March 11, 2013 (Sprectrum; Privacy)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013
Today: Technological Advisory Council and Foreign Policy for the Information Age http://benton.org/calendar/2013-03-11/
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FCC chairman vows continued spectrum expansion
Station Coalition Warns FCC Against Lowballing Spectrum
If You Can't Open It, You Don't Own It -- Unlocking Your Cellphone - analysis
Judiciary Committee leaders back cellphone unlocking
AT&T's cellphone unlocking policy comes under fire
Restore the ability to unlock cellphones - editorial
FTC Staff Report Examines Growing Use of Mobile Payments - press release
FCC Reinstates Experimental TV Rules [links to web]
PRIVACY
Google nearing $7 million settlement
New FTC Chair Ramirez Outlines Privacy Stance
Should the U.S. Adopt European-Style Data-Privacy Protections? - op-ed
Privacy audits required of Internet firms [links to web]
A Guide to Facebook's Privacy Options [links to web]
How Big Data Is Changing the Whole Equation for Business
Apple Can’t Duck Giving Documents in Privacy Lawsuit [links to web]
Everything We Know About What Data Brokers Know About You - research [links to web]
Harvard Search of E-Mail Stuns Its Faculty Members [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
AT&T is Not Invincible - editorial
A Connection for All Ages: Enabling the Benefits of High-Speed Internet Access for Older Adults - research
Amazon's Quest for Web Names Draws Foes
EDUCATION
What makes a good broadband network for schools? [links to web]
Data Caps Could Dim Online Learning's Bright Future [links to web]
Computer Coding: It's Not Just for Boys [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
FTC Request Puts Nielsen-Arbitron Merger on Ice
Entertainment industry, Internet service providers roll out anti-piracy system [links to web]
It’s Not a Storm Until the Weather Channel Names It [links to web]
HEALTH
ONC Releases Data on Hospital EHR Adoption, Meaningful Use [links to web]
US doctors don't believe patients need full access to health records [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Implementing Public Safety Broadband Provisions of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 - public notice
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Iran blocks use of tool to get around Internet filter
First thoughts on Tunisia and the role of the Internet - editorial [links to web]
Internet Censorship is a Trade Issue Too
The telecoms numbers that didn’t add up
Slim May Face New Competitors in Mexico Telecom Reform Law
In Wake of Cyberattacks, China Seeks New Rules [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
FCC Reduces Station Filing Burden For 2013 EEO Audits - analysis [links to web]
Attorney General's testimony on Aaron Swartz raises more questions than answers - analysis [links to web]
Drooping Cable Ratings Pressure NBCU's Cash Cow [links to web]
Public Knowledge and Patent Reform - press release [links to web]
The hypocrisy in Silicon Valley's big talk on innovation - editorial [links to web]
Algorithms Get a Human Hand in Steering Web [links to web]
Digital Era Redefining Etiquette [links to web]
Getting the Journalism You Pay For - editorial [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FCC AND SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: NetworkWorld, AUTHOR: John Cox]
The Federal Communications Commission remains focused on rapidly expanding spectrum for licensed and unlicensed use, and encouraging both research and products that will let it be used more efficiently, according to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Four years ago, he said, the U.S. was lagging in key wireless broadband indicators compared to Asia and Europe. Today, the nation has "leapfrogged other countries." "Mobile innovation is U.S.-driven," he said. "The percentage of global mobile devices that have an American OS has gone from under 20% to over 80%. Apps are American-driven. And in [mobile] infrastructure, America has more LTE customers than the rest of the world combined." In the last two years alone, private investment in mobile networks has totaled about $65 billion. The country still faces spectrum challenges, Chairman Genachowski said, and policy makers need to be working on "freeing up more spectrum and having forward-looking spectrum policies. A smartphone puts a demand on spectrum that's 25 times more than that of a feature phone." "The mobile infrastructure doesn't work without spectrum," he said. "No one anticipated the growth and demand we're seeing now. It's putting tremendous stress on the system. And we have to figure out ways to address that." Chairman Genachowski said there have been two major spectrum innovations in the last 30 years: the introduction of auctions to allocate spectrum and the introduction of unlicensed bands, which helped fuel the growth of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, other RF technologies and the ecosystems of products and software that have sprung up around them. "It seems inconceivable to me that these would be the last two innovations in spectrum policy," he said. Possible new ones include what he called "next generation unlicensed spectrum," with higher ranges and lower frequencies, and "a lot more sharing of government spectrum for private use."
