November 8, 2010 (Olbermanngate)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Developer Day at the FCC while the NTIA tackles Internet Adoption and Spectrum Management http://bit.ly/dpe0EY

MEDIA & ELECTIONS
   Keith Olbermann suspended over political donations
   Who Really Suspended Olbermann?
   Olbermann's Far From the Only Offender [Video]
   Olbermann, Impartiality and MSNBC
   Susan Crawford sees hints of Comcast in Olbermann suspension
   MSNBC's Olbermann to Return Tuesday
   Nielsen: Americans Saw 1.5 Million Ads, Spending Hits $4B
   How Neuromarketers Tapped the Vote Button in Your Brain to Help the GOP Win the House [Video]
   Did the Post's Election Twitter Experiment Work?

POLICYMAKERS
   GOP to FCC: We're Watching You
   Barton Outlines Aggressive Agenda As Possible Commerce Chairman
   See also: Rep Shimkus to seek House Commerce gavel if Rep Barton is denied
   Ex-Kohl staffer joins Comcast team

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Broadband usage growing even as gaps persist
   Network neutrality's demise greatly exaggerated
   Public Interest Groups Urge FCC To Act on Net Neutrality Policy
   ISPs on network neutrality: TV networks are the real villains
   Hollywood: Specialized Services Are Consumer Friendly
   Reclassifying Broadband as a Title II Telecommunications Service: A Legal and Policy Assessment
   Seven European nations in Top Ten broadband connectivity league
   How Network Neutrality Did/Didn't Cost Democrats the Election
   Pentagon's Cyber Command seeks authority to expand its battlefield
   Whatever happened to free Wi-Fi in San Francisco?

TELEVISION
   Cable TV Bleeds Subscribers, Internet TV Cleans Them Up
   Outfoxed, The FCC Changes Its Rules
   Comcast/NBCU Dispute Need For Online Conditions
   Actors' Unions Reach Deal With Producers
   Google TV Gets Static
   TV Pressure Groups Aren't What They Once Were -- But Then Again, Neither Is The Media
   How to Watch Free, Live, Broadcast TV, On Your iPad, Right Now
   CBS Is 'Firing On All Cylinders' Now
   Netgear Wants to Wirelessly Connect New Televisions

CONTENT
   Public Knowledge Tells Trade Agency To Clarify Law Enforcement Role
   The Day The Internet Threw A Righteous Hissyfit About Copyright And Pie
   Hollywood looks to apps to offset costs

ADVERTISING
Why Google Ditched the Name 'Sponsored Links'
Beyond paid media: Marketing's new vocabulary

RESEARCH
Coalition Urges Senate to Pass COMPETES Act
Patent Injunctions and Repeat Offenders

HEALTH
   Privacy advocates fear massive federal health database
   Electronic forms needed to link EHRs and e-government
   Healthcare Reform Uncertainty Could Chill Tech Innovation

NEWS FROM COURT
Consumers' right to file class actions is in danger

OWNERSHIP
Google to Acquire More Companies as Big as YouTube, DoubleClick
No Hype: Tech Is Again a Market Star

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   On the Agenda: Easing Tech Limits, Touting Deals
   A US-India Partnership on Open Government
   Europe Takes Up Debate on Universal Internet Access
   The EU's Digital Economy Gets Ready for a Makeover
   Australia's CSIRO ties WiFi to analog TV antenna

MORE ONLINE
   Democrats lame-duck agenda shrinking fast after Election Day 'shellacking'
   Americans spend nearly $24 billion calling abroad
   One on One: Vivek Kundra, US Chief Information Officer
   FedSpace running in alpha mode

