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May 2013

Mary Meeker Peers Into the Future of Mobile, Wearables and Facebook

Mary Meeker, the Internet analyst, has become something of a legend in the tech world for her annual Internet Trends report. Here are some major takeaways from her latest:

  • Mobile Is Moving Fast -- There are about 2.4 billion Internet users worldwide, a gain of 8 percent from 2012, driven largely by emerging markets like Iran and Indonesia. And there are 1.5 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, compared with 1.1 billion a year earlier. That’s roughly 30 percent growth. In addition, mobile makes up 15 percent of Internet traffic over all.
  • Wearables, Sharables, Drivables, Flyables -- The next few decades will be about wearable computing, like Google glass and fitness tracking bracelets, as well as new gadget categories like drones and smarter cars. That, in turn, will drive the personal data revolution.
  • The Personal Data Revolution – The amount of personal data from wearables, videos and even sound files that we upload to the Web is growing exponentially and will continue to grow.
  • Facebook Is Still the King of Social Media
  • The Rise of the Visual Web -- On average, more than 500 million photos are shared each day. Meeker expects that figure to double year over year.
  • Americans Share Less Than the Rest of the World -- On average, 24 percent of the world says they share “most or everything” that they do. But only 15 percent of Americans admitted to sharing nearly everything online.

Privacy and data security: why should investors care?

[Commentary] Looking for a mortgage? Tell us how much you owe and how much you earn. Think you might have a health problem? Tell us your age, gender and medical history. Want to buy a new pair of shoes? Please provide your size, preferred color, style and zip code – and, by the way, how did that last pair work out for you?

These inquiries may seem like a slight nuisance, but the repercussions are broad. As the global economy shifts to a digital economy, data has become the lifeforce of commerce. Big data is big business, presenting enormous opportunities for economic growth. But not without risk – data privacy and security have quickly become critical business and social risks, leading us to question whether, in fact, our secrets are safe.

How are companies handling those vast terabytes of personal information? Have adequate measures been taken to ensure it can't be hacked by foreign governments, criminals, or thrill-seeking computer activists? And do the companies we place our faith in have appropriate policies and practices to ensure they're protecting the privacy we as consumers want and demand?

[Natasha Lamb is vice president, shareholder advocacy and corporate engagement, at Trillium Asset Management LLC; Corey Johnson is sustainability research analyst at Pax World Funds; Michael Connor is executive director of Open MIC, a non-profit organization that works with companies and investors on open media issues.]

CBS' Marty Franks Retiring

Martin Franks, executive VP of planning, policy and government affairs for CBS, is retiring effective Sept. 30.

Franks has been instrumental in CBS' retransmission negotiations and has been a top executive, based out of both New York and Washington. "It is with considerable reluctance that I have accepted Marty Franks' decision to retire, effective Sept. 30. At the same time, of course, I wish him nothing but the very best in that retirement," CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves said in an e-mail to staffers.

"The CBS we know today would not have been possible without Marty's contributions over the past 25 years," he wrote. "His achievements are almost too numerous to mention. For example, he was instrumental in enacting Retransmission Consent, and then helped turn it into what is now a fast-growing, nine-figure revenue source for our Company. Marty also played a key role in helping repeal the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules that helped make it possible for broadcast networks to own the programs we air, and then syndicate them both at home and abroad. As a result, our CSI franchise alone has earned more than $3 billion for the Company, and the ownership of content has become a cornerstone of our success.”

Newsweek confirms it is eyeing sale

Newsweek CEO Baba Shetty and editor-in-chief Tina Brown have sent a memo to staff confirming earlier reports that parent-company IAC is exploring a sale of the now online-only magazine.

In the memo, Shetty and Brown attributed the exploration of a sale to a desire to focus their full attention on The Daily Beast, Newsweek's sister website. "The simple reason is focus. Newsweek is a powerful brand, but its demands have taken attention and focus away from The Daily Beast," they wrote. "The story that hasn't been told about The Daily Beast is its strength. Deidre Depke and her team have earned the Webby for Best News site for two years running. Our traffic is up significantly yet again this year. And digital ad sales in a very tough environment are up 30% year to date." The news comes five months after Newsweek folded its print edition, and one month after IAC chief Barry Diller expressed regret about buying the magazine.

