April 2011

FCC Seeks More Public Input on Tribal Issues Concerning Mobility Fund

The Federal Communications Commission recently received comments on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to use reserves accumulated in the Universal Service Fund (USF) to create a Mobility Fund, which would employ a market-based, reverse auction mechanism to award one-time support to providers to extend mobile voice coverage over current-generation 3G or 4G networks in areas where such networks are lacking.

In proposing the Mobility Fund, the FCC acknowledged the relatively low level of telecommunications deployment on and the distinct challenges in bringing connectivity to Tribal lands. The FCC further noted that, in light of the United States' unique government-to-government trust relationship with American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages, and to address the particular challenges in advancing deployment on Tribal lands, a more tailored approach that provides at least some Mobility Fund support for Tribal lands on a separate track may be beneficial. The FCC sought broad comment on whether to reserve funds for developing a Mobility Fund program to target USF support separately to Tribal lands that trail national 3G coverage rates. Commenters to the proceeding generally support the adoption of a mechanism or program within the Mobility Fund focused on Tribal areas and provided input on a number of elements important to establishing a separate fund. There are particular issues related to the establishment of such a mechanism, however, for which additional comment may benefit the FCC as it considers how to proceed.

The Battle Over Net Neutrality Rages On

[Commentary] Four months after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) supposedly settled the issue, the battle over network neutrality is still raging. If anything, it's just beginning to heat up.

On April 8, the Republican-controlled Congress resolved to repeal the FCC's recent legislation surrounding Internet protections, and conservative activists are fighting tooth and nail to push back any apparent gains before they are realized. At the same time, media reform advocates say that the FCC's December ruling on broadband policy did not go far enough in establishing consumer-friendly regulatory guidelines across both Internet and mobile platforms. Meanwhile, the impact of the announced merger between AT&T and T-Mobile is still up for debate, and federal officials are raising anti-trust concerns against Google.

Internet Users View Ads As Distraction

What does it take to get Internet users to click on ads? Advertisers have been trying to unlock that mystery for years. With the average click-through rate at .09%, new research commissioned by AdKeeper and WPP's 24/7 Real Media, and conducted by Nielsen, might have the answer.

The study conducted in March among 600 people ages 18 to 54 looked at consumer behavior in an attempt to understand why some Internet users don't click on ads. The range includes banner, expandable, video and rich media, excluding search marketing and Facebook. Those who participated in the study "hardly ever or never" click on advertisements they see across the Web. It turns out that "distraction" remains the No. 1 reason people don't like to click on ads. The multiple choice study reveals that 61% say the ad takes them away from their purpose on the Web site. Fifty-eight percent don't see the ads as relevant, followed by 57% who are afraid clicking on the ad will trigger more spam from advertisers. Some 55% believe their computer will download a virus, 54% don't trust the ads, 46% are afraid pop-up screens will take over their computer screen, and 43% don't see ads as engaging.

Australia 'test bed' for broadband

The United Nations official overseeing telecommunications has given the national broadband network project a tick of approval. Australia's unique market conditions, geography and low population make the project viable but few other countries are likely to copy the publicly funded monopoly model. The secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union, Dr Hamadoun Toure, met BusinessDay during a two-day fact finding trip to Australia. He said a minimum speed broadband network will increase economic capacity and creativity. ''The way I see it here, Australia has undertaken the largest infrastructure project ever,'' he said. ''Three to five years from now, Australia will be No. 1 in broadband in the world. A large size country like this can be a test bed for any scenario that could happen anywhere else in the world and I can take that model to share anywhere else in the world.''

