August 2012

August 28, 2012 (Apple wins $1 billion victory over Samsung)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   FCC eyes USF fee on Internet service
   ‘Give Us a Gig’ Helps Narrow Digital Divide in Gigabit City
   Active in Cloud, Amazon Reshapes Computing [links to web]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in the Verizon-Cable Pact - op-ed [links to web]
   Verizon-SpectrumCo: How Do Ya Like Me Now? - analysis [links to web]
   United States of Connectedness: What works for Internet of Things - analysis
   FAA to study allowing more electronic device use during flight [links to web]
   Making "Dumb" Phones Smarter and Faster [links to web]

CONTENT
   The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy
   New York Times to sell About to IAC [links to web]
   Pandora and Spotify Rake in the Money and Then Send It Off in Royalties [links to web]
   Pasadena publisher launches a system for outsourcing local news [links to web]
   Newspapers Fighting Deal on Postage for Ad Fliers [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Comcast stalls FCC order to change Tennis Channel number [links to web]
   FCC Denies Stay of Viewability/Dual Carriage Order [links to web]
   Television is the ruling body of college sports [links to web]
   ESPN Journalistic Standards: The Emperor No Longer Wears Clothes - analysis [links to web]
   TV ad campaigns fail to reach audiences [links to web]
   Viacom Loads More Ads on Channels [links to web]
   Appeals Court Upholds Injunction Against ivi [links to web]
   NBC Searches for ‘New Normal’ Home in Salt Lake City [links to web]

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Three-Quarters of Newspapers’ Presidential Coverage is Written by Men - press release [links to web]
   News Outlets Stay Alert but in Place
   Convention Postponed, but the Show Must Go On
   RNC 2012: 'America's living room' [links to web]
   Is Twitter good or bad for political journalism? - analysis [links to web]

TELECOM
US phone companies are losing their voice [links to web]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Twitter appeals order to reveal protester's information [links to web]
Cities' digital entryways are getting a makeover [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:

   US general says his forces carried out cyberattacks on opponents in Afghanistan
   German privacy advocates give Facebook an ultimatum on app center
   How the internet and Silicon Valley are changing China's office politics [links to web]
   Apple's Top Supplier Raises Salary, Cuts Probation for Workers
   India Plans to Start Spectrum Auction on Nov. 12 [links to web]
   U.S. Broadcast Board Of Governors To Syria: Release Journalists [links to web]

back to top

APPLE-SAMSUNG VERDICT

APPLE-SAMSUNG RULING
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Howard Mintz]
In a verdict that would have warmed the heart of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, a federal jury handed Apple a resounding legal victory in its bitter patent war with Samsung, ordering the South Korean tech giant to pay more than $1 billion in damages for "willfully" copying the iPhone and iPad. Legal experts say the jury's finding of willful infringement enables Apple to seek to triple the billion-dollar damage award, already believed to be an unprecedented judgment in a patent trial. The verdict also sends a threatening message to Samsung and other Apple competitors in the mobile-phone and tablet industry that use Google's Android operating system, potentially making it harder for them to compete with Apple in the multibillion-dollar industry. Ticking off one by one the findings in a 20-page verdict, the jury said that a wide range of Samsung smartphones and its Galaxy tablet trampled on Apple's patent rights. The jury in particular found Samsung's Fascinate, Epic 4G and Galaxy S II smartphones were rogue products that warranted more than $100 million each in damages for copying the iPhone, although the panel spared Samsung much punishment for infringing the iPad. At the same time, the jury rejected Samsung's counterclaims that Apple infringed some of its wireless technology patents. Legal experts were quick to say Apple got just about everything it could want from the much-anticipated verdict.
benton.org/node/133144 | San Jose Mercury News | San Francisco Chronicle | New York Times | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top

