June 2011

Is Apple Launching a Pre-emptive Strike Against Free Speech?

[Commentary] So you think you control your smartphone? Think again. Late last week reports uncovered a plan by Apple, manufacturer of the iPhone, to patent technology that can detect when people are using their phone cameras and shut them down. Apple says this technology was intended to stop people from recording video at live concerts, which should worry the creative commons crowd. But a remote "kill switch" has far more sinister applications in the hands of repressive governments. And it further raises concerns about the power new media companies hold over our right to connect and communicate.

Feds Begin Sharing Secret Cyber-Threat Data With Private Companies

A new pilot program in the federal government would allow the departments of Defense and Homeland Security to share classified information with defense contractors and Internet service providers to strengthen private-sector security capabilities.

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III revealed the project during his keynote address at the Center for Strategic Decision Research’s 28th International Workshop on Global Security in Paris on June 16. Lynn gave an overview of the Defense Industrial Base Cyber Pilot, a.k.a. DIB Cyber Pilot. Federal defense agencies have begun sharing secret threat data with selected corporations in the defense industry and partner Internet service providers. Lynn said the sharing of threat intelligence could help network administrators defend against attack and exploitation.

White House agrees to let Congress codify some cybersecurity policies

Obama Administration officials say they will let Congress make permanent in statute some cybersecurity policies the White House initially had wanted the executive branch to authorize, to more quickly implement the law. The White House in May distributed to lawmakers 52 pages of text for consideration as part of a wide-ranging network protection bill that would empower agencies to promulgate various rules -- a process that often involves cost-benefit analyses, White House reviews and public comment periods.

Europe Wants U.S.-Style ‘Do Not Track’ Standard

One month after a deadline by which European states must make most kinds of online data collection -- including by cookies -- opt-in, only five countries have begun to implement the measure.

“The commission will use its full powers against member states that delay,” the European Commission’s digital agenda VP Neelie Kroes warned at a Brussels workshop on tracking protection, after the measure was introduced in a recent ePrivacy Directive update.

Google to panel: Page, Schmidt won't testify

Apparently, Goggle refused a request by the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee that CEO Larry Page or Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt appear to testify at an upcoming hearing on the tech giant’s competitive conduct.

The answer came despite a veiled threat by the panel’s leading members, Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) and ranking member Mike Lee (R-Utah), to issue a subpoena to force one or the other Google executives to testify. Google offered to have Chief Legal Officer David Drummond testify instead. But the lawmakers said they “strongly prefer” Page or Schmidt because the hearing “will address fundamental questions of business operations rather than merely legal issues,”

Government Jobs, Outside Income

Sen. Harry Reid's top aide received $1.2 million from Comcast after he began working for the Senate majority leader, joining a long list of congressional staffers who have collected money from past employers after starting on Capitol Hill.

The payment to Reid's aide, David Krone, stemmed from an unusual promise Comcast made when he quit his job as its senior vice president of corporate affairs. Not long before he was offered the Washington job, the cable company agreed to buy his apartment for the price he paid a year earlier, protecting him against a substantial loss. Krone had purchased the condo when he moved to Philadelphia to work for the company. Krone earned about $165,000 working for Sen Reid (D-NV) in 2009, public records indicate. In 2008, he earned nearly $3 million from Comcast, not including the $1.2 million condo payment he received after starting with Sen. Reid. There is no evidence that Sen Reid has done anything in particular to benefit Comcast since Krone came to work for him.

FTC names Alison Oldale as deputy director for antitrust

The Federal Trade Commission named Alison Oldale as the Deputy Director for Antitrust in the Bureau of Economics. Oldale comes to the FTC from Britain’s Competition Commission, where she served as Chief Economist.

New Campaign Exposes Covert Consolidation in Newsrooms

Change the Channels is a new campaign focused on exposing the new face of media consolidation.

Across the country, hundreds of TV stations have quietly merged newsrooms, circumventing the Federal Communications Commission’s media ownership limits at the expense of independent, local journalism. “Change the Channels” features an interactive map highlighting each city impacted by covert consolidation and shared news operations. The map highlights eight communities that are home to some of the worst examples of covert consolidation, including Asheville, N.C.; Chicago; Denver; Honolulu; Peoria, Ill; San Antonio; San Francisco; and Syracuse, N.Y.

Broadband gets a boost in new law signed by Hawaii Governor

Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) signed a bill into law to temporarily exempt the development of broadband infrastructure from state and county permitting requirements.

The law allows for permitting exemptions for five years – from 2012 to 2017 – on broadband upgrades on existing utility poles and conduits used for telecommunications. Telecommunications companies would also be exempt from new utility pole replacement regulations on broadband upgrades. The law is intended to expand access to high-speed Internet service in Hawaii. "This is the first major step, I believe, in making a commitment to broadband expansion and capacity and availability that will literally give us the opportunity to have a future here in Hawaii, most particularly a future for our young people," Gov Abercrombie said.

New Jersey lawmakers introduce bills to squash deal handing management of NJN over to WNE

A political showdown over the fate of New Jersey public television is in the works in Trenton, where two lawmakers have introduced resolutions to kill the Christie administration’s deal giving WNET rights to management manage New Jersey public broadcasting.

Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-South Plainfield) and Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) introduced concurrent resolutions disapproving of the contract negotiated by Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff. That agreement turns over the state’s public TV operation to a non-profit subsidiary of WNET Channel 13, the flagship public broadcaster based in New York. "It’s the ultimate Jersey joke," Assemblyman Diegnan said about the agreement with Public Media NJ, WNET’s to-be-incorporated subsidiary. "It is a total give-away of a very valuable asset."

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