January 25, 2012 (President Cites 'Incomplete' Broadband Buildout)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012
Coming up this week -- MMTC Broadband & Social Justice Summit http://benton.org/calendar/2012-01-22--P1W/
ON THE AGENDA
FCC’s Jan 31 Meeting Agenda Released – Tees-Up Lifeline Reform - press release
Tech industry hopes for more certainty in 2012
A Quirky Set of Technology Predictions for 2012 [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
President Cites 'Incomplete' Broadband Buildout
The National Broadband Map Goes Mobile - press release
Google looks to speed up the Internet [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
A bird’s-eye view of T-Mobile’s new spectrum trove
AT&T blasts Sprint for using roaming rules to support 'massive disinvestment' in its own network
Verizon reports $2B Q4 loss; blames pension costs, iPhone subsidy
Verizon charging 4G prices but selling a lot of 3G phones
What Does The Perfect Mobile Interface Look Like? - analysis [links to web]
Amazon Fire Tablet Leaves Google Apps Behind [links to web]
San Francisco Approves Dedicated LTE Network for First Responders [links to web]
How To Avoid 'Bill Shock' From Smartphone Use [links to web]
PRIVACY
Big Week in Washington for Online Privacy Issues
Companies Face Fines as Much as 2% of Sales Under EU Privacy Law
Facebook’s Sandberg Gently Warns Europe About Privacy Rules
Google has long had ability to track you across its services
Sen. Leahy urges Congress to pass national data breach legislation [links to web]
Google Updating Privacy Policies and Terms of Service - press release
GPS Tracking Case Could Have Wide-Ranging Fallout - analysis [links to web]
CONTNET
What The SOTU “Piracy” Reference Means: Back In The USTR With Special 301 and The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. - analysis
Anti-piracy an election year 'hot potato'
The PIPA Aftermath — Will Senate Democrats Drive Off A Cliff For Hollywood? [links to web]
Megaupload's Ripple Effect
Young People Track Web Protests Over Online Piracy Bills - research
The 3-D Printing Pirates Who Could Render SOPA Meaningless
MPAA's Chris Dodd Calls Piracy Defeat a 'Watershed Event'
Google's push for Google+ risks user ire -- and worse
Should Google take the crazy out of the Internet?
Well, Here’s How Amazon Publishing Will Get Its Books Into Barnes & Noble [links to web]
Bono Mack says DOJ memo has muddied waters for online gambling [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Got a State of the Union address query for Obama? Ask Quora
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Why we endorse - editorial
OWNERSHIP
FTC Announces Revised Thresholds for Clayton Act Antitrust Reviews - press release
Apple Profit More Than Doubles on IPhone Demand
GOP Response: Apple Created More Jobs Than Government Stimulus
Young Internet entrepreneurs embrace philanthropy [links to web]
TELEVISION/RADIO
Nielsen: Web Sites Can Increase Local TV Reach [links to web]
FCC Fines Clear Channel For Online Contest [links to web]
LOBBYING
Can't Buy Me Laws: Congress Must Give Back Chris Dodd's Dirty Money - op-ed
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Samsung wins against Apple in the Netherlands on tablet design [links to web]
ON THE AGENDA
LIFELINE REFORM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission confirmed just the one item on the Jan 31 Open Meeting agenda. The FCC will consider a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to comprehensively reform the Lifeline program to ensure universal availability of communications services to low-income Americans while minimizing the universal service contribution burden, including by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse; strengthening program oversight and administration; and modernizing Lifeline to support broadband adoption.
benton.org/node/111489 | Federal Communications Commission
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TECH INDUSTY
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
A year after President Obama called for the United States to "out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build" the rest of the world in his 2011 State of the Union speech, the tech industry sees more to be done to get the economy back on track. On the top of many companies' lists are issues like research and development tax credits, competitive tax reform, cloud computing, cybersecurity, spectrum, privacy, and intellectual property and copyright protection.
In his 2011 speech to Congress, President Obama pointed to technology as key to reinvigorating American innovation. "In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It is how we make our living," President Obama said, citing Google and Facebook by name.
