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January 2010

Big Media Gambles That Content Will Rule

The media's painful transition to the digital age remains far from resolved, but the industry's titans are coalescing around a risky gamble on the old adage, "content is king." Having slashed their cost structures and recovered some of their losses in equity value from the global financial meltdown, major media conglomerates such as Time Warner, News Corp and Walt Disney hope to return to growth in the new year as they face easy year-over-year comparisons and signs of recovery in advertising. Their overriding strategy is to produce premium media content in a bet that consumers are ready to pay for it online, despite the continued proliferation of free media on the Web. (12/30)

How the Internet Changed Writing in the 2000s

[Commentary] With so much discussion about how the Internet is changing journalism and media, there's surprisingly little said about how writing itself has transformed. But it has changed in a dramatic if subtle way. Today, so much of the typical day is taken up with writing emails, tweets, updates, text messages, chat sessions, blog posts and the occasional longer form writing. And few complain how onerous it all is. On balance, all of that practice is making online writing better. Which is not to say that all online writing is good. Much of it's terrible - see the average YouTube comment for an example of how bad it can be. But it's been said that excellent writing is a matter of good thinking - if you've got the thinking part down, that's most of the battle. And many of the thoughtful people I know are producing some great stuff on the web. The Internet isn't just prompting us to write more, its open structure pressures us to write in a way that's at once more concise and flexible. One problem newspapers and magazines never could fix is that articles are assigned arbitrary lengths. Pay writers per word and they'll write as many as they can. Assign a 12,000-word story and you'll get just that, even if 1,000 are all that's necessary.

FTC Approves Two Reports to Congress on the National Do Not Call Registry

The Federal Trade Commission, as required by The Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007, has approved two reports to Congress: a biennial report focusing on the use of the Do Not Call Registry by both consumers and businesses, as well as the impact that new technologies have had on the Registry, and a one-time report on enforcement efforts and consumers' perceptions of the Registry's effectiveness. As detailed in the first report, the Do Not Call Registry now has more than 191 million active registrations, and more than 18 million new phone numbers were registered in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. During that time, approximately 45,000 sellers, telemarketers, and exempt organizations such as charities subscribed to access the Registry, paying fees totaling more than $15.5 million. In addition, during FY 2009, the FTC implemented a new procedure for tracking disconnected and reassigned phone numbers, which addresses problems that may arise as a result of new telecommunications technologies and the ease of transporting numbers from one telephone service provider to another. According to the second report, since 2003 when the Do Not Call Registry was put in place, research has consistently shown widespread public awareness of the program and a steady increase in the number of phone numbers registered. Together, the FTC and the Federal Communications Commission have collected penalties totaling over $22 million from Registry violators, and due to these enforcement actions and the agencies' consumer education campaigns, consumers who have joined the Registry have reported dramatic reductions in the number of unwanted calls they receive.

Femtocells poised to make impact after challenging year

In 2009, consumers flocked to the new smartphones hitting the market, and the world's wireless operators felt the pressure to upgrade their networks in response. 2010 will be the year that the carriers - and maybe even consumers - start placing orders for network-boosting products, investors and entrepreneurs say. And among the gizmos that will be in high demand are femtocells, the small base stations that boost coverage. Long a subject of debate in the telecom world, femtos are poised to become a household word, as some of the barriers to widespread deployment will fall away with the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. The price of consumer and enterprise femtocells has been just one of the factors delaying a widespread rollout, industry watchers say. The world's major carriers have taken longer than many anticipated to test out various network boosting products, like Wi-Fi, distributed-antenna systems and femtocells. "Operators were stalled testing the technology within their network," said Serge Pequeaux, chief executive of Dallas-based femto company AirWalk Communications Inc. Femtocells "did not take off in 2009 the way manufacturers ... expected it to. There were a lot of trials in 2009. But next year, we're going to see the numbers increase dramatically." Femtocells - a cousin technology to picocells and macrocells - are small boxes that function like miniature cell towers. The devices, also called access-point base stations, plug directly into the broadband connection in a home or business, ironing out glitches in coverage. Inside a femtocell is a system of chips and antennas that can rout voice and data traffic over the Internet rather than a carrier's main cell network. This capability makes femtos a good business proposition for the operators, who want to handle increasing amounts of traffic without building new towers.

NBC to Increase Production of Pilots

NBC's prime-time audience is headed for an eighth straight decline after it moved comedian Jay Leno to 10 p.m., replacing more-expensive scripted programs. Through Dec. 27, average viewership declined 1.2 percent from a year earlier. In the 18- 49 age group targeted by advertisers, the audience has dropped 8 percent, according to data from researcher Nielsen. "With rival broadcast networks riding a relatively high number of new hit shows premiering last fall, NBC appears to have the unenviable task of having to reprogram well over 20 percent of its prime-time schedule for next season," said Tuna Amobi, an analyst with Standard & Poor's.

House immigration bill would overhaul H-1B visa program

Nearly 90 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are co-sponsoring an immigration reform bill that would make broad changes to the H-1B visa program. The proposed legislation would create a federal agency to review U.S. employment needs, create a new type of visa for founders of startup companies, and increase the supply of H-1B visas. But despite a long list of co-sponsors, the bill is far from passage. Whether this 700-page bill will get the support of either the tech industry or H-1B critics is unclear. Both sides may find things to love and hate in its basket of provisions.

