September 28, 2011 (Spectrum; Internet)
"We have to turn off the TV set and put away the video games sometimes and get our kids motivated by learning. If we don't do that, we'll continue to slip behind."
-- President Barack Obama
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
29th Annual Everett C. Parker Lecture this morning http://benton.org/calendar/2011-09-28/
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Chairman Walden Eyes Oct. 4 for Spectrum Bill Markup
Google Asks Judge in AT&T Case to Help Protect ‘Sensitive’ Data
Agriculture Commissioners Back AT&T/T-Mobile
Handful of Apps Drive Most Usage
The Next Smartphone Revolution: Say Hello To Your New Personal Assistants - analysis
The Mobile Future Is About Much More Than Apps - analysis
Sprint's unlimited data plans aren't going anywhere, CTO confirms [links to web]
Mobile broadband data is king to telcos [links to web]
For Hackers, the Next Lock to Pick
Tablets: Ultimate Buying Machines
For LightSquared, a High Bar
INTERNET/BROADBAND
BTOP Status Update Goes to Congress
Unite Private Networks to Connect 65 Iowa Communities With Fiber Optic Connections - press release [links to web]
Broadband: A Driving Force for American Job Creation and Economic Growth - speech
Increasing broadband speed boosts national GDPs, Ericsson says
Is Net Neutrality Really An Internet Iron Curtain? - analysis
Google, Intel Consider Ultra-Fast Broadband for University Towns
Homeland Security Revamps Cyber Arm
The pieces are falling into place for an “Internet of things”
Comcast study: Broadband boosts real estate metrics [links to web]
Regulation hinders Google's FTTH progress
The Online Powerhouses Get Comfortable Orbiting Madison Ave [links to web]
UNIVERSAL SERVICE REFORM
House Dems urge FCC to cap USF high-cost fund
OWNERSHIP
Google’s Biggest Threat Is Google
The five biggest companies that Google has gobbled [links to web]
PRIVACY
GM’s OnStar Reverses Privacy Shift That Drew Senators’ Wrath
Lawmakers call for probe into supercookies
Google+ cookies behave themselves -- unlike Facebook's - analysis [links to web]
CONTENT
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement slouches toward signing on Saturday
As ‘Like’ Buttons Spread, So Do Facebook’s Tentacles
Is Facebook A Guardian Or Gatekeeper?
Why Facebook Works for All, Twitter for Some [links to web]
Guess Who Made The Highest Bid For Hulu
Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Will Be The First True Media Tablet
Amazon's grip tightens on the entire book-publishing chain
Poll: Young people say online meanness pervasive
Google confirms that Googling 'Google' won't break Internet [links to web]
TELEVISION
Politics, College Sports Now Completely Monetized by Broadcasters - analysis
GLAAD: Gay Characters On Network TV Falls In 2011
LOBBYING
Spreading Freedom: Google, Microsoft And The War For The Web
JOURNALISM
No paper might mean no news - analysis
EDUCATION
Lectures Are Homework in Schools Following Khan Academy Lead
To Hover Over Schoolwork, Parents Go Online [links to web]
Online teaching's disconnect - op-ed [links to web]
HEALTH
Older, busier doctors more likely to use novel EHR functionality [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Activists meet to defend Internet from state control
US tops IT competitiveness rankings
Lessons From Britain’s Health Information Technology Fiasco [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
IBM, Intel Start $4.4 Billion Chip Venture in New York State [links to web]
Meet The Video Game Lawyers [links to web]
CenturyLink CEO Tapped for National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
SPECTRUM BILL MARKUP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Apparently, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) plans to mark up a spectrum incentive auction bill Oct. 4 -- although there's no official announcement yet. A separate incentive auction bill backed by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has been incorporated into the President's jobs bill.
benton.org/node/91482 | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOOGLE AND AT&T/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Tom Schoenberg]
Google asked the U.S. judge overseeing the government’s lawsuit seeking to stop AT&T from buying T-Mobile USA for a chance to contest the disclosure of its confidential data in the case. Google, which provided the information to the Justice Department in its investigation of the proposed T-Mobile deal, made its request in federal court in Washington. Google, describing the data as “competitively sensitive” and related to internal products and launch plans, urged U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle to have the parties give the company advance notice of possible disclosures in court or to experts. “Without such additional protection, Google and other non-parties could find their confidential information -- such as Google’s business plans related to Android -- in the hands of competitors (or their competitors’ consultants), or even in newspapers, without having had prior notice of its disclosure,” Google said its request to intervene in the lawsuit.
