June 2015

Mexico gives competitors access to Telmex phone networks

Mexico's telecommunications regulator said that it will open access to the "last mile" of Telmex telephone network to rivals, in a decision that aims to increase competition in a sector dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim. The move will force Telmex, owned by Slim's America Movil , to let other companies use part of its vast fixed line infrastructure. The "last mile" connects competitors using Telmex's fixed line infrastructure with their end-user customers.

The company has 60 days to present terms by which it will offer services to other operators, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) said. Since declaring America Movil dominant in the sector in 2014, the IFT has been introducing stricter measures designed to boost access to a sector seen as less competitive than Mexico's peers. America Movil operates around 70 percent of Mexico's mobile and fixed lines.

TV Binging On The Rise

TV binging is growing. But while it can bring much joy to consumers, it can also bring the blues. A new study on TV binging by TiVo Research says that 52 percent of those surveyed are "experiencing feeling sad" when they approach the end of a TV series. Apparently, this has been disturbing some sleep patterns as well. TiVo says 31 percent have "lost sleep to binging," and 37 percent say they have spent entire weekends binging.

Overall, “binging is booming,” says TiVo: A March survey says 92 percent of respondents reported some binging. TiVo says the binging is not just fueled by long stretches of repeat programming on traditional networks, in the summer or around holidays, but also full seasons worth of programming on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Netflix continues to be the leader here: 66 percent of “season” bingers use the big subscription video on demand service. In addition, the negative perception of binge viewing has declined among those that TiVo surveyed -- to only 30 percent from 53 percent in 2013.

Jim Beam (yes, the whiskey maker) says we need broadband competition

What does a centuries-old whiskey company have to do with the Internet? A lot, it turns out. You don't often see bourbon makers rubbing elbows with telecommunication regulators, but Jim Beam made an exception when it sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission arguing that the agency needs to ensure that high-speed Internet remains plentiful, competitive and cheap.

"In our 200 years in operation, Jim Beam has learned a thing or two about the three 'b's,' bourbon, brands and business," the company wrote in a letter to the FCC. Now the company says it's adding a fourth "B" to the list: Broadband. From Jim Beam's Illinois headquarters to its Kentucky distilleries and restaurants, high-speed Internet is integral to the company's business. It uses smaller Internet providers in many of these facilities that might be threatened by larger carriers seeking to edge out the competition, Jim Beam says. So the company is pressing the FCC to make broadband competition a priority.

Facebook Is Experimenting With How You Read The News

Facebook is currently rolling out a test redesign of its "Trending" sidebar that groups buzzy news and hashtags into five categories that users can toggle between: all news (if you don’t care about specific categories), politics, science and technology, sports and entertainment. A spokesperson for Facebook said that the redesign is a small test to help users discover what topics they may be interested in, which explains why everyone doesn't have the feature yet. You may just be seeing it now -- or perhaps you haven't seen it at all -- but Facebook has actually been rolling out the news selection tool since December 2014.

The Trending stories update may be part of Facebook’s new effort to become a one-stop news distributor for its users so they remain on the site for as long as possible. The Pew Research Center recently found that three in five American millennials said they consumed political news on Facebook in the past week, and in May 2015, the site launched Instant Articles in partnership with nine major international newspapers. The new feature will allow Facebook to host articles from various news publications directly on its platform, an option the company says will allow for a richer multimedia experience and faster loading times.

The Christie Collapse and a Media Dream Dashed

[Commentary] It's hard to miss the aura of a letdown that surrounds the news coverage of Gov Chris Christie's (R-NJ) long-awaited announcement of his Presidential candidacy. Set to address supporters at his alma mater of Livingston High School in New Jersey, Gov Christie enters a very crowded Republican field of White House hopefuls and does so with some extraordinary baggage, which explains the Hail Mary flavor of the coverage, which comes with almost a tinge of sadness, or what-could-have-been regret.

The press seems to like Republican bullies. Prior to the eruption of the lane-closing controversy in 2014, the New Jersey governor spent years basking in the Beltway media glow specifically because of his eagerness to unleash combative, insulting bromides. It showed he was authentic! Any emotion Gov Christie showed was used to elevate him to hero status in the press. So, as Gov Christie launches his White House run, keep in mind that among all the candidates from both parties, it's a conservative Republican governor who, over the last five years, accumulated the largest pile of glowing Beltway press clips. And it's a candidate who has fallen almost completely out of favor with American voters.

[Eric Boehlert is a senior fellow at Media Matters for America]

Australian government bans hundreds of mobile and Web-based games

By now, we're accustomed to platform holders like Apple refusing to carry games and apps with questionable content on their digital storefronts. We're less accustomed to national governments stepping in to decide what apps can and can't be downloaded within their borders. That's just what Australia is set to do on July 1 though, as a new pilot program will ban hundreds of mobile titles that have been "refused classification" in the country on platforms like Google Play.

