March 5, 2010 (House Broadband Stimulus Oversight Hearing)
Consumers, Competition, and the Proposed Comcast-NBC Merger
The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal on Thursday, March 11.
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010
Apparently, the revolution will be streamed: An FCC for the Internet Age at http://bit.ly/aFiQTd
THE STIMULUS
House Broadband Stimulus Oversight Hearing
NTIA's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program Quarterly Program Status Report
22 BIP Projects Announced
Level 3 and others win broadband grants
Stimulus Stories: Level 3's rare carrier win all about extending the middle mile
NCTA, Eagle Express Concerns Over Broadband Grants
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
FCC seeking 1 gigabit Internet speed for communities
FCC's Blair Levin Defends Broadband Plan
The Broadband Plan, Early March
Unproven claims about broadband
Broadband Adoption in Low-Income Communities
Broadband Crucial for Small Business
Wireless Broadband Network Takes Form for Public Safety Community
MORE ON BROADBAND
Explaining the Reclassification Debate, part 1
The Response to Google Fiber
The Country's 25 Fastest Internet Connections
YouTube To Provide Captions For Videos
WIRELESS
Mobile's Data Usage & Revenues Disconnect
Developing A Blueprint For White Spaces
Apple vs HTC: proxy fight over Android could last years
Nearly 300M VoIP Subscribers Seen By 2013
EDUCATION
Education Sec Duncan pitches tech as key component of school reform
FUTURE OF MEDIA
Copps on how to make the public interest survive and thrive
Are Broadcasters Delivering on Public Interest Obligations?
Broadcasters: We Don't Need Government to Tell Us How to Serve Our Public
TV and digital journalism
How Cablevision Is Destroying Newsday
Can NPR's Vivian Schiller build a journalism juggernaut?
POLICYMAKERS
FTC gains full board, expected to tackle online issues
CYBERSECURITY
With cyber czar in place, lawmakers continue legislative push | Report: Feds could extend Web monitoring program to private sphere | US cybercrime head wary to fault countries | Most People Don't Understand Cyber Threats, Says Former DHS Chief | China's Hacker Army
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
San Francisco and Partnering Cities Launch 311 Open Source
MORE ONLINE
Watchdog Group Alleges Google Violates Own Privacy Policy With Buzz | Facebook Ads Can Now Do Local Targeting for Thousands More Cities | TiVo Wins Court Ruling Against Dish, EchoStar | In three years desktops will be irrelevant | Hot Dogs Become the Health Care Debate | Enterprise social networking underscores growing generation gap | Tribune Co. Finds Perfect Market | Tribune Creditors Sue JPMorgan Over Loans for Leveraged Buyout | Orbital Sciences to buy General Dynamics' satellite unit | Patriot Act doesn't override confidentiality in Census, Justice Department says | Why cyberspace isn't, and will never be, nirvana
THE STIMULUS
HOUSE BROADBAND STIMULUS OVERSIGHT HEARING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
The House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet held an oversight hearing on the broadband stimulus programs created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Top Democrats on the panel said they are pleased with the progress of the stimulus spending, noting that the Commerce and Agriculture departments had to build an infrastructure from scratch for reviewing and choosing applications. So far, two agencies -- NTIA and RUS -- in the departments have awarded more than 60 projects totaling more than $1.25 billion in grants and loans. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) applauded recent changes to the second round of funding requirements focusing on "middle mile" service to boost the speed and reach of networks in rural areas. He said he's "confident" the agencies "have been managing this program diligently." Rep Edward Markey (D-MA), former chairman of the subcommittee and a senior member, also praised the stimulus projects for creating jobs and expanding open broadband networks so underserved areas "can link to the global economy." Republicans on the panel said the programs are wasting money by supporting buildout where broadband networks already exist.
