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August 2012

Illinois judge dismisses case challenging bloggers' right to protect anonymous tipsters

An Illinois case that sought to strip technology site TechnoBuffalo of its reporters' privilege has been resolved in the site's favor, a decision that bodes well for online publications. Nearly a year ago, the publication received an anonymous tip with the specs of Motorola’s Droid Bionic, and after investigating and confirming the information with an inside source at Motorola, the story was written and published.

Amazon e-Readers, Content Management, and Logistics

U.S. Department of State solicitation (Request for Proposals) for is cancelled and the Justification and Approval (J&A) to award contract SAQMMA12D0131 on a sole-source basis is withdrawn. The Department of State intends to conduct additional market research and re-examine its requirements for this program.

Verizon/Cable Settlement with DOJ: A Closer Look

[Commentary] The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it will allow, with conditions, Verizon, Comcast, and other cable companies to cross-market each other’s products and establish a Joint Operating Entity to develop and control new technology. The DOJ's proposed settlement includes many conditions that attempt to alleviate some of the harms of this deal. Although the conditions still won't be as effective as blocking the deals in their entirety, the DOJ and Federal Communications Commission do deserve credit for trying to fix some of the harms from the deal and for rightfully asserting their authority over the transactions to begin with.

  • Joint Marketing Agreements Allowed in Part: The DOJ settlement places significant limitations on proposed joint marketing agreements. Verizon Wireless will not be allowed to market for the cable companies (or permit another company to do so) within the "FiOS Footprint." This includes any area where Verizon has built out FiOS or is legally bound to do so, where Verizon has a non-statewide franchise authorizing Verizon to build out FiOS, or where Verizon has delivered notice of an intention to build out FiOS under a statewide franchise agreement. Starting in December 2016, Verizon Wireless similarly won't be allowed to market for the cable companies within its DSL service territory outside of the FiOS footprint, nor will Verizon Wireless be able to prohibit the cable companies from selling another wireless service.
  • The Joint Operating Entity Survives, But Limited: The DOJ conditions specify that the proposed joint operating entity (JOE) can continue to exist but the companies must leave the JOE by December 2016 unless they receive written advance permission from the government. A term limit, while better than an unlimited JOE, still gives the companies the ability and incentive to share information and stifle competition from third parties.
  • Ongoing Monitoring: The DOJ settlement also requires the companies to keep records of all of their communications with each other and submit to the DOJ reports detailing how they are complying with the settlement conditions. The reports will specifically include information on sales made through the joint marketing agreements, Verizon Wireless's sales of Verizon wireline services, Verizon's FiOS and DSL buildout, and the JOE's activities. Regarding the JOE, Verizon Wireless must detail the JOE's technology and products, pending patent applications, and intellectual property agreements entered into by the JOE.

When Competition Is Cooked, Consumers Are Toast

[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice approval of the Verizon/SpectrumCo deal is inevitable. Some conditions around the edges will be imposed, as in the Comcast/NBCU merger of 2011, but they won’t grapple with the fundamental problem.

It’s as if we’ve allowed electricity transmission companies to dictate what brands of appliances can plug into the grid, who gets service, what people pay for it, what kinds of toast are permitted, and what uses of electricity are preferred. Non-affiliated information flows will be roughed up by discriminatory application of usage caps, technical speed-bumps, and many other mob-like techniques. Meanwhile, Americans are paying more than people in many other countries for services that aren’t as good, even as inequality in communications leaves more people behind every day. Fully 80% of Fortune 500 companies require online applications for jobs, but a third of Americans don’t have high-speed access at home.

Critics Slam SpectrumCo Approval

While the cable industry was patting itself on the back after receiving federal antitrust approval of its $3.9 billion wireless spectrum sale to Verizon Wireless, some public policy groups criticized the deal -- and the conditions agreed to by both parties -- as not serving consumer interests.

In a statement, Public Knowledge president and CEO Gigi Sohn said the agreement conceded that U.S. broadband competition policy has failed. At Free Press, Policy Adviser Joel Kelsey was most concerned that the deal did little to temper an emerging monopoly environment for broadband service. The Consumer Federation of America took a similar tack, with Director of Research Mark Cooper calling the approval a sign that the "the primary pillar on which the Telecommunications Act of 1996 stood -- intramodal and intermodal competition between broadband platforms -- has collapsed in a short 16 years. And for the Communications Workers of America, the union that is currently in a labor dispute with Verizon Wireless, the objection centered around jobs.

