BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011
The Public Switched Telephone Network in Transition and ICANN’s Top-Level Domain Name Program http://benton.org/calendar/2011-12-14/
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
Spectrum Auction Authority Passes in House
See also: The Insidious Fine Print [links to web]
Your Airwaves, Your Voice - op-ed
Sprint, C Spire granted motion to stay AT&T lawsuits
FCC Chair Calls AT&T Staff Report 'Strong, Fact-Based'
Verizon Accused Of Violating License By Blocking Google Wallet
Google Wallet stores too much unencrypted data in a rooted device – report
Out with the old, in with the new mobile data plans - research
LightSquared cedes some authority, ditches power plan to save network
Android, Apple lead U.S. smartphone market, others play catch-up
Robocalls To Cellphones? States Marshal Opposition
NTSB recommends ban on driver cell phone use
FAA Approves iPads in Cockpits, But Not for Passengers [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Verizon upgrades network for a 100 gig world
DC: We’ll see your 1 Gig, raise you 100 Gig - op-ed
How technology will test the Constitution
The Facebook Resisters
PRIVACY
FBI turns down request for info on Carrier IQ
Carrier IQ: Bug made some keypresses, message data accessible
PIRACY
Chairman Smith Circulates New Version of SOPA
Dodd on piracy bill: 'Hollywood is pro-Internet'
Opponents of online piracy bill unswayed by changes
National Governors Association calls for piracy legislation [links to web]
Tech luminaries blast piracy bills in ad [links to web]
MORE ON CONTENT
Domain seizure oversight lax and broken, targets out of luck
Back To Square One In The Google Books Lawsuit
Maker of Yanked Driver's License App Fires Back at Apple [links to web]
A New YouTube, Herding the Funny Cats [links to web]
TELEVISION
FCC Approves CALM Act Rules
OWNERSHIP
Verizon ‘Very Serious’ About Making Bid for Netflix, Banker Says [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Poll: Obama's tops among tweeters
POLICYMAKERS
Colleague salutes FCC's Copps
Genachowski's top aide leaving FCC
New Californian Justice Department unit to fight tech crimes, identity theft [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
OECD Calls on Members to Defend Internet Freedoms
2 Leaders in Russian Media Are Fired After Election Articles
EU accepts IBM antitrust concessions, ends probe
UK heading for a fight over cookies [links to web]
Ofcom highlights risk of 4G auction delay [links to web]
China-Based Hacking of 760 Companies Shows Global Cyber War
EU to Launch Open Data Portal [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Newspapers' Digital Audience Skews Younger, More Affluent [links to web]
Docs Have iPad Fever: Is There A Cure? [links to web]
Google gives $40 million to various causes [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
SPECTRUM BILL PASSES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Republican payroll tax extension bill, which also includes spectrum incentive auction legislation, passed the House of Representatives. The legislation, which passed 234-193, essentially incorporates the Republican House version of legislation that authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to compensate broadcasters for returning spectrum that will then be re-auctioned for wireless broadband use. A handful of Republicans voted against the bill, and about the same number of Democrats voted for it. The Senate is unlikely to pass the payroll tax bill in its current form, and the president has pledged to veto it. Since Democrats have major issues with the spectrum bill, it may have to modified if it is to be part of an ultimately acceptable package, or deleted and voted on as a stand-alone at a later date.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called passage of the spectrum incentive auction authority legislation a major achievement, but still has issues with the bill as do many Democrats. He is concerned about portions of the bill he said could "tie the agency's hands in ways that could be counterproductive." He also addressed the bill’s prohibition on allocating any more of that freed-up spectrum for unlicensed wireless. "Precluding the FCC from adopting innovation-enhancing policies around unlicensed spectrum could threaten U.S. global leadership in spectrum-related innovation," he said in a statement. "The same is true for the bill's restrictions on the Commission's ability to construct band plans and structure auctions in ways that maximize the value of licensed spectrum."
