May 2, 2012 (FCC delays Verizon bid for spectrum from cable firms)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2012
Two events today: Cloud Shoot-out and Cybersecurity Summit; and Connecting the Dots: Linking Broadband Adoption to Job Creation and Job Competitiveness http://benton.org/calendar/2012-05-02/
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FCC delays Verizon bid for spectrum from cable firms
Verizon and cable companies promise to reformat documents to avoid derailing deal
Consumer groups say police should never be allowed to black out cellphone service
Pioneer Cellular is First Verizon Rural Partner to Launch 4G LTE
The Wireless Industry: The Essential Engine of US Economic Growth - research
Why 96% Of Americans Are Nervous About Mobile Pay -- And Why They Shouldn't Be
Electronics association accuses broadcasting chief of undermining auctions [links to web]
How Apple will become a mobile carrier - analysis
Actix study into iPad and smartphone usage on 3G networks reveals the way we use mobile devices is changing - press release [links to web]
Hispanics to Spend $500 Million on Mobile Apps in 2012 - research [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Rupert Murdoch acknowledges News Corp. errors
Ethics Watchdog Calls For FCC To Revoke News Corp. Licenses
Cumulus, a Growing Radio Power, Sells 55 Scattered Stations
Shareholder sues Google to block stock split
Judge: “I’ve Had My Fill of Frivolous Filings by Apple” [links to web]
BROADBAND/INTERNET
For the Smart Rural Community, Broadband is Just the Beginning
'Stand Your Cyberground' Law: A Novel Proposal for Digital Security - op-ed
Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization, Advancing Broadband Availability Through Digital Literacy Training - public notice
Bandwidth explosion: As Internet use soars, can bottlenecks be averted?
TELECOM
FCC Seeks Comment on USTelecom Petition for Waiver of Lifeline Rules - public notice
Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization, Advancing Broadband Availability Through Digital Literacy Training - public notice
CONTENT
Silicon Valley is Motown and the Web is a hit factory - analysis
A universal digital library is within reach - op-ed
Crowdsourcing the Library of Congress [links to web]
NBC Will Stream The London Olympics Live — But Only To TV Subscribers [links to web]
Silly cord cutter, you will pay for cable. Oh yes. - analysis
TELEVISION
Broadcasters Face GAO Investigation on Advocacy Ads
Network TV embraces the B-word [links to web]
Electronics association accuses broadcasting chief of undermining auctions [links to web]
Silly cord cutter, you will pay for cable. Oh yes. - analysis
Upfront Forecasts: Cable Surpasses Broadcast [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
28 hours of political ads and a few minutes of news
Lights, camera, action: Romney fights Hollywood's take on big business
Broadcasters Face GAO Investigation on Advocacy Ads
2012 Election: A Social Media ScoreCard Putting Up the Numbers for Romney and Obama
TAXES
Amazon cuts sales tax deals with states, not feds
Tom Coburn: Apple tax dodge is rotten [links to web]
Apple gets final approval from Texas county, locks in at least $5.4 million in tax rebates [links to web]
PRIVACY
Google, Wi-Fi snooping and the ever-shifting “creepy” line
Google may face UK inquiry over Street View data collection
California Location Privacy bill moves to full Senate vote [links to web]
Discarded digital devices can retain sensitive data [links to web]
JOURNALISM
Digital circulation up 63% for US newspapers
How and why you should do data journalism
CHILDREN AND MEDIA
Groups advocate for mobile learning, 21st century education
Tweens' Secret Lives Online [links to web]
New York City imposes new social media rules for teachers [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
Target to stop carrying Amazon Kindle hardware due to 'conflict of interest'?
