February 2012

CYBERSECURITY

CYBERSECURITY BILL REVEALED
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Chris Strohm]
Companies running computer networks essential to U.S. economic and national security would be required to better defend their systems from spies, hackers and terrorists under Senate legislation. The measure would create rules for identifying vital information networks and establish security requirements for companies and government agencies. Sen Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said he wants to bring the bill to the chamber’s floor for a vote as soon as possible. “We are on the brink of what could be a calamity,” Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said in announcing the bill on the Senate floor. “A widespread cyber attack could potentially be as devastating to this country as the terror attacks that tore apart this country 10 years ago.” The legislation may affect computer security spending at businesses including Southern Co., the largest U.S. utility owner by market value, and AT&T Inc., the nation’s biggest telephone company. Lawmakers and regulators say new rules are needed to fight more sophisticated cyber attacks threatening to disrupt power grids, banks and communications networks. The bill’s backers include Sen Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen Susan Collins (R-Maine). The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee scheduled a bill hearing for Feb. 16. The bill abandons proposals that would give the President emergency powers over the nation's networks.
benton.org/node/114299 | Bloomberg | National Journal | Reuters | ars technica | The Hill
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GOP ASKS FOR DELAY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Seven Republican senators urged Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to slow down a cybersecurity bill and allow for more committees to amend the legislation. Sens Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), John McCain (R-AZ), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Mike Enzi (R-WY) said the cybersecurity bill "does not satisfy our substantive concerns, nor does it satisfy our process concerns." "Given the serious national security and economic consequences of any legislation, it is imperative that the other committees of jurisdiction be given the opportunity to shape the legislative outcome in a bipartisan manner," the senators wrote. The lawmakers, who serve as the ranking Republicans on the Commerce, Intelligence, Judiciary, Energy, Armed Services, Budget and Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committees, said all of their panels should have the opportunity to hold hearings and markup the legislation.
In a statement, Sen Reid said the bill is the "product of more than three years of bipartisan cooperation across several committees" and that given the urgency of the threat, he will "move quickly to bring this legislation to the Senate floor.”
benton.org/node/114325 | Hill, The | read the letter | B&C
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ENCRYPTION FLAW
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
A team of European and American mathematicians and cryptographers have discovered an unexpected weakness in the encryption system widely used worldwide for online shopping, banking, e-mail and other Internet services intended to remain private and secure. The flaw — which involves a small but measurable number of cases — has to do with the way the system generates random numbers, which are used to make it practically impossible for an attacker to unscramble digital messages. While it can affect the transactions of individual Internet users, there is nothing an individual can do about it. The operators of large Web sites will need to make changes to ensure the security of their systems, the researchers said. The potential danger of the flaw is that despite the fact that the number of users affected by the flaw may be small, confidence in the security algorithm is reduced, the authors said.
benton.org/node/114326 | New York Times
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

ICANN AND NEW DOMAIN NAME APPLICATIONS
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
The group that runs the Internet's address system is revealing a few details about the program it launched in January allowing for the introduction of an unlimited number of new Internet addresses. So far, 100 groups or companies have submitted applications to run their own domain names to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the group said Tuesday. Each applicant is allowed to apply for up to 50 names. However, applicants must pay a $185,000 evaluation fee for each name they apply for, an ICANN spokesman said. ICANN has so far refused to say now many names each applicant has applied for or give any details about the applicants. In the unlikely event that every applicant applied for the maximum number of names, it means there could be as many as 5,000 possible new domain names to compete with the 22 existing top-level domain names. But it could take up to a year before any of the proposed names, whether it be .car or .anything, become available. ICANN has established a lengthy evaluation process to ensure applicants have the financial and technical means to run a new domain name.
benton.org/node/114293 | National Journal | The Hill
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

