Jan 13, 2010 (Broadband creates jobs)
NATOA has launched its search for a new Executive Director/General Counsel http://bit.ly/5dXe0V
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2010
Broadband as an economic engine and Network Neutrality are the topics today http://bit.ly/8zg4r1
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
Study: broadband boosts jobs, but not salaries
Learn more at New America event today
Usage-based pricing gets FCC support
New TV apps will drive broadband adoption, FCC says
MAP Requests One More Round of Broadband Plan Comments
Comcast's Roberts Tells Genachowski: No Quick Retrans Fixes
An Interstate Fiber Utility
THE STIMULUS
Broadband Mapping Grants for 10 More States
Economic stimulus has created or saved nearly 2 million jobs, White House says
Stimulus data needs context so public can understand spending effects
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Google to Stop Censoring China Results, May Shut Site
See alsoHackers at frontline in China's cyberwar
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Net neutrality: Needless yoke or new opportunity?
Losing the Internet as We Know It
R.E.M.: Everybody Hurts (without network neutrality)
CONTENT
Officials Defend Fair Use
Adventures of the 'Wolverine' Leaker
BROADCASTING
Lenders Make Pitch to FCC to Loosen Media Ownership Rules
FCC Again Denies Chicago-Milwaukee TV License Challenges
WIRELESS
Sen Snowe Digs Up 100 MHz of Unused Spectrum
28 percent of accidents involve talking, texting on cellphones
NAB: Government shouldn't pick winners, losers
Customers complain Google Nexus One phone can't get Internet signal
Warning, Nexus One users! Dangerous fees may lie ahead
Verizon: Where a Megabyte Costs Almost as Much as a Stamp
PRIVACY
Privacy no longer a social norm, says Facebook founder
FTC: Has Internet Gone Beyond Privacy Policies?
JOURNALISM
Medill justice project gets some media muscle
To Repeat: Roger Ailes Is Done
POLICYMAKERS
NIST Smart Grid Advisory Committee
Google CEO joins speakers at Dem retreat
Google Hires Corporate-Communications Chief
Founding Prodigy Chief Created Online Services for Consumers
MORE ONLINE
HHS rules on electronic health records have broad impact
Denmark Leads the Way in Digital Care
Texting: It's Not Just For Children Anymore
With Electronics Show Over, Tablet PCs Try Live Up To Hype
Google's investment arm to grow partner ranks
Federal IT spending to increase almost 4 percent in fiscal 2010
Panel Probes Arbitron Testimony
Federal report details public K-12 tech use
Your Guide to Cutting the Cord to Cable TV
UK Government Launches Free Laptop for Low-Income Families
'Baby Einstein' Founder Goes to Court
Recent Comments on:
FCC Again Denies Chicago-Milwaukee TV License Challenges
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
STUDY: BROADBAND BOOSTS JOBS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
According to a new study from the Public Policy Institute of California, broadband creates jobs within local economies and particularly in sparsely populated areas or within industries that rely more on information technology. But the expansion of high-speed Internet doesn't impact the rate of employment -- the percentage of people employed -- nor average pay of local residents. "A possible explanation: As broadband expands job opportunities in a region, workers follow by moving in from elsewhere or commuting to fill the jobs," PPIC said. Researcher Jed Kolko also found that expanded broadband availability has not increased the likelihood that workers telecommute, bring work home or have home-based businesses.
benton.org/node/31170 | Washington Post | Public Policy Institute of California
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USAGE-BASED PRICING GETS FCC SUPPORT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
Usage-based pricing models for wireless services may be a way to ease some congestion on cellphone networks, Federal Communications Commission members said. Commissioner Robert McDowell said companies should be able to experiment with different pricing models, especially if private carriers are expected to finance the building of faster, bigger networks to expand wireless broadband services. If people pay for the bandwidth they use, it could reduce congestion on the networks as well. "Pricing freedom has to be essential," he said. A small number of users take up the majority of bandwidth. So charging some of the heavy users for that bandwidth makes sense, Commissioner McDowell said. "I think it's time to let that happen," he said. "Net neutrality proponents say it should be an all-you-can-eat price. But that will lead to gridlock." Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker indicated companies could do other things to lighten the load on strained wireless networks. "Maybe we move back to a world where people pay for roaming," she said.
