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September 2008

UPDATED: Broadband data collection bill approved by Congress

Providing universal broadband may very well start with simply finding out who has broadband access and who doesn't. The House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill that could help answer that question by improving broadband data collection. Passed unanimously in the Senate on Thursday, the Broadband Data Improvement Act received minor, technical amendments from the House and was returned to the Senate for approval. The Senate is expected to approve it by unanimous consent and send it to President Bush for his signature.The legislation, introduced by Sen Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) in 2007, calls for the Federal Communications Commission to collect a broader swath of information regarding who has broadband access. The commission would also be required to identify tiers of broadband service in which most connections can transmit high-definition video, as well as collect demographic data for geographical areas not served by any advanced telecommunications provider. The bill also requires other government offices to collect information, such as whether Internet subscribers use dial-up or broadband. The bill also establishes a grant program for organizations to track and promote Internet usage.

Update: Congress passes bill aimed at measuring Internet access
Congress has passed legislation that will require the government to keep closer tabs on who has access to the Internet and who does not. Supporters hope the Broadband Data Improvement Act will help policymakers better identify areas of the country that are falling behind when it comes to high-speed Internet access. The bill passed both houses of Congress, with the Senate approving a final version Tuesday on a voice vote.
http://benton.org/node/17470

R&D tax credit stalled

While all eyes are on Congress to see whether they will resolve the credit crunch by bailing out banks and other financial institutions from their own greed, another money bill, the Research and Development Tax Credit moved one step closer to passage on Friday. However, the deal is not yet closed. In the latest news, the House of Representatives and Senate both passed a two-year extension to the Tax Credit that is fully offset, meaning it will be retroactive for 2008 and expire in December 2009. That is the good news. The bad news is the same extension was added to two separate bills, one in the Senate and one in the House, and neither body was compromising on how to budget for the credit -- and a conference committee cannot be used to resolve the differences.

Bill would boost public TV's learning power

Schools across the United States soon could have online access to a vast amount of educational content from public television archives to help raise student achievement, if a new bill called the Ready to Compete Act (HR 6856) is enacted. Co-sponsored by Reps John Yarmuth (D-KY) and Ray LaHood (R-IL), the bill would reauthorize two existing federal programs: Ready to Learn, which aims to improve literacy by encouraging the creation of educational public TV programming, and Ready to Teach, which intends to boost teacher quality through the development and use of public TV content for teacher professional development. In addition, the bill would create two new programs: Ready to Achieve and Ready to Earn. Ready to Achieve would create a national, on-demand, online digital media service that would allow teachers to access public television's extensive archives of educational content. Ready to Earn would allow stations to create new resources to address the needs of adult learners in a changing economy. The goal behind both of these new initiatives is to prepare learners more effectively for the 21st century workforce by tapping into the potential of digital technologies to explore science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, as well as history, literacy, and other subjects. The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) believes public television is uniquely suited to help bridge in-school and out-of-school learning by providing educational services anytime, anywhere.

Consumers prefer premium broadband to caps, metering

A new International Data Corp. survey shows consumers adamantly oppose bandwidth caps or metered Internet services but do see value in premium services that provide special treatment of voice, video, gaming, telecommuting or other specific applications. According to the survey results, 94% of respondents saw value in such premium services and 54% would be willing to change to a broadband service provider that offered this service. A smaller number, 26%, was willing to pay their service provider additional fees for a premium bandwidth service, however. Zeugma Systems, which makes network edge gear that enables such premium services, views these survey results as an endorsement of its approach to enabling service providers to generate new revenue and manage their broadband networks efficiently.

NYC Considers White Spaces

The New York City Council is considering a resolution opposing the Federal Communications Commission's authorization of mobile unlicensed devices in the so-called white spaces between digital-TV channels. The resolution would not carry the force of law, but would simply let the FCC know how the council felt about the issue. Free Press Campaign Director Timothy Karr argued against the resolution. He said that the devices can be made to work without interfering. He called it a developing technology that "can and will meet acceptable and certifiable standards of non-interference." That squares with the general feelings expressed by FCC commissioners, who see the devices as a way to expand wireless broadband to unserved areas and more efficiently use spectrum, both of which are government priorities. But they have also said that they need assurances of that noninterference. Karr sees the debate as one of haves vs. have nots. "The white spaces issue pits those who have access to spectrum, and want to keep it for themselves, against those who don't, and want spectrum to be used to serve other purposes as well." Karr argues that there will be 10 vacant channels in New York City after the DTV transition, or 20% of the band "sitting idle," which he called a lot of airspace that could be put to good use. "This resolution is not only unnecessary, but also a step in the wrong direction," he said.