benton.org/node/91498 | Bloomberg | Associated Press
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MORE SUPPORT FOR AT&T/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Add nine Agriculture commissioners from nine states to those supporting AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile. In filings at the Federal Communications Commission, the commissioners pointed to the promise of rolling out wireless broadband to rural areas, one of AT&T's pledges with the new spectrum it will acquire through the deal. "I am writing to express my support for the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile," wrote Florida AG Commissioner Adam Putnam. "Florida agriculture is a $100 billion industry. With increased capabilities like broader reaching wireless services, there will be even greater opportunities to grow." "The merger...would be a giant step toward ensuring broadband access for more South Dakotans," wrote AG Commissioner Walt Bones of South Dakota, who pointed out he had a family farm first homesteaded by his grandfather in 1879. "Promising a national post-merger infrastructure investment of more than $8 billion, AT&T would be able to expand its high-speed mobile network, increase broadband speeds, and improve its service and data offerings. The commissioners also pointed to job creation, education and the use of GPS for better crop management, seeding and fertilization as reasons to back the deal. The nine commissioners are from Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Texas, Iowa and South Dakota.
benton.org/node/91469 | Broadcasting&Cable
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HANDFUL OF APPS DRIVE USAGE
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Mark Walsh]
Despite the hundreds of thousands of mobile apps available, people tend to rely on just a handful on a regular basis. Ashmeed Ali, director of mobile insights at Yahoo, said research the company has done shows users have 34 apps on average on their mobile device. But only four are used on daily basis. Yahoo also found 55% of apps aren't meeting user expectations, and 43% felt their apps weren't properly organized on their phone so they couldn't easily find a particular one. People are spending 55% to 60% of their time on apps because the mobile Web experience is still less user-friendly.
benton.org/node/91415 | MediaPost
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YOUR NEW DIGITAL ASSISTANT
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Kit Eaton]
When Google revealed some improvements to Android, we were excited about how speech recognition and synthesis seemed to be buried deeply in its code -- full of promise. For various reasons, including fragmentation, it's never quite emerged as a game-changer. So now Apple's taking up the torch, and if rumors prove true it's not just adding speech tech to the iPhone... it's transforming the device into something new again, starting a whole new paradigm. If it works for Apple, expect others to follow. Get ready to meet your smart personal assistant. We've wondered for a while about how Apple was going to mix Nuance speech recognition tech with its iOS devices, and how the technology it acquired when it bought Siri (the firm behind an artificially intelligent assistant) would emerge. Now we know that Apple's "Assistant" is going to combine all of this tech into one powerful system, that runs throughout the upcoming iOS5--with some capabilities limited to the upcoming iPhone 5. Examples of the system include talking to your phone to set up an alarm or reminder, requesting GPS directions using voice alone, sending text messages -- basic interactivity in other words, but such that it renders the keyboard practically redundant. This is the sort of system that Google promised in Android. And now we're seeing that Assistant has a whole other level: It also interfaces with WolframAlpha -- Stephen Wolfram's "fact computer" that can intelligently understand data-specific questions and return meaningful suggestions.
benton.org/node/91411 | Fast Company
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MOBILE FUTURE MORE THAN APPS
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Howard Lindzon]
The pace of innovation in the mobile industry is getting faster and faster. It is relentless if you are either an entrepreneur or consumer. "They're going to have as much RAM as you used to have in your laptop two years ago -- now in the phone," says angel investor Eghosa Omigui. But while hardware is improving exponentially, we seem to be lagging in our imagination and ways to use these ingenious, disruptive devices. Human interface is a fast growing topic and trendy investment theme. Last year Microsoft unveiled the Kinect accessory, turning their Xbox 360 game console into a gesture-driven device. The imaginations of engineers everywhere are running wild with possibilities about how we can better interact with our devices, but not fast enough for consumers. The 2-year-old iPad is radically changing our perception of personal computing and it is becoming clear that tablets are destined to take over as the standard PC device. The massive computing and processing power surge will undoubtedly produce thousands of new products related to hardware and productivity, from solving the typing issue to improving battery life to even projecting video and images directly from your smartphone. It would be shortsighted to think that the opportunities in this mobile gold rush are limited just to apps.