benton.org/node/31169 | Hill, The
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NEW TV APPS WILL DRIVE BROADBAND
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
The Federal Communications Commission used the Consumer Electronics Show to push forward its hope of making the television the gateway to the Internet. Televisions that allow consumers to connect to Facebook or download movies could make it easier and less intimidating for people to go online, easing the job of the FCC and Obama administration to make broadband access ubiquitous. About one-third of Americans do not subscribe to broadband even though it is available to them, largely because they don't consider the content and services useful or relevant to their lives, surveys show. FCC Chairman Genachowski was pleased at the rapid evolution of the TV market. While 75 percent of U.S. households have a computer, 98 percent have at least one TV, he said. Chairman Genachowski hopes that will make it easier for even the least tech-savvy consumers get onto the Internet. And he hopes to see more applications that appeal to all kinds of people to help drive broadband adoption. "Can TVs be part of the solution to broadband?" he said Friday. "There's been much less innovation and activity in that area than there have been in other areas."
benton.org/node/31168 | Hill, The
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MAP REQUESTS ONE MORE ROUND OF BROADBAND PLAN COMMENTS
[SOURCE: Media Access Project, AUTHOR: Andrew Schwartzman]
The Media Access Project has requested the Federal Communications Commission allow the public an opportunity to submit comments addressing issues which have arisen during the course of the FCC's consideration of the National Broadband Plan docket. The submission of such reply comments, MAP says, is both feasible and desirable in light of the FCC Chairman's January 7, 2010 request to Congress that it be afforded a one-month extension of time, until March 17, 2010, within which to submit a National Broadband Plan. MAP believes the FCC would benefit from accepting additional submissions relating to newly raised issues. Moreover, as a practical
matter, some parties will exercise their right to submit unsolicited ex parte communications on such questions. Establishing a formal procedure, and a deadline, for such filings will create a more orderly, and more fair, means of administering the National Broadband Plan docket.
benton.org/node/31172 | Media Access Project
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ROBERTS AND GENACHOWSKI MET
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
According to an ex parte filing with the Federal Communications Commission posted Jan. 12, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Comcast chief Brian Roberts met Jan. 7 in Las Vegas, where Chairman Genachowski was speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show. During the meeting, the two discussed retransmission consent, TV set-tops, network neutrality and the broadband plan. Roberts cautioned that there are no quick fixes to the retrans process, according to Comcast, but that the FCC needs to get together with industry to see whether "different approaches" are needed. On set-tops, Roberts echoed the National Cable & Telecommunications Association call for the FCC to launch a wide-ranging notice of inquiry more comprehensive than the requests for comment on the subject issued as part of the broadband plan. The FCC is widely expected to ask for more comment (specifically reply comments) on set-tops as part of that request, but the cable industry wants a larger examination of the issue that includes a hard look at the result of the FCC's ban on integrated set-tops, which the commission has conceded has not spurred a retail market in the devices. The discussions of network neutrality and the broadband plan were said to be reiterations of prior positions by Comcast.
benton.org/node/31185 | Broadcasting&Cable
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AN INTERSTATE FIBER UTILITY
[SOURCE: Fiberutilities Group, AUTHOR: ]
An Interstate Fiber Utility (IFU) is a nationwide fiber optic cable infrastructure deployed without electronics (dark fiber) in the national highway system rights of way. It is specifically designed to be leased at the individual fiber strand level by public purpose entities, entrepreneur and business entities, carriers and any other public or private entity for any public or private purpose. An IFU will set the stage for a new age of global communication and American economic growth. Creating an abundance of dark fiber is "fundamental" for providing broadband services, and an IFU will drive the cost of a new fiber infrastructure to a fraction of what is spent today. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/31191 | Fiberutilities Group
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THE STIMULUS
BROADBAND MAPPING GRANTS FOR 10 MORE STATES
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has awarded grants to fund broadband mapping and planning activities in Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas under NTIA's State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. The program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will increase broadband access and adoption through better data collection and broadband planning. The data will be displayed in NTIA's national broadband map, a tool that will inform policymakers' efforts and provide consumers with improved information on the broadband Internet services available to them. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/31192 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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STIMULUS CREATED 2 MILLION JOBS, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Alec MacGillis]
The $787 billion economic stimulus package has created or saved between 1.7 million and 2 million jobs, but its impact on the economy ebbed slightly in the final quarter of 2009 compared with prior months, the White House said Tuesday night. Releasing the administration's second quarterly report to Congress on the stimulus's impact, Christina Romer, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said a third of the tax cuts and spending in the package is out the door. Her office estimates that the stimulus added between 1.5 and 3 percentage points to the growth in gross domestic product in the final quarter of 2009. That estimate, which is in line with other analyses, is lower than her office's estimate of stimulus-related impact in the third quarter, between 3 and 4 percentage points. Administration officials said often last year that the stimulus's impact would be felt more over time as spending ramped up, but Romer said in a conference call with reporters that the drop-off in GDP impact was not unexpected. The biggest jolt to the GDP came with the first big surge of spending over the summer, she said, and job creation is now following.
