1. Monthly archive
  2. July 2012

July 2012

NBC's Chuck Todd rants on Romney

Mitt Romney took questions from the press in London July 26 -- but only from British reporters, not American ones. The move has NBC's Chuck Todd and company mad as hell at the Romney campaign, and they're not going to take it anymore. "Every president in the modern era has decided to pick up on some aspect of limiting media access to the President from their predecessor. The public never cares, because most of them distrust at least half of the press corps. But folks, it’s a slippery slope."

Ohio News Network to cease operations Aug. 31

Statewide cable news channel ONN will sign off forever at the end of August, bringing an end to a 15-year run. ONN — Ohio News Network — is shutting down because “the cable news consumer has many different methods of gathering news and information compared to when ONN was launched in 1997,” said Tom Griesdorn, president and general manager of ONN and of WBNS-TV (Channel 10), in a message to employees. Griesdorn said that he and other executives “did not come to this decision lightly. We have been exploring options for many, many months, but finally came to the conclusion that there is no viable business model moving forward.”

Which do you trust less with your data, the U.S. government or Google?

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Black Hat Conference, a panel of experts got together to expound on what they see as the privacy and security mess of our times, and they had plenty to say about the U.S. government, cyber war, and Google.

The government really sucks at handling classified data, opined Marcus Ranum, CSO at Tenable Security. He said the vast WikiLeaks dumps of sensitive data from the U.S. government seen over the past few years shows that agencies such as the Department of State need to improve data custodianship. As the panelists veered into the topic of who would you trust less with your data, the U.S. government or Google, ICANN CSO Jeff Moss answered that he feared Google more than the feds. That got Ranum to quip: that’s because Google has a history of getting things done. And it so it went as the others on the panel -- Bruce Schneier, chief security technologist at BT; Adam Shostack, senior program manager at Microsofts Trustworthy Computing Group; and Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, who acted as moderator all got their digs in, too.

As patent wars escalate, business booms for those who can predict the odds

Over the last decade the number of patent lawsuits filed in the United States each year has exploded. A new study found that patent trolls, now cost American companies about $29 billion a year. The number of defendants named in these lawsuits has more than tripled in the past five years, and range from major corporations to fledgling startups. For many in the tech industry, this has become cause for serious concern.

For LexMachina, the patent crisis is a massive business opportunity, and the company has just raised a fresh $2 million led by X/Seed Capital to expand its operations. "The common wisdom when companies are hit with a patent lawsuit is to settle, because you don't know things will go in court," explains CEO Josh Becker. LexMachina draws on 130,000 court cases to provide clients with robust data on everything from the history of decisions by individual judges to the track record of law firms who handle these cases, and the outcome of previous cases dealing with similar patents. “If you are a startup in New York or San Francisco, you want to know how this judge on a rocket docket in East Texas has ruled before."

Mitt Romney's Fake Twitter Follower Problem

As of July 20, Mitt Romney’s Twitter account had about 690,000 followers. That’s more than you or me (oh, hush, John Dickerson), but it’s a paltry number compared to that of Romney’s opponent: @BarackObama boasts some 18 million.

On a typical day in the past month, Romney’s Twitter account has gained 3,000 to 4,000 new followers, according to Zach Green, whose blog 140elect.com tracks campaign-related Twitter trends. So when Romney’s follower count began growing by the thousands on Friday evening, Green took notice. In a post titled, “Is Mitt Romney Buying Twitter Followers?”, Green pointed out that Romney’s account added over 100,000 followers over the weekend, for no apparent reason. Liberals on Twitter jumped on the case, noting that many of Mitt’s new fans appeared to be fake—spambots, pornbots, and accounts set up purely to inflate other accounts’ follower count. One of the more amusing finds: At least five of Romney’s newfound followers shared the same profile picture, which turned out to be that of an Internet marketer named Ben Sarma. Was Romney’s campaign buying Twitter followers? It’s not inconceivable, but it seems unlikely.

Clear Channel/Big Machine Deal Is Step In Right Direction, But Not Far Enough

[Commentary] For decades, broadcasters have enjoyed an exemption that allows them to not pay performers and labels when they terrestrially broadcast music. This hardly makes sense, especially compared to digital services like Pandora or Sirius XM, which pay not only songwriters and composers, but also performers and sound copyright owners. This is why the recent deal struck between broadcasting behemoth Clear Channel and Big Machine Records to pay out for "terrestrial" spins seems so significant.

