April 30, 2014 (Finding the Best Path Forward)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014
Hacking the University and InSecurity on today’s agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2014-04-30/
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Finding the Best Path Forward to Protect the Open Internet - press release
Sen Franken: FCC chief's plan for ‘fast lanes’ will ‘destroy’ Internet
Will the FCC Create an Internet for the 1%? - analysis
This is Why the FCC's New Net Neutrality Rules Could Disempower Communities of Color
President Obama must show he supports net neutrality - here's how - op-ed
NAB Opting Out of Open Net Fray – For Now
The Road to a Fast Track on the Web - Letters to the Editor [links to web]
The Next Act - Blair Levin op-ed
How to Think About Broadband - op-ed
Michael Powell, Top Cable Lobbyist, Argues Against Broadband as Utility
See also: Powell: ‘Cable’ Doesn’t Quite Cut It [links to web]
Frontier says FCC's CAF II 10 Mbps proposal isn't realistic
Why isn’t the Internet free wherever we’d want it? - analysis
Netflix and Opponents: Deciphering Paid Peering and Dueling Diagrams
EDUCATION
The Nobility of E-Rate - op-ed
Google Stops Scanning Student Gmail Accounts for Ads [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Justices Appear Divided on Cellphone Warrants
Mobile Technology in Politics More Potential Than Reality - research [links to web]
Can Android Conquer the US? - op-ed [links to web]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Heartbleed’s Impact - research
Google Stops Scanning Student Gmail Accounts for Ads [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Justices Appear Divided on Cellphone Warrants
Advocates press Obama on warrantless searches
NIST Removes NSA-Tainted Algorithm From Cryptographic Standards [links to web]
The Rise of the Drone Master: Pop Culture Recasts Obama
TELEVISION/RADIO
Black-Oriented TV News: Has Its Time Come?
Cable TV outlook bright, but rising costs a big problem, analysts say [links to web]
Powell: ‘Cable’ Doesn’t Quite Cut It [links to web]
Viewing Habits Show Traditional TV Networks Still Reign Supreme [links to web]
Survey: Cord Cutters Clamor for TV/OTT Combos [links to web]
Broadcasters victorious as radio bill gains 219 sponsors
ADVERTISING
Why you should care about the mobile Web’s advertising problem - analysis
PATENTS
Apple vs. Samsung Endangers California’s Tech Community - analysis
“We Don’t Think We Owe Apple a Nickel,” Samsung Argues in Closing Argument [links to web]
AGENDA
What Congress will and won’t get done [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
How Brazil Has Leapt Ahead Of The US With An Internet Bill Of Rights
Putin foes fear Internet crackdown as 'blogger law' sails through [links to web]
Motorola Mobility, Samsung Escape EU Fines in Apple Clash
Does Kenya's National Broadband Strategy Position it for Second-World Status [links to web]
Why the British Library Is Spending $55 Million on News Archives [links to web]
Social Media in Afghanistan Takes On Life of Its Own [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Tech embraces DC’s ‘nerd prom’ [links to web]
Jeffrey Katzenberg Predicts That Future Moviegoers Will "Pay By The Inch" [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FINDING THE BEST PATH FORWARD TO PROTECT THE OPEN INTERNET
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
Some recent commentary has had a misinformed interpretation of the Open Internet Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) currently before the Commission. There are two things that are important to understand. First, this is not a final decision by the Commission but rather a formal request for input on a proposal as well as a set of related questions. Second, as the Notice makes clear, all options for protecting and promoting an Open Internet are on the table. I believe this process will put us on track to have tough, enforceable Open Internet rules on the books in an expeditious manner, ending a decade of uncertainty and litigation. I do not believe we should leave the market unprotected for multiple more years while lawyers for the biggest corporate players tie the FCC’s protections up in court. Notwithstanding this, all regulatory options remain on the table. If the proposal before us now turns out to be insufficient or if we observe anyone taking advantage of the rule, I won’t hesitate to use Title II. However, unlike with Title II, we can use the court’s roadmap to implement Open Internet regulation now rather than endure additional years of litigation and delay. Let me be clear, however, as to what I believe is not “commercially reasonable” on the Internet:
Something that harms consumers is not commercially reasonable. For instance, degrading service in order to create a new “fast lane” would be shut down.
