November 2011

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011

Emergency Alert System Test and China's Censorship of the Internet top today’s agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2011-11-17/

FCC REFORM
   House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Approves Legislation to Increase Transparency and Efficiency at FCC
   A goal we should all share: A 21st century FCC
   Rep. Terry: FCC Actions Undermine Process

CONTENT
   House Holds One-Sided Hearing on Piracy Bill
   Stop Online Piracy Act: Broad bill needs scrutiny - editorial
   Stop the Great Firewall of America - op-ed
   Five things to know about SOPA [links to web]
   Rep Issa: Congress using Google as ‘piñata’ [links to web]
   Sweet sanity: 75% of Americans say infringement fines should be under $100
   RIAA Attempts to Shut Down Second-Hand Digital Music Store
   Google opens music download store, welcomes artists to upload directly
   Blacks, Hispanics Follow More Public Figures on Social Media
   Evernote Takes On Web Reading With Clearly [links to web]

PRIVACY
   Chairmen Rockefeller, Bono Mack seek explanations from Facebook

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Network Neutrality Saved, But Who Cares? - editorial
   Majority Leader Reid: Senate To Debate Cybersecurity Legislation In Early 2012 [links to web]
   Time Spent Streaming Outpacing Number of Streamers - research
   Firm Fights Web Costs [links to web]
   Open Range’s network to nowhere draws fire

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Cable provider Cox to get out of wireless business
   Sprint to do emergency text alerts
   How an iPhone revolution could turn the Army upside-down
   AT&T, Verizon meet 2011 LTE goals [links to web]
   AT&T: churn unaffected after rivals got the iPhone [links to web]
   Does AT&T need more spectrum? It’s complicated - analysis

TELEVISION
   The Pivotal Role of Public Television - speech [links to web]
   Cablevision Continues to Battle FCC's Program Access Decision Against MSG [links to web]
   C-SPAN Backs Dish Challenge to Government Carriage Mandates [links to web]
   FCC Mails 3rd Set of Equal Employment Opportunity Audit Letters [links to web]
   Buzz, Viewers Diverge [links to web]

USF REFORM
   Commissioner Copps on USF/ICC Reform – Lawsuits, Waiver Requests “Frivolous”

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Society Of Professional Journalists Complains About Occupy Arrests
   Judge Declares Law Governing Warrantless Cellphone Tracking Unconstitutional
   Congress to Investigate Electronic Spy Threats
   E-gov cuts could endanger digital transparency initiatives, groups say [links to web]
   Minority Leader Pelosi backs call for Supreme Court to televise healthcare case arguments [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   EU Started Samsung, Apple Probe Into Patents on Own Initiative
   France Telecom Offers Free Facebook to Emerging-Market Customers [links to web]
   Q&A: EU chief privacy regulator on new Internet rules
   Vivendi sells $427 million stake in Activision

MORE ONLINE
   Apple’s board: Who are they? [links to web]
   Netflix subscribers offered class-action payout from Wal-Mart [links to web]
   Court Halts U-Verse In San Francisco [links to web]

