June 2014

Media Bureau Announces the Effective Date of the Television Joint Sales Agreement Attribution Rule

On April 15, 2014, the Commission released a Report and Order in the 2014 Quadrennial Regulatory Review -- Review of the Commission’s Broadcast Ownership Rules and Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In the Report and Order, the Commission adopted an attribution rule for television joint sales agreements (JSAs), establishing that same-market television JSAs for more than 15 percent of the weekly advertising time for the brokered station are to be counted toward the brokering station’s ownership totals, just as the Commission has long done with respect to radio stations. To avoid disruption of current business arrangements, the Report and Order provided a two-year compliance period -- from the effective date of the Report and Order -- for parties to same-market JSAs in existence as of the release date whose attribution results in a violation of the broadcast ownership limits to come into compliance with the broadcast ownership rules. The effective date of the Report and Order is 30 days after it was published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2014; thus, the effective date of the television JSA attribution rule is June 19, 2014, and the two-year compliance period will end on June 19, 2016.

TV Drama Season in DC Has Broadcasters Awaiting Rulings

Television executive Marci Burdick is gripped by a drama that isn’t appearing on her company’s CBS affiliate in South Bend, Indiana: She’s watching battles in Washington that figure to reshape the broadcast industry.

The US Supreme Court is set to decide soon whether Aereo can use coin-sized antennas to capture TV signals and sell them over the Internet -- without paying broadcasters such as Burdick’s closely held Schurz Communications. A decision for Aereo might lead cable and satellite companies to stop paying $4 billion a year to station owners, too. If Aereo wins, “local broadcasters and their networks would have to have serious conversations about the business model,” Burdick, senior vice president at Schurz, said.

That’s not the only thing worrying broadcasters. The Federal Communications Commission has proposed eliminating a 39-year-old rule that bars pay-TV companies such as Comcast and Dish Network from showing National Football League games that get blacked out on local broadcast stations whenever the stadiums aren’t sold out. Without that rule, the NFL may abandon over-the-air TV for pay-TV, rather than lose control of its telecasts, according to the broadcasters who spend billions for game rights.

The challenges for broadcasters probably will continue in 2015, when the FCC wants stations to decide whether to give up airwaves for cash. The agency will auction surrendered frequencies for use by wireless providers such as AT&T and Verizon Communications, which have said they need more airwaves to meet soaring demand for mobile communications.

Rentrak Redefines TV Measurement Terms

Rentrak has made a few key changes regarding the terms it uses to describe its TV measurement services.

Rather than continuing to refer to its national and local television measurement services as “census-like,” Rentrak will now describe those services as “Rentrak Local” and “Rentrak National,” respectively.

The terminology change comes after consultation with the Media Rating Council, which claimed that "census like" was not an accurate way to describe the TV measurement services Rentrak offers. The company's theatrical film and video-on-demand (VOD) measurement services will remain defined as "census-like."

Amazon unveils the Fire Phone

Amazon.com stepped into the smartphone ring, unveiling the Fire Phone, a 4.7 inch device with 3D capabilities, a 13 megapixel camera and free photo storage. Users can control the phone by tilting it, adding a three-dimensional element to its screen.

They can also navigate through menus or maps just by moving the phone from side to side. The Fire Phone even employs eye-tracking technology, so that the image on the screen changes as the users moves his or her head.

The phone is Amazon's bet that it can take on Apple and Samsung, while drawing more customers into its Prime subscription service universe. It plugs directly into Amazon's Prime Video, Prime Music and cloud storage services. It is also closely integrated with the company's Kindle reading apps and Audible audiobooks services.

Amazon said the phone, which will be available exclusively through AT&T, will start at $199.99 with a 2-year contract for a 32 GB model. A 64 GB model costs $299.99. Without a contract, the phone will cost $649.99. Pre-orders for the phone begin soon, and the phones will be available starting July 25.

Facebook has built its own switch. And it looks a lot like a server

Not content to remake the server, Facebook’s engineers have taken on the humble switch, building their own version of the networking box and the software to go with it.

The resulting switch, dubbed Wedge, and the software called FBOSS will be provided to the Open Compute Foundation as an open source design for others to emulate. Facebook is already testing it with production traffic in its data centers.

Jay Parikh, the VP of infrastructure engineering at Facebook shared the news of the server onstage at the Gigaom Structure event, explaining that Facebook’s goal in creating this project was to eliminate the network engineer and run its networking operations in the same easily swapped out and dynamic fashion as their servers.

Facebook’s infrastructure is relatively unique in that it wholly controls it and has the engineering talent to build software and new hardware to meet its computing needs. Google is another company that has built its own networking switch, but it didn’t open source those designs and keeps them close. But many enterprise customers don’t have the technical expertise of a web giant, so the tweaks that others contribute to the Open Compute Foundation to make the gear and the software will likely influence adoption.

Digital Readiness: Nearly one-third of Americans lack the skills to use next-generation “Internet of things” applications

Accelerating technological change is placing a new premium on people’s abilities to navigate the digital landscape.

As the “Internet of things” ushers in powerful new applications in health care, education, government service delivery, and commerce, Americans are asked to share personal data with service providers in ways unforeseen a decade ago. They also have to muster the technical know-how to make Internet-connected devices function.

