April 2012

FCC asks Supremes to hear wardrobe malfunction case

The Federal Communications Commission has filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court in the case of Federal Communications Commission and United States of America v CBS Corporation et al. It hopes to have its loss in the Third Circuit regarding the Janet Jackson Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction overturned.

The FCC said its rationale for finding the incident indecent and for hitting CBS with a $550K fine was sound – it said the display was shocking to the audience and generated an unprecedented number of public complaints. The FCC said the incident was patently offensive, particularly in the context of a widely watched sporting event that catered to family viewing, among other things, and argued that the brevity of it didn’t matter. However, the brevity is why the FCC thinks it lost, saying that the lower court erred in finding the incident fleeting, which is one of the reasons it found for CBS. The FCC also argued it has some leeway in enforcing decency on the airwaves and argues that it did not err in this case.

Two thirds of web ‘cookies’ are for ads

More than two-thirds of the “cookies” on the UK’s most popular websites are for advertising purposes, a new study has found, helping explain why some companies may be reluctant to comply with new laws coming into force next month.

From May 26 companies will need explicit permission from customers to monitor their online behavior. This is mainly done through cookies, or small pieces of code sent between a website and the user’s computer. Some of these are necessary for running the site smoothly, for example recognizing someone who has previously visited. However, about 68 per cent are placed by third parties to track behavior and deliver targeted advertising, according to research by TRUSTe, a company which provides internet privacy tools.

National Museum and Library Services Board Nominees Include Charles Benton

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as members of the National Museum and Library Services Board: Charles Benton, Christie Pearson Brandau, and Bert Castro.

Charles Benton is the Chairman and CEO of the Benton Foundation. He also currently serves on the boards of the Educational Development Center in Boston, and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where he was named a Lifetime Trustee. In addition to his work on these boards, Mr. Benton previously was President or Chairman of the Encyclopaedia Britannica Education Corporation, Public Media, Inc., Films Inc., Home Vision Entertainment, and The Partnership for a Connected Illinois. In recognition of his work in the media and telecommunications fields, Mr. Benton has been appointed to serve as Chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, Chairman of the First White House Conference on Library and Information Services, and Member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters. Mr. Benton received a B.A. from Yale University.
Christie Pearson Brandau is a retired State Librarian and an adjunct professor for the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University. Ms. Brandau served as State Librarian of Kansas from 2005 to 2009 and as State Librarian of Michigan from 2000 to 2005. Prior to that, she worked at the State Library of Iowa, North Central Iowa Regional Library and in public libraries in Osage and Riceville, Iowa. Ms. Brandau’s library affiliations include membership in the American Library Association, Public Library Association, and Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. She served as President of the Iowa Library Association in 1991. In addition to library affiliations, Ms. Brandau was a member of the state Humanities Council in Kansas and Michigan and served as a United States Commissioner for UNESCO from 2005 until 2010. Ms. Brandau earned her B.A. from Iowa State University and M.A. in Library Science from the University of Iowa.
Bert Castro is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Arizona Zoological Society/Phoenix Zoo, a position he has held since February 2008. From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Castro was Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma City Zoological Park and Botanical Garden. Mr. Castro began his career as the Children’s Zoo Keeper at the Tulsa Zoo in 1985, and since then has served as Assistant Curator at the Audubon Zoo, from 1993 to 1995, Curator of Birds and Mammals at Zoo Atlanta from 1995 to 1997, and Living Collections Manager/General Curator at the San Antonio Zoo from 1997 to 2001. Mr. Castro has been a Board Member of Zoo Conservation Outreach since 2003, and served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums from 2009 until 2011 and the Board of St. Gregory’s University from 2005 until 2008. Mr. Castro holds an Associate’s Degree in Natural Science from St. Gregory’s University, a B.S. in Zoology from Oklahoma State University, and an M.S. from Friends University.

Wireless execs call for Senate action on tax bills, Digital Goods Act

CTIA is calling on the Senate to move forward on ending "discriminatory" taxes on wireless services as well as create a single taxation framework for digital media purchases.