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FCC REFORM

FCC REFORM BILLS APPROVED BY SUBCOMMITTEE
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee, , AUTHOR: Press release]
The House Commerce Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), approved the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2011 (H.R. 3309) by a vote of 14 to 9, and the Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2011 (H.R. 3310) by voice vote. These bills improve the way the FCC operates by increasing transparency, predictability, and consistency.
The panel rejected an amendment from Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the subcommittee's ranking member, that would have expanded the authority of the FCC to review corporate mergers. Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) said the amendment would have "nefarious" consequences. "I don't think you intended to use that word," Rep Eshoo said. "It doesn't belong in this hearing room." Rep Terry said he stood by his statement.
Chairman Walden said the reforms would create regulatory certainty, helping businesses know when to invest. Rep Eshoo said the legislation would give companies that disagree with the FCC's decision new grounds to bring lawsuits, opening the agency up to "years of litigation." "At the end of the day, I don’t think this is reform. It’s gumming up the works," she said.
Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) said the bills are an "effort by some of my colleagues to create procedural roadblocks that only apply to the FCC." Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said the measures are "good policy because we all know that the FCC has a little bit of a problem with overreaching their authority."
benton.org/node/105627 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | The Hill
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A 21ST CENTURY FCC
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)]
[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has taken some steps to open his agency’s processes to the public. However, only Congress can make permanent these reforms and others to ensure that the FCC is the kind of accountable federal agency that taxpayers deserve. To that end, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Wednesday 16th Nov will examine a bill we recently introduced, the FCC Process Reform Act, that would put good government reforms into law for the current FCC -- and for all those to come in the future. Taking a page from the President’s Executive Order, the bill would require cost-benefit analyses for economically significant rules, where increased scrutiny is most warranted. And drawing on recommendations from the Government Accountability Office, the bill would only require performance measures for those programs where the FCC collects and spends $100 million or more of federal funds. The legislation is the result of an open, transparent, and accountable process. We have held two hearings on FCC process reform and substantially refined our legislation as a result of the testimony we received. We have listened to stakeholders and reached across the aisle to understand the views of all involved.
benton.org/node/105626 | Hill, The
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FCC ACTIONS UNDRMINE PROCESS
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Rep Lee Terry (R-NE) says Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has done a "decent" job, but some of the most significant actions by the agency seem to be driven by a partisan agenda. He said FCC actions on open Internet rules as well as efforts to reform the Universal Service Fund to promote broadband development have suffered from preconceived opinions and a lack of transparency. "The critique would have to be net neutrality looked like it was driven by an agenda rather than good policy," said Rep Terry, vice chairman of the House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Efforts to reform the Universal Service Fund to pay for new broadband services, meanwhile, are opaque, Rep Terry said. "There's an order out there and I have no Idea what it says." Rep Terry said unpublicized agency orders and "document dumps" can make it appear that FCC leaders are "abusing the process."
benton.org/node/105625 | National Journal
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CONTENT

