January 2013

AGENDA

FCC AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, January 31, 2013. Here’s the agenda; the FCC will consider:
A Report and Order to revise and streamline its rules to modernize the Experimental Radio Service by creating a more flexible environment to accelerate innovation and promote the introduction of new products, including medical devices, to the marketplace.
The FCC will hear a presentation on the agency’s ongoing work to expand broadband access and spectrum availability for health care uses.
benton.org/node/144064 | Federal Communications Commission
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

HOW TO GIVE THE US ULTRAFAST INTERNET
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, made an important speech last week calling for at least one “gigabit city” in all 50 states by 2015. For the U.S. to maintain its leadership in innovation, he said, a critical mass of communities must have networks capable of ultrahigh Internet-access speeds. His point is welcome. The question is whether fair rules are in place that will allow the improvements he seeks. Fiber-optic connections would allow for equally fast uploads and downloads, and they are almost infinitely upgradeable. This is why some cities have moved to install competitive fiber networks on their own. In many cases, however, they have been impeded by state laws that foreclose competition. In 2011, after years of lobbying by large cable and telephone companies, the North Carolina legislature passed a law making it almost impossible for cities to operate high-speed Internet- access networks.
benton.org/node/144063 | Bloomberg
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COMPARING INTERNET TO PORTS, RAIL AND ELECTRICITY
[SOURCE: Quartz, AUTHOR: Christopher Mims]
In the 21st century, a small business in Kansas City, Missouri, has at least one very important thing in common with a small business in Seoul, Korea: Both have access to ultra high-speed internet—Kansas City via Google Fiber and Seoul on account of its government championing the rollout of fiber optic internet for over a decade. That’s one way to look at Akamai’s quarterly “state of the internet” report, in which the content serving company samples requests to its own servers to reveal internet connectivity speeds all over the world. As Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, emphasized to me the last time we spoke, the one reason a country as small as Sweden has a disproportionate share of successful internet startups is that Swedish teenagers grow up taking gigabit internet connections for granted. And it’s not just traditional web startups and IT giants that need fast internet connectivity. Arguably, as businesses move more functions to the cloud and mobile becomes increasingly important, everyone needs fast internet connectivity. Whether you’re a manufacturer who has to conduct remote meetings with suppliers in distant countries or a sales department that requires its cloud-based customer relations management software to be fast and responsive, fast broadband internet is now a core infrastructure requirement not unlike reliable transportation and energy.
benton.org/node/144029 | Quartz
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FCC DENIES MOTION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has dismissed a request by wireless Internet service providers that it rescind its notice seeking comment on a list of census blocks in price cap territories that are unserved by fixed broadband, a list based on the National Broadband Map. The FCC said that the request from the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) was not "ripe" for a decision because the notice was not a final action, but instead a request for info that could inform that final action, which is the dispensation of more broadband subsidy money as the FCC migrates traditional phone subsidies to broadband. Cable operators want the opportunity to weigh in and correct what they see as inaccuracies in the map that show served areas to be unserved. Areas identified as unserved will be eligible for Universal Service Fund subsidies for competing broadband providers, including wireless, which cable ops don't want to be used to overbuild their existing wired service.
benton.org/node/144025 | Broadcasting&Cable
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TECHNOLOGY POLICY
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Darrell West]
[Commentary] The industrial-based economy has given way to a post-industrial order, making the Internet a crucial platform for commerce and communications. It is vital, especially with our economy experiencing weak growth, that leaders pursue pro-innovation policies that improve productivity and entrepreneurship. Along these lines, Brookings released last week a paper by myself and my Brookings colleagues Allan Friedman and Walter Valdivia that outlined a robust domestic tech policy agenda for 2013 and beyond, which offered ideas for reforming our economy, improving public sector performance, and training people for 21st century jobs.
benton.org/node/144014 | Brookings | read the paper
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VIOLENCE AND MEDIA

