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  2. February 2010

February 2010

Google Buzz may put children at risk, parents fear

Parents and privacy watchdogs are sounding the alarm that Google's new social networking tool, called Buzz, may put children at risk. Google had already drawn sharp criticism from privacy watchdogs for the way it rolled out Buzz in millions of Gmail accounts.

Privacy expert Kathryn Montgomery, a professor at American University, urged the Federal Trade Commission to address the potential risks to kids. "Google Buzz is a new danger zone for children," Montgomery said. Google said it had no specific plans to tweak Buzz in response to parents' privacy concerns. In a statement, spokesman Scott Rubin said: "We designed Buzz to make it easy to have conversations with your friends about the things that interest you. Keeping kids safe online is very important to us." It can also be tricky. Privacy watchdogs have successfully hounded social networks in the past for not taking sufficient steps to protect children from predators and other dangers. By adding Buzz to its popular e-mail service, Google has brought new attention to how kids use Gmail and raised questions about how they may use it.

Sen. Al Franken wants all Comcast and NBC content available online

In written questions to Comcast and NBC Universal regarding their $30-billion proposed marriage, Sen Al Franken -- who has been one of the harshest critics of the deal -- wants Comcast and NBC Universal to promise that it will put all its television shows online.

He also wants assurances that shows that the companies put online be made available to every one and not just people who get their Internet service through Comcast. As Sen Franken notes in his questions to the two companies, "The Internet is the future of the media business." The media is pretty much in agreement with that. At the same time, though, the industry is not quite sure yet how to ensure that the Internet isn't also the end of the media business. Whether it is through charging for more content online or adding more advertising or being more selective with what goes online will be determined in the years to come.

Feingold Offers Tough Written Follow-Up to Zucker, Roberts

Sen Russ Feingold (D-WI) had some toughly-worded questions for Comcast and NBCU in a written follow-up to a Hill hearing on the proposed deal, including asking if the companies would be willing to divest all their Internet TV interests, stop bundling channels, and tie cable rate increases to the rate of inflation. It is essentially an anti-media consolidation wish list, according to a copy of written questions submitted to the witnesses following a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing two weeks ago. At that hearing, Feingold raised concerns about the deal with witnesses that included Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts and NBCU President Jeff Zucker. The tone of the written questions was decidedly accusatory.

CBS: Unlikely Guerrilla on The Internet

Could CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves be turning into a digital revolutionary?

Long an advocate of broadcast television, Moonves would appear to be squarely in the old-media camp. Even so, in recent years he has shown a greater willingness than most of his peers to experiment with digital delivery. CBS has put its programming out on the Web through hundreds of outlets, including Netflix and Web-enabled TV devices. Moonves said last week that CBS is willing to cut the price of shows it sells on Apple's iTunes to 99 cents. Of course, it is easier for CBS to take risks because it doesn't own a big portfolio of cable channels that generate fees from cable and satellite operators. But that is the point. Its lack of big cable channels is arguably now more a strength than a weakness, freeing CBS to try new things. Moreover, because CBS relies for most of its revenue on advertising and sales of its programs to other outlets, it has little choice but to focus on top-rated programming. Other companies, in contrast, generate fee revenue from low-rated channels because they are bundled with bigger ones.

Members of Parliament attack planned broadband tax

The UK government's planned 50 pence monthly tax on telephone lines to pay for superfast broadband has been criticized by a Labour-dominated group of Members of Parliament.

The Commons Business Committee said the new tax -- a centerpiece of June's Digital Britain report -- would unduly hit poorer families who were unlikely to pay for faster broadband. It said the "regressive" tax would "place a disproportionate cost on a majority who will not, or are unable to, reap the benefits of that charge". The committee's report also said the scheme, which is expected to raise £175m per year, could distort the market.

Apple Bans Some Apps for Sex-Tinged Content

Apple has started banning many applications for its iPhone that feature sexually suggestive material, including photos of women in bikinis and lingerie, a move that came as an abrupt surprise to developers who had been profiting from such programs.

The company's decision to remove the applications from its App Store over the last few days indicates that it is not interested in giving up its tight control over the software available there, even as competitors like Google take a more hands-off approach. When asked about the change, Apple said it was responding to complaints from App Store users. Among the victims of the purge was a game called SlideHer, a puzzle that challenged users to reassemble a photograph of a scantily clad actress. Another, Sexy Scratch Off, depicted a woman whose dress could be whisked away at the swipe of a finger, revealing her undergarments. Such programs often appeared on the store's list of most-downloaded apps.