May 29, 2013 (SoftBank-Sprint)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013

See Headlines updates throughout the day https://twitter.com/benton_fdn


OWNERSHIP
   SoftBank and Sprint Said to Win National Security Clearance for Deal
   Crest urges changing Clearwire minority vote threshold
   Hulu Bidding War Heats Up
   Smartphones: Patent wars set to continue - analysis [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   All Data Packets Are Equal—Some More than Others - analysis
   Data Caps and 1-800 Numbers - analysis
   President Obama to discuss cybersecurity with China's Xi: White House [links to web]
   Google Fiber Has ‘Good Shot’ at Profitability: Analysts
   The Google Perspective: Gigabit Internet in Local Governments [links to web]
   A gigabit is not enough. New research takes us to 400Gbps. [links to web]
   Hey parents! The internet of things might just be your new best friend [links to web]
   Pentagon cyber leak reveals contractor tensions [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Court: FCC, Tennis Channel Failed To Make Discrimination Case Against Comcast

TELECOM
   Senate Pursues Resolution on Rural Call Completion
   Sorenson To Pay $15.75 Million To Settle Investigation Into Improper Billing Of TRS Fund - press release [links to web]
   Cable companies lose TV subscribers, but rake in more cash
   Smartphones: Patent wars set to continue - analysis [links to web]

CONTENT
   Facebook Says It Failed to Bar Posts With Hate Speech

PRIVACY
   Unprecedented e-mail privacy bill sent to Texas governor’s desk
   Google is flirting with what company chairman Eric Schmidt once called 'the creepy line.' - analysis [links to web]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   FEMA Promotes Its Wireless Emergency Alert System
   Pentagon cyber leak reveals contractor tensions [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   EU Sets Swift Telecom Revamp
   EU to Ask More of Google
   Cuban Centers to Offer a Costly Glimpse of the Web
   France Telecom changes name to Orange [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Former EPA Chief Lisa Jackson to Join Apple [links to web]
   Your Kids Have the Same Media Habits as You Do [links to web]

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OWNERSHIP

SOFTBANK WINS NATIONAL SECURITY CLEARANCE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael de la Merced]
SoftBank of Japan has reached a tentative agreement to win national security clearance for its $20.1 billion bid for Sprint Nextel, surmounting one of the biggest hurdles to the deal. To pass the review by a government panel, both SoftBank and Sprint agreed to a number of concessions, people briefed on the matter said. For example, the companies will give the United States veto power over a director on the new Sprint’s board, the member who would be responsible for overseeing compliance with national security, these people said. The government panel, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, had until midnight May 28 to render its verdict. An announcement by the two companies could come as soon as May 29, one of these people said.
benton.org/node/152713 | New York Times
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CREST ON SPRINT-CLEARWIRE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sinead Carew]
Crest Financial, an investor in Clearwire, said that the voting threshold for approval of Sprint Nextel’s purchase of Clearwire should exclude strategic investors such as Comcast and Intel. Strategic investors Intel, Comcast and Bright House Networks have already committed to vote their collective 26 percent of the minority shares in favor of the deal at a special meeting of shareholders scheduled for Friday, May 31. Crest, which is leading a proxy battle against the deal, argued that the strategic shares are "pledged to support Sprint regardless of the alternatives available" and that Sprint is obliged to purchase these shares even if it loses the Clearwire vote. Crest, which owns roughly 8 percent of Clearwire's public shares, said that "for all intents and purposes these are Sprint shares, and their votes should not be counted as minority approval." Crest also urged Clearwire shareholders to vote against the deal.
benton.org/node/152711 | Reuters
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HULU BIDDING
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Maura McGowan]
While the bidding fracas over Hulu begins to take on the dimensions of an all-out war, it appears that the brand's suitors are unwilling to pay anywhere near its $2 billion valuation. Yahoo announced it would throw its hat into the ring, and the reported bid (between $600 million and $800 million) is the largest that has been leaked thus far. Trouble is, it only accounts for between 30 percent to 40 percent of Hulu's year-ago value. Marissa Mayer's gambit comes on the heels of Yahoo’s $1.1 billion investment in the revenue-challenged microblogging site Tumblr. Other Hulu suitors include DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and the Chernin Group, as well as the private equity firms Guggenheim Digital, KKR & Co and Silverlake Partners. One factor in the declining valuation of Hulu is its loss of market share. Not only has Hulu been dominated by the 800-lb. gorilla that is Google, but it is also losing ground to ad-supported video services such as BrightRoll, LiveRail and Adap.TV.
benton.org/node/152703 | AdWeek
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