Soon you’ll be able to use your Nook to buy books in Barnes & Noble stores
The Big Doubt Over Facebook [links to web]
Comcast Profit Exceeds Estimates on Broadband Additions [links to web]
Microsoft says raid damaged cybercrime operation [links to web]
Motorola Mobility Wins German Ruling on Windows, Xbox [links to web]
Android Takes 51% U.S. Share In Q1 [links to web]
The real story behind the big Microsoft and B&N deal - analysis [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Billions in Stimulus Funding Hasn’t Made Power Grids Safer [links to web]
Government auditors see room to improve EHR program oversight [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FCC STOPS THE VERIZON CLOCK
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
The Federal Communications Commission delayed its review of Verizon’s $3.6 billion bid for airwaves from cable companies, saying the investigation is being held back because the companies were late in submitting requested paperwork. The delay, which appeared procedural, will stop what is known as an informal 180-days “shot clock” by three weeks, the FCC said in an order. On April 30, the companies told the FCC it would make documents searchable to the public, which would appease critics of the deal who have asked for access to corporate documents. “Assuming the adequacy of the current productions in response to the requests, we do not anticipate further extension of the 180-day period,” the FCC sad in its order.
benton.org/node/121972 | Washington Post | Federal Communications Commission | national Journal
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VERIZON, CABLE COMPANIES OFFER TO REFORMAT DOCS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Verizon and four cable companies are willing to reformat documents they submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prevent technical issues from derailing the agency's review of their $3.6 billion deal. The Communications Workers of America, the largest union for telecommunications workers, asked the FCC last month to delay its review of the deal, saying Verizon and the cable companies had not made important details available to third parties. Other opponents of the deal, including consumer groups Public Knowledge and Free Press, as well as Sprint and the Rural Cellular Association, echoed the union's complaints. he groups said Verizon had not made some of its documents available in electronic form and would have charged them thousands of dollars for paper copies. Verizon and the cable companies revealed they had met with top FCC officials on April 27. In that meeting, the companies all offered to provide the documents in PDF form and to create an electronic index to sort through the materials. The companies insisted that they had already "complied with the technical and formatting specifications contained in the commission's instructions," but that they were willing "to take certain additional steps to facilitate third-party review of the materials."
benton.org/node/121917 | Hill, The
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BLACKING OUT CELLPHONE SERVICE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
A coalition of public interest groups told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that government agencies should never be allowed to shutdown cellphone service, even in emergencies. The groups said the harm of blacking out cell service would outweigh any benefits. "Deliberately interrupting wireless service, in nearly all cases, will mean disrupting the communications of every person in the affected area. Unlike the disconnection of a wireline connection, which can target an individual telephone facility, wireless interruption will necessarily prohibit the communications of completely innocent parties — precisely those parties closest to the site where the emergency is located or anticipated," they wrote. The comments, which were signed by Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Benton Foundation and others, were filed as part of the FCC's review of whether and under what circumstances the government should be allowed to cutoff cell service.
benton.org/node/121964 | Hill, The | read the comments
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PIONEER CELLULAR-VERIZON
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Pioneer Cellular became the first Verizon Wireless LTE in Rural America program partner to launch 4G LTE service, which is now available in parts of six counties in central and western Oklahoma adjacent to the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Within the next few weeks, additional areas will be rolled out. Initially Pioneer will offer three devices for use with the network, said Pioneer Cellular CEO Richard Ruhl in an interview. These include a MiFi hot spot, a dongle for a personal computer and a fixed home router. Within 30 days, Pioneer hopes to offer mobile handsets for use with the service. Pioneer and other Verizon LTE in Rural America (LRA) partners are leasing spectrum from Verizon in the same frequency band as Verizon’s own LTE service. Nevertheless Ruhl does not expect to have Verizon’s full line of LTE devices any time soon.
benton.org/node/121889 | telecompetitor
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THE WIRELESS INDUSTRY: THE ESSENTIAL ENGINE OF US ECONOMIC GROWTH
[SOURCE: Recon Analytics, AUTHOR: Roger Entner]
Recon Analytics undertook a review of data related to the economic impact of the US wireless broadband industry on the US economy. We have concluded that the impact is broad and deep. In 2011, the economic impact includes the following highlights:
The US wireless industry is responsible for 3.8 million jobs, directly and indirectly, an increase of more than 200,000 over the past six years; this accounts for 2.6% of all US employment.