Lab rats with cellphones?

[Commentary] We love our digital gadgets -- "magic" devices that define cool and promise to remake our lives for the better. But there is growing evidence of a dark side to the techno-magic. Your cellphone, and any other wireless device that depends on electromagnetic (EM) microwave radiation to function, may be hazardous to your health. Most of the bad news comes from major labs and research institutions in Europe. What they're reporting is that using cellphones and Wi-Fi transmitters -- which operate using similar frequencies -- can have biological effects on the brain and body. The scientific debate remains heated and far from resolved. But the research to date suggests a number of chilling possibilities as to what EM radiation may be doing to us.

UN warns about tech waste in developing world

Sales of household electrical gadgets will boom across the developing world in the next decade, wreaking environmental havoc if there are no new strategies to deal with the discarded TVs, cell phones and computers, a United Nations report said Monday.

The environmental and health hazards posed by the globe's mounting electronic waste are particularly urgent in developing countries, which are already dumping grounds for rich nations' high-tech trash, the U.N. Environment Program study said. Electronic waste is piling up around the world at a rate estimated at 40 million U.S. tons (36 million metric tons) a year, the report said, noting that data remain insufficient. China produces 2.6 million U.S. tons (2.3 million metric tons) of electronic waste a year, second only to the United States with 3.3 million U.S. tons (3 million metric tons), it said. UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said the globe was ill-prepared to deal with the explosion of electronic gadgets over the past decade.

Headlines will return TUESDAY, February 23

Headlines is off to explore wireless broadband solutions* in Cameron County (TX). We'll be back TUESDAY, February 23.

Feb 18, 2010 (A Bold National Broadband Plan)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2010

Headlines is off to explore wireless broadband solutions* in Cameron County (TX). We'll be back TUESDAY, February 23.


NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
   Groups Push FCC to be Bold in National Broadband Plan
   America's 2020 Broadband Vision
   Mark Cooper Says FCC's Broadband Proposal Falls Short
   TechNet Called for 100/100 Broadband Solution -- In 2002!

THE STIMULUS
   ARRA Annual Report

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   How to Make the Internet a Lot Faster
   What Google Broadband Can Do for You
   Small telcos face uncertain future in post-PSTN world

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   Everybody Hertz: Spectrum Crisis by 2013
   Full Nelson: Mobile World War Breaks Out In Barcelona
   See also: Tech Industry Catches Its Breath
   Skype in a Struggle to Be Heard on Mobile Phones
   Concessions offered on T-Mobile-Orange deal

CYBERSECURITY
   More than 75,000 computer systems hacked in one of largest cyber attacks

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Examining the US response to Iran's censorship on anniversary of revolution

CONTENT
   Google content-filter patent about copyright, not censorship
   Is There a Master Metric for Evaluating Public Media?
   Facebook Defeats Yahoo to Become America's Second Most Popular Website

MORE ONLINE
US seeks examiner for Tribune bankruptcy | Department of Defense pursues Net Generation for IT workforce | Consumers watch their bills as utilities get smart | More Lucrative Business Travelers Now Teleconference, Fly Coach | Google Gives to Wikipedia | Both parties oppose unlimited corporate spending on elections, poll finds | Disney's film faces boycott in Europe | HHS panel says ease 2011 meaningful use tests

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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN

GROUPS PUSH FCC TO BE BOLD IN NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Media and Democracy Coalition, AUTHOR: Press release]
A coalition of public interest and consumer groups is urging the Federal Communications Commission to include a set of bold benchmarks and policies in the agency's upcoming National Broadband Plan. The public interest and consumer coalition urged the Commission, at minimum, embrace the following five benchmarks:
1) The FCC should set a goal that U.S. broadband adoption of world- class networks shall equal to current rate of telephone adoption (over 90%) by 2020.
2) The FCC should set a goal of substantially improving the level of competition between providers of broadband Internet access to move the country out of a stagnant duopoly by the end of 2012.
3) The FCC should set a goal of establishing real consumer protections for broadband customers within 12-18 months.
4) The FCC should set a goal of implementing new broadband data collection standards and rules for utilizing that data in market analyses by the end of 2010.
5) The FCC should set a goal of establishing rules protecting open markets for speech and commerce on broadband networks as soon as feasible.
Benton Foundation CEO Charles benton said, "In addition to promoting jobs and economic development, the ARRA's broadband stimulus programs should help develop community-based models for broadband deployment, adoption and meaningful use in unserved and underserved populations. The private sector alone has not gotten us to universal broadband, a requirement for everyone to be able to participate fully in our economy and civic life. What we learn from the successes and failures of BTOP and BIP funding will help shape the government's future role in broadband rollout and adoption for years to come."
benton.org/node/32376 | Media and Democracy Coalition | The Hill
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AMERICA'S 2020 BROADBAND VISION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
The National Broadband Plan will describe concrete ways in which broadband can be a part of 21st century solutions to some of our nation's most pressing challenges. By setting ambitious goals and laying out proposals to connect all Americans to a world-class broadband infrastructure, we will help secure our country's global competitiveness for generations to come. The FCC's National Broadband Plan will include the following key recommendations:
100 Squared Initiative: 100 million households at a minimum of 100 megabits per second (Mbs) -- the world's largest market of high-speed broadband users -- to ensure that new businesses are created in America and stay in America.
Broadband Testbeds: Encourage the creation of ultra high-speed broadband testbeds as fast, or faster, than any Internet service in the world, so that America is hosting the experiments that produce tomorrow's ideas and industries.
Digital Opportunities: Expand digital opportunities by moving our adoption rates from roughly 65 percent to more than 90 percent and making sure that every child in America is digitally literate by the time he or she leaves high school.
The National Broadband Plan will chart a clear path forward -- ensuring that broadband is our enduring engine for creating jobs and growing our economy, for spreading knowledge and enhancing civic engagement, for advancing a healthier, sustainable way of life. Pursuing the opportunity of universal broadband is, I believe, a universal goal. Our technology future is one that we can -- and must -- create together.
benton.org/node/32375 | Federal Communications Commission
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MARK COOPER SAYS FCC'S BROADBAND PLAN FALLS SHORT
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Consumer Federation of America's Mark Cooper warned Wednesday that a Federal Communications Commission proposal to bring ultrafast broadband service to 100 million households over the next decade -- at the speed of 100 megabits per second -- would leave up to 30 million households without access to the technology. Cooper is encouraged by the agency's goal, which he described as "bold," he worried that it falls short of the mark (all puns intended). Noting there will be 130 million US households by 2020, Cooper urged the FCC to set the goal to reach 120 million households with ultrafast broadband. He said it is a realistic figure consistent with the agency's push to raise the broadband adoption rate from 65 percent to 90 percent by 2020.
benton.org/node/32374 | CongressDaily
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TECHNET CALLED FOR 100/100 BROADBAND SOLUTION -- IN 2002!
[SOURCE: Cisco, AUTHOR: Press release]
January 15, 2002: The Technology Network (TechNet), a national network of CEOs from the nation's leading technology companies, today called on the federal government to adopt a goal of 100 megabits per second to 100 million homes and small businesses by the end of the decade. Tech Net CEOs said that the U.S. could reap enormous benefits from increased broadband deployment and outlined policy principles designed to speed deployment.
benton.org/node/32373 | Cisco
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THE STIMULUS

ARRA ANNUAL REPORT
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Vice President Joe Biden]
Vice President Joe Biden sent President Barack Obama a report on the first year of implementation of the American Recovery and reinvestment Act, signed into law on February 17, 2009. By design, the Recovery Act had three primary purposes: Rescue, Recovery and Reinvestment. The report reviews progress in each of these three areas. Almost 20 million Americans have gotten extended unemployment benefits thanks to the Act, and over 95 percent of working families have had their taxes cut. Jobs have been created thanks to tens of thousands of projects now underway nationwide. And the groundwork for the economy of the next century is being put in place as we invest in high speed rail, health technology, broadband, a smarter electrical grid, clean cars and batteries, and renewable energy. And areas such as HHS's Health IT program, DOE's smart grid or loan guarantee programs, Commerce's and USDA's broadband programs, or DOT's high speed rail program have all started or finished awarding their funds, have all started obligating their funds, and will all play a bigger role in recovery in the year ahead.
benton.org/node/32366 | White House, The | USAToday | White House stats | USDA
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