Sen Franken: DOJ should have been tougher on Verizon

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) criticized the Obama administration for not imposing tougher conditions on Verizon's $3.6 billion deal with the nation's largest cable companies.

Sen Franken argued the conditions won't do enough to protect competition for broadband Internet service. “Most consumers, and especially those in rural areas in Minnesota and elsewhere, have few or no options for high-speed broadband service, which is one of the reasons I was so concerned about this deal," said Sen Franken, who serves on the Judiciary Committee's subpanel on antitrust issues. "Without meaningful competition for broadband, the cable companies will be able to charge whatever they want—and drive consumers to purchase expensive bundles of services they don’t want or need in order to get Internet service. The Department of Justice has addressed some of the worst parts of this transaction, but I don’t think it has gone far enough." Sen Franken urged the FCC to "stand up for consumers and address the lack of competition for high-speed broadband before it votes to approve this deal.”

Justice Department Requires Changes to Verizon-Cable Company Transactions to Protect Consumers, Allows Procompetitive Spectrum Acquisitions to Go Forward

The Department of Justice announced today that it will require Verizon and four of the nation’s largest cable companies—Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Cox Communications—to make changes to a series of agreements concerning both the sale of bundled wireless and wireline services, and the formation of a technology research joint venture. The department said that, if left unaltered, the agreements would have harmed competition by diminishing the companies’ incentive to compete, resulting in higher prices and lower quality for consumers.

The announcement came after a closely coordinated investigation with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with additional assistance provided by the New York State Attorney General’s Office. The department also said that it would allow both Verizon’s proposed acquisitions of spectrum from the cable companies and T-Mobile USA’s contingent purchase of a significant portion of that spectrum from Verizon to go forward. The department said that the spectrum transactions facilitate active use of an important national resource and thereby promise substantial benefit to wireless consumers. The transactions remain subject to review by the FCC, which is expected to release a separate statement regarding the status of its review of the transactions.

The proposed settlement forbids Verizon Wireless from selling cable company products in FiOS areas and removes contractual restrictions on Verizon Wireless’s ability to sell FiOS, ensuring that Verizon’s incentives to compete aggressively against the cable companies remain unchanged. In addition, under the proposed settlement, Verizon Wireless’s ability to resell the cable companies’ services to customers in areas where Verizon sells DSL Internet service ends in December of 2016 (subject to potential renewal at the department’s sole discretion), thereby preserving Verizon’s incentives to reconsider its decision to stop building out its FiOS network and otherwise innovate in its DSL territory. Finally, the proposed settlement limits the duration of the technology joint venture and other features of the agreements, ensuring that the agreements will not dampen the companies’ incentives to compete against one another going forward.

The proposed settlement also requires the commercial agreements to be amended so that:

  • Verizon retains the ability to sell bundles of services that include DSL, Verizon Wireless and the video services of a direct broadcast satellite company (i.e., DirecTV or Dish Network);
  • After five years, the cable companies are no longer barred from selling the wireless services of Verizon Wireless’s competitors, and may partner with other wireless providers;
  • The cable companies can elect to resell Verizon Wireless services using their own brand at any time as provided for under the amended agreements; and
  • Upon dissolution of the technology joint venture, all members receive a non-exclusive license to all the joint venture’s technology, and each may then choose to sublicense to other competitors.

The settlement also forbids any form of collusion and restricts the exchange of competitively sensitive information. Verizon and the cable companies would also be required to provide regular reports to the department to ensure that the collaboration does not harm competition going forward.

FCC’s Genachowski: Commission Should Now Approve Verizon-SpectrumCo Deal

A rigorous review by the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice staffs revealed that the deal as proposed by Verizon Wireless and the cable company owners of SpectrumCo posed serious concerns, including in the wired and wireless broadband and video marketplaces. In response to the agencies’ objections, the parties have made a number of binding pro-competitive commitments and will also make fundamental changes to their agreements. Because of these substantial undertakings and in light of the Consent Decree the companies executed with the Justice Department today, I believe the Commission should now approve this transaction, and I will be circulating a draft order to my colleagues that would do so.

Specifically, Verizon Wireless has undertaken an unprecedented divestiture of spectrum to one of its competitors, T-Mobile, and has committed to accelerate the build-out of its new spectrum and enhance its roaming obligations. In addition, the companies’ commercial agreements will be modified to, among other things, preserve Verizon's incentives to build out FiOS, increase wireless competition, and ensure that the proposed IP venture is pro-consumer and that its products cannot be used in anti-competitive ways.

