June 8, 2012 (Cable, Telecoms see data caps as future success)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012
The Privacy Law Scholars Conference concludes today http://benton.org/calendar/2012-06-08/
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Cable, Telecoms see data caps as future success
The FCC Jump Starts Special Access (Again) and AT&T's Disingenuous Response - analysis
The FCC Noses Under the Broadband Internet Tent - op-ed
Rep Terry: Network Neutrality Supporters Hypocritical on International Net Regulation
Schools need 100Mbps for every 1,000 users [links to web]
The War for India's Internet
CYBERSECURITY
Military, Intel Officials Call for Action on Cybersecurity Bill
Senators float compromise on cybersecurity mandates
Hackers escalate attacks on social networks [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
Lawmakers suggest giving military frequencies to LightSquared
FCC’s McDowell: NTIA Report Suggests Executive Branch Resists Relinquishing Spectrum
Dish Chief Spies Opening For New Wireless Network
TELEVISION
Group Lobbying Congress To Step Into FCC Viewability Decision
What are you paying for when you buy TV? - analysis
Why Comcast's Price Discrimination Strategy Makes Me Hate Them - op-ed [links to web]
Small broadcaster to drop Dish Network over AutoHop ad skipper
Dish Chief: TV Needs to Change
JOURNALISM
In scare for newspapers, digital ad growth stalls
Fox News Takes Control Of Newscore Wire
New Orleans and the future of news - op-ed
The New York Times: Barack Obama's not leaking to us
CONTENT
How Google and Microsoft taught search to "understand" the Web [links to web]
The MPAA would be OK seeing legit Megaupload files restored [links to web]
Why HBO is once again TV’s most relevant network - analysis [links to web]
Uncommon Sense: Multiplying the Digital Divide - op-ed [links to web]
B&N: DOJ e-book suit endangers consumers, bookstores and copyrighted expression
Smartphone Speculation Soars on Social Media - research [links to web]
Netflix joins Redbox to defy Disney's new DVD policy [links to web]
Pandora CEO describes how social discovery helps [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Campaigns Blitz 9 Swing States in a Battle of Ads
Poll: Political Participation Higher Among Social Media Users [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Google's Monopoly and Internet Freedom - op-ed
Fox News Takes Control Of Newscore Wire
PATENTS
FTC Expresses Concern Over Handling of Standards-Essential Patents
Apple vs. Motorola Mobility Matchup Called on Account of Judge’s Annoyance
TELECOM
FCC Grilled Over USF Reform Impact On Telecom In Native Lands
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
The New York Times: Barack Obama's not leaking to us
Businesses to WH: Stem tide of data flow rules [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Comcast, Time Warner Cable Sued Over Ex-Customer Records [links to web]
FTC Charges Businesses Exposed Sensitive Information on Peer-to-Peer File-Sharing Networks, Putting Thousands of Consumers at Risk - press release [links to web]
Broadcasting live from you: Better Health Care - op-ed [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
DATA CAPS ARE THE FUTURE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Just a few years ago, the Internet seemed like the biggest threat to the cable and telecom business. But now, through their ability to charge for access to the Web, those broadband service providers see the Internet as their key to future success. Their business models, analysts say, may lie in data caps — the monthly tiers Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and others have set for consumers on broadband to the home and on mobile devices. “An obvious reason data caps are important to wireless operators is they generate additional revenue. A less obvious reason it they may help operators persuade content companies to pay their way out of caps,” said Paul Gallant, managing director at Guggenheim Securities research. That business model poses a problem for a company like Netflix, which has a competing video product to cable television, analysts say. Neflix’s CEO Reed Hastings complained on his Facebook page recently that Comcast wasn’t counting its XFinity XBox streaming service against its 250 gigabyte data cap. So when will data caps really become a major issue for consumers? Even though consumers aren’t hitting their monthly data limits today, they soon will as a flood of more bandwidth-intensive applications like real-time video chats and multiplayer HD gaming become more popular, according to Sandvine CEO David Caputo. Caputo said average broadband use in March increased 40 percent from the previous year to 32 gigabytes a month. That 40 percent increase has been the trend for years.
