June 26, 2009 (Confirmations for Obama Geek Squad)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY JUNE 26, 2009
Headlines is taking a long weekend and will return Tuesday June 30.
POLICYMAKERS
Confirmations for Obama Geek Squad
Meredith Attwell Baker Nominated for FCC Commissioner
US Capitol is too white, say critics
Ex-cyber security czar to head ICANN
AGENDA
FCC's July 2 Meeting Agenda
FCC Extends Broadband Plan Comment Period
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Beijing Adds Curbs on Access to Internet
Google slammed as China, US quarrel over Internet
Senators To Introduce Legislation To Help Media Report Iran Story
And Data for All: Putting All Gov't Info Online
INTERNET/BROADBAND
US vs. Japan: Residential Internet Service Provision Pricing
Thoughts On Public/Private Partnerships For Broadband
Internet Accounts for One Third of Consumer Media Day
Teens Still Rely Primarily on Traditional Media
Iran and the "Twitter Revolution"
Journalism Online expects 10 pct of Web readers to pay
The Online Ad That Knows Where Your Friends Shop
TELEVISION/RADIO
SHVERA Streamlined
TV Everywhere Plan Will Change Ad Model
Sirius XM raises prices
Program-Access Complaint Hits Home Stretch
MORE ONLINE
Sprint Persuades Judge to Reject Group Suit Over Taxes, Refunds
Coalition Says Consumer Role is Key to HIT & Health Reform
US winning WTO ruling on China's film barriers
CEOs snub blogs, Facebook
Britain says facing growing cyber security threat
CDT's Health Privacy Project Releases Paper on De-identification of Personal Health Data
POLICYMAKERS
CONFIRMATIONS FOR OBAMA GEEK SQUAD
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed three critical players in President Barack Obama's telecommunications policy team: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell and Larry Strickling as assistant secretary of Commerce for communications and information, which is the title for the top executive at Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications & Information Administration. Chairman Genachowski's confirmation means that Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps will return to being Commissioner Michael Copps. The President must still sign the commissioning papers and the policymakers must be sworn in, but historically that has happened in a matter of days. That means Genachowski could be presiding over his first meeting July 2, the FCC's next public meeting. Strickling is the first official head of NTIA since the fall of 2007, when John Kneuer exited. For most of the intervening time, NTIA was headed by Meredith Attwell Baker in an acting capacity. NTIA is the White House's communications policy advisor. It's current agenda includes coming up with guidelines for dispensing $4.5 billion in broadband stimulus money and administering the DTV-to-analog converter box coupon program.
http://benton.org/node/26151
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MEREDITH ATTWELL BAKER NOMINATED FOR FCC COMMISSIONER
[SOURCE: The White House]
President Barack Obama has nominated Meredith Attwell Baker as Commissioner for the Federal Communications Commission. If confirmed, her term will expire June 30, 2011. She has more than twelve years of experience working in the field of telecommunications and technology policy in both the public and private sector. She most recently served as Acting Assistant Secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration from 2007 to January 2009. Baker's nomination is paired with that of South Carolina Public Service Commission member Mignon L. Clyburn whose term would expire July 1, 2012. Baker was previously Vice President at the firm of Williams Mullen Strategies, where she focused on telecommunications, intellectual property, and international trade issues. Earlier, she held the position of Senior Counsel at Covad Communications from 2000 to 2002, and Director of Congressional Affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) from 1998 to 2000. Ms. Baker worked at the U.S. Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit in Houston and later at the law firm of DeLange and Hudspeth.
http://benton.org/node/26150
Recommend this Headline
back to top
US CAPITOL IS TOO WHITE, SAY CRITICS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Reid Wilson]
The staff on Capitol Hill is too white. That's what a group of frustrated members, lobbyists and aides are claiming as they press congressional leaders to adopt a version of the so-called Rooney rule. The rule, named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, has been credited with significantly increasing the number of African-American coaches in the National Football League. Even with the first black president and African-Americans and Hispanics wielding more power than ever in Congress, there are just two Senate chiefs of staff who are minorities. In the lower chamber, there are only five white lawmakers who have African-American chiefs of staff. And only four African-Americans are staff directors of either House or Senate committees.
http://benton.org/node/26149
Recommend this Headline
back to top
EX-CYBER SECURITY CZAR TO HEAD ICANN
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Joseph Menn]
The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, better known as ICANN, announced late Thursday that it had picked Rod Beckstrom as the non-profit group's chief executive. Beckstrom was until early this year the cyber-security czar at the US Department of Homeland Security and the choice reflects the growing importance of security as a primary concern at ICANN, which is the main Internet governance body. Beckstrom's appointment could rile those critical of ICANN's connection with the US Commerce Department and worried about national security concerns influencing Internet policies. But Beckstrom recently endeared himself to those wary of a larger Internet role by US spy agencies. When he resigned from the Department of Homeland Security, he complained that the National Security Agency, which specializes in electronic eavesdropping, was going to be playing a leading role in the new cyber-security policies then under development at the White House.
