Oct 8, 2009 (America's Mobile Broadband Future)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY OCTOBER 8, 2009
A busy day from Capitol Hill to San Diego to San Jose http://bit.ly/xKztN
BROADBAND
Pro-telecom group Connected Nation misses out on first broadband stimulus $$$
Why metered broadband won't last
Will Copyright Issues Interfere With the National Broadband Plan?
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
America's Mobile Broadband Future
AT&T's Bid To Prevent Wireless Neutrality Rules
The iPhone Is Not an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
Should Stimulus Dollars Fund 3G Deployment?
Smart-Phone Makers Call the Doctor
TELEVISION
Media Council Hawaii Asks FCC to Block Raycom/MCG Shared Service Agreement
Overall Satisfaction With TV Service Providers Bounces Back
ACA Wants Parity Between DBS And Cable If New Broadcast Carriage Rules Emerge
Vivendi Ready for NBC Exit, May Hold Out on Price
ADVERTISING
Online ads: Big Brother or customer service?
Under the Influencers: The Relationship Between Social Media and Search
JOURNALISM
Valuing Journalism
The Press Is Still Missing The Story Of Fraud and Economic Decline Ahead
HEALTH
Electronic Health Record use improves preventive-care quality
The rise of the e-patient
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Patriot Act Excesses
FBI chief urges vigilance against cybercrime
Rights activists see double standard in Twitter arrest
House Republicans hope to catch up to Obama on use of new-media tools
CONTENT
Google to Revise a Book Pact by Nov. 9
Blogged and Sold
The death of the media mogul
New 'consumer-intelligence' technology will compile detailed profiles
OWNERSHIP
IBM Faces Justice Antitrust Inquiry
Ciena Makes Bid For Nortel Unit
MORE ONLINE ...
High Court Takes Up Copyright Case
Tech Jobs on the Upswing
Google and Partner Offer Home Energy Management Without Smart Meters
BROADBAND
CONNECTED NATION MISSES OUT ON MAPPING GRANTS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Broadband stimulus money watchers and recovery plan tea leaf readers are cheering news of the first winners of the Department of Commerce's grants program for broadband mapping projects. They're pleased that the recipients are independent state agencies rather than groups affiliated with the telco/cable-backed non-profit Connected Nation. "We hope that trend continues," Connected's outspoken critic Art Brodsky at Public Knowledge told us. Other observers think that it will. What made these applications stand out? The applicants handed in "well-formed proposals" that were "fiscally prudent" and could serve "as a model for others," explained National Telecommunications & Information Administration boss Larry Strickling. But that's sort of a "duh"—the minimum that any government program should expect. More tellingly, NTIA praised these proposals for three additional qualities. Significantly, while the applicants plan to collect broadband use data from ISPs, "each also described plans to collect or utilize data from other sources," the agency explained. "Examples include wireless propagation models, speed tests, online and field surveys, and drive testing." They also pledged to use a variety of verification methods to test the accuracy of their data, and work with an array of state agencies to get the job done. Hovering over this discussion, of course, is the question of whether the task of national broadband mapping will be dominated by the Connected Nation group or by a consortium of NTIA-funded state entities that go out and dig up their own mapping content. Connected's detractors warn that its strategy "is to accept public funds for collecting information from its sponsors which is then kept largely private, hidden behind strict non-disclosure agreements. This privatized data gathered with public money is a violation of the public trust." Connected Nation defends its reliance on confidential arrangements with providers, arguing that it limits its non-disclosure data to "highly sensitive network infrastructure information," which it protects "in order to protect the physical integrity of the backbone of the United States' communications system—an issue of homeland security." The group also says it wants to defend the "proprietary infrastructure and equipment information" of providers. Needless to say, it's pretty early in the game to predict where NTIA will actually go with this next. The agency still has a slew of bids to process, and Connected and its affiliates have eligible applications in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
benton.org/node/28598 | Ars Technica
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WHY METERED BROADBAND WON'T LAST
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
When Verizon's chief technology officer, Dick Lynch, recently predicted an end to flat-rate broadband, many in the industry saw it as a late entry into the general consensus. After all, the combination of runaway consumer bandwidth demand and meager service provider revenue growth is unsustainable, right? "The concept of a flat-rated infinitely expanding service for everyone just won't work," Lynch told the audience at the Fiber-to-the-Home Conference. Not everyone agrees. "I think ultimately we'll end up with a simple flat rate," said Craig Labovitz, chief scientist for Arbor Networks, which sells network management systems. "The question is over what time scale." "Generally stuff starts out flat-rate, and it's very expensive for a select few," Labovitz said, citing the telegraph and the telephone as examples. "Then as it becomes more ubiquitous, it becomes metered as you try to relax capacity...and you try to dis-incentivize people from using your capacity. And then it ends up being flat-rate again as ultimately there's a strong economic [force toward] consumers preferring simplicity as a key metric."
