January 2010

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for JANUARY 30, 2010 (THE WEEKEND UPDATE)

Quick takes at some of the Reply Comments filed in the National Broadband Plan proceeding

NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
   The Best Broadband Plan for America: First, Do No Harm
   Goals for a National Broadband Plan
   Ammori: Broadband Plan Must Address Competition, International Trade Obligations
   Public Television's Role in the National Broadband Plan
   Community Institutions Need Big broadband to Deliver 21st Century Services
   Include Evaluation in the National Broadband Plan: Benton Foundation, University of Illinois
   CWA: Broadband Plan Must be Bold, Realistic
   Middle-Mile Is Missing Link for Broadband Plan
   NASUCA: Telephone Network Not Dead Yet
   NATOA: Keep Rights-of-Way Decisions Local in National Broadband Plan
   WISPA Urges New Spectrum Policy
   TIA Highlights Deployment/Adoption, Spectrum Policy, USF Reform
   Independent Phone Alliance Urges FCC to Act on Universal Service Fund Reform
See more at http://bit.ly/kRB5k

THE STIMULUS
   NTIA Chief Larry Strickling Urges BTOP Rejects to Reapply
   Alaska Company Wins $25.3 Million Broadband Stimulus Grant

NETWORK NEUTRALITY
   Historical Contingency, Inevitability, and the Open Internet

CONTENT
   BitTorrent census: about 99% of files copyright infringing
   Apple's media strategy: There's an app for that
   How the iPad Could Drive Up College Tuition
   'iPad as netbook-killer' concept ignites controversy
   Apple says it will allow Internet voice services on iPhone, iPad
   Daily Newspaper Reading Down to Two in Five

MEDIA & ELECTIONS
   Reform in an Age of Networked Campaigns

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Schmidt Says Google Aims to Put Pressure on China

CYBERSECURITY
   Security experts call on Congress to update cyber strategies

RADIO
   Prometheus Says Clock Is Ticking On LPFM Bill
   FCC OKs Upping Digital Radio Power

MORE ONLINE
   State of the Union speech omits mention of healthcare IT
   FTC Rejects Intel's Request to Bar Commissioner Rosch From Suit
   Report: Smart meters rise to 212 million in 2014

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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN

