BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY JANUARY 27, 2009
Busy day today. The House may begin debate on the stimulus bill; the Senate Judiciary Committee discusses Health IT: Protecting Americans' Privacy in the Digital Age; the House Commerce Committee markups a DTV delay bill (see Senate action below); and the Senate Committee on Finance Open Executive Session on "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act". See http://www.benton.org/calendar
THE TRANSITION
Chairman Copps Speaks With Federal Communications Commission Staff
Consumer interests should guide FCC
Martin Offers Advice For FCC Successor
E-Mail Outage Forces White House to Operate the Oldfangled Way
Tech Group Presses Obama On IP Picks
Blagojevich Impeachment Trial Begins [Video]
DIGITAL TELEVISION
Senate Votes to Delay DTV Transition; House Expected to Agree in Vote This Week
DTV Delay Would Cost PBS $22 Million
Study: Only 56% of US HDTV Owners Receive HD Programming
Old TVs cause new problems
SPECTRUM
The 700 MHz Waiting Game
Some Myths and Misunderstandings about Wireless Safety Broadband
THE ECONOMY
Recession hits Silicon Valley as layoffs pile up
Sprint Nextel to cut 8,000 jobs
Mapping decline and recovery across sectors
JOURNALISM
BBC,BSkyB Assailed for Refusing to Carry Gaza Appeal
Fading Love Affair: How the Media Will Maul Obama
In the Tank
Un-American
When No News Is Bad News
What Does Carlos Slim Want With the NY Times?
ED TECH
Reinvent schools for digital age
Gaming is the future of classroom instruction
INTERNET/BROADBAND/DIGITAL CONTENT
A Comprehensive, Pragmatic Rural Broadband Stimulus Package
Health info technology saves lives, costs: study
A Win for Free Speech Online
US claims victory in WTO complaint on China piracy
China vows copyright cooperation after WTO case
Need broadband facts?
QUICKLY -- Verizon offers $250 in-home cell phone booster; Recent Comments
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THE TRANSITION
CHAIRMAN COPPS SPEAKS WITH FCC STAFF
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Chairman Michael Copps]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps spoke with Commission staff on Monday to address what to create opportunities for people through communications. He noted that President Obama called on the country to build the "digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together." To succeed, Chairman Copps said, the Commission must "utilize its resources-especially its human resources-smartly and inclusively." The first task is to improve lines of communication, enhance the level of transparency in FCC work, and bring to the Commission's daily decisions the kind of openness that gives true credibility. He asked Bureaus and Offices to collaborate. Chairman Copps announced that he will hold a weekly Chairman's Office Briefing with Bureau and Office chiefs, and representatives from each Commissioner's office. He also called for a more transparent and open FCC that is "useful to the stakeholders that we serve." He called for a update of the Commission's website to make it more user-friendly. He announced: "In the weeks ahead, our three most important priorities will be, as you have heard me say already, DTV, DTV and DTV." The FCC's next open meetings will be Feb 5 and March 5. Finally, Copps named Rick Chessen the Acting Chief of Staff and Scott Deutchman the Acting Senior Legal Advisor. Paul Murray, who is currently a Legal Advisor to the Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, will serve on an interim basis as the Legal Advisor for wireless and international issues.
http://benton.org/node/21229
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CONSUMER INTERESTS SHOULD GUIDE FCC
[SOURCE: Minneapolis Star-Tribune, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] If Julius Genachowski is the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, he should give attention to Network Neutrality, advocating for equal and open access to Internet content, services and applications. Internet users, rather than service providers, should be able to determine the content they view and the applications they use online. And, if Genachowski deems it necessary, he should advocate for a new law allowing FCC enforcement of that principle. He should then shift his attention to maximizing broadband access, which is not only sound telecommunications policy but also important for economic development.
http://benton.org/node/21228
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MARTIN OFFERS ADVICE FOR FCC SUCCESSOR
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Winter Casey]
A Q&A with former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin. Martin advices the next FCC chairman "look hard at the facts and the underlying arguments that are being made and -- while they will have whatever ideology they bring to the issues -- they should be prepared to actually examine the underlying facts and have it be more of a fact-based decision-making process as opposed to just an ideological one." He thinks there could be bi-partisan support for universal service reform and lowering cable rates in 2009.