Yet nearly one-third of Americans are not ready to meet the twin challenges of trust and skills in a society in which digital applications are extending to more corners of our lives. Based on a 2013 national survey of Americans, this report finds that:

29% of adult Americans have low levels of digital readiness, as measured by respondents’ understanding of terms about the Internet and self-reported confidence in using computers or finding information online.
Digital readiness is a bigger problem than the digital divide. Some 18% of Americans lack “advanced Internet access,” that is, either broadband at home or a smartphone; 15% are not Internet users at all. Put differently, 70 million Americans are not “digitally ready” for robust online use, nearly twice the number (36 million) of people with no online access.
Lack of digital readiness afflicts one in five Americans who have advanced online access. Although non-Internet users necessarily lack digital readiness, 18% of people who have broadband or a smartphone register low levels of digital readiness. These Americans -- possessing the tools but deficient in skills -- exhibit far lower levels of Internet use.

The report also makes policy recommendations for improving Americans’ level of digital readiness. The proposals aim at building the capacity to help Americans use digital applications that will increasingly shape how governments serve citizens. Specifically:

Governments should make complementary investments in digital readiness as they roll out new applications.
Investments in digital readiness should build on existing programs that promote digital inclusion, such as those funded by the Commerce Department’s Broadband Technology Opportunity Program, as well as other public-private initiatives.
The philanthropic sector should direct investments to digital readiness for all segments of the community, as well as invest in measurement of how digital readiness impacts outcomes.
Cities should create “community tech champions” as advocates for digital readiness. Such champions would highlight the need for promoting digital skills for new “Internet of things” applications that the public and private sectors develop.
Libraries, who are already the primary curator on programs to encourage digital readiness in many communities, should embrace and expand that role.

[At the Federal Communications Commission in 2009-10, Horrigan led development of the broadband adoption and usage portion of the National Broadband Plan]

Consumer groups back anti-‘fast lane’ bill

Consumer interest and free speech groups are getting behind Democratic legislation to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) block agreements to speed up some users’ Internet speeds.

The Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act from Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep Doris Matsui (D-CA) “sends a clear signal” to the FCC, according to Public Knowledge vice president Chris Lewis.

“As the FCC continues to evaluate new net neutrality rules, it's important they understand that Americans want an Internet that everyone can succeed in, not just the companies with enough money to pay a toll to [Internet service providers]," he added.

The head of the American Library Association, which has previously supported the network neutrality concept of equal treatment for all online traffic, said the Democrats’ bill was "vitally important" to preserving free speech and education online. "It is critical for all to have equitable access to the Internet to support our nation’s social, cultural, educational and economic well-being," Barbara Stripling said.

AT&T claims ‘strong’ net neutrality would actually ruin the Internet. That’s a big leap.

[Commentary] Advocates of an open Internet have for weeks been urging the Federal Communications Commission to re-label broadband as a utility -- a move toward "strong" network neutrality that would give the FCC much greater authority to ban controversial fast lanes on the Internet.

Reclassification, as the proposal is called, would allow the FCC to apply the same set of strict rules to ISPs that it currently uses to govern telephone companies. (Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, have just introduced legislation to ban fast lanes outright.)

Broadband providers have long opposed the idea of greater regulation, but now they're stepping up their rhetoric against it, arguing that reclassification won't do what net neutrality advocates are hoping for -- and might even threaten Internet companies such as Google and Netflix. In a nutshell, they say, if the FCC can regulate how the Internet gets delivered to you and me, what parts of the Internet can't the FCC regulate?

AT&T is among the most vocal critics of reclassification. Company executive Jim Cicconi argued that reclassifying Internet providers -- placing them under Title II of the Communications Act instead of the more lenient Title I -- wouldn't do anything to prevent the rise of Internet fast lanes, because embedded in Title II is a loophole that lets ISPs manipulate some traffic so long as it's not "unjust" or "unreasonable."

But the bigger problem, AT&T says, is that Title II would create all kinds of burdensome new requirements on content companies -- the Googles and Netflixes of the world. For example, said Cicconi, Internet applications might be newly forced to pay into a "universal service fund" that the FCC keeps to connect poor and rural areas to phone service.

Cicconi is asking you to make a number of logical leaps. But it's not clear that you should.

Hillary Clinton backs overhaul of surveillance powers in NSA criticism

Hillary Clinton has thrown her weight behind political efforts to rein in US surveillance powers in her most forthright criticism yet of the National Security Agency (NSA).

The former secretary of state, who has hitherto largely stayed out of the debate sparked by leaks from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, called on Congress to restore constitutional privacy protections weakened after terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.

"We are finally taking stock of the laws that we passed after 9/11," she told Fox News interviewer Greta Van Susteren. "We did all of this in an a hurry because we were worried and scared and now we need to take a step back and figure out how we make sure that the balance between liberty and security is right."

A significant milestone for digital due process

[Commentary] Although the recent debate around government surveillance has focused on the reach of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), we have long supported efforts to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) so that the government must obtain a warrant to require a provider to disclose content stored with the provider.

The ongoing campaign to update ECPA has reached a significant milestone. For the first time, a majority of Members in the US House of Representatives have gone on record to support bipartisan legislation (H.R. 1852) sponsored by Representatives Yoder (R-KS), Graves (R-GA), and Polis (D-CO) that would create a bright-line, warrant-for-content rule for electronic communications.

This common-sense reform is long overdue. While well-intentioned when enacted in 1986, ECPA no longer reflects users’ reasonable expectations of privacy. For example, an email may receive more robust privacy protections under ECPA depending on how old it is, whether it has been opened, and where it is stored -- while users attach no importance to these distinctions. The Department of Justice itself has acknowledged that there is no principled reason for this rule.

Congress should send a clear message about the limits of government surveillance by enacting legislation that would create a bright-line, warrant-for-content standard. Now that a majority has gone on record to support this common sense update, we once again urge Congress to expeditiously pass legislation to update ECPA.

[Lieber is Senior Privacy Policy Counsel, Google]

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