BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for (Happy World IPv6 Day)
The Senate Commerce Committee considers a public safety spectrum bill today http://benton.org/calendar/2011-06-08/
AT&T/T-MOBILE
Analysis: Why Microsoft, Qualcomm and Facebook are in favor of AT&T-T-Mobile merger - analysis
Lots of Potential Buyers for T-Mobile if they Want to Leave the US Market - editorial
Chairman Walden on USF Reform, AT&T/T-Mobile - speech
AT&T deal for T-Mobile deserves close scrutiny - editorial
MORE ON WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AT&T may face $1B settlement for phone tax
Collaborating on Public Safety Broadband [links to web]
Half of Smartphone Owners Say "It's My Life!" [links to web]
Avaya Sets Plans to Go Public, Again [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
The West's Coming Internet War - analysis
Facebook, Google, Yahoo Join Forces To Fix The Internet's Biggest Problem In Decades
Study: National Broadband Map Doesn't Include All Carriers or Coverage
Broadband: A Platform for Progress - research
UW System broadband expansion plan in danger
Toronto waterfront set for "ultra-broadband" [links to web]
What the iCloud will cause to happen next [links to web]
Changes to the open Internet in Kazakhstan - editorial
CYBERSECURITY
Latest Hacks Could Set The Stage For Cyberwar
New guidelines require agencies to document progress automating surveillance of cyber threats
Cyber Cops Stymied by Elusive Hackers [links to web]
NEW BILLS ON THE HILL
Sen Menendez Introduces Cybersecurity Bill To Match House Legislation [links to web]
Proposed bill would equate GPS tracking, wiretapping [links to web]
Sen Leahy re-introduces bill to make concealing data breaches a crime [links to web]
TELEVISION/RADIO
FCC Backs Away From Aiding Media
NBC Wins TV Rights to 4 Olympics for $4.3 Billion
A New Voice of America for the Age of Twitter
Christie Drops State-Owned Broadcasting
FCC's Genachowski Plans to Delete Fairness Doctrine From Code of Federal Regulations
Familiar TV Anchors Move On, Hoping to Profit on Their Own [links to web]
Fighting for Attention
CONTENT
Policing the Internet
New Jersey court denies blogger shield protection
Kindle to make $1 out of every $10 Amazon brings in [links to web]
Familiar TV Anchors Move On, Hoping to Profit on Their Own [links to web]
Big Pop Seen for Online Ads [links to web]
LABOR
Guess Which Company Is Winning The War For Tech Talent [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
Social-Media Sites Turn Out to Present One More Land Mine for Politicians
Kaplan to Head FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
FCC has big job to fill with top lawyer headed to bureau [links to web]
2010 Flemming Award Recipients include BTOP Director
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AT&T/T-MOBILE
WHY SILICON VALLEY IS BACKING AT&T/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
[Commentary] In a group letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Facebook, Yahoo, Avaya, Brocade and Oracle rehashed many of the same arguments that AT&T has been vocalizing about how the merger would supposedly benefit consumers. A combined AT&T and T-Mobile would build a higher capacity network with a much greater cell density and much bigger footprint, the letter states. And such capacity is needed to support all of the high-bandwidth apps and services these companies plan to offer, the letter concluded. I find that a little hard to believe, especially coming from the best and brightest of North American tech sector. Microsoft, RIM and Qualcomm have some of the smartest engineers in the world so I suspect they can add. They know the sum of AT&T and T-Mobile’s spectrum and networks won't be greater than their parts. Sure AT&T will get a 40 MHz LTE network, but it’s not as if it that extra 20 MHz would spring spontaneously from AT&T and T-Mobiles’ loins. T-Mobile’s already is using it for a mobile broadband capacity network of its own, and unlike AT&T, it already has its ‘4G’ network built—fiber backhaul, dual carriers and all. One of the biggest misconceptions of this deal is that it will somehow create broadband capacity. That’s plain false. The potential capacity is already there, but today it just happens to be divided among two operators. For Microsoft et al to claim that the merger would create more overall capacity the country over is disingenuous. The letter did point out that the two carriers combined cell sites would give it a greater cell density, thus allowing for more spectrum reuse and thus more capacity. True, but that’s a function of cellular topology, not some magical conjuring of more spectrum. If AT&T chose to spend its $39 billion on acquiring new cell sites, not T-Mobile, it could build a heck of a lot more capacity than it would it gain through the merger. In fact, if AT&T were to invest that money in small cell architectures it could feasibly build a network that would have 200 times the capacity of its networks today, without acquiring new spectrum. Microsoft et al may be following Verizon’s lead in thinking the less the government interferes with this merger, the less it will interfere with their own merger activities and business policies in the future. But I also suspect there may be something more cutthroat at work here. The fact is that fragmentation in this industry is a big problem and operators are big source of that fragmentation. Ever operator has a different set of technologies over a different set of bands. They have different policies, different certification procedures and different network application programming interfaces. T-Mobile and AT&T can't just carry the same phone. They have to brand the same devices in different ways to make theirs seem special. On the feature phone side, applications have to be tailored not just to the operator’s portal, billing mechanism, but also to their unique set of devices. Device vendors and application developers face this same problem hundreds of times over globally, but the U.S. is a special case due to its sheer size and status as the world’s mobile data testbed. If they could deal with three major operators rather than four, I bet Microsoft, RIM and the rest would consider themselves lucky.
