July 2009

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY JULY 1, 2009

NEWS FROM COURT
   Roberts Shifts Court to Right, With Help From Kennedy

AGENDA
   July 1: Recovery Act Broadband Investments
   Radio Ratings Get More Scrutiny

NEWS FROM THE FCC
   "The FCC's potential as a force for good remains constant."
   Genachowski Wants Extensive Review of FCC's Emergency Preparedness
   McDowell To Be Sworn In At FCC's July 2 Meeting
   Jen Howard Named Genachowski's Press Secretary
   An Appreciation For Commissioner Adelstein
   A letter to the new FCC chair

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   "Good Enough" Isn't Good Enough For America's Broadband Future
   Is Broadband a Civil Right?
   Personal Democracy Forum: Battle over Broadband
   News of Jackson's death breaks Web records

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   China backs away from Internet filter
   In China, New Limits on Virtual Currency
   Federal IT Investment Dashboard

TELECOM
   FCC Narrows Process For Telecoms Seeking Regulatory Waivers
   FCC cracks down on "gamesmanship" of line-sharing rules
   Telcos target Universal Service Fund
   Tickets soar for drivers on cell phones
   A Pocket-Size Satellite Phone
   Roaming phone charges to fall in EU

ED TECH
   Funds For Learning Announces Findings from National E-rate Survey
   Maine: A MacBook for each student in grades 7-12

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   The Stealth Media Mogul
   Paramount talks to rivals on combining DVD ops
   President Obama signs Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009

MORE @ BENTON.ORG
   Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Roadmap
   Public Interest Groups Ask FCC Reversal on Set-Top Boxes
   Stakeholders Weigh In on Draft Definition for 'Meaningful Use'
   Health IT coordinator to harmonize record standards, network
   NATOA Seeks Nominees for Community Broadband Awards

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NEWS FROM COURT

ROBERTS SHIFTS COURT TO RIGHT, WITH HELP FROM KENNEDY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Adam Liptak]
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr emerged as a canny strategist at the Supreme Court this term, laying the groundwork for bold changes that could take the court to the right even as the recent elections moved the nation to the left. The court took mainly incremental steps in major cases concerning voting rights, employment discrimination, criminal procedure and campaign finance. But the chief justice's fingerprints were on all of them, and he left clues that the court is only one decision away from fundamental change in many areas of the law. Whether he will succeed depends on Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the court's swing vote. And there is reason to think that the chief justice has found a reliable ally when it counts. Chief Justice Roberts has certainly been planting seeds in this term's decisions. If his reasoning takes root in future cases, the law will move in a conservative direction on questions as varied as what kinds of evidence may be used against criminal defendants and the role the government may play in combating race discrimination.
http://benton.org/node/26218
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AGENDA

JULY 1: RECOVERY ACT BROADBAND INVESTMENTS
[SOURCE: The White House]
On Wednesday, July 1, Vice President Biden will travel to Erie, Pennsylvania, to highlight Recovery Act broadband investments. The Vice President will be joined by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper and other local officials. The event will kick-off of the Obama Administration's Rural Tour. Over the course of the next few weeks and months, top Administration officials, including Cabinet Secretaries, will fan out across the nation to hold a series of discussions on how communities, states, and the federal government can work together to help strengthen rural America. These events, involving multiple Cabinet secretaries, will serve as listening sessions to focus on such issues as broad-based rural health, economic development, infrastructure, education, energy, natural resources, and agriculture. Events will be held in Alaska, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. And, Secretary Vilsack will hold listening sessions in additional states with local and state elected officials.
http://benton.org/node/26219
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RADIO RATINGS GET MORE SCRUTINY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Mike Musgrove]
A congressional committee has launched an inquiry into a local company's new system for gauging listenership of radio stations and whether it leaves out minority households. Rep Edolphus Towns (D-NY) chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said some radio companies are complaining that a high-tech approach used by Columbia-based ratings company Arbitron to measure the size and demographics of listenership, does not adequately represent minority listeners. During the past two years, Arbitron has switched how it measures listenership. Where survey participants once wrote down their radio-listening habits in paper journals, they now carry an electronic device, called the Portable People Meter, to do it automatically. The new system has caused turmoil in the radio industry; many stations that were popular under the former system have seen their ratings plummet under the new one. Arbitron says the devices give advertisers a more accurate and detailed look at a radio station's audience size, but some radio companies are complaining that the PPM service fails to include minority listeners.
http://benton.org/node/26216
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NEWS FROM THE FCC

