1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2014

September 2014

Lobbying on the ‘Internet of Things’

The “Internet of Things” revolution -- being able to wirelessly control home electronics such as coffee makers and lights remotely from your smartphone -- is starting to gain traction on K Street.

Belkin International, the California-based company best known for making Internet routers, has hired DC boutique tech lobbying firm Franklin Square Group to advance its agenda in Washington. The lobbying will focus primarily on Belkin’s new product line, WeMo, which features technology in Crock-Pots and lightbulbs that allow users to control the devices from their phone or tablet. The company is aiming to introduce the concept and potential uses of the “Internet of Things” to policymakers, and has not yet honed in on specific regulations or legislation.

Google Expert On Satellites Joins Facebook

An executive working on Google's efforts to deliver Internet service via satellite has jumped to a similar role at Facebook. Michael Tseytlin joined Facebook in September to work on satellite technology for the company's Connectivity Lab, people familiar with the matter said. An expert in satellite design, Tseytlin had been working on Google's satellite efforts, which had been led by Greg Wyler, a satellite entrepreneur who also recently left Google.

Analysis

FCC Monday Morning Quarterbacks the Sports Blackout Rule

On September 30, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on whether to repeal its sports blackout rules. The outcome is a forgone conclusion - the FCC will repeal the rules.

Why Google and the FCC are bringing wireless back into the net neutrality fight

Federal Communications Commission Tom Wheeler and Google both seemed to come out in favor of holding wireless internet to the same network neutrality standards we hold the wired internet. This has long been the goal of net neutrality advocates. What’s changed?

When the 2010 debate over network neutrality was raging, less than 30 percent of Americans had a smartphone, and they were using them very differently than they are using them now. During 2010, people in the US consumed an average of 350 MB/mo of data per month compared to 2013, when shared data plans and more devices helped push data consumption to 1.2GB per month. Plus if more than 20 percent of visits to the internet are coming from mobile phones, a significant amount of eyeballs access the net via wireless networks, which means that any unfair deals would affect one in five attempts to get online. And then there are the people themselves, who are changing how politicians view the debate. Thanks to John Oliver’s rant, the average consumer is far more engaged in the network neutrality debate than they were in 2010, and has told the FCC and her Congressmen what she thinks.

Spy court renews NSA metadata program

With a surveillance reform bill stuck in the Senate, the federal court overseeing spy agencies reauthorized the National Security Agency’s controversial bulk collection of Americans' phone records.

Reauthorization from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) allows the NSA to continue to warrantlessly collect “metadata” in bulk about people’s phone calls. The records contain information about which numbers people called, when and how long they talked, but not the actual content of their conversations. “Given that legislation has not yet been enacted, and given the importance of maintaining the capabilities of the Section 215 telephony metadata program, the government has sought a 90-day reauthorization of the existing program,” the Justice Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement, referring to the section of the Patriot Act that authorizes the program.

Tech companies still under cloud after NSA revelations

Revelations in the court records are damaging to technology companies, showing just how vulnerable they are to government demands, said American University law professor Stephen Vladeck. "Before this came out, we could only speculate about how much pressure the government was exerting on Yahoo, Facebook and Google behind the scenes. Now it's clear the lengths to which the US government has gone," Vladeck said. "And that's what's going to keep our friends overseas up at night."

Broadcast-Friendlier STAVRA Bill Circulated

A new version of the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act (STAVRA), scheduled to be marked up Sept. 17 in the Senate Commerce Committee, was circulated on Sept 12. The draft dropped retransmission reforms opposed by television stations in an effort to get the must-pass bill passed.

Small carriers want guarantees they won’t get burned at next year’s spectrum auction

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler made a plea to mobile carriers: Commit to participating in the next year’s broadcast incentive auction, so he can convince reluctant TV stations to sell their airwaves to the mobile industry. Smaller mobile carriers aren’t quite ready to put their money on the table, though, because they’re just as worried as broadcasters that they’ll get a raw deal.

Owner of Dozens of Newspapers Seeks Buyers

Digital First Media, a struggling collection of 76 daily newspapers including The San Jose Mercury News, The Los Angeles Daily News, The Denver Post and The St. Paul Pioneer Press, has put itself up for sale.

The company, which is the nation’s second-largest newspaper company as measured by circulation, was expected to be sold at some point because it was owned by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital. But John Paton, Digital First’s chief executive, said that it made sense to sell the newspapers now because of the radical changes taking place in the media industry.

Steve Jobs Was a Low-Tech Parent

[Commentary] I’ve met a number of technology chief executives and venture capitalists who say they strictly limit their children’s screen time, often banning all gadgets on school nights, and allocating ascetic time limits on weekends. I was perplexed by this parenting style. After all, most parents seem to take the opposite approach, letting their children bathe in the glow of tablets, smartphones and computers, day and night. Yet these tech CEO’s seem to know something that the rest of us don’t.

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