June 2009

"The FCC's potential as a force for good remains constant."

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski addressed the agency's staff on Tuesday saying, "the FCC's potential as a force for good remains constant." He noted that our communications infrastructure is the foundation upon which our economy and our society rest. And it has never been more important that we unleash its potential. Our nation is at a crossroads. We face a number of tremendous challenges: our economy, education, health care, and energy, to name a few. "If we do our jobs right and harness the power of communications to confront these challenges, we will have chosen the right course, and we will make a real positive difference in the lives of our children and future generations."

He set the following goals: 1) Promoting universal broadband that's robust, affordable and open;

2) Pursuing policies that promote job creation, competition, innovation and investment;

3) Protecting and empowering consumers and families;

4) Helping deliver public safety communications networks with the best technology to serve our firefighters, police officers, and other first responders;

5) Advancing a vibrant media landscape, in these challenging times, that serves the public interest in the 21st century; and

6) Seizing the opportunity for the United States to lead the world in mobile communications.

He promised that the Commission will be fair, open and transparent. Policy decisions will be fact-based and data-driven.

"We will strive to be smart about technology; smart about economics and businesses; smart about law and history; and smart every day about how our actions affect the lives of consumers. We will use technology and new media to enhance the everyday worklives of FCC staff, green the agency, and improve overall operations of the FCC - running efficiently, communicating effectively, and opening the agency to participation from everyone affected by the FCC's actions. And, stay tuned, we will have a new FCC website."

Genachowski Wants Extensive Review of FCC's Emergency Preparedness

As one of his first initiatives and less than 24 hours after being sworn in, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has sent a memo to the acting chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau calling for a "top-to-bottom" review of the FCC's own preparedness for an emergency. And he wants it fast. "In the event of a crisis, the Commission should be prepared to act decisively," he said. Chairman Genachowski gave the bureau 30 days to prepare a briefing that outlines the current FCC emergency management plan, including the chain of command, contact points with FEMA and other agencies, command-and-control operations in the field and at headquarters, ongoing training and more.

McDowell To Be Sworn In At FCC's July 2 Meeting

Newly-reconfirmed Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell will be sworn in to his first full term at the FCC's July 2 public meeting.

Jen Howard Named Genachowski's Press Secretary

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has named Jen Howard, former Press Director at Free Press, the FCC Press Secretary. Howard will serve as Chairman Genachowski's spokesperson and liaison with the press. She was with Free Press for three years prior to taking the FCC post. Before that she worked at Media Access Project. Howard has a Masters of Communications from Georgetown.

An Appreciation For Commissioner Adelstein

[Commentary] Although it is great that Julius Genachowski has joined the Federal Communications Commission, it is hard to see Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein go. He has been a Populist in the best sense of the word, and in the finest tradition of rural America. (i.e., someone who actually cares about people and takes the time to listen to them and fight for their issues.) Over the years, Adelstein has always tried to make the time to come to events where he can hear directly from people — whether at industry trade shows or a modest gathering of community wireless activists. He has always tried to make sure that everyone has the opportunity for meaningful access to both new media and old. He has spoken passionately about the need to make sure that the benefits of broadband are accessible to everyone. He has been a friend to PEG and leased access as means for independent programmers to bring independent viewpoints to cable and because of his appreciation for the importance of local programming. Side by side with Commissioner Copps, he toured the country and rallied opposition against any relaxation of media ownership rules. He pushed harder than anyone for the Commission to take on the problem of Payolla, and repeatedly called for more ways to get independent musicians and local talent on the air.