HOW TO MAKE THE INTERNET A LOT FASTER
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Erica Naone]
Experts believe that the key to successful very-high-speed broadband doesn't lie in fiber alone. To really speed up the Internet, Google will have to operate at many levels of its infrastructure. Gigabit-per-second speeds are much faster than, for example, the speed currently offered by high-speed services such as Verizon FiOS. However, Google's network won't be the first to reach such speeds. There are several such deployments internationally, including in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Australia. Internet2, a nonprofit advanced networking consortium in the United States, has been experimenting with very-high-speed Internet for more than a decade, routinely offering 10-gigabit connections to university researchers. Existing applications for very-high-speed Internet include the transfer of very large files, streaming high-definition (and possibly 3-D) video, video conferencing, and gaming. Some experts speculate that accessing large data files and applications through the cloud may also require better broadband. "Just big pipes alone to an end user does not necessarily guarantee that you can deliver high-end applications," says Gary Bachula, vice president of external relations for Internet2. There are many factors beyond raw bandwidth, Bachula says. For example, an improperly configured router or a university firewall can affect performance and end up acting as a network bottleneck. "You need to have open networks, you need to publish your performance data, you need to have people troubleshoot your network remotely," says Bachula. In recent years, Internet2 has been researching tools and technologies that can help find and resolve the performance issues that occur on high-speed connections "in a systematic and seamless way." Ideally, he says, consumers as well as network managers would be able to use these tools to diagnose the network.
benton.org/node/32388 | Technology Review
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WHAT GOOGLE BROADBAND CAN DO FOR YOU
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Karen Wilkinson]
Cities and rural communities across the United States are lining up with requests for information (RFI) and dreams of being chosen. With promises of Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than average American households (about one gigabit per second), the excitement of those vying to be part of the "experiment" is close to that of kids in a candy store. "There's a lot of enthusiasm out there from people who want better and faster broadband," Google spokesman Dan Martin said. "We've received responses from more than a dozen communities and several thousand responses from citizens." Cities and towns in states such as Virginia, Missouri, New York and others are gearing to apply. Google plans to offer such services at "a competitive price" to at least 50,000 and up to 500,000 people. Groups supporting the opportunity have already sprouted up on social networking sites such as Facebook.com, with Baton Rouge, La., attracting more than 1,500 people less than a week after the company's announcement, Martin said."We're excited [about] what people are going to do with these ultra-high speeds," Martin said, noting that Google isn't trying to compete with the broadband industry. "Our goal in doing this is to push the Internet forward and test and experiment in ways to make it faster for people." Just where and how far that push takes the virtual world is something no one can predict, Martin said.
benton.org/node/32372 | Government Technology
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SMALL TELCOS FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
The Federal Communications Commission's suggestion to possibly phase out the public switched telephone network (PSTN) in favor of an Internet protocol (IP)-based broadband network, followed by an endorsement from AT&T, has made some small telcos question whether there will be a role for them in tomorrow's telecom market. Complicating matters are anticipated changes to the Universal Service program, on which many small telcos rely. A wide range of industry players have recommended that the Universal Service program be extended to cover broadband, but some have suggested that only one wireline carrier and one wireless carrier should be covered in any individual area. A large part of the nation's 800 small incumbent telcos relies on Universal Service, and those carriers are wondering: If all these changes come to pass, will they be anointed as the wireline broadband provider or not? And if not, is there a future for them at all?
benton.org/node/32371 | Connected Planet
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

