September 27, 2010 (US Wants to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for SEPTEMBER 27, 2010
ITIF discusses the Future of Online Privacy http://bit.ly/aWukv8 today; the week's agenda benton.org/calendar/2010-09-26--P1W
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
US Wants to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet
TELEVISION
Comcast Spends Big in Pressing for Merger
TV Makeover Starts With Corner Office
See also: Zucker Departure in Hands of Justice, FCC
In This War, Movie Studios Are Siding With Your Couch
Shifting Online, Netflix Faces New Competition
I'm OK, You're Not OK, Say Television Executives
Digital TV Coupon Program Officially Retired
US Olympic television rights battle set to rage
CYBERSECURITY
Creating the FCC's Cybersecurity Roadmap
Dept of Energy's Latest Efforts to Address Cybersecurity
See also:Smart grid stimulus project updates: what, where, how much?
WIRELESS
US wireless users hold onto phones longer, higher fees cited
New FCC white space rules: inside the Satanic details
White Spaces and the FCC: A Decision Behind It and a Challenge Ahead
Super Wi-Fi is Super for Energy, Too
State officials put aside total ban on drivers' use of cellphones
See also:Should Drivers Hang Up? State Officials To Weigh In
Slow development of radio standards frustrates first responders
Tech Companies Launch Incentive Auction Lobby
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Why the Fox News Suit Against Robin Carnahan's Campaign Is Bogus
Republicans Dominate Democrats in Social Media
PRIVACY
Google, Microsoft push to extend privacy protections to cloud-based e-mail
Finding Common Ground, But No Agreement
JOURNALISM
The Media's Double Vision about the Digital Age
Chicago-area Online News Site Survey Results Released
Advances in Social Networking Keep Twitter Atwitter
As Unfair and Unbalanced as You Like
POLICYMAKERS
OSTP Full of Firsts
COMMUNITY MEDIA
Support for Library Facilities Across the Country
Anger as a Private Company Takes Over Libraries
STORIES FROM ABROAD
A Move to Unify Europe's Media Market
French court orders Google to pay libel damages - media
Local TV needs financial lifeline, says panel
MORE ONLINE
Supreme Court Will Consider First Amendment Rights as They Apply to Two Cases Involving the Internet and Videogames
Google at 12: A company navigating the conflicts that come with age
Party is over for US music downloads
Bar Codes Add Detail on Items in TV Ads
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
CHANGES SOUGHT FOR INTERNET WIRETAPS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage]
Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is "going dark" as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone. Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct "peer to peer" messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages. The bill, which the Obama administration plans to submit to lawmakers next year, raises fresh questions about how to balance security needs with protecting privacy and fostering innovation. And because security services around the world face the same problem, it could set an example that is copied globally. James X. Dempsey, vice president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, an Internet policy group, said the proposal had "huge implications" and challenged "fundamental elements of the Internet revolution" — including its decentralized design. "They are really asking for the authority to redesign services that take advantage of the unique, and now pervasive, architecture of the Internet," he said. "They basically want to turn back the clock and make Internet services function the way that the telephone system used to function." But law enforcement officials contend that imposing such a mandate is reasonable and necessary to prevent the erosion of their investigative powers.
The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration wants to require U.S. banks to report all electronic money transfers into and out of the country, a dramatic expansion in efforts to counter terrorist financing and money laundering.
