June 14, 2012 (Making Broadband Construction Faster and Cheaper)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012
NIST’s Big Data Workshop concludes today http://benton.org/calendar/2012-06-14/
INTERNET/BROADBAND
President Obama Signs Executive Order to Make Broadband Construction Faster and Cheaper - public notice
It’s about time: US almost gets serious about broadband buildout - analysis
The Most Expensive Internet in America
'.Apple,' '.auto' among Internet suffixes proposed
Why the new domain-name lottery is a train wreck
Plans for a New .Music Suffix, but Who Will Own It?
New Internet domain names a .fail, Washington says [links to web]
Dems blame GOP for stalling cybersecurity bill
Sen Lieberman warns July is deadline for cybersecurity bill
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
House Democrats Urge Scrutiny of Verizon-Cable Deals
FCC Will Consider Ways to Enhance Equipment Authorization Program
FCC Proposes Plan to Improve Spectrum Efficiency - press release
Apple's big enemy in smartphone wars: delay
Verizon data plans expected to be followed by AT&T, others [links to web]
Beware of Verizon's new service plans - analysis
Companies embrace mobile computing [links to web]
1 in 5 U.S. consumers connects TV to the Internet, study says [links to web]
Apple fails to fend off mobile tracking lawsuit
CONTENT
Why the Feds’ Cable Probe Means More Expensive Web Video for You
Suggested new movement: “Cord Trimming” - analysis
Why traditional media should be afraid of Twitter - analysis [links to web]
Cable Trouble for Netflix
Web Video Companies Crank Up Lobbying [links to web]
NAB: Retransmission, Exclusivity Must Apply To OVDs [links to web]
Price to Show U.K. Soccer Rises by 69% [links to web]
PRIVACY
Few Privacy Regulations Inhibit Facebook - analysis
What Facebook Knows
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Groups Ask Senate Not to Block FCC Political File Order [links to web]
How To Reach Off The Grid Voters in Ohio
Campaign Aid Is Now Surging Into 8 Figures
ADVERTISING
Microsoft Files Patent to Serve Ads Based on Mood, Body Language
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
State Department speaks out on Amazon Kindle deal
Lawmaker asks HHS for health IT oversight plan [links to web]
EDUCATION
App Creation Inspires Student Entrepreneurs
POLICYMAKERS
House Commerce Committee Makes Staff Changes [links to web]
Hunt survives move to refer him to watchdog [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Desktop Computers Look More and More Like Smartphones [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
BROADBAND EXECUTIVE ORDER
[SOURCE: The White House]
President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order to make broadband construction along Federal roadways and properties up to 90 percent cheaper and more efficient. Currently, the procedures for approving broadband infrastructure projects on properties controlled or managed by the Federal Government—including large tracts of land, roadways, and more than 10,000 buildings across the Nation—vary depending on which agency manages the property. The new Executive Order will ensure that agencies charged with managing Federal properties and roads take specific steps to adopt a uniform approach for allowing broadband carriers to build networks on and through those assets and speed the delivery of connectivity to communities, businesses, and schools.
The Executive Order (EO) will require the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Interior, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs as well as the US Postal Service to offer carriers a single approach to leasing Federal assets for broadband deployment. The EO also requires that available Federal assets and the requirements for leasing be provided on departmental websites, and it will require public tracking of regional broadband deployment projects via the Federal Infrastructure Projects Dashboard (permits.performance.gov). In addition, the Executive Order will direct departments to help carriers time their broadband deployment activities to periods when streets are already under construction—an approach that can reduce network deployment costs along Federal roadways by up to 90 percent.
