January 2010

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010

More telecom fun than you can shake a stick at http://bit.ly/5qCn7h

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Evidence Found for Chinese Attack on Google
   US has met with China on Internet freedom: official
   Is Google's China Problem a Groundswell of the Closed Internet?
   Google vs. China Round 2: China Underlines Its Laws, Google Stops Android Roll-Out
   Google Hopes to Retain Business Unit in China
   See also:Alibaba Hasn't Heard From Yahoo Since Issuing Comment
    See also:Google's China Music Partner Faces Unsure Fate
   China to Scan Text Messages to Spot 'Unhealthy Content'
   China Curtails Run of 'Avatar' as It Fills Theaters
    See also:You Saw What in 'Avatar'? Pass Those Glasses!
   Policing Indecency
   Microsoft Puts a Time Limit on Bing Data
   Twitter and Government Transparency

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   Communicating in a disaster

FCC REFORM
   GAO: FCC needs more transparency

NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
   Is telecom infrastructure peaking?
   Why TV Needs To Keep Its Spectrum
   US broadband's average speed: 3.9Mbps
   Evidence of a Modest Price Decline in US Broadband Services
   Modernizing the Universal Service Fund
   Panelists Debate Copyrights, Open Internet in U.S. Broadband Plan
   France Offers Loans To Boost Web Speed

THE STIMULUS
   New Broadband Stimulus Requirements Include Urban Cities
   Ways That NTIA/RUS Are Failing Stimulus Applicants

NETWORK NEUTRALITY
   Public comments remind us why 'network neutrality' matters
   Who Pays the Price for Network Neutrality?
   Leibowitz Gives Strong Support to FCC's Network Neutrality Proposals
   Transparency Is Good But Intelligence Is Better
   Network Neutrality Comments: Verizon Says Network Neutrality Rules Unnecessary, Unconstitutional
   Amazon to FCC: Prioritizing Internet traffic is OK

MORE ON THE INTERNET
   Net Addresses Running Out
   Comcast's 'data meter' sparks questions about broadband caps
   FTC Probes Facebook's EPIC Privacy Fail
   Space-based router promises more reliable communications

WIRELESS/TELECOM
   Apple responsible for 99.4% of mobile app sales in 2009
   Skype Steals Even More Minutes From Phone Companies
   Analyst: AT&T needs to spend $5 billion to catch up to Verizon's 3G
   Cellular South to quit CTIA, citing favoritism for bigger companies

JOURNALISM
   More Readers Skimming Google Headlines Than Going Directly to Newspaper Web Sites?

HEALTH AND MEDIA
   If Your Kids Are Awake, They're Probably Online
   Participatory medicine: A high-tech alliance with patients
   FTC's New Red Flags Rules: Are They the Right Cure at the Right Time?

TELEVISION
   Second Thoughts on Comcast-NBC

   Stations Seen Winning With Localism
   2010 seen good for TV, bad for e-readers

MORE ONLINE
   Obama didn't break Bush record for speed of appointments
   Private Sector Keeps Mum on Cyber Attacks
   Companies Will Turn to China for IPOs
   Reauthorization of America COMPETES Act Tops Committee's Agenda
   DARPA to Award Funding for Projects Increasing High-Tech Education
   NIST Issues First Release of Framework for Smart Grid Interoperability
   Governing Board of Smart Grid Standards Panel Announces Officers
   WiFi wireless signals used to charge mobiles
   Is Google Wave the next wave of online education?
   Don't exit stimulus yet: IMF chief

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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