benton.org/node/31198 | Washington Post | LATimes
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STIMULUS DATA NEEDS CONTEXT
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
The government should place the spending results of the economic stimulus package in better context so the public can more easily comprehend the effects of the program, according to a recently released report on pressures the U.S. grants system faces under the $787 spending package. "People need to be able to understand what they are seeing," stated a study by the CGI Initiative for Collaborative Government, a research program led by the information technology firm CGI and academic institutions. The government should provide "accessible analyses that make sense out of thousands of individual stimulus projects in a way that is meaningful to generalists, not just specialists," it recommended. CGI circulated the November 2009 report the first week of January. Last summer, the government awarded CGI a nearly $20 million contract to build FederalReporting.gov, a secure site that funding recipients use to update the government on the status of projects, job creation and money spent. Stimulus fund recipients have until Jan. 15 to report through the site on second quarter spending activities. On Jan. 30, the government will publish statistics on the public stimulus-tracking site.
benton.org/node/31179 | nextgov
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
GOOGLE TO STOP CENSORING CHINA RESULTS, MAY SHUT SITE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Brian Womack, Ari Levy]
Google plans to stop censoring results on its Chinese site, Google.cn, a move that may lead to shutting down the service. The company said it will discuss the plan with Chinese authorities and is willing to close the site, according to a blog post today. Google also said it has evidence that an attack on its China Web site was aimed at accessing Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists. "Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all," the company said. "We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China." Google has clashed with authorities since it started a censored version of its site four years ago in China, which leads the world in Internet users. The company said today that attacks on its site and surveillance of users prompted it to review its business operations in the country. The move signals that Google is hewing closer to its "Don't be evil" motto, said Heath Terry, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.
benton.org/node/31190 | Bloomberg | Reuters | GigaOm
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
NET NEUTRALITY: NEEDLES YOKE OR NEW OPPORTUNITY?
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Hugh Carter Donahue]
[Commentary] The Federal Communication Commission's network neutrality proceeding represents huge opportunities for network operators and equipment manufacturers to demonstrate that differentiated speed and service quality in vertically integrated networks will promote -- not diminish -- investment, innovation and consumer welfare. The FCC is doing a public service by looking into Internet network management practices and user rights at this time. Even if some laissez-faire proponents may regard the proceeding a bit like Damocles' sword, all parties agree that the Internet is well beyond alpha-numeric e-mail. The FCC needs new rules to sensibly administer the evolving multimedia-rich, peer-to-peer, mobile, fast-changing Internet environment.
benton.org/node/31186 | ComputerWorld
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LOSING THE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Megan Tady]
How much have you already used the Internet today? We don't think twice about how much we rely on the Internet. Imagine not being able to map directions on Google or check the weather online. A business that doesn't have a Web site? Forgettable. Or rather, unsearchable. Remember when we didn't have e-mail? Would you want to go back to those Dark Ages? Me neither. The Internet is in the very fabric of how we communicate, learn, shop, conduct business, organize, innovate and engage. If we lost it, we'd be lost. But did you know that we're at risk of losing the Internet as we know it? Millions of Americans don't know that a battle over the future of the Internet is being played out right now in Washington. How it ends will have deep repercussions for decades to come.
benton.org/node/31188 | Huffington Post, The
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CONTENT
OFFICIALS DEFEND FAIR USE
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
The White House's deputy chief technology officer said Tuesday that while the Obama administration believes in the fair use of content, it should not be used as an excuse for copyright infringement. Andrew McLaughlin made the comment at Public Knowledge's Fair Use Day event that explored the doctrine of fair use, which is the legal right that allows for particular uses of copyrighted materials. McLaughlin said the administration will continue to aggressively enforce intellectual property laws but also believes that Americans should have the right to take advantage of the fair use of copyrighted works. "These two things must coexist and need not be seen as inherently in conflict," said McLaughlin, a former Google executive. He did note that the administration has made a shift in favor of fair use compared with previous administrations when it comes to providing access to copyrighted materials to the blind and visually impaired. A U.S. delegation in December indicated support at a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting for international "consensus" on providing "basic, necessary limitations and exceptions in copyright law for persons with print disabilities," according to the delegation's statement from the meeting. The U.S. delegation said this "consensus" could come in the form of a model law, a joint recommendation adopted by WIPO or a multilateral treaty.
