June 26, 2012 (Verizon, T-Mobile agree on wireless sale)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2012
At the FCC today: Research on Critical Information Needs and Market Entry Barriers http://benton.org/calendar/2012-06-26/
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Verizon, T-Mobile agree on wireless sale
FCC favorably views Verizon, T-Mobile deal
T-Mobile drops opposition to Verizon-cable deal
NAB, Harris: FCC Needs to Build In More Planning Time to TV Station Relocation
EU will make broadcasters give up spectrum to broadband
Google Brings Free Wi-Fi to Some New York Subway Stations [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Comcast 'Invents' Its Own Private Internet
A Weapon We Can’t Control - op-ed
See also: Iran: Stuxnet 'failed' to stop nuclear work, as virus reportedly stops operating
Rosedale Wi-Fi co-op to share Google Internet hook-ups
Does Kansas City own the business of broadband? - op-ed
Disregarded: Has the U.S. Forgotten Its Responsibility to Bring Puerto Rico into the 21st Century? - editorial [links to web]
CONTENT
Help the White House Shape Strategy for Intellectual Property Enforcement - press release
On Orbitz, Mac Users Steered to Pricier Hotels
ADVERTISING
NRCC Created To Improve Radio Ad Buys
Public Stations May Get OK for Political Ads [links to web]
Online Ads That Know Who You Know
How Google Became a $2 Billion Advertiser
Office of Management and Budget Approves FCC Online Public File Rules - editorial
KIDS AND MEDIA
‘Big Brother’? No, It’s Parents
Many teens addicted to social media, texting [links to web]
TELECOM
AT&T Special Access Petitions Granted
FCC Asks Court to Delay USF Challenge
TAXES
Supreme Court Won't Hear Satellite Tax Challenge
COMPANY NEWS
Microsoft to Buy Yammer for $1.2 Billion
Facebook changes everyone's listed emails to '@facebook.com'
Facebook creates Find Friends Nearby mobile feature [links to web]
How Google Became a $2 Billion Advertiser
News Corp.’s Murdoch Said To Consider Splitting Company
Vivendi ordered to pay Liberty Media $950 million [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
TechAmerica restructures to focus on public policy, networking [links to web]
Brodsky On Sabbatical at Public Knowledge [links to web]
Facebook Names Sheryl Sandberg to Its Board of Directors - press release [links to web]
Steve Coll to Step Down as New America Foundation President - press release [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:
VTech Sweatshop in China: AT&T, Motorola, Wal-Mart and others endorse the China model - research
Iran: Stuxnet 'failed' to stop nuclear work, as virus reportedly stops operating
India’s call centers move upmarket
Netherlands and European Commissioner in Standoff Over Mobile Rates
EU regulators side with Microsoft in IE10's 'Do Not Track' controversy
Iraq orders Voice of America, 43 other media outlets to close [links to web]
EU will make broadcasters give up spectrum to broadband
MORE ONLINE
Supreme Court to Hear Comcast Appeal of Class Action Decision [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
VERIZON/T-MOBILE SPECTRUM DEAL
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Peter Svensson]
Verizon Wireless has agreed to sell some wireless spectrum rights to T-Mobile USA and swap others, in a continuing quest to get regulators to approve a bigger spectrum deal it has worked out with a consortium of cable companies and another wireless carrier. The deal includes some of the spectrum that Verizon is trying to buy from a coalition of cable companies, including Comcast and Time Warner. The Verizon-T-Mobile deal is contingent on Verizon getting government approval for three deals to buy spectrum from cable companies and Leap Wireless for a total of about $4 billion. Those deals were struck in November and December, but have met resistance from public interest groups who say the cellphone company, already the nation's largest, doesn't need more spectrum and shouldn't be cozying up to competitors such as the cable companies. T-Mobile had been opposing that deal, though presumably it is now changing its tune. Public Knowledge, an advocacy group opposed to the Verizon-cable deal, accused Verizon of buying off T-Mobile. The new deal encompasses spectrum in 218 areas, and would improve T-Mobile’s spectrum position in 15 of the top 25 markets in the U.S., notably Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit and Seattle. T-Mobile hopes to put the spectrum to use as early as next year, if the Federal Communications Commission approves the deal this summer. By selling some spectrum to T-Mobile, the smallest national carrier, Verizon could boost its hopes of winning regulatory approval for its $3.6 billion deal with the cable companies.