Security firm calls on Facebook to step up its game

Privacy is a perpetual thorn in Facebook’s side, and now a prominent Internet security firm is calling on the company to improve its safety and privacy. Facebook is, of course, designed around the principle of sharing information. But the social network has faced a lot of backlash from users who want more notice of and control over how the site shares and uses personal information. The security firm, Sophos, issued an open letter to Facebook zeroing in on three steps it says the social network can take to better protect its users: make privacy the default option, vet its app developers and offer secure browsing across the site. Those three moves would address a lot of the privacy concerns Facebook users have expressed. Default privacy would have avoided problems with the site’s Beacon advertising feature, which shared users’ online purchases with their network; Facebook was sued over the feature and discontinued Beacon in 2009. Facebook apps are probably the prime source for spam on the site, posting unwanted messages and “likes” on user profiles.

Mirror Awards announce finalists for best media coverage

Syracuse University has announced the finalists for the fifth annual Mirror Awards honoring media coverage. Out of over 200 entries, judges selected articles from AJR, CJR, Nieman Journalism Lab, MediaShift, Gannett Blog and Poynter, among others. Winners will be announced June 7.

Best Single Article, Traditional Media

  • Devin Friedman, “The Viral Me” (GQ)
  • Gabriel Sherman, “Chasing Fox“ (New York Magazine)
  • Mary Walton, “Investigative Shortfall” (American Journalism Review)

Best Single Article, Digital Media

  • Don Carli, “Is Digital Media Worse For The Environment Than Print?” (PBS)
  • Jim Hopkins, “All Shook Up” (Gannett Blog)
  • Damon Kiesow, “Former Newspaper Photographer Becomes Mobile Social Journalist” (Poynter)
  • Geoff McGhee, “Journalism in the Age of Data” (Stanford)
  • Justin Peters, “Trust Falls” (Columbia Journalism Review)
  • Jonathan Stray, “Play Paywall” (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Best Profile, Traditional Media

  • Ken Auletta, “The Networker” (The New Yorker)
  • Christopher Beam, “A Reasonable Man” (New York Magazine)
  • Raffi Khatchadourian, “No Secrets” (The New Yorker)
  • Ben McGrath, “Search and Destroy” (The New Yorker)
  • Jose Antonio Vargas, “The Face of Facebook” (The New Yorker)

Best Profile, Digital Media

  • Edmund Lee, “Capital New York Plies Tough Market With Earnest Journalism” (Ad Age)
  • Joel Meares, “The Biggest Fish in Albany?” (Columbia Journalism Review)
  • Joel Meares, “Keeping Up with Chuck Todd” (Columbia Journalism Review)

Best Commentary, Traditional Media
Eric Alterman (The Nation)

  • “Money For Nothing“
  • “Bill Moyers Retires“
  • “Party Every Day“

Bill Minutaglio (Texas Observer)

  • “No Foundation“
  • “Borderline Bias“
  • “Painful Reminders“

James Poniewozik (TIME Magazine)

  • “The Myth of Fact“
  • “Reality at 10: How It’s Changed Television – and Us“
  • “The End of ‘Objectivity’“

James Wolcott (Vanity Fair)

  • “The Norman Conquests“
  • “Barbarians at the Shore“
  • “The Sound of Sanity“

Best Commentary, Digital Media
Eric Alterman (Center for American Progress)

  • “Think Again: Kill Me Before I Sing Again“
  • “Think Again: Perception, Reality, and Responsibility in the Gulf Oil Spill“
  • “Think Again: Just What Exactly is Fox News?“

Joshua Benton (Nieman Journalism Lab)

  • “Food For Thought: Sontag and Chee On Shrinking the World“
  • “Three iPad Design Choices That Will Influence the Way We Read News Online“
  • “Crunching Denton’s Ratio: What’s the Return on Paying Sources?“

Jina Moore (JinaMoore.com)

  • “When Can You Name Rape Victims? Nick Kristof Replies“
  • “Should We Tweet Rape?“
  • “A Roundup of Ideas on Tweeting Rape“

Scott Rosenberg (MediaShift Idea Lab – PBS)

  • “Why Can't Journalists Handle Public Criticism?“
  • “Washington Post Caught Napping at Imaginary Intersection“
  • “‘Report an Error’ Button Should Be Standard On News Sites“

