April 2012

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2012

Just one event on today’s agenda, but it is a big one: the FCC’s monthly open meeting includes Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for Television Stations Report and Order (see television below) http://benton.org/calendar

CYBERSECURITY
   House approves cybersecurity bill over Obama veto threat
   House approves second cybersecurity bill
   Speaker Boehner says Obama wants government to 'control the Internet'
   White House rejects Boehner's claim Obama wants to control the Internet [links to web]
   White House tech official: No need to ‘sacrifice privacy for cybersecurity’ [links to web]
   House to debate changes to cybersecurity bill [links to web]
   Civil Liberties Groups Renew Opposition To House Cybersecurity Bill
   Phantom 'Cyber 9/11' Haunts Cybersecurity Debate
   Facebook teams with security outfits to blacklist malicious URLs [links to web]
   Most of the Internet's top 200,000 HTTPS websites are insecure [links to web]
   When We Wage Cyberwar, the Whole Web Suffers - op-ed

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Why Mobile Data Is Such a Cash Cow for Carriers - analysis
   Bill Puts Pressure on Federal Spectrum Users
   Reps Waxman and Eshoo Call for Hearing on Spectrum Transactions - press release
   Leap And T-Mobile Announce Spectrum Exchange

CONTENT
   Google Fiber in Kansas City Makes Hollywood Nervous
   Providence Said Selling Hulu Stake at $2 Billion Value [links to web]
   New Report Says Streaming Hurts Kids, Off-Net Programs [links to web]
   The Victory Lap That Won't End [links to web]
   The Library of Utopia [links to web]
   Digital Preservation Is Cultural Literacy - op-ed [links to web]
   Why Netflix can still win - analysis [links to web]
   How tech’s giants want to re-invent journalism [links to web]
   Bloggers Speculate on Google Innovations - research [links to web]
   Something Is Rotten In The State Of E-Book Publishing - analysis [links to web]
   Google says parents are to blame if children view porn: Online giant attacks call for legal curbs [links to web]
   Samsung Ends Nokia’s 14-Year Run as Biggest Handset Maker [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   The UN, Internet Regulator? - op-ed
   Google Fiber in Kansas City Makes Hollywood Nervous
   USTelecom Defends RUS Broadband Loan Program [links to web]
   Judge strikes down Illinois' 'Amazon tax'
   Cloud computing: Legal standards up in the air

PRIVACY
   Google rebuffs FCC over 'Wi-Spy' flap
   Google Street View Investigation by U.S. Declared Closed [links to web]
   California to Develop Mobile Privacy Guidelines
   European Regulator Warns Silicon Valley About Privacy

TELEVISION/RADIO
   Battle over TV political ads: Broadcasters fight disclosure at FCC
   Opening the Broadcasters’ Books
   Make them public: Put broadcasters’ files online - op-ed
   FCC Proposes to Allow NCE Stations to Conduct Third-Party Fundraising - press release
   DirecTV Complains To FCC on Tribune

TELECOM
   Vendors and Service Firms Critique “Anti-Stimulus” USF/ICC Reforms

POLICYMAKERS
   FTC Escalates Google Case by Hiring Noted Outside Lawyer
   FTC Hires Ex-Fannie Mae Counsel to Run Google Probe [links to web]
   New America Foundation Launches Open Technology Institute - press release

NEWS FROM ABROAD
   Testifying, Murdoch Cites a ‘Cover-Up’ in Phone Hacking
   OFCOM scrutiny raises stakes for News Corp investors
   OFCOM escalates probe into BSkyB
   7 dead in Nigeria newspaper office bombings [links to web]
   Google says parents are to blame if children view porn: Online giant attacks call for legal curbs [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   For the Love of the Technology, the Bay Area Is Reinventing Baseball [links to web]

