is Wrong, Dan Rather Is Right
A Slow Rebound For Newspapers
WIRELESS
Why AT&T Killed Google Voice
Wireless carriers: 10 things I hate about you
OWNERSHIP
After Jobs, Apple and Google Merge?
Lawyer and Author Adds His Objections to Settling the Google Book Lawsuit
MORE ONLINE ...
Departures of top cybersecurity officials reflect realities of governing
Radio Speech Is Not Free Speech
Retransmission, Web to help TV Stations Rebound
Nielsen Discloses Billion Dollar Investment In 3-Screen Strategy
A tale of two cable TV shows
Genachowski's Wife to Head Committee on the Arts and Humanities
Recent Comments on:
The broadband stimulus needs to put public safety first
Notice Those Ads on Blogs? Regulators Do, Too
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FROM WIRES TO PEOPLE
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
On August 19, the Federal Communications Commission devotes a full day to people. After talking about deployment and technology and even small business, Wednesday's discussion shifts to why and how people use broadband. The FCC is in the middle of a series of discussions on creating a National Broadband Plan. So far, the talk has mainly been about wires (and wireless) and homes passes. Today the FCC looks at: A) the current state of data on broadband adoption and utilization, as well as the associated measurement and other challenges, B) the ways in which broadband services can benefit consumers, particularly those in groups that historically have been less likely to adopt or utilize broadband, and C) existing adoption programs that aim to increase adoption and utilization of broadband. The focus of the FCC's adoption and utilization workshops is no accident.
http://www.benton.org/node/27234
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US BROADBAND GROWTH SLOWEST IN EIGHT YEARS
[SOURCE: internetnews.com, AUTHOR: Alex Goldman]
According to a new report by broadband, media and entertainment analyst firm Leichtman Research Group (LRG), the U.S. added a net 634,000 broadband subscribers during the second quarter of 2009. That's the worst quarterly performance in the eight years that LRG has been tracking this statistic. The biggest wins came at Verizon and AT&T, which added 186,000 and 112,00 subscribers respectively. Time Warner managed to add 94,000 subscribers while its larger rival Comcast eked out only 64,000. Together, the 19 companies represented in LRG's report accounted for 93 percent of the U.S. broadband market. And LRG does not predict that broadband stimulus funding will help. "The broadband stimulus will potentially bring landline services to the approximately 3 to 5 percent of US households that currently don't have a landline offering," Bruce Leichtman said. "While this will benefit this portion of households (who otherwise would not receive a landline offering), the building of the networks will take time, and the impact on the overall market will be negligible in the near term." He added that the effect of the stimulus will be "difficult to distinguish even when the networks are up and running, because this is represents a comparatively small portion of the US."
http://benton.org/node/27233
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US BROADBAND PROGRAM -- TOO MUCH LIKE OLD TIMES?
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Scott Bradner]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission just issued a request for opinion as to "whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion" as required by section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The request notes that in each of the previous five Section 706 reports to Congress the FCC concluded that broadband was being deployed "in a reasonable and timely fashion." Very few other than some carriers and the FCC itself agreed with that assessment. The new request notes that "these conclusions, however, rested on data increasingly criticized as lacking sufficient detail to support robust analyses." The request notes that Congress got fed up with the FCC's relying on crappy data and told it to do better. The FCC did ask better questions this time, but has yet to finish analyzing the data so we do not know if it will continue to play the role of Pollyanna.
