April 2012

The Internet has become too big to fail, says In-Q-Tel's Dan Geer

The growth of electronic health record systems and the push to integrate digital technology into electrical grids is adding security threats and "new failure modes to the world we live in," Dan Geer, chief information security officer at CIA venture capital arm In-Q-Tel, warned.

The ways that our day-to-day operations have become tied with the Web is creating an Internet ecosystem that is "too big to fail," Geer argued. Geer was famously dismissed from his position as chief technology officer at the boutique security firm @stake, after authoring a 2003 study on the security implications of Microsoft's monopoly in the software industry. "Remember that the Internet was built by academics, researchers, and hackers -- meaning that it embodies the liberal cum libertarian cultural interpretation of American values, namely that it is open, non-hierarchical, self-organizing, and leaves essentially no opportunities for governance beyond protocol definition," Geer said. "Anywhere the Internet appears, it brings those values with it." In this landscape, over-complex IT systems pose a problem: they prevent people from seeing how closely connected different parts of a system are, and that a fault in one part could bring the rest of it down, he said. It is important then, that backup processes are instituted, in the event of system failures.

California: Bloggers should disclose political pay

In a new twist on political disclosure, California may soon require bloggers to report financing from campaigns.

The proposal, by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission, is believed by state election officials here to be the first of its kind in the nation. The election officials are calling for new requirements for blogger contributions from both candidate and ballot initiative campaigns. Current state law requires campaigns to disclose payments to bloggers, but the bloggers are under no obligation to reveal who has given them money. Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the commission, said that initially the disclosure requirement would be voluntary but that such disclosures work best if required by law. She compared the proposal to guidance by the Federal Trade Commission that bloggers praising a product reveal if they are being paid by a company.

If You Have a Smart Phone, Anyone Can Now Track Your Every Move

Location services company Navizon has a new system, called Navizon I.T.S., that could allow tracking of visitors in malls, museums, offices, factories, secured areas and just about any other indoor space.

It could be used to examine patterns of foot traffic in retail spaces, assure that a museum is empty of visitors at closing time, or even to pinpoint the location of any individual registered with the system. But let's set all that aside for a minute while we freak out about the privacy implications. Most of us leave Wi-Fi on by default, in part because our phones chastise us when we don't. (Triangulation by Wi-Fi hotspots is important for making location services more accurate.) But you probably didn't realize that, using proprietary new "nodes" from Navizon, any device with an active Wi-Fi radio can be seen by a system like Navizon's.

Strategy, Serving Audiences And Saving Money Top The Agenda At BBG Board Meeting

The Broadcasting Board of Governors renewed its commitment to a long-term strategy to reach more people in countries with limited or no media freedom, discussed concrete means to expand audiences in China and Latin America, and explored further ways to save taxpayer funds by consolidating administrative costs.

The consolidation would combine certain behind-the-scenes functions at the media outlets supported by grants from the BBG — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. The top management of these grantees, together with key BBG senior staff, teamed up to produce a plan based on directions from the Board in a resolution passed in January. Their work will be reviewed by all Board members and discussed at a meeting of the Strategy and Budget Committee in late May. The interim report is to be posted for public comment by May 1.

Internet service customers paying for inefficiency

[Commentary] Is it any wonder the United States lags behind the rest of the world in broadband Internet cost and service? We're home to Google, Apple and other tech trendsetters, but when it comes to wiring people for Net access, we're the tortoise to Europe's and Asia's hare.

The Federal Communications Commission issued a report last year showing that the U.S. ranks 12th for broadband service such as cable and DSL connections, outpaced by South Korea, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Britain, Canada and Germany. Meanwhile, a 2010 report by the Technology Policy Institute found that while broadband prices had dropped overseas as much as 40% in recent years, prices in the United States were barely budging. Pretty sad for the country that invented the Internet. So why are we such slowpokes? A 2010 report by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society came up with a ready answer: government regulation, or a lack thereof.

Misinformation campaign targets USA TODAY reporter, editor

A USA TODAY reporter and editor investigating Pentagon propaganda contractors have themselves been subjected to a propaganda campaign of sorts, waged on the Internet through a series of bogus websites. Fake Twitter and Facebook accounts have been created in their names, along with a Wikipedia entry and dozens of message board postings and blog comments. Websites were registered in their names. The timeline of the activity tracks USA TODAY's reporting on the military's "information operations" program, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan — campaigns that have been criticized even within the Pentagon as ineffective and poorly monitored.