The deal sees the biggest radio station group agreeing for the first time to "share terrestrial revenues" for the broadcast of sound recordings. Compensating performers for over-the-air radio is something that artist advocates like the Future of Music Coalition, the Recording Academy and the American Federation of Musicians have long pushed for. With this deal, Clear Channel has signaled that broadcasting sound recordings is worth something in the "willing buyer, willing seller" market, and that terrestrial airplay can trigger compensation. But before we break out the bubbly, it's important to look at the other aspects of this deal, and ask whether it will make a difference to the vast majority of performers.

Broadband Cherry-Picking

[Commentary] Since 2008, the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute has published papers arguing that American broadband service is inferior to services in the rest of the world. They blame this alleged state of affairs on our reliance on facilities-based competition (cable vs. DSL and FTTH vs. wireless) instead of mandated wholesale access to our various networks at prices set by regulatory fiat.

They also want more facilities-based competition as long as it’s from government-owned or funded networks, using TV White Spaces, fiber-to-the-home, and various other technologies. Their position stems in part from a particularly quirky reading of a provision of the 1996 Telecom Act that was meant to create a market for competitive telephone services over the lines owned by the phone companies that were created by the break-up of Ma Bell. They also have tremendous confidence in the ability of small towns to operate their own broadband networks. The latest installment of NAF’s ongoing broadband critique, ”The Cost of Connectivity”, adds some new wrinkles to the story that are particularly misleading. It seeks to compare the costs of triple-play bundles of TV, phone, and Internet service around the world which go considerably beyond simple connectivity. It also purports to compare worldwide broadband services at the $35/month level, an especially intriguing price point. Finally, it tries to identify the fastest Internet services available in selected cities worldwide.

News Objectivity and Political Conversation: An Experimental Study of Mad Cow Disease and Candlelight Protest

This study examines how journalistic objectivity in relation to interpersonal communication plays a role in democratic development driven by civic engagement.

According to public journalists who candidly express their subjective opinions and contentious arguments in news reporting, the journalistic norm of objectivity has been blamed for causing public cynicism because it deteriorates civic participation. Focusing on the 2008 mad cow disease upheaval, an experiment was conducted to determine whether or not objective reporting actually inhibits political participation and whether or not a news article reinforcing a specific position promotes civic engagement in the candlelight protest. College students were recruited and given two types of news articles as experimental stimuli to measure their attitude towards political protest. The result indicates that the impact of news article types on the subjects’ intention to participate depends on their level of conversation with fellow citizens. For subjects who conversed frequently with others on the issue, the objective article enhanced their intention to participate in the protest. The reinforcing article enhanced participation among those who had a low level of conversation with fellow citizens. Therefore, this paper draws implications on the relationship between journalism and participatory democracy.

Brazil tees up billion dollar telecom bonanza

A ruling by Brazil’s telecom officials is expected to tee up a multi-billion bonanza in capital spending on telecom networks. Anatel, Brazil’s equivalent of the Federal Communications Commission, barred all but one of the nation’s service providers from adding new subscribers until they showed plans to boost spending on their networks. The ruling came in the wake of extended network outages in many cities, lasting as long as a week in some cases. One carrier, TIM Brazil, was quick to publically pledge it will double its capex spending to US$221 million through 2014, according to a Reuters report. A Brazilian regulator estimated the ruling will boost total annual telecom spending in the country to about US$12 billion, up from about US$8.5 billion today.

July 26, 2012 (On the Goal Line: Senate Cybersecurity Bill)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012

Regulation of Tribal Gaming: From Brick & Mortar to the Internet http://benton.org/calendar/2012-07-26/


CYBERSECURITY
   On the Goal Line: Senate Cybersecurity Bill
   Stockpiling arms against cyberattacks - editorial
   Senators meet to move on cybersecurity

