July 2009

Defend America, One Laptop at a Time

[Commentary] Our economy, energy supply, means of transportation and military defenses are dependent on vast, interconnected computer and telecommunications networks. These networks are poorly defended and vulnerable to theft, disruption or destruction by foreign states, criminal organizations, individual hackers and, potentially, terrorists. Acknowledging such threats, President Obama recently declared that digital infrastructure is a "strategic national asset," the protection of which is a national security priority. One of many hurdles to meeting this goal is that the private sector owns and controls most of the networks the government must protect. This is a dangerous state of affairs, because the firms that build and run computer and communications networks focus on increasing profits, not protecting national security. They invest in levels of safety that satisfy their own purposes, and tend not to worry when they contribute to insecure networks that jeopardize national security. This is a classic market failure that only government leadership can correct.

Facebook to Offer New Features to Allow Users to Control Privacy of Information

Facebook's biggest asset — its population of more than 200 million users — is also part of its Achilles' heel. As more people join and connect with more people they know, the chances grow that one's embarrassing photographs from a night of carousing might be seen by the wrong person. To help remedy this, the company is testing new controls that will allow members to specify which groups or individuals are able to see each text update, photo or video they post on the site. For now the new features are available only to a limited number of users, but the company said it planned to provide them eventually to everyone on the site. The changes are part of Facebook's effort to simplify its privacy settings, which had ballooned to more than six pages and 40 different options. The company said that fewer than a quarter of its users regularly adjusted privacy settings, so it planned to condense them into a single, easy-to-navigate page.

Industry Tightens Its Standards for Tracking Web Surfers

In an effort to fend off federal regulation, major trade groups in the advertising industry have announced stricter guidelines on how their members use and collect online data. In a report to be released Thursday, a consortium of the trade groups intends to address a growing concern in Washington and among consumer advocates that people are being tracked too much online, with information about their Web surfing, shopping habits and overall interests being collected for advertising purposes. The report, "Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising," reflects several of the commission's suggestions from February. The principles are meant to go into effect in 2010, affecting the more than 5,000 companies that belong to the sponsoring organizations.

Facebook's 'Click-Through Activism' Broad but Fleeting

Facebook activism, the trendy process by which we do good by clicking often, was in its full glory last week, but whether our virtual virtuousness will result in real-world action is unpredictable, and has as much to do with human nature as it does with amassing enough numbers. This is the problem with activism born of social networking sites.

Does Race Play a Role in Coverage? Black Reporters on the Beat of Michelle Obama

[Commentary] A number of beat reporters following First Lady Michelle Obama are African American women. Perhaps this gives them a richer cultural understanding of Obama as a trailblazer. Indeed, most write with enthusiasm, in some cases even admiration, about the first lady as a long-awaited role model for black women. But if their bosses hoped these staffers would receive special access, some secret-handshake entry into the East Wing -- or even a casual wave at a health clinic -- they were mistaken, at least thus far. None of the beat writers has been granted an interview since the inauguration. Instead, they must piece together a mosaic from glimpses of Obama, who has a limited public schedule and a staff that fiercely guards her privacy and her image. Whether racial and gender identification produces a gauzier, more favorable portrayal of Obama is perhaps too early to judge. After all, no one raises questions when an Irish American male reporter covers a pol named Murphy. And with her carefully crafted focus on her children, affordable fashion and such reduced-fat apple pie issues as healthy eating, Obama has done little to warrant sharp criticism.

Is Twitter the news outlet for the 21st century?

The extraordinary amount of news coverage the mainstream media has recently devoted to Twitter has led some to think the press is in love with the 3-year-old microblogging service. But it's a jealous love. Twitter's constantly updating record of up-to-the-minute reaction has in some instances threatened to usurp media coverage of breaking news. It has also helped many celebrities, athletes and politicians bypass the media to get their message directly to their audience. Make no mistake about it, Twitter has in many ways been a boon to the media. It's one more way a story might go viral and it's arguably the best way for a news outlet to get closer to its readership. Most outlets now have a presence on Twitter with a feed directing readers to their Web sites. But even in an Internet world that has for years eroded the distance between media and consumer, Twitter is a jolt of democratization to journalism. To date, the most salient, powerful example of Twitter's influence has been Iranian protesters using the service (among many other methods) to assemble marches against what they feel has been an unjust election.

FCC To Seek More Public Input on Broadband Plan

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski indicated that the FCC host national discussions across the country as well as online on the National Broadband Plan. The FCC is currently receiving written public comment through July 21; FCC must present the plan to Congress by Feb. 17, 2010.

