January 2013

Apple to Samsung: Keep Galaxy S III Mini Out of the U.S. and We Won’t Sue

Apple has agreed to withdraw patent infringement allegations against the new Galaxy S III Mini following Samsung’s pledge that it will not market the device in the US.

“Apple will agree to withdraw without prejudice its request to include the Galaxy S III Mini in this case given Samsung’s representation that it is not making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing that product into the United States,” Apple said in a filing in U.S. District Court in San Jose (CA), adding that it would do so only if that withdrawal doesn’t prejudice its “ability later to accuse the Galaxy S III Mini if the factual circumstances change.”

Samsung Loses Bid to Seal Sales Data in Apple Dispute

Samsung lost a bid to keep sales data of some of its products sealed in a US patent dispute with Apple. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose denied Samsung’s request to keep the sales figures secret while the company appeals an earlier sealing order. Samsung sought to delay the implementation of the order until its appeal is heard by the Federal Circuit court. “Samsung’s appeal involves pricing information and profit margins,” Judge Koh wrote. The exhibit at issue “only lists the number of units sold in each of several recent months.”

Rates for Interstate Inmate Calling Services

On December 24, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Notice of proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) responding to two petitions for rulemaking that seek to “secure the ‘just and reasonable’ interstate rates for prisoners required by Section 201(b) of the Communications Act” by initiating this NPRM to consider changes to FCC rules governing rates for interstate interexchange inmate calling services (ICS). In the first petition for rulemaking, filed in 2003, (First Wright Petition), Petitioners requested that the FCC “prohibit exclusive inmate calling service agreements and collect call-only restrictions at privately-administered prisons and require such facilities to permit multiple long distance carriers to interconnect with prison telephone systems. . . .” In the second petition for rulemaking, filed in 2007, (Alternative Wright Petition), Petitioners proposed that the FCC require debit calling, prohibit per-call charges and establish rate caps for all interstate, interexchange inmate calling services. The FCC received significant comment on the two Petitions for Rulemaking.

FCC Adopts Rules to Promote Deployment of Internet Services Onboard Aircraft

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted a Report and Order establishing rules to help speed the deployment of Internet services onboard aircraft. The FCC’s action enables broadband providers to meet increasing consumer demands and promotes the economic growth and job-creating impacts of ubiquitous broadband. This action also continues the FCC’s efforts to update and streamline regulatory requirements across the agency.

Since 2001, the FCC has authorized a number of companies, on an ad hoc basis, to operate Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft (ESAA), i.e., earth stations on aircraft communicating with Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) geostationary-orbit (GSO) space stations. Installed on the exterior of the aircraft, the satellite antenna carries the signal to and from the aircraft, providing two-way, in-flight broadband services to passengers and flight crews. The Report and Order formalizes ESAA as a licensed application in the FSS and establishes a regulatory framework for processing applications while ensuring other radio service operations are protected from harmful interference. Rather than have to license on-board systems on an ad hoc basis, airlines will be able test systems that meet FCC standards, establish that they do not interfere with aircraft systems, and get FAA approval.

By reducing administrative burdens on both applicants and the FCC, the new rules should allow the FCC to process ESAA applications up to 50 percent faster, enhancing competition in an important sector of the mobile telecommunications market in the United States and promoting the widespread availability of Internet access to aircraft passengers.

The Real Hazards of E-Devices on Planes

In September, a passenger was arrested in El Paso after refusing to turn off his cellphone as the plane was landing. In October, a man in Chicago was arrested because he used his iPad during takeoff. In November, half a dozen police cars raced across the tarmac at La Guardia Airport in New York, surrounding a plane as if there were a terrorist on board. They arrested a 30-year-old man who had also refused to turn off his phone while on the runway. Who is to blame in these episodes? You can’t solely pin it on the passengers. Some of the responsibility falls on the Federal Aviation Administration, for continuing to uphold a rule that is based on the unproven idea that a phone or tablet can interfere with the operation of a plane. Dealing with the FAA on this topic is like arguing with a stubborn teenager. The agency has no proof that electronic devices can harm a plane’s avionics, but it still perpetuates such claims, spreading irrational fear among millions of fliers.

FCC Names Steven Wildman as Chief Economist

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the appointment of Steven Wildman to the position of FCC Chief Economist. Professor Wildman, an expert on communications and media issues who holds the James H. Quello Chair of Telecommunications Studies and is serving as the Acting Chair of the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University, will commence his role in January 2013. Wildman will take over as Chief Economist from Marius Schwartz, who is returning to his prior role as a Professor of Economics at Georgetown University.

Wildman’s teaching and research focus on economics, law and policy across the communications industry, and the impact of information technologies on the organization of economic activities. He has conducted detailed research on broadband adoption examining infrastructure cost structures and demand in rural and underserved areas. He has also studied the efficiency properties of alternative spectrum governance regimes and network interconnection policy.