benton.org/node/31182 | CongressDaily
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BROADCASTING
LENDERS MAKE PITCH TO FCC TO LOOSEN MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
At a January 12 Federal Communications Commission media ownership workshop, lenders urged the FCC to loosen media ownership rules, saying that it was just about the only way to make broadcasters more attractive to the capital they will need to be competitive in the marketplace. Lenders on the panel point to the "perfect storm" of a down economy that hammered overleveraged broadcasters and Internet competition that continues to drain advertising dollars away from the sector. James Cotter, head of M&A at Sun Trust Bank, said that while the financial sector used to lend on double-digit multiples to an industry with strong cash flow and the insurance policy of a recoverable "stick" value in the broadcast license, the multiple is down to between zero and four. He said the FCC needed to consider letting broadcasters combine in new ways to figure out a business model that will draw investment back to the sector. He said the explosion of digital media means the public policy threat of concentration of ownership or monopolization of voices is greatly diminished. The bigger threat to a healthy media, he suggested, is just the opposite, the availability of free material that threatens the business model.
benton.org/node/31166 | Broadcasting&Cable | Free Press
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CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION AND MILWAUKEE PUBLIC INTEREST MEDIA COALITION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission has dismissed a second Petition for Reconsideration opposing the license renewals of eight Chicago (IL) area and 11 Milwaukee (WI) area television stations. Chicago Media Action and Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition argued in their respective petitions to deny that the television stations serving the Chicago and Milwaukee markets failed to present adequate programming relating to state and local elections during the last four weeks of the 2004 election campaign, and submitted, as support, a study analyzing programming on the five highest-rated commercial television stations in the Chicago and Milwaukee markets. The 2007 FCC staff letter denied these allegations on the basis that CMA and MPIMC failed to provide evidence that the licensees exercised their editorial discretion in bad faith. In their respective petitions for reconsideration, CMA and MPIMC alleged that the staff was incorrect in concluding that it did not have the authority to review the broadcasters' programming decisions, and that it failed to consider the numerical data contained in the study attached to the petitions to deny. They submitted an additional study which they claimed provided further evidence of a marketwide failure to broadcast sufficient coverage of elections and government in 2006. The staff reaffirmed that the Commission does not generally question the editorial discretion of a broadcaster, but that the editorial decisions of a broadcaster may be reviewed where such discretion is exercised in "bad faith;" affirmed its earlier determination that the petition and attached study did not demonstrate that television programming in Milwaukee and Chicago was generally unresponsive; and found the updated study was insufficient to alter this determination as it only covered news programming on the major network affiliates during the early and late evening news broadcasts. In this Second Petition for Reconsideration, CMA and MPIMC cite the 2008 release of the Enhanced Disclosure Order, arguing that the FCC's decision is "premised on the value of collecting information which the staff erroneously held was irrelevant to its public interest determination." The various oppositions filed by broadcasters in Chicago and Milwaukee generally argue that the Second Petition for Reconsideration is repetitious and procedurally improper, and that the Enhanced Disclosure Order relied upon by CMA and MPIMC did not place any quantitative programming obligations on broadcast television licensees. The staff conclude that there is nothing in the language of the Enhanced Disclosure Order that indicates an affirmative restraint on licensee programming discretion.
benton.org/node/31165 | Federal Communications Commission
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WIRELESS
SEN SNOWE DIGS UP 100 MHZ OF UNUSED SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: TelevisionBroadcast, AUTHOR: Deborah McAdams]
Finish the outstanding spectrum issues before reallocating broadcast airwaves, Sen Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) suggested in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. "While I don't disagree that all options should be on the table as the Commission evaluates spectrum policy, it is imperative that the FCC first clear the table of outstanding spectrum-related items that have lingered at the Commission before extensively exploring other avenues. Concluding these unresolved items could dictate what additional steps the FCC should investigate," she wrote in the letter dated Jan. 5. Sen Snowe enumerated several open proceedings she said appeared "ready for prompt decisions that could enable the quick roll-out of significant additional spectrum." Among them, WCS, short-hand for a proceeding about rules for licensing satellite digital audio radio service, or SDARS, in the 2 GHz band. The proceeding is more than 10 years old, and nearly resolved last year, but no action was ultimately taken by the FCC. Another, AWS-3, is 2 GHz spectrum dedicated to advanced wireless services five years ago. The FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on developing services in the band was issued in 2007 and raised a request to pair it with a swath of spectrum used by federal agencies. Snowe said to either pair it license it already. Spectrum also remains unlicensed from the 700 MHz auctions of 2008. The D block, as it's known, was set aside to create a public-private partnership, but no private enterprise stepped up.