benton.org/node/126784 | Associated Press | WSJ | The Hill | LATimes | Washington Post | ars technica | Multichannel News | GigaOm | AdWeek | Public Knowledge | Free Press
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FCC FAVORABLY VIEWS VERIZON/T-MOBILE DEAL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Over the past two weeks, Federal Communications Commission officials have met with Verizon Wireless officials, expressing concern that the company’s deal with cable companies would give Verizon too much dominance in the wireless market. The company’s spectrum holdings would be far richer than other wireless carriers and make it difficult for competitors such as T-Mobile to compete. T-Mobile had been a vocal critic of Verizon’s deal with cable firms. Verizon appeared to be working aggressively to appease concerns raised by regulators, and a person familiar with the FCC’s thinking said the move to swap spectrum with T-Mobile was a significant milestone in the regulatory review. “The announcement is significant and unprecedented,” said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the review is private. The spectrum deal between Verizon and cable firms could be decided by Aug. 7 or shortly after, a soft deadline the FCC has set for the completion of its review, the person said. Verizon’s marketing deal with cable firms continues to draw concern. The Justice Department is leading an investigation of that portion of the spectrum deal and may decide to only approve the spectrum purchase if the companies agree to scale back their marketing arrangement, people familiar with the reviews said.
benton.org/node/126887 | Washington Post
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T-MOBILE DROPS VERIZON-CABLE OPPOSITION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
T-Mobile, one of the most outspoken critics of Verizon's proposed deal with a coalition of cable companies, dropped its opposition on June 25 after Verizon agreed to exchange blocks of wireless frequencies with T-Mobile. Timothy O'Regan, a T-Mobile spokesman, said the company sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) formally withdrawing its previous opposition to Verizon's deal. "Contingent upon regulatory approval of our agreement with Verizon, we believe Verizon’s transaction is in the public interest,” O'Regan said. Public Knowledge, an advocacy group opposed to the Verizon-cable deal, accused Verizon of buying off T-Mobile.
benton.org/node/126878 | Hill, The
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FCC TV RELOCATION WORKSHOP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters and tech powerhouse Harris Corp. told the Federal Communications Commission that there could be chaos unless broadcasters have the flexibility to take more than three years after spectrum auctions to relocate and repack their signals. The FCC held a workshop on its design of a program to reimburse broadcasters for channel relocations after the FCC reclaims some broadcast spectrum for wireless broadband through reverse auctions, and the general agreement was that the FCC needed to provide sufficient opportunity for planning of those moves. In introducing the panel discussion, which was moderated by the Media Bureau's Rebecca Hanson, Bureau Chief Bill Lake said the FCC's goals in coming up with a plan and spending up to $1.75 billion to do so were simplicity, promptness and fairness. He said the reimbursement was not meant to be Christmas or winning the lottery. He also said the workshop was more about teeing up the right questions to ask when the FCC issues its first notices of proposed rulemaking this fall. Currently, the deadline for the FCC and broadcasters to complete what amounts to a second DTV transition is within three years after the end of the auction. While that deadline was set by Congress, Jane Mago, who represented the National Association of Broadcasters, said the FCC could ultimately control the time period by tying the end of the auctions to when broadcasters had had sufficient time to plan for their moves
benton.org/node/126864 | Broadcasting&Cable
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
COMCAST’S PRIVATE INTERENT
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Brendan Greeley]
Comcast went public in 1983. Track its share price, and you’ll see that it tootled gently upward as the company expanded its cable television service around the country. Then, in 1997, the share price spiked. This was the year the company began testing a new product—the cable modem, which offered Internet access at a blazing 1.5 megabytes per second, then 50 times faster than dial-up. Comcast didn’t invent the Web. It didn’t invent the cable modem, either. Like other cable operators, it happened to own the right network at the right time. That history is helpful to remember as the Department of Justice begins an antitrust probe into whether Comcast, Time Warner, and other cable providers are now trying to manipulate the way customers use the Internet—specifically, whether imposing caps on the amount of data people can download monthly discourages them from using Netflix, Hulu, and other rival online video sites and steers them to the cable companies’ own video-on-demand services, which aren’t subject to the caps. Comcast’s defense of its tiered system rests on a semantic distinction: that there’s a difference between watching a movie through Netflix, which exists on what the cable companies call the “public Internet,” and watching the same movie through a provider’s on-demand service, which they say is a private network. In pushing the phrase “public Internet,” Comcast and other Internet providers want customers to accept that they are the proprietors of separate, special Internets.