THE BEST BROADBAND PLAN FOR AMERICA: FIRST DO NO HARM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell]
Speaking at a Free State Foundation Keynote event, Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell noted that mobile broadband and cellphones were the big story of 2009, not the transition to digital television. "The mobile app world is in its infancy. Creativity is erupting all over. Hundreds of thousands of apps produced by thousands of developers are available to consumers through an increasing number of outlets. Innovation at the 'edge' appears to be robust and unfettered, as it should be. At the same time, consumers are demanding the added value that comes from intelligence inside networks. And that should remain unfettered as well," Commissioner McDowell said. He said that investment in broadband did not come about due to a government mandate. He defended the FCC's decision to classify broadband services as less regulated information services under Title I in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. He said, "I hope that the FCC's National Broadband Plan will emphasize the importance of providing incentives for network operators to upgrade as well as allowing the market to deliver incentives to consumers to adopt broadband. We certainly don't want to create disincentives for either one."
benton.org/node/31762 | Federal Communications Commission | B&C
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GOALS FOR A NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Benjamin Lennett, Chiehyu Li, James Losey, Robb Topolski, Sascha Meinrath, Michael Calabrese]
In developing a national broadband plan the Federal Communication Commission has an unprecedented opportunity to put in place polices that can both bring essential high-speed connectivity to those with limited or no access, and serve as the foundation for long-term broadband and technological innovation that can move the U.S. ahead in the 21st century. For this to be a forward-looking national broadband plan it is critical that the Plan focus on the underlying infrastructures necessary to spur ubiquitous high-speed broadband; create innovative new mechanisms to drive adoption; encourage robust competition; and empower consumers and policymakers with fundamental information on the actual state of broadband in the US. The FCC should adopt the following goals:
achieve a rate of broadband adoption of world class networks equal to the current rate of telephone adoption by 2020,
substantially improve the level of competition between providers of broadband Internet access to move the country out of a stagnant duoloply by 2020,
establish real broadband consumer protection within 12-18 months, and
adopt new broadband data collection standards in 2010.
benton.org/node/31745 | New America Foundation
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AMMORI: BROADBAND PLAN MUST ADDRESS COMPETITION, INTERNATIONAL TRADE OBLIGATIONS
[SOURCE: Marvin Ammori, AUTHOR: Marvin Ammori]
In drafting a national broadband plan, the Federal Communications Commission should consider the United States' international trade obligations requiring our nation to open our telecommunications markets to competition. These trade obligations would likely require the FCC to provide reasonable, cost-oriented access to telecommunications networks to ensure market access. Notably, the obligations could require the FCC to address the politically sensitive issues of special access regulation and open access policies. In the interest of international comity and respect for our international obligations, the FCC should analyze whether a national broadband plan without certain competitive policies -- notably special access and open access rules -- violates our international treaty obligations
benton.org/node/31744 | Marvin Ammori
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PUBLIC TELEVISION'S ROLE IN THE NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Association of Public Television Stations, AUTHOR: Lonna Thompson, Malena Barzilai]
Just as public television licensees have long served as local and regional hubs for the delivery of educational broadcast content, numerous licensees are seamlessly transitioning into roles as the anchors of high-speed broadband networks that conduct advanced educational content and services to and between local schools, universities, and libraries. APTS urges the Federal Communications Commission to recognize the essential role that public television stations are playing in the area of broadband deployment as well as in the development of innovative content to drive broadband adoption and advance national priorities.
benton.org/node/31743 | Association of Public Television Stations
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COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS NEED BIG BROADBAND TO DELIVER 21ST CENTURY SERVICES
[SOURCE: Supporters of Anchor Institution Networks, AUTHOR: John Windhausen Jr]
This coalition of organizations urges the Federal Communications Commission to address the critical needs of community anchor institutions for high-capacity broadband connectivity in the National Broadband Plan. The group asks the FCC to consider: 1) Support the development of a "Unified Community Anchor Network" ("UCAN"), (a "network of networks" from which all anchor institutions who wish can receive high capacity broadband service); 2) Provide for additional funding for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband programs through Congressional appropriations; 3) Establish ongoing funding support from the Universal Service Fund administered and maintain support for the anchor institutions currently benefiting from USF; and 4) Permit anchor institutions to collaborate freely to meet their needs without interference from restrictive legislation, rules and ordinances.
benton.org/node/31742 | Supporters of Anchor Institution Networks
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INCLUDE EVALUATION IN THE NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Charles Benton, Kate Williams]
The Administration and the nation's strongest, most motivated research units must join forces to conduct -- in a new way -- research on the impact of broadband combination of partners in Washington, DC and elsewhere. The Federal Communications Commission's role, in part, must be to demonstrate the need for broadband deployment and adoption research, research that will be invested in: Identifying and collecting the right data on broadband, a Sharing data using the latest approaches and mechanisms from information science, and Depositing the data in a well-tailored data engine (data + analytical tools) for use by FCC staff, researchers, and various publics. This data engine will enable people to ask all kinds of questions of the same dataset.
benton.org/node/31741 | Benton Foundation | Proposal for effective metrics | Data Engine for Policy and Research | Measuring success
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CWA: BROADBAND PLAN MUST BE BOLD, REALISTIC
[SOURCE: Communications Workers of America, AUTHOR: Debbie Goldman]
The Federal Communications Commission must put job-creating investment at the top of its agenda, and ensure that workers in the industry benefit from broadband build-out and adoption programs. While the FCC must focus on short term achievable recommendations that ensure that all Americans have access to high-speed networks, it must also set ambitious goals and recommend policies that speed widespread deployment of world-class next-generation advanced networks. The National Broadband Plan should lay out a bold, yet realistic set of initiatives that will engage the public and private sectors to spur deployment and adoption of broadband to bring our nation up to global standards. CWA lays out 13 priorities to help the Commission reach these goals. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/31740 | Communications Workers of America
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MIDDLE-MILE IS MISSING LINK FOR BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: General Communications, AUTHOR: Tina Pidgeon, Christopher Nierman, John Nakahata, Renee R. Wentzel]
The missing link in providing a truly robust broadband network to rural as well as urban Alaska is the middle-mile network. As it considers recommendations to further promote broadband deployment, and in particular how to reform universal service support to do so, the Federal Communications Commission should take care not to undermine the progress being made in under-deployed tribal land areas such as Alaska, which is supported by existing universal service mechanisms. Delivering the middle-mile to the rest of Alaska will require creative solutions, but those solutions cannot be implemented to the detriment of the universal service support that currently funds network deployment and upgrades in Alaska. Universal service reforms that remove the support needed to continue and finance today's build-out would not promote broadband deployment, but rather, would undermine the availability of private financing for Alaska network investment and threaten the long-term sustainability of projects enabled with the assistance of public funding. To avoid unintended and potentially immediate consequences, the Commission should in its upcoming National Broadband Plan be careful about making proclamations about specific changes prior to developing a full record on any particular proposals - especially when addressing the needs of traditionally vulnerable areas, such as tribal lands.
benton.org/node/31739 | General Communications
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NASUCA: TELEPHONE NETWORK NOT DEAD YET
[SOURCE: National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, AUTHOR: David Bergmann]
The one set of issues which demands a response is the assertion of AT&T regarding the public switched telephone network ("PSTN") that "[f]oremost on the Commission's agenda for enabling private investment to facilitate widespread deployment of broadband infrastructure should be the elimination of regulatory requirements that divert resources from broadband to the PSTN." Those regulations include carrier-of-last-resort ("COLR") regulations, unbundling requirements, and all federal support for the PSTN. Indeed, AT&T would do away with all state regulation of telephone service. The PSTN that AT&T claims is obsolete, is not disappearing. The key point that AT&T willfully ignores is that there are not two networks, one PSTN and one IP-enabled. They are both the same network.
benton.org/node/31738 | National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates
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NATOA: KEEP RIGHT-OF-WAY DECISIONS LOCAL IN NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, AUTHOR: Nicholas Miller, Joseph Van Eaton, Matthew Schettenhelm, Gail Karish]
Some broadband providers hope to use the Broadband Plan to obtain a financial windfall. They are attempting to grab taxpayer property at little or no cost to the companies or their stockholders. These same companies are also seeking "first among all" regulatory privileges to intrude on public rights-of-way to the disadvantage of all other right-of-way users. The Federal Communications Commission must resist these efforts and the related temptations to decide what states and local governments may charge for use of local taxpayer property, including rights-of-way; and to impose, as some companies urge, an artificial restraint on fees tied to some ill-defined and arbitrary concept of the "cost of managing" the rights-of-way. By encouraging and providing a forum for local governments to develop and exchange best practices, the Commission could create a pool of shared knowledge that will result in more and faster broadband deployment. Broadband deployment can be spurred if local governments are encouraged to act as market participants, to freely exchange assets, and to consolidate "anchor tenants" in return for enforceable promises by broadband providers to deploy. These are the courses the Commission ought to pursue. The Commission need not and should not in this proceeding, or any other, impose risky and costly federal standards on local governments for management and compensation for use of public property. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/31737 | National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
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WISPA URGES NEW SPECTRUM POLICY
[SOURCE: Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, AUTHOR: Richard Harnish]
WISPA emphasizes the deployment, financing and sustainability of affordable spectrum to help facilitate broadband service to rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country. The Federal Communications Commission should re-focus its spectrum policies:
1) designate 300 megahertz of spectrum for fixed wireless broadband, which may be the only technology capable of economically serving remote areas, 2) allocate this spectrum as well as TV white spaces and other spectrum blocks according to non-exclusive "licensed lite" (or "hybrid") procedures that combine the benefits of affordability, rapid deployment and private resolution of interference disputes, 3) consider incorporating "spectrum homesteading," a cousin of "licensed lite" that would convert a non-exclusive license into an exclusive license if the licensee meets aggressive build-out, service and localism requirements, 4) for any licenses the FCC auctions, geographic areas should be small enough that WISPs and other bidders do not have to purchase more spectrum than they need, 5) consider market-based approaches to spectrum auctions, and 6) strengthen "substantial service" rules to require auction winners to serve high-cost areas.
benton.org/node/31768 | Wireless Internet Service Providers Association
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TIA HIGHLIGHTS DEPLOYMENT/ADOPTION, SPECTRUM POLICY, USF REFORM
[SOURCE: Telecommunications Industry Association, AUTHOR: Danielle Coffey]
Telecommunications Industry Association urges the Federal Communications Commission to include the following in the National Broadband Plan: 1) Broadband Deployment and Adoption: The plan should stimulate investment, innovation, and the promotion of next-generation broadband deployment and adoption and encourage regulation that is modest and predictable through an exclusively federal regulatory regime. 2) Spectrum Allocation and Management: The FCC should continue to adopt forward-looking spectrum management polices that continue to promote and encourage a highly competitive wireless marketplace. Universal Service Fund Reform: Transition the universal service system to broadband in a manner that is technologically and competitively neutral Accessibility: The Plan should be used as a mechanism to promote a voluntary Industry-Government partnership to bring broadband to hard-to-reach Americans, including those with disabilities.
benton.org/node/31767 | Telecommunications Industry Association
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ITTA ASKS FOR USF REFORM
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: ]
The Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance is urging the FCC to adopt its price-cap plan so that its members, which are largely mid-size local exchange firms, can get better support from the Universal Service Fund. The alliance says that many of the regions served by its members do not receive sufficient USF support and a chunk of its members are "challenged by flaws in mechanisms that have been ruled invalid by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit." The court has remanded the FCC's rules for providing high-cost universal service support to non-rural carriers. The group expressed concern that if the FCC does not take some interim action to fix basic problems with the USF, the problems will linger as the agency waits to make repairs to the fund as part of its larger, longer and broader efforts to tackle communications reform through the National Broadband Plan.
benton.org/node/31753 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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THE STIMULUS