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Some States Lag Behind in Internet Adoption
   FCC Kicks-Off 'Connect America Fund' - press release
   CenturyLink To Accept FCC Connect America Funds - press release
   FCC Has Reformed the High-Cost Program, but Oversight and Management Could be Improved - research
   The National Broadband Map Is Updated - press release [links to web]
   US Cloud Providers Cite Obstacles to Growth Abroad
   Verizon willfully driving DSL users into the arms of cable - op-ed
   Ahead of Google Fiber launch, here’s what another gig city has already learned [links to web]
   McKinsey Says Social Media Could Add $1.3 Trillion to the Economy [links to web]
   EBay To Target Under-18 Set [links to web]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   The Great American Smartphone Migration: Nearly Half of Feature Phone Subscribers Who Acquired a New Device in April Switched to a Smartphone - research
   New data pricing from Verizon, AT&T may complicate family life
   Dish Cash Hoard Signals Wireless Possibility [links to web]
   Apple is the top smartphone and tablet brand among wealthy [links to web]
   Smartphones Fuel American Tower Rise As Networks Speed Up [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   Apple says Samsung patent royalty demands unfair
   Apple v. Samsung Electronics: The Patent War Claims, Uncut
   Google’s E.U. pact could help take off heat in US - analysis
   Google Says Patents, Tech Were Less Than Half Motorola’s Price
   Apple-Amazon War Heats Up [links to web]

MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
   Political ad spending so far: $648 million
   Negative Ads Hit at Identity to Shape Race for Presidency
   Why Obama Likes Facebook
   Fate of U.S. may hang on winner of iPhone-Android war [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Big MSOs Commit To Make Encrypted Basic Tiers Available To IP Devices
   Random House TV launches to create shows based on books [links to web]
   TV News Business Isn’t Limited to Just TV Anymore - research

CONTENT
   On Twitter, Verdict on Paterno Unchanged by Freeh Report, NCAA - research [links to web]
   McKinsey Says Social Media Could Add $1.3 Trillion to the Economy [links to web]
   EBay To Target Under-18 Set [links to web]

HEALTH
   Changing Policies Changes Practices: Patient Access and Input to Their Health Record [links to web]
   Going Mobile: Leading Patients And Providers To MHealth - op-ed [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   Weitzner departing White House for MIT
   Rep Issa’s Call to the Internet’s Right Side [links to web]

LOBBYING
   Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay form new Washington lobbying group

JOURNALISM
   TV News Business Isn’t Limited to Just TV Anymore - research

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Accusations of Police Misconduct Documented in Lawyers’ Report on Occupy Protests
   Error 451: A proposed Internet status code for censorship
   In Meetings, US Presses Beijing on Rights
   Mobility push intensifies for e-government [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Benton Foundation Awards Kartemquin’s Media Advocacy Work - press release [links to web]
   In Sweden, Taking File Sharing to Heart. And to Church. [links to web]

back to top

CYBERSECURITY

ON THE GOAL LINE: SENATE CYBERSECURITY BILL
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Jessica Herrera-Flanigan]
[Commentary] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moved to proceed on cybersecurity legislation. Throughout the week, many of the leading Democratic Senators have been calling for the passage of a compromise bill constructed by Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Susan Collins(R-Maine) and others. How close is the Senate to actually passing the bill? Well, it is safe to say that it is facing fourth and goal, with eight points needed to tie the game and send it into overtime. The two-point conversion, however, could be another story as Republicans opposed to critical infrastructure regulation, while more open than previously, still may oppose the bill’s compromise voluntary language to create a voluntary certification program using standards created by a council, with industry receiving incentives to participate. In any event, it is clear that cybersecurity will remain a priority for both the House and the Senate going into the lame duck session at the end of the year and, most likely, into 2013. [Herrera-Flanigan is a partner at the Monument Policy Group, where she focuses on the issues affecting our nation’s security, technology, commerce, and entertainment markets.]
benton.org/node/130697 | nextgov | The Hill | National Journal | The Hill - Lieberman
Recommend this Headline
back to top


STOCKPILING ARMS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The global cyber-arms race is a reality. By deploying a computer worm known as Stuxnet in a covert operation intended to damage Iran’s equipment for enriching uranium, the United States crossed a line. Stuxnet was designed to do physical harm. What if other nations do the same — and do it to us? The U.S. government has revealed little about its offensive activities in this sphere. We think this is shortsighted. Two years ago, the National Research Council found that the government’s policy and legal framework for offensive cyber-programs was “ill-formed, undeveloped and highly uncertain.” Is it any different today? An open, vigorous debate is needed about the threat of cyberwar and the potential response. We had a decades-long debate about nuclear weapons, and it was healthy for the country and the world. We ought to bring the discussion about offensive cyber-conflict out of the shadows.
benton.org/node/130695 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top


