Jan 28, 2010 (Remembrance And Responsibility)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2010
Today's agenda http://bit.ly/a9v712
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Auschwitz: Remembrance And Responsibility
Clinton to press China Foreign Minister on Internet issue
A Reminder of Precedents in Subsidizing Newspapers
White House bars agencies from posting some statistics
Info released under Obama transparency order is of little value, critics say
More than 300 public-records lawsuits filed in Obama's first year
CYBERSECURITY
Organizing cybersecurity efforts remains key challenge
New cybersecurity coordinator 'has president's ear'
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Groups Collect Petitions To Undo Supreme Court's Political Ad Decision
Could Court's Campaign Finance Ruling Affect Network Neutrality?
AGENDA
Boucher: Finding More Wireless Spectrum Key Congressional Priority
Roberts Selling Comcast-NBC Merger to Washington Press Corp
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
NECA Urges Fiber-to-the-Home as National Broadband Goal
USTelecom: Evaluate Broadband Adoption Efforts
Roundtable on Broadband and New Media Strategies for Minority Radio
TELEVISION/RADIO
Pubic broadcasting funding down, more severe cuts coming
McDowell at FCC Media Ownership and Diversity Workshop
HEALTH
HHS preparing to award $50 Million for Health IT Research Center
TELECOM/WIRELESS
China Won't Limit Google's Android
Getting hung up on basic phone rate increases
When wireless is not wireless
Koreans Reign in Texting World
MORE ONLINE
Strikes' Policies For Infringers Debated | Cawley Added to Universal Service Board | Digital Signage Threatens Privacy | If You've Got More Than 150 Facebook Friends, They're No Friends at All
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Auschwitz: Remembrance And Responsibility
AUSCHWITZ: REMEMBRANCE AND RESPONSIBILITY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski lead the United States Presidential Delegation to the Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland on Wednesday. Chairman Genachowski's family's history includes Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, and other nearby countries; his father fled the Nazi's as a child. Azriel Genachowski taught his son about the power of technology to transform lives for the better. "Let us fight," Chairman Genachowski said, "so that technology is deployed to spread knowledge, to educate, to ensure that people in all corners of the world know of death-camp victims, survivors, and liberators. Let us fight so that technology is used to shine a light on oppression and intolerance, to illuminate persecution and dehumanization, to take oppression and mass murder out of the shadows." He urged the audience to fight for the fundamental freedoms identified in a recent speech by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- -- freedom of expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom to connect. "The freedom of information is essential, while also no substitute for the power of actual places to teach and instruct. It is a moral imperative to preserve Auschwitz and other physical sites of remembrance, because they shock us into an understanding that ideas alone cannot," Chairman Genachowski said.
benton.org/node/31674 | Federal Communications Commission | B&C
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CLINTON TO PRESS CHINA FOREIGN MINISTER ON INTERNET ISSUE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will press China's foreign minister on the issue of Internet freedom, a growing irritant in ties between the two powers, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday. Sec Clinton, in London for meetings on Yemen and Afghanistan, will meet Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Thursday and is likely to raise the dispute, which has been brought into focus by search engine giant Google's threat to abandon the Chinese market over charges of government interference. "I think it is likely that they will end up discussing, maybe not the specific Google situation but the broader issue," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Sec Clinton has already publicly asked China to respond to Google's charges, which include censorship and a sophisticated hacking attack mounted from within the country. She has also laid out a broad U.S. policy calling for unfettered Internet access around the world and said that countries or individuals who engage in cyber attacks should face consequences.
benton.org/node/31673 | Reuters
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A REMINDER OF PRECEDENTS IN SUBSIDIZING NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Perez-Pena]
American newspapers have relied on government subsidies since Washington's day, but that support has dropped sharply in the last four decades, according to a report to be released Thursday by the University of Southern California. In the last year, the industry's financial woes have prompted much debate about what government can do to support the news media — and much hand-wringing about the risk of journalists being beholden to government. But the authors of the new study say government support is nothing new, though even many journalists are unaware of it. "We think it's important for people to understand that the government has been involved from the beginning, and that the subsidies were much larger in the past," said Geoffrey Cowan, dean emeritus of the university's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He and his co-author, David Westphal, the school's executive in residence, said that in today's dollars, government support for newspapers and magazines had fallen to less than $2 billion from more than $4 billion in 1970. The federal government has discounted postage rates for publications since 1792, but in the last 40 years, the discount has fallen to less than $300 million from almost $2 billion, adjusted for inflation.