The White House also announced that nearly 100 partners—including more than 25 cities as well as corporate and non-profit entities—will join with more than 60 national research universities to form a new public-private partnership called “US Ignite.” The US Ignite Partnership will create a new wave of services that take advantage of state-of-the-art, programmable broadband networks running up to 100 times faster than today’s Internet. By bringing software developers and engineers from government and industry together with representatives from communities, schools, hospitals, and other institutions that will benefit from faster and more agile broadband options, the partnership aims to speed up and increase the development of applications for advanced manufacturing, medical monitoring, emergency preparedness, and a host of other services. These applications will improve services to Americans and drive job creation, promote innovation, and create new markets for American businesses.
benton.org/node/125741 | White House, The | House Commerce Committee | Fast Company
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US ALMOST GETS SERIOUS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
After writing about broadband for nearly a decade-and-a-half, it is finally good to see our politicians actually thinking about broadband and connectedness in a thoughtful manner. Almost! President Barack Obama will sign an order to make the approval process for broadband network buildout on roads and federal property smoother, easier and simpler. The new order solves the following problems:
In order to approve broadband construction, different federal agencies have different processes.
The Federal Government owns about 30 percent of the US land, roads and over 10,000 buildings.
The new order will make things simpler by:
Ensuring that Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Interior, Transportation and Veteran Affairs & the US Postal Service develop a single process to approve the Internet construction process.
The Department of Transportation will make sure that a dig-once policy is in place. So when new roads are being built, the construction teams should include the empty pipes that can house fiber cables instead of having constantly to dig this up. Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) have been big proponents of the “dig once” policy. The dig-once policy is a smart way to ensure that we can see fiber is deployed quickly across the U.S. It should help spread the fiber to far-flung and greenfield locations.
benton.org/node/125751 | GigaOm
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MOST EXPENSIVE INTERNET
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Michael Calabrese, Daniel Calarco, and Colin Richardson]
Thanks to fiber to the home, high-speed cable service, and 4G wireless broadband, most Americans enjoy access to all the 21st century has to offer. However, connection speeds in rural and remote parts of America lag behind the urban centers. Over the past two years, this rural broadband gap has been documented by the aggregation of a National Broadband Map, which identifies areas across the country that are underserved or lack broadband coverage altogether. The creation of this map was funded by the Federal Department of Commerce under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. One Economy, a nonprofit that helps low-income people gain access to broadband connections, and the New America Foundation, a partner in Future Tense, have contributed to the national broadband map by surveying America’s Pacific Island territories: Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas Islands. In the process, we discovered that a combination of high prices and slow download speeds give our nation’s Pacific territories the dubious distinction of having the most expensive Internet access in America.
benton.org/node/125739 | Slate
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NEW INTERNET SUFFIXES
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Proposals for Internet addresses ending in ".pizza," `'.space" and ".auto" are among the nearly 2,000 submitted as part of the largest expansion in the online address system. Apple, Sony and American Express are among companies seeking names with their brands. The expansion will allow suffixes that represent hobbies, ethnic groups, corporate brand names and more. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced the proposals for Internet suffixes — the ".com" part of an Internet address — in London on Wednesday. Among the 1,930 proposals for 1,409 different suffixes, the bulk came from North America and Europe. If approved, the new suffixes would rival ".com" and about 300 others now in use. Companies would be able to create separate websites and separate addresses for each of their products and brands, even as they keep their existing ".com" name. Businesses that joined the Internet late and found desirable ".com" names taken would have alternatives. Nearly half of the proposals — 911 — were from North America and another 675 came from Europe. Only 17 proposals came from Africa and 24 came from Latin America and the Caribbean — areas where Internet use is relatively low. One surprise came from the Asia-Pacific region, which had 303 proposals, or 16 percent of the total. Many proposals were duplicates. Suffixes in contention are likely to include ".bank," `'.secure" and ".web." ICANN is encouraging competing bidders to work out an agreement. The organization will hold an auction if the parties fail to reach a compromise. Of the 1,930 proposals, 751 were for 230 different suffixes, while the remaining 1,179 were unique.
benton.org/node/125737 | Associated Press | The Hill | AdWeek | paidContent | Media Post | GigaOm | LATimes
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DOMAIN NAME TRAIN WRECK?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Mathew Ingram]
Do we really need addresses that end in .beer or .movie? ICANN seems to think that we do, and the lottery to determine which ones are ultimately accepted got under way on Wednesday. The agency seems to think this will increase competition, but it seems more likely to cause unnecessary chaos and upheaval. This particular train was set in motion over a year ago, when ICANN — the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a former U.S. agency that is now a non-profit managed by industry representatives — said it planned to broaden the domain-name system. The process was launched earlier this year, and allowed anyone to apply for a new top-level domain of their choice (provided they paid a $185,000 fee). Cities such as New York and Paris have applied for their own names, as have companies such as Coca-Cola and Apple, and both Google and Amazon have applied for a bewildering variety of names, including .lol and .book.
