December 2009

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009

The FTC considers food marketing to kids, a House subcommittee discusses spectrum and the FCC holds a workshop on the open Internet (Network Neutrality) http://bit.ly/7rDkgx

BROADBAND/INTERNET
   Broadband Touted As 'Civil Right'
   NAB: Broadcasters Must Be Part of Broadband Ecosystem
   Bill Gates fund: libraries need more cash for broadband
   Connected Nation in Colorado: Rocky Path Ahead for Broadband Mapping
   Broadband mapping may have just gotten easier
   BroadbandCensus.com Offers Strategic Broadband Mapping Solution for State Designated Entities
   How Public Broadband Projects Create Private Opportunities
   FCC Field Hearing on Broadband and Small Business
   We Should Count All Bandwidth Equally - Up And Down
   Education and Entertainment Seen as Essential to Minority Broadband Adoption
   Report: Broadband Stimulus Funds Won't Suffice
   Web accessibility no longer an afterthought
   Judge OKs Class-Action Suit For AT&T Broadband Slowdown

TELEVISION/RADIO
   Comcast NBC Deal Opens Door for TV Networks to Seek $1 Billion
   6 Ways Comcast-NBC Deal Could Affect Consumers
   Senate Passes Bill Helping Noncom Broadcasters
   Citadel Broadcasting Arranging to Hand Control to Its Lenders
   Proposed FCC Rules Will Put Glenn Beck on the Gold Standard
   America's love affair with television continues
   Can TiVo Reinvent Itself?
   Parallels seen in ABC, NBC shifts
   City claims WHYY is giving Delaware short shrift

WIRELESS/TELECOM
   FCC Cap on Rural Phone Service Subsidy Upheld
   Wireless Industry Complaints Closely Related to Competition, Say Panelists
   New Google Phone would challenge US carrier model
   Google brings app-making to the masses
   Supreme Court to hear text message privacy case
   Walking While Texting

CONTENT
   Social Media Is the New Mass Media
   EU Ratifies 'Internet Treaties'
   France to Digitize Its Own Literary Works
   Viruses That Leave Victims Red in the Facebook
   Top Author Shifts E-Book Rights to Amazon.com
   Paramount to Start Online Service to Sell Movie Clips
   MPAA Applauds Congress For Anti-Piracy Funding

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Networks Still Hosting Military Analysts Without Identifying Massive Conflicts Of Interest
   22 Million Missing Bush E-mails Recovered
   The Shield after Senate Judiciary
   Lloyd: I'm Not Out To Get Limbaugh Or Beck
   Open government could present a challenge to intelligence agencies
   Openness vs. Project Management
   Industry CTOs want government to lead on identity, standards
   US System for Tracking Traffic Flow Is Faulted

CYBERSECURITY
   Politics, bad luck and lack of maturity have hampered DHS
   Cybersecurity Metrics Coming For Federal Agencies
   In Shift, US Talks to Russia on Internet Security

HEALTH
   Senators move to block drugmakers from mining Rx data
   Electronic health records not a panacea, researchers say
   New media spread the word on H1N1

MORE ONLINE ...
   Census ready to start counting
   For first time, quota for skilled worker visas not met
   EU Signals Comfort With Oracle's Sun Bid
   Economy, Health Care Reform, Climate Drive News Narrative

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Under Murdoch, Tilting Rightward at The Journal

