November 2011

Health on FCC’s November Agenda

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the following items will be on the tentative agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for Wednesday, November 30, 2011:

Additional Spectrum for Medical Radiocommunication Devices: The Commission will consider a Report and Order that allocates spectrum in the 413-457 MHz band and adopts service and technical rules to allow the use of new types of implanted medical devices that use functional electric stimulation to, among other things, restore sensation, mobility, and function to paralyzed limbs and organs.
Presentation on Commission Efforts to Address Barriers to Broadband Adoption: Commission staff will provide a presentation on the Commission’s recent broadband adoption efforts, including a first-of-its-kind national effort to address the barriers to broadband adoption, digital literacy and the employment skills gap.

Warner Bros: we issued takedowns for files we never saw, didn't own copyright to

In a court filing, Warner Brothers admitted that it has issued takedown notices for files without looking at them first. The studio also acknowledged that it issued takedown notices for a number of URLs that its adversary, the locker site Hotfile, says were obviously not Warner Brothers' content.

Hotfile has been locked in a legal battle with Hollywood studios since February; the studios accuse the site of facilitating copyright infringement on a massive scale. Hotfile counters that it is immune from liability for the infringements of its users because it complies with the notice-and-takedown procedures established by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. But Hotfile has also tried to turn the tables by arguing that one of the studios, Warner Brothers, has itself violated the DMCA by issuing bogus takedown requests.

No End In Sight To Escalating Sports Rights: Financial Analysts

In this economic ecosystem, competition means higher prices. That's the world of sports rights, which financial analysts -- David Bank, managing director, Globe Media and Internet Research, David Joyce, media industry analyst, Miller Tabak and Craig Moffett, senior vice president and senior Analyst, US Telecommunications, Cable and Satellite Broadcasting, Sanford Bernstein -- expatiated upon during a panel at the Sports Business Journal-Sports Business Daily's Sports Media & Technology 2011 conference.

During "A View from Wall Street, The State of Media Rights," the trio discussed some of the dynamics surrounding how the nation's economic doldrums are compromising consumers' ability to pay their bills, including their monthly video fees, yet the price for the games/sports some love to watch continues to spiral upward. To that end, one of the key takeaways emanated from what Bank called deltas between the national economy, the advertising economy and TV economy. "National television is still the healthiest part of the advertising economy, and sports is even more healthy. You don't get fired for buying that," said Bank, who pointed to broadcasters gaining retransmission-consent and reverse affiliation revenue as other streams helping to secure sports rights. Moffett, however, believes the upticks can't be sustained for much longer.

Sen Wyden: I’ll fight PROTECT IP at ‘every step’

Can one senator stop the speeding locomotive of the PROTECT IP Act, a controversial online copyright bill backed by Hollywood, the Chamber of Commerce, pharmaceutical makers and a bipartisan group of 40 senators? Sen. Ron Wyden hopes so.

The Oregon Democrat is threatening to filibuster the PROTECT IP Act if it reaches the Senate floor unchanged by the end of the year. “I’ve already announced a public hold, put it in the Congressional Record and — in its current form — I will fight this every step of the way,” Sen Wyden said. He hopes that a long, drawn-out battle will dampen its chances of getting floor time as the number of working days on the congressional calendar dwindles. The PROTECT IP Act is aimed at shuttering foreign websites that peddle pirated movies, knockoff Louis Vuitton handbags and fake Viagra. It’s got some major backers touting the need to protect American content and goods from online piracy. It also has some detractors — such as Internet companies that would be on the hook for enforcing parts of the law.

Grover Norquist obstacle to online tax bill?

Does supporting a federal online sales tax bill violate the no new taxes pledge? That’s a question Congress will wrestle with as it considers giving states the authority to compel online retailers to collect sales tax. And possibly waiting to pounce will be Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, whose no-tax pledge has long inspired fear in Republican lawmakers mulling over a vote for anything resembling a tax.

After years of little action on the issue, Congress is now considering several bills. Retail groups have recently lobbied the deficit-reduction supercommittee to include federal legislation on online sales tax as a giveback to states, which are likely to see a reduction in federal money. Proponents of a federal solution say there is no new tax involved. Federal legislation, they say, would simply mean online retailers and other remote sellers would collect sales tax already owed — and only if a state wants to compel them to do so. Norquist’s group won’t say definitively whether it will consider a vote for the measure as a violation of the group’s pledge, which focuses on the federal income tax. But a spokesman for the group hinted that it would not look kindly on supporters — a potentially nettlesome problem as they try to secure GOP backing.

