Oct 26, 2009 (McDowell Already Voted for FCC Network Neutrality Authority)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for OCTOBER 26, 2009
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
McDowell Forgets He Already Voted That FCC Has Authority To Enforce Network Neutrality Rules
Network Neutrality could lead to inexpensive, high-quality broadband services for businesses
Fighting net neutrality, telecom companies, outside lobbyists, cluster contributions to members of Congress
Net Neutrality -- The Morning After
NAACP and HTTP Call for Public Knowledge to Repudiate Offensive Statements Regarding Minority Organizations
Hutchison Takes Wait and See Approach on Network Neutrality Rules
Google chief favors Network Neutrality but is wary of regulation
Why You Should Care About Net Neutrality
AT&T weighs higher fees for data hogs
FCC's Baker Sounds Alarm Over 'Anecdote'-Based Regulations
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN AND THE STIMULUS
USTA, NCTA Question Data from Broadband Stimulus Applicants
NTIA awards $1.4 million grant for broadband mapping and planning in West Virginia
Economists Visit FCC to Discuss National Broadband Plan
Municipal Fiber to the Home Deployments: Next Generation Broadband as a Municipal Utility
ISPs: Broadband a 'Great American Success Story'
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
CEA Calls For More Broadband Spectrum
It's Too Early For Cash-For-Spectrum
How To Get Spectrum Back From TV For More Useful Purposes
Wireless Industry Argues Price and Service is Competitive
Court says cities have the right to bar telecommunications towers
MORE ON BROADBAND/INTERNET
Cities need broadband help, Chicago CTO says
Content piracy clogging the 'Net, costing jobs
CONSUMER PROTECTION
FCC Seeks Input on Empowering Parents and Protecting Children in an Evolving Media Landscape
Are retailers going too far tracking our Web habits?
Boucher on Privacy
JOURNALISM
White House's Fox News Boycott Attempt Prompts Network Revolt
Criticizing Fox News isn't "Nixonian." But Fox News is
Fox's Ailes to Run for President?
Prosecutors Turn Tables on Student Journalists
News Orgs Turn to Indie Sites To Fill In Coverage Gaps
Citizen Journalism? Um, How About Crowdsourcing Journalism With Actual Journalists?
MORE ONLINE ...
Consumer technology may improve health outcomes
A Big Deal, but Not a Good One
Pulling the TV cord yet staying plugged in
Studios' Quest for Life After DVDs
Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers
India Is Set to Begin Bandwidth Auction
Russia's last independent TV stations to move into Kremlin-owned studios
Obama Launches Global Tech Fund
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
MCDOWELL FORGETS HE ALREADY VOTED THAT FCC HAS AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE NETWORK NEUTRALITY RULES
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] In March 2007, the Federal Communications Commission -- including Commissioner Robert McDowell -- voted 5-0 that the FCC has authority to regulate and enforce Network Neutrality rules. So two and a half years ago, Commissioner McDowell was so utterly certain of the Commission's jurisdiction that he not only voted for it, he expressly acknowledged it in his concurring statement. So what did McDowell have to say about it last week? "Although I respectfully disagree with the factual and legal predicates that have produced this item today, I agree that if we are to have rules the proper way to proceed is a notice of proposed rulemaking containing the text of proposed rules. These issues are complicated and highly technical and deserve the lengthy comment period the Chairman has suggested. The longer time frame may also allow us to receive guidance from the court on our legal authority to proceed as may be decided in the Comcast/BitTorrent appeal."
benton.org/node/29132 | Public Knowledge
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NETWORK NEUTRALITY COULD BE A GOOD THING
[SOURCE: Network World, AUTHOR: Tim Greene]
Federal Communication Commission Network Neutrality rules have the potential to save businesses money in ways that range from heading off potential new Internet access charges to opening up low-cost, high-bandwidth services distinguished by superior quality of service. While the FCC won't make final decisions until next spring at the earliest, its rule-making agenda that was approved Thursday prompts speculation on what the outcome might yield, and that includes the possibility of high-quality access at a low price. The agenda includes examination of managed or specialized services such as IP TV that run over the same networks as general broadband Internet services. If the FCC decides to formally classify these specialized services as information services, existing communications law would allow for a rule requiring providers to wholesale the component parts of the service to competitors, says Tom Nolle, president and CEO of tech consultancy CIMI Corp. This was formerly the practice with information services, but the FCC changed its mind several years ago. But language in the proposed rule suggests the commission might revisit the old regulation. "It could be the start of a regulatory reversal," Nolle says.
