April 2010

Broadband Providers Urge FCC Not To Reclassify Broadband

Representatives from three major Internet service providers and five industry trade groups sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Thursday to discourage the agency against classifying broadband as a telecommunications service, which would boost the FCC's power to regulate broadband providers.

In the letter, AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and other signers pushed back on the argument that classifying broadband in this way would be returning to oversight schemes that existed before the FCC was under the control of the administration of Republican President George W. Bush, which consumer advocates say imposed deregulatory policies. The companies said the letter aims to "set the record straight" by explaining that "the commission has never classified any kind of Internet access service (wireline, cable, wireless, powerline, dial-up or otherwise) as a ... telecommunications service, nor has it ever regulated the rates, terms and conditions of that service -- Internet access service has always been treated as a Title I information service."

"This latest letter from the telephone and cable industries is yet another sign that the industry will make any argument to avoid the simple fact that consumers deserve protection against companies [that] block or degrade service and deserve more competition in Internet services," Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld said in a news release. Feld argued that the carriers got the facts wrong and that "the Internet flourished with much more regulation on the telephone companies (which should have also been applied to cable companies) than anyone is discussing now."

Competitive Availability of Navigation Devices

The House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet held a hearing entitled "The National Broadband Plan: " on Thursday, April 29. The hearing examined recommendations contained in the National Broadband Plan to stimulate competition and innovation in set-top boxes and other video navigation devices. The NBP points out that while consumers have access to hundreds of mobile and computing devices, there is not a similarly diverse retail market for set-top boxes and other video navigation devices. The NBP states that further innovation in set-top boxes could lead to higher broadband utilization as video encourages more broadband usage.

Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) said the ability to have plug-and-play capability for set-top boxes remains an elusive goal, but one that an Federal Communications Commission-proposed gateway box could solve. he's pleased that the FCC had proposed such a gateway device be implemented by 2012 (as part of the FCC's national broadband plan). He also said a workable CableCARD regime could help drive a competitive marketplace. That regime, he said, is now riddled with problems. "Revised CableCARD rules are needed for the near term," he said.

The FCC has failed to aid consumers by creating the competitive market for set-top boxes Congress envisioned in the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld testified. The result, Feld said, is that customers for cable, satellite and telephone-provided video services still must rent their set-top boxes from those companies and can't easily take advantage of a more competitive market for devices like digital video recorders (DVRs).

Recap -- Examining Children's Privacy: New Technologies and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

The Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance held a hearing on protecting the privacy of children using the Internet.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said, "believe in my core that all children deserve special protections. Always. Period. I am enormously alarmed by the rise in criminal behavior targeting children online, from 'cyber-bullying' to adult predators. These frightening trends are directly connected to the fact that our children's sensitive, personal information is being increasingly exposed to the public. We have a responsibility to understand this rapidly changing digital landscape and to give parents the tools they need to protect their children's privacy."

Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) said, "The rise of new technology and social networking sites have significantly changed the Internet landscape over the last five years, and we need to make sure that our privacy laws are protecting children when they use these new tools. Today's hearing is a learning opportunity. We need to find out whether parents are still able to guard their children's personal information while allowing their kids to benefit from today's emerging technology."

Industry leaders cautioned federal lawmakers not to seek too drastic changes to long-standing rules that govern how websites safeguard children's privacy. While both Microsoft and Facebook argue that recent technological advances, including the rise of the mobile Web, necessitate new protections for children under 13, they signaled that aggressive changes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) would harm innovation and perhaps even the law's original intent.

The Federal Trade Commission said that the rapid-fire pace of technological change, including an explosion in children's use of mobile devices and interactive gaming, has led the agency to accelerate its review of the COPPA Rule to make sure that it is still adequately protecting children's privacy. Although the FTC reviews most of its rules every 10 years, the COPPA Rule is being reviewed only five years after its last review, in 2005.

Kathryn Montgomery, an American University communications professor and also an architect of COPPA, said that the current regulations, enacted in 2000, need to be updated to reflect new developments in communications. "The commission must ensure that its regulations implementing COPPA include the full range of Internet-enabled or connected services, including the increasingly ever-present cell phones children use, along with Web-connected gaming devices and online, interactive video," she said.

Lawmakers acknowledge new addiction: their BlackBerrys

The average age of House members at the start of the 111th Congress was 57 years old — 63 in the Senate — making it the grayest on record. But many grandmothers and grandfathers on Capitol Hill are adept with BlackBerrys, Facebook, Twitter and other popular modes of electronic communication. Lawmakers say they use their smartphones for nearly every part of their daily routines — maintaining calendars, finding driving directions and keeping tabs on their employees. For many members, their BlackBerrys allow them to stay in touch even when they're out of reach.

