May 2012

FCC Needs to Give OVDs MPVD Status

[Commentary] The principal way that television stations can restore their ubiquity is by streaming their signals online — their entire signals, 24/7 — just as they broadcast them. The Internet is a path to all those second and third screens.

TV is way behind radio on this front. As far as I know, not a single TV station is being simulcast online. It's a sad state of affairs. TV broadcasting is still reliant mostly on advertising revenue and the only way to reverse the long slide in viewership is for stations to break out of the box in the living room and leap onto the Internet. The reason they don't is because they can't. They don't control the online rights to the network and syndicated programming that comprises much of their schedule, and the networks and syndicators for the most part don't want to give them those rights. The Federal Communications Commission is considering whether it should regulate online video distributors (OVDs) just as it now does cable and satellite operators — or, legally speaking, multichannel video program distributors (MVPDs). Such regulation would bring with it entitlements and obligations.

FCC's Final Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules

The Federal Communications Commission has developed this Final Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules. The Final Plan represents the Commission’s strategy for incorporating retrospective analysis into its processes for reviewing its rules.

This plan covers the following documents produced by the FCC:

Existing significant regulations;
Existing information collections; and
Future significant regulations.

Each Bureau and the majority of Offices in the FCC is involved in retrospective analysis of the rules that it implements. As part of the FCC’s Data Innovation Initiative, each of the Bureaus is tasked with identifying obsolete or overly burdensome data collections for potential elimination. Each Bureau and Office also has been asked to undertake a thorough review of regulations to identify duplicative, obsolete or repealed rules that should be taken off the books. Every part of the FCC is involved in efforts to eliminate outdated regulations and to promote private investment and innovation that creates jobs and spurs economic growth. As the FCC continues to implement its plan for retrospective review of regulations, the agency will explore ways of expanding public participation in order to achieve the goals of more efficiently providing the public with information necessary to participate in the regulatory process and improving the actual results of regulatory requirements.

FCC Announces E-rate Inflation-Based Cap for Funding Year 2012

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau announces that the E-rate program funding cap for funding year 2012 is $2,338,786,577. FCC rules require an adjustment of the E-rate program’s annual cap based on the gross domestic product chain-type price index (GPD-CPI) measure of inflation. The new cap represents a 2.1% inflation-adjusted increase from funding year 2011’s $2,290,682,250 cap.

Microsoft wins US import ban on Motorola’s Android devices

The US International Trade Commission ordered an import ban on Motorola Mobility Android products, agreeing with Microsoft that the devices infringe a Microsoft patent on “generating meeting requests” from a mobile device.

The import ban stems from a December ruling that the Motorola Atrix, Droid, and Xoom (among 18 total devices) infringed the patent, which Microsoft says is related to Exchange ActiveSync technology. Today, the ITC said in a “final determination of violation” that “the appropriate form of relief in this investigation is a limited exclusion order prohibiting the unlicensed entry for consumption of mobile devices, associated software and components thereof covered by claims 1, 2, 5, or 6 of the United States Patent No. 6,370,566 and that are manufactured abroad by or on behalf of, or imported by or on behalf of, Motorola.” ITC rulings such as this one are subject to a 60-day Presidential review period, during which time Motorola is required to post a bond of 33¢ “per device entered for consumption.” Motorola is on the verge of being acquired by Google, with the acquisition having been approved by every jurisdiction except China.

Deputy CTO Power, FCC's McDowell Spar, At a Distance, Over Spectrum

Tom Power, the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Telecommunications, agrees with critics who want to see federal agencies move faster in identifying spectrum to be turned over for use under the National Broadband Plan. One of those critics is Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell.

On C-Span’s "The Communicators," Commissioner McDowell suggested that the problem of the slow pace of federal spectrum givebacks could be solved with an executive order. Commissioner McDowell was also dubious of the $18 billion figure that's been tossed around as the total cost of federal spectrum reallocation, suggesting that agencies might be hyping costs. Part of the problem, Power said, is that the government is hamstrung in finding ways to create incentives for bureaucrats to relinquish spectrum - especially considering that some of those spectrum managers might innovate themselves out of a job by doing so. By contrast, Power observed, "Industry has the luxury of working in the free market." Power didn't comment on whether the $18 billion figure was high, and said that in any event, the true cost would be scored by the Office of Management and Budget down the road.

New Nielsen Ratings Track Online Consumption

A top Nielsen executive said the company’s fledgling Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) product is heading toward an industry standard in tracking Internet consumption with metrics similar to TV. “What we’re seeing is a real step toward the creation of a currency, and the evidence around that is the fact that both buyers and sellers of advertising inventory are using the product to guarantee the delivery of an audience,” said Steve Hasker, the president of Nielsen’s watch business.

Consumers Argue Video Privacy Law Applies To Web Streams

Consumers who sued Hulu for alleged privacy violations are urging a federal judge to reject the company's argument that it isn't covered by the federal video privacy law.

Hulu's contention that the Video Privacy Protection Act only applies to brick-and-mortar stores is "disingenuous at best," the consumers argue in a 19-page reply filed last week with the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. They say that Hulu's bid to distinguish streaming videos from DVDs or videocassettes is "akin to the argument that an email is not a document because it exists exclusively in cyberspace." The lawsuit was sent to mediation earlier this week, but that doesn't necessarily signal that it will be resolved; many cases in federal court are referred to dispute resolution programs but then return to court if the parties aren't able to come to an agreement.

Does Telework Work?

Since the passage of the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act, it’s likely that your agency is implementing telework in some form or fashion. The question is, how will your agency know if that telework program is producing results? Cindy Auten, general manager for Telework Exchange, said in an interview with Wired Workplace last week that measuring results was one of the most-discussed topics at the bi-annual Telework Town Hall meeting earlier this month. “One of the great challenges for agencies is making sure they can measure the success of their program appropriately,” Auten said.

Not-for-Profit Hospitals Invest in Health IT

Health IT systems sit atop the capital-spending priorities of not-for-profit hospitals, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

In its May 17 report titled “Capital Expenditure Trends Among Nonprofit Hospitals,” Fitch analysts say health IT investment was considered more important than physician-alignment initiatives, and investments in outpatient facilities, clinical-access points and inpatient capacity, in that order. Hospital leaders considered all five surveyed areas to be of at least moderate importance, according to the report. The five areas were ranked on a score of one to five, with one being the most important. Health IT investment received an average rating of 1.7, followed by 2.7 for physician alignment and 2.9 for outpatient capacity. Inpatient-facility investment ranked at the bottom at 3.8.

2012 political TV ads: The rush is on

With nearly six months left before Election Day, national party committees have already reserved more than $72 million in television airtime for a fall campaign that’s shaping up as a Super Bowl-like spectacle of political advertising.

Given that the 2012 cycle may go down in history as the most cluttered and expensive in history, committees and super PACs are maneuvering to get the most bang for their buck. For many, that means buying their ads unusually early. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has booked $25 million in airtime in the targeted states of Virginia, Missouri, Montana, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Nevada, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has reserved $15.6 million across Missouri, Montana and Virginia. Those numbers are sure to grow. On the House side, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is in the process of reserving $32 million in advertising across 26 congressional districts in what party officials call an attempt to lock in low advertising rates and ensure the group’s ads don’t get lost in a flood of outside money.

Benton

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