benton.org/node/28597 | TelephonyOnline
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WILL COPYRIGHT ISSUES INTERFERE WITH THE NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN?
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Christina Kirchner]
A panel discussion last week about what can be done to protect copyrighted content over the Internet united discussions of intellectual property protection with the congressionally-mandated effort to create a national broadband plan. The possibility of a national broadband plan being adopted in the coming year raised the possibility that content may be more readily available to consumers. This might mean that piracy might become more widespread, too. Speaking at a "digital breakfast" held on October 1 by Gotham Media Ventures, moderator Paul Sweeting, a media and technology consultant, cited a French law putting consumers on notice that broadband access may be denied if they are caught downloading illegal content. According to Michael O'Leary, executive vice president of governmental affairs at Motion Picture Association of America, there are various ways of dealing with copyright-infringing content, some more effective than others.
benton.org/node/28607 | BroadbandCensus.com
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AMERICA'S MOBILE BROADBAND FUTURE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
Speaking at a wireless industry event in San Diego, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski admitted, "It's all about mobile." As a business executive and investor, Chairman Genachowski witnessed mobile's evolution from futurist fantasy, to a nice-to-have part of a company's gameplan, to a must-have strategic priority. Now every business has to have a mobile strategy. The FCC's goal, Genachowski said, is "fostering innovation and investment, promoting competition, empowering and protecting consumers, all in an effort to help ensure the U.S. has a world-leading communications infrastructure for the 21st century." The FCC's specific objectives are unleashing spectrum for broadband; removing obstacles to 4G deployment, like delays in tower siting; developing fair rules of the road to preserve the openness of the Internet, while recognizing the differences between wired and wireless technologies; and empowering consumers by supporting a vibrant, transparent and competitive mobile marketplace.
benton.org/node/28592 | Federal Communications Commission | GigaOm | B&C | CNet | IDG News Service | Reuters | TelephonyOnline
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AT&T'S BID TO PREVENT WIRELESS NEUTRALITY RULES
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
Last year, as the Federal Communications Commission was investigating Comcast's blocking of peer-to-peer visits, the Internet service provider announced that it would develop a protocol-neutral system of traffic management. Now, with policymakers focusing on competition in the wireless industry, AT&T has said it no longer objects to Skype and other VoIP apps running on the iPhone's 3G network. AT&T's change of heart comes five months after broadband advocates complained to the FCC about AT&T and Apple limiting VoIP apps for the iPhone to the Wi-Fi network. It also comes just several weeks after FCC chair Julius Genachowski proposed that the agency enact neutrality regulations that would extend to wireless broadband networks. AT&T seems poised to argue that its decision to allow VoIP apps on the 3G network shows there's no need for such rules -- at least for the wireless Web. The company has already made clear it opposes wireless neutrality rules. Just today, AT&T Mobility chief Ralph de la Vega insisted at CTIA that "the marketplace is vibrant" and that there is "is no need to burden the mobile Internet with onerous new regulations."
benton.org/node/28591 | MediaPost
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THE IPHONE IS NOT AN ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT BUFFET
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Farhad Manjoo]
Ever since it became the exclusive carrier for the iPhone, AT&T's fortunes have resembled a scene out of Indiana Jones—a scramble to get out of the way of an unstoppable boulder. The iPhone has prompted millions of people to join AT&T, but paradoxically, it has also hurt the company's image. The problem is that all of those customers use their phones too much. The typical smartphone customer consumes about 40 to 80 megabytes of wireless capacity a month. The typical iPhone customer uses 400 MB a month. AT&T's network is getting crushed by that demand. A lot of technologies exhibit a positive network effect—they get better as more people use them. The iPhone is just the opposite—as more people in your city sign up, local cell towers get more congested, and your own phone performs worse. In New York, San Francisco, and other places with lots of iPhones, people have terrible trouble getting calls to go through or taking advantage of the supposed speed of AT&T's 3G network. The wireless provider is taking the blame: Half of all iPhone owners say they'd switch to another carrier if Apple dropped its exclusive deal with AT&T, which reports say could happen next year. AT&T also scored lower than any other U.S. carrier in a recent customer-satisfaction survey—the first time it has ever claimed last place.
benton.org/node/28590 | Slate | GigaOm
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SHOULD STIMULUS DOLLARS FUND 3G DEVELOPMENT?