benton.org/node/107149 | Broadcasting&Cable | B&C – the debate
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YOUR AIRWAVES, YOUR VOICE
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Sen John Kerry (D-MA), Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA)]
[Commentary] Our Congress is broken. And this week, the House Republicans will again show you how and why. They will bring to the Floor for a vote, legislation that takes the American people's need to extend a middle class tax cut and turns it into a vehicle to hinder the ability of everyday people and entrepreneurs to access the public airwaves' unlimited potential as a platform for new wireless communications and services. This is a time for America's net roots to speak up loudly and clearly. Hidden in this week's Republican-backed legislation is a provision prohibiting the Federal Communications Commission from encouraging new entrants into the wireless market. It would close the door to new innovation by prohibiting access to our nation's best airwaves for unlicensed use, in a way similar to how Wi-Fi operates today but on a larger scale. Beyond the spectrum designated for public safety, the House bill encourages the development of fifty separate networks that would operate with each other instead of one nationwide network or regional networks which would be much more cost effective and rational. It also creates and empowers a private sector company to decide how the network is built and which applicants are awarded public funds. That is grossly irresponsible. S.911, the legislation that passed the Senate committee was bipartisan. House Democrats offered up a similar proposal, H.R. 3509, but Republicans have refused to consider it. S.911 and H.R. 3509 leave room for innovation and competition. They do not prohibit the FCC from exercising its responsibilities to protect the public interest and preserve competition. And they do not punish public safety. They respect their right to participate in the operation and management of the network. A negotiated compromise is possible and necessary and for our part, we are willing to work through the key differences to make it happen. We hope our Republican colleagues in the House are ready to do the same.
benton.org/node/107113 | Huffington Post, The
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SPRINT, C SPIRE DELAY AT&T CASE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
Sprint and C-Spire have been granted their motions to stay their court cases against the merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. On Dec 13, U.S. District court judge Ellen Huvelle granted the Sprint and T-Mobile requests, which are identical to the stay requests sent in by AT&T and the Department of Justice. In a statement, Sprint’s senior vice president of governmental affairs, Vonya McCann, said that Sprint will consider its options if AT&T and T-Mobile restart their bid for a merger. “Should AT&T, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile decide to reinitiate this court proceeding in January, they have agreed with both the governmental and private plaintiffs to a January 18 conference with the Court to determine next steps on all of the cases,” she said.
benton.org/node/107127 | Washington Post
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GENACHOWSKI ON AT&T/T-MOBILE REPORT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski defended the FCC staff report that concluded AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile was not in the public interest. In a press conference following the FCC's December public meeting about AT&T's characterization of the report as an "unsupported piece of advocacy work," Chairman Genachowski laughed, and said it was "strong, fact-based work" based on a record of "thousands and thousands" of pages of submissions from various parties and many meetings. "The staff did excellent work," he said. The chairman said the FCC is always addressing issues on which parties disagree, but its job was to focus on the facts and "make its best judgment about what meets our statutory objectives..." He did not comment on why the FCC lowered the so-called spectrum screen -- the amount of a merger's resulting spectrum consolidation in a geographic market that triggers further review -- for the AT&T deal. But he did say all the staffs work was based on the facts and FCC procedures. "We did our work consistent with the statute to focus on facts and run a fair process."
benton.org/node/107142 | Broadcasting&Cable
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VERIZON AND GOOGLE WALLET
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
Verizon's reported decision to block Google Wallet is a “textbook example of anti-competitive behavior,” advocacy group Free Press said in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission. Free Press also says that Verizon's blocking of Google's new mobile payment system would violate terms the telecom agreed to when it licensed the portion of the spectrum it uses for 4G service. When Verizon acquired the license for that spectrum, the company promised to refrain from limiting or restricting applications. “According to the facts available at this time, it seems that Verizon Wireless likely is abusing its gatekeeper control over a substantial percentage of the national market for mobile Internet users in order to block a third-party competitor,” Free Press argues in its letter to FCC Chair Julius Genachowski. “Verizon Wireless must not be allowed to continue to engage in rampantly anti-competitive, anti-consumer, anti-innovation blocking of applications, including third-party tethering and mobile payment applications, in violation of its license obligations -- and in violation of the spirit if not the letter of its legal obligations under the Commissions Open Internet rules.” Free Press says Verizon's move is reminiscent of the company's step earlier this year to limit tethering. Verizon reportedly asked Google to limit people's ability to acquire tethering apps -- which allow people to use their smartphones to connect tablets or other devices to the Web. Google makes apps unavailable to people when carriers say the apps violate their terms of service. The move to limit tethering also spurred Free Press to complain to the FCC that Verizon was violating its license agreement for the 4G spectrum. The FCC is investigating that matter.