benton.org/node/76548 | Connected Planet
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T-MOBILE WITHOUT AT&T
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn]
[Commentary] One of the recurring myths perpetrated by the supporters of the AT&T-T-Mobile merger is that AT&T is the only viable purchaser of T-Mobile, whose parent company Deutsche Telekom (DT) has announced its intention to pull out of the US market. Let's start with the facts. First, it's not a foregone conclusion that T-Mobile will leave the US market especially if, as we expect, the merger will be denied. Second, there are many potential buyers for T-Mobile other than "a speculative offer, Sprint or AT&T." Whether AT&T offered the most money or was the most financially healthy suitor for T-Mobile is irrelevant if the merger between the two companies would violate antitrust law. Several antitrust experts, including the American Antitrust Institute and two antitrust lawyers have already concluded that this merger cannot pass muster. So, what if the deal is rejected? 1) A still-profitable T-Mobile would receive an infusion of $3 billion cash, $2 billion worth of spectrum and $1 billion roaming rights. 2) Other potential buyers could arise including: CenturyLink, the largest cable firms (Comcast, Cablevision, Time Warner and Cox), or foreign investors (Vodafone (UK), Celicom israel, Partner Communications (Israel), China Mobile and América Móvil (Mexico).
benton.org/node/76500 | Public Knowledge
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WALDEN SPEECH
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR)]
House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) spoke to the Oregon and Washington Telecommunications Associations on June 7. His topics included the Universal Service Fund, Intercarrier Compensation reform, and the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile acquisition. On Universal Service Fund reform, the Subcommittee has ben working with the Federal Communications Commission to implement several principles:
Cap the high cost fund and each sub-fund and analyze each for waste, fraud and abuse.
Use market-based, technology-neutral mechanisms—such as competitive bidding, models, and bench marks—to right size the Fund and target the subsidies to consumers in high cost areas who need it most.
Subsidize unserved areas, but only those that are otherwise uneconomic for the private sector to serve keeping in mind the existing business and regulatory models that may need, where appropriate and on a reformed basis, access charge replacement in the form of continuing USF support.
Wring out waste, fraud, and abuse from the high-cost fund and the rest of the Universal Service Fund by periodically re-examining whether areas remain “high cost” and creating performance measures to evaluate what works and get the biggest “bang for our buck.”
Migrate the Fund to support broadband deployment as reforms are implemented and the fund is put on sound financial footing.
Focus infrastructure buildout on areas not receiving broadband stimulus grants or loans or other broadband subsides to avoid paying twice for deployment of the same infrastructure.
Overhaul the contribution methodology to lower the administrative burden on businesses and to reduce the drag on efficiency it represents.
On AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile, he said, "It is far too soon to judge the merits of this merger. I will wait for the record to be complete and the evidence to come in before making up my mind." He announced that his Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the merger at some point in the next few months. He identified two concerns:
"First, America’s economic growth and vitality is dependent on competitive and innovative free markets. I am thus interested in learning whether the merger promotes competition for consumers and encourages innovation in the technology manufacturing sector. If not, it may lead the industry further into the watering hole of government regulation.
