1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2014

September 2014

Weekly Digest

What Are Politicians Saying About Comcast/Time Warner Cable? (Part III)

With both the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission reviewing Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable, many elected officials are weighing in on the potential benefits and pitfalls of the deal. Comcast has noted that nearly 70 mayors and more than 60 additional state and local officials have gone on record as proponents of the proposed merger.

Weekly Digest

What Are Competitors Saying About Comcast/Time Warner Cable? (Part II)

September 5, 2014 (The Facts and Future of Broadband Competition)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Headlines will return TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

And here’s a sneak peak at next week’s agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2014-09-07--P1W/


INTERNET/BROADBAND
   The Facts and Future of Broadband Competition
   Washington Responds to FCC’s Wheeler on Broadband Competition [links to web]
   The Government Could Build You Faster Internet, But Cable Companies Won't Let It [links to web]
   Larry Flynt, Video Games and the Potential Fallout of Net Neutrality [links to web]
   IGF highlights how developing countries use zero rating programs to drive Internet adoption - AEI analysis [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   What Are Competitors Saying About Comcast/Time Warner Cable? (Part II) - analysis
   Is SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Eyeing Vodafone? [links to web]

CONTENT
   Why Twitter’s users are in open revolt [links to web]

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   CPB eyes TV CSG rules in anticipation of spectrum auctions [links to web]
   Google says tests prove large exclusion zones are unnecessary in 3.5 GHz band [links to web]
   AT&T’s LTE network dome now covers 300 million people [links to web]
   Broadcom releases a 650Mbps chip to link smartphones to gigabit Wi-Fi networks [links to web]
   Two ex-Google employees want you to start talking on your phone again [links to web]
   Why California’s smartphone ‘kill switch’ law should concern journalists - analysis [links to web]
   Is SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Eyeing Vodafone? [links to web]

TELEVISION
   TV Viewers Getting Older Fast, Analyst Says [links to web]
   Analyst: SEC Network May Generate Nearly $1B in Revenue [links to web]

HEALTH
   Two questions made easier with an Electronic Health Record - analysis [links to web]

CHILDREN AND MEDIA
   Google to Refund Consumers at Least $19 Million to Settle FTC Complaint It Unlawfully Billed Parents for Children’s Unauthorized In-App Charges - FTC press release

PRIVACY/SECURITY
   The Potemkinism of Privacy Pragmatism - op-ed
   As Promised, Facebook’s Privacy Checkup Has Arrived [links to web]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Appeals Court Will Reconsider Ruling on Cellphone Tracking
   Why California’s smartphone ‘kill switch’ law should concern journalists - analysis [links to web]

LOBBYING
   Internet Association nabs FTC’s Abigail Slater [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   President Obama Names Megan Smith US CTO, Alexander Macgillivray Deputy US CTO - press release [links to web]
   Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Appoints Five New Members to the First Responder Network Authority Board - press release [links to web]
   After A 35-Year Run, NPR's Programming Chief Will Retire [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Groups Accuse Apple Supplier of Labor Violations
   IGF highlights how developing countries use zero rating programs to drive Internet adoption - AEI analysis [links to web]

back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

THE FACTS AND FUTURE OF BROADBAND COMPETITION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
The growing bandwidth demands of businesses and consumers are changing the competitive broadband landscape. My goal is not to criticize, but to recognize that meaningful competition for high-speed wired broadband is lacking and Americans need more competitive choices for faster and better Internet connections, both to take advantage of today’s new services, and to incentivize the development of tomorrow’s innovations. The underpinning of broadband policy today is that competition is the most effective tool for driving innovation, investment, and consumer and economic benefits. Unfortunately, the reality we face today is that as bandwidth increases, competitive choice decreases. It was the absence of competition that historically forced the imposition of strict government regulation in telecommunications. One of the consequences of such a regulated monopoly was the thwarting of the kind of innovation that competition stimulates. Today, we are buffeted by constant innovation precisely because of the policy decisions to promote competition made by the FCC and Justice Department since the 1970s and 1980s. The path from narrowband, to broadband, to high-speed broadband, was forged by competition. The simple lesson of history is that competition drives deployment and network innovation. That was true yesterday and it will be true tomorrow. Our challenge is to keep that competition alive and growing. What is the FCC prepared to do in the face of this competitive reality? As must be clear by now, incentivizing competition should precede regulation. We must try our best -- companies and communities, incumbents and insurgents -- to foster more competition. The best answer for limited competition is more competition, plain and simple. Here’s an Agenda for Broadband Competition:
Where competition exists, the FCC will protect it
Where greater competition can exist, we will encourage it: The entire Open Internet proceeding is about ensuring that the Internet remains free from barriers erected by last-mile providers.
Where meaningful competition is not available, the FCC will work to create it: Incentivizing competition is a job for governments at every level. Working together, we can implement policies at the federal, state, and local level that serve consumers by facilitating construction and encouraging competition in the broadband marketplace.
Where competition cannot be expected to exist, we must shoulder the responsibility of promoting the deployment of broadband: We cannot allow rural America to be behind the broadband curve. Our universal service efforts are focused on bringing better broadband to rural America by whomever steps up to the challenge -- not the highest speeds all at once, but steadily to prevent the creation of a new digital divide.
benton.org/headlines/facts-and-future-broadband-competition | Federal Communications Commission | Broadband Competition fact sheet | NY Times | Multichannel News | Washington Post | IDG News Service | ars technica | The Hill | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