benton.org/node/29119 | Network World
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TELCOS CONGRESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS
[SOURCE: Sunlight Foundation, AUTHOR: Bill Allison]
While the Federal Communications Commission considers the first steps toward ensuring net neutralitymaking certain that broadband providers do not discriminate against high traffic sitesthe telecom firms that would be affected by the rules and their trade groups have been swamping Congress with a one-two punch of campaign contributions from the companies and their registered lobbyists. Some 244 members of Congress were the beneficiaries of these contribution clusterstotaling more than $9.4 millionfrom January 2007 to June 2009, an investigative collaboration of the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics has found. Telecom interests and their lobbyists engaged in more clustered giving than any industry save pharmaceuticals. Overall, the top recipient of the largess was Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who took in $894,379 (many of those contributions were directed to his 2008 presidential campaign). The telecom interests also targeted House and Senate leaders: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was next with $341,089, followed by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) ($275,275), Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT) ($248,999) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) ($198,972).
benton.org/node/29118 | Sunlight Foundation
Recommend this Headline
back to top
THE MORNING AFTER
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] It's The Morning After for Big Telecom, and it ain't pretty. For the past dozen years or so, under deregulatory Democrats and compliant corporate Republicans, Big Telecom has written telecommunications policy, starting with the Telecom Act in 1996 and continuing in a pretty much unbroken streak, until very recently. They are used to winning, and winning big. And Thursday, they lost as the Federal Communications Commission approved a proceeding to write Network Neutrality rules. This morning, they are sitting around at the teleconferences and meeting rooms saying, "I can't believe that Genachowski actually did it. He actually did it." Meaning that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, barely four months in office, carried out a campaign pledge that he helped write to secure for us and our posterity an open, non-discriminatory Internet. Of course, all of their legions of lawyers are going over the Net Neutrality notice with a fine-tooth comb, telling their bosses how this language really is a win, and how that loophole can be exploited. They may even be right. There is some language in the proposed rules that Big Telecom should like.
benton.org/node/29117 | Public Knowledge
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NAACP, HTTP ASK FOR APOLOGY FROM PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE
[SOURCE: Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership, AUTHOR: Sylvia Aguilera]
Hilary Shelton, Director, Washington Bureau & Vice President for Advocacy, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Sylvia Aguilera, Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP), delivered a letter to Gigi Sohn, President and Co-founder of Public Knowledge. The minority advocacy organizations issued the joint letter to express their indignation at offensive statements made in a recent blog by Art Brodsky, PK's Director of Communications, regarding minority organizations that have weighed in opposition to Public Knowledge in the current debate regarding network neutrality. Brodsky wrote: "Perhaps the saddest part of the whole affair to date is the role of groups representing minority populations. For whatever reason whether they believe what the Big Telecom companies tell them or not many organizations seem to land on policies that hurt their constituencies and fall into ludicrous traps one suspects are not of their making." The NAACP and HTTP countered saying, "To make the blanket assertion that minority groups "fall into ludicrous traps" when taking positions on policy is to claim that minorities, and the groups they form to advocate on their behalf, are incapable of intelligently participating in sophisticated debates. Such statements are irresponsible, prejudiced and lack qualification. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/29116 | Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership | Art Brodsky | B&C
Recommend this Headline
back to top
HUTCHISON TAKES WAIT AND SEE APPROACH ON NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee and candidate for governor of Texas, is taking a trust but verify approach to proposed new Network Neutrality rules. Soon after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced his plan to expand and codify the rules, Sen Bailey threatened to introduce a bill to block funding for them, but held off after the chairman's office reached out to her. She suggested Friday that the bill is still an option. But she also said she would first need to closely review the text of the FCC's proposed rules. Sen Hutchison plans to leave the Senate in the next month to focus on challenging Texas's incumbent Republican governor, Rick Perry.