FBI AND SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Jaikumar Vijayan]
In a move that's unlikely to sit well with privacy advocates, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun scouting for a tool that will allow it to gather and mine data from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. The goal is to use the tool to keep on top of breaking events, incidents and emerging threats, the agency said in a recent Request for Information (RFI) from IT vendors. The FBI said it's seeking a "secure, lightweight web application portal using mashup technology." According to the RFI document, "The application must have the ability to rapidly assemble critical open source information and intelligence that will allow [the FBI's Strategic Information and Operations Center] to quickly vet, identity and geo-locate" potential threats to the US.
benton.org/node/114282 | ComputerWorld
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

FCC DENIES LIGHTSQUARED
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Edward Wyatt]
A proposed wireless broadband network that would provide voice and Internet service using airwaves once reserved for satellite-telephone transmissions should be shelved because it interferes with GPS technology, the Federal Communications Commission said. The FCC statement revokes the conditional approval for the network given last year. It comes after an opinion by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which said that “there is no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time” with GPS devices. The telecommunications and information agency oversees telecommunications policy at the Commerce Department. The news appears to squash the near-term hopes for the network pushed by LightSquared, a Virginia company that is majority-owned by Philip Falcone, a New York hedge fund manager. LightSquared said that the testing of the network was “severely flawed.” It “remains committed to finding a resolution with the federal government and the GPS industry to resolve all remaining concerns,” the company said in a statement
benton.org/node/114342 | New York Times | WSJ | FT | Bloomberg
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SHAREHOLDERS GET VOTE ON NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Jesse Hamilton]
The Securities and Exchange Commission told AT&T and other telecommunications companies they must include a resolution supporting wireless network neutrality in annual shareholder votes. In a letter posted on the SEC website, the agency asserted that network neutrality -- the idea that Internet service providers must treat traffic equally -- has become a “significant policy consideration” and can no longer be excluded from shareholder ballots. AT&T, Verizon Communications and Sprint Nextel must now grant shareholder requests for votes this year on resolutions that would support network neutrality. The shareholder resolution would recommend each company “publicly commit to operate its wireless broadband network consistent with network neutrality principles,” the letter said. The companies should not discriminate based on the “source, ownership or destination” of data sent over their wireless infrastructure.
benton.org/node/114327 | Bloomberg
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IS THROTTLING NECESSARY?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen]
Data throttling — slowing down the Internet connection of a customer who uses too much data — has become a common practice for cellphone carriers. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all say they do it to some customers to keep their networks usable for everyone. But that does not mean throttling is the only and best solution. Carriers could potentially create separate types of data plans for customers with specific types of use patterns. They could charge extra for these special plans, and in exchange give these customers priority in gaining access to the higher network speeds so they would get a consistently good connection when playing games or watching video. The rest of the customers on normal data plans would still be able to enjoy fast Internet speeds, stream the occasional video or play a game, and not be throttled either. This is just one potential alternative to data throttling proposed by Volubill, a London-based company that advises wireless companies on charging policies.
benton.org/node/114328 | New York Times
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AT&T DATA TRAFFIC
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
AT&T is now claiming that its mobile data traffic is doubling every year, rather than increasing by the more modest 40 percent annual rate it detailed in recent investor and analyst calls. The distinction is important because the faster AT&T’s HSPA and LTE networks become overloaded, the more pressure it faces to use its reserve spectrum and find new sources of airwaves. So is AT&T contradicting itself? No, it’s just looking at different sets of numbers. According to the Wall Street Journal, AT&T confirmed that the 40 percent number cited by AT&T executives cited only factored in increases from existing users, not traffic produced from new subscribers, i.e., the typical AT&T smartphone customer increased his mobile data consumption by 40 percent over the last 12 months. The 100 percent number is for overall mobile data traffic on its network, factoring in the increased usage of its existing subscriber base along with the burden millions of new smartphones brought to its network.
benton.org/node/114316 | GigaOm | AT&T | WSJ
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SPECTRUM AUCTION
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
The Obama Administration estimated that auctions of airwaves would raise $16.2 billion under its proposed federal budget for the next fiscal year, $11.6 billion less than the year-earlier projection. The estimate contained in President Barack Obama’s spending proposal tracks with Congressional Budget Office calculations that airwaves auctions included in legislation passed by the House in December would bring in $16.7 billion. This year’s estimate accounted for spending including helping to set up a nationwide communications network for police, firefighters and other emergency workers, said Meg Reilly, a White House spokesman.
benton.org/node/114297 | Bloomberg
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CONTENT