benton.org/node/126811 | Bloomberg | Philadelphia Inquirer
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A WEAPON WE CAN’T CONTROL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Misha Glenny]
[Commentary] The decision by the United States and Israel to develop and then deploy the Stuxnet computer worm against an Iranian nuclear facility late in George W. Bush’s presidency marked a significant and dangerous turning point in the gradual militarization of the Internet. Washington has begun to cross the Rubicon. If it continues, contemporary warfare will change fundamentally as we move into hazardous and uncharted territory. It is one thing to write viruses and lock them away safely for future use should circumstances dictate it. It is quite another to deploy them in peacetime. Stuxnet has effectively fired the starting gun in a new arms race that is very likely to lead to the spread of similar and still more powerful offensive cyberweaponry across the Internet. Unlike nuclear or chemical weapons, however, countries are developing cyberweapons outside any regulatory framework. Technical superiority is not written in stone, and the United States is arguably more dependent on networked computer systems than any other country in the world. Washington must halt the spiral toward an arms race, which, in the long term, it is not guaranteed to win. [Misha Glenny, a visiting professor at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs]
benton.org/node/126809 | New York Times
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TAPPING INTO GOOGLE FIBER
[SOURCE: Kansas City Star, AUTHOR: Sangeeta Shastry]
Two local groups are teaming to create a kind of Wi-Fi cooperative that would tap into Google’s promises of mega-bandwidth Internet connections — splicing them into faster hookups for paying customers and free and fast-enough wireless connections for low-income families. The Rosedale Development Association and Connecting for Good, a Kansas City nonprofit that seeks to shrink the digital divide by expanding Internet access, are spearheading the effort to bring free or discounted Web access to the neighborhood. Connecting for Good exists partly because of Kansas City’s selection as the starting point for the ultrafast Internet service dubbed Google Fiber. The announcement catalyzed the budding idea for the nonprofit, said co-founder Michael Liimatta. The organization hopes to take the fiber-optic connections at the heart of Google’s service — able to move mighty rivers of data compared to the streams available for homes today — and split them into affordable, widely available conduits to the Internet. It’s also looking to construct a cost-sharing “e-community center” to serve as a hub for using and learning about technology.
benton.org/node/126825 | Kansas City Star
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KANSAS CITY AND BROADBAND
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Craig Settles]
Studying the more than 150 successful community broadband networks (see map), and listening to mayors of cities that are driving significant innovations with broadband, a serious question comes to mind. Has Kansas City taken full ownership of the business of broadband? Communities nationwide with broadband hopes should ask the same question of their efforts. To inject national perspective and create something of a benchmark to measure the city’s progress, here are “7 Habits of Highly Effective Owners of the Business of Broadband.”
Have a broadband champion.
Establish a single purpose.
Do a thorough needs assessment.
Determine how to financially sustain the network.
Have a solid marketing plan.
Own the relationship with private sector companies.
Demand measurement and accountability.
benton.org/node/126796 | GigaOm
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CONTENT
IP ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Victoria Espinel]
The U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator is starting the process of gathering input for the Administration’s new strategy for intellectual property enforcement. The overarching objective of the Strategy is to improve the effectiveness of the U.S. Government’s efforts to protect our intellectual property here and overseas. Victoria Espinel wants to make sure as many people as possible are aware that the Administration is working on this so it can get the very best thoughts and recommendations possible. Part of the process of gathering public input is to publish a “Federal Register Notice” where the Administration formally asks the public to give their ideas.