Craig Silverman (Columbia Journalism Review)

  • “How WikiLeaks Outsourced the Burden of Verification“
  • “Canadian Media in Crisis“
  • “Eruption, Interrupted“

Best In-depth Piece, Traditional Media

  • Jodi Enda and Priya Kumar, “Retreating From the World” (American Journalism Review)
  • Andrew Rice, “Putting a Price on Words” (New York Times)
  • Danielle Sacks, “The Future of Advertising” (Fast Company)
  • Mary Van de Kamp Nohl, “Paper Money” (Milwaukee Magazine)

Companies call for Netflix probe in Canada

A group of Canadian companies and unions is asking the government to probe the video streaming company Netflix. A working group formed by the nation's telecom regulator -- Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission -- called on the commission to investigate Netflix earlier this month. The working group consisted of industry representatives. The letter recommended that the CRTC open a proceeding to see whether Netflix' reporting requirements should be expanded and whether it should have to pay a tax to support Canadian broadcasting.


Public Knowledge
April 28, 2011
1:15 pm
http://www.publicknowledge.org/public-knowledge-brings-3d-printing-washi...

Public Knowledge is sponsoring a half-day conference April 28 on one of the newest emerging technologies – 3D printing, which allows “printers” to create objects much as traditional printers produce documents.

Agenda

1:15 p.m. -1:25 Introduction

1:25 –2:40 Panel 1: Meet the Makers

  • 3D Systems - Cathy Lewis, VP of Global Marketing
  • ExOne -Dave Burns, President and COO
  • Fab@Home - Hod Lipson, Co-Founder
  • Makerbot - Bre Pettis, Co-Founder
  • Makergear - Rick Pollack, Founder
  • Shapeways – speaker TBD

2:40 — 3:30 Panel 2: How a Promising Technology Might Get Shelved

  • Melba Kurman, Triple Helix Innovation, co-author of Factory@Home: The Emerging Economy of Personal Fabrication
  • Michael Weinberg, PK staff attorney, author of report on 3D printing

3:30-5:30 - Hands-on Demonstration Area (Rayburn Foyer)

3D Systems
The Association for Manufacturing Technology
Autodesk
Bathsheba Sculpture LLC
CloudFab
ExOne
Fab@Home
Interactive Fabrication/Computational Design Lab
Makerbot
Makergear
Materialise
Metrix Create:Space
Open 3DP, University of Washington
Ponoko
Rael San Fratello Architects
RepRap
Research Technology Enterprise Initiative/Funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Reverse Space
Shapeways
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Z Corp.



and Roast

Public Knowledge
Thursday, October 13, 2011
5:30-9:00pm
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/3766




Broadband Breakfast Club
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
8am
http://broadbandbreakfast.com/2011/04/broadbandbreakfast-com-hosts-broad...

Keynote Speaker:

Anna Gomez, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Deputy Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Commerce
Anna Gomez joined the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in February 2009. Previously, Ms. Gomez was Vice President, Government Affairs at Sprint Nextel. Prior to her work in private industry, Ms. Gomez served for 12 years in various management positions at the FCC, including Deputy Chief of the International Bureau and Chief of the Network Services Division in the Common Carrier (now Wireline) Bureau. Ms. Gomez also served as the Senior Legal Advisor to former FCC Chairman William Kennard. In addition, Ms. Gomez was Deputy Chief of Staff in the National Economic Council during the Clinton Administration; Staff Counsel in the U.S. Senate for the Subcommittee on Communication, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; and an associate at the law firm of Arnold & Porter. Ms. Gomez is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and earned her J.D. from George Washington University. She is a member of the District of Columbia’s Hispanic Bar Association and the Federal Communications Bar Association.

