1. Monthly archive
  2. January 2012

January 2012

For A Few Self-Published Authors, Kindle Exclusivity Pays; Questions Remain

Since Amazon opened up the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library to self-published authors willing to sell their e-books exclusively on Kindle, the number of e-books available in the library has skyrocketed to over 75,000 titles. Each participating author is competing for a piece of a monthly fund—$500,000 in December—and the top ten made an average of $7,000 apiece last month, Amazon announced. Amazon is adding $200,000 more to the pool for January 2012, so KDP Select authors will be competing for a piece of a slightly larger pie. But for every data point the company reveals, there is another question.

Amazon's Plagiarism Problem

Amazon's erotica section isn't just rife with tales of lust, incest, violence, and straight-up kink. It's also a hotbed of masked merchants profiting from copyright infringement. And even with anti-piracy legislation looming, Amazon doesn't appear too eager to stop the forbidden author-on-author action.

Toddler Lily says the F-word on upcoming 'Modern Family'

On next week’s Modern Family, toddler Lily is going to use one of the worst of George Carlin’s famous Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.

The adopted two-and-a-half year-old character somehow picks up the profanity “f—.” This naturally horrifies her parents, Cam and Mitchell, who in particular fear she’ll blurt it at an upcoming wedding. Lily is shown saying the word, but it’s not audible to the viewer. The episode’s title: “Little Bo Bleep.” It might be the first time in a scripted family broadcast TV series where a child has said the F-word. “We had to really convince ABC,” said creator Steve Levitan. “We thought it was a very natural story since, as parents, we’ve all been through this. ABC will tell you Modern Family gets away with a lot, because I think it’s all about context. We are not a sexually charged show. It has a very warm tone so people accept it more. I’m sure we’ll have some detractors.”

Search engine market shares refused to budge in 2011

The final search engine numbers for 2011 leave us right back where the year started.

ComScore reports that Google continues to hold two-thirds of U.S. search market, as it did throughout 2011. Microsoft and Yahoo, bonded together by a search agreement that has Yahoo slapping the user interface on top of Microsoft's Bing results, rate a combined total of about 30 percent, which is exactly where they started last January. The only big difference between now and then? Microsoft lost a whole lotta money in the process of going nowhere.

Are there too many smartphones on the market?

That and other provocative questions were posed during a CES panel discussion between journalists for The Verge and managers for Windows Phone at Microsoft and smartphone makers HTC and Samsung. The question of whether there are too many smartphone variations on the market was partly incited by Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha's comment at CES that the company plans to make fewer phones in 2012. The HTC and Samsung officials agreed there is a profundity of smartphone choices with little to distinguish some of them, but they also argued that competition and demands from users have led to the proliferation of devices. Add in frequent OS changes and the need to have devices at different prices, and the result is a surfeit of phones on the market, they said. But Josh Topolsky, editor-in-chief of The Verge, would have none of it, asking: "Is this the kind of [b.s.] we need, with all these products in the market? Are we trying to create demand where there isn't any?"

Oklahoma lawmaker wants sales tax on newspapers

A Tahlequah (OK) lawmaker has proposed placing a state sales tax on the cost of newspapers.

State Sen. Jim Wilson (D-Tahlequah) said his bill to eliminate the sales tax exemption on newspapers and periodicals would raise about $17 million a year for the state - about the same amount of money he said nationally board certified teachers are owed for unpaid bonuses over the past three years. "The state made an agreement to pay teachers $5,000 per year if they became nationally board certified," Wilson said. "We have a moral obligation to these outstanding, hardworking individuals to give them the bonuses they were promised. "We need to get our priorities straight. I believe it's much more important to keep our promises to these educators than to provide sales tax exemptions for newspapers." Although his bill doesn't specify that the new state revenue would be used to pay unfunded teacher stipends, Wilson said it would raise adequate money to do so.