back to top

CYBERSECURITY

CYBER INTELLIGENCE SHARING AND PROTECTION ACT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Pete Kasperowicz]
The House approved controversial cybersecurity legislation that the Obama Administration has threatened to veto. Members approved the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), HR 3523, in a 248-168 vote that split both parties somewhat. The bill was supported by 42 Democrats, while 28 Republicans opposed it. The House approved the bill after making a number of changes aimed at limiting the way the government could use the information that companies provide. CISPA would make it easier for companies to share information with the government about the threats facing their networks. Supporters — Republicans and Democrats alike — said the proposal is a reasonable compromise between the need for privacy and security. Republicans did allow several amendments to be considered that narrowed the scope of the bill, including proposals from members of both parties. Here’s a look at approved amendments:
Mike Pompeo (R-KS), to clarify the bill's liability provision that the use of cybersecurity systems is the use of these systems to obtain cyber threat information. Accepted voice vote.
Mike Rogers (R-MI), to clarify that regulatory information already required to be provided remains subject to FOIA requests, as under current law. Passed 412-0.
Ben Quayle (R-AZ), to limit the use of shared cyber threat information for cybersecurity, investigation of related crimes, protection of people from danger, protection of minors from child pornography, and protection of U.S. national security. Passed 410-3.
Justin Amash (R-MI), to prohibit the federal government from using library records, firearms sales records, and tax returns from private entities under the bill. Passed 415-0.
Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), to authorize the federal government to create reasonable procedures to protect privacy and civil liberties, consistent with the need for cybersecurity. Passed 416-0.
Jeff Flake (R-AZ), to require the development of a list of all federal agencies receiving information about cyber threats. Accepted voice vote.
Mike Pompeo (R-KS), to clarify that nothing in the bill would alter existing authorities or provide new authority to federal agencies to install or use cybersecurity systems on private sector networks. Accepted voice vote.
Rob Woodall (R-GA), to add language stating that entities who choose not to participate in the voluntary information sharing authorized by the bill are not subject to new liabilities. Accepted voice vote.
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), narrowing the definitions on what information may be identified, obtained and shared. Passed 414-1.
Michael Turner (R-OH), to make a technical correction to definitions in the bill. Accepted voice vote.
Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), to sunset the provisions of the bill five years after enactment. Passed 413-3.
benton.org/node/121567 | Hill, The | Bloomberg | Politico | The Hill - amendments | The Hill – Ruppersberger | B&C | GigaOm
Recommend this Headline
back to top

FEDERAL INFORMATION SECURITY AMENDMENTS ACT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Pete Kasperowicz]
The House approved a second cybersecurity bill, the Federal Information Security Amendments Act (HR 4257). The bill is aimed at updating the federal government's responsibility to manage its information systems so as to best thwart cyber threats. But according to Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), the current law on the books, the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), is not enough. The bill was approved by unanimous consent after being brought up under a suspension of House rules. Suspension bills are usually non-controversial, and must pass by a two-thirds majority vote.
benton.org/node/121565 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

BOEHNER VS OBAMA ON CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) fired back at President Barack Obama after the White House threatened to veto a House cybersecurity bill. “The White House believes the government ought to control the Internet, government ought to set standards and government ought to take care of everything that’s needed for cybersecurity," Speaker Boehner said during his weekly press conference. Speaker Boehner warned that "we can’t have the government in charge of our Internet." He said CISPA and other cybersecurity bills the House will vote on this week are "commonsense steps that will allow people to communicate with each other, to work together, to build the walls that are necessary in order to prevent cyber terrorism from occurring." "There are more steps that are going to have to be taken beyond these, but this is a fundamentally different approach than what the White House and some want to do in terms of creating this monster here in Washington that could control what we’re going to see or not see on the Internet," Speaker Boehner said.
benton.org/node/121537 | Hill, The | Politico | B&C
Recommend this Headline
back to top

RENEWED OPPOSITION TO CISPA
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Civil liberties groups are back actively opposing a cybersecurity bill that the House is scheduled to consider. The Center for Democracy and Technology and the Constitution Project never really dropped objections to the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, but after discussions with the bill's sponsors, the groups said on April 24 they would not actively oppose the bill and focus on amendments instead. But on April 25, the House Rules Committee shot down 22 of 43 submitted amendments to the bill, known as CISPA. All but one Republican amendments were made in order, while four out of 19 Democratic amendments and four with 10 bipartisan support made the cut. Five amendments were withdrawn. "In issuing a rule excluding amendments on two of the major privacy and civil liberties issues remaining in CISPA -- the flow of information to the National Security Agency and the authority to use information for non-cybersecurity purposes -- the House leadership has squandered an opportunity to achieve balanced cybersecurity legislation," CDT said in a statement.
benton.org/node/121521 | National Journal | CDT
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PHANTOM ‘CYBER 9/11’
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Imagine trying to make travelers go through current onerous airport security before the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. That's the situation lawmakers say they are in as they seek to pass legislation to combat cyberattacks. "There is a great divide between what American people know and understand about this threat and reality," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said at an event sponsored by Politico. Sen Blumenthal joined Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) in noting that not only is much of what is known about cyberthreats classified, but there are no widely accepted examples of truly catastrophic or deadly cyberattacks. While there are millions of various cyberattacks or breaches each year, they're rarely scary enough to make a lasting impression on the average voter, or even lawmakers for that matter. Even the most glamorous and oft-cited cyber worm, Stuxnet, simply did its damage by making nuclear centrifuges spin too fast. The dire warnings haven't really registered for many Americans, said Rep Bono Mack, who is developing legislation to prevent data breaches. "It's somewhat difficult because we're not really hearing about it from people back home," she said.
benton.org/node/121520 | National Journal | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