VERDICT ALTERS INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen, Lisa Alcalay Klug]
The federal court jury’s decision in a smartphone patent lawsuit between Apple and Samsung is expected to alter the dynamics of the highly competitive mobile phone industry. For Samsung, which lost on almost every count in the closely watched trial and was ordered to pay more than $1 billion in damages, the implications are more obvious. It will have to be cautious in how it designs products to avoid being accused of imitating Apple. Other makers may become more cautious, too. Google, which makes the Android software that runs at the core of Samsung phones, will clearly feel an impact through its hardware-making partner. Microsoft, however, which is attempting to enter the market with new software, will feel less of an effect, industry experts said. Things could get tougher for Google or any phone maker using its Android software. Android phones are the most common smartphones on the market today. Samsung is the world’s largest maker of smartphones and it has been quickly gaining market share. Collectively, the various Android phones from Samsung and other makers easily outsell Apple’s iPhones. While Google is not involved in this case, Apple was clearly going after Android all along, said Robert P. Merges, professor of law and technology at University of California Berkeley School of Law.
benton.org/node/133139 | New York Times | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top

APPLE TAX
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Spencer Ante]
Get ready for the Apple tax, at least in the short term. Experts say consumers should expect smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices that license various Apple design and software innovations to be more expensive to produce. "There may be a big Apple tax," said IDC analyst Al Hilwa. "Phones will be more expensive." The reason is that rival device makers will likely have to pay to license the various Apple technologies the company sought to protect in court. Some of those patents cover features in smartphones that have become widely adopted by rival device makers, such as the look of on-screen icons, the detection of finger gestures on a touch screen, and the enlargement of documents by tapping a screen. During the trial, Apple executives testified that the company was willing to license some of its patents to Samsung. In October 2010, Apple offered to license its portfolio of patents to Samsung provided the Korean company was willing to pay about $30 per smartphone and $40 per tablet.
benton.org/node/133138 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

POWER SHIFT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro, Don Clark]
Apple’s sweeping court victory over Samsung cements its dominance of the wireless industry and could force carriers, and even Google to re-evaluate their product plans and strategies. Interviews with jurors and legal experts reveal that the verdict in the patent dispute did much more than order the South Korean company to pay $1.05 billion to its Silicon Valley rival. The nine jurors here also sent a signal that companies need to be much more careful in incorporating basic design elements in their electronic devices, particularly those affecting the way gadgets look and feel. The verdict, which comes just weeks before Apple is expected to unveil its next iPhone, could complicate matters for wireless carriers already contending with Apple's market power. Apple has reaped more than $156 billion in iPhone-related revenue since 2007 and is now the world's most valuable company. Patent lawyers predict the jury's decision will likely ratchet up an already heavy flow of patent suits in the tech sector, and could open new ground for litigation. More courtroom warfare could raise costs to makers of smartphones and tablets and reduce the number of gadgets on the market—increasing prices to consumers, some lawyers and market watchers say. More companies are likely to emulate Apple's approach of using the court system to defend the shape and style of their products, said Alan Fisch, an intellectual-property lawyer at Kaye Scholer LLP who isn't involved in the case.
benton.org/node/133136 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

LOSS FOR CONSUMERS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Lazarus]
[Commentary] The more-than-$1-billion award in Apple's patent case against Samsung is a big win for the iMaker of the iPhone and iPad. But it may not be in the best interest of consumers. At least not in the short haul. If Apple prevails in the appeals process, it will mean the company has a right to exclusive use of its innovative technology. And that's only fair. But for consumers, it would mean fewer copycat devices hitting the market and less price competition. And that would almost inevitably mean Apple -- or any other innovator -- would be able to charge whatever it thinks it can get away with. Look at it like this: Say Louis Vuitton comes out with a new bag. It costs a lot. Other designers come out with knockoffs. They cost less. Louis Vuitton, in turn, cuts prices for its original bag. Tough knocks for Louis Vuitton, perhaps, but a win for consumers who were attracted to the bag. Now they have choices, and at a variety of price points. Over the long haul, strict patent enforcement can promote innovation, which in turn can result in cool new products coming to market. But as someone who hasn't been willing to plunk down big bucks on either an iPhone or an iPad, I've been grateful for the me-too devices that have come out from other makers.
benton.org/node/133131 | Los Angeles Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

