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  2. September 2010

September 2010

Encouraging Contractor Policies To Ban Text Messaging While Driving

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Executive Order 13513, issued on October 1, 2009, entitled ''Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging while Driving."

This Executive Order was issued to demonstrate Federal leadership in improving safety on the nation's roads and highways, and to enhance the efficiency of Federal contracting. The purpose of this policy is to prevent the unsafe practice of text messaging by Federal contractors while driving in connection with Government business. This policy further promotes economy and efficiency in Federal procurement, and seeks to prohibit the disruption of Government business and Federal procurement, as a result of unsafe text messaging practices.
Effective Date: September 29, 2010.

Fed's IPv6 plan called a 'game changer'

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."

Kaiser sharing translation-enabling technology

Kaiser Permanente donated its Convergent Medical Terminology (CMT) to the International Healthcare Terminology Standards Development Organisation for U.S. distribution through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) so that all health care providers -- large and small -- can benefit from the translation-enabling technology.

This donation makes the results of years of work at Kaiser Permanente available to help U.S. health professionals and hospitals achieve key meaningful use standards set forth by the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Kaiser Permanente's donation, which is being provided at no charge, consists of terminology content they have already developed, a set of tools to help create and manage terminology, and processes to control the quality of terminology that is developed. CMT also includes mappings to classifications and standard vocabularies, such as the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT©) already accepted by U.S. and international health policy makers. In addition to being of immediate value to electronic health record developers and users, these resources will assist the distributed enhancement of standard vocabularies, such as SNOMED CT, to better meet U.S. and international needs. Kaiser Permanente has agreed to work with the IHTSDO, the owner of SNOMED CT, and its U.S. Member, the National Library of Medicine, to help make an internationally distributed network of terminology development a reality.

Fake pimp from ACORN videos tries to 'punk' CNN correspondent

James O'Keefe, a conservative activist known for making undercover videos, plotted to embarrass Abbie Boudreau, a CNN correspondent, by recording a meeting on hidden cameras aboard a floating "palace of pleasure" and making sexually suggestive comments, e-mails and a planning document show. O'Keefe is perhaps best known for a.) dressing up like a pimp, to conduct undercover video stings in ACORN offices; or b.) trying to tamper with the phone system in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office.

Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology

National Institute of Standards and Technology
Wednesday, October 13, 2010, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, October 14, 2010, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Contact:
Stephanie Shaw
Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology
NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-1060,
(301) 975-2667
stephanie.shaw@nist.gov.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-24579.pdf

The Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology is composed of fifteen members appointed by the Director of NIST who are eminent in such fields as business, research, new product development, engineering, labor, education, management consulting, environment, and international relations.

The purpose of this meeting is to review and make recommendations regarding general policy for the Institute, its organization, its budget, and its programs within the framework of applicable national policies as set forth by the President and the Congress.

The first day's agenda will include an update on NIST; presentations on NIST proposed performance evaluation framework and example implementations for NIST calibration services and Standard Reference Materials; and a presentation on the Administration's Priorities on Innovation by Mr. Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology Officer and Associate Director for Technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy. Three concurrent breakout groups will be convened in which NIST Division Chiefs will provide information on selected NIST measurement services to the VCAT members. The first day will conclude with the VCAT discussion on NIST measurement services planning and management.

On the second day, the meeting will focus on measurement and standards needs in forensic sciences including external perspectives from guest speakers and an overview and examples of forensic science activities at NIST. Other topics include a discussion on the initial outputs of the Blue Ribbon Commission II Safety Management; an update on external needs assessment activities, and a wrap-up discussion, recommendations, and plans for the 2010 VCAT Annual Report.


Navigating the Art of Change 2.0.
Grantmakers in the Arts Annual Conference
October 18, 2010
9:30
http://www.giarts.org/2010-conference

Rarely do the advocates meet, but there is much common ground. In the spirit of "better together" we will conduct a participatory session to elevate the intersections of the arts and social justice and media justice movements. The aim is to identify opportunities for the sharing of best practices and to foster collaborations that enable both art and social justice and media justice practitioners to more effectively use media, more artfully craft their messages and more efficiently reach their target audiences. Session presenters Helen De Michiel formerly of NAMAC and Michelle Coffey of the Lambent Foundation will consider such common issues as representation, access to audiences and mainstream vs. marginal.