NETWORK NEUTALITY UNDER ASSAULT
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: David Talbot]
Verizon will try to persuade a federal judge to throw out Federal Communications Commission regulations requiring “network neutrality”—the idea that all content and applications must get similar treatment on wired and wireless networks. But even beyond the court fight, the concept is under a diffuse and broad assault. Experts warn that the end of net neutrality would mean that deep-pocketed content providers could squeeze others out. Network neutrality is being eroded on several fronts. New content deals and services are increasingly pushing against the concept. And a crop of emerging wireless routing technologies—ones that prioritize data in sophisticated ways—are challenging the concept that all data packets are equal. So in some ways, the regulations are already being skirted. “There are some apparent loopholes that can be exploited, and the providers are exploiting them,” says John Bergmayer, a staff attorney with Public Knowledge, an open-Internet group in Washington, D.C. “The arguments get complex because what they are doing is more subtle.”
benton.org/node/152729 | Technology Review
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DATA CAPS AND 1-800 NUMBERS
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Michael Weinberg]
[Commentary] Recently we have seen stories about wireless carriers “offering” content creators the opportunity to pay to exempt their content from data caps. We pointed out that this type of arrangement is exactly the type of thing that net neutrality is supposed to prevent. However, some wireless carriers have defended it as merely a modern day 1-800 number. What they forget is that 1-800 numbers did not exist in a vacuum. Yes, 1-800 numbers allowed businesses to make incoming calls free to customers by picking up the charge. In that sense, they superficially resemble a scheme where certain content is exempted from data caps. But stopping there kind of misses the point. 1-800 numbers exist within a larger regulatory framework that protects consumers (and the businesses that use them) from abuse at the hands of the phone company. This framework, known to telecom attorneys as “Title II” (after the part of the law that governs phone networks) establishes the rules that allow the phone network to function in a reliable, affordable way.
While there are many parts of Title II, the overarching concept is established in the first section: “All charges, practices, classifications, and regulations for an in connection with such communications service, shall be just and reasonable, and any such charge, practice, classification, or regulation that is unjust or unreasonable is declared to be unlawful.”
And the second section: “It shall be unlawful for any common carrier to make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services …”
Sounds good, right?
benton.org/node/152701 | Public Knowledge
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GOOGLE FIBER PROFITABILITY
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Jeff Baumgartner]
It’s “quite plausible” that Google Fiber’s deployment in the Kansas Cities will deliver an attractive internal rate of return (IRR) based on anticipated costs and expected demand for services, while also representing a scenario that could be replicated in other markets, Sanford C. Bernstein concluded in a report. Google Fiber has “a good shot at being profitable” while also doing some damage to incumbent service providers over the long haul, noted report authors Carlos Kirjner and Ram Parameswaran. Bernstein foresees probability occurring in two different scenarios – one in which Google Fiber is able to crank out highly attractive IRRs of greater than 35%, as well as an “overly pessimistic” view that generates an IRR of just 12% -- still slightly above Google’s cost of capital. The level of success will be determined in part by how differentiated Google Fiber’s services are, if Google Fiber can sustain high service penetrations, and if it can scale economically without compromising service quality, the report said. Among other key factors: the penetration of homes passed when Google first starts to deploy the network, and the service penetrations achieved during the first five years.
benton.org/node/152689 | Multichannel News
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TELEVISION