benton.org/node/91410 | Fast Company
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CELLPHONE CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Claire Cain Miller]
Hackers have broken into the cellphones of celebrities like Scarlett Johansson and Prince William. But what about the rest of us, who might not have particularly salacious photos or voice messages stored in our phones, but nonetheless have e-mails, credit card numbers and records of our locations? A growing number of companies, including start-ups and big names in computer security like McAfee, Symantec, Sophos and AVG, see a business opportunity in mobile security — protecting cellphones from hacks and malware that could read text messages, store location information or add charges directly to mobile phone bills.
benton.org/node/91524 | New York Times
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TABLETS ARE BUYING MACHINES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dana Mattioli]
Retailers have found an interesting characteristic of consumers who browse their websites using tablets: They're much more likely to pull the trigger on purchases than other online shoppers. That discovery is making retailers focus on tablets ahead of the all-important holiday season, as the tough economic backdrop puts a premium on what the industry calls "conversion" -- making sure the shoppers who show up actually buy something. Tablets still account for only a small percentage of overall e-commerce, but they are punching above their weight. While the conversion rate -- orders divided by total visits -- is 3% for shoppers using a traditional PC, it is 4% or 5% for shoppers using tablets, says Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research. Many retailers also report that tablet users place bigger orders -- in some cases adding 10% to 20% more to the tab -- on average than shoppers using PCs or smartphones. Retailers are trying to take advantage of that trend by tweaking their websites to better accommodate tablets and rolling out catalogs that have been developed for the device. "Everything helps," says Peter Sachse, chief marketing officer at Macy's.
benton.org/node/91521 | Wall Street Journal
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A HIGH BAR FOR LIGHTSQUARED
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
To make good on its planned $14 billion investment in a national high-speed wireless network, start-up LightSquared must prove to the government that its network is perfect, or nearly so, in avoiding interference with global-positioning devices. And that's just one of its challenges. A November deadline is approaching for federal regulators to finish their interference tests, raising the stakes for a project already confronting financial hurdles and political resistance. Amid complaints by GPS users, company officials say they realize the bar will be high for the start-up to show its network won't disrupt other traffic. "Are we going to be 100% successful? I hope so," said Martin Harriman, LightSquared's executive vice president of ecosystem development and satellite business. While problems with potential GPS interference still come up "on a daily basis," he said, "we work through them as we go."
benton.org/node/91519 | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
BTOP UPDATE
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has sent an update on the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program to Congress. The report focuses on BTOP activities from April 1 to June 30, 2011. NTIA will provide its next quarterly report to Congress no later than mid-December 2011.
BTOP is on track to meet --and in most cases exceed -- its program goals, delivering significant progress this quarter in areas such as the infrastructure construction, computer center launches, and delivery of training to new broadband users. BTOP experienced considerable progress during this quarter in the form of a nearly 110
percent increase in the number of recipients delivering network miles from the previous quarter. Network miles deployed for BTOP include newly constructed miles, new leased miles, existing miles upgraded, and existing miles leased. Forty-four BTOP recipients deployed more than 10,000 network miles, bringing the total number of miles to date to more than 18,500. This represents a 200 percent increase in the number of network miles deployed over the last quarter. Over the first nine months of the fiscal year, BTOP has already surpassed its 2011 goal of 10,000 network miles.
As of June 30, 2011, 31 BTOP recipients reported that their training and adoption projects had encouraged more than 110,000 households and 500 businesses to subscribe to broadband services. This surpasses the goal of 100,000 new households or business subscribers for fiscal year 2011. New subscribers for this quarter totaled over 68,000, an increase of over 100 percent from the previous quarter
BTOP recipients reported spending over $200 million of Federal grant funds this quarter, which was matched by recipient funds of almost $110 million. Cumulatively, total Federal expenditures were $480 million – approximately 12 percent of the total funds awarded – while total recipient matching contributions exceeded $240 million. The amount of Federal expenditures also increased by over 70 percent from the previous quarter’s totals, and the amount of matching funds contributed increased by over 80 percent.
benton.org/node/91478 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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BROADBAND: A DRIVING FORCE FOR AMERICAN JOB CREATION & ECONOMIC GROWTH
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski spoke at the Washington (DC) headquarters of Living Social, focusing on broadband in the 21st century – how high-speed Internet is creating jobs in large numbers across sectors, boosting opportunity, and driving global competitiveness. He addressed three key issues from the National Broadband Plan:
Why broadband is so vital to near-term economic recovery and long-term prosperity
How positive developments in the broadband economy are strong reasons for optimism about America’s economic future, and
What we must do to address threats to our broadband economy and harness the power of high-speed Internet to spur economic growth and job creation, such as implementing voluntary incentive auctions and Universal Service Fund reform.
