March 2010

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010

Sure, it's Friday, but there's still plenty broadband to talk about http://bit.ly/aAsiON

BROADBAND
   Bandwidth Is the New Black Gold
   European Countries Leave U.S. Trailing in Race for Universal Broadband
   Mignon Clyburn's Courage
   FiOS buildout is dying
   Report shows history of industry efforts to suppress broadband data collection
   Groups Endorse FCC's Broadband Adoption Recommendations
   Verizon Wireless' tech chief says unlimited Internet access 'has to change'
   FCC Introduces First Mobile App, Consumer Broadband Test, and Broadband Dead Zone Report
   Proposed USF reforms could threaten small telcos
   What Google broadband should mean to your telco business
   Broadband Infrastructure Policy for the 21st Century
   Boucher Forging Ahead on Universal Service
    See also:Universal Broadband Offers Potential for Businesses and Residents
   Broadband, Opportunity, and Country Music

TELEVISION
   Recap: Consumers, Competition, and Consolidation in the Video and Broadband Market
   FCC: Retransmission Framework Under Review
   Sports and Weather, Crime, Fluff Dominate LA TV News
   Putting the Public Back into Public Interest Broadcasting
   What?! Another Time Warner Cable rate hike?
   Apple Waits in Wings as Cable's TV Everywhere Stamps Out Free
   Changing Channels, From Cable to the Web
   Small Michigan Television Station Is 'Priced to Sell' on eBay
   Dutch telecom regulator publishes "final" Open Cable rules
This headline is presented in partnership with:

SPECTRUM
   Congress wants big National Security exemptions for spectrum inventory

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Report: More Countries Moved To Restrict Net in '09
   Online censorship more sophisticated, report finds
   Google Prepares to Stop Censoring in China
   UK Telecom Industry attacks Digital Economy Bill amendment
   Obama's $79 Billion Tech Plan May Favor Web Programs
   Weighing text-lobbying during public meetings

CONTENT
   Obama Reiterates Support For Finishing ACTA
   Twitter And Facebook Creating Challenges for US Courts
   Instant Ads Set the Pace on the Web
   Pink Floyd wins battle with EMI over online sales

HEALTH
   ONC publishes certification rule, triggers comment period
   Healthcare IT Workgroup Tackles Privacy
   FDA To Regulate Online Drug Ads

MORE ONLINE
Senate approves R&D tax credit | National GPS Usage Data Reveals Walmart is Nation's Most Searched for Destination While on the Road | Telepresence: Not just for meetings any more | The Internet of Things | Automating Conflict-Of-Interest Reporting | FTC looks at the impact of cloud computing | Rob Glaser Defines the Superphone and Predicts the Mobile Future | Microsoft Giving Free Technology Training to Thousands of Californians | States Bring Purpose-Driven Social Networking Tools to Schools | The Light from Your Desk Lamp Could Carry Broadband Signals | No Taxes on DOE's Smart Grid Stimulus Grants | Only 21% of Twitter members are active, report says | Google still tops, but Bing inches ahead in search market | Chambers: How I'll make Cisco into IT's biggest player | Health Care Debate Back Atop Public's News Agenda | Information handcuffs: Counterterrorism IT needs support from the top, Congress told | New Consortium Funded by the European Commission Established to Increase Mobile Broadband