benton.org/node/107140 | MediaPost
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GOOGLE WALLET AND SECURITY
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Elinor Mills]
Google Wallet does a good job of storing passwords but doesn't encrypt the entire credit card number, balance, and other information, a research firm said today after testing the application on a rooted device. Data that is stored on the device in various SQLite databases in unencrypted form also includes name on the card, the last four digits of the credit card, card limit, expiration date, transaction dates, and locations, ViaForensics said in a report titled "Forensic security analysis of Google Wallet." In addition, the application created a recoverable image of a credit card that could provide fodder for a social engineering attack, according to the report, which was a high-level analysis of Google Wallet -- "the first real payment system leveraging NFC [near field communication] on Android."
benton.org/node/107123 | C-Net|News.com
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NEW MOBILE DATA PLANS
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Sam Masud]
Connected Business Research, the new research arm of Connected Planet, has released the results of an exclusive survey exploring mobile operator plans to move beyond unlimited data plan pricing. While usage-based billing, either with or without subscriber contract, is the most popular way mobile operators currently charge for data, a super-majority of operators are definitely, probably or possibly considering changes to data plans next year. For a large number of operators, tiered data plans are the way they would prefer to charge, and a significant but considerably smaller number favors dynamic pricing (e.g. based on network load) or pricing based on the service (e.g. Netflix, YouTube). Here a few other things the survey found:
Factors such as network technology or spectrum do not have much impact on operators' desire to change billing plans
Smaller operators don't lag too far behind big operators in offering multi-device data plans for individuals or families
When it comes to changing billing plans, technology readiness/cost and regulatory considerations are much less important than market perception and competitive considerations
benton.org/node/107137 | Connected Planet
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NEW LIGHTSQUARED PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Bob Brewin]
Beset by leaked reports that its planned network once again flunked Global Positioning System interference tests and with billions of dollars at stake, startup cellular carrier LightSquared took a bold step to win approval for operation of its network in its low frequency band by offering a multiagency federal working group veto power over operations in the upper portion of its spectrum. But the proposal comes with a catch: the Federal Communications Commission must remove conditions that restrict LightSquared from commercial operation in the lower 10 MHz of spectrum tentatively approved in January. This proposal would provide the Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Interior and Homeland Security Departments, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff and NASA, an "explicit gatekeeping role" over use of the upper 10 MHz of its spectrum, LightSquared said in filing. Jeff Carlisle, LightSquared's executive vice president for regulatory affairs and public policy, said in the filing that the proposal would give these agencies, which comprise the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee chaired by the Defense and Commerce departments, the legal authority they now lack to direct spectrum allocation.
benton.org/node/107121 | nextgov
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SMARTPHONE MARKET
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Andrea Chang]
The Android operating system's share of smartphone sales grew to 53% from January through October, up from 42% in 2010, and Apple's iOS share rose to 29%, up from 21% last year, research firm NPD Group said. Research in Motion, which makes the BlackBerry, continued to see its share of the smartphone market decline, plummeting to 10% in the first 10 months of this year. In 2010, it held one-fourth of the market. Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7, Symbian OS and Palm/webOS had tiny shares of the market, with each operating system capturing no more than 3%.