benton.org/node/31678 | New York Times | USC
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WHITE HOUSE BARS POSTING SOME STATS
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
The Obama administration has declined to post, and in some cases has removed, several sets of downloadable statistics that agencies submitted last week for publication online, due to privacy and other concerns. Neither OMB nor the agencies informed the public the data sets were removed. OMB spokesman Tom Gavin said the data sets unaccounted for on Monday were not posted because they raised privacy, security or other concerns.
benton.org/node/31668 | nextgov
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INFO RELEASED UNDER TRANSPARENCY ORDER OF LITTLE VALUE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ed O'Keefe]
Transparency advocates and good-government groups rendered a mixed verdict this week on the Obama administration's recent release of hundreds of sets of government data, arguing that many federal agencies chose to release obscure or outdated facts and figures at the expense of long-standing requests for more relevant, sensitive information. As part of the administration's efforts to make the government more transparent, President Obama ordered federal agencies last month to select at least three of their "high value" sets of statistics or other information to publish in a downloadable format at the government's http://data.gov Web site. Transparency advocates cheered the president's decision and eagerly anticipated last Friday's release. Federal agencies met Friday's deadline, and information first surfaced on the Web site at the height of the evening rush period. The Department of Health and Human Services posted its annual summary of Medicare Part B spending, information it previously sold on CD-ROMs for $100. The Transportation Department provided information on child seat safety and tire quality, the State Department formatted its history of U.S. foreign relations and the Executive Office of the President published the history of economic forecasts. But some agencies published only partial information on government contracts, and others selected obscure data of interest to only a few academic researchers.
benton.org/node/31677 | Washington Post
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OBAMA AND TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Carol Leonnig]
More than 300 individuals and groups have sued the government to get records in the year since President Obama pledged that his administration would be the most open in history. In case after case, the plaintiffs say little has changed since the Bush administration years, when most began their quests for records. Agencies still often fight requests for disclosure, contending that national security and internal decision-making need to be protected. The lawsuits cover a wide range of issues. Despite the administration's opening scores of documents, court dockets show a slight increase in the number of lawsuits -- 319 -- filed under the Freedom of Information Act since Obama was sworn into office last January. In the final two years of the Bush administration, by comparison, there were 278 records suits filed in 2007 and 298 in 2008. People seeking records can sue only after the government repeatedly rejects their requests, usually after months of attempts and appeals. The White House disputes the numbers in the court logs. It says the Justice Department's own figures show that 328 records lawsuits were filed in 2008 and 306 in 2009. Justice Department officials say the difference could be because some cases are mislabeled in court records, and because others never show up in the agency's count because the department does not get involved. White House officials say the release of huge volumes of records -- including once-secret Bush administration memos on interrogation methods, White House visitor logs and data about birds endangering planes -- has been nothing short of historic. They argue that a year's worth of lawsuits does not reflect the commitment to transparency.
benton.org/node/31659 | Washington Post | White House
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CYBERSECURITY
ORGANIZING CYBERSECURITY A KEY CHALLENGE
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Tom Shoop]
With the United States facing threats of cyberattacks from foreign countries, criminal organizations and politically motivated hackers, questions linger about the federal government's approach to cybersecurity. There are few "penalties for doing bad things" in cyberspace, said James A. Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, during a briefing in Washington on Wednesday sponsored by Government Executive. He noted that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech last week calling on Chinese authorities to investigate cyberattacks against Google marked the first time a U.S. leader has spoken out publicly about such an incident. Late last year, President Obama named Howard Schmidt to serve as the government's cyber coordinator, seven months after announcing the creation of the position. "It would be very interesting to read [Schmidt's] job description," said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry D. Raduege Jr., chairman of the Deloitte Center for Innovation, who spent 35 years in the military working on information systems issues. A lot of people in government, Raduege said, "have responsibility, but no authority." He said Schmidt, who also served as special adviser for cyberspace security for the White House during the George W. Bush administration, has the background and expertise necessary to succeed as cyber coordinator. But Schmidt "will have to use all of his network," Raduege said. "He will have to ask the people who do have authority to carry water for him."
benton.org/node/31667 | nextgov
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NEW CYBERSECURITY COORDINATOR
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
In one of his first public appearances since taking the job last month, White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt says the government needs to be investing more in the research and development of cybersecurity tools. He said he "has the president's ear" when it comes to coordinating efforts across agencies. "There are no silver bullets," he said. "But we have tremendous support from the Hill, agencies and private sector....We are better positioned than ever to face these threats."
