BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Why Are Telecom Companies Blocking Rural America From Getting High-Speed Internet?
Netflix CEO’s Comcast Complaints Draw in FCC
FCC and USAID to Support Broadband Partnership of the Americas - press release
NTIA seeks Comment on State Broadband Data and Development Performance Progress Reports Changes - public notice
Verizon Targets Traders With High-Speed Network [links to web]
Request for Proposal for IANA Functions Contract [links to web]
In Noisy Digital Era, 'Elegant' Internet Still Thrives [links to web]
Using His Software Skills With Freedom, Not a Big Payout, in Mind [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
Administration pushes against bipartisan House cybersecurity legislation
Privacy groups unimpressed with cybersecurity bill changes
Group calls for public-private alliance to protect cyberspace
Lawmakers, Civil Liberties Activists Spar Ahead Of Cybersecurity Votes
4 Priorities for Improving Cybersecurity in the US
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Carriers Warn of Crisis in Mobile Spectrum – Others See Hyperbole
FCC Satellite Spectrum NPRM Teed Up for Comment
US Wireless Seen Contracting After IPhone Binge
Riches in Mobile Ads, Just No Profits
Wireless execs call for Senate action on tax bills, Digital Goods Act [links to web]
Wi-Fi Networks and Consumer Privacy - press release [links to web]
Millions of Americans Dial Up Travel Plans From the Phone [links to web]
US operators face rising capital costs, slowing revenue [links to web]
3G and 4G Wireless Speed Showdown: Which Networks Are Fastest? - research [links to web]
The Hidden Company Behind The National Stolen Cellphone Database [links to web]
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Network Will Be Available To More Than 2/3 Of U.S. Population Starting April 19 - press release [links to web]
Young, Mobile and Growing: The State of U.S. Hispanic Consumers - press release [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Tribune bankruptcy plan moves forward
Rep Waters Wants Tribune Transfers Put Out For Comment
NAB: Ownership Rules Put Broadcasters' Future In Jeopardy
A Different Kind of Twitter Revolution: Patents Will Not Be Used as Weapons
Google and Oracle battle over the future of Android
Google says it had Sun's full support in building Android
Apple, Samsung CEOs agree to face-to-face settlement talks
Meet the mobile patent kings: Samsung and Nokia
News Corp. to Act on Breach of Ownership Rule
Liberty Seeks FCC Recognition on Sirius
In Facebook Deal, Board Was All But Out of Picture [links to web]
CONTENT
Competition Needs Protection - analysis
Physical media is dead — long live the app - analysis
The Future of Money in a Mobile Age - research
Hulu’s growing up, but what about its parents?
Supreme Court takes copyright case
Publishing Is Cranky Over Snub by Pulitzers [links to web]
More congregations turn to Facebook, Web, high-tech outreach [links to web]
Google Rolls Out Features to Gauge Effects of Advertising [links to web]
Online Education Venture Lures Cash Infusion and Deals With 5 Top Universities [links to web]
TELEVISION/RADIO
Survey: A la carte could fetch $1.50 per channel
FCC asks Supremes to hear wardrobe malfunction case
Broadcasters meet to battle wireless
Internet Companies Learned From Broadcasters, Smith Says [links to web]
Study: More U.S. TV Viewers Combining TV With Social Media [links to web]
Study: Most Consumers Willing to Pay for Online Viewing [links to web]
Who should pay for public radio? - op-ed
PRIVACY
Privacy watchdogs call for new Google probe
FTC official: Sharing on social sites ‘can’t be forced’ [links to web]
HEALTH
Telemonitoring may not help older patients [links to web]
US consumers turn to Facebook, Twitter for healthcare answers [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
House slammed for failing to stream hearings online
JOURNALISM
So can we stop talking about bloggers vs. journalists now? - analysis
O’Reilly, Goldberg agree: alleged media bias doesn’t matter [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
Jamie Barnett Leaving FCC - press release
FCC’s Genachowski Names Gary Epstein Senior Advisor - press release
National Museum and Library Services Board Nominees Include Charles Benton - press release
STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:
China calls Australia ban on Huawei "unjust"
Two thirds of web ‘cookies’ are for ads
European Commission Expresses Serious Concerns About High Mobile Rates in Estonia [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
MUNICIPAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: New Republic, AUTHOR: Siddhartha Mahanta]
Municipal broadband networks are thought to be a good option for vast, sparsely populated rural areas because laying cable across them is a costly proposition, one that’s hard for private companies to justify without a greater guaranteed return than such areas can typically provide. When cities, counties, or public utilities own and operate the networks instead, however, they can provide low-cost, high-quality access to the Internet to their residents. Localities can finance them through a number of avenues, including public-private partnerships or bonds. But the titans of telecom aren’t operating on quite the same wavelength. Since last January, AT&T, CenturyLink, and Time Warner have contributed just over $146,000 to politicians in South Carolina who back legislation that would cripple networks like Orangeburg’s. It’s only one example of a broader campaign by telecom companies to protect their cartel at all costs—even at the expense of keeping the country’s poorest on the wrong side of the digital divide for many years to come.