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MEDIA & ELECTIONS

OLBERMANN SUSPENDED
[SOURCE: MSNBC, AUTHOR: ]
MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was suspended indefinitely for making campaign donations to three Democratic congressional candidates, apparently in violation of NBC News ethics policy. The announcement came in a one-sentence statement from MSNBC TV President Phil Griffin: "I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay." Olbermann acknowledged the donations in a statement to Politico, saying he gave the maximum legal donation of $2,400 to Arizona Reps Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords and Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who waged an unsuccessful campaign for the Senate against Tea Party standard-bearer Rand Paul. Like most news organizations, NBC News, parent of MSNBC TV, prohibits political contributions by its journalists without prior approval of the president. Olbermann said he did not encourage his viewers or other staff members to donate to the candidates. "I did not privately or publicly encourage anyone else to donate to these campaigns, nor to any others in this election or any previous ones, nor have I previously donated to any political campaign at any level," Olbermann said. The Progressive Campaign Change Committee, which pushes progressive causes and candidates, has launched an online petition drive to try and get Keith Olbermann reinstated.
benton.org/node/44618 | msnbc | B&C
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WHO SUSPENDED OLBERMANN?
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Michael Wolff]
Let's unravel the politics here. The most reasonable assumption is that the indefinite suspension of Keith Olbermann is not about ethics in journalism or corporate policy at NBC. When you suspend your big earner and 800-pound gorilla and, in a sense, raison d'être, it's pure power play. The story now reads like MSNBC president, Phil Griffin, is making a grab. Griffin, a career network news guy, has risen at MSNBC as Olbermann has risen. It is Olbermann, after all, who has single-handedly remade MSNBC as liberal TV (or anti-Fox TV) and given it its brand and value. Griffin and Olbermann have tag-teamed on-air and back office. More bluntly: Griffin works for Olbermann. Effectively so -- perhaps even happily. Griffin seems to have adapted to and even thrived on the basis of Olbermann's hard-to-handle personality. So what's changed? Comcast, obviously.
benton.org/node/44617 | MediaWeek
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OLBERMANN NOT ONLY OFFENDER
[SOURCE: Newser, AUTHOR: Polly Davis Doig]
Keith Olbermann donated to three liberal candidates, and he shouldn't have: But the episode underscores exactly how common an occurrence political donations are in the realm of cable news. Olbermann is far from the only offender: Fox analysts Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee have given $20,500 this year to GOP candidates, while Olbermann's MSNBC cohort Joe Scarborough made a network-approved $4200 donation to a 2006 congressional race in Oregon, and apparently slipped another candidate $5000 in April. The difference between Olbermann and Scarborough? "That contribution was made in accordance with (network) policy," says MSNBC spokesman. "Joe sought permission in advance." Rachel Maddow goes deeper, Huffington Post notes, and skewers Fox for running "as a political operation," noting, "Hosts on Fox News raise money for Republican candidates. They endorse them explicitly, they use their Fox News profile to headline fundraisers."
benton.org/node/44616 | Newser
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IMPARTIALITY AND MSNBC
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
[Commentary] MSNBC, worried that its reputation as a fair broker of the news hung in the balance, sent Keith Olbermann to the woodshed for an unpaid suspension because he had donated $7,200 to some of the Democratic politicians he had championed on his hit show "Countdown." Golly, that ought to take care of everything. If MSNBC were really worried about coming off as impartial, don't you think it would have chosen somebody besides Mr. Olbermann, one of the most rabidly partisan figures in national news, to anchor its election coverage? Even Fox News knows better than to do something like that. MSNBC is new to the network-as-political-identity game, and its parent company, NBC, is far less comfortable with pure play political programming than the News Corporation -- and it shows. So what message is being sent by the suspension, which will end on Tuesday? Apparently, Mr. Olbermann is supposed to fire up the base like a convention keynote speaker at 8 p.m., but conduct himself like Brian Williams the rest of the time.
benton.org/node/44622 | New York Times
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OLBERMANN AND COMCAST?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
Susan Crawford, a former special assistant to President Obama for technology policy, sees a potential culprit in MSNBC's decision to suspend anchor Keith Olbermann last week: maybe Comcast had something to do with it. Comcast is in the midst of a merger with NBC Universal, the owner of MSNBC. Crawford tweeted: "someone should find out whether any comcast connection to olbermann fracas - and remember Quiz Show plot line." She has previously raised concern that the merger might give Comcast the ability to tamper with MSNBC, which has a left-leaning reputation, in order to maintain a positive business relationship with Fox, which has a right-leaning reputation.
benton.org/node/44621 | Hill, The
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OLBERMANN TO RETURN TOMORROW
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sam Schechner]
MSNBC said Nov 7 it would reinstate Keith Olbermann to its lineup on Nov 9, four days after it suspended the liberal TV host because he had given money to three Democratic candidates in the 2010 midterm elections. The General Electric Co. network had originally suspended Olbermann -- one of its biggest stars -- indefinitely, without pay, citing NBC News policies against political donations. But in a statement, network President Phil Griffin said he had "determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday night's program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy." He added: "We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night."
benton.org/node/44623 | Wall Street Journal | Washington Post | Associated Press
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1.5 MILLION POLITICAL ADS VIEWED
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wayne Friedman]
The Nielsen Company says the number of individual political television messages grew by 5% or 70,000 in October 2010 versus the same time period two years ago -- the presidential election -- and more than twice its five year average. Total political advertising messages grew to 1.48 million in October -- typically the largest month for political commercials. On average over the last five years, October yields some 650,000 average TV political messages; the next biggest month is September at around 290,000; November comes in at 250,000. Estimates are that total political advertising dollars for this 2010 season have grown a massive 30% versus 2008 -- the presidential election year -- to around $4.0 billion. A political message/commercial may air many times during a particular election season. Nielsen says TV viewers in the Cleveland market were exposed to the highest proportion of political TV ads versus overall TV commercials -- 23.4% -- in the month before the election. The next biggest markets included Columbus; Portland; Sacramento; Seattle; Campaign; Reno; Denver; Orlando; and West Palm Beach.
benton.org/node/44601 | MediaPost
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NEUROMARKETERS AND POLITICAL ADS
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Kevin Randall]
There are a multitude of reasons the Republicans regained control of Congress in Tuesday's elections -- unemployment, voter discontent, tea party-ism. But the one influential factor you aren't likely to hear about is the use of political neuromarketing during the campaign. During the 2008 presidential election, neuromarketers went public with research showing how political ads can drive emotional triggers in our unconscious brains. By reading the responses taken from people linked to fMRI or EEG machines, neuromarketers and their clients aim to optimize stimuli (political messages) and reaction in consumers' brains and drive their (voting) decisions. But with public trust in elected officials at an all-time low, politicians today won't talk about anything that even vaguely associates them with Orwellian "mind manipulation." But are they doing it? While most everyone agrees that neuromarketing was used in the 2010 midterm elections, none of the politicians Randall spoke to admitted to using the techniques in their own campaigns.
benton.org/node/44591 | Fast Company
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WASHPOST TWITTER EXPERIMENT
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Alexis Madrigal]
[Commentary] On election night, the Washington Post bought one of Twitter's "promoted trends." When users clicked the trend, #Election, Post content got top billing. It marked the first time that a media company had purchased a promoted trend to promote their own material, and I thought it was a really interesting move. The question that many news organizations have been wondering since then is, "So, did it work?" According to the Post's executive producer and head of digital news products Katharine Zaleski, the answer is yes, even though it didn't drive huge amounts of traffic to the paper's site. "The reason we did it was not so much for the traffic. It was more to be front and center in the conversation," she said. Of all the people who clicked on the Election link from the Twitter.com homepage, 9% of them engaged with the Washington Post. That is to say, they clicked on a link, retweeted something, or followed the Post's Twitter feed. It's the first time that a media company's done this sort of thing, so we don't have a good comparison, but Twitter's Chloe Sladden said that the 9% engagement was on the "high-average" for other types of promoted trends like today's "McRib is back." "It was an experiment," Zaleski averred. "I'm really happy about it." I think she should be, even if buying a Twitter promoted trend didn't crash the Washington Post servers. It shows that the Post is willing to take social media seriously as the means by which news is transmitted now.
benton.org/node/44613 | Atlantic, The
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY AND THE ELECTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: I Gordon Crovitz, Harold Feld]
[Commentary] In competing commentaries, the Wall Street Journal's Crovitz argues that the broader lesson of the 2010 election may be that people fear government regulation of what has been a free and open Internet more than they fear what any other institution might do to the Web. This is a good time to reset the argument about how to ensure that the Internet remains a lively place for users and innovators. Everyone agrees that Internet providers shouldn't discriminate based on content. The question is the role for government. Government's most active role on the Internet is the regulation of broadband providers, which has resulted in monopolies and duopolies. Indeed, there is little discussion of net neutrality in Europe or Asia, where there is real competition among broadband providers. US politicians and regulators would be better off focusing on ways to increase competition on the Internet -- not looking for new ways to regulate it.
Harold Feld counters with a small slice of reality cake, noting that the election did not, as many have argued, turn on the issue of network neutrality. "I would love it if we lived in a nation of policy wonks where the difficult details of national policy are the stuff of kitchen table conversations and earnest discussions at social gatherings.
However, I can assure you from personal experience that trying to engage people in detailed conversations about telecom policy is about as popular with normal people as the intimate details of your last root canal."
'Net Neutrality' Goes 0 for 95 (WSJ)
benton.org/node/44633 | Wall Street Journal | Harold Feld
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POLICYMAKERS