Something that harms competition is not commercially reasonable. For instance, degrading overall service so as to force consumers and content companies to a higher priced tier would be shut down.
Providing exclusive, prioritized service to an affiliate is not commercially reasonable. For instance, a broadband provider that also owns a sports network should not be able to give a commercial advantage to that network over another competitive sports network wishing to reach viewers over the Internet.
Something that curbs the free exercise of speech and civic engagement is not commercially reasonable. For instance, if the creators of new Internet content or services had to seek permission from ISPs or pay special fees to be seen online such action should be shut down.
benton.org/node/182373 | Federal Communications Commission
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SEN FRANKEN: FCC CHIEF'S PLAN FOR ‘FAST LANES’ WILL ‘DESTROY’ INTERNET
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kate Tummarello]
Sen Al Franken (D-MN) called a proposal at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow Internet “fast lanes” an “affront to net neutrality" that will "destroy" the open Internet. In a letter, Sen Franken asked FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to reconsider his current plans to rewrite the agency’s net neutrality rules in a way that allows some content companies to pay for better access to Internet providers’ subscribers. “This proposal would create an online ‘fast lane’ for the highest bidder -- shutting out small business and increasing costs for consumers,” Sen Franken wrote.
“I strongly urge you to reconsider this misguided approach and recommit to protecting the Open Internet for all Americans.”
benton.org/node/182359 | Hill, The
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WILL THE FCC CREATE AN INTERNET FOR THE 1%?
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Clarissa Ramon]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission just released information about new draft rules for an open Internet. The proposed rules reportedly would allow for broadband providers to make companies that provide services on the Internet pay for fast lane service, as long as that payment is considered “commercially reasonable.” But what happens when what one company considers “commercially reasonable” is not considered so by another? Will this guideline work favorably for some companies who can afford to negotiate and not others? What are the implications for startup communities? How can harm to companies and consumers be measured under these rules? For consumers, artists, activists, and creators, creating a premium Internet should raise serious concerns. Reclassifying broadband as a Title II service is the best way going forward for strong net neutrality. The digital divide in this country is real enough to too many people due to the lack of competition in the broadband market. As income inequality rises in the United States, we are quickly approaching a future that resembles an airport, with expensive Internet connections, lack of free public Wi-Fi, high cost services, and expensive and prioritized access for those who can afford it, that caters to an elite business class.
benton.org/node/182357 | Public Knowledge
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THIS IS WHY THE FCC'S NEW NET NEUTRALITY RULES COULD DISEMPOWER COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
[SOURCE: Fusion, AUTHOR: Jorge Rivas]
Out of 1.2 trillion Google searches in 2012, Trayvon Martin was the ninth most searched event. But the unarmed black teen who was fatally shot in Florida may have never become a household name if it wasn’t for Twitter, Facebook and the blogs that kept his story in the news until it reached a national level. Now black and Latino network neutrality advocates say it will be much harder, and maybe even impossible, to catapult stories like Martin’s to a national level if new Federal Communications Commission ‘fast lane’ rules are implemented. Internet neutrality advocates (or activists who believe that all Internet traffic should be treated equally) say a similar media experience like Trayvon Martin’s would be harder to replicate if the FCC’s new rules are implemented. “It’s really a freedom of speech issue and the right to speak freely and the FCC is basically turning control over to the Internet service providers so they can determine who gets to speak and who doesn’t, they’re the ones will end up determining if they speed or slow down your content,” said Joseph Torres, a senior director at Free Press. "The FCC chairman plans to deliver a gift for ISPs, who are among the most powerful and profitable corporations in the world, at the expense of muting the most vulnerable voices in our society," Torres said.