NTIA URGES BTOP REJECTS TO REAPPLY
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Sharon McLoone]
National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Larry Strickling was in Denver Friday talkin' up the NTIA's second round of broadband stimulus funding. "Don't fret over round one, there's more money in round two," he said. "I know folks are getting what you're calling a rejection letter, but we're looking at it as an 'opportunity to reapply' letter." NTIA spends at least 200 hours examining each application to ensure due diligence, and Strickling said that some senators he recently spoke with about the broadband monies process were impressed with that statistic. He said some of his private sector peers say if they're thinking about funding a $30 to $50 million project, they may put a team of four people working on it for six weeks. "If we award you money, we need to make sure you're still operating this project in five years," he said. What's NTIA looking for? Project management experience and a reasonable budget, middle mile projects and connections for schools and libraries. He added that groups getting a priority are able to offer a 30 percent dollar match even though only 20 percent is required.
benton.org/node/31763 | BroadbandBreakfast.com | GovTech - rejection letters
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ALASKA COMPANY WINS STIMULUS GRANT
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Andy Opsahl]
Among the winners of broadband stimulus funds is Alaska-based Sea Lion Management Group, partnered with Colorado-based Rivada Networks. The two companies secured $25.3 million from the Rural Utilities Service to bring high-speed wireless connectivity to 44 impoverished communities in southwestern Alaska. Many of the homes in those communities lack access to water and sewer systems. Residents use outhouses and haul water manually from a central location. Some of the villages are not connected to main roads and are usually accessed by small airplanes. The area covers 90,000 square miles and is home to 29,886 villagers. The broadband project will deploy satellite technology and a mesh network of wireless nodes to deliver services to residents and government institutions, like schools and libraries. Subscriptions will cost roughly $30 per month, and Pfeffer said Sea Lion was confident it could attract enough business to sustain the network financially. She declined to specify the number of subscriptions Sea Lion and Rivada Networks would need to reach that sustainability.
benton.org/node/31766 | Government Technology
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY

HISTORICAL CONTINGENCY AND THE OPEN INTERNET
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Stuart Benjamin]
In communications policy most commentators believe that many developments that we take for granted were historically contingent. For instance, if in the early 20th century telephone companies had (either by choice or mandate) allowed interconnection (so that customers of one network could call the customers of another network), we might not have ended up with a single company as the dominant telephony provider for most of the 20th century. Another example flows from the fact that, in allotting television stations, the FCC chose to emphasize localism. If it had instead emphasized national competition, we might have ended up with more national networks, but at the expense of having regional rather than local stations. The Internet is particularly fertile ground for historical contingency. If AT&T had not agreed in a 1956 consent decree to refrain from providing computer services, it might have dominated the field from the beginning. If a few engineers working with the Department of Defense had created their protocols a bit differently, it might be much harder to connect, and add your own voice, to the Internet. And if the government had decided to create a more easily controllable network, preventing someone like Tim Berners-Lee from adding his code on top of the existing protocols, we might not have the Web as we know it. I think that most people take for granted that if they want to send an online message to a friend it won't be blocked, that if they want to create a new website their broadband provider won't relegate their content to a slow lane unless they pay a premium, and that if they want to access a cool new online service it won't be degraded by their broadband provider. If you think these aspects of the Open Internet are undesirable and contingent, then you may not want any FCC proposals to keep them in place. If you think these aspects are inevitable, then you may be indifferent about possible Open Internet rules. If you think they are desirable and contingent, then you may want Open Internet rules.
benton.org/node/31761 | Federal Communications Commission
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CONTENT

