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  2. August 2010

August 2010

$32 million to support rural health priorities includes funding for telehealth

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced more than $32 million in FY 2010 funds to increase access to health care for Americans living in rural areas. The funds reach across seven programs administered by the Office of Rural Health Policy in HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Funding includes:

  • More than $2 million for the Telehealth Network Grant Program, which helps communities build capacity to develop sustainable telehealth programs and networks. Telehealth allows patients in underserved and remote areas to receive health care without traveling great distances; it also is used frequently for distance education and health care administration. The services provided via telemedicine range from primary care to highly specialized care found in leading academic medical centers.
  • More than $1 million for the Telehealth Resources Center Grant Program, which provides technical assistance to help health care organizations, networks and providers implement cost-effective telehealth programs serving rural and medically underserved areas and populations. The program is designed for entities with a successful track record in helping to develop sustainable telehealth programs.
  • Close to $1 million for the Flex Rural Veterans Health Access Program, a new program that will help eligible entities coordinate innovative approaches, collaborative networks and virtual linkages to provide rural veterans and other rural residents access to mental health and other health care services. The grants aim to improve mental health services through the use of health information exchange and telehealth in states where veterans make up a high percentage of the total population.

ER wait times reduced 22 percent with advanced EHRs

The patients at hospitals with the most advanced type of electronic medical records are likely to spend 22.4 percent less time in the emergency room than at other hospitals, a new study from the W.P.Carey School of Business at Arizona State University shows.

"The good news is that if you choose a hospital with the best type of fully functional electronic medical records, you will probably have a shorter treatment time and a much shorter overall stay in the emergency room," said Assistant Professor Michael Furukawa, who authored the study. "However, I also found that if your hospital has just a basic electronic medical records system, efficiency could actually be worse than at emergency rooms with no electronic medical records at all." Furukawa said he examined data from the 2006 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. The nationally representative survey included records from more than 30,000 patient visits to 364 hospitals nationwide. The study examined three categories: hospital emergency rooms with little or no electronic medical records; those with only basic electronic medical records, which lack more advanced functions like online access to certain test results; and emergency rooms with the best, fully functional type of electronic medical records systems. Furukawa found that hospital emergency rooms with the best electronic medical records had 13.1-percent shorter treatment times, 23.5-percent shorter stays in the ER for patients eventually admitted to the hospital, and 21.3-percent shorter stays in the ER for patients who were treated and discharged without being admitted. The study also found that hospital emergency rooms with only basic electronic medical records had a 47.3-percent longer wait time for patients specifically dealing with urgent or semi-urgent medical issues.

FCC: Fox Decision Suggests Indecency Regime Is Unconstitutional

In a supplemental brief solicited by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal Communications Commission conceded that the court's ruling that its indecency enforcement regime is unconstitutionally vague bears directly on its fine for nudity in a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue, but says that the same court should hold off on reaching any decision on ABC's appeal of that fine until the U.S. government decides whether or not to petition to appeal the Fox ruling.

The FCC said that NYPD Blue's scripted airing of images of adult nudity (actress Charlotte Ross's backside) was different from the "gratuitous utterances" during a live awards show. But it conceded that the court's decision went beyond the specifics of the cases to the larger issue of the FCC's indecency oversight authority. The FCC said it and Justice were contemplating filing a petition for a full-court rehearing of the Fox ruling, which was a three-judge panel decision rendered last month. The court won't have long to wait for that decision, since the deadline for petitioning that decision is August 27.

FCC Wraps Up Ultra-Long Ultra-Wideband Proceeding

After 12 years, the Federal Communications Commission has closed out one of the longest and most contentious rulemakings in recent memory. Ultra-wideband was bound to be controversial from the start. The basic idea consists of spreading a low-level signal across a very wide swath of spectrum, often a gigahertz or more. In principle, the level at any one frequency is too low to interfere with conventional spectrum users, but the power adds up across the wide bandwidth into a useful signal. The FCC expected two main kinds of uses: data transmission, which can reach hundreds of megabits per second over short distances, and a variety of imaging and radar applications.

