August 31, 2012 (We Believe in America, Telecommunications, and the Internet)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2012
We’re celebrating Labor Day as we hope you are. We will return TUESDAY, September 4.
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Whatever happened to Obama’s goal of universal broadband access? - analysis
Rural Telecom Group Cheers GOP Plank On Broadband [links to web]
More than Critical Infrastructure is at Stake in Cyber Debates - op-ed [links to web]
Taxing broadband -- an idea whose time has not come - op-ed [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FCC to Review Spectrum Ownership Concentration Policy
Notice on Biannual NTIA/FCC Spectrum Planning Meeting - press release
FCC Likely to Take Up Incentive Auction Plan Next Month
Groups Urge FCC to Protect White Spaces
FCC Authority In VZ/SpectrumCo, or “Real Lawyers Read The Footnotes.” - analysis [links to web]
T-Mobile Preparing to Test Commercial Mobile Broadband at 1755-1780 MHz - press release [links to web]
The China-U.S. Smartphone Gap Grows Larger [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
We Believe in America, Telecommunications, and the Internet - analysis
Ignored factchecks and the media’s crisis of confidence
Networks, RNC overlook the deaf in online convention coverage
Romney campaign promotes topic on Twitter ahead of acceptance speech [links to web]
Mitt's VP App Morphs Into Campaign Hub [links to web]
Tech branding is all over Tampa GOP fete
TV Viewership Falls for GOP Convention [links to web]
How MSNBC Became Fox’s Liberal Evil Twin - analysis [links to web]
TELEVISION
FCC Circulates Order Lifting Basic Cable Encryption Ban [links to web]
Liberals like Jon Stewart; conservatives pick college football [links to web]
GLAAD's Network Responsibility Report Gives The CW, Showtime High Marks [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
FTC Said Poised To Finish Google Antitrust Probe In Weeks [links to web]
CONTENT
States reach $69 million e-book pricing settlement with publishers
Google Books judge rejects delay
Twitter Brings Interest Targeting to Promoted Tweets, Accounts [links to web]
Why the online music industry is a mess - analysis [links to web]
Google Pulls the Plug on Its TV Ads Business [links to web]
PATENTS
Google, Apple CEOs in secret patent talks
The myth of pinch-to-zoom: how a confused media gave Apple something it doesn't own
Samsung set to strike back against Apple [links to web]
Apple Patent Fight: Google in Cross Hairs
Samsung trumps Apple in Tokyo court
Apple vs. Samsung: The Longer View - analysis
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION
Feds Rethink Public Safety Network While Locals Stew [links to web]
FirstNet must act quickly to make the public-safety LTE network a reality - analysis [links to web]
NTIA: Give early public-safety deployments the full 700 MHz allocation [links to web]
EDUCATION
Digital Advocacy Group Wields Policy Influence [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
UNIVERSAL BROADBAND ACCESS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brad Plumer]
[Commentary] Does anyone remember when the Obama administration promised to bring “true broadband [to] every community in America”? The Republican Party definitely does, and its 2012 platform criticizes the president for not making any progress on this pledge. In one sense, the Republican critics are right. Universal broadband is still far from a reality. But there are a few key caveats to add. Back in 2008, the Federal Communications Commission adopted stricter standards for what actually counts as acceptable broadband access—this now requires a connection speed of at least 768 kilobits per second. And last year, the FCC notes, 7.4 million additional Americans gained this level of access. So the infrastructure has been getting better. It’s just that the bar for high-quality Internet access has also gone up. Aside from the stimulus, the Obama administration has taken a number of additional steps on broadband, from trying to reform the Universal Service Fund to unveiling a plan to auction off wireless spectrum owned by the government. Adam Offitzer of Polifact has a helpful rundown of these actions here, and notes that while Obama has delivered on some of his reforms, the country is still far off from “true broadband in every community in America.” So Politifact gives the administration a mixed grade on its full set of broadband promises. Not failed, but not completely fulfilled, either.