benton.org/node/182347 | Fusion
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OBAMA AND WHEELER
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: James Tuthill]
[Commentary] Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission appointed by President Obama, dropped a bombshell: Internet service providers such as Comcast would be allowed to charge Internet content providers, like eBay, more for faster speeds to reach end users. This reversed the FCC's policy, which was developed over years of thorough analysis. Winners will be the Internet service providers. Losers will be consumers, innovators and startups. That decision means that someone with a new idea to stream video content will be unable to compete with Netflix, which can pay the higher rates the service providers will charge. Innovation, which has truly been the hallmark of the Internet, will wither and die. The only ways to block Wheeler's proposal are for either the Senate to impeach him or for the President to replace him as chairman. President Obama probably does not have the legal power to remove him as a commissioner, but he can replace him and designate one of the other commissioners as chair. And he should. The President should appoint either Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (who has served as acting chairwoman) or Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as chair. And he should do it before May 15 so the new chair can prevent Wheeler's proposal from becoming law. President Obama said he supports the net neutrality principles. Let's see if he'll back up those words.
[Tuthill teaches telecommunications, broadcast and Internet law at the UC Berkeley School of Law]
benton.org/node/182398 | San Francisco Chronicle
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NAB AND NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Doug Halonen]
Broadcasters could be forced to start paying to get high-quality online programming streams to broadband Internet subscribers under a controversial Federal Communications Commission proposal that the agency is slated to put out for public comment on May 15. But despite the pleas of watchdog group representatives for support in their efforts to force the agency to reconsider the proposal, the National Association of Broadcasters has remained on the sidelines, both to avoid upsetting NAB member Comcast -- one of the nation’s largest broadband Internet service providers -- and the broadcast industry’s deregulatory-minded GOP allies on Capitol Hill, broadcast industry sources say. “Anybody who delivers content over the Internet ought to be concerned about the direction this is going,” says one broadcast industry source, who asked not to be identified. “You could be in the fast lane or you could be in the slow lane, and you have pay to be in the fast lane,” said another broadcast industry executive. “It would be worthwhile [for the NAB board] to have a discussion about it.” Representatives of liberal watchdog groups told TVNewsCheck that broadcasters have a major stake in how the newly proposed rules come out because younger people in particular are increasingly getting their information and other programming online. “Broadcasters should want to reach those users -- particularly young users who are the future of the industry -- without having to cut online deals with every cable or phone company, or having to pay the kind of fees Netflix and Apple can afford to pay to ensure a good online video experience,” says Marvin Ammori, a fellow with the New America Foundation.
benton.org/node/182396 | TVNewsCheck
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THE NEXT ACT
[SOURCE: InsideSources, AUTHOR: Blair Levin]
[Commentary] How is the United States doing in international rankings and should Congress rewrite the current communications law? The interplay between these debates raises two questions; one ironic and the other, serious. The international debate features one side suggesting we are falling behind while the other side, composed of telephone and cable companies and supportive policy experts, argues we’re doing great. Advocates for the second view are also leading the charge for new legislation. The ironic question is if we are doing so badly, why change? I’m not accusing them of hypocrisy; we could be doing great and still need a new bill. But it does beg the more serious question: what is the problem the legislation is meant to resolve? The general answer is we should modernize the law. While not a bad outcome, it is hardly compelling, particularly as a legislative process tends to freeze investment in the sector. Capital flows to lobbyists, not product innovation. The question advocates of new legislation should be required to answer is where do we want capital to flow in telecommunications where it is not flowing now? My own answer comes from the United States National Broadband Plan, which boils down to four strategies for improving broadband performance:
Drive fiber deeper into the network;
Use spectrum more efficiently;
Get everyone on broadband; and
Use the broadband platform to improve government performance
[Blair Levin is a Fellow at the Aspen Institute and led the FCC team that wrote the National Broadband Plan]
benton.org/node/182405 | InsideSources
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HOW TO THINK ABOUT BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Holman Jenkins Jr]
[Commentary] What Americans should be chanting is "I want faster broadband and I don't care how." Lesson One: Making fiber synonymous with fast broadband just confuses the issue.