Mosque Controversy, Iraq War Dominate the News

A statement of support for religious freedom by President Barack Obama fueled an ideologically driven debate in the media over a proposed Islamic center in New York last week. A milestone in the Iraq war, continued economic travails and a mostly hung jury in a corruption case involving a colorful former governor also vied for attention.

The debate over the proposed Islamic center a few blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood was the biggest story for the week of August 16-22, accounting for 15% of the newshole studied by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. That was a sharp increase for a story that has simmered mainly on the blogosphere. Much of the boost could be attributed to a comment at a White House dinner by the President. The withdrawal of the last combat brigade from Iraq made the war the No. 2 story last week, with 9% of the newshole, according to the PEJ News Coverage Index, which tracks coverage across media sectors each week. The economy -- which has dominated news coverage since it plunged in late 2008 -- generated headlines again last week when a report showed a spike in people seeking unemployment insurance, raising more doubts about the durability of the recovery. This followed reports of continuing weakness in the housing sector. Taken together, the economy overall was the third- biggest story of the week, with 7% of the newshole.

Brazil introduces e-commerce guidelines

Brazil's Ministry of Justice has published guidelines to ensure consumer rights when shopping on the Internet. A major focus of the report is to guarantee consumers the right to withdraw from a purchase, without providing any reason and without generating costs.

Facebook Deletes Accounts Purporting to Be From North Korea

Facebook, owner of the world's largest social-networking website, said it deleted two accounts that purported to be from North Korea.

"If a person poses as a person or entity that you don't officially represent, that becomes a violation of our policy," said Kumiko Hidaka, a Facebook spokeswoman. "Facebook is based on real people that are on there making connections and people are going to get the most value of the site if they're using real identities." The move comes as South Korea, which bans its citizens from communicating with the North, clamps down on Twitter accounts posting North Korean propaganda. This month, the South's unification ministry said pro-North Korean Twitter accounts may breach national security laws and the communications commission in Seoul decided to block access to such micro-blogging postings.

August 31, 2010 (Net Neutrality Deal? White Spaces Order?)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2010


INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Companies reach "general agreement" on network neutrality
   FCC Adjusts Final Rules On Use of Vacant TV Band
   2010 International Broadband Data Report
   Input Sought on Improving the International Broadband Data Report
   $4 Billion Cut in Verizon, AT&T Fiber+ DSL Spending
   NCTA Asks FCC to Reconsider Broadband Data Report
   Without fast broadband, towns and schools find selves withering

TECHNOLOGY
   Obama poised to loosen rules on export of technology
   Advances Offer Path to Shrink Computer Chips Again

TELEVISION
   Fox v. FCC: FCC Concentrates And Asks Again
   Samsung Joins Field Seeking to Bring 'Apps' to TVs

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Report says Congress needs lots of help with Web sites

STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:

   BlackBerry Gets a 2-Month Reprieve in India
   RIM's Agreement With India Is Likely to Foreshadow Wider Government Access
   Waiting on a missed connection
   Tensions between media and ANC on display in South Africa
   New cables tie West Africa closer to Internet
   Free Cuba Telecommunications Market Urged on Obama by AT&T, Nokia, Verizon
   German Court Turns Down Injunction Against YouTube
   Canada regulator enforces Internet "speed-matching"
   Yahoo Japan, Google expanding video offerings

MORE ONLINE
   Elections, Katrina and Economy Split the News Agenda
   The New Now: How Real Time Redefines the Now