benton.org/node/107116 | Los Angeles Times
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ROBOCALLS TO CELLPHONES
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Mark Memmott]
A bill before Congress that would allow some types of "robocalls" to be made to cellphones if consumers have given companies their numbers doesn't have many sponsors and wouldn't seem to be the kind of legislation that would stand much of a chance of passing when an election year looms. But it's getting an increasing amount of attention this week thanks to something that's very rare these days — bipartisan opposition. A letter signed last week by the attorneys general of every state except Nebraska and Virginia urges members of Congress "to reject the Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011 (H.R. 3035)."
benton.org/node/107112 | National Public Radio
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NTSB RECOMMENDS CELL PHONE BAN
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
States should ban all driver use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices, except in emergencies, the National Transportation Board said. The recommendation, unanimously agreed to by the five-member board, applies to both hands-free and hand-held phones and significantly exceeds any existing state laws restricting texting and cellphone use behind the wheel. The board is expected to recommend new restrictions on driver use of electronic devices behind the wheel. While the NTSB doesn't have the power to impose restrictions, it's recommendations carry significant weight with federal regulators and congressional and state lawmakers. Investigators are seeing texting, cell phone calls and other distracting behavior by operators in accidents across all modes of transportation with increasing frequency. It has become routine for investigators to immediately request the preservation of cell phone and texting records when they launch an investigation.
benton.org/node/107118 | Associated Press | Associated Press
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
VERIZON UPGRADE
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
Long-haul networks aren’t the only pipes getting 100 gigabit upgrades these days. Verizon said it is upgrading the metro networks in at least seven U.S. cities to meet the demand for broadband at the edge. Verizon’s announcement follows the launch of a 100-gigabit middle-mile network in Washington, D.C., last week, and it shows how we are closing in on the terabit age. Verizon is putting fat Cisco CRS-3 routers in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle. The new gear, which will be deployed in the first half of 2012, can move up to 322 terabits per second — enough to download the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress in one second. These mammoth machines will be part of Verizon’s upgrade to its core FiOS network and will help deliver more bandwidth to homes, for data centers in the respective cities, to cell towers for mobile backhaul and wherever else Verizon needs it. It will also play a role in Verizon’s network evolution strategy to IPv6, the new Internet addressing system.
benton.org/node/107114 | GigaOm
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DC-CAN
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Craig Settles]
[Commentary] Dec 7 as a pretty good day for Washington, D.C. residents and business and, yeah, even the Federal government. The city-owned 100-gigabit, middle-mile DC Community Access Network (DC-CAN) opened for business. One of the benefits of this project is that it should open eyes to the fact that a few billion dollars in broadband stimulus money was committed to middle mile infrastructure, but it’s not clear how many last mile projects will spring up to connect to them. How DC-CAN resolves this issue could influence some Federal policy decisions, since the network is essentially a test bed in their own front yard. DC-CAN’s middle-mile 100 gigabit network is an awesome step for better broadband access by all of the city, including the Federal government (it’s somewhat ironic watching FCC live Webcasts slow to a crawl due to overloaded broadband connections). But it’s only the first step. Now the city must effectively entice service providers to tackle the last mile, or gather the political will to build its own last-mile network to the homes and businesses needing cheaper, better broadband.
benton.org/node/107122 | GigaOm
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CONSTITUTION 3.0
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Joseph Marks]
As technology advances, governments and citizens will face constitutional and legal questions that could barely have been imagined before, legal scholars at the Brookings Institution said.
Could Google or Facebook, in 2030, for instance, live stream feeds from security cameras dotting the globe? Or would that violate U.S. citizens' Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches? asked Jeffrey Rosen, a George Washington University law professor and co-editor of Brookings' "Constitution 3.0" study, which formed the basis of the panel discussion.
What if Congress wanted to block a gay couple from splicing DNA to create a fertilized egg that includes both their genetic material? Rosen asked. Would that egg be protected by the same presumptive right to privacy that the U.S. Supreme Court said upheld a woman's right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade?