THE WHOLE WEB SUFFERS WHEN WE WAGE CYBERWAR
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] Responding to concerns voiced by privacy advocates, conservative groups and hundreds of thousands of Americans, the House Intelligence Committee has revised parts of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, also known as CISPA. Those provisions would have allowed companies to disclose sensitive information to the government without being accountable to U.S. privacy laws. But the real problem with CISPA and similar bills now pending in the Senate is much deeper: This flurry of legislation signals that elements of our government want to wage unconstrained war on other nations in cyberspace, no matter what the consequences may be to humanity. The arms race being driven by this desire is threatening Internet freedom here and abroad. Our openness has always carried some risks to the U.S. We can be attacked. We should always prefer principled engagement - - even with our enemies -- to bellicosity driven by fear, particularly when our own citizens will otherwise be deeply harmed. We don’t have enough guns to direct at everyone around the world. We might as well communicate. [Crawford is a visiting professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School. She is a former special assistant to President Barack Obama for science, technology and innovation policy.]
benton.org/node/121574 | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

MOBILE DATA IS CASH COW
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen]
Verizon and AT&T reported their quarterly earnings in the last week, and they told nearly identical stories: Both are making a lot of money just from mobile data — the fees customers pay to reach the Internet over their networks. Some numbers shared by AT&T make it clear why. Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T Mobility, said during Tuesday’s earnings call that about 60 percent of smartphone customers were paying for tiered data plans, and of those, 70 percent were choosing the higher-priced plans. For its tiered data plans, AT&T charges $20 for 300 megabytes of data, $30 for three gigabytes or $50 for five. (A gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes). Verizon’s data plans are similar: $30 for two GB, $50 for five GB or $80 for 10 GB. de la Vega’s statement suggests that the majority of people on AT&T’s tiered plans are paying at least $30 for three GB, or more. And it turns out that three GB is far more than most people use. A recent Cisco study showed that the average amount of data used per smartphone last year was 150 MB. And this year, Cisco predicts that 100 million smartphones will surpass just 1 GB of usage. An estimated 500 million smartphones shipped in 2011.
benton.org/node/121563 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

THE EFFICIENT USE OF GOVERNMENT SPECTRUM ACT
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Two members of the House Commerce Committee offered legislation that would put pressure on the Administration to do more than just talk about meeting President Obama's pledge to free up 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next decade. The bill, offered by Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), would require the administration to auction off a chunk of spectrum coveted by the wireless industry that is now used by federal agencies. The bill would require that the 1755-1780 megahertz block of spectrum be paired with the 2155-2180 band, which the Federal Communications Commission already has available, and be auctioned to wireless providers. The Stearns-Matsui bill would give the Pentagon and other federal agencies five years to relocate from the 1755 band and authorize funding to pay for the costs associated with that move.
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2012/04/bill-puts-pressure-on-f...
benton.org/node/121526 | National Journal |
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CALL FOR VERIZON HEARING
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) sent a letter to Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) requesting a hearing on recently announced spectrum transactions involving Verizon’s proposed acquisition of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum licenses from several cable companies as well as Verizon’s conditional sale of the company’s 700 MHz A and B block licenses. The pair said they have not taken any position on the deals, but said it was important to hear testimony and consider the policy implications of the transactions, which Verizon says will free up unused spectrum for the benefit of consumers and critics say will increase concentration and decrease competition among cable and wireless companies.
benton.org/node/121530 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | B&C
Recommend this Headline
back to top

