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February 2009

North Carolina lawmakers debate using industry-backed info on broadband access

If North Carolina receives federal monies to fund rural broadband service, the state will need to know who currently has access and who doesn't. The state's current data, provided by the communications companies, excludes rural communities that face "entrenched poverty," because those areas are lumped with nearby metro areas that do have access. "If we can't narrow the area of no-service to census block areas, we can't target the pockets of poor minority folks who don't have it," says State Rep. Angela Bryant. As the House Select Committee on High-Speed Internet Access in Rural Areas wrapped up its work at a Jan. 27 meeting, Bryant and other lawmakers continued to debate the role Connected Nation, an industry-backed initiative, should play in mapping household Internet access. The key issue is whether the state should base its policy—and spend federal broadband dollars—on the information the industry provides, or whether it should collect its own independently verifiable data. North Carolina already has e-NC Authority, which functions as part of state government. In 2001, it undertook one of the first statewide broadband maps in the country. The organization also gives matching incentive grants to encourage the industry to build in the state's most under-served areas. According to e-NC's 2007 report, 83 percent of North Carolina households have access to DSL, cable or other wire line broadband services, slightly fewer than in 2006. But e-NC's maps are also based on data the industry provides. And because the authority agrees to protect confidentiality at the industry's request, its maps are often incomplete. Its statewide report averages access by county. The interactive map on its Web site has holes throughout Orange, Chatham and Wake counties that say "data proprietary." Worse, AT&T has stalled on providing that data to e-NC while supporting Connected Nation.

Ars Technica's tech policy "People to Watch" 2009

With a new, tech-savvy US administration in power, Ars Technica and Tech Policy Central team up to profile the top names in tech policy for 2009. The envelope please...

1) Robert Atkinson, Founder and President, The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF),

2) Jim Baller, President, Baller Herbst Law Group and Founder, US Broadband Coalition,

3) Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Chairman of House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet,

4) Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy,

5 & 6) Aaron Cooper, Counsel to US Senate Judiciary Committee & Stacey Dansky, Majority Counsel to US House Judiciary Committee,

7) Michael Copps, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission,

8) Susan Crawford, Professor, University of Michigan Law School and Founder, OneWebDay,

9 & 10) Alan Davidson, Director of US Public Policy and Government Affairs for Google, Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel for Google,

11) Jim Dempsey, VP for Public Policy for the Center for Democracy & Technology,

12) Ed Felten, Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs and Founding Director of the Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University,

13) Julius Genachowski, Co-founder, LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures,

14) Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies, Cato Institute and Founder, WashingtonWatch.com,

15) John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology,

16) Fred Humphries, Managing Director of Federal Affairs, Microsoft Corporation,

17) Vivek Kundra, Chief Technology Officer, District of Columbia Government,

18) Sascha Meinrath, Research Director, Wireless Future Program, New America Foundation,

19) Ellen Miller, Co-founder and Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation,

20) Jon M. Peha, Chief Technologist, Federal Communications Commission,

21) Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google and Chairman of New America Foundation,

22) Ben Scott, Policy Director, Free Press,

23) Gigi Sohn, Co-founder and President, Public Knowledge,

24) Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman, US House Committee on Energy and Commerce,

25) Joe Waz, Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Public Policy Counsel, Comcast Corporation,

26) Phil Weiser, Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Research and Executive Director of Silicon Flatirons Center, University of Colorado Law School.

New radio "pay to play" bills pit RIAA against broadcasters

The "Performance Rights Act" has been introduced in both the House and Senate with the goal of forcing US radio stations to start paying artists whose music is played on the air. Labels are pushing hard for the idea, but radio stations could hardly be more upset. When it comes to music, US "performance rights" law looks like a floodlit monument to inconsistency. Radio stations pay only songwriters for the music they play; recording artists get nothing (except publicity). When music is delivered through webcasting, cable networks, and satellite radio, however, station owners need to pay both songwriters and recording artists. If the law is internally inconsistent, it's also externally inconsistent—most developed nations require radio stations to pay artists. A2IM, which represents indie labels, makes the point by saying, "of world powers, only countries like China, Iran, and North Korea join the US in failing to compensate creators of music when their songs are played on the radio." So how to patch up the situation? One obvious way would be for Congress to force radio to pay performance royalties to recording artists—though, in reality, a good chunk of this money would go to the labels who have funded those artists. Because of the cash involved, the RIAA has been pushing hard to enact a performance rights bill for years, but it has become an even more urgent priority as record company revenues have fallen and can't get up. The reintroduction of the Performance Rights Act to Congress means that the labels are gearing up to fight the old battle once more in a new Congress, but they will face the same stout opposition they always have.