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BROADBAND

BANDWIDTH IS THE NEW BLACK GOLD
[SOURCE: Time, AUTHOR: Tim Wu]
[Commentary] There's an increasing shortage of bandwidth relative to Americans' growing appetite for it. Americans love their smart phones and Internet television as much as they love their cars and air conditioners. When you have a scarce resource, an industry run as an oligopoly and a population that can't get enough, you have all the ingredients for the first new resource crisis of the millennium. In time, the mere slowdowns we see today may be eclipsed by full-scale information traffic jams. But beyond that, the deeper problems will be with high prices and possible profiteering. As demand for bandwidth goes up, suppliers will logically be able to charge more, as happens in energy markets. Something will have to give. It is unlikely that the American appetite for bandwidth will diminish anytime soon, nor is it even clear that we want it to. But if we want the pleasure and convenience of a high-bandwidth society, someone will need to figure out a solution to the bandwidth dilemma soon. [Wu is a professor of law at Columbia University]
benton.org/node/33116 | Time
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EUROPEAN COUNTRIES LEAVE US TRAILING IN UNIVERSAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Philip Hunter]
European countries are adopting measures to reach 100 percent broadband penetration ­ and they're going to reach that goal well before the United States. This is partly because European regions tend to be more densely populated, often with shorter distances to their remote communities. Some have fewer topographic challenges than others, making it easier to bring broadband to all homes. However, in many cases Europeans are benefiting from firm commitments from local and central governments that began as many as 10 years ago. Such commitment led Finland to become the first European country to legislate for universal broadband in October 2009, requiring telecommunications firms to provide residents with access at 1 megabit or more by July 2010. By December 2010, each region will have a telecom firm subject to a Universal Service Order, as defined by the European Union in its i2010 strategy to heal the digital divide among its member states. Others are following Finland's move. Austria set a target of 25 mbps for its residents by 2013, aiming to achieve this through legislation stimulating wholesale provision and cooperative ventures between operators. Universal provision is certainly far easier for some countries to provide than others. Finland was well placed since 96 percent of its people were already within reach of broadband by 2005. Some, including the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, now have virtually 100 percent coverage anyway, compared with 98.5 percent in France, 95 percent in Germany, and just 82 percent in the United States, according to a report from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
benton.org/node/33115 | BroadbandBreakfast.com | OECD
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MIGNON CLYBURN'S COURAGE
[SOURCE: dslprime, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn gave the keynote at the FCC/Newseum praising the plan's National Digital Literacy Corps. Well and good, she said the next day, but nothing affects the poor more than the price. In a D.C. bombshell, Clyburn tore into the carriers for sabotaging U.S. broadband with higher prices. Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon have just announced $500M in broadband price increases. The cost of providing broadband continues to fall. Wall Street pegs margins at 80%. But the cablecos and telcos are mostly competing on how quickly they can raise prices, and wireless will never be more than a partial substitute. The solution isn't easy, because the cost advantages of scale probably will prevent any strong competitor emerging. Economists don't have answers for what to do when competition is weak other than some exercise of government power, but traditional regulation is no panacea. Hard decisions are needed, however, unless the U.S. is comfortable with an overpriced and occasionally inferior Internet.
benton.org/node/33114 | dslprime
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BROADBAND BUILDOUT DYING
[SOURCE: dslprime, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
[Commentary] Verizon is changing. The company has canceled planned FiOS deployments for all new territories. Instead, Verizon "will now focus on installing its network and gaining market share within the areas where it already has agreements." Verizon has buildout commitments to New York and other cities that will keep some crews working, but had already suggested they might cut FiOS builds by 2/3rds in 2011. This is now a further cutback, canceling areas that for years they had been promising to serve. Verizon's Harry Mitchell sends their perspective. "The bottom line is that Verizon said in 2004 we'd build to pass about 18 million homes by year-end 2010, and we're on track to do that with the franchises we currently have. Of course, we will also meet any buildout commitments we made in individual jurisdictions beyond 2010." Verizon smells incentives in the National Broadband Plan and ISPs are cutting back their own investment and then demanding the government pay them instead. 2009 was almost certainly the worst year in a decade for expanding broadband in the U.S. Company after company cancelled firm plans waiting for the government to pay them for what they intended to do without subsidy.