NTIA's New DTV Pitch: 'Apply, Buy, Try'

Acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Meredith Attwell Baker Tuesday held a conference call to pitch the NTIA's new "apply, buy, try" campaign. Baker told reporters she "could not emphasize enough" that some viewers may be adversely affected if they don't prepare early for the digital-TV switch. The NTIA, which oversees the DTV-to-analog converter-box program, wants to make sure viewers who need the boxes are applying for them and those who apply are actually buying them rather than letting the coupons expire, as they do within 90 days. More than one-half of the coupons are expiring without being redeemed. Baker also wants viewers to try out the boxes -- an emphasis that stems from the Wilmington, N.C., early analog-shutoff test, which revealed a lot of folks who either: did not know how to set up the boxes; didn't know they needed to scan, or rescan, for DTV channels; or did not know they might not get a signal because of antenna or station-coverage issues.

NTIA's Baker Opposed To Capps DTV Bill

Acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Meredith Attwell Baker opposes a bill introduced last week by Rep Lois Capps (D-CA) that would delay recovery of old analog TV spectrum for two weeks to ensure that no one lost access to emergency communications around the time of the digital TV transition next February. "We feel that certainty is best at this point. Delay confuses consumers," Baker told reporters.

Film studios, RealNetworks battle over DVD copying

Technology company RealNetworks and major film studios on Tuesday squared off in a legal battle over a new product allowing consumers to make computer copies of DVDs that the studios claim is illegal. RealDVD, a software product from RealNetworks subsidiary RealNetworks Home Entertainment Inc, allows users to create a copy of a DVD for their computer's internal or portable hard drive. RealNetworks said RealDVD gives consumers the ability to do with movie or TV show DVDs what they already do with music CDs, and RealDVD eliminates the hassle of searching for a missing DVD or dealing with a scratched and unplayable disc. The company also said its product allows customers to view DVDs while traveling with a computer. But the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents Hollywood's major film and TV studios, disagreed and its member companies sued RealNetworks seeking a temporary restraining order to stop it from selling RealDVD software.

Consumers prefer phone company bundles

Results from a new customer survey suggest consumers would rather subscribe to a triple play bundle of services from a phone company than from a cable operator.

Sept 30, 2008 (The economy and the campaign)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (Shana Tova)

Search Benton's Headlines archive at http://www.benton.org/headlines/search


ECONOMY
   Financial crisis: The tech innovations at risk
   House websites slowed by e-mails on bailout bill

ELECTIONS & MEDIA
   Economy, Debate Drive News Narrative
   Palin: McCain campaign's end-run around media
   McCain, Palin Deride "Gotcha" Press
   McCain, Obama Ads Run in Network News
   McCain-Obama debate draws 52.4 million viewers
   McCain Backers Prefer TV; Obama's Pan Media
   Obama Leads In Web Traffic, McCain In Paid Search
   Obama to Arbitron: Delay PPM Rollout
   CLC Urges FCC to Deny Internet-TV Station Exemption

NEWS FROM CONGRESS
   Calls for 100Mbps broadband likely to go unheard... this year
   Communications Bills Stalled by Wall St, Election
   Congress Passes IP Bill with Provision Administration Opposes
   Bill would force satellite radio units to go digital
   Lawmakers Back Longer Retrans Quiet Period

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   USDA Announces $342 Million in Rural Broadband, Telecommunications Loans
   Telcos, IT companies unite to promote mobile broadband
   Transpacific undersea cable completed
   Security risks rise as smartphones become smarter
   Korbel sues over postings on Craigslist

QUICKLY -- Sky 'should offer rivals premium content'