OWNERSHIP

WHAT COMPETITORS ARE SAYING ABOUT COMCAST/TWC?
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] As noted last week, the first round of public comment on Comcast’s proposal to buy Time Warner Cable was due August 25. The $45 billion transaction, announced in February, would combine the nation's top two cable TV companies. Comcast and Time Warner argue that the combination will create a world-class communications, media, and technology company significantly better positioned than either company alone to bring consumers the advanced services they want now and will need in the future and to keep America at the forefront of technology and innovation. The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing the transaction to determine if it is in the public interest. Here’s a look at what Comcast's and Time Warner's competitors are saying.
http://benton.org/node/201581
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

CHILDREN AND MEDIA

GOOGLE AND FTC
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Google has agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint alleging that it unfairly billed consumers for millions of dollars in unauthorized charges incurred by children using mobile apps downloaded from the Google Play app store for use on Android mobile devices. Under the terms of the settlement, Google will provide full refunds -- with a minimum payment of $19 million -- to consumers who were charged for kids’ purchases without authorization of the account holder. Google has also agreed to modify its billing practices to ensure that it obtains express, informed consent from consumers before charging them for items sold in mobile apps. The Commission’s complaint against Google alleges that since 2011, Google violated the FTC Act’s prohibition on “unfair” commercial practices by billing consumers for charges by children made within kids’ apps downloaded from the Google Play store. Many consumers reported hundreds of dollars of such unauthorized charges, according to the complaint. According to the complaint, in mid- to late 2012, Google began presenting a pop-up box that asked for the account holder’s password before billing in-app charges. The new pop-up, however, did not contain any information about the charge. Google also did not inform consumers that entering the password opened up a 30-minute window in which a password was no longer required, allowing children to rack up unlimited charges during that time.
benton.org/headlines/google-refund-consumers-least-19-million-settle-ftc-complaint-it-unlawfully-billed-parents | Federal Trade Commission | Washington Post | The Hill
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

PRIVACY/SECURITY

POTEMKINISM OF PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Chris Jay Hoofnagle]
[Commentary] A revolution is afoot in privacy regulation. In an assortment of white papers and articles, business leaders—including Microsoft—and scholars argue that instead of regulating privacy through limiting the collection of data, we should focus on how the information is used. It’s called “use regulation,” and this seemingly obscure issue has tremendous implications for civil liberties and our society. Ultimately, it can help determine how much power companies and governments have. But the newfound support of privacy regulation among big businesses masks a radically deregulatory agenda. A regime that only pays attention to use erects a Potemkin Village of privacy. From a distance, it looks sound. But living within it we will find no shelter from the sun or rain.
[Chris Jay Hoofnagle teaches computer crime law and privacy law at UC–Berkeley]
benton.org/headlines/potemkinism-privacy-pragmatism | Slate
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

CELLPHONE TRACKING CASE TO BE REHEARD
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Joe Palazzolo]
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, will reconsider, with a full roster of judges participating, an earlier ruling in which a three-judge panel held that police need a warrant to obtain records from cellphone companies that show where a suspect has been. In June, the appeals court ruled that the government violated the privacy rights of Quartavius Davis, who was convicted of robbing seven stores in 2010 and sentenced to roughly 162 years in prison. It was the first time a federal appeals court mandated a warrant for cellphone location records, which are increasingly subject to government requests. In deciding to rehear the case, the 11th Circuit vacated the June ruling.
benton.org/headlines/appeals-court-will-reconsider-ruling-cellphone-tracking | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