benton.org/node/125278 | Washington Post
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SPECIAL ACCESS ORDER
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] Good news, the Federal Communications Commission has decides to one again reboot its seven year old proceeding on “special access.” Given that I have been flogging the FCC since 2006 to do something about this, with occasional reminders since then, I am obviously pleased. AT&T, one of the chief beneficiaries of the current deregulated regime because they face little to no competition in its service territory, is less pleased. Mind you, AT&T is not alone in this. Telcos generally have monopolies on special access circuits in their service territories, and the three largest telcos -- AT&T, Verizon, and CenturyLink -- therefore control most of the market. But in its service territory, each telco maintains a near-monopoly on special access. On June 4, FCC Chairman Genachowski told reporters he had circulated and order that would (a) freeze current special access prices, preventing AT&T from implementing yet-another rate hike on some special access services; and, (b) use its authority over the telcos to compel AT&T and the other special access providers to provide data that will prove whether or not the telcos are able to charge monopoly-level prices in their service territories, or not. In its blog post criticizing this move, AT&T’s chief argument against the FCC denying it yet another rate hike and demanding AT&T and the other telcos fork over data critical to determining if they are charging monopoly rents is: “Why you bringing up old stuff?”
benton.org/node/125277 | Public Knowledge
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SPECIAL ACCESS AND BROADBAND REGULATION
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Larry Downes]
[Commentary] A seemingly technical order circulating at the Federal Communications Commission is raising alarms among those who support a vibrant broadband Internet marketplace. The order concerns the admittedly obscure topic of “special access” rate regulation. More on that in a minute, but here’s why it’s important. Over the last few years, the FCC has sent repeated signals of its intent to regulate broadband Internet providers any way that it can. This despite the fact that Congress has made clear for nearly two decades that the agency doesn’t have the authority to do so. This is not just another food fight over jurisdiction between the agency and Congress. Thanks to a 1996 law, the FCC is banned from extending its long-standing authority to set prices and micromanage the terms by which telephone providers do business with corporate and consumer customers into the very different business of Internet services. The FCC should get out of, not into, the business of regulating special access. That would be a helpful step in the direction of accelerating adoption of next-generation IP technologies that users desperately need. And that’s the goal everyone shares.
benton.org/node/125276 | Forbes
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TERRY ON NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) said while he is glad to see U.S. policy makers joining forces to oppose international efforts to regulate the Internet, the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules undermine U.S. credibility on the issue. "I think there is certain level of hypocrisy" among those who favor net neutrality rules while opposing efforts to regulate the Internet internationally, Rep. Terry, vice chairman of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, said during a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Phoenix Center. Rep Terry, however, was quick to note that he and other Republicans refrained from bringing up net neutrality during a hearing last week on Internet governance before the Communications and Technology Subcommittee in order to present a unified front on the issue to the rest of the world.
benton.org/node/125260 | National Journal
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INDIA’S INTERNET
[SOURCE: Foreign Policy, AUTHOR: Rebecca MacKinnon]
"65 years since your independence," a new battle for freedom is under way in India -- according to a YouTube video uploaded by an Indian member of Anonymous, the global "hacktivist" movement. With popular websites like Vimeo.com blocked across India by court order, the video calls for action: "Fight for your rights. Fight for India." Over the past several weeks, the group has launched distributed denial-of-service attacks against websites belonging to Internet service providers, government departments, India's Supreme Court, and two political parties.
benton.org/node/125237 | Foreign Policy
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CYBERSECURITY
CALL FOR CYBERSECURITY ACTION
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Former top military and intelligence officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations are calling on Senate leaders to bring up cybersecurity legislation that includes protections for critical infrastructure. The military and intelligence officials urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a letter to bring cybersecurity legislation to the Senate floor this year, saying the measure is "critically necessary to protect our national and economic security." The leaders did not endorse any specific proposal, but noted that the legislation from Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT) "has received the most traction."
