June 2012

AUDIO/VIDEO

THE FUTURE OF AUDIO
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), heard from a musician, broadcast and Internet radio providers, and representatives of the songwriting, record label, wireless and consumer electronics industries, about how advances in technology are changing the way Americans gain access to and consume audio content. Recognizing the fast pace at which the audio industry is evolving, Chairman Walden outlined the many different ways audio content can be distributed. He said, “On the one hand, this means today’s songwriters and performers have a wealth of options for reaching music lovers. On the other, it means securing a critical mass of listeners may be harder as audiences fracture. Are artists liberated by the digital age or finding it harder to cut through the cacophony? Is it ironically easier to start a career but harder to make a living in the music business today? Is the pie getting larger or is everyone nibbling on each other’s slice? One thing is certain. Experimentation will be critical as new technologies challenge existing business models.”
House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) added, "Not only has the ability to access a world of professional audio content gotten easier and more universal, the ability for people around the world to produce and distribute their own works over the Internet has changed major industries: music, journalism, and entertainment to name a few."
Cary Sherman, Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, echoed Upton and Walden’s comments. Sherman said, "The bottom line is that the music industry today has transformed how it does business, and we expect the industry to continue to evolve, enabling new artists to prosper and allowing consumers to enjoy their works in many different ways."
Radio broadcasters defended the value of their service and pushed for more FM chips in mobile devices, a defense that also implicates TV broadcasters' argument for their continued value in the face of the broadband wireless push. Emmis chairman Jeff Smulyan and Commonwealth Broadcasting president Steve Newberry pointed to broadcasters' emergency alert function as one of the big reasons radio receiver functionality should be included, and activated, in smartphones and other mobile devices. That "first informer" role is the same one TV broadcasters have used to argue for not pushing them off their spectrum in favor of wireless broadband. Smulyan and Newberry also echoed TV broadcaster arguments for how they can help relieve wireless broadband congestion, which is what is driving the FCC and Obama Administration to reclaim TV spectrum.
The big news of the day was a deal struck by Clear Channel and the Big Machine Label Group, under which Big Machine artists — including Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw — will receive royalties for their music played on broadcast radio. Under current law, broadcast radio stations don’t pay artists for music played over the air, but they do pay royalties for songs played via digital transmission. “Congress has an important role to play in ensuring that singers, songwriters and other musicians are compensated fairly, both through combating online piracy and ensuring an equitable licensing and royalty system,” said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), ranking member of the House Commerce Committee, at the panel’s hearing. Radio executives say the broadcasters shouldn’t have to pay royalties because the over-the-air radio audience remains critical to artists’ success. They argue that Internet-based services like Pandora aren’t actually radio, so it makes sense that copyright laws apply differently. But, to recording artists and their representatives, the Clear Channel-Big Machine deal undercuts that argument and is a welcome development.
benton.org/node/125196 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | Broadcasting&Cable
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SUNSET FOR DUAL-CARRIAGE?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Cable operators will no longer be required to provide both an analog and digital versions of must-carry television station signals as of December 2012 if Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski gets his way, with low-cost converter boxes considered a sufficient vehicle for allowing analog customers to continue to view TV station signals. That would be a win for cable operators, who had been looking to get out from under the mandate--though they had voluntarily agreed to dual carriage to help out in the DTV transition. It would be a defeat for broadcasters, who had pushed to retain the rule. An order, which has been circulated to the commissioners, according to a source close to one of those commissioners, says that cable operators will no longer have to provide an analog version of a TV station digital signals to their analog cable customers starting Dec. 11, 2012--providing a 6-month transition period beyond the June 12 sunset date of the three-year mandate. It also requires cable operators to provide plenty of notice to their analog customers.
benton.org/node/125207 | Broadcasting&Cable
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BLACK CHURCHES ON PRESERVING ANALOG TV
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Andrew Feinberg]
A coalition of more than 30,000 African-American churches is planning protests next week to take place in front of the headquarters of both the Federal Communications Commission and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA). The protests were inspired by the FCC's failure to renew rules that force cable operators to carry certain analog channels even if their networks have gone digital. This rule has mainly had the effect of protecting religious programming, a staple of the black church in some communities. The church leaders say they want a meeting with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on the matter, which the commission addressed in February when it said it would consider extending the rule. In a letter sent to the chairman last month, they wrote, "We would like to ensure that our content reaches everyone who would like to see it — including those consumers that cannot afford, or are not aware that they need, a new cable box." But procedural matters mean that if the FCC doesn't act next week, religious programming from thousands of churches could be pulled from the airwaves unless they can afford to film with very expensive high-definition equipment.
benton.org/node/125191 | Hill, The
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GOOGLE FIBER SET-TOP BOX
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Janko Roettgers]
Google’s fiber plans are starting to take shape with the reveal of a yet-to-be launched residential gateway that popped up on the Federal Communications Commission’s website this week (hat tip to Engadget). The box, which is manufactured by Humax, spots a label featuring the Google Fiber logo, which suggests that it will be used in the company’s high-speed fiber network trial in Kansas City. Of course, Google doesn’t want to say anything about the box. A Google spokesperson only sent me the following statement: “We’re still exploring what product offerings will be available when we launch Google Fiber in Kansas City and we have nothing to announce at this time.” The device goes by the name GFHD100, and details remain scarce: Key documents were redacted for confidentiality, so we won’t get to see the user’s manual or any schematics. However, the test report reveals that the box is an “IP set-top box” that comes with at least one USB port, an Ethernet port, AV out, IR, Wi-Fi, an Ethernet-Coax bridge and HDMI in and out.
benton.org/node/125134 | GigaOm
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POLICYMAKERS

