April 24, 2013 (Bob Edgar)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2013
How the Internet Can Benefit Older Americans and A Status Update on the Development of Voluntary Do-Not-Track Standards http://benton.org/calendar/2013-04-24/
POLICYMAKERS
Common Cause President Bob Edgar Dies at 69 - press release
Edward de Grazia, Lawyer Who Fought Censorship of Books, Is Dead at 86 [links to web]
Groups Want FCC Commissioners Focused on Boosting Minority Ownership
Conservatives want humble FCC chief
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Internet tax supporters promise to allow amendments
The Senate moves to close the Internet sales tax loophole - editorial
Democrats' bill would subsidize Internet service
As Internet gets faster, Hong Kong and South Korea lead the broadband speed derby
Cox Goes National With Connect2Compete Initiative
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
FirstNet Names GM
How Could FirstNet Have Helped in the Boston Marathon Bombing?
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Charlie Ergen's Rational Exuberance - analysis
Senate Communications Subcommittee Postpones Wireless Hearing [links to web]
Comcast: Unlicensed Spectrum Now Top Route to Web Access [links to web]
FCC Outlines Band Plan Workshop [links to web]
Study: Voice-activated texting while driving no safer than typing [links to web]
Comcast: Unlicensed Spectrum Now Top Route to Web Access [links to web]
5G doesn’t exist yet. Let’s stop abusing the term - analysis [links to web]
PRIVACY
Privacy groups urge FTC to reject delay in children's privacy rules
Senate Tees Up 'Do Not Track' Oversight
How college students can maintain online privacy [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity bill CISPA tramples on Fourth Amendment rights - editorial
Twitter's hacking problem
Cybercrime's easiest prey: Small businesses [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Cable Operators Will Consolidate To Grab Commercial Customers: Moody’s
What would the Koch brothers do to the Los Angeles Times? - analysis
Koch downplays report of newspaper-company purchase [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
The Check Is in the Mail, From Apple
As iPhone Growth Slows, Apple’s iPad Sales Surge [links to web]
AT&T Sales Miss Estimates Amid Decline in Landline Business [links to web]
Facebook escalates lobbying spending [links to web]
RESEARCH
Big Data’s Usability Problem [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Germany’s Complicated Relationship With Google Street View - analysis [links to web]
Britain proposes airwaves shake-up to meet broadband demand [links to web]
Huawei ‘not interested in the US any more’ [links to web]
In Japan, Television Viewing Doesn't Have to Take a Back Seat [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
New Campaign Finance Reform Bill Introduced [links to web]
SEC Gets Plea: Force Companies to Disclose Donations [links to web]
Advertisers look for ways to follow consumers [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
BOB EDGAR
[SOURCE: Common Cause, AUTHOR: Press release]
Bob Edgar, president and CEO of Common Cause, died suddenly at his home on April 23. He was 69. "We are deeply saddened and shaken today by the passing of Bob Edgar," said Common Cause Board Chair Robert Reich. "Bob will be remembered for his decency, kindness, compassion and humor. His deep commitment to social justice and strengthening our democracy is his greatest gift to Common Cause and the nation. Our hearts are with Bob’s family, his wife Merle, and sons Andrew, David and Rob, and their families." Bob, who served Pennsylvania in Congress for 12 years and also led the National Council of Churches, became the president and CEO of Common Cause in May 2007. He oversaw the relaunching of at least seven state chapters, travelled tirelessly to meet with and recruit Common Cause supporters and raised the organization’s national profile and its critical mission to strengthen our democracy. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974 to represent the Seventh Congressional District of Pennsylvania, Bob was part of the congressional class nicknamed "the Watergate babies," those elected in the wake of the Watergate scandal and who led sweeping reforms of Congress.
benton.org/node/150239 | Common Cause
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MINORITY OWNERSHIP AND THE FCC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Fifty organizations, most representing minority constituencies, have asked the White House to nominate two new Federal Communications Commission commissioners - including a replacement chairman - who will make minority and female participation in media a priority. They did not suggest any candidate by name. In a letter to President Barack Obama, the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, the NAACP, the Benton Foundation and a veritable host of others put in a plug for a laundry list of proposals, some pending for more than a decade. "In the next three years, FCC will be called upon to modernize our telephone systems, rationalize our spectrum policy, and achieve your administration's goals of universal broadband access, adoption and informed use," they wrote. "As part of the unprecedented transformation of our economy from the industrial to the digital age, it is imperative that the FCC has leaders firmly committed to delivering first class digital citizenship to all Americans, including historically marginalized populations."