A FIRST DRAFT OF THE FUTURE
[SOURCE: ABC News, AUTHOR: Leslie Harris]
[Commentary] The unprecedented online revolt against PIPA and SOPA, congressional bills targeting online copyright and trademark infringement, has many Washington insiders scratching their collective heads. Legislation that seemed poised to steamroll the opposition, based on the simple message that "piracy is bad" and the considerable lobbying horsepower of the movie industry and the chamber of commerce, was stopped dead in its tracks by a popular online uprising. It may be too early to say for sure what this dramatic turn means for the political landscape or for Washington's future forays into Internet policy, but it is not too soon to debunk the spin and suggest a few lessons learned.
First and foremost, the online revolt against SOPA and PIPA was not a command and control operation. Don't believe the claim that Google (or anyone else) orchestrated all these efforts.
The dramatic online mobilization carries lasting implications for Internet policy.
A more cautious approach requires a more open process. Treading cautiously will require, first and foremost, avoiding both the reality and the perception that legislation is the product of backroom dealing by (and for) industry lobbyists.
Ignorance about how the Internet works is no longer an option. Congress needs to engage with the technical community and take its advice seriously.
Overreaching Internet related legislation is no longer a successful strategy.
The Internet community is borderless, and the whole world will be watching.
[Harris is the president and CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology]
benton.org/node/114302 | ABC News
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TWITTER COLLECTING PHONE DATA
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Sarno]
Twitter has acknowledged that after mobile users tap the "Find friends" feature on its smartphone app, the company downloads users' entire address book, including names, email addresses and phone numbers, and keeps the data on its servers for 18 months. The company also said it plans to update its apps to clarify that user contacts are being transmitted and stored. The company's current privacy policy does not explicitly disclose that Twitter downloads and stores user address books. It does say that Twitter users "may customize your account with information such as a cellphone number for the delivery of SMS messages or your address book so that we can help you find Twitter users you know." As with many online social services, Twitter allows users to look for friends that are also registered users. In the case of Twitter's iPhone app, users see a screen noting that the service will "Scan your Contacts for people you already know on Twitter." The short description of the feature does not mention that it also downloads every entry in the address book and stores it. Twitter's current privacy policy notes that some categories of "Log Data" are stored for up to 18 months.
benton.org/node/114334 | Los Angeles Times
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TELEVISION

ANALOG CABLE MANDATE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) the Federal Communications Commission proposed extending a cable analog carriage mandate for another three years, and more definitively proposed extending its waiver of the high definition carriage mandate for smaller cable operators for three more years as well. The FCC is asking whether it should extend the mandate that cable operators deliver all TV stations' digital signals in analog format to analog customers or, alternatively, make sure all its customers have the equipment to view a digital signal. It may be in the form of a question, but the FCC signaled in its rulemaking proposal that it was pretty sure of the answer. "The available market evidence seems to indicate that the viewability requirements remain important to consumers." To help make its case, the FCC cited National Cable & Telecommunications Association data showing that as of the third quarter of 2011, there were still more than 12 million analog cable-only households, and that the switch from analog to digital cable had slowed since the DTV transition.
benton.org/node/114324 | Broadcasting&Cable
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SPORTS FAN COALITION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Sports Fan Coalition, joined by Public Knowledge, Media Access Project and others, filed comments in support of its petition to the FCC to scrap its sports blackout rule, which they say is outmoded and fan-unfriendly. The coalition and its supporters argued that the rule has been rendered obsolete by the changes in the economics of sports and technology. "In the name of maintaining the availability of sports, the Commission ironically perpetuates the practice of restricting the availability of games on various video platforms through the Sports Blackout Rule," they argued. They see the problem as two-fold. The NFL, the main target of the petition, blacks out the local market TV broadcasts of home games that are not sold out 72 hours before kickoff and the FCC's blackout rule prevents cable or satellite operators from filling in that TV void.
benton.org/node/114295 | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOOGLE ANTENNA FARM
[SOURCE: Kansas City Star, AUTHOR: Scott Canon]
If Google plans to draw customers to its ultrafast Internet service, it would help to bundle it with a cable-style TV package. And to get the necessary TV programming, it would likely need an “antenna farm” of commercial-sized satellite dishes to capture “The O’Reilly Factor,” “SportsCenter,” “Boardwalk Empire” and the rest of what people come to expect on their channel selections. To do that, Google would need a license from the Federal Communications Commission to set up a satellite receiving station. So news that Google applied to the FCC in December for such a license is now fueling speculation that the search king might bundle Internet and TV services in Kansas City.
benton.org/node/114331 | Kansas City Star
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