benton.org/node/42662 | New York Times | WashPost
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LABOR
TECH COMPANIES, JUSTICE REACH AGREEMENT ON HIRING
[SOURCE: Department of Justice, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies-Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar-that prevents them from entering into no solicitation agreements for employees. The department said that the agreements eliminated a significant form of competition to attract highly skilled employees, and overall diminished competition to the detriment of affected employees who were likely deprived of competitively important information and access to better job opportunities. The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust complaint today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, along with a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the lawsuit. According to the complaint, the six companies entered into agreements that restrained competition between them for highly skilled employees. The agreements between Apple and Google, Apple and Adobe, Apple and Pixar and Google and Intel prevented the companies from directly soliciting each other's employees. An agreement between Google and Intuit prevented Google from directly soliciting Intuit employees. The proposed settlement, which if accepted by the court will be in effect for five years, prohibits the companies from engaging in anticompetitive no solicitation agreements. Although the complaint alleges only that the companies agreed to ban cold calling, the proposed settlement more broadly prohibits the companies from entering, maintaining or enforcing any agreement that in any way prevents any person from soliciting, cold calling, recruiting, or otherwise competing for employees. The companies will also implement compliance measures tailored to these practices.
benton.org/node/42646 | Department of Justice | LATimes | Bloomberg | The Hill | GigaOm
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TELEVISION
COMCAST SPENDS BIG ON SELLING MERGER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter, Tim Arango]
The combination of NBC and Comcast is still undergoing government review, and Comcast has poured out its piggy bank in Washington to see it through, spending tens of millions of dollars on lobbyists, donations, ads and investments. That spending has recently become a talking point for opponents, who say that Comcast is effectively trying to buy government approval for the deal. "It's a big, expensive example of machine politics," said Susan Crawford, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, who is writing a book about the proposed merger. "You hire all the lobbyists and lawyers in town; you hand out contributions to every politician you can think of; you buy the affections of every group that might complain about the merger, and you strike fear in the hearts of anyone who will need to do business with you in the future." She added, "It's about as subtle as a wet fish in the face." Comcast counters by saying that such steps are common when companies are facing regulatory approval in Washington. It says the merger is pro-competitive and in the public interest, promising fuller access to TV shows, movies and news. A recent full-page ad in The Washington Post featured a smiling young couple and the quote, "More ways to enjoy our TV, computer and even mobile devices? Sounds good to me." "It is obviously important that we explain the public interest benefits of the transaction to Congress, the administration and the public," said Sena Fitzmaurice, Comcast's vice president for government communications, adding that "special interests" have been advocating against the deal.
benton.org/node/42660 | New York Times
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FIGHT OVER HOLLYWOOD'S VIDEO WINDOW
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brooks Barnes]
Sometime in the next few months, there is likely to be an explosion in the movie business. The question is which studio will detonate the bomb. Tension between studios and theater owners has been simmering a long time, but it intensified in May, when the Federal Communications Commission issued what appeared on the surface to be an arcane ruling. After two years of prodding from Hollywood, the FCC agreed to let movie studios activate technology to prevent films sold through video-on-demand systems from being copied. Ho-hum? Hardly. The ruling gave studios the ability to pursue a new business -- so-called premium VOD -- that may be the industry's best hope of restoring itself to health, now that the bottom has fallen out of the DVD market. Right now, theaters get an exclusive period -- 120 days, on average -- to serve up new movies. Then the releases appear on television video-on-demand services at a price of about $4.99. Armed with the new copy-blocking technology, studios want to offer new movies on video-on-demand services about 45 days after they arrive in theaters, for a premium price of $24.99. The business opportunity is multifold. With as much as 80 percent of that early VOD revenue going to the studio, movie executives see a new engine to compensate for the sputtering DVD. And for the studios, the need is urgent: DVD sales for the year are expected to total about $9.9 billion, down 30 percent from their peak in 2004, according to Adams Media Research.