The wireless industry retained $146.2 billion in GDP in the US (and generated $195.5 billion in economic activity globally) in the 12 months from July 2010 to June 2011.1
At $195.5 billion, the wireless broadband industry would rank as the 46th largest economy in the world, as measured by GDP.2
The wireless industry is now larger than the publishing, agriculture, hotels and lodging, air transportation, motion picture and recording, and motor vehicle manufacturing industry segments and rivals the computer systems design services and oil and gas extraction industries.3
The wireless industry and its direct and indirect employees paid $88.6 billion in taxes, including federal, state and local fees and taxes.4
The consumer surplus, the difference between what end users are willing to pay and what they have to pay for services, was $502.7 billion in 2010.5
According to Kantar Media, telecom has been the second largest advertising category in the United States for the last several years running and has two of the four largest advertisers in the country.
The EU wireless penetration continues to outpace the US, with the EU reaching 126.2% at the end of 2009 and the US reaching 102.4% penetration in June 2011.
After accounting for the higher EU subscriber penetration rates, the level of outbound and inbound minutes of use in the US is more than double the level seen in the EU (875 minutes versus 418 minutes).
Average prices per minute of use in the US ($0.049 per minute) are a quarter of the EU price level ($0.167 per minute).
benton.org/node/121890 | Recon Analytics | B&C
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MOBILE PAY SURVEY
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Kit Eaton]
For many American consumers mobile payments are still something to run away from--and fast. That's what research from the University of California has turned up. A new study there implies that shoppers in the US aren't yet ready for the mobile payment movement. A large percentage of the American citizens questioned in a nationwide phone study called "Mobile Payments: Consumer Benefits and New Privacy Concerns" were found to "overwhelmingly oppose the revelation of contact information (phone number, email address and home address) to merchants when making purchases with mobile payment systems" and "an even higher level of opposition exists to systems that track consumers' movements through their mobile phones." The numbers are stark. When asked if they thought their phones should "share information with stores when they visit and browse without making a purchase," 96% objected to the tracking, 79% said they definitely would forbid it, and 17% said they "probably" wouldn't allow it--meaning just 4% were indifferent or positive about the idea. When the question was instead about information sharing (phone number, address, and so on) at the actual point of sale, 81% objected to phone-number sharing--a mere 15% said they'd probably allow it and 3% definitely so. Similar figures emerged when the information shared was respondents' home address. In terms of email addresses, survey respondents were more inclined to share, with 33% definitely or probably happy to share the transaction information. Still 51% said they definitely wouldn't share email addresses. And overall, 74% of respondents said they are "not at all likely" or "not too likely" to adopt mobile payment systems, while just 24% say they are likely to do so.
benton.org/node/121950 | Fast Company
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APPLE AS A MOBILE CARRIER?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Whitey Bluestein]
[Commentary] What’s next for Apple? Apple will provide wireless service directly to its iPad and iPhone customers. First, Apple will sell data packages bundled with iPads. Then it will sell data and international roaming plans to iPhone customers through the iTunes Store. And in time — sooner than many think — Apple will strike wholesale deals with several mobile operators so that Apple can provide wireless service directly to its customers, as Apple Mobile. Will domestic and global mobile operators like AT&T, Vodafone, Telefónica and others “play ball” with Apple? Many in the U.S. were surprised six years ago when AT&T capitulated to Apple’s terms to become the first carrier to offer the iPhone six years ago. Conventional wisdom is that the struggling operators compromises, not a leading operator like AT&T. But Apple makes everyone “think different.” Apple has all of the pieces necessary to offer wireless service directly to customers. They have the world’s leading brand, a loyal following who will pay a premium for Apple’s products and services, and 363 retail stores around the world, growing to 400 by the end of the year. And with iTunes, it has the digital content and billing platform to offer service with one-click simplicity. The infrastructure is in place today, with the patented architecture ready for Apple’s next big move. [Bluestein, a 25-year telecom veteran, is a strategic advisor and corporate development specialist focused on prepaid, applications, payments and services.]
benton.org/node/121903 | GigaOm
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OWNERSHIP
MURDOCH ACKNOWLEDGES ERRORS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Dawn Chmielewski]
News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch sought to move beyond a damaging report from Parliament accusing him of "willful blindness" in failing to properly investigate allegations of phone hacking by one of his company's London-based tabloids. Murdoch, in a message to News Corp.'s 50,000 employees, said the findings by the Culture, Media and Sport committee were "difficult to read" -- but afforded "an opportunity to reflect upon the mistakes we have made. "We have done the most difficult part, which has been to take a long, hard and honest look at our past mistakes," Murdoch wrote. "There is no easy way around this, but I am proud to say that we have been working hard to put things right." News Corp. issued a statement acknowledging the "hard truths" that emerged from the committee's investigation: that it had been "too slow and too defensive; and that some of our employees misled the Select Committee in 2009." But News Corp. took issue with some comments, which the company labeled "unjustified and highly partisan." This appeared to be a reference to an explosive line in the report that called Murdoch "not a fit person" to lead a major international company.