benton.org/node/32837 | Hill, The | House Communications Subcommittee | Lawrence Strickling | Jonathan Adelstein | Chairman Waxman | Chairman Boucher
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BTOP QUARTERLY REPORT
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
This report focuses on: first round application review; first round grant awards; issuance of the second NOFA, including changes from the first NOFA; steps taken to ensure sufficient oversight and compliance; and efforts to ensure sufficient staffing and resources. This report also provides an update on the State Broadband Data and Development Program (Broadband Mapping Program), including an update on awards made and other steps taken to develop a national broadband map. So far, NTIA has awarded 32 BTOP grants totaling over $620 million, including 17 infrastructure awards (over $570 million), 11 public computing center awards ($42 million), and four sustainable adoption awards covering 25 states. It has also awarded mapping grants to all 50 states and two territories (U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico) totaling $99 million.
benton.org/node/32836 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration | House Communications Subcommittee
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22 BIP PROJECTS ANNOUNCED
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Press release]
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the selection of 22 broadband infrastructure projects to give rural residents in 18 states or territories access to improved economic and educational opportunities. Funding for the projects is being provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In all, more than $254.6 million will be invested in 22 projects. An additional $13.1 million in private investment will be provided in matching funds. Congress provided USDA $2.5 billion in Recovery Act funding to assist applicants to bring broadband services to rural unserved and underserved communities. To date, $895.6 million has been provided to support 55 broadband projects in 29 states or territories.
benton.org/node/32834 | Department of Agriculture
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LEVEL 3 AND OTHERS WIN BROADBAND GRANTS
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Until now, most of the organizations receiving broadband stimulus funding have been relatively unfamiliar names -- outside the Independent telco community anyway. But that changed when Level 3 Communications won a total of $14 million in grants to add a total of 47 new access points to its existing broadband network in six states, including California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Tennessee and Texas. Those access points will be open to local Internet service providers at speeds of up to 50 Mbps.
The six grants were among 23 announced by the National Telecommunications and Information Agency. These included nine other broadband infrastructure awards, as well as six public computing center awards and two sustainable adoption awards.
benton.org/node/32807 | Connected Planet
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LEVEL 3'S BROADBAND STIMULUS PROJECT
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Rich Karpinski]
Count Level 3 as one of the few established telecom service providers to apply for -- and this week win -- federal broadband stimulus funding, with a pragmatic goal not of opening up broad new fiber vistas but rather extending its existing network and services where it makes business sense. But it demonstrates how an established service provider, and not just new broadband entrants, can take advantage of stimulus funding to both move forward laudable goals of serving rural or other remote areas while also advancing their core business strategy. "What we submitted was something that could help achieve the goals of the federal stimulus plan but also made sense for Level 3 as a business," said Paul Savill, senior vice president of product management for Level 3, in an interview. "It didn't drag us into a whole new type of business and it was something that fit within our core competency and leveraged assets we already had deployed in the field." The proposal that Level 3 submitted, and for which it ultimately won $13.7 million in NTIA funding (which it will match with $4.2 million of its own funds), will be used to build 47 new access points to its existing nationwide broadband network in six states: California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Tennessee and Texas. The middle mile project will open up access points to other carriers and users at speeds starting at 50 Mbps on up to 40 Gbps.
benton.org/node/32835 | Connected Planet
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NCTA, EAGLE EXPRESS CONCERNS OVER BROADBAND GRANTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association and member company Eagle Communications are concerned that the government broadband stimulus program is underwriting overbuilders rather than targeting truly unserved areas, and have asked the government to review one of its multimillion-dollar broadband grants. It is the first time NCTA has called for a review of one of the grants in the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus program, though individual companies have raised concerns. In a letter to the heads of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service, NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow registered concern about a $101 million broadband grant in Kansas. Enclosing a copy of a letter from Eagle President Gary Shorman, McSlarrow said there were indications that the stimulus awards "are not being made with full awareness of marketplace realities."
