Feb 14, 2010 (Weekend Update)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for SUNDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2010 (HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY)
Headlines will return TUESDAY, February 16.
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC Releases Census Tract-level Broadband Data
Check Out the FCC's Useless Broadband Competition Map
Officials: Snow Will Not Delay Broadband Stimulus Awards, or Round 2 Applications
Mobile Broadband Spending Continues To Rise | Haiti Donations: A Turning Point in Mobile Commerce?
Reforming Federal and State Tax Policies Will Increase Investment in Broadband and Consumer Adoption | Wireless Industry Competition Update
Would You Watch Ads in Exchange for Free Wi-Fi?
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
"Push-Polling" Network Neutrality | 'Open Internet' under threat in America -- video
GOOGLE NEWS
Google's Big Fiber Play: What Gives? | Google's entry into broadband world already concerning to some | Building the perfect Bellhead | Consultancy Sees Move by Google as Prodding FCC | Pick Me Google, Pick Me | Is Google moving too far (from search) too fast?
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
State Department: No action 'needed' to counter Iran's alleged censorship of Google, other social media
Political hacktivists turn to web attacks
Wrong kind of buzz around Google Buzz
China to Google: "That's not a knife"
Congress urged to move one cybersecurity bill
CONTENT
Justice Department Forms New Intellectual Property Task Force as Part of Broad IP Enforcement Initiative
When Fair Use Isn't Fair -- audio
CBS v. FCC On Indecency Enforcement
HEALTH IT
Obama Administration Announces $1 Billion Investment in Advancing Use of Health IT
Senate strips out EHR incentive added to jobs bill
CLIMATE, ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT
5 Reasons Why Developing Countries Need Smart Grids, Too
A new phone for every month
PRIVACY
Justice Department appeals court ban on cell phone tracking
Citing cell phone tapping, Leahy calls for privacy hearings
JOURNALISM
The Lobbying-Media Complex
Social Media Tackles Controversial Issues
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Political Ad Influx Will Benefit TV, Public
The real winners in the game of political donations
Texas Gubernatorial Hopefuls Sue PBS Affiliate
ADVERTISING
Don't Like Product Placement? Here's Why It's Your Fault
What Aardvark Can Do for Google
MORE ONLINE
The lost souls of telecommunications history | Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier | Lobbyists Embrace Social Media | 10 Tips for Non-Profits on Facebook | YouTube Dashboard Compares Your Experience to Others'
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC RELEASES NEW CENSUS TRACT-LEVEL DATA ON HIGH-SPEED INTERNET SERVICES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
On Feb 12, the Federal Communications Commission released the first High-Speed Services for Internet Access report to be based on the new census tract-based Form 477 data collection requirements. For the first time, this report summarizes information about fixed-location Internet access connections in 3,232 counties and 66,287 census tracts and in 72 combinations of upload and download advertised transmission speeds. Additionally, the report summarizes information about subscribers with full Internet access at transmission speeds above 200 Mbps as part of their mobile wireless service package. High-speed Internet access connections to homes and businesses over fixed-location technologies increased by 10% during 2008, to 77 million. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/32249 | Federal Communications Commission | FCC report | Maps
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CHECK OUT THE FCC'S USELESS BROADBAND COMPETITION MAP
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
The Federal Communications Commission released data today detailing the spread of high-speed Internet connections across the nation as of the end of 2008, including a map of broadband providers by census tract. You might be thinking, "Wow, that's awesome — so why are we spending $350 million to create such a map as part of the broadband stimulus bill?" It's because the FCC map is worthless. The map defines broadband as any technology (excluding mobile broadband providers) delivering speeds of 200 Mbps down. I challenge folks to surf to Facebook, the new video-heavy CNN site or even get their Gmail over such a connection. It's not a fun experience. Plus, at those speeds video streaming isn't going to happen at all. However, there are only a few areas of the nation that don't have access to at least 200 Mbps at the end of 2008, and according to the map many folks have a choice of between four and six providers. However, given that some of those are undoubtedly meeting the old minimum standard of 200 Mbps or even the new minimum standard of 768 Mbps, I can't say this map really proves a competitive broadband market for anyone who wants to do anything more than get email.