A year later, many tech industry leaders are bracing for continued ups and downs in the economy. "The two steps forward, one step backward pattern experienced during much of 2011 has conditioned many businesses to expect a dose of bad news with any good news," said Tim Herbert, vice president of the IT trade group CompTIA. "Among IT firms, concerns about weak consumer and corporate demand; downward pressure on margins; access to capital; and government regulation continue to weigh on business confidence." CompTIA released its IT Industry Outlook 2012, which expressed "tempered optimism" about the coming year.
benton.org/node/111484 | National Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
BROADBAND AND THE SOTU
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In his State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama said one of the nation's construction challenges was an "incomplete high-speed broadband network" that prevented some small businesses from reaching world markets. That was one of only a couple of media references in the speech. The other appeared to be a shout-out for combating online piracy via a new unfair trade practices unit. "It's not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated," he said. "Tonight, I'm announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trading practices in countries like China. There will be more inspections to prevent counterfeit or unsafe goods from crossing our borders."
benton.org/node/111528 | Broadcasting&Cable | Read the address | The Hill
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MOBILE BROADBAND MAP
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Eric Spry]
A new feature of the National Broadband Map that will make it easier to use on your mobile device. This new feature allows anyone on the go to more easily search broadband availability, summarize and rank data, and view a map of community anchor institutions — all optimized for their mobile device. The mobile browser version of the National Broadband Map is designed to provide a clean, intuitive experience on the screen size of a smartphone. Users swipe across panels of information and can always access additional information by sliding the footer panel up. A convenient sharing panel is also available at the top of each page. Users are now able to search for local broadband data with their smart phones’ GPS capabilities, if available. Traditional search is also supported, and the results are presented in a new format for mobile devices: in search results, just tap on a broadband provider to see further details and to access our crowdsource voting links. The Community Anchor Institutions map is the first map we are deploying for a mobile environment. Tap “Search” to enter an address and find the 25 closest facilities. The map will zoom to the request location, and each point will offer information about the facility and any known broadband service details. Watch for additional maps to be included in the future.
benton.org/node/111486 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
T-MOBILE’S NEW SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
AT&T is in the process of handing over T-Mobile’s consolation prize, which includes a grab bag of airwaves T-Mobile will use to bulk up its 4G network. AT&T’s official transfer application popped up on the Federal Communications Commission website, revealing for the first time the specific licenses T-Mobile would gain. For those of you who don’t want to dig through the arcane documentation, GigaOM reader and spectrum policy wonk Andrew Shepherd has prepared a map that shows exactly where T-Mobile picks up new airwaves and how much. T-Mobile didn’t get new spectrum nationwide but it certainly got some valuable licenses in key cities. What’s more, Shepherd found that AT&T had fork over all of its AWS holdings in some pretty valuable markets, including Boston; San Francisco/Oakland; Washington, D.C.; Houston; Baltimore; Atlanta; San Diego; Seattle; Kansas City, Mo.; San Jose, Calif.; San Antonio; and Salt Lake City. While those losses must sting AT&T, the operator was very careful about which markets it chose to relinquish.
benton.org/node/111511 | GigaOm
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AT&T AND ROAMING
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Chris Ziegler]
AT&T is coming out swinging over some material changes to Sprint's network in Oklahoma and Kansas that will see it shut down some of its own coverage in favor of roaming agreements with CDMA competitors. Specifically, AT&T cites two policy changes on the Federal Communications Commission's part that have enabled Sprint's move: first, the end of the Home Market Rule, which prevented carriers from establishing roaming agreements in markets where they owned their own spectrum; second, its decision last year to require carriers offer high-speed data roaming in addition to voice. It seems an odd thing for AT&T to get worked up over, save for a couple important things: one, the intent of the roaming rule was to allow rural carriers to compete on even ground, and two, it only stands to reason that a carrier holding spectrum should be required to exhaust it before turning to roaming agreements in a given market. As AT&T senior VP Bob Quinn says, "Sprint can now use other folks' networks rather than pony up its own investment dollars. Nice work if you can get it."