benton.org/node/125735 | GigaOm
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ICANN PLAN
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ben Sisario]
As part of changes planned by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), music fans might soon be typing “JustinBieber.music” or “BruceSpringsteen.music” instead of more familiar addresses that end in .com or .net. But who will get to control these new Internet domains has not been settled; rather, it has become the latest example of the music world’s struggle over the Internet, as industry groups and technology giants like Google and Amazon compete to control the .music domain. Eight parties are vying for .music. Among them are Far Further, which has the backing of the Recording Industry Association of America and most other major industry trade groups; a group called .MUSIC (or, less confusingly, DotMusic), which is supported by government bodies across the world and by several central companies that deal with unsigned acts, like the digital distributor TuneCore and the Web service ReverbNation; Google and Amazon, which are both bidding for dozens of the new suffixes; and several other applicants, including at least one company whose business model is buying and selling Web domain names. Other musical suffixes up for bidding are .band, .tickets, .song and .tunes. ICANN’s plan has been called a “land grab” that could prove expensive for companies or personalities who want to protect their names by buying up sites under multiple top-level domains. The winning applicants for .music, or for any other new suffixes, would own the suffix and have wide discretion over how it is applied to Web addresses. That means, among other things, that the winning bidder would be able to determine who gets to register not only band sites but also more general terms, like country.music or live.music — which could be tremendously valuable.
benton.org/node/125769 | New York Times
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GOP STALLING ON CYBERSECURITY?
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
No cybersecurity compromise is jelling in the Senate — and the finger-pointing has begun. The window for legislative action this year is rapidly closing. Democrats, faced with the real possibility that the Senate won’t be able to pass a bill, are openly blaming Republicans. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) accused GOP lawmakers of failing to work with Democrats on critical infrastructure provisions in a bill by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). Leader Reid lamented that “some key Republicans continue to argue we should do nothing to secure critical infrastructure” despite warnings by intelligence experts. “It is time for [Republicans] to participate productively in the conversation instead of just criticizing the current approach,” Majority Leader Reid said. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) echoed Reid. “It’s just very simple. The entire government, the entire national security establishment, the entire military establishment, they all want it and they all want a bill, which is virtually prepared except for, will the Republicans accept the covered critical infrastructure?” Chairman Rockefeller said. “If you don’t, then you’re excluding all the grids, all the water systems, all the dam systems, all the hospital systems and all the air-traffic-control systems.”
benton.org/node/125761 | Politico
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LEIBERMAN WARNS JULY IS DEADLINES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) urged the Senate to pass his cybersecurity bill, warning that July could be the final opportunity to address the issue. He predicted that the lame-duck session following the election will be consumed by budget and tax issues. "The truth is, if we don't take it up in July and see if we've got the votes … we're not going to be able to pass this legislation in a way that's timely and allows us to go to conference, reach an agreement and send the bill to the president," Sen Lieberman said. Sen Lieberman congratulated the House for taking "some initial good steps," but argued that the critical infrastructure protections must be included in the legislation that ultimately becomes law. He thanked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who gave his own speech on the Senate floor stressing his support for Lieberman's bill. Sen Lieberman said that Leader Reid has assured him the bill will come up for a vote in July, and he predicted that the bill will have the votes to clear the chamber. Sen Lieberman has said the cybersecurity bill is his top legislative priority before he retires at the end of the year.
