July 2012

Accusations of Police Misconduct Documented in Lawyers’ Report on Occupy Protests

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.

FCC Kicks-Off 'Connect America Fund'

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.

Some States Lag Behind in Internet Adoption

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.

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.

CenturyLink To Accept FCC Connect America Funds

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.

Google Says Patents, Tech Were Less Than Half Motorola’s Price

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.”

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

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.

Google’s E.U. pact could help take off heat in US

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.

Apple is the top smartphone and tablet brand among wealthy

Apple does not have the highest market share when it comes to smartphones -- unless you just look at wealthier people.

According to a new report, when it comes to users whose net worth is more than $100,000, the iPhone and iPad remain the phone and tablet of choice, respectively. And for the most part, Apple's market share only increases the higher up the asset scale you look, according to the report from Spectrem Group, a research firm that specializes in the affluent and retirement markets. Among what it categorizes as "mass affluent investors," defined as those whose net worth exceeds $100,000 excluding their primary residence, 46% own an iPhone. Android, on the other hand, comes in at 34%. The market share for Apple is higher among tablets, where the iPad is owned by 53% of the group, as opposed to the Kindle Fire, owned by just 16%. Raise the bar to $1 million and the iPhone's share goes up to 48% of the market while Android's falls a percentage point. The increase is much more dramatic with the iPad, which has 61%. The Kindle Fire drops a point as well. And among those whose net worth is at least $5 million, the iPhone jumps to 59% market share while Android drops to 25%. However, the same does not hold true for the iPad. At this level, its share falls to 57%, but the Kindle Fire doesn't gain ground. Rather, its share falls by more than half to 7%, tied with the Nook with Internet.

Weitzner departing White House for MIT

Daniel Weitzner, the White House's deputy chief technology officer for Internet policy, is leaving the administration next month to return to MIT.

Dish Cash Hoard Signals Wireless Possibility

Dish Network has amassed a record amount of cash through bond sales as the second-largest U.S. satellite-television provider seeks to expand into the wireless business to offset a decline in its core customer base.

Dish brought its cash on hand to $5.6 billion on June 30 from about $2.7 billion in the first quarter, KDP Investment Advisors Inc. calculated. It issued $2.9 billion of five- and 10-year notes in separate sales in May and July, including $1 billion last week. The company, led by Chairman Charlie Ergen, is expanding into wireless after losing customers in six of the last nine quarters as competition from DirecTV and cable providers pressures revenue and climbing programming costs boost expenses. Dish spent about $3 billion to buy wireless spectrum from DBSD North America Inc. and TerreStar Networks Inc. that it hopes to use to expand into mobile video, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission.

Benton

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