benton.org/node/120152 | New Republic
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NETFLIX’S COMPLAINTS DRAW FCC ATTENTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shalini Ramachandran]
Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings’ complaints about Comcast’s Web traffic policies appear to have drawn attention from the Federal Communications Commission, which says it is monitoring the situation. The FCC said late April 16 it “takes seriously any allegations of violations of our open Internet rules.” Currently, the FCC’s Open Internet rules allow for Internet service providers to treat traffic moving over their private Internet networks differently to traffic on public networks. But the FCC has acknowledged, in December 2010 when it outlined its rules about what it calls the Open Internet, that there are risks involved with allowing Internet service providers to provide “specialized services,” which “share capacity with broadband Internet access service over providers’ last-mile facilities.” The FCC said then that the Open Internet “may be weakened” if Internet-service providers “constrict or fail to continue expanding network capacity” allocated to other Internet services, and instead simply provide more capacity for their specialized services. If that occurs and if those services grow as “substitutes for the delivery of content, applications, and services over broadband Internet access service,” the FCC wrote, “the Internet may wither as an open platform for competition, innovation, and free expression.”
benton.org/node/120133 | Wall Street Journal | Fortune
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BROADBAND PARTNERSHIP OF THE AMERICAS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
President Barak Obama called on countries of the Western Hemisphere to join the United States in the new Broadband Partnership of the Americas (BPA). The President made the remarks during his April 14, 2012 address at the Sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. The BPA is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is a voluntary and flexible framework through which governments, the private sector, multilateral organizations and the donor community can join forces to improve access to broadband and the Internet. While approximately 80 percent of the Latin American and Caribbean population have access to mobile phones, broadband use is estimated at 29 percent, falling just below the global average. Enhancing broadband access improves development outcomes, fosters economic development and increases competitiveness. The Inter-American Development Bank reports that a 10 percent increase in the region’s broadband subscriptions would boost gross domestic product (GDP) by 3.19 percent and increase productivity by 2.6 percent.
The financial and technical resources mobilized through the BPA will be used to help countries advance a range of information technology initiatives, including:
Developing and implementing national broadband strategies;
Creating or upgrading universal service funds to finance the expansion of mobile and broadband technologies to rural communities;
Improving international and regional connectivity by linking existing broadband networks;
Collaborating on a regional effort to harmonize the use of radio frequencies; and
Sharing best practices across the countries in the region.
benton.org/node/120104 | Federal Communications Commission | Fact Sheet
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STATE BROADBAND DATA PERFORMANCE PROGRESS
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
On July 8, 2009, NTIA issued the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and Solicitation of Applications setting forth the requirements for the State Broadband Data and Development (SBDD) Grant Program, a competitive, merit-based matching grant program funding projects that collect comprehensive and accurate State-level broadband mapping data, develop State-level broadband maps, aid in the development and maintenance of a national broadband map, and fund statewide initiatives directed at broadband planning and capacity building. The NOFA requires grantees to submit regular reports to NTIA. Specifically it states:
‘‘All grantees under this Program will provide quarterly reports on: (a) Achievement of project goals, objectives, and milestones (e.g., collection of a ‘‘substantially complete data set’’; completion of data review or quality control process) as set forth by the applicant in their application timeline;
expenditure of grant funds and how much of the award remains;
amount of non-federal case or in-kind investment that is being added to complete the project; and
whether the grantee is on schedule to provide broadband-related data in accordance with the mapping project timeline.”
After reviewing recent Performance Progress Reports (PPRs), NTIA has identified a need to revise its existing PPR format by changing existing questions and adding new questions to improve clarity, reduce the frequency with which some information is reported, and delete certain items that are not necessary for effective performance monitoring. The revisions will improve the quality of recipients’ responses and enable NTIA to better monitor and assess the extent to which the recipients are meeting program goals and milestones. NTIA has assessed that the revisions will not change the estimated response time on grantees.
The Department of
Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the proposed revision and/or continuing information collections.
Written comments must be submitted on or before June 18, 2012.
benton.org/node/120102 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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CYBERSECURITY
ADMINISTRATION DOES NOT LIKE CYBERSECURITY BILL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The White House issued a statement criticizing a House cybersecurity bill after top administration officials briefed lawmakers on the threat of cyber attacks. In a statement, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said any cybersecurity legislation should include strong privacy protections and should set mandatory security standards for critical infrastructure systems, such as electrical grids and water supplies. "The nation’s critical infrastructure cyber vulnerabilities will not be addressed by information sharing alone," Hayden said. "Also, while information sharing legislation is an essential component of comprehensive legislation to address critical infrastructure risks, information sharing provisions must include robust safeguards to preserve the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens. Legislation without new authorities to address our nation’s critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, or legislation that would sacrifice the privacy of our citizens in the name of security, will not meet our nation's urgent needs," she said, without explicitly mentioning CISPA.
The House is set to vote on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) next week.
benton.org/node/120174 | Hill, The
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PRIVACY GROUPS STILL CONCERNED ABOUT CYBERSECURITY BILL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Changes to a House cybersecurity bill have failed to win over the bill's critics, who warn that it could undermine online privacy. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) would tear down legal barriers that discourage companies from sharing information about cyberattacks, but privacy groups warn the legislation could lead companies to hand over personal user information to spy agencies. The new draft would also require that the Homeland Security Department have access to all information shared with the government. Privacy advocates prefer that a domestic agency like Homeland Security play a central role in the information-sharing process instead of a spy agency like the National Security Agency. But the privacy groups noted that the change doesn't prevent companies from handing over private information to NSA or the CIA — they would just have to also share it with the Homeland Security Department. The new draft would also give people and companies the right to sue the government if it mishandles the information. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Free Press and other groups are leading a week of protests against the legislation.