http://benton.org/node/21227
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E-MAIL OUTAGE FORCES WHITE HOUSE TO OPERATE THE OLDFANGLED WAY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Michael Shear]
Shortly after the workweek began, the tech-savvy Obama administration was hit with a mysterious "server outage" that shut down all incoming and outgoing e-mail for more than eight hours, forcing aides to resort to old-fashioned phone calls and face-to-face conversation. How is it possible that the e-mail system for the White House could go down that long, a caller asked? Press secretary Robert Gibbs had just apologized on live television for the lack of any e-mail contact.
http://benton.org/node/21233
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TECH GROUP PRESSES OBAMA ON IP PICKS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
A trade group that represents Google, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and other high-tech firms in Washington urged President Barack Obama on Monday to appoint leaders at the Commerce Department and Patent and Trademark Office to who can bring reform and encourage innovation. Computer and Communications Industry Association asked the new administration to designate an undersecretary for intellectual property who can address the broad challenges in innovation policy facing the nation. "
http://benton.org/node/21210
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BLAGOJEVICH IMPEACHMENT TRIAL BEGINS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Monica Davey]
Monday was the first day of Gov Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial in Illinois. But the governor was not present in the Illinois Senate chamber. Instead he was in New York making a flurry of appearances on the national television talk show circuit. Gov Blagojevich (D) faces the state's first impeachment trial of a governor and, eventually, federal corruption charges. In an opening statement, a House prosecutor said Gov Blagojevich had tried to trade the United States Senate seat vacated by President Obama for a lucrative job or cash, to secure campaign money in return for state contracts and jobs, and to ignore laws and state legislators in enacting policies on prescription drugs, health care and flu vaccines.
http://benton.org/node/21236
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DIGITAL TELEVISION
SENATE VOTES TO DELAY DTV TRANSITION; HOUSE EXPECTED TO AGREE IN VOTE THIS WEEK
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
On Monday night, the Senate, on a voice vote, unanimously agreed to delay the nation's digital TV transition from Feb 17 to June 12. There was no debate before the vote. The House could vote on the measure by week's end and it is expected to pass easily. Democrats, including aides to President Barack Obama, have expressed concern that viewers still don't know which sets do and do not need converter boxes and don't know how to hook up and program their converter boxes. They also fear there are insufficient help centers available for people having trouble setting up their sets. There also has been concern that viewers may not know be aware of signal patterns that could make some stations more difficult to see. Finally, there has been concern from both Democrats and Republicans that not enough money was set aside to help defray the cost of converter boxes needed for TV sets not connected to cable or satellite. The government was issuing up to two $40 coupons per household, but that money has been used up, so it can only issue new coupons when existing coupons expire. Nearly 2.6 million households are on the waiting list, and those coupons won't be in consumers' hands by Feb. 17.
http://benton.org/node/21225
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DTV DELAY WOULD COST PBS $22 MILLION
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Public Broadcasting Service chief Paula Kerger wants lawmakers to know that a four month delay of the digital television transition would cost public broadcasters $22 million. PBS stations will face additional power costs, and in some cases make new arrangements, for sending over-the-air TV signals after mid-February.
http://benton.org/node/21224
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STUDY: ONLY 56% OF US HDTV OWNERS RECEIVE HD PROGRAMMING
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Of the estimated 39 million U.S. households that now own an HDTV set, just 22 million -- or 56% -- are actually receiving high-definition programming from a cable provider or another source, according to research firm In-Stat. The 22 million U.S. HDTV households at the end of 2008 -- defined as households having an installed HD-capable TV set and that also receive and watch HD programming -- represented an almost 40% increase from the year prior, In-Stat said.