September 29, 2010 (Network Neutrality Bill: Message or Action?)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

Busy day highlighted by the Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture and Awards and The Knight Commission Report One Year Later (see more below)
benton.org/calendar/2010-09-29


INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Network Neutrality Bill Might Be More About Message Than Action
   See also: Stearns concerned network neutrality bill could skip committee vote
   Open Internet Coalition not supporting Waxman network neutrality bill
   Rep. Blackburn urging GOP to reject Internet regulations
   Blair Levin Calls For Broadband Deployment Fund
   NTIA Funding Letter
   Opening the Door to E-Rate in Our Communities
   Broadband's Impact on Economic Development: The Real Deal

TELEVISION
   Free Press raises flag over "corporate propaganda"
   Small cable networks could get pushed into deals
   Broadcasters sue Ivi for copyright infringement
   Networks pulling ad inventory from Hulu
   Study Finds More Gay Characters on TV
   Obama Says Fox News Promotes 'Destructive' Viewpoint
   Congress Passes Digital Disability Access Bill

OWNERSHIP
   Tribune strikes deal with Angelo Gordon, Oaktree to settle some bankruptcy claims
   AOL buys TechCrunch, 5min Media
   'Traditional' Local Media Revenue on Decline
   See also: 1 in 10 'Old Media' Will Survive

HEALTH
   Awareness needed, along with laws, to end dangers of distracted driving
   ONC completes nationwide system to assist doctors and hospitals in switching to electronic health records
   Communications Technology and Health Care
   ONC promotes use of health care CIOs in training effort
   Indiana University given $4M to study health IT ethics, law
   Medicaid mobilizes for meaningful use
   Phone More Popular Than Internet When Seeking Prices For Health Care

PRIVACY
   Public wants online privacy rules, US official says

CYBERSECURITY
   Homeland Security Launches Cyber Storm III

KIDS AND MEDIA
   In Study, Children Cite Appeal of Digital Reading

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   EU Announces Major Investment In IT Research
   British ISPs open door to paid prioritization

MORE ONLINE
   All Those 140-Character Twitter Messages Amount To Petabytes Of Data Every Year
   iPad owners: younger and more male. Kindle's: richer and better educated
   Michigan and Utah Lead 50-State Report Card on Technology in Government

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

MESSAGE AND ACTION IN NETWORK NEUTRALITY DEBATE
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
With precious little time left in the 111th Congress, House Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman's efforts to advance a network neutrality bill may be more of a messaging tool than anything else, observers say. "A lot of legislation is introduced not because of its likelihood of enactment, but to send a message that will ricochet around the Hill and agencies," said Andrew Lipman, head of the telecommunications, media and technology group at the law firm Bingham. Against steep odds, Chairman Waxman (D-CA) has been leading an effort to shepherd a measure through Congress that would codify some principles to protect the openness of the Internet. With players from all sides of the issue agreeing that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to move a network neutrality bill through the Senate, some say it calls into question Waxman's motives. "The Waxman endgame is to have the FCC's back here and to set forward a minimalist approach that the [commission] can move forward on," one source familiar with the situation said. Providing FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski a "graceful exit" to the broadband regulation conundrum is a priority for Chairman Waxman, a handful of insiders say. Waxman could be "telegraphing to the FCC how a very important member of Congress would like to see this issue resolved," or setting a legislative "placeholder," Lipman noted. Other industry observers say that congressional action is needed after so many years of debate and nothing to show for it.
benton.org/node/42754 | CongressDaily
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BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT FUND
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Blair Levin released a report that argues that the federal government should establish a $10 billion fund over 10 years to help ensure all Americans have access to affordable broadband service. In the paper, Levin noted that "current government programs to assure communication networks are available to all Americans will neither ensure that such networks are available nor encourage adoption." Levin wrote the paper for the Aspen Institute, where he now works as a communications and society fellow, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Levin also recommends that the funding needed to bring broadband to those who don't currently have it could be obtained by repurposing funding in the Universal Service Fund, which has been used to subsidize telecommunications service in high-cost or rural areas. In the National Broadband Plan which Levin helped write, the Federal Communications Commission called for expanding the fund to include support for broadband. Levin noted that once funds are identified they should be distributed through a "transparent, market-based approach; that funds be provided only to areas where, without such funding, there is no private sector case to provide broadband; and that funds are provided to one provider per area. The criteria should be company and technology agnostic, and the recipients should be accountable for achieving universal broadband access in the relevant geographic areas." He notes that ultimately it might be too expensive to extend broadband service to the last .2 percent of the population, but adds that such households could be served by satellite broadband service. To help promote adoption of broadband, Levin calls for expanding and revamping the Lifeline and Link Up programs.
benton.org/node/42772 | CongressDaily | B&C
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NTIA FUNDING LETTER
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Communication Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) sent a letter urging the House Appropriations Committee to ensure that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration receives full funding to oversee and manage the grants it has awarded across the nation under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. They note that since BTOP infrastructure projects are complex and a number of awardees are new to the federal grant process, most, if not all, projects will require technical assistance and careful monitoring, including site visits, to ensure they achieve· their program objectives, are completed on time, and comply with federal regulations. The President's FY 2011 budget includes $23.7 million for BTOP oversight, monitoring, management, and reporting.
benton.org/node/42769 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee
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TELEVISION

