April 2014

Didn’t Read Those Terms of Service? Here’s What You Agreed to Give Up

The terms of service on many websites are so wordy and so legalistic that users may not understand -- or even be aware of -- the intellectual property rights that they cede when they check the “agree” box to set up an account, according to a new study from researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The Georgia Tech study reviewed 30 popular social networking and creative community sites that encourage people to share material, examining the rights to use work that were claimed in the sites’ terms of service agreements. Sites examined in the study included: Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Flickr, IMDB, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Remix64 and Fanfiction. Of course, people who wish to see their creative work published need to permit certain uses -- like authorizing a site to publicly post their content. But users may be surprised to learn about other permission they must grant in order to use a site.

For instance, the study reported that 11 of the sites required users to agree that the sites could license their content to a third party. Yet users are unlikely to understand what they are agreeing to because terms of service agreements tend to be daunting in length and readability. The Georgia Tech researchers calculated that it would take someone nearly eight hours to read the agreements on the 30 sites in the study, at an average adult pace of 250 words per minute.

New FCC Spectrum Screen Would Count All of Sprint's Airwaves

Sprint will soon become a much bigger holder of wireless airwaves in the eyes of US telecom regulators, a shift that could make it harder for the carrier to do spectrum deals while easing the process for its rivals.

The Federal Communications Commission said it plans to adjust the way it counts airwaves when setting the so-called spectrum screens that trigger additional scrutiny of mergers or spectrum deals.

The bulk of the spectrum being added to the screen -- 101 megahertz of the 128.5 megahertz in total -- is primarily controlled by Sprint and not currently counted.

The proposed change is expected to be voted on at the FCC's May 15 meeting. The FCC applies extra scrutiny to deals when a carrier owns more than a third of all available spectrum in a given market or when the deal would push it over that mark.

The new screens would cause Sprint, the country's third-largest carrier by subscribers, to hit or exceed the one-third threshold in most major markets. The new limits could benefit Verizon Communications, AT&T and T-Mobile US, because they would own a smaller percentage of the total. That would make it less likely they would trigger extra scrutiny when doing smaller spectrum deals.

US Appeals Court Issues Mixed Ruling Reviving Apple Patent Claims Against Motorola Mobility

A federal appeals court revived Apple's legal claims that handset maker Motorola Mobility copied its iPhone patents, but the ruling could weaken a separate case Apple is pressing against Samsung Electronics.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that an influential Chicago-based federal judge made multiple legal errors when he dismissed competing patent-infringement claims by Apple and Motorola in 2012. The court said Judge Richard Posner wrongly excluded expert testimony in a case where Apple and Motorola were each pressing claims the other owed monetary damages for infringement.

The ruling means that Apple will have a new chance to argue Motorola infringed its patents. In the latest case, Apple is seeking $2.2 billion from Samsung for infringing five patents. Samsung has countered by saying that Apple infringed two of its patents and is seeking $7 million.

How Washington’s last remaining video rental store changed the course of privacy law

After 33 years, Potomac Video is closing its doors. It was the last remaining brick-and-mortar video rental store in the District -- where big chains and local entries alike have disappeared since the dawn of the streaming era -- and one of the first when it opened in 1981.

But even as the local retail chain lets loose its dying moan, Potomac Video can still claim credit for changing the face of consumer privacy thanks to its role in the creation of the Video Privacy Protection Act, or VPPA.

Flash forward 20 years: that same legislation became a thorn in the side of the video rental industry as it shifted online. In 2008, the now-all-but-dead Blockbuster faced a class action suit alleging that it shared rental information with Facebook's online advertising project Beacon. Netflix, too, faced a suit in 2009 about its release of "anonymized" customer data as part of a context for improving its recommendation engine that may not have been quite so anonymous.

Netflix was so wary of being on the wrong side of the law that it excluded the United States when it first rolled out Facebook sharing in 2011 -- and urged users to lobby their legislators about changing the law. The streaming video did, ultimately, win that battle: The law was amended in early 2013, and Netflix extended Facebook sharing to US users in March 2013.