Lesson Two: Let's think about broadband speed and pricing. Google offers gigabit speeds that few can use for $70 a month, about what cable operators charges for service perhaps 1/50th as fast. But cable's speed is sufficient for most users and this frees the operator to charge exorbitant prices to the relative handful of customers who are willing to pay for a faster Internet. This is called price discrimination and allows more revenue to be generated off a fixed infrastructure, and more people to be customers at a lower average price, than if every customer were charged the same. A better question is: Do we deserve faster, cheaper broadband than we're getting because of a lack of competition? When you come down to it, many of the noisiest critics want Americans to have faster, more wide-reaching fixed access than customers are willing to support, which means it would have to be subsidized with tax dollars. This is especially true in rural areas. It's time just to say so.
benton.org/node/182402 | Wall Street Journal
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CABLE LOBBYIST WHO ONCE LED THE FCC IS GLAD HE DIDN’T REGULATE THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Edward Wyatt]
America’s infrastructure is crumbling, says former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, the chief executive of the cable industry’s trade association. Roads are in poor condition, bridges are structurally deficient, drinking water systems are near the end of their useful life and portions of the electric grid suffer regular blackouts. All of which, Powell says, proves that the country’s broadband networks cannot be considered a public utility and left in the hands of government oversight. “Because the Internet is not regulated as a public utility, it grows and thrives, watered by private capital and a light regulatory touch,” Powell said in Los Angeles at the Cable Show, the annual meeting of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. “It does not depend on the political process for its growth, or the extended droughts of public funding,” Powell said. “This is why broadband is the fastest deploying technology in world history, reaching nearly every citizen in our expansive country.” Powell’s remarks were in response to recent calls for the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify high-speed Internet service as a “common carrier,” a public utilitylike network that should be subject to strict regulation.
benton.org/node/182360 | New York Times | ars technica
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FRONTIER SAYS FCC'S CAF II 10 MBPS PROPOSAL ISN'T REALISTIC
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
Frontier may be a supporter of the Federal Communications Commission's Connect America Fund phase II, but, like others, it's concerned that the regulator's proposal to raise the broadband speed obligations from 4 to 10 Mbps is not a realistic proposition unless it alters the funding model. "Any proposal to raise the CAF Phase II minimum speed obligations of broadband used for CAF Phase II from 4 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload to 10 Mbps download without any increase in funding or other change in terms is not economically feasible," wrote Kathleen Abernathy, executive vice president of External Affairs for Frontier, in a recent FCC filing. "The FCC's own USF budget does not provide adequate funding for a 10 Mbps ubiquitous deployment." Instead of requiring 10 Mbps, Frontier said the FCC could enable service providers to extend broadband services to rural markets without having to deliver 10 Mbps to every location. It added that while a large percentage could get 10 Mbps, others could get at least 6 Mbps, and the most remote customers could get up to 4 Mbps.
benton.org/node/182341 | Fierce
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WHY ISN’T THE INTERNET FREE?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dan Zak]
[Commentary] Why in 2014 is a neighborhood stoked to offer a service that for some has become as elemental as clean air, as sacrosanct as a universal human right? “The technology really wasn’t ready until now,” says Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge. “It took a while for the technology to get up to speed and work and for people to understand the value. And now people are ready for it, you’ve got an infrastructure that can support it, you’ve got institutions like libraries that are embedded in the community -- now we need to put all the pieces together.” One problem: The market relies on consumers to purchase connectivity individually. In other words, blame AT&T or Verizon, if you’re willing to also blame capitalism as a whole. You could also blame government inertia and -- brace yourself for jargon -- the limited availability of unlicensed radio spectrum frequencies, the bands of airwaves that are open for use by anybody. “Whenever I think about putting in a new Wi-Fi hotspot, I want to look at the level of service and whether industry can do it,” says DC’s chief technology officer, Rob Mancini, whose office has rolled out more than 600 public Wi-Fi hotspots in the city over the years. “When government and industry can combine forces in a way that’s productive, this is where the American example shines.”
benton.org/node/182400 | Washington Post
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NETFLIX AND OPPONENTS: DECIPHERING PAID PEERING AND DUELING DIAGRAMS
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
[Commentary] Netflix and Entropy Economics have issued dueling network diagrams aimed at supporting opposing points of view on paid peering -- an issue that has been hotly debated since Netflix signed a paid peering deal with Comcast earlier this year. Yet the diagrams have a striking similarity when it comes to showing how Netflix connects to Comcast. It’s possible that by keeping up the pressure about traffic exchange, Netflix is hoping to pressure regulators into imposing some sort of obligations on Comcast and Time Warner Cable as a condition of approval of Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable. Now that Charter is involved in that deal as well, it may not be exempt either. And conditions written into merger approvals sometimes have a way of gaining traction beyond the merged companies. Regulators should tread carefully before imposing any major new traffic exchange requirements. Considering the complexity of the issue and how quickly practices change, it’s difficult even to determine what those requirements might be. The true cost of interconnection is dependent on a wide range of factors. And only the network operators know and understand the dollar values underlying these factors.
