1. Monthly archive
  2. November 2013

November 2013

New America Foundation Misinterprets International Data

[Commentary] While New America Foundation’s 2013 Report has garnered some glowing accolades in the press, the hard reality is that NAF continues to commit numerous technical errors.

At bottom, New America’s claims that “US cities lag behind cities around the world” and that “American consumers take high prices and slow speeds to be a given” are based upon a comparison of the “prices” for services across cities both domestic and international. Suspending disbelief on the price calculations for the moment, the next logical question to ask is what reason do the authors give for this “laggard” status? Because New America’s analysis concludes that our purported laggard status is somehow the result of insufficient competition, New America offers up but a single recommendation: i.e., policymakers should “implement strategies to increase competition.” While such a pedantic recommendation may seem superficially appealing, there is only one small problem with New America’s analysis: Their own data do not support their argument. The data relied upon by New America’s 2013 Cost of Connectivity Report does not permit one to make claims about the US being a laggard due to a lack of having “at least three competitive service providers,” since in all the markets they survey there are at least three providers.

For Teachers, Wired Classrooms Pose New Management Concerns

In a growing number of K-12 schools, the use of 1-to-1 computing devices -- including iPads, laptops, and Chromebooks -- is becoming a central part of instruction. For teachers making the digital leap, one of the greatest hurdles can be figuring out how to manage the tech-infused classroom. How do you keep kids, who suddenly have the Internet at their fingertips, on task? How do you ensure the devices are safe and well-maintained? And how do you compete with your most tech-savvy students?

“I think this is the new frontier frankly with classroom management. We’ve never confronted this,” said Kyle Redford, a 5th grade teacher at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera, CA. Redford’s school introduced iPads in the middle grades in 2010. “I think we were a little wide-eyed and naïve initially. We were letting students guide the exploration into technology,” she said. Since then, she and her colleagues have had detailed discussions about expectations and appropriate use. “Everyone really does need to have these conversations because these tensions are real,” she said. For many teachers, decisions about how to manage the 1-to-1 classroom stem from conversations they have with more experienced peers and, of course, from trial and error. And as more schools introduce personal devices into the classroom, some common solutions to the attendant management problems are emerging.

Transition to Online Testing Sparks Concerns

When tens of millions of schoolchildren sit down at computers to take new common assessments in spring 2015, many of their peers will be taking similar tests the old-fashioned way, with paper and pencil, raising questions about the comparability of results -- as well as educational equity -- on an unprecedented scale.

Both state consortia that are designing tests for the Common Core State Standards are building computer-based assessments, but they will offer paper-and-pencil versions as well, as states transition fully to online testing. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium plans to run the two simultaneous "modes" of testing for three years. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, will do so for at least one year. In order to rely on the results, however, the consortia must show that the paper and computer modes of the tests in English/language arts and mathematics measure the same things. Thorny questions have arisen about whether children who take the paper-and-pencil version of the consortia tests will be at a disadvantage—or perhaps have an edge—compared with their peers who take the computer version. "You can't replicate the interactivity of the computer environment on paper," said one testing expert. "You need to build alternate forms of the test that measure the same standards [on paper]." The fact that paper-and-pencil tests might be more widely used in lower-income areas is something that officials at the Education Trust, which advocates school improvement for disadvantaged students, are keeping an eye on. But those potential questions of equity revolve more around the quality of the assessment—and the teaching that goes with it—than about the mode of the test, they say.

Weekly Digest

Argentina Tackles Media Ownership Concentration

[Editor’s note: In this week’s round-up, new Headlines Writing Associate Rebecca Ellis looks at a significant media policy decision from Argentina that did not get much press here in the U.S. Looking at international coverage in English and Spanish, Ellis offers a take on the Supreme Court of Argentina’s ruling that upholds a new law that limits media ownership concentration.]