EVIDENCE FOUND IN CHINESE ATTACK ON GOOGLE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
An American computer security researcher has found what he says he believes is strong evidence of the digital fingerprints of Chinese authors in the software programs used in attacks against Google. The search engine giant announced last Tuesday that it had experienced a series of Internet break-ins it believed were of Chinese origin. The company's executives did not, however, detail the evidence leading them to the conclusion that the Chinese government was behind the attacks, beyond stating that e-mail accounts of several Chinese human rights activists had been compromised. In the week since the announcement, several computer security companies have made claims supporting Google's suspicions, but the evidence has remained circumstantial. Now, by analyzing the software used in the break-ins against Google and dozens of other companies, Joe Stewart, a malware specialist with SecureWorks, a computer security company based in Atlanta, said he determined the main program used in the attack contained a module based on an unusual algorithm from a Chinese technical paper that has been published exclusively on Chinese-language Web sites. The malware at the heart of Google attack is described by researchers as a "Trojan horse" that is intended to open a back door to a computer on the Internet. The program, called Hydraq by the computer security research community and intended to subvert computers that run different versions of the Windows operating system, was first noticed earlier this year.
benton.org/node/31430 | New York Times
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US HAS MET WITH CHINA ON INTERNET FREEDOM
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andrew Quinn, Arshad Mohammed]
The United States has had multiple meetings with Chinese authorities over Internet freedom and will have more in the coming days, a top State Department official said on Tuesday amid continuing tensions between Google and Beijing. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters that Washington viewed free and open Internet use as a "universal right that should be available to all people." "The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy," he said. "The U.S. government has had multiple meetings with Chinese authorities on this matter and will have more in the coming days," Campbell added.
benton.org/node/31412 | Reuters
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IS GOOGLE'S CHINA PROBLEM A GROUNDSWELL OF CLOSED INTERNET
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Paul Sweeting]
[Commentary] The US government's concern with maintaining a free and open Internet is beginning to look like a global anomaly. Around the world, governments both authoritarian and democratic are taking ever-more aggressive steps to regulate Internet and online service providers and to monitor what their citizens do online. While those measures have provoked fierce political battles in many of the countries where they've been introduced or proposed, they also threaten to complicate the investment environment for companies offering consumer-facing web services. The trend toward greater and stricter regulations of web services is gaining momentum around the world. Eventually, it could make the debate in the U.S. over P2P throttling look quaint.
benton.org/node/31398 | GigaOm
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GOOGLE VS CHINA ROUND 2
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Kit Eaton]
The political/ethical/financial spat between Google and the Chinese authorities has entered its second phase: The Chinese government is underlining its legal position, and Google's responding by postponing the launch of Android phones. When Google announced it was going to uncensor its Google.cn search engine last week, it came as a surprise--not many organizations have taken such a bold stance against the human-rights suppression of the Chinese authorities. The move was celebrated all over the Web, even while Google's real motivations weren't too deeply investigated. If Google does pull out of the nation, its slightly relaxed stance on Internet censorship will be lost: Chinese Net users will only have the more popular (and more highly censored) government-sponsored search engine Baidu to use. It seems that the Chinese sensors were pushing Google to up its self-censorship to match Baidu's policies--and this also played into Google's decision. But if Google pulled out of China, there were also worries about the future of the Android smartphone OS in the nation--and that worry has now come true, with the AP reporting that Google has "postponed" plans for its Android phone there.
benton.org/node/31397 | Fast Company | Bloomberg | Reuters
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GOOGLE HOPES TO RETAIN BUSINESS UNIT IN CHINA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Miguel Helft]
Few people say they think Google's Chinese-language search engine will survive the company's confrontation with China. But as Google prepares for talks with the Chinese government over its decision to stop cooperating with censorship laws there, the rest of Google's business and operations in China hangs in the balance. Google has said it is prepared to shut down its local Chinese-language search engine, Google.cn, unless it is allowed to run it uncensored. The company has also indicated that it would like to retain much of its operations there, including its growing ranks of Chinese engineers, its sales force and its toehold in the country's mobile phone business. If the company can reach an accommodation on these issues with Chinese authorities, the reward could be significant. Google would be able to claim a principled stand on free speech and human rights while suffering only marginal damage to its business in China. Experts on China say that is not likely to be easy.