Laying out his policy roadmap to Mobilize America, Connect America and Empower America, Chairman Genachowski spotlighted several key issues. First, unleashing spectrum for mobile broadband through voluntary incentive auctions – to Mobilize America. Second, expanding access to connect millions more schools, library and hospitals to fast, affordable Internet – to Connect America. Third, grow the rate of broadband adoption by giving Americans the necessary tools to get online – to Empower America.
benton.org/node/91419 | Federal Communications Commission | Press release | Fact Sheet | AdWeek
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BROADBAND BOOSTS GDPs
[SOURCE: TechJournal, AUTHOR: ]
A new report from shows that doubling the broadband speed for an economy increases GDP by 0.3 percent. The report was conducted jointly by Ericsson, Arthur D. Little and Chalmers University of Technology in 33 OECD countries, and quantifies the isolated impact of broadband speed. A 0.3 percent GDP growth in the OECD region is equivalent to USD 126 billion. This corresponds to more than one seventh of the average annual OECD growth rate in the last decade. Only one U.S. city makes the list of the top ten globally in broadband download speeds, according to a recent study. This Ericsson study also shows that additional doublings of speed can yield growth in excess of 0.3 percent (e.g. quadrupling of speed equals 0.6 percent GDP growth stimulus). Both broadband availability and speed are strong drivers in an economy. Last year Ericsson and Arthur D. Little concluded that for every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration GDP increases by 1 percent.
benton.org/node/91456 | TechJournal
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IS NET NEUTRALITY AN IRON CURTAIN?
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
For all the rhetoric, the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules themselves largely enshrine the status quo. They prohibit all Internet service providers, including wireless companies, from blocking or degrading service. To date, some ISPs have tinkered with Web traffic, but only rarely. Whether that will change if the neutrality regulations are quashed remains to be determined.
benton.org/node/91417 | MediaPost
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GIG.U MEETING
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: ]
Google, Comcast, and Intel are among companies considering a project to bring faster broadband Internet access to more than 30 college towns in a push to spur Web traffic and nourish technology startups. They're being courted by computing nonprofit Gig.U to finance ultra high-speed networks capable of transmitting movies, games and other data-intensive content at speeds 100 times faster than many services currently available. The Gig.U project wants to bring the service to more than a million Americans living near 37 campuses, such as California Institute of Technology, University of Illinois and Duke University. Blair Levin, executive director of Gig.U, presented the idea to Google and more than 50 other companies at a meeting in Chicago, aimed at removing the biggest roadblock to a nationwide upgrade: a multibillion-dollar price tag. “The obstacle is cost,” said Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “There's simply no conceivable way to earn a return on that kind of investment, particularly given that the cable industry is already out there with infrastructure.”
benton.org/node/91499 | Bloomberg | The Motley Fool
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DHS AND CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: J Nicholas Hoover]
The National Protection and Programs Directorate, the Department of Homeland Security agency that handles many of the government's cybersecurity responsibilities is about to get a makeover in the wake of the departure of former deputy undersecretary Phil Reitinger. The directorate, among other things, is in works to secure federal civilian agency networks and coordinate cybersecurity with the private sector. DHS undersecretary Rand Beers announced to staff that, in response to "the growing importance of cybersecurity to DHS and the nation as a whole," DHS is splitting Reitinger's former job in two. DHS will now have one new deputy undersecretary position that exclusively deals with cybersecurity and another that helps protect critical infrastructure, secures federal facilities, and the manages the US-VISIT biometric identity management system used to identify and track foreign visitors. Beers wrote that the agency would "shortly" announce the name of the permanent deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity, but in the interim, Greg Schaeffer, a former Alltel and PricewaterhouseCoopers exec who had been Reitinger's second-in-command since 2009, will serve as acting deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity.
benton.org/node/91406 | InformationWeek
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INTERNET OF THINGS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Mathew Ingram]
It may be difficult to describe what exactly the phrase “an Internet of things” means, but the pieces of the puzzle that are required for that to develop are all here today, ThingM CEO Mike Kuniavsky told attendees at GigaOM’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco. Those puzzle pieces include ubiquitous network connectivity, cloud-based services, cheap assembly of electronics, social design, open collaboration tools and low-volume sales channels. When put together, Kuniavsky said, they create an “innovation ecosystem” that is the foundation for an Internet of things.