GOP TO FCC: WE'RE WATCHING YOU
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
With a Democratic Congress, a Democratic president, and a Democratic chairman, the last two years have meant political cover for the regulatory ambition of the Federal Communications Commission. Chairman Julius Genachowski, appointed by President Obama, may have taken only incremental steps toward fulfilling the FCC's agenda, but he had political support from the highest public offices to go further. All of that's about to change. Under Republican control of the House, the FCC will now answer to skeptics of government intervention in the market. GOP lawmakers can't tell Genachowski what to do, but they can still bully him to kill initiatives that the Administration hoped to accomplish -- foremost among them, Obama's campaign promise to enforce network neutrality. Republican gains in Congress will mean a "much more intensely focused commitment to the free-market perspective," said former FCC Chairman Michael Powell. "The burden of proof shifts: It's no longer industry having to prove why they shouldn't be regulated." Now it's the government officials who will have to prove why they should regulate.
benton.org/node/44609 | National Journal
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BARTON OUTLINES AGENDA
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Rep Joe Barton (R-TX), the ranking member of the House Commerce Committee, appears on C-SPAN's "The Communicators" program this week. He's vying to be chairman of the committee in the new Congress and says one of his top priorities would be to block -- perhaps via legislation -- the Federal Communications Commission from reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service. "It's imperative that we maintain the freedom of the Internet," Rep Barton said. "I do not agree with the FCC's attempt to regulate the Internet through Title II. We can certainly move legislation making that crystal clear that they do not have that authority. So we will be doing aggressive oversight of the FCC." Also on his agenda: reforming the Universal Service Fund, online privacy, and resolving the D-block spectrum controversy. Rep Barton also said the committee would likely call in Google executives to testify about the Street View privacy breech.
benton.org/node/44615 | National Journal | Bloomberg | Broadcasting&Cable
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COMCAST HIRES KOHL STAFFER
[SOURCE: Connected, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]
Comcast hired Capitol Hill Strategies to lobby for the proposed merger with NBC Universal. Among its lobbyists is Paul Bock who spent 12 years as chief of staff for Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI). Chairman Kohl has been pushing a long list of concessions the company would have to make to receive his support of the deal. Bock's last day in Kohl's office was Aug. 31, 2009.
benton.org/node/44611 | Connected
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