benton.org/node/31429 | New York Times | WSJ
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CHINA TO SCAN TEXT MESSAGES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sharon LaFraniere]
As the Chinese government expands what it calls a campaign against pornography, cellular companies in Beijing and Shanghai have been told to suspend text services to cellphone users who are found to have sent messages with "illegal or unhealthy content," state-run news media reported Tuesday. China Mobile, one of the nation's largest cellular providers, reported that text messages would automatically be scanned for "key words" provided by the police, according to China Daily, a state-controlled English-language newspaper. Messages will be deemed "unhealthy" if they violate undisclosed criteria established by the central government, the newspaper said. The increased surveillance of text messages is the latest in a series of government efforts to severely tighten control of the Internet and other forms of communication.
benton.org/node/31428 | New York Times
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CHINA CURTAILS RUN OF 'AVATAR'
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sharon LaFraniere]
"Avatar," the Hollywood blockbuster that has proved wildly popular with Chinese moviegoers, will be pulled in the next few days from the majority of Chinese theaters where it is showing, Chinese media outlets reported Tuesday. The film will be removed from theaters without 3-D technology to make way for a domestically produced biography of Confucius, according to reports in state-controlled media that mainly quoted theater operators. China limits the number of foreign films permitted to be shown in the country to 20 a year, and it also regulates the amount of time each of those films can be shown. Officials ban any foreign films deemed unfriendly to the Communist Party but also want to ensure that any foreign imports deemed acceptable do not dominate the market and smother local film producers. While many films have a shorter run in Chinese theaters than their foreign producers would like, it is rare for the authorities to cut short the showing of a runaway success like "Avatar." According to 20th Century Fox, the movie's distributor, the film has earned $76 million in ticket sales in China, making it the most successful movie so far in China.
benton.org/node/31427 | New York Times
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POLICING INDECENCY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] A few years ago, Cher, the entertainer, and Nicole Richie, the television personality, uttered brief expletives on separate music awards shows on Fox. The Federal Communications Commission ruled that the comments were indecent. A federal appeals court in New York is now considering the case. The court should rule that the FCC's decision violates the First Amendment. The FCC's indecency policy is hopelessly vague. Indecency was once limited to forms of expression that were truly outrageous. Now the commission considers itself free to pick and choose among not particularly shocking content based on its opinion about the words and the context. The same epithet that the commission regards as indecent when Cher says it on an awards show may not be considered indecent when showing the movie "Saving Private Ryan." Broadcasters have no way of knowing in advance what sort of content will upset the FCC's indecency police — and possibly subject them to enormous financial penalties. When the government punishes speech with vague rules, it has a chilling effect on expression of all kinds. Speakers, unclear on where the lines are, and fearing sanctions, have a strong incentive to avoid engaging in speech that is legally protected. It is always risky to try to predict a case's outcome from oral argument. But it appears that the judges who heard this case understood that the commission's highly subjective standard violates the Constitution.
benton.org/node/31424 | New York Times
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MICROSOFT PUTS TIME LIMIT ON BING DATA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O'Brien]
Bowing to pressure in Europe, Microsoft said Tuesday that it would comply with regulators and discard all data collected on users of its Bing search engine after six months. John Vassallo, a Microsoft vice president and associate general counsel, said the company would introduce the change over the next 18 months. The company aims to satisfy a European advisory group that had been critical of how search engines collect and retain data on individuals for advertising purposes. The concession, relatively painless for Microsoft given its tiny share of the global search market — just 3 percent — is yet another example of an American technology giant's changing its way of doing business to suit stricter European concepts of antitrust and privacy laws.
benton.org/node/31423 | New York Times
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TWITTER AND GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Andy Opsahl]
Social networking technologies are creating potential challenges for government transparency. As more agency employees use Twitter, Facebook and similar external sites, some state and local IT officials are asking whether those communications should be archived for public viewing. The problem is that agencies don't know how to archive communications made on third-party social networks. For now, CIOs are delaying this puzzler because the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has no mandates related to them. But Melinda Catapano, city records manager for Grand Junction (CO), who also is a lawyer, predicts that courts will eventually force agencies to provide this data. Examining the potential risks of this issue could help CIOs discern the appropriate priority level for solving it.
benton.org/node/31395 | Government Technology
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