CYBERSECURITY MEETING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
A bipartisan group of senators met to discuss how to bridge their differences on cybersecurity legislation. The meeting comes as the Senate is expected to move to Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I-CT) cybersecurity bill as soon as July 25. The participants in the meeting included Lieberman and the co-sponsors of his bill, as well as Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and some of the backers of his competing cybersecurity measure. Other participants included senators who have been involved in a compromise effort on the issue. The meeting focused on identifying the specific issues members have with Lieberman's bill, particularly the critical infrastructure section, according to an aide familiar with the meeting. That section proposes to create a voluntary program where operators of critical infrastructure would certify that they meet security standards developed by a government-led council in exchange for incentives.
benton.org/node/130682 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

CENSUS REPORT ON INTERNET ADOPTION
[SOURCE: Governing, AUTHOR: Mike Maciag]
New census estimates show that while a growing number of Americans surf the Web, some states still lag behind in Internet adoption. About 71 percent of U.S. households were connected to the Internet in 2010, according to Current Population Survey estimates released this week. That’s up from 61.7 percent in 2007, with the rate steadily climbing since the first homes plugged in during the 1990s. But strong divides in Internet access remain, with adoption rates varying widely among different regions and demographic groups. In some rural areas, Internet providers offer limited coverage or slow connection speeds. Many low income Americans also opt not to purchase Internet service, citing cost concerns. Data indicates southern states have the nation's lowest household adoption rates. New Mexico recorded a household adoption rate of 64.1 percent – the lowest of any state, likely explained in part by its high Hispanic and American Indian population, groups typically less likely to connect to the Internet. Mississippi and Arkansas reported the next-lowest adoption rates for residents age 3 and up. By comparison, an estimated 86.2 percent of New Hampshire residents had household Internet access, the highest share in the 2010 survey.
benton.org/node/130651 | Governing | Census Bureau | Blandin Foundation | EdWeek | Birmingham News | Seattle Times | AP | State Journal | Journal Interactive
Recommend this Headline
back to top


FCC KICKS-OFF ‘CONNECT AMERICA FUND’
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission announced that nearly 400,000 residents and small business owners in 37 states will gain access to high-speed Internet within three years, as a result of the first phase of the ‘Connect America Fund.’ About $115 million of public funding will be coupled with tens of millions more in private investment to quickly expand broadband infrastructure to rural communities in every region of the nation. Many projects will begin immediately, and all projects must be completed within three years. Nationally, nearly 19 million residents currently lack access to broadband. Without broadband, consumers and small business are cut off from the $8 trillion global Internet economy, severely limiting opportunities for jobs and economic prosperity. This announcement marks the beginning of the most significant public-private effort in history to ensure that every American has access to broadband by the end of the decade.
benton.org/node/130653 | Federal Communications Commission | The Hill
Recommend this Headline
back to top


CENTURYLINK AND CONNECT AMERICA FUND
[SOURCE: CenturyLink, AUTHOR: Press release]
CenturyLink will accept $35 million from the Federal Communications Commission's Connect America Fund (CAF) to deploy broadband service to 45,000 homes in unserved rural areas. CenturyLink was eligible for nearly $90 million in CAF Phase I funding. However, restrictions on the use of the CAF 1 funds made further deployment uneconomic. "CenturyLink is excited to be able to work with the FCC to bring broadband services to thousands of homes for the first time. In addition to the incremental CAF funding, we are investing millions of dollars of our own money to bring robust broadband services to more customers because we believe these services will bring essential educational and economic opportunities to high-cost, rural areas of the country," said Steve Davis, CenturyLink executive vice president for public policy and government relations. "We are disappointed that restrictions on the use of these funds will not allow us to deploy rural broadband services to the extent we had originally anticipated," Davis said. "However, we share the FCC's overall goal of deploying needed facilities in high-cost areas where reliable and affordable broadband service is not available. Therefore, we will continue working with the FCC to find ways to efficiently and effectively use additional CAF 1 funds to provide broadband services to our rural customers."
CenturyLink has filed a waiver application which, if granted, would allow it to deploy broadband services to approximately 60,000 more homes in high-cost areas where reliable and affordable service is currently not available. This waiver has been supported by the Washington Public Service Commission, the Minnesota Department of Commerce and other state agencies.
benton.org/node/130649 | CenturyLink
Recommend this Headline
back to top