STORIES FROM ABROAD

APPLE LABOR VIOLATIONS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Neil Gough, Brian Chen]
Apple is facing fresh accusations of violations of labor rights and workplace safety at a supplier in China. The allegations involve employees at a factory in the eastern China city of Suqian that is owned by Catcher Technology, a Taiwan company, and that makes metal casings for Apple iPads and for other consumer electronics companies. The employees are made to work excessive overtime and handle toxic chemicals without proper protective clothing, according to a report released by Green America, an environmental nonprofit group, and China Labor Watch, a workers’ rights group based in New York. Apple said its most recent annual audit of the Suqian plant, in May, had “found some concrete areas for improvement in Catcher’s operations, and we worked with Catcher to develop a corrective action plan.”
benton.org/headlines/groups-accuse-apple-supplier-labor-violations | New York Times | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

What Are Competitors Saying About Comcast/Time Warner Cable? (Part II)

[Commentary] As noted last week, the first round of public comment on Comcast’s proposal to buy Time Warner Cable was due August 25. The $45 billion transaction, announced in February, would combine the nation's top two cable TV companies. Comcast and Time Warner argue that the combination will create a world-class communications, media, and technology company significantly better positioned than either company alone to bring consumers the advanced services they want now and will need in the future and to keep America at the forefront of technology and innovation. The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing the transaction to determine if it is in the public interest. Here’s a look at what Comcast's and Time Warner's competitors are saying.

Washington Responds to FCC’s Wheeler on Broadband Competition

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said that broadband users need Internet connections of at least 25 megabits per second -- far beyond what DSL connections are capable of providing. He also confirmed that users have few if any competitive options for these kinds of modern broadband services. Here’s some of the reaction.

"Americans need faster broadband and real competition in the broadband market, and we welcome Chairman Wheeler’s intent to bring his agency into the 21st century. Some of the chairman’s predecessors liked to pretend that slow DSL was still a viable and competitive option for innovators and consumers, so change on this front is long overdue,” said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. "This is an important mindset not just for the Universal Service Fund, but for the FCC to take into its review of mega-mergers like Comcast-Time Warner Cable. That deal needs to be blocked. It would give Comcast a stranglehold on our nation's advanced broadband market and gatekeeper power over the entire Internet economy. The real proof will be in the agency's actions and not just its speeches. Beyond blocking the disastrous merger proposals in front of it, the FCC needs to take concrete steps to promote competition. It must understand that bedrock principles like nondiscrimination apply even in competitive and deregulated telecom markets. And it should start by actually collecting and better analyzing data on broadband competition and pricing -- information the big ISPs have been so reluctant to turn over to the agency and to independent researchers studying this issue."

“People say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem,” said Harold Feld, Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge. “Today, Chairman Wheeler becomes the first FCC Chairman to acknowledge what American businesses and consumers have known for a very long time -- we are not getting the broadband speeds we need at prices we can afford. We loudly applaud Chairman Wheeler for defying an army of broadband industry lobbyists to speak the truth about our slow and uncompetitive broadband market…. To protect consumers and promote competition, Chairman Wheeler needs all the tools available to the FCC. With this understanding of the market, we don’t see how allowing any further consolidation of the broadband market can possibly make broadband better, as Comcast and AT&T have claimed. We also hope that the Chairman recognizes that, in a market where today’s broadband providers have a stranglehold on the future, allowing any kind of paid prioritization is an invitation for broadband providers to act as Internet gatekeepers and toll collectors.”

Consumers Union, the policy arm of Consumer Reports, said the challenges outlined by Chairman Wheeler underscored the serious problems with the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and urged the FCC to reject the deal. Delara Derakhshani, policy counsel for Consumers Union, said, “The Chairman’s right -- the market for high-speed Internet service isn’t nearly competitive enough. That’s why it’s so critical for the FCC to reject Comcast’s merger with Time Warner Cable. If the FCC allows the Comcast merger to happen, the problems cited by Chairman Wheeler would only get worse. Comcast is already the nation’s biggest broadband provider, with a lousy reputation for value and customer service. Under the merger Comcast would become a national gatekeeper for the Internet with control over nearly half of the residential broadband customers. Allowing Comcast to get even bigger and more powerful would chill the competition that the Chairman is seeking. We applaud the Chairman’s call for greater broadband competition, and we believe rejecting the Comcast merger is essential to meeting that goal.”