benton.org/node/42645 | New York Times
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NETFLIX'S NEW FIGHT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Verne Kopytoff]
Even though Netflix's arch rival Blockbuster has filed for bankruptcy protection, the victory lap will have to wait. The company that filled American mailboxes with red envelopes containing DVDs is already fighting the next war. Netflix's competition with Blockbuster is an artifact of another age — the DVD era. The main battlefront has shifted online, where consumers are streaming movies and television. Netflix faces a number of well-financed and innovative companies like Apple, Amazon and Google, as well as the cable TV providers. This time the war will not be won by the company that perfects the logistics of moving DVDs, but by whoever can best negotiate with Hollywood studios. "They are fighting a much different battle than Blockbuster," said Jim Lanzone, the chief executive of Clicker, an online television guide. "Today's war is for Internet television, and Blockbuster was never really relevant to Internet television." Analysts expect the company to begin closing some of its 58 distribution centers as DVD rentals decline. The company has said it is not making any more major investments in the centers. Netflix is making less revenue per customer as streaming catches on because customers are subscribing to less expensive plans, with fewer discs and unlimited streaming. But the company is gaining subscribers at the rate of nearly 50 percent a year.
benton.org/node/42659 | New York Times
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CORD CUTTING IS REAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Martin Peers]
When it comes to video cord-cutting, TV executives are moving out of the denial stage. They are now claiming it is someone else's problem. Consider comments at last week's Goldman Sachs media conference on the issue, which involves consumers ditching cable-TV subscriptions in favor of cheaper Web TV options. Verizon Communications Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg candidly warned that just as cord-cutting devastated the traditional landline phone business, as customers went mobile, it would hit video. Verizon is in the video business through its FiOS network. But Mr. Seidenberg said that given FiOS's high capacity and ability to offer extras like 3-D, "we will be OK," whereas it "is going to be a pretty big issue for cable." Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt, insisted, "I feel pretty good about us," given that cable operators' broadband infrastructure is needed for Web access. "This is more focused on the entertainment business than on us," he added. But John Martin, finance chief of entertainment company Time Warner, insisted that "our type of company should benefit" if viewers cut the cord en masse. The reality is all companies are threatened to some degree. After all, right now, nearly 97% of households with TVs subscribe either to cable, satellite or phone company-delivered video service, Nielsen estimates, with subscription proceeds effectively being split between providers and entertainment companies.
benton.org/node/42654 | Wall Street Journal
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CYBERSECURITY
CYBERSECURITY ROADMAP
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
In early August, the Federal Communications Commission asked for public input on creating a Cybersecurity Roadmap, a recommendation from the National Broadband Plan. The FCC intends for the roadmap to identify the five most critical cybersecurity threats to the communications infrastructure and its end users and establish a two-year plan, including milestones, for the FCC to address these threats. Telecommunications providers weighed in this week.
benton.org/node/42614 | Benton Foundation | AT&T | Verizon | CTIA | NCTA | NTCA
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WIRELESS
JD POWER REPORTS ON WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Americans are holding onto their old cellphones much longer because of the bleak economy, and penalties and other fees attached to new purchases are turning off buyers, according to a survey by J.D. Power and Associates. The report comes as federal regulators are being pressured to impose guidelines to better protect consumers who have seen a rise in contract cancellation penalties by major wireless providers over the last year. In a report released Thursday, the marketing information firm found that in 2010, basic cellphone and smart phone users said they had kept their wireless cellphones for about 20.5 months. That's 17 percent longer than from the previous year and the longest duration since J.D. Power began its survey in 1999. "Typically, when upgrading to a new cellphone, there's the added expense of either subscribing to a more expensive service plan and/or incurring termination fees when switching service providers," said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates. "Today, consumers are really watching their wallets, and any added discretionary expenses are being considered more thoughtfully than in the past."