SOPA HEARING
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
The House Judiciary Committee held an important hearing on the Stop Online Piracy Act with a hugely stacked deck of witnesses -- Google's lawyer was the only one of the six to object to the bill in a meaningful way. And it wasn't hard to see why. This wasn't a hearing designed to elicit complex thoughts about complex issues of free speech, censorship, and online piracy; despite the objections of the ACLU, dozens of foreign civil rights groups, tech giants like Google and eBay, the Consumer Electronics Association, China scholar Rebecca MacKinnon, hundreds of law professors and lawyers, the hearing was designed to shove the legislation forward and to brand companies who object as siding with "the pirates." How low was the level of debate? The hearing actually descended to statements like "the First Amendment does not protect stealing goods off trucks" (courtesy of the AFL-CIO's Paul Almeida).
Right from the start, the knives were out for Google. Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) made it only halfway through his opening statement before asserting that "one of the companies represented here today has sought to obstruct the Committee’s consideration of bipartisan legislation. Perhaps this should come as no surprise given that Google just settled a federal criminal investigation into the company’s active promotion of rogue websites that pushed illegal prescription and counterfeit drugs on American consumers."
benton.org/node/105624 | Ars Technica | AdWeek | WashPost – ad blitz | NPR | GigaOm | Politico | Politico – Google
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STOP THE GREAT FIREWALL OF AMERICA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Rebecca MacKinnon]
[Commentary] China operates the world’s most elaborate and opaque system of Internet censorship. But Congress, under pressure to take action against the theft of intellectual property, is considering misguided legislation that would strengthen China’s Great Firewall and even bring major features of it to America. The legislation — the Protect IP Act, which has been introduced in the Senate, and a House version known as the Stop Online Piracy Act — aims not to censor political or religious speech as China does, but to protect American intellectual property. Alarm at the infringement of creative works through the Internet is justifiable. The solutions offered by the legislation, however, threaten to inflict collateral damage on democratic discourse and dissent both at home and around the world. The bills would empower the attorney general to create a blacklist of sites to be blocked by Internet service providers, search engines, payment providers and advertising networks, all without a court hearing or a trial. The House version goes further, allowing private companies to sue service providers for even briefly and unknowingly hosting content that infringes on copyright — a sharp change from current law, which protects the service providers from civil liability if they remove the problematic content immediately upon notification. The intention is not the same as China’s Great Firewall, a nationwide system of Web censorship, but the practical effect could be similar. [MacKinnon, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and a founder of Global Voices Online]
benton.org/node/105623 | New York Times
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SOPA NEEDS SCRUTINY
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: James Temple]
[Commentary] The tech sector came out resoundingly this week against the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bipartisan bill that chips away at critical legal protections that foster online innovation and open communication. I point all this out because, if you were watching the House hearing on SOPA, you'd hardly guess there were so many concerned parties. The Judiciary Committee set up a mockery of an open debate by stacking the witness deck. There are many worries about SOPA, including the implications for online security. But by far the biggest fear is that it would undermine the legal safe harbors of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That law allows online sites to create open forums where users can upload videos, sell things, share opinions and more, free from the fear that a smattering of people posting infringing material will subject the site to enormous legal liabilities. It's arguably the foundation of the modern Web, central to the blooming of sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Craigslist. What we all need and deserve is an open and honest debate on any law that conceivably undercuts the critical communications platform of our age. At a minimum, that demands we acknowledge the true nature of the changes on the table - and that a representative group of affected parties is invited to it.
benton.org/node/105670 | San Francisco Chronicle
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INFRINGEMENT FINES
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
New survey data out on American attitudes toward copyright infringement shows that current statutory damage awards of up to $150,000 are supported by almost no one. Indeed, only half of all American adults support any sort of fine for downloading a song or movie, and one-third said there should be no punishment at all. The data comes from a study out of The American Assembly project at Columbia University. In work that was funded in part by Google, researchers surveyed 2,303 US adults by phone during the month of August on a whole host of copyright-related questions. The survey found that reactions here diverge sharply from current law. Only 52 percent of American adults support punishment at all (another 7 percent say it depends on the situation)—and essentially no one supports any sort of tough punishment. Fines and warnings are the only two broadly supported remedies for infringement among those who want to impose a penalty. But the supported fines are miniscule, with three-quarters of respondents agreeing that any fine should be less than $100.
benton.org/node/105658 | Ars Technica
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REDIGI
[SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: Eriq Gardner]
A big battle is brewing over whether or how the "first sale" doctrine in copyright law applies to digital music and movie files. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sent a cease-and-desist letter to ReDigi, an upstart company that lets users buy and sell "used" digital music. Second-hand record stores have been around for long time, permissible because copyright law permits a purchaser of copyrighted material to transfer title to another buyer. In the digital context, however, there's widespread debate about whether buying digital music constitutes a license or a sale, and what happens when music gets transferred, but ReDigi sniffs an opportunity. If blessed by courts, the enterprising outfit may have stumbled upon a game-changing business. The RIAA isn't happy about this. In a cease-and-desist letter sent on November 10, the trade organization says ReDigi has made "unauthorized use" of sound recordings.
benton.org/node/105608 | Hollywood Reporter, The
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GOOGLE MUSIC
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jacqui Cheng]
Google has decided to join the rest of the online music party and begin selling music directly to users. The announcement came during the company's Google Music event wherein Google announced various changes, improvements, and new features coming to its music streaming service. The most significant announcements, however, revolved around the fact that Google is finally getting on the music-selling bandwagon instead of referring its customers to content partners, and the company will even begin allowing musicians to upload and sell their music directly to customers through the store.
Google has partnered directly with music labels in order to sell music downloads directly to customers via the Android Market. The company said it had already signed deals with EMI, Sony, and Universal -- with one member of the Big Four conspicuously missing -- as well as thousands of indie labels and a number of indie "aggregators" such as TuneCore and CD Baby. "You don't need to search the web anymore for music," Google said during its presentation, "just search the market!" The most interesting element of the presentation was related to Google's new Artist Hub; this essentially allows musicians without a music label to completely bypass services like TuneCore -- which is what allows them to put their music on other major music stores like iTunes and Amazon -- and upload their music directly to Google for sale to users. Artists can build their own artist pages, upload original content, and set their own prices, with Google giving artists 70 percent of sales revenue. Musicians who want to participate in the Artist Hub are required to pay a one-time registration fee, but won't have to pay annual or upload fees after that.
benton.org/node/105659 | Ars Technica | CNN | WashPost | USAToday | GigaOm | The Verge
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BLACKS, HISPANICS AND TWITTER
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Joseph Marks]
Connecting with politicians, celebrities and athletes is a low priority for most social media users, but it's significantly more common among black and Hispanic users than among whites, according to a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Twitter users are also more likely to say following public figures is a major or minor reason they go to social media compared with people on Facebook and other social media sites, the study reported. About 10 percent of black social media users and 11 percent of Hispanic users say reading comments from public figures is a major reason they use social media compared with just 3 percent of white users, according to the report. About 31 percent of black and 26 percent of Hispanic users say this is a minor reason they're on social media, compared with 16 percent of white users. The survey did not distinguish between public figures in government, entertainment and sports.
benton.org/node/105611 | nextgov
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PRIVACY