COMMUNICATING IN A DISASTER
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jamie Barnett]
[Commentary] What if a massive earthquake struck the U.S? How prepared are we for interoperable communications during emergencies (or day to day)? Even as the U.S. rushes to aid Haiti, we have to ask ourselves that question. By coincidence, the day the Haiti earthquake hit, leading police chiefs, fire chiefs, and sheriffs representing tens of thousands of public safety officers throughout the U.S. visited policymakers and members of Congress in Washington. Their purpose was to request that Congress devote more radio frequency spectrum for the creation of a nationwide public safety wireless broadband network. This impressive and unusual show of unity among the diverse public safety community is evidence of a much larger message to the nation: The United States must have a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband wireless network. This network will help provide first responders with the reliable, interoperable broadband communications they need and will address a glaring vulnerability in our nation's emergency communications and response capabilities. The creation of this public safety network is not inevitable; it will take concentrated effort and leadership. We must work together to implement a national framework with appropriate funding support that will give public safety the interoperable broadband communications they need, utilizing the most advanced technologies, uniformed technical standards, and economies of scale. We must invest now in our first responders. We should not wait for a disaster to make us wish that we had.
benton.org/node/31399 | Hill, The
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FCC REFORM

GAO: FCC NEEDS MORE TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
The Government Accountability Office said the Federal Communications Commission needs to make its decision-making process more transparent. The GAO said the FCC should make changes to its internal structure and procedures for collecting information and ensuring its seven bureaus all work together. Rep Ed Markey (D-MA) requested the report last year to address complaints from staffers and commissioners about the lack of access to certain information under former chairman Kevin Martin. GAO said the FCC's processes have systemic "weaknesses" and "lacks internal policies regarding commissioner access to staff analyses during the decision-making process, and some chairmen have restricted this access." GAO also said the FCC needs to improve its process for collecting public comment on a rule change, and needs to fix the "ex parte" process by which external parties are required to summarize private meetings at the agency for the public record. The "ex parte" process has been criticized for being an incomplete record of lobbyist meetings.
benton.org/node/31418 | Hill, The | TechDailyDose | B&C | GAO | GAO - Highlights
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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN

IS TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE PEAKING?
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Eli Noam]
[Commentary] In Washington, things may finally be starting to happen that will affect the creation of advanced information infrastructure. This follows a year of mostly words, minor symbolic actions, and procedural walkabouts. A paltry one per cent of the federal economic stimulus money had been allocated to broadband communications. Of this, a year later, the first small grants are now trickling out, just as the economic crisis has hopefully turned the corner. But a second concrete activity is approaching -- a plan by the Federal Communications Commission on how to fill in the white spots on the geographic and social maps of broadband penetration. We should keep in mind that each new infrastructure industry goes through a cycle -- early experimentation, accelerating growth, a flattening out, and eventual decline. All American infrastructure industries had their day in the sun, followed by a pronounced decline in investment. Soon, it will be the turn of communications infrastructure investments to slow, mature, and even decline. For infrastructure technology companies this is not a positive outlook but a wakeup call. They had hoped for an ongoing growth scenario, not declining investment levels by their best customers. Their business model will have to move to the edge of the network, to users and applications providers, and to less mature markets. But it is positive news for network providers because their need to invest declines, which improves their bottom line and lowers consumer prices in the long run.
benton.org/node/31420 | Financial Times
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WHY TV NEEDS TO KEEP ITS SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
A Q&A with Association for Maximum Service Television President David Donovan. Asked about reallocating broadcast TV spectrum for wireless broadband, Donovan answers, "[W]ireless reception of video content is the future." He estimates over-the-air only homes in the US will increase by 36% between now and 2014 when approximately 59% of all homes will have at least one TV set that relies on over-the-air signals. Broadcasting, he says, the most efficient way to distribute high-quality video content in real time. When combined with DVR technology in receivers, it becomes an on-demand system. He warns that services provided by local television stations -- provision of news, emergency information and public interest programs -- cannot be duplicated in an all-cable world because: 1) local cable news channels either are joint ventures or supported directly by local television stations, 2) we'd likely only see one local cable news channel per market, and 3) cable systems do not have universal reach.
benton.org/node/31392 | TVNewsCheck
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US BROADBAND'S AVERAGE SPEED 3.9MBPS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Chris Foresman]
[Commentary] The latest State of the Internet report from Akamai shows the US trailing in a number of metrics, including average connection speeds and broadband penetration. For the third quarter of 2009, the average connection speed for the country was 3.9Mbps, placing the US in 18th place globally. Unsurprisingly, South Korea topped the list with an average of 14.6Mbps, almost twice the average of second-place Japan with 7.9Mbps. Recent studies show that US customers also pay a lot more for what they get. For our average of 3.9Mbps, we pay about $40 per month. In France, by comparison, many users have access to a $45 monthly plan that includes 20-30Mbps connections, VoIP service, and HDTV with a DVR included. Such plans in the US regularly exceed $100, and speeds rarely reach those levels. The Akamai study underscores the need for the National Broadband Plan to encourage expansion of high-speed networking infrastructure as well as drive the necessary competition to make broadband connections more affordable.
benton.org/node/31388 | Ars Technica | App-Rising.com
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EVIDENCE OF MODEST PRICE DECLINE IN US BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Northwestern University Center for the Study of Industrial Organization, AUTHOR: Shane Greenstein, Ryan McDevitt]
The authors construct a price index for broadband services in the United States between 2004 and 2009, analyze over 1500 service contracts offered by DSL and cable providers in the United States, and employ a mix of matched-model methods and hedonic price index estimations to adjust for qualitative improvements. In general, they find some evidence of a quality-adjusted price decline, but the evidence points towards a modest decline at most. The estimates of the price decline range from 3% to
10% in quality-adjusted terms for the five-year period, which is faster than BLS estimates for the last three years. These modest price declines look nothing like other parts of electronics, such as computers or integrated circuits, which raises many questions. The findings raise an open question about the economic gains to households from switching between standalone and bundled contracting forms after adopting broadband. These gains do not play a role in standard price indices for Internet access. Properly estimating them requires information about the extent of the discount and the prevalence of the switching among experienced households. For BLS to properly estimate such switching it would have to sample household expenditure at greater frequency than every three or four years, as it presently collects. Notably, this example adds to a growing list of examples which underwent a rapid change in a short period of time ­ such as dial-up Internet access, pharmaceuticals coming off patent, personal computer ­ where frequent surveying would have measured gains more accurately.also inform a range of policy discussions concerning US broadband services.
benton.org/node/31417 | Northwestern University Center for the Study of Industrial Organization
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MODERNIZING THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Ben Scott]
In meetings at the Federal Communications Commission, Free Press is urging modernization of the federal Universal Service Fund. The proposal centers around shifting the fund from ongoing support towards forward-looking infrastructure cost support, with better information on total revenue earning potential. 1) Modernize the current regulatory support structure to reflect the lower cost and increased revenue opportunities brought by broadband infrastructure. 2) Many Rural LECs are earning far more in unregulated revenues using USF-supported infrastructure. Part 32 accounting and Part 64 cost and revenue separations is anachronistic in a world of convergence. 3) The need for ongoing high-cost support should be based on forward-looking infrastructure costs and total revenue earning potential. This modernized regulatory structure will reduce the need for ongoing support, as many current Fund-recipients will be able to recoup network costs from the higher per-customer revenues earned from "triple-play" phone, Internet and TV services.
benton.org/node/31416 | Free Press | attachment
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PANELISTS DEBATE COPYRIGHTS, OPEN INTERNET, BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Sharon McLoone]
Communication and intellectual property experts debated whether a national broadband plan is the right vehicle for addressing copyright and network neutrality issues and whether the Federal Communications Commission is overstepping its bounds by dabbling with copyright issues. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn sparred with officials from the Recording Industry Association of America, telling RIAA's executive vice president and general counsel that the recording and Hollywood industries along with some song writers want Internet service providers to filter networks for copyright infringement. She pressed Steven Marks, of RIAA, to come clean about his group's wishes for ISPs to adopt a "three strikes and you're out" policy, referring to the suggestion that a consumer would be penalized if he violates a copyright more than three times.
benton.org/node/31415 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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FRANCE OFFERS LOANS TO BOOST WEB SPEED
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Max Colchester]
The French government will provide €2 billion ($2.88 billion) to improve the country's high-speed Internet networks, as part of a national loan program to boost the economy through investment in infrastructure. Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Monday the government would make a series of low-interest loans to telecommunications groups, to encourage them to develop fiber-optic networks outside major cities. Telecommunications operators are already deploying fiber optic networks in heavily built up areas, such as Paris. But they have been slow to extend these to the provinces, though regular high-speed broadband is available in most of the country. "We are at the dawn of the era of high-speed Internet and fiber-optic networks," Fillon said in a speech. "However, 500,000 French people don't have access to high speed Internet at all. This is not acceptable." The French government wants high-speed Internet connections in smaller cities and rural areas in order to boost productivity. French telecommunications operators have been slow to build the new fiber optic networks in these areas, as there are fewer potential customers in the provinces.
benton.org/node/31391 | Wall Street Journal
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THE STIMULUS