benton.org/node/150271 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CONSERVATIVES WANT HUMBLE FCC CHIEF
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso, Jennifer Martinez]
A coalition of conservative groups is urging President Barack Obama to pick a new Federal Communications Commission chairman who will take a light touch with new regulations. "We need regulators who can resist the frequent urge to 'do something' about problems that are rapidly mooted by technological change anyway. Often, government’s best response is to do nothing," the conservative groups wrote in the letter to President Obama and Senate leaders. The letter, which was signed by TechFreedom, Heritage Action, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Americans for Tax Reform and others, counters the pleas from liberal groups for an aggressive regulator to lead the FCC. The conservatives argued that regulators should intervene only to protect consumers from real harms and with "economically sound rules that are flexible enough (and occasionally even encourage) technological progress."
benton.org/node/150278 | Hill, The
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
ONLINE SALES BILL AMENDMENTS?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The sponsors of Internet sales tax legislation promised to allow floor votes on all relevant amendments. "We want those members who have germane and relevant amendments to come forward," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "We want to have an opportunity to debate and vote on it." But he emphasized that because the legislation only affects state tax revenue, he would seek to block any amendments related to federal revenue. Sen Durbin said the sponsors "bent over backwards" to address concerns about small online businesses and said that fewer than 1,000 online retailers would likely be covered by the bill because of the current exemption. The sponsors also rejected the suggestion that states should be able to opt-out of having their retailers collect online sales taxes. Bill co-sponsor Sen Mike Enzi (D-WY) warned that such an amendment would encourage all online retailers to re-locate, at least legally, to states without sales taxes. "It's not a compromise," Sen Enzi said. Bringing the bill directly to the Senate floor skipped over Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), whose panel has jurisdiction over tax issues. On April 22, Chairman Baucus offered to hold a hearing and committee vote on the bill in the next Senate work period. But the sponsors said they have no plans to pull their bill now.
benton.org/node/150274 | Hill, The
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MARKETPLACE FAIRNESS ACT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] If you ever used eBay, you probably received a scary e-mail this week. The Senate is threatening small businesses, it warned. Complain to your legislators, it pleaded. Actually, it isn’t, and you shouldn’t. Senators appear ready to deflect the pressure. They advanced a bill that would allow states to collect sales tax from out-of-state online vendors. This will level the playing field for stores that have a physical presence, which are already charging tax on all local purchases. That is fair for retailers, good for state budgets and even beneficial for consumers who would rather shop in person. The Senate should follow through and pass the bill,
benton.org/node/150273 | Washington Post
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BROADBAND ADOPTION ACT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
A group of House Democrats introduced legislation that would subsidize broadband Internet service for the poor. The Broadband Adoption Act, authored by Rep. Dorris Matsui (D-CA), would expand the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program, which currently pays for landline or cellphone service. The bill is co-sponsored by House Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman (D-CA), communications subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and five other Democrats. Subscribers would have to choose whether they wanted to use the federal funds to cover landline service, cellphone service or Internet service. In an effort to reform the program, the FCC last year toughened its eligibility standards and created a database to ensure that multiple companies were not receiving subsidies to provide service to the same customer. The FCC claims the reforms saved $200 million last year and are on track to save $400 million this year. The Broadband Adoption Act would require the FCC to expand those efforts. Rep Matsui introduced similar legislation last Congress, but the Commerce Committee never took it up.
benton.org/node/150275 | Hill, The | FCC Chairman Genachowski | FCC Commissioner Clyburn | B&C | ars technica
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HONG KONG, SOUTH KOREA LEAD THE BROADBAND SPEED DERBY
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
The Internet saw its average peak connection speed jump almost 35 percent at the end of last year, even as more and more people started accessing vital (and trivial) Internet services through their mobile devices, according to the latest edition of Akamai’s State of the Internet report for the three months ending December 31, 2012. Akamai calculates the speeds and other data included in the report based on activity on the Akamai network.