benton.org/node/147431 | NetworkWorld | InformationWeek
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INCENTIVE AUCTIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Broadcast television stations willing to consider giving up spectrum for a government payout in the incentive auctions are concerned that the Federal Communications Commission is trying to manage the auction so as to reduce payments to broadcasters. That's according to comments filed by the Expanding Opportunities For Broadcasters Coalition -- a group of 40-plus stations, mostly in major markets, represented by coalition executive director Preston Padden, former head of the Association of Independent Television Stations and a top exec at News Corp. and ABC/Disney. "[T]he participation of willing broadcasters is the linchpin of a successful incentive auction," the coalition said. "As such, the FCC's primary focus should be convincing broadcasters that their price expectations are likely to be met in the reverse auction." But according to Padden, who filed the comments, "[t]hrough meetings and attendance at Commission related events, Coalition members have received the impression that some FCC staff and some FCC consultants are spending considerable time developing strategies to "manage" the auction results to reduce payments to broadcasters. This is not the statutory scheme and is not the way to attract broadcasters to the auction. It is a prescription for a failed auction."
benton.org/node/147486 | Broadcasting&Cable | TVNewsCheck
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IF YOU CAN’T OPEN IT, YOU DON’T OWN IT
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] Who owns your cellphone? Or, not to put too fine a point on it: who controls what you can do with your cellphone after you’ve paid for it? You probably saw a number of headlines this week in the vein of “White House: cell phone unlocking should be legal”, but the opinion released by the Obama Administration on March 4 is not the beginning of the story, nor is it the end – not by a long shot. Although the White House announced it agrees with thousands of We The People petitioners that smartphone and tablet users should be allowed to unlock their phones and use the devices on the network of their choosing, there's a long way to go to make that a reality.
http://benton.org/node/147412
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LEADERS BACK UNLOCKING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The top lawmakers in both chambers with authority over cellphone unlocking are now saying they plan to move legislation to legalize the practice. The leaders of the House Judiciary Committee said that they will work with their Senate counterparts to allow consumers to unlock their phones, which lets them switch the devices to other networks. The Judiciary Committees in both chambers have jurisdiction over copyright issues, including cellphone unlocking Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, came out in support of the practice earlier this week. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the panel's ranking member, vowed to work on a bipartisan basis "to address the issue of cell phone unlocking to provide consumers with greater choices and affordability in this vital marketplace.” Reps. Howard Coble (R-NC), chairman of the Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Subcommittee, and Mel Watt (D-NC), the subcommittee's ranking member, also said they will back legislation.
benton.org/node/147463 | Hill, The
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AT&T AND CELLPHONE UNLOCKING
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Byron Acohido]
AT&T executive Joan Marsh issued a statement asserting that the ban on unlocking cellphones "will not negatively impact any of AT&T's customers." However, Marsh points out that several conditions apply. Activist Sina Khanifar, who helped organize a petition drive asking the White House to intervene, contends AT&T's unlocking policy does not go far enough. Khanifar supplied USA TODAY with this line-by-line assessment of Marsh's description of AT&T's unlocking policy.
benton.org/node/147462 | USAToday
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UNLOCKING CELLPHONES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Fed up with your mobile phone service? Think you’ll change wireless providers at some point? If you bought your phone after January, it’s criminal for you to “unlock” it, so that it’ll work on a different network, without your current provider’s permission. Not just illegal — criminal. If you think that isn’t right, the White House has announced that it agrees with you — but, as the National Journal reports, only to a point. What about those who want to pay an early-termination fee to break their service agreements? Or those who want to use their phones on different networks while abroad without asking for permission? We can’t think of a good reason why they should be subject to the threat of criminal sanction for unlocking their devices. Neither, we trust, will Congress as it examines the issue.
benton.org/node/147493 | Washington Post
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FTC MOBILE PAYMENTS REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
As part of its efforts to ensure that consumers are protected in the growing mobile marketplace, the Federal Trade Commission issued a staff report today highlighting key issues facing consumers and companies as they adopt mobile payment services. The report, titled “Paper, Plastic… or Mobile? An FTC Workshop on Mobile Payments,” is based on a workshop held by the Commission in 2012 to examine these issues. The report notes three major areas of potential concern for consumers:
First, the report encourages companies to develop clear policies on how consumers can resolve disputes arising from a fraudulent mobile payment or an unauthorized charge.