benton.org/node/32806 | Broadcasting&Cable
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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
FCC SEEKING 1 GIGABIT CONNECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission will seek to bring Internet speeds of 1 gigabit per second by 2020 to community institutions such as schools and government buildings, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said on Thursday. Chairman Genachowski said the blueprint will set "dramatic, bold" goals to bring faster Internet speeds to American homes, including 100 megabits per second (Mbps) for 100 million U.S. households by 2020. One gigabit per second is 1,000 Mbps. Industry estimates generally put average current U.S. Internet speeds at below 4 Mbps. "We're going to set goals around making sure that every community by 2020 has a 1 gigabit connection at an anchor institution like a school or a library or a healthcare facility," Genachowski said at an event to promote broadband use for small businesses.
benton.org/node/32833 | Reuters
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LEVIN DEFENDS BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Matt Hamblen]
The chief author of the National Broadband Plan defended it against recent attacks that it is overly broad, ambitious and unfeasible, and said he is confident the final version will meet the enormous mandate set by Congress. "The priorities set [by Congress for the plan] were broad in scope," said Blair Levin, executive director of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative created last year by the Federal Communications Commission. "It may be the broadest mandate any agency has ever gotten from Congress." While the plan is not finalized, various specific pieces of it have been released by FCC officials in recent days. Levin agrees that the plan is inherently broad, including three U.S. priorities for broadband deployment: bolstering the economic infrastructure of the country; spurring broadband innovation and investment; and bringing access to broadband technology to everyone in the U.S., including the 92 million people in the country now without access to high performance Internet connections. "Most of the publicity about the plan has focused on getting more spectrum but a major concern of ours is using mobile applications for public safety, healthcare ... and general innovation in the economy," he said. Without providing details, Levin said the plan will include some "very big things," such as reform of the Universal Service Fund (USF). Levin suggested the plan would make broadband Internet service eligible for the USF program, which now focuses on voice telecommunications. He also said the plan will require that Internet service providers offer specific minimum Internet speeds to be eligible for USF monies.
benton.org/node/32832 | ComputerWorld
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THE BROADBAND PLAN, EARLY MARCH
[SOURCE: dslprime, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
[Commentary] The U.S. broadband plan accomplishes very little for affordability, quality, speed, or availability of broadband in the U.S., although it has other important achievements I describe below. The "100 megabits to 100 million homes" is right on target for what will be achieved by 2015 without any broadband plan. Based on cable company's official statements reported in August 2009, 102 million homes would have 100 megabit capable DOCSIS by around 2013. Fewer than 4% of U.S. homes that can only get satellite ("unserved") will be reached because of the plan. It's more likely only 1-2% of homes will be upgraded. Broadband prices are more likely to increase than decrease because of the plan, especially if a multi-billion dollar Internet tax is included. There's nothing wrong with taxing the Internet like anything else, but this "fee" goes to the shareholders and bondholders of phone companies, not re-opening closed hospitals. Only a small fraction of the poor will get substantial help according to the best information I can find. In particular, the much-touted cable A+ plan provides "back of the bus broadband" throttled to a tenth the normal speed, available to less than one in five of the poor, and actually more expensive than Verizon's recent promotion. AT&T has offered similar, but I don't know if it's included. Since nearly all mobile phones will include broadband in a few years and far more than 90% of families have a mobile phone, the 90% take rate in 2020 would almost certainly be achieved without the plan, probably several years earlier.
benton.org/node/32809 | dslprime
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UNPROVEN CLAIMS ABOUT BROADBAND
[SOURCE: dslprime, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
40,000 people losing their jobs at Verizon know the job impact of broadband can be negative as well as positive. Verizon has the most advanced broadband network in the Western world and is massively cutting staff. The local bookstore that dies when people order from Amazon, the newspapers dying across the country as readers shift to the web, and eventually the schools displaced if on-line education actually grows are further evidence that broadband destroys jobs as well as creates them. Honest academics find a very mixed picture that suggests the net effect is very modest at best. The only honest answer looking at the data is Professor Shane Greenstein's "We don't know the effect of broadband on the economy." Evidence-based medicine is transforming medical practice and research, undoubtedly savings lives, and I've been working to develop evidence-based policy. Washington is talking "data-driven decisionmaking but that's worthless if the data are corrupt and untested. There are claims being made in D.C. that range from unlikely to almost certainly untrue. Many originate from work paid for by the Bells then picked up and repeated by others who want to believe and won't examine the evidence.