Second, I am concerned about the 'public interest' conditions the FCC might place on the merger if approved. Conditions placed on any merger should be limited to those conditions necessary to address risks to consumers that arise as a direct result of the merger. Mergers should not be used to impose conditions that are better suited for generic proceedings where all industry and consumer groups have an equal opportunity to weigh in."
benton.org/node/76496 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | The Hill
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SCRUTINY OF DEAL
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: James Temple]
Misgivings about AT&T's proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA have flooded into the Federal Communications Commission, with nearly 37,000 comments on file that run overwhelmingly against the deal. The deadline for official petitions to deny the transaction was last week, prompting a last-minute flurry of paperwork from competitors like Sprint and industry groups including the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Free Press. The public comments are a jumble of fears and grievances, covering everything from AT&T's dropped calls to ominous warnings about the Ma Bell monopoly reassembling itself one acquisition at a time. But the most consistent arguments boiled down to this: The combination of the Nos. 2 and 4 wireless players would fundamentally alter the market, creating an AT&T and Verizon duopoly with control over nearly 80 percent of the space. These telecom twins would have all the power and every incentive to undermine competition, innovation and pricing pressure in a sector driving the economic and technological trends of the day.
benton.org/node/76498 | San Francisco Chronicle
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MORE ON WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AT&T SETTLEMENT
[SOURCE: Dayton Business Journal, AUTHOR: ]
Lawyers at Kansas law firm, Bartimus Frickleton Robertson & Gorny PC, negotiated a class-action settlement with a division of AT&T that could be worth nearly $1 billion.
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois approved a proposed settlement that would have AT&T Mobility repaying an estimated maximum of $956.16 million in improper taxes charged to customers who use AT&T phones to access Internet services. Bartimus Frickleton filed lawsuits in all 50 states alleging that AT&T violated the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which places a moratorium on taxes on Internet access until Nov. 1, 2014. Those lawsuits were consolidated into one case in federal court in Illinois in 2010. Settling the distribution of tax refunds will be a particularly complicated and onerous process. AT&T did not keep the excess taxes that were charged to consumers. That means — depending on state and local laws where excess taxes were collected — that AT&T has to collect tax refunds or it will receive a credit from a state or municipality and deposit the amount of the tax credit into an escrow account to be paid out later to consumers. AT&T also had to calculate how much excess tax was collected from consumers because certain portions of a consumer’s bill were appropriately taxed and other portions were not.
benton.org/node/76484 | Dayton Business Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
THE COMING INTERNET WAR
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: John Hendel]
[Commentary] The United Nations declared an audacious new right to the Internet in a long report. In the wake of Middle Eastern revolutions of the Arab Spring, the UN states that the Internet acts as a catalyst for a variety of other human rights, for free expression and the democratic exchange of ideas. This expression can "offend, shock or disturb" as well as attack governments and high-profile figures, but people must be able to raise their voices online. Frank La Rue, the UN's special rapporteur for free expression, goes on to encourage "intermediaries in particular to disclose details regarding content removal requests and accessibility of websites." Using technology to block and filter content, La Rue contends, violates states' obligation to guarantee free expression. The UN document appears designed to target repression abroad in more heavily repressive spots such as the Middle East and China and to trumpet what the special rapporteur may consider Western values of freedom (and potentially to herald disclosures from groups like WikiLeaks), but the real target of its missives as well as the legal implications could very well fall closer to home. Some European countries have voiced the same broader goal of the UN declaration -- that people should have a right to Internet access. As the report acknowledges, France declared as much in 2009. Yet the underlying sentiments of freedom and expression hardly harmonize with European sensibilities surrounding privacy. The digital and growing right to be forgotten doesn't fit easily into the UN's message. Even more complicating is the EU's own presence within the UN, accounting for 27 member nations and an eighth of the votes. Could Europe's right to be forgotten evolve into a direct violation of the UN's newly entrenched principles and commitment to Internet liberty? Expect the battles to only be beginning.