FACEBOOK FACES HEARINGS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jessica Guynn]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) will hold a hearing to look into reports that Facebook tracks its users on the Web after they log out. "No company should track customers without their knowledge or consent, especially a company with 800 million users and a trove of unique personal data on its users," Chairman Rockefeller said. "If Facebook or any other company is falsely leading people to believe that they can log out of the site and not be tracked, that is alarming."
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said the company uses cookies to personalize content and keep accounts secure. "When someone logs off of Facebook, we delete certain cookies and reduce the amount of information we receive when the person visits websites that contain social plug-ins such as the Like button," he said. "We have made these practices clear in our Privacy Policy and Help Center since the launch of social plug-ins. We appreciate Sen. Rockefeller's interest in protecting consumer privacy and look forward to discussing this with him." He also said that Facebook does not sell users' information to third parties and deletes or anonymizes data within 90 days.
Chairman Rockefeller and House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Chairman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) want Facebook to come before Congress to explain why Facebook members got swarmed by pornographic and violent images this week. Chairman Bono Mack directed her staff to bring in Facebook officials next week for a briefing to learn more about the wave of pornographic and violent images that spread through Facebook's automated content-sharing systems. Among the questions Bono Mack wants answered: How many people were impacted? What actually happened? How did it happen? Could the vulnerability be used to gather users' personal information? What is Facebook doing to prevent future intrusions?
benton.org/node/105663 | Los Angeles Times | Facebook | USAToday | National Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

NET NEUTRALITY SAVED, BUT WHO CARES?
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Jonathan Feldman]
[Commentary] The Senate’s rejection of a "resolution of disapproval" of the Federal Communications Commission’s open Internet rules was a major victory for network neutrality, but should anyone care? Not really. The problems that would be created by a lack of net neutrality are generally monopoly-related. That is, should network operators have the right to slow down various types of competing services? Most reasonable people would say no. After all, is it fair to essentially control the network infrastructure and also compete with smaller businesses that rely on that infrastructure? This theoretical problem becomes a real one in the broadband market, because in many parts of the country there are at most two choices for last mile service. As I've argued before, having two providers (telco and cable) in an area doesn't constitute a free broadband marketplace. It encourages cronyism, even collusion. The right way to proceed is to emulate Europe: Unbundle the middle mile network from the last mile. That is, don't let the same entities that control the middle mile compete in the last mile market. The middle mile--between the cable company and phone company--is a commons. There, the providers don't overbuild fiber optic; they do fiber swaps.
benton.org/node/105622 | InformationWeek
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TIME SPENT STREAMING
[SOURCE: Nielsen, AUTHOR: ]
In the U.S., the amount of time spent streaming videos online is growing at a much faster rate than the number of video viewers. Over the last three years, time spent watching video from home and work computers has more than doubled while the number of unique viewers increased 26 percent over the same period. During August 2011, viewers aged 18-34 accounted for nearly 40 percent of total streaming time, with males 18-34 contributing 23 percent. Video viewers aged 35-49 made up 26 percent of total steaming time during the month, followed by viewers over the age of 50 – the largest segment of the online video population – who spent over 9 billion minutes watching, 22 percent of total streaming time from home and work computers.
benton.org/node/105618 | Nielsen
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REVIEW OF OPEN RANGE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
Open Range Communications, the now-bankrupt broadband company that last week became the target of a congressional probe, at first was rejected by the George W. Bush administration for a federal broadband loan to help connect rural communities. Why the Colorado-based company eventually was awarded $267 million — the largest loan in the history of the Rural Utilities Service’s broadband program — will most likely become a key question for lawmakers. “I don’t understand why this thing was even entertained,” a former government official familiar with the financing program at RUS, a branch of the Agriculture Department, told POLITICO. “To me, it just looked too faulty” paired with a company that “had no track record of being able to deliver.” Open Range — backed not only by a government loan but also by a $100 million investment from JPMorgan Chase — had promised to build a broadband network in 546 communities in 17 states to provide affordable Internet service in underserved areas. But that dream never fully materialized. Instead, lawmakers, government officials and business analysts now are raising questions about why the government would stake so much cash on a company facing some very stiff business obstacles.
benton.org/node/105667 | Politico
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