benton.org/node/33113 | dslprime
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INDUSTRY SUPPRESSES BROADBAND DATA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
In "Industry Lobby Keeps Public in the Dark About Broadband," John Dunbar, director of American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop, details a history of industry efforts to prevent regulators from getting information to map what homes are getting service, the prices they pay and the speeds that they are offered. Without such data, regulators will be hamstrung in their efforts to bring universal broadband, public interest advocates say And the Obama administration's allocation of $350 million in stimulus funds for a new mapping program appears riddled with weaknesses, they say. "The lack of requirement for robust, public data in the legislation is no accident," Dunbar writes. Public interest groups say in the report that accurate data in small geographies would show if poorer neighborhoods have slower speeds, higher prices and few options among service providers.
benton.org/node/33129 | Washington Post
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GROUPS ENDORSE FCC'S BROADBAND ADOPTION RECOMMENDATIONS
[SOURCE: ZeroDivide, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, One Economy and ZeroDivide submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission in support of the broadband adoption and utilization recommendations expected to be included in the National Broadband Plan. The letter reads in part: "The plan's adoption and utilization recommendations are targeted, collaborative, and local: a focus that is required to produce meaningful results. We are heartened that the FCC clearly understands that government alone cannot solve the nation's adoption gaps. The non-profit and foundation communities, state and local governments, and the private sector all have an interest in increased adoption, and all must play a constructive role." The FCC is preparing to deliver the first-ever National Broadband Plan to Congress on March 17th. The letter is signed by more than 30 organizations representing a broad range of the American public: from the National Urban League and Communication Workers of America, to the National Black Programming Consortium, Connected Nation and the Benton Foundation.
benton.org/node/33128 | ZeroDivide
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THE END OF UNLIMITED WIRELESS DATA PLANS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Mark Milian]
The two largest U.S. wireless carriers agree that the days of unlimited Internet cellphone access are numbered. A week after AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said the telecom industry would transition to "variable pricing," Verizon Wireless Chief Technology Officer Anthony Melone chimed in to support the idea.
benton.org/node/33127 | Los Angeles Times
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FCC INTRODUCES CONSUMER BROADBAND TOOLS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission launched new digital tools -- the Consumer Broadband Test and the Broadband Dead Zone Report -- that allow consumers to test their broadband service and report areas where broadband is not available. The Consumer Broadband Test measures broadband quality indicators such as speed and latency, and reports that information to consumers and the FCC. The mobile version -- the FCC's first mobile app -- is available through the Apple and Android app stores. The fixed version is available at www.broadband.gov. Two popular broadband testing tools are used in this beta version -- the Ookla, Inc. Speed Test and the Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) running on the Measurement Lab (M-Lab) platform. In the future, the FCC anticipates making additional broadband testing applications available for consumer use. The Commission does not endorse any specific testing application. The Broadband Dead Zone Report enables Americans to submit the street address location of a broadband "Dead Zone" where broadband is unavailable for purchase. The Broadband Dead Zone Report form is available on www.broadband.gov. Consumers can also submit availability information by e-mail to fccinfo@fcc.gov. Those who lack online access can call the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC.
benton.org/node/33112 | Federal Communications Commission | more from the FCC | The Hill | B&C
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PROPOSED USF REFORMS COULD THREATEN SMALL TELCOS
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Proposed reforms to the Universal Service Fund -- expected to be part of the National Broadband Plan next week -- are a mixed bag for small telephone companies. On the plus side, the small telcos stand to gain one critical goal that they and others have been asking for -- support for broadband network deployment. The Federal Communications Commission plans to transition today's voice-based high-cost fund to a new fund, dubbed "Connect America" with the goal of bringing broadband to 99% of Americans by 2020 (although exact broadband speeds have not yet been revealed.) Small wireline telcos also will be pleased to learn that the FCC wants to phase down high-cost USF support for the competitive eligible telecommunications carriers that have caused the high-cost fund to grow in recent years. But winnowing down the number of carriers receiving USF funding also poses a threat to small incumbent telcos. As anticipated, FCC officials said the new broadband fund will cover only one provider of fixed broadband services -- which could be fiber-based or fixed wireless -- in a geographic area. And there's no assurance that the incumbent will be that carrier.