benton.org/node/125759 | Hill, The
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
HOUSE DEMS WANT SCRUTINY OF VERIZON-CABLE SPECTRUM DEAL
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
A group of House Democrats called on federal regulators to closely scrutinize Verizon Wireless' bid to buy spectrum from and enter into marketing agreements with a group of cable firms, saying the deals could threaten the competitive goals of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. "It was the intent of Congress in the act to promote competition between telephone and cable companies," according to a letter signed by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Commerce Committee, Judiciary ranking member John Conyers (D-MI), and five other House Democrats. The letter was sent to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Attorney General Eric Holder. "Following the enactment of the act, a new boom of innovation and competition was unleashed, resulting in hundreds of billions of dollars of new private sector investment thanks to broadband revolution initiated by the statue. To fulfill the purpose and promise of the act, it is essential that competition and consumer choice continue to animate our nation's communications policies," the lawmakers added. The lawmakers, however, did not call for the deals to be blocked and instead called on the FCC and Justice Department to examine how the deals will impact telecommunications competition.
benton.org/node/125752 | National Journal | The Hill | B&C
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FCC WILL CONSIDER WAYS TO ENHANCE EQUIPMENT AUTHORIZATION PROGRAM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission took action to ensure that its equipment authorization program will continue to operate smoothly in the face of an ever increasing number of applicants and applications for equipment authorization for wireless devices. Devices range from cell phones and police and marine radios, to computers and microtransmitters placed in computers, to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices, to implanted wireless medical devices, to remote control devices, to security tags, to inventory trackers, and many more in variety and number. Applicants range from well-known companies like Gibson Guitar, Texas Instruments and Ford Motor Company, to seemingly unlikely participants such as Oreck, Adidas, and the Nebraska Furniture Mart, as well as numerous makers – large and small – of individual electronics components that are included in larger devices. The equipment authorization program is a key component of FCC’s spectrum and policy agenda. It encourages innovation in equipment design, ensures efficient use of the radio spectrum, and implements policy objectives such as the hearing aid compatibility of handsets.
The FCC also announced that it plans to consider ways to improve its equipment authorization program, including clarifying or modifying the administrative requirements and the responsibilities of the Telecommunications Certification Bodies that perform equipment certification.
benton.org/node/125754 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Genachowski | Commissioner McDowell | Commissioner Clyburn | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai
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FCC PROPOSES PLAN TO IMPROVE SPECTRUM EFFICIENCY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules and asked for comment on a number of issues involved in improving spectrum efficiency and encouraging greater use of the 4940-4990 MHz (4.9 GHz) band for public safety broadband communications. Improved use of the 4.9 GHz band will facilitate wireless local area networks for incident scene management, fixed point-point surveillance, and support for dispatch operations and vehicular or personal communications.
The 4.9 GHz broadband spectrum is a contiguous block of 50 megahertz of spectrum that is designated for both fixed and mobile and dedicated for public safety. Using 4.9 GHz spectrum, public safety users can set up temporary mesh networks that support data, voice, and video communications at scenes of emergencies; monitor sensitive locations remotely with point-to-point video links; and set up city-wide Wi-Fi networks to give first responders dedicated broadband access. The 4.9 GHz spectrum holds great potential to complement the national public safety broadband network for backhaul; facilitate safer operation of our nation’s critical infrastructure and utilities; and provide wireless broadband connectivity in remote or sparsely populated locations. Specifically, in the Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission seeks comment
on:
Whether to establish formal coordination requirements in the 4.9 GHz band, whether the 700 MHz Regional Planning Committees (RPCs) could administer a database registration process, and options for a registration database to be used for coordination purposes;
Whether expanding eligibility to critical infrastructure entities and commercial users would promote more effective and efficient use of the band;
Whether eligibility for commercial users should be on a secondary basis subject to a shutdown feature to allow public safety priority access;
Whether the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) is or should be eligible for a 4.9 GHz band license, particularly for backhaul links in support of the 700 MHz network; technical proposals to increase spectrum efficiency, usage, and throughput in the band. Specifically, the FCC invited input on issues such as the channel plan, power and antenna gain limits, aeronautical mobile operations, and interoperability standards.