In a letter signed by the chief executives of the six largest wireless carriers in the United States, plus CTIA head Steve Largent, the wireless association calls on Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to pass out of committee the Wireless Tax Fairness Act (S. 543). The bill would impose a five-year moratorium on new taxes on wireless services, giving federal and state governments an opportunity to reform today's "discriminatory tax system," which taxes wireless services at 16.3 percent, compared with 7.4 percent for other goods and services. This disparity imposes an "unfair and regressive burden" on lower-income Americans, who rely on wireless services in disproportionate numbers. The executives also urge Baucus and Hatch to take action on the Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act (S. 971). This bill would impose a "clear framework" to govern purchases of digital goods such as ebooks, music or mobile apps that are downloaded to phones and tablets.

Rep Waters Wants Tribune Transfers Put Out For Comment

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) wants the Federal Communications Commission to put Tribune's station license transfers and attendant waiver requests out for public comment, and says she will introduce a bill, the FCC Waiver Accountability Act of 2012, that would make that required procedure for all such transfers.

Rep Waters, in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, said she thought the FCC had not sufficiently monitored the public interest obligations of broadcast license holders when the licenses are held by hedge funds and venture capitalists in bankruptcy proceedings. She also said that the FCC has never made it clear to the public when one a transfer it is considering includes a waiver of this rules. "The practice does not promote transparency," she said. Specifically, she said she was troubled by the recent retrans dispute between DirecTV and Tribune -- since resolved -- in which DirecTV alleged that Tribune creditors -- it is in the midst of protracted bankruptcy proceedings -- had blocked a deal that would have resolved the impasse earlier. The impasse led to blackouts in California (LA) and New York.

FCC Satellite Spectrum NPRM Teed Up for Comment

Interested parties will have until the beginning of June to weigh in on whether the Federal Communications Commission should loosen its rules on mobile satellite spectrum to allow for terrestrial use, a move that would open the door to allowing Dish to deliver mobile wireless broadband.

The FCC declined to grant Dish a waiver -- similar to the LightSquared waiver it granted before rescinding -- to use its MSS spectrum for a terrestrial wireless broadband service. The FCC did approve Dish's $3 billion purchase of about 40 MHz of MSS spectrum from two bankrupt entities -- DBSD North America and TerreStar. The satellite giant has said that it plans to build out its own wireless network with the licenses. And while it declined to grant the waiver, it signaled it would propose a broader change to that MSS satellite-only policy in a rulemaking. True to its word, the FCC on March 21 opened a proceeding on how to open up satellite spectrum in the 2 GHz MSS band for mobile terrestrial use, one of the proposals in the National Broadband Plan and yet another element of the FCC's multipart strategy to free up spectrum from broadcasters and others for mobile broadband. Now that the March 21 NPRM and associated notice of inquiry have been published in the Federal Register -- the NPRM was published April 17, the NOI had already been published -- the comment dates have been set at May 17 for initial comments and June 1 for replies.

NAB: Ownership Rules Put Broadcasters' Future In Jeopardy

The National Association of Broadcasters told the Federal Communications Commission that not only are duopoly limits and cross-ownership restrictions unnecessary, they work against the FCC's stated goals of encouraging "competition, localism and diversity."

In comments on the FCC's proposed conclusion of its quadrennial ownership rule review and its remand from the Third Circuit, NAB said that the FCC will jeopardize broadcasters' future if it fails to reform the rules so that broadcasters can adopt "economically sustainable" ownership structures. NAB argues that there is "abundant evidence" that mobile and digital media have produced unprecedented competition, and that last-century limits on broadcast station ownership in a market or ownership of other media limit stations' viability, particularly smaller and mid-sized stations. The rules work against localism, NAB argues, because if stations were allowed to combine resources in smaller markets, they could take advantage of economies of scale to devote resources to local services, including news.

Telemonitoring may not help older patients

Older patients with heart, lung or kidney disease who were monitored with at-home electronic systems were just as likely to be sent to the emergency room or hospitalized as those who weren't monitored, in a new study.

The systems -- which check patients' blood pressure, weight and other health-related measurements daily and send information to their medical team -- are one strategy to catch problems early to prevent hospitalizations and help control health spending as the population ages. The new findings don't mean so-called telemonitoring will never work, researchers said, but they suggest that the home check-ins might not be useful, or cost-effective, for everyone.

Wi-Fi Networks and Consumer Privacy

A set of tips to help consumers secure their Wi-Fi networks and stay secure while using public Wi-Fi networks.

Request for Proposal for IANA Functions Contract

On April 16, 2012, the Department of Commerce re-issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) SA1301-12-RP-0043 for a new Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions contract. The continued performance of these functions is critical to preserving the stability and security of the Internet’s Domain Name System.

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