benton.org/node/32808 | dslprime
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BROADBAND ADOPTION IN LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES
[SOURCE: Social Science Research Council, AUTHOR: Dharma Dailey, Amelia Bryne, Alison Powell, Joe Karaganis, Jaewon Chung]
The SSRC was commissioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to analyze the factors shaping low rates of adoption of home broadband services in low-income and other marginalized communities. The resulting study is one of the only large-scale qualitative investigations of barriers to adoption in the US, and complements recent FCC survey research on adoption designed to inform the 2010 National Broadband Plan. The study draws on some 170 interviews of non-adopters, community access providers, and other intermediaries conducted across the US in late 2009 and early 2010. The study points to a number of specific conclusions and recommendations, including:
Un-adoption—the loss of home broadband service—is a serious and under-recognized problem in the larger broadband dynamic. In our sample of non-adopters, 22% were un-adopters. Income fluctuations played the most significant roles in respondents' accounts of un-adoption, but unpredictable service costs and opaque billing practices also figured frequently. Closer investigation of these practices and their effects is needed, but our work suggests that modest, consumer-friendly changes in these practices might improve the sustainability of broadband use in these communities.
Complaints about quality of service, billing transparency, and more basic issues of availability were nearly universal in our respondent pool. Doubts about the accuracy of service provider claims of coverage were particularly troubling given the reliance of government agencies on those providers for data. We also found significant differences between theoretical coverage and practical, accessible service in many communities. The frequency of such complaints clearly signals the need for further investigation.
Cost-shifting onto community organizations needs to be met with additional funding of those organizations. Government agencies, school systems, and large employers increasingly privilege web-based access to many basic services, including job and benefits applications. Because many of the constituents for these services have limited Internet access and/or limited Internet proficiency, these measures often shift human and technical support costs onto libraries and other community organizations that do provide access, in-person help, and training. Fuller funding of these intermediaries is the best means of assuring a meaningful broadband safety net and a stronger pathway to adoption in these communities.
benton.org/node/32810 | Social Science Research Council | FCC
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BROADBAND CRUCIAL FOR SMALL BUSINESS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
On Thursday (March 4), Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Small Business Administrator Karen Mills outlined working recommendations in the National Broadband Plan that will promote job creation and economic opportunity by providing small businesses with more choices, training, and support for broadband. Although most businesses have broadband access today, there are still noticeable gaps in application adoption, rural business access, and competitive offerings for businesses. Moreover, small businesses are challenged with putting broadband to the proper use and maximizing its potential.
Working recommendations in the National Broadband Plan include:
Review competition rules to ensure broadband choice for small businesses
Collaborate with SBA to expand resources and opportunities for small businesses with regards to IT and broadband
Pilot new entrepreneurial mentoring programs along with the Economic Development Administration
Create a public-private partnership for digital literacy training to support small businesses in the country's neediest areas
benton.org/node/32831 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Genachowski | The Hill
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WIRELESS BROADBAND AND PUBLIC SAFETY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: George Krebs]
Soon the Federal Communications Commission will roll out the Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC). A first-of-its-kind center located within the Commission, ERIC will coordinate communication among the public safety community. As Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett wrote ERIC will be based on a wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety. This will include technical requirements for common standards across the field, priority access for public safety users, and choices for how they operate their broadband network. Panelists from the FCC, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Institute of Science and Technology spoke Tuesday about what form this should center should take. The need for an interoperability network is clear, they noted. Today first responders and public safety personnel are using a wide variety of devices in the course of their time sensitive work. This hodgepodge of systems contains a host of issues that complicates the vital work being performed. Critical communication coordination failures on September 11th and during Hurricane Katrina made the necessity of such interoperability painfully evident.