November 1, 2013 (Modest Surveillance Reforms)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Wireless 2020: Spectrum Crisis or Broadband Abundance? http://benton.org/calendar/2013-11-01/


GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Senate panel OKs modest surveillance reforms
   Tech companies urge lawmakers to reform NSA programs [links to web]
   Report says US tapped cardinals’ phones ahead of conclave
   US admits surveillance on foreign governments ‘reached too far’ [links to web]
   Angry Over US Surveillance, Tech Giants Bolster Defenses
   Open Government Progress - press release [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Over $32 Million Authorized To Expand Broadband Access In Rural Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska From Connect America Fund - press release
   The Slowest Draw in the West
   New America Foundation Report Finds Municipal Broadband Providers Gouging Consumers - analysis
   Gigabit Desert beginning to look more lush - speech
   Cable Industry Preps Broadband Answer to Gigabit FTTH [links to web]
   Net neutrality RIP? - analysis

WIRELESS
   FAA to Allow Airlines to Expand Use of Personal Electronics - press release
   In a First, Police Ticket a Driver Wearing Google Glass

TELECOM
   Verizon Responds To Public Records Request With More Than Three Hundred Totally Blacked-Out Pages
   Telecoms Selling TV Have Bigger Impact on Cable Firms
   AT&T Said to Explore Vodafone Takeover as Soon as Next Year

RADIO
   Radio Isn’t Going Away - op-ed

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Comcast is donating heavily to defeat the mayor who is bringing gigabit fiber to Seattle

HEALTH
   Why Go To The Doctor When You Can Talk To A Doctor In Your Phone? [links to web]
   The State Department Partners with Coursera to Support Free Education in Over 30 Countries [links to web]

GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
   Can Silicon Valley save the Obamacare site?
   White House Plans A Single FOIA Portal Across Government

POLICYMAKERS
   Chairman Rockefeller Welcomes Sen Booker to the Senate Commerce Committee - press release [links to web]

COMPANY NEWS
   Google Aims for the Next Billion Users With Android KitKat [links to web]
   Facebook Tests Software to Track Your Cursor on Screen [links to web]
   The Stakes Are High for Facebook’s Next Big Ad Product [links to web]
   Comcast could license tech to other US cable operators: executive [links to web]
   Time Warner Cable Reports Record Quarterly Loss of TV Subscribers [links to web]
   Newspapers Reordered in New Count [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Microsoft seeks EU approval for $7.5 billion Nokia deal [links to web]
   AT&T Said to Explore Vodafone Takeover as Soon as Next Year

MORE ONLINE
   On Cyber Trick-or-T(h)reats - press release [links to web]
   IRS warns of telephone tax scam involving fake caller IDs [links to web]

back to top

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

MODEST SURVEILLANCE REFORMS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Josh Gerstein]
The Senate Intelligence Committee approved a set of modest surveillance reforms in an effort supporters of the measure hope will head off other bids to effectively shut down the telephone call-tracking program revealed by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. The intelligence panel voted 11-4 to approve its reform package at a closed meeting that followed two other closed markup sessions earlier this week. The text of the committee bill was not immediately released, nor were the identities of those who voted for and against the measure. However, a summary released by the panel largely tracks with the outlines Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) had given previously of her proposed reforms. Feinstein’s measure would largely convert court-imposed limits on the call-tracking program into statutory requirements. Some new limits would be added, like a requirement that the justification for every query of the database be provided after the fact to the federal court which oversees the program. In addition, a five-year limit on the retention of data would be imposed by law, with records older than three years accessible only with the approval of the attorney general.
benton.org/node/165524 | Politico
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


REPORT SAYS US TAPPED CARDINALS’ PHONES AHEAD OF CONCLAVE
[SOURCE: Religion News Service, AUTHOR: Eric Lyman]
The National Security Agency spied on cardinals as they prepared to select the new pope -- perhaps including even Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who emerged from last spring’s conclave as Pope Francis, news magazine Panorama reported. The same NSA eavesdropping program that angered leaders in Germany, France, Spain and Mexico also listened in on calls to and from the Vatican, including the phones in the Santa Marta guesthouse that housed Bergoglio and the rest of the College of Cardinals.
benton.org/node/165513 | Religion News Service
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