benton.org/node/182355 | telecompetitor
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EDUCATION
THE NOBILITY OF E-RATE
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Alan Inouye]
[Commentary] In the library community, one of today’s highest profile, exciting national policy topics is modernization of the E-rate program. We propose three initiatives:
School-library wide area network partnerships. Modify E-rate program rules, eliminate barriers, and provide incentives for schools and libraries to deploy high-capacity broadband in cooperation, rather than in isolation. Where this can occur, significantly improved economies will likely be realized.
Scalable technologies deployment program. Some libraries with poor broadband connectivity are in close proximity to broadband providers that can ensure scalable broadband at affordable initial construction charges and recurring costs after the deployment is complete. We urge the FCC to provide incentives and rule and process changes to encourage these efforts.
Network diagnostics and technical support program. Provide assistance to libraries in planning, purchasing, and implementing network infrastructure and Internet access through state library agencies or in partnership with such agencies. [Inouye, PhD is Director of the American Library Association's Office for Information Technology Policy in Washington, DC]
http://benton.org/node/182299
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
HEARTBLEED’S IMPACT
[SOURCE: Pew Internet and American Life Project, AUTHOR: Lee Raine, Maeve Duggan]
The Heartbleed security flaw on one of the most widely used “secure socket” encryption programs on the internet had an impact on a notable share of internet users, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center:
39% of internet users say that after they learned of the online security problems they took steps to protect their online accounts by doing such things as changing passwords or canceling accounts.
29% of internet users believe their personal information was put at risk because of the Heartbleed bug.
6% of internet users say they believe their personal information was stolen.
As a news story, the revelations about Heartbleed drew the attention of a notable segment of adults. Some 60% of adults (and 64% of internet users) said they had heard about the bug. Some 19% of adults said they had heard “a lot” about it and 41% said they had heard “a little” about it. By comparison, though, the Heartbleed story drew much less intensity and scope of attention than other big news stories. In this same survey, 46% of respondents said they had heard “a lot” about tensions between Russia and Ukraine and 34% said they had heard “a little.”
benton.org/node/182391 | Pew Internet and American Life Project
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
CELLPHONE WARRANTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Adam Liptak]
The Supreme Court seemed torn as it considered a pair of cases about whether the police need warrants to search the cellphones of people they arrest. Some Justices seemed inclined to apply precedents strictly limiting the privacy rights of people under arrest. Those decisions say warrantless searches in connection with arrests are justified by the need to find weapons and to prevent the destruction of evidence. “Our rule has been that if you carry it on your person, you ought to know it is subject to seizure and examination,” Justice Antonin Scalia said. Other Justices said the vast amounts of data held on smartphones may require a different approach under the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches. “We’re living in a new world,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said. “Someone arrested for a minor crime has their whole life exposed on this little device.” “Most people now do carry their lives on cellphones,” Justice Elena Kagan said, “and that will only grow every single year as young people take over the world.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor added that the court’s decisions would almost certainly apply to tablet computers and laptops seized at the time of arrest. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said phones also contained “information that is specifically designed to be made public,” mentioning Facebook and Twitter. The pace of change, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said, made the justices’ jobs very difficult.