benton.org/node/125305 | National Journal
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CYBERSECURITY COMPROMISE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) are circulating a draft cybersecurity bill on Capitol Hill that they hope will win over two competing camps on the issue. The proposal would put the Department of Homeland Security in charge of developing a program to pressure, but not force, critical infrastructure companies to better protect their computer systems. A key point of disagreement in the cybersecurity debate is how much power the federal government should have to require critical infrastructure systems, such as power grids and gas pipelines, to meet cybersecurity standards. House GOP leaders have indicated they will not allow a vote on any legislation that creates new mandates for cybersecurity. Although nearly everyone on Capitol Hill agrees that cyberattacks pose a threat to national security, the disagreement over which regulatory approach to take has stalled the push for legislation.
benton.org/node/125303 | Hill, The
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
SPECTRUM FOR LIGHTSQUARED?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski this week, urging him to find new radio spectrum for troubled wireless company LightSquared. "In the absence of a viable technical solution that would allow LightSquared to use its own licensed spectrum, we believe a spectrum swap is the most resourceful and efficient way to quickly expand broadband access nationwide," wrote Reps. Jim Moran (D-VA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Rodney Alexander (R-LA) and Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), who all serve on the House Appropriations Committee. The lawmakers asked Chairman Genachowski to conduct a "a thorough and thoughtful review" to determine if frequencies currently controlled by the Defense Department could be used for commercial broadband. "We believe identifying and freeing up available DoD spectrum promotes the efficient use of a valuable resource and reaffirms the FCC’s commitment to move the U.S. closer to providing wireless broadband for all Americans," they wrote. They also urged the FCC to "move swiftly" to identify other possible solutions that would allow LightSquared to launch its high-speed network.
benton.org/node/125285 | Hill, The
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MCDOWELL ON SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell pressed the White House to get serious about freeing up more government spectrum for wireless broadband. Broadcasters have also called for the government to do its part even as it pressures broadcasters to give up their spectrum. Commissioner McDowell, speaking to Telecom equipment vendors and providers at the TIA 2012 Conference in Dallas, said Executive Branch agencies did not provide data to support the "assumptions and conclusions" of a recent National Telecommunications & Information Administration report on availability of government spectrum. "The thrust of the report seems to indicate that the Executive Branch is going to resist relinquishing more spectrum," he said, according to a copy of his speech. Commissioner McDowell said that the government is sitting on 60% of the "best" best spectrum. "Federal users have no incentive to move off of this prime real estate but do have an incentive to keep the rest of us in the dark about how much it really would cost to move them and how long that task would really take." He called on the Obama Administration to rectify that.
benton.org/node/125284 | Broadcasting&Cable
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DISH AND WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shalini Ramachandran]
Dish Network is spending billions of dollars to build a cellular broadband network to compete with wireless carriers. The venture has forced Charlie Ergen to go "totally back to school" on wireless, he says. He has done market research with what he calls the "Waffle House poll," visiting Waffle House outlets around the country and asking customers how they use their phones and watch television. He also chats up taxi drivers and passengers in airport lounges. Ergen's plan is to offer mobile data using the latest-generation high-speed broadband, including television broadcasts to mobile devices. It is an effort to catch up to cable operators and phone companies, which unlike satellite firms offer bundles of services, including video, voice and Internet. Ergen says he analyzes Dish's prospects of success the way he thinks about the odds in one of his favorite card games. "We're not going to do something that we can't achieve. It goes back to playing blackjack: If we have a 51% chance of doing it, then we are going to move ahead. If we have a 49% chance of being successful, we're not." In this case, he thinks he has an 80% chance of success if the Federal Communications Commission approves a spectrum waiver. He brushes off the notion he'll flip the spectrum to another carrier for a windfall profit, though Bernstein estimates the spectrum, if sold, could be worth about $8 billion, or 67% of Dish's current $12 billion market value. Ergen points out that any sale would have to be approved by the FCC and says that people just don't understand his entrepreneurial mind set.
