January 2013

Bipartisan group of senators to introduce high-skilled immigration bill

A bipartisan group of senators is poised to introduce a high-skilled immigration bill next week that would significantly increase the number of H-1B visas available to skilled foreign-born workers, such as engineers and computer programmers. A current draft of the bill proposes to increase the cap for H-1B visas to 115,000 from the current cap of 65,000. It would also create a "market-based H-1B escalator" that would allow for additional visas to be made available to foreign workers if the cap is hit early during a particular year—though it can only hit a ceiling of 300,000 visas. The escalator would adjust up or down, depending on the demands of the market. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are co-sponsors of the bill.

Benton Foundation’s Henry Rivera Named a “Game Changer” by Politic365

The Hon. Henry Rivera is an internationally recognized communications expert, author, speaker and conference leader in the communications field.

As a former and the first Latino Federal Communications Commission Commissioner, this highly experienced practitioner has been named one of the District of Columbia’s “Super Lawyers” and among The Best Lawyers in America in Communications Law. He has also been singled out as a “Leading Lawyer” by Chambers USA and named among the top 12 Telecom experts in the U.S. by Legal Media Group’s Best of the Best. Throughout his career Rivera has held numerous professional roles including, but not limited to partner at Wiley Rein, LLP, Co-head of the Agency Review Team for the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, Chair and member of the FCC’s Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age, and a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy at the U.S. Department of State. He is also the vice-chairman of the Emma Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media, General Counsel of the Benton Foundation, former president of the Federal Communications Bar Association and a current Board of Trustee, as well as chairman emeritus of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council.

Apple Names Product Assemblers in Boost to Supplier Transparency

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.

Superfast Internet benefit put at £20 billion

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.

German court rules Internet "essential"

A German court ruled that people have the right to claim compensation from service providers if their Internet access is disrupted, because the Internet is an "essential" part of life.

The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe made the ruling after hearing the case of a man who was unable to use his DSL connection, which also offered a telephone and fax line, for two months from late 2008 to early 2009. He had already received compensation for the cost of having to use a mobile phone, but wanted to be compensated for not being able to use the Internet. Under German law the loss of use of essential material items can be compensated.

Break a wall of silence on cyberattacks

[Commentary] In recent months, some companies (such as HSBC, Wells Fargo or Lockheed) have been forced to admit to suffering cyberattacks, after the penetration has become visible. But this is just the tip of a vast iceberg, and the overwhelming majority of companies today are terrified of talking too publicly about the issue, for fear of suffering stigma or sparking panic.

That means it is tough for any outsider to get precise information about the overall scale of attacks. It is even tougher for shareholders to work out the degree to which individual companies are being targeted. The crucial point is this: even if some companies are on top of the issue, others are not, and without more public debate, it will be tough to get corporate boards to act. Without more disclosure it will also be difficult for investors to start pricing in these risks. So, at the very least, it is high time shareholders began demanding more information from individual companies about the issue – not just about the scale of the cyberattacks, but also the moves being taken to fend them off. And if companies refuse to answer those questions, then shareholders – or the government – should ask them why. After all, if there is one thing we learnt from 2007, it is that maintaining an embarrassed silence about risks does not usually make them go away; least of all when there is potential damage to consumers (and investors) as well as the companies under attack.

UK fines Sony for lapses at games network

Sony’s European subsidiary has been fined by a UK watchdog and criticized for failing to properly secure customer data before hackers attacked its PlayStation Network in 2011.

The Information Commissioner’s Office fined the Japanese electronics maker £250,000 for the breach, in which names, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth and passwords for millions of customers were accessed by hackers. The commissioner’s office said payment card details were also at risk. The fine against Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is the third-largest imposed by the ICO, which is charged with enforcing the Data Protection Act in the UK but cannot issue penalties of more than £500,000. The two larger fines were both handed to local authorities. Sony can pay a lower amount of £200,000 if it settles the fine by February 13, a standard incentive for ICO fines.

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Media and Technology Institute
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
8:30 am

Telephone companies are in the process of replacing their copper-wire plant with fiber or wireless plant for delivering signals to customers. These changes promise a higher capacity and more efficient communications network, one connected using Internet protocols, better known as IP. While a strong communications network is undoubtedly positive, this transition challenges traditional telecommunications regulation, much of which is grounded in authority that does not extend to an IP-based world.

To better understand the challenges with this transition, the Joint Center invites you to a special presentation by Jim Cicconi, Esq., Senior Executive Vice President at AT&T. Mr. Cicconi’s keynote talk will be followed by a panel of telecommunications leaders, policy experts, and advocates for a discussion on the new, digital communications system, its effects on communities of color, and the policy needed to make it work.

The impacts of the change to all-IP communications will be far reaching and will touch programs that have been especially important to communities of color, such as the Universal Service Fund. It is crucial to ensure that the views of these communities are part of the debate on the copper-to-fiber transition.

Introductory Remarks:
Ralph B. Everett, Esq., President and CEO, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Keynote Remarks:
Jim Cicconi, Esq., Senior Executive Vice President – External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T Services, Inc.

Panel Discussion:

Telecommunications Leaders, Policy Experts, and Advocates moderated by
John B. Horrigan, Ph.D., Vice President and Director, Media and Technology Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

RSVP at JCIPBroadband.eventbrite.com by February 11, 2013.
For questions, please contact Alicia Durfee at (202) 789-3507
or adurfee@jointcenter.org

Read more about Creating Digital Opportunities for Communities of Color: Is IP-Based Broadband the Answer?

FCC To Hold Open Commission Meeting, Thursday, January 31, 2013

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.

How to Give the US Ultrafast Internet

[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.

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