South Korea had an average speed of 14 Mbps while Japan came in second with 10.8 Mbps and the U.S. came in the eighth spot with 7.4 Mbps.
Hong Kong came in first with peak speed of 57.5 Mbps while South Korea came in at 49.3 Mbps. The United States came in 13th at 31.5 Mbps.
Global broadband adoption rates are closer to 42 percent while high broadband (higher than 10 Mbps) adoption rates are at 11 percent. In South Korea, nearly 49 percent of connections qualify as high-broadband, followed by Japan with 39 percent and the U.S. at 19 percent. South Korea has 86 percent broadband penetration, while the U.S. stands at 64 percent.
The average connection speeds on surveyed mobile networks ranged from just over 8.0 Mbps to 345 kbps.
benton.org/node/150245 | GigaOm
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COX AND CONNECT2COMPETE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Jeff Baumgartner]
Following a string of launches last year, Cox Communications has gone national with the rollout of a discounted Internet product that’s linked to the cable industry-backed Connect2Compete initiative. The Connect2Compete program targets low-income families with children that qualify for the National Free School Lunch program. Cox is offering its Starter Internet service to eligible families for $9.95 per month for two years, including free installation and modem rental fees. The program also offers access to low-cost computers and free digital literacy training to families. Connect2Compete is the cable operator-backed public-private partnership for broadband deployment and adoption to low-income households who are not currently broadband subs. C2C was launched by the Federal Communications Commission last November, expanding on Comcast's Internet Essentials model. Comcast's program, now in its second year and a voluntary commitment tied to its acquisition of NBC Universal, has signed up more than 100,000 families so far. C2C, meanwhile, has a three-year goal of raising $20 million to help provide computers, access and training.
benton.org/node/150264 | Multichannel News
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
FIRSTNET BOARD MEETING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
FirstNet, which is overseeing the creation of an interoperable broadband emergency network for first responders, has named Bill D'Agostino Jr. as general manager of the herculean project. D'Agostino was most recently executive director for Verizon Wireless in Southern California. “[D]eploying this nationwide network will require an unprecedented level of public-private partnership, collaboration and shared commitment that leverages existing infrastructure for the well-being of all Americans. I look forward to working with you all, and taking on this historical task,” said D'Agostino.
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board also adopted a resolution authorizing FirstNet Board member Sue Swenson to begin negotiations with the state of Texas to enter into a spectrum lease agreement for its public safety broadband project. The state of Texas has used grant funds administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a project to install next-generation public safety broadband networks in Harris County. This project has been using the spectrum licensed to FirstNet under a Special Temporary Authorization granted by the Federal Communications Commission. Under the process approved by the FirstNet Board, Swenson will enter into a 90-day period for negotiations to seek an agreement with the state of Texas. If the negotiation concludes successfully within that 90-day window, and the Board approves the agreement, FirstNet then would execute a spectrum lease with the grantee.
benton.org/node/150272 | Broadcasting&Cable | National Telecommunications and Information Administration | Bill D’Agostino, Jr. | FirstNet |
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FISTNET AND BOSTON
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Rachelle Chong]
During the FirstNet board meeting held April 23, the Boston Marathon bombing was raised and how this future public safety broadband network might have helped in this type of terrorist bombing situation. FirstNet Board Chairman Sam Ginn felt that “Congress got it right” because FirstNet will build state-of-the-art LTE infrastructure that will allow downloads of video transmission, uploading of camera images, and photos of persons to be swiftly disseminated to law enforcement across jurisdictions. Board member Charles “Chuck” Dowd, deputy chief, New York City Policy Department, gave a further example of bomb squads from various jurisdictions pooling their expertise and working together using real-time, high definition video to help the local bomb squad deal with a particular device.