benton.org/node/125309 | Wall Street Journal
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TELEVISION
VIEWABILITY DECISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In the wake of the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to sunset the viewability rule effective next December, a coalition of over 200 TV stations has sprung up to lobby against that change. According to a release issued by the lobbying/public affairs firm Podesta Group, Voices for Local TV has been formed to try and generate congressional pressure on the FCC to reverse course and extend the rule another three years. A Podesta spokesperson said the National Association of Broadcasters is not a member of the newly formed coalition, but a number of broadcasters are, including Ion and Young Broadcasting, in a list supplied by Podesta that represents over 200 TV stations.
benton.org/node/125282 | Broadcasting&Cable
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WHAT ARE YOU PAYING FOR WHEN YOU PAY FOR TV?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
[Commentary] When pay TV options came out in the 1980s the consumer was buying choice — more channels and more options for their prime time or daytime or anytime entertainment. But in today’s world, where the choices are infinite and spread between Facebook, So You Think You Can Dance and Angry Birds, consumers aren’t demanding choice. So in today’s world what am I actually buying when I buy TV packages, be they from a pay TV provider, Hulu, Amazon on Demand, or Netflix? After thinking about TV in this way, I realize that traditional cable is no longer about choice, it’s about access: we have an abundance of choice, but not necessarily what we crave. As an access provider for content, cable has the widest depth of content right now, but it also costs the most. When I thought about what I was actually buying, it shed light on cable’s problems but also led to insights about Netflix, content companies and broadcasters, and also helped me as consumer to think about TV in a new way that could help me better spend my money. For example, I don’t have cable and this reaffirmed that call.
benton.org/node/125281 | GigaOm
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HOAK, DISH AND AUTOHOP
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joe Flint]
A small market television broadcaster has apparently decided to skip doing business with Dish Networks in part because of its commercial skipping device known as the AutoHop. Dish Network said Hoak Media Corp -- a Dallas company that owns 14 television stations in markets that include Grand Junction (CO), Fargo (ND), and Lincoln (NE) -- was no longer going to allow its signals to be carried by the satellite broadcaster. "Hoak doesn't respect customer control — they are telling customers they must watch commercials," said David Shull, Dish's senior vice president of programming. Eric Van den Branden, president and CEO of Hoak, said, “It's about Dish bullying people around and I think people are tired of that.”
benton.org/node/125266 | Los Angeles Times | B&C
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TV NEEDS TO CHANGE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shalini Ramachandran]
Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen said a new ad-skipping feature that has infuriated major broadcast TV networks is a "competitively necessary" response to the explosion of cheap Internet video. That Web video threatens the pay-TV ecosystem, he added, and it is partly caused by the TV networks themselves. Ergen for the first time explained publicly his rationale for introducing the ad-skipping service called Auto Hop last month. The reclusive satellite TV pioneer said the broadcast networks, several of which have sued Dish over the ad-skipping feature and have refused to run Dish ads promoting a Dish digital video recorder, have been "more emotional than realistic." Ergen aims to force the networks to develop "more meaningful" ads, using, for example, demographic targeting of viewers. "Ultimately, broadcasters and advertisers have to change the way they do business or they run the risk of linear TV becoming obsolete," he said. "I think the conversation is going to go a lot faster because now there is a risk of inaction as opposed to no risk of inaction."
benton.org/node/125311 | Wall Street Journal
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JOURNALISM
SCARE FOR NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jennifer Saba]
As more newspapers cut back on print to reduce costs and focus on their websites, a troubling trend has emerged: online advertising sales are stalling. In the first quarter, digital advertising revenue at newspapers rose just 1 percent from a year ago, the fifth consecutive quarter that growth has declined, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade organization. A flood of excess advertising space, the rise of electronic advertising exchanges that sell ads at cut-rate prices, and the weak U.S. economy are all contributing to the slowdown, publishing executives and observers say.