CLYBURN NOMINATED FOR SECOND TERM
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
President Barack Obama nominated Mignon Clyburn to serve a second term as a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Commissioner Clyburn is the daughter of Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the third-ranking Democrat in the House. The Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination for her first term in July 2009. Commissioner Clyburn is a vocal advocate for media diversity. Her re-nomination to the FCC comes just a month after the Senate approved two other nominees, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, to fill vacancies on the commission. Clyburn's term was set expire at the end of the month.
benton.org/node/125192 | Hill, The
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CHILDREN AND MEDIA

KIDS AND SMARTPHONES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Cox Communications will be trying to educate parents better about their kids' use of smartphones to access the Internet, something a new survey shows they need some help with. The company released the results of a survey of kids 10-13 that showed parents are monitoring their kids' online behavior on home computers, including setting limits and providing guidelines, but are not doing as good a job when it comes to mobile devices. The Tween Internet Safety Survey study, a coproduction of Cox and the National Center for Mission and Exploited Children, found that 95% of kids use their phones and game consoles to surf the Web. While 68% of parents said they monitored their kid's Internet behavior on mobile devices, only 17% said they used parental control features on smartphones. There is also a disconnect between what the kids are doing and what the parents think they are doing. Forty-four percent of the kids surveyed admitted they had watched something online their parents would not approve of, while only 28% of parents knew that was happening. A third (33%) of kids said they had lied to their parents about what they had done online, while only 18% of parents were clued in to that behavior. In addition, 42% of the kids said they had gotten a personal message from someone online, while only 22% of parents were aware of that.
benton.org/node/125189 | Broadcasting&Cable
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OWNERSHIP

MEDIA GENERAL GETS FTC OK
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department have no issues with Media General's sale of its newspapers to Berkshire Hathaway. The FTC granted the transaction early termination status, which means the FTC is done with its antitrust review and finds no reason to block the deal or seek conditions.
benton.org/node/125188 | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOOGLE REVIEW TO BE RESOLVED IN 2012
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Jeff Bliss, Sara Forden]
The Federal Trade Commission will resolve its antitrust investigation of Google “certainly by the end of the year,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. The FTC is “somewhere in the middle” of its probe of whether Google is abusing its dominance as operator of the world’s most popular search engine, Chairman Leibowitz said. Google disclosed on June 24 that the FTC had begun a review of its business practices. The FTC is focusing on whether Google unfairly ranks search results to favor its own businesses and increases advertising rates for competitors, people familiar with the investigation have said. The agency also is examining whether the company is using its control of the Android mobile operating system to discourage smartphone and device makers from using rivals’ applications.
benton.org/node/125181 | Bloomberg
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