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BROADBAND/INTERNET

BROADBAND TOUTED AS 'CIVIL RIGHT'
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
Broadband advocates, civil rights activists, and Federal Communications Commission officials described high-speed Internet service as a "civil right" during an FCC public hearing Monday night in Memphis focused on the digital divide. "Universal access to broadband needs to be seen as a civil right...[even though] not many people have talked about it that way," Commissioner Michael Copps said. The event was one in a series as the FCC works to craft a national broadband plan by February. Panelists described a digital gap in which rural, minority, and low-income Americans subscribe to broadband at lower rates than the general population. Non-users face educational challenges, difficulty applying for jobs, and limited access to government services in a world where many of these functions have moved online, panelists said. "Broadband is becoming a basic necessity," Benjamin Hooks, the first black FCC commissioner and a former NAACP executive director, said. Panelists noted that affordability and a lack of education about broadband's benefits are key barriers to universal adoption. Increased access at community centers could serve as a "first step" in informing these groups about the need to adopt broadband, Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association Vice President Dianne Polly said.
benton.org/node/30586 | CongressDaily
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SMITH: BROADCASTERS MUST BE PART OF BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
On Tuesday, National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith will tell the House Communications Subcommittee that broadcasters are part of the solution to the broadband gap and rural deployment, not the problem. "Broadcasting and universal broadband do not represent opposite choices or an 'either-or' proposition for policymakers and the public," he said. Instead, he argued, both are an important part of a communications ecosystem, suggesting it was better for the government to let all flowers bloom rather than pull up broadcasting by the roots and hand it as a bouquet to the wireless industry. Smith said broadcasters are already aggregating and sharing their spectrum for wireless broadband. Smith also said that using fixed devices in the TV white spaces--it is mobile unlicensed devices NAB has long opposed--could help deliver broadband to rural areas, as well as for backhaul. "Because the broadcast bands are used less intensively in rural markets, with appropriate technical protections fixed broadband services can operate in this spectrum without undermining consumers' access to free, over-the-air digital television or new mobile DTV services."
benton.org/node/30585 | Broadcasting&Cable
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LIBRARIES NEED MORE CASH FOR BROADBAND
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has told the Federal Communications Commission that the government should spend more money on high-speed Internet upgrades for public libraries and schools. The FCC should make it easier to apply, too. "A growing number of schools and public libraries cannot afford connectivity upgrades because of the inability to pay for one-time only installation, equipment and transport costs," the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation warned the Commission on Wednesday. No big surprise that Gates is active in this area. Microsoft's general focus when it comes to broadband stimulus questions is that resources should go to "anchor institutions"—libraries, schools, and hospitals.
benton.org/node/30554 | Ars Technica | Gates Foundation
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CONNECTED NATION IN COLORADO
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] Even before the state of Colorado released on Dec. 1 the results of a broadband mapping project conducted by a Connected Nation subsidiary, officials were preparing for a second round of mapping. The problem, according to the state Request for Proposals issued in early November, is that the first mapping product done by Connect Colorado "did not satisfy the requirements" of the federal broadband mapping program. The first mapping project cost $300,000. The telecom industry contributed $60,000 of that total and the state paid for the rest. On November 30, the day before the state released the Connected Nation results, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it had awarded Colorado they had received $2.1 million in broadband mapping and planning funds for a second round of broadband mapping. Of that total, $1.6 million would go to mapping and the balance for broadband planning. The report caused an immediate sensation with the statistic that "Connect Colorado found that 97.53 percent of Colorado households have broadband service available of at least 768 kbps downstream and at least 200 kbps upstream to the end user at the address available." Here is how a service is determined to be "available," according to the report: "Broadband service is considered 'available' to an end user at an address if a broadband service provider does, or could, within a typical service interval (7 to 10 business days) without an extraordinary commitment of resources, provision two-way data transmission to and from the Internet with speeds of at least 768 kbps downstream and least 200 kbps upstream."
benton.org/node/30555 | Public Knowledge
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BROADBAND MAPPING MAY HAVE JUST GOT EASIER
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Lynnette Luna]
[Commentary] Data and analytics company ID Insight has developed a product called Broadband Scout that can provide data about broadband connectivity and usage down to the census block. The company's proprietary databases have historically been used to track a host of e-commerce retail activity across the country, but it can also use that data to provide information about connectivity and usage at a very granular level, including state, county, tract, block group or block number. This information could be the most unbiased information one could find when it comes to broadband availability. While ID Insight missed out on broadband stimulus money for mapping, it has several areas to play in, including assisting states with their broadband mapping process, and possibly speeding up the process. The NTIA is set to receive broadband mapping data from states by February. The data will include deployment information, advertised speeds and types of service, which will be used to identify where the greatest needs are for broadband in unserved and underserved areas. By February 2011, the NTIA wants to have an interactive, national broadband map in place. Additionally, regional operators really want to know this information in order to cost-effectively expand their services. Such information will be helpful in the next round of broadband stimulus grants and loans in 2010 and could be a valuable tool in staving of incumbent challenges to current broadband stimulus applications that NTIA and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) are evaluating. Incumbents are allowed to challenge broadband stimulus proposals and can succeed if they can prove they are already covering areas where applicants plan to provide broadband services.
benton.org/node/30569 | Fierce
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NEW BROADBAND MAPPING SOLUTION
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Press release]
Broadband Census Data announced the availability of highly granular Census block mapping services to state recipients of broadband mapping grants. BroadbandCensus.com provides the information necessary for states to meet grant obligations under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It does this by identifying: carriers; Internet technologies; advertised speeds; prices; and the presence or absence of broadband within each Census block. Using BroadbandCensus.com, a state can fully map the broadband footprint of its carriers within 42 days for a fraction of the budget allocated by the Recovery Act.