benton.org/node/91468 | GigaOm
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REGULATION AND GOOGLE FIBER
[SOURCE: Total telecom, AUTHOR: Nick Wood]
Google shared some of the lessons it has learnt so far during the deployment of its FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) network, claiming that regulation has been one of the biggest hurdles it has had to overcome. "Regulation can get in the way of innovation," said Kevin Lo, head of access at Google, during a keynote presentation at Broadband World Forum in Paris. "Regulations tied to physical infrastructure sometimes defer the investment altogether." He proceeded to run through some of the issues Google has had to deal with as it rolls out FTTH networks in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, including what he claimed were "unreasonable" fees and terms and conditions attached to rights of way, which are required before fibre can be put in the ground. Lo also complained that pole attachment agreements do not take broadband providers into account.
benton.org/node/91495 | Total Telecom
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UNIVERSAL SERVICE REFORM
DEMOCRATS URGE USF HIGH-COST CAP
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Thirty-four House Democrats wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, urging him to cap the amount of taxpayer funds used to subsidize broadband coverage in rural areas. The high-cost portion of the fund has swollen significantly over the past decade to $4.5 billion in fiscal 2010. The Members who signed the letter, including Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA), argue the fund should be capped because the current funding would be more than adequate to support broadband deployment. “As the National Broadband Plan noted, unrestrained growth in the fund not only imposes a greater cost burden on consumers, who pay into the fund via a contribution factor that continues to reach higher and higher levels, but it could also jeopardize public support for the goals of universal service,” the lawmakers wrote. “The collection of up to $4.5 billion per year, appropriately targeted to high-cost areas, should provide sufficient funding to support broadband deployment. Within that context, we believe it is clear that uncontrolled growth of the fund is unsustainable.” The lawmakers also argued that encouraging and funding broadband-adoption programs is crucial to the success of the program.
benton.org/node/91474 | Hill, The
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OWNERSHIP
GOOGLE'S BIGGEST THREAT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Claire Cain Miller]
Google faces antitrust inquiries and competition from all corners. But its biggest threat is Google itself, Larry Page, its chief executive and co-founder, said. “There are basically no companies that have good slow decisions,” Mr. Page said in a rare public appearance at Google’s Zeitgeist conference in Paradise Valley (AZ). “There are only companies that have good fast decisions. As companies get bigger, they slow down decision making, and that’s a big problem.” It’s a problem he has tried to address since he took over as chief executive from Eric E. Schmidt in April. “He’s in there doing that, forcing the choice and forcing the resolution,” Schmidt, now Google’s chairman, said at the conference. Page is also working on integrating all of Google’s products and improving their user interfaces, he said.
benton.org/node/91505 | New York Times
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PRIVACY
ONSTAR REVERSES POLICY
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Eric Engleman]
General Motors’s OnStar vehicle navigation service said it won't collect data on the driving habits of customers who cancel their subscriptions, reversing a policy shift that drew protests from three U.S. senators. OnStar told customers in an e-mail last week that it would continue collecting information from vehicles of subscribers who drop the service. Customers would have been required to contact OnStar to halt data collection under the policy change, which had been due to go into effect Dec. 1. “We realize that our proposed amendments did not satisfy our subscribers,” OnStar President Linda Marshall said. “We listened, we responded and we hope to maintain the trust of our more than 6 million customers.”
benton.org/node/91472 | Bloomberg | LATimes | The Hill | USAToday
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SUPERCOOKIES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
Lawmakers are calling for a probe into the tracking mechanisms known as “supercookies,” which are a more persistent type of the common cookie. Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX), co-chairmen of the bipartisan privacy caucus in the House, wrote to the Federal Trade Commission to ask the agency to look into the supercookies, saying that they invade user privacy. Hulu and MSN were both identified as Web sites using the new kind of tracking method in research from Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley, the Wall Street Journal reported. Supercookies, which are legal, can re-create a user’s profile information even after he or she has deleted traditional cookies, the report said. Companies also use a tracking method that compares user histories against a set of 1,500 Web sites to build user profiles. Many sites found to be using the method were seemingly unaware of the fact. MSN.com and Hulu both said that they have taken action to deal with the tracking.
benton.org/node/91397 | Washington Post | B&C
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CONTENT
ACTA TO BE SIGNED SOON
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will finally be signed Saturday, October 1, in Japan. The agreement has been years in the making, but its final passage comes only after a vociferous campaign by civil society and digital rights groups demanding an end to the secrecy, a place at the negotiating table, and a scaled-back set of copyright and patent provisions. They did pretty well -- as we previously noted, US negotiators on ACTA were pushing for some of the toughest language on DRM, Internet disconnections, and more, but had to climb down in the face of international resistance and public pressure. The secrecy was so intense -- despite a blizzard of statements about transparency -- that leaked diplomatic cables showed other countries objecting. An Italian official complained that it was "impossible for member states to conduct necessary consultations with IPR stakeholders and legislatures under this level of confidentiality." In Sweden, an ACTA negotiator told the US embassy that "the secrecy issue has been very damaging to the negotiating climate in Sweden."
