December 2011

AT&T/T-MOBILE

AT&T/T-MOBILE UPDATE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
AT&T and T-Mobile asked District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle to postpone an antitrust lawsuit as the companies were assessing “whether and how” to proceed with their $39 billion mega-merger. Judge Huvelle agreed to the companies’ request and ordered AT&T to give the court an update on the proceeding on Jan 12. All parties in the case are scheduled for an update on Jan 18. She had revealed last week that she was skeptical of AT&T’s strategy. The announcement signals that the deal as originally conceived is all but dead. The two companies could still seek ways to retool the terms to address the concerns of regulators. The decision comes after Washington regulators from two agencies — the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission — sought to block the deal, saying it could lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle competition. The union would have combined the second- and fourth-largest wireless providers.
"AT&T is committed to working with Deutsche Telekom to find a solution that is in the best interests of our respective customers, shareholders and employees,” AT&T said in a statement. “We are actively considering whether and how to revise our current transaction to achieve the necessary regulatory approvals so that we can deliver the capacity enhancements and improved customer service that can only be derived from combining our two companies' wireless assets."
benton.org/node/107000 | Washington Post | WSJ | Associated Press | The Hill | GigaOm | CNNMoney
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DISH/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Alex Sherman]
Dish Network, the second largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, may partner with T-Mobile USA if AT&T’s takeover bid fails, Chief Executive Officer Joseph Clayton said. Dish, which acquired wireless spectrum earlier this year as part of deals for bankrupt DBSD North America and Terrestar Networks, could merge the spectrum assets with T-Mobile to create a strengthened competitor to AT&T and Verizon Wireless, said Clayton. T-Mobile needs additional spectrum to offer higher-speed wireless service for smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone.
benton.org/node/106999 | Bloomberg
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MORE WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

SPECTRUM AUCTION BILL
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Kim McAvoy]
Congress could adopt legislation this week that would pave the way for the FCC to conduct incentive auctions of TV spectrum and share the proceeds of those auctions with broadcasters that voluntarily give up their spectrum. The House is expected to vote this week on a major GOP jobs package called "The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011,” to which the spectrum auction proposal adopted early this month by the House Communications Subcommittee has been attached. The House spectrum measure, authored by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), has the blessing of the National Association of Broadcasters because it contains protections for stations that chose not to relinquish their spectrum. Once the House acts, the package is expected to move on to the Senate and win final approval by the end of the week. But there is still a possibility that the spectrum provisions could be dropped from the jobs package if Republicans and Democrats are unable to settle their differences over several critical issues, some of which are incidental to the auction authority.
benton.org/node/107060 | TVNewsCheck
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LIGHTSQUARED REPORT LEAK
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja on Monday called for a formal investigation into the leak of a preliminary government report to the media. In a letter to officials at the Defense and Transportation Departments, Ahuja said that figure was based on "incomplete, selective, and slanted analysis of the data of the testing." He said the testing assumed LightSquared will operate its network at power levels 32 times greater than it really will. Additionally, "certain critical information" necessary to interpret the data is not available yet, according to Ahuja. "LightSquared has suffered serious and substantial injury as a result of this leak," he wrote.
benton.org/node/106998 | Hill, The | GigaOm | nextgov
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AMAZON’S LOGIC
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Russo]
[Commentary] Like just about everybody I’ve talked to about it, I first attributed Amazon’s price-comparison app to arrogance and malevolence, but there’s also something bizarrely clumsy and wrong-footed about it. Critics may appear weak today, but they may not be tomorrow, and if the wind shifts, Amazon’s ham-fisted strategy has the potential to morph into a genuine Occupy Amazon movement. And even if the company is lucky and that doesn’t happen, what has it really gained? The fickle gratitude of people who will have about as much loyalty to Amazon tomorrow as they do today to Barnes & Noble, last year’s bully? This is good business? Is it just me, or does it feel as if the Amazon brass decided to spend the holidays in the Caribbean and left in charge of the company a computer that’s fallen head over heels in love with its own algorithms? [Russo is a novelist and screenwriter]
benton.org/node/107078 | New York Times
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GOOGLE WALLET
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Verizon Wireless has been a key supporter of Google's Android software for smartphones and other devices, but the relationship between the two companies got complicated last week. Google disclosed that, at Verizon's request, it had withdrawn an innovative feature from a hotly anticipated phone being made for Verizon's network. The feature is a wireless payment system called Google Wallet, which just so happens to compete with a service that Verizon and two other mobile network operators are developing. Verizon denied that it was blocking the application, but the mere suggestion that it might be is reason to support broader federal rules barring telecommunications companies from denying consumers access to their rivals' products and services. The Federal Communications Commission has adopted several rules to promote open networks, but they've run into tough criticism from conservatives and other opponents of federal regulation. One such regulation, adopted in 2007, requires winning bidders in the auction for a particularly valuable band of airwaves to let customers use the devices and applications of their choice. Verizon uses those frequencies now in its "4G" mobile data network. Verizon has to abide by the ban on blocking apps. But that's not very reassuring for the vast majority of consumers, who are likely to remain on 3G networks for several years. The Google Wallet episode gives the commission good reason to bar anticompetitive behavior by telecommunications companies no matter what kind of network they operate.
benton.org/node/107072 | Los Angeles Times
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CONTENT

