September 2010

Wiretapping the Internet must be balanced with privacy concerns

[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.

Cellphones' role in activism in Africa is threatened

When rioters took to the streets of Mozambique's capital, Maputo, in September, the government swiftly called out the police. When investigators discovered that protesters mobilized via text messaging, the government called on private cellphone firms to turn off text messaging. For local activists - some of whom use texting, or SMS, to organize peace efforts - the government crackdown seemed draconian. And the move may serve as a warning shot far beyond Mozambique in a continent of 1 billion people where there's a mobile phone for every adult.

Should Congress regulate political ad money?

The Christian Science Monitor has dueling op-eds. Public Citizen's Craig Holman argues that transparency of money is the cornerstone of free and fair elections. Transparency is the bedrock against special interests trying to buy favors from officeholders. It allows the public to monitor whether official favors and privileges are being doled out to those paying for campaign ads.

David Bossie of Citizens United counters that in Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court recognized that "the right of citizens to inquire, to hear, to speak, and to use information to reach consensus is a precondition to enlightened self-government and a necessary means to protect it." Our campaign-finance laws should be revised so that Americans can freely exercise this right. Some practical, yet meaningful, reforms might include raising or eliminating individual contribution limits to candidates, political committees, and political parties as well as raising reporting thresholds to reduce the burdens on exercising this fundamental right.

ABC Sells Local Stations Some of Its Ad Slots

Walt Disney's ABC network is trying out a new approach to ad sales: selling national ad slots to local ABC stations.

The sales, which will begin with six 30-second prime-time slots in the last two weeks of October in "Grey's Anatomy," "Modern Family" and other shows, are timed to enable both the network and the stations to cash in on an historic crush of political advertising tied to the midterm elections. But ABC hopes to use the approach at other times of the year, taking advantage of a wrinkle in the TV market: the aggregate price for the local ads that air on all ABC stations in a particular ad slot is often higher than the price ABC can get for a single national ad. Traditionally, local stations sell a fixed number of commercials when they broadcast shows supplied by national networks. The number is often established in affiliation agreements between the stations and the network, and it varies depending on the kind of programming and when the show airs. The network sells the shows' other spots. ABC is using a computer system dubbed the Inventory Exchange System to handle the new approach. The system offers each ABC station the opportunity to buy a collection of ad slots in national shows at an appropriate price for the particular market. If a station believes it can sell ads for those slots at a profit, it opts in. And if enough stations agree to pay, in total, more than ABC could charge for national commercials in the slots, the system triggers the sales.

Slow Fade-Out for Video Stores

Blockbuster's bankruptcy last week has made it official: Technology is killing the video-rental store -- and a piece of American culture with it.

Since the first video-rental shops emerged in the late 1970s, they have served as shrines to films and created new social spaces for neighborhoods, often reflecting their personalities. They drew cinephiles, rebellious teens seeking movies of which their parents might not approve, and budding young actors and directors who canonized them in their work. The shops made accessible high quality films, or quirky or foreign ones, that weren't likely to be broadcast on TV—and on customers' own schedules. Brought down off the silver screen, movies were artifacts people could swap, study and recommend. A generation of movie buffs and cultural critics collected copies of films the same way art and books were amassed. But new movie-delivery methods have made bricks-and-mortar stores obsolete. In 1998, Netflix started shipping DVDs to consumers at home. Cable companies expanded their on-demand movie offerings, making it easier to find a movie from the couch. In 2007, there were 16,237 video-rental stores in the country, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, down from 23,036 in 1997.

Publishers Back News Start-Up In Hopes of Expanding Audience

Three major news organizations said they are investing in a California start-up that will launch a digital consumer service for reading and sharing news from multiple publishers. The company, Ongo Inc., said it has received a $12 million initial round of financing from the New York Times Co., Washington Post Co. and Gannett Co. It also said it will introduce the service before the end of the year. Ongo describes itself as providing "computer and telecommunications software for use in aggregating and viewing news and syndication feeds."

Libraries launch apps to sync with iPod generation

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.

Improving Public Safety Communications in the 800 MHz Band

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.

What Will The Internet Look Like In 10 Years?

The Internet Society engaged in a scenario planning exercise to reveal plausible courses of events that could impact the health of the Internet in the future. While obviously not intended to be a definitive overview of the landscape or all potential issues, the Society believe the results are interesting and thought-provoking. The Society hope that the results will inspire thought about possibilities for the future development of the Internet, and involvement in helping to make that happen in the best possible way. Possible scenarios include: Common Pool, Boutique Networks, Moats and Drawbridges, and Porous Garden.

Online Product Research

The commercial use of the Internet by American adults has grown since the mid-2000s, with 58% of Americans now reporting that they perform online research concerning the products and services that they are considering purchasing.

That is an increase from 49% who said they conducted product or service research online in 2004. Moreover, the number of those who do research about products on any given day has jumped from 15% of adults in September 2007 to 21% in September 2010. From February 2004, the number of adults conducting research on any given day has more than doubled, up from 9%. Additionally, 24% of American adults say they have posted comments or reviews online about the product or services they buy, indicating a willingness to share their opinions about products and the buying experience with others.

"Many Americans begin their purchasing experience by doing online research to compare prices, quality, and the reviews of other shoppers," said Jim Jansen, Senior Fellow at the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and author of a new report about online product research. "Even if they end up making their purchase in a store, they start their fact-finding and decision-making on the Internet."

Benton

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