benton.org/node/120173 | Hill, The
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CYBERSECURITY LETTER
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Andrew Feinberg]
As Congress turns its focus to cybersecurity matters, 26 major business and trade associations are seeking to remind lawmakers that cyberspace is "a bulwark of the global economy." The group sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging action to protect "the prosperity and security of our interconnected world" by focusing on five policy objectives the businesses and associations believe would improve the nation's readiness to face attacks on its information infrastructure. The private sector owns and operates the "vast majority" of systems that are regularly subject to cyberattacks, and has "the greatest incentive to manage and defend against them," the group said. Despite private ownership, the group acknowledged "widespread agreement that the protection and resilience of these systems and assets require the public and private sectors to work together" to improve information-sharing techniques while safeguarding personal privacy. Legislation should therefore limit private-sector liability arising out of any information-sharing meant to improve cybersecurity, the group said.
benton.org/node/120159 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Sponsors of controversial cybersecurity legislation moved quickly this week to try to blunt planned protests over the proposals. Civil liberties groups launched a "week of action" to highlight their concerns with the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which they say could have unintended consequences for privacy. House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) and ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) released the latest changes to that bill in an attempt to address the privacy concerns, but civil liberties activists were unimpressed. "Even with the changes in the discussion draft, CISPA remains the broadest and most dangerous cybersecurity bill out there," ACLU's Amanda Simon said. The groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Constitution Project, held a Capitol Hill briefing on Tuesday to outline their fear that CISPA's language is too vague.
benton.org/node/120158 | National Journal
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PRIORITIES FOR CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Hilton Collins]
State and local governments need better risk management processes for disasters, including cyberattacks, according to Andy Purdy, acting director of the National Cyber Security Division during the George W. Bush administration. Governments at all levels need be more proactive to prevent infiltration, Purdy said. Purdy, now the chief cybersecurity strategist at Computer Sciences Corp., said that federal, state, local and private groups need more preventive planning to safeguard their data. Purdy is a former member of both the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the White House team that drafted the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. State and local decision-makers should ask questions that lead to assessments, Purdy said. “They need to have some idea of — and this deals with physical and cyber — what’s the risk profile. What do they need to do about it?” he said. Comprehensive risk management was one of four strategic national priorities that Purdy outlined for improved national cybersecurity. All involve public-private collaboration:
Assess risk and prioritize measures to mitigate risks to government systems.
Create cyber-preparedness protocols and situational awareness for critical infrastructure.
Delineate response actions.
Continue research and development to ensure that everyone involved has the best actionable intelligence.
benton.org/node/120099 | Government Technology
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
SPECTRUM CRISIS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen]
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint say they need more radio spectrum, the government-rationed slices of radio waves that carry phone calls and wireless data. The wireless carriers say that in the next few years they may not have enough of it to meet the exploding demands for mobile data. The result, they ominously warn, may be slower or spotty connections on smartphones and tablets. They imply in carefully couched language that, given the laws of supply and demand, the price of cellphone service will soar. It will affect “the services they’re paying for because of the capacity issues,” said Ed McFadden, Verizon’s vice president for policy communications. “It potentially hinders our ability to meet consumer need.” But is there really a crisis? Some scientists and engineers say the companies are playing a game that is more about protecting their businesses from competitors.
benton.org/node/120183 | New York Times
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SATELLITE SPECTRUM NPRM TEED UP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Interested parties will have until the beginning of June to weigh in on whether the Federal Communications Commission should loosen its rules on mobile satellite spectrum to allow for terrestrial use, a move that would open the door to allowing Dish to deliver mobile wireless broadband. The FCC declined to grant Dish a waiver -- similar to the LightSquared waiver it granted before rescinding -- to use its MSS spectrum for a terrestrial wireless broadband service. The FCC did approve Dish's $3 billion purchase of about 40 MHz of MSS spectrum from two bankrupt entities -- DBSD North America and TerreStar. The satellite giant has said that it plans to build out its own wireless network with the licenses. And while it declined to grant the waiver, it signaled it would propose a broader change to that MSS satellite-only policy in a rulemaking. True to its word, the FCC on March 21 opened a proceeding on how to open up satellite spectrum in the 2 GHz MSS band for mobile terrestrial use, one of the proposals in the National Broadband Plan and yet another element of the FCC's multipart strategy to free up spectrum from broadcasters and others for mobile broadband. Now that the March 21 NPRM and associated notice of inquiry have been published in the Federal Register -- the NPRM was published April 17, the NOI had already been published -- the comment dates have been set at May 17 for initial comments and June 1 for replies.
benton.org/node/120164 | Broadcasting&Cable
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WIRELESS CONTRACTING
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Scott Moritz]
The US wireless market, long the fastest-growing sector in the telecommunications industry, looks like it’s headed for a wall. Sales of wireless contracts, the most lucrative segment of the business because it locks in monthly payments over long periods, may have shrunk for the first time ever in the first quarter. One big reason for the sharp reversal: Soaring iPhone sales in late 2011 may have satiated consumers’ appetites for wireless plans. A decline would mark a turning point for the previously rapid-growth business, leaving carriers such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel fighting over a shrinking pool of customers. A slowdown also forces device manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung Electronics to battle more intensely for customers.