"THE FCC'S POTENTIAL AS A FORCE FOR GOOD REMAINS."
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
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.
http://benton.org/node/26212
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GENACHOWSKI WANTS EXTENSIVE REVIEW OF FCC'S EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
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.
http://benton.org/node/26211
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MCDOWELL TO BE SWORN IN AT FCC'S JULY 2 MEETING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
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.
http://benton.org/node/26210
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JEN HOWARD NAMED GENACHOWSKI'S PRESS SECRETARY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
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.
http://benton.org/node/26209
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AN APPRECIATION FOR COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN
[SOURCE: Tales from the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[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.
http://benton.org/node/26208
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A LETTER TO THE NEW FCC CHAIR
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Thomas Hazlett]
[Commentary] Hazlett wants new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski to end television broadcasting. "Funny thing is, the stations don't care about broadcasting their signals anymore, either. That's expensive and wastes fossil-fuel generated electricity. Bad for the environment and it pollutes the most beautiful radio spectrum on God's Green Earth." He believes that for a $3 billion investment, the nation would get back 208 MHz (35 channels) of TV Band spectrum - prime, pristine bandwidth free and clear of broadcasters and wireless microphones. For the 10 million US homes that are not hooked up to cable or satellite, Hazlett suggests investing $3 billion to install free satellite dish on their roof or plug a local cable connection into their TV, and deliver all those households their "broadcast TV" at no charge.
http://benton.org/node/26215
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

"GOOD ENOUGH" ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR AMERICA'S BROADBAND FUTURE
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[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.
http://benton.org/node/26207
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IS BROADBAND A CIVIL RIGHT?
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Steve Rosenbaum]
[Commentary] There are some moments when you can feel the conversation change -- and the world tilt from right to left. Today was one of those days. It began early at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City. The PdF as it's known, is now in it's 6th year -- and attracts the top talent in politics, consulting, and technology. Predictably, the conversation this year revolved around Twitter, Iran and the transformational power of social media to change the political landscape. The days agenda featured a list of Obama campaign and administration superstars -- and it perhaps is somewhat ironic that Julius Genachowski, the newly appointed FCC chairman wasn't able to attend, as he was being confirmed in DC just as the afternoon sessions began. But the elephant in the room wasn't about software, or technology -- it was about Broadband. The issues around Universal Access emerged as the most powerful metaphor for freedom, democracy, and free speech.
http://benton.org/node/26202
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PERSONAL DEMOCRACY FORUM: BATTLE OVER BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Marisa Taylor]
The Obama administration has called for a $7.1 billion upgrade of the nation's broadband Internet system as part of the Recovery Act, but it will be a tall order for the Federal Communications Commission to create a plan that satisfies both telecom companies and broadband advocacy groups. That was the takeaway message at a panel discussion of the broadband initiative at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York on Monday afternoon. Panelist Josh Silver, the executive director and co-founder of Free Press, ripped into his co-panelists, who represented the wireless and telecommunications industries. He accused them of price-gauging Americans on Internet service and monopolizing the industry rather than engaging in competitiveness and helping provide affordable access to the poor. "We're looking at industries which are protecting a very lucrative business model, and there are starting to be increasing numbers of people at the gates understanding that the ISP market should be competitive," Silver said. "We're talking about democracy," he added later in the discussion. "Can poor people see streaming video that calls out corruption in government and in business?" Co-panelists James Assey, executive vice president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, and Hank Hultquist, vice president for federal regulation at AT&T, did their best to be diplomatic and remained even keel in the face of a crowd that was largely against them.
http://benton.org/node/26201
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NEWS OF JACKSON'S DEATH BREAKS WEB RECORDS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Jack Gillum]
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.
http://benton.org/node/26203
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

