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January 2012

Jim Fellows, key diplomat within public TV, dies at 77

James A. Fellows, 77, an advocate of high ideals and strategic planning for public television, died in his sleep Friday, Jan. 6, at a nursing home in Millville (NJ).

Fellows represented stations on the national scene for 40 years, serving as the last president of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, founding Current as a service of NAEB, remaining its publisher for more than 20 years, and working to establish a strategic planning unit for the famously fractured and decentralized public TV field. In 1979, CPB honored him with its highest award for achievement in public television, the Ralph Lowell Medal. From 1983 to 2003 he led Central Educational Network, a regional association of stations, and for years he chaired the Maryland Public Television Foundation. A longtime participant in the Prix Jeunesse biennial children’s TV festival, he chaired its international advisory board and founded what is now the American Center for Children and Media, based in Chicago.

A battlefield internet?

Observing the rapid spread of personal computers and the growing popularity of Internet use, the Army in the late 1990’s decided to create a digital revolution of its own. By transforming every soldier into a communications node, capable of transmitting and receiving large volumes of data from many sources, Army leaders imagined they could chart the path to an era of high-tech wars in which information was as important as bullets and shells. But in doing so, the planners went the wrong way, according to independent analysts.

Instead of repairing their communications problems with lighter, easier-to-use radios, and a simpler network, they chose heavier, more complex devices. That solution, says Col. Gian Gentile, an Iraq war veteran now teaching at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, “took [the challenges of] close fighting out of the equation.” It ignored, in effect, the risk of trying to spread high-tech electronics everywhere amid the rough and tumble of brutal combat.

Problems with battlefield smartphones

In mid-November, when the Army asked soldiers to test and appraise the high-tech communications devices that came from what’s left of the JTRS program, the answers they got were not exactly reassuring. After gathering in a dusty valley ringed by low mountains in New Mexico, a part of the White Sands Missile Range, the soldiers jumped from armored vehicles in a “village” composed of cheap plywood-and-concrete structures, including one with the word “mosque” sprayed on the side.

Failure to communicate: Inside the army's doomed quest for the 'perfect' radio

As several dozen soldiers from the U.S. Army’s Task Force Rock drove into Afghanistan’s Chowkay Valley one morning in March 2010, Taliban fighters immediately began moving into ambush positions along a higher ridge. The Force’s mission was to protect a U.S. reconstruction team as it met with local village leaders, but it was stuck in place as the Taliban reached their fighting posts. What tied them down was their radios: a forest of plastic and metal cubes sprouting antennae of different lengths and sizes. They had short-range models for talking with the reconstruction team; longer-range versions for reaching headquarters 25 miles away; and a backup satellite radio in case the mountains blocked the transmission. An Air Force controller carried his own radio for talking to jet fighters overhead and a separate radio for downloading streaming video from the aircraft. Some of these radios worked only while the troopers were stationary; others were simply too cumbersome to operate on the move. “Not good,” said Spec. Geoff Pearman, as he watched farmers scurry indoors from their wheat fields — a sure sign that fighting was imminent.

WebMD ends sale talks, CEO resigns

Publicly traded Internet health portal WebMD Health Corp. announced that President and CEO Wayne Gattinella is resigning and the company's board has terminated talks for a potential acquisition by another firm. WebMD was among companies Yahoo! Inc. was interested in owning as part of a tax-efficient asset swap with Alibaba Group Holding.

Local TV News, Meet the Internet

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed an important rule change that could make the political system more transparent. Amazingly, the trade associations representing the local TV news industry are opposing it.