NEW AGE FOR SMARTPHONES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Craig Timberg, Hayley Tsukayama]
If the swipe is the essential gesture of the smartphone revolution, the pinch is a close second. Many of the coolest things that can be done on today’s mobile devices — from finding an out-of-the-way bar to determining whether a thunderstorm is going to ruin your party — are made easier by placing fingers on the screen and sliding them. The $1 billion court ruling for Apple, which upheld patents for what manufacturers call “pinch to zoom,” among other popular features, has clouded the future of the gesture for anyone inclined to buy mobile devices from other companies. The ruling has sparked searches for possible alternatives to the pinch — some have suggested finger taps, circles, wiggles — while also highlighting questions about whether a company should be able to patent how humans interact with their machines once those interactions become standardized. “I don’t know what you do about ‘pinch and zoom,’ ” said Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor critical of the ruling. “That’s the cost of this decision. All the phones have to use less-efficient tools.” Several legal steps remain.
benton.org/node/133168 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top

MESSAGE FOR GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Rich Karlgaard]
[Commentary] One, how badly has Apple been hurt by copycats if it has become the richest company on earth? Do we want a patent system in which the strongest sue everyone else? Is this good for innovation? Two, Apple lost the jury trial on most of its hardware claims, such as a ridiculous patent on curved glass for phone surface design. Apple won mostly on software, such as "pinch and stretch," a nifty design trick Apple introduced in 2007 with its first iPhone. So why did Apple sue Samsung, the Galaxy hardware manufacturer, and not Google, maker of the phone's Android software? Politics and public relations, mainly. Apple knows that suing a foreign giant will go down a lot better than suing a Silicon Valley neighbor. Apple enjoys huge favor right now among customers, politicians and the public. Suing Google would divide Apple's support and tarnish the company's image. So Apple sued a foreign company to send a message to Google. This techno-Shakespearian story is entertaining but is bad for the phone-buying public. (Tablet patents were also part of the Apple-Samsung court case, but smartphones were at the heart of the lawsuit.) As Samsung contemplates filing an appeal, it appears that smartphone-makers may begin redesigning their products to avoid crossing swords with Apple.
[Karlgaard is the publisher of Forbes]
benton.org/node/133126 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOOGLE PATENT
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Susan Decker]
Apple didn’t infringe two patents owned by Google’s Motorola Mobility unit for wireless technologies used throughout the electronics industry, a U.S. trade agency said in a decision that reduces the likelihood of an import ban on the iPhone. The U.S. International Trade Commission didn’t completely resolve the companies’ dispute, ordering a trade judge to reconsider Motorola Mobility’s claim that Apple violated another patent. The judge had previously found no violation of that patent, which applies to a sensor used to determine the proximity of a person’s head to the phone so it doesn’t accidentally hang up. The commission could have stopped shipments of the iPhone and iPad at the border had it upheld Judge Thomas Pender’s earlier finding that Apple infringed a patent for 3G technology. That determination had prompted criticism that the agency shouldn’t ban imports of products that infringe patents related to technological standards used by an entire industry. The sensor patent that’s still in dispute is for a feature that isn’t related to industry-wide specifications and, thus, could be easier to work around.
benton.org/node/133120 | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CASE FAR FROM OVER
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: David Goldman]
A jury awarded Apple most of what it wanted from Samsung in its historic patent battle, but the war is hardly over. Both Samsung and Apple want at least some of the jury's verdict overturned, and a hearing will be held on Sept. 20 to review all the post-trial gripes, quibbles and motions. Samsung's lawyers will likely try a simple argument: no reasonable jury would have reached such a decision. Such a motion is standard procedure in these kinds of cases and they are almost always dismissed. But some legal experts say Samsung might have a shot: U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh issued 109 pages of instructions to the jury, complete with 84 separate directives on how to fill out a 20-page verdict form. But the jury returned a verdict after just three days of deliberation. Plus, it's possible that some of the rulings were issued incorrectly. For instance, the jury initially awarded compensation to Apple for two Samsung smartphones that they said did not violate Apple's patents. That was quickly corrected in an amended verdict.
benton.org/node/133119 | CNNMoney
Recommend this Headline
back to top