Gigi Sohn, head of Public Knowledge, is still venting her discontent with the process. "Although the final version of the Agreement was an improvement from earlier versions, we continue to believe that the process by which it was reached was extremely flawed," she said in a statement today. "ACTA should have been considered a treaty, and subject to public Senate debate and ratification or, in the alternative, debated in an open and transparent international forum such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Instead, public interest groups and the tech industry had to expend enormous resources to force the process open to permit public views to be presented and considered."
benton.org/node/91471 | Ars Technica | Public Knowledge
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FACEBOOK'S TENTACLES SPREAD
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Riva Richmond]
When you click a Facebook “Like” button on other Web sites to tell your friends about a cool band, favorite political candidate or yummy cake recipe, you may know that you are also giving intelligence to Facebook the company, which makes money through targeted advertising. But did you know that even if you don't hit the button, Facebook knows you were there? That’s because the “Like” and “Recommend” buttons Facebook provides to other Web sites send information about your visit back to Facebook, even if you don't click on them. Since these buttons are now all over the Web — about 905,000 sites use them, the privacy-software maker Abine estimates — Facebook can find out an awful lot about what you do online even when you’re not on Facebook. Facebook says data from the buttons is used to personalize Web content, improve its services, fix bugs and implement certain security features. It says it does not use the data to track users or target advertising to them, and that it deletes or anonymizes the data within 90 days. But privacy advocates aren't exactly comforted.
benton.org/node/91460 | New York Times
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FACEBOOK A GUARDIAN OR GATEKEEPER?
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Mark Mulligan]
[Commentary] As if to prove that Facebook’s F8 announcements were truly seismic we are still feeling the aftershocks now. Interestingly, though, it is Spotify that is feeling most of the effect of Facebook’s moves towards becoming a 21st Century Portal. When Spotify was positioned center stage at F8 (literally in the case of Daniel Ek) it wasn't immediately apparent whether this was just Spotify as the first among equals of the dozen-plus digital music services included at launch. Now the dust is settling it is becoming apparent (to misquote Orwell) that:
“All digital music services are equal, but some digital music services are more equal than others.”
There are many quite logical strategic and financial reasons why Spotify’s bond with Facebook is so close (shared investors, scale, momentum of brands, closeness of Zuckerberg and Ek, etc.) But in my opinion it is more interesting to look at what the long-term effect of the fallout may be.
benton.org/node/91463 | paidContent.org
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DISH AND HULU
[SOURCE: Business Insider, AUTHOR: Matt Rosoff, Nicholas Carlson]
Remember how a group of bidders was circling around Hulu a couple weeks ago? Whatever happened with that? Sources say that satellite TV provider Dish was the highest bidder, coming in around $1.9 billion. It beat out both Amazon and Yahoo. Google bid much more — something in the range of $4 billion. But that bid came with special conditions, as has been previously reported — Google wanted more content for a longer period of time, and perhaps other concessions as well. Hulu's owners are still deciding what to do. They were hoping for a higher bid, and were disappointed that no company would offer more than $2 billion with the conditions they set. But the bidders all figured out pretty quickly that the TV companies who own Hulu now want to phase out free ad-supported content completely. So as soon as the current set of Hulu contracts expire in a couple of years, it would be back to the negotiating table.
benton.org/node/91399 | Business Insider
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KINDLE FIRE
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Ian Fogg]
On Sept 28, Amazon holds a major launch event and will likely unveil its first tablet, the Kindle Fire. To date, everyone bar Apple has failed with tablet launches. If Amazon mimics Apple then its tablet will fail too. Apple has too many economies of scale, industrial design expertise and supplier relationships for a retail-centric company like Amazon to emulate. To succeed, Amazon must take a different approach. Amazon cares little about the post-PC world, unlike Apple and Microsoft who are playing that different game. Instead, Amazon is driven by a post disc and post print world where all media will be digital. Amazon will build a true media tablet. The first true media tablet. The Kindle tablet will focus on the future of all media — TV, movies, music, books, magazines — to enable Amazon to become the dominant digital media retailer. That is Amazon’s ambition. On that basis, here are the areas to watch for in Amazon’s tablet product launch and what impact each item will have on the market:
The extent to which the Kindle tablet’s business model is content-subsidized.