Panelists:

Debra Berlyn, Executive Director, Project to Get Older Adults onLine
Debra Berlyn serves as the Executive Director of the Project to Get Older Adults onLine (Project GOAL), and she is also the President of Consumer Policy Solutions. Ms. Berlyn is a seasoned veteran of telecommunications and consumer policy issues and an advocate for consumers of technology services. She represented AARP on the digital television transition and has worked closely with national aging organizations on several Internet issues, including online safety and privacy concerns. Ms. Berlyn served as chair of the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee and currently is on the Board of Director’s for the National Consumers League and SeniorNet.

Sascha Meinrath, Director, Open Technology Initiative, New America Foundation
Sascha Meinrath is a well-known expert on community wireless networks, municipal broadband, and telecommunications policy. In 2009 he was named one of Ars Technica’s Tech Policy “People to Watch” and is also the 2009 recipient of the Public Knowledge IP3 Award for excellence in public interest advocacy. Sascha is a co-founder of Measurement Lab, a distributed server platform for researchers around the world to deploy Internet measurement tools, advance network research, and empower the public with useful information about their broadband connections. He also coordinates the Open Source Wireless Coalition, a global partnership of open source wireless integrators, researchers, implementors and companies dedicated to the development of open source, interoperable, low-cost wireless technologies. He is a regular contributor to Government Technology’s Digital Communities, the online portal and comprehensive information resource for the public sector. Sascha has worked with Free Press, the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA), the Acorn Active Media Foundation, the Ethos Group, and the CUWiN Foundation. Sascha serves on the Leadership Committee of the CompTIA Education Foundation as well as the Advisory Council for the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. Sascha blogs regularly at www.saschameinrath.com.

Steve Pastorkovich, Business Development Director and Senior Policy Analyst, Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO)
At OPASTCO Steve Pastorkovich works with other groups to explore technologies and applications that can diversify revenues and reduce costs for rural telecommunications carriers, and serves as the secondary staff liaison to OPASTCO’s Technical committee. In his role as Senior Policy Analyst, Steve leads OPASTCO’s advocacy efforts on broadband and video issues, and assists with a variety of other topics at both the FCC and on Capitol Hill. His Washington, D.C. career began as a staff member of a national presidential campaign. He later conducted political research for a national party organization, and has served as a producer of a leading weekly national television program covering politics and public policy.

Raquel Noriega, Director of Public Policy, Connected Nation
As the Director of Strategic Partnerships, Raquel serves as the liaison between Connected Nation and its domestic and international partners. In addition to managing existing partner relationships, she identifies potential new partners and innovative business opportunities in line with Connected Nation’s mission. She also supports the development and communication of public policy that furthers the mission of Connected Nation. Prior to joining Connected Nation, Raquel was an economic consultant in Washington, Madrid and London providing consulting services to telecommunications and media firms. Raquel received her Masters in Arts and Sciences for Economics from Northwestern. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a degree economics.

BMaynard Scarborough, Vice President, Government Relations and National Engagement, One Economy Corporation
BMaynard Scarborough is the Vice President of Government Affairs & National Engagement at One Economy Corporation. In his role he manages the organization’s government relationships at the municipal, state and federal levels. Earlier this year, BMaynard helped launch One Economy’s National Technology Adoption Advisory Council (NTAAC), an 80-member, bi-partisan leadership coalition of city and state elected officials who have made increasing the levels of broadband adoption in underserved communities a leading part of their civic platforms. Additionally, Maynard is responsible for overseeing community engagement efforts and fostering One Economy partnerships across the nation. Prior to joining One Economy, BMaynard served as the Executive Director of a consumer advocacy start-up and previously he was the Director of Public Affairs for the Boston Globe. BMaynard has a BA from Morehouse College in English and Broadcast Communications.

The event will be moderated by Jonathan Charnitski, Managing Editor at BroadbandBreakfast.com. Jonathan began his career as a journalist before turning his focus to law and policy. He is an attorney licensed in Texas and the District of Columbia and has worked previously as a political reporter, in political campaign communications and on Capitol Hill. He holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Washington and a J.D. from Villanova Law School, where he focused his studies on Internet and intellectual property law and policy.