In exchange for being given the broadcast spectrum by taxpayers for free, broadcasters have long been required to fulfill certain “public-interest obligations” to communities. These used to be fairly significant; now they mostly entail compiling and maintaining a “public-inspection file” that citizens can examine. One of the most interesting components of the file: broadcasters are required to keep a log of the political advertising that airs on their channel. This is a potential gold mine of information about who is spending what. The requirement applies to all races—national, state, and local—and issue ads, and must be posted rapidly (usually within forty-eight hours). Stations also must maintain a list of the executives or members of the board of directors of the groups buying the ads. To be clear, this is what broadcasters are already required to assemble. They mostly do it on paper and store it in filing cabinets at their offices. The FCC’s proposal is breathtakingly obvious: move the material online.

Why media outlets team up in an election year

We’ve reached the point in journalism where we barely bat an eye when two news organizations say they’re joining forces. Anything less than a merger is just not an earth mover these days, when egos, brands, unique audiences — all of the guarded, proprietary stuff that kept news companies at opposite ends of the sword — seem to matter less in the face of an uncertain journalism marketplace.

In that way the new partnership between NBC News and Newsweek/The Daily Beast to cover the 2012 election shouldn’t be too surprising. It’s a classic partnership of two organizations looking for a Doublemint effect: Double the resources, double the coverage, double the audience. The plan calls for campaign trail reporting from NBC (and a healthy dose of video) to appear in the pages of Newsweek and online at The Daily Beast. Call it NBCWeekBeast. (NBeastCWeek?) But there’s something about politics in particular that seems to bring out the hugging and sharing in news organizations. A presidential election brings out the heavy news artillery, and that means a flurry of scooplets coming from all directions — from the networks, from newspapers national and local, from blogs, from campaigns, and everywhere else. All that firepower pointed in the same direction makes the urge to team up more tempting than ever.

Forget the Debates -- Focus on the Air War!

If debates are unlikely to sway voters, is there a format where attacks can shape the primary campaign? Yes -- television advertisements, which are seen by a wider and more diverse group of people than debates. As Georgetown political scientist Jonathan Ladd pointed out on Twitter, negative ads may be especially potent in primary campaigns since voters lack party cues or an incumbent record to vote on, and there are often vast resource discrepancies between rival candidates.

Viewed through this prism, the most significant campaign news of the last few days was not the debates over the weekend, or even the New Hampshire primary, which Mitt Romney should easily win. Rather, it was the report that a super PAC backing Newt Gingrich will air millions of dollars in negative ads against Romney in South Carolina, the site of the next Republican primary after New Hampshire. But while the media hasn’t ignored this development, it hasn’t yet gotten the broad attention it merits. Romney remains the overwhelming favorite to win the nomination, but those ads could damage him in a state that is considered more difficult for him to win. More importantly, they raise serious questions about the role that outside spending will play in our post-Citizens United democracy. For both reasons, the coming South Carolina onslaught deserves more coverage than it’s getting.

Company says carriers, phone makers infringe patent

Little-known company Globaltel was awarded a patent last year that it claims Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Nokia, most phone makers, and every carrier in the world infringes.

The patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,073,895, covers text messages sent from a computer to a mobile phone that include a URL. While it staged a press conference at CES to detail how often the patent is infringed, Globaltel said it would rather sell the patent than chase infringers. "We're a small company. We have no intention of going after these companies," said Robert Sanchez, Globaltel Media's CEO and president. "We're going to sell it to the highest bidder." He claimed he has had discussions with Qualcomm, for which he formerly worked, and about five other companies to buy the patent. Others, including HTC, Motorola, and Samsung, would be the kinds of companies that also might be interested in it, he said.

January 10, 2012 (FCC’s Genachowski Proposes Lifeline reform)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2012

The Consumer Electronics Show goes into high gear today and the Supreme Court hears arguments on indecency (preview below) http://benton.org/calendar/2012-01-10/


DIGITAL DIVIDE
   FCC’s Genachowski proposes broadband reform
   Fact Sheet: Modernizing the Lifeline Program for Broadband - press release
   More Wireless Broadband Is What Consumers Want, U.S. Needs to Close the Digital Divide - editorial
   Where is the Gipper? - op-ed