http://benton.org/node/21223
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OLD TVs CAUSE NEW PROBLEMS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Weise]
Televisions carelessly disposed of can be toxic to the environment. A huge backlog of unused old ones (99.1 million, the EPA says) is sitting around in people's homes. And later this year — either on Feb. 17 or on June 12 if Congress passes a delay — the USA will switch from analog to digital TV transmission. The number of unwanted TVs will go even higher as consumers upgrade to sets capable of receiving high-definition broadcasts. Though a TV set is benign in the living room, it's not when it is broken up to reach the reusable materials inside. There's a lot of lead, a bit of barium, cadmium, chromium, traces of gold and even mercury in the lamps on some flat screens. The best way to deal with them is not to throw them away at all but to keep using them, says John Cross of EPA's Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery. Buying a converter box or getting cable or satellite TV will keep a TV useful for years. But if TVs are discarded, the federal agency wants to make sure the materials in them are recycled. The problem, according to a Government Accountability Office report last year, is that the EPA's "enforcement is lacking." That has left most of the regulatory work up to the states, only some of which license and audit recycling companies. The GAO report found that although some electronics are handled responsibly, "a substantial quantity ends up in countries where disposal practices are unsafe to workers and dangerous to the environment." Barbara Kyle of the San Francisco-based Electronics TakeBack Coalition puts that quantity at close to 90%.
http://benton.org/node/21232
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SPECTRUM
THE 700 MHZ WAITING GAME
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
The spectrum in the 700 MHz band that was auctioned last year is well-suited for rural areas because of its excellent propagation characteristics. Network operators should be able to cover large areas with relatively few towers, offering an economical alternative for delivering broadband to remote areas — once the equipment is available. Some smaller 700 MHz spectrum winners hope to minimize costs by making the same technology choice as dominant carriers AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, even though equipment to support that technology, based on the long-term evolution standard, is not expected to be available until 2010 at the earliest.
http://benton.org/node/21222
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SOME MYTHS AND MISUNDERSTANDING AND WIRELESS SAFETY BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Comcare, AUTHOR: David Aylward]
Myths and misunderstandings surround the discussion of the "D Block", the proposed creation of a national wireless broadband network for safety agencies and users. Three in particular appear in almost every story or speech on this topic. These misunderstandings are also present in one way or another in most debates over the broader topic of emergency information and communications technology, of which the D Block is only one limited part. 1) "Broadband and Internet Protocol will solve the problem". "Pipes" alone will not solve the emergency response information and communications technology problems. 2) "A new safety wireless broadband network will solve the interoperability problem." Lack of voice and data interoperability is a huge problem in emergency response. A prominent myth is that the primary reason for creating a wireless broadband access network (or any transport network) is achieving interoperability with other agencies. It doesn't, anymore than building any new network is about interoperability -- unless everyone will be on that network -- which is never going to happen. 3) "A wireless broadband network for responders is critical". Emergency response organizations don't just need a wireless broadband network. They need to be connected to all the broadband networks that are already there: terrestrial fixed (fiber, microwave), wireless and satellite for backup.
http://benton.org/node/21221
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THE ECONOMY
RECESSION HITS SILICON VALLEY AS LAYOFFS PILE UP
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Anupreeta Das]
The recession turned up late on Silicon Valley's doorstep but is likely to stay awhile, as technology companies slash thousands of jobs and rein in costs to make up for shrinking earnings and tight-fisted customers. Job cuts in the technology sector have trailed other industries until recent weeks. Now they are coming fast and furious as the economic downturn grips the Valley, the strip of land in northern California that is home to household names like Google and Amazon units. Tech giants like Intel and Microsoft are laying off thousands of employees, while start-up companies are firing in smaller numbers as they struggle to survive with fewer customers and venture capital dollars. And this is just the start, analysts say, expecting thousands more to lose their jobs this year as the recession forces the industry to slash marketing and capital spending.
http://benton.org/node/21220
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SPRINT NEXTEL TO CUT 8,000 JOBS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Dawn Kawamoto]
On Monday Sprint Nextel announced it will fire 8,000 people as the economic meltdown cuts into the telecommunications carrier's business. The workforce reduction is expected to result in a $300 million charge in the first quarter for severance payouts, but also is anticipated to save the company $1.2 billion in annualized labor costs. In addition, Sprint plans to suspend its 401k match in 2009, as well as continue with its salary freeze for a second year. The telecommunications carrier's tuition reimbursement program will also be suspended this year.
http://benton.org/node/21219
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MAPPING DECLINE AND RECOVERY ACROSS SECTORS
[SOURCE: McKinsey, AUTHOR: Bin Jiang, Timothy Koller, Zane Williams]
Different sectors enter and emerge from downturns at different times. A look at past recessions suggests how some industries may fare. After the recession of 2001, it took just over two years for most sectors to recover their peak EBITA levels once they reached bottom. Some industries, such as telecommunications, never hit their peak levels again. IT and telecommunications each lost more than 75 percent of their value in the recession of 2001.
