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June 2009

President Obama signs Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed into law the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 (HR 2344), which authorizes webcasters for 30 days after enactment to negotiate royalty rates with copyright holders that differ from the rates set by the Library of Congress Copyright Royalty Board.

Public Interest Groups Ask FCC Reversal on Set-Top Boxes

Six public interest groups asked the Federal Communications Commission to stop the cable industry from effectively locking consumers into low-cost, low-function set-top boxes, a move which would frustrate the Congressional intent of having a wide variety of more sophisticated devices available. On June 1, the FCC granted permission to set-top box manufacturer Evolution to manufacturer boxes for the next 3 years that do not use CableCard or other "common reliance" technologies on condition the boxes remain "low capability," i.e., without capability to provide HD, PVR or Internet access. Within two weeks, four major manufacturers filed for similar waivers for "limited capability" devices. The groups -- Public Knowledge, Free Press, Media Access Project, New America Foundation, Open Technology Institute and U.S. PIRG -- said that the flood of waiver applications shows that manufacturers and cable operators intend to flood the market with proprietary boxes tethered to each cable system to undermine the development of a common standard that would permit a market of "cable ready" TVs and consumer devices for digital cable systems to develop: "Furthermore, substantial incentive exists for such behavior as well - if cable operators can offer "low cost" devices to their consumers that can handle a broad range of cable features, they can discourage the growth of non-integrated devices and other competing means of using cable service, ultimately limiting consumer choice and allowing them to raise prices and increase lock-in.

Stakeholders Weigh In on Draft Definition for 'Meaningful Use'

A number of health care stakeholders submitted comments on the Health IT Policy Committee's proposed definition of "meaningful use" of electronic health records to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. Health care providers will be required to demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments provided under the federal economic stimulus package.

Health IT coordinator to harmonize record standards, network

The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology said today he intends to "harmonize" certified electronic health records standards within the National Health Information Network (NHIN). "We are working on continuing the momentum of the NHIN and Connect," the NHIN software, Dr. David Blumenthal, who is based at the Health and Human Services Department, said at a Connect users conference. Blumenthal, who started work as national health IT coordinator in March, has been charged with recommending standards for "meaningful use" of certified Electronic Health Records under the economic stimulus law. The law provides financial incentives to doctors and hospitals who meaningfully use such record systems. One of the criteria for meaningful use is sharing patient data within a health information exchange system, most likely the NHIN, Blumenthal said. NHIN is a network-of-networks patient data exchange system developed under the Bush administration that is currently being used by the Veterans Administration and Social Security Administration, among others.

NATOA Seeks Nominees for Community Broadband Awards

In recognition of the broadening role of government in technology, NATOA proudly honors outstanding individuals and projects that seek to improve government and public options in broadband technology. This exceptional awards program was initiated to recognize and highlight some of the many extraordinary efforts going on at the local level to bring the benefits of technology to American communities. Throughout the United States, numerous exceptional leaders in government, business, organization and the community are serving as champions of local interests and needs in broadband and technology. NATOA's Community Broadband Awards annually recognize these efforts and achievements. The Award recipients are highlighted on NATOA's website and in the NATOA Journal.

June 30, 2009 (FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY JUNE 30, 2009

See Headlines online at http://benton.org/headlines -- affordable fun for the entire family!


NEWS FROM THE FCC
   FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
   Revised July 2 FCC Agenda

NEWS FROM COURT
   Justices to Review Campaign Finance Law Constraints
   Court clears way for Cablevision to offer remote-storage DVR

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Cautionary Stories of the State of Broadband Mapping - Texas and Tennessee
   The End of Spectrum Scarcity: Building on the TV Bands Database to Access Unused Public Airwaves
   Internet service providers not keeping up with user trends
   Let's Leave Wireless Broadband to Wireless Devices
   Survey says FTTH sells homes