benton.org/node/121970 | Los Angeles Times | NPR
Murdoch ‘unfit’ to run global company
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CALL TO REVOKE NEWS CORP LICENSES
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants the Federal Communications Commission to revoke News Corporation's broadcast license after a British parliamentary panel ruled that CEO James Murdoch is not fit to lead his global media empire. "Under U.S. law, broadcast frequencies may be used only by people of good 'character,' who will serve 'the public interest,' and speak with 'candor,'" the group wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "Significant character deficiencies may warrant disqualification from holding a license."
benton.org/node/121958 | National Journal
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CUMULUS SELLS STATIONS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ben Sisario]
Cumulus Media, the nation’s second-largest broadcaster, has sold 55 stations and gained 10 others as part of an effort to move into larger, more closely clustered markets. The company announced that it would sell the stations — in 11 small cities in Maine, Texas, North and South Dakota, and elsewhere — to Townsquare Media for $116 million and 10 of Townsquare’s stations in two Illinois cities, Bloomington and Peoria. Cumulus, which last year paid $2.4 billion for a rival broadcaster, Citadel, has about 570 stations, second only to Clear Channel Communications. (CBS Radio, however, which has fewer stations, is the second-largest radio group by revenue.) Most of Cumulus’s stations have been in small to midsize cities. But it has been moving into bigger markets and has also begun to challenge giants like Clear Channel with its programming, like a talk show featuring Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate. Townsquare has about 200 stations, also mostly in small markets.
benton.org/node/121918 | New York Times
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SHAREHOLDERS SUE GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Tom Hals]
Google and its board were sued by a shareholder who wants to block the company's stock split plan because it entrenches the Web search company's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, according to court documents. Google announced the surprise stock split plan earlier this month, in which shareholders would get one new share of non-voting "Class C" stock for each existing "Class A" share. As a result, Google will be able to issue new shares for acquisitions and employee compensation without diluting the 56.3 percent voting stake enjoyed by Page and Brin or diminishing their "iron-clad grip" on Google, according to the complaint.
benton.org/node/121915 | Reuters
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BROADBAND/INTERNET
BROADBAND AND RURAL COMMUNITIES
[SOURCE: JSI Capital Advisors, AUTHOR: Cassandra Heyne]
“A robust broadband network is the foundation of a smart rural community,” according to an NTCA White Paper entitled The Smart Rural Community; but “It is important to note that the mere presence of a robust, next-generation broadband network does not create a smart rural community.” The NTCA paper explores the meaning of “smart rural community” by providing insightful examples from rural areas across the country. The paper also makes declarations about how smart rural communities benefit local consumers and businesses by going above and beyond simply providing a fast, fat pipe to the premises. Generally speaking, “A smart rural community relies on broadband networks to enable a series of applications that the community can leverage for innovative economic development and commerce, top-notch education, first-rate healthcare, cutting-edge government services, enhanced security and more efficient utilities use.” By reading the smart rural community examples in the NTCA paper, you can visualize a smart rural community as a stack of interrelated applications and services from the individual household level all the way up to the government level, and everything in between.
benton.org/node/121880 | JSI Capital Advisors
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STAND YOUR CYBERGROUD
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Patrick Lin]
[Commentary] With the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), we're in a political tug-of-war over who should lead the security of our digital borders: should it be a civilian organization such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), or a military organization such as the Department of Defense (DoD)? I want to suggest a third option that government need not be involved--a solution that would avoid very difficult issues related to international humanitarian law (IHL) and therefore reduce the risk of an accidental cyberwar or worse. This option models itself on the (admittedly controversial) "Stand Your Ground" law that's rooted in our basic right to self-defense, and it authorizes counter-cyberattacks by private companies, which have been the main victims of harmful cyberactivities by foreign actors to date.