What if police began carrying handheld functional magnetic resonance imaging machines that use brain wave patterns to indicate whether a person has seen a particular place before? Rosen asked. Could police detain an American citizen based on machine evidence that he had seen a particular terrorist training camp in Afghanistan before? Or would that violate his Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches and his Fifth Amendment right against incriminating himself?
benton.org/node/107139 | nextgov
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FACEBOOK RESISTERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jenna Wortham]
As Facebook prepares for a much-anticipated public offering, the company is eager to show off its momentum by building on its huge membership: more than 800 million active users around the world, Facebook says, and roughly 200 million in the United States, or two-thirds of the population. But the company is running into a roadblock in this country. Some people, even on the younger end of the age spectrum, just refuse to participate, including people who have given it a try. One of Facebook’s main selling points is that it builds closer ties among friends and colleagues. But some who steer clear of the site say it can have the opposite effect of making them feel more, not less, alienated. Many of the holdouts mention concerns about privacy. Those who study social networking say this issue boils down to trust. Amanda Lenhart, who directs research on teenagers, children and families at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, said that people who use Facebook tend to have “a general sense of trust in others and trust in institutions.” She added: “Some people make the decision not to use it because they are afraid of what might happen.”
benton.org/node/107161 | New York Times
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PRIVACY
CARRIERIQ AND THE FBI
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has denied a request regarding Carrier IQ, a piece of software found on smartphones and designed to send information on handsets to carriers. The request, filed by reporter Michael Morisy of Muckrock News under the Freedom of Information Act, asked for “manuals, documents of other written guidance used to access or analyze data” gathered by any Carrier IQ program. In denying the request, the FBI said it had information but could not disclose it because it is considered “law enforcement records.” In other words, they’re vital to some kind of ongoing investigation. That seems to confirm fears about the program being used as spyware by the government. But before you put on your tinfoil hat, you should note— as Morisy does — that this could also mean that the FBI is investigating Carrier IQ. It’s not clear from the bureau’s language at this time, and Morisy has said he will file an appeal in an effort to obtain more information.
Carrier IQ has issued a statement denying that it has ever provided information to the FBI. “Carrier IQ has never provided any data to the FBI. If approached by a law enforcement agency, we would refer them to the network operators because the diagnostic data collected belongs to them and not Carrier IQ,” the company said.
benton.org/node/107128 | Washington Post | The Hill | ComputerWorld | WashPost – CarrierIQ | VentureBeat | ars technica | Connected Planet
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CARRIER IQ RESPONSE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
In a 19-page report from Carrier IQ, the company explains what information it does and does not collect and finally offers an explanation of why research posted by security expert Trevor Eckhart showed the software reacting to keypresses and revealing location data. In short, they said it wasn’t their fault. “Our investigation of Trevor Eckhart’s video indicates that location, key presses, SMS and other information appears in log files as a result of debug messages from pre-production handset manufacturer software,” the company said in a statement. “Specifically, it appears that the handset manufacturer software’s debug capabilities remained ‘switched on’ in devices sold to customers.” The company also acknowledged that, due to a bug in its software, some text messages may have been included in some of its data if, for example, calls and text messages were made at the same time. “SMS messages may have unintentionally been included in the layer 3 signaling traffic and are not human readable,” the company said in its report. Carrier IQ asserted that “no multimedia messages, e-mail, web, application, photo, voice or video” has been captured because of the bug and that its software cannot read or copy the content of Web sites. It also denied that the program, as designed, captures keystrokes or the content of SMS messages. Data is held for an average of 24 hours, the company said, and can’t be read without Carrier IQ’s own tools.