BBC creates $12.3 billion, claims report

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) generates £7.6 billion ($12.3 billion) a year for the U.K. economy, claims a report to be published later this month. The report, leaked to the Guardian newspaper, has been commissioned by the pubcaster to illustrate how much economic activity the BBC is responsible for. According to figures supplied by financial firm Deloitte, the U.K. would lose $6.5 billion if the BBC were privatized. Additionally, Britain's independent producers would be worse off to the tune of $2.3 billion if the corp. ceased to exist, the report claims. The report is designed to help persuade U.K. policymakers that far from being a drain on national resources, the BBC is a source of dynamic economic activity that can play an important role in helping the U.K. kickstart its moribund economy. It comes as the BBC fights to counter a wave of attacks from both ends of the political spectrum. News Corp. topper James Murdoch last year called for the BBC to become "far, far smaller." Media minister Ben Bradshaw has also said he thinks the pubcaster has reached the limit of its expansion.

Jan 4, 2010 (Happy New Year)

** Planning a communications-related course for 2010? See http://bit.ly/5N8VHA to learn how Headlines might help. **

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2010 (HAPPY NEW YEAR!)


AGENDA
   DC Starts Year With Heat Wave

NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN AND THE STIMULUS
   AT&T Tells FCC It's Time to Cut the Cord
   5 More Win Broadband Mapping Grants
   Bills take aim at the University of Maine's role in broadband expansion
   ALA Wants Increase In Computer Center Funding
   Smart-grid spending to hit $200 billion by 2015
   HHS Defines 'Meaningful Use' for EHRs

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   Broadband Blockage
   Wireless phone companies pushing to use federal, defense frequencies
   Broadcasters' woes could spell trouble for free TV
   Fox-TWC Fight Could Weaken Broadcasters' Hold on Spectrum
   Low-Power Solution To Spectrum Issue
   Google AdMob Buy Opposed
   Cellphone Searches
   Bills to Curb Distracted Driving Gain Momentum
   Maine to Consider Putting Warnings on Cellphones
   Android, iPhone & the Freelance Nation
   Firms Selling Apps for Simple Phones

BROADCASTING
   Fox-Time Warner Cable deal could mean billions for broadcasters
   Mobile TV Gets Closer As Backers Cut a Path
   Rabbit ears make comeback in digital TV era
   What A Difference A Decade Makes
   FCC Preserves Retrans 'Good Faith' Provision

CONTENT
   Public interest groups call for antitrust probe of TV Everywhere
   In Allowing Ad Blockers, a Test for Google
   Trying to Add Portability to Movie Files

UNIVERSAL SERVICE
   Comprehensive Report Tracks Trends Related to Universal Service
   FCC Approves New Methods for Calculating USF Support

MORE ON BROADBAND
   Can Usage-based Broadband Billing Be Done Fairly?
   In 10 Years, Hours Spent on Internet Almost Doubled

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Iranian Filmmakers Keep Focus on the Turmoil
   Pentagon computer-network defense command delayed by congressional concerns
   Policy Forum on Public Access to Federally Funded Research: Management

JOURNALISM
   Shielding journalists in the Internet era
   Nets Blur No-Pay-For-Interviews Policy
   News Sites Dabble With a Web Tool for Nudging Local Officials

MORE ONLINE ...
   New Film Ignites Debate on Ratings Policy
   Bloggers Track the Nuances of the Health Care Debate
   Helping Children Find What They Need on the Internet
   Independent Station's Power Lies With Its People
   Genachowski's Facebook Account Compromised

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AGENDA
   DC Starts Year With Heat Wave

DC STARTS YEAR WITH HEAT WAVE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
As members of Congress headed home after a late December session, a lot of unfinished business remained on the communications front. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission's broadband team was looking at the commission as a second home for the holidays, with officials working toward their looming Feb. 17 deadline for the national broadband plan. The year ahead looks to be an extremely busy one, with the broadband plan implicating both broadcasting and cable (and virtually every other sector of the economy), media-ownership rules getting a vetting in the FCC and in the courts, network neutrality teed up, key court cases on content and network management, and perhaps even must-carry. Much of that action is front-loaded in January. A federal shield law will be on the docket for early 2010; Congress is slated to return on Jan. 19. The satellite distant-signal license also lost out to the dwindling calendar, plus a deal to let DISH Network back into the distant signal that made it too hot to handle before the holiday break. Lawmakers will only have six weeks (until March 1) to get a bill completed or pass another extension. Broadcasters and financial types will gather at the FCC on Jan. 12 for the year's first workshop on media-ownership rules, with hope for some movement on that front supplied by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. That court has given the FCC until Jan. 7 to state why it should not lift the stay on the commission's loosening of the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules.
benton.org/node/30897 | Broadcasting&Cable
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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN AND THE STIMULUS

