September 30, 2010 (Network Neutrality Bill Dies)
"The bottom line is that we must protect the open Internet. If Congress can't act, the FCC must."
-- House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2010
Health IT and cell phones in prisons on today's agenda benton.org/calendar/2010-09-30
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Global Free Flow of Information on the Internet
Wiretapping the Internet must be balanced with privacy concerns
NETWORK NEUTRALITY/RECLASSIFICATION
Lacking GOP Support, Network Neutrality Bill Dies Before Introduction
House Minority Leader Boehner won't back Dems' network neutrality legislation
Rockefeller Doubtful On Moving Net Neutrality Bill
Chairman Waxman endorsement could give FCC's Genachowski political cover
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Fed's IPv6 plan called a 'game changer'
What Will The Internet Look Like In 10 Years?
PIRACY
Senate piracy bill changed after criticism by ISPs, engineers, public advocates
PRIVACY
High court takes case on corporate privacy
Rep Boucher Moving Forward On Privacy Legislation
OWNERSHIP
Comcast Could Suffer From Universal Access
NBC Universal leader warns high-speed broadband has created 'a bit of a warzone'
JOURNALISM
Distrust in U.S. Media Edges Up to Record High
Elections Dominate Coverage, Not Public Interest
Fake pimp from ACORN videos tries to 'punk' CNN correspondent [Video]
Corporation for Public Broadcasting Launches Two New Local Journalism Centers
Publishers Back News Start-Up In Hopes of Expanding Audience
WIRELESS
Improving Public Safety Communications in the 800 MHz Band
Wireless for Social Good: $650k Up for Grabs
New Law Changes IRS Rules on Cell Phones
Encouraging Contractor Policies To Ban Text Messaging While Driving
POLICYMAKERS
FCC's Clyburn Delivers Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture
New Staff in FCC Bureaus
Kelley Dunne to helm One Economy
CONTENT
Audio Recordings Of US History Fading Fast
Online Product Research
RESEARCH
"America has an innovation problem. And we need to solve it."
HEALTH
Institute of Medicine will study best policies and practices for improving health care safety with health information technology
Kaiser sharing translation-enabling technology
COMMUNITY MEDIA
Libraries launch apps to sync with iPod generation
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Cellphones' role in activism in Africa is threatened
Should Congress regulate political ad money?
Web Tastes Freedom Inside Syria, and It's Bitter
BT in £132m push for rural broadband
MORE ONLINE
Valley that thrives on hope of next big online fad
ABC Sells Local Stations Some of Its Ad Slots
Slow Fade-Out for Video Stores
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
PROCEEDING ON GLOBAL FLOW OF INFORMATION
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Sec Gary Locke, Lawrence Strickling, Francisco Sanchez, Patrick Gallagher]
The Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force is examining issues related to the global free flow of information on the Internet. Specifically, the Department seeks public comment from all stakeholders, including the commercial, academic, and civil society sectors, on government policies that restrict information flows on the Internet. The Task Force seeks to understand why these restrictions have been instituted; what, if any, impact they have had on innovation, economic development, global trade and investment; and how best to address negative impacts. After analyzing the comments responding to this Notice, the Department intends to publish a report which will contribute to the Administration's domestic policy and international engagement on these issues. This report will examine the impact that restrictions on the free flow of information on the Internet have on innovation, global economic growth, trade, and investment.
Comments are due on or before November 15, 2010.
benton.org/node/42798 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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INTERNET WIRETAPPING AND PRIVACY
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] It isn't hard to figure out why the Obama administration wants to make it easier for police and spy agencies to eavesdrop on the latest forms of Internet communication. The burden of keeping the nation safe from crooks and terrorists is daunting, especially in an increasingly virtual world, and it's sensible for law enforcement to seek every possible advantage. But critics are right to ask whether proposed new regulations could pose a threat to privacy. This is one time when Congress is justified in taking a cautious approach. Any changes in privacy laws will require careful scrutiny to avoid needless erosion of Americans' civil liberties. The Obama administration should sit down with Internet communication companies and find the best way to balance these conflicting needs in current and future technology. In the meantime, everyone should bear in mind that wiretaps are not the only means to root out criminals or terrorism threats. Bugs, surveillance cameras and access to huge databases can put vast amounts of information at the government's disposal. And it's not as if wiretaps are completely worthless. A government report issued in April reveals that the federal government had been granted more than 2,000 wiretaps in 2009, up more than 70 percent from a decade ago. Federal law enforcement agencies should be encouraged to keep seeking legitimate ways to intercept communications from those who would do the nation harm. But they should not be permitted to trample over online users' reasonable expectations of privacy.