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association released this statement: “Chairman Wheeler's remarks about broadband competition underscore the importance of maintaining a light regulatory touch that encourages more investment from more companies. The surest way to stifle further competition and investment in the broadband marketplace is to impose public utility Title II regulation on Internet access. Under the light-touch regulatory regime that has been in place for almost two decades, the cable industry has invested over $210 billion since 1996 to build robust, next generation broadband networks that are available to 93 percent of American consumers. Cable networks capable of 100 Mbps or higher are available to 85 percent of US homes. The cable industry is committed to meeting consumer demand for a world class Internet experience and competing in the marketplace with all wired and wireless Internet providers."

Jim Cicconi, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President of External and Legislative Affairs, said, “Chairman Wheeler highlighted the need for faster and better broadband, and for all Americans to have more competitive broadband choices. We couldn’t agree more. AT&T has been investing vigorously to make that vision a reality. Since 2008, AT&T has invested nearly $119 billion, much of that to provide Americans with competitive broadband services, both wired and wireless. These have included our award-winning U-Verse service, our Project VIP broadband expansion, our Mobile 4G LTE network, and, most recently, our GigaPower service being deployed in locations across the country. Just yesterday, in fact, we announced that we will bring our GigaPower service to St. Louis, adding to our list of up to 100 cities and municipalities nationwide that will receive our ultra-fast fiber network. In addition, our proposed merger with DIRECTV will expand and enhance broadband to 15 million locations, more than 11 million of which are outside our wireline footprint, primarily in rural areas. Much of this investment commitment will bring broadband to consumers who either lack broadband entirely, or who have only one provider — exactly the problematic situations Chairman Wheeler highlighted today. In short, we agree with Chairman Wheeler’s vision that all consumers should have access to robust broadband, and that they should have a competitive choice of providers. We will continue to work with the FCC and other policymakers to remove any barriers that inhibit or hinder the infrastructure investment needed to make that vision a reality.”

Appeals Court Will Reconsider Ruling on Cellphone Tracking

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, will reconsider, with a full roster of judges participating, an earlier ruling in which a three-judge panel held that police need a warrant to obtain records from cellphone companies that show where a suspect has been.

In June, the appeals court ruled that the government violated the privacy rights of Quartavius Davis, who was convicted of robbing seven stores in 2010 and sentenced to roughly 162 years in prison. It was the first time a federal appeals court mandated a warrant for cellphone location records, which are increasingly subject to government requests. In deciding to rehear the case, the 11th Circuit vacated the June ruling.

Groups Accuse Apple Supplier of Labor Violations

Apple is facing fresh accusations of violations of labor rights and workplace safety at a supplier in China.

The allegations involve employees at a factory in the eastern China city of Suqian that is owned by Catcher Technology, a Taiwan company, and that makes metal casings for Apple iPads and for other consumer electronics companies. The employees are made to work excessive overtime and handle toxic chemicals without proper protective clothing, according to a report released by Green America, an environmental nonprofit group, and China Labor Watch, a workers’ rights group based in New York. Apple said its most recent annual audit of the Suqian plant, in May, had “found some concrete areas for improvement in Catcher’s operations, and we worked with Catcher to develop a corrective action plan.”

Is SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Eyeing Vodafone?

SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son turning his gaze to Europe, and specifically to Vodafone Group. SoftBank has history with Vodafone. SoftBank acquired Vodafone’s Japanese operations in 2006 for $15 billion. By 2012, Vodafone sold back to SoftBank $5 billion-worth of interests from that transaction, as the British company pared minority interests from its worldwide footprint. Meanwhile, SoftBank used the deal to transform itself from an Internet provider into Japan’s third-largest cellphone carrier.

Why Twitter’s users are in open revolt

Twitter is planning to debut a Facebook-style, algorithmically curated newsfeed -- provoking a backlash among Twitter users. In addition, the image-sharing site Twitpic announced that it was shutting down amid legal pressure from Twitter over Twitpic's trademark application. According to Twitpic, Twitter threatened to revoke Twitpic's access to Twitter's systems if it moved forward with its trademark application. That news is inspiring even more criticism of Twitter as the service seeks a foothold among non-power-users and tries to expand its appeal.

Internet Association nabs FTC’s Abigail Slater

Former Federal Trade Commission lawyer Abigail Slater is the Internet Association’s new vice president of legal and regulatory policy. Slater has worked at the FTC for more than a decade, most recently as an attorney adviser to Commissioner Julie Brill.

© 1994-2024 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.