benton.org/node/182406 | New York Times | WSJ | CSM | The Hill | Revere Digital
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ADVOCATES PRESS OBAMA ON WARRANTLESS SEARCHES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
President Barack Obama needs to take a stand on whether or not the government should be able to get someone’s emails without a warrant, a coalition of business and privacy advocates said. In a letter sent to the White House, dozens of organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, FreedomWorks, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce blamed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the Administration’s reticence on the issue. “You have a rare opportunity to work with Congress to pass legislation that would advance the rights of almost every American,” the groups wrote. “Please act now to support meaningful privacy reform.” Under terms of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), emails, texts, photos and other data stored online can be searched by law enforcement without a warrant as long as they have been in the cloud for at least 180 days. The law was written in 1986, when dial-up Internet was still cutting-edge technology, and is deeply in need of an update, advocates say. A reform bill in the House from Reps. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Jared Polis (D-CO) has 205 co-sponsors, but the White House has yet to respond to a November petition to take sides on the issue.
benton.org/node/182333 | Hill, The
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POP CULTURE AND OBAMA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Shear]
Five and a half years into his presidency, President Barack Obama has had a powerful impact on the nation’s popular culture. But what many screenwriters, novelists and visual artists have seized on is not an inspirational story of the first black president. Instead they have found more compelling story lines in the bleaker, morally fraught parts of Obama’s legacy. “We were trying to find a bridge to the same sort of questions that Barack Obama has to address,” said Joe Russo, who with his brother, Anthony, directed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” “If you’re saying with a drone strike, we can eradicate an enemy of the state, what if you say with 100 drone strikes, we can eradicate 100? With 1,000, we can eradicate 1,000? At what point do you stop?” Beyond “Captain America,” a virtual arts festival of films, books, plays, comics, television shows and paintings have been using as their underlying narratives the sometimes grim reality of Obama’s presidency.
benton.org/node/182407 | New York Times
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TELEVISION/RADIO
BLACK-ORIENTED TV NEWS: HAS ITS TIME COME?
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Diana Marszalek]
For the most part, TV news targeting African Americans has been a bust. Two now defunct cable networks, Black Family Channel and New Urban Entertainment, tried it in the early 2000s, and the pioneering BET now limits itself to breaking news and occasional specials, eschewing regular newscasts. But despite some skepticism, the concept is showing new signs of life at both the local and national levels. The idea for one of them, the Black Television News Channel, dates to 2008 when former-Rep JC Watts (R-OK), a founding partner in the venture, announced his intention to raise $20 million to build the operation. Watts’ partners include Bob Brillante, a cable industry veteran who founded the Florida News Channel, a regional 24-hour cable channel; former US House of Representatives Budget Director Steve Pruitt; and Frank Watson, a media management consultant. Brillante says the demise of black-owned TV stations has fueled the need for black-targeted programming -- to say nothing of the potential money that can be made serving an audience that watches 37% more TV than other groups. According to Brillante, BTNC programming plans call for a nightly one-hour newscast featuring “culturally specific” content as well a business news show and a morning news show. Other slots will be filled with talk shows. The key contract it wants to resurrect is with Comcast. It had agreed to air BTNC in seven of the country’s top 10 African American markets -- Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, Detroit, Miami and Baltimore.
benton.org/node/182332 | TVNewsCheck
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BROADCASTERS VICTORIOUS AS RADIO BILL GAINS 219 SPONSORS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kate Tummarello]
A broadcaster-backed effort to keep local radio stations from paying musicians for songs has gained the support of more than half of the House of Representatives. As some members push measures that would require AM/FM radio stations to pay for the songs they play, 219 members of the House have signed onto the Local Radio Freedom Act. That resolution -- introduced by Reps Michael Conway (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) in early 2013 -- prohibits "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge” on local AM/FM radio stations. The Senate companion resolution was introduced in 2013 by Sens John Barrasso (R-WY) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); 12 other senators back it. Though AM/FM radio stations do not currently have to pay artists for songs the stations broadcast, some members of Congress are pushing bills that would require radio stations to pay these “royalty fees.” According to the National Association of Broadcasters, the large number of supporters backing the Local Radio Freedom Act indicates that many in Congress agree that radio royalty fees aren’t needed. benton.org/node/182367 | Hill, The
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ADVERTISING
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE MOBILE WEB’S ADVERTISING PROBLEM
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dominic Basulto]
Remember when using your smartphone or tablet to access the Web was a relatively ad-free experience? Now there are seemingly ads everywhere you go -- pre-roll segments on videos, paywall roadblocks, subscriber messages that ask you to sign up for newsletters, ads in your news feeds, floating ads that cover inconvenient parts of the screen. Now that the number of mobile Web users has eclipsed the number of desktop Web users, it’s no wonder that companies are introducing a growing panoply of mobile advertising options, all competing for your attention. By 2017, there will be more money spent on mobile advertising than on radio advertising. Combined, Facebook and Google now control two-thirds of the mobile advertising market. Expect that number to increase once Facebook launches its new mobile ad network. All of this has very real implications for the way that we use the Internet. It’s already the case that 86 percent of users access the mobile Web via apps and that percentage could inch even higher as companies dedicate more and more resources to winning the mobile app game. In short, we’ve quickly transitioned from a situation in which Web companies have a mobile advertising problem, to a situation in which the mobile Web experience has an advertising problem.