BAN SOUGHT
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Apple Inc. gave U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh a list of eight Samsung products it wants pulled from shelves and banned from the U.S. market. Judge Koh asked for the list after a jury slammed Samsung with a $1.05 billion verdict, finding that the South Korean technology giant had “willfully” copied Apple’s iPhone and iPad in creating and marketing the products. The products Apple wants banished from the United States are all smartphones: Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 AT&T, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 T-Mobile, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail. The judge has scheduled a Sept. 20 hearing to discuss Apple’s demands for the sales bans.
benton.org/node/133116 | Associated Press
Recommend this Headline
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

FCC EYES USF FEE ON INTERNET SERVICE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing a proposal to tax broadband Internet service. The move would funnel money to the Connect America Fund, a subsidy the agency created last year to expand Internet access. Last year, the FCC overhauled a $4.5 billion portion of the Universal Service Fund and converted it into a broadband Internet subsidy, called the Connect America Fund. The new fund aims to subsidize the construction of high-speed Internet networks to the estimated 19 million Americans who currently lack access. FCC has long argued that Universal Service is a fee that the providers choose to pass on to consumers and not a tax.
benton.org/node/133112 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GIVE US A GIG
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Noelle Knell]
What happens in the Kansas City neighborhoods that don’t meet Google Fiber’s preregistration targets? Aaron Deacon, president of the Social Media Club of Kansas City, points out that the soft commitment of the $10 registration is an easy threshold for many residents to meet. But for some in disadvantaged areas, Internet service, and therefore preregistration, isn’t a priority. Enter Give Us a Gig, a community-driven initiative to maximize the impact this fiber build-out could have in and around Kansas City. Stemming from earlier efforts — including a broad community brainstorming session in 2011 — Deacon describes Give Us a Gig as a broad-base effort consisting of education, engagement and advocacy components. Door-to-door outreach, neighborhood organizing and community events are making headway in these disadvantaged neighborhoods, driving up adoption. According to Deacon, many residents are compelled to preregister when they learn that reaching neighborhood registration goals means community facilities will benefit as well. Schools, libraries and government buildings will be hooked up to Google fiber if residential interest is high enough. Google’s television service helps convince the reluctant as well, who despite tight budgets are still shelling out money for monthly cable service.
benton.org/node/133099 | Government Technology
Recommend this Headline
back to top

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

WHAT WORKS FOR INTERNET OF THINGS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
Today you can buy an alarm clock, a pill bottle and even a scale that connects to the web. The question is, should you? There are three things any connected device should offer in order for its connectivity to justify the (generally) higher price for that item:
Ecosystem: Is the connected device a platform or part of a platform you are currently using?
Convenience: How much value the connected device offers ties into its ecosystem, but is also its own issue because the connectivity needs to allow you to do things you couldn’t previous do without connectivity. Adding connectivity to devices should make them smart but also make them easier to use.
Data: The biggest value connected data-gathering devices can offer is the ability to grab far more data than a human could and deliver this data in real-time. If a device has the intelligence to act on that data, then the connectivity is even more worth the expense.
benton.org/node/133109 | GigaOm
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CONTENT

BOOK REVIEWS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Streitfeld]
Reviews by ordinary people have become an essential mechanism for selling almost anything online; they are used for resorts, dermatologists, neighborhood restaurants, high-fashion boutiques, churches, parks, astrologers and healers — not to mention products like garbage pails, tweezers, spa slippers and cases for tablet computers. In many situations, these reviews are supplanting the marketing department, the press agent, advertisements, word of mouth and the professional critique. But not just any kind of review will do. They have to be somewhere between enthusiastic and ecstatic. “The wheels of online commerce run on positive reviews,” said Bing Liu, a data-mining expert at the University of Illinois, Chicago, whose 2008 research showed that 60 percent of the millions of product reviews on Amazon are five stars and an additional 20 percent are four stars. “But almost no one wants to write five-star reviews, so many of them have to be created.” Liu estimates that about one-third of all consumer reviews on the Internet are fake. Yet it is all but impossible to tell when reviews were written by the marketers or retailers (or by the authors themselves under pseudonyms), by customers (who might get a deal from a merchant for giving a good score) or by a hired third-party service.
benton.org/node/133081 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