benton.org/node/32830 | Federal Communications Commission
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MORE ON BROADBAND
THE RESPONSE TO GOOGLE FIBER
[SOURCE: MuniWireless, AUTHOR: Esme Vos]
[Commentary] Incumbents will spend millions of dollars, as they always have, to block Google fiber. Google has become a large, highly profitable company; it has money and an army of lobbyists to fight the cable/DSL guys. In the end, here we are again, with a critical piece of infrastructure completely owned by one company a private enterprise beholden only to its shareholders. Does it make you sleep more peacefully knowing that the fiber backhaul your ISP uses is owned and controlled by a company that also happens to control the search market? Sure, Google will stick it to the hated cable/DSL duopoly, but what happens when things start turning ugly for Google in its key market (search)? What happens when Google starts feeling the heat of competition? Google is already the subject of an antitrust investigation by the European Commission. Haven't we learned any lessons from the past? If you allow one company a cable operator, telco, Internet search engine to control access to communications, in the middle or last mile, it will not give up so easily and it will do everything in its power to stop competitors. It will use the political process buying elected officials to do its bidding. Do you think Google, a highly profitable enterprise, will be much nicer? What controls should we be putting on companies like Google that will end up owning such an important piece of infrastructure?
benton.org/node/32827 | MuniWireless
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25 BEST PLACES FOR BROADBAND
[SOURCE: xchange, AUTHOR: ]
Where's the fastest broadband? Long Island, of course. But see where else, too.
xchange
YOUTUBE TO CAPTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro]
Google's YouTube said it will offer automatically generated captions for its entire video catalog, a boon for deaf users and those who want to watch videos in other languages. At a press conference at YouTube's San Bruno (CA) headquarters, Google software engineer Ken Harrenstein demonstrated the feature and went through the reasons Google invested in the product—from expanding accessibility to crossing language barriers to improving search. For instance, YouTube watchers can select to see captions in a different language from the language of the video. Harrenstein, who is deaf and gave his presentation in sign language, said he has been working on the product for five years. YouTube has been pushing captions for a while, and hundreds of thousands of videos have them. In 2008, it began allowing content owners to upload their own captions. Last year, Google turned on automatic captioning for videos uploaded by a small number of partners, like the University of California, Berkeley and Yale University. Now, YouTube is rolling them out across the catalog of millions of videos, as long as the video has clear audio. The move was cheered by several students at the California School of the Deaf, who were in attendance.
benton.org/node/32844 | Wall Street Journal
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WIRELESS
MOBILE DATA USAGE AND REVENUES
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Colin Gibbs]
US mobile users consumed almost 400 petabytes of data last year, up 193 percent from 2008, according to a new report from analyst Chetan Sharma. But carrier revenues aren't keeping pace. Sharma reported that U.S. data traffic exceeded voice traffic by almost 400 terabytes in 2009; he expects that the ratio between the two to double this year. U.S. mobile data services revenues grew at only 24 percent year-over-year, though, and are expected to grow just 20 percent in 2010. And while voice ARPU declined by a substantial 98 cents for U.S. carriers, data ARPU increased by a mere 4 percent to 53 cents as overall ARPU decreased 45 cents on the year. Interestingly, Verizon and AT&T accounted for 88 percent of the increase in data revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009 -- a fact that helps explain why the nation's two largest carriers continue to separate themselves from their competitors.