BROADBAND USAGE GROWING, GAPS REMAIN
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Joelle Tessler]
The US still faces a significant gap in residential broadband use that breaks down along incomes, education levels and other socio-economic factors, even as subscriptions among American households overall grew sevenfold between 2001 and 2009. What's more, even when controlling for key socio-economic characteristics, the US continues to confront a racial gap in residential broadband use, with non-Hispanic white Americans and Asian-Americans more likely to go online using a high-speed connection than African-Americans and Hispanics. Those are some of the key conclusions of a new analysis of Census data being released today by the Commerce Department. It found that the percentage of households that connect to the Internet using broadband grew to 63.5 percent in 2009 from 9.2 percent in 2001, reflecting increases across nearly all demographics. The report -- prepared by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Economics and Statistics Administration -- is based on a Census survey of about 54,000 households conducted in October 2009. The new report provides some of the deepest analysis yet of broadband usage trends in the United States. And it is likely to help guide Congress and the Federal Communications Commission as they develop policies to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable high-speed Internet service.
benton.org/node/44636 | Associated Press
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY'S DEMISE GREATLY EXAGGERATED
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) -- which includes Google, Microsoft and Facebook -- said that reports of the public's rejection of network neutrality have been greatly exaggerated by opponents and the media. "In the aftermath of Election Day, some have incorrectly read Republican gains as a rejection of net-neutrality principles by the public," said CCIA public policy counsel Phillip Berenbroick. "The truth is that none of these candidates were incumbents seeking reelection, and most were facing GOP incumbents in a wave election year for Republicans. Any further conclusions are misguided."
benton.org/node/44608 | Hill, The | ars technica
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PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS URGE FCC TO ACT ON NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
Six public interest groups urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move ahead with a rulemaking to guarantee an open and non-discriminatory Internet. In reply comments to the FCC, Public Knowledge, Benton Foundation, Center for Media Justice, Consumers Union, Media Access Project and New America Foundation said that the FCC "should move swiftly ahead" and complete the proceeding based on the information in the public record, rather than waiting for a consensus to emerge. The public interest groups told the Commission, which had asked for comment on the status of "managed" services and wireless services under a Net Neutrality regime: "Certainly it is laudable for the Commission to try to identify points of agreement, and to develop a sufficient record to make meaningful determinations. But at some point, the Commission actually must make a decision as to what rules will best serve the public interest. The Commission has now reached this point. Its own efforts and other efforts to broker a negotiation among stakeholders have failed, and the FCC must now decide whether it will 'resolve the conflict' on wireless and managed services 'in favor of the party with the stronger case.'"
benton.org/node/44607 | Public Knowledge | read the filing
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ARE TV NETWORKS THE VILLAINS?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
The Federal Communications Commission has -- finally, mercifully -- closed up its network neutrality docket. Internet service providers, Web companies, and public interest groups hustled to turn in last-minute filings, most showing a naked self-interest that was bracing to behold: Netflix want guaranteed bandwidth for its over-the-top services, cable operators went after the wireless industry, and the wireless industry just came right out and made the argument that Wall Street wouldn't like net neutrality rules and therefore they shouldn't be imposed on it. But the most intriguing (and one of the most self-serving) arguments came courtesy of Time Warner Cable: the real threat to "neutrality" and the "open Internet" comes not from ISPs but from broadcasters like FOX. Perhaps the FCC would like to go after broadcasters who try to strong arm the cable industry into better deals?
benton.org/node/44614 | Ars Technica
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HOLLYWOOD SUPPORTS SPECIALIZED SERVICES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Hollywood studios told the Federal Communications Commission that if consumers are going to get quality video or Voice over IP service over broadband, the FCC will need to refrain from applying nondiscrimination rules on specialized services. And while the Motion Picture Association of America stopped short of saying the FCC should not apply expanded and codified network neutrality rules to wireless broadband, it did say there were special network management issues the FCC needed to take into account. The MPAA left do doubt it was categorically opposed to applying network neutrality to managed services. "The Commission should clarify that commercial agreements for enhanced performance will remain unregulated," it said. The studios pointed out that there is a growing demand for online video from a new generation that is mobile and hungry for ever-more content, which requires the network prioritization -- say video over e-mail -- that prevents the jitter and delay that degrades the video experience.
benton.org/node/44606 | Broadcasting&Cable
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BROADBAND RECLASSIFICATION ASSESSMENT
[SOURCE: Broadband for America, AUTHOR: Christopher Yoo]
A coalition of Internet service providers asked an academic skeptic of network neutrality to do a legal assessment of proposed broadband reclassification and, surprisingly, You concludes it is a bad idea. Yoo finds that reclassification would conflict with the plain language of the statutes enacted by Congress, the unbroken line of prior Federal Communications Commission decisions, and the reasoning of the Supreme Court's Brand X decision. As such, it is unlikely to survive judicial scrutiny. He finds that the history of common carriage regulation suggests that reclassifying broadband Internet access as a Title II service is likely to create serious implementation problems. He suggests that the appearance of a new communications technology is likely eventually to require new legislation.
benton.org/node/44605 | Broadband for America
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STATE OF THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: TelecomTV, AUTHOR: ]
The latest "State of the Internet" report from Akamai Technologies, for Q2, 2010, shows that average fixed-line broadband connection speeds in Europe are on the up-and-up - but not in Sweden. Martyn Warwick reports. Seven European nations make it into Akamai's Global Top Ten led, intriguingly enough, by Romania. Also in there are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia, the Netherlands and Sweden. As at the end of Q2 this year Romania boasted an average broadband connection speed of 6.8 Mbps putting Britain to shame and confirming its place as a broadband access also-ran. Elsewhere, average connection speeds in the Netherlands rose by 22 per cent year-on-year to 6.5 Mbps. Meanwhile average connectivity speed in Belgium grew by 11 per cent year-on-year to 5.3 Mbps. However, and for the third quarter in succession, average broadband connection speeds in Sweden actually fell back, declining by 11 per cent to 5.5 Mbps. Overall though, those countries with what Akamai designates as "high broadband" adoption rates (and by that the company means in excess of 5 Mbps), continue to develop their access speeds and availability.
benton.org/node/44612 | TelecomTV
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CYBER COMMAND SEEKS AUTHORITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
The Pentagon's new Cyber Command is seeking authority to carry out computer network attacks around the globe to protect US interests, drawing objections from administration lawyers uncertain about the legality of offensive operations. Cyber Command's chief, Gen. Keith B. Alexander, who also heads the National Security Agency, wants sufficient maneuvering room for his new command to mount what he has called "the full spectrum" of operations in cyberspace. Offensive actions could include shutting down part of an opponent's computer network to preempt a cyber-attack against a U.S. target or changing a line of code in an adversary's computer to render malicious software harmless. They are operations that destroy, disrupt or degrade targeted computers or networks. But current and former officials say that senior policymakers and administration lawyers want to limit the military's offensive computer operations to war zones such as Afghanistan, in part because the CIA argues that covert operations outside the battle zone are its responsibility and the State Department is concerned about diplomatic backlash.
benton.org/node/44631 | Washington Post
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TELEVISION