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
Should broadband stimulus funding go to third generation wireless? Cause 4G and LTE are just around the corner, right? We may not be able to afford to invest in lagging edge technology, in networks that may be duplicative, or in networks that may not be financially self-sustaining. Calling 3G a "lagging edge technology" might be a little extreme as it is providing true value today and should continue to do so for another couple of years, but even still it's hard to get excited about investing taxpayer dollars in technology that's going to arguably be outdated not long after it's deployed.
benton.org/node/28589 | App-Rising.com
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SMART-PHONE MAKERS CALL THE DOCTOR
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Niraj Sheth, Yukari Iwatani Kane]
The medical waistband is the latest front in the battle among smart-phone makers for the business customer. Pagers have long reigned in hospitals, where they are prized for their dependability. But with doctors treating more patients and hospitals facing pressure to be more efficient, companies like Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. see an opportunity to peddle their devices. Last month, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, started a trial with Apple and Epic Systems Corp., a provider of health-care information systems, to test software that will let medical staff access patient charts on Apple's iPhone. Stanford is studying ways to use the devices to reduce the risk of error as patient care is increasingly handed off from one doctor to another, says Pravene Nath, chief medical information officer.
benton.org/node/28588 | Wall Street Journal
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TELEVISION
MEDIA COUNCIL HAWAII ASKS FCC TO BLOCK DEAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Public Interest Group Media Council Hawaii is asking the Federal Communications Commission to block Raycom and MCG Capital's shared service agreement, in which Raycom, which owns NBC affiliate KHNL and MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE would also operate CBS affiliate KGMB, owned by MCG. The group is asking the FCC to enjoin the two companies from executing the agreement later this month, saying it would do "imminent" harm to viewers "through its negative impact on diversity and competition." Media Council Hawaii says the agreement, because it allows Raycom to control the local news, personnel and finances of the three stations, is the equivalent of a transfer of license that violates FCC local TV ownership rules.
benton.org/node/28596 | Broadcasting&Cable | Media Council Hawaii
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OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH TV SERVICE PROVIDERS BOUNCES BACK
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Most major cable operators continue to fall short on customer satisfaction compared with satellite and phone company TV services, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2009 television service satisfaction survey. AT&T U-verse TV had the top score in the West and South regions for the second year in a row, and Verizon's FiOS TV took the crown in the East, also for a second consecutive year. Overbuilder WideOpenWest ranked highest in the North Central region. By contrast, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications turned in below-average scores in all four regions.
benton.org/node/28585 | Multichannel News | TelephonyOnline
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ACA WANTS PARITY BETWEEN DBS AND CABLE IF NEW BROADCAST CARRIAGE RULES EMERGE
[SOURCE: American Cable Association, AUTHOR: Press release]
In a letter to Senate Commerce Committee leadership, American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew Polka asked lawmakers to maintain regulatory parity between cable operators and satellite TV providers if Congress decides to adopt new broadcast carriage rules designed to expand choice and consumer access to state-related news, weather reports and other vital information. The letter focused on various proposals on Capitol Hill that would allow satellite TV carriers to offer their subscribers access to TV stations located outside of their local market but based within the same state. Access to those in-state, out-of-market broadcasters would enhance the ability of satellite consumers to stay current with important developments within their own states, whether the subject is politics, general news, weather, government, crop reports or sports results. Due to federal exclusivity rules and other contractual restrictions imposed by the broadcast networks, cable operators are often prohibited from offering in-state broadcast stations to their customers.
benton.org/node/28584 | American Cable Association
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VIVENDI READY FOR NBC EXIT, MAY HOLD OUT ON PRICE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Matthew Campbell]
Vivendi, the owner of the world's largest music company, would like to sell its 20% stake in NBC Universal, just not at any price. The Paris-based company is concerned it may not get the price it wants for the stake under a joint venture between Comcast and General Electric. For Vivendi, "the alternative is to wait, turn it down, and force an IPO next year, which they don't want to do," said Conor O'Shea, an analyst at Kepler Capital Markets in Paris. "GE doing the negotiating for them is definitely an attractive proposition."
benton.org/node/28583 | Bloomberg
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ADVERTISING
ONLINE ADS: BIG BROTHER OR CUSTOMER SERVICE?