Markey worried about digital copy machines storing personal data

Beware of that copy machine in your office: it could be storing sensitive information on its digital hard drive.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) is concerned that digital hard drives in copy machines are storing images of every document scanned, copied or emailed by the machine. And the machines are usually leased and then passed on to other companies, making previously stored documents accessible on the hard drives for years to come. Rep Markey sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, urging the agency to "immediately investigate the matter" and giving consumers information about privacy risks associated with digital copy machines.

Elections could hold major changes for tech subcommittee

The House subcommittee that has jurisdiction over some of the biggest technology issues could have a drastically different roster after this year's elections.

At least six members of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet are either retiring or running for higher office. Several others are facing tough races in their districts and are at risk of losing their seats.

The subcommittee's chairman, Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA), is facing a tough challenge from state House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith. Rep Boucher, who's held his seat for 28 years, has spearheaded a number of initiatives on the committee, from drafting privacy legislation to making plans to reform a telecom fund that could expand the reach of broadband into rural areas. He is the 10th most powerful member of the House, but Republicans have attacked him for his support of cap-and-trade legislation, despite his district's roots in coal-mining. And some critics say he has been in Washington so long that he's lost touch with his constituency.

Cyberattacks: Can Google -- or Uncle Sam -- protect you?

[Commentary] Who can do a better job of protecting us from cyberthreats: private companies like Google, or Uncle Sam?

This was the question discussed at a recent event hosted by the Center for National Policy in Washington. It was one of those seminars that should have been attended by everyone who conducts business online. The views of the two experts on hand - Doug Raymond of Google and Rob Knake of the Council on Foreign Relations - echo the debate in Washington over regulating banks and Wall Street. And the stakes of a cybersecurity crisis are just as high as a financial crisis, if not higher. Clearly, there are legitimate rights and privacy concerns if the government partners with Internet providers. And it's fair to ask how long it would be before we end up with government surveillance and monitoring of all American Web traffic. But foreign governments in league with foreign hackers already are exploiting that vulnerability. Russia, China, and even some European governments are bigger players on the Net than Washington. Our current cyberinsecurity, left only to private Internet firms, is rendering American businesses victims of vast industrial espionage unlike anything we have previously experienced.

Rockefeller pledges to work with tech leaders to avert "cyber 9/11, cyber Katrina"

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is imploring the technology community to work with congressional lawmakers to address cybersecurity reform before the nation experiences "a cyber-Katrina, or a cyber-9/11."

During a speech Thursday at the Business Software Alliance's 2010 Cybersecurity Forum, Sen Rockefeller predicted anything less that full cooperation would threaten national security and increase the likelihood that an attack would trigger a public response in support of "tough, unbending solutions" that do not favor private industry. However, he cautioned tech leaders not to balk prematurely at federal attempts to secure government and private networks. Touting his own cybersecurity bill, drafted last year with the help of Ranking Member Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), he stressed "shared responsibility" would be the only way to deter and respond to cyber threats before they wreaked serious havoc.

Judiciary panel advances bill to compel Supreme Court to televise proceedings

A handful of lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee hope to compel the Supreme Court to begin televising its proceedings.

Days after Justice Steven Breyer shot down the prospect that the high bench would permit cameras in the court room this year, 13 committee members from both parties voted to advance legislation that would force SCOTUS to do just that. A similar effort to express the "sense of the Senate in support of permitting the televising of Supreme Court proceedings" also cleared the committee on a 13-6 vote on Thursday. However, that effort is more symbolic, and would not have the force of law.

"Television coverage of the Supreme Court is long overdue, and I'm pleased that the Committee made progress on this front today," said Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA). "The Supreme Court makes pronouncements on Constitutional and federal law that have a direct impact on the rights of all Americans. Those rights would be substantially enhanced by televising the oral arguments of the Court so that the public can see and hear the issues presented."

The committee also cleared a third bill on Thursday that would instruct lower federal district and circuit courts to televise their proceedings too. Led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the legislation carves out an exception for cases that could "endanger trial participants."

AP to launch wide range of collaborative new digital initiatives

The Associated Press will pursue an expanded range of digital initiatives for news providers to create new consumer experiences for the growing array of digital news outlets. The organization's board directed AP to promptly undertake work on a range of shared opportunities on behalf of its members, including working with content distributors, search engines and social networks. It also directed The Associated Press to begin developing shared services and capabilities that benefit the entire news industry, such as product design, user registration, advertising, and billing and e-commerce. The Board's action empowers AP to negotiate with device manufacturers, platform providers and other content distributors concerning business models, products and financial arrangements as well as to speak for the news industry as it works with search engines and others to improve the discovering of breaking news.