Second, the report encourages industry-wide adoption of strong measures to ensure security throughout the mobile payment process.
Third, the report highlights the need for companies in the mobile payment sphere to practice “privacy by design,” incorporating strong privacy practices, consumer choice, and transparency into their products from the outset.
The report also notes the privacy issues arising from the consolidation of consumers’ personal information in the mobile payment process. In a traditional credit card transaction, a merchant will have sensitive financial information about consumers, but will generally not also have their contact information and a record of their location. Mobile payment providers also potentially have access to a much larger cache of personal information stored on the consumer’s mobile device.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/03/mobilepymts.shtm
FTC's Mobile Payments Report: 3 Points for Your Company to Ponder (FTC blog)
benton.org/node/147437 | Federal Trade Commission | FTC blog
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PRIVACY
GOOGLE SETTLEMENT?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Craig Timberg]
Google is nearing a deal in which it would pay $7 million to resolve investigations with more than 30 state attorneys general over its controversial Street View program, in which it captured data from private Wi-Fi signals while taking street-level images throughout the world, said a person familiar with the looming agreement. The deal, which is expected to be announced soon, would likely end the U.S. regulatory scrutiny of one of the most damaging episodes in the history of the California-based search giant. Google officials declined to comment on reports of a looming settlement with U.S. state attorneys general, but on March 8, spokeswoman Nadia Blagojevic said of the Street View program: “We work hard to get privacy right at Google. But in this case we didn’t, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue.” The Connecticut attorney general’s office, which took the lead on the Street View investigation, declined to comment on reports of a settlement, saying that the probe is “active and ongoing.” The $7 million fine, if confirmed by the state attorneys general, would average less than $250,000 per state. It was not clear whether the agreement will include any admission of improper action by Google or any limits on its future practices.
benton.org/node/147461 | Washington Post | LATimes | The Hill | Bloomberg
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CHAIRMAN RAMIREZ ON PRIVACY
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
In her first public policy remarks since becoming chairman of the Federal Trade Commission on March 4, Edith Ramirez said she plans to continue the agency's work in shaping privacy policy to protect consumers, and wouldn’t back off on enforcement. "We haven't been shy about taking on the tech giants," Chairman Ramirez said, referring to the agency’s 20-year consent decrees with both Google and Facebook. "That has been just tremendous. And that’s all, in my mind, vital and will continue." Enforcing children's privacy will be a top priority, she said, especially with updates to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act going into effect July 1. "We want to make sure we’re fulfilling the mandate Congress set out for us. I personally feel quite proud of the work we did," Chairman Ramirez said, adding that the FTC is working to finalize FAQs about the rule in order to guide companies "as soon as we can." Addressing the "Do Not Track" issue, Ramirez kept to the script the agency wrote under former chairman Jon Leibowitz. Expressing her support of Do Not Track as a "longstanding commitment," Chairman Ramirez also suggested that any solution would require all the interested parties crafting a solution together, a position that should give some relief to the advertising industry's self-regulatory initiatives. "I'm optimistic there will be a solution, but all interested parties must come together for a solution that is consensus-based," Chairman Ramirez said. "I’m happy there are so many tools available to consumers."
benton.org/node/147439 | AdWeek
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DATA PRIVACY PROTECTIONS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Joel Reidenberg, Thomas Davenport]
[Commentary] Companies are watching you. They want to know where you go on the Web, what you buy and what causes you support -- with the hope of sending you targeted offers based on your preferences and lifestyle choices. But who is watching over these businesses? Who is making sure they aren't misusing personal data or breaking privacy promises they make to customers? In Europe, there are strict rules about what companies can and can't do in terms of collecting, using, disclosing and storing personal information, and governments are pushing to make the regulations even stronger. That has prompted renewed debate about whether it is time for the U.S. to toughen its relatively lax privacy regulations. In one camp are those who believe the U.S. government should refrain from meddling. They say the lack of privacy restrictions in the U.S. has encouraged innovation in the online-marketing industry, which is still evolving, and they question whether a Congress that isn't capable of passing a budget can be trusted with crafting complex privacy legislation. The U.S.'s experiment with self-regulation has been a failure, say those who believe Europe's approach to privacy is superior. By trusting industry to police itself, the U.S. has created a situation where consumers have little control over personal data and few remedies when they find their privacy has been invaded.