RUSSIAN INTERNET POLICY
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Cyrus Farivar]
Nearly all Western Internet users believe in the general principles of information-sharing that date back to the Enlightenment-era values of freedom of expression. Or, expressed more succinctly in the 20th century: information wants to be free. But, says Keir Giles, a veteran Russia analyst at the Conflict Studies Research Center in the United Kingdom, the Kremlin doesn’t quite see things the same way. “The main principles are reversed,” he said, speaking at the opening day of the International Conference on Cyber Conflict in the Estonian capital, which will continue throughout the week. “Whereas we [in the West] have a tendency to treat [cyber policy] in isolation, Russia and China take it more holistically, as part of information policy.”
benton.org/node/125141 | Ars Technica
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NET ACCESS IN EUROPE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O’Brien]
In Europe, the debate over unrestricted Internet access — so-called network neutrality — has shifted to a core question: How much should the European Union intervene when mobile Internet service providers restrict Web access? Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for telecommunications, raised the issue late last month when she announced an effort to require clearer and more truthful descriptions of Internet service practices, particularly for mobile contracts. Commissioner Kroes made the announcement after Berec, the European Commission’s telecommunications advisory panel, calculated that mobile operators restricted rival services for 20 percent of European consumers. In some smaller European countries, Berec said, 95 percent of consumers may have restricted access. Commissioner Kroes said she intended to push operators to clearly disclose Web restrictions as well as potential minimum Internet speeds, not just the maximums that operators promote in advertisements. The European neutrality debate has involved greater legal scrutiny of the traffic management strategies used by mobile operators. Current law permits European operators to manage traffic and assure adequate speeds and access for all.
benton.org/node/125213 | New York Times
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WHY DOES IPV6 MATTER?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
June 6, 2012 marks the launch of a new era for the Internet — the switch to IPv6. Great, you say. What does that mean? In really simple terms, it means that the Internet is expanding its address directory. Right now, there are 4.3 billion IP (internet protocol) addresses on the Internet, meaning that there’s a unique address for 4.3 billion devices to connect to the Web. With the launch of IPv6, which assigns addresses in a new way, that number can grow — to 340 trillion, trillion trillion. And believe it or not, we need the room. Most people shouldn’t see a difference in their daily Web use, though people who can only connect to the old protocol may have trouble seeing sites using only IPv6, but all the launch partners are running both protocols in parallel.
benton.org/node/125136 | Washington Post | CNNMoney | Wall Street Journal
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IPV6 AND YOU
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
June 6, 2012 is World IPv6 Launch Day, a time when ISPs, major websites and network engineers will permanently flip the switch over a different form of addressing system. For the most part, the IPv6 transition will go unnoticed and few will care about what is an arcane and important element of Internet architecture. But here’s where things may go wrong as IPv4 lingers. At its heart the IPv6 addressing issue is exactly that… a big change to a new type of address. Every device that is hooked up to a network, be it your iPad or a Facebook server, has an IP address so routers know where to send the packets that make up your Facebook profile or your Netflix stream. Sadly, back in 1980s when the lords of the net were thinking up an address scheme, they used IPv4, which only allows for a 32-bit address and about 4.2 billion total IP addresses. Here’s how the delay in shifting to IPv6 and the reliance on a workaround could affect you:
Trouble with iTunes or Google Maps: Certain apps such as Google Maps or iTunes use more than one port to communicate back to the service and because users would be sharing one or just a few IP addresses, those ports may not be available.
Security: When users share one IP address, the ISP generally creates an abstraction layer to determine where the packets need to go to in the home. But this abstraction layer becomes a security risk. By attacking one IP address, a hacker could take down or infect all Internet-connected devices in a home. It becomes a single point of failure.
Court orders and DMCA takedowns: Shared IP addresses can make it hard for an ISP to determine who is actually downloading copyright materials. This actually may not upset end users or the ISPs as long as no one gets dragged into court as part of a hunt for settlement dollars.
Pixellated YouTube videos: The workarounds associated with either sharing a single IP address among a block of users or even a block of homes is just one option. Another is running both networks simultaneously and translating traffic between them. This adds some computational overhead and latency that in CableLab tests caused there to be delays in streaming and receiving HTTP video packets.
Stories about IPv6: As long as networks linger in the land of IPv4 every June, it’s possible you will have to see headlines talking about the need to get everyone to transition to IPv6. Hopefully, ISPs and major web sites are getting on the ball.
benton.org/node/125137 | GigaOm | CNNMoney | Wall Street Journal
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OLDER ADULTS AND INTERNET USE
[SOURCE: Pew's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Kathryn Zickuhr, Mary Madden]
As of April 2012, 53% of American adults age 65 and older use the internet or email. Though these adults are still less likely than all other age groups to use the internet, the latest data represent the first time that half of seniors are going online. After several years of very little growth among this group, these gains are significant. As of February 2012, one third (34%) of internet users age 65 and older use social networking sites such as Facebook, and 18% do so on a typical day. By comparison, email use continues to be the bedrock of online communications for seniors. As of August 2011, 86% of internet users age 65 and older use email, with 48% doing so on a typical day. Looking at gadget ownership, we find that a growing share of seniors own a cell phone. Some 69% of adults ages 65 and older report that they have a mobile phone, up from 57% in May 2010. Even among those currently age 76 and older, 56% report owning a cell phone of some kind, up from 47% of this generation in 2010.
benton.org/node/125111 | Pew's Internet & American Life Project
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