benton.org/node/33111 | Connected Planet
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WHAT GOOGLE BROADBAND SHOULD MEAN TO YOUR TELCO BUSINESS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Craig Settles]
[Commentary] After several trips to the Capitol over the past year, I'm convinced by comments heard and overheard that lots of people in D.C. need to get out more. Out to the small towns, the 'hood, the barrios, the sticks. With a mandate to pay close attention and listen to what's being said. Telecom folks react loudly to what they hear, but the industry's not listening, absorbing the details, nuances and hints embedded in what consumers and businesses are saying. You're focused on shaping outcomes, come hell or high water. But you need to do a way better job of meeting consumers' and businesses' needs. It's more profitable. As a marketing professional, industry analyst and generally astute observer, I believe the big telco and carrier executives suffer from market myopia due to a lack-of-listening disease that afflicts the rest of their organizations. You can spend a fortune telling people what you want them to buy, or go into the communities to actually listen and respond to what they need. You can abandon markets by dumping copper, or capture markets by dumping technology that you believe only can be profitable by capping and metering its use. Small telcos can do yourselves a big favor by embracing the fact voice and data are irreversibly intertwined as digital communications and require newer business models than from the days when telecom was "mature" and datacom was new. You can continue to fight local governments that want to build what their market-constituents--want, or do like Google and let them take the lead as business partners. You can continue to tinker with making train technology and train business models work, but people want to fly.
benton.org/node/33110 | Fierce
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BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Thomas Koutsky]
The broadband networks of the 21st century frequently depend upon the policies that government has for infrastructure that is decidedly 20th century—wooden utility poles, conduits underneath bridges, and easements alongside America's roads and highways. Because government controls and regulates many of these infrastructure inputs, there is a tremendous opportunity for enlightened public policy to spur and accelerate broadband deployment. The draft Plan makes several recommendations that build upon successful efforts undertaken by state and local governments with regard to these important assets. First, the Plan recommends a comprehensive approach for resetting government policy toward new network construction, which often depends upon access to government rights-of-way, buildings and facilities. Second, the Plan makes a number of recommendations designed to maximize utilization of existing infrastructure assets, such as poles and conduits that are controlled by private utilities. Today, the FCC has the responsibility to ensure that utilities that control access to these infrastructure facilities offer them up to telecommunications and cable providers on just and reasonable rates, terms and conditions. But the process can be slow and costly, and get bogged down in disputes that linger for months if not years. These disputes go both ways -- in addition to the needs of communication companies for timely and efficient access, electric utilities have legitimate concerns about safety that need to be addressed and enforced. The Plan recommends several changes to the FCC's pole attachment regulations that are designed to speed the process, facilitate the exchange of information between pole owners and attachers, lower costs, and resolve disputes efficiently.
benton.org/node/33088 | Federal Communications Commission
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CHAIRMAN BOUCHER ON USF REFORM
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald, David Hatch]
On March 10, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) said he hopes to mark up his draft universal service legislation this month. Chairman Boucher and Rep Lee Terry (R-NE) released a draft of their bill in November that would expand the base of corporate contributors to the federal fund, cap its size and widen its mission to encompass broadband. Chairman Boucher said Wednesday that he has spent many hours "trying to finalize it," but couldn't say when he would have a final draft. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to include in the National Broadband Plan recommendations to transition the Universal Service Fund, which now subsidizes mostly traditional phone costs in low-income and rural areas, to support broadband deployment and adoption. Boucher says his plan and the FCC's have the same goal, but they differ on some details.
benton.org/node/33087 | CongressDaily
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TELEVISION