benton.org/node/42822 | San Jose Mercury News
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY/RECLASSIFICATION
NETWORK NEUTRALITY BILL DIES
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Chairman Henry Waxman]
Over the past several weeks, Subcommittee Chairman Boucher and I have sought to reach bipartisan agreement on legislation that would protect and promote an open Internet. Our efforts were supported by groups that have long been at odds on this issue: phone and cable companies, technology companies, and consumer and open-Internet groups. Our proposal was designed to be an interim measure to protect net neutrality while Congress considers a permanent solution. It contained four key consumer protections that would:
Restore the FCC's authority to prevent blocking of Internet content, applications, and services, which was struck down by the court in the Comcast decision;
Prevent phone and cable companies from unjustly or unreasonably discriminating against any lawful Internet traffic;
Prohibit wireless broadband providers from blocking websites, as well as applications that compete with voice or video conferencing, while preserving the FCC's authority to adopt additional safeguards under its existing authorities; and
Direct the FCC to issue transparency regulations so consumers know the price, performance, and network management practices of their broadband providers.
Under our proposal, the FCC could begin enforcing these open Internet rules immediately with maximum fines increased from $75,000 to $2,000,000 for violations.
And our approach would provide the phone and cable companies with protection from the threat of reclassification for two years. Under this proposal, both sides would emerge as winners. Consumers would win protections that preserve the openness of the Internet, while the Internet service providers would receive relief from their fears of reclassification. This legislative initiative was predicated on going forward only if we had full bipartisan support in our Committee. We included the Republican staff in our deliberations and made clear that we were prepared to introduce our compromise legislation if we received the backing of Ranking Member Barton and Ranking Member Stearns. With great regret, I must report that Ranking Member Barton has informed me that support for this legislation will not be forthcoming at this time. The bottom line is that we must protect the open Internet. If Congress can't act, the FCC must.
benton.org/node/42808 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | Bloomberg | The Hill | The Hill - Barton
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RECLASSIFICATION ENDORSEMENT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman's (D-CA) endorsement of broadband reclassification could represent a dramatic change in the network neutrality debate. The endorsement is dramatic because observers on all sides of the equation have questioned whether Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski would be bold enough to move on his own proposal. He proposed Title II reclassification five months ago but failed to move ahead as missives poured into the FCC this summer from members who oppose the plan. But an endorsement from a key Democratic leader could be a game-changer, particularly if his Senate counterpart takes a similar stance
benton.org/node/42825 | Hill, The
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
FED IPV6 PLAN
[SOURCE: NetworkWorld, AUTHOR: Carolyn Duffy Marsan]
Internet policymakers and industry leaders are hailing the Obama Administration's plan to upgrade all federal Web sites and e-government services over the next two years to support IPv6, the long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol. The plan was released today by Federal CIO Vivek Kundra, who issued a memo requiring all federal agencies to upgrade their public-facing Web services including Web, email, DNS and ISP services to native IPv6 by September 30, 2012. The Kundra memo establishes a second deadline of September 30, 2014 for federal agencies to upgrade internal client applications that communicate with public Internet servers to use native IPv6. Each agency is required to designate an IPv6 transition manager to direct IPv6-related activities, and they must purchase network hardware and software that complies with the federal government's IPv6 testing process. "This [memo] is the single largest impetus for change that I've seen in the last few years," says Ram Mohan, executive vice president of Afilias, which operates .info and a dozen other Internet domains. "It's going to make network providers who are on the fence about IPv6 jump off the fence because the federal government is now speaking very clearly that it is going to adopt IPv6 fully. I think it will push them to make the capital investments that are necessary to adopt IPv6. It comes at a good time because this is budget season in corporate America."
benton.org/node/42786 | NetworkWorld | NTIA head Strickling | Reuters
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PIRACY
PIRACY BILL AMENDMENTS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
The Senate Judiciary Committee announced changes to the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act after an uproar by Silicon Valley engineers, Internet service providers and public interest groups that the legislation would lead to censorship. proposed amendments include:
The Justice Department would not longer be required to publish the domain names of sites that counterfeit products and violate copyright laws.