benton.org/node/42622 | Washington Post
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DETAILS IN FCC WHITE SPACES ORDER
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
If the devil really is in the details, let's look inside the Federal Communications Commission's white space to find, well, I don't know who it could be, maybe Satan! The FCC feels confident that its new allocation of two more channels where unlicensed devices will not be allowed to operate will compensate for a change in spectrum sensing requirements. In fact, the FCC even declined to go with microphone maker requests that wireless mics get more spectrum and be included in the white space database system. But in occasional instances where "major events" are being staged and all channels reserved for wireless mics have been used, the event coordinators may petition the FCC for wireless mic database inclusion. And the agency says it's open to considering spectrum sensing devices on a "proof-of-performance" standard, and will accept applications for white space "sensing only" devices when vendors are "ready to do so." The FCC divides white space devices into two categories—"Mode I" and "Mode II" gadgets. Mode II and fixed location devices communicate with the central database command and include lists of available channels. Mode I devices float more freely. To compensate for the elimination of sensing, devices in Mode I mode now must receive regular signals from Mode II gadgets that provide an updated list of good-to-go channels, or they must contact the Mode II channel themselves at least once per minute. Meanwhile the Mode II and fixed devices must check their own locations at the same rate, except if in "sleep mode"—that is, the machines aren't transmitting data, but they aren't powered down either.
benton.org/node/42620 | Ars Technica
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MORE ON WHITE SPACES DECISION
[SOURCE: CommLawCenter, AUTHOR: Scott Flick]
[Commentary] The benefits of the Federal Communications Commission's white spaces order will likely be greater in rural areas, where spectrum congestion is not an issue even after the digital transition. As long as the FCC lives up to the Prime Directive of not causing interference to existing inhabitants of the TV band, the benefits of better utilization of spectrum are hard to dispute. The FCC needs to keep an open mind as it implements its proposed use of white spaces. A well-performing database that keeps licensed and unlicensed operators adequately separated is in everyone's interest. If some of the FCC's initial conclusions need to be rethought in order to accomplish that, those discussions will be healthy ones. Equally important is ensuring that equipment manufacturers fastidiously comply with the FCC's interference protocols. Broadcasters are rightly concerned that non-compliant or just poorly designed and manufactured unlicensed devices can cause immense damage, and the FCC lacks the tools to put the genie back in the bottle should that occur. Fining such manufacturers after the fact won't help much if millions of interference-inducing devices are already out there interfering with the public's ability to watch TV, listen to a sermon, or attend a Broadway show. As the FCC proceeds down this path, getting it right is going to be far more difficult than just getting it done.
benton.org/node/42635 | CommLawCenter
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WHITE SPACES AND ENERGY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Nick Sinai, Tom Brown]
Super Wi-Fi isn't just for consumers; it's super for improving how we transmit and distribute energy in America too. The National Broadband Plan made several recommendations designed to integrate broadband into the emerging Smart Grid and enable improved Smart Grid communications; white spaces spectrum is yet another option for utilities to use for their communications networks. As we have seen in a recent trial in Plumas-Sierra County, California, white spaces spectrum can be used effectively and securely for grid automation applications, as well as retail broadband services. Opening white spaces spectrum is also likely to have a particular impact on utility operations in rural areas, which often have challenging terrain and fewer options for broadband service than urban areas.
benton.org/node/42621 | Federal Communications Commission | GigaOm
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CELLPHONE BAN REJECTED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ashley Halsey III]
Doubting that a proposed total ban on cellphone use behind the wheel could be enforced, the nation's highway safety officials Sept 26 declined to endorse a prohibition. The Governors Highway Safety Association set aside a California proposal that the group press for state legislatures to consider a complete ban. "We don't want this to become like the speeding issue, which we've already lost. Everybody speeds," Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the GHSA, said from the group's annual meeting in Kansas City (MO). "They haven't shown that the laws we already have," such as requiring the use of hands-free devices or banning texting while driving, "are very effective." The vote is a telling moment in the debate over use of distracting electronic devices while driving. Alhough safety advocates, including the National Safety Council, have called for a total ban on drivers using cellphones, the GHSA is a better bellwether of the political and public will to embrace stiffer restrictions.