benton.org/node/30577 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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HOW PUBLIC BROADBAND PROJECTS CREATE PRIVATE OPPORTUNITIES
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] It is misguided to assume that public broadband projects hurt private enterprise. The reality is that no matter how involved any level of government gets in spurring the deployment of new broadband infrastructure, by being proactive advocates for their communities' futures government can create many opportunities for private enterprise to turn a profit. So let's not limit our thinking that public or municipal broadband is inherently flawed because it involves government playing a hands-on role. Because no matter how involved government may be, by investing in our future we're creating opportunities in the present for private enterprise.
benton.org/node/30568 | App-Rising.com
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FCC FIELD HEARING ON BROADBAND AND SMALL BUSINESS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The University of Chicago, the best university in the world, will host a Federal Communications Commission field hearing focusing on how broadband technology can help small businesses spur growth and reach new markets. The public is encouraged to attend and participate. (Go Maroons!)
benton.org/node/30567 | Federal Communications Commission
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UPSTREAM BROADBAND
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] One of Daily's biggest pet peeves in broadband debates is the over-emphasis on download speeds and the lack of sufficient attention being paid to upload speeds. When talking about bandwidth goals, they're download first, upload second. When providers are advertising the capacity of their networks, it's the download number in big font, with upload hidden elsewhere. Often times this devolves into people referring to broadband only based on its download capacity. This causes a serious problem for consumer awareness about upstream capacity. If providers with inadequate upstream capacity aren't talking about it then the average consumer may not realize the difference in the value they're receiving for their broadband buck, which calls into question the efficacy of a market where customers aren't making informed decisions. We should count all bandwidth equally when defining the service level that broadband delivers. Rather than allowing providers to tout their downstream speeds in bold and hide their upstream, they should be required to most prominently display the total bandwidth they're providing. So if a provider offers a service that promises 50Mbps down and 5Mbps up then they'd have to say their broadband service is offering 55Mbps of total bandwidth.
benton.org/node/30553 | App-Rising.com
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EDUCATION, ENTERTAINMENT ESSENTIAL FOR ADOPTION
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Eli Evans]
In order to provide universal broadband, national policymakers will need to better understand and motivate under-indexed minority groups. That was the message at the Internet Innovation Alliance's 'Universal Broadband: Access for All Americans' conference on Thursday. "It's a question of knowledge and accessibility just as much as it is affordability," said Cornell Belcher, pollster and President of Brilliant Corners Research and Strategies. A study conducted by Brilliant Corners showed that among non-adopting blacks and Hispanics, 14 percent did not know how to use the Internet and 32 percent saw no need. Interestingly, many of these same respondents said that they would be interested in increasing use of the Internet if classes were provided. Digital literacy classes may not be the only way to get under-indexed groups online, providers and policymakers can appeal to their interests.
benton.org/node/30552 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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STIMULUS FUNDS NOT ENOUGH
[SOURCE: Wireless Week, AUTHOR: Maisie Ramsay]
The $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funding is not even close to enough to deploy truly universal broadband access, according to a new study from Insight Research. The company estimates that half the US households either use dial-up access or lack Internet service and projects that an estimated 40 million households will still lack broadband access by the end of 2014. The firm then takes that figure and divides it by the actual amount of money going toward deployment on broadband to determine that the government has allocated just $164 per household. Insight Research claims that it takes about $1,500 per household to deploy broadband, bringing the amount of money needed for universal access to $60 billion.
benton.org/node/30551 | Wireless Week
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WEB ACCESSIBILITY
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Tom Krazit]
Web accessibility has come a long way, but it is still a challenge, however, for the Web community to remember that as it pushes forward with exciting new technologies like HTML5 that could reinvent the Internet experience, it must keep in mind the needs of those who can't type 60 words per minute, operate a mouse like a scalpel, or see the unobtrusive pop-up windows that point to the next destination on the page. There are no explicit laws that companies design Web sites to be accessible to the disabled, but many disability experts and Web companies believe that portions of the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 do apply to the Internet, despite having been written several years before the Web emerged as a mainstream phenomenon. And in order to do business with the U.S. government, companies must comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which insists that electronic and information technology products sold to government agencies be designed with disabled employees in mind, and that government services produced by contractors consider disabled citizens in equal measure. But these are businesses, after all: Yahoo estimates that there's about $220 billion in discretionary spending available to disabled people. Making a Web site accessible to as many people as possible isn't just the right thing to do, it also makes business sense. Also, with a rapidly aging population in many parts of the world--notably the U.S.--accessibility requirements will become useful for today's crop of baby boomers as they grow older. People over 65 are increasing their use of the Internet, according to Nielsen, and features designed for accessibility could aid those who aren't technically disabled but wouldn't mind a little extra help.
benton.org/node/30542 | C-Net|News.com
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AT&T BROADBAND SUIT
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
A class-action lawsuit by consumers against AT&T for allegedly delivering slower-than-advertised broadband service can go forward, a judge in St. Louis has ruled.
The consumers alleged that the telecom promised "lightning fast" speeds of at least 384 kbps and up to 1.5 Mpbs, but delivered far slower connections due to "purposeful limitation or 'capping' of the lines," "the inadequacy of the lines," and "the poor condition of the lines." AT&T allegedly "intentionally capped access to newsgroups and email for all of their customers," the lawsuit alleges. The consumers also alleged that attempts to remedy the situation by changing providers were met with hefty termination fees. The judge in the case, Judge Gary M. Gaertner, recently ruled that the case could proceed as a class-action. "There is evidence in the record supporting the claims of (the consumers)," he wrote. "Defendants concede there were DSL customers who were capped."
benton.org/node/30566 | MediaPost
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TELEVISION/RADIO