benton.org/node/111513 | Verge, The
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VERIZON REPORTS LOSS
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
Verizon Communications reported a $2.02 billion fourth-quarter loss, mostly due to one-time charges of $3.4 billion for severance, pension, and benefits, as well as increased subsidy costs for iPhone sales. The quarterly loss, which was 71 cents per share, compared to $2.64 billion in profit in the same quarter a year ago. Not counting one-time charges, Verizon posted earnings per share of 52 cents, just missing analyst estimates of 53 cents. However, Verizon quarterly revenue of $28.4 billion, up 7.7 percent, represented the largest fourth-quarter, year-over-year increase in the company's 11-year history, it said. The rise in revenue was driven by mobile and broadband growth. Verizon reported $18.3 billion in mobile revenue, up 13 percent from the last quarter of 2010. Mobile data revenue was up 19.2 percent. The company added 1.5 million mobile customers during the quarter, ending the year with 108.7 million total connections. Smartphones represented 44 percent of Verizon's retail postpaid customer base, up from 39 percent at the end of the third quarter, with Apple iPhone and Android devices driving the growth. Verizon added 201,000 Fios broadband and 194,000 Fios television customers in the quarter. The company, with a net increase of 98,000 broadband customers, now has 8.7 million broadband subscribers. Fios revenue grew 20 percent over the fourth quarter of 2010, Verizon officials said. Verizon's fourth quarter wireline revenue, including broadband, was $10.1 billion, down 1.5 percent from a year earlier.
benton.org/node/111465 | IDG News Service | paidContent.org | CNNMoney
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VERIZON PRICING
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
Verizon Wireless has no plans to lower prices on its smartphone data plans. In fact, Verizon plans to milk as much revenue from its 3G and LTE networks as possible, saying on its fourth quarter financial results call it would establish itself as the “premium” carrier in the data market, charging its customers for quality. That’s a bold statement considering Verizon suffered a string of LTE outages in December, challenging the credibility of its claim to be the nation’s “most reliable network.” But in general, playing up service quality has always worked for Verizon. It tends to be the highest-priced carrier of the big four, while its consumer perception ratings remain high. I’m just not sure it can maintain such a staunch stance for very long given the realities of the hyper-competitive smartphone market. A premium strategy might work if Verizon customers were all on 4G, but the majority of customers are still gravitating toward its 3G CDMA network. If Verizon’s data customers were only the upper echelon of smartphones users, they would all be flocking to the 4G network, but they’re not exactly coming in droves. Verizon sold 2.3 million LTE smartphones, tablets and mobile hotspots in the quarter, which seems like a lot, but not when you compare it the 7.7 million total smartphones it sold over the holidays.
benton.org/node/111463 | GigaOm
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PRIVACY
BIG WEEK IN PRIVACY
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
This week, which leads up to Data Privacy Day on Jan 28, could be a big one for advancing online privacy policy in Washington (DC) and globally.
In keeping with the push to protect consumers' personal data and privacy online, the Obama administration is expected to release its white paper on privacy, endorsing a "privacy bill of rights" and calling on companies to self-regulate by adopting codes of conduct. On the other side of the pond, the European Commission on Jan 25 will propose big changes to its 17-year-old European privacy policy directive, adopting regulation that by 2014 could require companies like Google and Facebook to obtain explicit consent from consumers before collecting and using their personal data. Both events will cause companies to re-examine privacy policies and "look around the corner to anticipate future privacy policy," said Christopher Wolf, a partner with Hogan Lovells and the co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum, in a press briefing Tuesday with reporters.
benton.org/node/111491 | AdWeek
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NEW EU PRIVACY LAW
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Aoife White]
Companies face fines as high as 2 percent of yearly global sales for losing personal data under an overhaul of European Union privacy rules. Data protection agencies in the EU’s 27 countries would gain the power to sanction companies that violate requirements for handling personal information proposed by the European Commission today. The measures, which also target online- advertising and social networking sites, update the EU’s 17- year-old data protection policies. The EU overhaul would also clamp down on data lapses such as Sony’s six-day delay in warning customers about a cyber-attack that exposed more than 100 million customer accounts, the second-largest online data breach in U.S. history. Under the draft rules, serious violations such as processing sensitive data without an individual’s consent or without any legal justification, may be punished with penalties as high as 1 million euros ($1.3 million) or as much as 2 percent of a company’s yearly sales, the commission said. Less serious offences would be punished with smaller fines.