benton.org/node/31173 | TelevisionBroadcast | Sen Snowe
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CELLPHONES AND CAR ACCIDENTS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ashley Halsey III]
Twenty-eight percent of traffic accidents occur when people talk on cellphones or send text messages while driving, according to a study released Tuesday by the National Safety Council. The vast majority of those crashes, 1.4 million annually, are caused by cellphone conversations, and 200,000 are blamed on text messaging, according to the report from the council, a nonprofit group recognized by congressional charter as a leader on safety. Because of the extent of the problem, federal transportation officials unveiled a organization Tuesday, patterned after Mothers Against Drunk Driving, that will combat driver cellphone use. The group, FocusDriven, grew out of a meeting on distracted driving sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation in the District last year.
benton.org/node/31199 | Washington Post
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CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN GOOGLE NEXUS DOESN'T CONNECT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Days after Google launched its new smartphone, Nexus One, some users were searching for a signal. Hundreds of customers complained on the Web sites of Google and partner T-Mobile, saying they were having difficulty getting a 3G Internet signal on their Nexus One phones. Since Wednesday, one day after its launch, Nexus One customers around the nation reported trouble connecting to T-Mobile's data network. This left them without access to all those 3-D graphics, navigation, video and other applications Google demonstrated early last week. One customer complained on Google's customer support online forum that her G1 phone (also made by Google) was working with 3G but not her Nexus, which kept switching to the mobile operators 2.5G, or EDGE, network. One customer wrote on Friday: "I called T-Mobile to make sure that I didn't need to activate the phone or something to get 3G service. They said my account looked fine and that they couldn't give me any more support since I had a Nexus One, that I had to call HTC. So I called HTC and they said that your 3G service is a T-Mobile issue and they couldn't help me. The fact that my G1 works perfectly sitting right next to the Nexus though makes me think it really is a problem with the phone.
benton.org/node/31164 | Washington Post
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NEXUS ONE EARLY TERMINATION FEES
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Tempted by Google's new Nexus One phone but having second thoughts? If you're going to break your two-year contract on the subsidized model, make sure you do it in one of two ways: within 14 days of acquiring the phone or after four months of phone usage. Canceling at any point between 14 days and 120 days subjects you to a set of terrific fees, payable both to Google and T-Mobile. And these go far beyond just paying back the device subsidy. In this terms of sale document, Google makes clear that "you agree to pay Google an equipment subsidy recovery fee (the 'Equipment Recovery Fee') equal to the difference between the full price of the Nexus handheld device without service plan and the price you paid for the Nexus handheld device if you cancel your wireless plan prior to 120 days of continuous wireless service." This Equipment Recovery Fee will run US users $350 under the currently available T-Mobile subsidy plan, and Google will charge it to the credit card used during the device purchase. Well, fair enough; if a phone is subsidized by a two-year service contract, one could argue that it's only right to pay back the remaining subsidy when you cancel. But Google goes on to note that "the Equipment Recovery Fee is imposed by Google and not your chosen carrier and is in addition to any early termination fees that may be charged by your chosen carrier in connection with termination of your wireless plan prior to fulfillment of your chosen carrier's service agreement term." It also stresses that this fee is not a "penalty." A look at T-Mobile's terms and conditions makes clear that you'll be paying a hefty second fee if you cancel within those first four months.