SPECTRUM EXCHANGE
[SOURCE: JSI Capital Advisors, AUTHOR: Matt Lydon]
Leap Wireless International announced on April 9, 2012 that it has entered into definitive license exchange agreements with T-Mobile USA, Cook Inlet/VS GSM VII PCS (a joint venture between T-Mobile and Cook Inlet) and Leap’s non-controlled, majority-owned venture Savary Island Wireless to exchange wireless spectrum in various markets. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. These transactions involve only the assignment of spectrum – no other assets are included, and are primarily aimed at realigning the spectrum holdings of the involved parties. “These transactions will enhance our spectrum depth in these markets and provide us longer term flexibility to offer a larger LTE channel,” said Leap’s president and CEO Doug Hutcheson. “In addition the transactions will allow us to re-align spectrum in key markets into contiguous channels thereby optimizing our delivery of wireless services.” Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cricket License Company, Leap has agreed to assign eight of Cricket’s AWS licenses to T-Mobile covering portions of Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, among others. Cricket acquired the majority of these licenses at Auction 66 for approximately $230 million, or $0.42/MHz POP on average. In exchange, T-Mobile will assign nine AWS licenses to Cricket. These licenses were purchased by T-Mobile at Auction 66 for approximately $572 million in aggregate, or $0.33/MHz POP on average. These licenses cover portions of Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, among other areas.
benton.org/node/121451 | JSI Capital Advisors
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CONTENT

GOOGLE FIBER AND HOLLYWOOD
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: John Lopez]
In 2010 Google announced plans to bring super-high-speed Internet access to select communities in America and in 2011 picked Kansas City to start. The search giant has said it hopes to spur innovation among cable companies and Internet service providers by demonstrating what’s possible with Internet speeds 100 times faster than the U.S. average. The project could also foreshadow dramatic changes for Hollywood, both because of the specter of piracy and Google’s possible experiments with new ways to distribute content legally. Google Fiber spokeswoman Jenna Wandres stresses that Google Fiber isn’t meant to empower pirates: “We hope higher speeds will actually make it easier to deliver and download more authorized content,” she says. Nonetheless, Howard Gantman, spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America, notes that piracy is always a concern of the entertainment industry. Google Fiber “could be a great opportunity for consumers whose access to creative content is often hampered by slow speeds,” he says. But in South Korea, “the home entertainment marketplace was decimated by digital piracy” enabled by the widespread availability of high-speed Internet.
benton.org/node/121560 | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

UN AS INTERNET REGULATOR?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Andrea Renda]
[Commentary] Mayan prophecy predicts that the world will end on Dec. 21, 2012, but Internet users should be more worried about what will happen just a few weeks before. The World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) meets in Dubai Dec. 3-14 to consider proposals that would grant authority for Internet governance to the United Nations and impose new regulations on Web traffic. If adopted, these proposals could upend the Web as we know it, undermining it as an engine for growth and dynamism for the world. Since 1988, the Internet has been governed by private bodies. ICANN, which manages domain names under the rather benevolent oversight of the U.S., is fully devoted to multiple-stakeholder participation. Government representatives only sit on an "advisory committee," while business and civil society shape the rules. However, recent events (such as the controversial creation of a dedicated .xxx domain for adult content and Icann's plan to expand top-level domains) have created concerns among national governments—even those, such as the U.S. and the European Union, that remain fully committed to protecting the multiple-stakeholder model.
benton.org/node/121542 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

JUDGE STRIKES DOWN ILLINOIS TAX
[SOURCE: Crain’s Chicago Business, AUTHOR: John Pletz]
A Cook County Circuit judge ruled against the state of Illinois in its attempt to tax online sales from out-of-state companies. Judge Robert Lopez Cepero ruled that the 2011 law doesn't pass muster because simply having an affiliated company in the state that makes sales or refers customers to an online retailer doesn't create enough of a presence, or nexus, for tax purposes. He also ruled that the Illinois law is unenforceable because of a federal Internet tax moratorium that runs through 2014. The law, often referred to as the "Amazon tax," was an attempt by Illinois to collect sales taxes from out-of-state online merchants such as Amazon for sales made to customers here. The state estimates about $169 million in potential revenue goes uncollected annually, and traditional retailers have long pressed for taxation of online-only rivals as a way to level the playing field between them.
benton.org/node/121458 | Crain’s Chicago Business
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CLOUD COMPUTING
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Michelle Maltais]
With the advent of Google Drive, we talk about cloud computing as if the bits and bytes of our lives are stored somewhere up in the air, but, really, the "clouds" are very terrestrial. What's more up in the air are the laws that govern who can access your stuff and how. Originally a way for geeks to explain to the rest of us the notion of remote servers storing and serving up content, cloud computing can be defined several different ways, depending on whom you ask. In some ways, even email is a form of cloud computing. (It really lives on a server somewhere out there and is served up wherever we desire.) "The problem that cloud computing has, more generally, is that (the real world) assumes that rights are based geographically," Mark Radcliffe, senior partner at law firm DLA Piper, said in an interview with the newspaper. "That assumption is not realistic in the cloud." Why? Who knows where the servers really sit? They may be in the United States, governed by American laws. Or they may be across the pond in Europe, where there are rather stringent privacy rules. Regardless of where the company is based, the location of the servers determine in some large part who can legally gain access to the content on them and how.
benton.org/node/121585 | Los Angeles Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PRIVACY