January 12, 2012 (Full-speed ahead for Web domain expansion)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2012


GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Officials see limited government role in Internet governance
   Homeland Security watches Twitter, social media
   Iran’s Leaders Shut Down Independent Film Group [links to web]

INTERNET
   Full-speed ahead for Web domain expansion
   CES: FCC's Genachowski Calls Network Neutrality Lawsuit 'Distracting'

WIRELESS
   FCC Creates Docket for Verizon/Cable Spectrum Deal
   Sen Grassley Seeks GPS Info
   Real Time Charitable Giving - research
   Beyond Siri: Voice Recognition Pops Up in More Gadgets [links to web]
   A New ‘Law’ for the Mobile Computing Era [links to web]

TELEVISION
   "Sesame Street" to become first interactive TV show [links to web]
   Bloomberg: Take ALJ Out of Program Carriage Complaint Equation [links to web]
   YouTube spends $100 million to redefine TV [links to web]
   TiVo: Recorded and Internet-Delivered Content Surpasses Live TV Viewership [links to web]

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   New Hampshire Barely Moves the Ratings Needle
   Expensive and Bitter Media War Already Ignited [links to web]
   Mitt, Paul winning Facebook primary
   Data Points: Political Amnesia

RADIO
   American Hate Radio: How a Powerful Outlet for Democratic Discourse Has Deteriorated into Hate, Racism and Extremism - research

PRIVACY
   Privacy rights activists worry about potential abuse of high-tech devices featured at CES event
   Google likely to face FTC complaint over 'Search Plus Your World'

PIRACY
   Hollywood or Silicon Valley? — President Obama must choose
   Comcast -- Owner Of NBC Universal -- Admits That DNS Redirects Are Incompatible With DNSSEC
   Dutch court orders companies to block Pirate Bay

OWNERSHIP
   Fox Sports, LA Dodgers reach settlement
   News Corp.'s Fox Joins Battle to Buy Dodgers [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:

   Facebook shows relentless global growth [links to web]
   Ofcom revises plans for delayed 4G mobile auction
   Virgin Media to double broadband speeds [links to web]
   Threats on horizon for pay-TV in Europe [links to web]
   Google Softens Tone on China
   Iran’s Leaders Shut Down Independent Film Group [links to web]
   Dutch court orders companies to block Pirate Bay
   British Telecom to Put its Historic Archive Online [links to web]
   Spanish bank to move 100,000+ employees to Google Apps [links to web]
   China's Internet users breach half billion mark
   Berlin theater stages first live play on Facebook [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   After Stratfor, hactivists decried as new breed of censor [links to web]
   What Advertisers Can Expect From Washington in 2012 [links to web]
   iPad has potential as programming teaching tool, if Apple would let it [links to web]

back to top

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

GOV ROLE IN INTERNET GOVERANCE
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Increasing the role of governments in cyberspace could spell disaster for the free nature of the Internet, top American officials and analysts said. Rather than seeking expanded government control, countries, companies, and other organizations should seek to strengthen a "multi-stakeholder" approach that allows input from everyone, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Larry Strickling told an audience at the Brookings Institution. "Each challenge to the multi-stakeholder model has implications for Internet governance throughout the world," he said. "When parties ask us to overturn the outcomes of these processes, no matter how well-intentioned the request, they are providing ammunition to other countries who would like to see governments take control of the Internet." Strickling defended the process that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers used to develop plans for new, expanded domain names. While that plan has been criticized, Strickling said it was inappropriate for detractors to ask the U.S. government to step in. He said efforts to more strictly control cyberspace will only lead to stagnation. "An Internet constrained by an international treaty will stifle the innovators and entrepreneurs who are responsible for its awesome growth," Strickling said.
As opposed to individual government policies or strict international agreements, broad principles can help pressure other countries to preserve the Internet as a global platform, said Karen Kornbluh, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
benton.org/node/110254 | National Journal | NTIA’s Larry Strickling
Recommend this Headline
back to top


DHS WATCHES SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Mark Hosenball]
Department of Homeland Security's command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document. A "privacy compliance review" issued by DHS last November says that since at least June 2010, its national operations center has been operating a "Social Networking/Media Capability" which involves regular monitoring of "publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites and message boards." The purpose of the monitoring, says the government document, is to "collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture." The document adds, using more plain language, that such monitoring is designed to help DHS and its numerous agencies, which include the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency, to manage government responses to such events as the 2010 earthquake and aftermath in Haiti and security and border control related to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.
benton.org/node/110233 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top