INETRNET/BROADBAND
   Internet body says name expansion won't hurt United Nations
   ANA Offers Olive Branch to Icann
   Amazon, Indiana strike state sales tax deal
   Administration decision on Internet gambling may force Congress's hand

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   Senators blast House spectrum bill
   Microsoft Reinvents Wi-Fi for White Spaces
   Surprise! AT&T's network got very good [links to web]
   iPhone breathing down neck of Android in US [links to web]
   Free Mobile sparks French telecoms price war [links to web]

CONTENT
   The FCC, the Supreme Court and policing indecency
   Chairman Issa calls hearing on Domain Name Service, search engine blocking for Jan. 18
   Rep Paul Ryan joins opponents of piracy bill

PRIVACY
   Lawmakers accuse Facebook of ducking questions on its privacy practices

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   The Stephanopoulos Standard - editorial
   TV broadcasters enjoy spoils of political wars
   Ad Battle Heats Up for Contest in South Carolina

RESEARCH
   Call for Proposals: Defining and Measuring Meaningful Broadband Adoption

MORE ONLINE
   New York City Completes Major 911 System Overhaul [links to web]
   Google Expands Its TV Advertising Business [links to web]
   Fighting for Control Of New 'Smart' TVs [links to web]
   ABC News Chief Takes Aim at NBC's Top Spot [links to web]
   HHS launches first consumer health IT video challenge of 2012 - press release [links to web]
   Nielsen: TV Proliferates, Mobile Ads OK, If Apps Free [links to web]
   Online textbooks could work for California [links to web]