benton.org/node/29115 | Broadcasting&Cable | www.benton.org
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOOGLE CHIEF FAVORS NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Mike Musgrove]
In Washington for the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology meeting, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said favors Network Neutrality, but only to a point: While the tech player wants to make sure that telecommunications giants don't steer Internet traffic in a way that would favor some devices or services over others, he also believes that it would be a terrible idea for the government to involve itself as a regulator of the broader Internet. "It is possible for the government to screw the Internet up, big-time," he said. Google is strong enough as a company to weather any possible outcome on the issue, he said. But what he worries about "is the next start-up." Schmidt doesn't come across as Capitol Hill's biggest fan. Google is a tech company that loves facts, metrics and algorithms, after all. Schmidt might prefer a political system that dealt in such quantities.
benton.org/node/29114 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: ABC News, AUTHOR: Leslie Harris]
[Commentary] Now it's time to pay attention, because this week the Federal Communications Commission turned up the heat on a long-simmering debate known as "Internet neutrality." So why should you care? If you use the Web or instant messaging -- or Google or Facebook or Twitter or use VoIP to make a call, to take just several popular examples -- you are enjoying the fruits of the Internet's history as an open and "neutral" network. Individuals or small start-ups launched each of these applications and services on a level playing field. That's what makes the Internet different from other media. Broadband companies provide consumers with "on ramps" to the Internet. But unlike other media, they do not try to control what gets carried across their networks. They are, for the most part, agnostic as to which online applications or service their subscribers' access.
benton.org/node/29113 | ABC News
Recommend this Headline
back to top
AT&T WEIGHS HIGHER FEES FOR DATA HOGS
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Matt Hamblen]
AT&T is finalizing a plan that could impose higher fees on big data users, subject to rules that may come from federal regulators regarding net neutrality, an AT&T executive said today. AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said the carrier is considering "pricing options," which could be affected by whatever rules come from the Federal Communications Commission as it weighs net neutrality. The FCC voted Thursday to formally open a rulemaking process and receive comments on creating net neutrality rules. The proposed rules would allow Web users to run legal applications and access legal Web sites of their choice, while prohibiting broadband providers such as AT&T from selectively blocking or slowing content.
benton.org/node/29104 | ComputerWorld
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC'S BAKER SOUNDS ALARM OVER 'ANECDOTE'-BASED REGULATIONS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A Q&A with Federal Communications Commission member Meredith Baker. She says that the state of video competition varies, but suggests there is no shortage of it. She also says that regulation in response to "anecdotes" is akin to navigating "dangerous waters." In Commission Baker's view, an essential component of the FCC's national broadband plan will be "creating a regulatory environment that is favorable to capital investment in all types of broadband networks." Economic incentives for faster speeds are part of that, she said. As former acting head of the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications & Information Administration, Baker has definite opinions about access to spectrum for wireless broadband: More is needed, and it will have to come from both commercial and government sources.
benton.org/node/29094 | Multichannel News
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN AND THE STIMULUS
USTA, NCTA QUESTION BROADBAND STIMULUS APPLICANTS
[SOURCE: United States Telecom Association and National Cable & Telecommunications, AUTHOR: Walter McCormick, Kyle McSlarrow]
In a letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Larry Strickling and Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein, the trade associations claim it is difficult, and in some cases impossible, for their members to examine and respond fully and completely to broadband stimulus applications within the 30-day deadline set by the agencies. Ultimately, they are concerned that the data before the agencies may inadvertently provide an inaccurate or incomplete picture and potentially compromise the integrity of the process. They ask that action be taken quickly to address their issues, and that service providers be given a reasonable period of time to review the new information once the changes have been made.