benton.org/node/32248 | GigaOm | Broadcasting&Cable
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OFFICIALS: SNOW WILL NOT DELAY BROADBAND STIMULUS
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Rachel Sanford]
The snowstorm that shut much of Washington down this past week will not change the due date for Round 2 broadband stimulus applications, nor will it delay the naming of Round 1 winners, federal officials said Friday. Speaking at a "Broadband Stimulus Town Hall Workshop Webcast," National Telecommunications and Information Administration Senior Advisor Angela Simpson assured the panelists that the Commerce Department does not believe that the March 15 due date for Round 2 stimulus applications is in jeopardy. Rural Utilities Service Deputy Administrator Jessica Zufolo said that the agency has dedicated $300 million in Round 1 awards, and is on target for its end-of-February deadline for making awards public. Zufolo told panelists on the webcast that if applicants have not received notification that the Round 1 application has moved on to a due diligence phase, the application is not likely going to be funded. Those applicants should turn their attention to Round 2.
benton.org/node/32254 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
"PUSH-POLLING" NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: James Rucker]
[Commentary] Recently, Rucker -- the executive director of ColorofChange.org -- wrote about why there are so many civil rights groups and members of the Congressional Black Caucus opposing network neutrality and why so much of this opposition echoes discredited telecommunications industry talking points. He thinks it's incumbent on leaders opposing or questioning net neutrality to publicly make clear why. Unfortunately, none have done so. Rucker's piece was answered by Navarrow Wright, a former television and Internet executive and current strategic consultant. Throughout his piece he asserts that the civil rights groups are only "asking questions" that we "shouldn't be afraid to answer." After reading it a couple of times, Rucker realized where he had seen this technique before: Wright's piece -- and the broader arguments he seeks to defend -- are the rhetorical equivalent of a push poll. Push polls are a well known and highly effective political trick. They ask questions that insert into the public consciousness a false idea, positioning a baseless assumption as plausible. Navarrow Wright, and the civil rights organizations he is defending, are effectively "push-polling" net neutrality. They are asking the question, "If you knew that net neutrality would widen the digital divide, would you support it?" The question is asked without any evidence to suggest that the premise of the question is true, but the question itself alters the frame of the debate. The effect has been real -- FCC commissioners who know the truth about net neutrality are being held hostage by debunked theories, as they don't want to be perceived as embracing policy that could hurt minority communities.
benton.org/node/32239 | Huffington Post, The
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GOOGLE NEWS
GOOGLE'S BIG FIBER PLAY
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Ian Paul]
[Commentary] Why Google would want to undertake such a major project as building a high-speed network? It is not exactly clear yet. It's doubtful that Google would want to deliver broadband service to every home in the United States. So what is the search giant up to this time? Is Google's goal to influence national broadband policies? Maybe Google wants to show that traditional ISPs are deploying broadband ineffectively. It's hard to know for sure what Google's up to, but here are five different possibilities. 1) Google Is Trying To Shape Broadband Policy. 2) ISPs Must Bend To The Will Of Google. 3) Google's broadband Plan is Naive. 4) Google's advertising network is focused on delivering relevant advertising to Google users, so it's not unreasonable to wonder if the commercial interests of Google the ISP and Google the advertising network wouldn't conflict with the privacy interests of Google's broadband customers. 5) Google Is Building Up Municipal Broadband.
benton.org/node/32245 | San Francisco Chronicle
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GOOGLE NET CONCERNS PRIVACY ADVOCATES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
Google's announcement this week that it would launch an ultra-high speed broadband network won the praise of industry experts, who hope the search-engine giant can drive Web competition and innovation. But not all are pleased: A handful of industry watchdogs fear Google's entry into a market dominated by providers like Comcast and Verizon could undermine users' privacy. Their concerns seem to rest with the company's historic advertising capabilities. Frequent users of Gmail and Google search have doubtlessly noticed their mail or search results include advertisements targeted to their interests. That's no mistake, as Google has profited quite handily from its ability to analyze and market its own users' interests. But Google's entry into the ISP market has some concerned it might do similarly with a user's entire Web clickstream -- discerning through one web goer's online session what he or she likes, and using that content for business or other means.