The extent of the app catalogue available at launch and soon afterwards.
The type of color screen used.
Whether there is any business relationship with Google.
The role for new visual eBook and magazine formats.
Type of connectivity, 3G / WiFi, and route to market.
benton.org/node/91414 | paidContent.org
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AMAZON AND PUBLISHING
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: Julianne Pepitone]
Amazon's low-priced bestsellers and Kindle e-reader are famous for changing the book industry. What's not so well known is how deeply Amazon's tentacles reach into all parts of the industry, including its growing interest in inking deals with authors to publish some of the hit books Amazon sells. Booksellers and publishers are crying foul, saying they're being cut out of the chain by an aggressive Goliath. But some authors who have recently signed with Amazon Publishing say the company simply offered them a better, fairer deal than traditional publishers. And those Amazon deals are a boon for consumers, the authors say, because they bring earlier book releases and cheaper prices.
benton.org/node/91405 | CNNMoney
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ONLINE MEANNESS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Connie Cass, Stacy Anderson]
A new Associated Press-MTV poll of youth in their teens and early 20s finds that most of them — 56 percent — have been the target of some type of online taunting, harassment or bullying, a slight increase over just two years ago. A third say they've been involved in "sexting," the sharing of naked photos or videos of sexual activity. Among those in a relationship, 4 out of 10 say their partners have used computers or cellphones to abuse or control them. Three-fourths of the young people said they consider these darker aspects of the online world, sometimes broadly called "digital abuse," a serious problem. Conduct that rises to the point of bullying is hard to define, but the AP-MTV poll of youth ages 14 to 24 showed plenty of rotten behavior online, and a perception that it's increasing. The share of young people who frequently see people being mean to each other on social networking sites jumped to 55 percent, from 45 percent in 2009. That may be partly because young people are spending more time than ever communicating electronically: 7 in 10 had logged into a social networking site in the previous week, and 8 in 10 had texted a friend.
benton.org/node/91506 | Associated Press
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TELEVISION
POLITICS COMMERCIALIZED
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Bill Mann]
[Commentary] "Our elections last six weeks," commented a man from Toronto, reacting to one of my Canada columns at MarketWatch.com. "How long do yours last now, two years?" Longer. But there are "only" 14 more months of pointless political punditry left on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, CNBC, etc. Fourteen more long months of partisan, mindless yammering, meaningless polls, and regurgitated talking points. We have monetized our political system the same way we've monetized college sports, and for the same reason: The enrichment of broadcasters. I caught a documentary on San Francisco-based Link TV recently about D.C. lobbyists. It raised a little-known but noteworthy point: Senators and representatives are actually in Washington only Tuesday through Thursday. (On Tuesday most of them are jet-lagged). The nation's business, if it gets done at all, usually is done Wednesdays. (Thursdays, they're packing and heading to Dulles). Where are our reps the other four days of the week? Back home, vacuuming up campaign money. Over 90 per cent of which will go to -- ta da! -- broadcasters, for campaign ads.
benton.org/node/91466 | Huffington Post, The
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TELEVISION DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Frazier Moore]
The number of gay and bisexual characters on scripted broadcast network TV has dipped slightly this season to 19 out of nearly 650 roles, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The 16th annual "Where We Are on TV" report released by GLAAD found that 2.9 percent of actors appearing regularly on prime-time network drama and comedy series in the 2011-12 season will portray gay, lesbian or bisexual characters. That's down from 3 percent in the 2009-10 season and 3.9 percent last season, when there were 23 out of a total of nearly 600 roles. Among broadcast series with gay and bisexual characters, GLAAD cited CBS' "The Good Wife," the CW's "Ringer" and NBC's "The Playboy Club." Comedies include ABC's "Modern Family" and Fox's "Glee." Fox leads the networks in gay representation, with eight regular characters out of a total of 117. The number of gay and bisexual characters on cable networks has also fallen slightly, from 35 last season to 29 in the upcoming season.