COX QUITS WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Michelle Maisto]
Cox Communications announced that it will stop selling its wireless phone service Nov. 16, and work toward ceasing service all together March 30, 2012. Citing a "lack of wireless scale necessary to compete in the marketplace, the acceleration of competitive 4G networks [and] the inability to access iconic wireless devices" — aka, be able to sell the made-for-Sprint iPhone — Cox says it's getting out of the 3G business and scraping all plans for LTE. Cox says it has approximately 6 million customers, and will extend special offers to its wireless users, helping them in their transition to another wireless provider. Cox Wireless customers, who have multiple Cox services, will receive a $150 credit on their bill for every disconnected phone, the company said. It will also waive all early termination fees, and customers can keep their devices and will continue to receive Bundle Benefits — discounts offered for combined phone, television and Internet service — for two years.
benton.org/node/105610 | Connected Planet
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SPRINT AND EMERGENCY TEXT ALERTS
[SOURCE: Kansas City Star, AUTHOR: ]
Sprint Nextel will launch wireless emergency alerts, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency and more local organizations to use mass text alerts about impending dangers. Users will have to opt into the alert system that will crank up first in New York City and the District of Columbia before the end of the year. It will work on only a handful of phones the company sells (the HTC Evo, for instance, but not Apple’s iPhone series) and be dispatched in 90-character bursts rather than the 160 limits that restrict most text messages. The alerts will come with a distinctive vibration rhythm and tone intended to mimic alerts people know from radio and television. The alerts are supposed to be targeted based on a user’s location. So if a Kansas Citian were in New York, for instance, their phone would get a notice about hurricane headed toward Manhattan, but not about a severe storm barreling through Kansas City.
benton.org/node/105609 | Kansas City Star
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IPHONE AND THE ARMY
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Anna Mulrine]
It was a simple idea – allowing soldiers to use the smart phones they're familiar with to be more connected on the battlefield, whether to check maps or relay information. But it has profound implications for the military. For the soldiers, the smart phones have already begun to unleash torrents of ingenuity, with some designing new soldier-friendly applications, such as links to the video feed of the base security camera. For the Army, the smart phone pilot program points to a culture shift that would not only put new streams of intelligence into the hands of soldiers in the field but also give them the chance to evaluate that data – blurring the lines between officers and those they command. And it is sending shivers through the defense industry, which has long had a monopoly on providing military technology.
benton.org/node/105616 | Christian Science Monitor, The
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AT&T’S SPECTRUM SALE
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
Sprint believes it has caught AT&T in a ‘gotcha!’ moment. While AT&T is using the threat of a spectrum crunch as justification to buy T-Mobile, AT&T is trying to sell off mobile broadband airwaves it already owns. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Sprint basically calls AT&T a hypocrite, citing AT&T’s intended sale of its 2.3 GHz spectrum as another reason why the FCC should deny AT&T and T-Mobile’s $39-billion deal.
While Sprint has levied plenty of dead-on criticisms against AT&T/T-Mobile deal in the past, this time the operator has overshot the mark. Sprint ignores the fact that the 2.3 GHz Wireless Communication Services (WCS) spectrum bands are a mess. Ever since the licenses were auctioned off in 1997, every major operator owning WCS has tried to find some use for that spectrum, but they all came up with squat. Power restrictions in the band make it useless for any kind of mobile voice and broadband service. And attempts by AT&T and BellSouth (which AT&T acquired) to use it for fixed wireless DSL-replacement technologies fell flat after numerous trials. The specific C-block and D-block licenses AT&T is trying to sell in partnership with NextWave are even more problematic. They straddle opposite ends of the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) band used by Sirius XM Radio, requiring any network to have a guard band to prevent interference with Sirius’ radio signals. That means the already small allotment of capacity in each block, 5 MHz, is cut in half.
benton.org/node/105668 | GigaOm | Public Knowledge
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USF REFORM