benton.org/node/76527 | Atlantic, The
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WORLD IPV6 DAY
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Austin Carr]
Imagine if the world ran out of phone numbers. Mobile providers could issue no more smartphones, businesses could create no new call centers, and the public would be left fighting over and recycling a diminishing amount of existing phone numbers. "That's a similar situation that we're in on the Internet," says Facebook's Donn Lee, pointing out that the web's billions of IP addresses are about to hit its max. Lee is Facebook's lead engineer on IPv6, or Internet Protocol version 6, the first new version of the Internet's addressing system in decades, which will provide trillions and trillions more unique addresses on the web. Every time you go online or print a document at work, you're essentially dialing a unique number--called an IP address--to communicate with other devices and computer networks. It's no different than visiting a friend: You might know the name of his apartment building, but you'll need an address and zip code in order to locate it on a map. The web works in the same way, but as the number of homes and businesses and devices connected to the Internet continues to increase exponentially, we're rapidly running out of space online. And now it's up to Internet giants such as Facebook, Google, and Yahoo to fix the problem before it's too late. On June 8, as the World IPv6 Day test fires up, Facebook, Google, and Yahoo--traditionally competitors in the Internet landscape--will come together with hundreds of other major organizations to pool resources for a greater cause. "IPv6 is much bigger than any one company," Lee says. "We felt that it was for the good of the Internet and future generations of the Internet."
benton.org/node/76525 | Fast Company
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NEW CRITIQUE OF BROADBAND MAP
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Sarah Rich]
Are there inaccuracies and omissions in the National Broadband Map? The question has been debated since February when the federal government made the map public. The chatter continues. A new study this month from a fraud detection firm asserts that, based on consumer Internet transactions, the federal government’s map doesn't include data on all Internet carriers and their coverage areas. ID Insight, an organization that detects and prevents identity fraud, compared data in the National Broadband Map with data collected by its own organization’s database of national broadband availability, called Broadband Scout. The findings were published in a white paper called Verification Analysis of the National Broadband Map: Spotlight on Arizona. “It’s not to say that the effort of the National Broadband Map isn't valid,” said Adam Elliott, ID Insight's president. “Everybody at the state level and at the national level will agree and acknowledge that, ‘Hey, this is the first step.’ It’s a great start, but we know there are holes in it."
benton.org/node/76533 | Government Technology
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ITU BROADBAND REPORT
[SOURCE: International Telecommunication Union, AUTHOR: Paul Budde]
This report is the second outcome to be issued by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development. It offers examples, evidence, technical choices and strategies for extending broadband networks within the reach of all. The report is also designed to be the introduction to an evolving collection of resources in the form of an online database to carry forward the work of the Broadband Commission. This repository will carry the outcome reports of the Broadband Commission, as well as numerous research reports, case studies from both developed and developing countries, and other materials to encourage and inform governments and industry — and individual communities themselves — on why broadband is crucially important in today’s world and about ways to get connected.
benton.org/node/76522 | International Telecommunication Union
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WISCONSIN LEGISLATION
[SOURCE: Wisconsin State Journal, AUTHOR: Deborah Ziff]
The University of Wisconsin System would be forced to return about $37 million in federal funds intended to extend broadband Internet across Wisconsin, under a provision passed by the Legislature's budget committee June 3. The legislation would also prohibit UW System campuses from supporting WiscNet, a cooperative that brings high-speed Internet to most schools and libraries across the state. Campus leaders say they fear the change could cripple the network. "The net effect of this legislation would be absolutely devastating to us, costing us millions of dollars and threatening the ability of our researchers to obtain grants or to even do their work," wrote John Krogman, chief operating officer of UW-Madison's division of information technology. But Republican lawmakers say the university should not be in the business of providing telecommunications services. Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said he was concerned the new broadband networks would compete with an already existing network called BadgerNet. Under the legislation, the UW System could no longer receive funds through a federal program that provides broadband to rural and under-served areas. That means UW-Extension would have to return about $32.3 million in federal money it is getting through the Building Community Capacity through Broadband project to provide high-speed Internet to four communities: the Chippewa Valley region, Platteville, Superior and the Wausau area. The project would lay about 600 miles of fiber-optic cable across the state. The university has already spent about $1 million on equipment, said Maria Alvarez Stroud, program director for the project. The grants are worth $45.9 million when matching funds from the communities are included. In addition, UW-Madison would lose a $5.1 million grant in federal stimulus funds to improve network infrastructure for institutions in the Madison area. The motion prohibits the UW System from taking part in WiscNet, the network provider for 450 organizations, including K-12 schools, libraries, cities and county governments. University leaders say they're not sure if WiscNet could survive without the university's support. It is housed in the UW-Madison Division of Information Technology, and WiscNet employees are UW-Madison employees. About $1 million in salaries are paid by membership fees.