COMPANIES TRY TO CREATE ROOM ON RADIO SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen]
Cellphone carriers like AT&T and Verizon say they are worried about running out of the radio spectrum that carries wireless calls and data, and they want the government to give them more chunks of it. But a number of companies are developing technology that could change the whole spectrum game by using radio frequencies more efficiently. Their efforts are getting a powerful endorsement. A presidential advisory committee, which includes executives from Google and Microsoft, plans to present a report this month that explores ways in which computerized radio technologies could make better use of spectrum.
benton.org/node/125214 | New York Times
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CYBERSECURITY

SECRECY DEBATE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Scott Shane]
In recent years, the United States has pioneered the use of two innovative weapons, drones and cyberattacks, that by many accounts have devastated Al Qaeda and set back Iran’s nuclear effort. Now those programs are at the heart of a bipartisan dispute over secrecy, with Congressional Republicans accusing the Obama administration of leaking classified information for political advantage and Democrats lodging their own protests about high-level disclosures. Prompted in part by recent articles in The New York Times on the use of drones to carry out targeted killings and the deployment of the Stuxnet computer worm against the Iranian nuclear program, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees issued a joint statement urging the Administration “to fully, fairly and impartially investigate” the recent disclosures and vowing new legislation to crack down on leaks. “Each disclosure puts American lives at risk, makes it more difficult to recruit assets, strains the trust of our partners and threatens imminent and irreparable damage to our national security,” said the statement, a rare show of unity.
benton.org/node/125215 | New York Times
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GOOGLE ALERTS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama, Ellen Nakashima]
Google said that the company will alert its users when it thinks they may be the target of a state-sponsored cyberattack. In a company blog post, Eric Grosse, Google’s vice president of security engineering, said Google will display a warning when it detects a suspected attack on a user’s account. Such attacks, the company said, could take the form of malicious software or of deceptive “phishing” e-mails that trick users into giving up their user names and passwords. The message will read, “Warning: we believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer. Protect yourself now." Security experts see Google’s move as a smart, natural step for e-mail and Internet service providers.
benton.org/node/125149 | Washington Post | Google | ars technica | ComputerWorld
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HALTING CYBER TERRORISM
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Tova Cohen, Maayan Lubell]
Eugene Kaspersky, whose lab discovered the Flame virus that has attacked computers in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East, said only a global effort could stop a new era of "cyber terrorism." "It's not cyber war, it's cyber terrorism and I'm afraid it's just the beginning of the game ... I'm afraid it will be the end of the world as we know it," Kaspersky told reporters at a cyber security conference in Tel Aviv. "I'm scared, believe me," he said.
benton.org/node/125186 | Reuters
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DEEPENING THE CYBERSECURITY BENCH
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Brittany Ballenstedt]
The Homeland Security Department announced that it is launching a new effort to develop and recruit the next generation of cybersecurity experts. At a meeting with industry and small business representatives at the White House, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the Homeland Security Advisory Council is taking steps to improve the nation’s cyber workforce. The new task force, co-chaired by Jeff Moss, founder and director of the Black Hat and DefCon security conferences, and Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, will consider strategies that may include expanding DHS involvement in cyber competitions and university programs, enhancing public-private partnerships and working with interagency partners to develop an agile cybersecurity workforce governmentwide.
benton.org/node/125169 | nextgov
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IS US THE GOOD GUY OF CYBERWARFARE?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Cyrus Farivar]
Sitting in the front row for the first full day of the International Conference on Cyber Conflict was one of the industry’s foremost “rock star” researchers, Ralph Langner. The German researcher has become one of the most-cited sources on Stuxnet, the US-and-Israeli computer worm that targeted Iran's nuclear program. Langner's 2011 TED talk has been seen over half a million times, and he spoke at last year’s CyCon here in Estonia. He’s less worried about "Flame," a new piece of espionage malware that analysts here say has yet to be fully understood. At the moment, it also appears to specifically target Iran. “Flame is nothing really new. It doesn't bring any new qualities,” he said. “Cyber-espionage has been conducted for years. Duqu, the German [state trojan] does similar things—it can turn on the microphone for voice messages. It's not new. Espionage attacks are occurring worldwide on a daily basis and for purposes of state espionage. In my opinion, Flame might be a little bit overhyped.”
benton.org/node/125140 | Ars Technica
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ADVERTISING