benton.org/node/31163 | Ars Technica
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NEW VERIZON WIRELESS DATA PLANS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Colin Gibbs]
Verizon Wireless next week will begin requiring a minimum $10 data plan with some new feature phones, according to information obtained by Boy Genius Report. The move not only appears to mark the carrier's most expensive data plan yet, it could be a sign of things to come with LTE. It appears that users who buy one of nine phones — dubbed "3G multimedia" handsets — will have to sign up for one of two data plans: 25MB a month for a whopping $10 (that's 40 cents a MB) or an unlimited option that will reportedly replace the current 75MB plan for $30 (also 40 cents a MB). That's right, Verizon thinks 1 MB is worth slightly less than a 44-cent postage stamp. The plans are substantially pricier than AT&T's $15-a-month unlimited web add-on for feature phones — which, of course, is optional — and follows moves by both Verizon and AT&T to require data plans with all new smartphone purchases. More importantly, the requirement and suggested data plans may signal Verizon's plans to raise data fees for users on the LTE network it will begin to deploy this year.
benton.org/node/31180 | GigaOm
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PRIVACY
PRIVACY NO LONGER A SOCIAL NORM
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Bobbie Johnson]
The rise of social networking online means that people no longer have an expectation of privacy, according to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. "People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people," he said. "That social norm is just something that has evolved over time." Zuckerberg said that the rise of social media reflected changing attitudes among ordinary people, adding that this radical change has happened in just a few years.
benton.org/node/31162 | Guardian, The
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FTC: HAS INTERNET GONE BEYOND PRIVACY POLICIES?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephanie Clifford]
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Consumer Protection Chief David Vladeck question whether the Internet had evolved past privacy policies. Both have signaled to Internet publishers and advertisers that they expect the commission to take a more active role in safeguarding consumer privacy. Previous commissions looked at privacy under the framework of whether consumers were harmed, and with the basis that companies must advise consumers about what they're doing and obtain their consent, Chairman Leibowitz said. But companies "haven't given consumers effective notice, so they can make effective choices," he said. Advise-and-consent "depended on the fiction that people were meaningfully giving consent," Vladeck said. "The literature is clear" that few people read privacy policies, he said. While first-party uses of data were generally within consumers' reasonable expectations, he said, more questions arose around data brokers, data aggregators, social networks, cloud computing and mobile marketing.
benton.org/node/31161 | New York Times
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JOURNALISM
MEDILL JUSTICE PROJECT GETS SOME MEDIA MUSCLE
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, AUTHOR: Georgia Garvey]
Media heavyweights are supporting an effort to toss out a subpoena for notes and grades of Northwestern University journalism students, their professor and an investigator in the case of a Harvey man the students believe was wrongfully convicted of killing a security guard. The Cook County state's attorney's office also is seeking unpublished videos, grading criteria and e-mails from the Medill Innocence Project investigation in the case involving Anthony McKinney, convicted of the 1978 shotgun slaying of the guard in south suburban Harvey. Northwestern attorneys have fought the subpoena, saying the students, professor David Protess and private investigator Sergio Serritella were working as journalists when they gathered affidavits, documents and videotaped interviews. On Monday, an attorney representing the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, CBS News, the Washington Post and the Hearst Corp. -- in addition to a dozen other news-gathering organizations -- filed a brief in Cook County Circuit Court opposing the forced surrender of the material.
benton.org/node/31159 | Chicago Tribune
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TO REPEAT: ROGER AILES IS DONE
[SOURCE: Newser, AUTHOR: Michael Wolff]
[Commentary] Part of Roger Ailes' master plan at Fox News and grand design for American politics is to get as many potential Republican candidates for president as he can on his payroll. Hence, Sarah Palin signed on yesterday as a Fox contributor. Ailes has several operations going here. He wants to be a kingmaker—actually, he believes he is a kingmaker. He believes that conservative candidates are successful when they take up the Fox line (not vice versa)—and that they will be more successful if they follow his advice. He has, on several occasions, gotten in journalism-ethics trouble for seeming to advise conservative politicians. He solves that problem if they are his employees. He can be their personal political tutor; he's the director. Indeed, he's the boss. It should not be underestimated how good he is at this job. He can shape an incredible performance. And, finally, he wants to be paid for this. The tragedy of the political consultant, which Ailes once was, working for Nixon and Reagan, is that consultants can never fully monetize their success. Ailes has solved that problem: He's turned conservative politics into a paying show. All this comprises an astounding development in American politics. But the even larger development is that Ailes was fired on Sunday. Matthew Freud—the son-in-law of News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch—claiming to representing the controlling shareholders of News Corp., which owns Fox News, said Ailes' is, in essence, a contemptible grotesque whose association soiled the company. News Corp. issued a statement, following Freud's, saying that Freud's opinions were his own—a tepid, even non-committal response to a bombshell.
benton.org/node/31160 | Newser
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