benton.org/node/31666 | Hill, The
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS
GROUPS COLLECT PETITIONS TO UNDO POLITICAL AD DECISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Credo and Change Congress have launched separate online drives asking for support to reverse last week's Supreme Court decision freeing up more corporate and union money for political TV and radio spots. President Barack Obama has said coming up with a legislative response to the court is a top priority. Credo is the credit card and mobile phone company that raises money for progressive causes. It also has a separate Credo Action site that hosts various online petitions, including calling for strong action to counter the court. (Credo Action is credited with pumping in 98,000 of the 120,000 network neutrality comments the FCC received). The Credo petition is directed to the president and Congress telling them to enact "strong laws" to save the country from the "pernicious influence of corporate money." Change Congress co-founder Lawrence Lessig's petition is for the strongest kind of law change there is, a constitutional amendment.
benton.org/node/31672 | Broadcasting&Cable
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COULD COURT'S CAMPAIGN FINANCE RULING AFFECT NET NEUTRALITY?
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
The Supreme Court ruling that throws out limits on corporate political-endorsement spending is giving new hope to opponents of network neutrality regulation proposed by the Federal Communication Commission. In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court on Thursday reaffirmed earlier rulings granting corporations free-speech rights, by saying a limit on spending for endorsements for candidates violates those rights. While Citizens United has nothing to do with net neutrality rules, opponents of the FCC's proposal say the court appeared to strengthen corporate free-speech rights in a way that could apply to net neutrality. Net neutrality backers, however, say that people looking to the Citizens United case for direction on net neutrality are stretching the definitions of free speech and exaggerating the role of broadband service providers. "It'd be kind of funny, if we didn't have to keep responding to some of these arguments," said Corie Wright, a lawyer for Free Press, a media reform group that supports net neutrality rules. She said those arguments confuse the role that ISPs have as Web site publishers with their role as network operators. She acknowledged that broadband providers have limited functions, such as publishing their own Web sites or blogs, that enjoy free-speech rights. But the net neutrality rules as proposed would create no limits on the ability of ISPs to publish their own Web sites, she said. The arguments that the ISPs' traffic-carrying role is speech is "so fundamentally at odds with the facts in the law," Wright said.
benton.org/node/31671 | IDG News Service | Harold Feld 3.06
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AGENDA
BOUCHER: FINDING MORE SPECTRUM A TOP PRIORITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Communications & Internet Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) says finding more spectrum for wireless broadband is one of panel's top priorities. Speaking at the State of the Net Conference, he laid out his legislative agenda for 2010, and spectrum reclamation or sharing led the list. Chairman Boucher said another priority for the committee was reforming the Universal Service Fund and expanding it to include broadband. He said the committee's discussion draft has been supported by stakeholders on both sides of the fund, contributors and beneficiaries alike. Those include AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, Frontier, and rural carrier trade associations, bridging what he said has been a classic divide between the two sides. Other legislative priorities are passage of the satellite reauthorization bill and privacy legislation. On the former, he said he House and the Senate have agreed to language on a satellite reauthorization bill. He said that now the issue was finding the right legislative vehicle, but that he expected the legislation to pass and be signed by the president "well before" the Feb. 28 deadline. On the latter, he promised to circulate a discussion draft of legislation to inform consumers what information is being collected about them and how it is used, and then give them control via a "combination of opt-in and opt out opportunities." Oversight priorities include the Comcast/NBCU merger, which he called "one of the largest media acquisitions proposed in American history," the new National Telecommunications & Information Association and Rural Utilities Service guidelines for broadband stimulus dollars, and the national broadband plan.
benton.org/node/31660 | Broadcasting&Cable | Broadcasting&Cable | B&C - national wireless consumer protection stand
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ROBERTS SELLING COMCAST-NBC MERGER TO WASHINGTON PRESS CORP
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts is in Washington (DC), scheduled to speak at the State of the Net conference and pitch, of course, the proposed takeover of NBC. In an Q&A attended, apparently, by every media outlet, Roberts touched on the pending merger, the Leno-O'Brien late night dust-up, and Network Neutrality.
He says any thought of migrating the NBC network to cable is "right off the table." Comcast is committed to a free, over-the-air NBC with local station affiliates. Comcast is at heart a "local company." Roberts noted that existing law would prevent the cable TV operator from denying satellite TV companies and other rivals access to NBC Universal programming on reasonable terms. Roberts expressed frustration at watching the turmoil over late-night programming at NBC as he awaits regulatory approval to take over the network. Roberts said he wanted an expeditious review by regulators of the cable company's deal for General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal unit, proposed last month. "It's a frustrating period of time because we are unable, legally, to be involved," Roberts said when asked about the situation surrounding television hosts Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. "We can't talk about it. We can't really have any discussions about. And so we, like you, read about it."