GAO REPORT ON USF REFORM
[SOURCE: Government Accountability Office, AUTHOR: Mark Goldstein]
This report examines the Federal Communications Commission’s 1) plans for repurposing the high-cost program for broadband, and 2) plans to address previously identified management challenges as it broadens the program’s scope. The Government Accountability Office reviewed and analyzed pertinent FCC orders, associated stakeholder comments, and reports related to the Universal Service Fund (USF) and interviewed federal and industry stakeholders, as well as economists and experts. The GAO recommends that the FCC A) establish a specific data-analysis plan for carrier data to determine program effectiveness, and B) consult with the Joint Board as it examines the factors for calculating carrier support payments. FCC concurred with the recommendations. [GAO-12-738, July 25.]
benton.org/node/130663 | Government Accountability Office
Recommend this Headline
back to top


CLOUD HEARING
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Industry representatives warned the Judiciary Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee that barriers being imposed by foreign governments could stifle the growth of U.S. cloud computing providers. U.S. companies including Amazon and Google are moving aggressively to offer cloud services around the world, which involves the use of hosted services via the Internet. But they worry that new policies imposed by some foreign governments could hamper the ability of U.S providers to market their services abroad. Cloud computing has been touted as a way to provide its users with access to more computer power at lower costs by relying on a third-party to buy and operate expensive computer networks. "Countries around the world desperately hope to copy the model of technology-driven economic growth that powers the US economy," said Business Software Alliance President and CEO Robert Holleyman in his written testimony. "Far too often they would do so by throwing up protectionist barriers aimed to hurt international cloud providers and by adopting policies that would chop the cloud into country-sized pieces." "Strong U.S. leadership is needed to combat trade practices that other countries are using to block foreign competitors," Daniel Castro, a senior analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said.
benton.org/node/130673 | National Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top


VERIZON DROPPING DSL
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Karl Bode]
[Commentary] Back in April, you may recall that Verizon stopped selling standalone DSL, taking us back to the stone age of broadband when users were forced to bundle a costly landline they might no longer want. That move was just one part of a broader tactical shift by Verizon aimed at completely re-configuring the American broadband landscape—potentially for the worse. With FiOS expansion frozen and most of the company's focus on fixed and mobile LTE services with sky-high overages, Verizon has all but declared that the 35-45 percent of their entire customer footprint that will be left on DSL is essentially expendable. Those users are consciously being driven to LTE and cable competitors as part of one of the largest shifts in power and technology this industry has ever seen. Verizon has numerous reasons for wanting its DSL services to die off, including the fact that newer LTE technology is cheaper to deploy in rural areas and easier to keep upgraded. But one of the driving forces is that Verizon is eager to eliminate unions from the equation, given that Verizon Wireless is non-union. None of this is theory; in fact, it has been made very clear by Verizon executives. "Every place we have FiOS, we are going to kill the copper," Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam recently told attendees of an investor conference. "We are going to just take it out of service. Areas that are more rural and more sparsely populated, we have got LTE built that will handle all of those services and so we are going to cut the copper off there."
benton.org/node/130636 | Ars Technica
Recommend this Headline
back to top

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

COMSCORE REPORT
[SOURCE: comScore, AUTHOR: Press release]
A comScore study of first-time U.S. smartphone owners found that nearly half of feature phone subscribers who acquired a device during April 2012 switched to a smartphone, an increase of 9.5 percentage points from the previous year, as smartphone adoption continues its upward climb in the U.S. Among this audience, 61.5 percent of consumers acquired devices running the Google Android platform, with 25.2 percent choosing Apple devices and 7.1 percent opting for Microsoft smartphones. Among those feature phone subscribers that acquired a smartphone device in the past month, 61.5 percent chose a Google Android device, while 25.2 percent acquired an Apple device. Devices operating on the Microsoft platform accounted for 7.1 percent of acquired smartphones, while RIM represented 4.8 percent. In comparison, among existing smartphone subscribers that acquired a new smartphone device in the past month, 54.2 percent chose Android devices while 33.5 percent preferred Apple devices. RIM accounted for 9.6 percent of acquired devices, while Microsoft represented 3.0 percent.
benton.org/node/130664 | comScore
Recommend this Headline
back to top


