May 2009

National Broadband Policy needs concrete goals to succeed

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act requires the Federal Communications Commission to develop a National Broadband Plan and deliver it to Congress by February 17, 2010. The FCC is collecting public comment on the plan through July 7, then it will have seven months to put it together. Successful National Broadband Policies across the globe have three distinct features: 1) Definitive goals to provide "x" bandwidth to "x" percent of population by "x" date; 2) some form of government financing; and 3) telecom policy that supports the goals of the plan. In addition, many of the plans also have specific goals related to broadband adoption, not just availability, and develop government policy and programs to support those goals. Another key element of most National Policies is the fact that a market analysis detailing the competitive environment, the market position of the incumbents, availability and affordability of broadband has been undertaken ahead of policy making. Although the United States is tackling some of these issues, the components are out of synch. The broadband mapping component is absolutely critical to the development of any plan or policy - yet it will not be available until February 2011. Furthermore, there is no current agreement on exactly what type of data should even be collected.

Supreme Court Upholds FCC's Janet Jackson Decision

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a federal appeals court to re-examine its ruling in favor of CBS Corp. in a legal fight over entertainer Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction. The Court on Monday directed the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to consider reinstating the $550,000 fine that the Federal Communications Commission imposed on CBS over Jackson's breast-baring performance at the 2004 Super Bowl. The order follows the high court ruling last week that narrowly upheld the FCC's policy threatening fines against even one-time uses of curse words on live television. In a statement, CBS said the Supreme Court's decision was not a surprise given last week's ruling and expressed confidence the court will again find the incident was not and could not have been anticipated by the network. Last year, the appeals court threw out the fine against CBS, saying the FCC strayed from its long-held approach of applying identical standards to words and images when reviewing complaints of indecency.

Tech Scorecard Gives Sen Sessions High Marks

Sen Arlen Specter's (D-PA) departure from the GOP last week left the Senate Judiciary Committee without a ranking member. Over the weekend, Sens Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) reached an agreement allowing Sen Sessions to become ranking member even though Sen Grassley has more seniority. Under terms of the deal, Sessions will serve as ranking member until the 112th Congress, when he will take over the ranking member post on the Senate Budget Committee. Current Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg (R-NH) is retiring at the end of the 111th Congress. Sen Grassley, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, will then become ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. The Information Technology Industry Council's congressional scorecard, which has been rating members since 1998, says Sessions had an 80 percent voting record in the 110th Congress. Sen Sessions voted in lockstep with ITI in favor of the America Competes Act; the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement; comprehensive energy legislation; and a Senate Finance Committee tax extended package, which included a provision to expand the research and development tax credit for two years. But Sessions voted against the financial bailout package.

The Problem With Cable Is Television

Comcast and Time Warner, the country's two largest cable systems, are making more money than ever, with lower capital investment. But if there was one weak spot jumping out of the numbers, it was not their Internet business but their traditional TV service, where the cost of paying for content to put on all those channels is rising faster than subscription fees. Hansell observers:

1) Cable is a good business,

2) The fastest-growing expense is programming,

3) The operating cost of providing broadband service is low and getting lower,

4) The biggest savings is coming from lower set-top box costs,

5) The biggest future investment relates to expanding high-definition video,

6) Prices for video services are going up, but data prices aren't.

Liberty, DirecTV to merge

Satellite operator DirecTV is about to play a more prominent role in John Malone's Liberty Media empire. Liberty Media said Monday it will merge its DirecTV Group subsidiary with a clutch of assets from its Liberty Entertainment unit to form a separate publicly traded entity named DirecTV. The assets merging with DirecTV include Liberty's 65% share in cable channel GSN, three regional sports cable channels and Fun Technologies. The new DirecTV will absorb $2 billion in debt, which will be paid off in part by a $650 million loan from the satellite company. Liberty Entertainment's remaining assets, including the Starz channels, will be spun off into another publicly traded entity dubbed Liberty Starz. There was speculation Monday on CNBC that the maneuvering was a bid by DirecTV to streamline its ownership structure to facilitate a merger or acquisition with a non-Liberty-owned entity down the road.

Rep Moran Re-Introduces Indecency Bill For "Male Enhancement" Ads

Reps Jim Moran (D-VA) and Robert Brady (R-TX) have introduced the Families for ED Advertising Decency Act, a bill that would effectively ban broadcasters from airing any ad for erectile dysfunction or "male enhancement" between 6 am and 10 pm, essentially mandating that such ads fall under the Federal Communications Commission's enforcement of indecency.

How Personality Can Predict Media Usage

According to data from psychographic-research company Mindset Media, personality is often a more effective prediction tool for media usage than age, gender and income. People who have a lot of "bravado" -- who prefer to leap before they look -- are 50% more likely than the average person to be heavy consumers of all media. The same is true for people who rank low in "compliance" -- those who chafe at rules and may be sarcastic. They are 60% more likely than the average person to be high consumers of all media. And while the personality findings alone are interesting, the added value for marketers lies in combining those preferences with traditional demographic data, as well as other habits and tendencies. Taking all that information into account can sharpen a media buy, narrow down possible product extensions or just offer a better read on core audiences' attitudes and behavior.

Robert Gibbs: No bailout for newspapers

Asked in his Monday briefing if the White House would consider bailing out the newspaper business, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters the government may not have the power to reverse the industry's decline. "I don't know what, in all honesty, government can do about it," Gibbs said in response to a question about the Boston Globe's financial struggles. Noting that it's a "bit of a tricky area to get into," given the relationship between the White House and the media, Gibbs said President Barack Obama "believes there has to be a strong free press" and expressed "concern and sadness" over the state of the industry.

Funding Rules Force Wasteful Government Technology Spending, State CIOs Say

With billions of stimulus dollars heading for state coffers, CIOs are urging the federal government to loosen funding rules they say promote poor IT system design and inefficient use of precious funds. Shortly after last November's election, representatives from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) met with President Barack Obama's transition team about modifying rules for spending money given to states for operating federal health care, transportation, social services and public safety programs. NASCIO contends that cost-allocation guidelines and technology requirements tied to these funds often clash with state data-sharing and enterprise architecture initiatives.

Lawmakers attack cybersecurity on multiple fronts

When it comes to cybersecurity and its legislative oversight, members of Congress are all over the map. In recent weeks, a flurry of bills have been introduced in the House and the Senate, tackling topics such as the security of the power grid, the management of the government's information technology investments and the White House's approach for dealing with cyber threats. The measures are welcome news for cybersecurity experts who have long pushed Congress to focus more on the cross-cutting nature of information technology security. However, the bills are coming from lawmakers from diverse committees, prompting questions about who on Capitol Hill should have oversight of computer security and how much authority lawmakers should have to oversee the White House's efforts.

Benton

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