http://benton.org/node/27232
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WITH BROADBAND FUNDING, WHOSE NEEDS ARE WE MEETING
[SOURCE: FierceBroadband, AUTHOR: Craig Settles]
[Commentary] Assembling a group of technologists, industry think tanks and, consultant types into the first rounds of discussions on the National broadband Plan does the needs analysis process a disservice. You're not going to fix the problems that the lack of broadband creates, nor deliver the opportunities that broadband promises unless early on you have these discussions with the clients. Communities are the clients. They have the economic development needs, the telemedicine needs, the lack of educational opportunities. They have the population demographics and the terrain challenges that impacts the ability to use "x" versus "y" technology. What's more, they are paying directly and indirectly for the solution they get. Furthermore, these discussions have to be more than just dog and pony shows to appease the masses while the agencies go back to their offices to craft rules more favorable to sellers than to buyers. Or they split the difference with some rules that appease communities and many that appease incumbents, which usually means ultimately that those benefiting the most are the biggest private sector companies. The Feds have to realize that there are private sector companies that will lose out on some deals. The world will not end.
http://benton.org/node/27230
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FOR BETTER BROADBAND, THE US NEEDS MORE SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
A 2009 report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) notes that the spectrum currently assigned for commercial use in the U.S. is 409.5 MHz, more than what's allocated for such use in any of the other top 10 OECD countries. However, the U.S. ranks second when it comes to the number of people served by each MHz, at just 660,073. Mexico is the most efficient user of spectrum, providing service to 661,666 people per MHz, while Germany ranks third, at 350,819 people. The International Telecommunications Union estimates that the U.S. needs to have 800 MHz available for mobile voice and data by 2010. Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs at CTIA (a trade group that represents the wireless industry), notes that it took about 10 years to get the 700 MHz spectrum auctioned off from the time it was identified. That spectrum is the basis for the upcoming fourth-generation long term evolution wireless networks from Verizon and AT&T. He says that we currently have just 50 Mhz in the pipeline for future use. So while there's debate among folks about what spectrum should be licensed and what should be unlicensed, and questions over whether new spectrum should go to the incumbents, there's notable agreement over the need to get more highway lanes built for mobile broadband.
http://benton.org/node/27229
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FORTUNE COOKIES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Blair Levin]
[Commentary] One of the many challenges of creating a National Broadband Plan is dinner: it's hard to get it when you're working late into the evening to meet Congress's Feb. 17, 2010 deadline to reboot broadband deployment and usage in the U.S. So maybe there was some kind of karmic reward in two fortune cookies that staff cracked open at the end of our team's break for Chinese one night. John Horrigan, a data guy we stole from the Pew Internet Project, pulled out a fortune that read "Statistics are no substitute for judgment." Steve Rosenberg, a former McKinsey analyst who is helping on modeling and mapping, opened one that said "No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking." Both fortunes—unusual topics in my many years of opening such cookiesbode well, I think, for the National Broadband Plan.
http://benton.org/node/27228
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THE FCC'S DEPLOYMENT HEARINGS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Rob Curtis]
[Commentary] Last week, the Omnibus Broadband Initiative held a series of 7 panels addressing issues fundamental to bringing broadband to every American the technologies that can supply broadband, and how they can and should be deployed. Several messages rang out loud and clear. First, panelist after panelist reminded us that getting the broadband plan will not only be a matter of plugging bitrates and marginal costs into a formula to yield a number, but also considering the challenge holistically and attempting to capture the entire economic impact of broadband. Second, whether your family or small business has "broadband" is not simply a matter of the peak speeds you can attain over your connection, if you currently have one; rather, it incorporates a host of other considerations, like latency and reliability, that impact the performance of applications like VoIP and collaborative office software. And finally, many of our experts on wireless technology emphasized the importance of spectrum to our national wireless future both improving the efficiency of existing spectrum and exploring making spectrum available in frequencies currently occupied by other technologies, such as analog cable television. [Rob Curtis is Deployment Director of the FCC's Omnibus Broadband Initiative.]