http://benton.org/node/21207
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JOURNALISM
BBC, BSKYB ASSAILED FOR REFUSING TO CARRY GAZA APPEAL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Burns]
In more than 80 years as a publicly financed broadcaster with an audience of millions at home and around the world, the BBC has rarely been buffeted as severely as it has in recent days over its decision not to broadcast a television appeal by aid agencies for victims of Israel's recent military actions in Gaza. BBC executives made the decision late last week and defiantly reaffirmed it on Monday, citing their concern with protecting the corporation's impartiality in the Arab-Israeli dispute. The dispute stirs high passions, and the BBC, like other news organizations, has struggled uneasily for years to strike a balance, even as some critics claim it has tilted heavily toward Israel and others claim it has favored the Palestinians. British Sky Broadcasting on Monday joined the BBC in refusing to broadcast an appeal for victims of violence in Gaza. The three-week Israeli campaign in Gaza that ended nine days ago had already elicited a fresh barrage of complaints about BBC bias, for and against Israel. But the decision to block the aid appeal had the effect of magnifying the protests, and their virulence.
http://benton.org/node/21235
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FADING LOVE AFFAIR: HOW THE MEDIA WILL MAUL OBAMA
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Simon Dumenco]
[Commentary] There are generally just two stages of media euphoria: on and off. It's been conventional wisdom for at least a year now that the media is "in the tank for Obama." But all political infatuations must come to an end -- and already you can begin to see the media straining mightily to assert its "objectivity" regarding our new POTUS. For starters: 1) Just say Trouble -- with a capital T -- Even minor wrinkles can be construed as "trouble." And everybody knows that anybody experiencing "trouble" is "troubled." 2) The rule of twos Two bits of trouble in a row -- preferably within the same news cycle? 3) Some clever blogger will deconstruct a YouTube video of an uncharacteristically stuttery or at-a-loss-for-words Obama (perhaps at a news conference) and point out that he's not really that eloquent. 4) Credit Maureen Dowd for advancing the notion that Obama's post-partisan approach and tendency to see nuance where George Bush saw black and white will spell ... trouble.
http://benton.org/node/21217
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IN THE TANK
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Douglas McCollam]
Did the press help elect Barack Obama? In the 2008 presidential race there was no doubt among conservatives that journalists abandoned any semblance of skeptical detachment. The Left doesn't see it, however. So McCollam offers a few ideas: 1)Check Your Sources If the MSM didn't say it, don't reflexively blame them for spraying it. 2) Look Who's Talking -- An interesting note buried inside a 2008 election study was that researchers excluded talk radio in their assessment of the tone of coverage. 3) The New News Game -- Many of the bias complaints were actually thinly disguised laments about the lack of "standards" in modern journalism. 4) Absence of Evidence Can Be Evidence of Absence -- Another frequent conservative complaint was that the press was not letting the public in on the "real" Obama. Sometimes where there is smoke, there is fire, and sometimes there's just a smoke machine. 5) Open Your Ears, Your Mind Will Follow This is equal-opportunity advice for liberals and conservatives. One of the less-savory aspects of media proliferation is that, if we choose, we can get our news exclusively from outlets that reflect our own views back at us. This should be resisted.
http://benton.org/node/21216
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UN-AMERICAN
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Michael Massing]
[Commentary] Have you listened to the right-wing media lately? In the weeks following the election, the debate over the issue of media bias, and of whether the press was overly kind to Barack Obama, has continued to swirl. Much less attention has been paid to another, more troubling aspect of the coverage, and that's the relentless and malevolent campaign that the right-wing media waged against the Democratic candidate. Few people who did not regularly tune in to the vast, churning combine of bellowing radio hosts, yapping bloggers, obnoxious Web sites, malicious columnists, and the slashingly partisan Fox News have any idea of just how vile and venomous were the attacks leveled at Obama. Day after day, week after week, these outlets worked determinedly to discredit and degrade Obama, accusing him of being a Muslim, a Marxist, a radical, a revolutionary, a socialist, a communist, a thug, a mobster, a racist, an agent of voter fraud, a black-power advocate, a madrasah graduate, an anti-Semite, an enemy of Israel, an associate of terrorists—even the Antichrist. Supplemented by a flood of viral e-mails, slanderous robocalls, and Internet-based smear campaigns, these media outlets worked to stoke firestorms of manufactured rage against Obama and the Democrats in what was perhaps the most concerted campaign of vilification ever directed at an American politician. In light of Obama's victory, one might be tempted to let it all pass. That would be a mistake. For the effects of that campaign remain with us. What's more, the campaign itself is still going on.
