January 2012

Web Takes Star Turn in China

Government restrictions are driving young Chinese to turn off their TV sets and turn on their computers. Advertisers and Western studios are right there with them.

China's streaming-video sites once were derided by the global entertainment industry as homes of stolen movies and television shows. But many sites have cracked down on piracy and are offering original programming, as well as licensed Western movies and TV shows such as "Gossip Girl" and "Mad Men." As a result, ad revenue for Chinese video websites operated by Youku Inc., Tudou Holdings Ltd., Baidu Inc., Sohu.com Ltd. and others surged to 1.48 billion yuan ($235 million) in the third quarter, up 48% from the second quarter, according to market-data firm Analysys International. Some sites are starting to offer some premium content, charging Chinese consumers for each viewing or on a monthly basis. "People are getting used to paying for content," said Gary Wang, chief executive of Tudou, which has about 12 million paying mobile subscribers.

China Unicom Adds Record 3G Customers Undercutting IPhone: Tech

China Unicom Hong Kong, the nation’s No. 2 carrier, is adding a record number of high-speed wireless subscribers and gaining market share by pushing smartphones that cost 80 percent less than Apple’s iPhone.

China Unicom started winning customers from market leader China Mobile after it switched focus from high-end users of the iPhone to those who can’t afford the device. China Unicom started selling handsets from local manufacturers Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. that cost less than 1,000 yuan ($158), or about half a month’s salary for an urban worker. The strategy helped make China Unicom the best-performing stock on the benchmark Hang Seng Index last year with a 47 percent increase. It also accelerated the shift to high-speed networks in China, putting the nation on course to surpass the U.S. in smartphone users and enabling Huawei and ZTE to compete against Apple in their home market.

A Second Here a Second There May Just Be a Waste of Time

On Jan 19, the world will go to battle over a second. In Geneva, 700 delegates from about 70 nations attending a meeting of a United Nations telecommunications agency will decide whether to abolish the leap second.

Unlike the better-known leap year, which adds a day to February in a familiar four-year cycle, the leap second is tacked on once every few years to synchronize atomic clocks — the world’s scientific timekeepers — with Earth’s rotational cycle, which, sadly, does not run quite like clockwork. The next one is scheduled for June 30 (do not bother to adjust your watch). The United States is the primary proponent for doing away with the leap second, arguing that the sporadic adjustments, if botched or overlooked, could lead to major foul-ups if electronic systems that depend on the precise time — including computer and cellphone networks, air traffic control and financial trading markets — do not agree on the time.

Lawmakers begin to retreat from piracy bills in face of Web blackout (updated)

Lawmakers are beginning to retreat from online piracy legislation in the face of an unprecedented online protest supported by tech titans such as Google, Wikipedia and Facebook. Thousands of websites went dark on Wednesday to protest the two Internet piracy bills, the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate's Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) became the latest lawmaker to public oppose SOPA and PIPA, calling them "misguided bills that will cause more harm than good." Sen DeMint was joined by Republican rising star Marco Rubio (R-FL), who dropped his support of the bill and said Congress should take its time in crafting new legislation that addresses the concerns raised by both the technology and content industries. PIPA sponsors Sens John Boozman (R-AR) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) also pulled their support. Sen Hatch is a major defection, as the senator is the co-chairman of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus.

Opposition is also building in the House. Two of the original Republican co-sponsors of SOPA, Reps Ben Quayle (R-AZ) and Lee Terry (R-NE), withdrew their support before the protests began, and scores of other lawmakers took to Twitter Jan 18 to affirm their opposition.

Additional coverage:

In Fight Over Piracy Bills, New Economy Rises Against Old (NYTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/technology/web-protests-piracy-bill-an...

With Twitter, Blackouts and Demonstrations, Web Flexes Its Muscle (NYT)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/technology/protests-of-antipiracy-bill...

Hollywood Loses SOPA Story (WSJ)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020455590457716884313002019...

Net-Rule Doubts Hit Congress (WSJ)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020373530457716918288721716...

Silicon Valley learns fast in game of lobbying (FT)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f426700a-41f5-11e1-a1bf-00144feab49a.html

'SOPA Blackout' is Web's political coming of age (SF Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/18/BUQO1MR5DR.DTL

Internet community cheers power of protest (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-01-19/sopa-protest-shows-in...