benton.org/node/111524 | Bloomberg
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FACEBOOK WARNS EU
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Somini Sengupta]
Concerned about privacy? Maybe you should be concerned about the economy instead. That was the subtext of a keynote speech by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, at a technology conference in the heart of Europe. Sandberg’s remarks at the Digital Life Design conference in Munich came as the European Commission prepares to release a draft of a strict privacy regulation that stands to affect companies like Facebook. The law would apply across the 27 countries of the European Union and restrict the way Internet companies can gather, use and retain the volumes of personal data that their users post online. Sandberg’s remarks offered a glimpse into the argument that global technology companies doing business in Europe are expected to raise against the looming data protection regulation: Internet companies create jobs and spur growth, and governments struggling with economic crises should not stand in their way.
benton.org/node/111523 | New York Times
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GOOGLE AND PRIVACY
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Byron Acohido]
Google's controversial new privacy policy covers familiar territory for Peter Eckersley, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's respected Technology Projects Director. He says the search giant's disclosure that it will track what you do across all Google-owned services that you partake of -- on your PC and mobile devices -- comes across more like a confession than a bold new move. "It has always been the case that Google kept effectively linkable records of our uses of Gmail, Search, Maps and Market for Android, and other services," says Eckersley. "Only very sophisticated users have ever been able to remove any of that linkability, and that remains the case today. In a couple of cases, Google had some internal practices of not linking your browsing history, and YouTube history, to other data -- and those internal walls at the company are now gone."
benton.org/node/111517 | USAToday
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GOOGLE PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Google, AUTHOR: Alma Whitten]
In just over a month we will make some changes to our privacy policies and Google Terms of Service. This stuff matters, so we wanted to explain what’s changing, why and what these changes mean for users.
First, our privacy policies. Despite trimming our policies in 2010, we still have more than 70 (yes, you read right … 70) privacy documents covering all of our different products. This approach is somewhat complicated. It’s also at odds with our efforts to integrate our different products more closely so that we can create a beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google. These changes will take effect on March 1, and we’re starting to notify users today, including via email and a notice on our homepage.
Second, the Google Terms of Service—terms you agree to when you use our products. As with our privacy policies, we’ve rewritten them so they’re easier to read. We’ve also cut down the total number, so many of our products are now covered by our new main Google Terms of Service. Visit the Google Terms of Service page to find the revised terms.
Finally, what we’re not changing. We remain committed to data liberation, so if you want to take your information elsewhere you can. We don’t sell your personal information, nor do we share it externally without your permission except in very limited circumstances like a valid court order. We try hard to be transparent about the information we collect, and to give you meaningful choices about how it is used
benton.org/node/111458 | Google
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CONTNET
PIRACY AND THE SOTU
[SOURCE: Tales of the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] It don’t take much to excite the Twitterverse. Obama makes a passing reference to intellectual property enforcement as a sop to the MPAA by saying foreign piracy hurts trade, and my reader explodes with “Obama’s flipping on PIPA/SOPA! Betrayal!” While I have no reason to believe that the Administration is backing away from its current hardline position against PIPA/SOPA, it doesn’t have to in order to show MPAA some love (and remind them this is a long-term game with many fronts and that they depend on the federal government for enforcement — something to think about when considering whether to go through with the threats to cut off campaign contributions). On the other hand, the fact that it does not require new policy, merely continuation of existing policy, should be just as disturbing for anyone who cares about Internet freedom and burdens on innovation.
benton.org/node/111527 | Tales of the Sausage Factory
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ANTI-PIRACY HOT POTATO
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
After SOPA and PIPA went down in flames last week, industry and the Hill are sifting through the ashes, trying to figure out what’s next. The answer: probably not much. What’s certain is that the anti-piracy debate has turned toxic. And that makes it all the less likely that lawmakers will go anywhere near it again in 2012. “Going into an election year, there’s going to be a lot of [reluctance] to do anything that can end up being an unnecessary battle,” a Republican House aide told POLITICO. “It became a political hot potato.”