CHINA BACKS AWAY FROM INTERNET FILTER
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Chris Buckley, David Stanway]
China has delayed indefinitely a much-criticized plan to force manufacturers to bundle Internet filtering software with personal computers sold in the country, in an abrupt retreat hours before the policy was due to start. The climbdown was reported late on Tuesday by the official Xinhua news agency, which said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology would "delay the mandatory installation of the controversial 'Green Dam-Youth Escort' filtering software on new computers." The "Green Dam" plan, which officials said was to stamp out Internet pornography banned in China, was to start on Wednesday, but had been assailed by critics of censorship, industry groups and Washington officials as politically intrusive, technically ineffective and commercially unfair. No new date was given and the plan may drift into oblivion.
http://benton.org/node/26194
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IN CHINA, NEW LIMITS ON VIRTUAL CURRENCY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Barboza]
The buying and selling of the make-believe currencies used in online gaming has become so widespread that Chinese authorities fear it will affect the real economy. To quell that threat, those authorities said on Tuesday that they had issued new regulations aimed at restricting the trade and use of virtual money. On Tuesday, China said that new regulations would restrict the trading and use of virtual money, and that virtual currencies would be banned from being exchanged for goods. The government also said it was moving to fight online gambling and disputes over virtual coins. In a release, Beijing said that while virtual currencies had helped promote online gaming, they have "also brought new economic and social problems." Edward Castronova, a professor of telecommunications at Indiana University Bloomington who says he believes virtual currencies could pose a threat to world economies, applauded Beijing's move.
http://benton.org/node/26217
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IT DASHBOARD
[SOURCE: The White House]
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 IT Dashboard 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 IT Dashboard 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.
http://benton.org/node/26206
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TELECOM

FCC NARROWS PROCESS FOR TELECOMS SEEKING REGULATORY WAIVERS
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
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.
http://benton.org/node/26205
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FCC CRACKS DOWN ON "GAMESMANSHIP" OF LINE-SHARING RULES
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
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.
http://benton.org/node/26204
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TELCOS TARGET RURAL PHONE FEE
[SOURCE: Dallas Business Journal, AUTHOR: Jeff Bounds]
Major long-distance phone companies like AT&T are lobbying in Washington for an overhaul of the $7.1 billion Universal Service Fund, which helps pay for phone service for poor, rural areas and schools and libraries. They are facing opposition from rural phone companies over the question of how to move the fund, which was formed in the 1930s and expanded with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, into the Internet age. "It's worked for voice telecom," says Dan Mitchell, vice president of the legal and industry division of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, a trade group representing rural telecommunications providers. "It needs to be transitioned to broadband and high-speed Internet communications. That's the $64 million question — how the (Federal Communications Commission) will do that transition."
http://benton.org/node/26197
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TICKETS SOAR FOR DRIVERS ON CELL PHONES
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Ryan Kim]
California Highway Patrol citation statistics suggest that many drivers are returning to their old habit of holding their cell phone up to their ear. In July of 2008, the CHP recorded 7,779 citations for hands-free violations. The number remained relatively constant through the end of the year but then began climbing in 2009. In May, the last full month of statistics, the CHP issued 12,789 citations, a 64 percent increase over July 2008. The CHP has also issued 375 tickets for juveniles driving while talking on the phone, which is always illegal regardless of the use of a headset.
http://benton.org/node/26214
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A POCKET-SIZE SATELLITE PHONE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Mike Musgrove]
Reston-based satellite firm TerreStar Networks is gearing up to launch a smartphone and phone service this year that will combine terrestrial wireless service with its upcoming satellite service. Under a deal the company has with AT&T, TerreStar users will have their calls directed either through that carrier's network or through TerreStar's service. Make a call that's in range of one of AT&T's towers, and AT&T's network will handle it. But if a customer travels outside the AT&T network's range, that call will be routed to TerreStar's new satellite. TerreStar is hoping to first address a market of federal agencies and emergency first-responders who need to know that they'll always have service, even in the event of a Katrina-like disaster that knocks out cell towers on the ground. If there's an emergency or a major event in one part of the country, TerreStar will be able to adjust its coverage so that, say, an area in Arizona has enough capacity to support increased phone traffic. The company's larger ambition is to build a market for its satellite phone among mainstream consumers, but TerreStar has not yet announced how much it will charge for the service.
http://benton.org/node/26213
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ROAMING PHONE CHARGES TO FALL IN EU
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Bate Felix, Pete Harrison]
Making a telephone call, sending a text message or reading emails on a mobile phone from across the European Union will cost less. The tariff cuts, which complete a European Union ruling from 2007, were proposed by the EU's executive arm at the end of 2008 and won approval by the European Parliament and member states. Following the new price curbs, which take effect on July 1, it will be up to 60 percent cheaper to send mobile phone text messages while traveling in the EU or to surf the Web by laptop. Operators will be allowed to charge customers a maximum of 11 euro cents (15 U.S. cents) per roamed text message (SMS), excluding sales tax, compared with current prices of about 28 cents. As of July 1, prices for making a roamed mobile call will be capped at 43 euro cents per minute versus 46 cents previously, and at 19 cents, down from 22 cents, for calls received abroad. The caps will further fall to 39 cents for calls made and 15 cents for calls received while roaming from July 1, 2010 and to 35 cents and 11 cents from July 1, 2011.
http://benton.org/node/26193
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