INTERNET

WEB DOMAIN EXPANSION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Rod Beckstrom, president and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), brushed off criticism of his group's plan to allow for new Web domain endings. "In the next four hours, we're not going to go translate some concept from one special interest trade association into a global policy for the Internet," Beckstrom said, referring to a list of proposed changes from the Association of National Advertisers. "We think that would be imprudent." ICANN is the nonprofit group that manages the Web’s address system. The group will began accepting applications for new Web addresses ending in almost any word or phrase. The first new address endings, known as generic top-level domains, will rollout in about a year. Beckstrom said the change will allow for more consumer choice and competition. He emphasized the plan will allow for more international domains in non-English languages. "It will help contribute to a globally unified Internet," he said. He said accepting any new top-level domains that meet the criteria will ensure that ICANN does not have to pick winners and losers. Beckstrom emphasized that the domain expansion was the result of six years of careful deliberation. He said ICANN will use tough safe-guards to prevent fraud and trademark-infringement. He said groups will be able to file a complaint against a proposed domain if it is too similar to a trademark they own. For the first time, ICANN will also have the power to reclaim a domain after it has already launched if it infringes a trademark or confuses consumers. Additionally, groups must prove they actually represent a community if they try to register a domain related to that community. So for example, ".bank" would likely go to a banking trade association, Beckstrom said. "There's a lot of checks and balances here to try to reduce abuse and address concerns that communities have," Beckstrom said. He said ICANN takes into account the concerns of business groups and government officials, but he emphasized that the organization does not answer to the U.S. government. "We're an international organization, and we report to the world," he said.
benton.org/node/110255 | Hill, The | National Journal | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top


GENACHOWSKI AT CES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, in his third appearance at CES, primarily used the stage to stump for his favorite issue -- pushing TV broadcasters to auction off their spectrum to be used for wireless broadband. But he also said Verizon Communications' lawsuit challenging the agency's network neutrality regulations was "distracting" and could create uncertainty and confusion in the market. Chairman Genachowski, who was interviewed by Consumer Electronics Association president Gary Shapiro, said the FCC was "tempted to focus on other things" but that he felt he needed to take action on network neutrality to bring about a détente between network providers and technology companies. "I thought we had to bring peace to the land," he said. "I'm proud of the result -- our goal was to see increased investment in the broadband economy." About 80% of companies supported the FCC's network neutrality rules, according to Genachowski.
On the "spectrum crunch" issue, Chairman Genachowski repeated his call to repurpose TV airwaves for mobile broadband. He said voluntary spectrum auctions would generate $25 billion in cash for the U.S. Treasury, and -- more important -- make additional capacity available for new services. "My message today on incentive auctions is simple: We need to get it done now and we need to get it done right," he said.
benton.org/node/110252 | Multichannel News
Recommend this Headline
back to top

WIRELESS

VERIZON-SPECTRUMCO DOCKET
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
Verizon Wireless and SpectrumCo filed an application seeking to assign 122 Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) licenses to Verizon Wireless from SpectrumCo. In a separate filing, Verizon Wireless and Cox TMI Wireless, LLC filed an application seeking to assign 30 AWS licenses to Verizon Wireless from Cox. The purpose of this public notice is to announce the opening of a docket, WT Docket No. 12-4, and establish the ex parte status of any discussions related to the applications. The FCC notes that the applications have not yet been accepted for filing. When they are, the FCC will issue a separate public notice or notices announcing that fact and setting forth a pleading schedule.
benton.org/node/110195 | Federal Communications Commission
Recommend this Headline
back to top


GRASSLEY SEEKS GPS INFO
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) continues to try to collect information from the relevant parties about the Federal Communications Commission's waiver to would-be 4G wholesale wireless broadband provider LightSquared, this time from GPS companies. And according to Grassley's letter to the companies, he has assurances from all that they will comply. But that still won't be sufficient to remove the hold threat on two new FCC commissioners the senator has pledged until he gets the information from the FCC he has also been seeking. The senator, concerned about the services potential to interfere with GPS, was rebuffed by the FCC when he asked for internal documents about the waiver process, and by LightSquared and parent, Harbinger Capital, when he asked them for documents regarding their communications with the FCC and Obama Administration.
benton.org/node/110239 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top