benton.org/node/133497 | Washington Post
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FCC TO REVIEW SPECTRUM POLICY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Anton Troianovski]
Federal regulators are gearing up to take another look at how much of the airwaves any one company should be able to control, stepping into a heated policy debate with broad implications for the wireless industry. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote in September on a proposal to set new rules for sales of airwave rights by one company to another, FCC officials said. One question likely to be raised: whether lower-frequency spectrum, which often works better for wireless uses, should be treated differently by regulators than airwaves in higher frequency bands. The proposal will be circulated by commission staff. If approved by the five-member FCC, the rules would be open to comment from the industry and others before taking effect, a process that could take months. Alternatively, the commission could continue to review such deals on a case-by-case basis. At stake in the details of the policy is the tug of war between industry giants Verizon Wireless and AT&T and smaller carriers like T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel. Smaller carriers and consumer groups have said AT&T and Verizon own too much of the valuable spectrum below 1 gigahertz, while AT&T in particular has criticized the FCC for being too slow and unpredictable in reviewing sales of spectrum rights between companies.
benton.org/node/133511 | Wall Street Journal | The Hill
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SPECTRUM PLANNING MEETING
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Lawrence E. Strickling met on August 29, 2012, to discuss their agencies’ complementary roles with respect to commercial and Federal use of spectrum. The meeting, covering both domestic and international spectrum planning issues of joint interest, is in line with Federal law which directs the agency heads to meet biannually to conduct joint spectrum planning. Chairman Genachowski and Assistant Secretary Strickling discussed implementation of the spectrum-related provisions of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, as well as the President’s initiative to make available 500 MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband and the recent report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. They agreed that efforts to identify spectrum must include all available options, including both clearing spectrum and sharing spectrum where appropriate. They specifically discussed ongoing and planned activities to make additional spectrum available for wireless broadband including: industry/government collaboration and testing to determine the viability of sharing federal spectrum in the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1850 MHz bands with commercial wireless services; a planned FCC proposal to free up a substantial amount of spectrum through TV incentive auctions; an FCC proposal planned for later this year regarding the use of 100 megahertz of spectrum for small cells that NTIA identified at 3.5 GHz as part of its Fast Track evaluation; a pending FCC proposal to repurpose Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) S-band spectrum for AWS-4; a pending proposal to revise the rules for the Wireless Communications Service at 2.3 GHz to accommodate mobile broadband; and NTIA studies of additional spectrum for unlicensed devices in the 5 GHz band. The Assistant Secretary and the Chairman committed to taking concrete steps to advance these activities over the next six months.
benton.org/node/133453 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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INCENTIVE AUCTION PLAN
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
The Federal Communications Commission is likely to take up a proposal at its Sept. 28 open meeting outlining rules for a new set of auctions aimed at enticing broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum for use by wireless carriers. The FCC appears set to vote on a proposed rulemaking implementing the "incentive auctions" authorized by Congress in legislation signed into law earlier this year. An FCC spokesman would not confirm whether the incentive auction item will be on the agenda for September's meeting, but several industry sources said they expect the commission will take up the issue at the meeting. The auctions would allow TV broadcasters a chance to offer bids on how much they would take to give up their spectrum and get out of the business or to share a channel with another broadcaster. The FCC adopted rules in April that would allow broadcasters to share channels.
benton.org/node/133495 | National Journal
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GROUPS URGE FCC TO PROTECT WHITE SPACES
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jess Kamen]
A coalition of public interest groups fears that the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming incentive auction is threatening to endanger so-called white spaces. The Public Interest Spectrum Coalition is pushing the FCC to ensure that the agency’s desire to move TV broadcasters off their current frequencies and then sell those airwaves to the highest bidder doesn’t lead to less space for unlicensed spectrum uses.
benton.org/node/133493 | Politico
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
GOP 2012 PLATFORM
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] Meeting in Tampa this week, the Republican Party adopted its 2012 platform self-proclaimed to be “both a vision of where we are headed and an invitation to join us in that journey.” Telecommunications and, specifically, the Internet are key planks in the party’s principles and policies this year.
http://benton.org/node/133505
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CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Brendan Nyhan]
Can the media stop politicians from misleading the public? That’s the question on the minds of many journalists and commentators after Paul Ryan’s speech at the Republican National Convention, which continued the Romney campaign’s pattern of disingenuous and misleading attacks on President Barack Obama. While President Obama and his allies have made many misleading claims of their own, the frequency and repetition of the Romney campaign’s claims has been particularly striking. This brazen disregard of pushback from journalists has brought on the latest episode in a recurring crisis of confidence among media types. Politicians have persisted in misleading claims before, but the ubiquity of online debunking in this cycle has brought the disjunction into sharper relief.