COPPS ON USF/ICC REFORM
[SOURCE: The ILEC Advisor, AUTHOR: Cassandra Heyne]
In remarks to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Annual Meeting, Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps noted the controversial role of states under the new Universal Service Fund and Intercarrier Compensation regulations. He also expressed mild contempt for parties who may be tempted to file lawsuits and waivers. Here are some notable quotes from Commissioner Copps’ speech:
“The old saying is, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Well, you can’t make that argument here. The system was broken—and we were left with no real option short of a major overhaul.”
“Now I know that not everyone here is satisfied with everything the Commission did three weeks ago. Neither am I. But I think we both made a difference. Your input did greatly inform the Commission’s deliberations and its ultimate decisions—even though we had to make difficult choices that will change some legacy state responsibilities.”
“We incorporated numerous ideas from the state Joint Board members’ comments, such as imposing significant reporting requirements on USF recipients and requiring all reporting data to be jointly provided to the FCC and state Commissions.”
“States can perform many functions better than the federal government—and by ‘many functions’ I mean a whole lot of them. And I am looking for ways to expand the state role under the reformed system.”
benton.org/node/105607 | ILEC Advisor, The | Commissioner Copps
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

JOURNALISTS COMPLAIN ABOUT OCCUPY ARRESTS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Society of Professional Journalists has asked New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city officials in other states to drop charges against journalists arrested while covering the "Occupy" protests. "We know that as protests escalate it may be difficult for police to distinguish bystanders from participants, but it is clear now that many journalists have been erroneously arrested without cause," said SPJ president John Ensslin. "These errors must be rectified immediately." Citing AP reports, SPJ said that journalists were arrested or at least detained in Chapel Hill, Nashville, Milwaukee, and Richmond, as well as New York, all who had "simply and clearly" only been doing their jobs, said SPJ, which said in those incidents the reporters were wearing badges or explained to police they were covering the story.
benton.org/node/105613 | Multichannel News
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JUDGE DECLARES WARRANTLESS TRACKING UNCONSTITUTIONAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Julia Angwin]
In a succinct one-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn N. Hughes of the Southern District of Texas declared that the law authorizing the government to obtain cellphone records without a search warrant was unconstitutional. “The records would show the date, time, called number, and location of the telephone when the call was made,” Judge Hughes wrote in the decision, dated Nov. 11. “These data are constitutionally protected from this intrusion.”
Judge Hughes’ decision comes as the U.S. government is facing increasing judicial challenges to its practice of obtaining information about the location of individuals without a search warrant. Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case where the government placed a GPS tracking device under a vehicle and monitored the driver’s movements for a month without a search warrant. During the argument, Chief Justice John Roberts said to Michael Dreeben, deputy solicitor general of the Justice Department: “If you win this case then there is nothing to prevent the police or the government from monitoring 24 hours a day the public movement of every citizen of the United States.” The Justice Department argues that people have no expectation of privacy on public roads. Cellphone records are governed by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a 1986 law that permits law enforcement officers to obtain certain digital records – such as some e-mail and cellphone records – without a search warrant. A coalition of technology companies—including Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and AT&T Corp.—is lobbying Congress to update the law to require search warrants in more digital investigations.
benton.org/node/105671 | Wall Street Journal
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CONGRESS INVESTIGATES HUAWEI
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Siobhan Gorman]
Congress is launching an investigation into whether Huawei Technologies Co. and other Chinese telecommunications firms pose a potential national-security threat as they expand in the US. The probe by the House intelligence committee marks an intensification of U.S. scrutiny of the potential threat, in particular from Chinese firms like Huawei and ZTE Corp. Intelligence officials have shared with lawmakers concerns that such expansion could give China a foothold for electronic spying in the US, according to a congressional aide. The congressional probe follows a recent Wall Street Journal article on a White House review of the potential security threats posed by foreign telecommunications firms that incorporate their equipment into U.S. systems. The White House review was spurred in part by concerns over Huawei. The committee has already taken an initial look at the issue, including briefings and interviews with intelligence officials. The probe will examine how Chinese firms are supplying components of U.S. telecommunications systems and the security threats that activity may pose. It will also look at the intelligence-collection capabilities that access to U.S. systems would provide a foreign government. U.S. officials worry the Chinese government could access that equipment and track phone calls or e-mails, or disrupt or destroy a communications system. It's also possible that such access could provide an avenue for eavesdropping on phone calls or intercepting emails in combination with other technologies, according to an industry specialist.
benton.org/node/105672 | Wall Street Journal
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