PIPA support collapses, with 13 new Senators opposed

Members of the Senate are rushing for the exits in the wake of the Internet's unprecedented protest of the Protect IP Act (PIPA). At least 13 members of the upper chamber announced their opposition on Jan 18.

In a particularly severe blow from Hollywood, at least five of the newly-opposed Senators were previously sponsors of the Protect IP Act. The newly-opposed Senators are skewed strongly to the Republican side of the aisle. An Ars Technica survey of Senators' positions on PIPA turned up only two Democrats, Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who announced their opposition on Wednesday. The other 11 Senators who announced their opposition on Wednesday were all Republicans. These 13 join a handful of others, including Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), who have already announced their opposition.

Here is the full list of new opponents. An * indicates a former sponsor.
Roy Blunt (R-MO) *
John Boozman (R-AR) *
Scott Brown (R-MA)
Ben Cardin (D-MD) *
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) *
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Mark Kirk (R-IL)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Marco Rubio (R-FL) *
Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Sen. Blunt withdraws support of piracy bill

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) became the latest lawmaker to reverse support for a controversial anti-piracy bill amid a massive Web protest against the measure.

“While I believed the bill still needed much work, I cosponsored the Senate version of the Protect IP Act because I support the original intent of this bill — to protect against the piracy of lawful content," Rep Blunt said. He claimed that Senate Republicans voiced concerns about the bill that he assumed would be addressed. "But unfortunately, Senate Leader Harry Reid [(D-NV)] is pushing forward with legislation that is deeply flawed and still needs much work," he said. “I continue to believe that we can come to a solution that will cut off the revenue sources for foreign websites dedicated to counterfeiting and piracy that steal American jobs, hurt the economy, and harm consumers," Sen Blunt said. "But the Protect IP Act is flawed as it stands today, and I cannot support it moving forward.”

Speaker Boehner: Piracy bill lacks consensus

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) lacks consensus and needs more work before it reaches the House floor for a vote.

"Listen, this bill is in committee," Speaker Boehner said. "It’s had a number of hearings. It went through a markup, and it’s pretty clear to many of us that there’s a lack of consensus at this point. And I would expect the committee to continue its work to try to build a consensus before this bill moves."

Chamber Warns Senate It Will Be Recording Votes on PIPA

Antipiracy bill critics were not the only ones reminding Congress that they would be keeping track of how they voted on the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). While newly-launched VoteForNet.com was getting voters to sign a pledge to support legislators who vote against the bills, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was reminding those same lawmakers in a letter that it could include their votes in its annual accounting of how they fared on key votes for chamber members, which includes PIPA.

"The Chamber urges the full Senate to fully debate and pass this important measure," it said in the letter. "Recent announcements by sponsors of the legislation have made clear that important issues of internet operation, security, and freedom will be addressed by a manager's amendment, which will modify provisions of S. 968 dealing with blocking of rogue sites. The amended legislation is a more narrowly tailored approach designed to target the worst offenders."

Unions Tell PIPA Backers to Keep the Faith

Television and film unions sent a letter of support to Sens Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) praising their support of the PROTECT IP antipiracy bill and asking them to keep the faith.

"We know the pressure that you are getting to renege on your commitment," they wrote. "We are the voice of thousands of individuals who thank you for standing steadfast against this barrage and in support of the jobs of our members," they wrote. "They" constituted the American Federation of Musicians, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Directors Guild of America, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada (IATSE), the Teamsters, and the Screen Actors Guild. The unions argue the bill "does nothing more than make it possible for the U.S. government to handle illegal foreign websites in the same manner it can already do -- and has been doing -- with illegal U.S. sites."

Piracy Bills' Supporters Move To Counter Backlash

Facing an online protest that appears to have gone viral, supporters of legislation that would crack down on piracy and counterfeiting on foreign websites are trying to fight back by launching a new advertising campaign.

Creative America, a coalition of movie studios, television networks and entertainment industry unions, launched a new campaign Jan 18 in support of the Senate's Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, in the House. The move came on the same day that thousands of websites went dark to protest both bills, which critics say will stifle innovation and free speech on the Internet. Creative America has launched banner ads on some websites and a huge billboard in New York's Time Square advising Internet users to read a book, listen to music or go to a movie during the 24-hour blackout of sites like Wikipedia, Craigslist and Reddit. The coalition also is launching television, radio and print ads in select markets in support of the two anti-piracy bills.

Benton

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