"Good Enough" Isn't Good Enough For America's Broadband Future

[Commentary] The vast majority of today's Internet traffic is delivered on what's referred to as a "good enough" basis. As there are often many hops between where content or an application is hosted and the end user no one can guarantee service delivery, but since things generally work well enough to not be a nuisance, "good enough" delivery is good enough for most users and use cases. But this "good enough" mindset seems to have infected and shaped too many people's perceptions regarding the kind of broadband America needs, leading some to think thoughts like: 1) If we have adequate capacity to handle today's applications then what's the point of more bandwidth? What we have is good enough. 2) If speeds are getting higher and prices lower, regardless of how incrementally slow that progress is, then that's good enough. 3) If broadband providers advertise enough speed it doesn't matter if they can actually deliver it or if they're providing service of high reliability and low latency, promising adequate broadband is good enough. 4) If rural areas can get online at any speed than that's better than nothing and therefore good enough. But Daily rejects all of these notions as not good enough, as inadequate to support the goals of a country that throughout its history has always strove for greatness.

IT Dashboard

White House Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra on Tuesday unveiled a new Internet-based dashboard that makes available in a single location details about major information technology projects pursued by the federal government. The provides the public with an online window into the details of Federal information technology investments and provides users with the ability to track the progress of investments over time. The displays data received from agency reports to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), including general information on over 7,000 Federal IT investments and detailed data for nearly 800 of those investments that agencies classify as "major". The performance data used to track the 800 major IT investments is based on milestone information displayed in agency reports to OMB called "Exhibit 300s" Agency CIOs are responsible for evaluating and updating select data on a monthly basis, which is accomplished through interfaces provided on the website.

FCC Narrows Process For Telecoms Seeking Regulatory Waivers

The Federal Communications Commission has narrowed the way telecommunications companies can seek relief in wholesale pricing and other business-to-business contract terms. The FCC announced new rules Monday requiring that companies' petitions to raise wholesale prices include all the facts, data, and arguments needed to prove that the waivers are warranted. Previously, companies' bids didn't need to be "complete" at the time of the filing. Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps repeatedly expressed frustration that requests for regulatory waivers cost countless staff hours and resources as the Commission attempted to evaluate ever-changing petitions. The new rule says any petition that is incomplete or defective on its face will be denied immediately. Parties can refile. The FCC also will post on its Web site a timeline that will identify the stages of review for each bona fide petition. Members of the public will be allowed to comment on the petitions within certain parameters. Companies also won't be allowed to withdraw or substantially curtail their petitions after a certain point in the process.

FCC cracks down on "gamesmanship" of line-sharing rules

Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps has been promising to do it for months: clean up the process by which incumbent carriers are allowed to raise the prices they charge smaller telcos for access to their networks. Now it's done—his last action as the agency's interim boss. Among other requirements, a "forbearance" petition must now be "complete as filed" from the get-go, the FCC ruled on Monday. The reform responds to charges that Verizon, AT&T, and Qwest finesse the procedure by revising their petitions over the course of a year, or withdrawing them if it looks like they won't be granted. "While I don't expect that these rules will end the Commission's consideration of forbearance petitions," Copps declared on Monday. "I am hopeful that they will inject some rationality into the process and greatly reduce the procedural gamesmanship that we've too often seen in the forbearance proceedings of the past." The order comes ten days after the FCC lost a big forbearance case in court—the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the agency got it wrong when it refused to let Verizon raise wholesale rates in six east coast markets.

News of Jackson's death breaks Web records

The number of Internet searches, blog posts and amateur videos about Michael Jackson have skyrocketed since the pop icon was found in cardiac arrest inside his Los Angeles home on Thursday. The largest wave of traffic crested about 6 p.m. ET, soon after the celebrity-gossip site TMZ.com reported that Jackson was dead. First came the Google searches, and a spike of "millions and millions" of users querying the search words "Michael Jackson died," says Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker. Then, as word spread around the globe, search terms ran the gamut: Phrases including "Michael Jackson cardiac arrest," and "Michael Jackson death hoax" accounted for more than half of Google's top 100 most-searched phrases on Thursday, a trend the company said was unusual. But Google was not alone. Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites saw a remarkable increase in traffic and new content in the hours after Jackson's death was confirmed. And while news organizations say they saw bumps in website traffic since Thursday, the popularity of social media sites, observers say, is part of a growing trend — people increasingly get their news and analysis online from friends.

Benton

Search