BIDENS CALL FOR RESEARCH
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Vice President Joe Biden called for additional studies to be conducted on violent video games and possible links to real-life violence during a Google Plus Hangout. VP Biden said the Administration wants to collect the facts on violent video games and their effect on children, then let those findings determine what the government's path forward should be. He criticized some interest groups for discouraging further studies on the causes of gun violence. VP Biden noted that there's a lack of studies on video games and possible links to violence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is prohibited from conducting research on gun violence because of a congressional ban that bars it from using funds on studies that may advocate or promote gun control. While there's currently "no hard data" that links violent video games to antisocial behavior in kids, VP Biden said further research should be conducted on the issue. During the video chat, he cited a study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics that found that some children who played multiple hours of video games a day were more prone to aggressive behavior, but he noted that it did not look into whether video games led to violence. "There is no hard data as to whether or not these excessively violent video games in fact cause people to engage in behavior that is antisocial, including using guns," he said. "Let these people go out and look at the pathology that's behind this, if there is a pathology related to gun violence," VP Biden said. "We shouldn't be afraid of the facts."
benton.org/node/144062 | Hill, The | B&C
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VIOLENT VIDEO GAME RESEARCH
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso, Jennifer Martinez]
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced legislation that would require the National Academy of Sciences to study the impact of violent video games and other content on children. He introduced the same bill at the end of the last Congress, but there wasn't enough time for a floor vote. This time, his bill has bipartisan support from Sens. Mike Johanns (R-NE), Dean Heller (R-NE), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Sen Rockefeller said the bill would lay the groundwork for Congress to consider new regulations of violent entertainment content.
benton.org/node/144061 | Hill, The
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

BROADCASTERS AND WIRELESS AGREEMENT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Verizon, AT&T, the National Association of Broadcasters and others sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission making some key recommendations and offering a new band plan idea for reorganizing the broadcast/broadband band after the FCC's reverse incentive auctions to reclaim broadcast spectrum for wireless. The band plan is only one part of the incentive auction process, but an important one for broadcasters who will have to share their former spectrum digs with wireless. According to a copy of the letter, broadcasters and wireless companies have come to consensus on a "core set of band plan principles" that they want the FCC to adopt. Those include:
Adopt a contiguous "down from TV 51" approach with uplink at the top;
Maximize the amount of paired spectrum above TV 37 (rely on supplemental downlink configurations where spectrum is cleared but pairing options are not viable);
Rely upon 5 MHz spectrum blocks as building blocks for the band plan;
Incorporate a "duplex gap" or spacing between uplink (mobile transmit) and downlink (base transmit) of a minimum of 10 MHz, but no larger than technically necessary;
Avoid broadcast television stations in the duplex gap;
Preclude any operations in the duplex gap or guard bands that would result in harmful interference to adjacent licensed services;
Provide guard bands that are, consistent with the statute, "no larger than is technically reasonable" to guard against harmful interference between adjacent operations;
Provide a guard band between a high power broadcaster and mobile downlink that is sufficient to protect the wireless service from interference, which will likely be larger than the 6 MHz proposed by the FCC;
Permit existing operations in TV 37 to remain;
Facilitate international harmonization, prioritizing harmonization across North America and move forward expeditiously to coordinate with Canada and Mexico for new broadcast assignments."
benton.org/node/144060 | Broadcasting&Cable
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COMMUNITY AND INFORMATION

INFORMATION MUST FLOW FREELY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Don Tapscott]
[Commentary] An informed society is one where citizens have the resources, education and skills to access and participate in the free flow of reliable and pertinent information. They do this through a diverse range of platforms and media organizations that empower them to make considered decisions about their economic, social and political lives. And we take it as a given that in a knowledge economy and an age of networked intelligence, better-informed societies are more successful. But this is a time of information turmoil. Many traditional media organizations are struggling. Scores of newspapers have gone out of business in the United States alone in the last decade. Magazines, radio, non-fiction book publishing and even television are all in various stages of upheaval. The media of the industrial age is changing. Allowed to flourish, new media technologies offer the promise for societies to be better informed, more open and more successful than their industrial age counterparts. A World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Informed Societies will be encouraging governments to adopt a code of conduct to ensure their societies are informed. This code includes:
Access: Government should take all steps possible to ensure that their citizens have access to both old and new media. Governments should enact policies that protect media freedom and the openness of the Internet.
Education: Education is a right and requirement for every citizen. In a world of growing resources and tools it is a disgrace that the quality of education is declining in many parts of the world.
Media literacy: Governments should ensure that citizens have access to complete, reliable and pertinent information, and know how to use it. Governments should not censor, but instead create an environment in which ideas can be exchanged freely both on and off the Internet.
Transparency: Governments should embrace transparency and freedom of information. This may include legislation, regulation, education and partnering with public and private sector organizations to encourage openness. Media organizations should act in a manner that is responsible, transparent and accountable.
Privacy: It is inevitable that the data available about each of us will continue to grow. Governments and business should understand that the need for security and profit must be tempered by the need for freedom, rooted in individual privacy. Governments should help educate citizens about the right to privacy.
benton.org/node/144028 | Huffington Post, The | World Economic Forum
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CONTENT

