January 2013

Their Apps Track You. Will Congress Track Them?

There are three things that matter in consumer data collection: location, location, location. E-ZPasses clock the routes we drive. Metro passes register the subway stations we enter. ATM’s record where and when we get cash. Not to mention the credit and debit card transactions that map our trajectories in comprehensive detail — the stores, restaurants and gas stations we frequent; the hotels and health clubs we patronize. Each of these represents a kind of knowing trade, a conscious consumer submission to surveillance for the sake of convenience. But now legislators, regulators, advocacy groups and marketers are squaring off over newer technology: smartphones and mobile apps that can continuously record and share people’s precise movements. At issue is whether consumers are unwittingly acquiescing to pervasive tracking just for the sake of having mobile amenities like calendar, game or weather apps.

‘Shell-shocked’ lawmakers shy away from online piracy in new Congress

Nearly a year after a wave of online protests killed two anti-piracy bills, lawmakers are skittish about moving forward with legislation aimed at cracking down on websites that illegally distribute copies of movies and music.

The House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Senate's Protect IP Act (PIPA) grabbed national attention when Wikipedia, Reddit and scores of other websites went dark on Jan. 18 to protest the bills. The public outcry over the bills led lawmakers to pull their support, and spurred others who were previously quiet on the anti-piracy measures to speak out in opposition. The fracas over SOPA and PIPA a year ago is still fresh on the minds of lawmakers, making it doubtful that similar legislation will surface in the opening months of the 113th Congress. "I think people are shell-shocked from that," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who was a vocal opponent of SOPA.

America has plenty of wireless spectrum – we just need a new way to allocate it

[Commentary] Recently there has been considerable discussion about a looming spectrum shortage. Yet the reality is that most of our spectrum is unused most of the time. This is because spectrum is managed by often assigning exclusive rights to a particular “licensee” to use a specific frequency in a specific location, and often only for a very specific purpose or service.

This approach, which is analogous to building a private road for every different type of vehicle, leads to inefficient utilization of our nation’s spectrum resources, and impedes the introduction of new technologies. A large percentage of these frequencies service the thousands of government systems that provide the essential functions for our national security. And, in most cases, even if it were possible to reallocate their spectrum for new commercial uses and technologies, the process of doing so is extremely expensive and incredibly slow, taking on the order of a decade or more – far too slow to keep up with our fast-paced digital economy. For these reasons, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recently recommended a new approach to federal spectrum management. With a new approach, we can transform the availability of a precious national resource – spectrum – from scarcity to abundance, and do so rapidly. It is time to start building the first shared-use spectrum superhighways.

[The authors are all members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology]

A wireless router that tracks user activity—but for a good reason

Wireless chip maker Qualcomm Atheros unveiled StreamBoost, which intelligently manages your home's broadband connection on routers based on Qualcomm's 802.11ac technology. StreamBoost stops devices and applications from hogging more bandwidth than they need, preventing slowdown for other devices and apps.

Most of what this technology does happens locally on the router, with a detection engine that analyzes what application is running and a policy engine that allocates however many kilobits or megabits per second the application needs. For example, the detection engine will sense that Netflix is playing a video at 1080p or some other resolution and apply the correct policy. While detecting applications and applying policies happens on your router, there's an optional cloud component that uploads data about application usage to Qualcomm Atheros. The chipmaker wants to crowdsource information about the bandwidth usage of applications such as video streams and use that data to more accurately determine how much bandwidth each application needs.

Networks Should Energize Mobile DTV Push

[Commentary] We just keep waiting for the widespread deployment of mobile digital television. What we need is for the broadcast networks to make a real commitment to the new technology. If mobile DTV were real, don't you think Chase Carey, Les Moonves, Steve Burke and Bob Iger would be talking it up wherever and whenever they could? Jessell has no evidence that any of those executives even know what mobile DTV is.

New laws keep employers out of worker social media accounts

Employers in Illinois and California cannot ask for usernames and passwords to the personal social media accounts of employees and job seekers under laws that took effect on Jan. 1.

Gov. Patrick Quinn (D-IL) in August signed legislation amending the State's 'Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act.' Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) signed legislation adding the prohibitions to the State's Labor Code in September. The two states join Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, and Delaware in implementing such privacy laws. The state laws were prompted by privacy and worker advocates concerned that some employers were asking job seekers and employees for access to their personal social media accounts as a condition of hiring and employment.

NMPA lobbyist heading back to House Judiciary Committee

Allison Halataei, vice president of government affairs at the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), is heading back to the House Judiciary Committee.

Halataei will serve as the general counsel and parliamentarian for the committee under its new chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). Before joining the NMPA in November 2011, Halataei was the deputy chief of staff and parliamentarian for the House Judiciary Committee when it was chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX). She was with the committee since 2006.

Life and Death Online: Who Controls a Digital Legacy?

The digital era adds a new complexity to the human test of dealing with death.

Loved ones once may have memorialized the departed with private rituals and a notice in the newspaper. Today, as family and friends gather publicly to write and share photos online, the obituary may never be complete. But families can lose control of a process they feel is their right and obligation when the memories are stored online—encrypted, locked behind passwords, just beyond reach. One major cause is privacy law. Current laws, intended to protect the living, fail to address a separate question: Who should see or supervise our online legacy?

Brookings Institution
January 16, 2013
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EST
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2013/01/16-broadband-technology-opportun...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included $7.2 billion to expand access to high-speed Internet services to close the digital divide, drive economic growth, and build the technology infrastructure and skills that America needs to compete in the 21st century. Roughly $4 billion of that total supports the , or BTOP. The program, which is administered by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), is investing in roughly 230 projects to increase broadband access and adoption around the country.

On January 16, Governance Studies at Brookings will provide an update on the BTOP program three years after Vice President Joe Biden announced the first round of BTOP awards at a factory in Dawsonville, GA. The event will feature keynote remarks by NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling, followed by a panel of officials from BTOP projects that will provide firsthand accounts from around the country.

Introduction and Moderator
Darrell M. West
Vice President and Director, Governance Studies
Founding Director, Center for Technology Innovation

Keynote Speaker
Lawrence E. Strickling
Administrator, NTIA
Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, U.S. Department of Commerce

Panelists
Bruce Abraham
Member, Board of Directors
North Georgia Network

Susan Corbett
Chief Executive Officer
Axiom Technologies

Curtis Lowery, M.D.
Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Director, UAMS Center for Distance Health
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Mark Malaspina
President
CFY

Read more about Broadband Technology Opportunities Program

The backlash to al-Jazeera begins

The backlash to al-Jazeera has begun: Accuracy in Media, the conservative watchdog group, has labeled the network a "Homeland Security threat" and is calling for a congressional probe into the "controversial operations of foreign propaganda channel" following its acquisition of Current TV. Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League has announced it has ongoing concerns about the Qatari-owned network, due to “a troubling record” of giving "virulent anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic extremists access to its airwaves."

Benton

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