AT&T TELLS FCC IT'S TIME TO CUT THE CORD
[SOURCE: PC World, AUTHOR: Tony Bradley]
In response to a Notice of Inquiry released by the Federal Communications Commission to explore how to transition to a purely IP-based communications network, AT&T has declared that it's time to cut the cord. AT&T told the FCC that the death of landlines is a matter of when, not if, and asked that a firm deadline be set for pulling the plug. AT&T said in its response to the FCC that "with each passing day, more and more communications services migrate to broadband and IP-based services, leaving the public switched telephone network ("PSTN") and plain-old telephone service ("POTS") as relics of a by-gone era." It also stated "It makes no sense to require service providers to operate and maintain two distinct networks when technology and consumer preferences have made one of them increasingly obsolete." Stacey Higginbotham notes that one in five Americans rely exclusively on plain old telephone service and AT&T in its filing doesn't offer a way to bridge the gap for that 20 percent of Americans relying only on landlines, nor does it address what an all-IP future means for the 33 percent of Americans who have access to broadband but do not subscribe. (12/31)
benton.org/node/30884 | PC World | Reuters | BroadbandBreakfast.com | GigaOm
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5 MORE WIN BROADBAND MAPPING GRANTS
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
On December 31, 2009, the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that it has awarded grants to fund broadband mapping and planning activities in Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah, and the U.S. Virgin Islands 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. NTIA awarded Connected Nation approximately $1.7 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and nearly $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/30881 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration | B&C
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BILLS TAKE AIM AT UNIVERSITY OF MAINE BROADBAND STIMULUS PROJECT
[SOURCE: Bangor Daily News, AUTHOR: Mal Leary]
Two bills have been introduced in the Maine Legislature aimed at limiting the University of Maine System's ability to participate in efforts to expand broadband access in the state, but UMS officials say the bills are not needed. Sen. Lisa Marrache (D-Waterville), the assistant Senate majority leader, has introduced a bill that would ban the system from using any tuition money to help pay for efforts to expand broadband access. "People are paying money in to go to college," she said, "I don't think any of that money should be used to subsidize the broadband effort that really is competing with the private sector." State Sen Marrache said constituents raised the issue with her after charges were leveled this summer that UMS is competing with private companies in the broadband business. Severin Beliveau, an Augusta attorney representing FairPoint, blasted UMS at a meeting of the State Broadband Advisory Council, arguing their participation in a group seeking federal funds was improper competition with the private sector. Jeff Letourneau, associate director of information technology at UMS, said the university is part of a private-public partnership created to provide broadband capacity at a "wholesale" level and the university's role is minor. "The grant from the federal government went to GWI [Great Works Internet] and two private investors," he said. "As for tuition subsidizing our broadband efforts, that does not happen and will not happen." (12/30)
benton.org/node/30879 | Bangor Daily News | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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ALA WANTS INCREASE IN COMPUTER CENTER FUNDING
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: ]
The American Library Association, along with other supporters of broadband build-out, has asked the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to allocate more money for public computer centers. The groups said the funding boost is needed to help public libraries and community colleges expand their Internet access capabilities and to encourage the purchase of computers and other technology hardware. (12/29)
benton.org/node/30880 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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SMART-GRID SPENDING TO HIT $200 BILLION BY 2015
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Lance Whitney]
Governments and utilities are expected to ramp up their investments in the electrical smart grid, spending a total of $200 billion worldwide from 2008 through 2015, says a new Pike Research report. The term "smart grid" is shorthand for a number of technologies intended to automate and digitize management of electrical power. By computerizing the 20th century electrical system, utilities and others in the power industry hope to manage and control electrical output more efficiently and reliably. Though smart grid sounds like it's a single system, it's more an array of different tools and technologies, from smart meters to solar power, all designed to reduce costs, waste less energy, and provide better networking and communications between homes and utilities. (12/28)
benton.org/node/30866 | C-Net|News.com | Pike Research
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HHS DEFINES 'MEANINGFUL USE' FOR EHRs
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
The Health and Human Services Department on Dec 30 set preliminary terms dictating who will and will not get billions of dollars in stimulus funds for buying electronic health records systems. One proposed rule outlines criteria for the e-health records incentive program, including the core concept of "meaningful use" of e-records technology. Medical professionals who make "meaningful use" of e-records by 2011 or 2012 will be eligible for up to $44,000 in Medicare payments spread out over five years. The proposal would define "meaningful EHR user" as a medical professional or hospital that complies with specific measures, including the use of a certified technology in ways that improve the quality and safety of health care delivery, reduce health care disparities, engage patients and families, enhance care coordination, improve public health and ensure privacy and security protections. The rule would phase in the specific measures, based on the present state of technological capabilities and providers' practice experience. HHS officials will demand stricter and more extensive criteria for demonstrating meaningful use over time, as technologies and providers' expertise advance. David Blumenthal, HHS national coordinator for health IT, said in an e-mail update to the public, "Great care was taken in the development of these criteria, with input from the public and federal advisory committees every step of the way." The resulting standards and certification criteria are organized into four categories: Content Exchange Standards; Vocabulary Standards; Transport Standards; and Privacy and Security Standards. [more at the URL below] (12/31)
benton.org/node/30863 | nextgov | Dr David Blumenthal
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