benton.org/node/125265 | Reuters
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NEWSCORE AND FOX
[SOURCE: Deadline, AUTHOR: ]
FOX News has elevated two executives in the network’s hard news division, announced Roger Ailes, Chairman & CEO, FOX News. Michael Clemente has been promoted to Executive Vice President of News Editorial and John Moody, currently the CEO of Newscore, will return to FOX News as Executive Editor and Executive Vice President. Both executives will report directly to Ailes. Newscore, a news service that allows worldwide editorial properties to share content and resources across all News Corp entities will now be absorbed into the day to day operations of FOX News. In making the announcement, Ailes said, “As our fiscal year comes to a close, I’ve determined that Newscore will operate more efficiently and effectively inside FOX News. This move will strengthen our overall newsgathering capabilities and enable us to operate at an even higher level.”
benton.org/node/125248 | Deadline
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NEW ORLEANS AND THE FUTURE OF NEWS
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Josh Stearns]
[Commentary] The announcement that the New Orleans Times-Picayune would be slashing its staff and cutting its print run to just three days a week has sparked a new round of debates about the future of news. But one piece has been missing in this discussion: the role of media policy. It is clear that the future of the Times-Picayune is indeed bound up with the future of Internet access in Louisiana. And while I wouldn’t write off the Times-Picayune as a vital local news institution now and in the future, I think it is right to look to nonprofit newsrooms as the best opportunity for growth. However, it’s important to recognize that both ideas are the subject of critical public policy debates happening right now—at the local, state and federal levels. In fact, Louisiana is a microcosm of current debates that are set to shape everything we watch, read, see, and hear.
benton.org/node/125238 | Columbia Journalism Review
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CONTENT
BARNES AND NOBLE RESPONDS TO JUSTICE
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Laura Hazard Owen]
In a complaint sent to the Department of Justice, Barnes & Noble says that the DOJ’s proposed settlement with HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster for allegedly colluding to fix e-book prices “represents an unprecedented effort” to become “a regulator of a nascent technology that it little understands” — and “the national economy, our nation’s culture, and the future of copyrighted expression” are at stake. In fact, B&N argues, e-book and hardcover prices have fallen under agency pricing.” “You’re going to end up having choice control from a server farm in Washington state,” Barnes & Noble’s general counsel Gene DeFelice told me, referring to Amazon. “In essence, the proposed settlement substitutes one alleged cartel for a new cartel on the industry, albeit one run by the [DOJ],” B&N says. The bookstore chain’s complaint joins others sent to the DOJ during the settlement commenting period, which ends on June 25.
benton.org/node/125254 | paidContent.org
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
CAMPAIGN AD BLITZ
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeremy Peters]
The presidential campaigns and their allies are zeroing in mainly on nine swing states, bombarding them with commercials in the earliest concentration of advertising in modern politics. With so many resources focused on persuading an ever-shrinking pool of swing voters like those here in Nevada, the 2012 election is likely to go down in history as the one in which the most money was spent reaching the fewest people. Much of the heaviest spending has not been in big cities with large and expensive media markets, but in small and medium-size metropolitan areas in states with little individual weight in the Electoral College: Cedar Rapids and Des Moines in Iowa (6 votes); Colorado Springs and Grand Junction in Colorado (9 votes); Norfolk and Richmond in Virginia (13 votes). Since the beginning of April, four-fifths of the ads that favored or opposed a presidential candidate have been in television markets of modest size. Nowhere is this more apparent than in southern Nevada, where a costly and contentious fight is playing out for six electoral votes.