SPECTRUM CRISIS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
Network Neutrality may get all the headlines, but the far bigger battle brewing is the conflict over access to spectrum. As network-connected devices such as data cards, smartphones and network-connected gadgets from refrigerators to cars proliferate; the demand for spectrum could outstrip the supply. Most experts believe we will have to rely on both technologists and regulators to meet the demands that consumers are currently placing on the mobile broadband infrastructure operated by carriers, and we'll have to do these things sooner rather than later. The demand for mobile broadband will surpass the spectrum available to meet it in mid-2013, according to Peter Rysavy, a wireless analyst. In a report on the looming spectrum crisis that was sponsored by Research in Motion for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Rysavy explains how the demand for bandwidth-consuming services used by more and more people will lead to a crappy user experience, or heavy-handed pricing and limitations on mobile application from carriers absent new spectrum allocations. Rysavy estimates that even if the government allocates new spectrum for carriers, it wouldn't be available for five to seven more years thanks to a slow-moving political process. At the current rate of mobile broadband usage growth we will run out of spectrum well before that time. There are plenty of alternatives before we declare an airwave Armageddon. The quest for spectral efficiency through technologies such as MIMO and moving from 3G to 4G will net big gains for operators. As engineers cram more bits into each hertz, policy makers like Genachowski and members of Congress evaluating our nation's current spectrum use, will be weighing the cost of taking spectrum away from existing users, such as the broadcast television business or the Department of Defense, and reallocating it to mobile broadband. That policy discussion will involve bitter fights over the right to use the airwaves, whether or not the spectrum allocations should be auctioned off to the existing carriers, AND whether it should be unlicensed or licensed. While some argue that Congress shouldn't get involved, policy issues will be an important piece of the solution as well. Engineers are doing their part, and Congress will need to do so, as well. By giving out spectrum too soon, industry won't have the opportunity to learn to thrive within its means and let new technology and business innovation show the way to handle the increased data consumption.
benton.org/node/32370 | GigaOm | GigaOm | Reuters
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MOBILE WORLD WAR BREAKS OUT IN BARCELONA
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Fritz Nelson]
[Commentary] At least several hundred exhibitors are here this week in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress. Each of them seems to be launching either a new app store or a new operating platform. What these inescapable announcements fetch in buzz and inventiveness, they misjudge in audience tolerance. The impact goes beyond mere ennui, of which there is plenty, and touches at the heart of what makes a corporate mobile strategy nearly impossible to birth: There are too many choices. Make no mistake: The platform wars will rage for years, and the corporate IT manager could suffer the casualties. Not only must IT choose a platform its user base will be happy with, and that it can adequately support and manage (securely), but it must also choose based on the company's overall mobile strategy. If it ignores the last part, it will miss a major opportunity to increase productivity by extending its applications to those mobile platforms -- an easy task when a single platform becomes the corporate standard.
benton.org/node/32369 | InformationWeek
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SKYPE ON MOBILE PHONES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O'Brien]
In a world where network neutrality has become a rallying cry for advocates of an unfettered Internet, Skype, the pioneer in low-cost and even free online calls, has become a prime example of the limits of wireless freedom. In the United States, Skype is blocked on mobile networks, and the service is available only on the Apple iPhone over Wi-Fi. AT&T, the exclusive American carrier for the iPhone, has said that it would allow Skype and voice-over-Internet-protocol services to operate on its 3G network, but Skype has not made an application available. In Europe, Skype is carried by the company 3 in Britain, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Italy and Sweden. But many other cellular operators still block its calls, prohibit their customers from downloading Skype's software or outlaw the use of VoIP service in standard sales contracts. Some carriers are imposing fees to undermine Skype's attraction. In Germany, customers of T-Mobile can place calls using Skype, but only if they pay an extra 10 euros, or $13.60, a month. German customers of the Vodafone Group can use the service for an extra 5 euros a month. However, the barriers to Skype and similar Internet calling services, like Google Voice, are coming under increasing scrutiny as the Internet goes mobile. By 2013, the number of Internet-ready mobile phones will surpass the number of computers in the world for the first time, according to Gartner, a research firm. "Such practices illustrate how operators' business models based on control and discrimination of data flows really harm competition as well as the fundamental freedom of communication allowed by Internet," said Jérémie Zimmermann, the director of La Quadrature du Net, a group in Paris that opposes efforts to control public access to the Internet.
benton.org/node/32385 | New York Times
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T-MOBILE-ORANGE CONCESSIONS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Parker, Nikki Tait]
France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom have offered concessions to the European Commission in order to get regulatory approval for a merger of their mobile phone businesses in the UK. But the offer might not be enough to secure rapid approval from Brussels, due to protests from other UK mobile operators that they do not go far enough. A merger of France Telecom's Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile UK was proposed last September, in a move that would create Britain's largest mobile operator, with 29.5m customers. Last week, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom told the Commission that the combined entity would be prepared to relinquish up to 25 per cent of the spectrum it will hold at the 1800 MHz bandwidth. The Orange/T-Mobile entity would hold the bulk of the UK's 1800 MHz spectrum, which is suitable for the fourth-generation wireless technology that will provide faster web browsing on mobile phones. By offering the concessions, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are hoping they can secure approval for the merger by next month. They want to avoid the Commission launching an in-depth investigation that would last several more months.
benton.org/node/32383 | Financial Times | Wall Street Journal
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CYBERSECURITY