benton.org/node/29112 | United States Telecom Association and National Cable & Telecommunications
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BROADBAND MAPPING GRANT FOR WEST VIRGINIA
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has awarded a grant of approximately $1.4 million to fund broadband mapping and planning activities in West Virginia under NTIA's State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. The program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will increase broadband access and adoption through better data collection and broadband planning. The data will be displayed in NTIA's national broadband map, a tool that will inform policymakers' efforts and provide consumers with improved information on the broadband Internet services available to them. NTIA has awarded the West Virginia Geologic and Economic Survey (GES) approximately $1.2 million to collect and verify the availability, speed, and location of broadband across the state. This activity is to be conducted on a semi-annual basis between 2009 and 2011, with the data to be presented in a clear and accessible format to the public, government, and the research community. In addition, the GES will receive $185,000 for the cost of broadband planning activities in West Virginia over two years, bringing its grant award total to approximately $1.4 million.
benton.org/node/29108 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Recommend this Headline
back to top
ECONOMISTS VISIT FCC TO DISCUSS NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Jonathan Baker]
On October 9, 2009, several academic and government economists met with members of the Federal Communications Commission to discuss platform competition, network management disclosure policies, theoretical and practical implications of various pricing structures for broadband access, and consumer demand for broadband both now and in the future. Economists in attendance included Judith Chevalier (Yale), Joseph Farrell (Federal Trade Commission and UC Berkeley), Shane Greenstein (Northwestern), Gregory Rosston (Stanford), Marius Schwartz (Georgetown), and Carl Shapiro (Justice Dept. and UC Berkeley).
benton.org/node/29111 | Federal Communications Commission
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MUNICIPAL FIBER TO THE HOME
[SOURCE: Fiber-to-the-Home Council, AUTHOR: ]
What is the current state of municipal fiber to the home (FTTH) deployments? How are these systems faring, and what is their future? To find out more, the FTTH Council commissioned research firm RVA to survey municipal systems for the purpose of gathering firsthand status information from network operators. RVA found: 1) Municipal FTTH systems are continuing to proliferate where allowed. By definition, municipal FTTH. 2) More, and larger, municipal FTTH systems are under development for 2010. 3) The "success" of municipal FTTH systems is substantiated by high subscriber take rates. 4) The effect of municipal FTTH systems on local economic development is significant. 5) Municipal FTTH systems have a positive impact on overall FTTH and broadband use. 6) Municipal FTTH Systems are an important element of national FTTH deployment and should be encouraged.
benton.org/node/29110 | Fiber-to-the-Home Council
Recommend this Headline
back to top
ISPS: BROADBAND A 'GREAT AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY'
[SOURCE: internetnews.com, AUTHOR: Sean Michael Kerner]
Speaking at SuperCOMM on Thursday, Cox Communications President Patrick Esser challenged the audience to imagine their lives without broadband and everything it enables. In his view, broadband adoption has changed the lives of millions of Americans. "Broadband is a great American success story, don't let anyone tell anyone tell you anything different," Esser said. "By the end of this year, approximately 95 percent of U.S. households will have access to broadband. This still-developing marketplace has revolutionized the communications landscape forever and it did in just over a decade." Esser added that over the last decade the cable industry alone as invested more than $145 billion into network infrastructure to help further the promise of broadband. Yet even with the investments made to date and his own company's extensive broadband footprint, Esser said that more needs to be done to ensure that schools and under-privileged families also get access. According to Esser, no one company or government agency can achieve the goal of expanding broadband to all Americans. In his view it will require a public-private partnership with a shared vision and a detailed roadmap.
benton.org/node/29109 | internetnews.com
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
CEA CALLS FOR MORE BROADBAND SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: ]
The Consumer Electronics Association is urging the Federal Communications Commission to review spectrum usage and determine how additional spectrum can be allocated for wireless broadband and other uses. And to show the way, the CEA submitted a cost-benefit analysis of reallocating the 300 Mhz of TV broadcast spectrum to wireless broadband. "We are currently facing a crisis in wireless high-speed broadband availability," said CEO President Gary Shapiro. "We encourage the commission to immediately begin an inventory of spectrum usage. At the same time, it is important to begin developing a model for determining how to identify and reallocate spectrum."