benton.org/node/111521 | Politico
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MEGAUPLOAD RIPPLE EFFECT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Geoffrey Fowler]
When the U.S. Department of Justice shut down online file-storage company Megaupload in one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever, it also cut off legitimate customers like Suzanne Barbieri. The London-based musician, who performs under the name Beloved Aunt, had used Megaupload since 2009 to send her songs to her producers and record label. She even used it to store the digital versions of her work that she gave away as freebie downloads. "If this leads to the closure of all file sharing sites, then I've no idea what people in my position will do," she said. "Piracy hurts artists, but so does this heavy-handed approach of penalizing legitimate users for sharing their own work." The experiences of Ms. Barbieri and other customers of online storage sites known as "cyberlockers" raise some difficult questions about the government's case against Megaupload, and the rights of legitimate users on those services.
benton.org/node/111518 | Wall Street Journal
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YOUNG PEOPLE TRACK SOPA/PIPA
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, AUTHOR: ]
According to the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted Jan. 19-22 among 1,002 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, the protest by popular websites against proposed online piracy legislation was a top story for young people. Nearly a quarter (23%) of those younger than 30 say they followed news about the online piracy fight most closely. That is about the same as the percentage following the 2012 elections most closely (21%). Among the public as a whole, just 7% say they followed news about the web protests – which included sites such as Wikipedia going dark for the day – more closely than any other story. The protests by popular websites and the debate in Congress over anti-piracy legislation accounted for 5% of the newshole, about the same amount of coverage given to economic news last week (4%).
benton.org/node/111471 | Pew Research Center for the People & the Press | B&C
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3-D PRINTING AND SOPA
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Kit Eaton]
What will happen in terms of IP rights and piracy when 3-D printed objects become commonplace? Pirate Bay has labeled these 3-D objects "physibles," "data objects that are able (and feasible) to become physical," and suggests that in the near future it's files of physibles that'll be the hottest pirated data online, in the same way music, movies, and TV shows are nowadays. That's because the file for a physible is effectively the recipe for making the final object--which could quite possibly be a handbag, a mug, or ultimately something as complex as a sneaker. The legal and intellectual wrangling goes like this: If you've got a sophisticated 3-D printer on your desk, sometime around 2020, say, pirating a physible from a site like Pirate Bay and then printing it out is almost the same as stealing the object from a store. Almost. Because no physical "theft" has happened, and you're merely borrowing the idea, the IP. Yet you are still denying the company that originally came up with the idea any payment. That argument is at the core of the SOPA/PIPA debate, and it's partly why the U.S. just crashed Megaupload's party so very enthusiastically.
benton.org/node/111473 | Fast Company
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WATERSHED MOMENT
[SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: Jay Fernandez]
As part of the Sundance Film Festival's daily Cinema Café speaker series at the Filmmaker Lodge, New York Times writer David Carr moderated a wide-ranging discussion with MPAA chairman Christopher Dodd, independent producer Christine Vachon and NATO president John Fithian. While many issues relating to exhibition and independent film made the agenda, Dodd was the first to address "the elephant in the room," as he put it: the SOPA and PIPA legislation designed to combat online piracy that was recently derailed by an unprecedented public outcry. "It's a watershed event, what happened," Dodd admitted, noting that opponents' "ability to organize and communicate directly with consumers" was a game-changing phenomenon that he hadn't seen in more than three decades in public office. Fithian agreed, saying that the turnaround in November was "the greatest backlash I've ever seen. This was historic." Dodd seemed genuinely distressed that while the underlying issue of combating piracy is one everyone can agree on, a hyperbolic "hysteria" was stirred up that convinced people they would lose freedom of speech or the internet would be broken if the legislation passed. Dodd claimed that a discussion about "unintended consequences" was valid, as well as other concerns, but that those issues will not be addressed positively in the current climate. To illustrate the point, Fithian noted that his son angrily asked him why he was trying to take away his Internet.
