June 2011

IPAs can help docs with HIT adoption, study says

As policy makers try to jumpstart health information technology in small physician practices, lessons from independent practice associations -- networks of small medical practices -- can offer guidance in overcoming barriers to HIT adoption and use, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

Independent practice associations, or IPAs, which first formed in the 1970s to allow independent medical practices to accept risk-based managed care contracts, can serve as model in how to provide coordinated assistance with HIT activities to otherwise independent and relatively small physician practices, according to the study. Often because of inadequate technical and financial resources, small practices’ adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and other HIT lags larger physician practices. And, despite broader trends of physicians moving to larger practice settings, a sizeable share of physicians is likely to practice in small groups for the foreseeable future. The study focused on the HIT activities of five organizations -- one management services organization, Physician Health Partners, Denver, that supports four IPAs; and four other IPAs: Genesis Physicians Group, Dallas; Huron Valley Physicians Association, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, Calif.; and Mid Rogue Independent Physician Association, Grants Pass, Ore.

FCC's Clyburn Addresses USF, ICC Reform at Rural Assembly

Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn spoke to the National Rural Assembly in St Paul (MN), focusing her address on broadband and the FCC's efforts to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved areas, including rural and low-income communities.

She noted the FCC's efforts to restructure the current Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation (ICC) mechanisms in a way that recognizes the range of diverse issues within rural America. "As we undergo USF and ICC reform, we must hold those companies accountable to serve those areas for which they receive funds. This is where you all have a great opportunity to help us figure out what is working and what isn't so that we can learn from our investments, and from each other, to inform future policy and programmatic decisions. Your efforts in keeping us informed about how companies and various projects are performing at the local level are invaluable to shaping new approaches at the Commission. Organizations such as the ones represented here today can play a critical role in educating us about what is and is not working," Commissioner Clyburn said.

"The challenges before us are not easy, but we all stand to benefit from confronting these hurdles together. Ubiquitous broadband service that every person can use to improve his or her life is a noble goal. I thank you for your commitment to help me in this effort. I believe that once our nation is fully connected to high-speed broadband and with everyone educated to use it, it will be well worth the hard work."

:
The Promise and Limitations of New Technologies in Spreading Democracy

Arizona State University | New America Foundation | Slate magazine
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
2:00pm-6:00pm

Do the Internet and social media empower Big Brother or individuals in autocratic regimes, or do they offer a rare level playing field?

This year's Arab Spring resurrected exuberant claims for the role of new technologies in spreading democracy. At the same time self-proclaimed "cyber-realists" were quick to point out that President Mubarak's problems seemed to grow after he unplugged the Internet. Now, summer's deadly stalemate in Syria has given pause to anyone peddling absolute theories about the interplay between new information technologies and revolution.

If not a panacea, how can social media and the Internet be deployed to maximize civic engagement in autocratic societies? Does the U.S. policy of supporting Internet Freedom amount to a policy of regime change in some countries? When Big Brother does unplug the Internet, what can, or should, the rest of us do about it?

A reception will immediately follow the event.

2:00 pm - Reflecting on the Tunisian Hair Trigger

Sami Ben Gharbia (from Tunisia)
Co-founder, nawaat.org
Advocacy Director, Global Voices

Steve Coll
President
New America Foundation

2:20 pm - Internet Freedom and Human Rights: The Obama Administration's Perspective

Michael H. Posner
Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
U.S. Department of State

Moderator

Jacob Weisberg
Chairman and Editor-in-Chief
Slate Group

2:50 pm - Friending Revolutions: Social Media and Political Change in Egypt and Beyond

Merlyna Lim
Professor, Consortium of Science, Policy and Outcomes and the School of Social Transformation - Justice and Social Inquiry Program
Arizona State University

3:10 pm - How the Arab Spring Begat a Deadly Summer

Ahmed Al Omran
Blogger, Saudijeans.org

Ammar Abdulhamid
Executive Director, Tharwa Foundation
Blogger and Human Rights Activist

Oula Alrifai
Syrian Youth Activist

Moderator
Katherine Zoepf
Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation
Contributor, New York Times

4:00 pm - Myths, Realities, and Inconvenient Truths of the Internet

Rebecca MacKinnon
Senior Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation
Co-founder, Global Voices Online

4:30 pm - The View from Havana
Yoani Sanchez (via video)
Blogger, desdecuba.com
Human Rights Activist

4:45 pm - Internet Freedom's Next Frontiers?