Approval of the substantially modified transaction will promote the public interest and benefit consumers in several ways. By advancing U.S. leadership in 4G LTE deployment, the transaction marks another step in our effort to promote the U.S. innovation economy and make state-of-the-art broadband available to more people in more places. The transaction will preserve incentives for deployment and spur innovation while guarding against anti-competitive conduct. And vitally, it will put approximately 20 megahertz of prime spectrum—spectrum that has gone unused for too long—quickly to work across the country, benefiting consumers and the marketplace.

I look forward to working with my colleagues toward a final Commission vote in the near future.

August 16, 2012 (Media: This race is a disgrace)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012

Find Headlines online at http://benton.org/headlines


ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Media: This race is a disgrace
   A most poisonous campaign
   FEC moves ahead with plan for campaign donations by text [links to web]
   Debate commission denies Univision request
   Republicans and Democrats mull positions on Internet freedom in party platforms
   Stations Coping with Political Ad Posting

NEWS FROM COURT
   Give Peace a Chance, Judge Says, Asking Apple and Samsung CEOs to Meet One Last Time
   ACLU sues FBI for tracking memos [links to web]
   MMTC Joins Former FCC Commissioners to Support Diversity in Higher Education in Fisher v. University of Texas - press release

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Verizon launches new LTE broadband service for rural US
   Dish Network Said To Plan Nationwide Satellite Broadband [links to web]
   Nearly 100,000 Families or 400,000 Low-Income Americans Are Now Online Thanks to Internet Essentials - press release [links to web]

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   Verizon-Cable Agreement Is Said To Win Antitrust Approval Today
   Spectrum-Sharing Plan Approved by FCC
   Mobile payments may be the future, but they're still unsafe [links to web]

CONTENT
   Google follows SOPA down the slippery slope of corporate censorship - analysis
   Apple bashes Amazon and proposed e-book settlement
   Cash-strapped students have access to free software [links to web]
   Apple's New Front in Battle for TV [links to web]
   Online Streaming Gives Cable Networks a Sporting Chance [links to web]
   Streaming music catches fire [links to web]

PRIVACY
   ‘Friends’ can share your Facebook profile with the government, court rules
   Consumer privacy in the mobile advertising era: challenges and best practices - research

TELEVISION/RADIO
   TV and Radio News Salaries Barely Edge Up - research [links to web]
   Radio still turning Americans on to new music [links to web]
   Los Angeles losing the core of its TV production to other states [links to web]
   Apple's New Front in Battle for TV [links to web]
   Online Streaming Gives Cable Networks a Sporting Chance [links to web]
   Streaming music catches fire [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   Verizon-Cable Agreement Is Said To Win Antitrust Approval Today
   Facebook tries to speed Instagram deal
   Liberty Media Raises Stake in Sirius XM to 48% [links to web]

TELECOM
   Qwest Quest for Forbearance Quashed - analysis

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Digital Firsts - press release

POLICYMAKERS
   Rep Stearns Concedes in Primary Upset [links to web]
   Stearns's loss puts Oversight gavel up for grabs

NEWS FROM ABROAD
   Germany Reopens Facebook Privacy Inquiry
   China’s online Olympics audience breaks records [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Show and Tell for Teachers, Inspired by Reality TV [links to web]

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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