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

NETWORK NEUTRALITY DEAL?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome, Gautham Nagesh]
Apparently, companies negotiating a network neutrality compromise at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) have reached a general agreement. The agreement reportedly includes concessions on some of the most divisive topics in the debate, including the questions of wireless Internet, Federal Communications Commission authority, and managed services. The ITI talks include Verizon, AT&T, Skype, Microsoft, NCTA, and others. New concessions from wireless companies could mean the agreement is stricter than the Google-Verizon proposal issued this month, which exempts wireless traffic from the toughest rules. Still, it's unlikely that the companies would submit to a full non-discrimination rule for wireless services, which they see as the future of their businesses and say are technically too different from wireline services to be subject to the same rule. Various scenarios are possible for regulating wireless without applying the full weight of a non-discrimination rule and without entirely exempting them, either; the companies, for instance, could be prohibited from blocking websites but not applications, among other possible variations.
benton.org/node/41212 | Hill, The
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WHITE SPACES DECISION SOON?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Technology and telecommunications companies could soon get access to unused TV airwaves, allowing them to introduce new wireless gadgets and services, under rules that Federal Communications Commission officials are close to putting into final form.
Some of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's top aides have met with broadcasters and other interested parties in recent weeks to discuss the remaining obstacles to freeing up the vacant spectrum between television channels, known in the industry as "white spaces." The issue could come to a vote as soon as the agency's September meeting. Chairman Genachowski said earlier this year that he wanted the matter resolved by the end of September.
benton.org/node/41211 | Wall Street Journal
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2010 INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
On August 27, the Federal Communications Commission released its first International Broadband Data Report as required by the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA). The report presents data and information on international broadband service capability. The BDIA requires the FCC to, among other things, include in its annual
broadband deployment report "information comparing the extent of broadband service capability (including data transmission speeds and price for broadband service capability) in a total of 75 communities in at least 25 countries abroad for each of the data rate benchmarks for broadband service utilized by the FCC to reflect different speed tiers." For this comparison, the BDIA directs the FCC to choose international communities comparable to U.S. communities with respect to population size, population density, topography, and demographic profile. The FCC is also directed to include "a geographically diverse selection of countries" and "communities including the capital cities of such countries." The FCC must also identify a number of specific similarities and differences in each community, including "their market structures, the number of competitors, the number of facilities-based providers, the types of technologies deployed by such providers, the applications and services those technologies enable, the regulatory model under which broadband service capability is provided, the types of applications and services used, business and residential use of such services, and other media available to consumers."
benton.org/node/41183 | Federal Communications Commission | Attachment A | Attachment B
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INPUT SOUGHT ON INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission's International Bureau recently released the first International Broadband Data Report (2010 IBDR). The 2010 IBDR presented basic data in three main categories for communities in 37 countries: 1) publicly-available pricing information on broadband Internet access services available from Internet service providers (ISPs); 2) population, education, and other demographic information; and 3) descriptive information on regulatory structures, market conditions, and other media. Now the FCC seeks public comment regarding the preparation of next year's IBDR, and how best to build on the foundation of the 2010 IBDR. What improvements can be made to the data and analysis used in the 2010 IBDR to make next year's IBDR more useful, particularly for policymakers, including for the Commission's overall assessment regarding the reasonable and timely deployment of broadband services to all Americans? Are there additional data and analysis that could better illuminate similarities and differences between broadband technologies, markets, and policies in U.S. and comparable foreign communities? Should the FCC provide side-by-side comparisons of the price and performance of popular broadband offerings in U.S. and foreign communities? The FCC invites interested parties to submit comments to assist this effort to improve upon the 2010 IBDR, including with respect to analytic techniques or approaches to estimate the effects of competition on the availability, capability, and adoption of broadband in foreign communities. The public notice seeks specific comment on improving several data collections pertaining to the IBDR. Comments Due: 09/27/2010. Reply Comments Due: 10/12/2010. Contact: Arthur Lechtman at (202) 418-1465, email: Arthur.Lechtman@fcc.gov (Dkt No 10-171)
benton.org/node/41184 | Federal Communications Commission
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TELECOS CUTTING BROADBAND SPENDING
[SOURCE: Fast Net News, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
Verizon's wireline capital spending in the first six months of 2010 was $3.35 billion, down nearly $1 billion from last year. For the full year that is nearly a $2 billion drop, which corresponds to their plan to cut the FiOS build in 2010 by 2/3rds. Since they've also cut the post 2010 FiOS build by 2-4 million homes, this is probably a permanent drop. Spread over 4 years, the total cut in Verizon wireline/FiOS spending would be about $7 billion, about the same as the total government money spent on the broadband stimulus. The numbers at AT&T are similar but not broken out. AT&T cut U-Verse by 1/3rd last year, one reason they went 92K negative on broadband this quarter. These multi-billion dollar cuts came after the U.S. enacted a stimulus program and now is talking about huge subsidies supposedly for broadband. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is a smart guy who told investors that he thinks the government will pay up if he doesn't invest. The stimulus, as Tom Hazlett predicted, resulted in fewer new broadband connections as company after company reduced spending hoping the government will pay instead. Verizon is claiming 20-30% of their lines require a subsidy and asking for billions or they might discontinue voice service. Ironically, Verizon and AT&T just reassured Wall Street their wireline margins are staying up.
benton.org/node/41182 | Fast Net News
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NCTA ASKS FCC TO RECONSIDER BROADBAND REPORT
[SOURCE: National Cable and Telecommunications Association, AUTHOR: Neal Goldberg, Steven Morris, Jennifer McKee]
The National Cable and Telecommunications Association is urging the Federal Communications Commission reconsider its Sixth 706 Report issued on July 20, 2010. NCTA requests that the FCC reconsider both the appropriateness of the dataset relied on in the Sixth 706 Report and its conclusion that deployment of broadband networks is not proceeding in a "reasonable and timely" manner. NCTA argues that the FCC erred in failing to consider current information and reasonably anticipated developments in reaching its conclusion that the "reasonable and timely" standard was not being met. NCTA notes that the FCC relied on Form 477 data reflecting deployment as of June 2009 and December 2009 and claims that if the FCC had considered the more recent data in its possession, some of the largest counties identified as unserved would not have been on the list.
benton.org/node/41180 | National Cable and Telecommunications Association
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WITHOUT BROADBAND, TOWNS WITHERING
[SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News, AUTHOR: Roy Bragg]
It's the 21st century, and the Information Age has revolutionized business, culture and life -- unless you're any of the 415 people in the East Texas town of Chireno who find themselves off the grid. About 45 percent of Texas has no access to high-speed Internet service, but most of that land is sparsely populated. Chireno, however, is an incorporated city within a half-hour's drive of three larger ones, and it's still on the outside of the Web looking in. Make no mistake: This is a one stop-light town. It's also a five-business town, with a gas station, a grocery/cafe, air conditioning repair service, an acoustical ceiling tile factory and a chain bank. And, according to residents and government officials, this is as good as it's going to get unless broadband Internet service in made available here.
benton.org/node/41179 | San Antonio Express-News
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TECHNOLOGY