OPEN ACT
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Eric Goldman]
[Commentary] Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) have released a draft of OPEN: Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade Act, intended as an alternative to SOPA/PROTECT-IP. Unlike SOPA's disgustingly blatant rent-seeking, which was such an over-the-top abuse of the legislative process that it did not (and could not) support a principled or even intelligent conversations about it, OPEN provides a useful starting point for a sensible conversation that could actually lead to acceptable compromises. For that reason alone, I think Congress should immediately stop all work on SOPA/PROTECT-IP and redirect that energy towards vetting this proposal. Having said that, for reasons I'll explain in a moment, I continue to believe the assumptions underlying SOPA/PROTECT-IP and OPEN are misguided, meaning that forging a compromise from OPEN’s more sensible proposal may be tricky.
benton.org/node/106997 | Ars Technica
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SOPA DEBATE
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Jeff Roberts]
Recent talk of an internet piracy plan has reached such a pitch that an outsider could be forgiven for thinking participants were discussing immigration or terrorism. In case anyone missed it, the fuss is about the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill that would deputize search engines, advertisers and other internet players as part of a campaign to shut down rogue websites. These “rogues” are foreign sites that sell unauthorized versions of US products like movies, shoes or pills. The issue isn’t that complicated. At its core, it’s about deciding the role of different industries in monitoring and enforcing intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, the debate so far has been all about hysterics and hyperbole. SOPA supporters are casting opponents as free-loading, unpatriotic criminals. Meanwhile, the bill’s detractors say that brand owners want to bring about Chinese-style censorship and the “end of the Internet.” The problem with this rhetoric is not just that it’s inaccurate but that, after a point, it’s boring. The SOPA screaming attracts partisans but few people who want to discuss a balanced approach to the piracy problem.
benton.org/node/106996 | paidContent.org
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SOPA WOULD CRIMINALIZE THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would "criminalize linking and the fundamental structure of the Internet itself" and would punish Web firms, including search engines, that link to foreign websites dedicated to online piracy. He said implementing the bill as written would effectively break the Internet. "By criminalizing links, what these bills do is they force you to take content off the Internet," Schmidt said, calling it a form of censorship. He compared the proposal to the Web censorship practiced by repressive foreign governments like China and doubled down on that comparison when speaking with reporters after his remarks at the Economic Club of Washington.
The Motion Picture Association of America accused Google's chairman of engaging in hyperbole. “Today, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt again engaged in sky is falling rhetoric in attacking important legislation that targets criminals who profit from online piracy and counterfeiting," said MPAA senior executive vice president for global policy and external affairs Michael O’Leary.
benton.org/node/107064 | Hill, The | The Hill
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APLLE AND THE E-BOOK PRICING INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Jeff Roberts]
In the mushrooming controversy over e-books, it’s easy to understand the publishers’ motives. But what about Apple? Did the company want to raise book prices in order to protect its iPad and blunt the rise of Amazon? These questions will figure prominently in two regulatory investigations and in the more than two dozen class action suits that have been filed in the US since August. The origin of the scheme, and Apple’s role in it, was described in a prescient 2010 New Yorker article by Ken Auletta. The author describes how the publishers despaired over Amazon’s pricing tactics but feared that standing up to the Seattle giant together would invite an antitrust investigation. The impending arrival of the iPad promised salvation. The tablet appeared to offer an alternate e-book platform and, better yet, it was controlled by a partner who was willing to along with the scheme to raise prices. The alleged conspiracy was afoot. The smoking gun moment, according to the lawsuits, occurred when Steve Jobs told a Wall Street Journal reporter at the iPad launch in January of 2010 that publishers might withhold their books from Amazon because they were “unhappy.” What was Jobs’ motive in going along with the scheme? Auletta suggests that Jobs saw an opportunity to help the publishers and to muscle in on the e-books market at Amazon’s expense. But the class action lawyers see a deeper strategic motive:
“Apple conspired with the Publisher Defendants ... in order to cut into Amazon’s substantial share of the markets for eBooks and to prevent Amazon from emerging as a serious competitor to its mobile platforms for the distribution, storage and access of digital media.”
benton.org/node/106994 | paidContent.org | The New Yorker
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APPLE COMPROMISE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Emily Steel, Jessica Vascellaro]
Apple is learning to compromise. Facing challenges winning over customers for its iAd mobile advertising service, Apple is softening its approach as it loses ground to Google in the fast-growing mobile-ad market. Apple is showing more willingness to bargain on the spending commitment it requires of advertisers. Having originally asked marketers to commit to spend at least $1 million—an amount later dropped to $500,000—Apple is now discussing ad deals with a minimum commitment of just $400,000, according to a person familiar with the matter. Apple has also introduced more flexibility to a pricing structure that had befuddled advertisers, ad executives say. Instead of charging marketers every time a user taps on an ad—a policy which often led to ad budgets quickly being exhausted—Apple is willing to put a cap on what it charges for the taps, according to the person. Advertisers pay $10 every time an ad is viewed a thousand times and $2 every time it is tapped on.
benton.org/node/107076 | Wall Street Journal
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ALBERT PUJOLS AND PAY TV
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Will Richmond]
[Commentary] When baseball great Albert Pujols signed a staggering 10-year, $254 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last week, he became over-the-top’s (OTT) new best friend. That’s right, everyone including Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and Amazon, plus countless online-only content producers, should have been celebrating Pujols’s new riches. Why? Because the Pujols deal is the latest example of how pay-TV seems determined to price itself out of reach for certain segments of the population, opening up a huge window for OTT to succeed.
benton.org/node/107058 | paidContent.org
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OWNERSHIP