TECH GIANTS BOLSTER DEFENSES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Claire Cain Miller]
Google has spent months and millions of dollars encrypting email, search queries and other information flowing among its data centers worldwide. Facebook’s chief executive said at a conference this fall that the government “blew it.” And though it has not been announced publicly, Twitter plans to set up new types of encryption to protect messages from snoops. It is all reaction to reports of how far the government has gone in spying on Internet users, sneaking around tech companies to tap into their systems without their knowledge or cooperation. What began as a public relations predicament for America’s technology companies has evolved into a moral and business crisis that threatens the foundation of their businesses, which rests on consumers and companies trusting them with their digital lives. So they are pushing back in various ways -- from cosmetic tactics like publishing the numbers of government requests they receive to political ones including tense conversations with officials behind closed doors. And companies are building technical fortresses intended to make the private information in which they trade inaccessible to the government and other suspected spies. Yet even as they take measures against government collection of personal information, their business models rely on collecting that same data, largely to sell personalized ads. So no matter the steps they take, as long as they remain ad companies, they will be gathering a trove of information that will prove tempting to law enforcement and spies.
benton.org/node/165552 | New York Times | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

OVER $32 MILLION AUTHORIZED TO EXPAND BROADBAND ACCESS IN RURAL AREAS FROM CONNECT AMERICA FUND
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Over $32 million in funding to provide new broadband access to over 42,000 unserved homes and businesses in Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska has been authorized from the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund, connecting over 100,000 people who lack service. Currently about 15 million U.S. residents, mostly rural, lack access to fixed broadband. Specifics about this authorization are as follows:
Puerto Rico (territory-wide): $31.6 million to reach 40,736 homes and businesses
Hawaii (Hawaii County): $1 million to reach 1,317 homes and businesses
Alaska (Yukon-Koyukuk Borough): $174,000 to reach 316 homes and businesses
benton.org/node/165473 | Federal Communications Commission | FCC Public Notice
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


SLOWEST DRAW IN THE WEST
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Danielle Kehl]
Once upon a time, America had the fastest Internet in the world. But today, according to our new report, American cities are trailing with vastly slower -- and costlier -- Internet speeds: average speeds around the world are increasing as America falls behind, and the price per megabit (aka the cost of bandwidth) is much higher in the U.S. than in most other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). To put it simply: prices are high, speeds are slower, and there doesn’t seem to be much that consumers can do about it. The Open Technology Institute’s new data gathers the cost of high-speed Internet from 24 cities around the world. What distinguishes our data from many of the other rankings out there is that we focus on the cost of connectivity in big cities -- a way to account for the difficulty of comparing the United States as a whole when it is much larger and more sparsely populated than many countries in Europe or Asia. We present the actual broadband packages that a consumer in New York, Seoul, or Paris might consider subscribing to at home. And we found that in general, American consumers pay higher prices for lower speeds than their international peers.
benton.org/node/165477 | New America Foundation
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


ITIF ON NEW AMERICA REPORT
[SOURCE: Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, AUTHOR: Rob Atkinson]
[Commentary] In its second annual report assessing broadband speeds and prices in various nations, the New America Foundation reports some disturbing findings. But my reason for pointing this out is to show the absurdity of the New America report, for it purports to make the case that US private sector broadband providers charge too much relative to providers in other nations. But if US private sector providers are fat, lazy monopolists earning fat profits, why don’t these municipal providers who charge much higher prices than foreign providers not charge much less? Perhaps they are run by lazy incredibly inefficient government bureaucrats? Perhaps they are paying for welfare for the poor on the backs of the excessive revenues they are extracting from their captive broadband customers? Or perhaps their prices, and the prices of comparable US private sector providers, are in fact, not out of line at all. Of course, the last explanation is the right one.
benton.org/node/165475 | Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