NEW TECH EXPORT RULES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Schneider]
The Obama administration is overhauling the decades-old rules for the export of sensitive military and other technology, jettisoning what industry groups criticize as an antiquated Cold War set of regulations for a more streamlined approach. After a year-long review by officials at the State, Defense and Commerce departments, President Obama is scheduled to announce plans Tuesday to consolidate some enforcement activities in a single agency and develop a clearer list of products whose sale is restricted. U.S. export controls cover tens of thousands of products and services and are overseen by three agencies. It is a system U.S. businesses say often leaves them hamstrung, even when it comes to selling less-sensitive items that are readily available in other industrialized countries.
benton.org/node/41209 | Washington Post
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SMALLER COMPUTER CHIPS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
Scientists at Rice University and Hewlett-Packard are reporting this week that they can overcome a fundamental barrier to the continued rapid miniaturization of computer memory that has been the basis for the consumer electronics revolution. In recent years the limits of physics and finance faced by chip makers had loomed so large that experts feared a slowdown in the pace of miniaturization that would act like a brake on the ability to pack ever more power into ever smaller devices like laptops, smartphones and digital cameras. But the new announcements, along with competing technologies being pursued by companies like IBM and Intel, offer hope that the brake will not be applied any time soon. In one of the two new developments, Rice researchers are reporting in Nano Letters, a journal of the American Chemical Society, that they have succeeded in building reliable small digital switches -- an essential part of computer memory -- that could shrink to a significantly smaller scale than is possible using conventional methods. More important, the advance is based on silicon oxide, one of the basic building blocks of today's chip industry, thus easing a move toward commercialization. The scientists said that PrivaTran, a Texas startup company, has made experimental chips using the technique that can store and retrieve information. Separately, H.P. is to announce on Tuesday that it will enter into a commercial partnership with a major semiconductor company to produce a related technology that also has the potential of pushing computer data storage to astronomical densities in the next decade. H.P. and the Rice scientists are making what are called memristors, or memory resistors, switches that retain information without a source of power.
benton.org/node/41208 | New York Times
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TELEVISION