CABLE TV BLEEDS SUBSCRIBERS, INTERNET TV CLEANS THEM UP
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Austin Carr]
Cable networks have been losing subscribers at a growing rate in recent months -- and satellite providers haven't picked up the slack. It's the strongest indication yet that online services such as Netflix and Hulu are snagging an ever larger share of couch potatoes. Major cable TV companies suffered big losses this quarter. Time Warner, for instance, loss 155,000 subscribers, more than double what it lost year-over-year. Comcast, too, reported doubled losses of 275,000 subscribers for the quarter. Meanwhile, web services have been thriving. Netflix recently reported a gigantic increase to 16.9 million subscribers, a 52% uptick. What's more, more than 66% of those subscribers are now streaming content via Netflix Instant--now available on the Xbox, Wii, and Playstation consoles as well as your computer. It's another strong sign users are viewing media less and less on the TV. The danger to broadcast TV isn't the Internet -- it's cable. That might have been the case with the big networks, but for cable, it's the opposite. The biggest danger to cable companies is the Internet.
benton.org/node/44586 | Fast Company
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FCC CHANGES RULES
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission this week notified the world that it would be offering two new VHF channels in New Jersey and Delaware at auction on Feb. 15, 2011. If you want to get in on the bidding, you'll have to come up with the minimum bid of $200,000 for each by Jan. 21. Why would the FCC be dropping in two TV stations in the crowded Northeast corridor at a time when it is trying to recover broadcast spectrum there so it can feed the insatiable wireless broadband beast? The simple answer is, it's the law. But the real answer may be that the FCC is trying to block a group of clever broadcasters from taking advantage of that same law to move two TV stations from Nevada and Wyoming where they are worth a combined $1.2 million into the New York and Philadelphia markets where they would be worth many millions more.
benton.org/node/44604 | TVNewsCheck
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COMCAST FIGHTS ONLINE CONDITIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Amid growing attention on the issue of access to online content, Comcast and NBCU executives met this week with Federal Communications Commission Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus, Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and other top officials to argue against applying any online distribution conditions to their proposed joint venture. According to an ex parte filing with the FCC, Kathy Zachem, VP of regulatory and state legislative affairs at Comcast and NBCU EVP and General Counsel Rick Cotton were in the meeting to "dispute the need for any conditions in [the] proceeding related to the online distribution of video programming." Comcast argued, as it has before, that online and traditional video delivery are complementary, saying "there is no reason to expect this to change in the foreseeable future." Comcast pegs NBCU's post-transaction share of online content at 15%, which it calls a "very modest" amount. "[T]here is no economic evidence or analysis in the record supporting a theory of anticompetitive effects in the online video marketplace or the need for any online video remedies," the executives said. They also argued that there were "substantial risks" to trying to apply program access or arbitration procedures to online video.
benton.org/node/44594 | Broadcasting&Cable
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ACTORS REACH DEAL
[SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: Jonathan Handel]
After six weeks of bargaining, ending in a marathon session that extended into the night, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) reached a new three-year deal today with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). As expected, it's all about bread and butter, and little else. The unions received modest 2% annual wage increases. That means the studios have successfully held the line at the level established in negotiations earlier this year with Teamsters Local 399, representing Hollywood truck drivers and others. Bumps as high as 3.5% were the norm just two or three years ago. Of course, in today's economy, any wage increase is a plus. The big win for the unions came in pension and health. There, the employers agreed to boost their contributions by 1.5%, a ten percent increase over the existing 15% contribution level. Boosts of 0.5% are more common, so this is a solid gain, particularly in light of the fiscal pressures on both pension plans and health plans - declining asset values, increased health care costs, and others.
benton.org/node/44625 | Hollywood Reporter, The
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GOOGLE TV STATIC
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Mike Shields]
The biggest flop of the new fall TV season wasn't Fox's Lone Star or ABC's My Generation.
It's Google TV. The engineers at the search goliath appear to have pulled off the double whammy of disappointing the technorati and alienating the broadcast networks—two constituencies crucial to getting Google TV off the ground. Currently, NBC, CBS, ABC and Hulu are blocking full-length episodes from being accessed via the platform. Per insiders, those nets are unlikely to budge anytime soon, in part because of Google's arrogant yet naïve attitude when it comes to the network TV business. Google execs, who declined comment, irked several representatives from the big three networks from the start by dismissing their concerns about protecting the lucrative network business model—and dependent relationships with affiliates and cable providers. One official compared Google's stance to the quote often attributed to Henry Ford: "People can have the Model T in any color -- so long as it's black." "The ecosystem in TV pays for the content," said one media executive. "I'm not sure Google gets that. They are approaching this as if it's an academic MBA project."
benton.org/node/44624 | MediaWeek
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CONTENT