benton.org/node/29131 | TVNewsCheck
Recommend this Headline
back to top
IT'S TOO EARLY FOR CASH-FOR SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] Broadcasters just aren't ready to give up control of their own distribution and become, in essence, local cable programming services. They point out that millions of homes still rely on getting TV off antennas, and many of them haven't gotten over the trauma of moving from analog to digital in June. The broadcasters also feel that they would be giving up on the potential of digital — multicasting, mobile video and things yet unknown — after having just spent a bundle to upgrade their transmission facilities to digital. Broadcasters are particularly keen on mobile video. And to show the world they are, they made a big deal last Friday of the fact that the ATSC had finally voted out a final standard for it, even though that has been a fait accompli for some time. Universal wireless broadband access is a wonderful idea, but mobile video as envisioned by the broadcasters is too. Jessell looks forward to the day — and it may come within the next year or two — when he can tune into any TV station in New York on his cell phone no matter where he is -- for free. And although the Federal Communications Commission may dangle a spectrum-for-cash deal, it could easily be trumped by Congress. A lot of people, especially those who believe broadcasters have shirked their public service responsibilities, hate the idea of broadcasters being able to cash in on the public airwaves.
benton.org/node/29107 | TVNewsCheck
Recommend this Headline
back to top
HOW TO GET SPECTRUM BACK
[SOURCE: TechDirt, AUTHOR: ]
If you look at how our radio spectrum is allocated today, you discover that TV broadcasters have a huge chunk of spectrum. This was given to them -- entirely for free -- years ago, when spectrum wasn't used for much. These days, however, spectrum is precious for so many different things, and certainly much of it could be put to better use. Of course, the broadcasters aren't thrilled with giving up any of their windfall. For years, they dragged their feet, kicking and screaming, about switching from analog to digital broadcasting, which was needed to reclaim some spectrum. More recently, they've been fighting attempts to use "white space" spectrum -- which is spectrum that's unused, but close to used spectrum. The broadcasters insist there will be interference, while technologists insist the technology is good enough to block interference. So, it's interesting that, just as we're hearing of the first tests of white space networks, the FCC is also talking to broadcasters about other ways to reclaim some spectrum and put it to use on something more useful and productive.
benton.org/node/29106 | TechDirt
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WIRELESS INDUSTRY ARGUES PRICE AND SERVICE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
CTIA, the lobbying arm of the US wireless industry, is saying no to a "cocktail" of data reporting requirements suggested by public interest groups, while calling on the Federal Communications Commission to inventory its spectrum, free more of it for wireless and eliminate tower citing delays. The industry's remarks came in reply comments on the FCC's inquiry into competition in the mobile wireless market. CTIA argues that there is already plenty of data to support the conclusion that price and service in the wireless industry is incredibly competitive. The group argues that criticisms of price, service, investment, and calls for a "new, mandatory data collection regime," can be chalked up to "an irresistible urge to insist that no glass can be anything but half empty."
benton.org/node/29105 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top
COURT SAYS CITIES HAVE THE RIGHT TO BAR TOWERS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Carol Williams]
Earlier this month, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Palos Verdes Estates (CA), ruling that city officials could bar the construction of unsightly cellular towers. The city's victory was hailed by urban planners concerned about the proliferation of visual blight in the name of technological progress. Like Palos Verdes Estates, San Francisco, San Diego County, La Cañada Flintridge and other communities have fought the purveyors of cellular service in court on aesthetic grounds and, for the most part, have won. The recent legal disputes, planners say, could encourage telecommunications companies to develop more creative alternatives amenable to residents' concerns -- or spur more litigation. In its ruling the three-judge panel paid heed to the esoteric benefits of landscape unmarred by the accouterments of modern public utilities.
benton.org/node/29127 | Los Angeles Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MORE ON BROADBAND/INTERNET
CITIES NEED BROADBAND HELP
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Carol Wilson]
Speaking at SuperCOMM on Friday, Chicago CIO Hardik Bhatt said U.S. cities need the aid and cooperation of telecom service providers if they are going to compete globally with Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Bangalore and others. He cited one city effort to improve technical training and education by creating a high school devoted to IT and telecom skills, only to discover that the most bandwidth available to the new school was two T-1s. "We wanted our students to be able to have interaction with students in other countries," Bhatt said. "Are we going to be able to do that with a 3 Megabit connection? I don't think so. We need every high school, every elementary school in the city to have 100 Megabit per second connections." Bhatt called on telecom service providers to work with cities in public-private partnerships that could benefit both. For example, he said, providing high-speed fiber optic connections to community hubs would enable the city to make the broadband Internet available to the 39% of city residents who don't have broadband, and teach them the advantages of high-speed Internet access.