FAMILY DATA PLANS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sinead Carew]
Arguments around U.S. family dinner tables may soon go from who talked too much on the phone this month to who used up the family's Internet service. Thanks to new metered pricing plans for Internet access unveiled by top U.S. cellular providers Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc families will be able to share a single data allowance for multiple devices. A drawback is the higher price of data in these plans. The companies say the new plans are designed to help consumers save money and simplify their lives. Consumer advocates worry that they will instead make managing the family wireless plan more complicated than ever. "I think what you'll see is a set of consumers that overbuy and you'll see consumers that don't buy enough and get charged overage," said John Breyault, National Consumers League vice president of public policy. Breyault added that consumers "are not that great at estimating their usage."
benton.org/node/130680 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top

OWNERSHIP

APPLE-SAMSUNG
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Dan Levine, Poornima Gupta]
Apple said Samsung is demanding from the iPhone maker a far higher patent royalty than Apple pays to other companies, at a rate the South Korean company has never sought from any other licensee. The information was contained in portions of an Apple legal brief freshly unsealed in U.S. court, and provides more detail about each side's negotiating position in the run-up to a high stakes trial set to begin next week. In a separate filing, Samsung contended that its royalty demands are consistent with industry norms. Also, a U.S. magistrate in San Jose, California, ruled that Samsung wrongly let employees delete emails that could have helped Apple pursue its $2.53 billion lawsuit over disputed patents. The magistrate, Judge Paul Grewal, also said that a jury may hold it against the South Korean company.
benton.org/node/130678 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top


APPLE V SAMSUNG
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
The gloves have emphatically come off in the patent war between Apple and Samsung Electronics. A courtroom confrontation, scheduled to begin July 30, is only one of dozens of suits and countersuits around the world involving these two smartphone giants. But this one promises to be more lively than most. It’s a jury trial, set in Silicon Valley, in a federal district court in San Jose, California. The document discovery and deposition-taking by the corps of lawyers on both sides, running for months, will be rolled out in this showdown. The broad themes of the accusations on each side are well known by now. Apple plans to build its case using its Korean rival’s own words against it. An unredacted version of Apple’s trial brief bluntly states that Samsung was well aware that its smartphones and tablets bore a striking resemblance to Apple’s iPhone and iPad and that the issue was one the company discussed internally. Samsung does have some ammunition of its own. Specifically, some 2006 internal design presentations that outline a mobile UI similar to the one that ultimately debuted on the iPhone, a handy before-and-after-the-iPhone-handset comparison and some internal Apple emails that it claims suggest “Apple’s ‘revolutionary’ iPhone design was derived from the designs of a competitor — Sony.” Add to that Samsung’s claim that Apple’s lawsuit is anticompetitive and its argument that the iPhone maker should pay it for using patented technology, without which it “could not have become a successful participant in the mobile telecommunications industry,” and next week’s trial is shaping up to be a contentious one indeed.
benton.org/node/130692 | New York Times | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top


GOOGLE’S EU PACT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
European Commission Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said he is seeking concessions on Google’s global business practices that resolve concerns it is using its dominance in search to push forward in other businesses. Europe is well ahead of the United States, which is conducting its own investigation. But there doesn’t seem to be an appetite for a drawn-out lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission. And the settlement by the European Commission could serve as a template of sorts for U.S. regulators, analysts say. “The FTC is not as close to concluding its investigation as the EC is, so a final FTC decision may not come for several months,” said Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant. And unlike the EC, which isn’t looking into mobile search, an FTC action would likely include concessions on mobile search. “But we believe Android is among the areas the FTC is investigating. If the FTC does settle with Google, as we expect, one possibility is for the FTC to try to limit Google/Android’s ability to pressure handset manufacturers to make Google services — especially Google search and its GPS/local features — the default settings on Android mobile devices,” Gallant said.
benton.org/node/130644 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top