USTR MUST CLARIFY LAW ENFORCEMENT ROLE
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: John Bergmayer]
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) plan to publish a separate list of "notorious markets" as part of its report on intellectual property emphasizes the agency's transformation from a trade agency into a law enforcement agency, Public Knowledge (PK) said in comments to USTR. "The USTR should stop its transformation into a law enforcement agency," PK said, adding that "at a minimum" the agency should "acknowledge its new enforcement agenda, and improve its process to respect legal norms." In its filing, PK said that USTR is trying to "have it both ways," by claiming that the "notorious markets" list is not a finding of a violation of law, yet at the same time encouraging local authorities to increase their efforts to combat "piracy." USTR should be more clear in its judgments, PK argued, and should set out its accusations against foreign companies, while recognizing that the conduct of those companies may not be illegal in their home countries. USTR should also have its own due process, making public the allegations against a company and giving the company the chance to defend itself. In addition, PK said the trade agency should stop misstating U.S. copyright law as the content industry wishes, and should not assume U.S. law is applicable in other countries.
benton.org/node/44593 | Public Knowledge | read the filing
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ADVERTISING

GOOGLE DITCHES 'SPONSORED LINKS'
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Joe Mullin]
Google has dropped the label "Sponsored Links" for, simply, "Ads." The change may be driven by the fact that the word "Ads" simply gets better click rates, or it could mean indicate Google is thinking about moving "beyond links" in the spaces it reserves for advertising when users perform a search -- getting into image ads, map-based ads or even video ads, as Search Engine Land suggested. A Google spokesman confirmed the change was rolled out Nov 5, adding: "We are always experimenting with the look and feel of our search results pages, including the delivery of relevant advertising." Google's major competitors both avoid the word "ads." Microsoft's Bing search engine uses the phrase "Sponsored sites," while Yahoo search uses the phrase "Sponsored results." While it's primarily a marketing and user-interface issue, any change in how advertising is identified has legal implications, too. As the user-generated content has grown to constitute larger parts of the web, the Federal Trade Commission is increasingly concerned that online publishers properly label what's an ad and what isn't. Last year, the FTC published revised guidelines making clear that "sponsored posts" put up by bloggers should be labeled as such. There's little doubt that whether Google labels its ads "Sponsored Links" or "Ads," its search ads are clear enough to pass muster with the government. But Google's AdWords program has also come under fire in courts from a variety of private plaintiffs who say that by selling ads against their trademarks, the search giant is confusing consumers. Those plaintiffs can't win their cases with without proving AdWords' practices create a "likelihood of confusion" among users (and to be clear, they haven't won one yet, although the cases do seem to keep coming.)
benton.org/node/44610 | paidContent.org
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MARKETINGS NEW VOCAB
[SOURCE: McKinsey Quarterly, AUTHOR: David Edelman, Brian Salsberg]
The rough guide to marketing success used to be that you got what you paid for. No longer. While traditional "paid" media -- such as television and radio commercials, print advertisements, and roadside billboards -- still play a major role, companies today can exploit many alternative forms of media. Consumers enamored of a product may, for example, create "earned" media by willingly promoting it to friends, and a company may leverage "owned" media by sending e-mail alerts about products and sales to customers registered with its Web site. In fact, the way consumers now approach the process of making purchase decisions means that marketing's impact stems from a broad range of factors beyond conventional paid media. These expanding media forms reflect dramatic changes in the way consumers perceive and absorb marketing messages. As a result, some strategic-marketing frameworks -- such as the popular "paid, owned, earned" one -- are in serious need of updating. Many marketers use this framework to distinguish different ways of interacting with consumers, forms of financing, and measures of performance for each contact. Yet the paid, owned, earned framework increasingly looks too limited. How, for example, should a marketing strategist for a company react to requests from other companies to purchase advertising space on its product sites? How should a company deal with online activists when they take hold of a product or campaign to push a negative emotional response against it?
benton.org/node/44592 | McKinsey Quarterly
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RESEARCH