[Dr. Patrick Lin is the director of the Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group, based in the philosophy department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.]
benton.org/node/121951 | Atlantic, The
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LIFELINE-LINKUP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of six months, the information collection requirements associated with certain of the provisions of the rules adopted as part of the FCC’s Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization Report and Order (Order). The FCC submitted revisions to those information collection requirements under control number 3060–0819 to OMB for review and approval, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), 77 FR 13319, March 6, 2012. The revisions as updated were approved by OMB on April 13, 2012.
Sections 54.202(a), 54.401(d), 54.403, 54.405(c), 54.407, 54.416, 54.417, 54.420(b), and 54.422, published at 77 FR 12952, March 2, 2012, are effective May 1, 2012 and § 54.410(a) through (f) is effective June 1, 2012.
benton.org/node/121914 | Federal Communications Commission
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CAN BROADBAND BOTTLENECKS BE AVERTED?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
As the head of a bandwidth assessment group at the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and past chairman of the IEEE's task force on 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit per second Ethernet, John D'Ambrosia is among the people who will help guide the world toward 400 Gigabit and even Terabit per second speeds. But will our capacity to deliver bandwidth keep up with the human race's ability to consume it? "That's the question that keeps me up at night," said D'Ambrosia, who is also chairman of the Ethernet Alliance industry group and an engineering executive at Dell. "When we were doing the 100 Gigabit project, people were saying as soon as you get 100 Gigabit done, you need to start working on the next speed. We're past that knee of the curve and we're getting into real exponential growth." An estimated one-third of the world's population is online now, a proportion that is sure to grow. More users, more devices that connect to networks, and more data-heavy services to ride over the pipes are causing a “bandwidth explosion,” D’Ambrosia said. The data reviewed by his IEEE committees over the past few years indicates that bandwidth demand is growing faster than our capacity to deliver it. But plenty of organizations are at work on the next generation of Internet and networking technologies, and they provide reason for optimism. The data explosion may not become a giant bottleneck thanks to continued research of the kind profiled below, which has already led to big advances in undersea cables, software-defined networking, and the research-oriented Internet 2 network.
benton.org/node/121912 | Ars Technica
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TELECOM
USTELECOM PETITION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) seeks comment on a Petition for Waiver (petition) filed on April 25, 2012 by the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom). In its petition, USTelecom requests that the Commission temporarily waive several rules established in the recent Lifeline Reform Order. Specifically, USTelecom seeks a temporary waiver from the obligation to obtain a signed customer certification and a notice of customer eligibility from certain states prior to seeking reimbursement (sections 54.407(d), 54.410(b)(2), 54.410(c)(2)). USTelecom requests that the waiver apply to ETCs in those states which make initial determinations of customer eligibility and are unable to modify their procedures in time for the ETCs to comply with sections 54.407(d), 54.410(b)(2) and 54.410 by June 1, 2012.3 USTelecom requests that the waiver last until a state is able to provide ETCs with the required notices of eligibility and customer certifications. Interested parties may file comments on or before May 15, 2012. Because at least some of the rules from which USTelecom seeks waiver will go into effect June 1, 2012 the Bureau adopts an expedited comment period for this proceeding. [WC Docket Nos. 12-23, 11-42, 03-109; CC Docket No. 96-45]
benton.org/node/121962 | Federal Communications Commission
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CONTENT
SILICON VALLEY AND THE WEB
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
The debate over whether or not Silicon Valley is in a bubble might not be the right question. Instead, we may want to ask whether the fundamental principles of tech investing are shifting, as technology becomes more of a consumer phenomenon. For all the talk of the long tail, the big money is in sites and services that capture a large user base. So how does venture capital and angel investing change to support this model? And should it? Success in this realm isn’t like success in the old-school Silicon Valley world of building chips or enterprise software. The product still matters, but the audience isn’t the few technically or business-savvy experts at a large company that is evaluating your wares for a multimillion-dollar deal. Today it’s selling to the billion people on Facebook, hoping they will give you a click, a tweet or five minutes of their time to be monetized in the form of ads.