GIGABIT DESERT
[SOURCE: Gig.U, AUTHOR: Blair Levin]
Blair Levin spoke at the Web Summit in Dublin, Ireland on the topic of Gigabit Networks. In his remarks he noted:
“A few years ago, gigabit America was a desert. Now, with a dozen Gig.U communities moving forward, Google Fiber capturing the imagination of many, cities like Chattanooga and Lafayette providing gigabit service, and incumbents like CenturyLink, AT&T and Time-Warner Cable now looking favorably upon upgraded networks, that desert is beginning to look more like a garden.”
“The key to activity in the United States has been enlightened local leadership that recognizes how the quality of the network their community has 10 years from now will affect everything they do and everything they do today affects the quality of the network they will have 10 years from now.”
“It is still early in the transition to the digital economy but the presence of such networks will accelerate innovations in how we solve society’s problems with smarter use of chips, bits and bandwidth.”
benton.org/node/165469 | Gig.U
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


NET NEUTRALITY RIP?
[SOURCE: American Enterprise Institute, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Eisenach]
[Commentary] The Washington Post’s Brian Fung recently argued that a Netflix-Time Warner Cable collaboration would be bad news for net neutrality because it would take one of its strongest advocates off the playing field. I agree that Netflix’s evolution is bad news for net neutrality, but on economic rather than political grounds. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Netflix isn’t, and perhaps never was, a likely victim of anticompetitive discrimination by Internet service providers. That’s important, because if there was ever a plausible scenario for discriminatory conduct by infrastructure owners against “edge” firms -- the heart of the case for the Federal Communication Commission’s net neutrality rules -- Netflix was the poster child. But in its July 2013 Fifteenth Report on Competition in the Market for Video Delivery, released just six months after its brief to the DC Circuit defending Open Internet rules, Netflix went from being a substitute for cable service to a complement. We now know that one of the central arguments for net neutrality regulation was based on a faulty assumption. One could make a pretty good argument that the rule ought to be withdrawn and reconsidered. At a minimum, though, if the rule is overturned by the Court as many believe likely, it surely should be allowed to RIP.
benton.org/node/165481 | American Enterprise Institute
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

WIRELESS

FAA OKs USE OF DEVICES
[SOURCE: Federal Aviation Administration, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that airlines can safely expand passenger use of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) during all phases of flight, and is immediately providing the airlines with implementation guidance. Due to differences among fleets and operations, the implementation will vary among airlines, but the agency expects many carriers will prove to the FAA that their planes allow passengers to safely use their devices in airplane mode, gate-to-gate, by the end of the year. The FAA based its decision on input from a group of experts that included representatives from the airlines, aviation manufacturers, passengers, pilots, flight attendants, and the mobile technology industry. Passengers will eventually be able to read e-books, play games, and watch videos on their devices during all phases of flight, with very limited exceptions. Electronic items, books and magazines, must be held or put in the seat back pocket during the actual takeoff and landing roll. Cell phones should be in airplane mode or with cellular service disabled -- i.e., no signal bars displayed -- and cannot be used for voice communications based on FCC regulations that prohibit any airborne calls using cell phones. If your air carrier provides Wi-Fi service during flight, you may use those services. You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards.
benton.org/node/165479 | Federal Aviation Administration | White House
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