COMCAST-TENNIS CHANNEL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has unanimously ruled that Comcast did not violate the Federal Communications Commission's program carriage rules. "The Commission has failed to identify adequate evidence of unlawful discrimination," the court concluded. It did not reach issues regarding the First Amendment or statute of limitations. In writing for the majority, Judge Stephen Williams wrote that the court concluded that the commission "has nothing to refute Comcast's contention that its rejection of Tennis' proposal was simply a straight-up financial analysis." In essence, the court was agreeing with Comcast that Tennis had not shown how its proposal of wider carriage provided any business benefit to the cable operator that it would be forgoing to favor its own co-owned networks. Cable operators are allowed to discriminate in carriage so long as it is not for anticompetitive reasons.
benton.org/node/152692 | Broadcasting&Cable | Deadline New York | The Hill | D.C. Cir.
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TELECOM

RURAL CALL COMPLETION
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
A group of U.S. senators has introduced a resolution highlighting the negative impact when telephone calls are not completed to rural areas and asking the Federal Communications Commission to “impose swift and meaningful enforcement actions” against telephone companies that do not complete those calls. “Telephone communications are vital to keeping rural areas of the United States competitive in the economy, and a low rate of telephone call completion results in economic injury to rural businesses, including farmers, trucking companies and suppliers who have seen thousands of dollars in business lost when telephone calls are not completed,” states Senate resolution 157, introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tim Johnson (D- SD), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and others. The four-page resolution cites several industry studies about the rural call completion problem, including an April 2012 study that found that 6.4% of calls to rural areas failed but only .5% of calls to urban areas failed, and an October 2012 survey showing a 41% increase in uncompleted calls between March and September of the same year. The resolution doesn’t discuss why this phenomenon is occurring, but it is widely believed that some long-distance carriers, or the least cost routers that they use to complete calls, are deliberately failing to connect calls to some rural areas in order to avoid paying per-minute access charges on those calls.
benton.org/node/152688 | telecompetitor
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CABLE LOSES SUBSCRIBERS
[SOURCE: American Public Media, AUTHOR: Ben Johnson]
One of the biggest television news stories over the long weekend didn't really have a lot to do with television as we've come to know it. Instead everybody was talking about Netflix. The streaming media company debuted the fourth season of cult comedy TV show Arrested Development on Sunday. But while cable companies seem to get more competition from the likes of Netflix all the time, they're still better than ever at bringing in cash -- and the most recent earnings from big cable providers prove it. Derek Thompson, business editor at The Atlantic, joins Marketplace Tech host Ben Johnson to discuss the details.
benton.org/node/152686 | American Public Media
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CONTENT

FACEBOOK HATE SPEECH
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tanzina Vega]
Facebook acknowledged that its systems to identify and remove hate speech had not worked effectively, as it faced pressure from feminist groups that want the site to ban pages that glorify violence against women. The activists, who sent more than 5,000 e-mails to Facebook’s advertisers and elicited more than 60,000 posts on Twitter, also prompted Nissan and more than a dozen smaller companies to say that they would withdraw advertising from the site. In a blog post, Facebook said its “systems to identify and remove hate speech have failed to work as effectively as we would like, particularly around issues of gender-based hate.” The company said it would review how it dealt with such content, update training for its employees, increase accountability — including requiring that users use their real identities when creating content — and establish more direct lines of communication with women’s groups and other entities.
benton.org/node/152728 | New York Times | LA Times | Bloomberg
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PRIVACY

TEXAS PRIVACY BILL
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Cyrus Farivar]
Texas appears set to enact the nation’s strongest e-mail privacy bill. The proposed legislation requires state law enforcement agencies to get a warrant for all e-mails regardless of the age of the e-mail. On May 28, the Texas bill (HB 2268) was sent to Gov. Rick Perry’s desk, and he has until June 16, 2013 to sign it or veto it. If he does neither, it will pass automatically and take effect on September 1, 2013. The bill would give Texans more privacy over their inbox to shield against state-level snooping, but the bill would not protect against federal investigations. The bill passed both houses of the state legislature earlier this year without a single "nay" vote. This new bill, if signed, will make Texas law more privacy-conscious than the much-maligned (but frustratingly still in effect) 1986-era Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). With the ECPA, federal law enforcement agencies are only required to get a warrant to access recent e-mails before they are opened by the recipient.
benton.org/node/152723 | Ars Technica
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