http://benton.org/node/21215
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WHEN NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: James Warren]
[Commentary] In journalism's new Internet-dominated landscape, in which attitude and attack are often valued more than precision and truth, handiwork is seen as taking too long and costing too much. Newspapers have been and remain by far the largest source of news coverage and analysis in any city or town. Without the local paper, the TV and radio stations would be in difficult shape, despite the good work they often do. The most popular websites—Yahoo, the Drudge Report, MSNBC.com, CNN.com, the Huffington Post, you name it—also rely heavily on the work of newspapers, more often than not appropriating and linking to their stories without providing a penny in payment. Newspaper penetration—the number of households looking at a paper—now amounts to less than 18 percent of the population, compared with 33 percent back in 1946. As the seeming death spiral accelerates, a sense of desperation has led some to flashy redesigns aimed at attracting younger consumers. But little is working, and the diehard readers are left with a sense of getting less.
http://benton.org/node/21214
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WHAT DOES CARLOS SLIM WANT WITH THE NY TIMES?
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Michael Learmonth]
He's the second-richest man in the world, after Warren Buffett -- worth $60 billion by Forbes' measure -- a man who parlayed Mexico's one-time state-owned telephone monopoly into a business empire so dominant that it accounts for a third of the value of the leading Mexican stock market. So, what does Carlos Slim want with The New York Times? He's in a position to take control of the paper should the Sulzberger family decide to sell, an outcome that would become increasingly likely if the Times cuts its dividend again, choking off the family's main source of income.
http://benton.org/node/21213
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ED TECH
REINVENT SCHOOLS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: ]
Educators can't truly deliver 21st-century instruction in schools that reflect Industrial-Age designs, with rigid schedules, inflexible facilities, and fixed boundaries between grades, disciplines, and classrooms, according to a new white paper from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21). The describes the kinds of school structures that have been shown to facilitate successful 21st-century teaching and learning: from flexible learning spaces that can be rearranged to fit different class sizes and subjects, to more malleable units of time than the typical 50-minute class period. Although much attention has been paid to improving standards, assessments, professional development, curriculum, and instruction, this white paper argues that learning environments themselves are an essential component to supporting successful 21st-century outcomes for students.
http://benton.org/node/21212
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GAMING IS THE FUTURE OF CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Maya Prabhu]
Gaming is moving out of the entertainment domain and into other areas, said Jim Brazell, president of ventureRAMP. "We now have serious games. There are applications of video games to domains other than entertainment," he said. "Video games do not belong pigeon holed in entertainment." Games have crossed into serious domains such as health care and military training and have begun to give birth to new models of playing, learning, and socializing, he said. "You can get more data in a video game than in any other education area," Brazell said, adding that gaming allows for the convergence of physical, virtual, and imaginary realities.
http://benton.org/node/21211
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INTERNET/BROADBAND/DIGITAL CONTENT
A COMPREHENSIVE, PRAGMATIC RURAL BROADBAND STIMULUS PACKAGE
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] broadband stimulus package must do is simple: Spur deployment of networks, Create jobs, Provide long-term value, and Work as quickly as possible. We need to identify if there is a backlog of shovel-ready projects that policy can help get moving. We need to put resources into the hands of communities so they can start determining their own fate now rather than waiting for higher levels of government and industry to make decisions for them. We need to make a big pot of money available to anyone willing to bring broadband to the unserved as quickly as possible. We need to provide a mechanism whereby competition can still be encouraged so wherever possible we don't invite the establishment of monopoly providers. Finally, we need to start writing checks to get all education, healthcare, and government facilities wired together as we can't afford to have any of these vital institutions not online.