benton.org/node/120172 | Bloomberg
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RICHES IN MOBILE ADS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Spencer Ante]
Facebook's deal for photo-sharing service Instagram and the IPO of advertising network Millennial Media Inc. prove that the smartphone boom can produce billion-dollar valuations for makers of mobile software and services. Now comes the true test: Actually delivering the revenue and profits to back up those numbers. The technology landscape is hitting another inflection point. Much as the personal computer created a platform for software makers in the 1980s, smartphones and tablets are now setting the table for another big transfer of wealth as new companies arise and dominant PC-based companies struggle to make the shift. Venture capitalists are making huge bets that mobile phones will be the next big tech money-maker. "It is not a toy anymore," said Chris Sacca, a prominent early-stage financier who invested in Instagram. But a major obstacle is stunting growth. Advertising, the revenue source of choice for many Internet upstarts, isn't keeping pace with the explosive growth in the smartphone platform.
benton.org/node/120131 | Wall Street Journal
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OWNERSHIP
TRIB BANKRUPTCY PLAN
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Randall Chase]
Judge Kevin Carey has signed off on the Tribune Company's latest reorganization plan and a process for creditors to vote on it. Judge Carey said that he would approve a supplemental disclosure statement by Tribune after minor revisions regarding rules for the advisory board of a litigation trust. The trust will pursue lawsuits stemming from the 2007 leveraged buyout of Tribune by billionaire Sam Zell. Tribune's latest plan reflects the judge's ruling last week that put Zell at the bottom of the payment priority for creditors, behind a group of junior bondholders.
benton.org/node/120118 | Associated Press
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TRIBUNE TRANSFERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) wants the Federal Communications Commission to put Tribune's station license transfers and attendant waiver requests out for public comment, and says she will introduce a bill, the FCC Waiver Accountability Act of 2012, that would make that required procedure for all such transfers. Rep Waters, in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, said she thought the FCC had not sufficiently monitored the public interest obligations of broadcast license holders when the licenses are held by hedge funds and venture capitalists in bankruptcy proceedings. She also said that the FCC has never made it clear to the public when one a transfer it is considering includes a waiver of this rules. "The practice does not promote transparency," she said. Specifically, she said she was troubled by the recent retrans dispute between DirecTV and Tribune -- since resolved -- in which DirecTV alleged that Tribune creditors -- it is in the midst of protracted bankruptcy proceedings -- had blocked a deal that would have resolved the impasse earlier. The impasse led to blackouts in California (LA) and New York.
benton.org/node/120165 | Broadcasting&Cable
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OWNERSHIP RULES AND BROADCASTERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters told the Federal Communications Commission that not only are duopoly limits and cross-ownership restrictions unnecessary, they work against the FCC's stated goals of encouraging "competition, localism and diversity." In comments on the FCC's proposed conclusion of its quadrennial ownership rule review and its remand from the Third Circuit, NAB said that the FCC will jeopardize broadcasters' future if it fails to reform the rules so that broadcasters can adopt "economically sustainable" ownership structures. NAB argues that there is "abundant evidence" that mobile and digital media have produced unprecedented competition, and that last-century limits on broadcast station ownership in a market or ownership of other media limit stations' viability, particularly smaller and mid-sized stations. The rules work against localism, NAB argues, because if stations were allowed to combine resources in smaller markets, they could take advantage of economies of scale to devote resources to local services, including news.
benton.org/node/120163 | Broadcasting&Cable
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PATENTS AS WEAPONS
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Rebecca Rosen]
If the government can't create separate regimes for different kinds of tech, one tech firm is going to try and do it itself, and that firm is Twitter. The company announced a bold new approach to software patents called the "Innovators Patent Agreement" (IPA). Adam Messinger, Twitter's VP of engineering, wrote:
“The IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps control in the hands of engineers and designers. It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents can only be used for defensive purposes. We will not use the patents from employees' inventions in offensive litigation without their permission. What's more, this control flows with the patents, so if we sold them to others, they could only use them as the inventor intended. This is a significant departure from the current state of affairs in the industry. Typically, engineers and designers sign an agreement with their company that irrevocably gives that company any patents filed related to the employee's work. The company then has control over the patents and can use them however they want, which may include selling them to others who can also use them however they want. With the IPA, employees can be assured that their patents will be used only as a shield rather than as a weapon.”
benton.org/node/120148 | Atlantic, The | Twitter
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GOOGLE AND ORACLE
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: David Goldman]
A landmark court battle between Google and Oracle has begun -- and its result will shape the future of the Android ecosystem fueling most of the world's smartphones.
Silicon Valley's power players are always in the throes of nasty patent fights against each other, but this one is especially potent. Oracle claims that Google's Android violates two patents plus several copyrights that Oracle holds on its Java software, a ubiquitous programming language powering everything from phones to websites. Although both Java and Android are open-source platforms -- neither Google nor Oracle generally charge for their use -- their licensing terms are complex and precise. When Java creator Sun Microsystems (acquired by Oracle in 2010) set Java loose as open-source software, it left significant limits in place around the mobile version. Companies building on top of Java's mobile platform typically pay to license it. Google used an elaborate workaround and essentially built its own version of a key system to avoid those licensing fees and restrictions. Oracle cried foul and hauled Google off to court -- a move some expected from the moment it agreed to buy Sun.