benton.org/node/133441 | Columbia Journalism Review | Columbia Journalism Review
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CONVENTION COVERAGE NOT ACCESSIBLE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Steve Friess]
Online streaming was supposed to make the 2012 conventions more accessible to the public than ever before. But for the 48 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing, the latest technology isn’t quite as good as ordinary TV. No major media outlets provided live online closed captioning of the Republican National Convention this week in Tampa. At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, the only Internet feed that will carry real-time captioning will be the Democratic Party’s own online hub. Unlike on television, where outlets are required by law to encode subtitles, Internet content providers don’t have to do the same — even if it’s the same material shown with captions on TV.
benton.org/node/133443 | Politico
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TECH BRANDING AT CONVENTION
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Steve Friess]
Walk through the Republican National Convention and it might start to feel as much like a technology trade show as political nominating party, thanks to the branding and lobbying efforts of dozens of tech companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and AT&T. Google wants attendees to sip free lattes in a huge, colorfully designed rec room. Facebook invites attendees to snap pictures at photo booths that post the image direct to a user's wall. Twitter's giving out T-shirts. And AT&T's logo is on RNC signage throughout downtown Tampa, the perk of being the event's "official wireless carrier." The oversized show of force is a big change for many tech companies — from Apple to Yelp — that didn't used to pay much heed to politics or Washington D.C. Now they spend big to fete lawmakers and send representatives to work the rooms as other industries long have.
benton.org/node/133444 | Politico
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CONTENT
E-BOOK SETTLEMENT WITH STATES
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Laura Hazard Owen]
E-book-buying consumers in 49 states (all except Minnesota) and five territories are set to receive $69 million as the result of a settlement between the states and HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster. If the settlement is approved, the three publishers, who are also settling with the Department of Justice in the federal antitrust suit, will pay a total of $69 million to consumers who bought agency-priced e-books between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012. If the settlement is approved, eligible Connecticut e-book buyers would receive up to $1.26 million in total compensation, for example, while Washington e-book buyers would receive up to $2 million, Maryland e-book buyers would receive up to $1.64 million and Hawaii e-book buyers would receive up to $300,000. In addition, the settling publishers would pay $7.5 million in court fees. How will consumers be paid? Baltimore’s ABC News reports that “in most cases, consumers may choose to receive the value of their restitution by check or by crediting the amount to future purchases of e-books. E-book retailers Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple and Kobo have agreed to identify and contact each eligible customer by email. Retailers Google and Sony will also notify affected customers. Sony will inform customers that checks will automatically be issued. Google customers will be directed to submit a claim on a settlement website.” Payments are set to begin 30 days after the settlement’s approval.
benton.org/node/133483 | paidContent.org | paidContent – how much | ars technica
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JUDGE REJECTS DELAY
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Jeff John Roberts]
The seven year saga over Google’s decision to scan millions of library books without permission will plod forward after a federal judge refused to stay the case pending appeal. In a short order, Judge Denny Chin rejected Google’s request to suspend the case while it goes before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Chin noted that a stay would delay the case “by a year or more” and told Google and the Authors Guild, which is representing writers in a class action, to stick to the current schedule. That schedule calls for them to file arguments ahead of a December court hearing. Chin’s latest ruling creates an unusual situation in which the books case is now before him and the appeals court at the same time. The situation is even more unusual because Judge Chin himself now sits on the appeals court (although he has of course recused himself from hearing the Google appeal).
benton.org/node/133481 | paidContent.org
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PATENTS
GOOGLE-APPLE TALKS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Alexei Oreskovic, Poornima Gupta]
Google Inc Chief Executive Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been conducting behind-the-scenes talks about a range of intellectual property matters, including the mobile patent disputes between the companies, people familiar with the matter said. One possible scenario under consideration could be a truce involving disputes over basic features and functions in Google's Android mobile software, one source said. But it was unclear whether Page and Cook were discussing a broad settlement of the various disputes between the two companies, most of which involve the burgeoning mobile computing area, or are focused on a more limited set of issues.