benton.org/node/111469 | Hollywood Reporter
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GOOGLE’S GOOGLE+ PUSH
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Ted Samson]
Google's going to great lengths of late to promote and celebrate Google+ -- so much so that it's starting to smack of desperation. Not in recent memory, if ever, has the company engaged in such questionable tactics to promote a new service. It's gotten so bad that Google runs the risk of not only turning off users and customers, but possibly inviting more scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission for potential anticompetitive practices. In a nutshell, Google seems intent on using its position as the king of search to shove Google+ down our throats. The company is using Google Search to promote the heck out of Google+ -- even mixing regular search results with links to Google+ content. It's also slyly marketing Google+ as a way to get the kind of exposure on Google Search traditionally reserved for sites that have earned high-ranking status through legitimate traffic and referral links or for companies that have paid for advertising space. Google also appears to be using its search platform to give its own social networking site an advantage over the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I don't know about you, but that reminds me of when another company with a near monopoly tried to lock up a new market and found the Justice Department on its tail: Microsoft back in 1998 when it was hauled into court for stifling competition against the likes of Netscape and Opera by tightly bundling Microsoft Windows with Internet Explorer.
benton.org/node/111456 | InfoWorld
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EVGENY MOROZOV
[SOURCE: Fortune, AUTHOR: Dan Mitchell]
There is a lot of garbage and nonsense on the Internet. There will always be a lot of garbage and nonsense on the Internet. And, thanks to our understandable wish to clean up garbage when we see it, there will always be misguided calls to do something about it. Not that nothing can be done. Google's algorithms, imperfect as they sometimes are, help keep fraudulent and spammy links out of the upper reaches of search results, for example. But what about "dangerous" ideas, or those that are just wrongheaded, nutty or insulting? Evgeny Morozov believes that Google and other search engines should slap warning labels on links to such ideas. The Internet has evolved, he laments at Slate, "with no or little quality control." This has yielded some good outcomes, like Wikipedia and Twitter. "But it has also spawned thousands of sites that undermine scientific consensus, overturn well-established facts, and promote conspiracy theories." It's not clear that any facts have actually been overturned, but I'll give Morozov a bit of rhetorical leeway on that one. His problem is with the nuts: 911 Truthers; people who believe, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, that vaccines cause autism; disbelievers in evolution, global-warming deniers, and the like.
benton.org/node/111453 | Fortune
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE STATE OF THE UNION
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
At this rate, President Barack Obama might just dispense with the formalities and tweet his State of the Union address. Social media firms are vying to outdo each other to seize a larger role during the address and the Administration has been only too happy to oblige: the President or his staff will follow up by answering citizen questions in video chat, on Twitter and via other online platforms in the coming days. The White House has promised to answer questions submitted by users of Quora, an "intelligent discussion site." The site will hold a live stream of Obama’s address and has asked users to submit questions on domestic and economic policy. The company will select an unspecified number of questions to be answered by the White House over the next few days. Directly after the speech, a live panel of senior White House advisers will answer citizens’ questions about the speech at WhiteHouse.gov/SOTU. Questions will be funneled through Twitter, Facebook and Google+. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, a group of policy experts and advisers to Obama will participate in “office hours” on Twitter, where they’ll discuss issues presented on the microblogging site. Users can submit questions using the #WHChat hashtag. On Monday, President Obama will enter a special Google+ hangout to have a live video chat from the White House. Citizens can submit their questions on the White House’s YouTube channel. As a result of these social media conversations, "you're just not watching the speech, you're engaged afterwards and able to really talk with us, help inform us better and answer any questions you might have about what the president proposed in the State of the Union," senior adviser David Plouffe said in a Web video encouraging people to tune in to the address.
benton.org/node/111475 | Politico
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
WHY NEWSPAPERS ENDORSE
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] In an editorial, the Chicago Sun-Times explained why it will no longer make candidate endorsements. Readers are capable of making up their own minds, it said, particularly with such a multitude of information available. The Sun-Times editorial page says it will focus instead on important issues, from improving public schools to reducing crime. We respect the decision by the Sun-Times, but we intend to keep doing endorsements. As the biggest newspaper in Chicago and the Midwest, we want to inform our readers and encourage them to push an agenda for a more vital community. The most direct way they do that is in choosing who will lead their government. In our editorials, we explain what we think should be done about government pension costs, educational shortcomings, political dysfunction and more. We offer our opinions on issues from the mundane to the cosmic. Not least important, we endorse candidates, from the top of the ballot to the bottom. To arrive at our choices, we send out questionnaires, scrutinize voting records and public statements, and interview hundreds of candidates. We make our evaluation of which ones will best serve the interests of the public. And then we tell our readers. Newspapers have a unique role as public citizen. It would be an abdication to say what we think should be done on an array of issues every day — and then take a vow of silence about who is most likely to advance those goals. Readers get an independent judgment of the choices in each race, even (or perhaps especially) when none of the options is very good. Our readers make up their own minds when they cast their ballots. They get from us an honest assessment of the options, and we will keep providing it.