http://benton.org/node/27227
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BENKLER TELLS FCC TO LOOK AT OTHER COUNTRIES TO INFORM BROADBAND STRATEGIES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission needs to look at broadband adoption and deployment in other countries as a way to inform, not replace, reasoned judgment, and should avoid the horse race mentality of having to catch up or overtake other countries according to various broadband rankings. That was the advice of Yochai Benkler of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, at an FCC broadband workshop on "International Lessons." The FCC has enlisted the center to review data on worldwide broadband deployment and adoption to "help lay the foundation for enlightened, data-driven decision-making" as the Commission prepares a national broadband plan, due to Congress in February. Benkler cautioned against turning international broadband rankings into something that needs to be overtaken or caught up with. He said that masks their true value, which is that "if something is accepted by this cluster of countries, it is at least not a bad idea," and should be on the agenda for serious consideration. For example, he cited the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's rank of the US as 15th in the world in broadband penetration, or the International Telecommunications Union study that had the US falling from 11th to 17th in the world. But he also cited studies of connectivity and "readiness" that had the US at the top of the list. What the data needed, he said, is careful analysis that trims spurious claims and identifies the strengths and weaknesses.
http://benton.org/node/27226
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KOREA FRAMES AMERICA'S WIRELESS VS WIRELINE CHOICE
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] The more Daily learns about what South Korea's doing related to its national broadband strategy the more impressed, inspired, and intimidated he becomes. Impressed by how long they've been focused on the many issues surrounding broadband deployment and adoption, and how diligent and thoughtful they've been in working through whatever problems they faced to find creative solutions. Inspired by the example they set for the US about how much progress can be possible when government is ready, able, and willing to set bold goals and have the programs in place to help achieve them effectively and efficiently. But also intimidated by how far ahead of us South Korea already is in the race to be global leaders in the new digital economy, and how that gap grows wider the longer it takes for us to get into a more forward-looking mindset that goes beyond trying to answer the basic question of how to get everyone online and using the Internet.
http://benton.org/node/27225
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USDA STUDY FINDS RURAL COMMUNITIES BENEFIT FROM GREATER BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Press release]
Broadband Internet's Value for Rural America, a new report from the US Department of Agriculture, finds that rural communities with greater broadband Internet access have greater economic growth than areas with less access. The study compared counties that had broadband access relatively early -- by 2000 -- with similarly situated counties that had little or no broadband access. Employment growth was higher and non-farm private earnings greater in counties with a longer history of broadband availability. By 2007, the study found, most households - 82 percent - with in-home Internet access had a broadband connection. However, there was a marked difference between urban and rural broadband use. Only 70 percent of rural households with in-home Internet access had a broadband connection in 2007, compared with 84 percent of urban households.
http://benton.org/node/27224
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BROADBAND STIMULUS BIDS 'OVERWHELMING'
[SOURCE: CNNMoney.com, AUTHOR: David Goldman]
Wiring the nation for high-speed Internet access is an ambitious plan...so ambitious that the government's servers slowed to a crawl last week from the influx of interest. Such a high number of broadband companies submitted online applications right before the initial Aug. 14 deadline that the Department of Agriculture and Department of Commerce's servers were overwhelmed with the requests. That prompted the administration to extend the application deadline for $4.7 billion of broadband stimulus grants until Aug. 20. "The government came out very, very late with its guidelines, then everyone was rushing to get their applications in," said Alex Winogradoff, broadband strategy analyst at Gartner. The rush of applicants underscores the great demand for improved Internet access in this country and the massive number of projects it will take to get high-speed broadband to nearly every American.
http://benton.org/node/27223
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MARYLAND COUNTIES SUBMIT $100 MILLION BROADBAND APPLICATION
[SOURCE: Howard County (MD), AUTHOR: Press release]
The One Maryland Broadband (OMB) Plan, being led by Howard County's IT Director Ira Levy, has submitted its application to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for $100 million of federal stimulus money set-aside for fiber optic projects. The "One Maryland" group consists of all of the central Maryland counties: Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel, Harford, Carroll, Prince George's, Montgomery and Frederick, plus Baltimore City and Annapolis. The One Maryland middle mile project will create a cohesive fiber optic network interconnecting over 800 community anchor institutions across a wide swath of the State of Maryland. The proposed network seeks to address an opportunity to unite rural, urban and suburban communities in one contiguous local government network across the State. The benefits of this interconnection are numerous and substantial, especially as they relate to sharing resources and knowledge among public schools, libraries and public safety entities. The One Maryland application included 28 letters of support and 14 letters of interest from both public and private sector partners who have been working with the OMB developing this plan.