benton.org/node/76480 | Wisconsin State Journal
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THE INTERNET IN KAZAKHSTAN
[SOURCE: Google, AUTHOR: Bill Coughran]
[Commentary] Last month, the Kazakhstan Network Information Centre notified Google of an order issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information in Kazakhstan that requires all .kz domain names, such as google.kz, to operate on physical servers within the borders of that country. This requirement means that Google would have to route all searches on google.kz to servers located inside Kazakhstan. Google found itself in a difficult situation: creating borders on the web raises important questions not only about network efficiency but also about user privacy and free expression. If Google were to operate google.kz only via servers located inside Kazakhstan, it would be helping to create a fractured Internet. So Google has decided to redirect users that visit google.kz to google.com in Kazakh. Unfortunately, this means that Kazakhstani users will experience a reduction in search quality as results will no longer be customized for Kazakhstan.
Measures that force Internet companies to choose between taking actions that harm the open web, or reducing the quality of their services, hurt users. Google encourages governments and other stakeholders to work together to preserve an open Internet, which empowers local users, boosts local economies and encourages innovation around the globe.
benton.org/node/76550 | Google
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CYBERSECURITY
CYBERWAR FEARS
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Tom Gjelten]
In March, unidentified hackers penetrated RSA, a top U.S. cybersecurity company, and stole complex security codes. At the same time, intruders broke into Google's Gmail system and stole passwords, enabling them to potentially gain access to sensitive facilities or information. Cybersecurity experts say these recent intrusions are the most sophisticated hacking efforts ever perpetrated against private computer networks. Even more worrisome, such actions could have set the stage for cyberwar. The perpetrators may have gained the capability to identify targets, assess vulnerabilities and position themselves for future attacks. "I think what we're seeing today are the reconnaissance activities of cyberwar," said Herbert Thompson, who teaches cybersecurity at Columbia University. Security experts cite several features of the recent attacks as distinguishing them from intrusions more typically attributed to individual hackers. The RSA and Google attacks are both thought to have been carried out by a foreign government, or by actors associated with a foreign government. Both seem to be examples of multistage operations, in which the initial intrusion makes possible subsequent attacks against entirely separate targets.
benton.org/node/76483 | National Public Radio
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CYBERSECURITY GUIDELINES
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
The Homeland Security Department has released new information security guidance that, for the first time, requires agencies to report on progress installing tools that continuously monitor threats to computer networks. Agencies annually are required to document their compliance with technology safeguards laid out in the 2002 Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). Last summer, Homeland Security assumed responsibility for overseeing adherence to FISMA reporting requirements, a role that the Office of Management and Budget had previously performed. Critics contend FISMA compels managers to spend too much time completing meaningless checklists at the expense of more critical security-related tasks and Congress is likely to overhaul the law as part of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation later this year. To address some of the complaints, last year's FISMA guidance called for chief information officers to begin automating near real-time surveillance of controls so that annual reporting will be easier and represent more than a once-a-year snapshot. Eventually, agencies are to achieve continuous monitoring by installing software and sensors that constantly track the most important security indicators. The June 1 DHS memo to CIOs builds off the 2010 guidance that mandated agencies begin the transition to continuous monitoring by reporting monthly on a few security indicators, such as changes in the number of network connections and laptop inventories.
benton.org/node/76482 | nextgov
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TELEVISION/RADIO
FCC'S MEDIA REPORT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Two years ago, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission launched reviews of the media industry with an eye toward changes in laws or tax code that could help struggling traditional media companies. Since then, the federal government's interest in helping the newspaper industry appears to be waning.