benton.org/node/32244 | Hill, The
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BUILDING THE PERFECT BELLHEAD
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Dan O'Shea]
[Commentary] No one is entirely sure what Google is up to with its announcement of trial plans for a 1 Gbps fiber-based, open access broadband service. We could speculate on how Google is trying to prove that open access works, or that traditional network operators are keeping customers from reaching their full speed potential, but there are plenty of other folks already debating those issues. It might be more fun to consider what most people believe to be the least likely scenario -- that the big Nethead really wants to be a Bellhead (phone company employee that typically believes in networks based on circuit switching as opposed to packet switching). Here's five reasons this outrageous line of thinking could be true:
1) Bellhead network technology: Google's focus on fiber rather than wireless proves that Google is trying to beat the Bellheads at their own game in urban residential and business settings. It's looking for speeds and consistency that wireless still isn't capable of providing.
2) Google is rumored to be considering buying the US operations of T-Mobile -- a deal that would put the company on par with AT&T and Verizon.
3) The transformation into a network operator may be easier than people think.
4) Google learned important lessons from earlier missteps -- Google Voice, the Nexus One phone and Google's early municipal WiFi strategy in partnership with EarthLink about how to properly roll out a telecom service (with Google Voice), how to respond to customer problems (with Nexus One) and how to get a buy-in from potential customers (consumers of WiFi) and customer-partners (municipalities want to provide WiFi).
5) Competitive advantages: In a Google broadband service scenario, a Google-owned fiber could lead into a household where a consumer uses an Internet-connected TV to search via Google for Internet-based videos, some of which they might even find at Google-owned YouTube. No Bellhead can match that.
benton.org/node/32243 | Fierce
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GOOGLE PRODDING FCC?
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: ]
Google appears to be prodding the Federal Communications Commission to go big on broadband, says a new telecom update out from consultancy Medley Global Advisors. "That prodding could translate into any number of policy shifts in the future. Whether 1-gigabit-per-second broadband networks will become the new normal remains uncertain," reads the report. The update, "Google as Policy Provacateur," notes that the communications giant's recently announced broadband initiative to bring ultra high-speed connections to some locations serving up to 500,000 people comes as the agency is putting the final touches on the national broadband plan due to Congress next month. "The broadband blueprint, though neither self-executing nor enforceable, will nonetheless serve as a launching pad for a series of rulemakings that, among other things, attempt structural reforms of the universal service fund, special access, intercarrier compensation and spectrum," according to Medley Global.
benton.org/node/32242 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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PICK ME GOOGLE, PICK ME
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
Local governments already are starting to lobby Google for a spot along an experimental super-speed network the company announced Wednesday. Axcess Ontario, a public-benefit corporation overseeing the development of Ontario County, N.Y.'s community fiber network, began the application process on behalf of the county government on Thursday. Ontario County, a rural and suburban community near Rochester, has pledged $12 million for its own 180-mile endeavor. About 60 miles are complete and the rest is expected to be deployed by year's end. "What Google seeks to accomplish is exactly what the Ontario County fiber optic ring was built for," Ed Hemminger, Axcess Ontario president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Ontario County should be at the top of Google's list of potential test sites -- we've been working on this project for seven years." Currently, service providers including Verizon Wireless, are providing cost-effective telecommunications to businesses along the 60 miles, according to Axcess Ontario. "This means Ontario County actually has the infrastructure to do what Google wants to do -- and quickly," a company press release states.
benton.org/node/32241 | nextgov
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IS GOOGLE MOVING TOO FAR TOO FAST?