Sunlight Foundation follows lobbyist tweets

The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation is launching a tool designed to track the personal Twitter activity of Washington’s influence class. Initially, 235 lobbyists appear on the Sunlight Foundation’s list, which its posting on its Twitter handle, @SunFoundation.

While these lobbyist Twitter accounts have always been public, the new list makes it easier for the public to monitor all the accounts at once, the Sunlight Foundation’s Gabriela Schneider said. “This is a way for Americans and people online to see how certain lobbyists are wielding their influence,” Schneider said. “This gives you a window on how Washington works, in real time.” The group is planning to highlight several lobbyists in particular, such as Gregg Hartley, vice chairman and chief operating officer at Cassidy & Associates — an active Twitter user (@gregglhartley) who has this year tweeted about his meetings with various congressmen and pushing for poker legalization. Other lobbyists will be featured for their more personal and overtly political tweets, such as one who calls President Barack Obama a “liar” and another who enjoys quoting old-school rap lyrics.

Some Artifacts Are Gone, but Not Pride in a War Correspondent Who Mattered

No one comes by accident to Dana, a dot of a place that takes up less than half a square mile of Indiana’s cornfield sprawl. It has a bank, a tavern, a beauty parlor, a post office, an empty lot where the last grocery burned down, and 500 residents, maybe. Those who find themselves here have cause. The usual reason anyone not from Dana comes to Dana is to visit the Ernie Pyle museum. But if you have no memories of World War II, you may not recognize the Pyle name, which is a problem for Dana and too bad for you. Ernie Pyle, once a peerless war correspondent — the bard of the grunt — deserves your notice.

Two years ago, the state of Indiana cut the Ernie Pyle site loose from the government fold to save a little money; the attendance was too low and the site too remote, it said. But even before announcing its decision, the state very quietly relieved Dana of Pyle’s typewriter, passport and other choice artifacts, without so much as a courtesy call to the local group dedicated to honoring a neighborhood boy who made good. That local group, the Friends of Ernie Pyle, is now counting on donations and gift shop revenue to operate the site, which still has a lot to offer. If you’re lucky, one of Ernie’s friends — a farmer named Phil, maybe, or a beautician named Cynthia — will tell you the story of a native son once so beloved that Hollywood made a movie about him, as well as the hard-luck follow-up of the hometown museum that bears his name.

Senate Debates Network Neutrality

A Republican-led challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's controversial open Internet rules is little more than an extension of a tea party effort to "take government down," Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) sponsored the resolution under the Congressional Review Act that would prevent the regulations from being implemented. She says her resolution has gathered 42 cosponsors. Sen Hutchison and other critics of the rules contend they are an abusive overreach by the FCC that imposes unnecessary restrictions on the traditionally free nature of cyberspace. By imposing such standards, the FCC risks undermining innovation, delaying new products, and putting U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage, Sen Hutchison said. Sen Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) circulated a "dear colleague" letter, urging senators to vote for Hutchison's resolution. She said while she supports an open Internet, the FCC's rules aren't the way to do it. If any such regulations are needed, Sen Snowe argued, they should be enacted by Congress.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) called the rules “a regulatory nightmare.” "I am beginning to believe the FCC stands for the Fabricating a Crisis Commission because they are trying to create undue regulations for a problem that doesn't exist," said Sen DeMint. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) punctuated several hours of Senate floor debate by forcefully dismissing arguments that overturning the FCC’s rules would jeopardize the freedom of the Internet. Sen Rubio went through a litany of innovations and achievements of the technology industry in recent years, including the expansion of broadband, tablet computers, mobile devices and the creation of jobs despite the recession, noting all took place before the FCC’s Open Internet Order.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) repeated his previous assertion that net neutrality is “the free speech issue of our time” and called the resolution a distraction from creating jobs. Sen Franken said opponents of net neutrality are driven by misinformation and noted that no major telecom firms have publicly backed the attempt to overturn the rules.
Network neutrality advocate Free Press noted the efforts of Sens. Maria Cantwell, Al Franken, John Kerry, Jay Rockefeller, Mark Udall and Ron Wyden: “We applaud the senators who stood up for the American people and opposed this dangerous resolution, which would eliminate the basic protections the FCC put in place to prevent Internet service providers from becoming the ultimate gatekeepers to the Web…. Regulating the few powerful corporations that control Internet access is not the same thing as regulating the content and applications that flow over this network. The only reason we’re having this debate today is because the Bush-era FCC made the wrong decision regarding its own authority over Internet-access services.”