On June 9, the Federal Communications Commission will release its long-awaited report on the "Future of Media," but according to people who have seen the voluminous document, it holds little more than minor suggestions for rule changes, such as requiring broadcasters to put more information online. The report will also suggest that the Internal Revenue Service consider helping struggling media companies get an easier path to becoming non-profits. The report's recommendations aren't binding. "It's more of a history of media than a future of media [report]," said one FCC official who has read the report. The report also is expected to tip-toe around possible changes to the FCC's media ownership rules, which limit the number of TV stations and newspapers that a company can own. The agency was supposed to revisit those rules last year but that review has been delayed until later this year.
The FTC's review appears to have stalled after conservatives blasted a staff report last May which suggested increased government funding of news outlets and new taxes on broadcasters, consumer electronics gadgets or cell phones to pay for it. At the time, the FTC noted the draft did "not represent conclusions or recommendations" of the agency. The agency hasn't released a final report. An FTC spokesman said the agency couldn't say when it will be released.
benton.org/node/76564 | Wall Street Journal
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NBC BUYS RIGHTS TO OLYMPICS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Sandomir]
NBC extended its Olympic reign until 2020 as Comcast, its parent company, agreed Tuesday to acquire the rights to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia; the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro; and the next two Olympics, in unspecified cities. NBC bid $4.3 billion for U.S. broadcast right for the four Olympics. The victory was a sign that Comcast saw the value of continuing the relationship with the Olympics, with its powerful impact in prime time. ESPN bid $1.4 billion for the 2014 and 2016 Games; Fox put in bids for two Olympics and for four Olympics. Early reports peg NBC's bid at $4 billion, which would make this the most expensive TV rights deal in Olympic broadcast history.
Comcast's NBCUniversal expects to make a profit on the $4.4 billion it will expend for the US media rights for the 2014 through 2020 Olympic Games. "We are excited to get started and continue the great legacy and work that has been the relationship between NBC and the Olympics. We couldn't be more proud," Roberts said. "We've been clear from the beginning that we want to be disciplined and responsible," Roberts said. "We think this will be a profitable relationship for NBC Universal. Having eight more years, we will have an opportunity to build up a lot of the assets at NBC Universal....It was unanimous among our team that having [the Games] for the longer term will help us achieve that goal." It was not immediately known whether Comcast would seek an Olympic surcharge as NBCUniversal had for Olympics past and present, under General Electric's ownership. Sources indicate that NBCU has already obtained surcharges from a number of MSOs for some of the Games under the new deal. NBCU is also said to be receving contributions from broadcast network affilait to support the Games' bid.
benton.org/node/76493 | New York Times | AdWeek | AP | Multichannel News
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VOICE OF AMERICA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Mark Landler]
When Walter Isaacson championed Voice of America’s decision to shut down its shortwave radio broadcasts to China — and shift those funds to the Internet, cellphones and other forms of digital media — he viewed it as the sensible updating of a propaganda playbook dating from the cold war. But nothing is simple in the world of government broadcasting. Rep Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), a staunch critic of China, condemned the move, saying it would deprive Chinese listeners of unfiltered news. It amounted, he said, to an American retreat in the face of Beijing’s growing global influence. “Who knew shortwave in China was a land mine?” said Isaacson, a onetime head of CNN who is chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America and its four sister networks. With the Obama administration embarking on a fundamental overhaul of Voice of America and other official broadcasters — one that seeks to adapt their traditional diplomatic missions to the era of Facebook and Twitter — Rohrabacher’s response could be a foretaste of battles to come. As part of its yearlong review, Isaacson’s board is seeking ways to streamline and modernize Voice of America and its sister networks: Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Alhurra, and Radio and TV Martí. Each service has its protectors in Congress — Cuban-American lawmakers fiercely defend Radio Martí, for example — and they are likely to view any change as a threat.