IN A FIRST, POLICE TICKET A DRIVER WEARING GOOGLE GLASS
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Damon Lavrinc]
And so it begins… California-based Glass Explorer Cecilia Adabie is the first person to get a ticket while wearing Google’s head-mounted computer. And she won’t be the last. Abadie was driving in San Diego when an officer pulled her over for speeding. The primary infraction was for going 15 mph over the speed limit, but there was a secondary offense scrawled on the ticket: “driving w/ monitor visible to driver (Google Glass).” The arresting officer issued the citation to Abadie for violating California’s Vehicle Code Section 27602, which states that “A person shall not drive a motor vehicle if a television receiver, a video monitor, or a television or video screen, or any other similar means of visually displaying a television broadcast or video signal that produces entertainment or business applications, is operating and is located in the motor vehicle at a point forward of the back of the driver’s seat, or is operating and the monitor, screen, or display is visible to the driver while driving the motor vehicle.”
benton.org/node/165483 | Wired
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

TELECOM

VERIZON RESPONDS TO PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST WITH MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED TOTALLY BLACKED-OUT PAGES
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Elise Ackerman]
In September 2013, a group of consumer advocates interceded in a proceeding Verizon had initiated with the New York Public Service Commission to shut down its traditional network, known as the “wireline” network. The advocates were interested in reviewing documents Verizon had filed with the commission about its wireline and wireless build-outs. Under the state Freedom of Information Law, advocates requested that Verizon provide information about the actual costs and expenses associated with the repair, upkeep and maintenance of the traditional wireline network on the resort community of Fire Island. Verizon responded to the advocate’s Freedom of Information request with more than 300 fully redacted pages. Among other documents, Verizon claimed as a “trade secret” a list of Voice Link deployments, a Voice Link leader’s guide and a document about overcoming customers’ objections to Voice Link and responding to requests to return to copper.
benton.org/node/165485 | Forbes
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


TELECOM TV
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shalini Ramachandran, Thomas Gryta]
Nearly a decade after Verizon Communications and AT&T began building pipelines to carry TV service to US homes, they are nearing the market share of cable operators in areas where they operate, according to third-quarter results released by cable and phone companies in recent days. The top two cable providers, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, shed 435,000 video customers in the quarter, while AT&T and Verizon added 400,000. The growth of telecom's share of the TV business could have a significant impact on the television industry. Both phone companies have shown a greater willingness than their cable rivals to experiment with delivering movies and TV programming over the Internet outside the traditional pay-TV bundle. AT&T and Verizon are now the fifth and sixth biggest pay-TV providers in the U.S. after Comcast and Time Warner Cable and the two satellite-TV companies, DirecTV and Dish Network Corp. The phone companies account for only about 10% of the pay-TV market, compared with 55% for cable, according to MoffettNathanson LLC, but that is largely because phone companies don't offer service everywhere cable does. In the markets where they do operate, Verizon isn't far behind cable: FiOS has signed up 35% of the households where it offers its service, compared with 40.3% for Comcast and 38.9% for Time Warner Cable. AT&T's average is much lower, but it has become much more aggressive lately, launching a $6 billion investment in its wireline operations last year that includes extending the reach of its TV service.
benton.org/node/165550 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


AT&T SAID TO EXPLORE VODAFONE TAKEOVER AS SOON AS NEXT YEAR
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Matthew Campbell, Jeffrey McCracken]
AT&T executives are laying the groundwork internally for a potential takeover of Vodafone Group next year, mapping out a strategy for a complex deal with Europe’s largest mobile carrier, people familiar with the situation said. While the companies haven’t entered formal negotiations, AT&T, the largest US phone company, is intensifying work on which Vodafone assets it would retain after a deal and who could buy others, the people said, declining to be identified discussing private deliberations. AT&T, which remains interested in UK carrier EE as an alternative target, is also formulating a strategy for Vodafone’s operations in Europe, where mobile broadband adoption has lagged the US, the people said. Combined, Vodafone and AT&T would be a globe-spanning telecommunications player with a market capitalization exceeding $250 billion and large-scale operations in the US and across Europe. With more than 500 million wireless subscribers worldwide, the company would be able to challenge Google and Apple when negotiating handset subsidies and wringing profit out of nascent technologies such as mobile advertising.
benton.org/node/165528 | Bloomberg
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

