June 2009

US Releases Secret List of Nuclear Sites Accidentally

The Government Printing Office Web site mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked "highly confidential," that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation's civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons. The publication of the document was revealed Monday in an online newsletter devoted to issues of federal secrecy. That set off a debate among nuclear experts about what dangers, if any, the disclosures posed. It also prompted a flurry of investigations in Washington into why the document had been made public.

The Peril of 'Buy American'

[Commentary] It's not surprising that Democrats in Congress could not resist adding a "Buy American" provision to the fiscal stimulus bill earlier this year. It might seem sensible (or at least politically useful) to ensure that taxpayer dollars would be used exclusively to support American jobs. But as states and municipalities start spending stimulus money, the idea is starting to look as counterproductive as it should have looked from the beginning. It is sparking conflict with American allies and, rather than supporting employment at home, the "Buy American" effort could ultimately cost American jobs.

Battle Brews Over Broadband Mapping

Before the federal government spends more than $7 billion to expand broadband Internet service in underserved areas, it wants maps that show where the money should go. But the biggest U.S. provider of broadband coverage maps, Connected Nation Inc., is backed by big telecommunications companies like Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. that potentially stand to benefit from how the Obama administration doles out the money. As it seeks to provide maps for the federal stimulus program, Connected Nation is coming under fire from officials in its home state of Kentucky, and Internet advocates in Washington leery of its industry ties. Critics complain it uses unverifiable confidential information from phone and cable companies to draw its maps, and worry Connected Nation will use the maps to steer stimulus funds toward its big corporate sponsors, at the expense of smaller players or poorly served areas. "I think it's a huge conflict of interest to turn our mapping over to the companies that stand to benefit from the results," said Art Brodsky, communications director of Public Knowledge, which has joined with other public-interest groups, including Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, to lobby against Connected Nation. Officials at Connected Nation, which is drawing broadband maps for 10 states, including Minnesota and Tennessee, say Internet providers are the best sources of the data it needs, and say Connected Nation has a "governance framework" for projects that is independent of its board of directors, which includes executives from cable and phone companies.

Federal Antitrust Probe Targets Tech Giants

Apparently, the Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether some of the nation's largest technology companies violated antitrust laws by negotiating the recruiting and hiring of one another's employees. The review, which is said to be in its preliminary stages, is focused on the search engine giant Google; its competitor Yahoo; Apple, maker of the popular iPhone; and the biotech firm Genentech, among others. The review includes other tech companies and is "industry-wide." By agreeing not to hire away top talent, the companies could be stifling competition and trying to maintain their market power unfairly, antitrust experts said.

New Study Charts Readership Reach

The Media Audit, which ranks more than 100 daily newspapers across 88 markets, estimates that the Times-Picayune Web site nola.com reaches the most adults within its market. Slightly more than 50% of adults in New Orleans have visited the site in the past 30 days representing 422,354 uniques. When the print edition of the paper is included. The Times-Picayune reaches more than 85% of the market. The San Antonio Express-News (80%) ranks #2 followed by the Washington Post (77%). The latest survey also found that heavy newspaper readers who spend more than an hour per day with the print edition, currently spend 3.7 hours per day online in general.

News Corp. digital exec supports paid content

News Corp. chief digital officer Jonathan Miller predicts that Paid digital media services are the wave of the future for media giants, and the only question is how fast they will become reality. News Corp will push to develop new business models that work for the industry overall. Miller added: "We want to see a (business) model established," one that includes paid-for journalistic offers. He signaled that while new models must be established across the industry, News Corp. is willing to take a lead position to push for change. Asked about how News Corp. could promote its various assets across print, TV and digital media under a new pay model, Miller suggested: "What works for consumers, I think -- and this has to be tested -- are bundles."

Too Much Media May Be Tough on Kids' Health

Easy access to a wide variety of media increases a child's risk for numerous health issues, such as obesity, eating disorders, drug use and early sexual activity. On average, American children and teens spend more than six hours a day with media such as TV, computers, Internet, video games and VCR or DVD players -- more time than they spend per day receiving formal classroom instruction, says Dr. Victor C. Strasburger of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque. All this media access affects a variety of health issues, he wrote in the June 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, a special theme issue on child and adolescent health. "The media are not the leading cause of any pediatric health problem in the United States, but they do make a substantial contribution to many health problems," Strasburger said. Among them: violence, sex, drugs, obesity and eating disorders.

To Shut Off Tiananmen Talk, China Blocks Sites

China's government censors have begun to block access to the Internet services Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail and Microsoft's live.com, broadening an already extraordinary effort to shield its citizens from any hint of Thursday's 20th anniversary of the military crackdown that ended the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement. People in China who tried to gain access to the blocked Web sites on Tuesday instead encountered an error message saying the sites' servers had unexpectedly dropped the Internet connection — a standard indicator that access has been blocked. Weeks earlier, censors blocked Chinese users from viewing all videos on YouTube, and in recent days some television viewers have reported that BBC World News reports related to the Tiananmen anniversary were being selectively blacked out of broadcast programs.

Crawford: Tech Agenda Just Beginning

Even though the Obama administration has made important, early strides in its first 133 days as part of its technology policy agenda, Susan Crawford on Tuesday said the White House has a long way to go. "We need your criticism, your engagement, your involvement, and your help," Susan Crawford, special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy, told the Computers Freedom & Privacy conference. After "timely, targeted and tapered" economic stimulus package implementation, the Administration's focus will turn to job creation -- and that weighs heavily on high-tech investment, said Crawford who is also a member of the National Economic Council. Innovation is tied to a range of priorities from diminishing the country's carbon footprint and creating clean energy jobs to reducing the cost of healthcare and educating the next generation. Crawford also spoke about the need to bolster broadband deployment and bridge the gaps between urban and rural areas and rich and poor Americans.

Crawford Warns Online Advertisers To Be Monitored

National Economic Council Susan Crawford warned attendees at the Computers Freedom and Privacy conference that the Administration will keep a close watch on online advertisers that track consumers' Internet activity. "Online tracking and data collection, put together with inadequate notice to consumers about what information is collected and how it is used, raises critical privacy issues," said Susan Crawford, a special assistant to President Obama. Crawford said the Administration will ask online advertisers to use "rigorous self- regulation" practices. "These principles provide for transparency and consumer control," she said. Crawford said the Federal Trade Commission will evaluate self-regulatory programs from Web sites and Internet service providers and assess whether they provide adequate transparency, consumer control and "reasonable security of consumer data." The FTC will "determine whether particular practices constitute unfair and deceptive acts," Crawford said.