BROADBAND BLOCKAGE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Late last month, AT&T, which sells the iPhone, began blocking orders through its Web site. Sales resumed without an official explanation from AT&T of what happened, but an underlying problem still needs to be addressed. Unless policies for allocating spectrum become more conducive to new technologies, turning away potential customers could become more frequent. The reality is that the demand for mobile broadband is exploding, thanks to the popularity of the iPhone and rivals like the Palm Pre, the Blackberry and Verizon's Droid. According to the Federal Communications Commission, the use of smart phones has grown by nearly 700% the past four years, and mobile data are increasing at a projected rate of 130% annually as more people use their phones to send photos and watch videos. Spectrum is finite, but it doesn't need to be as scarce as it is. The problem is how the frequencies are being managed. Less than 10% of the spectrum coveted by wireless carriers has been allocated for commercial use. Much of the rest is controlled by the government. Television broadcasters and satellite companies also possess excess spectrum that could be made available to wireless carriers. Competitive bidding is the best way to allocate spectrum, but the government auctions are much too infrequent—only two in the past four years—and the licenses often come with cumbersome restrictions. The result is congested networks, frustrated customers and slower innovation. An an inventory of available spectrum would be a good place to start addressing this problem. (12/30)
benton.org/node/30883 | Wall Street Journal
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WIRELESS PHONE COMPANIES PUSHING TO USE MORE SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Joelle Tessler]
Wireless devices such as Apple's iPhone are transforming the way we go online, making it possible to look up driving directions, find the nearest coffee shop and update Facebook on the go. All this has a price -- in airwaves. As mobile phones become more sophisticated, they transmit and receive more data over the airwaves. But the spectrum of wireless frequencies is finite -- and devices like the iPhone are allowed to use only so much of it. TV and radio broadcasts, Wi-Fi networks and other communications services also use the airwaves. Each transmits on certain frequencies to avoid interference with others. Now wireless phone companies fear they're in danger of running out of room, leaving congested networks that frustrate users and slow innovation. So the wireless companies want the government to give them bigger slices of airwaves -- even if other users have to give up rights to theirs. "Spectrum is the equivalent of our highways," says Christopher Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association, an industry trade group. "That's how we move our traffic. And the volume of that traffic is increasing so dramatically that we need more lanes. We need more highways." That won't happen without a fight. (12/28)
benton.org/node/30882 | Associated Press
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BROADCASTERS' WOES COULD SPELL TROUBLE FOR FREE TV
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Andrew Vanacore]
For more than 60 years, TV stations have broadcast news, sports and entertainment for free and made their money by showing commercials. That might not work much longer. The business model is unraveling at ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and the local stations that carry the networks' programming. Cable TV and the Web have fractured the audience for free TV and siphoned its ad dollars. The recession has squeezed advertising further, forcing broadcasters to accelerate their push for new revenue to pay for programming. That will play out in living rooms across the country. The changes could mean higher cable or satellite TV bills, as the networks and local stations squeeze more fees from pay-TV providers such as Comcast and DirecTV for the right to show broadcast TV channels in their lineups. The networks might even ditch free broadcast signals in the next few years. Instead, they could operate as cable channels -- a move that could spell the end of free TV as Americans have known it since the 1940s. The future of free TV also could be altered as the biggest pay-TV provider, Comcast Corp., prepares to take control of NBC. Comcast has not signaled plans to end NBC's free broadcasts. But Jeff Zucker, who runs NBC and its sister cable channels such as CNBC and Bravo, told investors this month that "the cable model is just superior to the broadcast model." (12/29)
benton.org/node/30878 | Associated Press
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FOX-TWC FIGHT COULD WEAKEN BROADCASTERS' HOLD ON SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
[Commentary] Could one of the big four television broadcasters (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) become a cable channel and dump its local affiliates within the next two years? If one of the big broadcasters suddenly sees more value in becoming a cable provider, where it can make money from selling advertising as well as selling access to its channel to cable providers, then its spectrum, and likely that of its affiliates, suddenly becomes vulnerable. After all, the broadcasters don't pay for their 6 MHz of spectrum in markets — it's given to them because they provide a public service. Meanwhile, the cellular industry says it needs 800 MHz of spectrum (and would love to pay for it via a revenue-generating auction), while the FCC has floated some trial balloons to take some of that spectrum from broadcasters. If broadcasters can't offer "The Simpsons" and the news for free over the air or are unwilling to, then why should the government provide broadcasters with the now-valuable spectrum? (12/29)
benton.org/node/30877 | GigaOm
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LOW-POWER SOLUTION TO SPECTRUM ISSUE
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
The CTIA, the trade group for wireless service providers, and the Consumer Electronics Association have come up with what they believe is a win-win solution to the tug of war now being waged over broadcast spectrum. The trade groups proposed a new "architecture" for broadcasting in which stations with high-power transmitters and tall towers would be replaced by stations with networks of low-power "distributed transmitters" — otherwise known as distributed transmission systems (DTS) or single frequency networks (SFN). "The goal ... would be to free up spectrum by grouping full-power TV licensees into a smaller portion of the existing television broadcast band and reducing the spectrum separations between licensees," the group said. The approach would free up 100-180 MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband use with a value of between $35 billion and $70 billion, they claimed, and the move — and the spectrum savings — could be made with minimal disruption to broadcasting or over-the-air viewers, they said. Each station would still have full use of 6 MHz of spectrum and the associated 19.4 Mbps data stream so it could continue to offer HD, mobile DTV and other ancillary digital services. And by moving to DTS, a station may improve its coverage and quality of service, they added. The cost of transitioning to the new architecture — as much as $1.85 billion by their reckoning — would be borne not by the broadcasters, but by the buyers of the freed-up spectrum, presumably wireless broadband users. Consumers, meanwhile, would continue to enjoy the same over-the-air service that they now do without having to purchase new TV sets or converter boxes. (12/24)
benton.org/node/30876 | TVNewsCheck
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GOOGLE ADMOB BUY OPPOSED
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Antone Gonsalves]
On December 28 Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy asked the Federal Trade Commission to stop Google from buying mobile advertising company AdMob, saying the acquisition would diminish competition. In a joint letter to the FTC, they say that the proposed acquisition raises privacy concerns that the FTC must address. "The mobile sector is the next frontier of the digital revolution," the groups said in the letter. "Without vigorous competition and strong privacy guarantees this vital and growing segment of the online economy will be stifled."
benton.org/node/30860 | InformationWeek
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CELLPHONE SEARCHES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The Ohio Supreme Court has struck an important blow for privacy rights, ruling that the police need a warrant to search a cellphone. The court rightly recognized that cellphones today are a lot more than just telephones, that they hold a wealth of personal information and that the privacy interest in them is considerable. This was the first such ruling from a state supreme court. It is a model for other courts to follow. The Ohio ruling eloquently makes the case for why the very personal information that new forms of technology aggregate must be accorded a significant degree of privacy. (12/25)
benton.org/node/30874 | New York Times
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BILLS TO CURB DISTRACTED DRIVING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Matt Richtel]
When its legislature convenes this year, Kansas will consider banning motorists from sending text messages. South Carolina will, too, and debate whether to prohibit drivers from using phones altogether, or requiring them to use hands-free devices when they call. New Jersey lawmakers have proposed banning drivers from manipulating a navigation system in a moving car. In all, lawmakers have already proposed 200 bills to curb distracted driving, and policy analysts expect to see dozens more in the coming months. "It's the hottest safety issue in the states right now by far," said Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety agencies. The flurry of state activity — coupled with intensifying action by federal legislators and regulators, and by the cellphone and auto industries — is putting renewed focus on the risks of using phones behind the wheel, according to policy analysts. They acknowledge that there is no certainty of how many of the bills will become law, and say that the number of bills is running just slightly ahead of last year's tally. But they assert the proposals are being met with less resistance than in years past from legislators, and are enjoying newfound industry support. For example, cellphone and auto companies have joined lobbying efforts for legislation to ban texting while driving. (1/1)
benton.org/node/30873 | New York Times
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MAINE TO CONSIDER CELLPHONE WARNINGS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katie Zezima]
Maine legislators this month will take up the question of whether cellphones sold in the state must contain warnings that they may cause brain cancer, despite a lack of scientific consensus on the issue. State Representative Andrea M. Boland, a Democrat from Sanford, is pushing for the state to become the first to require cellphone manufacturers to put warnings on packaging, like those on cigarettes. Boland said she was convinced from what she had read that the radiation from cellphones increased the risk of brain cancer when held at the ear, especially in children under 18. She said she was swayed by a 2006 study by the Swedish National Institute for Working Life that showed a correlation between brain tumors and heavy cellphone use, and by a recent report by a retired engineer and consumer advocate, Lloyd Morgan, that compiled research showing that cellphones can lead to an increased risk of brain tumors. (1/1)
benton.org/node/30872 | New York Times
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ANDROID, IPHONE AND FREELANCE NATION
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
[Commentary] There's no question that 2010 is going to be a big year for Google's Android operating system, which means it's also going to be competing with Apple's iPhone for developer attention. Apple's iPhone ecosystem so far has an advantage. Google has some teething problems it needs to resolve. Recently, there's been slight uptick in the number of Android development jobs. iPhone seems to be holding its own. Another data point to note: There are 2,071 iPhone developers listed on oDesk vs. 624 Android developers. (12/26)
benton.org/node/30871 | GigaOm
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FIRMS SELLING APPS FOR PHONES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jenna Wortham]
Most consumers still do not use smartphones. According to data from the Nielsen Company, roughly 82 percent of cellphones in use are limited-function phones, the kind that typically sell for less than $50 or are given away with a two-year service contract. The cellphone industry prefers to call them feature phones, to distinguish them from smartphones like the Pre or the Droid, but they could just as well be called "kinda smartphones." Although once easily identified by boxy designs and minuscule, poorly pixelated screens, many feature phones these days more closely resemble their smarter cousins because software improvements enable them to run more sophisticated mobile applications.
benton.org/node/30886 | New York Times
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BROADCASTING