benton.org/node/125734 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Genachowski | Commissioner McDowell | Commissioner Clyburn | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai
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SMARTPHONE RULES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Dan Levine]
Apple has spent nearly three years fighting its rivals in a global smartphone patent war. Now, setbacks in two key US court cases are laying bare why a drawn-out battle could be bad news for the iPhone maker. Then in an order late on June 11, US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, effectively dashed Apple's hopes of stopping the launch of Samsung's new Galaxy S III smartphone, which also runs on Android. Judge Koh had said Apple's push to get a court order blocking the June 21 launch would overload her calendar, given Apple's high-stakes trial over other Samsung devices set for July that she is overseeing. The latest decisions don't doom Apple's courtroom efforts - the company can appeal Posner's ruling, while Koh's directive had nothing to do with the merits of the Samsung case about to go to trial, or the legal arguments for an injunction on the new Samsung smartphone. But delays in moving its cases through the courts is a blow to Apple's efforts to get quick and favorable rulings that it hopes would give it an edge in the marketplace for mobile devices.
benton.org/node/125724 | Reuters
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BEWARE VERIZON PLAN
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Troy Wolverton]
[Commentary] The new Share Everything plans Verizon Wireless announced have a catchy name and a cool concept -- but they're a crummy deal for many consumers. That's because many users will end up paying more for their service under the new plans. Hardest hit will be some of those who put the least burdens on Verizon's network -- those who do little talking, texting or Web surfing on their phones. But more active users may see their bills go up as well. Overall, the move appears to be a price hike tarted up to look consumer friendly. Let's say that you have a smartphone that you use lightly and have signed up for one of Verizon's lower cost plans. You might spend $70 a month if you don't do any messaging or $80 a month if you send or receive up to 1,000 messages. Under the Share Everything plans, you'd be spending at least $90 -- and that's for only 1 gigabyte of data, compared to 2 gigabytes under the old rates. If you wanted the same 2 gigabytes of data, you'd be spending $100.
benton.org/node/125762 | San Jose Mercury News
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APPLE PRIVACY LAWSUIT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jonathan Stempel]
Apple must defend against a lawsuit accusing it of letting advertisers secretly track the activity of millions of mobile device users, a federal judge ruled, but Google and several other defendants were dismissed from the case. Owners of iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches may pursue claims against Apple under two California consumer protection laws, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, said. Judge Koh oversees nationwide litigation combining 19 lawsuits. But the judge threw out claims that Apple violated customers' privacy rights, and also threw out claims under federal laws addressing computer fraud, wiretaps, and records disclosure. Other defendants dismissed from the case include AdMarval, Admob, Flurry, and Medialets.
benton.org/node/125755 | Reuters
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CONTENT
CABLE INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Peter Kafka]
The Department of Justice is looking at the way Comcast and the rest of the cable industry deal with broadband and online video. So what does that mean for you? Higher broadband bills — at least if you plan on streaming a lot of online video. And no chance that today’s cable bundles go away anytime soon. That’s the takeaway from Bernstein Research’s super-savvy Craig Moffett.
Broadband providers are already moving away from broadband plans that charge everyone the same price, as long as their use stays under a certain cap, and toward usage-based pricing.
That’s a problem for Netflix, as well as for anyone thinking about getting into “over the top” video, because that will effectively increase the price of those services.
When Netflix complained that Comcast was giving its in-house streaming video service a boost over Netflix by not counting the Comcast service against its own broadband cap, Comcast responded by dropping its cap and moving to usage-based pricing.
Federal regulators may be also looking into the cable industry’s practice of bundling channels — which means that you can’t watch the Disney Channel unless you also pay for ESPN — that’s not going to go anywhere. Because no one’s breaking any laws.
benton.org/node/125730 | Wall Street Journal
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CORD TRIMMING
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Daniel Frankel]
Critics say a pay TV business that regularly charges its customers $100 a month is doomed. OK, so how about a cable bill that costs less than $40? Yes, in between that revolutionary band of consumers who say they no longer want to pay for services and channels they don’t use, and a video content establishment that says you need to support the incumbent pay TV model to fund shows like Game of Thrones, there is … compromise. I call it the “cord-trimming” movement — if I’m watching my shows on my Xbox 360 and iPad most of the time, why am I paying for whole-home HD DVR service? If I’m spending half my viewing time on Netflix and HBO Go, what need do I have for Cloo, the Church Channel, CMT and dozens of other smaller cable networks I’ll never watch?