http://benton.org/node/26153
Recommend this Headline
back to top
AGENDA
FCC'S JULY 2 MEETING AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
There are three items on the FCC's agenda for it's July 2 meeting which is likely to be chaired by the FCC's new chairman, Julius Genachowski. The FCC will consider: 1) a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to allocate spectrum and establish service and technical rules for the operation of Medical Body Area Networks to monitor patients' physiological data; 2) a Report and Order concerning changes in the FM translator rules to allow AM broadcast stations to rebroadcast their signals on eligible FM translator stations; and 3) a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing whether to provide licensees with authority to operate on channels with bandwidths up to 30 megahertz in the Upper 6 GHz band and whether to extend conditional authority to two additional channel pairs in the 23 GHz band, as well as an Order addressing a related waiver request. The meeting is being sponsored by Kodak.
http://benton.org/node/26148
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC EXTENDS BROADBAND PLAN COMMENT PERIOD
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau is allowing the public an extra two weeks to review and comment on filings on a National Broadband Plan. Lawyers across DC are both happy and saddened to have until July 21 to craft their clients' new filings.
http://benton.org/node/26147
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
BEIJING ADDS CURBS ON ACCESS TO INTERNET
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Keith Bradsher]
The Chinese Health Ministry on Thursday ordered sharp restrictions on Internet access to medical research papers on sexual subjects. It is the latest move in what the ministry calls an antipornography campaign that many China experts see as a harbinger of a broader crackdown on freedom of expression and dissent. At the same time, the government seems to have stepped up harassment of human rights advocates. The Health Ministry posted regulations this week requiring medical information providers to restrict access to articles on sexual subjects. The penalty for violations is up to $4,400, with the potential for criminal prosecution for a pattern of uncorrected offenses.
http://benton.org/node/26154
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOOGLE SLAMMED AS CHINA, US QUARREL OVER INTERNET
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Chris Buckley, Emma Graham-Harrison]
China on Thursday stepped up accusations that Google is spreading obscene content over the Internet, a day after U.S. officials urged Beijing to abandon plans for controversial filtering software on new computers. The growing friction over control of online content threatens to become another irritant in ties at a time the world is looking for the United States and China to cooperate in helping to pull the global economy out of its slump. China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused Google's English language search engine of spreading obscene images that violated the nation's laws, less than 24 hours after disruptions to the company's search engines and other services within China. Spokesman Qin Gang did not directly say whether official action was behind the disruptions, but he made plain the government's anger and said "punishment measures" taken against Google were lawful.
http://benton.org/node/26142
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SENATORS TO INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO HELP MEDIA REPORT IRAN STORY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Senate wants to help new and old media get the Iran story to the world in spite of that regime's crackdown on news of the ongoing violence there. It wasn't clear how they were going to do it, but three Senators Friday pledged to introduce legislation after the July 4 break to "expand television and radio broadcasting into Iran and prevent the Iranian regime from slamming shut the virtual door to the rest of the world provided by the Internet." The bill, announced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) would increase funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Farsi radio stations and VOA's Persian News Network. But according to an announcement of the bill from the three senators it will also "provide the Iranian people with access to other information technologies to ensure Iranians access to the Internet, including social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and cellular phone networks."
http://benton.org/node/26146
Recommend this Headline
back to top
AND DATA FOR ALL
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Nicholas Thompson]
The Obama administration's most radical idea may also be its geekiest: Make nearly every hidden government spreadsheet and buried statistic available online, all in one place. For anyone to see. Are you searching for a Food and Drug Administration report that used to be obtainable only through the Freedom of Information Act? Just a mouseclick away. Need National Institutes of Health studies and school testing scores? Click. Census data, nonclassified Defense Department specs, obscure Securities and Exchange Commission files, prison statistics? Click click. Click. Click. The man in charge is the US government's first-ever chief information officer, Vivek Kundra. Previously CTO of the District of Columbia, Kundra, 34, knows that the move from airtight opacity to radical transparency won't be a cakewalk. Until now, the US government's default position has been: If you can't keep data secret, at least hide it on one of 24,000 federal Web sites, preferably in an incompatible or obsolete format. (Also at this link -- Meet "Obama's Geek Squad")
http://benton.org/node/26133
Recommend this Headline
back to top
INTERNET/BROADBAND
US V JAPAN: RESIDENTIAL INTERNET SERVICE PROVISION PRICING
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Chiehyu Li]
The New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative released a report comparing residential high-speed Internet pricing in the United States and Japan. With broadband stimulus funding applications due soon and discussion over the creation of a national broadband policy heating up, this report sets a baseline for comparing the current state of Internet service provision. The Open Technology Initiative compares residential cable, DSL and Fiber-optic Internet pricing from major Internet providers in the U.S. and Japan, primary sourcing all information gleaned from each provider's website. The report reveals that the U.S. has less competition in the high-speed Internet access market, particularly fiber-optic Internet. Verizon is currently the only national-level fiber-optic Internet provider and offers only three main options of service. In the U.S., the price for the fastest download stream (50Mbps) is $145. In Japan, consumers have far more choices for fiber-optic providers and many more tiers of service to choose from, resulting in Internet download speeds of 100Mbps-1Gbps at a cost of $40 to $67 per month.
