December 2011

Administration Must Commit to True Universal Service

[Commentary] Kudos to Susan P. Crawford for recognizing the significance of regulatory policy in closing the digital divide.

Ms. Crawford points out that all Americans need the advantages brought about through high-speed wired networks that are often expensive to deploy. Local, community-based rural telecommunications companies are part of the solution. These companies are committed to serving the underserved and the unserved, but can do so only with regulatory certainty and sufficient support. It is essential for the Obama administration to show a greater commitment to true universal service. That will encourage small, rural providers to invest in high-speed broadband networks and help ensure a brighter future for those most in need of affordable, high-quality broadband service.

[Bloomfield is National Telecommunications Cooperative Association]

Dear Carrier IQ: If you want to track me, you need to ask me first

[Commentary] If you’re online in any way, someone somewhere is probably tracking what you’re doing right now. Snipping pieces of data. Logging your travels. You shouldn’t be startled by this because this has been going on for a long time.

Now, however — in the age of the do-anything-anywhere-device — it’s becoming increasingly important to know just how, why, where, and when you’re being watched. To know what’s being collected, who is collecting it, and who can view that collection. The real problem is the fact that it’s been kept secret. Carrier IQ has partnerships with carriers or device makers, so you never give your consent to this third-party service to allow tracking. Instead, your carrier or phone maker simply covers this data collection in one of its big, confusing privacy disclosure documents you get when you buy into the service or hardware. Secondly, and more importantly, you don’t have any oversight in regard to who can see the data. The way I see it, that’s the real question we have to begin asking about the data that’s collected. It’s not about who grabs it, or where it lives. It’s simply about access.

Verizon ends satellite deal, FiOS expansion as it partners with cable

Verizon Chief Executive Lowell McAdam said the telecom giant plans to end its wireless LTE partnership with satellite provider DirectTV and will stop its buildout of FiOS television and Internet services in the next couple years.

The moves come as Verizon Wireless forges a new partnership with cable giants to cross-market phone, video, Internet and cellular services. The comments, made at a UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, signal massive shifts in the industry that have raised concerns with antitrust regulators, according to a person familiar with the thinking of government officials. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said the end of its partnership with DirectTV for a trial LTE service is “the first direct fall-out from Verizon’s ground-breaking deal” with cable companies. And even though McAdam insisted that Verizon will rigorously promote its FiOS video and Internet service in areas that compete with cable, the company said it doesn’t have plans to expand the expensive fiber network beyond what’s already been announced and scheduled for buildout over the next couple years.

Democrats slam GOP anti-network neutrality provision

Reps. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) slammed Republicans for including a controversial anti-network neutrality provision in a popular spectrum bill.

"That shouldn't be in the bill," Rep Eshoo said. "It's ludicrous." Rep Markey called the provision "very problematic." Although Democrats support the broad outline of the spectrum legislation, they are adamantly opposed to an amendment from Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that would restrict the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ability to impose network neutrality conditions on wireless companies that purchase spectrum leases at auction. The FCC adopted network neutrality rules last year that prohibit Internet providers from slowing down or blocking access to legitimate websites. Democrats say the rules protect consumers and promote competition, but Republicans say they are an unnecessary burden on businesses and amount to government control of the Internet. At a markup last week, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) called the amendment "poison," and warned it could sink the whole spectrum bill.

Lawmakers question Facebook on privacy

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg asking for details on the site’s privacy practices following its recent settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The social networking giant recently settled a complaint from the FTC by agreeing to implement a comprehensive privacy program including outside audits every two years for the next two decades. Facebook has also agreed not to misrepresent its privacy practices or face fines for each future violation. “With great opportunity comes great responsibility, and with more than 800 million active users and an untold number of nonusers visiting Facebook or partnering websites every day, your company has the opportunity to collect vast amounts of data about an enormous number of people,” wrote Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) Diana DeGette (D-CO), Joe Barton (R-TX) and Edward Markey (D-MA).