benton.org/node/32799 | GigaOm
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BLUEPRINT FOR WHITE SPACES
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
A Q&A with Rick Rotondo of Spectrum Bridge. The Federal Communications Commission rules opening up so-called white spaces in the TV broadcast band for unlicensed services and devices are not yet final. Still deeply concerned that the influx of unlicensed contraptions into the band will disrupt TV reception, broadcasters are challenging the rules at the FCC and in court. Nonetheless, services providers and supporting technology companies are moving ahead with plans to exploit the availability of high-quality broadcast spectrum. One of these pioneering efforts is in Wilmington, N.C., and surrounding Hanover County (DMA 132) — the TV market that holds the distinction of being the first to cut off its analog TV service and go digital-only back in 2008. Working with the city and county governments, TV Band Services and Spectrum Bridge last month launched a white space trial in which the governments will keep an eye on highways and parks using remote cameras linked via white space frequencies. The trial also includes remote monitoring of wetlands and public WiFi in the parks so folks can access the Internet as they picnic. Other planned applications include monitoring and control of the water pump station, medical telemetry and expanded broadband access in the schools. Rick Rotondo has been deeply involved in the project as chief marketing officer at Spectrum Bridge. In this interview with TVNewsCheck, Rotondo talks about how the white space technology is being put to work in North Carolina and how broadcasters could make use of it, too, once they accept that it is here to stay.
benton.org/node/32819 | TVNewsCheck
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APPLE ANDROID FIGHT COULD LAST YEARS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Chris Foresman]
Apple came out swinging Tuesday against smartphone maker HTC, filing a federal lawsuit and a complaint with the International Trade Commission, both alleging that HTC's phones violated numerous Apple patents. Some believe the suits are the beginning of a protracted legal battle against Google's Android OS, and analysis of the patents in question suggest Apple's two-pronged approach may be successful, though HTC says it's ready to fight back with its own patents and with Google in its corner. The best analysis we have seen of the patents themselves comes from Engadget's Nilay Patel who, in a previous life, was an IP attorney. Patel notes that the older patents are more directly related to operating systems and only one could be said to apply to HTC's Windows Mobile devices while the rest are directed at Android. The patents referenced in the federal lawsuit are newer and have yet to be tested in court. Still, Patel believes that at least some of the claims of the various patents seem legitimate on the surface. Needham & Company analyst Charles Wolf also thinks Apple's chances are good, and believes Apple is doing the right thing by filing the suits. "Apple invested heavily and imaginatively in designing a unique, disruptive smartphone," Wolf wrote. "In our view, the company has every right to protect the iPhone's unique features." The strategy is also likely to merely start with HTC, with Apple eventually going after other Android-based phone vendors as proxies to combat Android. "It clearly involves some form of litigation strategy of picking off the weaker members of the herd first," Jonathan Zittrain, a professor at Harvard Law School, told The New York Times. "They can always add Google to the suit later on."
benton.org/node/32816 | Ars Technica | CNNMoney.com | New York Times
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300M VOIP SUBSCRIBERS BY 2013
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
There will be 288 million users of Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) by 2013, according to market research firm In-Stat. While so far, VoIP has been driven largely by the likes of cable companies that want to disrupt the incumbent phone companies, the next big VoIP boost is going to come from mobile. In-Stat believes over half of those 288 million subscribers "will be associated with online mobile VoIP providers, under one-third will utilize mobile VoIP with 3G MVNOs or mobile operators, and 11 % with WiMAX/LTE operators." Thanks to the increased availability of dual-mode phones, VoIP is becoming especially popular in the Asia-Pacific region, nudging the current market leader, Europe, aside. In the meantime, this move to mobile VoIP has prompted some to ask if we're getting closer to an all-VoIP phone.
benton.org/node/32798 | GigaOm
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EDUCATION
TECHNOLOGY AND SCHOOL REFORM
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
Education Secretary Arne Duncan pitched a slew of new, technology-based education reforms on Thursday, stressing schools needed to enter the 21st century to keep students engaged. In a speech to the Association of American Publishers, the Education secretary lamented the reality that many public schools are still "throwbacks to the state of education 50, 20 or even 10 years ago," as many teachers and administrators have failed to "keep pace" with current trends in technology. Consequently, Duncan framed his department's forthcoming National Education Technology Plan as an attempt to prepare students "for the future that awaits them, and the skills the world will require of them." A draft of that plan is due out Friday, according to the Department.
