November 2011

Zuckerberg: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Collect Data 'Behind Your Back'

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the Charlie Rose show with chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, and the duo touched on everything from privacy and the future of sharing to Steve Jobs and hitting one billion users. Zuckerberg downplayed the notion that Facebook is "at war" with competitors like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. But he took shots at those rivals when it comes to privacy, arguing that his social network is a lot more transparent than some Internet companies out there.

Google to Facebook: Keep underestimating us

Keeping it (mostly) civil, Bradly Horowitz, Google’s vice president for product on Google+, told Bloomberg that he’s “delighted to be underestimated” by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

He said that Google’s social network is not like Facebook or Twitter, but is looking to “transform the Google experience.” “Today [users] come back to us in a largely unidentified state,” he said. “The way that we think about Google+ is changing this mode of interaction so that we get to know our users deeply... and then reflect that back as value to them.” The Google exec was responding to comments Zuckerberg made in a Monday interview with Charlie Rose, that Google was trying to make its own “little version of Facebook.”

Transition of Universal Service from Phone to Broadband

Speaking at the Massachusetts Broadband Conference in Boston, Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn focused on the economic benefits of broadband, and how we can narrow the digital divide so more Americans can participate in attaining those benefits. She recapped the FCC’s recent decision to reform and modernize the Universal Service Fund. Commissioner Clyburn stressed that the FCC relies on state regulators identifying the areas that currently are unserved by broadband. In addition, the FCC needs the states’ help in ensuring that those providers who receive funding, meet their public interest obligations to build and serve.

Connecticut senators propose ending double tax penalty for telecommuters

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced a bill that would end the ability of any state to tax income earned by telecommuters who are not physically located in that state.

They said the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act, S. 1811, would help encourage telecommuting, which could create jobs, relieve traffic congestion and reduce the demand for gasoline. Connecticut in particular feels the sting of the double tax, given its proximity to New York and the increased use of the telecommuting alternative. Telecommute Connecticut, an advisory group that assists employers and employees, has been reported as saying that roughly 9 percent of Connecticut residents telecommute, which removes tens of thousands of cars from the roads every day.

Cyber weaknesses should deter US from waging war

America's critical computer networks are so vulnerable to attack that it should deter U.S. leaders from going to war with other nations, a former top U.S. cybersecurity official said.

Richard Clarke, a top adviser to three presidents, joined a number of U.S. military and civilian experts in offering a dire assessment of America's cybersecurity at a conference, saying the country simply can't protect its critical networks. Clarke said if he was advising the president he would warn against attacking other countries because so many of them - including China, North Korea, Iran and Russia - could retaliate by launching devastating cyberattacks that could destroy power grids, banking networks or transportation systems. The U.S. military, he said, is entirely dependent on computer systems and could end up in a future conflict in which troops trot out onto a battlefield "and nothing works."

Internet Advertisers Revise Privacy Program After FTC Concerns

An Internet-advertising industry program to enforce privacy safeguards is expanding in response to concerns from US regulators and consumer advocacy groups.

The voluntary program, announced last year by an advertising-industry coalition, calls for letting consumers block ads that are based on their Web-browsing habits. The Federal Trade Commission expressed concern that the program didn’t apply to other forms of online tracking. The changes will let consumers block other kinds of Internet-data collection, with the exception of information gathering required for companies’ “operations and system management,” said Stu Ingis, general counsel for the Digital Advertising Alliance, which administers the program. The alliance “has announced important changes to address how data can be collected and used online,” Jessica Rich, deputy director of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau, said. “We’ve been encouraging them to make these changes and believe it’s an important step for consumers and for self-regulation.”

State Collection and Distribution of 911 and Enhanced 911 Fees and Charges

The Federal Communications Commission released its third annual report regarding states that have diverted any portion of the 911 fees they collect for purposes other than 911 programs. The Report to Congress on was submitted to Congress on November 1, 2011.

The Commission submits this report annually pursuant to the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008 (NET 911 Act). The information contained in the report is based on information provided to the Commission by states and U.S. territories regarding their collection and expenditure of fees or charges to support 911 or Enhanced 911 (E911) services. This year's report identifies seven states that, in part, used some portion of 911 fees for non-911 purposes in 2010. This represents a decline in the number of states that reported diverting 911 fees for non-911 purposes in previous years: the FCC’s first annual report in 2009 identified 12 states that had diverted 911 funds, while the second annual report in 2010 identified 13 states that had diverted funds.

Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Rhode Island diverted 911 fees to their state’s general fund.

Virginia and West Virginia used the diverted fees for other public safety-related purposes. South Dakota could not provide expenditure information at this time.
In conjunction with release of this year’s report, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issued a Public Notice proposing to collect more detailed information from states and U.S. territories regarding their collection and use of 911 fees, including whether such fees are or can be used to support Next Generation 911 (NG911) initiatives. The Public Notice also seeks comment on whether the FCC should recommend potential legislative changes to Congress that would provide greater accountability in the collection and expenditure of 911 funds.

Red Brands and Blue Brands 2011

TV networks such as Fox News and the History Channel are the most popular brands among Republicans, while tech players including Google and Amazon hold the highest esteem among Democrats. And independents like TV and technology both. Fox News was Republicans' favorite brand again this year, according to the new annual report on brands and consumers' political affiliation from YouGov BrandIndex, and Google repeated as Democrats' favorite. The History Channel was the top-rated brand among independents. Five brands appear on all three groups' top 10 charts: the Discovery Channel, Johnson & Johnson, Cheerios, the History Channel and Clorox. In one unifying trend, Republicans, Democrats and independents all rates their top 10 brands somewhat lower this year than last year, with sharper drops among Republicans and independents than among Democrats. Fox News received a score of 68 from Republicans this time around, for example, down from 71.4 last year.

AT&T launches VoIP app for international calls

AT&T is launching a new mobile app that allows its smartphone customers to make international calls via VoIP. The new AT&T Call International will allow customers to make calls overseas at cheap rates like 4 cents per minute to China, Germany, France and the UK and 9 cents per minute to India. The app was developed with communications and VoIP provider 8×8 and will work on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry devices, although many Android and BlackBerry models are not supported.

Republic Wireless: Everything you need to know

Republic Wireless, the division of Bandwidth.com that offers customers an Android phone with unlimited voice, data and text for $19 a month, launches Nov 8.

It’s a revolutionary price point in the industry but it’s also an attempt to make Wi-Fi calling easier and more user-friendly. If it works it could change the wireless game in ways that other mobile broadband upstarts have tried and failed to do. By default all calls, data and texts are sent via Wi-Fi networks when possible, and switch only to cellular if no Wi-Fi access is available. That’s one reason for the low price on the service, as most people can access an existing Wi-Fi network in their home or office for free. Brian Dally, the general manager of Republic says he expects at least 60 percent of the traffic to go over Wi-Fi networks.

Benton

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