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DIGITAL DIVIDE

FCC LIFELINE REFORM PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined a draft proposal that would reform the commission’s Lifeline program to include provisions to encourage broadband adoption. The program, currently aimed at providing affordable telephone service to low-income Americans, is supported by the Universal Service Fund. “The program is outdated, focused on phone service when high-speed Internet has become our vital communications platform,” he said. To address accountability and efficiency issues, Chairman Genachowski said, the draft proposal creates a national database of Lifeline users to prevent duplicative billing. It also sets a budget for Lifeline aimed at connecting eligible consumers while staying within budget, and requires that participating companies be subject to independent audits every two years. He said that FCC staff estimate the reforms will save the fund $2 billion over the next two years. The chairman said the FCC would work with existing broadband adoption programs to establish its own pilot program using savings from its budget reforms. It will also look at how to use Lifeline to encourage adoption among those consumers.
benton.org/node/109920 | Washington Post | The Hill | B&C | Chairman Genachowski
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FACT SHEET ON LIFELINE REFORM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Here’s an outline of proposed changes to the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program.
I. Proposed changes to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse from and otherwise reform Lifeline will:
Establish clear goals and metrics to measure performance towards those goals;
Create a National Lifeline Accountability Database to prevent multiple carriers from receiving support for the same subscriber;
Set a budget for Lifeline, while acknowledging that the size of the program should fluctuate as the economy improves or worsens and the Lifeline-eligible population shrinks or grows.
Establish national eligibility criteria to ensure access to Lifeline service for all low-income consumers who meet federal standards for participation in the program, with the recognition of the unique circumstances facing Tribal communities. States would be permitted to add to these criteria.
Conduct independent audits every two years on every carrier that receives more than a specified annual amount of support from the program.
II. Reforms will start the process of modernizing Lifeline from telephone service to supporting broadband:
Broadband has gone from being a luxury to a necessity for Americans, including to look for and find a job and access education and healthcare services. Proposed modernization of Lifeline will:
Establish a Broadband Adoption Pilot Program using savings from other reforms to test and determine how Lifeline can best be used to increase broadband adoption among Lifeline-eligible consumers. Starting this year, the program will solicit applications from broadband providers and will select a number of projects to fund. Lifeline will help reduce the monthly cost of broadband service, but applicants will be expected to help address other challenges to broadband adoption, including the cost of devices and digital literacy.
Increase digital literacy training at libraries and schools. A Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will seek comment on using savings from USF reforms to increase digital literacy training at libraries and schools, a key step in increasing broadband adoption.
Build on FCC efforts to close the broadband adoption gap and address digital literacy, including the Connect-to-Compete initiative, which enlists government, non-profit, and private sector leaders to address broadband adoption barriers through digital literacy training and low-cost broadband availability.
benton.org/node/109944 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Genachowski
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US NEEDS TO CLOSE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: Minority Media and telecommunications Council, AUTHOR: David Honig]
[Commentary] Susan Crawford is a heroine of mine. Not only is she a distinguished telecom policy scholar, she’s one of the very few who has focused on the digital divide. Her recent New York Times commentary “The New Digital Divide” accurately points out that the nation is at risk if we don’t close the disparate access to broadband along the lines of race and class. The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) has declared that broadband access, adoption, and informed use is the #1 civil rights issue in the digital age, and that without broadband a person living in the digital age is doomed to second class citizenship.
But what should be the remedies? How does a community implement school integration without bus rides that deprive children of sufficient sleep? Can healthcare be equalized without training physicians to be aware of their unconscious prejudices that translate into racially disparate treatment patterns? Can housing be desegregated without also planning for desegregation of the nearby schools and workplaces?
Equalizing access to broadband is a civil rights matter of the greatest importance. And, with the greatest respect, Professor Crawford takes us part of the way toward the answer – but not all the way there. Her analysis, while substantially correct, contains two errors.
First, she mistakenly identifies wireless as a big part of the problem of the digital divide when, actually, it’s much more a part of the solution.
And second, while she correctly recognizes that shared networks lead to lower prices and hence more affordability and higher rates of adoption, her argument comes several years too late.
benton.org/node/109946 | Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
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WHERE’S THE GIPPER?
[SOURCE: Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, AUTHOR: Deborah Taylor Tate]
[Commentary] Sometimes government reform is actually something else in disguise. I am wondering if that is the case with the recent criticism of Lifeline-Linkup, a program established by Congress and started under the Reagan administration to provide access to communications services for the poorest Americans. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission have long acknowledged the societal and economic importance of communications: networks actually increase in value as more people connect. So does income, employability, access to healthcare, and access to emergency services. With technological change, Congress updated Lifeline-Linkup to include cellular service, and now provide persons below the poverty level a choice—just as higher income individuals have—regarding their devices and services. No one disputes that the program can be streamlined and improved; specifically, duplicate subsidies should be disallowed, eligibility enforced, and overall administration improved. Two industry leaders, Nexus and Tracfone, have come forward with self-regulatory and creative ways to solve many issues related to Lifeline-Linkup. One of these is a data-driven solution, paid for by the industry, to ensure only one subsidy per household. The FCC has an opportunity to adopt an industry-led, voluntary resolution which will be cost-saving because it is paid for by the companies themselves. It can certainly be implemented much more quickly than a burdensome bureaucratic government scheme. And most importantly, will it resolve the program’s problems.
While I would hope our policymakers govern with compassion, perhaps they should just look at the bottom line and realize that Lifeline/Linkup could actually assist in raising incomes and improving the economy. As President Reagan so eloquently stated: “(W)elfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.” Lifeline-Linkup is one of the few government programs which does precisely that.
benton.org/node/109948 | Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
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INETRNET/BROADBAND