benton.org/node/125712 | paidContent.org
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CABLE TROUBLE FOR NETFLIX
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Miriam Gottfried]
Netflix has made no secret of its stance that cable companies should be prevented from using their broadband networks to discriminate against competitors. But, as Sanford Bernstein points out, now that the government is looking into the issue, the message to Netflix may be: careful what you wish for. The Justice Department is reportedly investigating whether cable companies are engaging in anticompetitive behavior in their treatment of Netflix and other online-video providers. One issue is the use of caps on the amount of bandwidth allotted to Internet subscribers. But for Netflix, an investigation could end up hurting more than it helps by hastening the cable industry's shift to usage-based pricing for broadband. Analysts say moving to usage-based pricing, a system under which heavy users pay more for data, is one way for cable and phone companies to alleviate government concern about caps. The Federal Communications Commission has already explicitly supported usage-based pricing, arguably lending it credence in the eyes of the Justice Department. But usage-based pricing poses a threat to Netflix because of its reliance on broadband providers to transmit its video-streaming product. If subscribers have to pay more to stream large amounts of data, they might be less inclined to use Netflix.
benton.org/node/125765 | Wall Street Journal | USAToday
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PRIVACY
PRIVACY REGULATIONS INHIBIT FACEBOOK
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Tom Simonite]
Now that it's a public company, Facebook needs to significantly boost its revenues to bring them in line with shareholders' expectations. That means finding new uses for the endless amounts of personal data the company collects from its users—but this prospect concerns privacy advocates, who say Facebook has outgrown existing privacy laws. Although regulators around the globe are increasing their scrutiny of Facebook, it might be years before they catch up. Some legal scholars believe that Facebook should be subject to specific consumer protection regulations. As the largest social network, it faces little competitive pressure, and people have few options if they don't like how the company handles their information.
benton.org/node/125707 | Technology Review
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WHAT FACEBOOK KNOWS
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Tom Simonite]
If Facebook were a country, a conceit that founder Mark Zuckerberg has entertained in public, its 900 million members would make it the third largest in the world. It would far outstrip any regime past or present in how intimately it records the lives of its citizens. Private conversations, family photos, and records of road trips, births, marriages, and deaths all stream into the company's servers and lodge there. Facebook has collected the most extensive data set ever assembled on human social behavior. Some of your personal information is probably part of it. And yet, even as Facebook has embedded itself into modern life, it hasn't actually done that much with what it knows about us. Now that the company has gone public, the pressure to develop new sources of profit is likely to force it to do more with its hoard of information. That stash of data looms like an oversize shadow over what today is a modest online advertising business, worrying privacy-conscious Web users (see "Few Privacy Regulations Inhibit Facebook") and rivals such as Google. Everyone has a feeling that this unprecedented resource will yield something big, but nobody knows quite what.
benton.org/node/125706 | Technology Review
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
ADS FOR VOTERS OFF THE GRID
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Charlie Warzel]
At Personal Democracy Forum, a yearly gathering of technologists and political elites, Mitt Romney's digital director Zac Moffatt laid out an interesting challenge facing his boss and President Obama—particularly in the key swing state of Ohio. Namely, how do you engage with voters Moffatt has labeled "off the griders," i.e. people that are opting out of live TV in favor of DVR's to skip over ads. Both Moffatt and Michael Beach of political interactive ad agency, Targeted Victory (a firm Moffatt helped to co-found) spoke to separate crowds about the off the grid phenomenon arguing for the importance of online advertising. In fact, according to an in house study conducted by Targeted Victory and SAY Media, 31 percent of likely 2012 voters are not watching live TV. Per Moffat, the numbers are even higher in Ohio, a state where Romney and Obama are expected to compete fiercely. Moffatt was quick to note that digital was not out to replace the role of television, but rather amplify it. When it comes to persuading online voters, Moffatt argues for sophisticated targeting (naturally, that's a task that the Romney campaign has hired Targeted Victory and other data firms to help accomplish).