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Sharon Gaudin]
Google is stuck between something of a rock and a hard place. The company, which rose to prominence and fortune on the basis of its highly popular search service, has been expanding out from its core business at an increasingly swift rate -- and in a growing number of directions. That expansion has some analysts wondering whether Google is in danger of losing focus on what made it such a profitable company, even as those same analysts say it can't rely on search as its only avenue for making money. Right now, Google relies on search for 95 percent of its revenue, according to Karsten Weide, an analyst with IDC. "Google has the problem of too much money and not enough control over what to do with it," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. "As a result, they are building complexity at an alarming rate and that complexity should eventually choke them, much as it did Microsoft .... It isn't that each project isn't important. It's that they often don't dovetail well and should eventually result in a company that is unmanageable."
benton.org/node/32240 | ComputerWorld
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
STATE DEPT SEES NO REASON TO COUNTER IRAN
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
The State Department signaled Thursday it did not feel it "needed to take any particular action" to counter the Iranian government's decision to block its citizens' access to e-mail or social media. While State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley criticized each of those transgressions, he stressed during his press briefing Friday that it was up to those companies to decide how to next proceed. He ultimately repeated the White House's line that Google had not contact federal officials about the incident, preferring to handle it internally. And Crowley would not say whether other technology companies had experienced similar difficulties in Iran, much less whether those firms too had spoke with federal officials, only noting the department has an "ongoing relationship" with social media providers.
benton.org/node/32225 | Hill, The
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POLITICAL HACKTIVISTS TURN TO WEB ATTACKS
[SOURCE: BBC, AUTHOR: ]
Political activists are increasingly using net attacks as a means of protest, reveals a report. Since late 2009, environmental, political and ideological groups have become significant users of attacks that swamp sites with data. The groups are well resourced and use innovative techniques said Prolexic, a security firm that combats the attacks. Its findings come as cyber-activists block Australian government websites in protest at plans to filter content. Prolexic estimates about a total of nine million computers are used to mount the data flooding attacks.
benton.org/node/32253 | BBC
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WRONG KIND OF BUZZ AROUND GOOGLE BUZZ
[SOURCE: Foreign Policy, AUTHOR: Evgeny Morozov]
[Commentary] The launch of Google Buzz has set various parts of the technology blogosphere afire -- and for all the right reasons: it does introduce a number of interesting social features that could make our email experience more social. However, what tech pundits have mostly overlooked is a peculiar privacy choice made by Google's designers: unless you tinker with Buzz's settings, a partial list of your most-e-mailed Gmail contacts might be automatically made public. Yes, that's right: without you ever touching Google Buzz's privacy settings, the entire world may know who you correspond with (yes, including that secret lover of yours and that secret leaker at the White House). This could be an extremely uncomfortable and tragic privacy disaster for Google, potentially of the same magnitude that Beacon was to Facebook. I certainly don't have many concerns about those who are cheating on their spouses or are leaking sensitive information to journalists-- they will survive (even though the future of whistle-blowing does not look very bright in our increasingly overexposed information environment). Nevertheless, I am extremely concerned about hundreds of activists in authoritarian countries who would never want to reveal a list of their interlocutors to the outside world. Why so much secrecy? Simply because many of their contacts are other activists and often even various "democracy promoters" from Western governments and foundations. Many of those contacts would now inadvertently be made public.
benton.org/node/32251 | Foreign Policy
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CHINA AND GOOGLE
[SOURCE: NetworkWorld, AUTHOR: Kaila Colbin]
[Commentary] A public accusation of the Chinese government is a big deal. Disregarding China's censorship policies is a big deal. Pulling out of China is a big deal. We can be reasonably confident that these were not Google's first response to this situation, but rather an attempt to up the ante. So what, exactly, was Google's first response? Unfortunately, we're unlikely to find out. The Chinese government's official response to Google's ultimatum can best be described as, "Be my guest." In other words, play by our rules or take a hike. Their position is reasonably unsurprising. So we're left with Google pulling out. Duncan Clark, the Beijing-based Chairman of BDA China, said, "Google.cn is toast. Just keep pressing refresh on your browser and see what happens."