MEDIA INCUBATOR
[SOURCE: Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, AUTHOR: Jacqueline Clary, Kenneth Mallory]
Sources say that the Federal Communications Commission is about to seek public comment on a far-reaching proposal to advance minority broadcast ownership. The “Media Incubator” proposal would give a broadcast company an opportunity in some markets to acquire one more radio station than the rules otherwise would allow if the broadcaster makes it possible for a socially and economically disadvantaged business (“SDB”) to get into broadcast ownership in the same or a larger market. The incubator proposal was first offered in 1990 by the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB). In six rulemaking dockets spanning 21 years, the FCC has sought comment on the proposal in 1992, 1995 and (in a revised form) 2007. But it has yet to muster the votes to actually adopt and implement the proposal.
benton.org/node/106990 | Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
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NETFLIX-VERIZON?
[SOURCE: Deadline New York, AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
Netflix’s shares have spiked 6.8% in midday trading — an eye-popping standout on a day when the market’s down about 2%. The reason: website DealReporter says that Verizon is considering buying Netflix to get into the video streaming business. There’s just enough going on to make this plausible: Last week, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said that his company wants to offer video streaming, and had even looked at Hulu when it was on the block. He declined to comment on reports Verizon is preparing to team up with Coinstar’s Redbox. TechCrunch said that the companies were so far along in their plans, code-named Project Zoetrope, that they had set May 28 as the date when they’d commercially roll out their video download and rental service. Coinstar has said that it would unveil its video streaming plans by year’s end.
benton.org/node/106992 | Deadline New York
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VERIZON-ACTIVEVIDEO UPDATE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
A federal judge denied Verizon Communications' request for a stay on patent-royalty payments the court ordered the telco to pay interactive TV vendor ActiveVideo Networks. Verizon spokesman Ed McFadden said the company will file a motion requesting a stay on the payments with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Last month, Judge Raymond Jackson of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a permanent injunction effective May 23, 2012, ordering Verizon to stop using two patents owned by ActiveVideo -- whose largest customer is Cablevision Systems. Until the injunction goes into effect, Verizon must pay $2.74 per month per subscriber in royalties to ActiveVideo, according to the court order. With about 4 million FiOS TV subscribers at the end of September, Verizon is on the hook for about $11 million per month, with the first payment due to ActiveVideo by Friday, Dec. 16. The telco may be forced to disable FiOS TV's VOD and interactive widgets if it is unable to develop a workaround that does not use the ActiveVideo patents by next May.
benton.org/node/107050 | Multichannel News
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CBS BUYS WLNY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sam Schechner]
CBS plans to buy a second TV station in New York, saying it plans to invest more dollars to attract viewers in the biggest U.S. media market. The broadcaster said that it has agreed to buy WLNY-TV, one of the few remaining independent commercial TV stations in the New York area. CBS already owns WCBS-TV, which is affiliated with its eponymous TV network. The parties declined to specify the terms of the deal, but a person briefed on the matter said the purchase price was well over $10 million. WLNY, a Long Island-based station that once billed itself as a movie channel, is tiny in the context of the New York. Last year, the station had $3.8 million in ad revenue, roughly 0.3% of the $1.3 billion that advertisers spent on local TV commercials in the New York area, according to BIA/Kelsey, a local-media advisory firm. WCBS, by contrast, brought in $196 million. The person familiar with the matter said that WLNY's revenue is multiple times greater than that cited by BIA. CBS said it plans to add personnel to WLNY, and expand its local newscasts. The deal still must meet regulatory approval, but federal rules allow a broadcaster to own two stations in larger markets. The sale comes as some independently owned TV stations—especially those unaffiliated with a major national network—have struggled to survive amid growing competition. Independent stations' numbers have been declining for years, as cable television has grown.
benton.org/node/107075 | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