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ECONOMY
FINANCIAL CRISIS: THE TECH INNOVATIONS AT RISK
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: John Edwards]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777 points, or 6.98 percent, to 10,365.45 as the House of Representatives rejected a plan to bail out financial markets. But the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 9.14 percent, falling 199.61 to 1983.73, and shares in some of the biggest names in technology fell even more steeply. Now that most of the major investment banks and sundry financial services firms have either evaporated, transformed, or been absorbed by other companies, an untold number of vendors in fields ranging from business intelligence to cloud computing are sadly waving good-bye to many of their prime customers. As October dawns, vendors that once served a seemingly reliable and stable market are now awakening to a starkly altered reality. The most obvious technology at risk from the financial services firms' meltdown is analytics, including business intelligence. Fewer customers with cutting-edge needs, combined with slowing revenue, may have the long-term effect of stifling innovation. Beyond BI and risk analytics, vendors active in such diverse fields as SOA, SANs, and cloud computing can also expect to feel at least some of the effects of a collapsed financial services industry.
http://benton.org/node/17427
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HOUSE WEBSITES SLOWED BY E-MAILS ON BAILOUT BILL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Public interest and concern over the bailout bill has caused a significant slowdown on the website of the House of Representatives. E-mail traffic in recent days has increased in volume by three or four times the normal rate, according to Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer. He attributed the resulting slowdown to "the extraordinary interest in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and a dramatic increase in the number of constituents e-mailing their members of Congress surrounding the bill."
http://benton.org/node/17415
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA

ECONOMY, DEBATE DRIVE NEWS NARRATIVE
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
From the halls of the Capitol to the campus of Ole Miss, it was a week of high drama in the campaign. For the second week in a row, what has been called the gravest economic crisis since the Depression generated more coverage than the election. It filled 40% of the time studied on television and radio and space in print and online for Sept. 22-28, according to the News Coverage Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. And it further raised the possibility that the economy may frame the coming days of the election narrative. The campaign was the No. 2 story of the week, filling 33% of the newshole. Within the campaign coverage itself, or PEJ's Campaign Coverage Index, the No. 1 storyline last week, at 24%, was the candidates' response to the situation. Right behind it, at 23% of the campaign newshole, was the narrative that stemmed from John McCain's decision to suspend campaigning. The third-biggest storyline, at 7%, concerned the debate itself and the media post-mortems.
http://benton.org/node/17425
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PALIN: MCCAIN CAMPAIGN'S END-RUN AROUND MEDIA
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Joe Garofoli]
The McCain campaign is attempting to do something unheard of in the modern political era. It is not just running against the mainstream media, it is running around it. It's about the GOP's continued sheltering of its vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov Sarah Palin. She has yet to hold a major press conference 32 days after McCain announced her as his running mate - and that's not changing anytime soon. McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb said Palin will do at least one news conference before election day. That could mean that the person who could potentially lead the free world will have done one national press conference before being sworn into office. The Democratic vice presidential nominee, Joe Biden, has given more than 89 national and local interviews over roughly the same period of time.
http://benton.org/node/17426
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MCCAIN, PALIN DERIDE "GOTCHA" PRESS
[SOURCE: CBS Evening News, AUTHOR: Katie Couric]
In an interview that appeared on CBS Evening News, Couric noted Gov Sarah Palin's statement that the US should absolutely launch cross-border attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan to, quote, "stop the terrorists from coming any further in." The position seems similar to that taken by Sen Barack Obama, but derided by Sen John McCain. Couric asked if Sen McCain if that was something that should have been said out loud. McCain answered, "Of course not. But, look, I understand this day and age of "gotcha" journalism. Is that a pizza place? In a conversation with someone who you didn't hear ... the question very well, you don't know the context of the conversation, grab a phrase. Gov. Palin and I agree that you don't announce that you're going to attack another country ..." After Couric asked Gov Palin if she is sorry she made the statement, Sen McCain said, "Before you say, 'is she sorry she said it,' this was a 'gotcha' sound bite.... she was in a conversation with a group of people and talking back and forth." Gov Palin said, "[T]his is all about 'gotcha' journalism."
http://benton.org/node/17422
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MCCAIN, OBAMA ADS RUN IN NETWORK NEWS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Bauder]
Savannah Guthrie filed a hard-hitting report on NBC's "Nightly News" recently questioning the truth of some McCain-Palin campaign statements on the "bridge to nowhere" and Sarah Palin's foreign travel. Guthrie's story challenged the claims in one of McCain's TV commercials. A few minutes later, "Nightly News" ran one of McCain's campaign spots during a commercial break. It made for an odd juxtaposition, one not unique to NBC. Evening newscasts on ABC and CBS also ran McCain commercials during the past few weeks. Ads supporting a candidate for office are nothing new to local news viewers, but were once frowned upon - if not banned outright - from the networks' flagship newscasts. The worry was they could get in the way of the journalism. Though the practice may have changed, some experts feel the concerns haven't. "It can be confusing and, more importantly, distracting to the news coverage," said Bob Steele, a DePauw University professor and scholar for journalism values at the Poynter Institute. The networks don't consider it much of an issue since ads frequently flood local news programs.
http://benton.org/node/17421
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MCCAIN-OBAMA DEBATE DRAWS 52.4 MILLION VIEWERS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
The nationally televised debate last week between presidential contenders John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) drew 52.4 million US viewers -- just shy of the 52.7 million viewers who tuned in last Wednesday to see President George W. Bush's prime-time address urging swift congressional action on the financial crisis. The debate was shown on 11 broadcast and cable networks.
http://benton.org/node/17420
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MCCAIN BACKERS PREFER TV, OBAMA'S PAN MEDIA
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: John Consoli]
A majority of Republican presidential candidate John McCain's supporters get their news and entertainment from television, while a majority of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's supporters tend to be "media generalists" who get their news and entertainment from assorted media platforms, according to a new study by media agency MediaVest. The survey found that 65 percent of voters are paying more attention to the presidential election campaign than they did in 2004 and that 50 percent plan to increase their election-based media use through the election.
http://benton.org/node/17419
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OBAMA LEADS IN WEB TRAFFIC, MCCAIN IN PAID SPEECH
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Mark Walsh]
Web sites backing Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) -- including his own campaign sites -- are generating five times more traffic than those supporting Sen John McCain (R-AZ), according to a new study. In the report, "Searching for the Next President," Web marketing analytics firm AdGooroo found that Obama sites are drawing more than 20 million visitors per month, compared to about 4 million for McCain. Obama's huge traffic advantage is not a big surprise, given that the Obama has relied heavily on the Internet to build enthusiasm for his campaign and to raise money. Despite his smaller Web presence, however, McCain is drawing nearly 11% more traffic from politically neutral sites than the Obama campaign. If the race comes down to undecided voters, as some political experts have suggested, then that finding could be a positive signal for McCain. At the same time, McCain also has a higher proportion of sites directed against him, at 29% to 15%.
http://benton.org/node/17418
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OBAMA TO ARBITRON: DELAY PPM ROLLOUT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) weighed in on the Arbitron Portable People Meter radio-measurement-system rollout in eight markets, saying that he thinks the rollout should be delayed until the system is accredited by the Media Research Center. The MRC was created by Congress to vet media-ratings systems, although seeking its accreditation is voluntary, not mandatory. In a letter to Arbitron president Stephen Morris, Sen Obama and Sen Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said they were concerned that the meters -- which are replacing paper diaries in radio-audience measurement -- were undercounting minorities.
http://benton.org/node/17417
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CLC URGES FCC TO DENY INTERNET-TV STATION EXEMPTION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
If it walks like a partisan campaign operation and talks like a partisan campaign operation, it should not qualify for the press exemption from campaign-finance restrictions. That's according to the Campaign Legal Center, which Monday asked the Federal Election Commission to rule that a proposed Internet-TV station did not qualify for the exemption. The center's filing came in response to a request from self-described proposed Internet-TV station Melothe for a ruling from the FEC on whether, as described, the group would qualify for the exemption, and if it did, if it could also solicit funds on the part of the candidates it "covered." Companies engaged in newsgathering do not have their expenditures for news coverage or commentary on a candidate counted as in-kind campaign contributions. The exemption from regulations on "contributions" to federal elections applies to "any news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, unless such facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate," according to campaign law. The press exemption has been expanded to include online-news operations, but the definition of news operation is not a bright line and the CLC said Melothe definitely crosses it.
http://benton.org/node/17416
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NEWS FROM CONGRESS