RECAP OF SENATE COMCAST-NBC HEARING
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on March 11 to investigate issues raised by the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal. Although it was the fourth Congressional hearing on the deal, it was the first to included testimony from the heads of the two agencies that will review the deal -- the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division and the Federal Communications Commission. However, both were restricted from discussing any specifics while it is still under government review. They pledged to closely scrutinize the transaction's impact on consumers and the marketplace. While the FCC's focus will be on how the transaction will serve the public interest, the DOJ will review the deal for its effect on competition. The FCC is set to release its public notice on the transaction in the next three days. The DOJ has also begun its review and the size of the deal will not be the determining factor in an antitrust review. Senators views on the role of those watchdogs fell largely along party lines. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/33108 | US Senate Commerce Committee | Chairman Rockefeller | Sen Hutchison | Chairman Genachowski | Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney | WashPost | The Hill | MediaWeek | Bloomberg | TheWrap | B&C | B&C | BroadbandBreakfast.com | TechDailyDose
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FCC REVIEWING RETRANSMISSION FRAMEWORK
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
At the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal merger, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski indicated that the FCC has been actively considering the retransmission consent framework since late December when a dispute between Fox and Time Warner Cable threatened some consumers access to college football bowl games. He said a lot of consumers were concerned and wondered why they should be affected by the business dispute between the two companies. But he also said those companies have a right to engage in those transactions and negotiate the terms. He said the FCC is increasingly hearing arguments that the retrans framework in place "for a long time" may have "lost pace" with marketplace changes. He said the commission is beginning the process of reviewing whether there are improvements that can be made and "whether reforms are sensible."
benton.org/node/33107 | Broadcasting&Cable
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SPORTS & WEATHER, CRIME, FLUFF DOMINATE LA TV NEWS
[SOURCE: USC Annenberg Norman Lear Centertainment, AUTHOR: ]
Los Angeles may be hemorrhaging red ink, but "if it bleeds it leads" doesn't apply to news coverage of its fiscal woes. Though crime led local TV news in Los Angeles on one out of three broadcasts, stories about L.A.'s budget crisis topped local news only one time out of 100. An average half-hour of L.A. local news packed all its local government coverage -- including budget, law enforcement, education, layoffs, new ordinances, voting procedures, personnel changes, city and county government actions on health care, transportation and immigration ­ into 22 seconds. But crime stories filled 7 times more of the broadcast, averaging 2:50. Sports and weather took the most time: 3:36. Soft news ­ human interest, oddball stories and miscellaneous fluff ­ took up the next-largest chunk after crime, averaging 2:26. Other highlights of the TV findings:
Coverage of business and the economy in Los Angeles averaged 29 seconds. Teasers ("coming up on the Southland's best news...") lasted more than four times that amount (2:10).
The time spent on ads (8:25), teasers, and sports and weather takes up nearly half of a typical half-hour of local news. Of the time left for everything else (15:44), almost half (8:17) was made up of stories taking place outside the L.A. media market.
If you add up all the time given to all stories focused on L.A. government, business and economy; all crime-related stories of civic importance (e.g., rewards offered, public corruption, police shootings); all stories about people dealing with local issues like traffic and the environment; all local public health news; and all coverage of the L.A. wildfires and water main breaks (which occurred during the study's sample), all that news combined took up about 4 minutes of a composite a half-hour.
benton.org/node/33106 | USC Annenberg Norman Lear Centertainment | savethenews.org
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PUTTING THE PUBLIC BACK INTO PUBLIC INTEREST BROADCASTING
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Sue Wilson]
[Commentary] Broadcasters are licensed to serve the public interest. If a radio or TV station does not serve the public interest, the FCC can take its license to broadcast away, and give the opportunity to make millions using the public airwaves to someone else. Yes, we the people do have some power over what is broadcast in our own communities, at least in theory. But in fact, as shown in my film, Public Interest Pictures' Broadcast Blues, petitions to deny stations' licenses languish for years, and the FCC has no record of the last time any station's license has been pulled. Even the case of a TV station that a court ruled deliberately distorted the news didn't meet the FCC threshold of not "serving the public interest."
benton.org/node/33105 | Huffington Post, The
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TWC PRICE HIKE IN CALIFORNIA
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Lazarus]
There's definitely an art to informing customers that you're about to smack them upside the head. About 500,000 Time Warner Cable customers in Southern California probably knew they were in for trouble when they received a letter the other day that began: "At Time Warner Cable, we strive to bring you the best products and services available." Does a sentence like that ever signal anything except bad news? Time Warner takes two full paragraphs to clear its corporate throat before it finally gets to the point: "We are making some adjustments effective with your next billing statement. Certain services, packages and equipment prices will change." Even then, the company can't quite bring itself to clearly state that prices are going up again. The letter refers only to "price adjustments," and nowhere does it say that your cable bill is about to get more expensive. You have to make your way to the back page of an enclosed pamphlet to finally learn that the cost of the typical cable package is rising by as much as $3.04 a month.
benton.org/node/33126 | Los Angeles Times
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CABLE'S TV EVERYWHERE STAMPS OUT FREE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Ronald Grover, Tom Lowry, Cliff Edwards]
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a bunch of small companies in Silicon Valley thought the future of television was theirs. Soon, the thinking went, TV would be everywhere. Frequent fliers would tune in on laptops and vacationers on tablets from the beach. If so inclined, you'd be able to watch "Glee" on a cell phone in a tree house. The network suits and the cable guys just didn't have the digital chops to make it happen. Fueled with venture money, tech companies with names like Boxee Inc., Roku Inc. and Sezmi Corp. pursued their dream of untethering viewers from their TV sets -- and owning a piece of the advertising revenue. As the big picture comes into focus though, it looks like the cable guys are playing the lead roles, using the fees they pay content providers as leverage. Cable, satellite and telecommunication companies pay $32 billion a year, according to media research firm SNL Kagan. The alphabet soup of newbies is still waiting in the wings for a moment that might never come. What happened? Part of the answer is TV Everywhere, a service in its infancy, conjured up in strategy sessions by Jeff Bewkes and Brian Roberts, the chief executive officers of New York-based Time Warner Inc. and Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. They took a lesson from the music labels, which looked up one day to find that Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. had taken control of their inventory
benton.org/node/33125 | Bloomberg
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CABLE FREE TV
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Douglas Quenqua]
A look at people who watch television, but don't pay for cable. Those who belong to this crowd are only too happy to remind you that they can watch most of what you watch, but don't pay $60 a month or more for the privilege. They will explain gleefully how they (legally, for the most part) circumvent the cable companies. And they are becoming more voluble, as cable bills rise and technology improves. It's impossible to quantify how many people have ditched their cable service, and the cable providers are eager to paint them as a minority fringe. But with devices like Xbox and Apple TV and software like Boxee making it easy to stream Internet content to a television, mention the phenomenon in just about any gathering, and someone is likely to pipe up about his or her way of watching cable free. And, yes, by and large they do enjoy making other people jealous.
benton.org/node/33124 | New York Times
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SPECTRUM