REAL TIME CHARITABLE GIVING
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Aaron Smith]
Charitable donations from mobile phones have grown more common in recent years. Two thirds (64%) of American adults now use text messaging, and 9% have texted a charitable donation from their mobile phone. And these text donors are emerging as a new cohort of charitable givers. The first-ever, in-depth study on mobile donors –which analyzed the “Text to Haiti” campaign after the 2010 earthquake—finds that these contributions were often spur-of-the-moment decisions that spread virally through friend networks. Three quarters of these donors (73%) contributed using their phones on the same day they heard about the campaign, and a similar number (76%) say that they typically make text message donations without conducting much in-depth research beforehand. Yet while their initial contribution often involved little deliberation, 43% of these donors encouraged their friends or family members to give to the campaign as well. In addition, a majority of those surveyed (56%) have continued to give to more recent disaster relief efforts—such as the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan—using their mobile phones.
benton.org/node/110240 | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
Recommend this Headline
back to top

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

LITTLE INTEREST IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
Watching TV, it can sometimes seem as if the whole country is transfixed by the Republican presidential primary race. But then the TV ratings come in. While some of the Republican debates have drawn record-size audiences, viewers have mostly shrugged off the actual vote-counting. About 4.4 million people were tuned to one of the three main cable news channels — Fox News, CNN and MSNBC — on Jan 10 when Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary, only a million more than had watched one of the channels the prior night, according to the Nielsen Company.
CNN, which is normally behind Fox and MSNBC in prime time, was the biggest beneficiary, more than doubling its audience temporarily — though it still had only half as many viewers as Fox did. The increases for Fox, which leans right in prime time, and MSNBC, which leans left in prime time, were much smaller — they had just a couple hundred thousand more viewers than the prior night. The ratings suggest that political connoisseurs are captivated by the vote-tallying on TV this year, but casual viewers by and large are not.
benton.org/node/110251 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top


FACEBOOK PRIMARY
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Rachel Van Dongen]
If Mitt Romney was worried about a late surge from Rick Santorum toppling him in the New Hampshire primary, his fans on Facebook knew better. According to an exclusive survey of all U.S. Facebook users provided to POLITICO by Facebook, the volume of posts, status updates, links shared to friends’ walls and user comments about Romney in the days leading up to the Granite State primary predicted a strong finish. On Jan. 10, primary day, Romney reached over 100,000 mentions on the social network, about the same number as Rep Ron Paul (R-TX), who finished second in New Hampshire. Although Rep Paul finished 17 points behind Romney in New Hampshire, his prowess on social-networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, where he has legions of devoted fans eager to spread his message, is well-known.
benton.org/node/110248 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top


POLITICAL AMNESIA
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: ]
What do people look at when they visit the websites of presidential candidates, and do they actually remember anything they see? In December, EyeTrackShop asked people to look at the sites of the then-eight major candidates for 10 seconds each while it followed their gaze via Web camera. Afterwards, respondents were asked which candidates they remembered just seeing. (They could pick from the correct eight plus five other candidates.) Respondents were also asked to pick the candidate they’d vote for, based on the attractiveness of the site. Among the key findings:
Barack Obama’s and Michele Bachmann’s campaign sites were the ones most people remembered seeing
Excluding those campaign sites, fewer than 5 out of 10 respondents even remembered the candidate they saw 1 minute ago.
benton.org/node/110230 | AdWeek
Recommend this Headline
back to top

RADIO

AMERICAN HATE RADIO
[SOURCE: National Hispanic Media Coalition, AUTHOR: Press release]
This report sheds light on the prevalence and the dangers of hate speech on American radio. Revealing complaints filed by consumers with the Federal Communications Commission, which NHMC uncovered through a Freedom of Information Act request, the report documents years of public allegations of hate speech against KFI AM 640, a Clear Channel Radio station.
American Hate Radio explores how hate groups and hate crimes have spiked while hate radio's popularity and reach have grown. The report notes that radio is the primary way that people consume media, reaching 93% percent of Americans each week. In the 1990s, the news-talk format developed, and it is now the predominant radio format with almost 1,800 dedicated stations nationwide. However, as the report reveals, the quality of news-talk radio programs varies a great deal. All the while, the number of hate groups in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2000. The five states with the most hate groups are California (68), Texas (59), Florida (49), New Jersey (47) and Mississippi (40).
benton.org/node/110226 | National Hispanic Media Coalition
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PRIVACY