GOOGLE ANSWERS FCC
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
Google rejected the Federal Communications Commission’s argument that the company obstructed an investigation of the so-called Wi-Spy privacy flap — blaming the FCC in part for the delay — in a stinging rebuke filed with the agency. At the same time, Google acknowledged for the first time in its formal response to the FCC that the Justice Department had already reviewed the case, and "concluded that it would not pursue a case for violation of the Wiretap Act." Google filed its 17-page response to the FCC after the agency concluded it lacked evidence to determine whether the company broke federal anti-wiretapping laws. The inquiry stemmed from a 2010 incident in which Google's cars, dispatched to map neighborhoods, intercepted private emails, Web pages and other documents sent over unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. As part of the FCC's scathing order, issued in early April, the agency accused the company of having "deliberately impeded and delayed" its probe." It slapped Google with a proposed $25,000 fine, which Google noted Thursday it would not appeal. But Google turned the tables and struck back, criticizing the regulatory agency for its conduct in the probe.
benton.org/node/121508 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

MOBILE PRIVACY GUIDELINES
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Cameron Scott]
The state of California will issue a set of best practices for mobile app developers this summer, responding to concerns that have emerged nationwide about smartphone use and privacy. The California Office of Privacy Protection will likely release guidelines in July to advise technology companies about data collection, data sharing and written privacy policies, Joanne McNabb, chief of the office, said at an app developers' privacy summit. Mobile apps can access the personal data stored on smartphones, including a user's physical location and personal contacts, spurring discomfort among some users and privacy advocates.
benton.org/node/121468 | IDG News Service
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PRIVACY WARNING FOR SILICON VALLEY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Somini Sengupta]
The European data protection supervisor, Peter Hustinx, urged technology companies to “innovate” in the area of consumer privacy, saying that lawmakers on the continent would press ahead on a contentious proposed law that would, in part, compel companies to pare down the personal data kept in their digital vaults. “It really is based on the idea that when there is not good enough reason to keep the data, it should be deleted,” Hustinx told a conference on digital privacy, sponsored by the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, which is part of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. “When data have been published or have been shared and it is within your power to get them back, you have to make reasonable effort to get the spirit back in the bottle,” he said. The daylong privacy conference repeatedly raised the question of the value of privacy, with Michael Hintze, a lawyer for Microsoft, pointing out that despite privacy flaps at companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft, no company seems to have lost market share as a result. “A company may get bad press on privacy but large numbers of its customers aren’t leaving in droves,” he said. Hustinx was undeterred. “It is true that people behave sometimes in a different manner,” he said. “But we get continued, strong feedback for stronger protection.”
benton.org/node/121582 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

TELEVISION/RADIO

BROADCASTERS FIGHT DISCLOSURE
[SOURCE: WCNC, AUTHOR: Stuart Watson]
There’s a behind-the-scenes political battle in North Carolina this year, but chances are you will not hear about it on TV. That’s because this fight is about TV. It pits broadcasters, the people who operate television stations, against public interest groups. The forum: The Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, the people who license broadcasters. At issue: Whether television stations should be required to post ad contracts online that show how much candidates and political committees including the new so-called “superPAC’s” are spending on TV ads. Most television newsrooms avoid the issue. It certainly hits close to home and poses an inherent conflict of interest. Political advertisers help to pay the salaries of the employees of television newsrooms. And broadcast operators have hired lobbyists to fight proposed new regulation pending before the FCC which would force broadcasters to take their political ad costs out of paper files and make them available on the internet for the world to see.
benton.org/node/121512 | WCNC
Recommend this Headline
back to top