Mary Jo Porter
English Translator for Yoani Sanchez and other Cuban bloggers
Co-founder, hemosoido.com and translatingcuba.com

Marcus Noland
Deputy Director, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Author,
Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea

Moderator
Andrés Martinez
Co-Director, Future Tense Initiative
Director, Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program, New America Foundation

5:20 pm - Bypassing the Master Switch
Sascha Meinrath
Director, Open Technology Initiative
New America Foundation

Ian Schuler
Senior Program Manager, Internet Freedoms Program
U.S. Department of State

Moderator
Robert Wright
Future Tense Fellow, New America Foundation
Author, Nonzero, The Moral Animal, and The Evolution of God

To RSVP for the event:
http://newamerica.net/events/2011/ignite_or_quash_revolution

For questions, contact Stephanie Gunter at (202) 596-3367 or gunter@newamerica.net

Read more about How to Ignite, or Quash, a Revolution in 140 Characters or Less

LightSquared interferes with GPS: Report (updated)

LightSquared’s wireless network interferes with global positioning systems (GPS), according to tests the company and the GPS industry submitted to federal regulators June 30. But that’s where their agreement ends.

LightSquared said it still thinks it can figure out a way to get its satellite-based mobile broadband network to work without knocking out GPS receivers. Among other things, the company says filtering technology — for its own devices and for GPS devices — can help reduce interference. But the GPS industry disagrees. “There is no existing technology that solves this interference, only unproven claims of hypothetical future fixes,” said Jim Kirkland, vice president of GPS firm Trimble. The Federal Communications Commission said it won't allow LightSquared to launch its business until the interference issues are resolved. Spokesman Neil Grace said the agency will review the report.

Update:

The FCC seeks public input on the report. Comments should be filed no later than July 30, 2011, and reply comments by August 15, 2011.

Guidance on Open Internet Transparency Rule

The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Office of General Counsel offer initial guidance regarding specific methods of disclosure that will be considered to comply with the transparency rule adopted in the FCC’s Open Internet Order. This guidance is intended for broadband providers seeking additional clarification about disclosure practices that will satisfy the rule when it becomes effective. The FCC emphasizes that the alternatives described here are examples of approaches to disclosure that would satisfy the transparency rule; broadband providers may implement alternative approaches that disclose information sufficient to adequately inform consumers and relevant third parties. And as noted in the Open Internet Order, the FCC or the Bureau may provide additional guidance in the future.

The FCC adopted the following transparency rule:
"A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service shall publicly disclose accurate information regarding the network management practices, performance, and commercial terms of its broadband Internet access services sufficient for consumers to make informed choices regarding use of such services and for content, application, service, and device providers to develop, market, and maintain Internet offerings."

The Notice offers guidance in five specific areas: 1) Point-of-Sale Disclosures, 2) Service Description (Fixed and Mobile Broadband), 3) Extent of Required Disclosures, 4) Content, Applications, Service, and Device Providers, and 5) Security Measures.

FCC Seeks Nominations for Open Internet Advisory Committee

The Federal Communications Commission seeks nominations for membership on its Open Internet Advisory Committee (OIAC) from the following types of
groups and individuals:

Consumers, consumer advocates, and/or organizations representing consumer interests;
Internet engineering experts;
Providers and developers of online content, applications, or services;
Network equipment providers, developers, manufacturers, and suppliers;
End-user device developers, manufacturers, and suppliers;
Investors in Internet-related technologies, services, and products, including investors in broadband providers and/or online content, application, and services providers;
Broadband Internet access service providers; and
Other individuals with appropriate expertise.

Nominations are due before September 2, 2011.

The OIAC will aid in tracking and evaluating the effects of the Commission’s Open Internet rules. Specifically, it is anticipated that “[t]he Committee will observe market developments regarding the freedom and openness of the Internet and will focus in particular on issues addressed in the FCC’s Open Internet rules, such as transparency, reasonable network management practices, differences in treatment of fixed and mobile broadband services, specialized services, technical standards, and the state of competition.”