benton.org/node/147491 | Wall Street Journal
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BIG DATA REPORT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Steven Rosenbush, Michael Totty]
A special report of the Wall Street Journal. There's a ton of information out there. And businesses are figuring out how to put it to work. The experts call this state of affairs big data. The definition is squishy, but it usually boils down to this: Companies have access to vastly more information than they used to, it comes from many more different sources than before, and they can get it almost as soon as it's generated. Big data often gets linked to companies that already deal in information, like Google, Facebook and Amazon. But businesses in a slew of industries are putting it front and center in more and more parts of their operations. They're gathering huge amounts of information, often meshing traditional measures like sales with things like comments on social-media sites and location information from mobile devices. And they're scrutinizing it to figure out how to improve their products, cut costs and keep customers coming back.
benton.org/node/147494 | Wall Street Journal | Data Miners | Mistakes | How to make sense of it | Public data
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
BATTLING ANTI-MUNIPAL NETWORKS BANS
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: John Bergmayer]
[Commentary] The ill-considered bill in Georgia that would have prevented local communities from investing in their own broadband networks was defeated last night, and this is great news. The bill was pushed by AT&T and Windstream, who argued that it would be unfair for public entities to "compete" with them. There are many problems with this line of thinking -- for one, telecom companies like AT&T and Windstream themselves are heavily subsidized by the government (they get access to public rights of way, airwaves, and Universal Service funds). The defeat of this bill shows that the state-level agenda pushed by AT&T, which manages to be both deregulatory (for AT&T) and regulatory (in passing laws preventing others from entering the market) at the same time, can be defeated when policymakers can see its consequences. With local broadband networks the consequences are clear: fewer, worse networks, and rural areas left unconnected. But when it comes to dismantling the phone network and the legal protections that surround it, AT&T has had a lot more success.
benton.org/node/147433 | Public Knowledge
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BROADBAND AND OLDER ADULTS
[SOURCE: AARP, AUTHOR: Christopher Baker]
In an increasingly digital world, where a new generation of Internet-based services promises vast opportunities and benefits, many older adults do not have affordable, high-speed Internet connectivity at home. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) highlighted the need to increase the use of high-speed Internet technologies among older Americans as part of the 2010 National Broadband Plan. Three years later, a review of the National Broadband Plan suggests slow and uncertain progress to address key barriers to broadband adoption and use among older adults.
benton.org/node/147456 | AARP
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DOMAIN NAMES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Greg Bensinger]
Large and small companies are vying for control of an array of new Internet domain names, but Amazon’s plans are coming under particular scrutiny. Two publishing industry groups, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, are objecting to the online retailer's request for ownership of new top-level domain names that are part of a long-awaited expansion of the Web's addressing scheme. They argue that giving Amazon control over such addresses—which include ".book," ".author" and ".read"—would be a threat to competition and shouldn't be allowed. "Placing such generic domains in private hands is plainly anticompetitive," wrote Scott Turow, Authors Guild president, to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, the nonprofit that oversees the world's Internet domain names. "The potential for abuse seems limitless." Rival book retailer Barnes & Noble also opposes Amazon's request, arguing in an objection filed with ICANN that the Seattle-based company could use control of the new Internet names "to stifle competition in the bookselling and publishing industries, which are critical to the future of copyrighted expression in the U.S."
benton.org/node/147496 | Wall Street Journal
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OWNERSHIP
NIELSEN-ARBITRON
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Jack Neff]
The Federal Trade Commission asked for additional information from Nielsen and Arbitron regarding their proposed merger, the companies said. The request could indicate regulatory complications that will prolong the closing of the merger. Nielsen withdrew and modified its original notification to the FTC last month hoping to forestall a so-called "second request" for information. After the companies comply with its request, the FTC will have 30 days to make a decision. It's unclear how long the companies will need to get the necessary information. Some industry executives, who spoke not for attribution, believe the combined companies could monopolize the still nascent market for cross-platform measurement that put TV, radio, digital, print, outdoor and other media on a common metric.
