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July 2015

Everything Science Knows About Reading On Screens

As we jam more and more words into our heads, how we read those words has changed in a fundamental way: we’ve moved from paper to screens. It’s left many wondering what we’ve lost (or gained) in the shift, and a handful of scientists are trying to figure out the answer.

Of course, there’s no clear-cut answer to the paper vs. screen question -- it’s tangled with variables, like what kind of medium we’re talking about (paper, e-book, laptop, iPhone), the type of text (Fifty Shades of Grey or War and Peace), who’s reading and their preference, whether they’re a digital native, and many other factors. But many researchers say that reading onscreen encourages a particular style of reading called "nonlinear" reading -- basically, skimming. In a 2005 study out of San Jose University, Ziming Liu looked at how reading behavior changed over the past decade, and found exactly this pattern. "The screen-based reading behavior is characterized by more time spent on browsing and scanning, keyword spotting, one-time reading, non-linear reading, and reading more selectively," Liu wrote. In the face of endless information, links, videos, and images demanding our attention, we’ve adapted our reading to fit our screens.

How The Rolling Stone Rape Story Failure Has -- And Hasn't -- Changed Media Coverage

[Commentary] Three months after a Columbia University investigation found major journalistic errors in a Rolling Stone report on campus sexual assault at the University of Virginia, major news outlets say they have not adjusted their approach to covering similar stories. But rape survivor advocates say they have seen less coverage of the issue since the failures of the Rolling Stone report came to light, and, in some cases, an increased hesitancy in trusting survivors' accounts. Sharmili Majmudar, executive director of Rape Victim Advocates, said the lesson from Rolling Stone should be how rape and sexual assault are handled by law enforcement and campus officials. "Lost in the aftermath is the fact that universities routinely discourage reporting of sexual violence, and respond poorly to such reporting when it does occur, as evidenced by the Title IX investigations currently underway at over 100 colleges and universities," she said. "Unfortunately, the focus of coverage has become about 'Jackie' specifically rather than the widespread issue of sexual violence at educational institutions."

July 8, 2015 (AT&T teases a $5 Internet service)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015

A hearing on Internet Governance https://www.benton.org/calendar/2015-07-08


OWNERSHIP
   AT&T teases a $5 Internet service to help seal the DirecTV deal

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   Code Specialists Oppose U.S. and British Government Access to Encrypted Communication

INTERNET/BROABAND
   Broadband Coalition Launches Pro-Competition Petition [links to web]

TELEVISION
   US TV Station Retransmission Fees Now Expected to Reach $10.3 Billion by 2021 [links to web]
   Mediacom Asks FCC to Limit Retransmission Blackouts

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   Carriers Waive Charges for Crisis Text Line [links to web]
   Republic Wireless Shifts From Unlimited Plans to Ones That Offer Refunds [links to web]
   That’s the sound of the (policy) police: The FCC and Sprint’s unlimited data plan debacle - op-ed [links to web]

LABOR
   Hats Off to Web Advertising. No, Really. - Christopher Mims analysis [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   It's a man's world in European tech, too [links to web]
   European telecoms groups invest in data networks to underpin consolidation [links to web]

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OWNERSHIP

AT&T TEASES LOW-COST INTERNET
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
AT&T will offer cheap Internet to food-stamp recipients if the Federal Communications Commission approves the telecom company's big acquisition of DirecTV. In a regulatory filing, AT&T says it's prepared to make two plans available to low-income consumers. The first would provide speeds of up to 5 megabits per second (or roughly half as fast as the current national average) for $10 a month. After the first 12 months, that price would rise to $20 a month. The other plan would be offered in places where AT&T lacks the infrastructure to provide faster speeds. In those areas, poorer Americans would be able to buy a 1.5 Mbps plan starting at $5 a month for the first 12 months. At that point, the price would increase to $10 a month. AT&T says it would commit to offering the discounts for four years, at which point the subsidies would expire. To take advantage of the deal, applicants would have to prove each year that they qualify for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, the formal name for US government food stamps.
benton.org/headlines/att-teases-5-internet-service-help-seal-directv-deal | Washington Post
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SECURITY/PRIVACY

ENCRYPTION PAPER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nicole Perlroth]
An elite group of code makers and code breakers is taking American and British intelligence and law enforcement agencies to task in a new paper that evaluates government proposals to maintain special access to encrypted digital communications. The group -- 13 of the world’s pre-eminent cryptographers, computer scientists and security specialists — is releasing the paper, which concludes there is no viable technical solution that would allow the American and British governments to gain “exceptional access” to encrypted communications without putting the world’s most confidential data and critical infrastructure in danger. Given the inherent vulnerabilities of the Internet, they argued, reducing encryption is not an option. Handing governments a key to encrypted communications would also require an extraordinary degree of trust.
benton.org/headlines/code-specialists-oppose-us-and-british-government-access-encrypted-communication | New York Times
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TELEVISION