benton.org/node/133456 | Reuters | WSJ | Bloomberg | LATimes
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PINCH-TO-ZOOM MYTH
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Nilay Patel]
In 2007, Steve Jobs stood on stage, listing the benefits of Apple's then-new iPhone touchscreen. "You can do multi-finger gestures on it," he said, moving his hands back and forth in the now-familiar pinch-to-zoom motion. Then he paused, and his expression changed. "And boy, have we patented it." The crowd laughed and began applauding as the word "Patented!" appeared on the screen behind him. You can draw a straight line from that classic Jobs moment to last week, when a jury decisively agreed with Apple that Samsung had copied the iPhone too closely. But you can also draw a line from that moment to another, much more insidious phenomenon: the persistent belief that Apple has a definitive patent on the pinch-to-zoom gesture. Apple almost certainly likes the confusion: there's no more distinctive multitouch gesture than pinch-to-zoom, and it's great for Apple if everyone thinks it's patented. Steve Jobs standing on stage doing an exaggerated pinch-to-zoom with his hands right before saying multitouch was patented wasn't some coincidence. It was a master salesman at work — and his work seems to have been extremely effective.
benton.org/node/133454 | Verge, The
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GOOGLE IN THE CROSSHAIRS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro]
Apple is flexing its legal muscle more squarely at Google in another patent fight against Samsung. Last week's resounding victory over Samsung in a patent trial in California mostly centered on hardware developed by the South Korean electronics maker, while including some features related to Google's Android mobile software. Another Apple suit, which the company filed in February, contends that all eight of the patents it is asserting are being infringed by features related to Android. They include features found in Android versions of popular Google apps like YouTube, Google Maps and Gmail as well as Google's Quick Search Box that lets users search multiple types of data at the same time. As part of the case, Apple has sought to stop sales of the Galaxy Nexus phone, which Google developed with Samsung. In addition to sales through wireless carriers, Google sells the phone directly through an online store, taking a small cut of the sales. The suit is being characterized by some people involved in the proceedings as the "Google case" or the "Android war." And Google is paying attention.
benton.org/node/133510 | Wall Street Journal
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SAMSUNG WIN IN TOKYO
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Jonathan Soble in Tokyo, Song Jung-a]
Apple has failed to extend its US legal victory over Samsung to Japan, after a judge in Tokyo rejected a similar patent-infringement claim to that won by Apple in California. The judge ruled that the South Korean technology giant had not violated Apple patents by copying a feature of the US group’s iPhone and iPad mobile devices that allows them to synchronize music and video files with computers. The Japanese suit targeted only the synchronization feature, but the potential impact was significant. The iPhone has been the top-selling smartphone in Japan for most of the period since its introduction but Samsung’s Galaxy devices have been making inroads. The Galaxy SIII displaced the iPhone 4S at the top of the sales rankings immediately after its launch in late June. It is not clear how important Japan is for Samsung as a single market, as Samsung does not provide sales figures for the country. But analysts estimate that Asia excluding China accounts for about one-fifth of Samsung’s mobile phone shipments.
benton.org/node/133508 | Financial Times
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THE LONG VIEW
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Paul Barrett]
[Commentary] While Apple and its legal team had every reason to celebrate the court victory over Samsung, the mobile-device wars aren’t over yet -- not by a long shot. The verdict represented just one round in a bout being fought fiercely among at least a half-dozen companies, on four continents, that likely will continue for years. Samsung will not have to write a billion-dollar check anytime soon, if ever. And the effect on Samsung of a possible injunction would not be cataclysmic; the devices in question are older ones and will account for less than 1.4 percent of the Korean company’s worldwide profits next year, says Mark Newman, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein who previously worked at Samsung. The best way to view Apple’s smartphone victory is that the company now has the upper hand in a global negotiation being conducted via litigation. That’s right: a negotiation. Apple and Samsung are using the courts to help set prices for a series of eventual cross-licensing agreements covering each other’s intellectual property. Apple, which already cross-licenses some of its mobile patents with Microsoft, just saw the price of its IP go up as a result of the San Jose verdict, but it did not mortally wound Samsung.
benton.org/node/133506 | Bloomberg
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