FOX-TIME WARNER CABLE DEAL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kelly Riddell]
Time Warner Cable's agreement to pay News Corp. for over-the-air television programming has opened the door for broadcasters to demand as much as $5 billion a year from pay-TV providers and their subscribers, analysts said. The companies agreed on a distribution deal Jan. 1, without disclosing the terms. Other broadcasters have also said they may seek payment for programming that's currently free. CBS has a deal with Comcast, the largest U.S. cable operator, that ends next year, and already collects fees from Time Warner Cable and Dish Network. News Corp. sought as much as $1 a month per Time Warner Cable subscriber for rights to Fox, home of "The Simpsons" and "American Idol," two people with knowledge of the matter said. If other networks seek similar terms, cable operators may have to fork out as much as $5 billion a year -- and would probably pass the cost on to subscribers, said Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in New York. "The broadcast networks are really struggling to find a viable business model," Moffett said. "They're looking at the cable networks that make money both on advertising and the money that the cable operators pay them and saying, 'We need a dual revenue stream to survive, too.'"
benton.org/node/30894 | Washington Post | New York Times
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MOBILE TV GETS CLOSER LOOK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Lauren Goode, Amy Schatz]
Watching live television broadcasts on mobile devices is common in some countries, but not the U.S. A new effort is taking shape to change that. A group of broadcasters plans to use this week's Consumer Electronics Show to promote their plans to deliver news, sports, weather and other local content to users on the go. While cellphones are an obvious target, backers of the effort also expect users to receive local programming on laptop computers, portable DVD players and devices in cars. Results may not come quickly, or easily. Competition for users' attention is stiff, including an array of on-demand video offerings for mobile devices as well as another mobile broadcasting network that is trying to build a U.S. audience. Local broadcasters—many of whom are grappling with a steep decline in advertising revenue—must bear the initial costs of developing the new business while waiting for advertisers to support it, says Gordon Borrell, chief executive of the market-research firm Borrell Associates. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission has discussed shifting some frequencies being used for mobile TV to broadband services. Such hurdles aren't deterring the Open Mobile Video Coalition, a group of 800 local broadcasters and industry executives formed in 2007 to push the concept. They call their technology Mobile DTV, distinguishing it from past portable television sets that received analog signals.
benton.org/node/30893 | Wall Street Journal
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RABBIT EARS MAKE COMEBACK IN DIGITAL TV ERA
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Sarno]
People are rediscovering the convenience -- and economics -- of the old-fashioned TV antenna. In the wake of the transition to digital television, some viewers are finding they can get nearly three times as many channels as they once could with an antenna. And rather than the erratic, fuzzy reception of yesteryear, today's rabbit ears are capable of delivering a surprisingly clear high-definition picture. Best of all, it's free. In these penny-pinching times, watching TV over the airwaves is becoming an increasingly attractive option for many households, particularly among the Los Angeles region's minority communities. Although the number of households with antennas in the U.S. fell slightly in the last year, nearly 20,000 Asian American homes in the region began using rabbit ears, and 8,000 African Americans switched to over-the-air TV, according to the media research firm Nielsen Co. Nearly a quarter of Latino households with televisions, or about 440,000 homes, already tune in with an antenna -- the most of any demographic group in the area. About 11% of U.S. households -- or about 13 million homes -- watch over-the-air broadcasts. But watching TV over the airwaves has begun to appeal to a broader audience. (12/25)
benton.org/node/30875 | Los Angeles Times
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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DECADE MAKES
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] The worst economic downturn since the Great Depression had the greatest impact on the television station business over the first decade of this century. But a number of other events and developments are changing the market. 1) Retransmission consent payments. 2) Moving programming online. 3) Monday Night Football's move to ESPN. 4) Oprah's announcement that she's ending her syndicated show. 5) The increased use of digital video recorders. 6) Some show called American Idol. 7) The transition to all-digital television broadcasting. 8) The diminishing threat of networks buying all of their affiliates. 9) The merger of WB and UPN. (12/29)
benton.org/node/30870 | TVNewsCheck
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FCC PRESERVES RETRANS 'GOOD FAITH' PROVISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has amended its rules to extend the good faith requirement in retransmission consent negotiations until March 1 or longer if Congress moves a related sunset date. That provision [325(b)(3)(C)(ii) of the Communications Act for those scoring at home] prevents broadcasters "from engaging in exclusive contracts for carriage or failing to negotiate in good faith." It is not exactly clear what the FCC defines as good faith, but the issue has been heating up of late due to retrans fights between Fox and Time Warner and Sinclair and Mediacom, respectively. The good faith/nonexclusive bargaining rule had been expected to be extended, along with the satellite copyright license to import distant network TV station signals, as part of the reauthorization of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA). But a revised satellite bill got hung up and Congress extended the SHVERA bill until March 1 as a stop-gap measure. That came as an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act, which only passed Dec. 19. The FCC then needed to move the retrans bargaining sunset date to March 1 or it, too, would have expired. (12/29)
benton.org/node/30867 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CONTENT

