August 2014

Can Online Public Files Combat the Flood of Money in Elections?

[Commentary] This week the New York Times reported on an explosion of spending on political advertising on television. The explosion is “accelerating the rise of moneyed interests and wresting control from the candidates’ own efforts to reach voters,” Ashley Parker reported.

On July 31, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation (represented by the Institute for Public Representation of Georgetown University Law Center) called on the Federal Communications Commission to extend to cable and satellite systems the requirement that their political files be posted on the FCC’s online database.

AT&T, Verizon Lead Wireless Industry’s TV Spending

The wireless industry is an aggressive marketing category and has spent $1.77 billion on national TV advertising through the first half of the year, much of it on broadcast television, according to data from research firm iSpot.

While wireless industry’s top two commercial advertising spenders -- AT&T T and Verizon -- spent similar amounts on broadcast television spots through the end of June, they allocated that spending among networks differently. AT&T, the wireless brand that has spent the most on TV commercials so far in 2014, has spent $480.2 million on TV ad placements through June 30, according to iSpot.

Meanwhile, Verizon has spent $408.5 million on TV ad placements through June 30, concentrating its commercial spending on Fox, NBC and ABC.

A Gigabit Broadband Land Grab is Underway: Is it for Publicity or Subscribers?

With so many gigabit announcements, it almost feels like a ‘land grab,’ particularly with AT&T.

In a matter of months, AT&T is positioning itself as a major fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) gigabit broadband provider, at least in the context of the number of press releases they have issued. Time will tell whether those press releases actually translate into large numbers of AT&T FTTH subscribers.

$3 a Month? The Discount Magic of Iliad, French Bidder for T-Mobile

France’s Iliad which runs mobile carrier Free Mobile, has been operating in the French mobile market since early 2012, and had taken a 12% share of the market by last December.

Its launch sparked a price war in France, with the company offering cut-price plans for as little as €2 ($2.68) a month. The company’s founder is a price cutter at heart–a good match for T-Mobile’s current approach to shaking up the U.S. market.

To Be Where The Audience Is -- Report Of The Special Committee On The Future Of Shortwave Broadcasting

The Broadcasting Board of Governors released a report that found shortwave radio to be essential to listeners in target countries, but of marginal impact in most markets.

Research-based evidence of media trends suggests that the increased availability and affordability of television, mobile devices and Internet access has led to the declining use of shortwave around the world.

Still, the report finds that substantial audiences embrace shortwave in Nigeria, Burma, North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Cuba and other target markets for the BBG. At the same time, the committee’s recommendations make clear that the BBG will need to continue to reduce or eliminate shortwave broadcasts where there is either minimal audience or that audience is not a US foreign policy priority.

House lawmakers formally rebuke leaders over phone ‘unlocking’ maneuver

Two Republican lawmakers introduced a privileged resolution criticizing House leadership for changing the text of a bill on cellphone “unlocking” before it hit the floor earlier in 2014.

Reps Walter Jones (R-NC) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced the measure to disapprove of the action from House leaders and the heads of the Judiciary Committee and direct them “to operate in a matter that maximizes transparency and public trust.”

The action is a formal rebuke to House leaders for quietly slipping a controversial measure into the bill that allowed people to switch their cellphone from one network like AT&T or Verizon to another in February. The contested provision banned unlocking for “bulk resale,” which would have prevented people from setting up shop exclusively for unlocking phones and which supporters said was necessary to reduce the incentive for people to steal phones.

In their resolution, the two lawmakers claimed that the change “fundamentally altered the substance of the underlying bill.”

How T-Mobile’s Odyssey Could Still End in a Sprint Deal

With T-Mobile adding customers and suddenly becoming the target of a surprise buyout offer, it’s easy to think the company might not need Sprint after all. But the truth is that few options other than a sale to rival Sprint will help T-Mobile thrive over the long term.

Because AT&T and Verizon are so much bigger than T-Mobile, only a partner or owner with deep pockets could help it topple its powerful rivals.

Apple’s $3 Billion Beats Purchase Now a Done Deal

Apple’s $3 billion purchase of Beats Music and Beats Electronics has been completed. Apple has notified roughly 200 Beats workers that their positions at Apple will only be temporary, while the remainder will join Apple permanently.

France to Probe Mobile Upstart

The French government asked the country's antitrust authority to study whether Iliad, France's new cut-rate mobile-phone operator, is benefiting from a sweetheart roaming agreement, potentially giving ammunition to incumbent companies that have argued the deal is forcing them to cut jobs.

France's independent competition watchdog said that it will give an opinion by the end of February on whether Iliad's Free Mobile, France's fourth mobile-phone operator, would gain a "lasting advantage" over competitors if it extends its roaming agreement with partly state-owned France Télécom SA, the country's largest mobile-phone operator by subscribers.

The government also asked the authority to weigh in on whether France's mobile operators can pool resources to roll out shared wireless networks in rural areas, as well as whether the operators can share wireless networks in urban areas "without harming competition, jobs and investment."

Austrian privacy campaigner files 'class action' suit against Facebook over privacy policy

Privacy campaign group Europe-v-Facebook is inviting Facebook users outside the United States and Canada to join a lawsuit against the company, which it alleges violates privacy laws. Europe-v-Facebook’s Max Schrems filed suit with the commercial court in Vienna, Austria, where he lives.

The suit accuses Facebook of “basic or obvious violations of the law.”

The alleged violations include the company’s privacy policy, its alleged participation in the Prism data collection program run by the US National Security Agency (NSA), its graph search; its tracking of users on third party websites, the use of “big data” systems that spy on users, and the company’s non-compliance with data access requests.

Benton

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