benton.org/node/182323 | Washington Post
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PATENTS
APPLE VS. SAMSUNG ENDANGERS CALIFORNIA’S TECH COMMUNITY
[SOURCE: Revere Digital, AUTHOR: Kevin Terpstra]
[Commentary] California, with its renowned universities and the great minds they produce, coupled with the widespread proliferation of high-speed networks and Internet technologies, has been at the center of the mobile revolution. This state, with the help of companies like Apple, is exporting innovation across the country and around the world. As a result, we have contributed to a story of success that allows the great mass of people to communicate and share through greater accessibility to smartphones and high-speed connectivity. That is why, as someone who is passionate about technology, I am troubled to see Apple now engage in tactics that may hinder the progress under way. The ongoing Apple-Samsung legal conflict could pose a threat to the adoption of technology with ripple effects throughout California’s tech economy. Whether directly connected to a particular product or service developed within the state or farther away, our economy benefits from greater consumer adoption of innovative, mobile technologies. At the same time, the exorbitantly high patent royalty fees Apple is demanding, if granted, would dramatically increase the price of some smartphones, and place an unnecessary financial burden on consumers who prefer those devices over the Apple iPhone. [Terpstra, Former Special Advisor for Information Technology, Office of the Governor, California]
benton.org/node/182351 | Revere Digital
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
HOW BRAZIL HAS LEAPT AHEAD OF THE US WITH AN INTERNET BILL OF RIGHTS
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Neal Ungerleider]
Brazil is a place where the Internet landscape is diverging from the United States in a way that benefits ordinary digital citizens: On April 21, Brazil's congress passed a legally binding “Internet Bill of Rights.” The Brazilian Internet Bill of Rights, called the Marco Civil, guarantees network neutrality, regulates government surveillance on the Internet, and places limits on data companies can collect from Brazilian customers. In addition, Internet service providers won't be held liable for content published by their customers and will be legally required to remove offensive material via court order. President Dilma Rousseff said “The Marco Civil guarantees net neutrality, a fundamental principle for maintaining the free and open nature of the Internet. The new Marco Civil establishes that telecommunications companies must treat any and all data packages equally, and also forbids the blocking, monitoring, filtering, or analysis of the content of such packages. Our model for the Marco Civil can now influence the global debate on the path to ensuring real rights in the virtual world.”
benton.org/node/182353 | Fast Company
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MOTOROLA MOBILITY, SAMSUNG ESCAPE EU FINES IN APPLE CLASH
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Aoife White, Gaspard Sebag]
Motorola Mobility and Samsung Electronics avoided fines as European Union antitrust regulators said “patent wars” with Apple shouldn’t allow consumers to get caught in the crossfire. Motorola Mobility, which Google is selling to Lenovo Group, broke EU antitrust law when it sought and enforced a German legal injunction against Apple over patents for technology for industry-standard products such as mobile phones, the European Commission said. Samsung and the EU finalized a settlement that ends a similar antitrust probe. Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s competition chief, said the EU’s decisions provide “legal clarity on the circumstances in which injunctions to enforce standard essential patents can be anti-competitive.” The EU is cracking down on patent abuses as Motorola Mobility, Microsoft, Apple and Samsung trade victories in courts across the world on intellectual property. Industry-standard technology helps ensure products such as mobile-phone antennas and global-positioning system software can operate together when made by different manufacturers.
benton.org/node/182320 | Bloomberg | Reuters
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