COMCAST-NBC AND RETRANSMISSION FEES
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Ronald Grover, Andy Fixmer]
Comcast's plan to gain majority control of NBC Universal will give competing broadcast networks added leverage to win retransmission fees from the biggest US cable television company. Comcast expects to pay those fees, the Philadelphia-based company said in regulatory filings, without projecting how much. Its bid to take control of NBC Universal from General Electric Co. may take a year or more to win the approval of regulators including the Federal Communications Commission, a window that broadcasters may use to win more favorable terms. "The last thing Comcast will want is to be seen as the heavy when it comes to negotiating with TV stations," said Mark Fratrik, vice president of BIA/Kelsey, a TV station consultant in Chantilly, Virginia. "For the next 12 to 15 months, Comcast has to be on its best behavior."
benton.org/node/30584 | Bloomberg
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6 WAYS COMCAST-NBC COULD IMPACT CONSUMERS
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Kevin Whitelaw]
Investors are still skeptical about the wisdom of cable giant Comcast's bid to purchase control of NBC Universal from General Electric. But consumers could be the ones with the most at stake, according to analysts. "I've been scratching my head to see how this deal could bode well for consumers, and it's hard to see," says Tuna Amobi, a media and entertainment analyst at Standard and Poor's. "It's going to be a consolidation of power in the hands of this new behemoth. It's going to virtually impact consumers on every front." Here are six ways that consumers could be most affected by the deal: 1) Higher Prices — Even For Non-Comcast Customers. 2) Paying For Content That Used To Be Free. 3) Giving ESPN A Run For Its Money. 4) Stunted Competition In Online Video. 5) More Media Mergers On The Way? 6) Or It Could Be Another Failed Merger.
benton.org/node/30561 | National Public Radio
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CPB BUDGET
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The omnibus appropriations bill that passed in the Senate over the weekend contains some money to help noncommercial broadcasters through a rough patch, and restores funding to the Ready To Learn/Teach program that the President's budget would have axed. But in addition, Congress has appropriated $25 million in "fiscal stabilization" funding to, in part, help preserve jobs and programs threatened by the current economy. According to a PBS spokesperson, that money will be paid out to TV and radio stations within 45 days of the bill's passage, according to the language of the law. According to PBS, Congress has also set aside $27.3 million for Ready To Learn, which targets preschoolers in low-income areas; $10.7 million for Ready To Teach; and $25 million in "fiscal stabilization" funding to, in part, help preserve jobs and programs. The bill awaits the President's signature.
benton.org/node/30564 | Broadcasting&Cable | CPB
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CITADEL CRASHES UNDER DEBT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mike Spector, Sarah McBride]
Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the third-largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., is preparing to file for bankruptcy by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. Citadel's long-expected move is yet another reminder of the travails facing media companies, which are up against stiff competition and shifts in consumer habits. Advertising revenues have plunged for newspapers, radio broadcasters and television stations. Under the deal presented to lenders this week, Citadel would file a "prearranged" Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan supported by many creditors. Lenders owed $2 billion would swap a substantial amount of that debt for around 99.5% of the equity in a reorganized company, these people said. The restructuring would give the group of some 90 lenders control of Citadel. Current shareholders, as in most bankruptcies, would be wiped out. Citadel landed in trouble after loading up on debt to fund its acquisition of Walt Disney Co.'s ABC Radio stations in 2006. At the time, radio was a $20 billion-a-year industry. The ABC stations, chiefly in large cities compared to the medium-sized markets in which Citadel specialized, offered the company a chance to vault onto a much bigger playing field. But 2006 turned out to be the peak, leaving Citadel saddled with debt in a business that began shrinking rapidly.
benton.org/node/30562 | Wall Street Journal
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FCC ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE RULES
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: N.E. Marsden]
