December 2011

Lawmakers worry about terrorists on Twitter

Lawmakers on the House Homeland Security subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence probed the threat of terrorists using social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to attract followers at a hearing. They noted that Anwar al Awlaki, known as the "Bin Laden of the Internet," recruited radicals online. The lawmakers pointed to "Jihad Jane," who allegedly plotted to kill a Swedish cartoonist after viewing and commenting on radical YouTube videos. Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser at the RAND Corporation, told the subcommittee that al-Qaida sees the Web as a critical tool for advancing its agenda.

Government Files Reply Brief in Indecency Challenge

The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice defended the FCC's indecency enforcement policy and branded the broadcaster and creative community challenge to its enforcement regime as an "audacious attempt" to overturn Congress' judgment that kids should be protected from indecent material "on the public airwaves." That came in a reply brief from the Solicitor General to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Obama Administration and the FCC asking the court to reverse lower court decisions smacking down the FCC's indecency enforcement policy. The Solicitor General's office customarily handles Supreme Court appeals of agency decisions. The government says that if the court overturned the FCC's indecency enforcement authority, anything on cable or the Internet could show up on broadcasting in the middle of the day, and would give an absence of indecency regulation.

Verizon to take on Netflix with Web service

Verizon Communications plans to launch a standalone service allowing customers to stream movies and television shows over the Web, in a fresh challenge to Netflix and the traditional cable TV business, according to several people briefed on the plan.

The phone company is talking with prospective programming partners about the service, which would be introduced outside of markets where it currently offers its broadband and TV package, known as FiOS, these people said. That would make it available to some 85 million U.S. households. The new service could be rolled out in 2012. The package of programming would be limited in its scope, said two people with knowledge of the plans. Another person said the focus would be packages of movies similar to Liberty Media's Starz Play and Viacom's Epix or could involve children's programming from a partner such as Walt Disney Co or Viacom.

Loud Commercials, Satellites on FCC’s Dec Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Tuesday, December 13, 2011. The FCC will consider:

a Report and Order that protects consumers by implementing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act to prevent digital television commercial advertisements from being transmitted at louder volumes than the program material they accompany. (MB Docket No. 11-93)
the Third Report to the U.S. Congress on the status of competition in domestic and international satellite communications services as required by Section 703 of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962, as amended. The Report covers calendar years 2008, 2009 and 2010. (IB Docket No. 10-99)

One Nation Media Project responds to the growing diversity of public media audiences in the Los Angeles region

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has awarded a $1.8 million grant to Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) to launch the One Nation Media Project, a journalism initiative that enhances public broadcasting’s service to multi-ethnic communities in greater Los Angeles.

CPB’s investment will help SCPR expand its locally produced, mid-day programming, including the development of a new two-hour news magazine program that will provide a significant forum to discuss topics of importance and interest within southern California’s diverse communities. Additionally, the grant will enable SCPR to launch three distinct online channels, each hosted by a dedicated digital journalist. The channels will generate in-depth digital news coverage focused on key areas of interest: emerging communities, public education, and criminal justice. Reporting from the One Nation Media Project will be integrated into SCPR’s news broadcasts and made available online and through mobile platforms. The initiative will also include live events – town halls, panel discussions and listening parties – that will bring together the city’s distinct and vibrant cultures to explore and debate issues that have a direct impact on quality of life in the region. The first of these events, “All in the Familia: L.A. Latino Business in the 21st Century,” will be held this evening and will focus on how Latino “mom and pop” business are changing as educated and savvy latter generations are joining their parents to innovate and expand little shops into larger-scale enterprises.

Chairman Leahy Calls On Critics To Offer Legislation Instead Of 'Talking Points'

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) urged critics of his bill targeting foreign websites that offer pirated content or counterfeit products to propose legislative language on alternative ways to address the problem.