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Basil Katz]
US marketers and consumer advocates are preparing for battle over the rules governing online advertising tailored to individual browsing habits, often tracked and collected without notice or permission. Congress is due to intervene in the issue in the coming weeks, with a bill in the House of Representatives that would oblige websites to state explicitly how they use the information and allow those using the site to opt out. A billion-dollar industry and consumer privacy are at stake. Advertisers and popular websites say visitors prefer ads that are targeted to their interests and must accept advertising as a necessary condition to obtain free content. But 75 percent of Americans said in a recent survey they were opposed to tailored advertising if it meant their behavior surfing the Internet was being tracked.
benton.org/node/28594 | Reuters
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UNDER THE INFLUENCERS: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL AND SEARCH
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Laurie Sullivan]
GroupM Search and comScore Tuesday released the results of a study that examines the relationship between social media exposure and search behaviors. The study reveals the correlation between the discovery of brands through social media and search behavior, including increased lower-funnel searches and paid search click-through rates (CTRs). The study breaks the search behavior into segments based on where queries fell in stages of the purchase funnel. This included upper-funnel terms expressing awareness and consideration, as well as lower-funnel terms expressing action and loyalty. The study reveals that people who search and engage with social media, especially those exposed to a brand's influenced social media, are far more likely to search for lower-funnel terms than consumers who do not engage with social media. Furthermore, consumers exposed to a brand's influenced social media and paid search programs are 2.8 times more likely to search for that brand's products compared to users who only saw paid search. The study, which provides insight on how to tap into search, estimates a 50% lift in click-through rates across the board when consumers had been exposed to social media and paid search. Generic keywords at the top of the funnel are popular, but one of the clear signals from the study reveals that consumers use social media to change their mind on the products and services they would consider buying.
benton.org/node/28582 | MediaPost
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JOURNALISM
VALUING JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: SaveTheNews.org, AUTHOR: Josh Stearns]
[Commentary] The news has always been subsidized whether by the government (as with National Public Radio), advertisers (most newspapers), or other forms of income (such as the Washington Post's ownership of the Kaplan Test Prep company). As other systems of subsidies are failing, we are left with a clear and present need, and the government has a key role to play. A focus on value makes it clear that it is not readers who should pay for the news, but all of us who should be footing the bill. We all benefit from a vibrant watchdog press, from in-depth reporting, from the value quality journalism adds to our communities. We all should support that value, and policy is the vehicle to make it happen. We need government to focus on the question of value, not the question of cost. The question of cost is a Wall Street question. The question of value is a Main Street question. By shifting the conversation to the value that local news organizations provide, we get closer to finding actual solutions to the problems facing journalism.
benton.org/node/28595 | SaveTheNews.org
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THE PRESS IS STILL MISSING THE STORY OF FRAUD AND ECONOMIC DECLINE AHEAD
[SOURCE: MediaChannel.org, AUTHOR: Danny Schechter]
[Commentary] We know that Wall Street has not learned much from the crash it helped instigate. We know that our government, whatever its stated desire to clean up the markets and reform the financial behemoths, lacks the willingness and perhaps the clout to rein in the real power centers. We are not sure if they have been "captured" by them, or just lack the guts to take on institutions and individuals that helped fund their rise to power. But do we know that, even now, much of our media, despite the sheer volume of coverage may be missing the real story? Do we know that if we want to find missing facts and the real context we have to turn away from the failed media system that never really investigated the failed financial system?