Google says does not work with, support Carrier IQ

Google does not work with nor does it support Carrier IQ, the software maker which has been accused of violating millions of mobile phone users' privacy rights, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said. Schmidt said: "Android is an open platform, so it's possible for people to build software that's actually not very good for you, and this appears to be one." "It's a key-logger, and it actually does keep your keystrokes, and we certainly don't work with them and we certainly don't support it," he said.

Reading is alive and increasingly electronic

Times may be tough for neighborhood bookstores, but people are reading more than ever and e-books are nurturing bookworms who hunger for everything from blockbuster biographies to literary fiction. "It's really been all good news this year. Reading is becoming more popular in general," said Chris Schluep, senior books editor at Amazon, the biggest online bookseller in the United States. "It's so easy to buy a book now," said Schluep. "We're seeing reading grow across the population."

Apple’s Claim of Android Rip-Off Awaits Trade Agency Ruling

For two years, Apple has told the world that phones running on Google’s Android operating system are iPhone rip-offs. Now Apple is about to learn whether a U.S. trade agency thinks its claims have merit.

The International Trade Commission is set to rule Dec. 14 in a patent complaint lodged by Apple against rival smartphone maker HTC Corp. The decision, postponed from the original date of tomorrow, would mark the first final verdict from any judicial entity in Apple’s global patent war against HTC and fellow Android-phone makers Samsung Electronics Co. and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. A ruling for Apple may lead to a ban on U.S. imports of HTC devices, derailing the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company’s trajectory from a small contract manufacturer founded in 1997 to the biggest U.S. smartphone seller in the third quarter. A victory for HTC may help it secure favorable terms in any settlement with Apple.

FCC Seeks Input on Reform Plan

On November 7, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission released a Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules (“Preliminary Plan”). The Preliminary Plan describes the Commission’s ongoing process of identifying outmoded or counterproductive rules and provides an overview of recent and current proceedings that include retrospective analysis. The Commission seeks comment generally on the Preliminary Plan and also seeks specific recommendations as outlined below.

The Commission is committed to being a responsive, efficient and effective agency that harnesses and promotes the technological and economic opportunities of the new millennium. As part of the Commission’s goal to be a model of excellence in government, the agency has, since 2009, undertaken far-reaching initiatives designed to achieve its statutory objectives while removing burdens on industry and promoting innovation and job growth.

In furtherance of these objectives, the Commission seeks comment on the following questions:
1) What additional steps should the Commission take to identify rules that should be changed, streamlined, consolidated, or removed?
2) How can the Commission further reduce burdens on industry and consumers while fostering competition, diversity and innovation?
3) Are there Commission rules or reporting requirements that are duplicative or that have conflicting requirements among its bureaus and offices or with other agencies?
4) Are there Commission rules or reporting requirements that could be modified to better accomplish their regulatory objectives?

In addition, commenters are encouraged to submit other suggestions that may help the Commission develop better regulations and processes. Commenters are asked to specifically identify the rules or reporting requirements they are addressing, and to provide specific suggestions for ways the Commission should modify such rules or reporting requirements, including alternative language where possible.

Comments Due: February 8, 2012
Reply Comments Due: February 22, 2012

Powell: Distinctions Disappearing Between Cable, Web

National Cable & Telecommunications Association president and former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell says the association has been "very engaged" in the privacy bills currently making the rounds on Capitol Hill, driven by the fact that, over time, there will be fewer distinctions between what cable does and what the Web does.

To that point, he says he agrees that in a technical sense cable companies are now broadband providers, but that he thinks video is still a compelling service that operators will be in for a long time to come. Powell said examples of the cross-polinization of cable and Web were the use of metadata and providing more tailored advertising. "These are things that cable industries will want to do as well, so we're very focused on making sure we're not left out of that equation." He said the Telecom Act of 1996 could use a rewrite and is "fading" in its relevance. He reiterated his long-standing criticism of the FCC regulating in "balkanized buckets," said it leads to jurisdictional disputes and litigation. He said it contains heavy inefficiencies and will likely "die of its own weight." He says that, at some point, Congress has to migrate us out of there" and to a "bit is a bit" world.

Benton

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