ICANN AND UN
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Patrick Worsnip]
Internet domain name regulators played down fears by the United Nations and other international bodies that a planned expansion of possible Website addresses could cause them problems, saying safeguards were in place. The world body, the International Monetary Fund and 26 other organizations last month wrote to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, asking it to stop addresses like ".un" or ".imf" from being seized by "cybersquatters." Cybersquatters register addresses that appear to belong to others, sometimes in the hope of selling them to those who have a more logical claim to them. "We're very sensitive to those concerns," ICANN president Rod Beckstrom told reporters, referring to the objections by international bodies. "We'll be responding to that letter." Beckstrom said that if anyone applied for a top-level domain using a trademark or service mark owned by someone else, the owner could file a complaint to a panel of intellectual property experts, who would decide who had rights to the term.
benton.org/node/109976 | Reuters
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ANA OLIVE BRANCH
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
The Association of National Advertisers offered a small olive branch to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, just three days before the organization is set to begin accepting applications for new top-level domains. In an open letter to Icann's board of directors, the ANA proposed a way forward "in the interest of being constructive" suggesting that Icann go ahead with accepting applications Jan 12, but that stakeholders concerned about protecting their brands be put on a temporary "Do Not Sell" list at no cost. Since Icann approved the TLD plan this summer, advertisers have argued Icann's plan would be a financial burden to trademark and brand owners who would need to shell out $185,000 to apply for a TLD (not to mention defensive registration costs and other annual fees), confuse consumers and increase opportunities for fraud, identity theft and cyber crime. In his letter, Bob Liodice, ANA's president and CEO positioned the last-minute proposal as "reasonable and simple." But he also reminded Icann of the strong opposition it is facing for its plan.
benton.org/node/109975 | AdWeek
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AMAZON TAX DEAL
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Alistair Barr]
Amazon and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels unveiled an agreement that may mean that the world's largest Internet retailer starts collecting sales tax in the state in 2014. Amazon will voluntarily begin collecting Indiana sales tax on Internet purchases on Jan 1, 2014, or 90 days from any federal online sales tax legislation that may pass before that time, according to a statement from Daniels' office. Online retailers without a physical presence in a state do not have to collect sales tax on purchases by those residents. As e-commerce ballooned in recent years, that exemption came under pressure from several states looking to fill big budget gaps. Brick and mortar retailers have been pushing hard behind the scenes to get Amazon to collect sales tax. Some traditional retailers argue Amazon has an unfair price advantage because it does not collect the tax in many states, although Amazon has said customers shop with it for other reasons, such as wide product selection and availability.
benton.org/node/109985 | Reuters
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ONLINE GAMBLINE BILL
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
A Justice Department memo last month that cleared the way for states to legalize online poker and lotteries makes it more important than ever for Congress to clear up the issue on a federal level, supporters of legislation say. The Justice Department said the 1961 Wire Act, a federal law barring certain types of betting using wire communications, only applies to gambling on sporting events. The memo, which was written in September but not released until late last month, was crafted in response to questions from New York and Illinois about the legality of selling state lottery tickets online. Supporters of legalizing online poker cheered the ruling but said it may create confusion and encourage the creation of a patchwork of state Internet gambling rules. Congress passed legislation in 2006 aimed at barring online gambling in the United States by prohibiting financial institutions from processing payments for online bets. "I think that this ruling creates more confusion than clarity in the Internet gambling debate," SAID American Gaming Association President and CEO Frank Fahrenkopf.
benton.org/node/109954 | National Journal
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