FEMA ALERT SYSTEM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jane Levere]
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is releasing new public service advertising, created in conjunction with the Advertising Council, to educate Americans about its wireless emergency alert system. The system, which enables local, state and federal authorized government authorities to send emergency messages through wireless carriers’ networks, started two years ago, but has not been publicized through advertising. The release of the campaign coincides with Hurricane Preparedness Week, which began on Sunday and runs through Saturday. The week, an annual effort coordinated by several government agencies, including FEMA, is intended to inform the public about hurricane hazards and steps to take to prepare for them. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. Wireless emergency alerts — issued for extreme weather like hurricanes, tornadoes or flash foods; Amber Alerts; or alerts from the president about catastrophic disasters — come as text messages that feature a special tone and vibration. No longer than 90 characters, the message discusses the type and time of the alert, action individuals should take, and the issuing agencies. Over 100 wireless carriers offer the free alert service; no subscription is necessary. Alerts are broadcast from cell towers and warn everyone in range who has a device that is capable of receiving a wireless emergency alert. Many new cellphones and smartphones can transmit these messages.
benton.org/node/152727 | New York Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

SWIFT TELECOM REVAMP
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Frances Robinson]
The European Union's telecoms chief set out an ambitious time scale for an overhaul of the bloc's telecom rules, saying a package of initiatives to foster a single market for the industry across Europe would be ready by next Easter but that they won't include plans for a single European regulator. "The speed is badly needed because we are in a crisis," EU Commissioner for Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes said. But it also means that rather than pursuing the "dream" of a single telecoms regulator for all 27 EU countries, "we should be pragmatic...just put in the basket what you really need." Kroes said her full proposals would be detailed in July or August, before being put to EU leaders at their October summit, with the aim of getting the package approved by the European Parliament before it breaks for elections in May 2014. In order to get her reforms implemented as soon as possible, she won't pursue a single regulator. Instead she will suggest that telecoms operators, which currently have to work with the regulator in each country where they are present, pick a "home" regulator and just deal with them. Previous hopes of a single regulator across Europe have been rebuffed by member states, which don't want to cede control to Brussels.
benton.org/node/152694 | Wall Street Journal
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EU TO ASK MORE OF GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Frances Robinson, Tom Fairless]
The European Union's competition watchdog is likely to ask Google to make further concessions to address the concerns of competitors who have complained about the way the Internet search giant displays results, EU Commissioner Joaquín Almunia said. "This market test should have been concluded yesterday, but at the request of some participants we have decided to prolong [by] one month the market test, so at the end of June we will receive the answers," Almunia said in the European Parliament. "After we will analyze the responses…we will ask Google probably, I can't anticipate this formally but almost 100%, we will ask Google to improve the proposals." Almunia said he's looking into a separate complaint that Google uses its cellphone operating system Android to monopolize the mobile marketplace. "We have received a formal complaint regarding some aspects of the Android ecosystem," Almunia said at the hearing before the European Parliament. "We haven't decided if we will open or not a formal investigation."
benton.org/node/152693 | Wall Street Journal
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CUBAN NET ACCESS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Cuban authorities said that they would begin offering public Internet access at more than 100 cybersalons across the island, where residential access is greatly restricted. People can sign up with the state telecom company Etecsa for temporary or permanent accounts to use at one of the 118 centers, according to a measure enacted with its publication in the government’s Official Gazette. Prices are prohibitive. Indeed, some scoffed at the new computer centers’ price tag of $4.50 an hour. That is a stiff fee when state salaries average about $20 per month, although there are an array of subsidized goods and services. “It’s a real bargain,” said a user on the state news Web site Cuba Si who gave the name Osvaldo Ulloa. “I mean, I work for a week and then I can get online for hour — fabulous.” Until now, the Internet has been limited to places like tourist hotels, which charge $8 an hour for Wi-Fi; foreign-run companies; and some sectors of Cuban business and government. Home dial-up accounts are rare and restricted.
benton.org/node/152718 | Associated Press
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All Data Packets Are Equal—Some More than Others

Verizon will try to persuade a federal judge to throw out Federal Communications Commission regulations requiring “network neutrality”—the idea that all content and applications must get similar treatment on wired and wireless networks. But even beyond the court fight, the concept is under a diffuse and broad assault.