http://benton.org/node/27222
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IAWFUL UPDATE: MORE UGLY INTERNET LAWS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Electronic commerce trade group NetChoice on Tuesday unveiled an updated version of what its backers believe are the worst proposed Internet-focused laws in America. A Maine proposal to require Web sites to obtain "verifiable parental consent" before collecting personal information from teens has taken over the top spot on iAWFUL (The Internet Advocates' Watchlist for Ugly Laws). NetChoice says the statute would negatively impact online communities because sites have no means to confirm consent.
http://benton.org/node/27221
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HEALTH & MEDIA
GOVERNMENT GETTING LOTS OF ADVISE BUT DECISIONS REST WITH BLUMENTHAL
[SOURCE: iHealthBeat, AUTHOR: George Lauer]
Before a subcommittee last week delivered its recommendations on how electronic health record systems should be certified, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal made it a point to deliver a reminder to both the work group and the entire Health IT Policy Committee: "This committee does provide advice to the national coordinator, but it does not make policy," Blumenthal said, with a noticeable emphasis on "not." How the federal government proceeds with sweeping plans to spread health IT across the country over the next few years will be determined by Blumenthal and his boss, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. They certainly will listen and sometimes heed the advice of industry experts on two committees working hurriedly to suggest a framework for what will be a massive undertaking on a relatively tight schedule. But ultimately, the decisions will be left to Blumenthal and Sebelius -- mostly Blumenthal. Blumenthal, who got an earful of advice from the policy panel last week and will get another barrage from standards experts this week, hopes to have the foundation for a federal framework ready for public inspection by the end of September.
http://benton.org/node/27220
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STATES ARE 'GROUND ZERO' FOR HEALTH INFO EXCHANGE
[SOURCE: GovernmentHealthIT, AUTHOR: Paul McCloskey]
National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal used the chance to speak to state Medicaid IT directors to remind them of where they stood in the health information exchange policy and technology hierarchy: "ground zero," he said. "This is in many ways ground zero for much of what my office and the Medicaid program and the federal health agenda have to accomplish," Blumenthal told an audience of over 400 government IT officials attending the Medicaid Management Information Systems Conference in Chicago this week. States and local jurisdictions will be responsible for building the infrastructure on which health information exchange will operate, Blumenthal said. That means states also bear the burden of solving policy conflicts that will arise when health exchange transactions cross state lines. States' success managing this jurisdictional "thicket" is essential to federal plans to finance a nationwide system of health information sharing, the ONC leader said. "We won't be successful unless you all take the initiative to find ways of allowing information to move across the jurisdictional boundaries that patients do not recognize when it comes to getting the care that they need," he said.
http://benton.org/node/27219
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VA COULD OFFER LESSONS FOR HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: GovernmentHealthIT, AUTHOR: Mary Mosquera]
The Department of Veterans Affairs' use of health information technology and other quality initiatives could provide lessons for the overall US health care system, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office report. The VA's VistA health information system includes electronic medical records, computerized physician order entry, medical imaging, lab test results, pharmaceutical management and medical staffing management. CBO said VA has improved data sharing with the Department of Defense in moving toward a single electronic health record. VA and DOD said they plan to share data with commercial providers through use of the federally developed N-Connect portal to the nationwide health information network.