benton.org/node/28578 | MediaChannel.org
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HEALTH
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD USE IMPROVES PREVENTIVE CARE
[SOURCE: ModernHealthcare.com, AUTHOR: Jennifer Lubell]
Routine use of electronic health records can improve the quality of preventive care and help manage chronic disease in primary-care practices, a study by the RAND Corp. concludes. In studying 305 groups of primary-care physicians in Massachusetts in 2007, RAND researchers found that practices using "multifunctional" electronic health records performed better on five commonly used quality measures—two involving diabetes care, and screenings for breast cancer, colorectal cancer and chlamydia. EHR systems were linked to higher-quality care when they included advanced functions such as electronic reminders to physicians. According to RAND, this is one of the first studies to demonstrate a link between use of EHRs in community-based medical practices and higher-quality care—although quality differences discovered in the study were modest in size.
benton.org/node/28581 | ModernHealthcare.com
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THE RISE OF THE E-PATIENT
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Lee Rainie]
A look at how e-patients and their caregivers have become a force in the medical world and the many ways that e-patients are using the Internet to research and respond to their health needs and to share their stories using social networking sites, blogs, Twitter, and other social media.
benton.org/node/28580 | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project | slides
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
PATRIOT ACT EXCESSES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
Three high-profile provisions of the USA Patriot Act are about to expire. That should be a chance for Congress to give serious consideration to curtailing some of the excessive powers it granted to the executive branch during the Bush years — without enough consideration in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and later. Instead, Congress is headed toward renewing the provisions — including expanded authority to search financial records, conduct roving wiretaps and track "lone wolf" terrorist suspects — without adequate oversight or safeguards or touching other problematic areas of the new surveillance and intelligence framework. Chances are fading for an expansive and searching review of the USA Patriot Act, which was the whole point of having some of its central provisions expire. The Judiciary Committee's deliberations are scheduled to resume on Thursday. It is one more critical chance to add missing civil liberties and privacy protections, address known abuses and trim excesses that contribute nothing to making America safer.
benton.org/node/28611 | New York Times
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FBI CHIEF URGES VIGILANCE AGAINST CYBERCRIME
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Bob Egelko]
FBI Director Robert Mueller visited San Francisco on Wednesday to warn of the dangers of computer-assisted crime and revealed that he had nearly fallen prey to an on-line scam himself. Asked whether the FBI investigates political dissidents in the guise of stopping terrorism, Mueller said the FBI intercepts phone calls and e-mails in the United States only with a court order - a wiretap warrant in a criminal case, and a surveillance warrant from a foreign intelligence court in a national security case. He didn't mention Bush's 2001 order authorizing electronic eavesdropping without a warrant in terrorist investigations, a program the Obama administration is now defending in a San Francisco federal court.
benton.org/node/28610 | San Francisco Chronicle
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RIGHTS ACTIVISTS SEE DOUBLE STANDARD IN TWITTER ARREST
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Michelle Nichols]
The arrest of a New Yorker for using Twitter to alert protesters to police movements at a meeting of world leaders in Pittsburgh last month would be deemed a human rights violation if it happened in Iran or China, rights activists charge. The criminal complaint against Madison said he broke the law by using Twitter to direct unlawful protesters and other people involved in criminal acts to avoid arrest and to inform them of police movements and actions. Laura DeNardis, executive director of Yale Law School's Information Society Project, said Madison's arrest could be used "by repressive countries who may be looking to crack down on technologies." "They might cite this as a justification for thwarting free speech in even more direct ways and for cracking down in cases like we saw in the Iranian election protests," said DeNardis. "To me this seems like a double standard."
benton.org/node/28609 | Reuters
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HOUSE REPUBLICANS HOPE TO CATCH UP TO OBAMA ON USE OF NEW-MEDIA TOOLS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Reid Wilson]
The House GOP Conference has signed a contract with a text-messaging company as Republicans race to get up to speed on new-media tools that helped President Barack Obama win the White House. Constituent Mobile, an affiliate of the same company that ran Obama's text messaging campaign in 2008, will help House Republicans boost relations with voters back home through text messaging. The contract is part of a new-media strategy implemented by Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Conference Vice Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) that they hope will pay dividends in the long run.
benton.org/node/28608 | Hill, The
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CONTENT
GOOGLE TO REVISE A BOOK PACK BY NOV 9
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Motoko Rich]
The parties to a Google book settlement that would allow the creation of a vast digital library outlined on Wednesday an aggressive timeline for modifying the agreement to satisfy objections from the Justice Department and others. After a hearing in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday morning, Judge Denny Chin set Nov. 9 as the date by which Google and its partners must submit a revised settlement for the court's preliminary approval. Michael J. Boni, a lawyer who represented authors, said the parties hoped for a final hearing on the modified settlement in late December or early January. To meet that schedule, Boni asked the judge to allow Google and its partners to shorten the period for accepting comments or objections from all parties affected by the amendments. Judge Chin broadly agreed. "I think everyone has a pretty good idea of what is on the table."