CALL TO REVIEW "TV EVERYWHERE"
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Later today, Free Press and other public advocacy groups will call for the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate an industry-wide strategy by television service providers that they say will strap users to unnecessarily high monthly subscription fees and stifle competition. The groups want a government probe of the "TV Everywhere" plan by cable, satellite and phone companies that brings television shows and movies to computers and devices, but only for those that subscribe to both television and high-speed Internet services. The result, the groups say, would allow Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Verizon and Direct TV to unfairly maintain dominance over the burgeoning online video industry by elbowing out online video competitors such as Apple, Hulu and Vuze. Cable companies are by far the largest providers of paid video services. Comcast, the nation's biggest cable and Internet service provider, launched its version of TV Everywhere, called XFinity, two weeks ago, allowing subscribers of Internet and television services to access some shows for free over computers and devices. Time Warner Cable and other television service providers are conducting trials of similar services and are expected to follow suit. The public interest groups allege collusion between video service providers such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Verizon and Direct TV to keep video content behind a subscription-based pay wall.
benton.org/node/30895 | Washington Post
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AD BLOCKERS A TEST FOR GOOGLE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Noam Cohen]
In a manifesto-like e-mail message sent last month to all Google employees, Jonathan Rosenberg, a senior vice president for product management, told them to commit to greater transparency and open industry standards. Rather than hoard knowledge to exploit it, he wrote in "The Meaning of Open," share it and watch Google and the entire Internet prosper. With the Chrome browser, however, Google's inclusive principles are being put to the test: a new version of the browser allows, one might even say encourages, users to stop Google ads from appearing. How Google got to such a position speaks to the inherent dynamism (or is that chaos?) of business on the Internet. Google announced on Dec. 8 that the test, or beta, version of Chrome would accept extensions — little programs that improve or customize the browser's performance — as a way of harnessing the creativity of an outside community of programmers who would work free and agree to share what they make with others. The standard version should do likewise in a matter of months, Google said. Google's extensions mimic the "add-on" system that has flourished on the open-source Firefox browser. As it happens, two 28-year-olds, Michael Gundlach, an independent programmer from outside Athens, Ga., and Tom Joseph, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Mount Sinai Medical School, separately went through the exact same experience. In telephone interviews, each told of excitedly looking to see if he could install a Chrome extension of his favorite Firefox add-on, Adblock Plus, which prevents ads from appearing on Web sites, whether bright flashing animation or the text ads that Google serves up after a search. They did not find one. So, naturally, each spent a day or so creating a rough version of such an extension, with much more work to come. AdThwart from Mr. Joseph is now No. 2 in popularity among the more than 1,200 Chrome extensions; AdBlock from Mr. Gundlach is No. 8. Together, they already have more than 120,000 users.
benton.org/node/30896 | New York Times
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TRYING TO ADD PORTABILITY TO MOVIE FILES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brad Stone]
At the Consumer Electronics Show, a big high-tech gathering that will begin Wednesday in Las Vegas, Hollywood studios and consumer electronics makers plan to lay out some steps they are taking to simplify the digital future — and perhaps stem the worrying decline in home entertainment sales. Hollywood and its high-tech partners are deeply concerned that their customers will rebel against some of the limitations taking shape as video moves away from physical discs. Consumers, the industry believes, could balk at buying digital movies and TV shows until they can bring their collections with them wherever they go — by and large the same freedom people have with DVDs. In the last year and a half, a broad alliance of high-tech companies and Hollywood studios has been trying to address this problem through an organization called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, or DECE. Five of the six major Hollywood studios (Warner Brothers, NBC Universal, Sony, Paramount and Fox, but not Walt Disney) are involved, with Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Intel and Best Buy. The group is setting out to create a common digital standard that would let consumers buy or rent a digital video once and then play it on any device. It might sound technical, but it could be crucial to persuading consumers to buy all the splashy new Internet-connected gear that tech companies will demonstrate at C.E.S., like HDTVs and set-top boxes that can download TV shows and films. Under the proposed system, proof of digital purchases would be stored online in a so-called rights locker, and consumers would be permitted to play the movies they bought or rented on any DECE-compatible device.
benton.org/node/30887 | New York Times
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UNIVERSAL SERVICE

