BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2010
Lots going on today http://bit.ly/5LyZhx and next week http://bit.ly/53A207
GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
Promoting the Freedom to Connect
What China's Internet Landscape Might Look Like if Google Leaves
Obama Year One: An Assessment
One year in, resistance to open government memo lingers
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Supreme Court Rips Up Campaign Finance Laws
Lobbyists Get Potent Weapon in Campaign Finance Ruling
Brown's Massachusetts Win Could Mean Higher 2010 Ad Spending
NEWS FROM THE HILL
House Panel Approves Spectrum Bills
COMPETES Critical to Workforce, Must be Reauthorized, Business Community Tells House Committee
Rockefeller Investigation Causes E-Commerce Companies to Discontinue Misleading Marketing Tactic
JOURNALISM
FCC Launches Examination of the Future of Media
FCC's Baker Says Government Should Stay Out of Journalism
Sorting Out Journalism's New Funding Proposals
When the Media Is the Disaster: Covering Haiti
Social Media Aid the Haiti Relief Effort
Naming Leaders, a Nonprofit News Outlet Takes Shape in San Francisco
AGENDA
FCC Reform Headlines Agenda for February
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
FCC Network Neutrality Workshop Examines Importance of Transparency
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
How the FCC Will Promote Open Smart Grid Networks & Real Time Energy Data
Advocates for Greater Transparency and Disclosure of Broadband Terms of Service
Broadband's Next 100 Million Will Come From Emerging Economies
WIRELESS
How Apple and Nokia divvy up the world
CONTENT
At Hulu, 'free' may soon turn into 'fee'
Comcast to fight FCC ruling on sports telecasts
Rights holders to fund 75% of web crackdown
HEALTH
ONC contends with right balance in EHR standards
Blumenthal Rethinks National Data Exchange
Health Sites: Some Are More Equal Than Others
MORE ONLINE
New Staff at FCC International Bureau
Former FCC Chairman Martin Opposes Comcast-NBCU Deal
Google: The Mobile Web Could Be Better Than the PC Web
Air America Shuts Down
Recent Comments on:
Game developers warn FCC of "balkanized" Internet by Kodjo
GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
PROMOTING THE FREEDOM TO CONNECT
[SOURCE: Department of State, AUTHOR: Sec Hillary Clinton]
In a much-anticipated speech on Internet freedom Thursday morning, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that the spread of information networks is forming a new "nervous system for our planet" providing "more ways to spread more ideas to more people than at any moment in history." "On their own," she said, "new technologies do not take sides in the struggle for freedom and progress, but the United States does. We stand for a single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas. And we recognize that the world's information infrastructure will become what we and others make of it. Now, this challenge may be new, but our responsibility to help ensure the free exchange of ideas goes back to the birth of our republic. The words of the First Amendment to our Constitution are carved in 50 tons of Tennessee marble on the front of this building. And every generation of Americans has worked to protect the values etched in that stone." Noting other networks that facilitate the exchanges between individuals, Sec Clinton stressed the importance of the Internet: "a network that magnifies the power and potential of all others. And that's why we believe it's critical that its users are assured certain basic freedoms," including the freedom to connect the idea that governments should not prevent people from connecting to the Internet, to websites, or to each other.
benton.org/node/31516 | Department of State | The Hill | The Hill | ars technica | B&C | FCC Chairman Genachowski
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WHAT CHINA'S INTERNET LANDSCAPE LOOKS LIKE WITHOUT GOOGLE
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Normandy Madden]
China's Internet landscape -- search, digital marketing, mobile media, services like e-mail and even e-commerce -- could shift dramatically if Google does pull out of the market. The biggest changes will be in China's search market. Baidu, already the leading search engine site in the mainland, is Google's chief rival and will almost certainly soak up more traffic if Google.cn is no longer an option. Baidu may become too strong, with less incentive to innovate. And Chinese sites such as Tencent's QQ may also muscle in.
benton.org/node/31502 | AdAge
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OBAMA ASSESSMENT
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Allan Holmes]
According to The Public Manager, a government management journal published by Bureaucrat Inc., a nonprofit, good government organization, President Barack Obama gets high grades for his management reform of the executive branch having aready made some significant changes that are on the right track. Many of the management ideas and reforms the administration has instituted are similar to those the journal suggested in its winter 2007 and spring 2008 issues - as many as 20 recommendations. Those ideas were generated by a group of former government officials and private sector executives that Cisco brought together in the summer of 2007, months before the two political parties had nominated candidates for president. Many of the recommendations focused on technology to bring about needed management reforms and to improve government performance. More reliance on telework, relying on younger workers to infuse tradition-bound agencies with new technologies, greater transparency, and the use of Web 2.0 technologies and the changing role of the chief information officer were topics writers focused on.
