David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today's Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston
- Julius
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2013
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting board of directors meets today http://benton.org/calendar/2013-04-22/
PRIVACY
Apple Finally Reveals How Long Siri Keeps Your Data
Delete This When You’re Done
Advances in image analysis empower law enforcement but worry privacy advocates [links to web]
Silicon Valley companies quietly try to kill California Internet privacy bill
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Google Fiber Is World-Changing! Or Maybe Not. Or Both! - analysis
Rural California ISP launches white spaces broadband for remote customers
Sen Ayotte vows to fight 'disastrous' online sales tax bill [links to web]
EBay recruits users in push against sales tax legislation [links to web]
The Internet Sales Tax Rush - editorial [links to web]
Comcast Tweaks Pre-Paid Internet Trial
OWNERSHIP
Conservative Koch Brothers Turning Focus to Newspapers
Time Warner-CBS Seen Candidate for Merger: Real M&A [links to web]
Web Helps Musicians Sell Shares of Royalties [links to web]
DIGITAL CONTENT
Penguin to Drop Apple E-Book Deal to Settle EU Antitrust Probe [links to web]
Survey: Young people who use social media seek fame [links to web]
Social media scoured for clues to Boston Marathon bombing suspects [links to web]
Nielsen: Affluent Homes Embrace Subscription Streaming Services [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
US Eyes Pushback On China Hacking [links to web]
Government, private sector must team up to fight cyberthreats - editorial [links to web]
Cybersecurity Standards for Electric Grid Seen Expanding [links to web]
Homeland Security Acts on Cyber Workforce Recommendations [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
US telcos pave way for more mergers
Big Clearwire Holder Resists Sprint [links to web]
Dish asks FCC to stop Sprint-SoftBank review [links to web]
Sprint/SoftBank asks FCC to go ahead with deal review [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution - op-ed
More senators opt to e-file campaign disclosures [links to web]
Advances in image analysis empower law enforcement but worry privacy advocates [links to web]
JOURNALISM
The Pressure to Be the TV News Leader Tarnishes a Big Brand [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Telling the Story of Another Patriot’s Day We’ll Never Forget - analysis
Boston bombings: Social media spirals out of control
FCC Tweet Lets Slide Ortiz F-Word
911 Services: Most States Used 911 Funds for Intended Purposes, but FCC Could Improve Its Reporting on States' Use of Funds - research [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Mexico telecom reform nears reality
Google Fined 145,000 Euros Over Wi-Fi Data Collection in Germany
MORE ONLINE
Say what? TV ads still too loud - op-ed [links to web]
PRIVACY
SIRI DATA SAVED
[SOURCE:, AUTHOR: Robert McMillan]
All of those questions, messages, and stern commands that people have been whispering to Siri are stored on Apple servers for up to two years. Here’s what happens. Whenever you speak into Apple’s voice activated personal digital assistant, it ships it off to Apple’s data farm for analysis. Apple generates a random numbers to represent the user and it associates the voice files with that number. This number — not your Apple user ID or email address — represents you as far as Siri’s back-end voice analysis system is concerned. Once the voice recording is six months old, Apple “disassociates” your user number from the clip, deleting the number from the voice file. But it keeps these disassociated files for up to 18 more months for testing and product improvement purposes.
benton.org/node/150153 | | Washington Post | GigaOm
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
DELETE THIS WHEN YOU’RE DONE
[SOURCE: The New Yorker, AUTHOR: Matt Buchanan]
The rise of Snapchat among the under-twenty-five set, who have spent their formative years with Facebook looming in the background, is wholly unsurprising. Snapchat is a photo- and video-messaging service that deletes images and videos from a recipient’s phone within ten seconds; every shot is ephemeral. Snapchat highlights the power of deletion in resisting the gentle totalitarianism of endless sharing. Deletion pokes holes in these records; it is a destabilizing force that calls into question their authority, particularly as complete documentation of a person’s online identity, which Facebook and Twitter increasingly purport to be. Some say the future of privacy is “lying.” But it’s quite difficult to lie all the time in the face of constant surveillance. If we can no longer keep anything to ourselves, deletion may be privacy. benton.org/node/150142 | New Yorker, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
CALIFORNIA PRIVACY BILL
[SOURCE: Bay Area News Group, AUTHOR: Steven Harmon]
Silicon Valley tech firms, banks and other powerful industries are mounting a quiet but forceful campaign to kill an Internet privacy bill that would give California consumers the right to know how their personal information is being used. A recent letter signed by 15 companies and trade groups -- including TechAmerica, which represents Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other technology companies -- demanded that the measure's author, Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) drop her bill. They complain it would open up businesses to an avalanche of requests from individuals as well as costly lawsuits. The American Civil Liberties Union, a co-sponsor of the Right to Know Act, accuses the business groups of overreacting to hide their true intentions: to keep out of the public's eye the lucrative practice of amassing personal information on people who use online services, computer apps, social networking sites and other portals that track people's locations, buying habits, favorite foods and movies, and even their sexual orientation.
benton.org/node/150158 | Bay Area News Group
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
INTERNET/BROADBAND
GOOGLE FIBER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Peter Kafka]
Some don’t know what to make of Google’s fiber moves. They have two big questions:
What is Google actually trying to do here?
