June 2014

First Take: Kill switch requires standardization

[Commentary] Google and Microsoft's decision to join Apple on the "kill switch" front throws considerable heft behind the movement to deter smartphone thefts. But it's just a start.

For the technology to truly take hold and repel criminals, the anti-theft software should be part of the default operating system so the user doesn't have to choose to activate it. By 2015, new versions of operating systems used by 97% of smartphones in the USA will have a kill switch, which lets an owner remotely deactivate a stolen smartphone. But many of them will require the user to activate, or "opt-in," the technology.

Apple's kill switch puts the onus on individuals, as does technology from Google and Microsoft. That's not good enough. Standardization is the most sensible course because smartphone thefts show no signs of slowing down. About 3.1 million smartphone-related thefts were reported in 2013 in the US, double the number in 2012, according to Consumer Reports.

Safer Roads or Stronger Wi-Fi?

Talking cars will one day be mandatory, but in the meantime, some think they're holding back the airwaves for much-needed Wi-Fi.

As Internet access grows, more and more frequency is needed to support Wi-Fi devices. Some of that frequency -- the 5.9 GHz band -- has been set aside for talking cars.

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication, which the Transportation Department says will one day be mandatory, allows cars to alert one another to their presence and to warn drivers if a wreck is imminent. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates talking cars could eliminate 80 percent of wrecks not involving driver impairment.

For now, though, the 5.9 GHz band is spectrum that can't be used for Wi-Fi devices. Some see a middle ground in which the frequency is still used for talking cars but shared for some Wi-Fi purposes.

FCC Chairman Wheeler Proposes Landmark E-Rate Modernization

Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated an E-Rate Modernization proposal to his fellow Commissioners to revitalize the E-Rate program for the world of personalized learning.

During the past 18 years, E-Rate has helped transform schools’ and libraries’ access to modern communications networks. But educational connectivity has changed: whereas once it was revolutionary to connect a computer lab down the hall to the Internet, harnessing the full value of digital learning today means enabling all students to go online from their desk or from any library workspace.

Modernizing E-Rate to deliver digital learning to more kids faster
Chairman Wheeler’s proposed Order is the next major step in a comprehensive modernization of E-Rate, the first such effort since the program’s creation 18 years ago. The draft Order is focused on the largest and most urgent need -- closing the Wi-Fi gap -- while ensuring E-Rate money is spent smartly and improving program administration. It is the next step in what will be an ongoing process to modernize the E-rate program.

Building on Success
Today’s proposed order would build on the top-to-bottom administrative review of E-rate that was the first stage of Chairman Wheeler’s comprehensive, step-wise approach to modernization. This administrative review is already delivering huge dividends by allocating more funds and processing E-rate applications faster.

Bringing E-Rate into the 21st Century

The E-Rate program has played a vital role in connecting US schools and libraries -- but often those connections are to a few computers along the wall rather than each student having access at his or her desk.
New digital learning technologies are opening new opportunities for students, teachers and library patrons.
But too many US schools and libraries lack the infrastructure necessary to fully utilize today’s learning technologies -- particularly when it comes to Wi-Fi in the classroom.
E-Rate rules need to be updated to close the Wi-Fi gap.

Sens Rubio, Booker want more airwaves for Wi-Fi

Sens Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) want more space in the nation’s airwaves for Wi-Fi Internet.

“In a century defined by drastic and colossal technological advancement, it is hard going even a day without using our cell phones, tablets and other wireless devices,” Sen Rubio said. “But our wireless devices rely on spectrum, a valuable and limited resource.”

To free up space for the devices, the two senators introduced a bill requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to explore opening new chunks of the electromagnetic spectrum for unlicensed use. Wi-Fi routers operate alongside garage door openers and other consumer electronics on those airwaves.

“Not only does access to wireless broadband open the door for innovation and transformative new technologies, it helps bridge the digital divide that leaves too many low-income communities removed from the evolving technology landscape and the growing economic opportunities,” Sen Booker added. The Wi-Fi Innovation Act is the second in a trio of bills Rubio has been touting to tackle the spectrum “crunch,” in which increasing data usage comes up against finite airwave space.

Access to the Underserved: Keeping Up with the Times

As currently structured, E-Rate in past years has only been able to support Wi-Fi in 5% of schools and 1% of libraries. In 2013, no money was available for Wi-Fi. I am circulating an E-Rate Modernization Order for consideration at our July meeting that will close this Wi-Fi gap and provide more support for high-capacity wireless broadband for every school and library in America. By acting now, we can deliver digital learning benefits to 10 million students in the next funding year, compared to 4 million students under the status quo.
While we need to upgrade the connectivity of our schools and libraries, too many parts of rural America lack broadband connectivity altogether. This is in stark contrast to urban and suburban America, where many consumers have access to broadband at speeds in the hundreds of megabits per second. The simple fact of the matter is that the free market has failed to provide basic broadband connectivity to more than 15 million Americans. While we have already take steps to close the gap, there’s more work to be done. The proposed Order will fund a limited number of trials of alternative approaches to solving this problem using the Connect America Fund (CAF).
A third area where the Commission is poised to act to enhance access for the underserved is with closed captioning. Americans living with intellectual and physical disabilities stand to benefit the most from broadband-enabled technologies, but disproportionately find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide. I have proposed to my colleagues that we require captioning for video clips that end up on the Internet. Those who hear with their eyes should not be disadvantaged in their ability to access video information on the Internet.