PASS COMPETES ACT, SENATE URGED
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
A broad coalition of academic, industry and professional groups wrote Senate leadership urging the upper chamber to pass the COMPETES Act this session of Congress. The COMPETES Act would fund a host of research programs and bolster science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Championed by outgoing Rep Bart Gordon (D-TN), the bill cleared the House last spring and is now waiting for action in the Senate. Rep Gordon is retiring. The letter calls on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to "pass the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act in time to work with the House to make it possible for the president to sign this important legislation into law before the end of this Congress."
benton.org/node/44603 | National Journal
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HEALTH

PRIVACY AND HEALTH DATABASE
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Jaikumar Vijayan]
Several privacy groups have raised alarms over plans by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to build a database that would contain information about the healthcare claims of millions of Americans. The concerns have surfaced because the OPM has provided few details about the new database and because the data collected will be shared with law enforcement, third-party researchers and others. In a letter to OPM Director John Berry, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and 15 other organizations asked the agency to release more details on the need for the database and how the data contained in it will be protected and used. The OPM "should not create this massive database full of detailed individual health records without giving the public a full and fair chance to evaluate the specifics of the program," the letter cautioned. It also called upon the OPM to delay its proposed Nov. 15 launch date for the database because there was not enough time for independent observers to evaluate the proposal.
benton.org/node/44588 | ComputerWorld
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ELECTRONIC FORMS AND EHRs
[SOURCE: GovernemntHealthIT, AUTHOR: Dr John Loonsk]
Many people recognize how valuable it will be to connect electronic medical records (EHRs) and government health programs. There are examples where information (prevention schedules, assessments, etc.) can be delivered into EHRs and where information can flow in and out of EHRs (immunization histories, lifetime military records, etc.). There are also cases sometimes called "secondary uses of clinical data" where information principally flows out of EHRs to programs at the local, state and federal levels, including for healthcare quality reporting, disease case reporting, post-market drug surveillance, disability eligibility determination, clinical research, and others. Even from the standpoint of secondary uses alone, programs can benefit from increased speed, broader data and greater consistency over paper-based methods. For instance, clinicians can benefit from the automation of some of what they must now do manually and the support these programs can provide. The population can also benefit from more efficient processes and improved population health. The value equation defined here, however, has traditionally been obstructed by a lack of alignment of incentives and poor coordination of the various programs. Consequently, providers are burdened by duplicative and uncoordinated reporting needs, EHR vendors say their customers do not demand these capabilities and the programs persist through suboptimal processes.
benton.org/node/44602 | GovernemntHealthIT
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HEALTHCARE UNCERTAINTY
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Marianne Kolbasuk McGee]
With newly elected Republicans in Congress pledging to repeal healthcare reform, you've got to wonder whether those threats will slow healthcare providers' technology innovation efforts. After all, the deployment and use of IT plays a significant role in the healthcare legislation passed earlier this year. It shows up in the new Accountable Care Organization (ACO) concept and in state insurance exchanges, among other places. Under the reform legislation, some healthcare providers will start testing out the ACO approach where they coordinate patient care to achieve higher quality care, process efficiencies and cost savings. Successful ACOs will be eligible for Medicare financial incentives. IT is a critical component to making these organizations work. They'll require a lot of data sharing and patient management applications to coordinate care, improve processes and monitor costs.
benton.org/node/44598 | InformationWeek
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NEWS FROM COURT

AT&T CHALLENGES CONSUMERS' RIGHT TO SUE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Lazarus]
It hasn't gotten a lot of press, but a case involving AT&T that goes before the U.S. Supreme Court next week has sweeping ramifications for potentially millions of consumers. If a majority of the nine justices vote the telecom giant's way, any business that issues a contract to customers -- such as for credit cards, cellphones or cable TV -- would be able to prevent them from joining class-action lawsuits. This would take away in such cases arguably the most powerful legal tool available to the little guy, particularly in cases involving relatively small amounts of money. Class-action suits allow plaintiffs to band together in seeking compensation or redress, thus giving substantially more heft to their claims. The ability to ban class actions would potentially also apply to employment agreements such as union contracts. Consumer advocates say that without the threat of class-action lawsuits, many businesses would be free to engage in unfair or deceptive practices. Few people would litigate on their own to resolve a case involving, say, a hundred bucks.
benton.org/node/44596 | Los Angeles Times
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OWNERSHIP