EU’S SAMSUNG-APPLE PROBE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Katie Linsell, Aoife White]
European Union regulators started an antitrust probe into Samsung and Apple’s use of smartphone patents on their “own initiative” without waiting for a competitor to formally raise the issue. Per Hellstroem, the head of the European Commission’s antitrust unit for consumer electronics, said that the EU’s “preliminary investigation” is trying to determine the underlying facts about Apple’s and Samsung’s use of patents. “There’s no formal complaint,” Hellstroem said. “When we see that there are issues that may” potentially “involve competition issues we have the power to send requests for information to various parties.” Samsung and Apple were questioned by the commission about “the enforcement of standards-essential patents in the mobile- telephony sector,” regulators said earlier this month. Apple said in a filing in a California court case last month that Samsung faced an EU antitrust investigation into its “egregious” misuse of patents.
benton.org/node/105614 | Bloomberg
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REDING Q&A
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
A Q&A with Viviane Reding, vice president of the European Commission. She is the continent’s leading advocate for laws on Internet privacy and data protection. And she’s not slowing down. She believes that self-regulation-- promoted by Web giants such as Google and Facebook --isn’t enough to protect online users. And she’s skeptical of comments by a senior tech adviser for President Obama, who earlier this week said the administration will try to convince Reding and other European regulators that new laws that would hamper U.S. Web firms. Reding is scheduled to meet with Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security to discuss how to balance individual rights and greater security to fight terrorism. The head of privacy policy in the European Union and Kang talked about what lies ahead in Europe and her views on how the United States is handling efforts to better protect consumer privacy on the Internet. Here’s a link to an edited version of the interview.
benton.org/node/105662 | Washington Post
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VIVENDI SELLS STAKE IN ACTIVISION
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: James Boxell]
Vivendi has sold a $427 million stake in Activision Blizzard, maker of the Call of Duty video game, raising questions about whether the French group has been stretched more than it has admitted by the $1.9 billion purchase of EMI’s recorded music division.
The French media and telecoms group denied that the surprise sale of the 3 percent holding in one of its prized assets had been prompted by rating agency worries about the deteriorating conditions in European credit markets.
Vivendi also rejected suggestions that the sale was linked directly to the EMI deal, which was confirmed at the end of last week. It said the disposal, which cuts its holding in Activision from 63 per cent to 60 per cent, was “tactical” and had to do with improving the French company’s “overall capital structure”. The sale would bring its holding to the same level as at the start of this year, Vivendi added. However, media analysts at Bernstein Research said it was “quite natural” to connect the sale with the EMI purchase by Vivendi’s Universal Music and that the company’s desire to maintain its cherished triple-B credit rating could have encouraged it to “produce more hard cash”.
benton.org/node/105666 | Financial Times
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