benton.org/node/76561 | New York Times
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NEW JERSEY PUBLIC BROADCASTING
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Lisa Fleisher]
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), saying he wasn't elected to be "programmer in chief," is taking New Jersey out of the broadcasting business. NJN, a television network formed in 1968, will be broken off from the state and handed over to WNET, the New York public media station. WNET will get federal subsidies to continue running New Jersey programming. There will be nightly news shows and at least 20 hours of "New Jersey-centric" coverage provided by a veteran broadcaster whose father is a major figure in Newark politics. Meanwhile, the licenses of NJN's radio network are being sold to other stations. Gov Christie said he had been uncomfortable since taking office about subsidizing a news organization whose employees were state workers charged with independently covering state government. "In my view that should have ended with the Soviet Union," he said. "It's ending here in New Jersey a little bit later than the fall of the wall in Berlin, but we're getting there." The change has rankled some lawmakers and activists, who said they feared a station would be more beholden to fund-raisers and donors. They worried that news coverage would suffer with a potentially reduced staff. The deal also shone a spotlight on the Adubato family of Newark, which continues to play a major role in ward-level politics. Steve Adubato Jr. will provide programming for the new station, which will be called NJTV. The evening news will be called "NJ Today." Adubato anchors several public-affairs interview shows and runs a communications-training company. His father, Steve Adubato Sr., is a longtime Democratic power broker in Newark who is aligned with Gov Christie, a Republican, most notably on education. Asked about concerns over the independence of his reporting and programming, the younger Adubato said his Emmy awards and his work speak for themselves. It's not a clean break. The state will still own the license and will revisit the contract in five years. Gov Christie said that shouldn't be seen as a specter looming in the news decisions that are made. He described it as a tool necessary to make sure the new network lives up to its contractual obligations.
benton.org/node/76491 | Wall Street Journal
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PLANS FOR FAIRNESS DOCTRINE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has told Congress he supports striking the so-called 'fairness doctrine' and a couple of its corollaries from the Code of Federal Regulations. In a letter responding to a request from Fred Upton (R-MI) and Greg Walden (R- OR), the chairs of the House Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee, that the FCC officially deep-six the doctrine, pointing to President Obama's directive earlier this year to federal agencies to review outdated regulations still on the books. "I fully support deleting the Fairness Doctrine and related provisions form the Code of Federal Regulations," he wrote in a letter dated June 6, "so that there can be no mistake that what has been a dead letter is truly dead." He said that his staff was currently reviewing its regulations, which has focused to date on rules still actively governing licensees, but that he expected they would recommend the deletion of the fairness doctrine and related corollaries, which provided for free response time for personal attacks and equal time for other candidates if a station endorsed a candidate in an editorial. The corollaries were repealed by the FCC in 2000. "I look forward to effectuating this change when acting on the staff's recommendations and anticipate that the process can be completed in the near future," he wrote. He reiterated that he felt the doctrine had the potential to chill speech and should have been abandoned when it was more than two decades ago.
benton.org/node/76490 | Broadcasting&Cable
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FIGHTING FOR ATTENTION
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Mike Chapman]
If there wasn't already enough proof that the old boob tube is under assault from the home computer: Three-quarters of respondents to the most recent Adweek/Harris Interactive poll confirmed that they have watched a TV show online, and nearly 70 percent have watched a show online before watching it on an actual television.
Yet the threat to television watching is coming from old media, too. Of those people still tuning in, many say they aren't necessarily paying attention while they have it on. Some 44 percent of the respondents said they’re reading a book, magazine, or paperback while watching TV.
benton.org/node/76552 | AdWeek
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CONTENT
POLICING THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Hollywood studios, record labels and other U.S. copyright and trademark owners are pushing Congress to give them more protection against parasitical foreign websites that are profiting from counterfeit or bootlegged goods. The Senate Judiciary Committee has responded with a bill (S 968) that would force online advertising networks, credit card companies and search engines to cut off support for any site found by the courts to be "dedicated" to copyright or trademark infringement. Its goals are laudable, but its details are problematic. The main problem with the bill is in its effort to render sites invisible as well as unprofitable. Once a court determines that a site is dedicated to infringing, the measure would require the companies that operate domain-name servers to steer Internet users away from it. This misdirection, however, wouldn't stop people from going to the site, because it would still be accessible via its underlying numerical address or through overseas domain-name servers. A group of leading Internet engineers has warned that the bill's attempt to hide piracy-oriented sites could hurt some legitimate sites because of the way domain names can be shared or have unpredictable mutual dependencies. And by encouraging Web consumers to use foreign or underground servers, the measure could undermine efforts to create a more reliable and fraud-resistant domain-name system. These risks argue for Congress to take a more measured approach to the problem of overseas rogue sites.
benton.org/node/76555 | Los Angeles Times
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NJ SHIELD LAW RULING
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Terry Baynes]
A blogger sued for defamation over comments posted on an Internet message board is not entitled to the same protections as a journalist, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled. The court said that blogger Shellee Hale's criticism of a software company on a porn industry bulletin board was not covered by the New Jersey press shield law, which protects members of the news media from revealing their confidential sources. The New Jersey Supreme Court's opinion affirmed the rulings of both the trial and appellate courts. However, unlike the appeals court, the high court said that the shield law does not require newspersons to identify themselves as reporters, carry certain credentials or follow professional standards like taking notes, fact-checking or disclosing conflicts of interest.
