November 2014

Chinese Censors Loom Over Foreign TV Shows

Recent Chinese broadcast rules look likely to delay foreign TV shows that had been available almost immediately for streaming on Chinese sites, possibly for entire seasons while censors review them.

In September, the top broadcasting regulator said that it must approve all foreign television shows before they can be posted on Chinese video-streaming sites and that sites must pull unapproved content by 2015. It didn’t give details. Recently, local Chinese media posted a draft of the rules by the regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, which said the censorship standard for streaming of foreign shows will be based on rules already applied to TV programming. The TV rules dictate that whole seasons of shows must be reviewed by censors before any episodes can air.

Two exciting new funding opportunities for the US Ignite Community

The US Ignite Initiative has taken a big step forward with the issuance of an official NSF program solicitation, number 15-508, entitled “US Ignite.” We are very excited about this solicitation, as we believe that it can help enhance and advance many of the activities that US Ignite and its partners and communities have been undertaking in the past two years.

The NSF wrote that they “seek proposals for innovative applications that leverage or enhance advanced networking technologies (i.e., gigabit throughput, software-defined networking, advanced wireless), and that address national priority areas.” Track 1 of this solicitation, entitled US Ignite Applications: Moving Novel Gigabit Applications into Practice, includes an exciting new opportunity for those of you who are working on or considering possible next-generation Internet applications. Up to $600,000 is available in funding for your application project. We would be happy to discuss and review your idea or possible proposal so that it is the strongest possible. It’s in all of our interests to submit as many strong proposals by January 21st. We, the US Ignite non-profit organization, are currently preparing a response to Track 2 of this solicitation, in coordination with existing US Ignite testbed communities and partners. A few new testbed cities may also be included. If you have unique and valuable applications to share with other testbed cities, we’d like to consider you for our ecosystem proposal. The results and lessons learned under a successful ecosystem proposal will benefit everyone. US Ignite Corporate partners are invited to play important roles in both Track 1 and Track 2 proposals. Innovation continues to be an incredibly important part of the US Ignite movement.

NYC Mayor warns feds on Comcast merger

Comcast’s $45 billion merger deal with Time Warner Cable could lead to worse service, slowed innovation and higher advertising rates, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told federal regulators.

The mayor sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler warning that the cable merger would have “far-reaching impacts” on his city and the rest of the nation. For one, the deal could lead to higher prices and worse service from the company, since it will have no major competitors to fear, he said. “This is alarming given both Comcast’s and Time Warner Cable’s already poor customer satisfaction ratings,” Mayor de Blasio warned. Additionally, the post-merger Comcast could “come to exert unprecedented influence over what Americans are able to create, distribute and access online,” he wrote. And because Comcast will have a large control of the firm that is used to place national advertising, the deal may “make it make difficult and expensive” for local companies to buy ads, he warned.

Cell Phones, Social Media and Campaign 2014

Cell phones and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are playing an increasingly prominent role in how voters get political information and follow election news, according to a new national survey by the Pew Research Center.

The proportion of Americans who use their cell phones to track political news or campaign coverage has doubled compared with the most recent midterm election: 28% of registered voters have used their cell phone in this way during the 2014 campaign, up from 13% in 2010. Further, the number of Americans who follow candidates or other political figures on social media has also risen sharply: 16% of registered voters now do this, up from 6% in 2010. Voters of all ages are more likely to take part in these behaviors than in the previous midterm race, but that growth has been especially pronounced among 30-49 year olds. Some 40% of voters ages 30-49 have used their cell phone to follow this year’s election campaign (up from 15% in 2010) and 21% follow political figures on social media (up from just 6% in 2010). Voters in this age group now take part in each of these behaviors at rates nearly identical to 18-29 year olds.

Participation in the digital campaign does not have a clear partisan slant. Republicans and Democrats engage in each of these behaviors at similar rates. At the same time, when asked about some reasons why they might follow political figures on social media, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents express a greater desire to be the first to find out about breaking political news, and to say that they use social media to get political information that has not passed through the traditional media “filter.” Voters from both parties place a similar emphasis on the deeper connections that social media allows them to form with the candidates they support. Digital politics also goes hand in hand with other types of campaign engagement. In particular, the 16% of registered voters who follow political figures on social media participate in various traditional campaign activities at high rates -- from volunteering and donating money, to encouraging others to get out and support their preferred candidates and causes.