benton.org/node/28604 | New York Times | WSJ
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BLOGGED AND SOLD
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Choire Sicha]
[Commentary] These are the amazing new methods that the persuasion industry has developed. And running behind this wild new world of marketing like a Pomeranian racing for a bullet train, the Federal Trade Commission has now promulgated guidelines that compel celebrities and bloggers and those horror hybrids, blogger-celebrities, to reveal when they are compensated for any association with products. Stealth marketing, direct advertisement and product placement work only on the clueless, and our immersive, hippo-like wallowing in the marketplace serves only to make us resistant to these viral contagions. Because the more we are sold to — and, believe it, we are being pitched every minute — the more immune we are to it all.
benton.org/node/28603 | New York Times
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THE DEATH OF THE MEDIA MOGUL
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: John Gapper]
[Commentary] Reinhard Mohn, the man who turned Bertelsmann from a printer of Protestant bibles in a small town in Germany to a global media company that employs 106,000 people, died on Saturday at the age of 88. His life has encouraging and discouraging lessons for media companies as they confront the upheaval of recording, print and broadcasting industries caused by the Internet. A true entrepreneur can seize upon social and technological changes to revolt against traditional ways of doing business and forge new ones. But the Internet presents a different type of challenge to those Mohn confronted. The challenge of the Internet is that it blows up the control of distribution, ensuring that all content owners compete on equal terms. Moguls can no longer exploit its scarcity by buying television spectrum or by owning printing presses. That is why media moguls have been pushed on to the defensive by a new breed of technology moguls such as Steve Jobs of Apple and Sergey Brin and Larry Page, co-founders of Google. Control of distribution has passed to people who make the software through which content passes.
benton.org/node/28606 | Financial Times
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NEW 'CONSUMER-INTELLIGENCE' TECHNOLOGY WILL COMPILE DETAILED PROFILES
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Scott Duke Harris]
[Commentary] A new startup called Causata, led by Paul Phillips and boasting a proven team of techies and $4.5 million in venture funding from Accel Partners, aims to push customer-intelligence technology to an unprecedented level. Harnessing advances in distributed computing and machine learning, Causata aims to pioneer the development of a "multichannel customer interaction platform" that can be deployed by big retailers and financial services firms. The platform would constantly update its profiles of customers, effectively "learning" from any purchase or query and adding that to personal information in its database. It might "know" that you like skiing, wine and jazz, and be cognizant of your location and calendar. Imagine a text message that, say, includes your spouse's name in a reminder about your upcoming anniversary, because you inserted the date on a wedding registry years before.
benton.org/node/28605 | San Jose Mercury News
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OWNERSHIP
IBM FACES JUSTICE ANTITRUST INQUIRY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Keith Winstein, William Bulkeley]
The Justice Department is investigating allegations that International Business Machines Corp. has monopolized the market for mainframe computers, broadening Washington's search for anti-competitive behavior in the technology industry. Members of the Computer & Communications Industry Association—a group with many IBM rivals among its members—recently received civil investigative demands from the Justice Department seeking information related to IBM, said the group's chief executive, Edward Black . The requests, a special kind of subpoena used in antitrust investigations, followed a complaint by the group to the Justice Department accusing IBM of harming businesses by abusing its dominance of the market for mainframes.
benton.org/node/28602 | Wall Street Journal | FT
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CIENA MAKES BID FOR NORTEL UNIT
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Hugo Miller]
Ciena, a maker of fiber-optic-network equipment, offered to buy Nortel Networks' optical networking business for about $521 million in an effort to expand internationally. The price includes $390 million in cash and 10 million shares of Ciena common stock, the companies said Wednesday. Revenue generated by the assets topped $550 million in the first half, Ciena said. Ciena, which gets about two-thirds of its revenue from the United States, made the bid in hopes of adding to its fiber-optic network products, broadening its customer base in Europe and Asia, and adding Nortel customers like Spain's Telefonica. Nortel's optical business operates in more than 65 countries, providing high-speed data networks across cities.
benton.org/node/28601 | Bloomberg
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