benton.org/node/147446 | AdAge
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
NEW FIRSTNET PROCEEDING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission seeks comment on certain proposals to implement provisions of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 governing deployment of a nationwide public safety broadband network in the 700 MHz band. The FCC is considering the adoption of initial rules to protect against harmful radio frequency interference in the spectrum designated for public safety services, as well as other requirements related to FirstNet's license and to facilitating the transition directed under the Public Safety Spectrum Act. Our proposals in this Notice are intended to provide a solid foundation for FirstNet's operations, taking into account FirstNet's need for flexibility in carrying out its statutory duties under the Public Safety Spectrum Act to establish a nationwide public safety broadband network.
benton.org/node/147448 | Federal Communications Commission | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
IRAN’S INTERNET FILTER
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Yeganeh Torbati]
Iranian authorities have blocked the use of most "virtual private networks", a tool that many Iranians use to get around an extensive government Internet filter. A widespread government Internet filter prevents Iranians from accessing many sites on the official grounds they are offensive or criminal. Many Iranians evade the filter through use of VPN software, which provides encrypted links directly to private networks based abroad, and can allow a computer to behave as if it is based in another country. But authorities have now blocked "illegal" VPN access, an Iranian legislator told the Mehr news agency on Sunday. Iranian web users confirmed that VPNs were blocked.
benton.org/node/147452 | Reuters
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INTERNET CENSORSHIP IS A TRADE ISSUE TOO
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Joseph Marks]
Government Internet censorship doesn’t just hurt people inside a country; it may also damage companies outside that country, said former White House deputy chief technology officer Andrew McLaughlin. When China and other nations block the websites of U.S. companies but the United States doesn’t respond in kind there’s a strong argument that creates an unfair trade barrier. McLaughlin cited the example of Facebook, which is blocked in China, and Renren, a Chinese social networking service colloquially known as the “Facebook of China.” Renren became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011. “At the same time the U.S. sits here and watches Facebook get blocked in China, we allow Renren . . . to come to our capital markets to raise $780 million in an IPO from investors we’re facilitating,” McLaughlin said. “We give them access to our markets; they block us from their markets. That seems like a classic trade barrier and one that the United States should take seriously.”
benton.org/node/147449 | nextgov
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TELECOM MONOPOLIES
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: William Wallis]
Between 1985 and 2000 Nigeria mysteriously spent more than $5 billion digitalizing a landline telephone network that ended up with just 300,000 connected users. At the time, Germany’s Siemens had a dominant share of contracts from state owned Nigerian Telecommunications Nitel. Nitel is now defunct, Siemens had to pay fines in Europe for bribing Nigerian officials, and a former Nigerian telecommunications minister, David Mark, now senate president, must rue the day he once declared that “telephones are not for ordinary people.” They weren’t back in the 1990s – only one in 300 Nigerians had a line. The likes of France Telecom, BT, Vodafone and other big international telecoms companies misread this fact when Nigeria auctioned off GSM licenses in 2001. The companies decided against entering the market because they felt it was too risky and there were insufficient Nigerians with enough money to afford a phone to make investment worthwhile. The problem across Africa, however, was not that ordinary people did not have money for phones but the extraordinarily inefficient way in which state owned telecoms monopolies had been run.
benton.org/node/147478 | Financial Times
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MEXICO TELECOM REFORM
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Nacha Cattan, Crayton Harrison]
Lawmakers from Mexico’s three biggest parties plan to present a wide-ranging telecommunications bill that ends a longstanding limit on foreign investment, one of the proposal’s architects said. The legislation, to be backed by President Enrique Pena Nieto, also will define the way cable and satellite companies should work with broadcasters, said Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo, an official with the opposition Democratic Revolution Party who has helped draft the bill. In addition, it will provide regulators with greater recourse against providers that break the rules. The goal is to create more competition in the $30 billion- a-year Mexican communications industry, which is dominated by a handful of the country’s richest people. Smaller carriers that have struggled to compete against billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil (AMXL) SAB, for instance, could seek takeovers from non- Mexican companies for the first time.
benton.org/node/147477 | Bloomberg
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