benton.org/node/121902 | GigaOm
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A UNIVERSAL DIGITAL LIBRARY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Pamela Samuelson]
[Commentary] The dream of a universal digital library lives on. Now a coalition of libraries and archives has come together to create a Digital Public Library of America to fulfill the original vision of a digital library for all. It could well be that an effort without commerce in the mix will have an easier time of it. A broad consensus already exists to remove copyright obstacles to orphan works. There is also growing interest in mass digitization of out-of-print works. The arguments for increased access are compelling: These books aren't producing any revenue for copyright owners, and most of them are unlikely to be reprinted. Libraries already own copies of many of them and want to make them available digitally to their communities. And rights holders can always opt out of a library mass-digitization project. The U.S. Copyright Office recognizes that barriers to mass digitization need to be overcome. It proposed a partial legislative fix, which became the Orphan Works Act of 2008. The bill passed in the Senate, but then stalled in the House. Maria Pallante, who heads the Copyright Office, recently announced her interest in renewing this legislative initiative at a Berkeley Law conference on orphan works. Workable solutions exist to fulfill the dream of a universal digital library. Do we really want to tell our grandchildren that we could have achieved this goal but lacked the will to do so? [Samuelson is a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law and faculty director of the law school's Berkeley Center for Law & Technology.]
benton.org/node/121994 | Los Angeles Times
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TELEVISION
INVESTIGATION OF ADVOCACY ADS
[SOURCE: TheWrap, AUTHOR: Doug Halonen]
Federal lawmakers have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether broadcasters have been adequately disclosing potential conflicts when they air advocacy ads promoting issues in which they have financial stakes. “It has come to my attention that some radio and TV broadcast stations may air advertising or editorial spots to influence legislation to benefit their interests, and that this practice may not be adequately disclosed to the public,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, and Rep Mike Quigley (D-IL) in a letter to GAO. “GAO should investigate the scope of these practices, whether the existence and value of such spots is disclosed to the public, and in what form, and whether any such disclosure is accurate and complete,” Reps Issa and Quigley said in their letter. In a statement, Rep Quigley said that “the review that was requested is simply meant to gather facts to determine what, if any, action is necessary and makes no assumption of wrongdoing." In their letter to the GAO, Reps Issa and Quigley raised concerns about issue-ad campaigns that the broadcast industry has aired over the past several years.
benton.org/node/121885 | TheWrap
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CORD CUTTERS AND CABLE
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
[Commentary] The rumors that Hulu may soon require subscribers to have a cable TV subscription is the perfect cautionary tale for why the companies that make and distribute content shouldn’t own the pipes that deliver that content. And if the rumors are true, it’s not just a cautionary tale, it’s the new playbook by which pay TV providers will force consumers to buy a special pipe for “the Internet” and a second pipe for TV, despite the fact that technically they are becoming the same thing. There is no denying that as the future of television unfolds it’s disrupting the traditional broadcast, cable TV and content creation models. And while the Senate held a hearing last week to discuss this shift, it felt like they were arriving late to the party, unaware of just how much things were changing as broadband and television converged. Instead of understanding what that convergence meant for the economics of old and new industries and what regulations might be needed to avoid protectionist behavior by pay TV providers and broadcasters, the hearing dealt more with discussions around reworking the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for the current era. That’s not going to happen anytime soon, but I did wonder at the lack of Hulu in the conversation occurring last week at the Capitol.
benton.org/node/121907 | GigaOm
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
28 HOURS OF POLITICAL ADS
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Ken Knelly]
In the weeks before the April 24 primary here, folks in Northeastern Pennsylvania saw and heard a lot on local television stations about the battle between longtime incumbent Democrat Rep. Tim Holden (D) and challenger-turned-primary-winner attorney Matt Cartwright (D). The visibility on the airwaves came through a deluge of paid political ads—not, unfortunately, from actual news reports (which were comparatively scarce and, when offered, not particularly substantive). According to my recent review of the public inspection files (where broadcasters are required to log, among other things, political ad buys) at six area television stations, candidates Cartwright and Holden and assorted interest groups together spent more than $1.1 million in March and April on 30-second ads in the race for the 17th district, a jagged new area capturing big D cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Easton. (Note: These and all figures in this post come from my review of the stations’ files and have not been independently confirmed with the candidates or outside groups.) This translated into more than 3,300 spots. Most of the money and the lion’s share of ads —1,673 spots costing $728,100—ran on WNEP (ABC), the region’s dominant local news source, and its second-feed station, WNEP2.