http://benton.org/node/21218
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HEALTH INFO TECHNOLOGY SAVES LIVES, COSTS: STUDY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Julie Steenhuysen]
Hospitals in Texas that used computers to keep track of patient records and manage care had lower rates of deaths, complications and costs, U.S. researchers said on Monday, offering a strong argument for hospitals to go "paperless." They said patients treated in hospitals that ranked highest in use of health information technology to manage patient records and physician notes were 15 percent less likely to die compared with patients in hospitals that ranked lower. "If these results were to hold for all hospitals in the United States, computerizing notes and records might have the potential to save 100,000 lives annually," Dr. Neil Poe of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, who worked on the study, said. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, lends fresh evidence that information technology can improve health quality and cut costs by reducing errors.
http://benton.org/node/21231
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A WIN FOR FREE SPEECH ONLINE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] A 10-year campaign to censor the Internet ended last week when the Supreme Court refused to step in and save the Child Online Protection Act. Everyone can agree on the need to protect children from sexually explicit online material, but this misguided law tried to do it in ways that infringed on too much constitutionally protected free speech. Society has a legitimate interest in keeping sexually explicit material away from minors. But as the courts have repeatedly emphasized, it cannot be done through a sweeping censorship regime. It is not likely that Congress will rush to take up online indecency again. If it does, it needs to follow the courts' guidance and rely on methods — like filtering software — that keep indecent material away from children without infringing on the free expression rights of everyone else.
http://benton.org/node/21234
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US CLAIMS VICTORY IN WTO COMPLAINT ON CHINA PIRACY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Doug Palmer]
The United States claimed victory on Monday in a groundbreaking World Trade Organization case against China for failing to protect and enforce copyrights and trademarks on a wide range of goods. "Today, a WTO panel found that a number of deficiencies in China's IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) regime are incompatible with its WTO obligations," acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier said. "We will engage vigorously with China on appropriate corrective actions to ensure that US rights holders obtain the benefits of this decision." Washington launched the dispute in 2007 out of frustration at rip-offs of films, branded goods and other trademarked property openly available in Chinese cities. The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a coalition of U.S. music, movie, book and software industry groups, conservatively estimates that piracy in China costs them more than $3.7 billion in lost sales. The WTO ruling means China and other nations "can't simply go through the motions" of protecting intellectual property, but must provide effective results, Neil Turkewitiz, an executive vice president at the Recording Industry Association of America, said.
http://benton.org/node/21209
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CHINA VOWS COPYRIGHT COOPERATION AFTER WTO CASE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andrew Torchia]
China pledged on Tuesday to cooperate with other countries to strengthen its protection of copyrights and trademarks, after the United States claimed victory in a groundbreaking World Trade Organization case. In a brief statement on Tuesday, Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian insisted that Beijing had made great progress in curbing piracy, and expressed regret that the WTO panel had not found in China's favor in areas such as copyright law. He welcomed the panel's decision against one major U.S. claim, that copyright pirates had no fear of criminal prosecution because the Chinese government's threshold for bringing a case was too high. But Yao, in one of his government's first comments on a Sino-U.S. trade dispute since President Barack Obama took office last week, also promised that China would work with the international community to resolve the issue.
http://benton.org/node/21230
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NEED BROADBAND FACTS?
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Carol Wilson]
The Internet Innovation Alliance has launched a new Broadband Fact Book, a Web-based source for information on broadband that encourages users to constantly add research and other content. The Broadband Fact Book contains information on broadband adoption rates, traffic rates, and benefits for the economy, the education sector, healthcare, energy consumption, the environment, fighting poverty and telework. It also includes facts on network infrastructure. Readers can contribute information to the Broadband Fact Book, as long as it is accurate and fully sourced.
http://benton.org/node/21208
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QUICKLY
VERIZON OFFERS $250 IN-HOME CELL PHONE BOOSTER
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Peter Svensson]
Verizon Wireless has started selling a book-sized device that boosts cell phone signals within a home for $250, making it easier for people to drop a home phone line and rely solely on wireless. The Verizon Wireless Network Extender needs to be connected to a broadband Internet line. Then it acts a miniature cellular tower, listening for signals from a subscriber's cell phone. It covers up to 5,000 square feet.
http://benton.org/node/21206
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