benton.org/node/107148 | Washington Post
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PIRACY
NEW VERSION OF SOPA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A revised version of the Stop Online Protection Act has been circulated by Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chair of the House Judiciary Committee in advance of Thursday's planned markup of the bill, which has been generating lots of pushback from its critics. That came in the form of a managers amendment, which is essentially a new version of the bill to be substituted for the old. That new version includes making it explicit that the bill only targets foreign sites, no longer allows for redirection from an infringing site, makes it clear ISPs have the flexibility to determine how best to comply and narrows the definition of rogue Web site, according to Smith's office. According to Smith's outline of the changes, the manager's amendment:
Clarifies that provisions of the bill apply only to foreign rogue websites
Removes language that would have required redirection when users try to access an unlawful site
Includes a savings clause that disallows a court from issuing an order that would harm DNS
Makes sure that service providers have the ability to determine the best method to ensure compliance and prohibits courts from imposing any additional obligations on service providers
Commissions an inter-agency expert study on any impact of the bill's remedies on the DNS
Makes clear that in an action by the Attorney General, service providers will not be required to block subdomains
Narrows definitions in the bill
Narrows the definition of rogue websites dedicated to illegal or infringing activity to ensure that monitoring is not required
Narrows the definition of search engines to clarify that only services that operate primarily as search engines are covered, not search functions on other services or services powered by third parties
Narrows the definition of payment processors to ensure that banks and credit unions are not included as such
Narrows the definition of advertising networks to clarify that the bill covers entities directly involved in serving ads to foreign rogue websites
Removes the "voluntary notice" section for rights holders; this means rights holders are no longer required to provide notice to payment processors and advertising networks as a precondition to seeking judicial relief. Victims of IP theft will continue to use current voluntary market-based systems to address counterfeiting and piracy. The bill maintains immunity for financial institutions and online ad service providers.
benton.org/node/107126 | Broadcasting&Cable | ars technica
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HOLLYWOOD IS PRO-INTERNET
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Motion Picture Association of America head Chris Dodd (D-CT) pushed back at criticism his industry is backing an online piracy bill that would lead to censorship online. “Hollywood is pro-Internet. We stand with those who strongly oppose foreign governments that would unilaterally block websites, and thus deny the free flow of information and speech," Dodd said at the Center for American Progress. "So I want to make it clear right at the outset that our fight against content theft is not a fight against technology. It is a fight against criminals.” The MPAA and its member studios are among the strongest supporters of the Stop Online Piracy Act, which has drawn a backlash from the technology community because it would force search engines and other Web firms to delete links to foreign websites dedicated to copyright infringement. Dodd denied that the bill would lead to censorship, citing a recent study by Envisional that found nearly a quarter of Internet traffic is copyright-infringing.
benton.org/node/107125 | Hill, The
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SOPA OPPONENTS UNSWAYED
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
The manager's amendment offered by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has failed to stem criticism from the bill's most prominent opponents. "The manager's amendment retains the fundamental flaws of its predecessor by blocking Americans' ability to access websites, imposing costly regulation on web companies and giving Attorney General Eric Holder's Department of Justice broad new powers to police the internet," said House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA).
Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro said the bill is still fundamentally flawed because it includes a private right of action and would criminalize linking to infringing sites. Shapiro reiterated his organization will not be supporting SOPA, and credited the grassroots campaign against the bill for turning the tide.
benton.org/node/107146 | Hill, The
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MORE ON CONTENT
OPERATION IN OUR SITES
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Timothy Lee]
The federal government experienced two embarrassing setbacks last week related to Operation In Our Sites, the campaign to seize domain names suspected of being used to infringe copyright. A federal judge dismissed a forfeiture complaint against the Spanish sports site RojaDirecta.com (though the government is keeping the domain for now). Also last week, the government returned the domain Dajaz1.com, tacitly admitting that it had made a mistake in seizing the domain in the first place. These seizures have raised a lot of questions. Does the government really have the power to seize a domain name, hold it for a year, and then return it without compensating the owner? Is it common for the records of routine property seizures to be sealed? Shouldn't the courts be doing a better job of supervising these seizures?