GOOGLE’S GAMBLE
[SOURCE: Kansas City Star, AUTHOR: Scott Canon]
Let’s settle one thing up front: Google’s plan to build a far faster Internet for our homes could be, as the kids say, an epic fail. It’s easy enough to see why the global Internet company would want to juice Kansas City’s Web surfing with a little rocket fuel. The faster the Internet — even measured in fragments of a second — the more time people spend online. That means Google sells more ads. It’s less clear that Google can make a business — an entirely new business for the search giant — out of a trucks-and-trenches job that even cable and telephone companies shy from. This is a hardhat project for a software company. Google has never been a utility before. Other than an experiment begun to a few hundred homes in California, it has never done things door to door, never fielded calls from the confused guy with a 10-year-old computer or dealt with squirrels chewing through the lines to a house. Yet now Google says that it will climb power poles and snake cable through the ground, that it will please customers one at a time. It aims to get them hooked up to, and hooked on, the kind of super-speedy Internet service that no one has sold at market prices before. Google might pour $1 billion or more into a network that could deliver the fastest of Internet connections to perhaps 1 million living rooms at a price to compete with what consumers pay for far slower service. Still, no one knows for sure whether it’s a good business idea.
benton.org/node/107053 | Kansas City Star
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ICANN READY FOR BATTLE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama, Ylan Mui]
There’s been a scramble to snap up domain names for the Internet’s newest designation — .xxx — but not necessarily from those you’d expect. Adult sites have reserved their spot in the newly labeled section of the Web, but so have companies, charities, celebrities and politicians. Try “barackobama.xxx,” “angelinajolie.xxx” or “redcross.xxx” and you’ll find yourself faced with a black screen with gray type stating: “This domain has been reserved from registration.” In other words, someone’s made sure those brand names are protected from the association with porn. Companies, the rich and famous and regulators in Washington now are worried that the rush to defensively buy Web addresses will only worsen — and grow more costly — as the organization in charge of doling out real estate on the Internet prepares to unleash an infinite number of Web suffixes to add to the familiar .com, .net and .edu. Some experts say the move will change the landscape of the Internet forever. In January, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit association tasked with managing the Internet’s addresses, known as domain names, will begin taking applications from anyone with $185,000 and a desire to reserve their own suffix on the Web. The group oversaw the launch of .xxx last week. Coming after ICANN’s review process could be .god, .abortion, .sex and .georgetown, as well as thousands of others. ICANN, based in Marina del Rey (CA), says that the new suffixes will promote innovation and it will make sure the Web addresses do not fall into the wrong hands. But lawmakers and regulators want ICANN to delay its process.
benton.org/node/107073 | Washington Post
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FROM THE FCC

COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT LOUDNESS MITIGATION
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Mike Snider]
The Federal Communications Commission is expected to pass regulations requiring broadcasters and cable and satellite television systems to maintain constant volume levels. The order, which goes into effect Dec 13, 2012, "says commercials must have the same average volume as the programs they accompany," says FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. While normal listening levels average about 70 decibels for a typical TV broadcast — 60 is equivalent to a restaurant conversation; 80 to a garbage disposal — levels on a TV channel can vary by as much as 20 decibels. To comply with the new law, broadcasters can use audio processors to measure the loudness of a program over its entirety and adjust the volume of commercials accordingly, says Joe Snelson, vice president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. He said the goal is to avoid an abrupt change in volume when a show goes to commercial break. Some broadcasters and pay-TV providers already have begun implementing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM).
benton.org/node/107071 | USAToday
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FCC USF LETTER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission sent letters to state Public Utility Commissioners in its continuing get-tough policy on waste, fraud and abuse in its Lifeline program, which is the portion of the Universal Service Fund subsidy that goes to providing phone service -- wireless or wired -- to low-income households. The FCC pointed out last week in an enforcement advisory (state utility commissioners ) that it had gotten word that some providers were not confirming eligibility for the program or ensuring they were not providing duplicative service. It is investigating those claims itself, but the chairman also wants states to take a more active role in policing the program.
benton.org/node/107062 | Broadcasting&Cable | read the letter
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PRIVACY

MORE ON CARRIER IQ
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
Since an Android developer first detected a mysterious ‘spy’ app buried in his HTC phone, Carrier IQ has become the target of public outrage, a class-action lawsuit and even a Congressional inquiry. But a new study finds that the condemnation of Carrier IQ might be misplaced, if not a bit hypocritical. According to consumer survey data collected by the Yankee Group, the vast majority of mobile phone users want their operators to have access to the very information that Carrier IQ is selling them. Yankee Group research director Sheryl Kingstone concluded that Carrier IQ and its partners did a horrible job when it came to the public implementation of its diagnostic platform, but she found that there was no nefarious intent behind it. The report also states that keystroke-logging tool found rooted in the depths of Trevor Eckhart’s HTC smartphone was not Carrier IQ’s phone performance monitoring software, but rather a factory testing app that HTC failed to deactivate before shipping.
benton.org/node/106995 | GigaOm
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KIDS AND MEDIA