FCC Announces Major Expansion of Connect to Compete

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski applauded executives and nonprofit leaders from leading Internet service providers, technology companies and nonprofits for their unprecedented multi-billion dollar in-kind commitments to empower millions of families with broadband Internet, PCs, and digital literacy training, with zero cost to tax payers.

Participating National Cable & Telecommunications Association member cable companies will offer all eligible families two-years of $9.95 + tax broadband cable Internet, with a no installation/activation fee option and no modem rental fees (with an option to purchase a $10 modem).

Eligible families must (1) have at least one student enrolled in the Free School Lunch Program; (2) not be a current subscriber to broadband (or have subscribed in the last 90 days); and (3) not have an overdue bill or unreturned equipment to the participating service provider.
Participating companies include: Bend Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast (via Internet Essentials), Cox Communications, Eagle Communications, GCI, Insight, Mediacom, Midcontinent, Sjoberg’s Cable, Suddenlink, Time Warner Cable.

Redemtech, a technology refurbishment company, has committed to offer a refurbished $150 + tax powerful laptop, or desktop with LCD monitor, to all eligible school lunch families, shipped to the home.

Microsoft, starting early next year, will work with its hardware partners to introduce a series of affordable, high-quality education computers, starting at $250, that include Windows and Office. Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to digital inclusion worldwide means they view access to broadband and a computer as a right for all, not a privilege for some.

Morgan Stanley has committed to contributing its significant microfinance expertise to assist Connect to Compete in its development of a microcredit program to help families afford the upfront cost of a PC. This program will also aim to provide financial literacy training and help families build credit history through successful loan repayment. These microloans will be provided by community-based financial institutions.

Altman Vilandrie & Company (AV&Co.), a strategy consulting firm, is contributing its industry expertise and analytic consulting capabilities to the Connect to Compete initiative. They will help integrate the generous public and private sponsor contributions into a sustainable program through the development of a business and operating plan.
The Appalachian Regional Commission, a federal partnership of the 13 Appalachian states, works to bring Appalachia into economic parity with the rest of the nation by creating sustainable economic opportunities and improved quality of life. ARC enthusiastically supports the Connect to Compete Initiative and will help assist in the planning and implementation activities within Appalachia.

Delta Regional Authority, a federal-state partnership that works for sustained community and economic development in the Delta region, will support Connect to Compete with a planning and development grant. DRA will also be integral to the planning and implementation phrases of the project in its region.

It Was Only a Test, but What a Test

At 2 p.m. Eastern time on Nov 9, all television channels and radio stations in the United States were supposed to be interrupted by a brief test of the nation’s Emergency Alert System. But, like most tests, some passed and some failed.

Beginning at 2:01 p.m., viewers and listeners in many states said they saw and heard the alerts at the scheduled time, but others said they did not. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancies, but that was one of the purposes of the test — to find out how well the system would work in an actual emergency. Certainly, viewers and listeners have grown accustomed to hearing the tones and reminders — “this is just a test” — when the systems are activated locally each week by broadcasters. But government officials said the national system had never been tested before as a whole, nor had it been used in an emergency, allowing the President to address the public. Many of the reported failures affected cable and satellite television subscribers, and some were quite puzzling. Some DirecTV subscribers said their TV sets played the Lady Gaga song “Paparazzi” when the test was under way. Some Time Warner Cable subscribers in New York said the test never appeared on screen. Some Comcast subscribers in northern Virginia said their TV sets were switched over to QVC before the alert was shown. Many other viewers and listeners reported that the alert arrived right on time at 2 p.m. Eastern. It halted digital video recorder playback in some households and surprised radio listeners in their cars.

In a statement around 2:40 p.m., the agencies said they were collecting data about the results of the test. “This initial test was the first time we have tested the reach and scope of this technology and additional improvements that should be made to the system as we move forward,” the statement read. “Only through comprehensively testing, analyzing and improving these technologies can we ensure an effective and reliable national emergency alert and warning system.” The agencies said they looked forward to working with media companies to “improve this current technology and build a robust, resilient and fully accessible next generation alerting system that can provide timely and accurate alerts to the American people.”

Benton

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