OPENING BROADCASTERS’ BOOKS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Television stations have been making a lot more money from campaign ads since the Supreme Court helped lift the limits on contributions to political groups. The public, though, has been kept in the dark about how much these groups and the so-called super PACs are spending, and where they are spending it, because the stations don’t want to make it easy to find out how much they are being paid for those ads. On April 27, the Federal Communications Commission will have an opportunity to make this murky process far more transparent. By voting to require broadcasters to report their political ad sales on a national database — rejecting the stations’ claim that this is too burdensome or expensive — the commission can help the public get a far broader sense of the powerful financial forces driving today’s politics. By requiring them to make those earnings accessible, the FCC would help the public make better sense of the flood tide of money pouring into politics.
benton.org/node/121588 | New York Times | Open Secrets
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PUTTING AD FILES ONLINE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Craig Aaron, Corie Wright]
[Commentary] You do your taxes online. You get driving directions online. You’re likely reading this article online. But if you want to see the “public file” every broadcaster is required to maintain, you have to drive down to the TV station and dig through filing cabinets. It’s hard to believe such an antiquated system exists in 2012. But a Federal Communications Commission vote on Friday may finally push broadcasters into the 21st century. After a decade of dragging its feet, the FCC seems poised to force stations to put this public information online — where the public can actually find it. This move is especially important now because the files are supposed to include information on who’s buying political ads and how much they’re paying. These political files provide information you can’t find anywhere else about the super PACs and front groups already clogging the airwaves with attack ads.
benton.org/node/121510 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

FCC PROPOSES NEW RULES TO ENABLE PUBLIC BROADCASTERS TO RAISE MONEY ON-AIR FOR CHARITIES IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES & AROUND THE WORLD
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) invited comment on
whether to allow public broadcasters to spend a modest amount of their total annual broadcast time – up to one percent, or about 88 hours per year – to conduct on-air fundraising activities for charities and other nonprofits. This proposal is a recommendation of The Information Needs of Communities report, which was released in June 2011. The proposal gives viewers of public broadcasting the opportunity to raise funds for non-profit organizations in their communities and around the world. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is another step in the FCC’s effort to review existing regulations and reduce unnecessary burdens.
Under longstanding FCC policy, noncommercial educational (NCE) public broadcast stations can only conduct fundraising activities for the benefit of the station itself. Fundraising activities for third-parties is prohibited if fundraising activities conducted on-air would substantially alter or suspend regular programming. The policy reflects concerns that public stations are licensed to meet their mission of public service to local audiences through noncommercial and educational programming, not through fundraising activities for other organizations.
benton.org/node/121532 | Federal Communications Commission | see NPRM | Chairman Genachowski
Recommend this Headline
back to top

DIRCTV-TRIBUNE SPAT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Jannarone, Amy Schatz]
DirecTV has accused creditors of Tribune Company of taking control of certain local television stations without getting a green light from regulators, escalating the latest spat over TV-programming costs. The satellite-TV company filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission asking it to intervene in the dispute, which is over the fees DirecTV pays to carry Tribune's 23 TV stations in 19 cities. The stations, which include affiliates of the CW and Fox networks, have been blacked out on DirecTV's service since the weekend. Fox is owned by News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal, while CW is jointly owned by CBS and Time Warner.
benton.org/node/121543 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

TELECOM

ANTI-STIMULUS USF/ICC
[SOURCE: JSI Capital Advisors, AUTHOR: Cassandra Heyne]
On April 24, 2012, a group of professional service and vendor firms wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, explaining that the USF/ICC Transformation Order conflicts with the goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), and “will ultimately undermine job creation and retention gains envisioned by ARRA.” The signatories of the letter include representatives from the following firms that support the rural telecom industry: CHR Solutions, Consortia Consulting, HunTel Engineering, Kadrmas Lee & Jackson, Ladd Engineering, Mapcom Systems, Monte R. Lee Engineering, National Information Solutions Cooperative, Palmetto Engineering & Consulting, RVW, Inc., and TCA. These parties have a vested interest in USF/ICC Reform, just as we do at JSI Capital Advisors. According to the letter, “Collectively, we employ more than 2,000 people and generate annual revenues exceeding $265m in both rural and urban areas. Our firms provide network construction and maintenance, engineering and environmental services, software and systems development, and accounting and financial services.” They continue, “We are precisely the type of firms that create and retain jobs as intended by the ARRA.”
benton.org/node/121453 | JSI Capital Advisors
Recommend this Headline
back to top