LARGE CYBER ATTACK
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
More than 75,000 computer systems at nearly 2,500 companies in the United States and around the world have been hacked in what appears to be one of the largest and most sophisticated attacks by cyber criminals discovered to date, according to security firm NetWitness. The attack, which began in late 2008 and was discovered last month, targeted proprietary corporate data, e-mails, credit-card transaction data and login credentials at companies in the health and technology industries in 196 countries, according to NetWitness. The attack it is significant in its scale and in its apparent demonstration that the criminal groups' sophistication in cyberattacks is approaching that of nation states such as China and Russia. The attack also highlights the inability of the private sector -- including industries that would be expected to employ the most sophisticated cyber defenses -- to protect itself.
benton.org/node/32386 | Washington Post
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

US RESPONSE TO IRAN
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: ]
The Iranian government's blanket censorship of satellite and Internet communications last week was so effective, it led many to wonder: Why didn't the U.S. government do more to stop it? Despite strong statements from Foggy Bottom, the White House appears to be treading carefully. Three sources tell the Cable that the National Security Council discouraged Jeff Trimble, executive director of the Broadcasting Board of Governors -- the independent agency that oversees the government's media operations, including Voice of America -- from allowing VOA to attach its name to a statement last week with Deutsche Welle and the BBC protesting Iranian signal-jamming. According to e-mails from Trimble to several Broadcasting Board of Governors staffers, the NSC first didn't want the VOA to join the statement if it mentioned "jamming." Later, the NSC modified its position to object to the use of the term "intensified jamming."
benton.org/node/32387 | Washington Post
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CONTENT

GOOGLE CONTENT FILTER
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Ryan Paul]
Google has been awarded a patent that describes a software method for selectively restricting the availability of content on the basis of access privileges and geographical location. On the surface, it may look like this patent covers techniques for censoring politically sensitive content in specific countries—a practice that Google has recently spoken out against in its ongoing feud with China. A closer look at the patent's claims, however, shows that it has little to do with censorship and may actually relate to the company's controversial book scanning initiative. Patent #7,664,751, "Variable user interface based on document access privileges," submitted to the patent office in September, 2004 and was awarded to Google on Tuesday. Like most patents, it is written to be very broad, but it identifies some specific use cases. The major case it covers is a system where the availability of scanned documents, such as books and magazines, is constrained to selected portions or restricted entirely based on access privileges that are derived from copyright law and other related factors. In cases where access is limited or restricted, the patent explains that the software could supply the user with links to buy the full document.
benton.org/node/32367 | Ars Technica
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IS THERE A MASTER METRIC FOR EVALUATING PUBLIC MEDIA?
[SOURCE: MediaShift, AUTHOR: Jessica Clark, Katie Donnelly]
[Commentary] How are Public Media 2.0 projects measuring their success in informing and engaging publics? We've identified five elements to explore; each of these elements represents a measurable category of activity that helps media projects convene publics around issues:
Reach: How many people encounter the project across various screens and streams: TV, radio, streaming audio, blogs and websites, Twitter, iTunes, mobile applications, and more?
Relevance: Is the media project topical within the larger news cycle? Is it designed to stay relevant over several news cycles? Is it particularly relevant to targeted publics concerned with a specific issue, location, or event?
Inclusion: Does the project address a diverse range of targeted audience, not just in terms of race, but in terms of gender, age, class, geographical location and beliefs? How open is the architecture for participation, collaboration and discussion?
Engagement: Does the project move users to action: to subscribe to a site, contribute material, to write a letter in response, to pass on a link, donate time and money, sign a petition or contact a leader?
Influence: Does the project challenge or put the frame on important issues? Does it target "influentials"?Is it "spreadable" or buzzworthy?
benton.org/node/32365 | MediaShift
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FACEBOOK DEFEATS YAHOO
[SOURCE: theNextWeb.com, AUTHOR: Zee]
Facebook has surpassed Yahoo as America's second most popular website, leaving only Google in wait. This last month saw Facebook reach 133 million unique visitors in the US, surpassing Yahoo's 132 million. It is important to remember however that Yahoo does contain a number of subdomains which will be excluded from figures and similarly, the likes of delicious and Flickr are also discounted. In Facebook's case, the company is smart to place everything under their one domain. When it comes to engagement, Facebook wins hands down.
benton.org/node/32364 | theNextWeb.com
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