Experts warn that the end of net neutrality would mean that deep-pocketed content providers could squeeze others out. Network neutrality is being eroded on several fronts. New content deals and services are increasingly pushing against the concept. And a crop of emerging wireless routing technologies—ones that prioritize data in sophisticated ways—are challenging the concept that all data packets are equal. So in some ways, the regulations are already being skirted. “There are some apparent loopholes that can be exploited, and the providers are exploiting them,” says John Bergmayer, a staff attorney with Public Knowledge, an open-Internet group in Washington, D.C. “The arguments get complex because what they are doing is more subtle.”

Facebook Says It Failed to Bar Posts With Hate Speech

Facebook acknowledged that its systems to identify and remove hate speech had not worked effectively, as it faced pressure from feminist groups that want the site to ban pages that glorify violence against women.

The activists, who sent more than 5,000 e-mails to Facebook’s advertisers and elicited more than 60,000 posts on Twitter, also prompted Nissan and more than a dozen smaller companies to say that they would withdraw advertising from the site. In a blog post, Facebook said its “systems to identify and remove hate speech have failed to work as effectively as we would like, particularly around issues of gender-based hate.” The company said it would review how it dealt with such content, update training for its employees, increase accountability — including requiring that users use their real identities when creating content — and establish more direct lines of communication with women’s groups and other entities.

FEMA Promotes Its Wireless Emergency Alert System

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is releasing new public service advertising, created in conjunction with the Advertising Council, to educate Americans about its wireless emergency alert system.

The system, which enables local, state and federal authorized government authorities to send emergency messages through wireless carriers’ networks, started two years ago, but has not been publicized through advertising. The release of the campaign coincides with Hurricane Preparedness Week, which began on Sunday and runs through Saturday. The week, an annual effort coordinated by several government agencies, including FEMA, is intended to inform the public about hurricane hazards and steps to take to prepare for them. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. Wireless emergency alerts — issued for extreme weather like hurricanes, tornadoes or flash foods; Amber Alerts; or alerts from the president about catastrophic disasters — come as text messages that feature a special tone and vibration. No longer than 90 characters, the message discusses the type and time of the alert, action individuals should take, and the issuing agencies. Over 100 wireless carriers offer the free alert service; no subscription is necessary. Alerts are broadcast from cell towers and warn everyone in range who has a device that is capable of receiving a wireless emergency alert. Many new cellphones and smartphones can transmit these messages.

Smartphones: Patent wars set to continue

Many patent battles continue to rage between technology companies over smartphone designs. Yet in the US, and around the world, few have resulted in significant device bans or damage payments. There is little evidence that the patent wars have slowed the pace of innovation, experts say. Yet for now at least, the legal campaigns largely continue in the hope of an injunction that would block a competitor’s flagship handset from sale, or a royalty agreement to avert such a move.

Your Kids Have the Same Media Habits as You Do

When it comes to technology, you don't stand a chance against your kids.

Born into a digital world, tweens—those age 7-13—have unprecedented access to devices and gadgets. Half of 10- to 13-year-olds have their own cell phone, while 28 percent of all tweens own a tablet, up from 5 percent just two years ago, per The Intelligence Group's Cassandra Report (Winter/Spring 2013). But technology isn’t just for staying in touch (texting now edges out the landline as the preferred way of communicating with friends). For kids, technology is providing a gateway to mimic adult behaviors, like visiting YouTube (53 percent), DVRing (38 percent) and multitasking while watching TV (70 percent).

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