benton.org/node/32805 | Hill, The | Secretary Arne Duncan
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FUTURE OF MEDIA
COPPS ON HOW TO MAKE THE PUBLIC INTEREST SURVIVE AND THRIVE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael Copps]
Speaking at the FCC's Future of the Media workshop, Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps noted that he has been trying to revitalize the public interest -- especially in broadcasting -- since he joined the Commission nearly nine years ago. He said the FCC and the private sector have dropped the ball for the past 30 years -- three decades of horrendous decisions set in motion a media free-fall that has inflicted serious consequences on the body politic. The private sector harm here was a tsunami of media consolidation fueled by the same hyper-speculation that was fueling so many bubbles in so many other industries. Stations were gobbled up en masse and totally unrealistic expectations were visited upon both them and even upon the ones who managed to stay unconsolidated. A lot of broadcasters, I think, weren't thrilled and many wanted to keep their emphasis on serving their local communities, but it became harder and harder-almost impossible-for them to do so. "Play the game or get voted off the island" became the mantra of this dangerous game of Media Survival. He said the question now is not whether there is a public interest, but how to make it survive and thrive.
benton.org/node/32826 | Federal Communications Commission
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ARE BROADCASTERS DELIVERING ON PUBLIC INTEREST OBLIGATIONS?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
At the Federal Communications Commission's Serving the Public Interest in the Digital Era workshop, Media Bureau Deputy Chief Robert Ratcliffe was asked by moderator Steve Waldman, who is heading up the FCC's future of media review, how many stations had been denied renewal for not fulfilling their public service obligations. Ratcliffe said only one in terms of programming, and that the optimist's view was that broadcasters were doing a good job. Ratcliffe said that the FCC did have to balance its interests with the public's in what broadcasters were programming and the First Amendment's protections of that decision-making. Former FCC General Counsel Henry Geller said there had never been real standards, and there had been less guidance after the deregulation of the 1980's, when the requirement that broadcasters list programming in various areas was scrapped and renewals became essentially a postcard to the commission. He said that when the FCC did try to set standard for kids programming, broadcasters skirted the requirement with shows of suspect educational content, relegated to weekends, and during preemptable time. Geller said that he thought the FCC's attempt to set quantifiable standards would never work because the FCC was working against the driving commercial interests of stations and was doing so in a First Amendment area. Geller suggested that the FCC drop its public interest standard and charge a 5% spectrum fee, then turn that over to public broadcasting, which he said wants to do kids and cultural and other programming. "The system we have now has not worked," he said. Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman said that the best broadcasters do a "superb job," and said those are the ones who testify at workshops. He also said broadcasters tend to trumpet their admittedly magnificent work during emergencies. But Schwartzman said the FCC has to focus on the worst broadcasters, who do not meet the needs of their communities. He said some stations do absolutely nothing local, "but that is what the system tolerates." He opined the end of minimum requirements for news and public affairs and the lack of affirmative ascertainment by the FCC. "The license renewal process is broken," he said. With license renewal cases going back to 2003 still pending, he argued that the message to broadcasters is that if you have a multimillion dollar deal to get done, the FCC will do it in a few months, but that a license challenge will languish for years. Schwartzman said Robert Ratcliffe had left a misimpression by ticking off broadcasters affirmative obligations -- EEO, kids TV, political time -- because it suggested the FCC was actually policing those obligations. Schwartzman wants licenses shortened from eight years to three, audits of 10% of the stations for compliance with public interest obligations, and put teeth into those obligations. He also called on the commission to find that primarily home shopping stations are not operating in the public interest.