PAID ADVERTISING ON LOCAL TV NEWS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Free Press wrote the Federal Communications Commission to decry the use of undisclosed commercials on television news programs, a practice they claim is increasingly prevalent. Free Press policy counsel Corie Wright cited a series of stores by the Los Angeles Times as evidence local TV stations are airing paid advertising under the guise of news in violation of the law. Wright pointed specifically to segments aired on KCBS 2 Los Angeles that were labeled "CBS Healthwatch" but were actually paid advertisements for a local medical center. "The problem of pay-to-play news is becoming an epidemic on the public airwaves," Wright said. "People rely on the news to make major decisions about their lives ­ including where to seek medical treatment or how to vote. They deserve to know when a newscast has been influenced by commercial considerations." Wright also pointed to an LATimes report regarding a lawyer and self-proclaimed "toy expert" named Elizabeth Werner, who was paid by toy companies to promote their products on local newscasts. Wright said viewers deserve to know when so-called experts are paid to promote the products they tout.
benton.org/node/42742 | Hill, The
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SMALL CABLE NETWORKS IN PERIL
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Yinka Adegoke]
Small independent cable networks could be forced to sell themselves to larger media conglomerates in the next 12 months as their profits are squeezed by pay TV operators looking to cut programming costs. The lifeblood of networks are the fees that cable, phone and satellite operators pay for the right to televise their programs. Such programming fees are often the largest costs to the operators. Programming costs are expected to rise 7 percent this year due to pressure from large media groups that own broadcast networks. These media titans -- Walt Disney Co, News Corp, NBC Universal -- are demanding cash for the right to carry the big broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. Standalone cable networks, such as Outdoor Channel, Hallmark Channel or even a mid-sized group like Scripps Networks, are likely to suffer because they lack the leverage of Walt Disney, which can negotiate higher fees for its cable networks in tandem with the threat that it will withhold its ABC network from an operator's subscribers.
benton.org/node/42759 | Reuters
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BROADCASTERS SUE LVI
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
News Corp's Fox, Walt Disney Co's ABC, CBS, General Electric Co's NBC and the Public Broadcasting Service sued tiny upstart online subscription service Ivi for offering TV shows on the Internet without permission. The networks' suit follows a pre-emptive strike by Ivi, which brought a lawsuit against broadcasters on Sept 20 -- one week after opening for business -- that sought a ruling it was not infringing copyrights. Ivi, which received letters from various broadcasters, claims the U.S. Copyright Act authorizes secondary transmissions of copyrighted works embodied in primary transmissions and so its application that gives viewers access to more than 20 channels for just $4.99 a month is not infringing.
benton.org/node/42757 | Reuters | B&C
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MORE GAY CHARACTERS ON TV
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
The number of gay and bisexual characters on scripted broadcast network TV has risen slightly this season to 23 out of a total of nearly 600 roles, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The 15th annual "Where We Are on TV" report finds that 3.9 percent of actors appearing regularly on prime-time network drama and comedy series in the 2010-11 season will portray gay, lesbian or bisexual characters. That's up from 3 percent in the 2009-10 season. The increase in 2008-09 was 2.6 percent. Only six of the 23 gay and lesbian characters this season are nonwhite, GLAAD found. Using information provided by ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and CW, the group reviewed 84 scripted series announced to air this season. The only original programming announced by the gay-focused cable networks here! and Logo is unscripted, alternative programming, so they were not part of this year's character count, GLAAD said. While the number of broadcast drama series featuring regular or recurring gay characters is unchanged from last year, the number of comedy series has increased from 8 to 11, including new comedies "Running Wilde" (Fox), "Hellcats" (CW), "(Bleep) My Dad Says" (CBS), and midseason show "Happy Endings" (ABC). ABC led the networks in gay representation, with 7.2 percent or 11 regular characters out of a total of 152, followed by Fox with five out of 100 (5 percent).
benton.org/node/42765 | Associated Press
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OBAMA ON FOX
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
In his sharpest critique yet of the nation's highest-rated cable news channel, President Barack Obama said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that Fox News promoted a point of view that was "destructive" to the growth of the United States. President Obama was asked by Rolling Stone whether Fox News is "a good institution for America and for democracy." He began his answer with a look back at history noting that "we've got a tradition in this country of a press that oftentimes is opinionated," invoking William Randolph Hearst's use of his newspapers to promote his viewpoints. "I think Fox is part of that tradition -- it is part of the tradition that has a very clear, undeniable point of view. It's a point of view that I disagree with," President Obama said. "It's a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world." President Obama also suggested that Fox's parent, the News Corporation, put profit ahead of politics.
benton.org/node/42768 | New York Times
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TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY COMMUNICATIONS LAW
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The House passed the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (S. 3828). Among other things, the bill requires the captioning of any online video that is closed captioned on TV, and asks the FCC to study captioning of Web-original video. It also requires smart phones and other mobile devices to be accessible to the disabled, if that is achievable, and restores the FCC's video description rules thrown out by the courts in 2002. The bill passed the Senate last week.
benton.org/node/42764 | Broadcasting&Cable | CongressDaily
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OWNERSHIP