"I'd love to see some legislation and not just some talking points," Chairman Leahy said when asked about a draft proposal released last week by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who oppose his bill. The Protect IP Act, which Leahy authored, was approved by the Judiciary Committee in May but has been blocked from moving to the Senate floor by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Sen Wyden and other critics, including tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, argue that Leahy's bill and a similar measure introduced in the House known as the Stop Online Piracy Act would stifle innovation and free speech and could undermine the integrity of the Internet's domain name system.

Occupy the Mainstream Media: Why the Movement's Next Target Should Be the Press

[Commentary] Skepticism of the mainstream press is richly deserved, a healthy sign that we have begun thinking for ourselves, though not without risk.

The risk is that we will fall still further into a paralyzing cynicism in which it will become increasingly difficult to work together as a society toward shared goals -- witness the current gridlock in the House and Senate on virtually every major crisis which confronts America. The upside, on the other hand, is that lies are getting exposed and alternate views are rapidly gaining currency in an atmosphere of unprecedented access to information. The meteoric rise of the Occupy Movement testifies that millions of people have begun thinking outside of the box about the fundamental nature of our society and economic system. They are challenging the received wisdom that the tide of free market capitalism lifts all boats. They are also awakening to the intimate interconnections between the unrestrained greed that led to the banking and loan crises and housing bubbles and the greed which is destroying the ecosystem, undermining our economy and fueling the seemingly permanent U.S. wars in the Middle East. And it isn't just the received message that people are becoming dubious of -- they are also questioning the messenger. OWS is about financial malfeasance and income inequity, to be sure, but it is also about the lack of equity in the marketplace of ideas. It is about taking back our voices from the media-cracy that has silenced and marginalized the 99 percent.

New cyber info-sharing measure gets nod from privacy proponents

A House Homeland Security Committee draft bill that would create a nonprofit entity to share information on cyber threats has gained favor with some privacy advocates who are concerned that a competing bill already passed by the House Intelligence Committee will feed personal information to the government.

The proposed National Information Sharing Organization, or NISO, would be guided by a board of directors composed of two privacy advocates and 10 representatives from critical infrastructure sectors, including the banking, communications, defense contracting, energy and health care industries. Only four federal officials would sit on the board. Most expenses, at least 85 percent, would be paid by member companies. The board would set rules for privacy protections, handling of intellectual property and limitations on liability. And the bill would legitimize the Homeland Security Department as the lead government agency for coordinating with the private sector on reinforcing critical infrastructure networks rather than the Defense Department or intelligence agencies. For these reasons, the Center for Democracy and Technology, a civil liberties group, says the information sharing stipulations in the draft are superior to those in H.R. 3523, which, CDT says, would allow Internet service providers to share private communications with the government.

Seeking Your Input on the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan

On September 20, 2011, on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly, the President announced the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan. The Plan was developed through a process that involved extensive consultations with external stakeholders, including a broad range of civil society groups and members of the private sector, to gather ideas on open government. As we continue our work to implement the National Action Plan, we want your help. Specifically, we’d like your input and recommendations on how to improve and help facilitate public participation – your participation – in government. We are now requesting your assistance with one of the initiatives in the U.S. National Action Plan designed to promote public participation:

Develop Best Practices and Metrics for Public Participation. We will identify best practices for public participation in government and suggest metrics that will allow agencies to assess progress toward the goal of becoming more participatory. This effort will highlight those agencies that have incorporated the most useful and robust forms of public participation in order to encourage other agencies to learn from their examples.”

Given the focus of this initiative, we thought it would be most appropriate to invite you to provide input and ideas on best practices and metrics for public participation. Please send your thoughts to us at opengov@ostp.gov or use the web form provided, by January 3, 2012. We will consider your ideas and input as we continue to implement the U.S. National Action Plan and develop this best practices guidance on public participation.

How The "Internet Of Things" Is Turning Cities Into Living Organisms

When city services can autonomously go online and digest information from the cloud, they can reach a level of performance never before seen. First up, water systems that automatically know when it will rain and react accordingly.

Benton

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