CALLS FOR 100MBPS BROADBAND LIKELY TO GO UNHEARD... THIS YEAR
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
[Commentary] The US broadband strategy is not to have a strategy. Not only will the market's invisible hand dig those trenches for us, and then lay down the necessary wiring (thanks, ghostly fingers!), but it will ensure that speeds shoot ever upward, and US broadband is the envy of the world. Not only should the government butt out of the process, it shouldn't even set aspirational goals. How has this plan been working out? According to the Communications Workers of America and the Fiber-to-the-Home Council, not real well. This week, they called on Congress to pass a pair of resolutions that would set national goals, and come up with at least some plan for attaining speeds of 100Mbps by 2015. The resolutions in questions are H.Res.1292 and S.Res.191. Both call for the same thing: a baseline goal of universal, symmetrical 10Mbps access by 2010, increasing to 100Mbps in five more years. The resolution also asks relevant Congressional committees to talk with the President, and develop a plan by the end of 2009 to actually make the idea a reality. Much of the US remains far from these goals as 2008 winds down. The Communication Workers of America's 2008 study on broadband speeds shows, for instance, that Ars' home state of Illinois has tested median download speeds of 2.5Mbps this year, with an abysmal upload speed of 485Kbps. And numerous rural counties in the state get less than 700Kbps down. Half the states in the US are doing worse even than this, though Rhode Island takes the top spot at 6.7Mbps. As reports have indicated, this isn't good enough to keep us from falling behind the rest of the world.
http://benton.org/node/17414
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COMMUNICATIONS BILLS STALLED BY WALL ST, ELECTION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The latest attempt at a federal shield law was introduced in 2007 to much fanfare. It was a bipartisan bill given the best chance in decades of finally giving journalists and their sources protections from overzealous prosecutors, a protection most states already grant. But with only a sliver of a chance of passage in a lame-duck session, that effort will likely have to wait until a new Congress and administration. As Senate Commerce Committee general counsel Christine Kurth told a group of broadcasters in Washington, DC, last week, "It is increasingly hard to pass any stand-alone legislation." Other bills that likely will have to wait for the next Congress, if then, include the Federal Communications Commission-blocking resolution announced with much fanfare by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) that would block an easing of media-ownership rules. That bill actually passed the Senate by a voice vote, but a House version has not gone anywhere, mirroring a similar attempt to block the FCC's media-ownership-rule rewrite in 2003. While stand-alone bills don't stand much of a chance, the communications-related bill with arguably the best chance of making it into law would give the National Telecommunications and Information Administration an additional $20 million to send out DTV-to-analog converter-box coupons and give the FCC $20 million for DTV education/outreach. Both of those were appended last week to the continuing resolution that would allow the government to continue to be funded through the March installation of a new administration. It was passed by the House last week.
http://benton.org/node/17413
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CONGRESS PASSES IP BILL WITH PROVISION ADMINISTRATION OPPOSES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The House Sunday passed the Intellectual Property Enforcement bill, legislation backed by studios and publishers that boosts the government's effort to crack down on intellectual piracy. The bill already passed the Senate Friday after a provision was removed that would have given the Justice Department the power to pursue civil cases against copyright infringers. That and another provision still in the bill ran afoul of both the Justice and Commerce Departments. But the bill, as passed by both Houses and heading for the president's desk, still contains a provision for creating an IP-enforcement-coordinating post in the White House's Office of the President, which Commerce and Justice said they objected to strongly as a violation of separation of powers. It now remains to be seen whether the White House wants to take on a veto fight on a bipartisan bill -- it passed the Senate by unanimous consent and the House by a margin of 381-41.
http://benton.org/node/17412
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BILL WOULD FORCE SATELLITE RADIO UNITS TO GO DIGITAL
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The Federal Communications Commission is asking for public comment on whether to require satellite radio receivers to pick up digital radio signals. But Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) said the answer should be yes, and he's not waiting for the FCC to make the call. Markey's "Radio All Digital Channel Receiver Act" (H.R. 7157) would mandate that devices designed to receive both the new merged Sirius XM Radio service and terrestrial AM/FM radio be able to receive digital radio too. Markey's bill is co-sponsored by an interesting and bipartisan bunch of House members, including three staunch Clear Channel supporters, Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), Greg Walden (R-OR), and Lee Terry (R-NE).
http://benton.org/node/17411
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LAWMAKERS BACK LONGER RETRANS QUIET PERIOD
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Nathan Deal (R-GA) weighed in with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin asking for a retransmission-consent quiet period that starts before the end of the year and extends beyond the Feb. 17, 2009, date for the switch to full-power digital TV. They say there is a "significant risk" that "more than a few" stations could be pulled from cable systems in January, given that a bunch of retrans deals expire Dec. 31. There are others expiring Oct. 1, as well.
http://benton.org/node/17410
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