SENATORS BLAST HOUSE SPECTRUM BILL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
In a letter to Senate leadership, a bipartisan group of senators criticized the House version of legislation to overhaul how the country uses its airwaves. Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) support the Senate version of the legislation but said the House bill would inappropriately tie the hands of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The House version, sponsored by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), would prohibit the FCC from designating additional airwaves for unlicensed use. Unlicensed spectrum, which can be used by any company for free, powers technologies such as Wi-Fi, garage door openers and remote controls. In their letter, the senators argued that Congress should allow the FCC to make its own decision about how best to use the airwaves. "In the rush to fill the Treasury’s coffers with revenue from spectrum auctions, we must not neglect the fertile ground for innovation that unlicensed spectrum offers and the subsequent economic value it produces," the senators wrote. The senators also criticized the House bill for prohibiting the FCC from imposing various conditions on which companies can buy spectrum leases at auction.
benton.org/node/109988 | Hill, The
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MICROSOFT REINVENTS WI-FI
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Christopher Mims]
Microsoft has developed a new kind of Wi-Fi network that performs at its top speed even in the face of interference. It takes advantage of a new Wi-Fi standard that uses more of the electromagnetic spectrum, but also hops between the narrow bands of unused spectrum within television broadcast frequencies. Krishna Chintalapudi and his team at Microsoft Research have pioneered an approach, called Wi-Fi-NC, which makes efficient use of these white spaces at these speeds. Rather than using a conventional Wi-Fi radio, it uses an array of tiny, low-data rate transmitters and receivers. Each of these broadcast and receive via a different, narrow range of spectrum. Bundled together, they work just like a regular Wi-Fi radio, but can switch between white-space frequencies far more efficiently. That means the system is compatible with existing equipment. "The entire reception and transmission logic could be reused from existing Wi-Fi implementations," says Chintalapudi. The team calls these transmitters and receivers "receiver-lets" and "transmitter-lets." Together, they make up what's known as a "compound radio."
benton.org/node/109949 | Technology Review
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CONTENT

POLICING INDECENCY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The Supreme Court will be asked Jan 10 to invalidate a Federal Communications Commission policy that punishes broadcasters for spontaneous vulgar utterances — so-called fleeting expletives. That's an easy call, but the justices face the harder task of deciding whether advances in technology have undermined the rationale for any governmental policing of indecency on television.
Punishing a broadcaster for inadvertent remarks over which it has no control makes no sense. Indeed, the Federal Communications Commission recognized as much until a policy change in 2004. But in examining the cases, the U.S. 2nd Court of Appeals went further than invalidating the rule; it struck down the FCC's entire indecency policy as unconstitutionally vague, noting that the agency used subjective criteria. But if the FCC can't protect children from indecency on the airwaves, parents might ask, wouldn't that threaten their innocence? That concern assumes inaccurately that broadcast television and radio are still the only or principal media that expose children to unsuitable material.
Certainly the Supreme Court should reject the FCC's fleeting expletives rule. But it needs to recognize that the day is fast approaching when it will have to decide whether the FCC should be in the business of policing indecency at all.
benton.org/node/109999 | Los Angeles Times
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SOPA HEARING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) announced a Jan. 18 hearing on the potential impact of Domain Name Service (DNS) and search engine blocking on the Internet, escalating the feud within the Republican Party over the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). “An open Internet is crucial to American job creation, government operations, and the daily routines of Americans from all walks of life,” Chairman Issa said. “The public deserves a full discussion about the consequences of changing the way Americans access information and communicate on the Internet today.” Chairman Issa has been a harsh critic of SOPA, banding together with fellow Judiciary Committee members Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to successfully stall a two-day marathon December markup by endlessly debating a slew of amendments to the legislation.
benton.org/node/109991 | Hill, The
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RYAN OPPOSES SOPA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chairman of the House Budget Committee and a leading conservative lawmaker, slammed the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a controversial Internet piracy bill. “The Internet is one of the most magnificent expressions of freedom and free enterprise in history,” Rep Ryan said. “It should stay that way. “While H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, attempts to address a legitimate problem, I believe it creates the precedent and possibility for undue regulation, censorship and legal abuse.” Rep Ryan said he would vote against the legislation should it come before the House.
benton.org/node/109956 | Hill, The | read Press release
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PRIVACY

FACEBOOK DUCKING PRIVACY QUESTIONS?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Reps. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX) accused Facebook of evading questions about whether it tracks users in order to deliver targeted ads. The co-chairmen of the Congressional Privacy Caucus said the social networking giant failed to adequately answer questions raised by the patent application that suggest Facebook could be tracking users on other websites. Facebook has denied tracking users, arguing its social plug-ins are voluntary.
The pair wrote Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in November about the patent application and a Facebook spokesman insisting the firm "does not track people across the Internet." "The practice of obtaining patents on inventions without launching products based on them is common in the technology industry, and no conclusions should be drawn about a company's practices, products or services from the patents it files, acquires or holds in its portfolio," Facebook said in its response.
benton.org/node/109989 | Hill, The
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