benton.org/node/32222 | NetworkWorld
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CYBERSECURITY LEGISLATION
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Chris Strohm]
So many pieces of cybersecurity legislation are moving through Congress that House and Senate leaders should consolidate them to ensure meaningful action can be taken soon, President Obama's former cybersecurity adviser said this week. Melissa Hathaway, who led the administration's review of cybersecurity last year, said she is tracking at least 35 bills dealing with the security of government and private computer networks, which is "too many pieces of legislation." "The House and Senate leadership need to get to agreement on what it is -- I think in working with the administration -- that we really need to drive forward and get it consolidated," Hathaway said during an event hosted by the Internet Security Alliance.
benton.org/node/32218 | CongressDaily
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CONTENT
JUSTICE IP TASK FORCE
[SOURCE: Department of Justice, AUTHOR: Press release]
Attorney General Eric Holder announced the formation of a new Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property as part of a Department-wide initiative to confront the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property (IP) crimes. The Attorney General's announcement follows a summit meeting convened last December by Vice President Biden, a long-standing champion of U.S. intellectual property rights-holders. At that meeting, which was attended by Attorney General Holder and other cabinet heads, the Vice President discussed the importance of stronger enforcement and supported actions to raise the priority of combating IP theft and improving coordination -- including the establishment of an intellectual property task force at the Department of Justice. The Task Force, to be chaired by the Deputy Attorney General, will focus on strengthening efforts to combat intellectual property crimes through close coordination with state and local law enforcement partners as well as international counterparts. It will also monitor and coordinate overall intellectual property enforcement efforts at the Department, with an increased focus on the international aspects of IP enforcement, including the links between IP crime and international organized crime. Building on previous efforts in the Department to target intellectual property crimes, the Task Force will also serve as an engine of policy development to address the evolving technological and legal landscape of this area of law enforcement. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/32247 | Department of Justice | TechDailyDose | Broadcasting&Cable | Public Knowledge
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HEALTH IT
$1 BILLION IN HIT GRANTS
[SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services, AUTHOR: Press release]
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced a total of nearly $1 billion in Recovery Act awards to help health care providers advance the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (IT) and train workers for the health care jobs of the future. The awards will help make health IT available to over 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians by 2014 and train thousands of people for careers in health care and information technology. This Recovery Act investment will help grow the emerging health IT industry which is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs ranging from nurses and pharmacy techs to IT technicians and trainers. [much more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/32246 | Department of Health and Human Services | HHS Secretary Sebelius | National Coordinator for HIT Blumenthal | HealthcareITNews | Bloomberg | Reuters | Nextgov
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PRIVACY
JUSTICE APPEALS BAN ON CELL PHONE TRACKING
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jon Hurdle]
The US Justice Department argued on Friday that it should be allowed access to people's cell-phone records to help track suspected criminals. In arguments before a federal appeals court, the government asked the court to overturn lower court rulings denying it the right to seek information from communications companies about the call activity of specific numbers that authorities believe are associated with criminal activity. Civil rights lawyers argued that providing information such as dates, times and call duration, and which cell towers the calls used, would be an invasion of privacy and a violation of constitutional protections against unjustified arrest. Attorneys for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology said the government should have to obtain a warrant to track an individual via a cell phone and show probable cause that the information would provide evidence of a crime.
benton.org/node/32237 | Reuters
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LEAHY CALLS FOR PRIVACY HEARINGS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
Electronic privacy laws are "woefully outdated" and must be revised in a way that balances Americans' rights with law enforcement agencies' needs, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said Friday. As the Justice Department heads to court this week to defend its right to tap cell phone locations, Leahy noted many of the laws to be argued before that forum fail to reflect the dawning "Information Age" — a time when new technologies, like BlackBerrys, create both new opportunities to communicate and new privacy challenges. He thus promised as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on those rules before the year's end, and he urged his fellow lawmakers to work with him on later revisions to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act — the guiding document on the matter.