benton.org/node/107124 | Ars Technica
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GOOGLE BOOKS SUIT
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Jeff Roberts]
It’s been more than six years since the Authors Guild first sued Google for scanning books. Today, with a proposed settlement in tatters, the writers group took a fresh step to revive the case and move it towards a trial. In a motion filed in New York federal court, the Authors Guild asked Judge Denny Chin to certify the class of authors suing Google. This is a common procedural step in any class action suit and amounts to plaintiffs asking the court’s permission to bring a lawsuit on behalf of everyone else in the same position (in this case, every US author whose copyrighted work has been scanned by Google). The difference with the lawsuit this time around is the absence of the publishers who, in 2006, had joined with the authors to stop Google. That is likely because the publishers, after the failure of the settlement, have begun to craft a series of bilateral deals with the search giant.
benton.org/node/107138 | paidContent.org
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TELEVISION
CALM ACT RULES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to implement the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which prevents TV ads from being delivered at greater volume than the programs surrounding them. The FCC will make cable operators responsible for the volume of both national and local ads, as well as promos, while TV stations will also be responsible for the national network and syndicated ads, as well as promos and local ads, both on broadcast and on the signals they deliver to cable operators. That means if a cable operator delivers a TV station ad that violates the act, it is the broadcaster who is responsible. But the final order includes some flexibility for operators and stations to comply with their responsibility over the "imbedded" ads they pass along from program distributors up the chain. They will be considered in compliance if they "install, utilize and maintain" the requisite equipment and software, or they have a certification from the distributor of the ad that it complies with the recommended ATSC standard that the FCC is making mandatory. Larger operators will be required to do annual spot-checking of commercials for the first two years, after which that requirement sunsets. Smaller operators and stations will not have to spot check, but stations and operators or all sizes must test in response to a "pattern or trend" of complaints -- rather than, say, a single complaint -- involving their station or system. Smaller operators will have the opportunity to seek hardship waivers and will not be required to purchase equipment, though they will still be responsible for any proven violations.
benton.org/node/107117 | Broadcasting&Cable | FCC press release | TVNewsCheck
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
OBAMA TOP AMOUNG TWEETERS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: MJ Lee]
President Barack Obama’s approval rating is sky high — among Twitter users, a new poll shows. Among self-identified users of the 140-character social media network, Obama’s approval rating is 69 percent, about 25 percentage points higher than his national approval rating among all voters, the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows. Twitter users tend to lean more to the left: 13 percent of liberal Democrats say they use the tool, compared to 8 percent of conservatives and 6 percent of tea party supporters. Black adults are more Twitter-savvy than whites – 14 percent of African-Americans say they tweet, double the percentage of whites who are fluent in the 140-chracter messages, the poll found. But less than one out of 10 people currently participate in the world of Twitter — according to the survey, which asked which social networking services a person has used in the past two to three weeks, only 9 percent said they had used Twitter. Facebook was the most popular social networking tool by far, with 55 percent saying they had used the online forum in the last few weeks, including 79 percent of adults under the age 35. One out of 10 people, 10 percent, were users of LinkedIn, 3 percent were on MySpace, while 2 percent said they utilize Tumblr. According to analysis of the poll data, among Facebook users, Obama’s approval rating is 47 percent and 52 percent among LinedIn users.
benton.org/node/107155 | Politico
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POLICYMAKERS
COLLEAGUE SALUTES COPPS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Several telecom policy stakeholders used the December open meeting of the Federal Communications Commission to bid farewell to Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps, who will retire at the end of the year. Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell sounded a bittersweet note, complimenting Commissioner Copps for his willingness to work across party lines and paying tribute to his eloquence. Commissioner Copps joined the commission in 2001; during his 10-year service he was an outspoken advocate for net neutrality and increasing diversity in the media and telecom industry. He also voted against media consolidation several times, including the lone vote against approve the NBC Universal-Comcast merger last year. "We hear a lot these days from cynics about how Washington inevitably corrupts even those with the best intentions, about how no one can hope to make a difference anymore. Those cynics never met Michael Copps," said Public Knowledge legal director Harold Feld. "Anyone watching local news or enjoying the open Internet owes a debt to Commissioner Copps and what he accomplished in his time at the commission."