benton.org/node/125719 | AdWeek
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CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nicholas Confessore]
Even in a political season marked by unprecedented levels of political spending, Sheldon Adelson stands alone. In recent days, Adelson, a billionaire casino owner, and his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, gave $10 million to Restore Our Future, a “super PAC” backing Mitt Romney. The move leaves the Adelsons by far the most prolific campaign donors in the country. All told, they have given at least $35 million to pro-Republican super PACs during the 2012 campaign, along with several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of $2,500 checks directly to federal candidates. That is more than twice as much money as the closest competitors for the title, the conservative Texas billionaire Harold C. Simmons and his wife, Annette, making Adelson a uniquely powerful force in the annals of presidential politics. In the wake of court rulings and other actions that have largely deregulated the campaign finance system, wealthy donors and corporations are planning to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into this year’s presidential and Congressional elections, mostly in support of Republicans. The cascade of money has left President Obama struggling to keep up, with few Democrats willing to write multimillion-dollar checks to super PACs, in part because many of them object to the existence of super PACs in the first place.
benton.org/node/125771 | New York Times
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ADVERTISING
ADS BASED ON MOOD
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Cotton Delo]
Microsoft has filed for a patent for technology to target ads to consumers based on their emotional states, taking the notion of "tracking" to a literal level. In an application filed in December 2010 but just made public last week, Microsoft sought to patent an advertising engine that gauges people's emotional states based on their search queries, emails, instant messages and use of online games, as well as facial expressions, speech patterns and body movements. The ad engine is device-agnostic; as Microsoft noted in its application, "client devices" could include personal digital assistants, smart phones, laptops, PCs and gaming devices. The patent seems to cover many bases, but the Microsoft product that appears ready-made to deliver emotionally targeted ads is Kinect, the motion-sensing input device that was released for Xbox but now also has a version for Windows. The application states that a user who screams or paces back and forth, when observed by Kinect, could be assigned a negative emotional state by a currently hypothetical advertising engine.
benton.org/node/125717 | AdAge
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
MORE ON KINDLE PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Laura Hazard Owen]
Department of State spokesman Philippe Reines explained more about how the overseas English language program will work and clarified some things that aren’t included in the available public documents about buying Kindles. First off, the State Department hasn’t yet signed a contract with Amazon; DoS has issued a request for proposals. Reines said that the State Department would spend $2.29 million in the first year of the program, and ”the $16.5 million over five years includes a maximum of 7,000 units per year for a total of 35,000 over five years, and content and to a lesser degree, shipping and some other associate costs.” Reines added that the “guaranteed obligation of $2.29 million” in the first year is “broken down by an obligation to purchase, at minimum, 2,500 units, which would be roughly half a million dollars.” The ad-free Kindle Touch 3G — specified in the J&A as the device that State would purchase — is $189. The J&A also says each Kindle should come with a power adapter and a case. Assuming that State gets a 10 percent discount on each device, as Reines told the Atlantic, and that the power adapter + case adds another $20 to each device, that’s $475,250 for Kindles. That leaves $1,814,750 for content, shipping and other costs. It’s a lot of money for content, especially since it appears that many of the e-books will be public domain.
benton.org/node/125710 | paidContent.org
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EDUCATION
APP CREATION AND STUDENTS
[SOURCE: Education Week, AUTHOR: Katie Ash]
Teams of girls in New York City, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area spent 10 weeks designing a mobile app so they could pitch the final product at a national competition at the end of the course. Students outside of Raleigh (NC) learned different programming languages to create their own apps in a largely independent but rigorous after-school program. And in the nation's capital students meet each week to learn not only how to make their own apps, but also how to hone leadership and entrepreneurial skills, such as marketing, creating a business plan, and public speaking. A growing number of after-school programs for boys and girls that draw on students' interest in applications for mobile devices are evolving throughout the country. Such programs can be a gateway to learning computer programming, as well as business and marketing lessons, which educators believe equip students with lifelong skills to succeed in college and the workforce. Some of the programs aim especially to engage girls.
benton.org/node/125716 | Education Week
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