FCC APPEALS INDECENCY RULING
[SOURCE: CommLawBlog, AUTHOR: Dan Kirkpatrick]
In July, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the Federal Communications Commission's indecency enforcement regime as unconstitutional. After considering its options, the FCC has chosen to go back to the three judges who rejected the policy, trying to convince them that they got it wrong and ask the entire en banc Second Circuit to reverse the three-judge panel's decision. According to the FCC's petition for rehearing, the Second Circuit panel's Fox decision went too far in overturning the entire indecency enforcement regime. The Commission asserts that the panel's conclusion ­ that the FCC's overall indecency policy is unconstitutionally vague ­ is inconsistent with earlier decisions by the Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, and even the Second Circuit itself. The Commission argues that the Fox decision rejects the "contextual approach" to indecency analysis the FCC has used in the past ­ and that, by so doing, leaves the Commission with no way to enforce the federal laws prohibiting indecent broadcasts. The Second Circuit now must decide whether or not to grant rehearing, either by the original panel or en banc. While that may sound simple, it's not. In particular, the en banc rehearing process in the federal courts ranks up there with papal elections when it comes to procedural quirks. The FCC's petition will first be circulated to all ten active judges on the Circuit as well as Senior Judge Pierre Leval, who sat on the original panel. Any of those 11 can ask that his/her colleagues be polled as to whether or not to consider the petition. If nobody asks for such a polling, the petition is denied. If polling is requested, then the ten active judges ­ but no senior judges (i.e., Judge Leval doesn't participate) ­ are polled. Unless a majority of those polled vote for rehearing, the petition is denied. If a majority of the poll votes to grant rehearing, then the case is re-briefed and re-argued in front of all ten active judges and Senior Judge Leval. There is no guarantee that, even if the case gets that far, the FCC would prevail. A majority of the en banc court could just as easily affirm the panel's decision. In other words, the FCC has a long row to hoe. Meanwhile, a couple of other indecency cases also continue to wend their way through the Courts.
benton.org/node/41181 | CommLawBlog
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

CONGRESSIONAL WEBSITES
[SOURCE: Federal Computer Week, AUTHOR: Alice Lipowicz]
Although a few congressional Web sites are exemplary, many are "suboptimal," and Congress needs to do more work to improve Web sites and share best practices for Web 2.0 technologies, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution think tank. Brookings has been reviewing congressional Web sites for quality since 2006. In its most recent review with the Congressional Management Foundation in April, it gave the Platinum Mouse Award top honors for Web site excellence to the House Science & Technology Committee, the House Republican Conference, and the individual sites of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) Despite those superior examples, and despite the fact that many lawmakers say their sites are important communication tools, the quality of many of those sites is "suboptimal," according to the Brookings authors Kevin Esterline, David Laser and Michael Nablo in the "Improving Congressional Web Sites" report, dated this August.
benton.org/node/41203 | Federal Computer Week
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:


BLACKBERRY GETS A 2-MONTH REPRIEVE IN INDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Vikas Bajaj]
In a sign that India and the maker of popular BlackBerry devices might be closer to settling a dispute over law enforcement's access to corporate e-mail, the government on Monday said that it would study and test a proposal by the company for two months. The decision ends a waiting game, at least for now, over whether India would ban the popular corporate e-mail and BlackBerry Messenger chatting services on Tuesday, a deadline set this month for access. In a statement, the ministry of home affairs, which is responsible for internal security, said Research in Motion, the Canadian company that makes BlackBerry devices, had made "certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies and these would be operationalized immediately. The feasibility of the solutions offered would be assessed thereafter."
benton.org/node/41201 | New York Times
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RIM AGREEMENT'S IMPACT
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Ketaki Gokhale]
Research In Motion Ltd.'s concession in giving Indian authorities access to BlackBerry e-mail and instant-messenger correspondence means it's likely to do the same for other governments, analysts said. The agreement sets a precedent that will make it difficult for RIM to refuse countries seeking similar conditions, said Romal Shetty, executive director of the telecommunications division at KPMG's Indian unit. RIM spokesman Satchit Gayakwad declined to comment on the government accord or discuss any details of the proposal. RIM's proposal, disclosed by the Indian government yesterday, means the company may be willing to compromise on the privacy of corporate customers to placate regulators.
benton.org/node/41202 | Bloomberg
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WAITING ON A MISSED CONNECTION
[SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald, AUTHOR: Lucy Battersby]
As Australia's politicians brawl over the election outcome, the telecommunications sector sits in a policy vacuum. The National Broadband Network Company has gone into hibernation -- finishing off existing work but not starting any new contracts. And Telstra has announced it will invest heavily in mobile and marketing, apparently demoting its role as the incumbent national fixed telephone network provider. The single biggest problem for fixed broadband expansion is the cost. Revenue from phone calls and data no longer justify the cost of installation for any telecommunications company anywhere in the world, according to the analyst Paul Budde. "We all know the fiber network can deliver other services -- healthcare, education, smart grids -- but that requires government policies that will actually stimulate other sectors to utilize the broadband network, and that is when you start getting the business model going,'' he says.
benton.org/node/41178 | Sydney Morning Herald
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Companies reach "general agreement" on network neutrality

Apparently, companies negotiating a network neutrality compromise at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) have reached a general agreement.

The agreement reportedly includes concessions on some of the most divisive topics in the debate, including the questions of wireless Internet, Federal Communications Commission authority, and managed services. The ITI talks include Verizon, AT&T, Skype, Microsoft, NCTA, and others. New concessions from wireless companies could mean the agreement is stricter than the Google-Verizon proposal issued this month, which exempts wireless traffic from the toughest rules. Still, it's unlikely that the companies would submit to a full non-discrimination rule for wireless services, which they see as the future of their businesses and say are technically too different from wireline services to be subject to the same rule. Various scenarios are possible for regulating wireless without applying the full weight of a non-discrimination rule and without entirely exempting them, either; the companies, for instance, could be prohibited from blocking websites but not applications, among other possible variations.

FCC Adjusts Final Rules On Use of Vacant TV Band

Technology and telecommunications companies could soon get access to unused TV airwaves, allowing them to introduce new wireless gadgets and services, under rules that Federal Communications Commission officials are close to putting into final form.

Some of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's top aides have met with broadcasters and other interested parties in recent weeks to discuss the remaining obstacles to freeing up the vacant spectrum between television channels, known in the industry as "white spaces." The issue could come to a vote as soon as the agency's September meeting. Chairman Genachowski said earlier this year that he wanted the matter resolved by the end of September.

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