http://benton.org/node/27218
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CONSERVATIVES TAKE PAGE FROM LEFT'S ONLINE PLAYBOOK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jake Sherman]
A group of Republicans, looking to recoup the party's clout, is borrowing a page from liberal Democrats by beefing up Internet efforts to energize the grass roots. The conservative Americans for Prosperity has further embraced Internet activism to energize its 700,000 members and point them to dozens of town-hall meetings with lawmakers over the past weeks, leaving Democrats on the defensive on a signature issue: overhauling health care. Americans for Prosperity held their conference Right Online here last weekend. It centered on ramping up the use of Facebook, Twitter and other online megaphones to rally conservative opposition to what they consider ultra-liberal policies -- strategies popularized by organizations such as MoveOn.org and President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. That's a shift, these activists say, from recent years of GOP strategy, where the shaping of the party's message has been largely top-down, with the message coming from party leaders. Now, the message is bubbling up more from groups of online activists.
http://benton.org/node/27237
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JOURNALISM
LINES ARE BLURRING IN STRANGE NEW WORLD OF JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Philip Meyer]
[Commentary] The struggle to find a way to pay for good journalism is taking some troubling turns. Journalism creates influence for those who produce it, and that influence can be monetized. The traditional way of turning influence into money is through advertising, but that source is failing as the Internet finds more efficient ways to bring buyers and sellers together. Marketing the influence without corrupting the news product has always been a concern. The safeguard, especially for newspapers, has been to keep a wall between the news and advertising departments. In my own newspaper career, I saw it violated just often enough to remind me that the wall was needed. The new forms of journalism will require new kinds of safeguards. Without clear standards, journalism can't be trusted. If it can't be trusted, it won't be influential. If there is no influence, there is nothing to monetize.
http://benton.org/node/27236
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HOWARD KURTZ IS WRONG, DAN RATHER IS RIGHT
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Josh Silver]
[Commentary] On Monday, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post and CNN criticized Dan Rather for his recent call for a White House commission on the future of journalism and public media. It was a misguided criticism of Rather, who has called for the commission as a way to bring attention to the crisis facing American newsrooms (20,000 newspaper jobs lost in the past 18 months alone), and to create the political will necessary to get our elected leaders to address the problem. If you don't think we have a news crisis, just look at the absurd coverage of the health care town halls by the cable channels, and how they have skewed public opinion against the public interest. Journalism is in crisis, and we must be proactive in identifying and advancing solutions. We must re-imagine the structures and policies needed for quality journalism and public media to thrive in the digital age, and our leaders must help ensure that our media meet the demands of an informed society. Our democracy simply cannot wait.
http://benton.org/node/27217
The Press Loves a Hero, but . . .
http://www.benton.org/node/27167
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FIRST MEDIUM IN, FIRST OUT FOR NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Jack Loechner]
According to Borrell Associates, print newspaper ad revenues are expected to increase 2.4% next year, and then in single digits over the next few years, through 2014. According to Colby Atwood, president of Borrell Associates, the outlook for the industry will improve even more after next year. By 2014, newspaper income will be up a total of 8.7% over the 2009 figures, to slightly more than $39 billion (not including online revenues). But this doesn't mean the old business model is coming back, the group said. "Even at 2014 levels of just under $30 billion, newspaper advertising won't be anything near the $55 billion we saw earlier this decade. Nor will it ever return to that level."
http://benton.org/node/27214
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WIRELESS
WHY AT&T KILLED GOOGLE VOICE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Andy Kessler]
[Commentary] AT&T is dying. AT&T is dragging down the rest of us by overcharging us for voice calls and stifling innovation in a mobile data market critical to the US economy. Wireless data service is AT&T's only bright spot. How so? As any parent of teenagers knows, text messages are 20 cents each, or $5,000 per megabyte. After the first month and a $320 bill, we all pony up $10 a month for unlimited texting plans. Same for Internet access. With iPhone, you pay $30 a month for unlimited data service (actually, one gigabyte per month). Is it worth that? The à la carte price for other not-so-smart phones is $5 per megabyte (one-thousandth of a gigabyte) per month. So we buy monthly plans. Margins in AT&T's Wireless segment are an embarrassingly high 25%. The trick in any communications and media business is to own a pipe between you and your customers so you can charge what you like. Cellphone companies don't have wired pipes, but by owning spectrum they do have a pipe and pricing power. Aren't there phone competitors to knock down the price? Hardly. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and others all joined AT&T in bidding huge amounts for wireless spectrum in FCC auctions, some $70-plus billion since the mid-1990s. That all gets passed along to you and me in the form of higher fees and friendly oligopolies that don't much compete on price. Google Voice is the new competition. We need a national data policy, and here are four suggestions: 1) End phone exclusivity. 2) Transition away from "owning" airwaves. 3) End municipal exclusivity deals for cable companies. 4) Encourage faster and faster data connections to our homes and phones.