Can Social Media Save Lives?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have launched a social media page that provides all kinds of tools—ranging from highly useful to quite silly—for tracking information about the peanut recalls. The page, co-sponsored by the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, has the agencies includes blogs, databases of recalled products, widgets of various kinds for outside bloggers to use, links to YouTube channels, podcasts, links to Twitter feeds and the like. And for those of you who insist on getting your diseased-food information while immersed in a virtual world, "CDC Second Life" lets you dress your avatar in a biohazard suit and have it wear an "awareness bracelet."

Why Facebook wants you to have 100,000 friends

[Commentary] Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sanders says of the services 5,000 friend limit: "I'm not going to give you a specific date, but I will reinforce the message that this is coming, and more importantly tell you why we think this is important. Because you have these friend requests, because people genuinely want to hear from you and genuinely want to connect with you...We look forward to you having 80,000 friends...100,000 friends."

Apple, AT&T Face Multiple iPhone Lawsuits

The iPhone 3G was the most popular smartphone of 2008, and it sold more than 13 million units. But not every customer has been happy with the device. Four lawsuits have been filed in the last two weeks regarding the 3G connectivity and the durability of the device. Separate suits have been filed in Florida, New Jersey, and Texas, and they all basically claim that the iPhone 3G is a flawed device that cannot provide adequate 3G reception. The actions are seeking an injunction preventing the companies from spreading "false" advertising and punitive damages. All four complaints cite a report from the Swedish engineering publication Ny Teknik, which said Apple's handsets aren't sensitive enough to adequately receive the 3G signal. Some of the complaints also bolster their claims with the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority's decision to ban multiple iPhone ads because of their claims that the device can access the entire Internet.

Lawsuit alleges Netflix, Wal-Mart acted improperly

Several lawsuits filed across the country in the past two weeks allege Netflix Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc improperly negotiated Wal-Mart's departure from the online video market in 2005 to enable both companies to benefit illegally. "There's a giant investigation by a number of law firms throughout the country regarding anti-trust collusive behavior between these companies," said lawyer Daniel Becnel, who filed one suit in Baton Rouge and one in New Orleans earlier this week.

Are you a fan of FCC Chairman Michael Copps?

Are you a Facebook member? See http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-J-Copps/66912881792

FCC Meeting Today

The Federal Communications Commission released its agenda for today's open meeting on the digital television transition.

A Plan to Extend Super-fast Broadband Connections to All Americans

A Century Foundation Report
John Windhausen, Jr.
January 2009

Broadband technologies are fast becoming the cornerstone of economic growth in the twenty-first century. America needs a comprehensive federal policy to promote broadband development and use. But there is no silver bullet that will solve America's broadband woes. The problems are too complex, and the marketplace too diverse, to adopt a "one-size-fits-all" approach. The United States needs a holistic strategy that includes a variety of tools, including both "carrots" and "sticks." There are four areas of need that the government must address in order ensure that our broadband infrastructure meets our future needs.

The first step must be to embark on a significant effort to provide government "seed" funding to build high-capacity broadband networks across the country. The U.S. government should ensure that everyone has access to this essential technology, especially people in rural, inner city, and unprofitable areas.

If the United States is going to make this investment, it must do so with a long-range view. This calls for a national strategy to build broadband networks with large enough capacity to handle a minimum of 100 mbps, and perhaps faster. Building such networks would allow us to leap-frog many other countries and allow the United States to reclaim its position as a world leader in broadband connectivity.

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