benton.org/node/111468 | Chicago Tribune
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OWNERSHIP
FTC REVISES ANTITRUST REVIEWS
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Trade Commission revised the thresholds that determine whether companies are required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a transaction under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. These filing thresholds are required to be adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation, unlike the pre-merger filing fees, which have not changed in more than a decade. The HSR Act requires companies to notify authorities if – among other things – the value of a transaction exceeds the filing thresholds. The FTC is required to revise those thresholds annually, based on the change in gross national product. For 2012, the threshold for reporting proposed mergers and acquisitions subject to enforcement under Section 7 of the Clayton Act increased from $66.0 million to $68.2 million.
The FTC also announced revisions to the thresholds that trigger a prohibition preventing companies from having interlocking memberships on their corporate boards of directors under Section 8 of the Clayton Act. The Act requires that the Commission revise those thresholds annually, based on the change in the level of gross national product. The new thresholds for the Act's prohibition on interlocking directorates are $27,784,000 for Section 8(a)(1) and $2,778,400 for Section 8(a)(2)(A). In the case of each type of threshold, the vote to approve Federal Register notices announcing the revisions was 4-0. The revised thresholds under Section 7A will apply to all transactions that close on or after the effective date of the notice, which is 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register. The thresholds for Section 8 will become effective upon publication in the Federal Register.
benton.org/node/111487 | Federal Trade Commission | Multichannel News
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APPLE PROFIT DOUBLES
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Adam Satariano]
Apple reported quarterly profit that more than doubled as holiday purchases of the iPhone catapulted sales to a record and helped the company steer clear of the consumer-spending slump that has hurt rival companies. Fiscal first-quarter profit surged to $13.1 billion, or $13.87 a share. Sales rose 73 percent to $46.3 billion. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg on average estimated profit of $10.14 a share on sales of $39 billion. Per-share profit for the quarter was more than the company earned in any fiscal year before 2010. Apple sold 37 million iPhones, up from the previous record of 20.34 million. Customers snapped up the 4S model that went on sale in October, a week after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. The results mark the first time the company’s quarterly revenue topped Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ)’s, underscoring how its focus on sleek touch-screen mobile devices has reshuffled leadership in the industry.
“Those numbers are just unimaginable,” said Michael Obuchowski, chief investment officer at First Empire Asset Management, which has $4 billion under management, including Apple shares. “It’s still an extremely well-managed company and they are showing that the product pipeline is sufficient even now to generate growth rates that are unrivaled.” Apple shares soared as much as 12 percent to $468.95 in extended trading, surpassing their record closing price of $429.11 on Jan. 18.
benton.org/node/111466 | Bloomberg
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GOP RESPONSE
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Bearing the Republican banner in the party's response to the State of the Union speech, Gov Mitch Daniels (R-IN) used a tech titan to hit back at the President's jobs proposals. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died last year, did more to help the economy than government efforts, Gov Daniels argued. "Contrary to the President's constant disparagement of people in business, it's one of the noblest of human pursuits," Gov Daniels said in his prepared remarks. "The late Steve Jobs - what a fitting name he had - created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew."
benton.org/node/111526 | National Journal
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LOBBYING
MPAA’S DIRTY MONEY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Joel Kelsey]
[Commentary] Free Press is urging lawmakers to put their money where their mouths are. We're asking the top recipients of the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) campaign cash to give the money back. We're hoping this will send a message to MPAA and all other corporate lobbyists that our nation's laws are not for sale.
benton.org/node/111481 | Huffington Post, The
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