But even with the changes, the VPPA continues to provide consumers some leeway to keep their video-viewing habits private. Hulu, for instance, is embroiled in a years-long class action suit related to alleged violations.

Smartphone lull a golden opportunity for Microsoft

Critics have derided Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services business, but the deal may be closing at the perfect moment -- during a slowdown in smartphone innovation.

The acquisition closed after an almost eight-month long approval process. The new subsidiary, dubbed the Microsoft Mobile and the Devices division and headed by former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, has a tremendous amount of work to do to become a serious contender either at the high end or low end of the smartphone market.

However, this may be an opportune time for Microsoft and its thousands of new employees. Innovation has slowed down in the high-end segment of the mobile phone market. New products such as the Galaxy S5 from Samsung Electronics, HTC's One M8 and the Xperia Z2 from Sony are only small upgrades compared to their predecessors.

"This market isn't moving forward quite as quickly as it has in the past. While it is taking a breather, Microsoft and Nokia can up the game and try to close the gap," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. Microsoft has recognized this chance to make up some lost ground.

"The pace of innovation we are delivering is, I'll argue, accelerating, while some of our leading competitors appear to be slowing down. If you're behind you have to go faster than the guy in front of you to catch up and that's exactly what we are trying to do," said Greg Sullivan, director of Windows Phone at Microsoft.

The company is making progress on both hardware and software. Microsoft has to make sure it gets access to upcoming processors especially from Qualcomm -- including the Snapdragon 805, and then the 64-bit ARM-based Snapdragon 808 and 810 -- quicker than it has in the past.

Best Social Media Practices in Congress Recognized in New Research

Announcing the winners of the Congressional Management Foundation's (CMF) 113th Congress Gold Mouse Awards identifying the 87 winners including the 70 best websites in Congress and, for the first time, 17 Members of Congress using innovative social media practices to interact with constituents.

However, while praising the best legislators who are promoting transparency and accountability in government, CMF also criticized many in Congress for missing opportunities to enhance citizen engagement, according to the best practices report.

"Too few are using social media to build trust and understanding of Congress, and too many are employing 1960s-style 'Mad Men' advertising strategies -- repetitive and simplistic jargon wielded like a hammer to hit citizens on the head ... over and over again."

CMF also identified trends in congressional websites, among them:

While still weak, Member websites have shown signs of improvement, with an increasing number providing basic legislative and casework information and links. More than three-quarters (79%) provide the Member's voting record, compared to 56% in the previous Congress.
A majority of congressional websites lack substantive elements of accountability and transparency, such as: where the Members stand on the issues, how they voted on key pieces of legislation, and what they're doing in Congress on constituents' behalf.
Democratic personal offices earned twice as many awards as Republicans, and Republican-led committees won nearly all of the committee awards.

Broadband Internet bill fails in dramatic Iowa House vote

The Iowa House rejected Gov Terry Branstad’s broadband Internet expansion package in dramatic fashion, with a floor vote in which Democrats and Republicans joined together to deny the bill a majority.

The failure of a bill in a vote on the floor is extremely rare, as the majority party generally does not bring up bills for which leaders aren’t certain they have the votes to pass. In this case, the House’s Republican leaders clearly were counting on votes from the Democratic minority that didn’t materialize. When the voting board was closed, 42 Republicans and two Democrats -- a total of 44 out of the chamber’s 100 members -- voted yes, while 42 Democrats and nine Republicans formed a 51-vote majority to kill the measure. Immediately afterward, House Speaker Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha), cast blame on the Democrats.

“I have absolutely no idea why the House Democrats would be opposed to expanding broadband access in the state of Iowa,” he said. “I think that’s a shame.”

Those arguments overlook the fact, however, that nine Republicans also voted against the bill, and if seven had voted yes the bill would’ve passed. Minority parties in legislative bodies frequently cast votes en masse against bills sponsored and pursued by the majority, and majorities rarely depend on votes from the other side to pass legislation.

Democratic leader Mark Smith (D-Marshalltown) said his members voted against the bill because they felt it didn’t go far enough in incentivizing and stimulating the expansion of high-speed Internet service.