benton.org/node/32236 | Hill, The
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JOURNALISM
THE LOBBYING-MEDIA COMPLEX
[SOURCE: The Nation, AUTHOR: Sebastian Jones]
Since 2007 at least seventy-five registered lobbyists, public relations representatives and corporate officials -- people paid by companies and trade groups to manage their public image and promote their financial and political interests -- have appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CNBC and Fox Business Network with no disclosure of the corporate interests that had paid them. Many have been regulars on more than one of the cable networks, turning in dozens -- and in some cases hundreds -- of appearances. For lobbyists, PR firms and corporate officials, going on cable television is a chance to promote clients and their interests on the most widely cited source of news in the United States. These appearances also generate good will and access to major players inside the Democratic and Republican parties. For their part, the cable networks, eager to fill time and afraid of upsetting the political elite, have often looked the other way. At times, the networks have even disregarded their own written ethics guidelines. Just about everyone involved is heavily invested in maintaining the current system, with the exception of the viewer. While lobbyists and PR flacks have long tried to spin the press, the launch of Fox News and MSNBC in 1996 and the Clinton impeachment saga that followed helped create the caldron of twenty-four-hour political analysis that so many influence peddlers call home. Since then, guests with serious conflicts of interest have popped up with alarming regularity on every network. Just examine their presence in coverage of the economic crash and the healthcare reform debate, two recent issues that have engendered massive cable coverage.
benton.org/node/32235 | Nation, The
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS
POLITICAL AD INFLUX WILL BENEFIT TV
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] This year, more money than ever before will be spent on political advertising and TV stations will get the biggest share of it. The Supreme Court, in its Citizens United ruling, just took the lid off spending by corporations and unions. If they want, they can buy spots right up to Election Day. They still can't explicitly support a candidate, but that can easily be gotten around. The other nice thing about this for TV stations is that they don't have to give corporations and unions the so-called lowest unit charge discount that they must give candidates. According to Borrell Associates, the Citizens ruling will push total political spending (everything from national TV to posters) up this year by another $400 million to $4.2 billion. Of that, $1.8 billion will end up at TV stations. Some applauded the Supreme Court decision, saying it affirms the people's right to express themselves any way they want in the rough-and-tumble democratic process. But others, including the president, think that all the money flowing into politics is corrupting our democracy and tends to reduce campaigns to exchanges of mindless and often misleading 30-second spots on TV. Jessell thinks that the any reformers should consider what impact their fixes may have on broadcasting. For whatever it has done to the Republic, the current messy system of political fundraising and spending has had a positive impact on local TV. He believes that one of the effects of the Supreme Court ruling will be to spur more news production at TV stations. A lot of station owners and managers might be sitting around right now trying to figure out how they can add another half hour or hour of news or perhaps a public affairs show that might attract potential voters and those political dollars.
benton.org/node/32234 | TVNewsCheck
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THE REAL WINNERS IN THE GAME OF POLITICAL DONATIONS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Mike Dano]
[Commentary] Although the outcome is far from clear, the stage appears set for a blockbuster election season for congressional incumbents and wannabes. Following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling removing spending limits on corporations' political donations, those inside the Beltway are expecting businesses across the spectrum -- including telecom heavyweights -- to kick in record funds to federal candidates. Indeed, AT&T--the nation's second-largest wireless carrier--ranks as the country's single most generous corporate political contributor, according to detailed figures provided by the Center for Responsive Politics. The carrier sits at the top of the organization's "heavy hitters" list, having donated a whopping $44.2 million to Republicans and Democrats during the past ten years via soft money, political action committees and individuals (and that number only counts federal contributions). Thanks to the Supreme Court's recent ruling, that tally could well balloon dramatically in the coming years. Other big spenders in the telecom space include Verizon Communications, Microsoft, T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom, Motorola and others. But I suspect the real winners--aside from triumphant candidates--will be the media companies paid to carry the ads for both the left and the right. And thanks to the growing importance of wireless as an advertising medium, mobile marketers could get a major boost from Election Day.