benton.org/node/42653 | Washington Post
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
FOX SUIT
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Sonia Katyal, Eduardo Peñalver]
Last week, in an apparently unprecedented move, Fox News sued Robin Carnahan, Missouri's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, for copyright infringement. Admittedly, Fox attacking a Democratic politician isn't surprising. Nevertheless, the lawsuit is something of a watershed, because it appears to be the first time a news organization has filed a copyright lawsuit against a political candidate for using a news clip in a campaign ad before an election. The lawsuit highlights the troubling tendency of copyright owners to make overreaching claims about the scope of their legal rights. The Carnahan case is also an example of something even more pernicious: the potential for copyright law to become a means of political censorship.
benton.org/node/42633 | Slate
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CANDIDATES AND SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Austin Carr]
Republicans are poised to pick up several seats in the Senate this November -- and if polls aren't evidence enough of this, just look to social media. According to a new report from voter registration nonprofit (and nonpartisan) organization HeadCount, the GOP is crushing democratic candidates in online popularity as the mid-term elections draw nearer. As of this week, Republican candidates for Senate had more than four times as many fans on Facebook: over 1.4 million compared with 300,000 for Democratic candidates. Those Dems average just 8,260 Facebook fans. Republicans? More than 38,000. On Twitter, the disparity is even more stark. GOP candidates have close to 520,000 followers in total, compared with the Dem's 90,000--and this even without the support of conservative figurehead John McCain. Oddly, HeadCount decided to use the Arizona senator's official (far less popular) campaign Twitter account, rather than @SenJohnMcCain, which has over 1.7 million followers. Had those figures been included, this would be more of a social media landslide. What's most remarkable about this data is how much Republicans have changed since the 2008 election. After President Obama's success in fostering grassroots support on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, it appears conservatives made a point of improving their tech- and social media-savvy.
benton.org/node/42616 | Fast Company
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PRIVACY
PRIVACY IN THE CLOUDS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Sarno]
Technology executives and law enforcement officials are clashing over a nearly 25-year-old law that protects Internet users' private information. Some of the world's largest technology companies, including Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., are pushing for changes to the law — written before the World Wide Web existed — saying it makes it too easy for government investigators to gain access to their customers' Web-based e-mail and documents. That, the companies say, is bad for the bottom line. Many consumers and businesses are finding it easier and cheaper to entrust the storage of their e-mail and documents to Web companies such as Google that can store vast amounts of data in the so-called cloud — networks of remote computer centers filled with thousands of high-speed servers. But the cloud's wealth of personal data has also attracted law enforcement officials eager to tap into the information to catch and prosecute criminals. They say Congress should be wary about diminishing their powers to investigate crimes in a fast-changing digital landscape where evidence can disappear overseas — or into oblivion — in an instant. The debate over the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act escalated Sept 23 in a hearing before a House Judiciary subcommittee — the latest in a series of hearings aimed at updating the law to encourage the growth of online business while striking a balance between effective law enforcement and users' right to digital privacy.