GOOGLE AND MOTOROLA’S PATENTS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Letzing]
Google put a finer point on the value it placed on Motorola Mobility’s intellectual property when it agreed to buy the mobile-phone maker, saying in a regulatory filing that $5.5 billion of the $12.4 billion price tag was attributable to “patents and developed technology.” Google has sought to bulk up on patents as a protective measure, as a number of its technology rivals have targeted both the company and its Android software with litigation. Apart from patents and developed technology, Google said in the filing that $2.9 billion of the purchase price for Motorola was attributable to cash acquired, $2.6 billion was related to goodwill, $730 million for customer relationships and $670 million for “other net assets acquired.” The goodwill, Google explained, is “primarily attributed to the synergies expected to arise after the acquisition.”
benton.org/node/130647 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

MEDIA AND ELECTIONS

POLITICAL AD SPENDING
[SOURCE: Media Life, AUTHOR: Bill Cromwell]
The election is a little more than three months away, and so far more than half a billion has been spent on TV advertising. From now until the election, another $2.5 billion will be spent, saturating markets such as Los Angeles and Cleveland, Ohio, where spending is already past the $20 million point. That's according to a report from Wells Fargo Securities, which says that total television spending on political this year has hit $647.7 million through July 8. Three quarters of that, $481 million, has been spent on local television. The presidential campaigns contributed the largest amount to spot TV, $194.9 million, with ballot measures No. 2 at $120 million. Wells Fargo estimates that spot TV spending will total $2.65 billion by election's end, up 15.9 percent from 2010, which did not have a presidential election. Network TV will get $98 million, up 16 percent from 2010. Some of that will come during the Olympics over the next two weeks, where President Barack Obama's campaign has made several large buys, including the opening ceremonies. And $442 million will go to cable, most of that local spending on MSOs such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable. That's up 23 percent from 2010.
benton.org/node/130669 | Media life
Recommend this Headline
back to top


NEGATIVE ADS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeremy Peters]
As the presidential campaign has become a clash over a host of issues — from tax cuts to foreign diplomacy to claims of words taken out of context — Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama and their allies have started trading accusations over a much more delicate and personal question: Are you an American like me? Their choice of words and imagery is a reminder of how powerful undercurrents of identity, wealth, race and religion are shaping this election. These surface in subtle and not-so-subtle ways as two candidates who can have trouble connecting with voters on a personal level try to define each other as detached from mainstream American life. Neither candidate is accusing the other of sending subliminal signals over race or religion. And the language on the campaign trail is a far cry from the overt efforts to make religion a wedge issue — like the campaign by Rep Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and other Republican members of Congress to ferret out what they say is an Islamic extremist influence in government. Rather, the Obama and Romney campaigns seem conscious of the dangers of going too far.
benton.org/node/130694 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top


WHY OBAMA LIKES FACEBOOK
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: David Talbot]
President Obama's campaign is expanding the power of the social media operation it built in 2008, using an app to extend its voter intelligence efforts to potentially millions of Facebook accounts of people who didn't directly get in touch. The app, Obama 2012, gives the campaign access to the birth dates, locations, and likes—that is, Web pages a user has indicated he or she likes or identifies with by hitting the Facebook "like" button—of many of the Facebook friends of the 150,000 people who installed the app. That could feed the campaign valuable intelligence on a few million people: whether they are of voting age and live in swing states, what issues they care about, and who in their network might best influence them. Even though Facebook's policies forbid the campaign from using that friend data outside the context of the app, the information can still be used for the organizing and volunteering activities the app enables. In other words: don't be surprised, especially if you are an undecided voter in a swing state, if you hear from someone on Facebook with a highly personalized appeal based on things you've clicked online.
benton.org/node/130621 | Technology Review
Recommend this Headline
back to top

TELEVISION

CABLE ENCRYPTION
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
The six largest U.S. cable operators are prepared to offer two ways to let third-party IP-based devices access encrypted basic-tier programming, as the industry looks to cut theft of service from broadband-only subscribers, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association said in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission. The largest cable operators, which serve 84% of U.S. cable subscribers, will provide either 1) an adapter with home-networking capability to decrypt TV signals and pass them through to IP devices or 2) an encryption solution that would be made commercially available to third-party manufacturers.
benton.org/node/130633 | Multichannel News
Recommend this Headline
back to top