Starting July 1, those titles will be effectively banned in Australia. The Australian government announced back in March that it was working with the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) in an attempt to rate the hundreds of thousands of games being added to digital storefronts. Under the IARC system, developers fill out a questionnaire detailing in-game content like violence, crime, sexuality, gambling, language, discrimination, controlled substances, "crude humor," and "scary elements." Those answers are then automatically converted into local age ratings using standards set by the individual ratings boards in participating regions, including Australia, the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, and much of Europe. IARC content ratings can be amended or changed based on player complaints after the fact. Since announcing that test months ago, the Australian Classification Board said it has looked through a back catalog of over 150,000 games and "refused classification" for over 260 that are listed on the Australian Classification Board website.

Court Revives Defunct NSA Mass Surveillance Program

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has revived the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' phone records, a program that lapsed when sections of the Patriot Act briefly expired. The court approved a government request to renew the dragnet collection of US phone metadata for an additional five months -- a timeframe allowed under the Freedom Act, a newly enacted surveillance reform law that calls for an eventual end to the mass spying program exposed by Edward Snowden two years ago.

The Senate passed the Freedom Act days after allowing the June 1 expiration of the Patriot Act's three spying provisions, including Section 215, which the NSA uses to justify its bulk collection. The court order renews the surveillance until November 29, 2015 -- six months after enactment of the reform law. "This application presents the question whether the recently-enacted USA Freedom Act ... ended the bulk collection of telephone metadata," the order reads. "The short answer is yes. But in doing so, Congress deliberately carved out a 180-day period following the date of enactment in which such collection was specifically authorized. For this reason, the Court approves the application in this case."

Remarks of FCC’s Gigi Sohn at Fiber on Fire Conference

When I learned the theme of this conference, “Fiber on Fire,” I thought it was fitting that I would be here. That’s because when it comes to fiber deployment, the Federal Communications Commission is fired up to ensure that Americans have a fast and vibrant Internet ecosystem.

We view ourselves as the public’s representative in the Internet revolution. In fact, Congress said it’s our job to maximize the benefits of communications networks for the American people. We take that role very seriously. To that end, we are working to help lift barriers to broadband deployment. We know you are facing some significant barriers. Right now there is no easy way to figure out what infrastructure currently exists, and even when you do know what infrastructure could be used to ease deployment, you’re faced with bureaucratic delays....

I’m sure most of you learned that the FCC is not afraid to take action to promote broadband deployment when we addressed some state restrictions on community broadband. The cities of Chattanooga, Tennessee and Wilson, North Carolina wanted to expand their fiber broadband services to areas that were receiving substandard service or no service at all from existing providers. However, these expansions were prevented by state laws. Understandably, the cities didn’t like that much. And I can tell you that the people that were dealing with the substandard service didn’t like it either. So the Electric Power Board, or EPB, of Chattanooga and the City of Wilson filed petitions with the FCC asking us to preempt their state laws. Ultimately the FCC found that parts of these laws are barriers to broadband deployment under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and, therefore, we could pre-empt them. Now the FCC respects the important role of state governments in our federal system and we don’t take preemption of state laws lightly. But when state laws directly conflict with Federal laws and policy, we are not afraid to take action. We have a legal mandate to promote broadband deployment and we used that authority to ensure these communities could reach consumers that need fast, fair, and open Internet at a reasonable price.

Apple Loses Federal Appeal in E-Books Case

A federal appeals court upheld a 2013 decision finding Apple liable for conspiring with publishers to raise the price of e-books.

The 2-1 ruling by the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan follows three years of litigation, millions of dollars in legal fees and a bold decision by Apple to challenge the US Department of Justice to a trial, even after all the publishers with which it was accused of colluding had settled their cases. The iPhone maker is expected to pay $450 million, most of it to e-book consumers, as part of a November agreement with private plaintiffs and 33 states that joined the Justice Department’s 2012 lawsuit accusing Apple of violating civil antitrust law. The deal hinged on the outcome of the appeal. The penalty amounts to less than 3% of company’s profit in the quarter that ended in December.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said, “We are gratified by the court’s decision. The decision confirms that it is unlawful for a company to knowingly participate in a price-fixing conspiracy, whatever its specific role in the conspiracy or reason for joining it. Because Apple and the defendant publishers sought to eliminate price competition in the sale of e-books, consumers were forced to pay higher prices for many e-book titles. I am proud of the outstanding work done by the trial team who initially established Apple’s liability and by the lawyers who defended the district court’s decision in this appeal. The Antitrust Division will continue to vigorously protect competition and enforce the antitrust laws in this important business, and in other industries that affect the everyday lives of consumers.”

US, Brazil to restart long dormant Internet working group

The US and Brazil have pledged to restart a long-dormant Internet policy working group in the fall. The move is a rare step forward on cyber issues for the two countries, which have been at odds on Internet policy since the revelations of US spying in 2013.

In fact, Brazil has been one of the most ardent critics of the US surveillance programs exposed by government leaker Edward Snowden in 2013. The South American country was particularly irked by revelations the US had eavesdropped on top Brazilian leaders. But over a two-day visit to Washington, President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff set aside the spying spat.

Benton

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