AGORA CYBER CHARTER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephanie Saul]
By almost every educational measure, the Agora Cyber Charter School is failing. Nearly 60 percent of its students are behind grade level in math. Nearly 50 percent trail in reading. A third do not graduate on time. And hundreds of children, from kindergartners to seniors, withdraw within months after they enroll. By Wall Street standards, though, Agora is a remarkable success that has helped enrich K12 Inc., the publicly traded company that manages the school. And the entire enterprise is paid for by taxpayers. Agora is one of the largest in a portfolio of similar public schools across the country run by K12. Eight other for-profit companies also run online public elementary and high schools, enrolling a large chunk of the more than 200,000 full-time cyberpupils in the United States. The pupils work from their homes, in some cases hundreds of miles from their teachers. There is no cafeteria, no gym and no playground. Teachers communicate with students by phone or in simulated classrooms on the Web. But while the notion of an online school evokes cutting-edge methods, much of the work is completed the old-fashioned way, with a pencil and paper while seated at a desk. Kids mean money. Agora is expecting income of $72 million this school year, accounting for more than 10 percent of the total anticipated revenues of K12, the biggest player in the online-school business. The second-largest, Connections Education, with revenues estimated at $190 million, was bought this year by the education and publishing giant Pearson for $400 million. The business taps into a formidable coalition of private groups and officials promoting nontraditional forms of public education. The growth of for-profit online schools, one of the more overtly commercial segments of the school choice movement, is rooted in the theory that corporate efficiencies combined with the Internet can revolutionize public education, offering high quality at reduced cost.
benton.org/node/107079 | New York Times
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HEALTH

PRIVACY, SECURITY, ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS
[SOURCE: HealthITBuzz, AUTHOR: Leon Rodriguez]
Health care is changing and so are the tools used to coordinate better care for patients like you and me. During your most recent visit to the doctor, you may have noticed your physician entering notes on a computer or laptop into an electronic health record (EHR). With EHRs comes the opportunity for patients to receive improved coordinated care from providers and easier access to their health information. It’s a way to make it easier for everyone to be better informed and more involved in the patient’s health care. However for many of us, EHRs also come with questions and concerns about the privacy and security of our health information. Who can access the information on my EHR? How can I see the information in my record and make sure it’s correct? How is it protected from loss, theft and hacking? What should I do if I think my information has been compromised? Many of you have heard of HIPAA– the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, which help keep entities covered under HIPAA accountable for the privacy and security of patients’ health information. As a former health care lawyer, I know that many health care providers understand and abide by their obligations under the Privacy and Security Rules. Although EHRs allow providers to use information more effectively to improve the quality and efficiency of your care, they do not change the obligations providers have to keep your protected health information private and secure.
benton.org/node/106988 | HealthITBuzz
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ELECTION AND MEDIA

WHO IS PAYING FOR POLITICAL ADS?
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Newton Minow, Henry Geller]
[Commentary] When Terry Branstad ran for the Iowa Republican gubernatorial nomination last year, roughly $370,000 worth of television commercials accused him of being a “liberal.” The commercials were labeled as sponsored by “Iowans for Responsible Government.” What Branstad did not know — and what Iowa voters did not know — was that the ads were created and paid for by the Democratic Governors Association. “Concerned Taxpayers of America” spent $450,000 on TV commercial time in two congressional races. But the ads didn’t reveal that the group was funded by one company and one person. The “Ending Spending Fund,” underwritten by one donor, sponsored more than $1 million in campaign ads. These are only a few examples of numerous television and radio ads broadcast across the nation by groups trying to hide the real sources of the thousands or millions of dollars behind them. If you think there should be a law to expose such conduct, you may be surprised to learn that there is such a law. It’s been on the books for more than 75 years. Section 317 of the 1934 Communications Act provides that viewers and listeners are entitled to know who is paying for commercials. This is true of advertising not only for commercial products, but especially in the case of elections or controversial issues. The law is consistent with Justice Louis Brandeis’s philosophy that “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” Congress provided that voters have the right to know who is paying for commercials. If voters want to know whether “Citizens for Responsible Government” is, in reality, funded by the tea party, Occupy Wall Street, a union or a corporate trade association, George Soros or the Koch Brothers, they can ask the broadcast and cable station — and if need be the Federal Communications Commission — to find out.
benton.org/node/106993 | Politico
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POLICYMAKERS