benton.org/node/120147 | CNNMoney
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GOOGLE AND SUN
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: James Niccolai]
Google built Android using parts of Java that didn't require a license and it had the full support of Sun Microsystems in doing so, a lawyer for Google said in court. "The source code in Android was written by Google engineers or taken from open source platforms that were available and open for use," attorney Robert Van Nest told the jury in Google's opening statement. Sun's own chief executive, Jonathan Schwartz, congratulated Google when it released Android, saying it strapped a "set of rockets" to Java that would help ensure its success, Van Nest said. Van Nest delivered his opening statement on day two of the trial in Oracle's lawsuit against Google. Oracle accuses the company of infringing its Java patents and copyrights in Android. Sun's support for Android proves that Google didn't violate Sun's patents and copyrights, since Sun had ample opportunity to view the Android source code that was posted on Google's website, Van Nest told the jury.
benton.org/node/120146 | IDG News Service
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APPLE SAMSUNG
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Erica Ogg]
Apple and Samsung are closer than ever to a possible settlement in their long-running legal showdown over smartphone and tablet technologies. Both companies agreed in a court hearing to send their respective chief executives and general counsel to meet face-to-face in San Francisco within the next 90 days. Samsung CEO Choi-Gee-sung and Apple CEO Tim Cook will meet for settlement talks before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero in San Francisco, as ordered on April 17 by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. There’s no guarantee of a settlement, and they have three months to arrange the meeting, but this is the first time in the series of patent disputes between the companies that such high-level settlement talks have been ordered by the court.
benton.org/node/120145 | GigaOm | Reuters
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SAMSUNG AND NOKIA
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
Google, Apple and Samsung get all of the attention in the mobile patent wars, but it turns out only one of them is true powerhouse in terms of mobile intellectual property. Samsung and fellow handset maker Nokia lead the overall mobile patent portfolio rankings, followed by infrastructure makers Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent and software giant Microsoft, according to a new study from Chetan Sharma Consulting. Apple and Google, who have come to dominate the mobile landscape in recent years, don’t even make Sharma’s list, which is based on an analysis of 7 million patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office over the last two decades. Only when Sharma breaks those patents into categories do Apple and Google make an appearance, showing up eighth and ninth respectively in the list of mobile platform patent strength. Their operating systems may dominate the smartphone market, but when it comes to the intellectual property behind smartphone operating systems, old school players like Samsung, Microsoft and IBM still rule.
benton.org/node/120144 | GigaOm
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NEWS CORP OWNERSHIP
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Martin peers, Amy Schatz]
News Corp. is expected to disclose it is suspending half the voting rights of its foreign shareholders to deal with an inadvertent breach of the U.S. foreign ownership limits of the Communications Act, said people familiar with the situation.
The media company owns 27 television stations, mostly affiliated with the Fox network. The Communications Act of 1934 says that a broadcaster cannot have more than 25% foreign ownership. As part of a survey of News Corp.'s ownership conducted in the lead-up to renewal of certain licenses, News Corp. discovered that voting stock held by foreign investors had risen above the 25% limit, a person familiar with the situation said. Big foreign shareholders in News Corp. include Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has about 7% of the voting stock. It is possible that this shareholding, combined with stock held by other investors from Australia or Britain, put News Corp. over the limit. To deal with the breach, News Corp. will suspend 50% of the voting rights of B class voting shares held by non-American shareholders. The suspension will last until the company is in compliance with the ownership limits, said a person familiar with the situation.
benton.org/node/120177 | Wall Street Journal
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LIBERTY, SIRIUS AND THE FCC
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Jannarone]
The battle for control of Sirius XM Radio is coming down to a chicken and egg argument. Liberty Media says it needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission to take "de facto" control of Sirius before it takes steps to exercise such control. Sirius argues the FCC shouldn't grant such approval because Liberty hasn't taken such steps. A shareholder is deemed to have de facto control of a company if it has less than 50.01% but a big enough stake effectively to be in charge. Liberty since 2009 has held preferred stock that is convertible into 40% of Sirius stock. But unless Liberty converts its preferred shares, it can't vote for all directors and is limited to designating fewer than half the board seats. Liberty asked the FCC last month for approval to take "de facto" control. Sirius responded March 30 saying the petition should be rejected, partly because the media conglomerate hasn't taken actions such as buying more stock.
benton.org/node/120176 | Wall Street Journal
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CONTENT
COMPETITION NEEDS PROTECTION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eduardo Porter]
[Commentary] To believe publishers and authors, the government just handed Amazon a monopoly over the book market: The price-fixing suit against Apple and the nation’s top publishers filed by the Justice Department last week will free Amazon to offer ruinous discounts in the booming new market of electronic books, drive brick-and-mortar bookstores out of existence and kill off publishers’ lucrative business of ink on paper. Yet there is a different reading to this story. Publishing companies — like bookstores — fear they are on the losing end of a technological whirlwind of digital distribution that will make much of what they do obsolete. They would like to stop it. But though publishers may be happy to subvert competition to protect their business, this can entail a heavy cost for the rest of society. The media industry’s efforts to limit competition date at least as far back as the 1920s and 1930s, when the emergence of radio threatened newspapers’ stranglehold of local markets.
benton.org/node/120181 | New York Times
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PHYSICAL MEDIA IS DEAD
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
Physical media is dead. It is being replaced with “apps” thanks to broadband connectivity and anywhere computing that has come to us via smartphones, tablets and other connected devices. From music playlists to catalogs to retail stores to television — it wouldn’t surprise me if everything is an app in short order. And that future is scary and yet full of opportunities. We listen to music via services like Spotify and Rdio and Pandora instead, and we download tracks we love from Apple’s iTunes and Amazon’s store. We watch movies and television shows streamed to us from Netflix (or one of its international variants.) Books are now digital. The unifying fabric behind all these new behaviors is broadband. For the longest time, physical media was the container that moved content. Records became compact discs. Movie film became VHS tapes and then DVD. Books didn’t really change. And neither did newspapers and magazines. They are all mere containers.