NEW BROADBAND STIMULUS INCLUDES CITIES
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Andy Opsahl]
Urban cities will not be excluded from applying for broadband stimulus grants, as they were, for the most part, in the first round of funding. New, separate notices of funds available (NOFA) have been released detailing eligibility requirements from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), the two federal agencies charged with disbursing $7.2 billion set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for broadband projects. Unlike the first NOFA, the new NOFA from the NTIA doesn't require applicants to have neighborhoods that are "unserved" or "underserved" by broadband connectivity. During the first funding window, most urban cities couldn't claim to have areas with connectivity deficits like those stipulated in the NOFA, so they were shut out of competing. This frustrated local government officials who intended to apply for broadband stimulus money until the restriction was announced.
benton.org/node/31390 | Government Technology
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NTIA/RUS FAILING STIMULUS APPLICANTS?
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] Less than a fraction of the first round of the broadband stimulus funds have been awarded but now the second round is underway. But this creates a quandary: what are those that have applied for funds but not received notice either way as to the status of their applications supposed to do? Should they start reworking their applications, even though they don't know if they're going to win in this round or if their application never had a chance no matter how much tweaking?
benton.org/node/31389 | App-Rising.com
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY

PUBLIC COMMENTS REMIND US WHY 'NETWORK NEUTRALITY' MATTERS
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Chris O'Brien]
Reading through people's filings in the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality proceeding, O'Brien was reminded not only of how vital this issue is, but how fundamentally we've come to depend on the Internet. If we want to make sure the Internet remains a source of innovation, and that consumers control what they access online, and that new services continue to boost our economy, then it's critical that the FCC adopt these rules. Network operators such as Comcast are opposed to these new rules, saying they agree with most of the principles and that there's no need for costly new regulations. They also argue that unnecessary limits on their ability to manage their networks could limit future investments in those networks. I'd heard that argument before but don't think for a moment these companies will stop or slow upgrades. Still, there were others making these arguments as well. Dan Krimm, a Californian musician, writes: "This is a matter of freedom of communication: freedom to be heard by anyone who wants to hear you. This should be a basic right of citizenship, and it should not be treated only as an economic matter."
benton.org/node/31419 | San Jose Mercury News
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WHO PAYS FOR NET NEUTRALITY?
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Navarrow Wright]
[Commentary] Once upon a time, grassroots advocacy belonged to the "little guy," the underrepresented and oppressed; people with limited financial means but with stores of human capital whose ideology inspired entire nations and whose persistence could move mountains. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Cesar Chavez - these were the revolutionaries of old, people who ascended greatness in the throes of establishing new order for the good of the regular people and the unserved. It is clear to me that the digital world needs new voices to champion the needs of the digitally disconnected. When I read the blogs and filings of groups like Free Press and Public Knowledge, I wonder who they really represent. Don't get me wrong; I believe their advocacy is sincere, and I too support the open Internet as it exists today. I just can't tell who they are advocating for and who they really care about. And frankly, I'm not sure that they know either. I'll tell you upfront who I care about. I care about the poor, underserved minorities and the digitally disconnected. And I think it is high time for some truth telling. To find the truth you need to follow the money. The current net neutrality battle that has ensued in Washington, DC has very little to do with the interests of the poor and unserved consumers. It has even less to do with small content providers and new digital entrepreneurs. It is about the competing corporate business interests of the giants - Internet service providers versus the big corporate application and content creators.
benton.org/node/31387 | Huffington Post, The
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LEIBOWITZ SUPPORTS OPEN INTERNET