MORE ONLINE
   Project seeks to measure ed tech's value
   Congress pressed to act on Google book settlement
   CPB Announces Emergency Readiness Project
   A Green Way to Dump Low-Tech Electronics
   Rural South Koreans' Global Links Grow, Nourished by a Satellite Crop
   Iran and the Death of Michael Jackson

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NEWS FROM THE FCC


FCC CHAIRMAN JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
On June 29, Julius Genachowski was sworn in as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He also announced his staff: 1) Edward P. Lazarus will serve as Chief of Staff. 2) Colin Crowell will serve as Senior Counselor to the Chairman. In this role, Mr. Crowell will serve as strategic advisor on a broad range of matters, and will also have particular responsibility for the communications, legislative, intergovernmental affairs, and public liaison functions of the agency. 3) Bruce Liang Gottlieb will serve as Chief Counsel to the Chairman and senior legal advisor. Mr. Gottlieb will manage the Commission's overall agenda and have responsibility for policy coordination with the Bureaus. In addition, he will have particular responsibility for wireless, engineering and technology, and public safety issues. 4) Priya Aiyar will serve as Legal Advisor, with particular responsibility for wireline competition and international issues. 5) Sherrese Smith will serve as Legal Advisor, with particular responsibility for media, consumer and enforcement issues. 6) Sherry Gelfand will serve as Confidential Assistant to the Chairman. 7) Daniel Ornstein will serve as Special Assistant to the Chairman. 8) Mary Beth Richards will serve as Special Counsel to the Chairman for FCC Reform, and will head a comprehensive program to provide openness and transparency at the agency. 9) Ruth Milkman will lead the transition effort in the Chairman's office.
http://benton.org/node/26184
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REVISED JULY 2 FCC AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission has revised its agenda for its July 2 meeting agenda, dropping three items that have already been adopted by the FCC (1. Medical Body Area Networks, 2. FM translator rules, and 3. 6525-6875 MHz Band spectrum use rules). Instead, the meeting will include a presentation on the status of the Commission's process for developing a National Broadband Plan. In addition, Blair Levin, the FCC official in charge of coordinating the development of the Obama administration's new national broadband plan, said Monday that a new Web site -- Broadband.gov -- will launch in a matter of days.
http://benton.org/node/26182
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NEWS FROM COURT


JUSTICES TO REVIEW CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW CONSTRAINTS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Robert Barnes]
The Supreme Court will consider whether to uphold a ban on corporate spending in federal elections, a move that campaign finance experts said could have a dramatic effect on the 2010 and 2012 federal elections. In a surprise move, the court said it would delay a decision on whether a conservative group's film criticizing then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ran afoul of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance act. Instead, the court scheduled a rare September hearing on whether the law itself raised constitutional questions and it said it would reexamine a 1990 decision that said restricting corporations from spending money from their general treasuries to support or oppose political candidates did not violate constitutional guarantees of free speech. "This has the potential to be a blockbuster," said Michael E. Toner, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission. He said the issues have implications for "the whole architecture of the federal campaign financing system." The court said it would withhold its decision about "Hillary: The Movie" until it received briefings this summer about the larger issues. It will hear arguments Sept. 9. The court begins its new term Oct. 5.
http://benton.org/node/26185
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COURT CLEARS WAY FOR CABLEVISION TO OFFER REMOTE STORAGE DVR
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Ben Fritz, Dawn Chmielewski, David Savage]
The Supreme Court on Monday blocked an effort by major media companies to quash a technology that threatens their already deteriorating advertising business. Plaintiffs including CBS, Fox, NBC Universal, Turner, Viacom and Walt Disney had asked the justices to reverse a lower-court ruling that allowed Cablevision Systems Corp. to offer a so-called remote-storage DVR, which enables viewers to record and store shows on the operator's computers rather than on a set-top box in subscribers' homes. By rejecting the case, the court left the previous decision intact and cleared the way for Cablevision, a New York-based cable operator with 3.1 million subscribers, to launch the service by late summer. The decision is likely to lead to an increase in the number of viewers who fast-forward through commercials, undermining the ad-based business model on which networks rely.
http://benton.org/node/26180
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INTERNET/BROADBAND


