1. Monthly archive
  2. May 2009

May 2009

Obama announces cyber-security czar (updated)

President Barack Obama announced a new cyber-security initiative Friday that will install a "cyber czar" in the White House to coordinate US defenses against high-tech hacker attacks. Protecting cyberspace will be a national security priority for his Administration, and to underline this importance President Obama said he would personally select a new cyber-security coordinator. The new official will have regular access to the Oval Office, President Obama said. The new official will be responsible for integrating and coordinating all government protections of cyberspace infrastructure, and will also lead US responses to any hacker attacks to US networks. The announcement follows a 60-day review by the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council of US cyberspace infrastructure that was intended to lead to a strategic framework to coordinate US security initiatives in the area.

Obama Committed to Network Neutrality (Updated)

President Obama said Friday that the government was going to start treating the nation's digital infrastructure, broadband networks and computers as strategic national assets that should be "open and free." That came in announcing the release of a report on the state of the nation's cyber security, which he indicated needed to be beefed up in numerous ways (he admitted that his own campaign Web efforts had been hacked). The President pledged to protect privacy and economic security, and even gave a shout-out to network neutrality, saying, "Indeed, I remain firmly committed to net neutrality so we can keep the Internet as it should be--open and free." The new priority on cybersecurity will include creating an office in the White House led by a cybersecurity coordinator who will also be a member of the national security staff and work closely with new Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.

Learning, and Profiting, from Online Friendships

Companies are working fast to figure out how to make money from the wealth of data they're beginning to have about our online friendships. They're finding that digital friendships speak volumes about us as consumers and workers, and decoding the data can lead to profitable insights. Calculating the value of these relationships has become a defining challenge for businesses and individuals. Marketers are leading the way. They're finding that if our friends buy something, there's a better-than-average chance we'll buy it, too. It's a simple insight but one that could lead to targeted messaging in an age of growing media clutter.

FCC rural broadband report notes middle mile, consumer demand concerns

The Federal Communications Commission's Report on a Rural Broadband Strategy includes issues involved with the "middle mile" that connects the last mile Internet service provider with an Internet backbone service provider. "In many cases, the rural broadband provider will need to obtain backhaul transport from more than one provider, often over facilities that were designed for voice telephone or cable television services," the report states. "Some of these 'middle mile' facilities may have insufficient capacity, causing the transmission speed on otherwise adequate last-mile broadband facilities to come to a crawl or stall before the data reach the Internet backbone. Overcoming this may require the construction of a dedicated facility, which drives up costs and can deter last-mile broadband investments. Moreover, even when the last-mile provider acquires access to adequate middle-mile facilities, that access may be prohibitively expensive." The report goes on to offer several possible solutions, such as "encouraging middle-mile buildout, revising universal service funding to help cover costs of the middle-mile and using current or potential infrastructure more effectively by coordinating with other infrastructure projects to shrink deployment costs, and reforming interconnection obligations."

Was broadband stimulus really delayed? Perception may be reality

A recent report from the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), which triggered speculation that the federal broadband stimulus program has been delayed, is open to interpretation. But whether the schedule provided by the NTIA this month represents a delay or simply a clarification, it could drive service providers that hoped to obtain funds to push out their deployment plans even further than might be expected. Craig Settles, president of consulting firm Successful.com, points out a December award date is problematic for several reasons. "The practical impact is that if you have plans queued up and if you don't start in the next couple of months in New England or the Midwest, nothing will start until April of the following year," said Settles. "No one is digging up trenches in January in Minnesota." And for those who are not successful in their funding bids, a December decision point could complicate the ability to find other sources of funding. "If you don't get a grant, it's kind of late to put costs into the city budget," he said.

California's Budget Propositions Lead a Diverse Online Conversation

From May 18-22, the No. 1 story in social media was the California financial crisis and the voters' rejection of ballot initiatives designed to deal with the problem. That subject generated 17% of the week's links, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Conservative bloggers in particular honed in on the subject, claiming the votes were a rejection of higher taxes and bigger government-and a message to politicians throughout the country.

House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
2123 Rayburn House Office Building
Thursday, June 04, 2009 At 10:00 AM

WITNESSES:

  • Fiona Alexander, Associate Administrator, Office of International Affairs, National elecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • Paul Twomey, Ph.D., President and CEO, ICANN
  • Kenneth J. Silva, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, VeriSign
  • Christine N. Jones, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, The Go Daddy Group, Inc.
  • Sarah Deutsch, Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Verizon Communications
  • Thomas M. Lenard, Ph.D., President and Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
122 Cannon House Office Building
May 29th, 1:00-2:30 PM

At the direction of Congress, the Federal Communication Commission has requested public comment as the first step in developing a national broadband strategy by February 2010. The American Consumer Institute invites you to join us and a distinguished group of panelists for a conversation about key issues to be addressed in moving America toward universal broadband.