CONVENTION VS STORM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeremy Peters]
As a huge storm churned toward New Orleans, the country’s major television news divisions found themselves torn between covering two rapidly unfolding stories almost 700 miles apart. In most cases, they were opting not to turn their anchors into storm chasers. Newscasts from the Republican National Convention here went ahead mostly as planned on August 27, with some minor aesthetic adjustments and scheduling disruptions to account for the Republicans canceling most of the day’s program.
benton.org/node/133177 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CONVENTION COVERAGE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Alessandra Stanley]
Athletes can forfeit a basketball game or a tennis match, but there is no rain day for a political convention. Especially when a hurricane looms, and events are delayed, the news media doesn’t stand down; it keeps smacking the ball onto an empty court. Viewers who thought the 2012 Republican convention was postponed until August 28 were misinformed: it opened on Aug 27 as scheduled, only without state delegates, speakers or party leaders. Instead, in skyboxes overlooking empty seats, hordes of anchors, reporters and commentators discussed politics and the weather, two topics that, in this case, came intertwined.
benton.org/node/133176 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:

CYBERWARFARE IN AFGHANISTAN
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
The U.S. military has been launching cyberattacks against its opponents in Afghanistan, a senior officer says, making an unusually explicit acknowledgment of the oft-hidden world of electronic warfare. Marine Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills’ comments came at a conference in Baltimore during which he explained how U.S. commanders considered cyber weapons an important part of their arsenal. “I can tell you that as a commander in Afghanistan in the year 2010, I was able to use my cyber operations against my adversary with great impact,” Gen Mills said. “I was able to get inside his nets, infect his command-and-control, and in fact defend myself against his almost constant incursions to get inside my wire, to affect my operations.” Gen Mills, now a deputy commandant with the Marine Corps, was in charge of international forces in southwestern Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011, according to his official biography. He didn’t go into any further detail as to the nature or scope of his forces’ attacks, but experts said that such a public admission that they were being carried out was itself striking.
benton.org/node/133070 | Associated Press
Recommend this Headline
back to top

FACEBOOK, PRIVACY AND GERMANY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR:]
Germany's biggest consumer lobby group believes Facebook is violating privacy laws with its new app center and has set a deadline for the social network operator to fix it, or potentially face legal action. The German federation of consumer organizations said on Monday the social network was giving away customer data via its new app center without notifying users. It will consider legal action against Menlo Park-based Facebook if the site fails to fix the problem by Sept. 4, a spokeswoman said.
benton.org/node/133068 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top

APPLE'S TOP SUPPLIER RAISES SALARY, CUTS PROBATION FOR WORKERS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Lorraine Luk]
Apple's major supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. said it has raised basic salary by 16% for its production line workers in Zhengzhou, Henan province of China, as it has difficulty recruiting labor in the area. Hon Hai, known by its trade name Foxconn, also said it has reduced the probation period for all entry-level employees to three months from six months in China as part of its continued effort to improve working conditions. The company, which assembles iPads and iPhones, has more than one million employees in China. Hon Hai, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics products, has been facing pressure to improve wages and working conditions for employees following several suicides at the company's facility in Shenzen in 2010 and an explosion at a plant in Chengdu in 2011 that killed four workers. Following the incidents, Hon Hai increased salaries and outfitted worker dormitories with safety nets.
benton.org/node/133065 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

Benton

Search

Benton

Daily Digest

Analysis

August 2012

August 28, 2012 (Apple wins $1 billion victory over Samsung)

News Outlets Stay Alert but in Place

Convention Postponed, but the Show Must Go On

Active in Cloud, Amazon Reshapes Computing

Newspapers Fighting Deal on Postage for Ad Fliers

NBC Searches for ‘New Normal’ Home in Salt Lake City

U.S. Broadcast Board Of Governors To Syria: Release Journalists

Apple patent-case win could point to new digital age for smartphones