PRIVACY CONCERNS AT CES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
The thousands of devices debuting Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show here demonstrate how tech companies are poised to gather unprecedented insights into consumers’ lives — how much they eat, whether they exercise, when they are home and who they count as friends. Silicon Valley is in a gold rush for information, highlighted by Google’s announcement Tuesday that it would incorporate data posted by users on its social networking service into the results of its main search engine. Tailoring services and ads for consumers is where tech firms sees future riches. Today, computers, smartphones, social networks and new devices — such as health-oriented gadgets and Web-connected televisions — show the potential of companies to peer into ever more aspects of daily life. Coming soon are Internet connected refrigerators, washing machines and other appliances that may be able to deliver information to third parties, such as utilities. All that has some tech experts and lawmakers concerned that consumers, in their rush to snap up the latest gadgets, may be sacrificing privacy.
benton.org/node/110199 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top


FTC COMPLAINT FOR GOOGLE SEARCH
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jessica Guynn]
A privacy watchdog group probably will complain to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that a new Google search feature raises privacy and antitrust concerns. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said his group is considering filing a letter with the FTC. EPIC made the complaint that resulted in Google's settlement with the FTC that requires the Internet search giant to submit to external audits of their privacy practices every other year. "We believe this is something that the FTC needs to look at," Rotenberg said. Google calls the new feature rolling out to users of its English-language search engine "Search Plus Your World." It blends information such as photos, comments and news posted on its Google+ social network into users' search results. It mostly affects the one in four people who log into Google or Google+ while searching the Web. Those users will have the option of seeing search results that are customized to their interests and connections, say, a photo of the family dog or a friend's recommendation for a restaurant.
benton.org/node/110198 | Los Angeles Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PIRACY

OBAMA AND SOPA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a controversial online piracy bill, could force President Barack Obama to choose between two of his most important allies: Hollywood and Silicon Valley. President Obama hasn’t taken a position yet on the legislation that has divided senior lawmakers in both parties, but that will have to change if it clears Congress. If President Obama signs the bill, he will dash the hopes of Silicon Valley executives who donated heavily to his 2008 campaign and are vehemently opposed to the anti-piracy measure. But the entertainment industry would see a veto as a betrayal by the Administration on its most significant priority.
benton.org/node/110243 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top


DNS REDIRECTS INCOMPATIBLE WITH DNSSEC
[SOURCE: TechDirt, AUTHOR: Mike Masnick]
Comcast, which owns NBC Universal, is officially a SOPA/PIPA supporter. However, Comcast completed its DNSSEC deployment, making it "the first large ISP in the North America to have fully implemented" DNSSEC across the board. That's huge, and a clear vote of confidence for DNSSEC, obviously. They also urge others to use DNSSEC.
But what may be much more interesting is that, along with this announcement, Comcast has also mentioned that it is shutting down its Domain Helper service. Domain Helper was a somewhat controversial DNS-redirect system, so that when you mistyped something, it would suggest the proper page or alternatives. Many in the internet community complained that these types of redirects mess with the underlying DNS system (which they do). But, as the DNS experts have been saying all along (and NBC Universal has been trying to play down), DNSSEC is incompatible with such DNS redirects. So... that makes this next part a little awkward. Comcast is now admitting, indeed, that DNS redirects, such as Domain Helper, are incompatible with DNSSEC.
benton.org/node/110192 | TechDirt
Recommend this Headline
back to top