Congress wants NSA reform after all. President Obama and the Senate need to pass it

[Commentary] If you got angry in May when the National Security Agency, the White House and Eric Cantor's spy-friendly House of Representatives took a once-promising surveillance reform bill and turned it into a shit sandwich, I've got some good news for you: so, apparently, did many members of Congress.

Recently, in a surprising rebuke to the NSA's lawyers and the White House -- after they co-opted and secretly re-wrote the USA Freedom Act and got it passed -- an overwhelming majority of the House of Representatives voted to strip the agency of its powers to search Americans' emails without a warrant, to prohibit the NSA or CIA from pressuring tech companies to install so-called "back doors" in their commercial hardware and software, and to bar NSA from sabotaging common encryption standards set by the government.

But the House's support of these new fixes, by a count of 293 to 123 and a huge bipartisan majority in the House, just put the pressure back on for the rest of the summer of 2014: the Senate can join the House in passing these defense budget amendments, or more likely, will now be pressured to plug in real privacy protections to America's new snooping legislation before it comes up for a vote. This all puts the White House in an even more awkward position. Does President Obama threaten a veto of the defense bill to stop this?

Verizon Wireless eyeing Dish Network spectrum

Verizon Wireless is very interested in buying Dish Network’s spectrum, The Post has learned.

A top Verizon executive told a group of insiders that the country’s No. 1 wireless carrier was eyeing the lucrative spectrum owned by Charlie Ergen’s satellite-TV company, a banker with direct knowledge of the conversation said.

Analysts have estimated Dish’s spectrum could be worth as much as $17 billion. A second source close to the companies said the two companies have held informal, early talks about the spectrum.

There’s no money in a ‘privacy phone’

[Commentary] Despite all the hubbub, though, there’s precious little evidence that US consumers are willing to actually pay a premium or even go much out of their way to protect their privacy in an increasingly connected world.

A 2013 survey from the Pew Research Center found that only 41 percent of US Internet users had set their computer browsers to turn off or disable cookies, and a recent Microsoft survey found that only one-third of consumers had adjusted privacy settings in their social networks. And a 2013 survey form the tech market research firm uSamp indicated a mere 4 percent of users had switched mobile service providers due to privacy concerns.

Fears about mobile security and privacy grow more legitimate by the day, but there’s no reason to think consumers will pay to alleviate them.

ABC Wraps Upfront Talks

ABC has largely wrapped its upfront deals, according to a network spokeswoman, making it the second broadcaster to conclude its annual summer deal-making.

The alphabet network declined to provide guidance on pricing and volume, but said it is pleased with where it landed, secured "appropriate" volume and is "well poised" to sell the remaining inventory closer to its actual air date, in the so-called scatter market. ABC secured price hikes between 4% and 5%, according to a person familiar with negotiations. That's down from the 7% to 8% increases it garnered in 2013.

Encouraging Signs In The JSA-SSA Mess

[Commentary] One of the lessons that I have learned along the way is that you never really know what's going to happen when Congress or the Federal Communications Commission begins fiddling around with the laws and regulations that govern the TV business.

My favorite example is retransmission consent. Congress created the right in 1992 to strengthen local broadcasting. But what retransmission consent did was strengthen cable as multimedia companies like NBC, Fox, Hearst and Scripps used it to secure cable carriage for cable networks that siphoned off broadcast viewers in ever larger numbers. It wasn't until pure-play broadcasters like Nexstar and Sinclair began demanding payments in the mid-2000s that retransmission consent began fulfilling its original purpose.

If Sinclair's response is the most surprising, Nexstar's is the most significant. Its deal with Marshall could set a precedent under which other minorities could team up with established broadcasters and actually bring some new voices into local TV. In announcing the deal, Marshall talked about a "new paradigm."

The Nexstar-Marshall deal is basically something I had proposed recently when it seemed likely that the FCC would move against JSAs and SSAs. It's a potential win-win. The broadcasters get to amortize costs and enjoy extra revenue from close partnerships with other stations in markets and the FCC gets want it has long claimed it has wanted -- diversity of ownership.

The FCC will closely scrutinize the deal and it should. Even the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters has raised serious questions aimed at making sure that Marshall maintains its editorial independence.

Benton

Search