Internet service providers wouldn't be required to modify network or facilities to comply with an order to look up domain names and shut them down.
Internet service providers would be given some breathing room on domain name takedowns with new language that requires them to "act as expeditiously as reasonable," according to a summary of the amendment.
The new bill would provide more protection from legal liability for third-party registrars and ISPs. The previous version of the bill held them explicitly liable for allowing pirated material on their networks or to be registered.
The amendment requires the Attorney General to work with law enforcement on a process that allows agencies to coordinate on investigations.
benton.org/node/42806 | Washington Post
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PRIVACY
CORPORATE PRIVACY CASE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
The Supreme Court is getting involved in an unusual freedom of information dispute over whether corporations may assert personal privacy interests to prevent the government from releasing documents about them. The Court agreed to a request from the Obama administration to take up a case involving claims made by telecommunications giant AT&T to keep secret the information gathered by the Federal Communications Commission during an investigation. The Administration wants the high court to rule that corporations may not claim a personal privacy exception contained in the federal Freedom of Information Act. The exception may be used only by individuals, the Administration said in a brief signed by Elena Kagan, the newest justice who served in the Justice Department until last month. AT&T wants the FCC to keep secret all the information it gathered from the company during an investigation into its participation in the federal E-Rate program, which helps schools and libraries get Internet access. The FCC had released some of the information under an open records request, but withheld some, citing FOIA exemptions that cover trade secrets and humans' right to privacy. A federal appeals court sided with AT&T. (FCC v. AT&T, 09-1279)
benton.org/node/42795 | Associated Press | The Hill
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PRIVACY LEGISLATION
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
Privacy legislation aiming to protect consumers online will be introduced early next Congress House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) said. "We want to make sure that electronic commerce is enhanced by giving to consumers' privacy protections that they don't have today," Rep Boucher said. The measure, currently in draft form, seeks to inform consumers about what personal information is collected by websites, how it is used, and empower Internet users to control that information. To that end, the proposed bill will encourage websites to adopt the following policies: make a user's preference profile available to him or her; allow the user to modify their profile; and allow the user, with one click, to opt-out of having most of their information collected. Some information, such as the type of a web browser an Internet user has, is needed by websites in order for them to function. One of the goals of the planned bill is to stop websites from selling consumer information to third parties without the consumer's knowledge about it.
benton.org/node/42790 | CongressDaily
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OWNERSHIP
COMCAST AND BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Martin Peers]
Comcast may be paying relatively little to buy control of NBC Universal. But the true cost won't be clear until regulators have decided what conditions to impose. One subject investors should watch: how those reviewing the deal treat the fast-changing area of online video. Public-interest groups and satellite-TV firms have asked the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that a merged Comcast-NBC Universal not be allowed to withhold its content from rivals online. That is a worrisome prospect for Comcast investors. It could potentially give a leg-up to online video services, ranging from Netflix to Sezmi, a venture-capital-backed broadband video service that competes directly with cable. In doing so, it would undermine Comcast's ability to protect its core cable-TV business. As Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett notes, one of the "critical lines of defense" in the debate about video cord-cutting—consumers dropping their cable subscription in favor of cheap Web video—is that content companies won't make their content available for alternative business models unless the economics make sense. The possibility of such FCC action can't be ruled out. There are already "program-access" rules that apply off-line, specifying that any cable operators that own programming have to make it available to rivals like satellite-TV firms and phone companies on "nondiscriminatory" terms. In a recent case unrelated to Comcast, the FCC suggested in an interim ruling that those rules don't apply to online services, although it noted it was still reviewing the matter. Any expansion of the rules to include online would raise lots of questions, including who would be affected. DirecTV Group, for instance, has suggested a narrow extension of program-access rules to cover Comcast-owned content it decides to put purely online. But it suggests only cable, satellite and phone companies could claim a right to use the content, rather than online-only video services.
