June 2011

The Center for Digital Democracy, in comments filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), urged the agency to significantly revise its proposed studies on the “Examination of Online Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion.”

Citing the wide variety of techniques that pharmaceutical and health marketers use to target consumers online, CDD called for a more informed analysis that reflects how U.S. health consumers are actually marketed to on social networks, mobile phones, and via the Web. Among the marketing techniques that CDD cited that must be part of any FDA research are “the tracking and managing of the ‘patient journey’ online”; data collection; the use of social media analytics and related viral marketing; the role of eye tracking, multivariate testing and other Web page optimization techniques to influence perception and behavior; and the impact of immersive multimedia content and neuromarketing designed to stealthily foster consumer decision-making through non-conscious means. Today is the deadline for comments in FDA’s proposed new research “designed to test different ways of presenting prescription drug risk and benefit information on branded drug Web sites”

[Commentary] Employers are (slowly) beginning to hire new workers, but have been much more selective given the rather deep pool of talent that has formed as a result of the Great Recession. These dynamics are especially acute in minority communities, which have been hit disproportionately hard during this downturn. Indeed, the unemployment rates for African Americans (16.2 percent) and Hispanics (11.9 percent) remain at embarrassingly high levels, especially compared to the national rate (9.1 percent) and the rate for Whites (8 percent).

Access to broadband can help erase these disparities. The vast majority of employers now post job openings and other relevant employment information almost exclusively online. Communication between employers and applicants is often conducted over broadband. Yet despite these tangible benefits, minorities lag behind many others when it comes to home broadband adoption. To date, only about half of all African American and Hispanic adults have adopted broadband at home. These figures are important because, without broadband at home, minorities have extremely limited exposure to the large number of employment opportunities available online, which ultimately decreases their chances of finding a suitable job. Fortunately, mobile broadband Internet access and wireless handsets are rapidly becoming viable substitutes for in-home connections and computers.

The American Library Association has just published its newest investigation into the state of the nation's public libraries, and the news is...actually rather good.

You may think that odd in an era of ubiquitous alternative distractions to reading a real book--from iPads to Kindles--but it's really these new high-tech devices, along with the Internet that's keeping libraries flourishing. The one fly in the ointment is that funding cuts seem to be threatening many services. While just a few years ago public libraries were all about borrowing books to read, or finding somewhere to study alongside handy text resources, the Net has changed much of this. Now 99.3% of the U.S.'s libraries offer Net access, via a public PC or open Wi-Fi, and 64% of libraries say they're the only free access point in their communities. With that figure stepping up to 73% for rural libraries, and 70% of libraries reporting that public use of their Net facilities increased in 2010, it's easy to see that the public library is still hugely relevant in a digital era.

But what are people doing in libraries nowadays? It seems that Internet nexus is extremely handy for people seeking jobs, via vacancy listings and other resources: 88% of libraries offer this, and 72% say their staff are helping clients fill in application forms. Meanwhile, 25% of libraries are in partnerships with government agencies and other groups to build e-government services--almost double the 13% figure from just two years ago. Though we live in a digital era that obviates many reasons to travel, it seems the library still is the social hub for data sharing. Meanwhile, the percentage of libraries offering e-books has lurched upward over recent years, and now more than two thirds (67.2%) of all libraries offer e-book access in some form. That figure is up from 65.9% last year, and a measly 38.3% in 2007. We can maybe see where Amazon's selling all its Kindles from the next statistic though: 87% of urban libraries have e-books, compared to just 52% of rural ones.

[Commentary] The duopoly that will result is bad for Americans from coast to coast and border to border.

As the guardian of our nation’s airwaves, it is the intended role of the Federal Communications Commission to regulate interstate and international use of our nation’s broadcast and telecommunications resources. Increasingly that is becoming mobile devices as Americans drop landline phones altogether. Whether it is your smart phone, your GPS device, your Apple iPad or iPhone, your connection is increasingly a wireless one, in your home and outside it. Beyond the FCC, the last line of defense for the American consumer is the Dept. of Justice and its anti-trust review of this deal. We can hope for the best but probably should expect the worst. You can always write to your Congressperson and maybe it will help. Congress was obsessed with the merger between Sirius and XM satellite radio a couple of years ago. There were hearings, hearings and more hearings. That merger mattered little to anyone beyond the now 20 million Sirius XM subscribers and, after extensive review, was finally allowed to proceed with the promise of no price increases for a couple of years. A merger of T-Mobile and AT&T matters to everyone. There are far more people with cell phones than satellite radio receivers. If the FCC wanted something to be proud of in its record, it ought to stop this proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile dead in its tracks.

[Lappin is with Gramercy Capital]