COMPREHENSIVE REPORT TRACKS TRENDS RELATED TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service staff]
The staff of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service has released its most recent Monitoring Report on Universal Service on December 31. This report reflects information on the telephone industry filed with the Federal Communications Commission through August 2009. This report, with a few exceptions, reflects data filed with the FCC by the telephone industry for the year 2008 and prior years, and projections for 2009. The report released today addresses the various universal service support mechanisms, which amounted to about $7 billion in 2008. In 2007, disbursements among the four categories of universal service mechanisms were: 63.0% for high-cost support; 24.8% for schools and libraries support; 11.5% for low-income support; and 0.7% for rural health care support. The report presents data in nine categories. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/30869 | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC APPROVES NEW METHODS FOR CALCULATING USF SUPPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
Each year, the Federal Communications Commission must review and approve or modify any proposed modifications to the formulas used to calculate universal service high-cost loop support and local switching support for average schedule companies. The National Exchange Carrier Association files the annual average schedule company formula modifications for high-cost loop support and the Universal Service Administrative Company submits the proposed formula for local switching support. The Commission's rules require that these formulas "simulate the disbursements that would be received . . . by a company that is representative of average schedule companies." On August 27, 2009, NECA filed proposed modifications to the current high-cost loop support universal service formula for average schedule companies, and it requested that they take effect on January 1, 2010, and remain in effect through December 31, 2010. On September 28, 2009, USAC filed proposed modifications to the current local switching support formula for average schedule companies which, if approved, will be effective from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010. On October 21, 2009, the Wireline Competition Bureau issued a public notice seeking comment on NECA's and USAC's proposed formulas. On December 30, 2009, the FCC approved NECA's proposed high-cost loop support formula and USAC's proposed local switching support formula.
benton.org/node/30868 | Federal Communications Commission
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MORE ON BROADBAND

CAN USAGE-BASED BROADBAND BILLING BE DONE FAIRLY?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Walsh]
If metered broadband billing is inevitable, what would be a fair construct? Or is it even possible to be fair? Arguably the fairest approach would be one in which the entire bill is variable and in which unit (per-byte) cost declines as usage increases. Fair in that all users pay relative to the quantity of resources they consume but, like any good business relationship, heavier users enjoy volume discounts. This approach might seem too radical for all involved, however; even consumers who save money may look askance. So assuming the above problems could be ameliorated, and further assuming that the "cap-and-meter" approach is the one that prevails, what exactly is a fair cap? 30 GB at least and probably more like 65 GB. (12/27)
benton.org/node/30864 | GigaOm
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IN 10 YEARS, HOURS SPENT ON INTERNET ALMOST DOUBLED
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
Adult Internet users were spending close to 13 hours a week online in 2009, according to a poll conducted by Harris Interactive, a New York-based market research company. In comparison, U.S. adults used the Internet for about seven hours a week in 1999. The number of adults online in the U.S. has grown to 184 million, compared with 113 million in 1999, according to Harris. People between the ages of 30 and 39 spend the most time on the Internet — 18 hours a week, the research firm said. The number of U.S. broadband users has gone up to around 80 million from about 2.7 million at the end of 1999. (12/24)
benton.org/node/30865 | GigaOm
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

PENTAGON CYBERSECURITY COMMAND DELAYED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
The Pentagon's plan to set up a command to defend its global network of computer systems has been slowed by congressional questions about its mission and possible privacy concerns. As a result, the Defense Department failed to meet an Oct. 1 target launch date and has not held a confirmation hearing for the command's first director. Although officials stress that the cyber command, as it is known, is an effort to consolidate existing offensive and defensive capabilities under one roof and involves no new authorities or broadening of mission, its potential for powerful new offensive capabilities -- some as yet unimagined -- have raised questions on Capitol Hill about its role, according to national security experts familiar with the concerns. Key questions include: When do offensive activities in cyberspace become acts of war? How far can the Pentagon go to defend its own networks? And what kind of relationship will the command have to the National Security Agency?
benton.org/node/30889 | Washington Post
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PUBLIC ACCESS TO FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Diane DiEuliis]
On January 1, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy launched Phase Three of the Public Access Policy Forum. The forum asks scientists, primary and secondary publishers, librarians, universities, researchers, students, and the public to help OSTP understand when and how research articles ­ funded by taxpayers but with value added by scholarly publishers ­ should be made freely available on the Internet. The discussion turns to questions of management. Phase Three will run through Thursday, January 7, 2010. Between now and then, OSTP would like for you to address the following questions:
Compliance. What features does a public access policy need to ensure compliance? Should this vary across agencies?
Evaluation. How should an agency determine whether a public access policy is successful? What measures could agencies use to gauge whether there is increased return on federal investment gained by expanded access?
Roles. How might a public private partnership promote robust management of a public access policy? Are there examples already in use that may serve as models? What is the best role for the Federal government?
benton.org/node/30861 | White House, The
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JOURNALISM