USDA ANNOUNCES $342 MILLION IN RURAL BROADBAND, TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOANS
[SOURCE: US Department of Agriculture]
On September 26, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced that broadband and telecommunications loans totaling more than $342 million were awarded to 18 communications firms serving 22 states. The funds are meant to help bring new and improved telecommunications services to rural residents and businesses. The loans are being made through the Rural Development Broadband Loan and Loan Guarantee Program, which provides low-interest loans to deploy broadband and telecommunications services to rural communities of 20,000 residents or less, with first priority going to areas without broadband. Rural Development is also providing funding through the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program, which makes loans to local firms working to provide both voice and broadband services in areas with 5,000 or fewer citizens.
http://benton.org/node/17409
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TELCOS, IT COMPANIES UNITE TO PROMOTE MOBILE BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Niclas Mika]
A group of 16 leading telecoms and IT companies is uniting to promote mobile broadband in a marketing initiative worth more than $1 billion over the next year under the auspices of the GSM Association. The companies -- which include Vodafone, Microsoft and Asustek -- aim to make it simpler for consumers to identify laptops that have built-in access to the Internet via high-speed, next-generation HSPA and LTE networks. Many in the telecoms and computer industries believe that most people in the world will have their first and perhaps only experience of the Internet via a mobile device.
http://benton.org/node/17424
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TRANSPACIFIC UNDERSEA CABLE COMPLETED
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: In-Soo Nam]
Six of the world's biggest telecommunications companies have completed the construction of a high-speed undersea telecommunications cable system across the Pacific. The fiber-optic cable, called Trans-Pacific Express, will directly link the U.S., China, South Korea and Taiwan. The 18,000 kilometer undersea cable will offer an alternative to the single low-capacity cable that now provides the only direct link between mainland China and the U.S. Currently, most Web traffic between the two countries has to go through Hong Kong or Japan, at times causing transmission delays. The $500 million project was signed in December 2006 by Verizon and its partners; KT Corp., China Telecom, China Netcom Group, China Unicom and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom.
http://benton.org/node/17408
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SECURITY RISKS RISE AS SMARTPHONES BECOME SMARTER
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Jeremy Kirk]
As wireless devices become more numerous within businesses, their convenience will be counterbalanced by an increasing potential for security problems, according to a Gartner analyst. New trends in the wireless industry are making it easier for hacking attacks, said John Girard, a Gartner vice president. A few years ago, there was not a lot of standardization across wireless devices. Differing operating systems, differing implementations of mobile Java, and even varying configurations among devices with the same operating system made it hard to write malicious code that ran on a wide array of devices, Girard said. But that's changing as the quality control gets better on widely used platforms such as Microsoft's Windows Mobile and the Symbian operating system, he said. That standardization makes it easier for attackers to write code that will run on many devices.
http://benton.org/node/17407
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KORBEL SUES OVER POSTINGS ON CRAIGLIST
[SOURCE: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa CA), AUTHOR: Steve Hart]
In a case that could test the limits of free speech on the Internet, Sonoma County's Korbel Champagne Cellars is suing anonymous critics on a Craigslist message board, saying their false statements are hurting the century-old company's reputation. The postings accuse Korbel of punishing employees who reported sexual harassment. They also contend the winery is plotting to cut down redwood forests on its Guerneville property. "They are completely and absolutely false," said Terry Fahn, a Korbel spokesman. Korbel is seeking damages and an injunction barring the unidentified writers from posting libelous comments on the popular Web site. The company will not say if it has obtained the names from Craigslist. Defamation has become a hot issue with the explosive growth of the Internet, which gives ordinary people a chance to post comments anonymously to a worldwide audience.
http://benton.org/node/17406
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QUICKLY

SKY 'SHOULD OFFER RIVALS PREMIUM CONTENT'
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Parker]
British Sky Broadcasting, the UK satellite pay-television operator, should make its live Premier League football and blockbuster movies available to rivals at regulated wholesale prices, media watchdog Ofcom said on Tuesday. In what could be a significant setback for Sky and its business model, Ofcom said it had found that the satellite TV company exercised "market power" in the wholesale supply of premium content to rivals.
http://benton.org/node/17423
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