Pollsters used to worry that cellphone users would skew results. These days, not so much.

It wasn't long ago that pollsters were fretting about a looming crisis in politics. It was called the cellphone, and its growing popularity threatened to skew surveys and ruin elections everywhere. Imagine not getting an accurate reading of a race because surveyors had only been able to reach wealthy, older people on landlines. At best, you'd risk giving voters the wrong impression of which candidate was ahead. At worst, you might unintentionally change the outcome of the race as campaigns scrambled to misspend their resources based on faulty figures.

Cellphones still pose a challenge for polling in some smaller races. But for the most part, the disaster that was supposed to be never took place, according to Scott Keeter, the Pew Research Center's director of survey research. "Employing cellphones in the sample is more expensive," said Keeter. "We've been looking at that over the years and it's a problem that gets worse the more local your geography is. But for national polling -- cellphones are not presenting a problem for us other than that they're more costly to call."

FCC Approves Nexstar-Marshall Broadcasting Group Deal

Nexstar Broadcasting Group has gained Federal Communications Commission approval for the transfer of the former Grant Company licenses from it to minority-owned Marshall Broadcasting Group.

The stations are WFXR-WWCW Roanoke, WZDX Huntsville, KGCW-KLJB in the Quad Cities (IA), and WLAX-WEUX in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. Nexstar called it "an important step in fulfilling Nexstar's commitment to incubate broadcast station ownership by minority-owned companies, which is also a key FCC initiative."

US sues to block National CineMedia deal for Screenvision

The Justice Department sued to stop National CineMedia's planned $375 million purchase of its closest competitor to prevent it from controlling advertising for nine of 10 movie screens in the US.

National CineMedia, the largest supplier of commercials in movie theaters, said in May it was merging with Screenvision Cinema Network, pending regulators' approval. The Justice Department claims in its antitrust complaint that CineMedia responded to an increase in Screenvision's market share by buying its only real competitor. The US asked the court for an order blocking the deal and allowing companies that show films to rescind any contracts or contract extensions reached with National CineMedia and Screenvision since the proposed transaction was announced.

Activists challenge Los Angeles TV station for using Washington football team name

Activists are taking their fight to prevent broadcasters from using the name of the Washington football team across the country. Three Native Americans filed a petition opposing the renewal of Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV-TV’s broadcasting license. The petition cites the station’s use of the Washington team’s name, which they describe as a racial slur. The petitions in Los Angeles are being organized by George Washington University professor John Banzhaf, who filed a petition in October to oppose the license renewal of a DC station owned by Redskins owner Dan Snyder.

FCC Seeks Comment on TracFone's Petition For Rulemaking and Interim Relief To Amend The Lifeline Usage Rules

By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on a petition for rulemaking filed by TracFone Wireless. In its petition, TracFone asks the FCC to initiate a rulemaking to amend section 54.407(c)(2) to allow the sending and receiving of text messages to count as usage for the purpose of the Lifeline usage requirements. TracFone also requests an interim waiver of this same rule to allow TracFone’s customers to demonstrate their intent to use their Lifeline service via text messaging pending adoption of the proposed rule amendment. Comments due December 1, 2014; reply comments due December 16, 2014.

The NSA's Mass-Surveillance Program Is About to Go on Trial

A federal Appeals Court will review the government's controversial domestic spying program that collects the phone records of virtually all Americans, a once-secret practice that was publicly exposed by Edward Snowden.

A three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments considering the constitutionality of the National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone "metadata" -- the numbers, dates, and duration of calls but not the actual content of conversations. The case is poised to have far-reaching implications for digital privacy and could appear before the Supreme Court as soon as next year. At issue is whether the government's gathering of American phone records is a violation of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches. The government has said that the practice, authorized under Section 215 of the post-9/11 USA Patriot Act, does not amount to a legitimate invasion of privacy and is necessary to detect national-security threats -- although some intelligence officials have in recent months indicated that the program in its current form may be unnecessary.

Benton

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