OWNERSHIP

FOX-DODGERS SETTLEMENT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
Los Angeles Dodgers will not market its media rights beyond 2013 as part of lawsuit settlement with Fox Sports. According to the settlement filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, the Dodgers have agreed to abandon the proposed auction of its media rights, the sale of which would have violated the terms of its current contract with Fox’s Prime Ticket affiliate. In exchange, Fox agreed to withdraw its objection to the settlement between MLB and outgoing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, thereby removing the final impediment to the sale of the franchise. Fox also retained the right to challenge the sale of the team to Time Warner Cable.
Fox’s Prime Ticket will continue to broadcast Dodgers games through the 2013 season. At the close of the 2012 MLB season, the Dodgers will honor Fox’s exclusive 45-day negotiating window. If Fox had lost its exclusivity, Time Warner Cable was poised to swoop in with a competitive bid.
Fox, a unit of News Corp, had persuaded a judge to temporarily halt the team's plan to sell the media rights to games starting in 2014 - rights that were expected to be worth billions. The Dodgers, which have been in bankruptcy since June, wanted to sell the rights to future games as a way to boost the value of the team before it goes up for sale on Jan. 23.
benton.org/node/110196 | Reuters | AdWeek
Recommend this Headline
back to top

STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:


4G AUCTION IN UK
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
Ofcom has scaled back proposals that had ensured four potential bidders for the most valuable bandwidth able to carry next generation mobile services under the revised terms of a contentious auction that could raise billions of pounds for the government. The regulator has also introduced measures expected to extend mobile coverage to at least 98 per cent of the UK population, including the so-called mobile ‘not spot’ areas, and revised plans to promote competition across all four mobile operators. In addition, the regulator has set aside bandwidth to be shared by a group of companies to deliver innovative new mobile services for consumers such as local networks for student campuses, hospitals or commercial offices. The most contentious change to the auction for UK operators will be the revised rules over the amount of the crucial 800mhz spectrum that can be bought by each. Ofcom will maintain a reserved amount of bandwidth for a smaller fourth operator such as Three or a new entrant away from O2, Vodafone and Everything Everywhere.
benton.org/node/110223 | Financial Times | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top


GOOGLE AND CHINA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amir Efrati, Loretta Chao]
Google, which pulled its Web-search engine out of mainland China two years ago after a confrontation with Chinese authorities over censorship, has renewed its push to expand there, in an acknowledgment that it can't afford to miss out on the world's biggest Internet market. The search giant is hiring more engineers, salespeople and product managers in China and working to introduce new services for Chinese consumers, according to Daniel Alegre, Google's top executive in Asia. In particular, Google is aiming to capitalize on its fast-growing Android operating system for mobile devices, online-advertising and product-search services to grow in China, Mr. Alegre said in an interview. One goal, he said, is to introduce its Android Market, which offers thousands of mobile applications to users of Android-powered smartphones and tablets but isn't available in China. The company also is trying to win over Chinese consumers with services that don't require official censorship, such as Shihui, which launched in September to help people search among Chinese sites offering discounts at local stores. Google is also working to beef up its product-search service to help consumers find goods from online retailers.
benton.org/node/110218 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top


DUTCH COURT ORDERS COMPANIES TO BLOCK PIRATE BAY
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Toby Sterling]
A Dutch court ordered two major Internet service providers in the Netherlands to block their customers from accessing The Pirate Bay website or face large fines. The Swedish-born website has been a thorn in the side of the entertainment industry for years by helping millions of people download copyrighted music, movies and computer games. In 2010, a Swedish appeals court upheld the copyright infringement convictions of three men behind the site, but it remains in operation. The Dutch ISPs Ziggo and XS4ALL had resisted demands by a copyright holders' organization to block their subscribers' access to the site, arguing they should not have to act as censors. But the Hague District Court said in its written ruling they must do so within 10 working days or face fines of euro 10,000 ($12,750) per day. Another option, individually pursuing "many thousands of subscribers in the Netherlands who trade files via The Pirate Bay would be, in the court's judgment, no less a far-reaching measure," the court said.
benton.org/node/110215 | Associated Press
Recommend this Headline
back to top


CHINA'S INTERNET USERS BREACH HALF BILLION MARK
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Melanie Lee]
The number of Internet users in China have crossed the half billion mark, reaching 505 million users at the end of November last year, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported. The Internet penetration rate stood at 37.7 percent, up 3.4 percent over the end of 2010, CNNIC said in a report released late last month. This compares with Internet penetration rates of more than 70 percent for China's more technologically advanced East Asian neighbors, Japan and South Korea. At the end of November, the number of microblog users exceeded 300 million, jumping from 195 million at the end of June, a CNNIC report said.
benton.org/node/110209 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top

Full-speed ahead for Web domain expansion

Rod Beckstrom, president and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), brushed off criticism of his group's plan to allow for new Web domain endings.