benton.org/node/121895 | Columbia Journalism Review
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ROMNEY FIGHTS HOLLYWOOD IMAGE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Christian Heinze]
The template of a greedy, heartless businessman who wants to buy votes has a long tradition in movies, books, and television. And with Mitt Romney’s business background a prominent part of his presidential campaign, any pop cultural reference combining business and politics is almost immediately seen as commentary of the presumptive GOP nominee. And Romney is not only countering Hollywood’s portrayal of big business, he’s running against a president with pop cultural appeal. Conservatives, then, are already bracing for a season of relentless attacks on the former Massachusetts governor for his wealth and business background. Their thinking? If Hollywood liberals already like mocking rich capitalists, how much more fun will they have when one is running for president — and against a president who has their support.
benton.org/node/121991 | Hill, The
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SOCIAL MEDIA SCORECARD
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Eric Yaverbaum]
[Commentary] Now that we are fully into general election campaign mode, how will each candidate use social media to enhance their campaigns and to win the hearts and minds of the electorate? If history is a guide, then Barack Obama should have the advantage over Mitt Romney in terms of social media. Four years ago, the Washington Post named Obama the "King of Social Media." It would be safe to say that Obama has established a "social media presidency" with his proactive engagements on Twitter and Facebook that same attempt to connect simultaneously on personal and political levels. And what about the Republicans? That's hard to say, but social media data associated with the accounts of the candidates and their electoral campaigns may offer some insight.
benton.org/node/121954 | Huffington Post, The
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TAXES
AMAZON AND STATE SALES TAXES
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Michelle Quinn]
Amazon may have just upended Congress — to the chagrin of those pushing for a federal online sales tax bill. The online retail company inked deals with Texas and Nevada to begin collecting sales taxes on purchases. The company has brokered seven such agreements in recent months while bills to standardize collection of Internet sales taxes nationwide are mired in politics on Capitol Hill. That puts lobbyists and others who have been fighting for a federal bill in a quandary: If the biggest states begin to see sales tax revenue from Amazon’s collections, is it still worth the money and effort to get a federal bill passed?
benton.org/node/121984 | Politico
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PRIVACY
GOOGLE WI-FI SNOOPING
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Mathew Ingram]
While there has been much public outrage about Google’s snooping of wireless networks via its Street View cars, it’s interesting to note that even the Federal Communications Commission said the company’s data capturing wasn’t illegal, since the networks in question were effectively public (the Federal Trade Commission also dropped a similar case). Is this a sign of how broken the laws around privacy are, or is the Street View furor an over-reaction? Privacy advocate Chris Soghoian says that the FCC should be hauled before a congressional committee for failing to reveal this information sooner, and some commenters on Twitter and elsewhere have suggested that Google should be fined millions of dollars for what it did. Some are even declaring that the engineer involved, who invoked the Fifth Amendment during the FCC investigation and refused to testify, should be sent to prison for his involvement in the project.
benton.org/node/121910 | GigaOm
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GOOGLE MAY FACE UK INQUIRY
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Charles Arthur, Josh Halliday]
Google could face a police investigation in the UK and Europe after documents released in the US show that it intended to collect internet data as it compiled photos for its Street View service around the world. A change of emphasis from an accidental to intentional collection means Google's actions could fall under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which outlaws unauthorized electronic eavesdropping. That could require an investigation by the Home Office or Scotland Yard. Simon Davies, director-general of Privacy International, is calling on Scotland Yard to reopen the investigation into the matter. "It was previously considered by a chief inspector," he said. The high-profile interest in coverage phone hacking in the two years since the initial investigation would mean that evidence of intentional collection of data would be impossible to shrug off, he said. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which oversees data protection issues, said on Monday it would examine the FCC findings and decide whether to reopen its investigation.