Michael Copps: A Whole Lot of Spectrum Lying Fallow

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps said that he thinks there is a lot of spectrum lying fallow. "There is a lot of spectrum out there, and I don't think anybody in the United States has very much of a clue exactly how much spectrum is lying fallow," he said in an interview for The Communicators series on C-SPAN.

He was asked whether the FCC had been remiss in making sure spectrum was available. "I'll bet you there is a whole bunch of [spectrum] lying fallow that could fuel a whole lot of devices and fuel a whole lot of technology," which he said was an argument for a complete spectrum inventory. Copps said he hoped the commission would expedite incentive auctions, but he said he was not comfortable with taking spectrum from one consolidated medium (broadcasters) to give it to another (wireless). "That does not necessarily translate into automatic enhancement of the public interest," he said. Copps said he was concerned about the impact of the auctions and TV station repacking on noncommercial and smaller, diverse, stations. "There are almost so many unintended consequences when you do something that is this broad," he said. "What's the impact going to be on public television?" he said. Noncoms are definitely concerned. Those stations were behind a push for several billion dollars in government money to commercial and noncom stations to cover relocation costs.

Disney: FCC may find itself looking for ways to incent, rather than restrict, broadcast ownership

Disney, which has pretty much stayed out of the debate on media ownership rules, continued in that tradition this time around, while still giving a shout-out to a more holistic view of potential regulatory relief for broadcasters. It did not file initial comments in the Federal Communications Commission's review of its rules per congressional and court mandates, and in reply comments pointed out that fact, but did give the FCC some advice.

Disney pointed out that it had fewer TV stations and radio stations than it did almost six years ago, when it filed comments in response to a previous ownership rulemaking. In those earlier comments, Disney didn't advocate for any rule changes, but said the FCC may find itself looking for ways to incent, rather than restrict, broadcast ownership. In its reply comments filed this week, Disney said it wanted to reiterate that earlier point, and even put an exclamation point on it. "Given the realities of today's marketplace," it said, "it seems misplaced for the FCC to focus narrowly on the continuing relevance of and need for the Broadcast Ownership Rules." Instead, said the company, "We believe that the FCC would be better served to broaden its inquiry to consider the full panoply of challenges facing broadcasters, ways to incent ownership of over-the-air broadcast stations, and whether some elements of the overall regulatory regime have become outdated."

UK phone hacking lawyer brings News Corp case to US

The News of the World phone hacking scandal moved closer to the United States after British lawyer Mark Lewis teamed up with two New York lawyers to pursue claims that four of his clients had been hacked by Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct tabloid on US soil.

One client is a U.S. citizen, and other potential victims of the "dark arts" of Murdoch's UK newspapers have contacted him, Lewis said. Lewis and his co-counselors said they are seeking evidence to file a U.S. lawsuit, claiming that his clients were hacked in the United States from 2001 to 2006. Lewis declined to identify the clients, citing privacy issues. Lewis said he has not had any contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the matter.

Has CNN's All-News Strategy Become Old News?

In an era when Americans increasingly turn to laptops, smartphones, or iPads for routine news and headlines, CNN continues to rely on the business it virtually invented on cable: covering breaking stories.

Events like the O.J. Simpson trial, the Japanese tsunami, or the weeks of protests over the killing of Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer can be counted on to receive blanket coverage on the network. “Our bread and butter is in-depth coverage of breaking news,” says CNN Worldwide Managing Editor Mark Whitaker. “We have faith that will help us with the ratings.” More than rivals Fox News and MSNBC, CNN relies on “the story” to drive its audiences, rather than opinions or personalities, says Whitaker. It’s a strategy that works well when news breaks. When the big news stories subside, however, CNN slumps back down to third place in the ratings. Fox News surpassed CNN as the overall No. 1-rated cable news station in January 2002 and has held the crown since. MSNBC’s prime-time lineup has topped CNN in the 25-to-54 audience for three consecutive years.

Benton

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