http://benton.org/node/26131
Recommend this Headline
back to top
THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR BROADBAND
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] So in one camp you have folks who think broadband deployment should be purely market-driven, all broadband networks should be owned/operated by private companies, and these networks should be vertically integrated with services. In another camp you have those who believe all broadband networks should be publicly owned and operated, and that these networks should operate as dumb pipes. The public guys don't think we can get world-class connectivity to everyone without government intervention, and that the old model of providing telecommunications services is holding back the new paradigm of abundant bandwidth and open competition. And the private guys don't think a public network can be run efficiently, will be adequately invested in over time to continue driving innovation, and should be allowed to duplicate and compete with private investment. Yet at the same time these debates are going on, a common theme coming out of both sides is the need to focus on public/private partnerships as a way to solve our broadband dilemma. But what does a "public/private partnership" mean or look like?
http://benton.org/node/26139
Recommend this Headline
back to top
INTERNET ACCOUNTS FOR ONE THIRD OF CONSUMER MEDIA DAY
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Jack Loechner]
According to a recent report by The Media Audit, in the past three years, the average U.S. adult has nearly doubled their daily use of the Internet as the average US adult spent 2.1 hours per day online in 2006, compared to 3.8 hours in 2008, an 81% increase over three years. As a result, the Internet now represents 32.5% of the typical "media day" for all U.S. adults when compared to daily exposure to newspaper, radio, TV and outdoor advertising. Even those who are considered heavy newspaper readers spend about as much time online today as the typical U.S. adult. According to the report, heavy newspaper readers, those who spend more than an hour per day reading, currently spend 3.7 hours per day online. In 2006 the Internet represented only 18.4% of a heavy newspaper reader's "media day," but today it represents 28.4%.
http://benton.org/node/26132
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TEENS STILL RELY PRIMARILY ON TRADITIONAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Georg Szalai, Colbern Uhl]
According to Nielsen, the leading type of media use among teens is still television, with the average teenager watching 3 hours and 20 minutes per day, debunking the myth of YouTube as the lead medium. Actually, Nielsen says, teens watch more TV than ever, with usage up 6% over the past five years in the US. In comparison, a typical teen watches about 11 minutes of online video per day, Nielsen found, or an average of about 3 hours per month. That is much less than adults ages 18-24 who watch 5 hours and 35 minutes per month and less than adults ages 35-44 who watch 3 hours and 30 minutes per month, according to the study, which compiled data from across Nielsen's media measurement businesses and its biannual global survey of consumers across 50 countries.
http://benton.org/node/26135
Recommend this Headline
back to top
IRAN AND THE "TWITTER REVOLUTION"
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
The political unrest in Iran has demonstrated as never before the power and influence of social media. How big has the subject been in the social media conversation in recent days and what role does the discussion appear to be playing? The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism took a special look this week at the role of Twitter and other social media to find out in an expanded version of the weekly New Media Index. From blogs to "tweets" to personal Web pages, the topic dominated the online conversation far more than in the mainstream media as users passed along news, supported the protestors and shared ideas on how to use communication technology most effectively.
http://benton.org/node/26134
Recommend this Headline
back to top
JOURNALISM ONLINE EXPECTS 10 PERCENT OF WEB READERS TO PAY
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Michael Liedtke]
Journalism Online, a startup planning to sell news online, is hoping to get money from about 10 percent of Internet readers accustomed to mostly free access to newspaper and magazine Web sites since the 1990s. Journalism Online's online fee expectations are more optimistic than some other industry studies that have assumed newspapers and magazines probably shouldn't count on more than 2 percent of their online audiences to pay for coverage that has been given away for years. If it hits its targets, Journalism Online believes it will generate tens of millions of new income for newspaper and magazine publishers trying to overcome a steep decline in their main source of revenue — advertising sold for their print editions. Journalism Online thinks it can help by serving up a smorgasbord of online newspaper and magazine content that enables readers to pay a single vendor for coverage pulled from multiple Web sites. The subscription packages, for instance, might cater to Web surfers willing to pay for the best stories about entertainment, business or even something even more specialized like California politics. Besides opening up a new revenue spigot, charging for Internet content also would help newspapers and magazines preserve the value of their print franchises, according to Journalism Online's co-chief executive, Steve Brill. He reasons people will have less reason to stop buying the print editions if they can't get as much online news coverage for free — a rationale that echoes a growing number of publishers.
