May 2012

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.

The vast majority of mobile traffic from smartphones and tablets comes from indoor usage, a study from Actix has found. By analyzing data from a live 3G network in a major city, the mobile network analytics and optimization specialist has found that only 5% of iPads are used outdoors and whilst iPads account for just 1% of data sessions, they use four times more data than an average 3G device. Using its Customer Experience Analytics solution, Actix studied live traffic, monitoring the location of key devices and the network load they generated.

Key findings from the study were:

• iPads account for less than 1% of all data sessions but make up over 4% of total traffic
• 95% of iPad usage is indoors
• 90% of traffic from the iPhone 4 and 80% from Blackberry devices is from indoor use

“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.

The U.S. Copyright Office, a division of the Library of Congress, is asking industry for feedback on a project to digitize more than a century's worth of historical records - from 1870 to 1977 - as part of a massive crowdsourcing initiative. (Post-1978 records are already online.)

In its Request For Information, the copyright office says the project includes "approximately 16.4 million original and renewal registrations dating back to 1870, and approximately 350,000 assignments, transfers and terminations of copyright ownership involving 1.7 million titles." The copyright office expects to issue an Request for Proposals in the future but is using the solicitation issued on April 30 "to determine the scope and extent of services available in the marketplace to accomplish the crowdsourcing effort," according to the RFI. Industry responses are due by 1 p.m. on May 15.