Moderator: Dr. Jerry Ellig, Senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Panel:
Dr. Larry F. Darby, Senior Fellow for the American Consumer Institute
Dr. Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
James Gattuso, Senior Research Fellow of the Heritage Foundation
Dr. Ev Ehrlich, Senior VP and Director of Research for the Committee for Economic Development


Next Week's Agenda

Breaktime is over next week when Computers Freedom and Privacy 2009 comes to DC, the 9th Annual WilmerHale Intellectual Property Conference rocks Boston, the NSF Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure meets in an undisclosed bunker on Wilson Blvd, the FCC talks DTV transition, and the Online Child Safety Working Group holds its first meeting.

May 29, 2009 (National Cybersecurity Day)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY MAY 29, 2009

Breaktime is over next week when Computers Freedom and Privacy 2009 comes to DC, the 9th Annual WilmerHale Intellectual Property Conference rocks Boston, the NSF Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure meets in an undisclosed bunker on Wilson Blvd, the FCC talks DTV transition, and the Online Child Safety Working Group holds its first meeting. For all of June's events, see http://benton.org/calendar/2009-06


CYBERSECURITY
   Pentagon Plans New Arm to Wage Wars in Cyberspace

JOURNALISM
   SPJ, AHJC Want Obama Administration To Address Information Control
   Statehouse Exodus
   How Twitter poses a threat to newspapers

CONSUMER WELFARE
   Group Calls For Overhaul Of Privacy Regs
   Senate Launches Investigation Into Deceptive Online "Mystery Charges"

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   FCC Launches International Broadband Comparison
   A New Twist on Technological Neutrality
   Google -- market disruptor or destroyer
   How Facebook Will Upend Advertising
   Internet TVs, Other Video Devices To More Than Quadruple By 2013
   Trilliant buys broadband wireless for smart grid
   Arris Offers Support To Ops Applying For Broadband Funds
   2.5 billion new broadband subscribers by 2013
   Time Warner Board Backs AOL Spinoff

WIRELESS
   AT&T Chief Defends His Network
   Networking Sites Extend Reach

Recent Comments on:
Obama adviser looks at U.S.-built broadband network

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CYBERSECURITY
   Pentagon Plans New Arm to Wage Wars in Cyberspace

PENTAGON PLANS NEW ARM TO WAGE WARS IN CYBERSPACE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Sanger, Thom Shanker]
The Pentagon plans to create a new military command for cyberspace, stepping up preparations by the armed forces to conduct both offensive and defensive computer warfare. The military command would complement a civilian effort to be announced by President Obama today that would overhaul the way the United States safeguards its computer networks. President Obama will announce the creation of a White House office — reporting to both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council — that will coordinate a multibillion-dollar effort to restrict access to government computers and protect systems that run the stock exchanges, clear global banking transactions and manage the air traffic control system. White House officials say President Obama has not yet been formally presented with the Pentagon plan. They said he would not discuss it today when he announced the creation of a White House office responsible for coordinating private-sector and government defenses against the thousands of cyberattacks mounted against the United States — largely by hackers but sometimes by foreign governments — every day.
http://benton.org/node/25587
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JOURNALISM


SPJ, AHJC WANT OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO ADDRESS INFORMATION CONTROL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) have called on the Obama Administration to end the practice of prohibiting federal agency staffers from talking with reporters unless those conversations are "tracked and monitored" by the public relations office. That request came earlier this month in response to the Obama Administration's ongoing call for input on how to make government more open and accessible.
http://benton.org/node/25585
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STATEHOUSE EXODUS
[SOURCE: American Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Jennifer Dorroh]
AJR's latest survey of the nation's state capitols finds a dramatic decrease in the number of newspaper reporters covering state government full time. The tally found only 355 full-time newspaper reporters at the nation's state capitols, a 32 percent decrease from just six years ago. It discovered that 44 statehouses have fewer full-time reporters than they did six years ago. The number of full-time reporters remained the same in four states and increased modestly in two. A handful of digital news outlets are springing up to fill the breach. When will these efforts be enough to compensate for the loss of the newspaper watchdogs?
http://benton.org/node/25584
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HOW TWITTER POSES A THREAT TO NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: Miami Herald, AUTHOR: Edward Wasserman]
[Commentary] Thanks to the Internet, most every journalist can reach independently an audience immeasurably greater than the star reporter on the biggest newspaper or top-rated newscast could a generation ago. Now the traditional news business is built, one way or another, on a promise of exclusivity: What we've got you won't get elsewhere. So the idea that a media company's biggest threat may come from its own newsroom is hard for news managers to swallow. To make them really gag, add Twitter. Twitter is a dazzling social networking technology that allows you to stay in touch, via brief updates known as tweets, with a vast number of friends, acquaintances and interested strangers as you go through your day. Related software enables you to interact with even broader arrays of people you seek out through particular words in their tweets that suggest they know something you're interested in. It's easy to see why journalists, who depend on just such networks of informants, find Twitter appealing. The danger is that Twitter will keep reporters off the streets and in front of their screens, that it will further skew journalism toward seeking out, listening to and serving the young, the hip, the technically sophisticated, the well-off ­ in short, the better-connected. The people who aren't being heard now aren't sending out tweets.
http://benton.org/node/25583
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CONSUMER WELFARE