COMCAST IS DONATING HEAVILY TO DEFEAT THE MAYOR WHO IS BRINGING GIGABIT FIBER TO SEATTLE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
One of Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's big policy initiatives has been expanding the quality and quantity of high-speed Internet access throughout the city. A public-private partnership plans to offer higher speeds at lower prices than most broadband providers currently offer. And incumbent providers, particularly Comcast, have invested heavily in defeating Mayor McGinn in his mayoral election. While Comcast denies there is any connection between Mayor McGinn's broadband policies and their donations, the company has given thousands of dollars to political action committees that have, in turn, given heavily to anti-McGinn groups. Mayor McGinn's major opponent, state Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle), has committed to honoring the city's existing contracts for a 14-neighborhood pilot project, but has shown limited enthusiasm about Mayor McGinn's plans to expand the network in the future. So the election could determine whether Seattle residents have new options for high-speed broadband service, or will have to make do with the slower services already offered by incumbents like Comcast.
benton.org/node/165533 | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

RADIO

RADIO ISN’T GOING AWAY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mary Beth Garber]
[Commentary] Scarborough USA Plus data shows radio has actually increased its reach of adults 18-54, 25-54 and 18-34 over the past five years. Radio accounts for more than 90 percent of almost any demographic segment of the consumer market every week. And many are surprised to discover that radio is the leading source of reach among media entertainment. More than 95 percent of the people who used Pandora in the past month also listened to broadcast radio in the past week. USA Touchpoints also shows that while consumers have shifted some of their audio entertainment time, it has been away from CDs and iPods, not radio. The number of radio listeners has continued to grow as digital audio has grown.
[Mary Beth Garber is Head of Radio Analysis and Insights, Katz Radio Group]
benton.org/node/165530 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

CAN SILICON VALLEY SAVE THE OBAMACARE SITE?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
High-profile companies like Google, Oracle and Red Hat are donating their engineering talent to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to the Administration's call for a "tech surge" that would fix the embattled HealthCare.gov website. A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that Google's Michael Dickerson, a site reliability engineer who's on temporary leave, will be aiding QSSI, one of the initial contractors for HealthCare.gov. Meanwhile, a former Presidential Innovation Fellow named Greg Gershman has signed on with CGI, the Canadian company widely said to be responsible for the botched project. Fixing HealthCare.gov could be these engineers' biggest project yet.
benton.org/node/165536 | Washington Post | USA Today | Bloomberg
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top


WHITE HOUSE PLANS A SINGLE FOIA PORTAL ACROSS GOVERNMENT
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Joseph Marks]
The White House plans to launch a single online portal where journalists, researchers and other citizens can file Freedom of Information Act requests, according to an early draft of commitments to the international Open Government Partnership. A single FOIA portal could significantly reduce the time FOIA requesters spend managing requests that cross multiple agencies. It may also make it easier for agencies to forward requests within the government and to publicize responsive documents so FOIA officers don’t lose time digging for the same document twice. The government-wide portal could be based on FOIA Online, a year-old system that tracks FOIA requests for the Commerce Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, though the White House doesn’t mention the system by name. FOIA Online is the only multi-agency online FOIA portal in government so far.
benton.org/node/165532 | nextgov
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

Angry Over US Surveillance, Tech Giants Bolster Defenses

Google has spent months and millions of dollars encrypting email, search queries and other information flowing among its data centers worldwide. Facebook’s chief executive said at a conference this fall that the government “blew it.” And though it has not been announced publicly, Twitter plans to set up new types of encryption to protect messages from snoops. It is all reaction to reports of how far the government has gone in spying on Internet users, sneaking around tech companies to tap into their systems without their knowledge or cooperation.