MEDIA: THIS RACE IS A DISGRACE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Kevin Cirilli]
Even the media’s had enough. The race for the White House has grown so toxic that it’s become a top topic among reporters and analysts covering the contest — and some are even calling on President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney to call a truce. Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News and coauthor of “Bush’s Brain” said on CNN he it’s just par for the course in politics. He said that in 2000 during the GOP primary, Karl Rove directed Bush allies to suggest then-opponent Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), fathered an illegitimate black child. “This has been going on for 212 years,” Slater said. “I think the media tries to do the job, but I do think that we get caught up in the kind of exciting, interesting and largely irrelevant name-calling that is the modern American political campaign.” He noted that in 1800 Thomas Jefferson against John Adams, “Adams was accused of being a crook, Jefferson of being a coward and an atheist.”
benton.org/node/132310 | Politico
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A MOST POISONOUS CAMPAIGN
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dan Balz]
[Commentary] No one expected Campaign 2012 to be positive or uplifting. The country’s problems are too severe and the battle lines between Republicans and Democrats have been hardened by almost four years of conflict between the White House and Congress. But what is most striking about the campaign at this point is not just the negativity or the sheer volume of attack ads raining down on voters in the swing states. It is the sense that all restraints are gone, the guardrails have disappeared and there is no incentive for anyone to hold back. The other guy does it, so we’re going to do it too. Negative ads are now one of the growth industries in an otherwise weak economy. How much is being spent? Romney’s campaign briefed reporters last Friday and included the following statistics. The amount of money spent on all advertising since early April in four key states is as follows: Florida, $95 million; Ohio, $92 million, Virginia, $68 million; North Carolina, $50 million. News organizations instituted fact-checking and ad watches in reaction to earlier campaigns, when candidates were getting away with half-truths and worse, with little accountability. These have become robust and increasingly comprehensive. But they are not providing much of a check on the behavior of the campaigns.
benton.org/node/132309 | Washington Post
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PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES AND LATINOS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Dylan Byers]
The Commission on Presidential Debates is denying Univision's request to host a 'forum' with the presidential candidates that would address Latino issues. Janet Brown, the commission's executive director, said the commission will not be adding any more debates to the calendar, despite Univision's complaint that the four moderators, all of whom are white, did not represent the "more than 20 million Hispanics" who may vote in this year's election.
benton.org/node/132297 | Politico
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INTERNET FREEDOM
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Both Republicans and Democrats are considering staking out positions on Internet freedom in their policy platforms at conventions. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) recently submitted draft text to the Republican National Committee on Internet freedom that he hopes will be included in the party's platform. While the language doesn't delve into any particular set of principles, it stresses that Americans should have unfettered access to the Internet and the government should be restrained from stunting the Web's growth by tacking additional regulations onto it. Meanwhile, early drafts of the Democratic National Committee's platform included text that advocated for Internet freedom globally.
benton.org/node/132329 | Hill, The
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POLITICAL AD POSTING
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Jack Messmer]
The ultra-conservative billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David, will have something to say during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte (NC) next month. As of Aug. 13, the Koch's Super PAC Americans For Prosperity has spent $127,715 for spots on the four Charlotte stations that will air between Aug. 28 and Sept. 9, overlapping the convention that begins its four-day run on Sept. 3. The breakout: $40,200 for Raycom’s WBTV (CBS); $11,725 for Bahakel’s WCCB (Fox); $20,740 for Belo’s WCNC (NBC); and $55,050 for Cox’s WSOC (ABC). The buys are just a bit of the information that can be gleaned from TV Stations Profiles & Public Inspection Files — a corner of the FCC's massive website where affiliates of the Big Four networks in the top 50 markets have been obliged under new FCC rules to file political advertising contracts since Aug. 2. In compliance, the broadcasters are currently posting hundreds of political advertising contracts online daily in PDF form. Prior to the FCC adoption of the rules last April, the stations had to place copies only in their paper public inspection files. The only way to see them was to go to the stations. With the contracts now online, campaign finance and media watchdogs groups can remotely access and analyze the buying and selling of political time, and they are seizing the opportunity, but they are struggling with how to digest and make use of the sheer volume of raw data.
benton.org/node/132327 | TVNewsCheck
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NEWS FROM COURT

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE, APPLE AND SAMSUNG
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ina Fried]
The federal judge overseeing the Apple-Samsung patent trial asked the chief executives of both companies to meet one last time to see if some sort of settlement might be reached. “I see risk here for both sides if we go to a verdict,” said Judge Lucy Koh. She said that if the companies were just seeking to show the world they both have intellectual property positions relative to tablets and smartphones, then “message delivered.” Judge Koh also noted that if what the parties were seeking is an external valuation of their portfolios, they are also getting that from trial courts worldwide. “It’s time for peace,” she said.
benton.org/node/132307 | Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg
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MMTC AMICI CURIAE BRIEF
[SOURCE: Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC), along with a bi-partisan group composed of six former Federal Communications Commissioners and one former FCC General Counsel, filed an amici curiae brief with the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the University of Texas (UT) supporting UT’s admissions program designed to create diversity in higher education (Fisher v. University of Texas). The amici brief urges the Court to uphold UT’s admissions program, which was previously upheld in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief also asks the Court to affirm UT’s reliance on the Court’s precedent in Grutter v. Bollinger, which led to UT’s crafting of a “holistic” admissions assessment program in which race was merely a “factor of a factor of a factor” representing a modest component of UT’s admissions profile, and from which applicants of any race may benefit. Former FCC Commissioners Andrew C. Barrett, Tyrone Brown, Michael J. Copps, Reed E. Hundt, Nicholas Johnson, and Gloria Tristani, along with former FCC General Counsel Christopher Wright, partnered with MMTC on the brief, in their individual capacities. Detailing their collective experience in promoting media diversity, the amici brief argues that “[d]iversity in higher education allows not only for a robust exchange of ideas on campus; it is an essential predicate for ensuring a robust exchange of ideas in communication through mass media.”
benton.org/node/132254 | Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