The Good News and the Bad News In The Stimulus News

[Commentary] The rules of the road for the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus package hit a lot of high notes, putting public policy in favor of an open and non-discriminatory Internet front and center for projects that would bring the Internet to unserved and underserved areas. The mapping portion is more of a disappointment. On the bright side, the plan for the broadband map calls for a lot more detail than has been reported previously, if the confidentiality portions of the program don't ruin it. On the other side, the special-interest legislation that started the whole mapping craze has fulfilled its ultimate purpose. Sen Dick Durbin's (D-IL) legislation wasn't called the "Connect the Nation Act" for nothing. This was the bill that mandated that only non-profits could receive mapping grants - because Connected Nation, a group that exists to protect information submitted by telephone and cable companies, is a non-profit and wrote the bill. And it's wired deeply into many states. Our cautionary tale goes into it in more detail of how Durbin's bill became the gift that kept on giving. The challenge for the government now will be to rescue the data plan from the clutches of the people who want to game the system.

NTIA Unveils Program to Help States Map Internet Infrastructure

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced details of a grant program to fund collection of state-level broadband data, as well as state-wide broadband mapping and planning, which will assist NTIA in creating a national broadband map. This initiative aims at providing consumers with better information on the broadband services available to them and inform efforts to increase broadband availability nationwide.

The State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program is a competitive, merit-based matching grant program that implements the joint purposes of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA). The Program will provide approximately $240 million in grants to assist states or their designees to develop state-specific data on the deployment levels and adoption rates of broadband services. These data, including publicly available state-wide broadband maps, will also be used to develop the comprehensive, interactive national broadband map that NTIA is required by the Recovery Act to create and make publicly available by February 17, 2011.

The national broadband map will publicly display the geographic areas where broadband service is available; the technology used to provide the service; the speeds of the service; and broadband service availability at public schools, libraries, hospitals, colleges, universities, and public buildings. The national map will also be searchable by address, and broadband service providers will have the option to make their identity available. NTIA's grant awards can also include funding for state broadband planning. Planning projects may include, for example, efforts to identify barriers to broadband adoption in a state and creation of local technology planning teams. Awardees will be required to provide at least 20 percent non-federal matching funds toward project costs. While the BDIA mandates that each state may have only a single, eligible entity perform the mapping, each state's applicant will be carefully evaluated under the standards described in NTIA's Notice of Funds Availability. If an applicant does not meet the program standards, it will not receive funding and NTIA may perform the necessary broadband data collection.

Biden Announces Availability of the $4 Billion in Recovery Act Loans and Grants to Increase Broadband Access and Adoption

Vice President Joe Biden announced the availability of $4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loans and grants to help bring broadband service to un-served and underserved communities across America. This is the first round of Recovery Act funding aimed at expanding broadband access to help bridge the technological divide and create jobs building out Internet infrastructure.

Vice President Biden was joined by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper at Seneca High School in Wattsburg (PA), the first stop on the President's National Rural Tour.

NTIA and RUS will be accepting applications for loans, grants and loan/grant combinations to be awarded by each agency under a single application form. This collaborative approach will ensure that the agencies' activities are complementary and integrated, make the best use of taxpayer funds and make it easier for applicants to apply for funding. This is the first of three rounds of funding the Agriculture and Commerce Departments will provide.

Vice President Biden also announced that Commerce and USDA officials will host public workshops in July to share information about the funding availabilities and the application process. Forums will be held in Boston, Mass.; Charleston, W.Va.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Memphis, Tenn.; Lonoke, Ark.; Birmingham, Ala.; Billings, Mont.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Los Angeles, Calif. Applications will be accepted beginning July 14, 2009, through 5:00 p.m. EDT on August 14, 2009. The complete details of this Notice of Funding Availability are available at http://www.broadbandusa.gov

"Today's announcement is a first step toward realizing President Obama's vision of a nationwide 21st-century communications infrastructure one that encourages economic growth, enhances America's global competitiveness and helps address many of America's most pressing challenges," said Vice President Biden.

A quick breakdown of how the first wave of funding will play out.

The Department of Agriculture has $2.3 billion it plans to allocate through the Rural Utilities Service: $400 million in grants and $800 million in grants and loans will be allocated toward last-mile services that connect to a consumer's home; $800 million in loans and grants will be available for the middle mile; and $325 million will be kept in reserve to fund worthy projects in either of the above categories. RUS grants will go only to rural, remote and unserved areas, while loans will go toward rural, remote and non-remote, underserved areas.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has $1.6 billion it plans to dispense as grants, with $1.2 billion allocated to provide last- and middle-mile services to unserved and underserved areas that meet one of several possible criteria, $50 million for computer centers, $150 million to drive broadband demand, and $200 million held in reserve to spread among the three segments if needed. Applications will be accepted between July 14 and Aug. 14, and finalists will be chosen by Sept. 15. The money will start flowing to accepted projects by Nov. 7.

Benton

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