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality proposals got strong support from Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, who said that transparency and the open Internet are "critical" to consumer-friendly broadband service. His remarks came at an FCC workshop Tuesday (Jan. 19) focusing on the FCC's proposal to add a new transparency principle to the Internet Openness policy statement the commission's democratic majority argue needs to be expanded and codified. Chairman Leibowitz said that effort to expand and codify the principles was necessary because, without it, "those principles are not certainties in the Internet of tomorrow." He also said the FTC would be teaming up with the FCC to insure openness. "I welcome the FCC's involvement in this area. If this principle of transparency and disclosure is promulgated, I look forward to a close working relationship between our agencies that leverages the expertise of both on behalf of consumers."
benton.org/node/31414 | Broadcasting&Cable
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TRANSPARENCY GOOD; INTELLIGENCE BETTER
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
[Commentary] Sending bits across the web is far more complicated than most people may realize. Those bits pass through pipes owned by different companies, multiple routers, a variety of servers and even your home equipment, which means a transparent window on what an ISP is doing doesn't always mean you can watch a live broadcast without significant skips, buffering and other problems that may have a web user railing against their broadband provider. Not to say that the FCC rules aren't a good thing, but getting a quality video or even web site experience isn't just an ISP issue, nor will network neutrality ensure high-quality video delivered via broadband. So what does this mean for those of us who just want their online video to work? Knowing what your ISP is doing to your traffic is a key step, but for the best experience, I think there's a market for a network intelligence-gathering service offered ideally by the content provider that a user can click on to get a sense of what issues might be halting content between the provider and the user's home. Maybe the button starts a ping test and delivers the results in a user-friendly format noting which servers may be causing problems.
benton.org/node/31413 | GigaOm
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VERIZON VS NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Rahul Gaitonde]
Verizon Communications's network neutrality filling is unique in that the telecom giant is one of the only companies which provides broadband service via high-speed fiber optic cables and copper digital subscriber lines, plus wireless broadband via third-generation and fourth-generation wireless services. The company's opposition to net neutrality is based on, it says, the lack of evidence that users' Internet rights have been violated. Additionally, the companies said that enforcement of such principles will have negative economic consequences. Internet services are still in their early stages, the company said, and heavy-handed intervention would prevent future innovation. Additional, the current level of competition among the various providers will prevent any violation of rights. As regards wireless services, Verizon said that the Federal Communications Commission has no basis for attempting to enforce such rules because of the lack of problems in the past with network discrimination. Network management regulations would be particularly harmful for wireless providers, as they must manage scarce spectrum with the needs of customers. Instead of imposing a blanket set of rules, Verizon said that regulations should only be adopted when harmful practices are undertaken and the regulation should occur on a case by case basis. The creation of rules they believe will limit future innovation and impose a high level of costs on providers.
benton.org/node/31386 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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AMAZON VS NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
Amazon wants the Federal Communications Commission to let Internet service providers speed up some traffic to consumers as long as other content is not harmed in the process. In its filing with the FCC in the network neutrality proceeding, Amazon asked that broadband services providers be allowed to favor some content if doing so does not hurt other content or services. Amazon is one of the only "edge" providers to support traffic prioritization. Paul Misener, Amazon's Vice President of Global Public Policy, said the Internet has long been interconnected with services, content and devices on "the edge" of a broadband network that enhance some Internet content over other content. That's OK, he said, because the performance of that other content is not "disfavored..." "Content may be favored, so long as doing so causes no harm--e.g., delays in transmission or other reductions in quality--to other content." But if a particular user chooses to have some content favored to them, Internet service providers have to ensure content to or from other users is not negatively affected.
benton.org/node/31385 | Hill, The
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JOURNALISM

