November 2009

Promoting Broadband Diversity Within the Law

What is the federal government compelled to do, and what is it prohibited from doing to promote access and adoption for all Americans in the National Broadband plan? That was the topic of the second panel in the workshop on Diversity and Civil Rights Issues in Broadband Access and Adoption. As FCC Commission Michael Copps said in opening the panel, "This is where the rubber really hits the road." The panel featured a range of lawyers and scholars wrestling with the thorny issue of federal action that might target those groups that do not have access to broadband or are not adopting broadband, while adhering to the constitutional mandate of equal protection for all Americans. The panelists discussed the different legal review standards applied to racial and ethnic minorities as compared to Native Americans or the poor, the challenges in subsidizing religious groups, and what other federal agencies have done to address the different needs of distinct American communities.

Best Practices - Spurring Access and Adoption

Last month, the Federal Communications Commission presented its workshop on Diversity and Civil Rights Issues in Broadband Deployment and Adoption. As part of the workshop, the FCC invited a panel of experts to discuss the best strategies for closing the gap in broadband access and adoption. These experts included investors whose investment strategies place a heavy emphasis on technology companies and educators who are focused on creating community technology centers. Laura Efurd, Vice President of ZeroDivide, discussed the best practices for addressing civil rights issues in adoption. She pointed out that broadband adoption issues demonstrate a divide among race, age, disability, and geography. She noted that this divide is part of a larger problem that exists in our country, and that in order to address best practices, the adoption issues should be addressed holistically. That means focusing on racial, cultural, and socioeconomic factors that may affect adoption.

Murdoch courts trouble if he blocks Google on news

Rupert Murdoch has spent months complaining that Google is ruining the newspaper business, and now he wants to do something about it. But, his proposal is a gamble, and one that could hurt News Corp instead of helping it. Murdoch is considering removing News Corp's news from Google's Web search results, and is talking to Microsoft Corp about listing the stories with its Bing search engine instead. Microsoft would pay for the privilege, sources have told Reuters, but it was not clear how much. If Murdoch pulled this off, he will likely be followed by other newspaper publishers looking for ways to make money when all the old ones are waning in the digital age.

Amplifying noise for cheap fiber optics

[Commentary] Getting good broadband and voice speeds requires good infrastructure. Fiber to the home is arguably the best way to go, but that's prohibitively expensive in the developing world. A new advance may change that.

McDowell 'Very Troubled' By Social Security Number Collection

Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell says that when he voted to approve collecting more data on the race and gender of broadcast station owners he was not endorsing collecting Social Security numbers as part of that increased data drop. "Although I am pleased that we have provided broadcasters a reasonable extension of time for filing Form 323," said Commissioner McDowell, "I remain very troubled that the Commission finds itself asking for Social Security numbers in connection with the filing as a way of verifying individual identities." "Had I known when I voted in favor of collecting more data about the race and gender of broadcast owners that the process also would involve collection of Social Security numbers, I would not have endorsed using that means to what remains a worthwhile end."

Change in Copyright Law: A Possible Solution to News Content Crisis?

Copyright law reform as one remedy for plummeting profits at traditional news organizations was proposed at a media affairs panel organized by the non-profit Center for Communication and hosted by Fordham University earlier this month. Dean Ringel, a partner at the New York law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel, advocated introducing compulsory licensing fees for Web-based agregators or re-distributors of news content. Under Ringel's system, sites like Google would be required to share profits with or pay a fee to any news organization whose content they post, in a system similar to the compulsory licensing system than currently manages rights for cable television and music. He noted that current copyright law protects the specific expression of information but does not protect the work necessary to obtain that information. Ringel argued that papers like the New York Times, which spend prodigious sums on reporter security in dangerous places around the globe, should get some of the revenue made by third-parties who distribute their content.

YouTube Platform Aims to Connect Citizen Journalists with News Outlets

On December 1, YouTube is scheduled to launch a new channel where citizens can upload footage of newsworthy events to be picked up by media outlets. The channel, called YouTube Direct, allows citizens to record footage of an event and then submit it to a participating news organization's Web site with the click of a button. The news organization can then review and manage the user generated content for inclusion along side its own content and even reach out to the videographer for additional information.

House Committee Holding Hearing on Arbitron PPM

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing Dec. 2 on Arbitron's Portable People Meter and its effect on diversity. "With an unprecedented decline in ratings among popular minority television and radio stations, we must explore the possibility of methodological flaws in the implementation of the PPM," said Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) in a statement. "As it stands now," he said, "the current system jeopardizes the future of minority broadcasting."

Local Ratings Controversy: Nielsen Angered By 4As' Claims

Concerning the controversy over changing local TV ratings, the Nielsen Company has responded to the angry letter from the American Association of Advertising Agencies refuting the claim that is has "inserted itself into the buy/sell process." At the same time, Nielsen did offer some possible modification.

Public Knowledge Response to Motion Picture Association Set-Top Box Filing

The Motion Picture Association of America submitted yet another filing with the Federal Communications Commission defending its waiver request to control consumer set-top boxes and television sets. Public Knowledge responded saying: "We are very disappointed at the latest attempt from the Motion Picture Association of America to attempt to justify breaking consumer electronics used by consumers. We are pleased that industry representatives are such diligent viewers of Harold Feld's videos on the Public Knowledge site (or wherever else they may appear), but disappointed that the industry filing chose to take on such a personal tone while disputing the definition of a single word, 'breaking,' as in the 'breaking' of TV sets, while evading the larger issues before them. We use the word, 'breaking,' deliberately, here and in previous filings and videos, because that is exactly what would happen if the industry has its way and the FCC grants the ill-conceived waiver to allow the industry control over consumer devices. Because of existing FCC rules, a consumer with a stand alone digital video recorder (DVR) or Slingbox knows that it will work for all video-on-demand (VoD) services, and that compatibility is a key factor when consumers spend their hard-earned money on consumer electronics. It would be a rude shock if, at the industry whim, some of those devices did not perform as expected.

Benton

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