BITTORRENT MOSTLY COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jacqui Cheng]
People largely use P2P to pirate stuff -- big surprise. It has never been a secret that the majority of files being shared over BitTorrent are movies and music that are likely being shared illegally. (Sorry, Linux distro nerds.) Princeton senior Sauhard Sahi confirmed this recently after setting out to survey the content available on BitTorrent and, although there are caveats to his findings, they highlight the relationship DRM has with illegal file sharing. As in: the more DRM there is on the legit versions of the content, the more popular it is on P2P. Sahi chose a random sample of 1,021 files from the trackerless Mainline DHT and classified them by file type, language, and apparent copyright status. He found that nearly half (46 percent) of files were nonpornographic movies and TV shows—the largest single category of content. 14 percent of the files were porn, tied with the 14 percent dedicated to games and software. Just 10 percent of the files were classified as music, and one percent were books and guides. Sahi also analyzed whether the content was infringement, checking to see if was in the public domain, freely available via legitimate channels, or user-generated content. Based on this study, 100 percent of the movie/TV show sample was found to be infringing, as well as all of the music torrents. Seven of the 148 files in games/software were found to be noninfringing (two were Linux distros), and one of the 145 porn files was given the benefit of the doubt as noninfringing. Overall, about one percent of the total files were categorized as "likely noninfringing."
benton.org/node/31756 | Ars Technica
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APPLE'S MEDIA STRATEGY
[SOURCE: The Media Wonk, AUTHOR: Paul Sweeting]
[Commentary] One of the most striking aspects of the iPad is the extremely limited means of content ingress and egress. The device has no USB ports, no, Compact Flash, SD or microSD port, no HDMI port, no Ethernet, not even a camera. Basically, there's one way in, through the wireless connection, using either WiFi or 3G, and no way out. This thing is a sealed vault. Even through the wireless connection, content acquisition is tightly limited. Yes, you can browse the web with your iPad but you can't use it to stream most web-based video because the device lacks support for Adobe's Flash (Hulu) and (natch) Microsoft's Silverlight (Neflix), the two most popular streaming platforms. What video it can access, such as iTunes movies and YouTube, must come in through a dedicated app, not the browser. The operating system does not support multitasking. If you're running an app, you can't also be browsing the web or reading emails. Basically, the iPad is a one-way street. While many commentators have described these limitations as bugs, or design flaws, I suspect they're features. Basically, the iPad is a device for running apps, at least as far as media consumption is concerned. It is designed not for discovering content, or searching for it, or even managing it directly yourself using your choice of applications. It's designed for being served content, through proprietary apps, on the content owner's terms. What Steve Jobs is offering media companies with the iPad is, in effect, the anti-Internet: a platform for digital distribution in which all aspects of the user experience and functionality are under their control. Just as importantly, it's an environment where their content can't easily be scraped, aggregated, re-published, mashed up or indexed by search engines.
benton.org/node/31769 | Media Wonk, The | GigaOm - Hulu | MediaPost - Hulu | Online Journalism Review
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COULD IPAD INCREASE COLLEGE TUITION?
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Anya Kamenetz]
The iPad could offer nice benefits for the college student: keep all your textbooks in one slender, elegant package; highlight and make notes; watch embedded video and multimedia; browse the web for supplementary material; chat and collaborate with classmates and teachers as you read. But will the gadget cut costs or open an even bigger money pit for cash-strapped students? Already textbooks cost the average college student more than $1,000 a year; electronic content can be much less, especially when it's open-source. The open-license textbook company Flat World Knowledge estimated it saved students a collective $3 million just this past fall. The iPad uses the open ePub format for electronic books, which should be a boon to the burgeoning open education movement. However, Joshua Kim, a technology blogger at Inside Higher Ed, asks whether the iPad is a "sustaining" rather than a "disruptive" innovation. The danger, in other words, is that colleges will spend even more money and faculty time on purchasing and developing content for these new gadgets, as they have on the generations of tech that came before (laptops, Ethernet, fancy AV in classrooms) without making cuts elsewhere.
benton.org/node/31759 | Fast Company
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'IPAD' A NETBOOK-KILLER?
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Galen Gruman]
The suggestion that the iPad could displace the netbook has triggered a firestorm of criticism, as well as some passionate support. On could argue that Apple just introduced one of the first commercially available smartbooks to the masses. Did Cupertino just pull a fast one and corner the smartbook market before anyone else could get that market off the ground? Competing tablet makers are reevaluating their pricing strategy in the wake of Apple's iPad announcement, according to a rumor in the Digitimes. The article cites the usual unnamed sources in claiming that companies like ASUS and MSI had expected Apple's iPad to debut at $1,000, and were planning to undercut that price by 20 to 30 percent with their own, presumably Android-based offerings. But with the iPad base model coming in at $499—the price of a decent netbook—the companies are now going to have to compete on something besides price.
benton.org/node/31758 | InfoWorld | jkOnTheRun | ars technica | GigaOM - Essence of iPad
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APPLE OKs VOIP ON PHONE, PAD
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Apple said it will allow Internet voice (VoIP) service providers to run on the iPhone and iPad, after Federal Communications Commission concerns (an inquiry) that blocking those services could violate open Internet access rules. The company's decision came with the launch of a new version of its mobile operating system for the iPad tablet computer on Wednesday. The decision will pave the way for companies such as Skype and Vonage to put their free or low-priced voice applications on Apple's devices. The move comes after federal regulators asked Apple about its earlier decision to block such applications. Currently the applications can only access WiFi connections on the iPhone. Specifically, Apple said it revised it program license agreement for developers in the new version of its mobile operating system, the iPhone OS 3.2. In the update, it gave developers the ability to create VoIP applications on AT&T's (Apple's exclusive provider for the iPhone and its first partner for the iPad) 3G network.
benton.org/node/31760 | Washington Post
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DAILY NEWSPAPER READING DOWN
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Jack Loechner]
According to the findings of a new Adweek Media/Harris Poll, of 2,136 U.S. adults surveyed online between December 14 and 16, 2009 by Harris Interactive, the era of Americans reading a daily newspaper each and every day is coming to an end. Just two in five U.S. adults (43%) say they read a daily newspaper, either online or in print almost every day. Just over seven in ten Americans (72%) say they read one at least once a week while 81% read a daily newspaper at least once a month. One in ten adults (10%) say they never read a daily newspaper. One reason for the dying of the daily newspaper, says the report, is the graying of the daily readership. Almost two-thirds of those aged 55 and older say they still read a daily newspaper almost every day. The younger one is, however, the less often they read newspapers. But less than one quarter of those aged 18-34 say they read a newspaper almost every day while 17% in this age group say they never read a daily newspaper. One potential business model that newspapers are exploring is charging a monthly fee to read a daily newspaper's content online. This model, however, seems unlikely to work.
benton.org/node/31752 | MediaPost
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS

REFORM IN AN AGE OF NETWORKED CAMPAIGNS
[SOURCE: Brookings Institution, AUTHOR: Anthony Corrado, Thomas Mann, Norman Ornstein, Michael Malbin]
The political world has been arguing about campaign finance policy for decades. A once rich conversation has become a stale two-sided battleground. One side sees contribution or spending limits as essential to restraining corruption, the appearance of corruption, or the "undue influence" of wealthy donors. The other resists any such limits in the name of free speech. The time has come to leap over this gulf and, as much as possible, move the disputes from the courts. Preventing corruption and protecting free speech should each be among the key goals of any policy regime, but they should not be the only objectives. This report seeks to change the ongoing conversation. Put simply, instead of focusing on attempts to further restrict the wealthy few, it seeks to focus on activating the many. This is not a brief for deregulation. The members of this working group support limits on contributions to candidates and political parties. But we also recognize the limits of limits. More importantly, we believe that some of the key objectives can be pursued more effectively by expanding the playing field. Interactive communications technology potentially can transform the political calculus. But technology alone cannot do the trick. Sound governmental policies will be essential: first, to protect the conditions under which a politically beneficial technology may flourish and, second, to encourage more candidates — particularly those below the top of the national ticket — to reach out to small donors and volunteers.
benton.org/node/31755 | Brookings Institution
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