benton.org/node/150242 | Government Technology
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
DISH-SPRINT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Holman Jenkins Jr]
[Commentary] Charlie Ergen's proposal to combine his satellite TV broadcaster Dish Network with wireless operator Sprint is so visionary it puts us in mind of other visionary deals: AOL and Time Warner, the Vivendi Universal merger of telecom and entertainment properties, the Mike Armstrong-era attempt to bundle cable with the old AT&T long-distance backbone. The leap between the visionary idea and the successful business strategy discovers in midair a lot of niggling finer points that weren't obvious previously. Ergen brings one great asset to his project, his quietly accumulated collection of high-quality radio spectrum to greatly augment Sprint's own spectrum assets. His plan—to deliver consumers a full array of digital services at home and on the road via satellite broadcast and wireless broadband—is not crazy. Ergen concedes that wireless won't be a substitute for the gigabit-speed services consumers may someday want in their homes, at least if they happen to live in the 80% of the country supposedly now reached by high-speed cable or fiber. But he's betting that even millions in those areas will settle for one bill and mobile flexibility. In fact, these customers might hardly notice a difference since the new wireless standards theoretically support most of the services now available on fixed networks, including hi-def video. The bigger picture here concerns the woe-is-us refrain that holds that Americans are captives of uncompeting wireless and broadband oligopolies. It will probably take years for Washington fully to abandon this unpenetrating and static meme, but the Dish proposal points to the reasons it was misguided all along.
benton.org/node/150284 | Wall Street Journal
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PRIVACY
DON’T DELAY PRIVACY RULES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Privacy advocates urged the Federal Trade Commission to reject a proposed delay in rules aimed at protecting the privacy of children online. In a letter to FTC Chairman Edith Ramirez, the groups argued that delaying the rules, as app-makers have requested, would be "unwarranted," "harmful to children" and "undermine the goals of both Congress and the FTC." The letter was signed by the Benton Foundation, Consumers Union, the Center for Digital Democracy, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and others. App developers have asked the FTC to delay the implementation of the rules until Jan. 1, 2014, saying they need more time to ensure their products are in compliance. But the privacy groups argue that companies have had plenty of time to adjust their privacy policies since the FTC announced the new rules in December. Although the FTC has yet to issue a "Frequently Asked Questions" document, it has already provided an advisory and other guidance to businesses on how to comply with the rules, the groups said.
benton.org/node/150246 | Hill, The | read the letter | Washington Post | AdWeek
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DNT OVERSIGHT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Majority staff memo for the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on an online "do not track" (DNT) regime makes it clear that the hearing will address government oversight of voluntary initiatives, as well as a bill from Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) mandating such a regime. In March, Chairman Rockefeller reintroduced legislation that would require companies who collect personal information online to get the affirmative permission of the person whose information is being collected. Violators could be fined up to $15 million. He said last week in announcing the oversight hearing that industry needs to do more, a point also made by new Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. According to the memo for the April 24 hearing, the issues it plans to address include online behavioral advertising self-regulatory principles, the online ad industry's icon-based DNT opt-out offerings, browser-based DNT options, the ongoing development of a worldwide DNT standard from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Obama Administration's Privacy Bill of Rights, which suggested that DNT was one way to provide consumers with control over their information.
benton.org/node/150266 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CYBERSECURITY
CISPA AND THE FOURTH AMENDMENT
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Silicon Valley's members of Congress know that cybersecurity can be accomplished without destroying Americans' online privacy. It's too bad that the House of Representatives didn't listen to them. Now it's up to the Senate or, if it fails, a presidential veto to stop the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, known as CISPA, in its current form. Congress goes to extremes to guard Americans' Second Amendment right to own guns, but it's all too willing to trample Fourth Amendment rights to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Rep Zoe Lofgren says the current version of CISPA threatens to throw out the Constitution "whenever something bad happens." Valley companies are largely in favor of the bill. Sharing information about cyberattacks has significant value to them, and freeing them from liability is a bonus. Proponents say companies will be guarded about turning over information because they have an interest in protecting consumers' privacy rights, but the risk is far too high. The California Legislature is examining a bill, AB 1291, that would increase consumer protection online, requiring companies to fully inform them of any personal data that's being collected and shared for business purposes. But it wouldn't offer protections from CISPA if the feds claimed there was a cyberthreat, unless the Senate or Obama acts. Online commerce is a huge part of our economy. Users should have a reasonable expectation that government won't trample their rights. CISPA is weighted in favor of government spying with little Fourth Amendment protection. It has to be amended or stopped.