Beyond recommendations for government action as part of the next Strategy, the Administration is looking for information on and recommendations for combating emerging or future threats to American innovation and economic competitiveness posed by violations of intellectual property rights. Additionally, it would be useful to the development of the Strategy to receive submissions from the public identifying threats to public health and safety posed by intellectual property infringement, in the U.S. and internationally as well as information relating to the costs to the U.S. economy resulting from infringement of intellectual property rights.
benton.org/node/126862 | White House, The
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ORBITZ AND MAC USERS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dana Mattioli]
Orbitz Worldwide has found that people who use Apple’s Mac computers spend as much as 30% more a night on hotels, so the online travel agency is starting to show them different, and sometimes costlier, travel options than Windows visitors see. The Orbitz effort, which is in its early stages, demonstrates how tracking people's online activities can use even seemingly innocuous information—in this case, the fact that customers are visiting Orbitz.com from a Mac—to start predicting their tastes and spending habits. Orbitz executives confirmed that the company is experimenting with showing different hotel offers to Mac and PC visitors, but said the company isn't showing the same room to different users at different prices. They also pointed out that users can opt to rank results by price. Orbitz found Mac users on average spend $20 to $30 more a night on hotels than their PC counterparts, a significant margin given the site's average nightly hotel booking is around $100, chief scientist Wai Gen Yee said. Mac users are 40% more likely to book a four- or five-star hotel than PC users, Mr. Yee said, and when Mac and PC users book the same hotel, Mac users tend to stay in more expensive rooms.
benton.org/node/126872 | Wall Street Journal
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ADVERTISING
NATIONAL RADIO COMPLIANCE COUNCIL
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Erik Sass]
Six leading radio networks have formed a new industry organization, the Network Radio Compliance Council, to bring more precision and transparency to network radio ad buys. The founding members of the NRCC include American Urban Radio Networks, Crystal Media Networks, Cumulus Media, Dial Global, Premiere Networks and United Stations, all of which are tracked by Arbitron’s Radar service. The networks are coming together to “promote effective, reliable reporting and stewardship of network radio audio commercials and programming,” stated the NRCC. This includes establishing best practices and detailing more precise measurement methodologies to guide the placement and reporting of network radio ads. The NRCC will also host quarterly meetings with radio vendors, ad agencies and other radio networks, to discuss current issues.
benton.org/node/126795 | MediaPost
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ONLINE ADS
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Antonio Regalado]
They aren't just tracking you. They're tracking who your friends are. The Internet is buzzing with advertising firms that follow Web users from site to site, and now there's a twist: technology that figures out who you share news and ideas with. The idea is called "social retargeting," and it works by mapping people's social connections when they use certain sharing apps or send links in e-mail. The idea is to let advertisers note people who've expressed interest in a product (say, by viewing a dress on Macys.com) and then aim ads at that person's friends, family, or acquaintances as well. Call it automated word-of-mouth advertising. For any brand, the next customer is usually somebody who knows a current customer. "If you have a million people that went to a credit card site, then we figure out who they share with and we get seven million people," explains Gurbaksh Chahal, founder and CEO of RadiumOne, a San Francisco company that specializes in using social data to target ads.
benton.org/node/126794 | Technology Review
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GOOGLE AS ADVERTISER
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Bradley Johnson]
Google this: The titan of search last year doubled its global ad and promotion spending to $1.5 billion. Factor in 2011 ad spending for just-acquired Motorola Mobility Holdings, and Google is now a $2.1 billion global advertiser. Estimated U.S. ad spending for Google and Motorola topped $1 billion in 2011, placing the combined company No. 34 on Ad Age's ranking of the 100 Leading National Advertisers. This marks Google's debut on the list. Google is a big ad seller; advertising accounted for 96% of 2011's $38 billion worldwide revenue. (That percentage will fall with the May 2012 acquisition of $13-billion-revenue Motorola Mobility, which makes mobile devices and other products.) Google is also a big ad buyer. Google's stated worldwide advertising and promotion spending doubled in 2010 and doubled again in 2011. Ad and promo spending as a percentage of revenue reached 4.1% in 2011, up from 2.6% in 2010 and 1.5% in 2009. Advertising and promotion represents a growing portion of Google's sales and marketing expenses.