FCC NOMINEES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Conversations are said to be ongoing between the office of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen Charles Grassley over the latter's vow to block the Senate vote on confirming the Federal Communications Commission's potential new members, one of which, Jessica Rosenworcel, is Rockefeller's top communications policy advisor. Grassley's issue is that the FCC declined to provide him with internal and external documents on the waiver it issued LightSquared to launch a national wholesale wireless broadband network that will use satellite spectrum for terrestrial delivery. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski explained to Grassley that the FCC only responded to such requests from the chairs of relevant committees. Chairman Rockefeller is one of those chairs and according to a source, one of the scenarios that has been discussed included Chairman Rockefeller asking for the documents, retaining jurisdiction over them, and letting Sen Grassley have access to them. Sen Grassley is ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which also has oversight responsibility in communications areas.
benton.org/node/107063 | Broadcasting&Cable
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COMMISSIONER MICHAEL COPPS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joe Flint]
In Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps’ view, the mainstream media has for the most part put serving the public interest on the bottom of their to-do lists. Commissioner Copps, who is resigning from the FCC at the end of the month, has always been far more outspoken than the typical regulator. He was unafraid to offend the powerful companies he was charged to keep in line. Much of Copps' venom was directed at the handful of big media giants -- CBS, News Corp., Comcast, Viacom, Walt Disney and Time Warner -- that own the majority of broadcast and cable networks as well as the local television and radio stations. While there are hundreds of cable and broadcast outlets, the bulk are controlled by just a few companies. "There are a lot of different puppets, but it is the same ventriloquist in control," Commissioner Copps likes to say. Consolidation, he constantly argued, has led to a lack of diversity both in the executive suites and on the air. Minority and female ownership of television and radio stations is in "abysmal straits," he said.
benton.org/node/107052 | Los Angeles Times
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LOBBYING

CUPCAKES
[SOURCE: AT&T, AUTHOR: Bob Quinn]
AT&T is delivering to our friends and colleagues with whom we work in the communications space a token of Holiday cheer in the form of cupcakes. While we have been delivering Holiday treats around town for years, last year, however, a partial delivery list led to Cupcakegate. This friendly gesture was described as some form of a devious plot to “buy” off the Federal Communications Commission on issues of importance to AT&T. I guess the argument is that a cupcake is all it takes to buy off the integrity of an entire agency. Wait until K Street and advertising execs hear that! I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there was some pressure to stop the tradition this year because of last year’s silly criticisms. But the simple fact is that Holiday treats (cookies for years and now cupcakes) is just a way to say thank you and Happy Holidays to a lot of folks with whom we work at the FCC and in the industry 52 weeks a year.
Our team is at the FCC almost every day on regulatory matters. In addition to work we do in open proceedings, we file tariffs, respond to complaints, answer inquiries, participate on panels and at workshops, and coordinate calendars with administrative assistants. We also participate in appeals – sometimes in support of the agency, sometimes in opposition. And we go through security downstairs and are greeted by security guards on the eighth floor. In short, we regularly work with and rely on scores of FCC employees who make the agency run. And outside the agency, we are on panels in Washington and across the country with friends and opponents alike and regularly speak with our friends in the press. A cupcake is simply a small way of saying thank you for the patience, courtesy and professionalism that is shown our team throughout the year. So, despite the fact that some may still object or complain, we are going to continue our tradition.
benton.org/node/106987 | AT&T | Washington Post
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

