December 2009

Content Groups Link Copyright Infringement to Net Neutrality Rules

The Songwriters Guild of America is the latest intellectual property-focused group weighing into the debate about whether the government should take steps to regulate Internet access to support so-called Network Neutrality principles. The group claims that the rules, which have been proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, would create a legal safe harbor for copyright invasion. "While these rules require that all lawful uses be treated "in a non-discriminatory manner," they ignore whether or not the usage is unlawful. The result is the property created and owned by songwriters like me is discriminated against," songwriter Phil Galdston said in a statement. The guild said the rules would "restrain Internet service providers from fighting illegal file sharing on their networks."

Google Unit Aims To Save Electricity

Google wants Internet users to tap into smart electricity meters with new software that will help them save money and the environment. The search giant's philanthropic arm, Google.org, is pushing a piece of free software called PowerMeter that will let Internet users see how much electricity they are using at home in real time, a key first step in getting them to cut back. If all goes well, Google says it believes it may one day help people track their water and natural-gas consumption, too. "Energy efficiency is the ultimate low-hanging fruit for cutting carbon emissions," said Dan Reicher, Google's director of climate change and energy initiatives. PowerMeter has been released in test mode and is being used by thousands of people in areas where local utilities have installed next-generation smart meters. Those meters enable utilities to monitor and bill people's electricity consumption, and to pinpoint problems in real time—all from afar.

Administration Launches Comprehensive Open Government Plan

On Tuesday, the White House Tuesday issued the Open Government Directive requiring federal agencies to take immediate, specific steps to open their operations up to the public. The Administration also released an Open Government Progress Report to the American People and previewed a number of other openness commitments that are poised to be released during the next two days. The directive, released by the Office of Management and Budget, sets an unprecedented standard for government agencies, insisting that they achieve key milestones in transparency, collaboration, and participation. It instructs agencies to share information with the public through online, open, accessible, machine-readable formats. Agencies are to inventory existing information and establish a timeline for publishing them online to increase agency accountability and responsiveness; improve public knowledge of the agency and its operations; further the core mission of the agency; create economic opportunity; or respond to need and demand as identified through public consultation. The directive also requires that annual Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reports be published online in machine-readable formats, and demanding milestones for improving data quality and records management. Second, it aims to instill the values of transparency, participation, and collaboration into the culture of every agency by requiring every agency to formulate an Open Government Plan and website. Specifically, each agency will be required to develop its own, unique roadmap in consultation with the American people and open government experts, rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach.

Rural Broadband Access To Grow, Slowly But Surely

Rural high-speed Internet service is years away and ultimately will require a combination of new phone taxes and billions of dollars more in federal support. Neither will happen easily or quickly, but it's the most likely policy route Washington will take as broadband stretches into rural and underserved areas in the next decade. The first step will be taken by the Federal Communications Commission, which is likely to formally propose broadband taxes in February, arguing that the current Universal Service Fee paid by telephone companies and consumers to provide phone service to rural areas should be expanded and funded at a higher rate to cover construction, development and maintenance of rural broadband services. A broadband tax proposal will spark a fierce battle. Businesses and consumer groups will fight the prospect of higher phone taxes, and deficit hawks will oppose efforts to add tens of billions to the deficit to finance rural broadband connectivity. In the end, though, some combination of the two is likely in advance of actual deployment of rural broadband, a project that will take a decade. The FCC, which strongly supports rural broadband expansion won't specify how much of a tax should be imposed, only that a tax should be the primary vehicle to finance rural broadband. Congress would set a tax rate at a later date after a year or more of hearings and comment at the FCC and in Congress.

Finding a Creative Spectrum Solution

Last Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice seeking comment on a variety of aspects and uses of the television broadcast spectrum. Until now, the discussion has been somewhat binary and predictable. Many broadcasters want to simply maintain the status quo, and many wireless broadband proponents (licensed and unlicensed) would like most or all of that spectrum to become available to them. In order to explore potential solutions, however, the discourse needs to become more constructive and more creative. The National Broadband Task Force has been charged with identifying and exploring ways to deliver robust broadband to everyone, and mobile broadband is an essential part of the solution. But mobile broadband won't advance unless we can find spectrum to avoid crippling network congestion in the future. For better or for worse, broadcasters occupy one of the most attractive bands for mobile broadband applications, and we have an obligation to Congress, and to the needs of the country, to explore that spectrum's evolutionary potential. Thus, the real question that broadcasters should be asking themselves is "How can we best become part of a mobile broadband solution?"

FCC Launches Proceeding on NCTA's Universal Service Reform Proposal

On November 5, 2009, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) filed a petition for rulemaking proposing new rules for universal service high-cost support. Specifically, NCTA proposes that the Federal Communications Commission establish procedures to reduce the amount of universal service high-cost support provided to carriers in those areas of the country where there is extensive, unsubsidized facilities-based voice competition and where government subsidies no longer are needed to ensure that service will be made available to consumers. The Wireline Competition Bureau now seeks comment on NCTA's petition. Comments are due January 7, 2010; reply comments are due January 22, 2010.

The Department of Labor's "Tools for America's Jobseekers" Challenge

[Commentary] In today's labor market, more and more people search and apply for jobs online. The National Broadband Taskforce at the Federal Communications Commission is developing a plan to ensure that all Americans will have access to broadband so they can take advantage of these online job training and placement resources. The Department of Labor is also taking steps to get more online job search and career advancement tools into the hands of job seekers. To that end, the Department's Employment and Training Administration is hosting the Tools for America's Job Seekers Challenge. The Challenge makes use of an innovative crowdsourcing platform to inventory online job search and career advancement tools, and allow workforce system professionals and jobseekers to explore, comment on, and recommend those tools. The goal of the Challenge is to help the workforce investment system identify the most compelling on-line tools to set job seekers on the shortest path to success. [Jane Oates is Assistant Secretary at the Employment and Training Administration in the Department of Labor.]

What the FCC chair is reading: Understanding electricity to inform Web policy

The tech boom that swept across the nation brought on an eruption of innovation, a virtual applications boom that created jobs and propelled the United States into a world leader on the bleeding edge. That tech wave was more than one century ago, when affordable electricity was brought throughout the nation, according to "The Big Switch" by Nicholas Carr. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is reading Carr's book. And to understand his approach to the agency's task to bring affordable broadband Internet to all U.S. homes and businesses, take a look at what the nation did when electricity arrived.

Don't Ask For Feedback On Grants That Have Not Been Named

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service should not have asked for public feedback on how to effectively get broadband stimulus funds to applicants who should be receiving them before they announced the winners of the first round of grants, said Virginia Deputy Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson. She continued by advising potential fund applicants to "start conversations with contacts at the local level now" and to form partnerships with local entities.

Big Cable Has No objection to FCC Sharing Broadband Data

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has no objection to the Federal Communications Commission releasing requested broadband data to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) subject to appropriate confidentiality protections. In addition, NCTA encourages the FCC to issue public reports based on aggregate Form 477 data so that all parties will have a more accurate sense of the state of the broadband marketplace in the United States.

Benton

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