"In the next four hours, we're not going to go translate some concept from one special interest trade association into a global policy for the Internet," Beckstrom said, referring to a list of proposed changes from the Association of National Advertisers. "We think that would be imprudent." ICANN is the nonprofit group that manages the Web’s address system. The group will began accepting applications for new Web addresses ending in almost any word or phrase. The first new address endings, known as generic top-level domains, will rollout in about a year. Beckstrom said the change will allow for more consumer choice and competition. He emphasized the plan will allow for more international domains in non-English languages. "It will help contribute to a globally unified Internet," he said. He said accepting any new top-level domains that meet the criteria will ensure that ICANN does not have to pick winners and losers. Beckstrom emphasized that the domain expansion was the result of six years of careful deliberation. He said ICANN will use tough safe-guards to prevent fraud and trademark-infringement. He said groups will be able to file a complaint against a proposed domain if it is too similar to a trademark they own. For the first time, ICANN will also have the power to reclaim a domain after it has already launched if it infringes a trademark or confuses consumers. Additionally, groups must prove they actually represent a community if they try to register a domain related to that community. So for example, ".bank" would likely go to a banking trade association, Beckstrom said. "There's a lot of checks and balances here to try to reduce abuse and address concerns that communities have," Beckstrom said. He said ICANN takes into account the concerns of business groups and government officials, but he emphasized that the organization does not answer to the U.S. government. "We're an international organization, and we report to the world," he said.

Officials see limited government role in Internet governance

Increasing the role of governments in cyberspace could spell disaster for the free nature of the Internet, top American officials and analysts said.

Rather than seeking expanded government control, countries, companies, and other organizations should seek to strengthen a "multi-stakeholder" approach that allows input from everyone, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Larry Strickling told an audience at the Brookings Institution. "Each challenge to the multi-stakeholder model has implications for Internet governance throughout the world," he said. "When parties ask us to overturn the outcomes of these processes, no matter how well-intentioned the request, they are providing ammunition to other countries who would like to see governments take control of the Internet." Strickling defended the process that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers used to develop plans for new, expanded domain names. While that plan has been criticized, Strickling said it was inappropriate for detractors to ask the U.S. government to step in. He said efforts to more strictly control cyberspace will only lead to stagnation. "An Internet constrained by an international treaty will stifle the innovators and entrepreneurs who are responsible for its awesome growth," Strickling said.

As opposed to individual government policies or strict international agreements, broad principles can help pressure other countries to preserve the Internet as a global platform, said Karen Kornbluh, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

CES: FCC's Genachowski Calls Network Neutrality Lawsuit 'Distracting'

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, in his third appearance at CES, primarily used the stage to stump for his favorite issue -- pushing TV broadcasters to auction off their spectrum to be used for wireless broadband. But he also said Verizon Communications' lawsuit challenging the agency's network neutrality regulations was "distracting" and could create uncertainty and confusion in the market.

Chairman Genachowski, who was interviewed by Consumer Electronics Association president Gary Shapiro, said the FCC was "tempted to focus on other things" but that he felt he needed to take action on network neutrality to bring about a détente between network providers and technology companies. "I thought we had to bring peace to the land," he said. "I'm proud of the result -- our goal was to see increased investment in the broadband economy." About 80% of companies supported the FCC's network neutrality rules, according to Genachowski.

On the "spectrum crunch" issue, Chairman Genachowski repeated his call to repurpose TV airwaves for mobile broadband. He said voluntary spectrum auctions would generate $25 billion in cash for the U.S. Treasury, and -- more important -- make additional capacity available for new services. "My message today on incentive auctions is simple: We need to get it done now and we need to get it done right," he said.

© 1994-2025 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.