benton.org/node/126798 | AdAge
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OMB APPROVES POLITICAL AD RULES
[SOURCE: CommLaw Center, AUTHOR: Paul Cicelski]
[Commentary] The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has once again rubber-stamped and approved a Federal Communications Commission information collection request in apparent defiance of its statutory obligation to take a hard look at the burdens imposed under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). As I reported previously, the FCC adopted burdensome rules requiring television stations to replace their existing locally-maintained public inspection files with digital files to be placed online on an FCC-hosted website, including stations' detailed political records. What is a bit of a surprise, and frankly disappointing, is that the OMB took less than two weeks to approve the FCC's request even though the proposed rules appear to clearly violate the standards of the PRA, and lengthy comments were filed by multiple parties informing the OMB of that fact. The new regulations will without question increase burdens on TV stations (including thousands of pages of copying, significant costs, and countless hours of employee time), while needlessly duplicating records already required to be maintained online by the Federal Election Commission. If such rules are not something the OMB should withhold approval of, or at least take a long hard look at, you have to wonder what level of burden is required to trigger a denial under the PRA. Very few FCC regulations that I can think of historically have imposed more paperwork burdens on stations than the online public/political file regulations.
benton.org/node/126875 | CommLaw Center
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KIDS AND MEDIA
PARENTS AND KIDS ONLINE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Somini Sengupta]
Parents can now use an array of tools to keep up with the digital lives of their children, raising new quandaries. Is surveillance the best way to protect children? Or should parents trust them to share if they are scared or bewildered by something online? The answers are as varied as parents themselves. Still, the anxieties of parenting in the digital age have spawned a mini-industry, as start-ups and established companies market new tools to track where children go online, who they meet there and what they do. Because children are glued to smartphones, the technology can allow parents to track their physical whereabouts and even monitor their driving speed. If, a few years ago, the emphasis was on blocking children from going to inappropriate sites on the family computer, today’s technologies promise to embed Mom and Dad — and occasionally Grandma — inside every device that children are using, and gather intelligence on them wherever they go.
benton.org/node/126853 | New York Times
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TELECOM
AT&T SPECIAL ACCESS PETITIONS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
AT&T petitions to deregulate special access service in San Francisco/Oakland and San Antonio will be de facto granted after there was no vote June 25 on a special access reform proposal by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski that would have blocked that approval by suspending all such pending petitions and eliminating the competitive benchmarks for deregulating the service. An FCC official speaking on background said the petitions (as well as one by Windstream) were being granted under the old rules and after "productive discussions among the commissioners," but added that "pursuant to ongoing discussions we expect the Commission will soon vote on an order setting out a path to reform them." Under FCC rules, telcos are required to lease special access lines to competitors. But the FCC deregulated AT&T and others' special access lines in 2009 in cases where competitive triggers are met. Those lines are the "last mile" dedicated broadband lines to businesses, which incumbent local exchange carriers like AT&T dominate. By contrast, residential customers can generally choose from cable or phone lines for their service.