benton.org/node/29103 | TelephonyOnline
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CONTENT PIRACY CLOGGING THE 'NET, COSTING JOBS
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Carol Wilson]
Speaking at SuperCOMM on Friday, NBC Universal Executive Vice President and General Counsel Richard Cotton said Internet service providers have a significant role to play in helping stem the tide of pirated content that is clogging broadband pipes and costing U.S. jobs. "Of course counterfeiting and piracy will never go to zero," Cotton said. "What I believe we need is to send people signals, cues that certain behavior is inacceptable and we haven't started down that path on broadband Internet. We need to do a much better job of educating people that accessing copyrighted content is illegal and that it has consequences." One of those consequences is network congestion, Cotton argued, citing research that showed that 50% of Internet traffic is generated by those illegally access copyrighted material.
benton.org/node/29102 | TelephonyOnline
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CONSUMER PROTECTION
FCC LAUNCHES KIDS' MEDIA PROCEEDING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) asking how children can be served and protected and parents can be further empowered in the new digital media landscape. The NOI comes almost 20 years after enactment of the Children's Television Act and follows the Commission's recently issued Child Safe Viewing Act Report, which examined parental control technologies for video and audio programming. The NOI asks to what extent children are using electronic media today, the benefits and risks this presents, and the ways in which parents, teachers, and children can help reap the benefits while minimizing the risks of using these technologies. The NOI also recognizes that a wealth of academic research and studies exists on these issues and asks commenters to identify additional data and studies, and to indicate where further study is needed. The NOI additionally seeks comment about the effectiveness of media literacy efforts in enabling children to enjoy the benefits of media while minimizing the potential harms. The NOI recognizes that other federal agencies are addressing similar issues, at least with respect to online safety, and asks what the Commission can do to assist with these efforts. The deadline for filing comments is 60 days after publication in the federal register and the deadline for filing reply comments is 90 days after publication in the federal register.
benton.org/node/29101 | Federal Communications Commission | NOI
Recommend this Headline
back to top
ARE RETAILERS GOING TOO FAR TRACKING OUR WEB HABITS?
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Jayne O'Donnell]
Companies have been monitoring our online behavior for almost as long as there's been an Internet, often using our online footsteps (cookies) whenever we search, browse or buy online. Tracking technology has advanced so much that everything from how long we linger over a product description to whether we are searching for sexual-dysfunction drugs can be collected and stored on individual profiles. Our profiles are numeric descriptions, not our real names, but in some cases, it's not hard to determine personal information behind the numbers. Privacy concerns abound, and several privacy and consumer groups are urging Congress to enact laws on what can and can't be collected and for how long. But the tracking continues in earnest, in few places more avidly than among retailers. With the approach of a holiday season that even the most hopeful of industry analysts think will see only a 1% sales increase, retailers are increasingly turning to the Web for answers — and sales. Even retailers beating the odds, such as thriving teen retailer Aeropostale, find their online growth far surpasses that in their brick-and-mortar stores.
benton.org/node/29126 | USAToday
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BOUCHER ON PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) thinks a key to economic growth is online commerce, so he's trying to promote targeted advertising on the Web to get people to open their wallets and spur the creation of more small Internet companies selling goods and services. To that end, he's planning to wade into the controversial issue of behavioral advertising with a bill he'll circulate to other lawmakers before the end of the month that's a mix of different processes for how companies can track information about users. In a recent interview, Rep Boucher talked about a range of issues, including net neutrality and broadband deployment to rural areas. "FCC Chairman [Julius] Genachowski is absolutely right to introduce new principles for an open Internet," he said, adding that Blair Levin, head of the broadband national planning process at the agency is doing a "terrific job." As for his own push for privacy, he said his bill will set guidelines for users and companies that attempts to be a "measured approach" to the contentious issue.