POLICYMAKERS

DANIEL WEITZNER
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Daniel Weitzner, the White House's deputy chief technology officer for Internet policy, is leaving the administration next month to return to MIT. Weitzner joined the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in 2011, stepping into the role formerly held by Tumblr Vice President Andrew McLaughlin. Weitzner has worked on various Internet policy issues during his time in the administration, such as cybersecurity and copyright protection, but is known for his work on the White House's online privacy white paper. A spokesman for OSTP said Weitzner's last day will be Aug. 3.
benton.org/node/130638 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

LOBBYING

THE INTERNET ASSOCIATION
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Google, eBay, Amazon and Facebook are launching a lobbying group, The Internet Association, to try to raise their voice in Washington as federal officials focus their sights on their largely unregulated tech industry. Leading the group will be Michael Beckerman, former deputy staff director of the House Commerce Committee and longtime adviser to Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). The association is expected to officially launch in September, when it will release its full list of sponsors and members. Its most prominent members are Silicon Valley giants Google, Facebook, eBay and Amazon, according to a person familiar with the group’s plans. Those firms face a slew of regulatory issues that directly affect their businesses: privacy legislation, online sales tax reforms, cybersecurity and proposed anti-piracy and copyright laws.
benton.org/node/130646 | Washington Post | The Hill
Recommend this Headline
back to top

JOURNALISM

REPURPOSED TV NEWS CONTENT
[SOURCE: Radio Television Digital News Association, AUTHOR: Bob Papper]
The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey continues to show that the TV news business isn't limited to TV anymore. But the numbers also show stabilization in the reach of a TV newsroom. Still, more than three-quarters (75.5%) of stations provide local news content to one or more other media -- beyond their own station or website. The likelihood of stations being involved in running content on other media tends to go up as market size drops. In the top 50 markets, 68.3% of stations run content on other media. In markets 51+, that percentage rises to 79.0%.
benton.org/node/130666 | Radio Television Digital News Association
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

POLICE MISCONDUCT AND OCCUPY WALL STREET
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Colin Moynihan]
During Occupy Wall Street protests New York police officers obstructed news reporters and legal observers, conducted frequent surveillance, wrongly limited public gatherings and enforced arbitrary rules, a group of lawyers said in a lengthy report. The group, called the Protest and Assembly Rights Project, which included people involved with the law clinics at New York University School of Law and Fordham Law School, said that they had cataloged hundreds of instances of what they described as excessive force and other forms of police misconduct said to have taken place since September, when the Occupy Wall Street movement began. Although the report referred to some well-known events, including Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna’s use of pepper spray, it also detailed specific instances of alleged misconduct that had not appeared in news reports. In addition to detailing 130 instances of what was described as excessive or unnecessary force, the report said that officers often stopped news reporters or legal monitors from witnessing such events. The report also describes instances in which the authors say officers have chilled First Amendment expression through near constant surveillance with video cameras and by sometimes questioning protesters about political activities. The report also described a common practice of preventing protesters from gathering in areas that are open to the public, like parks, plazas and sidewalks.
benton.org/node/130655 | New York Times | Protest and Assembly Rights Project
Recommend this Headline
back to top


ERROR 451
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: Chris Boyette]
If a website you're trying to reach is blocked for legal reasons, do you have a right to know about it? Developer advocate Tim Bray thinks so, and he's got a perfect error code for it: 451, a tribute to the late Ray Bradbury's landmark novel about censorship, Fahrenheit 451. Bray, a self-described "general-purpose Web geek" who helped develop several key Internet standards, wrote a formal specification for his proposal and submitted it to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the body that develops and promotes Internet standards. The group is slated to take up Bray's proposal at next week's annual meeting, which begins July 29 in Vancouver, Canada.
benton.org/node/130620 | CNNMoney
Recommend this Headline
back to top


PRESSING CHINA ON RIGHTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Rebecca Berg]
The State Department released its latest sober diagnosis of human rights abuses in China, along with some gentle encouragement to Beijing to do better. Michael Posner -- the assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor – said that in meetings the State Department addressed China’s abuses of free expression on the Internet and in public, its persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, and its inhumane labor practices, among other human rights issues. For their part, Chinese officials raised concerns about the United States’ record on human rights, particularly in areas of discrimination and prison conditions. Critics say that merely raising concerns with the Chinese government, as the United States does in this dialogue each year, is an exercise in diplomatic futility. The State Department insists that the discussions are one facet of a larger strategy.
benton.org/node/130686 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

© 1994-2024 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.