How much is Google willing to spend on whatever they’re doing?
And there are multiple theories to answer those questions, which aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive:
It’s a sandbox for Google. It’s literally trying to figure out what goes into offering that kind of speed, and what happens when customers take advantage of it.
Google thinks that by offering blazing-fast fiber in a bunch of cities, it will spur the likes of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other incumbents to up their own investments in speed. And that eventually means that more people will have faster Internet, which is presumably good for Google.
Google really does plan on wiring a big swath of the country. Because, why not? It’s Google. It can afford just about anything.
During yesterday’s earnings call, analysts again tried to suss out what Google was up to. Both CEO Larry Page and CFO Patrick Pichette did a good job of speaking at length and not saying very much, beyond the notion that it would be good if lots of people had fast Internet.
benton.org/node/150152 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
WHITE SPACES BROADBAND
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Joe Brodkin]
An Internet service provider in California says it has deployed one of "the first commercial application[s] of TV White-Space broadband" to a rural area where many people lack strong Internet access. The ISP, Cal.net, said that "[o]ver 59,000 residents in our rural service area have had little or no quality Internet access." Many of those could be served with Cal.net's new white spaces network, which uses empty TV channels to send long-range wireless signals. Cal.net built the service using RuralConnect, a set of base station antennas and white space broadband radios made by a manufacturer called Carlson. The latest version of RuralConnect unveiled last month promises speeds of up to 16Mbps, although Cal.net's website promises wireless service of up to just 6Mbps. Cal.net's white space service is available to businesses and residents in the Gold Country region in central and northeastern California.
benton.org/node/150146 | Ars Technica
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
PRE-PAID INTERNET
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Jeff Baumgartner]
Comcast has made a small, but potentially big change, to a pre-paid Internet service it’s testing in the Philadelphia area that suggests a broader rollout could be in the making. After testing out a sales model that relied on more than 70 local wireless and consumer electronics stores to distribute and sell starter kits comprised of a cable modem, the necessary cables and an activation code good for 30 days of Internet service, the website that promotes the offer has shed the retail option in favor of a new call-in number. Also gone from the site are mentions that the offer is limited to parts of Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey. But the site does tell visitors that the pre-paid offer is not available when plugging in addresses and zip codes in Comcast markets that are outside the Philadelphia region.
benton.org/node/150138 | Multichannel News
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
WIRELESS MERGERS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Paul Taylor, David Gelles]
Blame the iPhone. Since the debut of Apple’s smartphone in 2007, wireless data consumption in the US has mushroomed. Consumers now expect rapid access to email and the internet and video streamed to their handset cheaply and swiftly. For a few years the five big US wireless carriers were able to maintain the status quo. But as increasing demand for spectrum shows no sign of letting up, the industry has entered into a tumultuous round of consolidation. There are more than 320 million mobile subscribers in the US and four major US mobile network operators -- Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Sprint and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA unit. Smaller providers like MetroPCS, and wireless internet operator Clearwire, are also in the mix. Each is now pursuing deals that would strengthen it at home, and in some cases, abroad. Although Verizon and AT&T, the two largest US carriers, are constrained by regulators in their ability to expand through acquisitions, each is looking at other options. All these deals may just be precursors to a merger of the third and fourth largest players. Many in the industry believe that neither Sprint nor T-Mobile will be able to independently compete with Verizon and AT&T, and will be pressured to merge in the coming years.
benton.org/node/150161 | Financial Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
OWNERSHIP
KOCH BROTHERS AND MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Amy Chozick]
Three years ago, Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, held a seminar of like-minded, wealthy political donors at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen (CO). They laid out a three-pronged, 10-year strategy to shift the country toward a smaller government with less regulation and taxes. The first two pieces of the strategy — educating grass-roots activists and influencing politics — were not surprising, given the money they have given to policy institutes and political action groups. But the third one was: media. Other than financing a few fringe libertarian publications, the Kochs have mostly avoided media investments. Now, Koch Industries, the sprawling private company of which Charles G. Koch serves as chairman and chief executive, is exploring a bid to buy the Tribune Company’s eight regional newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Hartford Courant.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/business/media/koch-brothers-making-pl...