benton.org/node/150283 | San Jose Mercury News
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TWITTER SECURITY
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
Twitter has a hacking problem — and the White House is only the latest casualty. An attack April 23 targeting the Twitter account for The Associated Press — where hackers suggested a fake bombing injured the president — threatens a company that previously has been slapped by federal regulators for inadequate privacy and security practices. The breach is a serious issue for Twitter, which no longer can label itself a basic communications service. To many, the furious, constant stream of 140-character bursts is where millions of users around the world read and share the news — and updates made surreptitiously by hackers on trusted accounts can rattle markets and more. The latest incident came when the AP's Twitter account dispatched a false update to its nearly 2 million followers: “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” The AP quickly corrected the tweet to its wire subscribers and promised additional information, and the White House itself confirmed the president was safe.
benton.org/node/150263 | Politico
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OWNERSHIP
CABLE CONCENTRATION
[SOURCE: Deadline New York, AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
Over the next five years or so the cable industry “will consolidate to around 3-4 dominant cable operators, which will have sizeable footprints,” Moody’s Investors Service SVP Neil Begley said. The big guys will start to snap up smaller operators, and swap systems, because it will help them compete with phone companies to attract business customers. “Business services, primarily including voice and data, will be the largest single growth driver for cable over the next decade as residential services growth stagnates,” Begley says. Commercial customers soon will spend about $80 billion per year for voice, video, and Internet, and cable operators just collected $7.5 billion from them last year. But cable has a problem because operators’ systems “are like a jigsaw puzzle of efficiency customized to serve the residential customer” but are “inefficient or insufficient to serve multi-location commercial customers compared to most telecom competitors.” The problem is especially acute for mid-sized companies including Cox, Charter, and Cequel Communications, forcing them to choose to be either buyers or sellers.
benton.org/node/150262 | Deadline New York
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KOCH BROTHERS AND LA TIMES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Harold Meyerson]
[Commentary] On May 21, Los Angeles voters will go to the polls to select a new mayor. Who will govern Los Angeles, however, is only the second-most important local question in the city today. The most important, by far, is who will buy the Los Angeles Times. The Times is one of the eight daily newspapers now owned by the creditors who took control of the Tribune Co. after real estate wheeler-dealer Sam Zell drove it into bankruptcy. Others include the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Orlando Sentinel and the Hartford Courant. The Tribune board members whom the creditors selected want to unload the papers in favor of more money-making ventures. Fans of newspapers are a jumpy lot these days. And in the past couple of weeks, their apprehension has gone through the roof with word that right-wing billionaires Charles and David Koch are looking to buy all eight papers. The Koch boys, whose oil-and-gas-based fortune places them just behind Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison as the wealthiest Americans, have been among the chief donors to the tea party wing of the Republican Party. Their political funding vehicle, Americans for Prosperity, ranked with casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson among the largest funders of right-wing causes and candidates in 2012. Their purchase offer won’t be buttressed by a record of involvement in or commitment to journalism on their part. But it will come complete with a commitment to journalism as a branch of right-wing ideology. The bankers’ men on the Tribune board likely view the sale of the papers as a financial transaction, pure and simple. But Times readers (and the Koch brothers themselves) would view a sale to the Kochs as a political transaction first and foremost, turning L.A.’s metropolitan daily into a right-wing mouthpiece whose commitment to empirical journalism would be unproven at best. A newspaper isn’t just a business; it’s also a civic trust. The money men who have been plunked down on the Tribune board should remember that as they sell off the civic chronicles of some of America’s great cities.
benton.org/node/150277 | Washington Post
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COMPANY NEWS
REBATE FROM APPLE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nick Bilton]
Over the next few days, some customers who purchased an iPhone 4 in 2010 will receive a check for $15 in the mail. The checks are part of a class action settled by Apple last year after mobile customers complained about call reception on the iPhone 4. The problem turned out to be with the phone’s antenna reception, and quickly became an Internet obsession in 2010. At the time, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, famously told one customer: “Just avoid holding it that way.” Before long, the problem was labeled The Death Grip and Antennagate. Apple eventually admitted a problem with the phone’s hardware, and an Apple hardware executive left the company. Jobs apologized publicly, one of the few times he did so at Apple. “We are human and we make mistakes sometimes,” he said. Apple last year agreed to a settlement of $53 million.
benton.org/node/150270 | New York Times
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