benton.org/node/107144 | Hill, The | read Commissioner McDowell's remarks
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EDWARD LAZARUS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski’s top aide and confidant, chief of staff Edward Lazarus, is leaving the commission on Jan. 31. “There just comes a time,” Lazarus said. “I had always thought of this as something I would do between two and three years.” The Washington native said he has “not engaged in a job search” and has “no idea" where he is going. Before figuring out what’s next, Lazarus said he wants a chance to catch his breath and find something that won’t be too disruptive to his family. Lazarus, 52, said he never anticipated working at the FCC. But the chance to work for his “friend Julius” and to do “something transformative” in a cutting-edge field lured him to take the job. He and Genachowski have been friends 15 years after meeting through a mutual friend, Lazarus said. Lazarus joined the agency the same day as Genachowski in June 2009.
benton.org/node/107156 | Politico
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
DEFENDING INTERNET FREEDOMS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Pfanner]
As a rising tide of digital dissent raises alarms in many capitals around the world, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development called on member countries to “promote and protect the global free flow of information” online. The OECD , a group of 34 developed countries, urged policy makers to support investment in digital networks and to take a light touch on regulation, saying this was essential for promoting economic growth via the Internet. “It’s really a milestone in terms of making a statement about openness,” said Karen Kornbluh, the U.S. ambassador to the OECD, “You can’t really get the innovation you need in terms of creating jobs unless we work together to protect the openness of the Internet.” The approval of the recommendations by the OECD council builds on a communiqué issued at a meeting in June, when the broad outlines of the policy were drawn up. The guidelines are not binding, but are intended to work through the power of persuasion . Also, the Internet recommendations will from now on be included among the criteria for assessing candidates for membership in the OECD, which is based in Paris. Among other things, the OECD recommendation urges policy makers to “limit Internet intermediary liability” — that is, to shield Internet companies from responsibility for the content that they carry. Under existing U.S. laws, Internet companies have a so-called safe harbor if they take down copyright violations when they are informed of them.
benton.org/node/107154 | New York Times
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RUSSIAN MEDIA DISMISSALS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Schwirtz]
A high-ranking editor and a top executive from one of Russia’s most respected news publications were dismissed on Tuesday after an apparent conflict over coverage that appeared to highlight widespread anger with the results of parliamentary elections this month. The dismissals followed the publication this week of an election issue of the newsmagazine Kommersant Vlast, which detailed accusations of large-scale electoral fraud by the ruling party, United Russia, and included a photograph of a ballot scrawled with profanity directed against Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. The firings came as tensions built between the Kremlin and a new constituency of reform-minded activists who held a protest against the election results in Moscow last weekend that drew tens of thousands of people.
benton.org/node/107153 | New York Times
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IBM PROBE ENDS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Foo Yun Chee]
EU antitrust regulators accepted concessions offered by International Business Machines to end an antitrust investigation and avert a possible fine, the European Commission said. IBM had in September proposed to provide certain spare parts and technical information to other companies which maintain its mainframe hardware and software, under fair and reasonable terms. The European Commission said it was satisfied that the concessions, which were revised after a market test and are valid for five years, were sufficient to address competition issues.
benton.org/node/107152 | Reuters
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GLOBAL CYBER WAR
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Michael Riley, John Walcott]
Google and Intel were logical targets for China-based hackers, given the solid-gold intellectual property data stored in their computers. An attack by cyber spies on iBahn, a provider of Internet services to hotels, takes some explaining. iBahn provides broadband business and entertainment access to guests of Marriott International Inc. and other hotel chains, including multinational companies that hold meetings on site. Breaking into iBahn’s networks, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the matter, may have let hackers see millions of confidential e-mails, even encrypted ones, as executives from Dubai to New York reported back on everything from new product development to merger negotiations. More worrisome, hackers might have used iBahn’s system as a launching pad into corporate networks that are connected to it, using traveling employees to create a backdoor to company secrets, said Nick Percoco, head of Trustwave Corp.’s SpiderLabs, a security firm.
benton.org/node/107115 | Bloomberg
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