VERIZON LAUNCHES RURAL LTE BROADBAND
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Mikael Ricknäs]
Verizon Wireless has launched HomeFusion Broadband, a new in-home LTE-based broadband service for rural US homes that traditionally have not had reliable access to high-speed Internet. Users of the service should get average real-world data speeds of 5M bps (bits per second) to 12M bps on the downlink and 2M bps to 5 M bps on the uplink, which should rival typical high-speed options like DSL, according to Verizon. The service comes with three different plans, which cost from US$60 per month and include 10GB of data. The two other plans include 20GB and 30GB of data and cost $90 and $120, respectively. Overage is billed at $10 for each additional gigabyte, according to the HomeFusion Broadband website. The data is first sent to and received by an antenna installed in each home, which then sends the signal to a broadband router to which up to four wired and at least 20 wireless devices in the household can connect using Wi-Fi, Verizon said. Users have to pay $200 for the equipment, but the installation is free.
benton.org/node/132259 | IDG News Service | GigaOm
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

VERIZON SPECTRUM DECISION?
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Alex Sherman, Sara Forden, Todd Shields]
The Justice Department is set to give approval to Verizon Wireless’s purchase of airwaves from Comcast and other cable companies soon in exchange for limits on agreements to sell each other’s services, four people with knowledge of the situation said. Verizon, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, has been seeking clearance from the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission for the $3.6 billion deal, which will supply the phone company with spectrum that the cable providers aren’t using. Verizon and Comcast have agreed in principle with U.S. antitrust officials to limit joint ventures as a condition for the deal’s approval, people familiar with the negotiations said. In a filing, Verizon told the FCC it will use the airwaves to serve 70 percent of the population covered by the frequencies within seven years. It also vowed to reach agreements to let other wireless companies use its airwaves in areas where it’s acquiring frequencies from the cable companies.
benton.org/node/132330 | Bloomberg
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SPECTRUM-SHARING TESTING
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
The Federal Communications Commission has given T-Mobile USA the green light to begin testing a plan to share spectrum with federal users in a swath of spectrum coveted by the wireless industry. The pilot program will test the impact of sharing spectrum in the 1755-1780 megahertz band to see how commercial use of those airwaves impacts federal agencies currently using that band. The wireless industry has been pushing the federal government to try to free up the band for exclusive use by commercial providers. However, the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration has said that moving federal users from this band would take years and cost billions. "Today, we take an important step forward in our effort to enable greater government-commercial spectrum sharing, a new tool that joins clearing and reallocation as part of an 'all-of-the-above' strategy to address our nation's spectrum challenges," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. "By granting the first authorization of testing in the 1755-1780 MHz band, the commission hopes to facilitate commercial mobile broadband services in that band, which would significantly benefit millions of U.S. wireless consumers and help drive the mobile innovation economy."
benton.org/node/132272 | National Journal | FCC Chairman Genachowski
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CONTENT