What began as a public relations predicament for America’s technology companies has evolved into a moral and business crisis that threatens the foundation of their businesses, which rests on consumers and companies trusting them with their digital lives. So they are pushing back in various ways -- from cosmetic tactics like publishing the numbers of government requests they receive to political ones including tense conversations with officials behind closed doors. And companies are building technical fortresses intended to make the private information in which they trade inaccessible to the government and other suspected spies. Yet even as they take measures against government collection of personal information, their business models rely on collecting that same data, largely to sell personalized ads. So no matter the steps they take, as long as they remain ad companies, they will be gathering a trove of information that will prove tempting to law enforcement and spies.

US admits surveillance on foreign governments ‘reached too far’

Secretary of State John Kerry said that US surveillance of foreign countries and governments had “reached too far,” as the Obama Administration tried to damp down the scandal surrounding the National Security Agency. Speaking by video to a conference in London, sec Kerry said that some of the surveillance had been taking place “on automatic pilot” and that the Administration was reviewing its intelligence practices “in order that nobody will have the sense of abuse.”

Telecoms Selling TV Have Bigger Impact on Cable Firms

Nearly a decade after Verizon Communications and AT&T began building pipelines to carry TV service to US homes, they are nearing the market share of cable operators in areas where they operate, according to third-quarter results released by cable and phone companies in recent days.

The top two cable providers, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, shed 435,000 video customers in the quarter, while AT&T and Verizon added 400,000. The growth of telecom's share of the TV business could have a significant impact on the television industry. Both phone companies have shown a greater willingness than their cable rivals to experiment with delivering movies and TV programming over the Internet outside the traditional pay-TV bundle. AT&T and Verizon are now the fifth and sixth biggest pay-TV providers in the U.S. after Comcast and Time Warner Cable and the two satellite-TV companies, DirecTV and Dish Network Corp. The phone companies account for only about 10% of the pay-TV market, compared with 55% for cable, according to MoffettNathanson LLC, but that is largely because phone companies don't offer service everywhere cable does. In the markets where they do operate, Verizon isn't far behind cable: FiOS has signed up 35% of the households where it offers its service, compared with 40.3% for Comcast and 38.9% for Time Warner Cable. AT&T's average is much lower, but it has become much more aggressive lately, launching a $6 billion investment in its wireline operations last year that includes extending the reach of its TV service.

Newspapers Reordered in New Count

Gannett’s USA Today had the highest daily circulation of any US newspaper for the six months ended Sept. 30, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, reflecting the paper's inclusion of readers from mobile and tablet apps for the first time. USA Today had a daily average circulation of 2.9 million for the period, including print and various digital editions, up from 1.7 million a year earlier when the paper's readership on apps wasn't included in the circulation report. USA Today doesn't charge for access to its website or mobile applications, however, unlike many other newspapers.

News Corp’s The Wall Street Journal dropped to the No. 2 position, with its average weekly circulation edging down to 2.27 million from 2.29 million a year earlier, the AAM said. The Journal said its average weekday paid circulation was 2.23 million in the six month period, adding that its paid digital circulation included in the total had risen 14.3% to 903,207 in the same period.

The New York Times fell to third place from second with an average Monday through Friday circulation of 1.9 million, up from 1.6 million, according to the AAM. The total figure includes 1.2 million in digital subscribers, according to the AAM.

Chairman Rockefeller Welcomes Sen Booker to the Senate Commerce Committee

I’m delighted to welcome Senator Cory Booker to the Commerce Committee. He brings to this role a keen understanding of several key issues before the Committee, such as the fundamental role communications networks, technological advances, and transportation systems play in people’s lives. These objectives are a perfect fit for a senator with more than a million Twitter followers. As Mayor of Newark, Senator Booker fought to bring the latest technologies to New Jersey's schools and libraries, and I'm confident he will be a steadfast partner in making sure our students have access to the tools necessary to compete in today’s global economy. We will soon rely on his experience with the successful expansion of the Port of Newark as we work to make the tough decisions about how to make smart, strategic investments in our transportation infrastructure. I look forward to working with Senator Booker to improve the experience of our nation’s students, consumers and passengers.

© 1994-2025 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.