benton.org/node/120157 | GigaOm
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FUTURE OF MONEY
[SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Aaron Smith, Janna Anderson, Lee Rainie]
Within the next decade, smart-device swiping will have gained mainstream acceptance as a method of payment and could largely replace cash and credit cards for most online and in-store purchases by smartphone and tablet owners, according to a new survey of technology experts and stakeholders. Many of the people surveyed by Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center and the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project said that the security, convenience and other benefits of “mobile wallet” systems will lead to widespread adoption of these technologies for everyday purchases by 2020. Others -- including some who are generally positive about the future of mobile payments -- expect this process to unfold relatively slowly due to a combination of privacy fears, a desire for anonymous payments, demographic inertia, a lack of infrastructure to support widespread adoption, and resistance from those with a financial stake in the existing payment structure.
benton.org/node/120092 | Pew Internet & American Life Project | Wall Street Journal
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HULU’S PARENTS
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Daniel Frankel]
With Hulu set to crash traditional TV’s big “upfront” ad selling party with a big presentation to top Madison Avenue media buyers April 19, the New York Times published a story headlined, “An Online TV Site Grows Up.” Issuing a report concurrently, however, Bernstein Research wondered, “Can Hulu’s Parents Afford to Let It Grow Up?” There’s no doubt that Hulu is becoming a more influential media business, with the company also revealing Tuesday that its paid subscription base has reached 2 million and that 2012 revenue is on pace to far outstrip the $420 million grossed in 2011. Led by senior analyst Todd Juenger, however, Bernstein wonders how Hulu’s corporate owners, Walt Disney Company, News Corp. and Comcast, can continue to let their over-the-top service flourish while pursuing goals tied to television’s traditional models. For one, as these three owners seek to grow re-transmission fees for their broadcast networks, Bernstein says providing their programming to Hulu serves as an undermining influence.
benton.org/node/120156 | paidContent.org | NYTimes
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COPYRIGHT CASE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Keith Perine]
The Supreme Court agreed to hear a copyright case involving the online sale of foreign-made textbooks that’s being closely watched by the tech sector. The case, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., involves the “first-sale doctrine,” a copyright infringement defense under which someone who buys a copyrighted work is free to resell it. In the case, Supap Kirtsaeng, a student from Thailand, subsidized his expenses by having friends and family members send him foreign editions of textbooks and selling them online. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the doctrine does not apply to copies of copyrighted material made outside the US.
benton.org/node/120155 | Politico
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TELEVISION/RADIO
A LA CARTE SURVEY
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Andrew Wallenstein]
US consumers would overwhelmingly prefer to pay for just 19 TV channels at $1.50 a pop than their current multichannel packages, according to a new survey. RBC Capital Markets found that 92% of over 1,000 respondents are interested in a a la carte TV offering that would cost them far less than the $84 they pay for access to at least 91 channels on average. But the investment research firm's math confirms long-held views by both content companies and MSOs that a la carte economics would dramatically hurt a business that is a major revenue driver to both industries. A likely scenario sketched out by RBC's report envisioned the $34 billion content companies received in affiliate fees last year getting cut roughly in half if consumers could cherrypick channels. "All in all, we don't think the industry (both pay-TV operators and programmers) have much to gain (if at all) from a financial perspective from providing the type of a la carte service the consumers want," the report concludes. While respondents reported currently watching an average of just 14 channels in their current package, the average number of channels they would buy in an a la carte scenario was 19. With $1.50 the average amount they cited as worth paying per channel, 19 channels would return $28.50 to MSOs, or about a third of what they currently collect from bundled packages. Multiply $28.50 by 12 months across the existing 100 million subscriber base, and the total is $34 billion. But MSOs would have to hand over a portion of that to the programmers; if that revenue split was what it is currently estimated to be--approximately 50%--that would give programmers about half of what they current derive in affiliate fees. Then there's the likelihood that at just 19 channels apiece, the 100 million subscriber base would drop precipitously, further reducing revenues.
benton.org/node/120096 | Variety
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FCC TAKES NUDITY CASE TO SUPREME COURT
[SOURCE: Radio & Television Business Report, AUTHOR: Dave Seyler]
The Federal Communications Commission has filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court in the case of Federal Communications Commission and United States of America v CBS Corporation et al. It hopes to have its loss in the Third Circuit regarding the Janet Jackson Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction overturned. The FCC said its rationale for finding the incident indecent and for hitting CBS with a $550K fine was sound – it said the display was shocking to the audience and generated an unprecedented number of public complaints. The FCC said the incident was patently offensive, particularly in the context of a widely watched sporting event that catered to family viewing, among other things, and argued that the brevity of it didn’t matter. However, the brevity is why the FCC thinks it lost, saying that the lower court erred in finding the incident fleeting, which is one of the reasons it found for CBS. The FCC also argued it has some leeway in enforcing decency on the airwaves and argues that it did not err in this case.
benton.org/node/120169 | Radio & Television Business Report
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BROADCASTERS VS WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Michelle Quinn]
Television broadcasters are confabbing in Las Vegas this week to plot how to fight the forces of evil in Washington — wireless companies. Broadcasters say they aren’t rushing to fork over airwaves to the federal government, despite congressional go-ahead this year to reimburse them with auction proceeds from wireless carriers eager to pay billions to connect smartphones and tablets. “They want us out of this game,” former Sen. Gordon Smith, president and chief executive of the National Association of Broadcasters, said of the wireless industry in his opening remarks at the group’s annual convention. “We can’t let down our guard.” The wireless industry says the fight song being played by broadcasters is misguided: Consumers have already voted with their feet how they want content delivered. Broadcasters see their future as a mixture of broadcast and wireless, and they argue that their use of spectrum — their signals go from one-to-many recipients — is a better use of the limited federal airwaves than wireless carriers’ one-to-one recipient service.
benton.org/node/120170 | Politico
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WHO SHOULD PAY FOR PUBLIC RADIO?