GROUP CALLS FOR OVERHAUL OF PRIVACY REGS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board says the US's 35-year-old federal privacy law and related policies should be updated to reflect the realities of modern technologies and information systems, and account for more advanced threats to privacy and security. The Board calls for Congress to amend the 1974 Privacy Act and provisions of the 2002 E-Government Act to improve federal privacy notices; clearly cover commercial data sources; and update the definition of "system of records" to encompass relational and distributed systems based on government use of records, not just its possession of them. The panel included technology experts from industry and academia.
http://benton.org/node/25582
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SENATE LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO DECEPTIVE ONLINE "MYSTERY CHARGES"
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller has launched an investigation into certain e-commerce marketing practices that generate thousands of mysterious monthly charges to consumer credit cards. The source of these puzzling monthly fees appears to be from a group of marketing companies that acquire consumers' billing information through agreements with popular online retail sites. On many well-known websites, including Fandango.com and Orbitz.com, after consumers make a purchase, a hyperlink or "pop up" window appears and offers consumers a cash back reward if they sign up for a company's online membership service. If consumers accept the offer by providing an e-mail address and clicking a "yes" button, their credit card or debit card account information is automatically forwarded to the company and they are automatically enrolled in the service. And unless the consumer cancels this online membership service, their credit card or debit card is indefinitely charged $9-$12 on a monthly basis.
http://benton.org/node/25580
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INTERNET/BROADBAND