PASSING THE SHIELD LAW
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Despite some initial hedging, the Obama administration has embraced the idea of shield legislation, while insisting on concessions -- some of them excessive -- to law enforcement. The result in both the Senate and House bills is a qualified privilege that would allow journalists to protect sources and documents unless identifying them was necessary to save lives, protect children from abuse or prevent a criminal prosecution from collapsing. Even then, in most cases a judge would be obliged to weigh the public interest in gathering or disseminating news against the public interest in compelling disclosure. There is one area in which both bills need to be strengthened in an eventual conference committee. The bill considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee limited protection to "a person who is engaged in journalism." As amended by the panel, the definition of a "covered person" is someone who writes or reports for the print media and cable or broadcast news services. There is a reference to the "electronic" delivery of news, but online journalists understandably complain that they aren't explicitly protected. They have a similar grievance with the House bill, which defines a covered person as someone for whom journalism represents "a substantial portion of the person's livelihood" or produces "substantial financial gain." Obviously not everyone who commits thoughts to cyberspace is a journalist in the sense intended by Auden. A shield law shouldn't protect libelous gossip on a teenager's MySpace page. But in the Internet era, not every public-spirited journalist works for a traditional newspaper or broadcast operation, and some don't work at all in the sense of receiving a regular paycheck. The final version of this overdue law should reflect that reality. (12/31)
benton.org/node/30892 | Los Angeles Times
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PAY-FOR INTERVIEWS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Bauder]
Policies forbidding payment for news interviews increasingly seem like the network television equivalent of the 55 mph speed limit: a rule often winked at unless you're heading into a speed trap. Three of the past month's accidental celebrities — Jasper Schuringa, who helped thwart an attack on a Detroit-bound plane; David Goldman, who took a custody fight for his son to Brazil; and the White House party-crashing Salahis — have either sought or received goodies from TV networks eager to hear their stories. Policies against paying for interviews are in place to avoid distorting the news. The concern is that news subjects will change their stories to make them more valuable or please those who paid them. Evasion efforts seem centered primarily on ultra-competitive morning news shows and prime-time magazines. These outlets now fight for stories that might have been considered tabloid fodder years ago, often against Web sites or other outlets that won't hesitate to pay for an interview or information. News organizations now frequently pay interview subjects for the use of personal photos or videos. Both CNN and ABC paid for a Schuringa photo, reportedly thousands of dollars, and insisted they were not paying for an interview. Yet the Web site Gawker.com said Shai Ben-Ami, a Schuringa friend who was helping arrange media appearances, made it clear the Dutch hero wouldn't speak to an outlet that didn't buy rights to a photo. Ben-Ami would not comment to The Associated Press.
benton.org/node/30891 | Associated Press
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DC Starts Year With Heat Wave

As members of Congress headed home after a late December session, a lot of unfinished business remained on the communications front. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission's broadband team was looking at the commission as a second home for the holidays, with officials working toward their looming Feb. 17 deadline for the national broadband plan.

The year ahead looks to be an extremely busy one, with the broadband plan implicating both broadcasting and cable (and virtually every other sector of the economy), media-ownership rules getting a vetting in the FCC and in the courts, network neutrality teed up, key court cases on content and network management, and perhaps even must-carry. Much of that action is front-loaded in January. A federal shield law will be on the docket for early 2010; Congress is slated to return on Jan. 19. The satellite distant-signal license also lost out to the dwindling calendar, plus a deal to let DISH Network back into the distant signal that made it too hot to handle before the holiday break. Lawmakers will only have six weeks (until March 1) to get a bill completed or pass another extension.

Broadcasters and financial types will gather at the FCC on Jan. 12 for the year's first workshop on media-ownership rules, with hope for some movement on that front supplied by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. That court has given the FCC until Jan. 7 to state why it should not lift the stay on the commission's loosening of the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules.

In Allowing Ad Blockers, a Test for Google

In a manifesto-like e-mail message sent last month to all Google employees, Jonathan Rosenberg, a senior vice president for product management, told them to commit to greater transparency and open industry standards. Rather than hoard knowledge to exploit it, he wrote in "The Meaning of Open," share it and watch Google and the entire Internet prosper. With the Chrome browser, however, Google's inclusive principles are being put to the test: a new version of the browser allows, one might even say encourages, users to stop Google ads from appearing.

How Google got to such a position speaks to the inherent dynamism (or is that chaos?) of business on the Internet. Google announced on Dec. 8 that the test, or beta, version of Chrome would accept extensions — little programs that improve or customize the browser's performance — as a way of harnessing the creativity of an outside community of programmers who would work free and agree to share what they make with others. The standard version should do likewise in a matter of months, Google said. Google's extensions mimic the "add-on" system that has flourished on the open-source Firefox browser.

As it happens, two 28-year-olds, Michael Gundlach, an independent programmer from outside Athens, Ga., and Tom Joseph, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Mount Sinai Medical School, separately went through the exact same experience. In telephone interviews, each told of excitedly looking to see if he could install a Chrome extension of his favorite Firefox add-on, Adblock Plus, which prevents ads from appearing on Web sites, whether bright flashing animation or the text ads that Google serves up after a search. They did not find one. So, naturally, each spent a day or so creating a rough version of such an extension, with much more work to come. AdThwart from Mr. Joseph is now No. 2 in popularity among the more than 1,200 Chrome extensions; AdBlock from Mr. Gundlach is No. 8. Together, they already have more than 120,000 users.

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