GOOGLE WILL BUY MORE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Douglas MacMillan]
Google is likely to buy more companies about the size of YouTube and DoubleClick, its two largest acquisitions, to help offer more online services, said the company's head of mergers and acquisitions. "The world changes really quickly, and companies that were small two years ago are huge today," David Lawee, Google's vice president of corporate development, said. "It wouldn't surprise me to see more large opportunities for us." In 2010, Google has already spent $1.6 billion on more than 20 companies.
benton.org/node/44581 | Bloomberg
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TECH STOCKS PERFORMING WELL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ben Levisohn]
If the stock market is heating up, then the technology sector is on fire. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 18.6% during September and October, the biggest two-month rally since the end of April 2009, just as the market was bouncing off its lows. That trounced the 12.8% gain of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. The nearly six-percentage-point gap between the two is also the widest since April 2009. The Nasdaq's outperformance, coming after several months of the index lagging behind the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has been juiced by many of the same factors that have driven the broader market. Friday, stocks reached fresh two-year highs on a report of stronger-than-expected job growth for October. Worries about a double-dip recession have eased, thanks in large part to expectations -- fulfilled last week -- that the Federal Reserve will step in to help prop up the economy. Tech stocks have gotten an added boost, though, from accelerating growth in overseas markets, which has led to increasing demand for computers and gadgets. As well, the new money that will be injected into the financial system, courtesy of a $600 billion bond-buying program planned by the Fed, has increased investors' appetite for risk, which has driven them to tech stocks. When tech stocks are outperforming, it is usually a sign that the broad market has room to run.
benton.org/node/44632 | Wall Street Journal
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

EASING TECH LIMITS ON INDIA TRIP AGENDA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amol Sharma]
The US might ease restrictions on the export of sensitive technologies to India, but the countries might not strike a significant-enough pact during President Barack Obama's visit to claim a major advance in their strategic relationship. The US imposed controls on trade with India in dual-use technologies -- items that have both military and peaceful purposes -- after India's nuclear-weapons tests in 1998. India is pushing to do away with the regulations, arguing it has proved its nuclear nonproliferation bona fides over the years. A major agreement would give India a tangible gain from President Obama's visit to complement the billions of dollars in commercial sales the U.S. is expected to announce in aviation, defense and other sectors. India wants to get some of its governmental agencies that are involved in defense, nuclear and space research off of the US "entities" list, which bars or heavily restricts US trade with foreign parties and includes companies and organizations in countries such as Iran and China.
benton.org/node/44597 | Wall Street Journal | Dept of Commerce | Bloomberg | AP
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US-INDIA PARTNERSHIP ON OPEN GOVERNMENT
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Samantha Power]
On Nov 7, President Barack Obama attended what is likely the first ever Expo on Democracy and Open Government. India's dynamism in the technology sector is well known, as is Gandhi's legacy in India of civic action and bottom-up change, but the expo highlighted something very fresh: Indian civil society's harnessing of innovation and technology to strengthen India's democracy -- by fighting corruption, holding government officials accountable, and empowering citizens to be the change they seek. In support of this effort, the White House announced an initial commitment of approximately $1 million to support the work of Indian civil society in sharing their best practices abroad, with a matching commitment of in-kind assistance by Sam Pitroda that will harness India's technical expertise to assist governments in harnessing technology, improving services, and enhancing democratic accountability. Power is Senior Director and Special Assistant for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights]
benton.org/node/44626 | White House, The
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EU DEBATES UNIVERSAL INTERNET ACCESS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O'Brien]
The global debate over how access to the Internet should be determined and paid for has attracted free speech advocates, telephone network operators and big online businesses like Google and Facebook. This week, arguments over so-called network neutrality move to Brussels, where the European Commission and Parliament are holding a daylong meeting that is expected to draw speakers from industry, government and academia. Important signals about the Continent's approach may come Nov 11 from Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for telecommunications, who is scheduled to speak at the meeting and must report to the Parliament on the status of net neutrality by the end of the year. In the absence of new regulation, Europe appears to be on track to give mobile network operators a relatively free hand in managing the data flowing over their networks. That could include the imposition of additional charges on rivals, like the voice-over-Internet service Skype. Commissioner Kroes, in public statements this year, has warned operators not to bar rival services from their mobile networks but has not indicated that she intends to push for tighter regulation that would limit the way operators can manage their data traffic.
benton.org/node/44635 | New York Times
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EU DIGITAL MAKEOVER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Max Colchester]
Neelie Kroes is the woman trying to disentangle the European Union's jumbled online economy. Across the 27-member European Union, each country has its own copyright-protection laws governing, among other things, the reproduction of online music, film and books. As EU commissioner for the digital agenda, Kroes, 69 years old, is trying to foster uniformity. "Digital by definition is borderless so it's a perfect fit with the single market," Ms. Kroes said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference on culture and the economy in this southern French city. "But now we are faced with the reality...getting 27 states in one market to co-operate is not one day's work." One of her first tasks is to make it easier for Europeans to shop online across the continent. Another key issue for Commissioner Kroes: how much to regulate roaming fees that telecommunications operators charge for phone calls and Internet surfing when traveling across the EU.
benton.org/node/44634 | Wall Street Journal
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