CAUTIONARY STORIES OF THE STATE OF BROADBAND MAPPING -- TEXAS AND TENNESSEE
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
With up to $350 million in federal stimulus funds allocated for broadband mapping, an organization called Connected Nation is racking up the frequent flying miles in an effort to capture the lion's share of the money. From Austin to Boise, Honolulu, Oklahoma City and even up to Wail, Alaska, and many points in between, Connected Nation has pitched its services to state governments, with impressive results in either setting up the contracting process to obtain contracts, or obtaining contracts outright. At the same time, those results provide cautionary tales for Federal policymakers who would delegate mapping projects to state governments. One story involves the intricacies of the bidding process. The other involves how to do away with a bidding process. In one case, Connected Nation was the winner. In the other, its chances of winning are extremely favorable.
http://benton.org/node/26174
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THE END OF SPECTRUM SCARCITY: BUILDING ON THE TV BANDS DATABASE TO ACCESS UNUSED PUBLIC AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Michael Calabrese]
Wireless is the most cost-effective and rapid means to bring broadband access to under-served rural and urban residents. Even after high-capacity Internet access becomes universal, wireless remains as the complementary infrastructure needed to achieve the larger goal of pervasive connectivity. Within a few short years, most Americans are likely to spend more hours each week on mobile than on wired Internet connections. This paper recommends that the Obama administration and the Federal Communications Commission make mapping and actively facilitating opportunistic access to unused and underutilized frequency bands a priority as part of any national broadband policy. Unlocking the "vast wasteland" of unused spectrum capacity can be achieved through three overlapping steps: 1) Under a White House-led initiative, the NTIA and FCC should conduct an Inventory of the Airwaves that maps how our public spectrum resource is being utilized or underutilized in various bands, by both commercial and government users. 2) The process of unlocking unused spectrum capacity should begin immediately on a band-by-band basis. 3) NTIA and FCC should commence a set of inquiries into the technologies, incentives, institutional arrangements and "rules of the road" that can best facilitate a future of more open, intensive and opportunistic sharing of the nation's spectrum resource.
http://benton.org/node/26175
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INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS NOT KEEPING UP WITH USER TRENDS
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Troy Wolverton]
[Commentary] There's a revolution happening on the Internet — though broadband providers have not seemed to notice. Thanks to new gadgets, programs and Web services, consumers are sending, sharing and swapping more data than ever over the global network. Yet many are stuck with Internet connections that give them upload speeds much slower than download speeds. What that means is that it takes a lot longer to send a movie or picture out to the Internet than it takes to download the same file. Uploading a video, a roll of pictures or a backup of key files on your hard drive can take hours, or even days. But broadband companies seem oblivious to this trend. Here's hoping broadband providers join the revolution and make faster upload speeds an option soon.
http://benton.org/node/26178
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LET'S LEAVE WIRELESS BROADBAND TO WIRELESS DEVICES
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] The reality of today's technology is that wireless is having enough trouble trying to keep up with the increasing demands of mobile applications and devices. It is a myth that some day we'll live in a world without wires, that all of our broadband connectivity will eventually be delivered over the air. The simple, undeniable reality of wireless is that its capacity constraints are due to clear technological limitations. For one, wireless spectrum is artificially limited, which restricts the throughput and overall capacity that you can get wirelessly. If we were able to get lots more spectrum that would relieve some of these issues but not all. Fiber, on the other hand, can always have enough capacity and can easily be upgraded to meet any level of demand whenever its needed. It's the only broadband technology that can do this, too. So let's stop trying to lump wireless and wireline broadband together and start realizing that they're complementary not competitive.
http://benton.org/node/26177
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SURVEY SAYS FTTH SELLS HOMES
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: ]
A new survey, commissioned by the FTTH Council, shows fiber-to-the-home-based Internet service is considered the most important amenity for a future home purchase, among home buyers who have had FTTH previously and those who haven't. The national survey by RVA LLC Market Research and Consulting, released this week, shows that 82% percent of those buyers who have had broadband service over FTTH rank it as the leading amenity in a future home, and nearly 70% of those who hadn't had FTTH say it's the amenity they want most in a future home.
http://benton.org/node/26176
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Justices to Review Campaign Finance Law Constraints