Glenn Beck's gold problem may soon be moot. The Federal Communications Commission is considering rule amendments that will set a higher standard for disclosure of paid endorsements on broadcast and cable television. Beck is a poster child for the proposed amendments. The Fox News commentator bullishly endorses gold while collecting payola from Goldline International, a precious metals vendor that specializes in gold coins. Not only does he hawk gold coins on his website (in breach of Fox's standards), he paints a doomsday scenario on his television show, predicting the collapse of the U.S. dollar. What better way to drive fans to stockpile gold? In fact, he claims the price of gold rose $50 during one of his segments. Advertising within a news or current events program is a conflict of interest that erodes objective reporting and principled commentary. Short of legislating a ban, the remedy is full disclosure. Once informed, it is up to the viewer to determine the credibility of the message and the messenger. Because his show airs on cable television, Beck doesn't have to disclose his ties to Goldline. Even if he were on a broadcast network where disclosure is required, the notice would likely be buried in the credits where it would go unnoticed -- which is why the FCC, in response to petitions from consumer groups, initiated a rulemaking proceeding in June, 2008.
benton.org/node/30549 | Huffington Post, The
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AMERICA'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH TV
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
America's love affair with the TV continues. In the third quarter of 2009, cable, satellite and other video service providers added 442,000 subscribers, even amid a stubborn housing market slump. New video customers often come with home sales. The statistic, according to a report released last week by research firm Media Biz, follows a recent study that showed television viewing was at an all-time-high for the 2008-09 TV season. According to Nielsen, Americans spent an average of four hours and 49 minutes in front of the box, up about four minutes from the previous year. An entire household averaged eight hours and 21 minutes, up a few minutes as well. The biggest winners in the third quarter included Dish Network, which added subscribers at a faster clip than competitor cable and telecom video service providers, according to Media Biz. Comcast, the nation's largest cable and Internet service provider, saw its number remain basically stable as losses on its regular cable service were made up by about 500,000 new digital cable subscribers.
benton.org/node/30547 | Washington Post
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CAN TIVO REINVENT ITSELF?
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers says TiVo is a "television behavioral company at heart." Rogers is now scrambling to convince cable operators — whose own DVRs have contributed to the decline in people willing to pay for TiVo service — that he's able to offer much more than just the best DVR on the planet. Instead, his pitch is this: TiVo, with its highly intuitive and user-friendly software, is better-positioned than anyone else to help users sift through and manage "infinite choice" in the same way Google has made the Web itself searchable.
benton.org/node/30543 | Multichannel News
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ABC AND NBC DEALS
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Brian Lowry]
In 1986, Capital Cities -- a drab TV station owner with a No. 2 exec named Dan Burke -- acquired ABC. Now Comcast -- perceived as a drab cable system owner, whose No. 2 exec is Burke's son, Steve -- has agreed to assume control of NBC Universal.Whether Comcast follows the CapCities playbook given all that's happened during the intervening years will partly depend, to borrow oft-quoted military parlance, on conditions on the ground. Yet assuming the well-regarded Burke and his boss, Brian Roberts, learned anything from that history, the NBC U deal might leave the acquired company with less to fear, and more potential upside, than many have thus far suggested.
benton.org/node/30532 | Variety
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WILMINGTON WANTS MORE LOCAL COVERAGE
[SOURCE: Delaware Online, AUTHOR: Adam Taylor]
Public television station WHYY's request to renew its broadcasting license is being challenged because of skepticism about the public television station's commitment to the city, officials said Friday. The objection with the Federal Communications Commission is being filed because Wilmington is the station's host city but believes it is more committed to serving Philadelphia, said John Rago, the city's communications director. City Council President Norman D. Griffiths also accused WHYY of contending that Wilmington is the base of its operations even though the bulk of the news it covers is not Wilmington-based.
benton.org/node/30531 | Delaware Online
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WIRELESS/TELECOM