benton.org/node/91501 | Associated Press
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LOBBYING
GOOGLE VS MICROSOFT
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Ryan Grim, Zach Carter, Paul Blumenthal]
Google and Microsoft now dominate influence-peddling around Internet issues, each having spent $3.5 million on lobbying through the first half of 2011. Google's total lobbyist count is now up to 93, the highest number the company has ever had in Washington (roughly one for every six members of Congress). The biggest thrust of Google’s lobbying push involves antitrust, patents, copyright, trade and China. Microsoft’s lobbying peaked in the mid-2000s, when Congress and antitrust investigators had their sights set on the software powerhouse. Currently, the company’s work in Washington is largely focused on setting and gaming the tax code, a pet issue for corporations seasoned in the ways of the capitol. Still, Microsoft’s lobbyists also continue to work heavily on antitrust, patent, copyright, trade, and China issues. Sixty-four percent of the 76 lobbyists employed by Microsoft are registered on these issues. Eighty-one percent of those lobbyists have previous government experience, according to a HuffPost analysis of lobbying disclosure reports and data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics. Microsoft continues to dominate Google when it comes to campaign and political action committee spending, outspending Google nearly tenfold in the first half of 2011. Microsoft reported contributing $580,000 to congressmen, candidates, political parties and leadership PACs, while Google reported $61,000 in donations over the same period. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, speaking to reporters after his sworn testimony, said that Microsoft had been lobbying hard to pressure Congress to bring the antitrust hammer down on Google -- the blunt pain of which Microsoft knows all too well.
benton.org/node/91465 | Huffington Post, The
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JOURNALISM
NO PAPER MAY MEAN NO NEWS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
[Commentary] Want to get under a newspaper person's skin? Tell them you don't need their work because you get most of your news from the Internet. Inky survivors can't stand to hear that because they know that — technological advances and upstart websites notwithstanding — the bulk of news on the Web actually still originates with newspaper reporters. But it turns out that the audience doesn't merely fail to recognize who produces most local news. Even those who do give credit to their local paper don't express particular concern about finding an alternative if their paper goes away, a new and detailed survey of community news consumption habits shows. Americans turn to their newspapers (and attendant websites) on more topics than any other local news source, according to a survey released this week by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. But, despite their own reading habits, more than two-thirds told pollsters that if their hometown paper disappeared, it would not seriously hurt their ability to keep up with the news.
benton.org/node/91514 | Los Angeles Times
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EDUCATION
ED TECH AND LECTURES
[SOURCE: Education Week, AUTHOR: Sarah Sparks]
Dr Susan Kramer and some of her colleagues at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology have moved their lectures and lab setups online to save class time for hands-on learning and discussion. This “flip model” of instruction has gotten national media attention lately, thanks to its promotion by Khan Academy, the high-profile nonprofit online-tutoring library created by Salman A. Khan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate who was looking for a way to help his young relatives with their homework. The model -- in which teachers introduce lectures online for students to access at home and then use class time for group practice and projects normally relegated to homework -- is not unique to Khan Academy, however. Advocates of the approach say it allows students to work through meat-and-potatoes background on their own, giving teachers more time to go in depth through discussions, projects and other activities in class. Critics, though, argue the model is too reliant on online materials and will prove difficult to use in schools without major technology infrastructure.
benton.org/node/91402 | Education Week
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Georgina Prodhan, Duncan Miriri]
Internet activists accused governments of making it difficult for users of the Web, rights campaigners and private businesses to carry out their work through state attempts to seize control of the Web. They said state officials were getting bolder in their drive to regulate the Web that has fueled Arab revolutions, enabled mass leaks of U.S. diplomatic cables and allowed online piracy to thrive. "What we have seen in the last three years is that no longer do governments shy away from attempting to regulate Internet content," said Joy Liddicoat, project coordinator at New Zealand-based Association for Progressive Communications, which seeks to protect people's rights on and to the Internet. They were speaking at the Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi, an annual event that brings together companies, non-profit groups, academics, engineers, government representatives and ordinary citizens. Participants at the meeting said governments were increasingly filtering and blocking content on the Web, carrying out surveillance and making requests for data and privacy information in countries like Egypt and Pakistan.
benton.org/node/91480 | Reuters
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IT COMPETITIVENESS RANKING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Despite the prolonged economic downturn, the US remains the most competitive nation for information technology, according to a report from the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The group ranked 66 nations on their overall business environment, IT infrastructure, human capital, research and development, legal environment and public support for industry development. The U.S. came out on top, followed by Finland, Singapore, Sweden, the UK and Denmark. The biggest movers in this year's rankings were Malaysia and India, which jumped 11 and 10 spots, respectively, thanks to strong research and development in both nations. Conversely, Canada dropped three places to seventh after slipping on R&D and intellectual property protection. China's rise was also slowed by the country's poor record of protecting IP rights.
benton.org/node/91423 | Hill, The
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