http://benton.org/node/27239
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WIRELESS CARRIERS: 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Mike Elgan]
The consumer electronics scene in the U.S. is wonderful and horrible at the same time. The devices, technologies and innovation are wonderful. The provision of wireless access is horrible. U.S. carriers are some of the most backward, unscrupulous and anti-customer companies in the nation. Here's what Elgan hates about how wireless carriers do business. 1) They overcharge for service. 2) They lag behind in new technologies. 3) Handset discounts are a shell game, not a 'subsidy'. 4) They seek new ways to get money for nothing. 5) They want to lock customers in. 6) They oppose network neutrality. 7) They want to lock out competition. 8) Their solution to public opposition is more lobbying. 9) They are growing too powerful. 10) They have forgotten that the public owns the airwaves.
http://benton.org/node/27209
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OWNERSHIP
AFTER JOBS, APPLE AND GOOGLE MERGE?
[SOURCE: Sunday Times, AUTHOR: Bryan Appleyard]
Apple Inc is worth around $140 billion. It is also the most watched, envied, admired and adored company in the world. But is it worth anything without Steve Jobs? It is a company formed around his personality and inspiration. A Jobsless Apple might seek a merger with Google. The two companies are rapidly converging, a fact that recently led to the resignation of the Apple director Eric Schmidt, the chairman and chief executive of Google. He had been on the Apple board for three years, and was forced out because of suspicions that links between the two companies could endanger competition. One other director of both companies remains: Arthur Levinson, former chief executive of Genentech. The key areas of convergence are, first, mobile phones. There is Apple's iPhone and there is Google's Android, not a phone in itself, but an operating system that can be used by other companies. Google also produce a web browser called Chrome, which competes with Apple's Safari. And, most importantly, Google is working on a computer operating system, also called Chrome, which may well be a very serious competitor for Mac OS X. Apple's iPhone "apps" also compete with many free Google applications. The point is that both companies are aiming to seize dominance of the world market from Microsoft. Microsoft's Windows still dominates world computing in spite of its failure to innovate. The loss of Jobs's genius for products would mean Google's innovation and Apple's design and market sense would be a very good fit, although antitrust regulators might disagree.
http://benton.org/node/27212
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LAWYER AND AUTHOR ADDS HIS OBJECTIONS TO SETTLING THE GOOGLE BOOK LAWSUIT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Miguel Helft, Motoko Rich]
A growing chorus of authors, academics and other book industry figures is objecting to the settlement of a class-action suit that would allow Google to profit from digital versions of millions of books it has scanned from libraries. Those questioning the agreement, which is subject to a court review, have raised concerns about whether it is fair to authors, whether it protects the privacy of people whose reading habits might be tracked and whether Google is being improperly given what amounts to exclusive rights to commercialize millions of out-of-print books. The Justice Department has begun an antitrust investigation. In the latest objection, Scott E. Gant, an author and partner at Boies Schiller & Flexner, a prominent Washington law firm, plans to file a sweeping opposition to the settlement on Wednesday urging the court to reject it. Unlike most previous objections to the project, which focused on policy issues and recommended modifications to the settlement, Mr. Gant argues that the agreement, which gives Google commercial rights to millions of books without having to negotiate for them individually, amounts to an abuse of the class-action process. He also contends that it does not sufficiently compensate authors and does not adequately notify and represent all the authors affected.
http://benton.org/node/27238
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