[SOURCE: American Public Media, AUTHOR: Tucker Carlson]
[Commentary] I love public radio. I listen to it every day. But sometimes, as I drive to my white-collar job in my expensive foreign car, surrounded by fellow public radio listeners driving to their white-collar jobs in their expensive foreign cars, I feel a little guilty. All of us are pretty affluent, I think to myself. Do we really need a federal subsidy? In general, the richer the zip code, the more people tune into public radio. Public radio listeners tend to have a household income more than $30,000 above the national average. They're also whiter, better educated and more than twice as likely as ordinary Americans to work in top management. Not the profile of your average welfare recipient. Yet that's in effect what we are. Public radio receives more than $100 million a year in tax dollars. When people like something, they'll pay for it. Public radio listeners could certainly pay the whole tab for public radio. They just don't want to. Maybe, just to be decent, we should start.
benton.org/node/120149 | American Public Media
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PRIVACY
ADVOCATES WANT JUSTICE TO TAKE UP GOOGLE PROBE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jessica Guynn, Jim Puzzanghera]
Privacy watchdogs are urging the nation's top law enforcer to launch a new investigation into Google Inc. after the Federal Communications Commission did not find evidence that the Mountain View, Calif., company broke eavesdropping laws in collecting Internet data from millions of unknowing U.S. households. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, the Washington advocacy group that filed the original complaint with the FCC over Google's controversial data-collection practices, sent a letter Monday to U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. calling the FCC's probe insufficient. "By the agency's own admission, the investigation conducted was inadequate and did not address the applicability of federal wiretapping law to Google's interception of emails, user names, passwords, browsing histories and other personal information," EPIC's Executive Director Marc Rotenberg wrote in the letter. "Given the inadequacy of the FCC's investigation and the law enforcement responsibilities of the attorney general, EPIC urges you to investigate Google's collection of personal Wi-Fi data from residential networks." Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called for Congress to hold a hearing "to get to the bottom of this serious situation." "The circumstances surrounding Google's surreptitious siphoning of personal information leave many unanswered questions," he said.
benton.org/node/120130 | Los Angeles Times
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
HOUSE UN-STREAMING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Rachel Leven]
Almost a quarter of all House hearings are not live-streamed online, according to a new study. The Sunlight Foundation found that 49 out of 200 hearings over 20 days were not live-streamed, while 91 hearings since Jan. 17 were not archived on committee websites. This is despite a January 2011 House rule “requiring that video coverage of hearings be available online.” The foundation took Congress to task for failing to stream the hearings. “The privately-run cable network C-SPAN cannot cover every hearing, and it’s unreasonable to expect people to travel to D.C. to be in attendance,” study authors Daniel Schuman and Cassandra LaRussa wrote. “Combined with cutbacks in newsroom staffs around the country, less prominent issues are unlikely to be covered by local media.” Most of the hearings that were not live-streamed were hearings of the House Appropriations Committee. Forty-seven out of 49 hearings that were not live-streamed were associated with that committee and 74 of the 91 hearings not archived were by the spending panel. The study said Appropriations had diverged “from the House’s requirement” to publish video online to “‘the maximum extent practicable.’”
benton.org/node/120120 | Hill, The
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JOURNALISM
BLOGGERS VS JOURNALISTS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Mathew Ingram]
[Commentary] The Pulitzer Prize win by the Huffington Post for a series on injured soldiers was hailed by some as a victory for the “blogosphere,” a first-time win of the prestigious journalism award by a “blog.” But the fact is that those terms have become increasingly meaningless — especially when describing an entity like the Huffington Post, which has blog-like aspects and also newspaper-like aspects. Meanwhile, traditional media such as the New York Times have also been developing increasingly blog-like features, which is further blurring those dividing lines. What we have now are just media outlets, some large and some small, some of which are online-only and some of which also print things on paper. Can we move on now?
benton.org/node/120100 | GigaOm
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POLICYMAKERS
BARNETT TO RETURN TO THE POTOMAC INSTITUTE; DAVID FURTH NAMED ACTING CHIEF
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett will leave his position at the end of the month to return to the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a leading science and technology policy think tank, where he will be Senior Vice President. David Furth, currently a Deputy Chief in PSHSB, will serve as Acting Bureau Chief.