Comcast/TWC Critics Unappeased By Charter Swap

“We’ve known from the day that the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal was announced that Comcast intended to divest some subscribers, so this doesn’t change anything,” said Sen Al Franken (D-MN). “The fact remains that Comcast will have unprecedented power in the television and broadband markets, and I’m very concerned that Comcast will use that power to squeeze competitors and consumers.”

"This convoluted transaction may change the final score, but it can't change the fact that this deal is a big loss for innovation and competition," said Matt Wood, policy director for Free Press. "Cable barons have always done a great job dividing up the country and refusing to compete with each other. Turning three giant companies into two behemoths gives no comfort to content providers or consumers. It should be equally unimpressive to lawmakers and antitrust authorities too."

Public Knowledge is not looking that far ahead, said a spokesman, since the deal would have to be approved for the swaps to be made, and it is not looking for that to happen. Besides, he pointed out, Public Knowledge took the swaps into account in its initial assessment of the merger -- Comcast had signaled it would spin off enough systems to keep the new company below the FCC's traditional 30% cap on subs. But critics have said the creation of an ISP with some 40% of subs -- Comcast has figured it at closer to 20% when all competitors are factored in -- changes the equation. Does it make [the deal] any more palatable? No," he said. "It's still a deal that we are staunchly opposed to."

"No set of conditions are going to make the deal palatable to the public interest and I don't see how this changes the basic dynamics of the deal, which are terrible for consumers and competition," said Todd O'Boyle, a spokesman for Common Cause.

3 myths about 'bad for America' cable merger

[Commentary] Comcast struck a nerve in February with its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, and no wonder. Rightly or wrongly, the cable giant has become the face for rising TV and Internet prices, abrasive customer policies, and a broadband system that many believe to be corrupt and uncompetitive.

Its face-off with Netflix has put Comcast on the wrong side of popular opinion, and a troubled history with net neutrality has raised eyebrows (and blood pressures) in Silicon Valley. But is the Comcast/TWC merger really a bad thing?

Myth No. 1: The merger is bad for customers because service will inevitably cost more. Comcast is also ahead of the pack when it comes to Internet data caps and overage charges. If a progressive pricing scheme were introduced, it might allow for more affordable contracts, and the majority of Comcast and TWC customers would stand to benefit. Perhaps I'd be able to keep my budget plan after all.
Myth No. 2: The merger is bad for competition. According to the government, 88% of Americans have access to two or more wireline providers. Ninety percent have access to four or more wireless providers. Cable faces competition from DSL, satellite, and LTE, and while these services aren't as fast as cable, they commonly offer download speeds of 10-15 mbps. That's enough to stream three HD movies simultaneously -- and more than enough for most families. Meanwhile, Google, AT&T, and Verizon are rolling out fiber-optic networks in major cities around the country; a quarter of the population now has access.
Myth No. 3: The merger is bad for America. A broadband study from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation finds that "of the nations that lead the United States in any of the four key metrics (deployment, adoption, speed, and price), no nation leads in more than two." The ITIF also finds that Americans have a greater variety of options when it comes to broadband, and a more progressive pricing scheme. So let's take it easy with the torches and the pitchforks.

Sec Kerry calls to ‘tear down’ Internet censorship

Different countries’ control of the Internet is increasingly dividing the world into “two different visions” reminiscent of the Cold War, Secretary of State John Kerry warned.

In remarks to a global Internet governance conference, Sec Kerry said that barriers to Internet access and online freedom needed to be torn down, just like the Berlin Wall in 1989.

"Today, we’ve all learned that walls can be made of ones and zeros and the deprivation of access even to those ones and zeros, and that wall can be just as powerful in keeping us apart in a world that is so incredibly interconnected,” he said at the fourth annual Freedom Online Coalition conference. “So it's very much our ... common responsibility to try to tear down those walls just as it was our responsibility to try to do that during the Cold War.”

He specifically mentioned Russia and Venezuela as countries with an “an absolutely unmistakable pattern” of Internet crackdown. “The places where we face some of the greatest security challenges today are also the places where governments set up firewalls against some of the basic freedoms online,” he said.

Benton

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