benton.org/node/42824 | Wall Street Journal
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JOURNALISM
DISTRUST IN MEDIA
[SOURCE: Gallup, AUTHOR: Lymari Morales]
For the fourth straight year, the majority of Americans say they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. The 57% who now say this is a record high by one percentage point. The 43% of Americans who, in Gallup's annual Governance poll, conducted Sept. 13-16, 2010, express a great deal or fair amount of trust ties the record low, and is far worse than three prior Gallup readings on this measure from the 1970s. Trust in the media is now slightly higher than the record-low trust in the legislative branch but lower than trust in the executive and judicial branches of government, even though trust in all three branches is down sharply this year. These findings also further confirm a separate Gallup poll that found little confidence in newspapers and television specifically. Nearly half of Americans (48%) say the media are too liberal, tying the high end of the narrow 44% to 48% range recorded over the past decade. One-third say the media are just about right while 15% say they are too conservative. Overall, perceptions of bias have remained quite steady over this tumultuous period of change for the media, marked by the growth of cable and Internet news sources. Americans' views now are in fact identical to those in 2004, despite the many changes in the industry since then. Lower-income Americans and those with less education are generally more likely to trust the media than are those with higher incomes and more education. A subgroup analysis of these data suggests that three demographic groups key to advertisers -- adults aged 18 to 29, Americans making at least $75,000 per year, and college graduates -- lost more trust in the media in the past year than other groups, but the sample sizes in this survey are too small to say so definitively.
benton.org/node/42788 | Gallup
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ELECTIONS DOMINATE COVERAGE
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, AUTHOR: Andrew Kohut et al]
While the 2010 midterm congressional elections dominated media coverage last week, the public focused more on news about the nation's struggling economy. Nearly a quarter (23%) of the public says they followed news about the economy more closely than any other major story. Just 6% say they followed news about this year's congressional elections most closely, according to the latest News Interest Index survey of 1,010 adults conducted Sept. 23-26 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The midterm election campaign accounted for 25% of news coverage, almost double the 13% given to news about the economy, according to a separate analysis by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ). More than four-in-ten Americans (43%) say they followed economic news very closely, compared with 25% who tracked campaign news very closely. About as many Democrats (26%) as Republicans (30%) say they are following campaign news very closely; 22% of independents say the same.
benton.org/node/42804 | Pew Research center for the people and the Press
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WIRELESS
IMPROVING PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission released an order it says concludes its longstanding efforts to relocate the Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) from the 1990-2110 MHz band to the 2025-2110 MHz band, freeing up 35 megahertz of spectrum in order to foster the development of new and innovative services that can provide mobile broadband and nationwide communications capabilities. This decision in particular addresses the outstanding matter of Sprint Nextel Corporation's (Sprint Nextel) inability to agree with Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) operators in the band on the sharing of the costs to relocate the BAS incumbents. To date, Sprint has shouldered the entire cost of this relocation, which was completed on July 15, 2010. The FCC balances the responsibilities for and benefits of relocating incumbent BAS operations among all the new entrants in the different services that will operate in the band.
benton.org/node/42815 | Federal Communications Commission | Commissioner Clyburn
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WIRELESS FOR SOCIAL GOOD
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Jenara Nerenberg]
Mobile for social good is all the rage these days and mobile for health, especially, has been stealing the spotlight lately. Vodafone and the mHealth Alliance have just announced a call for entries for innovative wireless technology solutions in global health, particularly in developing countries. There are two awards at stake--the Wireless Innovation Project and the mHealth Alliance Award. There will be three Wireless Innovation Winners awarded $300,000, $200,000, and $100,000 respectively, one of which will earn an additional $50,000 with the mHealth Alliance Award. The mHealth Alliance Award "will be granted to the developer of an innovative wireless technology with the most potential to address critical health challenges, especially in developing regions of the world," according to the announcement. Applicants must be based in the United States but innovating for "the furthest reaches of wireless communication."
benton.org/node/42803 | Fast Company
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POLICYMAKERS
CLYBURN DELIVERS PARKER LECTURE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn]
Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn presented the Parker Lecture in Ethics and Telecommunications. She kept the audience spellbound with her description of people who "lost their place in history" when the media barons of South Carolina conspired to engage in a "media blackout." She described the widely-unknown story of Sara Mae Fleming who also refused to give up her seat on a bus in the 1950s, but her story was not told because the mainstream media was closed to stories of civil rights activists.