He has held numerous fellowships and received prominent awards, including the Information and Telecommunications Education and Research Association Distinguished Research Award, the Journal of Media Economics Award of Honor for Scholarly Contributions, and the McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communications Policy Research. Prior to joining Michigan State University, Wildman was an Associate Professor at Northwestern University’s Department of Communications Studies. He has also worked at the University of California’s Department of Economics. Wildman holds a Ph.D in Economics from Stanford University, as well as an M.A. and a B.A. degree in Economics from Stanford University and Wabash College respectively.

FTC Releases Follow-Up Study Detailing Promotional Activities, Expenditures, and Nutritional Profiles of Food Marketed to Children and Adolescents

The Federal Trade Commission announced the results of a comprehensive study of food and beverage industry marketing expenditures and activities directed to children and teens. The study, A Review of Food Marketing to Children and Adolescents: Follow-Up Report gauges the progress industry has made since first launching self-regulatory efforts to promote healthier food choices to kids.

It serves as a follow-up to the FTC’s 2008 report on food marketing requested by Congress. The report provides a picture of how food companies allocated $1.79 billion on marketing to youth ages 2-17 in 2009. The FTC found that overall spending was down 19.5 percent from 2006, with most of that decrease coming from less spending on television ads to youth. At the same time, food companies stepped up their spending to market to children and teens in new media, such as online, mobile, and viral marketing, by 50 percent. New to this report is a detailed analysis of the nutritional profile of foods marketed to youth. The analysis suggests that industry self-regulation resulted in modest nutritional improvements from 2006 to 2009 within specific food categories heavily marketed to youth, such as cereals, drinks, and fast food kids’ meals. According to the report, food company participation in self-regulation has increased, but some companies with significant marketing to children still have not joined the effort. The entertainment industry lags farther behind. With a few exceptions, media companies have not limited licensing of children’s characters and placement of ads during children’s programming to more nutritious foods.

Over half of American homes don’t have or use their landline

It’s not really surprising but over half of Americans don’t have or use a land line, according to data published late last week by the Centers for Disease Control.

The study tracks the demographics of land line telephone use and was designed to help the CDC adapt its data collection programs, which relied heavily on calling land lines. While the pitfalls of relying on landlines for surveys is well known, the report has some worthwhile stats on the demographics of landline telephone use. The survey found that more than one-third of American homes (35.8 percent) had only wireless telephones during the first half of 2012 while 15.9 percent of all households had both landline and wireless telephones but received all or almost all calls on the wireless phones. This means 51.7 percent of U.S. homes don’t have or didn’t use their landlines in the first half of 2012. That’s a 1.8 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

2013: The year carriers choose whether Wi-Fi is friend or foe

Do you remember when Verizon actively disabled Wi-Fi radios on its handsets? Or even when most handsets didn’t have Wi-Fi radios? While it seems imaginable that we might go back to those days, some predict that in 2013 Wi-Fi’s popularity could provoke a fight between users and carriers. According to analyst firm, Informa: “There will be a shift in operator sentiment away from public Wi-Fi as it becomes evident that the growing availability of free-to-end-user Wi-Fi devalues the mobile-broadband business model. Mobile operators will respond by articulating the value of their cellular networks better, but others not affected by this trend will double down on their public Wi-Fi investments to continue to propel the deployment and monetization of Wi-Fi.”

Christmas Day: tablet activations outpace smartphones

Christmas Day was huge — not just for present-hungry kids, but also for app developers and device makers. App analytics firm Flurry has tallied up the numbers from Christmas and found that downloads and activations shattered previous records, showing how people love their apps and are increasingly embracing tablets.

Device activations on Flurry’s network hit 17.4 million units, up 332 percent over the first 20 days in December, which represented a baseline of activity. That blew away last year’s mark of 6.8 million new device activations on a single day, said Flurry. Tablets were apparently the hot gift item, grabbing 51 percent of mobile device activations. This was the first Christmas that tablets edged out smartphones for activations. During the first 20 days of December, smartphones were activated four times more often than tablets. Flurry noted that the most popular devices were iPads, Apple iPad Minis and Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablets, and that Amazon in particular had a good Christmas, increasing its tablet activations by several thousand percent over its baseline during the first half of December. The big increase in Christmas tablet sales may reflect the falling price points of tablets, which are becoming more affordable with smaller 7-inch models. With all those new devices, it’s no surprise that app downloads soared on Christmas Day. Flurry said there were 328 million app downloads that day, up 112 percent over the baseline. That flew by last year’s record of 242 million app downloads. The download parade was steady all day long, hitting about 20 million downloads an hour at 11 a.m. local time and remaining steady all the way through 8 p.m.

Benton

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