TRIBUNE DEAL WITH HEDGE FUNDS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
Bankrupt newspaper publisher Tribune Company has reached an agreement with two hedge funds that would settle some claims related to its 2007 leveraged buyout and clear the way for it to exit Chapter 11. Tribune said it agreed with Oaktree Capital Management and Angelo, Gordon & Co LP to a plan of reorganization which would leave the two hedge funds with significant ownership stakes in the company. The plan also would allow the owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and nearly two dozen television stations to exit bankruptcy before resolving a complex web of legal claims. The deal would need approval of Delaware's bankruptcy court. Under the settlement, Tribune senior bondholders would receive a total distribution of $300 million, or about 23 percent of their claim amount, in cash. In addition, Tribune said the bondholders would receive a portion of a trust that will be set up to pursue legal action over the second part of Zell's takeover deal.
benton.org/node/42758 | Reuters | LATimes
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DECLINE FOR 'TRADITIONAL' LOCAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Michael Malone]
BIA/Kelsey expects total local advertising to grow from $130.6 billion in 2009 to $145.2 billion in 2014. But within that group, BIA forecasts traditional local media declining from $115.1 billion in 2009 to $110 billion in 2014. BIA/Kelsey sees mobile local advertising revenues increasing from $213 million in 2009 to a whopping $2.02 billion in 2014, according to the research firm's U.S. Local Media Forecast (2009-2014). BIA/Kelsey defines mobile local advertising as advertising that is targeted based on a user's location and/or advertising that is "locally actionable."
benton.org/node/42746 | Broadcasting&Cable
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HEALTH