benton.org/node/125315 | New York Times
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OWNERSHIP
GOOGLE’S MONOPOLY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Katz]
[Commentary] It's a position all business leaders would love to find themselves in—a massive IPO, dominance in the marketplace, and a blank slate from policy makers to do practically anything they please. Google has enjoyed this unrivaled position for nearly a decade. It is the most popular search engine in the world, controlling nearly 82% of the global search market and 98% of the mobile search market. Its annual revenue is larger than the economies of the world's 28 poorest countries combined. And its closest competitor, Bing, is so far behind in both market share and revenue that Google has become, effectively, a monopoly. The company has used its position to bend the rules to help maintain its online supremacy, including the use of sophisticated algorithms weighted in favor of its own products and services at the expense of search results that are truly most relevant. Google is so powerful that the European Union recently announced that the company must alter its business practices or face charges for violating antitrust law. By ending its monopolistic practices, Google can again take a step in that direction. More than any other company, government or regulatory body, Google has the ability to ensure that the Internet remains free, dynamic and open. But for that to happen, its directors need to change course. [Katz is the CEO of Nextag]
benton.org/node/125313 | Wall Street Journal
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PATENTS
FTC CONCERN OVER PATENTS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ina Fried]
The Federal Trade Commission is joining a number of regulators across the globe that are concerned with how courts handle battles related to patents necessary for various technology standards. The FTC sent a note to the U.S. International Trade Commission expressing concern that companies that hold such patents could demand more-than-reasonable royalties for their patents by holding over companies the threat of seeking an exclusion order banning imports of products using the standard in question.
benton.org/node/125268 | Wall Street Journal
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JUDGE THROWS OUT APPLE-MOTOROLA CASE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Paczkowski]
Richard Posner, the judge presiding over Apple v. Motorola Mobility, canceled the first trial in the case, which was set to begin June 11, and said he’s considering dismissing it entirely. In a two-page order, Judge Posner said neither Apple nor Motorola Mobility appear to be able to prove damages. “I have tentatively decided that the case should be dismissed with prejudice because neither party can establish a right to relief,” Judge Posner said in a temporary order, adding, “I may change my mind.” He promised a longer opinion within a week. A remarkable twist in one of tech’s most closely watched patent cases. The now-canceled June 11 jury trial would have been the first between the companies since Google closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. And it was shaping up to be an intriguing battle.
benton.org/node/125308 | Wall Street Journal
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TELECOM
FCC GRILLED OVER USF REFORM, NATIVE LANDS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission came under some fire in a Senate committee for the impact of Universal Service Fund reforms on carriers serving Native lands, which are being implemented beginning July 1. Those reforms include phasing out some legacy phone support as the FCC migrates to wired and wireless broadband, legacy support smaller carriers have been using to secure long-term loans made by another government agency, the Agricultural Department's Rural Utilities service (RUS). Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chair Daniel Kahikina Akaka (D-Hawaii) said that the FCC's Universal Service reforms have "disproportionate and potentially dangerous" impacts on Native communities. Various legislators weighed in with their concerns that the reforms would cut off $600,000 in annual support to some companies supplying communications services in high-cost Native areas as the FCC migrates support from phone to broadband. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn came to the FCC's defense. She told the committee that the reforms "will make a significant dent in the digital divide." She also pointed out that there was a waiver process in place "for those carriers who cannot adjust to the reforms." She also pointed to the FCC's Office of Native Affairs, which is helping with the transition.
benton.org/node/125302 | Broadcasting&Cable | Commissioner Clyburn
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
NEW YORK TIMES RESPONDS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Dylan Byers]
Caught in the crosshairs of a contentious dispute between the White House and Congress, The New York Times is vowing to charge ahead with its coverage of developments in U.S. national security - and denying that the paper is on the receiving end of silver-platter leaks from the Obama Administration. “These are some of the most significant developments in national security in a generation,” Times managing editor Dean Baquet said, referring to his paper’s recent reports on the Obama administration’s use of drone strikes and cyberattacks. “We’re going to keep doing these stories.” Baquet said his reporters came by the stories “strenuously.” “I can’t believe anybody who says these are leaks,” he said. “Read those stories. They are so clearly the product of tons and tons of reporting.”
benton.org/node/125299 | Politico
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