benton.org/node/29100 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top
JOURNALISM
WHITE HOUSE'S FOX NEWS BOYCOTT ATTEMPT PROMPTS REVOLT
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: ]
The White House attempted to block Fox News from a round of interviews with "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg Thursday, but the Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV networks included in the White House pool refused to interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included. Fox News says that the White House "failed in its attempt to manipulate other news networks into isolating and excluding Fox News." The attempt to shut Fox News out was the latest move in the administration's ongoing battle against the cable news channel, which several senior administration officials have claimed is not a legitimate news organization. The decision by the network bureau chiefs to stand with Fox News is one of the first instances of the mainstream media defending Fox News against the White House's claims.
benton.org/node/29098 | Huffington Post, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CRITICIZING FOX NEWS ISN'T "NIXONIAN" BUT FOX NEWS IS
[SOURCE: Salon.com, AUTHOR: Joe Conason]
[Commentary] With outraged Washington journalists and Republican politicians crying "Nixonian!" over the public scuffle between the Obama White House and the Fox News Channel, what began as a mundane spat is turning into a cosmic jest. Somewhere, Nixon himself is enjoying a mordant laugh to hear this shrill defense of his old servant Roger Ailes, the television wizard whose deceptive campaigning ushered him into the presidency more than 40 years ago -- and who then became the living symbol of everything negative and nasty in American politics during the two decades that followed. To understand what is going on today, it is essential to remember that where Ailes came from, "Nixonian" was not an insult but a badge of honor -- and seething hatred and even persecution of the press, rather than mere criticism, was a way of life.
benton.org/node/29097 | Salon.com
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FOX'S AILES TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT?
[SOURCE: Politico.com, AUTHOR: Mike Allen]
Friends and associates are encouraging Fox News chief Roger Ailes to jump into the political arena for real by running for president in 2012. "Ailes knows how to frame an issue better than anybody, and that's what we need now," says one Ailes friend who is encouraging the Fox founder, chairman and CEO to seek the Republican nomination to run against President Barack Obama. Ailes, 69, has an aggressive, winning personality that made Fox News a huge success — and a huge target for liberal critics. Frank Luntz, the well-known Republican pollster, said Ailes could be a force if he makes the run. "I have known Roger Ailes for 29 years," says Luntz. "No one knows how to win better than Roger." Talk of an Ailes run, which informed sources said is based on more than mere speculation, could escalate the White House war with Fox war in wildly unpredictable and fun ways. Ailes is laughing off the entreaties of some friends and associates and will not run for president in 2012, an aide said Friday. Ailes replied when asked about the possibility, according to the aide: "This country needs fair and balanced news more now than ever before, so I'm going to decline a run for the presidency. Besides, I can't take the pay cut."
benton.org/node/29092 | Politico.com | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top
PROSECUTORS TURN TABLES ON STUDENT JOURNALISTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Monica Davey]
For more than a decade, classes of students at Northwestern University's journalism school have been scrutinizing the work of prosecutors and the police. The investigations into old crimes, as part of the Medill Innocence Project, have helped lead to the release of 11 inmates, the project's director says, and an Illinois governor once cited those wrongful convictions as he announced he was commuting the sentences of everyone on death row. But as the Medill Innocence Project is raising concerns about another case, that of a man convicted in a murder 31 years ago, a hearing has been scheduled next month in Cook County Circuit Court on an unusual request: Local prosecutors have subpoenaed the grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of the journalism students themselves. Among the issues the prosecutors need to understand better, a spokeswoman said, is whether students believed they would receive better grades if witnesses they interviewed provided evidence to exonerate a convict. John Lavine, the dean of the Medill School of Journalism, said the suggestion that students might have thought their grades were linked to what witnesses said was "astonishing." He said he believed that federal law barred him from providing the students grades, but that he had no intention of doing so in any case.
benton.org/node/29096 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NEWS ORGS TURN TO INDIE SITES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Marisa Guthrie]
News organizations with shrinking budgets are forming an increasingly symbiotic relationship with a new wave of independent online news sites—many of them staffed by pink-slipped print reporters.
benton.org/node/29095 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top