July 2012

Google: About That Wi-Fi Payload Data We Said We Had Deleted …

Google admitted it had found that it still has within its possession user data from around the world that had been captured by its Street View cars. The company previously said it deleted, in late 2010, all the data its cars had slurped up through open Wi-Fi networks.

News of the remaining data got out because the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office published a statement about it that included the full text of Google’s e-mail. Google said it was “in touch with other data protection authorities in the European Union” on the same topic. Other countries affected include Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia. Google had collected the data between 2008 and 2010. Google apologized for this latest error, which it said was discovered in a recent inspection of its Street View disks.

Tech Firms Battle to Keep Secrets as Apple vs. Samsung Nears Trial

While the primary battle in a San Jose courtroom will be between Samsung and Apple, a secondary skirmish is also taking place. Both Apple and Samsung — along with a variety of other tech companies including Intel, Qualcomm and Microsoft — are pleading with the court to keep a variety of details from court filings away from public view.

Among the sensitive details the firms want kept private are product diagrams, contract terms and internal market research. In addition to the oppositions filed by various tech companies, Apple has also sought to keep under seal pricey market research reports it has purchased, arguing that the disclosure of those reports would destroy the value of the reports and hurt Apple’s relationships with the firms that produced the studies. News agency Reuters, meanwhile, is fighting that request, arguing that most everything should be made public, despite the objections from the tech companies.

Apple, Google Line Up to Bid for Kodak's Patents

Battle lines are forming in Eastman Kodak's patent sale ahead of July 30’s initial bid deadline. At least two groups are expected to bid on Kodak's trove of 1,100 patents, with a bevy of technology and patent heavyweights picking sides and competing for the patents, said people familiar with the matter. Apple, Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures Management LLC, a patent-aggregation firm, are teaming to form one bidding group, the people said. The other consortium includes Google, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, HTC and another patent aggregation firm, RPX Corp., the people said.

Senate amendment would allow Facebook users to share Netflix videos

A proposed amendment to a Senate cybersecurity bill would allow Facebook users to opt-in to automatically share which videos they have watched on Netflix. The Senate could vote on the amendment, filed by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), when it takes up the Cybersecurity Act next week. Currently, Facebook users can choose to automatically reveal which songs they listen to and which articles they read. But the Video Privacy Protection Act bans the sharing of any video history information without written consent by the consumer or a warrant from the police. The change in the privacy law is Netflix's top lobbying priority in Washington.

Court denies broadcasters' emergency bid to block political ad rule

A federal court denied the National Association of Broadcasters' emergency motion to delay the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rule requiring television stations to post information about political advertisements online. The ruling means broadcasters will have to meet the new disclosure requirements by August 2. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia concluded that the broadcasters failed to meet the stringent requirements necessary to suspend the regulation before it goes into effect. The broadcasters' lawsuit looking to permanently overturn the rule will be allowed to continue.

Math for Mobile DTV Adds Up for All

Stations seem to be falling into two camps when it comes to launching mobile digital television: those who have and those who will.

Thanks to two initiatives there are also choices when it comes to mobile DTV offerings, including Dyle, a service from the Mobile Content Venture (MCV) and the Mobile 500 Alliance’s “MYDTV” service. These broadcast-based methods for enjoying local television on smartphones and tablets are not to be confused with services like the controversial subscription service Aereo, which rely on Internet access and data plans. That’s part of the reason the math for mobile DTV adds up for consumers and advertisers as well as for TV stations. It may take a while longer, but the math for supporting mobile TV will look good to wireless carriers as well.

So what are the key factors in a winning mathematical formula for mobile DTV? Erik Moreno, co-general manager of Mobile Content Venture (MCV), a joint venture of 12 major TV station groups, identifies four of them:

Expanding the reach of a local station to the huge base of consumers that want to watch live television on the go;
Extending the value of the station’s brand to the market’s fastest growing and largest media platform;
Delivering a highly effective marketing medium to local advertisers; and
Providing the most logical solution to the country’s cellular bandwidth challenges.

Agenda for FCC’s August 3 Open Meeting

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Friday, August 3, 2012.

On the agenda:

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks to modernize our cable television rules to facilitate the cable industry’s widespread transition from analog to digital transmission systems.
A Second Report and Order, Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Second Notice of Inquiry, Order on Reconsideration, and Memorandum Opinion and Order that seeks to remove regulatory barriers to make better use of Fixed Service (FS) spectrum and provide additional flexibility to enable FS licensees to reduce operational costs and facilitate the use of wireless backhaul in rural areas.

Why You'll See Negative Political Ads in the Olympics

NBC Sports executives urged presidential hopefuls to stay upbeat during the Summer Olympics, arguing that Americans don't want to see grainy footage and grim statistics bracketing medal ceremonies (and NBC's trademark glossy athlete profiles). But the idea that an air war that has been totally negative for weeks would suddenly break out in harp music is fantasy. We may see some of the most memorable ads of 2012 during the games, but they won't all be positive. Why not? About 200 million reasons, according to NBC's projections. The Olympics offer the largest audience and the broadest demographic reach presidential advertisers will see for any programming before Election Day. This is their Super Bowl, and with so many fresh eyes tuning in, the opportunity is just too tempting for them not to take advantage with some "contrast" spots. Reason No. 200,000,001 is news, which doesn't break for the Games.

Do we need a new National Broadband Plan?

"For the first time since the beginning of the commercial Internet,” National Broadband Plan architect Blair Levin recently pointed out, “the United States does not have a national wireline provider with plans to build a better network than the currently best available network." That means that for most Americans, "five years from now, the best network they have is the network they have today."

It's true that there's still a lot of innovation in wireless, but "looking down the road, only wireline can provide the excessive bandwidth that provides the platform for creating the next generation of big bandwidth services," Levin added. "I hope next year, the president of the United States tells the chair of the FCC that his or her mission is to deliver a strategic bandwidth advantage for the country and a psychology of bandwidth abundance for consumers," Levin's talk concluded. Lots of wild cards here, such as who will be president next year, and consequently, who will chair the FCC. But Levin's commentary reflects a growing consensus that US broadband policy has stalled, and a restart will require more than the completion of one of the National Broadband Plan's last action items.

Tribes Want Input on Net Gambling Legislation

Representatives from Indian tribes urged a Senate panel to ensure their gambling operations and rights are adequately protected if Congress moves to legalize online poker or other forms of Internet gambling.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee examined how proposals that call for legalizing online poker might impact the current gaming operations offered by Indian tribes. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) are currently in negotiations on developing a proposal that would legalize online poker in exchange for tightening restrictions on other forms of Internet gambling. Congress passed legislation in 2006 aimed at outlawing Internet gambling by prohibiting banks, credit card companies and others from processing bets related to online gaming. However, that law has been put into doubt after the Justice Department late last year reversed its interpretation of the 1961 Wire Act, which dealt with state gambling activities, and said the law only applies to sports betting. "With Indian gaming representing over 40 percent of the gaming market, generating over $27.2 billion annually to this nation's economy, not to mention the jobs and economic benefits Indian gaming brings to some of the most impoverished areas in the country, it is inconceivable, given the recent change in the DoJ opinion, and with such sweeping changes in gaming being contemplated that tribes are not being consulted," Glen Gobin, secretary of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington state, told the committee.

Benton

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