Judge to Google: sniffing even open WiFi networks may be wiretapping

When a homeowner runs an open, unencrypted wireless network and Google sniffs the packets from that network, has wiretapping taken place? Or did the openness of the network remove the user's reasonable expectation of privacy?

Google's Street View project has enmeshed the company in litigation around the world, most notably over the company's data collection from WiFi networks its camera cars passed while doing their work. (Google has claimed that this was a mistake.) In the US, a host of class-action lawsuits over the practice have been consolidated into a single case, and the California federal judge overseeing it has just refused Google's motion to completely dismiss the case. Sniffing even open WiFi packets might indeed be wiretapping, he ruled. The case remains at a preliminary stage, but the ruling grapples with an interesting question: the extent to which one can access an open WiFi network without falling afoul of the Wiretap Act. Judge James Ware drew a distinction in a June 29 ruling between merely accessing an open WiFi network and actually sniffing the individual packets on that network.

Internet DVR Software Maker: We're Totally Legal

Software developer MediaMall Technologies is claiming PlayLater -- an application released this week that turns a Windows PC into a digital video recorder for online video -- is 100% legal, akin to conventional DVRs.

"PlayLater is a legal technology that is designed to let individuals watch legal online content at a time of their choosing," MediaMall said in a statement posted on its website. "Just like the broadcast DVR and the VCR before it, PlayLater is designed for personal use and convenience." The software can record streaming video from about three dozen Internet services, including YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, BET, Cartoon Network, CBS, CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN and ESPN3, Fox News, MTV, National Geographic, Nick, OWN, PBS and PBS Kids, Syfy Rewind, TBS and TV.com. With Internet streaming video, content owners typically force users to sit through ads -- they can't be skipped. With the PlayLater DVR software, however, ads can be fast-forwarded through just like on TV. PlayLater requires users to install MediaMall's PlayOn application, designed for viewing online video on TVs. Currently PlayLater is available as a free "preview release." When it's officially released, the service will be $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. According to MediaMall, PlayLater users do not have to pay for the PlayOn service (normally 4.99 per month, $39.99 per year or a one-time charge of $79.99).

Cheap Wireless Network Pays Off for Asheville

Asheville (NC) saved millions of dollars and also supported a local business last fall when the city’s IT department opted to build a city-owned wireless network to connect public safety buildings.

Asheville was using a fiber network as a condition of a cable franchise to connect 22 administrative buildings, fire stations and police substations, but the North Carolina Video Service Competition Act of 2006 gave the cable TV providers the power to negotiate statewide contacts, taking local government out of the plan. The new annual price for the city’s fiber service was $450,000. This put the city in a tough spot, said Jonathan Feldman, Asheville’s IT services director. Asheville’s station alerting, which was previously connected by fiber, had resulted in a threefold improvement in cardiac emergency survival rates and a 20 percent improvement in structure fire response rates. The city didn't want to pay the new hefty fee for service, Feldman said, but the new system was saving lives and the city couldn't give it up. That’s when the city found a $20,000 solution to a million dollar problem.

Synchronica purchase of Nokia assets includes deals with Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile

Nokia's latest streamlining efforts include the sale of its operator-branded messaging (OBM) business to Synchronica — a deal that will add $25 million to the Nokia coffers and give the England-based Synchronica a foothold in the North America market.

The OBM business will enable Synchronica to offer white-label mobile email and instant messaging services to a number of devices offered by North American operators, and the deal includes Nokia contracts with 10 operators — including the U.S. top four--Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, and leading Canadian carriers Bell Canada and Rogers Wireless. Nokia is also throwing in source code for the related Nokia Messaging client and server software, and approximately 250 "employees, externals and contractors," according to a Synchronica press announcement. Synchronica will become responsible for developing, maintaining and supporting the Nokia messaging software and the gateway functionality for Series 40 and Symbian devices. Additionally, over the long term, it'll provide Nokia with the messaging software that will come pre-loaded on all of its Nokia Series 40 phones.

Benton

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