benton.org/node/121887 | Guardian, The
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JOURNALISM
DIGITAL CIRCULATION
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Staci Kramer]
The semi-annual numbers are out from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, marking the first time we have year-over-year comparables since the ABC changed its digital reporting guidelines. This used to be a fairly easy affair — you looked at the charts and you could see winners and losers at a glance. It’s not that easy now, however, since the agency’s efforts to measure total circulation in these complicated times altered the field. The ABC even includes a warning “against drawing too many direct comparisons of the data in today’s FAS-FAX report.” The ABC rule changes make it easier for newspapers to break their circulation into recognizable, meaningful categories that can be audited, for instance, counting all digital circulation instead of limiting it to replica editions. They recognize that the same information can be delivered in different ways but still needs to be verified for marketers. Some top-line numbers for the six-month period ending March 31, 2012:
Digital circulation now accounts for 14.2 percent of newspapers’ total circulation mix; up 63 percent from 8.66 percent in March 2011. That includes tablet or smartphone apps, replica editions, metered or restricted-access websites, and e-reader editions. That’s the same percent increase as the report covering the reporting period that ended in September.
Average daily circulation was up .68 percent; that covers 628 papers.
Average Sunday circulation was up 5 percent; that covers 532 papers.
benton.org/node/121897 | paidContent.org
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DATA JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Mathew Ingram]
One of the big areas of focus for technology companies over the past year has been “big data” — in other words, the idea that there can be a lot of value in finding patterns in the massive quantities of user data and other information that a business generates. This has a corollary in journalism too: namely, the growing realization that there is a lot of value in finding patterns in news-related information. This weekend saw the launch of an e-book that could be a useful resource for anyone planning to explore that field: The Data Journalism Handbook. Released at the 2012 International Journalism Festival in Italy, the handbook is a collection of testimonials, tips and in-depth case studies about data-oriented journalism — and fittingly enough, the information was crowdsourced from dozens of leading practitioners of the craft, from the BBC and the Financial Times to the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times (both of whom have teams of developer/journalists who work on data-related projects). The book is being made available free of charge online under a Creative Commons license, although a printed version is also in the works from O’Reilly Media.
benton.org/node/121908 | GigaOm
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CHILDREN AND MEDIA
MOBILE LEARNING
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: ]
Two working papers from educational technology stakeholder groups advocate for mobile learning and its ability to expand educational opportunities to students of all circumstances. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in collaboration with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), released “Turning on Mobile Learning in North America” and “Mobile Learning for Teachers in North America: Exploring the Potential of Mobile Technologies to Support Teachers and Improve Practice.” The papers are part of UNESCO’s larger Working Paper Series on Mobile Learning, which scans the globe to provide concrete examples of how mobile technologies, thanks largely to their ubiquity and affordability, can respond to unique educational challenges, supplement and enrich formal schooling, and make learning everywhere more accessible, equitable and personalized. The papers were co-authored by Jennifer Fritschi and Mary Ann Wolf for UNESCO and CoSN.
benton.org/node/121957 | eSchool News
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COMPANY NEWS
TARGET DROPPING KINDLE
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Bryan Bishop]
Since Target stores began selling Amazon's Kindle line back in 2010, the devices have always appeared to do well; the Kindle Fire was even the retailer's best-selling tablet during Black Friday last year. It appears that's about to change, however, with a source telling us that the company is going to stop carrying the line of products due to a "conflict of interest." According to an internal Target memo we've received, the company will be removing Amazon hardware from its locations starting this month. Certain accessories will remain in stock, but shipments of Kindles themselves will cease as of May 13th. As of this writing, it's unclear what the nature of the cited conflict of interest is, but it should be noted that Apple recently partnered with the retailer for a small number of "mini-stores" earlier this year. Whether the Kindle move is related — or has implications for Target's own e-reader ambitions — still remains to be seen.
benton.org/node/121981 | Verge, The
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NOOK AND NFC
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Laura Hazard Owen]
Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch says that the company plans to embed NFC (near field communication) chips into Nooks. Users could take their Nook into a Barnes & Noble store and wave it near a print book to get info on it or buy it. That could help someone gain quick information on their Nook about a book, making it easy to go from browsing to buying. Consumers could also choose to just buy a printed book in the store with the additional information gleaned from the Nook. The model would help ensure that showrooming leads to sales through Barnes & Noble, whether users ultimately purchase a print or e-book, instead of sending them online and possibly Amazon.
benton.org/node/121955 | GigaOm
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