In an online reader forum, Hale had accused Too Much Media LLC, which provides software to adult entertainment sites, of profiting from a 2007 security breach that exposed customers' personal information. She wrote that the company's owners had threatened the lives of people who questioned their conduct. Her posts appeared on the message board of Oprano, the self-described "Wall Street Journal of the adult entertainment industry." The court "has taken a sharp turn against the nontraditional journalist and people writing on the web," said Hale's lawyer, Jeffrey Pollock. He said the decision relegates anyone writing for alternative media to a second class of protection. New Jersey can no longer pride itself on having the broadest shield law in the nation, he said.
benton.org/node/76539 | Reuters
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POLICYMAKERS
SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICIANS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Geoffrey Fowler, David Ferry]
Social network Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube have become standard tools for politicians. But, with the push of a button, Rep Anthony Weiner (D-NY) broadcast a lewd photograph over the microblogging service Twitter last month and launched a public relations crisis. His blunder came from the Twitter equivalent of clicking Reply All on an email. Rep Weiner, whom Time.com named as one of "10 Politicians to Follow" on Twitter, has said he was trying to send a Twitter "direct message," with a link to the racy image, to only one other user. But he used the wrong coding for the message, which included his and a Seattle student's Twitter account names, plus a link to the photo. That caused it to be sent to tens of thousands of his Twitter followers. Despite his efforts to delete it, it was quickly archived and retweeted. Thus did Rep Weiner join a growing list of politicians, celebrities and companies that have discovered the power online social media have to build an audience -- and enable embarrassing goofs.
benton.org/node/76560 | Wall Street Journal
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RICK KAPLAN TO BE CHIEF OF WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that Ruth Milkman will be stepping down as Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to take on new responsibilities in the Office of the Chairman; and that Rick Kaplan, currently Chief Counsel and Senior Legal Advisor to the Chairman, will succeed Milkman as Bureau Chief. The change will be effective June 20, 2011.
Milkman is departing the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to serve as Special Counsel to the Chairman for Innovation in Government. Among her responsibilities, Ms. Milkman will lead a team to develop proposals for procedural, regulatory and statutory changes to further innovation, extending the work previously undertaken by Mary Beth Richards, the former Special Counsel to the Chairman for FCC Reform. Milkman has served as Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau since August 2009, and occupied various roles at the Commission between 1986 and 1998, including Deputy Chief of the International and Common Carrier Bureaus, and Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman Reed Hundt. She also was a founding partner of Lawler, Metzger, Milkman & Keeney, LLC, and served as law clerk to the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Prior to his current role in the Office of the Chairman, Kaplan previously served as Chief of Staff for Commission Mignon Clyburn, and as deputy coordinator of the FCC DTV Task Force under then-Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps. He practiced regulatory law and appellate litigation at Sidley Austin LLP, and served in the Office of the General Counsel at the US House of Representatives. Kaplan began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Prior to his legal career, Kaplan founded and operated a sports management and public relations agency that represented and served professional athletes and sports-related organizations.
benton.org/node/76494 | Federal Communications Commission | WashPost | The Hill | B&C
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FLEMMING AWARDS
[SOURCE: George Washington University, AUTHOR: Press release]
Established by the Downtown Jaycees in 1948, the Flemming Awards honor outstanding federal employees. Recognized by the president of the United States, agency heads, and the private sector, the winners are selected from all areas of the federal service. For 2010, Dr Anthony Wilhelm, who directed the Technology Opportunities Program at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U. S. Department of Commerce was recognized for his work. He was joined by six other 2010 recipients from the Department of Commerce. (Before joining the Commerce Department, Wilhelm was vice president for programs at the Benton Foundation)
benton.org/node/76478 | George Washington University
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