February 2009

Federal stimulus could expand Missouri rural broadband

About one-fifth of the Missouri's residents live in areas without access to high-speed Internet, according to a 2007 study from the Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates telecommunications companies and other utilities. Rural areas generally have a much higher percentage than urban cores. A sliver of the federal economic stimulus package is aimed at bridging that high-speed gap. The broadband funding would come in the form of competitive grants and loans, though the law says each state should expect to receive some portion of the money. Applicants also are required to provide part of a project's funding. As a member of Gov. Jay Nixon's economic stimulus council, Carter County Presiding Commissioner Gene Oakley is helping decide how the state can access grants such as the broadband funds. He said the problem is personal. "We cannot get high-speed Internet here," said Oakley, who lives several miles outside Van Buren. "My wife's just totally frustrated. She's a big computer person." The state is interested in applying for some of federal Internet money but does not yet have a detailed proposal, said Department of Economic Development spokesman John Fougere. If the state does apply for the funds, it could use the work of a rural broadband task force that released a report just before Nixon took office. Task force member Bill Mitchell is the executive director of MOREnet, which provides high-speed connections to schools and libraries across the state. Although he doesn't handle business or residential hookups, he said getting rural areas online is much more costly and time consuming than urban areas.

Minnesota Broadband Scenarios

There is much discussion about the accuracy of the Connected Nation maps and the legitimacy of the speed tests. So here's a look at broadband availability scenarios for various regions of Minnesota.

US Innovation Ranks High, Progress Lacking

The United States ranks sixth in the world on global innovation-based economic competitiveness, ahead of the European Union, which ranked 18th, according to a new report from a high-tech think tank. The ranking of 39 countries and regions on 16 indicators in six key areas, authored by Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson and Scott Andes, also found the nation comes in last when measured by progress over the last decade. Issues ITIF measured include: human capital, innovation capacity, entrepreneurship, IT infrastructure, economic policy factors and economic performance. "This study is based on the importance of benchmarking global competitiveness and innovation on a variety of factors, not simply policy factors or economic performance," Atkinson said. "It's important to look at the competitiveness of United States, Europe, Asia and the rest of world based on variety of factors -- not just one." While the United States leads Europe, it "is not the runaway leader that some recent studies have found it to be," added Atkinson.

Health Information Technology Policy Committee Nomination Letters

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Act) established the HIT Policy Committee to make recommendations on the implementation of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, whose office was also established by the Act. The HIT Policy Committee consists of at least 20 members, 13 of which are to be appointed by the Comptroller General within 45 days of enactment of the Act. For appointments to the HIT Policy Committee that will be made no later than April 3, 2009, letters of nomination and resumes should be submitted by March 6, 2009 to ensure adequate opportunity for review and consideration of nominees prior to appointment of members.

Supreme Court rules for AT&T unit in antitrust case

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Wednesday for an AT&T subsidiary in an antitrust lawsuit accusing it of anti-competitive practices over high-speed Internet access (broadband). The justices unanimously rejected a claim that AT&T's Pacific Bell Telephone subsidiary had engaged in a "price squeeze" aimed at driving out competition in the market for digital subscriber line, or DSL, service. The case involved wholesale prices AT&T charged for high-speed service to Internet service providers who then compete with AT&T for retail Internet customers. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including LinkLine Communications, buy high-speed service from AT&T, combine it with other services and then sell Internet-access services that compete with AT&T. The lawsuit, filed in 2003 in federal court in California, claimed a "price squeeze" that involved AT&T selling at high prices in its wholesale sales and low prices at retail to undercut rival retail sellers.

House Judiciary Hearing on Copyright, Compensation, and Licensing

The bright lines between industries, as well as some intersecting lines, continued to be drawn Wednesday as Congress held its second and third hearings on changes to the law circumscribing cable and satellite's licenses to carry TV station signals. In a House Judiciary Committee hearing, "Copyright Licensing in a Digital Age: Competition, Compensation and the Need to Update the Cable and Satellite TV Licenses," NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow and NAB President David Rehr weighed in, joined by representatives of the satellite, programmer and consumer sides. The most pressing issue is reauthorization of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA), which deals with satellite's compulsory license to import distant signals to un-served customers. That is because that license expires at the end of the year. But, per the Copyright Office's suggestions for reforming and/or harmonizing related permanent compulsory licenses for cable and satellite distant and local signals, Congress is looking to deal with those issues as well.

Updated: FCC Issues NOI On Content-Control Technologies

The Federal Communications Commission will issue a notice of inquiry (NOI) March 2 on how to implement the Child Safe Viewing Act, which requires it to collect data for a report to Congress (due Aug. 29) on the most advanced methods for blocking video content, including on wired and wireless platforms and across a variety of platforms including TVs, DVD players, VCRs, cable set-tops and wireless handsets. One of the arguments broadcasters are making in their challenges to FCC indecency actions is that the V-chip/ratings system is an effective content-control tool and, thus, a more narrowly tailored means to the government's end of protecting children. The new law asks the FCC to look at technologies that operate independently of any ratings system as well.

Update: FCC released Notice of Inquiry March 2, 2009

Update: Senators Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), along with several children's advocacy groups, applauded action taken by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to advance a critical review of modern parental-control technology.

US should look abroad for ed lessons

In a report titled "Benchmarking for Success," high-level state officials call for action to ensure that American students are globally competitive. Education leaders, the report advises, should renew the focus on international benchmarking and look toward other countries for help in drafting state achievement standards. The report's advisory group, which consisted of governors, state education commissioners, business executives, researchers, and other officials, identified five transformative steps the U.S. education system should take to produce more globally competitive students. The group was convened by the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and Achieve. The five steps American education should take to produce more globally competitive students:

1) Upgrade state standards by adopting a common core of internationally benchmarked standards in math and language arts for grades K-12;

2) Leverage states' collective influence to ensure textbooks, digital media, curricula and assessments are aligned to internationally benchmarked standards and draw on lessons from high-performing nations;

3) Revise state policies for recruiting, preparing, developing, and supporting teachers and school leaders to reflect the 'human capital' practices of top-performing nations and states around the world;

4) Hold schools and systems accountable through monitoring, interventions, and support to ensure consistently high performance, drawing upon international best practices; and

5) Measure state-level education performance globally by examining student achievement and attainment in an international context to ensure that students are receiving the education they need to compete in the 21st century economy.

Google Tries To Kibosh Funding Of Critic

Google's critics have complained for several years that the company has grown too large and powerful to be entirely trustworthy. Now, new revelations have given some of Google's most ardent critics additional ammunition. This week, it came to light that Google attempted to persuade a foundation to stop funding Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica (CA)-based non-profit that criticized the search giant for its privacy stance. Google's Bob Boorstin, director of policy communications, sent an email to the Rose Foundation on Feb. 9 complaining about the group Consumer Watchdog and asking the charity to consider "whether there might be better groups in which to place your trust and resources." Last year, the Rose Foundation gave Consumer Watchdog $100,000.

Can Google Save Local Media?

Google has played no small role in redefining how people read the news, and last week, one of its most prominent executives launched a side project to see if he can save local reporting from the lethal dynamics that threaten papers. When Tim Armstrong isn't busy running Google's North and South American advertising arm, he's behind the Polar Capital Group, which has just funded Patch, a new company dedicated to providing online local reporting in small towns that newspapers can no longer afford to cover. So far, the company has set up one reporter in each of three New Jersey suburbs: South Orange, Maplewood, and Milburn. Patch is based out of New York, where former Time Out New York Editor in Chief Brian Farnham will try out the new model.

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