DISNEY JUNK-FOOD BAN
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Edmund Lee]
Walt Disney’s plan to bar junk- food advertising from children’s programming would have cost less than $7.2 million in television ad revenue if it were in effect last year, according to estimates by Kantar Media. That’s the amount that Disney generated from beverage and food commercials aimed at children in 2011, the New York-based research firm said. The figure is less a 10th of 1 percent of Disney’s total annual advertising sales. The company reported ad revenue of $7.6 billion for its media networks in its last fiscal year, an increase of 8 percent. Kantar’s estimates suggest that the change isn’t a big gamble for Disney, the world’s largest entertainment business. The company also stands to gain from promoting healthier Disney- endorsed foods. It’s developing a “Mickey Check” logo, which will indicate that products meet its nutritional standards. That will begin appearing by the end of 2012.
benton.org/node/125143 | Bloomberg
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DOUBLECLICK
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Tim Peterson]
Google shot a flaming arrow across the entire LUMAscape chart in announcing the DoubleClick Digital Marketing platform. The combined product will roll out over the coming months and serve as an all-in-one for display advertisers. Through the DoubleClick Digital Marketing platform, advertisers can create a rich-media unit; manage direct, programmatic and search buys; and track campaigns’ performance. Of particular note, Google is rolling up Invite Media, the real-time bid management platform it acquired in 2010, into the DoubleClick Bid Manager.
benton.org/node/125180 | AdWeek
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CONTENT IS THE NEW CURRENCY
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Todd Copilevitz]
[Commentary] These news items recently caught our attention: P&G shifting money from marketing to social media. And GM walking away from advertising on Facebook. Question: Are these events contradictory or complementary? The answer is that they are complementary. If you answered otherwise, you need to go back and review the last 15 years of digital evolution. If you got the answer correct, then what are you doing about it? Please understand that the story here is not the demise of advertising. Rather, it's the rise of content. While GM may be cutting the $10 million it spends on Facebook ads, it has no inclination to cut the $30 million it spends annually to create content for Facebook. That's because unlike the advertising, the content is delivering results. Across the digital world marketers are learning the same lesson -- advertising, and more significantly the marketing funnel as we have known it, are becoming ineffective tools for influencing how consumers move to purchase. Consumers are no longer willing to be shoved down the path to purchase, like meat being pushed through a grinder. [Copilevitz is a digital strategist at IQ]
benton.org/node/125133 | MediaPost
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SHARING CYBER TOOLS
[SOURCE: Defense News, AUTHOR: Zachary Fryer-Biggs]
Before the establishment of US Cyber Command in 2010, a combatant commander who wanted to take down an enemy’s surface-to-air missile sites or other defenses without blowing them up had only one option: Call the National Security Agency at Fort Meade (MD) and plead for assistance. NSA jealously guarded its role as steward of the nation’s offensive cyber weapons, said one retired intelligence official, but that is changing. In May 2010, the Senate added “chief of Cyber Command” to the duties held by NSA’s director, Army Gen. Keith Alexander. Alexander subsequently directed NSA to begin turning over offensive cyber tools to Cyber Command. Over the last few months, the dual-hatted general has set in motion an even bigger change. Cyber Command has begun arming combatant commanders with a selection of offensive tools and establishing teams of cyber warriors, called combat-support elements, at military sites beyond Fort Meade. This is adding complexity to the legal questions being asked by members of Congress, retired defense officials and independent experts.
benton.org/node/125121 | Defense News
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PRIVACY