JUGGLING ACT FOR OBAMA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Helene Cooper]
Election years always bring with them tough balancing efforts for presidential candidates trying to stay on the good side of powerful constituencies. But few can come close to the high-wire act that President Obama must perform in the next two days as he seeks to soothe Hollywood, that longtime bastion of fund-raising dollars for Democrats, while not alienating the high-tech industry that has itself surged to the top of the Obama money list. First, the soothing. President Obama is flying to Los Angeles to attend three fund-raisers, including one hosted by the actor Will Ferrell and Bradley Bell, a soap opera executive (“The Bold and the Beautiful”). The Foo Fighters will be on hand to perform; expect to see a number of other glitterati. Problem: President Obama is in the doghouse with the show-business people, who are mad because the White House didn’t support them on the antipiracy bill that got squashed in Congress in January after Google and other Internet high fliers descended on Washington to pressure the White House and Congress to oppose it in a standoff that left Hollywood reeling. But the president has also come to rely on cash from Hollywood, which contributed $9.2 million to his 2008 campaign coffers, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
benton.org/node/114336 | New York Times | LATimes | The Hill
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OWNERSHIP

ASSOCIATED PRESS SUES CLIPPING SERVICE
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Jeff Roberts]
The Associated Press is becoming more aggressive in trying to rein in the information the news service scatters around the world. After helping to launch a copyright monitoring service, the AP is now suing a company that clips headlines and news items for its customers. In a complaint filed in New York federal court, the AP accused Norway-based Meltwater of wrongfully repackaging and sharing its content without a license. The lawsuit comes at a time when content owners continue to wrestle with how to stop what they perceive as free riding by news monitors and aggregators. The problem for news providers is that facts and headlines can’t be copyrighted. In response, the providers have been trying to resurrect a doctrine known as “hot news” that the AP itself helped to create nearly a century ago.
benton.org/node/114290 | paidContent.org | AP
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NEWS CORP’S WILLFUL BLINDNESS
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Ed Pilkington]
News Corporation executives could be vulnerable to individual prosecution by US anti-bribery authorities under the so-called "willful blindness" clause that holds company chiefs culpable if they chose to be unaware of any specific wrongdoing by their employees. The FBI and other law-enforcers are probing Rupert Murdoch's media empire under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that seeks to punish US-based companies engaging in bribery abroad. News Corp is headquartered in New York. Under the Act, the company and its executives are liable to potentially severe penalties, including up to five years in prison, if it can be shown that they consciously avoided knowing about the corrupt deeds of their employees. "It's a well-established prosecutorial principle that it is no defense to close your ears and shut your eyes," said Brad Simon, a former US federal prosecutor who now defends in cases of white-collar crime.
benton.org/node/114312 | Guardian, The | The Nation
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:

CANADA WANTS WARRANTLESS INTERNET SPYING, SAYS CRITICS SUPPORT CHILD PORN
[SOURCE: Ars Technica, AUTHOR: Timothy Lee]
Canada's conservative government has re-introduced an Internet surveillance bill that would allow the government to obtain information about Internet subscribers -- without a warrant. The legislation would require service providers to provide law enforcement with IP addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and other information on demand. The bill would also "require ISPs and cellular phone companies to install equipment for real-time surveillance and create new police powers designed to obtain access to the surveillance data." Members of the opposition have vowed to fight the legislation. More than 80,000 people have signed an online petition opposing the bill. Challenged by an opposition member about the proposal, public safety minister Vic Toews cited child pornography as a justification for the bill. Opponents of the legislation "can either stand with us or with the child pornographers," he said.
benton.org/node/114310 | Ars Technica
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CHIMA’S TV LIMITS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Jacobs]
In its latest move to reshape what Chinese viewers can watch on television, the government agency that oversees mass media has issued a new set of regulations that seek to restrict comedies, dramas and movies from abroad. The new regulations ban all imported programs during prime time and limit such shows to no more than 25 percent of a channel’s offerings each day, according to a circular posted by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Stations that violate the rules will be hit with increased fines, although the announcement did not provide details.
benton.org/node/114341 | New York Times
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RUSSIAN RADIO SHAKE-UP
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Schwirtz]
The editor in chief of an influential Russian radio station recently rebuked by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin for its biting criticism of the Kremlin stepped down from the station’s board of directors after its government-controlled owners announced changes in the board’s membership, including the removal of its only two independent members. The editor, Aleksei A. Venediktov, said that he would remain in charge of the newsroom at the station, Ekho Moskvy, but that he would not remain on the nine-member board. The authorities said that politics were not involved in the decision to reshuffle the board, but the shake-up at the station, which is controlled by Russia’s government-owned natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, nevertheless sent a chill through the journalistic world in Moscow.
benton.org/node/114340 | New York Times | WSJ
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US and CHINA

XI WOES US
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jeremy Page, Laura Meckler]
Xi Jinping, China's expected next leader, began a week of wooing America as he met with President Barack Obama for the first time, kicking off a visit that could shape the bilateral relationship for a decade to come. But even as President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden sought to strike a rapport with China's heir apparent, they pressed him publicly and, aides said, privately on many of the issues bedeviling relations between the world's two largest economies, including trade and human rights. US officials see Mr. Xi's trip as a rare opportunity for officials, lawmakers and business leaders to get to know the man who is expected to be promoted to Communist Party chief—the nation's top job—in a once-a-decade leadership change in October or November. In remarks at a luncheon in Mr. Xi's honor, Vice President Biden spoke at length about U.S. concerns on issues including intellectual property rights, currency policy and forced technology transfers, as well as China's veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the brutal Syria crackdown.
benton.org/node/114338 | Wall Street Journal
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CHINA TO UNVEIL HOLLYWOOD DEAL
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Matthew Garrahan, Kathrin Hille]
Xi Jinping, China’s vice-president and heir-apparent, will endorse the growing ties between his country and Hollywood on Feb 17, when he is scheduled to unveil a joint venture between DreamWorks Animation (DWA) and two state-owned Chinese media groups. Xi, who is due to visit Los Angeles on the final leg of his US visit, is set to announce the tie-up between Shanghai Media Group, China Media Capital and DWA, the studio behind the popular Shrek and Kung Fu Panda films, according to several people familiar with the situation. His itinerary could yet change, those people cautioned. But his participation in the most significant deal to involve a Hollywood studio in China underscores the mutually beneficial relationship that is evolving between media groups in the two countries. Under the terms of the joint venture, the companies will construct a studio facility in Shanghai with the aim of developing film, television and live stage productions for the fast-growing Chinese media market. DWA declined to comment; SMG and CMC could not be reached for comment.
benton.org/node/114337 | Financial Times
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February 2012

February 15, 2012 (Cybersecurity Bill in Senate)

FCC Bars the Use of Airwaves for LightSquared Broadband Plan

China Limits Foreign-Made TV Programs

Russia Radio Shake-Up Follows Putin Criticism

UK Landline-to-mobile fees to be cut sooner

China's Xi Starts His Wooing of US

China to unveil landmark Hollywood deal