POLICYMAKERS

FTC ESCALATES GOOGLE CASE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Streitfeld, Edward Wyatt]
The Federal Trade Commission escalated its antitrust investigation of Google by hiring a prominent litigator, sending a strong signal that they are prepared to take the Internet giant to court. The FTC is examining Google’s immensely powerful and lucrative search technology, which directs users to hundreds of millions of online and offline destinations every day. The case has the potential to be the biggest showdown between regulators and Silicon Valley since the government took on Microsoft 14 years ago. Then as now, the core question is whether power was abused. The agency’s inquiry has focused on whether Google has manipulated its search results, making it less likely that competing companies or products appear at the top of a results page. Federal Trade Commission officials cautioned that no decision had been made about whether to bring a formal case against Google. But the hiring of Beth A. Wilkinson, a former Justice Department prosecutor who played a lead role in the conviction of the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, immediately catapulted the investigation to another level. The agency has hired outside litigators only twice in the last decade.
benton.org/node/121586 | New York Times | WSJ | FT | LATimes
Recommend this Headline
back to top

OPEN TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Press release]
The New America Foundation announced the launch of its Open Technology Institute, whose mission is to convene the nation's best thinking about Internet freedom and open technology. Building on New America's work in this field, OTI will serve as a hub of impartial research, open discourse, innovative fieldwork, and new tech development. OTI is led by Sascha Meinrath, who will become a New America vice president. The need to think across borders and disciplines to defend the free and open public square has never been greater. Much like economics, OTI will inform and advance work throughout the public policy sphere, including national security, education, diplomacy, and economic competiveness.
benton.org/node/121459 | New America Foundation
Recommend this Headline
back to top

NEWS FROM ABROAD

MURDOCH CLAIMS COVER-UP
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sarah Lyall]
Rupert Murdoch criticized many different people for many different things in a morning of scrappy and often blunt testimony before a judicial panel in London. But in the most explosive criticism of all, he unexpectedly accused at least one former employee of presiding over a “cover-up” of phone hacking and other dubious practices at The News of the World tabloid. “I do blame one or two people,” he said, adding that he did not want to name them because “for all I know they may be arrested,” and then proceeded to make it fairly obvious whom he meant, anyway. One was the now-defunct newspaper’s longtime chief lawyer, Tom Crone; the other appeared to be Colin Myler, its final editor. Murdoch said that as the newspaper’s proprietor, he bore ultimate responsibility for the hacking scandal that spurred him to shut The News of the World down last summer. But he said he had been “shielded” from the truth by his obfuscating employees.
benton.org/node/121581 | New York Times | WSJ | FT
Recommend this Headline
back to top

OFCOM SCRUTINY
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson]
Asked by Robert Jay, counsel to the Leveson inquiry, whether he ever told his newspaper editors to pursue stories which promoted his other business interests, Rupert Murdoch was quick with his reply: “I don’t have any other business interests.” The remark might have surprised investors in News Corp, a $48 billion collection of television channels and satellite broadcasters in which newspapers now play a marginal financial role. Print went from 90 percent of News Corp’s operating income in 1980 to 11 percent in 2010. It was one exchange in a morning of back-and-forth that left Murdoch looking tired and testy. But behind the theatre lay serious questions about the impact of this week’s revelations on far bigger business interests than Fleet Street’s disgraced tabloids.
benton.org/node/121579 | Financial Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

OFCOM PROBE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Salamander Davoudi]
Rupert Murdoch faces a growing threat to his British media business, after the UK communications regulator stepped up its probe into whether British Sky Broadcasting was a “fit and proper” owner of a broadcasting license. Ofcom has ordered News Corp’s UK newspaper subsidiary to provide it with documents relating to civil litigation stemming from the long-running phone hacking scandal at the group. Until now the regulator has only been “monitoring” publicly available evidence relating to the scandal that has rocked the British media, police and political establishment. Confirmation of OFCOM’s switch to an “evidence-gathering phase”, originally reported by the Financial Times, came as Mr Murdoch faced tough questioning during a second day of evidence under oath at a judicial inquiry into the behavior of the UK press.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a5d2a22-8f9c-11e1-9ab1-00144feab49a.html
benton.org/node/121578 | Financial Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top