benton.org/node/42652 | Los Angeles Times
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JOURNALISM
COVERING TECHNOLOGY
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: ]
The mainstream news media have offered the American public a divided view of how information technology influences society, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Over the past year, messages about the promise of technology making life easier and awe about new gadgets have vied in the news with worries about privacy, child predators, shrinking attention spans and danger behind the wheel. The most prevalent underlying message about technology's influence has been upbeat -- the notion that technology is making life easier and more productive. Nearly a quarter of all technology stories studied from June 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, conveyed this idea. But that was closely followed by the sense that with that convenience comes risk -- to our privacy and particularly to our children -- which made up nearly two-in-ten stories, according to the study These are some of the findings of the PEJ study of 437 technology-related stories appearing in the lead sections of 52 different news outlets: front pages of 11 newspapers, three cable and three network news channels, 12 websites and 10 radio programs. The study was designed to examine the media coverage that occurs when technology news crosses beyond technology-oriented outlets or news sections to the top of the American news agenda -- to front-pages, the national nightly news, cable prime-time and other general interest news outlets. It did not delve into specialty publications or sections. The biggest single event or storyline during the year involved the perils of technology: the hazardous yet compulsive practice of texting while driving. Nearly one-in-ten technology stories were about this subject, more than five times the coverage of either the U.S. plan for broadband access and six times the coverage devoted to the debate over network neutrality
benton.org/node/42649 | Project for Excellence in Journalism | SF Chronicle
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THE NEW NEWS
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: ]
The second annual "NEW News" report, produced by Community Media Workshop and funded by The Chicago Community Trust's Community News Matters program, surveyed 121 online news outlets on matters ranging from salaried employees to the type of content produced. According to the report, most online sites surveyed rely heavily on unpaid bloggers and reporters and piggy-bank financing. More than 60% had only one full-time staffer. A similar percentage reported no one receiving health insurance from their online news outlet. The report also shows the Chicago area's online news ecosystem is "still growing, evolving and retooling," Chicago Community Trust CEO Terry Mazany said in a statement. "Through our work with the John S. and James Knight Foundation's Community Information Challenge, The Chicago Community Trust is committed to examining how the rapidly changing media landscape is impacting the residents of our region. The NEW News report helps us understand the sources and availability of information in our community and whether or not it is meeting the needs of residents." The report contains the survey's findings and list of 146 outlets identified as online news sites, which give an idea of the diversity in size, content, format and issue area of Chicago's online news ecosystem. While the report show more competition than ever for news consumers said Community Media Workshop President Thom Clark, "the roadmap for vetted, authoritative information that frames the public debate is still being charted."
benton.org/node/42641 | Editor&Publisher | read the report
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POLICYMAKERS
OSTP ALL STAFFED UP
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Phil Larson]
Office of Science and Technology Policy staff gathered for a few minutes Tuesday morning to celebrate a significant event: For the first time in a decade, OSTP has the full complement of four Associate Directors authorized by Congress. Completion came this week with the swearing in of Nobel Prize winner Carl Wieman, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as OSTP's Associate Director (AD) for Science. He joins Phil Coyle (AD for National Security and International Affairs), Shere Abbott (AD for Environment), and Aneesh Chopra (AD for Technology and the first ever U.S. Chief Technology Officer), under the leadership of OSTP Director John P. Holdren, who also serves as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
benton.org/node/42640 | White House, The
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COMMUNITY MEDIA
USDA LIBRARY GRANTS
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Press release]
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced investments in 30 states that will create jobs by building and enhancing libraries in 129 rural communities across the nation. The projects are being funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). "Libraries are the centerpiece of rural community life, but in many cases they need additional funding to provide rural residents with computer access, modern equipment and new training and educational opportunities," Sec Vilsack said. "These Recovery Act investments in our nation's libraries will serve rural America for generations to come." The $15 million in Recovery Act funding is being provided through USDA Rural Development's Community Facilities Program. It will be combined with $10.2 million from other sources. Funding of each loan and grant is contingent upon the recipient meeting the conditions of the agreement.
benton.org/node/42634 | Department of Agriculture | Sec Tom Vilsack
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PRIVATE COMPANY TAKES OVER PUBLIC LIBRARIES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Streitfeld]
A private company in Maryland has taken over public libraries in ailing cities in California, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas, growing into the country's fifth-largest library system. Now the company, Library Systems & Services, has been hired for the first time to run a system in a relatively healthy city, setting off an intense and often acrimonious debate about the role of outsourcing in a ravaged economy. A $4 million deal to run the three libraries in Santa Clarita (CA) is a chance for the company to demonstrate that a dose of private management can be good for communities, whatever their financial situation. But in an era when outsourcing is most often an act of budget desperation — with janitors, police forces and even entire city halls farmed out in one town or another — the contract in Santa Clarita has touched a deep nerve and begun a round of second-guessing. Can a municipal service like a library hold so central a place that it should be entrusted to a profit-driven contractor only as a last resort — and maybe not even then?
benton.org/node/42661 | New York Times
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