October 2008

FCC Drops Open Meeting Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission will NOT consider any of the items announced last week at its open meeting Oct 15. Instead, the FCC will hold a meeting as part of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Pediatric Obesity Conference. The Commissioners will listen to witnesses discussing a host of issues surrounding childhood obesity including the impact and role media serve in the area of children's health, the causes of pediatric obesity, and ways to increase awareness of and promote healthy lifestyles among children and teens. The commission had been scheduled to vote on seven items, including granting must-carry status to Class A low-power stations. But the Class A item was pulled late Tuesday, as was another item on public safety communications. The other five items already have been approved on circulation (a vote not at the public meeting) by the five commissioners.

Democrats Consider Investment in Broadband Infrastructure

Democrats in Congress, seeking to keep the current financial crisis from spiraling into a prolonged economic downturn, vowed Monday to push for a new stimulus package that could pump as much as $150 billion into the anemic US economy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress will hold hearings over the next month to determine the exact price tag of the plan, but it's likely to include money for infrastructure projects, aid to cash-strapped states, an extension of unemployment benefits and perhaps another round of tax rebates or tax cuts to boost consumer spending. Lawmakers said the infrastructure spending could focus on building new roads, bridges and schools, as well as expanding the nation's energy grid and access to broadband.

Why We Need A Rural Fiber Fund

[Commentary] When talking about a Full Fiber Nation one counterpoint often made is how expensive rural areas are to wire and therefore how unattractive they are to private deployers. Yet a few weeks ago at the FTTH Conference I met three different fiber operators who all expressed a desire to wire rural America, either to fulfill their sense of civic duty or because they're able to realize high enough takerates to overcome the limited number of customers to make their business model work. Unfortunately, they all cited the same roadblock to their ambitions to wire rural America: the lack of capital available to do so. Now, many of you may be wondering, "But what about the USDA's RUS loan program? Wasn't that designed specifically to help get broadband to rural areas?" On the surface the answer is yes, but once you get into the details you quickly realize when it comes to wiring rural America with fiber, we need a new solution.

Broadband Must Be Top Priority in USF Reform

Free Press is urging the Federal Communications Commission to make universal, affordable broadband a priority in any plans to reform the Universal Service Fund. The fund currently subsidizes telephone networks in underserved rural areas -- but in the face of rapid technological change, this phone-based system has become increasingly outdated. The first set of reforms is expected to include changes to "intercarrier compensation" -- the rates that phone companies charge one another to place calls on their networks. These changes will likely result in increased rates for rural customers. Free Press is calling on the FCC to ensure that any reforms include transitioning support to long-term broadband infrastructure development. Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, said, "The current systems of intercarrier compensation and universal service subsidies are inefficient and tied to yesterday's technology. Reform is inevitable, but it must be done properly. We need bold FCC action to cut through the self-interested rhetoric of industry proposals from both sides to find the right solution for consumers. Consumers are not responsible for the creation of this mess, and they deserve to be treated fairly in its resolution. The FCC must ensure that consumers will ultimately see the long-term benefits of universal, affordable broadband. Creating fair, reasonable and rational standards for these programs will help the industry move into new technologies and deliver American consumers the infrastructure they need for economic growth and social opportunity."

Verizon CEO optimistic despite economic crisis

Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg is confident that his company and much of the communications industry will make it out of the current economic crisis unscathed. On Tuesday he brushed aside concerns that the credit crisis and an impending recession will have a big effect on Verizon's bottom line. So far, the company hasn't seen a significant drop in subscriptions or revenue, he said. Seidenberg's confidence is bold considering that most technology companies, even his own, have taken a beating in the stock market over the past few weeks as banks hoard cash and refuse lending to each other. But he said that the credit issues happening today will have little effect on his company or the communications industry in general. As for the broader economy, which also looks to be heading toward a recession, he is also optimistic.