http://benton.org/node/26144
Recommend this Headline
back to top
THE ONLINE AD THAT KNOWS WHERE YOUR FRIENDS SHOP
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephanie Clifford]
If a marketer asked people to hand over a list of all their friends so it could show them ads, few would comply. On social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, though, friendships are obvious, and advertisers are beginning to examine those connections. Two companies in particular, 33Across and Media6Degrees, are analyzing such connections, and they are not interested in basic friend lists, but in interactions on the sites, taking note when a user visits a friend's page, sends a video or exchanges an instant message. In turn, they can identify people who are friends with a company's existing customers, and then advertise to them. Instead of using research to identify which Web sites are popular with certain demographic targets, these companies let the consumer do the heavy lifting for them purely because of the proximity of that customer to other customers.
http://benton.org/node/26152
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TELEVISION/RADIO
SHVERA STREAMLINED
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
This year's model of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) remains on the fast track. The bill (HR 2994) passed unanimously in the House Communications, Technology & Internet Subcommittee Thursday with essentially no entangling amendments. A full committee markup will come later in the summer. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) is sheparding the bill; he said broadcasters, satellite operators and other stakeholders are close to a deal, perhaps within days, to provide local-into-local service in all 210 markets. The bill remained straightforward, with no amendment offered by Rep. Mike Ross (D-Arkansas), who has for several years been pushing a bill that would allow cable and satellite operators to import adjacent-market signals.
http://benton.org/node/26138
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TV EVERYWHERE PLAN WILL CHANGE AD MODEL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Claire Atkinson]
Time Warner's TV Everywhere initiative aimed at preserving the subscription revenue for TV programming airing online may end up also altering the current advertising model for online video for better or worse. Time Warner and Comcast are hoping to pursue C3 commercial rating accreditation for shows that are offered online. In order to gain that rating, video providers must air commercials in the same format they air on TV, according to Nielsen. A typical ad load on TV is on average around 15 minutes per hour. One Madison Avenue executive thinks it's highly unlikely that viewers of online content will agree to watch that many spots. "The billion dollar question is how do you capture revenue if you lose it in TV...There is no way you can have the same ad load," said Chris Allen, VP, video innovation director at media agency Starcom. "Maybe there'd be four to five commercials, but there is no way we'll get to 13.8 minutes plus promos and local." Allen suggested such a plan to simply move the ad load from TV to online in order to gain C3 ratings could "stifle creativity," since some advertisers seek to use online programming as a test bed for new ad formats with interactive capabilities.
http://benton.org/node/26137
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SIRIUS XM RAISES PRICES
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Greg Sandoval]
Satellite radio provider Sirius XM is preparing to raise prices. The Copyright Royalty Board has raised music royalty fees and Sirius will pass those costs on to customers starting next month. In a letter to subscribers, Sirius CEO Joe Zarella said "Beginning on July 29, 2009, a 'U.S. Music Royalty Fee' of $1.98 per month for primary subscriptions and $.97 per month for multi-receiver subscriptions will be effective" the next time they renew their subscription. Royalty rates have risen steadily since 2007 when the CRB established performance royalty rates for satellite radio. The rate jumped from 6 percent last year to 6.5 percent this year and will go up every year until 2012, when the rate will top out at 8 percent. Sirius and XM promised the Federal Communications Commission they would not raise rates as a condition of the companies' merger, but the FCC did allow them to issue rate hikes to account for any increase in royalty costs.
http://benton.org/node/26136
Recommend this Headline
back to top
PROGRAM-ACCESS COMPLAINT HITS HOME STRETCH
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Cable-operator defendants and a programmer complainant have made their last-ditch pitch to a Federal Communications Commission administrative law judge.
WealthTV and top cable operators on Wednesday filed their respective post-hearing reply comments and findings of fact in WealthTV's program carriage complaint against the operators. Those are essentially summaries from both sides pointing out the defects in their opponent's case and the superiority of their own arguments. That should conclude the cycle of pre-hearing, hearing and post-hearing arguments, with the decision, in the hands of FCC chief ALJ Richard Sippel, though that will not be the final call. Sippel tried their complaint last month at the direction of the FCC, which sent the WealthTV case and two other complaints to the judge for a de novo trial after an initial bureau finding of program-carriage violations did not pass muster with a majority of the commissioners.
http://benton.org/node/26145
Recommend this Headline
back to top
... and we're outta here. Have a great weekend. Go Cubs!