GOOGLE AND CORPORATE CENSORSHIP
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Joshua Kopstein]
[Commentary] When the citizens of the Internet rallied against SOPA earlier this year, Google was among the prominent tech companies raising the banner of free speech against Congress' flawed anti-piracy bill. But in implementing changes to its search algorithm this week which lower the ranking of sites that receive too many copyright complaints, Google has imposed its own opaque system of copyright justice that's reminiscent of the despised, Hollywood-sponsored bill it once fought so adamantly against. In a way, the new system seems to draw from one of the most dangerous aspects of SOPA: its attempt to combat piracy by allowing copyright owners to take direct action against alleged infringing sites. These "private rights of action" would have allowed rightsholders, for example a TV network or film studio, to have sites removed from search engine results, payment processors, and ad networks, leaving the accused infringers out in the cold before it was even determined whether or not the copyright claim was legitimate.
benton.org/node/132294 | Verge, The
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APPLE BASHES E-BOOK SETTLEMENT
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Laura Hazard Owen]
In a memo filed with the Southern District of New York, Apple argues that the Department of Justice’s proposed settlement with three book publishers forces Apple to tear up existing contracts. That is “fundamentally unfair, unlawful, and unprecedented,” Apple says: It’s not settling, so it’s entitled to a trial. “Apple is taking a bold stance by ignoring the Judge’s admonition to the parties not to oppose the settlement, other than submitting comments,” said attorney and RoyaltyShare CEO Bob Kohn, who is seeking permission to file an amicus brief in the case. “Apple makes a good point that the proposed settlement terminates Apple’s agency contracts without a trial and that would be an unprecedented violation of Apple’s right to due process.” Apple also says the most favored nation clauses in its contracts have not “forced any publisher to adopt agency with other retailers,” and notes that “many independent publishers” — not mentioned by name here, but they include Sourcebooks and Scholastic — have agency pricing agreements with Apple and wholesale agreements with Amazon. Kohn objects to this. If the settling publishers were to terminate their agency agreements with Amazon, he says, “that would (a) allow Amazon to resume predatory pricing (i.e., selling below its marginal cost) and (b) allow Apple, under its agency agreement with the publishers, exercise its MFN clause to match Amazon’s discounts. Since the publishers get 70 percent of what Apple charges, this could really hurt the settling publishers. I don’t think the Apple lawyers intended this, but it does seem an unfair result to the settling publishers.”
benton.org/node/132298 | paidContent.org
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PRIVACY

FACEBOOK PRIVACY
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Jeff John Roberts]
A federal judge has ruled that investigators can go through your Facebook profile if one of your friends gives them permission to do so. The decision, which is part of a New York City racketeering trial, comes as courts struggle to define privacy and civil liberties in the age of social media. In an order issued on August 10, US District Judge William Pauley III ruled that accused gangster Melvin Colon can’t rely on the Fourth Amendment to suppress Facebook evidence that led to his indictment. Colon had argued that federal investigators violated his privacy by tapping into his profile through an informant who was one of this Facebook friends. The informant’s Facebook friendship served to open an online window onto Colon’s alleged gangster life, revealing messages he posted about violent acts and threats to rival gang members. The government used this information to obtain a search warrant for the rest of Colon’s Facebook account. The Colon information is part of a larger investigation into crack-dealing and murder in the Bronx. Judge Pauley III’s ruling is significant because it is the latest in a series of cases that defines how and when police can search social media.
benton.org/node/132263 | GigaOm
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CONSUMER PRIVACY IN THE MOBILE ADVERTISING ERA
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Colin Gibbs]
Smartphones can enable an amazing level of connectivity, but they can also allow activity to be monitored and used in controversial ways. But for mobile marketing to realize its full potential, consumers may need to sacrifice their privacy to one degree or another. This report is intended for every link in the mobile-marketing chain, from app and web developers to advertisers to providers of mobile operating systems. It examines the innate trade-offs between consumer privacy and successful business models that leverage potentially sensitive user information, and it details existing and pending regulations that will shape the growth of mobile advertising and marketing. Finally, the report offers suggestions and best practices that will help every player in the value chain tap the market.
benton.org/node/132260 | GigaOm
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OWNERSHIP

FACEBOOK-INSTAGRAM
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: David Gelles, April Dembosky]
Facebook is seeking to expedite the payout of its Instagram acquisition before the deal closes by using an obscure California law to issue stock without registering it with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The tactic is intended to save the company time and money as it issues shares once valued at $700 million to Instagram’s dozen employees and early investors in the photo-sharing application. Those shares are now worth $487 million, with Facebook’s stock price off 44 percent since it began trading in May. By going through the state of California rather than the federal government, Facebook may also insulate the deal from scrutiny around Facebook’s flawed public offering.
benton.org/node/132319 | Financial Times
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TELECOM