RETRANSMISSION FILING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Mediacom is filing a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking it to prevent blackouts during retransmission consent disputes for any station that does not reach 90 percent of its market over-the-air or via the Web, which Mediacom suggests is most stations in its market and in the country. What Mediacom wants most is some action out of the FCC on what it calls the "growing crisis" in retransmission consent and in response to various petitions and inquiries on the subject dating back years. Without some action to rein in retrans prices and blackouts, Mediacom says, all but the largest cable operators will have to:
Cease carrying broadcast stations that elect retransmission consent.
Get out of the video business altogether, which will necessarily require broadband customers to bear a larger share of network costs.
Raise the price of retail PayTV service to a level that is unaffordable for tens of millions of consumers.
benton.org/headlines/mediacom-asks-fcc-limit-retransmission-blackouts | Broadcasting&Cable | B&C reform fans
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European telecoms groups invest in data networks to underpin consolidation

Scientists are trying to dial up the future for BT — matching similar plans being carried out across Europe — as they look to feed the ever-growing hunger for instant broadband services that will be supplied by the next-generation network technology. After several years of declining revenues amid fierce competition from technology groups, telecoms companies are focusing on the part of the internet world where they can make a difference by developing networks capable of carrying the vast volumes of data predicted for the future. “European operators are now spending more on capex again, reflecting their greater confidence in the sector’s prospects,” says Stephen Howard, analyst at HSBC. In the mobile industry, this means a heavy investment in 4G networks to provide fast wireless Internet.

AT&T teases a $5 Internet service to help seal the DirecTV deal

AT&T will offer cheap Internet to food-stamp recipients if the Federal Communications Commission approves the telecom company's big acquisition of DirecTV.

In a regulatory filing, AT&T says it's prepared to make two plans available to low-income consumers. The first would provide speeds of up to 5 megabits per second (or roughly half as fast as the current national average) for $10 a month. After the first 12 months, that price would rise to $20 a month. The other plan would be offered in places where AT&T lacks the infrastructure to provide faster speeds. In those areas, poorer Americans would be able to buy a 1.5 Mbps plan starting at $5 a month for the first 12 months. At that point, the price would increase to $10 a month. AT&T says it would commit to offering the discounts for four years, at which point the subsidies would expire. To take advantage of the deal, applicants would have to prove each year that they qualify for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, the formal name for US government food stamps.

Code Specialists Oppose U.S. and British Government Access to Encrypted Communication

An elite group of code makers and code breakers is taking American and British intelligence and law enforcement agencies to task in a new paper that evaluates government proposals to maintain special access to encrypted digital communications.

The group -- 13 of the world’s pre-eminent cryptographers, computer scientists and security specialists — is releasing the paper, which concludes there is no viable technical solution that would allow the American and British governments to gain “exceptional access” to encrypted communications without putting the world’s most confidential data and critical infrastructure in danger. Given the inherent vulnerabilities of the Internet, they argued, reducing encryption is not an option. Handing governments a key to encrypted communications would also require an extraordinary degree of trust.

US TV Station Retransmission Fees Now Expected to Reach $10.3 Billion by 2021

SNL Kagan now expects US TV station owners’ retransmission fee totals to reach $10.3 billion by 2021, versus the projected $6.3 billion in 2015. The company also updated its retransmission revenue number for 2020, up $500 million more than its prior projection of $9.3 billion in 2014, to $9.8 billion.

The revised numbers are partially due to strong advances made at the end of 2014, thanks to renewals and annual step-ups in existing contracts. While the station owners have been successful at securing rising rates, broadcast networks have also been able to extract some rising fees of their own — growing up to 60 percent from the prior 42 percent range. SNL Kagan now projects the funds flowing from the affiliate and Owned & Operation stations back to their network partners could increase from $1.65 billion in 2015 to $3.69 billion in 2021.

Mediacom Asks FCC to Limit Retransmission Blackouts

Mediacom is filing a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking it to prevent blackouts during retransmission consent disputes for any station that does not reach 90 percent of its market over-the-air or via the Web, which Mediacom suggests is most stations in its market and in the country. What Mediacom wants most is some action out of the FCC on what it calls the "growing crisis" in retransmission consent and in response to various petitions and inquiries on the subject dating back years. Without some action to rein in retrans prices and blackouts, Mediacom says, all but the largest cable operators will have to:

  • Cease carrying broadcast stations that elect retransmission consent.
  • Get out of the video business altogether, which will necessarily require broadband customers to bear a larger share of network costs.
  • Raise the price of retail PayTV service to a level that is unaffordable for tens of millions of consumers.

Hats Off to Web Advertising. No, Really.

[Commentary] What if ads, in a fairly direct way, are responsible for much of what is magical, automated and “smart” about our gadgets and the Internet today?

Many of those behind the curtain building the things we rely on cut their teeth in the ad tech world. Since the debut of the Web banner ad in 1994, ad tech has been a finishing school for some of the greatest minds in tech history. Just as the nuclear bomb became nuclear power, ad tech is continually having a swords-to-plowshares moment. The resources companies like Facebook, Google and others are able to pour into creative uses for what is in the end simply applied mathematics pays dividends for the entire tech ecosystem, and ultimately everyone who uses it.

Broadband Coalition Launches Pro-Competition Petition

At least 6800 people have signed a petition created in June 2015 by competitive carrier organization Broadband Coalition that asks policy makers to take steps to improve broadband competition.

Broadband Coalition was formed in 2012, initially focusing largely on issues related to competition in the business broadband market, but now also referencing broadband competition for consumers. “Broadband competition brings lower prices, better service and more innovation,” the on-line petition says. “Policy makers must make broadband competition a priority in Washington, D.C. Our leaders must encourage broadband competition across all technology platforms, and make access to more choices available to all.”

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