On Network Neutrality, Roberts it was a mistake" to slow down Internet traffic to file-sharing site BitTorrent, an event that helped escalate consumer advocates' argument that the government needs to enact rules to prohibit such action. "We changed it," Roberts said. "We realized it was not the right solution." Comcast's temporary traffic throttling was one of only two instances that interrupted access to content or Web sites, Roberts said, and the company changed its practice without needing government intervention. "We don't block websites and we don't do anything to not have an open and free Internet," Roberts said, adding that broadband service is the fastest growing area of the company's business. "In this space, there's nothing prohibiting Apple or Google from doing whatever they want," he said. "The Internet is still growing at 50 to 60 percent a year. It's an explosion and none of us want to get in the way of that innovation." The net neutrality regulations now under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission, and favored by Democrats in Congress, will create a "bad cloud," Roberts said. "Wall Street will pull capital spending" for Comcast, he said, echoing Republicans' fears that FCC intervention will get in the way of investments for bigger, faster broadband networks. "You're regulated before you've even invented."
benton.org/node/31653 | Benton Foundation | TheHill | AP | Bloomberg | WashPost
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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
NECA URGES FIBER-TO-THE-HOME AS NATIONAL BROADBAND GOAL
[SOURCE: National Exchange Carrier Association, AUTHOR: Richard Askoff]
In reply comments filed in the Federal Communications Commission's National broadband Plan proceeding, the National Exchange Carrier Association says the FCC should aim high in the plan establishing the following goal: Ubiquitous nationwide access to fixed and mobile broadband services, with fiber-to-the-home (or equivalent-speed technology) as the long-term standard for fixed networks.
benton.org/node/31670 | National Exchange Carrier Association
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USTELECOM: EVALUATE BROADBAND ADOPTION EFFORTS
[SOURCE: United States Telecom Association, AUTHOR: Jonathan Banks]
USTelecom filed a letter to recommend the National Broadband Plan support development of a test project to provide an academically rigorous evaluation of concepts that effectively increase broadband adoption by low-income households. USTelecom said it is not aware of any uniform and comprehensive study comparing the impact and efficacy of these programs. USTelecom proposes a project that would gather information for the FCC regarding effective methods to increase adoption by low-income households. USTelecom said solid data on current initiatives, along with that developed from establishing test beds for new initiatives, should be used to inform forward movement on any nationwide program. The association indicated the data will be ready for review in early 2011.
benton.org/node/31669 | United States Telecom Association
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BROADBAND AND MINORITY RADIO
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Thomas Reed]
Minorities comprised one-third of the overall U.S. population in 2009. Yet they control only 815 radio stations out of a total of 11,249 operating in the US just 7.24%. Today, small, local and minority-owned radio stations are struggling to stay afloat in the current economic crisis and in a marketplace where the Internet is getting a larger and larger bite of the advertising apple. Bankruptcies in the radio industry are at record numbers; and while no group, minority or otherwise, is immune to the economic downturn, minority radio has been hit particularly hard. As a result, we will likely see a continued decline in the percentage of minority ownership in radio. Despite these troubling circumstances, minority radio continues to inform and entertain its listeners and provide the type of viewpoint diversity that is essential to a robust marketplace of ideas and voices on the airwaves. On Tuesday, the FCC's Office of Communications and Business Opportunities held an interactive round-table discussion entitled "Broadband and New Media Strategies for Minority Radio." The workshop explored digital and new media applications that present the most promising opportunities for radio. We looked at innovative ideas that could augment radio service areas, increase the size of listening audiences, and create multiple streams of income for small/local/minority radio. We also examined the role minority-owned radio continues to play in supplying news content, politics, and entertainment to communities around the country that still lack broadband access. We asked a diverse group of experts to share their thoughts on these important topics and had a dynamic conversation.
benton.org/node/31657 | Federal Communications Commission
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TELEVISION/RADIO
PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDING DOWN
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: ]
Public television funding is down $200 million and radio is down $38 million, the Corporation for Public broadcasting board heard. Mark Erstling, senior vice president for system development, and Bruce Theriault, senior veep, radio, presented the figures providing comparisons between actual FY08 totals and FY09 estimates. Board member Bruce Ramer expressed concern about community service grants being tied to the amount of state funding a station receives. "Maybe state funds should not be included in the formula in the same way that federal funds aren't," Ramer suggested.