INTERNET PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Cory Doctorow]
[Commentary] Here's a story you've heard about the Internet: we trade our privacy for services. The idea is that your private information is less valuable to you than it is to the firms that siphon it out of your browser as you navigate the Web. They know what to do with it to turn it into value—for them and for you. This story has taken on mythic proportions, and no wonder, since it has billions of dollars riding on it. But if it's a bargain, it's a curious, one-sided arrangement. To understand the kind of deal you make with your privacy a hundred times a day, please read and agree with the following:
“By reading this agreement, you give Technology Review and its partners the unlimited right to intercept and examine your reading choices from this day forward, to sell the insights gleaned thereby, and to retain that information in perpetuity and supply it without limitation to any third party.”
Actually, the text above is not exactly analogous to the terms on which we bargain with every mouse click. To really polish the analogy, I'd have to ask this magazine to hide that text in the margin of one of the back pages. And I'd have to end it with This agreement is subject to change at any time. What we agree to participate in on the Internet isn't a negotiated trade; it's a smorgasbord, and intimate facts of your life (your location, your interests, your friends) are the buffet. Why do we seem to value privacy so little? In part, it's because we are told to.
benton.org/node/125112 | Technology Review
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

HOUSE BILL WOULD NIX NEW POLITICAL AD RULE
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
A House Appropriations subcommittee approved legislation that includes a provision that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from implementing a rule requiring television broadcasters to post online how much political candidates pay for television ads. The language was included in the fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. Specifically, the bill would bar the FCC from using any of its funds to implement the political ad order, which it approved in April. "The FCC order represents a real compliance cost to broadcasters," Subcommittee Chairwoman Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) said in a statement. "The information in the political file is already available to the public. Anyone who asks for it can get it. This is micromanagement by the FCC, and it leads to important questions about why recipients of campaign dollars are being held to a different standard than the spenders of campaign dollars. Furthermore, I can't support an approach to this issue that singles out television broadcasters but excepts radio, cable TV, satellite radio and TV, newspapers, direct mail, outdoor advertising and the Internet."
Free Press blasted the Appropriations Committee's move. "It's clear that the broadcast industry is pulling out all the stops to bury information about political ad spending on the public airwaves," Free Press Senior Policy Counsel Corie Wright said. "What's more appalling is that some elected officials are willing to help them do it."
benton.org/node/125177 | National Journal | | B&C | The Wrap
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GOOGLE’S PAC
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Adam Mazmanian]
Northstar Asset Management, a Boston-based activist shareholder group, is urging Google shareholders to back a measure that would put the contribution plans for Google's political action committee NetPAC to an annual vote. The firm, which holds about $3 million in Google shares, charges that such shareholder oversight is necessary because NetPAC is giving donations to candidates whose stated positions are "inconsistent" with Google's express values," Northstar founder and President Julie Goodridge said. Northstar cites NetPAC contributions to lawmakers including House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), as well as Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Bob Goodlatte (R-0VA), Greg Walden (R-OR), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It also lists votes in opposition to same-sex marriage, against tax incentives for renewable energy, and other legislation designed to regulate carbon emissions. There are no Democrats on Northstar's list.
benton.org/node/125175 | National Journal
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HOW AP CALLS AN ELECTION
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Emily Fredrix]
How can an election be called before all the votes are counted? And how can an organization call a race if people are still waiting to vote? The Associated Press makes its calls based on a variety of factors, and never calls a race before poll close, says David Pace, a news editor in Washington who coordinates AP election calls. If people were still voting when the call was made, they had to have been in line by the time polls closed, he said. No one new is allowed to get in line once polls close. The AP calls races based on early vote returns provided by state and county elections offices, exit polls that conducted with voters and vote results from a random sample of precincts around the state. It's a complicated process that also compares the voting history of counties to make sure results are in line with past trends.
benton.org/node/125146 | Associated Press
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POLITICO GOES FOR ‘FAIR AND BALANCED’
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Peter Sterne]
Last week, Politico rocked the insidery world of political journalism with an article, written by executive editor Jim VandeHei and chief White House reporter Mike Allen, that criticized The New York Times and The Washington Post for media bias. VandeHei and Allen sacrificed accuracy for angle, giving Republican operatives an uncritical platform to accuse the Times and Post -- who, as GQ’s Devin Gordon points out, just happen to be Politico’s chief competitors -- of covering Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney more harshly than they cover President Barack Obama. The piece fixates on two recent stories about Romney and their supposed “implications.” The Times’s recent front-page story about Ann Romney’s involvement in the obscure sport of dressage, for example, is hardly a hit piece, but to VandeHei and Allen, it has a “clear implication” that “the Romneys are silly rich, move in rarefied and exotic circles, and are perhaps a tad shady.” Politico is also critical of the Post’s recent scoop about Mitt Romney’s high-school years, a story that includes the previously-unreported fact that he once held down a classmate and cut off his long hair. The “clear implication” this time? “Romney was a mean, insensitive jerk.” And the “clear implication” of the Politico piece? That such critical coverage of Obama never gets prominent play in the Times or the Post.
benton.org/node/125130 | Politico
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WISCONSIN EFFORT
[SOURCE: Talkers, AUTHOR: Steven Weisman]
With the national political season really heating up now that Mitt Romney has secured sufficient votes to win the Republican nomination for president, a Milwaukee talk radio controversy may have far-reaching implications into the media’s role in the upcoming elections at all levels around the country. Sue Wilson of the organization Media Action Center has complained to the FCC that five conservative local talk hosts on Milwaukee news/talk stations WISN (Clear Channel) and WTMJ (Journal Broadcasting) have been providing time to and actively promoting Republican candidates, including recruiting volunteers for Republican Governor Scott Walker. The crux of the complaint is that Section 315 (a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 USC Section 315) sometimes, referred to as the “Zapple Doctrine,” requires that in the 60 days prior to an election if broadcasters provide free airtime to a candidate, it must offer free time to other candidates. This has been interpreted to be expanded to apply to supporters of candidates, as well.
benton.org/node/125107 | Talkers
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HEALTH