Koch Industries Eyes Tribune Papers (NYTimes)
benton.org/node/150170 | New York Times | NYTimes
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
THE DARK SIDE OF THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Eric Schmidt, Jared Cohen]
[Commentary] While technology has great potential to bring about change, there is a dark side to the digital revolution that is too often ignored. There is a turbulent transition ahead for autocratic regimes as more of their citizens come online, but technology doesn't just help the good guys pushing for democratic reform—it can also provide powerful new tools for dictators to suppress dissent. Fifty-seven percent of the world's population still lives under some sort of autocratic regime. In the span of a decade, the world's autocracies will go from having a minority of their citizens online to a majority. From Tehran to Beijing, autocrats are building the technology and training the personnel to suppress democratic dissent, often with the help of Western companies. The digital revolution will continue. For all the complications this revolution brings, no country is worse off because of the Internet. And with five billion people set to join us online in the coming decades the digital future can be bright indeed, despite its dark side. [Schmidt is Google's executive chairman. Cohen is the director of Google Ideas.]
benton.org/node/150169 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
A PATRIOT’S DAY WE’LL NEVER FORGET
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] Patriot’s Day, for baseball fans, means an early start for the Red Sox game. For runners, it means the Boston marathon. The meaning of the holiday -- the commemoration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 -- may have been lost by many of us. But after this past Monday, April 15, 2013 will take on a new, horrific meaning. The Benton Foundation joins the world in condemning the cowardly act that killed and injured scores of people in Boston and we salute the brave people who responded to the explosions with acts of heroism. Sadly, it was just a couple of months ago that we wrote about the connections between media, telecommunications and the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, this week we look at the role of communications in the wake of the Boston marathon bombings.
http://benton.org/node/150131
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
SOCIAL MEDIA AND BOSTON
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Ken Bensinger, Andrea Chang]
Over the last few days, thousands of people have taken to the Internet to play Sherlock Holmes. Armed with little more than grainy surveillance camera videos, cellphone photos and live tweets from police scanners, they have flooded the Web with clues, tips and speculation about what happened in Boston and who might have been behind it. The bombings, the first major terrorist attack on American soil in the age of smartphones, Twitter and Facebook, provided an opportunity for everyone to get involved. Within seconds of the first explosion, the Internet was alive with the collective ideas and reactions of the masses. But this watershed moment for social media quickly spiraled out of control. Legions of Web sleuths cast suspicion on at least four innocent people, spread innumerable bad tips and heightened the sense of panic and paranoia.
benton.org/node/150162 | Los Angeles Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
ORTIZ F-BOMB
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
In one tweet, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski may have single-handedly changed the agency's policy on F-words forever. Genachowski's tweet was in reaction to the fleeting expletive dropped by Red Sox hitter David Ortiz during a rousing pre-game ceremony in Fenway Park, a day after law enforcement captured the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. "This is our #&*%ing city, and nobody's is going to dictate our freedom," Ortiz said. Ortiz's statement prompted Genachowski to tweet:
David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today's Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston - Julius
benton.org/node/150160 | AdWeek | CSM | Politico
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Mexico telecom reform nears reality
Google Fined 145,000 Euros Over Wi-Fi Data Collection in Germany
MEXICO TELECOM REFORM
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Adam Thomson]
Mexico’s Senate passed a reform bill that stands to shake up the country’s telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, introducing more competition and creating investment opportunities for foreign companies. Approval of the reform, which came only after a marathon all-night session, marks an important victory for the new administration of centrist President Enrique Peña Nieto as it tries to lift Mexico’s annual growth rate towards 6 percent a year from about 3.5 percent now. Economists have long seen the two sectors, which are dominated by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim’s América Móvil, and broadcaster Televisa, as prime examples of how the relative lack of competition hurts growth and drives up prices. Senators appeared to weaken the bill that was approved weeks before by the lower house, allowing companies to stall, pending appeal, the application of fines or other orders from the country’s antitrust authority. However, they will not be able to stall fines or other measures handed out by the new regulator, which the new legislation would create.
benton.org/node/150155 | Financial Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
GOOGLE FINED
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Karin Matussek]
Google was fined 145,000 euros ($189,230) by a German regulator for collecting wireless-network data by its cars taking photos for the Street View service. Google’s cars from 2008 to 2010 captured the data, including contents of e-mails, passwords, photos and chat protocols, Hamburg data regulator Johannes Caspar said. He had reopened the probe after prosecutors dropped a related criminal case last year. “In my view, this is one of the biggest data protection rules violations known,” said Caspar. Google’s “internal control mechanisms must have severely failed.”
benton.org/node/150154 | Bloomberg
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top