VOA
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: John Hughes]
[Commentary] Voice of America (VOA) has become the jewel in America’s public diplomacy effort. The US government’s international broadcasting operation is estimated to reach 187 million people in 59 languages. But many Americans are unaware of it – and of proposed changes that are in prospect. These days, radio, especially shortwave, is not only facing the competition of television in countries around the world but also the challenge from the Internet and social media. Western government-supported radio services such as the British BBC have been having a hard time of it with budget cuts and staff layoffs, while countries like Russia, Iran, and China have been spending millions of dollars to expand their state-sponsored media. Little Qatar has made great audience inroads with its Al Jazeera TV operation. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, the part-time board headed by distinguished journalist Walter Isaacson that oversees US government broadcasting, believes all this demands a major shake-up and streamlining. The BBG’s strategic plan calls for “innovation and integration,” and reaching an audience of 216 million by 2016. The BBG has hired Deloitte consultants to work out the details. The major changes being planned should get the careful attention of legislators, journalists, and practitioners of public diplomacy. Retuning America’s voice may be desirable. It should be handled with care. [Hughes was director of Voice of America in the Reagan administration]
benton.org/node/107068 | Christian Science Monitor, The
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

VERIZON ALERT CONFUSION
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Porter]
Not quite the "War Of The Worlds" broadcast of a Martian invasion in New Jersey, a Verizon "emergency" alert Monday that the company texted to its wireless customers still jangled some nerves and triggered hundreds of calls from concerned residents to local and state offices. The company sent the alert to customers in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties, warning of a "civil emergency" and telling people to "take shelter now." Trouble was, the message was meant to be a test but it wasn't labeled as such, Verizon later admitted. Within about 90 minutes, the state homeland security and emergency management offices posted on Twitter that no emergency existed, but by then people had called a variety of local, county and state agencies to express their concerns.
benton.org/node/107067 | Associated Press
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

GOOGLE-MOTOROLA DELAYED IN EUROPE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: James Kanter]
European antitrust regulators have suspended their investigation into Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a maker of smartphones, until Google provides additional evidence in the case, the European Commission said. Google needed to supply “certain documents that are essential for the evaluation of the transaction,” Amelia Torres, a spokeswoman for the commission, said. “Once we have all the documents, we’ll restart the clock.” Torres declined to give any details about the nature of the documents at the center of the latest tussle between Google and European regulators. Google already is trying to fend off a separate investigation by the commission into whether the company has abused its dominant position in online search and advertising. Google filed late last month for European clearance to complete the deal with Motorola, worth $12.5 billion. With its purchase, Google would obtain a portfolio of patents that could give it an impressive defense against infringement lawsuits. But the acquisition could also aggravate antitrust concerns by further bolstering Google’s strength in the markets for mobile search and advertising.
benton.org/node/107065 | New York Times | Bloomberg
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CHINESE CYBERSPYING
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Siobhan Gorman]
US intelligence agencies have pinpointed many of the Chinese groups responsible for cyberspying in the U.S., and most are sponsored by the Chinese military, according to people who have been briefed on the investigation. Armed with this information, the U.S. has begun to lay the groundwork to confront China more directly about cyberspying. Two weeks ago, U.S. officials met with Chinese counterparts and warned China about the diplomatic consequences of economic spying, according to one person familiar with the meeting. The Chinese cyberspying campaign stems largely from a dozen groups connected to China's People's Liberation Army and a half-dozen nonmilitary groups connected to organizations like universities, said those who were briefed on the investigation. Two other groups play a significant role, though investigators haven't determined whether they are connected to the military. In many cases, the National Security Agency has determined the identities of individuals working in these groups, which is a critical development that provides the U.S. the option of confronting the Chinese government more directly about the activity or responding with a counterattack, according to former officials briefed on the effort.
benton.org/node/107074 | Wall Street Journal
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December 2011

FCC Approves CALM Act Rules

Android, Apple lead U.S. smartphone market, others play catch-up

China-Based Hacking of 760 Companies Shows Global Cyber War

Verizon upgrades network for a 100 gig world

Your Airwaves, Your Voice

Robocalls To Cellphones? States Marshal Opposition

December 13, 2011 (Is AT&T/T-Mobile Dead?)

Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools

Amazon’s Jungle Logic