benton.org/node/126876 | Multichannel News | AT&T
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FCC ASKS COURT TO DELAY USF CHALLENGE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has asked a court to hold off deciding a challenge to its Universal Service Fund/intercarrier compensation reform order, saying its petition is supported by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Verizon, AT&T and others. The FCC argues in its petition that the court should hold off since it is currently considering similar issues in petitions to reconsider its decision last fall to reform the fund and migrate support from traditional telephone to broadband. Those, says the FCC, are "the sufficiency and scope of the agency's new universal service system" and "the reasonableness of the Commission's plan to reform its intercarrier compensation system." The FCC argues that letting it proceed first could narrow the scope of questions "because the reconsideration petitions currently pending before the FCC raise issues central to the case before this Court -- and because the issues raised on reconsideration substantially overlap with those raised in this litigation -- the Court should "hold the appeal in abeyance pending the Commission's further proceedings," the FCC told the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
benton.org/node/126866 | Broadcasting&Cable | FCC response | FCC motion
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TAXES
SUPREME COURT DECLINES TAX CASE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a victory for cable operators, the Supreme Court has denied an appeal by DirecTV and Dish of an Ohio tax on satellite service not applied to cable operators. The lower courts ruled that it was not unconstitutional for Ohio to use the difference in transmission to impose a tax on satellite service that it did not levy on cable. The tax was imposed nine years ago this month, and DirecTV and Dish almost immediately took it to court, saying that the state had imposed a "discriminatory and unfair tax policy that disenfranchises consumers, and our customers, while benefiting local cable operators." Operators have also challenged similar taxes in North Carolina, Utah and Massachusetts. Cable companies have lobbied for DBS-only taxes, arguing that they level the playing field given the local franchise fees cable ops pay, while satellite operators point out they do not put any burden on local infrastructure.
benton.org/node/126799 | Broadcasting&Cable
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COMPANY NEWS
MICROSOFT-YAMMER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Evelyn Rusli, Nick Wingfield]
Microsoft will buy Yammer, a social network service for businesses, for $1.2 billion in cash, as it seeks to strengthen its enterprise software business and compete more directly with Salesforce. Under the terms of the deal, Yammer will be added to Microsoft’s office division and will continue to be led by David Sacks, its chief executive. Yammer, which calls itself “the enterprise social network,” is a sort of Facebook for business. Its Web-based service allows companies to create private social networks, where employees can privately chat, shares files and collaborate on projects. Though Microsoft’s suite of software has become ubiquitous in homes and offices, the company has fallen behind on social networking applications for businesses. The company offers SharePoint, a collaboration platform, but the service is primarily used to share and manage documents. With Yammer, Microsoft will be able to pin its applications to a social graph flush with communication tools.
benton.org/node/126873 | New York Times | WSJ | FT | SJMerc
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FACEBOOK EMAIL
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Salvador Rodriguez]
Without asking for permission, Facebook has changed users' listed email address to one ending in "@facebook.com." The changed was discovered June 24, and has resulted in either users having their @facebook.com address being listed or simply having all of their other addresses be hidden. The @facebook.com email service was announced in 2010, but it hasn't really gained traction as a replacement to other email service. It makes sense for the social network to want to promote its own service, but the way it's gone about it is sure to upset some people. To change back your email address, go to your profile, click "Update info," scroll down to "Contact Info" and click "Edit." Select with whom you want to share each individual email address and to the right of that choose whether you want your email displayed on your timeline or not.
benton.org/node/126804 | Los Angeles Times
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NEWS CORP SPLIT?
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Anthony Palazzo, Amy Thomson]
Apparently, Rupert Murdoch is considering splitting his News Corp. media company into two, one unit focusing on publishing and the other on entertainment. Murdoch, who is chairman and chief executive officer of News Corp., is overseeing internal discussions on whether to separate the New York-based company’s businesses. The talks are at a late stage. “I don’t think most corporate shareholders want to have exposure to U.K. newspaper assets,” said Alex DeGroote, an London-based analyst at Panmure Gordon. “But I think Rupert Murdoch wants the assets, so there’s a conflict between what shareholders want and what Rupert wants, so one way around that is de-merge them.”
benton.org/node/126867 | Bloomberg | Wall Street Journal | Financial Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:
REPORT ON VTECH SWEATSHOP IMPLICATES AT&T, MOTOROLA, AND OTHERS IN HUMAN RIGHTS BUSES
[SOURCE: Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, AUTHOR: Charles Kernaghan]
A new report from the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights reveals a chilling portrait of sweatshop working conditions within VTech's electronics factory in Guangdong, China. The company is engaging in a sweeping list of labor and human rights violations while manufacturing cordless phones and other low-ticket electronics for US companies like AT&T, Motorola, and retail giant Wal-Mart.