QWEST FORBEARANCE
[SOURCE: CommLawBlog, AUTHOR: Peter Tannenwald]
[Commentary] The Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s denial of a request by Qwest Corporation for forbearance from the application of certain dominant common carrier obligations for its local exchange operations in the Phoenix market. Qwest is the former U.S. West Bell Operating Company, later acquired by and now doing business as CenturyLink. Its request, which it framed to fit within analytical requirements the FCC had previously used, fell short when the FCC shifted the regulatory goalposts for such matters. Two general principles are at work here. First, thanks to the 1996 Telecom Act, incumbent local exchange telephone carriers (ILECs) that are considered “dominant” in their market must, in effect, “share” their networks with competitors by providing those competitors with access to their networks, and on top of that providing access existing network elements on an unbundled basis (i.e., you don’t have to buy packages that include services or facilities you don’t want) at “just” and “reasonable” rates. For ILECs, that’s the bad news. The good news is that the Act also requires the FCC to forbear from imposing those obligations on any particular ILEC if those obligations are: (a) not necessary to ensure just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory practices; (b) not necessary for the protection of consumers; and (c) consistent with the public interest. If an ILEC wants forbearance, it files a petition asking for it; that petition is “deemed granted” unless the FCC denies it within a year. The FCC’s approach to analyzing the three statutory factors has shifted repeatedly since the Commission’s earliest efforts to give effect to the 1996 Act.
benton.org/node/132256 | CommLawBlog
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

DIGITAL FIRSTS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: David Robbins]
Three years ago this week, the Federal Communications Commission joined the Twitterverse with our handle @FCC. A few hours after sending our first Tweet, we used Twitter to announce our entry into the blogosphere: “FCC launches first-ever blog, called ’Blogband,’ to chronicle events of the National Broadband Plan. Check it out: broadband.gov/blog.” With the goal of transparency, openness and citizen engagement, this began the FCC’s efforts to connect with our constituencies through social media to keep them informed about FCC events, issues we’re working on and our ongoing efforts to provide access to government data and digital content. Three years and over 2,000 Tweets later, the FCC reaches nearly half-a-million followers on Twitter @FCC, which puts us in the top five among all government entities, behind @WhiteHouse, @NASA, @CDC and @Smithsonian.
benton.org/node/132318 | Federal Communications Commission
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POLICYMAKERS

HOUSE OVERSIGHT SUBCOMMITTEE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) suffered a surprising defeat in the Florida GOP primary, putting a coveted chairmanship on the House Commerce Committee’s Oversight subcommittee up for grabs. Rep Stearns has been active on tech and telecom issues, though he's grabbed more headlines for leading the Oversight panel's probes into Solyndra and Planned Parenthood. The congressman has been a staunch opponent of new Internet regulations and one of the House’s fiercest critics of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He strongly opposed the FCC’s proposed net-neutrality rules and criticized the agency's handling of LightSquared's quest to build a high-speed wireless network, comparing the startup to bankrupt solar energy firm Solyndra. Outside the telecom realm, the 12-term Republican has been vocal on core tech issues such as online privacy. This spring, he held a series of hearings on how to defend the country’s critical infrastructure networks against the growing threat of cyberattack.
benton.org/node/132271 | Hill, The
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NEWS FROM ABROAD

GERMANY REOPENS FACEBOOK INQUIRY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O’Brien]
Data protection officials in Germany reopened an investigation into Facebook’s facial recognition technology, saying that the social networking giant was illegally compiling a huge database of members’ photos without their consent. The data protection commissioner in Hamburg, Johannes Caspar, had suspended the inquiry in June, but said he reopened it after attempts to persuade Facebook to change its policies had failed. The Hamburg regulator is demanding that Facebook destroy its photographic database of faces collected in Germany and revise its Web site to obtain the explicit consent of members before it creates a digital file based on the biometric data of their faces. In their meetings, Facebook representatives acknowledged that the company was compiling biometric data on users, Mr. Caspar said, but have maintained that the practice is legal in Ireland, where Facebook’s European operation is incorporated.
benton.org/node/132273 | New York Times
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Verizon-Cable Agreement Is Said To Win Antitrust Approval Today

The Justice Department is set to give approval to Verizon Wireless’s purchase of airwaves from Comcast and other cable companies soon in exchange for limits on agreements to sell each other’s services, four people with knowledge of the situation said. Verizon, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, has been seeking clearance from the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission for the $3.6 billion deal, which will supply the phone company with spectrum that the cable providers aren’t using. Verizon and Comcast have agreed in principle with U.S. antitrust officials to limit joint ventures as a condition for the deal’s approval, people familiar with the negotiations said. In a filing, Verizon told the FCC it will use the airwaves to serve 70 percent of the population covered by the frequencies within seven years. It also vowed to reach agreements to let other wireless companies use its airwaves in areas where it’s acquiring frequencies from the cable companies.

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