COURT UPHOLDS FCC USF CAP
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Cary O'Reilly, Todd Shields]
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington ruled that the Federal Communications Commission acted reasonably in limiting Universal Service Fund support for rural wireless phone companies. The court decision upheld FCC rules and is also seen as a win for Verizon and AT&T. AT&T and Verizon, the two biggest U.S. phone companies, pay the most into the program, with the wireless portion of the subsidies going primarily to smaller carriers such as U.S. Cellular and Centennial Communications. AT&T and Verizon told the FCC temporary spending limits would help stabilize the Universal Service Fund. Rural wireless providers said it's unfair to cap their subsidies without imposing similar limits on land-line providers. Consumers pay the cost of the subsidy in their telephone bills, the court said. It said it would defer to "the Commission's policy decision to place a limit on the extraction of funds from ordinary people for an unnecessary subsidy."
benton.org/node/30550 | Bloomberg
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WIRELESS INDUSTRY COMPLAINTS
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Eli Evans]
What's the greatest source of dissatisfaction in the mobile wireless industry? Ironically, according to industry experts and government representatives attending a conference on customer complaints, it is competition itself. The size and pervasiveness of the mobile device market has exploded. In the space of just 17 years, the number of active mobile subscribers in the United States has exploded from 11 million to 276 million. An increased number of complaints have accompanied this market growth. Why does market growth and competition lead to complaints? Several factors may be at work, panelists said. As mobile hardware becomes more and more varied and creation of applications continues, consumers' expectations increase, leading to complaints. Speaking about the success of Apple's iPhone, Lois C. Greisman of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission commented that, "if [the iPhone] hadn't become so successful we wouldn't have this many complaints. We sort of get a leapfrogging effect with the competition of companies like Verizon."
benton.org/node/30544 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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NEW GOOGLE PHONE WOULD CHALLENGE US CARRIER MODEL
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jacqui Cheng]
The long-rumored Google Phone appears to be coming, but with no carrier partner in the US. This is a very different strategy than most other phone makers employ, and may force the carriers to live up to their word when it comes to welcoming any and all devices to their networks. How will the carriers react if there are suddenly large numbers of Google Phone users sucking up their network resources? (On a paid subscription, of course.) It won't be like AT&T, which dug its own grave with the data-heavy iPhone—if cell carriers begin to see serious Google Phone usage, they may be a little more willing to push for higher data prices to make up for the phone that isn't doing its part to bring in more customers on an exclusive contract. Then again, if they choose to go that route and charge more thanks to their own "open to all devices" stance, the FCC may not be pleased—the organization has been leaning towards heavier regulation of the mobile industry to make it more competitive and "fair" to customers.
benton.org/node/30545 | Ars Technica
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GOOGLE BRINGS APP-MAKING TO MASSES
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Ryan Kim]
For the iPhone, a handful of startup companies also have begun creating app-building engines that allow customers - mostly small businesses - to create simple apps using drag-and-drop techniques. But App Inventor - designed for Google's mobile operating system - is more ambitious. Google officials have said they hope the pilot program can quickly work its way down to middle school and even elementary school students, giving them an easy way to connect programming with their lives.
The key is App Inventor's mechanics, which trade the tedious syntax and text commands of traditional computer code for building blocks or puzzle pieces that represent actions. Instead of memorizing specific actions, students plop in blocks that execute a string of events. The software translates the blocks into code the phone can understand.
benton.org/node/30579 | San Francisco Chronicle
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TEXT MESSAGING PRIVACY CASE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: James Vicini]
The Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide whether privacy rights covered a worker's personal text message on employer-owned equipment, hearing a case about a police officer who sent sexually explicit messages from his department-issued pager. The Justices agreed to review a ruling by a federal appeals court in California that reading the text messages sent on devices provided by the employer violated the worker's privacy rights and amounted to an "unreasonable search" barred by the Constitution. The city appealed to the Supreme Court, saying employers typically have policies in place establishing that workers have no expectation of privacy in electronic communications on employer-owned equipment.
benton.org/node/30559 | Reuters
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CONTENT

SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE NEW MASS MEDIA
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Diane Mermigas]
[Commentary] Social media and interactive consumers will take the lead in transforming the multi-screen media landscape in 2010. Consumers of all ages who have made it a national pastime to text, Tweet and share their lives on Facebook have become the most powerful force in digital media today. Collectively, they are the new mass media -- one interactive consumer at a time. Led by Facebook and MySpace, online video has become central to the Web experience -- particularly on mobile devices -- in ways that will have far-reaching implications for television and film. It all comes down to one fundamental value: individual consumer relevance. It will become the mantra for anyone who wants to thrive in the digital media world and the driving force behind many media deals (from mega mergers and cherry-picking start-ups, to launching new business ventures, such as TV Everywhere and e-reading services) over the next 18 months.
benton.org/node/30548 | MediaPost
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EU RATIFIES 'INTERNET TREATIES'
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
US Trade Representative Ron Kirk Monday praised the European Union for ratifying two treaties aimed at updating international copyright protections for the Internet age. The World Intellectual Property Organization's Copyright Treaty and the Performance and Phonograms Treaty, known as the "Internet treaties," clarified "exclusive rights and require signatories to provide effective legal remedies against the circumvention of certain technological measures that protect copyrighted works in online environments," according to the USTR. They went into force in 2002.
benton.org/node/30583 | CongressDaily
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FRANCE TO DIGITIZE LITERATURE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Scott Sayare]
President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged nearly $1.1 billion on Monday toward the computer scanning of French literary works, audiovisual archives and historical documents, an announcement that underscored his government's desire to maintain control over France's cultural heritage in an era of digitization. The French National Library announced in August that it was engaged in discussions with Google over the digitization of its collections, part of a global effort by Google to digitize the world's literary works. This provoked an uproar among French officials and the publishing community here, and the discussions were suspended. The money pledged Monday will finance a public-private partnership that will digitize the nation's cultural works, President Sarkozy said. Yet that partnership might well involve Google.
benton.org/node/30582 | New York Times
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FACEBOOK VIRUSES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brad Stone]
It used to be that computer viruses attacked only your hard drive. Now they attack your dignity. Malicious programs are rampaging through Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, spreading themselves by taking over people's accounts and sending out messages to all of their friends and followers. The result is that people are inadvertently telling their co-workers and loved ones how to raise their I.Q.'s or make money instantly, or urging them to watch an awesome new video in which they star. The humiliation sown by these attacks is just collateral damage. In most cases, the perpetrators are hoping to profit from the referral fees they get for directing people to sketchy e-commerce sites. In other words, even the crooks are on social networks now — because millions of tightly connected potential victims are just waiting for them there.
benton.org/node/30546 | New York Times
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MPAA APPLAUDS CONGRESS FOR ANTI-PIRACY FUNDING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Motion Picture Association of America gave a shout-out Monday to the Congress for the $30 million it is setting aside to battle online and offline content pirates. Stemming its passage last year of the PRO-IP Act, which boosts enforcement of intellectual property crimes including online piracy of movies and TV shows, $30 million has been set aside in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill conference report, according to MPAA. That breaks down to $20 million for high-tech and Internet crime prevention grants to states and localities; $8 million for FBI agents; and $2 million for prosecutors.
benton.org/node/30563 | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