DISTRACTED DRIVING
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Two studies paint a disheartening picture of distracted driving on the nation's roads. One reports that from 2001 to 2007, an estimated 16,000 people were killed in accidents caused by a driver sending text messages. Another says that laws in four states banning texting while driving have done nothing to reduce the rate of car crashes. We think laws governing handset use on the road will eventually have an impact on mortality rates, even if it's not yet showing up. But this can only happen if these laws are accompanied by strong enforcement and public awareness campaigns aimed to change our driving culture, so that the stigma associated with drunken driving applies to using a cell phone behind the wheel, too.
benton.org/node/42766 | San Jose Mercury News
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REGIONAL EXTENSION CENTERS
[SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services, AUTHOR: Press release]
David Blumenthal, M.D., national coordinator for health information technology, announced selection of the final Regional Extension Centers (RECs), completing a national system of 62 organizations that will help physicians, clinics and hospitals to move from paper-based medical records to electronic health records (EHR). Two new awardees were named to cover Orange County (CA) and the state of New Hampshire. In addition, service areas were expanded for two already-named Florida RECs, completing RECs coverage of all areas of the country.
New awardees announced , with award amounts covering two years, are:
CalOptima Foundation covering Orange County, Calif. ($4,662,426)
Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative covering the state of New Hampshire ($5,105,495).
"The selection of these final awardees means that Regional Extension Centers are now in place in every region of our country to help health providers make the switch from paper-based medical practice to electronic health records," said Dr. Blumenthal. "For primary care physicians and smaller hospitals in particular, the RECs will be an important resource to help meet the challenges of adopting EHRs and using them to deliver better care."
benton.org/node/42739 | Department of Health and Human Services | GovernmentHealthIT
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PRIVACY

ONLINE PRIVACY RULES
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
Daniel Weitzner, associate administrator in the Office of Policy Analysis and Development at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, says US Web users are increasingly asking for tougher online privacy protections, even as they give more of their personal data to Web sites -- and Internet-based companies are asking for certainty about privacy rules from US regulators even as they also ask for flexibility to create new products. The US has "robust" privacy rules for some industries, but there's a growing call for baseline privacy rules, Weitzner said during an online privacy forum sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Technology Policy Institute. The NTIA and its parent agency, the Department of Commerce, began considering the policy options for online privacy about a year ago, but they haven't issued a formal position on whether additional rules are needed. The agency has heard from both consumers and online companies while it examines online privacy policy, he said. "People won't want to feel that they're out there completely unprotected," Weitzner said. "The fact that consumers are asking for a greater sense of urgency shouldn't come as a surprise." There's little agreement over what new privacy rules should look like, however, Weitzner said. There are examples of older privacy laws that have worked, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which encourages consumers to share their data but protects them from misuse, he said.
benton.org/node/42744 | IDG News Service
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CYBERSECURITY

CYBER STORM III
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: J. Nicholas Hoover]
For three or four days this week, the Internet will come under a virtual attack from an unknown adversary, and it will be up to the government and private sector's coordinated efforts to root out the cause and work together to keep systems up and running -- at least within the simulated confines of the Department of Homeland Security's Cyber Storm III exercise, which begins Sept 28. The Cyber Storm series of exercises simulates large cyber attacks on critical infrastructure and government IT assets in order to test the government's preparedness. Specifically, this year's exercise will be the first time DHS will test both the draft National Cyber Incident Response Plan (an effort to provide a coordinated response to major cybersecurity incidents) that will be publicly released later this year and the new National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (the hub of DHS' cybersecurity coordination efforts). This year's exercise will be the largest yet, including representatives from seven cabinet-level federal departments, intelligence agencies, 11 states, 12 international partners and 60 private sector companies in multiple critical infrastructure sectors like banking, defense, energy and transportation. High-level officials, including federal cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt and deputy homeland security secretary Jane Holl Lute, will be among those taking part.
benton.org/node/42743 | InformationWeek | TechDailyDose | nextgov
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KIDS AND MEDIA

KIDS LIKE DIGITAL READERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Julie Bosman]
Many children want to read books on digital devices and would read for fun more frequently if they could obtain e-books. But even if they had that access, two-thirds of them would not want to give up their traditional print books. A new report from Scholastic set out to explore the attitudes and behaviors of parents and children toward reading books for fun in a digital age. Scholastic surveyed more than 2,000 children ages 6 to 17, and their parents, in the spring. Parents and educators have long worried that digital diversions like video games and cellphones cut into time that children spend reading. However, they see the potential for using technology to their advantage, introducing books to digitally savvy children through e-readers, computers and mobile devices. About 25 percent of the children surveyed said they had already read a book on a digital device, including computers and e-readers. Fifty-seven percent between ages 9 and 17 said they were interested in doing so. Only 6 percent of parents surveyed owned an e-reader, but 16 percent said they planned to buy one in the next year. Eighty-three percent of those parents said they would allow or encourage their children to use the e-readers.
benton.org/node/42767 | New York Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

