June 2011

Pay TV boxes hike electric bills, waste energy

More than 80% of Americans subscribe to pay TV and the 160 million set-top boxes installed in their homes cost $3 billion to operate largely because the boxes never go to sleep. "When not displaying or recording video content, U.S. television set-top boxes (STBs) continue to use almost as much power as when they are in use," said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington-based advocacy group that studied the devices. "The consumer, who pays the electric bill, has little choice about what television set-top box the service provider installs and how much energy it uses." The study found that today's average new cable high-definition digital video recorders (HD-DVR) use more than half the energy of an average new refrigerator and more than an average new flat panel TV. Two-thirds of their total energy consumption – the equivalent annual energy output of six coal-burning power plants – occur when they're not in use.

Experts say better spending data is the key to transparency

Improving the quality of publicly available federal spending data is vital to government transparency, according to experts at a House Oversight Committee hearing.

Witnesses argued publishing accurate government spending data online where it can be freely accessed and reused by members of the public is the true meaning of transparency in the digital age. "Information cannot be considered public if it is available only inside a government building, during limited hours or for a fee," said Sunlight Foundation executive director Ellen Miller in her prepared remarks.

Apple starts selling unlocked iPhones in US

Apple on started selling "unlocked" iPhones in the US for the first time, allowing owners to switch carriers to a limited extent and save money when traveling. Apple is selling them on its websites and its store for $649 and $749 depending on how much memory they have. They're identical to the versions sold for use on AT&T Inc.'s network, but don't require a two-year contract. The buyer will separately have to buy a Subscriber Identity Module, or SIM card, from a carrier to activate the phone. Many overseas carriers are fully compatible with the phone, so international travelers can switch out their US. SIM card with one from the local country to avoid AT&T's international roaming fees. Apple already sells unlocked iPhones in all other countries where the phone is available

US, NZ, Sweden, others condemn "three strikes" Internet laws

Earlier this month a UN report argued that "three strikes" laws that deprive alleged copyright infringers of Internet access violate human rights. The report was delivered by an independent UN investigator, and so didn't represent the view of any UN member governments. On June 10, Sweden made remarks at the UN Human Rights Council that endorsed many of the report's findings, including the criticism of "three strikes" rules. The statement was signed by 40 other nations, including the United States and Canada. The United Kingdom and France, two nations that have enacted "three strikes" regimes, did not sign the statement.

White House Meeting on First Responder Network Scheduled With Biden, Genachowski

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) praised the White House for scheduling a meeting June 16 to discuss the need to provide a nationwide interoperable broadband communications network for first responders.

President Barack Obama has already come out in support of allocating D block spectrum to that network rather than auctioning it to private companies, as some Republicans and the National Broadband Plan proposed. That allocation is central to Rockefeller's incentive auction bill, which would allow the Federal Communications Commission to compensate broadcasters for giving up spectrum, which would be auctioned to wireless companies and part of the proceeds used to launch and operate the public safety network. Scheduled to attend the meeting are Vice President Joe Biden, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Jeffrey Holder, and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D).

S.911: Senators Set Sights On Spectrum

The Senate Commerce Committee has approved S.911, a bill – co-sponsored by the Committee’s Republican and Democratic leaders – which provides perhaps the most detailed legislative effort advanced thus far to move incentive spectrum auctions closer to reality. The bill now goes to the full Senate for its consideration, which is far from guaranteed at this point. Additionally, action on some corresponding bill (which has not yet surfaced) in the House will be necessary before S.911 becomes law. So we still have a ways to go before incentive auctions become reality. But given its bipartisan origins and the fact that it’s already made it to the full Senate, S.911 is probably the horse to watch in the race among incentive auction bills.

McGraw-Hill Puts Stations on Block

McGraw-Hill has retained Morgan Stanley "to pursue the divestiture of its Broadcasting Group," the company said. McGraw-Hill's four stations "are in desirable markets and should be attractive to strategic and financial buyers with a focus on media," said the company. The Broadcasting Group had revenues of almost $100 million in 2010 and includes ABC affiliates KMGH Denver, KGTV San Diego, KERO Bakersfield and WRTV Indianapolis, along with Azteca America affiliates in Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, San Diego and Bakersfield.

Mobile media use up 600% as unlimited plans tune out

Mobile device owners are consuming media on the go in huge numbers according to Limelight Networks which shared data that shows a 600 percent increase in mobile media requests for the first five months of 2011, as compared to the same period last year. The growing number of advanced handsets sold (more than 1 in 2 U.S. phones sold is now a smartphone), combined with more video network choices and increasingly capable hardware, is driving mobile media consumption higher. And that’s another nail in the coffin for those craving unlimited mobile broadband plans.

COAT and Affiliates Generally Supportive of ATT and T-Mobile Merger

In a filing at the Federal Communications Commission, the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology is generally supportive of AT&T's proposed purchase of T-Mobile. COAT said we would like AT&T to more publicly affirm its commitment to universal design of products and services for people with disabilities.

COAT asked for reaffirmation of AT&T’s commitment to:

Caption all video offerings available through UVerse
Caption any AT&T Uverse video programming, or TV content over which ATT has control, that is also displayed on the Internet
Caption any video clips on its website, such as for any public education campaigns or instructional materials, or circulate for other purposes
Require video description of all video offerings available through UVerse from all content providers
Require video description of any video clips on its website, such as for any public education campaigns or instructional videos, or circulated for other purposes
Require wireless hand set and other product manufacturers (e.g., tablets, pods, laptops, netbooks) that have connectivity with the AT&T network to be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities, including hearing aid compatibility of all hand sets
Provide low-cost, data-only and text-only plans for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and ‘grandfather in’ current T-Mobile customers who are deaf and hard of hearing who currently hold data plans at low rates, including those with unlimited plans.
Provide full functional equivalency of telecommunications relay services (TRS)
Offer plans for deaf and hard of hearing users that take into account the increased bandwidth required for video calls in order ensure effective communication
Actively seek and implement technology that can immediately alert and warn people with disabilities of emergencies
Ensure that its customer website is in compliance with the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

iTunes Costs Apple $1.3 Billion Every Year, New Report Finds

There are 225 million iTunes account holders, which is an astronomical figure given that the service has only been operating since April 2003. But iTunes is still only at the break-even point.

All of those users account for 15 billion song downloads every year. In addition, they buy 130 million books, 14 billion apps and about 100,000 games. That's a lot of money exchanging hands. Something like $313 million every month. But, given Apple's deals with music labels to secure the rights to all of that music it's offering in the iTunes store and the $2.5 billion we know the company has paid out to developers, a figure that was revealed just last week at the Worldwide Developers Conference, the content margin is only about $113 million. (Asymco defines a content margin as what Apple keeps after paying the owners of content but before paying variable costs.) That money, the $113 million every month that Apple is bringing in (far more comes from app downloads than music downloads), is spent on support, curation, traffic and payment processing. Whatever is leftover, Asymco suggests, is "invested in capacity increases." That is, adding to the massive server farms that are required to store all of the available content and acquiring new material.

Benton

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