GOOGLE AIMS TO PRESSURE CHINA
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: John Fraher, Brian Womack]
Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said his company opposes censorship in China and aims to apply pressure to improve the situation for the country's people. "We love what China is doing as a country and its growth," Schmidt said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "We just don't like the censorship. We hope to apply some negotiation or pressure to make things better for the Chinese people." Schmidt doesn't want to close the company's operations in China. He risks alienating some potential users in China with his comments and could have chosen his words more carefully, said Seth Faison, a crisis-communications expert at Sitrick & Co. in New York, who worked as a journalist in China for more than a decade. Some Chinese may appreciate Google's efforts to limit censorship, while others may resent a foreign company trying to influence the government's policies, he said. "If Google was to say, 'We believe in free flow of information and it's not working for us in China' -- they'll get a lot of respect," he said. "If they say, 'We're trying to force China's government to change its censorship policy' -- that will be less effective."
benton.org/node/31764 | Bloomberg | TechDailyDose
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CYBERSECURITY

SECURITY LEADERS ASK CONGRESS TO UPDATE CYBER STRATEGIES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brooke Wylie]
Companies are on their own when it comes to warding off full-scale cyber attacks, security experts said this week, urging the government to update its cyber war policies. Jim Lewis, Senior Counsel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies identified the need for an updated cyber protection and combat policy at the State of the Net Conference on Wednesday. "We have a cyber strategy, and it was out-dated 20 minutes before it was passed -- that was in 2003," Lewis said. The panel of cyber security experts debated the challenges Congress will face in enacting a coherent legal framework to respond to cyber threats. Lawmakers have called for a more aggressive defense against cyber attacks, but are still trying to figure out how to coordinate efforts across intelligence and defense agencies.
benton.org/node/31750 | Hill, The
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RADIO

PROMETHEUS LPFM UPDATE
[SOURCE: Radio Ink, AUTHOR: ]
The Prometheus Radio Project says the Local Community Radio Act -- which would open the door to potentially thousands of new low-power FMs -- is "in the home stretch," but there are still obstacles. The group notes that the bill has passed out of committee in the Senate and must pass the full Senate to go to President Obama for signature, and that it still needs to be officially reported and filed.
benton.org/node/31751 | Radio Ink
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FCC OKs UPPING DIGITAL RADIO POWER
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communication Commission's Media Bureau adopted an Order that permits FM radio stations to voluntarily increase digital power levels up to ten percent of analog power levels and establishes interference mitigation and remediation procedures to promptly resolve complaints of interference to analog stations. These rule changes will substantially boost digital signal coverage while safeguarding analog reception against interference from higher power digital transmissions. The Bureau Order will: Permit most FM stations to immediately increase digital power by 6 dB, a four-fold power increase; Limit power increases for stations currently licensed in excess of class maximums, i.e., "super-powered" stations, to protect analog radio service from interference; Establish application procedures for power increases up to 10 dB; Establish interference remediation procedures that require the Media Bureau to resolve each bona fide dispute or impose tiered power reductions within 90 days; and Reserve the right to revisit the issue of digital power levels if significant interference results to analog reception.
benton.org/node/31757 | Federal Communications Commission | Read the Order
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