benton.org/node/32233 | Fierce
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TEXAS CANDIDATES SUE TV STATION
[SOURCE: Television Broadcast, AUTHOR: ]
Four Democratic candidates for the Texas governorship are suing a public TV station they say excluded them from a debate. Dr. Alma Ludivina Aguado, Star Locke, Felix Alvarado, and Clement Glen filed a $400 million lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court in Travis County, Texas, against KERA-TV and its owner, The North Texas Public Broadcasting, "for being excluded from the statewide Democratic debate on television on Feb. 8, 2010," the group said in a joint release. All four candidates were excluded by the Television Station from joining in the statewide debate as they, did not meet a vague, subjective and flexible criteria. All Candidates are legal candidates, but yet were excluded from a chance to air their views in a public debate. "Globalization has increased the gap between the poor and the wealthy in Texas creating an arcane culture of non competition," Dr. Aguado said. "This non-Democratic favoritism shown on behalf of wealthy candidates shown on public television discourages minorities, the poor, underprivileged and the politically underrepresented from voting." In a statement released to local news outlets, KERA said, "We are disappointed that these candidates have chosen to ignore years of judicial precedents upholding our right to use viewpoint neutral criteria in selecting candidates to participate in the Texas Debates. We are confident in our debate policy, and we will seek the speedy dismissal of this complaint as we have successfully with others in the past." Candidates must be actively campaigning and register 6 percentage points in an "established, nonpartisan poll" to be included, San Antonio CBS affiliate, KENS-TV said.
benton.org/node/32224 | TelevisionBroadcast
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ADVERTISING
PRODUCT PLACEMENT IS YOUR FAULT
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Brian Steinberg]
At the Association of National Advertisers' annual TV & Everything Video Forum, speaker after speaker lined up example after example of shockingly intrusive pacts that placed -- nay, shoved -- commercial messages deep into programming. Taken individually, these moves from commercial break to in-program content seem fun, novel, even entertaining. Placed together in this fashion, however, the parade of in-show appearances by paying advertisers took on the form of something more pernicious. Never has it been more clear that commercials and content are fast becoming one and the same, wholly indistinguishable from each other. What's going on? 1) Media outlets, roiled by the recession and changes in the TV business, have bent, even broken, many of their own rules. 2) Advertisers have had it with trying to game ad breaks. 3) We have no one to blame but ourselves -- We say we hate ads. We say we love "American Idol," "24" or "The Closer." Yet we ignore the fact that the ads are the main reason we get to watch those shows for a relatively minimal cost.
benton.org/node/32232 | AdAge
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WHAT AARDVARK CAN DO FOR GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Dan Nosowitz]
The timing of Google's purchase of Aardvark and release of Google buzz can't be coincidental. But what can Aardvark do for Google? An awful lot, as it turns out. Aardvark is a question-and-answer service more than a search engine. You ask a question via email or instant message, and it looks through your list of friends as well as your friends' friends before sending your question to those who would be able to answer it best. So if you ask "What's the best coffeeshop in San Francisco's Mission District?" it'll only send the question to those who live or have lived in San Francisco. Your answers won't be a list of external links, like a typical search engine, but a genuine human reply, just like in those horrible, horrible days before the Internet when people had to (shudder) relate to one another. And if you're doubting the chance of actually receiving a response, you'll be surprised: It's remarkably efficient, returning an answer 90% of the time, and 60% of the time within 10 minutes. Even better, users rank about 70% of answers as "good," and only 15% as "bad." So why does Google want Aardvark? Could be the valuable search data Aardvark's collected--who's searching for what, what kind of answers are most satisfying for the user, that kind of thing--as well as the personnel involved in its creation. Also, remember, Google owned Foursquare's predecessor, Dodgeball, but allowed it to go fallow, only to have Foursquare explode in popularity a few years later. Google can't let that happen again with a similar service, especially now, with the launch of Buzz.
benton.org/node/32219 | Fast Company
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