FCC's McDowell: Digital TV switch will be "messy"

In a naked attempt to be named King of the Understatement, Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell said, "The transition [to digital TV] will be messy ... but we will get through it." He urged broadcasters to step up local efforts to educate the public, saying broadcasters have the most to lose if viewers' screens fade to black when analog signals are turned off. Despite a wide-ranging education campaign by the government and broadcasters, consumers are likely to face glitches, Commissioner McDowell said.He surprised reporters Tuesday with the news that the five commissioners had met last week to discuss their lessons learned from the Wilmington early DTV switch and their respective visits to markets with high analog TV viewership. It was the first such collective meeting of the five commissioners outside the monthly public meetings in McDowell's tenure, he said. Sunshine rules prevent three or more commissioners from meeting outside of public forums to discuss matters before the commission, but apparently they can get together to talk about process, and Commissioner McDowell said there was a staffer from the general counsel's office to monitor the get-together.

Government Wants Time To Decide On Super Bowl Reveal Appeal

Government lawyers say they need more time to decide whether to seek Supreme Court review of the indecency fine against CBS stations over the fleeting nudity in the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl half-time show. The deadline was Oct 19 for filing a cert petition with the Supreme Court -- essentially a request to hear an appeal of a lower court decision. The Solicitor General said it would need until Nov 18. In the request for the extension, which are routinely granted, Solicitor General Gregory Garre said he needed the time for "consultation with the FCC and to assess the legal and practical impact of the...ruling," then more time after that if it decides to seek cert. But that extension would also allow the government to first gauge the court's reaction to its arguments Nov. 4 in the government's appeal of the Fox profanity decision. In that case, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals found the FCC's decision to find fleeting profanities indecent was also arbitrary and capricious as well.

McCain Camp To YouTube: Vet Political Clips For Fair Use

Sen John McCain's campaign has asked YouTube to provide a fair use analysis of video clips posted from accounts controlled by political campaigns before deciding whether to take them down, saying it takes too long to get them up in a political season when time is a crucial commodity. McCain campaign general counsel Trevor Potter, in a letter to YouTube owner Google, said that "overreaching copyright claims [he was not specific] had resulted in the removal of non-infringing videos from YouTube, "thus silencing political speech." Potter said that nothing in the law requires YouTube to take down the videos automatically and regardless of legal merit. He points out that the current system of taking 10-14 days to repost the videos after they have been taken down and found not to infringe is "inadequate protection for political speech," pointing out that 10 days can be a "lifetime" in terms of political speech. Commenting on the letter, fair use advocate Public Knowledge, did not back the McCain campaign in its public reaction to the request, instead using the opportunity to criticize Congress and the Administration. "The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was originally designed by, and for, the big media companies," said Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn. "The concepts of fair use then, as now, are largely ignored or shuffled off to the side when any Congressional discussion of copyright law takes place. The DMCA passed in 1998 without a hint of opposition in the House and in the Senate. YouTube was abiding by the rules that Congress set up when it took down the videos about which the McCain/Palin campaign complained."

New Web Law May Be 'Worthless,' Watchdog Warns

Legislation signed by President Bush on Monday that requires sex offenders to provide Internet identifiers to state sex offender registries and tasks the Justice Department with creating a system that lets social networking sites compare their users' identifiers with those provided to a national sex offender registry may not achieve its intended aim of protecting children, according one high-tech policy expert who tracked the bill. That official, Center for Democracy and Technology general counsel John Morris, said Tuesday that the statute may prove "almost entirely worthless" and warned that it may also carry with it serious unintended consequences. Morris believes the new law will not be effective because sex offenders who want to subvert or circumvent their conditions of probation, release or supervision -- which already typically stipulate that they cannot interact with minors -- will forge ahead regardless of the registry requirement. "If they're already intending to violate provisions that apply to them, why wouldn't they also register a real e-mail and then go create another account," he said in an interview. "It is so trivial to create a new identifier, create a new e-mail address, or social network page. Anyone who is going to pose a risk to minors that this system trying to screen against can easily circumvent it."

AT&T Promises Not To Spy on You ... Sort of

[Commentary] "Deep packet inspection" (DPI), which allows network managers to inspect, track and target user Internet content as our information passes along the Internet, forms the cornerstone of plans to police the Internet and profit from Web content. Using DPI companies like AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner would be able to decide whether a packet can pass or be routed to a different lane on the Superhighway. It lets them pry open user's trunks, erect new tolls and sell off or bar privileged access based on what they find inside.

Benton

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