THE STEPHANOPOULOS STANDARD
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: William McGurn]
[Commentary] A funny thing happened on the way to the New Hampshire primary: ABC moderator George Stephanopoulos embarrassed himself on national television with questions plainly intended to embarrass the Republican candidates. Therein lies a lesson. As the audience appreciated—they booed after Stephanopolous's sixth follow-up—these questions were designed less to illuminate than to paint Republicans as people who hate gays and are so crazy they might just ban contraception if elected. For conservatives, this is nothing new. Conservatives are used to a world where the referees often seem to be playing for the other team. There's a good lesson here. Whatever else we know about 2012, we know we will have many more Stephanopoulos moments ahead. Though it might be more satisfying to thunder against the injustice, there are other, possibly more effective ways to expose the bias. On the social issues especially, the media narrative is that Republicans are obsessed. The truth is that at a time when millions of Americans can't find work, when our Middle East policy is in turmoil, when the future of President Obama's signature legislative achievement—health care—is in question, every Republican in the running is itching for the opportunity to talk about how he would address these things.
benton.org/node/110003 | Wall Street Journal
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TV ENJOYS THE SPOILS OF ELECTION SEASON
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Paul Thomasch, Lisa Richwine]
One winner in 2012's political races already has been decided: local television stations. Spending on TV advertising likely will mount to historic levels as candidates again blanket airwaves with commercials pitching their virtues or bashing their opponents. The hard-fought, and expensive, battles will provide a welcome windfall for TV stations, particularly in the most tightly contested states that will decide if President Barack Obama wins re-election or loses to his yet-to-be-decided Republican opponent. Forecasters are calling for spending on political advertisements to increase up to 30 percent this year compared with 2008, setting a new record. Around 85 percent of the money that is raised and spent on advertising historically goes toward local broadcast TV. In 2012, that could total between $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion, said Ken Goldstein, president of Kantar Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group.
benton.org/node/109986 | Reuters
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PRIMARY ADS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeremy Peters]
Campaigns and the “super PACs” that support them are signaling where they think the real primary fight is, and it is not New Hampshire. Advertising dollars have been pouring into South Carolina in recent days, which after Iowa is shaping up to be the next front in the advertising wars. So far, voters in South Carolina have already seen more than 5,500 presidential campaign ads. In New Hampshire, by contrast, voters had seen just 2,800 presidential campaign spots as of Monday morning, according to the Kantar Media Campaign Media Analysis Group. With less than two weeks to go before the Jan. 21 primary, campaign strategists are racing to place buys before their competitors do and struggling to create messages that resonate in a market that could be saturated as early as this weekend.
benton.org/node/110005 | New York Times
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RESEARCH

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: ]
The Open Technology Initiative at the New America Foundation is calling for proposals that address the question: “What is meaningful broadband adoption, and how can we measure it?” Authors of successful proposals will be invited for a day-long workshop at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, to present and discuss answers to this question. The goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers from different disciplinary traditions to discuss challenges in defining broadband adoption and its effects, address issues of reliability and validity, and present innovative methods for studying adoption. We welcome proposals that reflect work-in-progress as well as completed studies. We are especially interested in proposals that review recent broadband adoption initiatives, including those outside of the United States.
Please submit your proposal here by January 31, 2012. Proposals should explicitly identify the methodological and/or conceptual innovation that you are developing or have developed, as well as presentation format (slides, video, map, paper, interactive workshop, etc.). Do not include any information in your proposal that would enable reviewers to identify you. Proposals will be blind-reviewed by a multidisciplinary panel of scholars. Please note: final acceptance is contingent upon submission of completed works or works in progress one week before the date of the workshop.
benton.org/node/109973 | New America Foundation
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