benton.org/node/31665 | Current
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MCDOWELL AT FCC MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND DIVERSITY WORKSHOP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell]
Speaking at the Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau Workshop on Media Ownership & Diversity, Commissioner Robert McDowell warned that changes in FCC ownership rules alone won't achieve much if the intended beneficiaries can't obtain the financing they need to make their aspirations a reality. He'd like to see the FCC help Congress fashion a legally sustainable tax certificate program to promote ownership of communications companies by economically disadvantaged businesses. he wonders if the economic downturn and the trend of large broadcast ownership groups to "de-consolidate" may provide opportunities for new ownership.
benton.org/node/31664 | Federal Communications Commission
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HEALTH
HHS PREPARING TO AWARD $50M FOR HIT RESEARCH
[SOURCE: FederalComputerWeek, AUTHOR: Alice Lipowicz]
The Health and Human Services Department is preparing to award a series of task orders totaling about $50 million to establish a national Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC) to support promotion of electronic health records, a senior official said. The HITRC will assist about 60 health IT regional extension centers, which aim to help 100,000 priority providers to adopt and meaningfully use digital record systems, said Joshua Seidman, acting director of the meaningful use division in the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. He spoke at a conference today sponsored by the eHealth Initiative, a nonprofit organization devoted to improving health care quality and efficiency through health IT. HHS expects to designate about half the extensions centers within weeks, Seidman said. The extension centers are funded with $598 million in funding under the economic stimulus law. Overall, the stimulus law provided $20 billion for health IT, including $17 billion for incentive payments to doctors and hospitals that buy and meaningfully use electronic record systems.
benton.org/node/31654 | FederalComputerWeek
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TELECOM/WIRELESS
CHINA WON'T LIMIT GOOGLE'S ANDROID
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Aaron Back, Sky Canaves]
The Chinese government won't limit the use of Google Inc.'s Android operating system for mobile devices by Chinese telecommunications operators, a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesman said. The comments were China's first official word on the future of the Android operating system since Google's announcement more than two weeks ago that it will stop obeying government censorship rules on its Chinese search site as a result of concerns over hacking and censorship. The spokesman's comments suggest the government might be open to letting parts of Google's business continue to function in China despite that announcement, which Google has said might require it to close its China offices.
benton.org/node/31680 | Wall Street Journal
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GETTING HUNG UP ON BASIC PHONE RATE INCREASES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Lazarus]
AT&T customers saw their monthly rate for basic residential phone service jump 22% this month to $16.45. The increase followed a 23% rate hike last year. And you know what? That's the good news. The bad news is that, beginning in January 2011, AT&T and other phone companies will be permitted to jack up basic rates as much as they want -- no regulatory limits will apply. "If you want to know what will happen then, look at how much their rates went up for directory assistance and call waiting and other services that were deregulated in 2006," said Denise Mann, who oversees telecom matters for the California Public Utilities Commission's consumer-watchdog division.
benton.org/node/31676 | Los Angeles Times
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WHEN WIRELESS IS NOT WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: John Celentano]
[Commentary] It's easy to confuse, or equate, broadband wireless access (BWA) with the mobile cellular communications that we've lived with for 25 years. After all, wireless is wireless, right? Sure, just like Fords and Mercedes are both cars. But like cars, different wireless technologies are designed to serve different markets. It is important to note some key distinctions. Cellular is optimized for mobile voice calling; data was added as an upgrade. BWA is purpose-built for high-speed Internet connections, initially fixed; voice, specifically voice over IP (VoIP), follows as an application. We should know by now that one broadband technology solution does not fit all applications. BWA fills an important role in extending high-speed Internet connections to customers over a wide area, rapidly and more cost-effectively than wires, fibers or conventional wireless technologies. Yeah, it's wireless. Just don't think of it as wireless.
benton.org/node/31662 | Connected Planet
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KOREANS REIGN IN TEXTING WORLD
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Choe Sang-Hun]
The inaugural Mobile World Cup, hosted by the South Korean cellphone maker LG Electronics, brought together two-person teams from 13 countries who had clinched their national titles by beating a total of six million contestants. Marching behind their national flags, they gathered in New York on Jan. 14 for what was billed as an international clash of dexterous digits. To ensure a level playing field, LG handed out identical mobile phones — one with a numeric keypad and the other with a keyboardlike QWERTY pad — weeks in advance for practice. The basic rule of the competition: copy phrases streaming across a monitor correctly, with the required capitalization and punctuation, as quickly as possible. Whichever language players chose, words were selected so that each would type the same number of characters.
benton.org/node/31679 | New York Times
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