FCC LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND COMPARISON
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The FCC sent letters to various countries asking them for information about developments in their broadband Internet market. The Commission said it is interested in obtaining broadband data at more granular levels, for example, by city, county, state, province or prefecture, and is interested in demographic and socioeconomic data at comparable unit levels. Letters were sent to South Africa, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Nigeria, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.
http://benton.org/node/25581
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A NEW TWIST ON TECHNOLOGICAL NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
The Federal Communications Commission's rural broadband report includes this: "[E]very technology has inherent capabilities and limitations. Those characteristics vary greatly among technologies. Similarly, every rural area presents its own special challenges, and a particular technological solution may be well-suited to one situation and poorly-suited to another. Therefore, decision makers should proceed on a technology-neutral basis -- by considering the attributes of all potential technologies -- in selecting the technology or technologies to be deployed in a particular rural area."No longer will the consideration of broadband technologies be boiled down to just speed. Now it appears as though we're going to have more well-reasoned, multi-faceted examinations of the full range of characteristics that make up world-class broadband networks. And in so doing, we'll be able to ensure that all Americans get equal access to the best broadband while simultaneously avoiding wasting money on lesser technologies that can't deliver the connectivity our country needs.
http://benton.org/node/25576
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GOOGLE -- MARKET DISRUPTOR OR DESTROYER
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Rafe Needleman]
Is Google a source of creative destruction--or just plain destruction? Google is steadily implementing a strategy, across many markets, of building services that sit right in front of the user and that act as gateways between the user and other online services. Google makes money from traffic to these gateway sites, as well as, oftentimes, from the sites it directs traffic to. And Google ends up controlling the game. How do other companies make money and build loyalty among consumers when their services become commodities, access to which is doled out by Google? Their business models are getting destroyed--perhaps deservedly so, though not always. Some new companies are figuring out how to work in a world where they have limited direct access to the consumer and very little brand loyalty. But companies with older models to protect are having a hard time adjusting.
http://benton.org/node/25579
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HOW FACEBOOK WILL UPEND ADVERTISING
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Jonathan Yarmis]
The question isn't how advertising will work on Facebook but rather how Facebook and social networks like News Corp.'s MySpace are changing advertising. One of the biggest challenges facing advertisers is ad credibility. Consumers typically rate advertising as their least credible information channel. However, businesses have continued to invest in advertising because they could compensate for the lack of credibility through broad distribution and high-impact messaging. Today that trade-off is being turned on its head. Word of mouth—peer opinion—has consistently been rated the most credible source of information. But traditionally there's been a limit as to how widely you could distribute a friend's point of view. Credibility now has a channel for mass distribution. It's called the Web and it particularly thrives in social networks. Such distribution will have profound implications for advertising.
http://benton.org/node/25578
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INTERNET TVs, OTHER VIDEO DEVICES TO MORE THAN QUADRUPLE BY 2013
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Worldwide shipments of consumer-electronics devices capable of supporting Internet video are projected to rise by nearly a factor of five from 2009 to 2013, according to research firm iSuppli. The devices include televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray DVD players, videogame consoles and dedicated video platforms.
http://benton.org/node/25577
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TRILLIANT BUYS BROADBAND WIRELESS FOR SMART GRIP
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Martin LaMonica]
Trilliant on Thursday said it has acquired SkyPilot Networks to bring broadband wireless networking to utility smart-grid programs. The acquisition of SkyPilot Networks, which used to sell municipal Wi-Fi systems, will allow Trilliant to offer utilities a way to build a private broadband network.
http://benton.org/node/25575
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ARRIS OFFERS SUPPORT TO OPPS APPLYING FOR BROADBAND FUNDS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Arris is offering to help cable operators prepare applications for the broadband stimulus funds through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service program. Arris said its product lineup enables broadband operators to build wireline and wireless infrastructures and support broadband services that "fully meet the requirements and intent of the ARRA's broadband provisions." The company said it also offers services to operators in preparing and submitting their applications to the Department of Agriculture for access to the RUS funding, including: eligibility assessment; creation of a suitable business plan and market analysis; technical and network planning; technical solution delivery, logistical engineering and integration expertise; and ongoing project management support.
http://benton.org/node/25574
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2.5 BILLION NEW BROADBAND SUBSCRIBERS BY 2013
[SOURCE: TeleGeography, AUTHOR: ]
GlobalComms Insight forecasts that by the end of 2013 the number of broadband subscribers across the world will have grown by 72% to over 700 million, while wireless subscriptions will have grown by well over two billion, an increase of 60%. The death of traditional fixed line phone services has been much talked about, but its demise has been greatly exaggerated: the number of fixed lines will fall over the next five years, but the decline will be gradual and will be offset by continued strong growth in both broadband and wireless customers. In aggregate, GlobalComms Insight predicts that by the end of 2013 there will be no fewer than 2.5 billion net new subscribers or revenue generating units.
http://benton.org/node/25573
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TIME WARNER BOARD BACKS AOL SPINOFF
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Perez-Pena]
Time Warner's announcement on Thursday that it will spin off AOL was the much-anticipated divorce filing for a multibillion-dollar corporate marriage that came to symbolize an entire era in American business but that had long been acknowledged as a failure. The split, which Time Warner executives have said for months was coming, gave a last echo of the dot-com bubble, which burst in the months after the merger was announced. That deal, one of the biggest in history, came at the height of a national infatuation with Internet and media stocks, a time whose reasoning is hard to recall after living through the ensuing bust and boom and in the depths of a severe recession. For three years, AOL has been steadily getting out of the business of paid Internet service, becoming more reliant on advertising sales, but that strategy has been hampered by the worst advertising slump in generations. AOL has about 6 million paying subscribers in the United States, down from 13 million at the end of 2006. Last year, for the first time, subscription revenue was smaller than ad revenue. Over all, AOL had $4.2 billion in revenue last year, down from $9.1 billion in 2002. Time Warner as a whole, including the cable unit that is now a separate company, had $47 billion in revenue last year.
http://benton.org/node/25586
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WIRELESS


AT&T CHIEF DEFENDS HIS NETWORK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ben Charny]
AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson on Wednesday said US wireless networks aren't prepared for the surge in smart phones use that has already shown signs of choking their networks. He defended his company's wireless network's performance, though, which has come under fire for not being prepared for the popularity of Apple 's iPhone, which the company sells on an exclusive basis in the US.
http://benton.org/node/25572
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NETWORKING SITES EXTEND REACH
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amol Sharma and Jessica Vascellaro]
Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are popular services on high-end cellphones like the iPhone and the BlackBerry. But extending their reach to the broader wireless market has been challenging, because most basic phones tend to have clunky Web browsers and can't support fancy software. Now, handset makers and wireless carriers are ramping up efforts to tap the mass market. Manufacturers such as INQ Mobile and Samsung are rolling out midrange cellphones tailored to social-networking software, with some features of smart phones but lower prices.
http://benton.org/node/25571
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... and we are outta here. Everyone have a great weekend -- except you dang Dodgers!

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