benton.org/node/32825 | Broadcasting&Cable
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BROADCASTERS: WE DON'T NEED GOV TELLING US HOW TO SERVE PUBLIC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission began its first workshop on the future of media and serving the information needs of the community March 4 with a series of panelists outlining what they said was essentially a lack of any quantifiable public interest obligations on broadcasters. Broadcasters countered that serving the public with programming they needed and wanted was part of their DNA, or in the case of news, RTDNA, and that there was no need for the government to mandate more specific public interest requirements. National Association of Broadcasters General Counsel Jane Mago, during her time on the panel, said that NAB and its members believe they do have an obligation to serve the public interest. She said that while the specifics of that obligation have changed, the core obligation is to provide programming, and not only news, which serves its public. There is no one-size-fits-all solution or standard, she said, nor should there be specific quantitative standards. She said stations need to be free to adapt to their audience, rather than forced into "homogeneous" programming. Broadcasters need the flexibility to find the programming that audiences want and advertisers want to pay for, she said. The FCC must recognize that its ownership structure must allow them to compete. Mago touted broadcasting as a highly efficient, free, universal, point-to-multipoint system (that last has become a drumbeat of broadcasters arguing that they are a more efficient video delivery system than mobile wireless). "And we don't create network congestion," she added, taking a shot at the broadband-centricity of the current media conversation.
benton.org/node/32824 | Broadcasting&Cable
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TV AND DIGITAL JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Matea Gold]
Are pared-down teams using smaller, lighter equipment the future of network news? Network executives say smaller cameras and laptop editing software offer them a lifeline as they struggle to contain costs. Instead of relying on different people to produce, report, shoot, and edit stories, one or two people with the right equipment can handle those tasks. In dramatically overhauling its newsroom structure, ABC offers a stark illustration of how the economic squeeze is remaking traditional media organizations and what viewers see on the news. Stories shot with handheld digital cameras often have a personal, rough-hewn quality familiar to a generation raised on amateur Web videos, and can lack the polished production values of network news. Some veteran broadcasters are skeptical. While it may save money, "what it is going to do in the process is simply cut down on an individual's ability to tell the story properly and well," said Ronald Steinman, executive editor of the Digital Journalist, a magazine about visual journalism, who spent four decades producing news for NBC and ABC. That sentiment is shared by many ABC staffers, who declined to be quoted by name for fear of losing their jobs. They worry that the expectations being put on digital journalists are unrealistic.
benton.org/node/32823 | Los Angeles Times
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CABLEVISION AND NEWSDAY
[SOURCE: Long Island Press, AUTHOR: Christopher Twarowski, Michael Patrick Nelson]
A long look at Cablevision's efforts to get Newsday union employees to accept a 10 percent pay cut and meddling with the content of the paper.
Long Island Press
POLICYMAKERS
FTC CONFIRMATIONS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Wednesday night the Senate confirmed two Democratic commissioners -- Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez -- for the Federal Trade Commission, bringing a full board to the agency as it attempts to take a higher-profile role in the digital age. With three Democratic members in the five-seat commission, observers said Chairman Jon Leibowitz will be empowered in his goals for antitrust enforcement and consumer protections that will include online privacy. Brill served as the senior deputy attorney general and chief of consumer protection and antitrust for the North Carolina Department of Justice since February 2009. Brill also served as assistant secretary general of Vermont. Brill's term will expire September 2016. She is expected to take an interest in online privacy and marketing. Privacy advocates have pushed the agency to look into the behavioral advertising by online companies including Google. They have also pushed for investigations into the privacy policy changes of Facebook last December and consumer complaints that Google's social networking application Google Buzz may have released personal data of users. Edith Ramirez is a partner at the private law firm Quinn Emanuel in Los Angeles. Her background includes copyright and antitrust cases. She will serve until September 2015. The two Democratic picks replace Republican Deborah Majoras, who stepped down in March 2008, and independent Pamela Jones Harbor, whose term ended in September.
benton.org/node/32820 | Washington Post | FTC Chairman Leibowitz | Broadcasting&Cable
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