READERS SKIM HEADLINES
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Jennifer Saba]
Aggregator sites -- especially Google -- really are hurting newspapers as more people increasingly simply skim the news headlines without bothering to click to linked newspaper Web sites, a new report finds. This alarming trend for newspapers is occurring as more people are getting their news online and through aggregators, according to the report from Outsell Research. In fact, just as many people turn to aggregators to get news first thing in the day as people who crack open a newspaper. The "News Users 2009" study conducted by Outsell Research affiliate analyst Ken Doctor found that 19% of people accessed Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL News for news in 2009, up from 10% in 2006. For newspapers, 19% of those polled went there first, a drop from 23% in 2006.
benton.org/node/31407 | Editor&Publisher
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HEALTH AND MEDIA

IF YOUR KIDS ARE AWAKE, THEY'RE PROBABLY ONLINE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tamar Lewin]
The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted. And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cellphones. And because so many of them are multitasking — say, surfing the Internet while listening to music — they pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content into that seven and a half hours. The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted. And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cellphones. And because so many of them are multitasking — say, surfing the Internet while listening to music — they pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content into that seven and a half hours. On average, young people spend about two hours a day consuming media on a mobile device, the study found. They spend almost another hour on "old" content like television or music delivered through newer pathways like the Web site Hulu or iTunes. Youths now spend more time listening to or watching media on their cellphones, or playing games, than talking on them. The study's findings shocked its authors, who had concluded in 2005 that use could not possibly grow further, and confirmed the fears of many parents whose children are constantly tethered to media devices. It found, moreover, that heavy media use is associated with several negatives, including behavior problems and lower grades. The third in a series, the study found that young people's media consumption grew far more in the last five years than from 1999 to 2004, as sophisticated mobile technology like iPods and smart phones brought media access into teenagers' pockets and beds.
benton.org/node/31426 | New York Times | USAToday | B&C | Kaiser
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PARTICIPATORY MEDICINE
[SOURCE: American Medical News, AUTHOR: Pamela Lewis Dolan]
As physicians experience mounting pressure to contain costs and improve outcomes while their patient loads increase, many are finding that patients can be the most cost-effective and valuable tools to help them do their jobs. The concept of participatory medicine, where patients take a more active role in their care, can enhance the physician-patient relationship and allow physicians and patients to bring their own expertise and knowledge to the table to produce the best outcomes. At its most basic level, participatory medicine means shared decision-making and deep patient engagement. Because of the rise in technology use -- as well as an increase in out-of-pocket health care expenses -- this has gone well beyond the traditional tell-me-where-it-hurts conversation between patient and doctor in the exam room. The business benefits of a participatory approach, especially as it relates to technology, have not been well documented. But proponents say adopting a participatory model of care can increase patient satisfaction, save time, reduce costs and improve care. Experts say the model of care also could lower liability risks for physicians. And patients who have a better understanding of their illnesses are likely to be healthier. Technology such as social networking sites, e-mail, personal health records, home monitoring devices and patient portals have made communication between patient and doctor not only more convenient but also more meaningful.
benton.org/node/31404 | American Medical News
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TELEVISION

SECOND THOUGHTS ON COMCAST-NBC
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] It's time for another look at Comcast's proposed takeover of NBC-Universal -- maybe these crazy kids deserve each other. Let NBCU and Comcast get together and watch the whole thing go up in flames so big it will make AOL Time Warner look like a little campfire. In fact, if Comcast was smart, it might be rethinking the whole deal about now. If the Obama Administration approves this deal, it could well lose its last bit of street cred with the Democratic wing of the Democratic party, which is already angry about deals cut with the pharmaceutical industry, Wall Street bailouts and other items. Allowing the largest media conglomeration in history would be seen as fitting right in with the special-interest culture of Washington. It's this history that give one some comfort that even if the Justice Department sanctions this merger, it would do so knowing the deal will be the source of a million more jokes for years to come.
benton.org/node/31380 | Public Knowledge
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