NETWORKS STILL HOSTING MILITARY ANALYSTS
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Laura Bassett]
Major television networks continue to host retired generals as military analysts without alerting viewers to their extensive ties to defense contractors and the Pentagon. Military strategy is a frequent topic on TV in the wake of President Obama's announcement that he will send more troops to Afghanistan now -- and start bringing them out by mid-2011. But few television viewers have any idea that some of what they're hearing originates from men who are literally profiting from the war. One of these men in particular -- NBC News military analyst and retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey -- has appeared on MSNBC at least 10 times in the past month to criticize Obama's proposed troop-withdrawal deadline, to lavish praise upon Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, and to underscore the importance of training Afghan security forces. But neither McCaffrey nor the MSNBC anchors ever mentioned the fact that McCaffrey sits on the board of directors of DynCorp International, a company with a lucrative government contract to train the Afghan National Security Forces. Nor did they mention that McCaffrey recently completed a report about Afghanistan that was commissioned by Petraeus and funded by the Pentagon.
benton.org/node/30572 | Huffington Post, The
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22 MILLION BUSH E-MAILS FOUND
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Computer technicians have found 22 million missing White House e-mails from the administration of President George W. Bush and the Obama administration is searching for dozens more days' worth of potentially lost e-mail from the Bush years, according to two groups that filed suit over the failure by the Bush White House to install an electronic record keeping system. The two private groups - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive - said Monday they were settling the lawsuits they filed against the Executive Office of the President in 2007. It will be years before the public sees any of the recovered e-mails because they will now go through the National Archives' process for releasing presidential and agency records. Presidential records of the Bush administration won't be available until 2014 at the earliest.
benton.org/node/30571 | Associated Press
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THE SHIELD AFTER SENATE JUDICIARY
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Clint Hendler]
Last Thursday, the journalism organizations at work on a shield bill won two victories in quick succession. In just about five minutes, the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected an amendment that would have restricted the journalists and writers eligible for the shield's protections, and then voted to report the bill to the Senate floor. While the final stage of the bill's journey through the Senate Judiciary Committee passed rather quickly, getting to this point took at least five years of arduous work—and there's still a long way to go before journalists have some statutory protection from being forced to testify in certain federal cases. The drama at last week's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting focused on an amendment, offered by committee members Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin, that would have restricted the bill's definition of a journalist. "We knew the definition has been a sticking point for those two senators," says Sophia Cope, the legislative counsel at the Newspaper Association of America, which has been leading the lobbying effort on behalf of a seventy-one member coalition of press groups. The coalition has generally favored definitions that closely hew to the standards established by von Bulow v. von Bulow, a 1987 ruling by the Second Circuit that recognized a journalist's limited immunity from forced testimony. Courts in the Second Circuit, when confronted with a person hoping to avoid testimony by claiming the privilege, ask questions like whether they regularly collect and disseminate information of public interest, and not questions about who they work for or how much they get paid. Supporters contend that such a functional definition is valuable because it is financially, medium, and technology neutral, and better able to fit an industry changing at a rate of speed that sluggish legislatures couldn't hope to match.
benton.org/node/30570 | Columbia Journalism Review
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LLOYD: NOT OUT TO GET TALK RADIO
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd says that he has gotten hate mail and death threats after what he calls an "incredible right-wing smear campaign." According to a copy of his speech to the Media Access Project at a conference Monday on the future of journalism, Lloyd said his mission at the FCC was not to restore the fairness doctrine or to banish conservative talkers from the airwaves. "Allow me to clear away some mud," he said, pointing out that MAP President Andrew Schwartzman first warned him of the possible right-wing backlash. "I am not at the FCC to restore the Fairness Doctrine through the front door or the back door, or to carry out a secret plot funded by George Soros to get rid of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or any other conservative talk show host. I am not at the FCC to remove anybody, whatever their color, from power. I am not a supporter of Hugo Chavez." Instead, he said: "I am an Associate General Counsel and the Chief Diversity Officer, I operate under the direction of the General Counsel to provide legal advice to the Commission. As with the General Counsel's Office generally, my portfolio cuts across the other offices and bureaus at the FCC, but with a focus on diversity." He also points out that, like most others at the commission, he has been focused on broadband.
benton.org/node/30565 | Broadcasting&Cable | Read full remarks | WSJ | Bloomberg
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OPEN GOVERNMENT AND INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
The release of the open government directive could change intelligence agencies' policies that deny Internet access to nonclassified data that is currently available only in hard copy or only to government personnel, say some Washington transparency advocates. While many federal agencies already have started implementing parts of the guidance the White House issued on Tuesday, the CIA is still reviewing the document. The directive, which President Obama announced the day after he took office in January, establishes deadlines for agencies to comply with specific initiatives aimed at making the business of government more transparent and accountable to the public. One requirement instructs agencies to publish online within 45 days at least three downloadable data sets that have not previously been available online or in a downloadable format. At the same time, agencies must adhere to privacy and national security restrictions, according to the directive. Now that the directive is out, the circumstances driving the decisions to withhold online information have changed, some in the government transparency community said. They want the CIA to post on the Web declassified documents and noncopyrighted analyses of foreign news.
benton.org/node/30539 | nextgov
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