FCC AND MOBILE HEALTH
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
Trying to give the still nascent mHealth sector a motivational kick in the pants, the Federal Communications Commission has begun working directly with startups and universities to help bring new wireless telemedicine and healthcare technologies to market faster. The FCC convened an mHealth summit in Washington, D.C., bringing together not only some of the big gorillas of telemedicine — Philips, Medtronic and Qualcomm — but also several mHealth startups focusing on specific health applications: TheCarrot, MedApps, Telcare and WellDoc. The FCC put them those companies in a room with the big regulatory agencies in healthcare: The Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the departments of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs. The FCC then tasked the whole bunch to provide actionable recommendations on overcoming the technological obstacles and red tape preventing mobile data from revolutionizing the healthcare field. “We know there are barriers to harnessing this technology for the greater good — interoperability, reliability, connectivity, privacy, and security, just to name a few,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. “Today, we’d like to hear from you on these and other barriers to rapid deployment and find ways to collaborate to help accelerate innovation in this sector.”
benton.org/node/125173 | GigaOm | FCC Chairman Genachowski
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TELECOM

FCC AND THE MIDDLE MILE
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
The Federal Communications Commission will look into new regulations of middle-mile broadband connections used by many businesses and owned largely by AT&T and Verizon Communications, the agency said. On June 4, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated a proposal to reform the rates of so-called special access services, the large-pipe connections used by businesses and mobile carriers to connect to the Internet. Verizon and AT&T, which control by some estimates 80 percent of special access services in the U.S., have disputed the need for new regulations by saying the special access market is increasingly competitive. But several groups, including Sprint Nextel, Public Knowledge and XO Communications, have long complained that AT&T and Verizon are charging too much.
benton.org/node/125128 | IDG News Service
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AGENDA

FCC MEETING AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Wednesday, June 13, 2012. The FCC will consider:
An Order to modify the equipment authorization rules to increase the supply of grantee codes assigned to parties applying for equipment certification.
A Fourth Report and Order and Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to encourage improved spectrum efficiency and greater use of the 4940- 4990 MHz (4.9 GHz) band.
benton.org/node/125179 | Federal Communications Commission
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June 2012

Comcast, Time Warner Cable Sued Over Ex-Customer Records

New Orleans and the future of news

The War for India's Internet

Broadcasting live from you: Better Health Care

June 7, 2012 (Russian Internet policy at odds with that of Western countries)

US Attacks, Online and From the Air, Fuel Secrecy Debate

Companies Try to Create Room on Radio Spectrum

A Call for More Clarity on Net Access in Europe

Plays Well With Others: Video Game System Transcends Solitude

Groups in 13 states want US to block Internet Gambling