benton.org/node/42826 | Federal Communications Commission
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NEW FCC STAFF
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced key senior agency staff in the Media Bureau (MB) and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB). These positions are MB Deputy Michelle Carey and WTB Deputy and Senior Advisor on New Technology Michael McKenzie. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/42793 | Federal Communications Commission
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CONTENT
AUDIO RECORDINGS AT RISK
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
New digital recordings of events in U.S. history and early radio shows are at risk of being lost much faster than older ones on tape and many are already gone, according to a study on sound released Wednesday. Even recent history -- such as recordings from 9/11 or the 2008 election -- is at risk because digital sound files can be corrupted, and widely used CD-R discs only last three to five years before files start to fade, said study co-author Sam Brylawski. "I think we're assuming that if it's on the Web it's going to be there forever," he said. "That's one of the biggest challenges." The first comprehensive study of the preservation of sound recordings in the U.S., released by the Library of Congress, also found many historical recordings already have been lost or can't be accessed by the public. That includes most of radio's first decade from 1925 to 1935. Shows by musicians Duke Ellington and Bing Crosby, as well as the earliest sports broadcasts, are already gone. There was little financial incentive for such broadcasters as CBS to save early sound files, Brylawski said.
benton.org/node/42796 | Associated Press
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RESEARCH
INNOVATION HEARING
[SOURCE: House Committee on Science and Technology]
The House Committee on Science and Technology held a hearing to discuss findings and recommendations from the recently released report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5. The updated report highlights progress that has been made in the past five years, including enactment of the America COMPETES Act, but underscores that America's competitive position in the world now faces greater challenges and that research investments are even more critical today. The report urges reauthorization of COMPETES. "For many years, I worked as an aircraft engineer and we often dealt with the dilemma of trying to make an overweight aircraft fly. We never solved the problem by removing an engine. Science funding is the engine of a thought-based economy. We cannot simply remove it," said Norm Augustine, chairman of the Gathering Storm Committee and former Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin. "The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has challenged innovators to come up with truly novel ideas and "game changers." The program has high potential for long-term success, but only if it is given the autonomy, budget, and clear signals of support to implement needed projects," stated Charles Holliday, member of the Gathering Storm Committee and Chairman of the Board of Bank of America. Witness Craig Barrett, also a member of the Gathering Storm and retired Chairman and CEO of Intel Corporation, put the issue simply, "America has an innovation problem. And we need to solve it."
benton.org/node/42792 | House Committee on Science and Technology
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HEALTH
HIT STUDY
[SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) will conduct a 1-year study aimed at ensuring that health information technology (HIT) will achieve its full potential for improving patient safety in health care. The study will be carried out under a $989,000 contract announced by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which is charged with coordinating federal efforts regarding HIT adoption and meaningful use. The study will examine a comprehensive range of patient safety-related issues, including prevention of HIT-related errors and rapid reporting of any HIT-related patient safety issues. It will make recommendations concerning the potential effects of government policies and private sector actions in maximizing patient safety and avoiding medical errors through HIT. Substantial funding under the Health Information Technology Economic and Clinical Health Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will support the adoption and meaningful use of HIT, especially through incentives for the adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health records.
benton.org/node/42812 | Department of Health and Human Services
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COMMUNITY MEDIA
LIBRARIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Jeannie Nuss]
Libraries are tweeting, texting and launching smart-phone apps as they try to keep up with the biblio-techs — a computer-savvy class of people who consider card catalogs as vintage as typewriters. And they seem to be pulling it off. Since libraries started rebranding themselves for the iPod generation, thousands of music geeks have downloaded free songs from library websites. And with many more bookworms waiting months to check out wireless reading devices, libraries are shrugging off the notion that the Internet shelved them alongside dusty books. The latest national data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services show that library visits and circulation climbed nearly 20 percent from 1999 to 2008. Since then, experts say, technology has continued to drive in-person visits, circulation and usage.
benton.org/node/42816 | Associated Press
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