NATIONAL SECURITY EXEMPTIONS FOR SPECTRUM INVENTORY
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The Radio Spectrum Inventory Act, as now amended by the House Commerce Committee, would give Federal agencies and private license owners a national security pass on publicly disclosing information about their spectrum holdings or related data. The proposed bill, as now amended by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, would let government agencies duck out on releasing such intel if they can prove that doing otherwise "would reveal classified national security information or other information for which there is a legal basis for non-disclosure and such public disclosure would be detrimental to national security, homeland security, or public safety." If a Federal department chair decides there's a national security concern with releasing agency related spectrum data, the proposed law requires the release of a "summary description, suitable for public release, of the classified national security information or other information for which there is a legal basis for non-disclosure," and the actual information in a separate document. A private sector licensee seeking the pass must offer the same materials, but "bears the burden of justifying the exemption and shall provide clear and convincing evidence to support such an exemption," the bill adds.
benton.org/node/33085 | Ars Technica
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

MORE COUNTRIES MOVED TO RESTRICT NET IN '09
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
While technology has helped people all over the world gain greater access to more information, many governments last year devoted increased attention and resources to curtailing access to those technologies and information, the State Department said Thursday in its annual Human Rights report. "It was a year in which governments spent more time, money, and attention finding regulatory and technical means to curtail freedom of expression on the Internet and the flow of critical information and to infringe on the personal privacy rights of those who used these rapidly evolving technologies," the report noted.
benton.org/node/33121 | CongressDaily | State Department
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ONLINE CENSORSHIP MORE SOPHISTICATED
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Anick Jesdanun]
Repressive regimes have stepped up efforts to censor the Internet and jail dissidents, Reporters Without Borders said in a study out Thursday. China, Iran and Tunisia, which are on the group's "Enemies of the Internet" list, got more sophisticated at censorship and overcoming dissidents' attempts to communicate online, said Reporters Without Borders' Washington director, Clothilde Le Coz. Meanwhile, Turkey and Russia found themselves on the group's "Under Surveillance" list of nations in danger of making the main enemies list. Although Zimbabwe and Yemen dropped from the surveillance list, that was primarily because the Internet isn't used much in either country, rather than because of changes by the governments, Le Coz said. Reporters Without Borders issued the third annual report ahead of Friday's World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an awareness campaign organized by the Paris-based group.
benton.org/node/33120 | Associated Press
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GOOGLE IN CHINA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ben Worthen, Siobhan Gorman]
Apparently, Google could stop censoring its Web-search results in China within weeks, but the company isn't likely to withdraw from the country entirely. Google may end up making individual agreements with different Chinese agencies to allow it to operate some parts of its business in a patchwork arrangement. At issue is whether the company can operate its Chinese search engine, google.cn, without filtering out some results -- and if not, what other aspects of its operations in China could continue to function. In addition to operating google.cn, the company has sales, research, and other operations, including investments in Chinese companies, that could be allowed to continue operating even if google.cn is closed. Google has about 700 employees in China. The Chinese government requires that Web search engines filter out some results, such as certain political speech and pornography. Google has expressed discomfort with having to censor search results since it launched google.cn in 2006. Back then it said the increased access to information made possible by its search engine outweighed the cost of having to filter out some results. If Google can't reach a deal with the Chinese government over google.cn, officials could pull the plug on the site since the government controls all ".cn" Web addresses. But the company could operate a new Chinese-language Web site from outside mainland China that could still be accessible by Chinese users.
benton.org/node/33119 | Wall Street Journal
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INDUSTRY ATTACKS DIGITAL ECONOMY BILL AMENDMENT
[SOURCE: ZDNet UK, AUTHOR: Matthew Broersma]
A group of Internet companies including BT, Orange, Google and Virgin Media have strongly criticized an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill approved last week by the House of Lords, saying it would harm the status of the UK as a center for digital business. The companies have attacked amendment 120A, which would give courts the power to force ISPs to block access to sites accused of copyright infringement. In an open letter published on Tuesday in the Financial Times, the companies, along with the ISP Association (ISPA), celebrity Stephen Fry and others, said the measure was "very poor lawmaking" that had been "rushed through" at the tail end of the parliamentary session with no kind of consultation with consumers or industry. The amendment is an addition to the Digital Economy Bill, outlined in the Queen's speech in November 2009, which would implement new measures to tackle copyright-infringing file-sharers. The bill would also allow the government to take over the allocation and registration of domain names by UK-based registries.
This headline is presented in partnership with:

benton.org/node/33091 | ZDNet UK
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OBAMA'S $79 BILLION TECH PLAN
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Katie Hoffmann]
Vivek Kundra, the Obama official with $79 billion to spend on technology, said the government can be more efficient by putting programs on the Web, paving the way for companies like Microsoft and Google to win business. The government wants to put data such as health-care pricing information on Internet-based systems as they grow more secure, the U.S. chief information officer said in an interview this week. The U.S. can cut costs by outsourcing that work, said Kundra, who has overseen the federal technology budget since President Barack Obama appointed him last year. Microsoft, Google and Amazon are all offering more databases and programs online, allowing customers to curb storage costs. Sharing software and data that way would shrink U.S. storage needs, helping to cut expenses after previous governments spent more than $500 billion on data centers and other technology initiatives in the past decade, Kundra said. "It's mind-boggling," said Kundra, a New Delhi native who previously managed information technology for the District of Columbia. "It costs a fortune, it's duplicative and it's an energy hog." The model Kundra is looking at is known as cloud computing, where users go through the Web to access computers, applications and data instead of through their own servers. He declined to say which companies are best fit to operate government clouds. He noted that Google and Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft have introduced government-focused clouds in the past few months.
benton.org/node/33103 | Bloomberg
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TEXT-LOBBYING
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is slightly off track in suggesting a ban on text-message lobbying during meetings of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and city commissions. He's right, it can be unfair and unseemly for those who have the cell-phone numbers of our elected and appointed leaders to have an inside edge during deliberations. But the focus should not be on the technology; it should be on the content. Those messages should be public record.
benton.org/node/33122 | San Francisco Chronicle
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