EU INVESTS IN IT RESEARCH
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
The European Commission will be investing more than $1 billion in 2011 in information and communications technology research aimed at boosting Europe's competitiveness. The commission, the European Union's regulatory arm, said the funding (780 million Euros) would go toward research focused on the Internet, robotics, smart and embedded systems, photonics, energy efficiency technologies and health. The effort is part of a commission goal of increasing information and communications technology research and development funding by 20 percent every year until at least 2013. Among the areas targeted for funding include $162 million (120 million Euros) for research and development into networking, digital media and service infrastructure for the future Internet.
benton.org/node/42740 | CongressDaily
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BRITISH ISPs AND PAID PRIORITIZATION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Executives from the United Kingdom's two largest Internet service providers said they would give priority to certain websites or applications if companies paid them to do so, according to a report from the British website PC Pro. Senior executives from BT and TalkTalk said it would be perfectly normal to prioritize web traffic from companies that pay more for the privilege. The executives argued the practice of offering some websites more bandwidth makes sense, even though no companies have approached them to do so as of yet. The admissions were some of the first from large ISPs that they are ready to ditch the concept of net neutrality, in which all web traffic receives equal priority from ISPs. TalkTalk's Andrew Heaney said net neutrality as it is commonly understood doesn't exist. "It's a myth we have net neutrality today - we don't," Heaney said. "There are huge levels of discrimination over traffic type. We prioritize voice traffic over our network. We shape peer-to-peer traffic and deprioritize it during the busy hour."
benton.org/node/42761 | Hill, The
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Blair Levin Calls For Broadband Deployment Fund

Blair Levin released a report that argues that the federal government should establish a $10 billion fund over 10 years to help ensure all Americans have access to affordable broadband service.

In the paper, Levin noted that "current government programs to assure communication networks are available to all Americans will neither ensure that such networks are available nor encourage adoption." Levin wrote the paper for the Aspen Institute, where he now works as a communications and society fellow, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Levin also recommends that the funding needed to bring broadband to those who don't currently have it could be obtained by repurposing funding in the Universal Service Fund, which has been used to subsidize telecommunications service in high-cost or rural areas. In the National Broadband Plan which Levin helped write, the Federal Communications Commission called for expanding the fund to include support for broadband. Levin noted that once funds are identified they should be distributed through a "transparent, market-based approach; that funds be provided only to areas where, without such funding, there is no private sector case to provide broadband; and that funds are provided to one provider per area. The criteria should be company and technology agnostic, and the recipients should be accountable for achieving universal broadband access in the relevant geographic areas." He notes that ultimately it might be too expensive to extend broadband service to the last .2 percent of the population, but adds that such households could be served by satellite broadband service. To help promote adoption of broadband, Levin calls for expanding and revamping the Lifeline and Link Up programs.

Open Internet Coalition not supporting Waxman network neutrality bill

Apparently, disagreements in the Open Internet Coalition (OIC) are preventing the organization from supporting network neutrality legislation that House Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) may introduce.

OIC hoped to support the bill as it was developed this month, but a lack of consensus was clear as the latest drafts arose. As of Sept 28, the coalition had decided that it is not supporting or working against the legislation. OIC provided input to Congressional staff as the legislation developed, along with consumer advocates, phone and cable companies. OIC includes Internet companies with a variety of interests, including Google, IAC, Amazon, Facebook, Skype and many others. It also includes consumer groups. Part of OIC's problem with the bill, sources said, is that draft versions impact the varied member companies in very different ways.

Rep. Blackburn urging GOP to reject Internet regulations

Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is urging House Commerce ranking member Joe Barton (R-TX) and other member of her party to reject a network neutrality bill under development by House Democrats.

Voters are attuned to the issue, she said, and supporting the bill could have political costs. "Constituents are clear about this: they do not want the federal government being the arbiter of the next generation of the pipeline," she said. "They don't want the federal government assigning priority and value to content. This is the wrong step at the wrong time." The bill, which has a 2012 sunset in its draft version, "kicks the can down the road" on telecommunications issues without resolving them, she said. "They're pushing to do it because they feel like time is running out, so they are trying to make a deal," she said. She anticipated that more Republicans will criticize the bill as they become familiar with the pending legislation, which is anticipated this week.

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