The Supreme Court will consider whether to uphold a ban on corporate spending in federal elections, a move that campaign finance experts said could have a dramatic effect on the 2010 and 2012 federal elections. In a surprise move, the court said it would delay a decision on whether a conservative group's film criticizing then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ran afoul of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance act. Instead, the court scheduled a rare September hearing on whether the law itself raised constitutional questions and it said it would reexamine a 1990 decision that said restricting corporations from spending money from their general treasuries to support or oppose political candidates did not violate constitutional guarantees of free speech. "This has the potential to be a blockbuster," said Michael E. Toner, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission. He said the issues have implications for "the whole architecture of the federal campaign financing system." The court said it would withhold its decision about "Hillary: The Movie" until it received briefings this summer about the larger issues. It will hear arguments Sept. 9. The court begins its new term Oct. 5.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski (Updated w/link to more info on staffers)

On June 29, Julius Genachowski was sworn in as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He also announced his staff:

1) Edward P. Lazarus will serve as Chief of Staff.

2) Colin Crowell will serve as Senior Counselor to the Chairman. In this role, Mr. Crowell will serve as strategic advisor on a broad range of matters, and will also have particular responsibility for the communications, legislative, intergovernmental affairs, and public liaison functions of the agency.

3) Bruce Liang Gottlieb will serve as Chief Counsel to the Chairman and senior legal advisor. Mr. Gottlieb will manage the Commission's overall agenda and have responsibility for policy coordination with the Bureaus. In addition, he will have particular responsibility for wireless, engineering and technology, and public safety issues.

4) Priya Aiyar will serve as Legal Advisor, with particular responsibility for wireline competition and international issues.

5) Sherrese Smith will serve as Legal Advisor, with particular responsibility for media, consumer and enforcement issues.

6) Sherry Gelfand will serve as Confidential Assistant to the Chairman.

7) Daniel Ornstein will serve as Special Assistant to the Chairman.

8) Mary Beth Richards will serve as Special Counsel to the Chairman for FCC Reform, and will head a comprehensive program to provide openness and transparency at the agency.

9) Ruth Milkman will lead the transition effort in the Chairman's office.

For more on staffers see http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/meet-the-genachowskis-a-...

Revised July 2 FCC Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission has revised its agenda for its July 2 meeting agenda, dropping three items that have already been adopted by the FCC (1. Medical Body Area Networks, 2. FM translator rules, and 3. 6525-6875 MHz Band spectrum use rules). Instead, the meeting will include a presentation on the status of the Commission's process for developing a National Broadband Plan. In addition, Blair Levin, the FCC official in charge of coordinating the development of the Obama administration's new national broadband plan, said Monday that a new Web site -- Broadband.gov -- will launch in a matter of days.

Court clears way for Cablevision to offer remote-storage DVR

The Supreme Court on Monday blocked an effort by major media companies to quash a technology that threatens their already deteriorating advertising business. Plaintiffs including CBS, Fox, NBC Universal, Turner, Viacom and Walt Disney had asked the justices to reverse a lower-court ruling that allowed Cablevision Systems Corp. to offer a so-called remote-storage DVR, which enables viewers to record and store shows on the operator's computers rather than on a set-top box in subscribers' homes. By rejecting the case, the court left the previous decision intact and cleared the way for Cablevision, a New York-based cable operator with 3.1 million subscribers, to launch the service by late summer. The decision is likely to lead to an increase in the number of viewers who fast-forward through commercials, undermining the ad-based business model on which networks rely.

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