KINDLE FIRE CONTENT
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Tofel]
How much in content sales does it take for Amazon to earn a 20 percent profit margin on its Kindle Fire hardware? About $10 per month, which generates $3 once Amazon takes its 30 percent cut. Senior analyst at ABI Research, Aapo Markkanen, estimated by doing the math last week, saying this incremental $3 revenue would be required over the life of the hardware to maintain such a profit margin. This turns the Kindle Fire into a potentially lucrative product for Amazon, even though most believe it sells the Kindle Fire products near cost, if not below it. Even better: The combination of decreasing hardware prices over time and a rise in content sales — think apps, movies, books, music — will help the product line even more.
benton.org/node/144023 | GigaOm
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OWNERSHIP

IGNORING DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: New America Media, AUTHOR: Joseph Torres]
[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to allow greater media consolidation in local markets could wipe out many of the remaining TV station owners of color left in the country. According to the latest data, people of color own just over 3 percent of all full-power TV stations — just 43 of the nation’s 1,348 stations — despite making up close to 40 percent of the U.S. population. African Americans own just five stations. That’s only 0.4 percent of all commercial TV stations. And Latinos own 1.6 percent of all TV stations, despite making up close to 17 percent of the U.S. population. But the FCC chairman doesn’t plan to deal with this media inequality. Instead, he wants to adopt rules that will make things worse. His refusal to deal with diversity is all the more inexplicable given that just a couple of months ago voters of color played a primary role in President Obama’s re-election — an election that allowed Chairman Genachowski to keep his job. Though perhaps the chairman is more concerned about his next job, as numerous press reports indicate Genachowski plans to leave the FCC soon.
[Torres is the senior external affairs director at Free Press]
benton.org/node/144017 | New America Media
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LABOR
Bipartisan group of senators to introduce high-skilled immigration bill [links to web]
Apple Names Product Assemblers in Boost to Supplier Transparency

APPLE SUPPLIERS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Tim Culpan]
Apple named the final assemblers of each of its products as the world’s most valuable company boosts the transparency of its global supply chain. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, was identified as making iPads, iPhones, iPods, Macs and accessories at seven locations globally, including Jundiai in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state. Apple and Quanta Computer assemble Macs in Ireland and Fremont, California. The decision to publish names and addresses of the top 200 materials, components and final-assembly suppliers expands on Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook’s moves last year to loosen the secrecy surrounding production and conditions linked to the Cupertino, California-based company. The list was published on Apple’s website as its annual Supplier Responsibility Report outlines moves to raise labor and environmental standards.
Apple also stepped up audits of working conditions at major suppliers last year, discovering multiple cases of underage workers, discrimination and wage problems. While child labor reflected a small percentage of the workforce, Apple is now investigating its smaller suppliers - which typically supply parts to larger suppliers and hence face less oversight on such issues - to bring them into compliance, sometimes even firing them.
benton.org/node/144070 | Bloomberg | Reuters
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PRIVACY

SKYPE AND SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Andy Greenberg]
Skype has long been a stubborn whipping boy for the privacy community–one that not only refuses to make promises about protecting user data from government surveillance, but won’t even reveal basic facts about how and when it hands user conversations over to the government. Now, eight months after the voice-over-IP company was officially integrated into Microsoft, a critical mass of privacy activists are demanding answers. A group of 44 privacy and free expression groups along with 61 individual academics, activists and entrepreneurs signed their names to an open letter to Microsoft, demanding that its Skype division detail its government surveillance policies and practices. The petition, which includes everyone from Reporters Without Borders and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to the Tibet Action Network and the hacktivist group Telecomix, calls on Skype to release a “regularly updated Transparency Report” that reveals what data it retains about individuals and for how long, as well as how and when it hands over user data to government agencies.
benton.org/node/144007 | Forbes
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

SUPERFAST INTERNET IN THE UK
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
The launch of superfast mobile broadband will benefit the public by £20 billion during the next decade, according to Ofcom, the UK’s communications watchdog. The auction for the spectrum to run 4G services formally began on Jan 30, with confirmation that seven companies would compete for the scarce bandwidth necessary to carry fast mobile internet services over mobile phones. Ofcom calculates that £20bn benefit will come in the form of the saving consumers will make by having access to superfast mobile services. The regulator said the advantage to the public and the economy would “very significantly” exceed the immediate financial windfall raised by the auction.
benton.org/node/144069 | Financial Times
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Analysis

January 2013

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Announce Spectrum License Transactions

No Single Person Can Build the Roads and Networks...

NAB: Current FCC Band Plan Needs Fixing

Opportunity in the 600MHz Band

Federal IT Priorities in Obama's Second Term

US firms, officials resisting Europe’s push for stronger digital privacy rules

Weekly Digest

No Single Person Can Build the Roads and Networks...

January 25, 2013 (How to Give the US Ultrafast Internet)

More than 700 Million Smartphones Shipped in 2012 as Apple, Samsung Dominate