Rear Admiral Barnett has been the Chief of PSHSB since he came to the Commission in July 2009. Under Admiral Barnett’s leadership, the bureau played a leading role in the establishment of the public safety broadband network. He created the Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division within PSHSB, which supported major cybersecurity work by a federal advisory committee known as the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC). In March 2012, CSRIC delivered a voluntary Code of Conduct for Internet service providers (ISPs) to remediate botnets as well as recommendations to secure the Domain Name System and prevent Internet route hijacking. Barnett also proposed the first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which was conducted on November 9, 2011, to identify and correct problems in the nation’s ability to notify Americans of a major disaster or crisis. During his tenure, PSHSB has adopted rules to increase the location accuracy of 9-1-1 calls coming from wireless callers and has laid the ground work for Next Generation 9-1-1, which will include the ability to reach 9-1-1 with text, photos and videos.
benton.org/node/120108 | Federal Communications Commission
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GARY EPSTEIN NAMED SENIOR ADVISOR AND CO-LEAD, INCENTIVE AUCTION TASK FORCE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski named Gary Epstein Senior Advisor to the Chairman and co-lead of the Commission’s Incentive Auction Task Force. He will join Ruth Milkman to manage the Task Force and the Commission’s implementation of incentive auctions. Epstein has been working in the fields of wireless, telecommunications, broadcasting, and auctions law and policy in both the public and private sector for four decades, founding and serving as the Global Chair of the Communications Practice Group of Latham & Watkins, where he spent more than 25 years. Most recently, Epstein served as the managing director and general counsel of a multi-stakeholder Aspen Institute project on cloud computing and the free flow of information. Epstein returns to the Commission, having served as Common Carrier Bureau Chief under Chairman Mark Fowler, and as the first head of the Digital Television (DTV) Transition efforts under Acting Chairman Michael Copps. From 1993 to 1995, Epstein served as the Chairman of the FCC's Industry Advisory Committee for the 1995 World Radiocommunication Conference. Epstein graduated from Lehigh University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, with highest honors and earned his Juris Doctor with honors from Harvard Law School.
benton.org/node/120105 | Federal Communications Commission
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NATIONAL MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES BOARD
[SOURCE: The White House]
President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as members of the National Museum and Library Services Board: Charles Benton, Christie Pearson Brandau, and Bert Castro.
Charles Benton is the Chairman and CEO of the Benton Foundation. He also currently serves on the boards of the Educational Development Center in Boston, and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where he was named a Lifetime Trustee. In addition to his work on these boards, Mr. Benton previously was President or Chairman of the Encyclopaedia Britannica Education Corporation, Public Media, Inc., Films Inc., Home Vision Entertainment, and The Partnership for a Connected Illinois. In recognition of his work in the media and telecommunications fields, Mr. Benton has been appointed to serve as Chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, Chairman of the First White House Conference on Library and Information Services, and Member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters. Mr. Benton received a B.A. from Yale University.
Christie Pearson Brandau is a retired State Librarian and an adjunct professor for the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University. Ms. Brandau served as State Librarian of Kansas from 2005 to 2009 and as State Librarian of Michigan from 2000 to 2005. Prior to that, she worked at the State Library of Iowa, North Central Iowa Regional Library and in public libraries in Osage and Riceville, Iowa. Ms. Brandau’s library affiliations include membership in the American Library Association, Public Library Association, and Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. She served as President of the Iowa Library Association in 1991. In addition to library affiliations, Ms. Brandau was a member of the state Humanities Council in Kansas and Michigan and served as a United States Commissioner for UNESCO from 2005 until 2010. Ms. Brandau earned her B.A. from Iowa State University and M.A. in Library Science from the University of Iowa.
Bert Castro is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Arizona Zoological Society/Phoenix Zoo, a position he has held since February 2008. From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Castro was Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma City Zoological Park and Botanical Garden. Mr. Castro began his career as the Children’s Zoo Keeper at the Tulsa Zoo in 1985, and since then has served as Assistant Curator at the Audubon Zoo, from 1993 to 1995, Curator of Birds and Mammals at Zoo Atlanta from 1995 to 1997, and Living Collections Manager/General Curator at the San Antonio Zoo from 1997 to 2001. Mr. Castro has been a Board Member of Zoo Conservation Outreach since 2003, and served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums from 2009 until 2011 and the Board of St. Gregory’s University from 2005 until 2008. Mr. Castro holds an Associate’s Degree in Natural Science from St. Gregory’s University, a B.S. in Zoology from Oklahoma State University, and an M.S. from Friends University.
benton.org/node/120167 | White House, The
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:
CHINA CALLS AUSTRALIA BAN ON HUAWEI "UNJUST"
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Michael Kan]
Australia earlier decided to ban Huawei from taking part in a broadband project because of security concerns. China's Ministry of Commerce said it was deeply concerned with the Australian government's refusal to allow Huawei to supply equipment to a national broadband project, calling the action "unjust". Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said the Chinese company has supplied broadband equipment and services to many countries across the globe, according to a ministry statement. In Huawei's Australia office, 90% of the employees are Australian, and the company has operated without a bad record in the country for the last decade, he added.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9225952/China_calls_Australia_ban...
COOKIES FOR ADS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Maija Palmer]
More than two-thirds of the “cookies” on the UK’s most popular websites are for advertising purposes, a new study has found, helping explain why some companies may be reluctant to comply with new laws coming into force next month. From May 26 companies will need explicit permission from customers to monitor their online behavior. This is mainly done through cookies, or small pieces of code sent between a website and the user’s computer. Some of these are necessary for running the site smoothly, for example recognizing someone who has previously visited. However, about 68 per cent are placed by third parties to track behavior and deliver targeted advertising, according to research by TRUSTe, a company which provides internet privacy tools.
benton.org/node/120168 | Financial Times
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