benton.org/node/126823 | Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights
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IRAN CELEBRATES AS STUXNET EXPIRES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jeremy Herb]
With the computer virus Stuxnet, which was designed to infiltrate and destroy Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, reportedly no longer operating as of midnight June 24, Tehran is declaring that the cyber effort "failed" to derail its nuclear program. The software's creators designed it to shut down after Sunday, The Christian Science Monitor first reported, and Iran's semi-official news organization, FARS News Agency, is celebrating the news by claiming that Iran's nuclear program is still going strong. “At one second past midnight Sunday, the United States' most powerful known cyber weapon will cease to operate after it failed to clandestinely infiltrate and then wreck Iran's nuclear fuel enrichment program,” FARS wrote in a story with a headline declaring “no major breakthrough” in deterring Iran’s nuclear work. The White House declined to comment.
benton.org/node/126808 | Hill, The
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INDIA’S CALL CENTRES MOVE UPMARKET
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: James Crabtree]
An Indian call center usually conjures up the image of rows of young telephone operators talking politely to customers thousands of kilometers away – not dental workers. Yet in one large outsourcing company outside Bangalore, this is what you find. Their desks sport models of molars, while teeth X-rays flash-up on computer screens, waiting to be checked against insurance claims filed to a big American healthcare group. India is the world’s leading business process outsourcing(BPO) hub, part of a global industry worth $153 billion in revenues last year, according to Nasscom, an Indian trade body. The health of the sector has also become increasingly important as much of the rest of India’s economy stumbles, with outsourced services to businesses abroad set to grow 12 percent yearly to $16 billion in 2012.
benton.org/node/126822 | Financial Times
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NETHERLANDS AND EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER IN STANDOFF OVER MOBILE RATES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O’Brien]
For a window into the fractious state of European federalism, consider the battle of wills taking place between Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for telecommunications, and the Netherlands over how much mobile phone operators can charge to connect calls on each other’s wireless networks. On June 13, Mrs. Kroes told the Dutch telecommunications regulator, OPTA, that its proposed level for the fees, known as mobile termination rates, was twice as high as what policy makers in Brussels thought was justified. She ordered OPTA to cut the fees in half, citing the European Telecoms Framework that took effect in May 2011, which supposedly gave Brussels more control over fees set by national regulators. Two days later, OPTA gave Mrs. Kroes its response: Sorry, but no chance. OPTA explained that it had initially supported the commission’s goal of reducing Dutch mobile termination rates to 1.2 euro cents a minute from 2.7 cents, starting Sept. 1. But Dutch mobile operators had challenged those rates in court.
benton.org/node/126820 | New York Times
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MICROSOFT’S DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURE
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Gregg Keizer]
European regulators have urged an Internet standards-setting body to let Microsoft set users' preferences for the "Do Not Track" privacy feature in the upcoming Internet Explorer 10 (IE10). But the European Commission also asked the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) to require browser makers to present Do Not Track (DNT) options to users when they first install or run a browser, and allow them to change the default. "The standard should foresee that at the install or first use of the browser the owner should be informed of the importance of their DNT choice, told of the default setting and prompted or allowed to change that setting," Robert Madelin, who heads the European Commission's Information Society and Media Directorate-General, said
benton.org/node/126790 | ComputerWorld
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EU BROADCASTERS
[SOURCE: Broadcast Engineering, AUTHOR: Philip Hunter]
European broadcasters are emerging from a period of uncertainty to discover they will have to cede more primary spectrum to mobile broadband operators, but are being offered some concessions over reallocation. The European Commission, the European Union’s executive body, has been dithering over spectrum policy ever since the surprise decision taken at the World Radio Spectrum Conference (WRC) 2012 to force a second digital dividend out of broadcasters in the spectral region covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A group of Middle Eastern and African countries pushed through a commitment to make more spectrum available for mobile broadband in the band around 800MHz in addition to the amount granted in the so called first digital dividend in 2008. At that time, there were variations between member states, but generally 20 percent to 25 percent of the UHF spectrum liberated through analogue switch off was given over to mobile broadband, which was more than the original spectrum allocated for European GSM cellular services.
benton.org/node/126849 | Broadcast Engineering
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