benton.org/node/31499 | nextgov
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RESISTANCE TO OPEN GOVERNMENT
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
One year after President Barack Obama announced an initiative to open the government, agency leaders have demonstrated a strong track record of embracing emerging media to disclose information, but some mid-level managers have been reluctant to move outside the traditional chain of command. Agencies must publish at least three new downloadable sets of statistics that hold the government accountable, illuminate their work, share financial opportunities with the public or meet some other need conveyed by citizens. The Obama administration laid the groundwork for this task in May, when it launched a storage space for all manner of federal data sets called Data.gov. But critics have complained that much of the information on Data.gov is not in Web-friendly formats. Some government personnel and technology industry observers expect Friday's releases will be equally hard to use and might not be revealing.
benton.org/node/31498 | nextgov
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS
SUPREME COURT RIPS UP CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Deborah Tedford]
The decades-old system of rules that govern the financing of the nation's political campaigns was partially upended by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued just ahead of the pivotal 2010 midterm congressional election season. Thursday's landmark decision, approved by a 5-4 margin, could unleash a torrent of corporate and union cash into the political realm and transform how campaigns for president and Congress are fought in the coming years. Republicans and Democrats scrambled to untangle the full implications of the decision to overturn a 20-year-old Supreme Court ruling that barred corporations from spending freely to support or oppose candidates. "It's the most major Supreme Court decision in the area of campaign finance in decades — and a significant First Amendment decision," says Nathaniel Persily, a political scientist and law professor at Columbia University. "We don't know its practical impact yet, and I don't think it's the last word from the court," he said. The new ruling blurs the lines between corporate and individual contributions in political campaigns. It also strikes down part of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that banned unions and corporations from paying for political ads in the waning days of campaigns. Some important limits do remain intact: Corporations still cannot give money directly to federal candidates or national party committees. That ban dates to 1907. The justices also upheld some other restrictions, including disclosure requirements for nonprofit groups that advocate for political candidates. [much more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/31515 | National Public Radio | The Hill | White House | B&C | MediaPost | AdAge
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LOBBYISTS GET POTENT WEAPON IN CAMPAIGN FINANCING RULING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Kirkpatrick]
The Supreme Court has handed a new weapon to lobbyists. If you vote wrong, a lobbyist can now tell any elected official that my company, labor union or interest group will spend unlimited sums explicitly advertising against your re-election. "We have got a million we can spend advertising for you or against you — whichever one you want,' " a lobbyist can tell lawmakers, said Lawrence M. Noble, a lawyer at Skadden Arps in Washington and former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission. The decision seeks to let voters choose for themselves among a multitude of voices and ideas when they go to the polls, but it will also increase the power of organized interest groups at the expense of candidates and political parties. It is expected to unleash a torrent of attack advertisements from outside groups aiming to sway voters, without any candidate having to take the criticism for dirty campaigning. The biggest beneficiaries might be well-placed incumbents whose favor companies and interests groups are eager to court. It could also have a big impact on state and local governments, where a few million dollars can have more influence on elections.
benton.org/node/31522 | New York Times
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BROWN'S WIN COULD MEAN MORE ADS
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
Republican Scott Brown's win of a Massachusetts Senate seat could turn out to be a boon for media companies, increasing spending on political advertising this year from the $2.8 billion originally expected. Together with announced retirements by some key Democrats, the outcome over filling Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat in yesterday's special election in Massachusetts offers an unmistakable signal to both parties that they are going to have to weigh in early to start courting voters for this year's November midterm elections. There were signals from all sides that the election could increase the number of challengers running, which in turn would boost fundraising activities benton.org/node/31501 | AdAge
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NEWS FROM THE HILL
HOUSE PANEL APPROVES SPECTRUM BILLS
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
The Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet approved, by voice vote, H.R. 3125, the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act, and H.R. 3019, Spectrum Relocation Improvement Act of 2009. The bills were forwarded to full House Commerce Committee. The only amendment to either bill was a substitute amendment to H.R. 3125 authored by Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA). Among the changes in the amendment, which was adopted by voice vote, were provisions strengthening protections for spectrum users who fear disclosure of their usage information could harm national security. The bill previously would have only allowed Federal agencies to object to disclosure of their spectrum use. Boucher's amendment also added language that would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Federal Communications Commission to update and maintain the national spectrum inventory on a regular basis, including making note of spectrum auctions and any manner of frequency license transfers or reassignments. The Spectrum Relocation Improvement Act would hasten the process by which spectrum users clear bands when directed so new licensees could take possession of spectrum that had previously been won at auction. The bill seeks to address delays by Federal agencies in clearing bands of spectrum purchased by T-Mobile to build out the carrier's 3G network. The carrier has reported numerous delays by Federal agencies which cite national security concerns in refusing to release the spectrum.
benton.org/node/31514 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | Broadbandbreakfast.com | B&C | CTIA
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JOURNALISM
FCC LAUNCHES EXAMINATION OF THE FUTURE OF MEDIA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission launched an initiative on the future of media and the information needs of communities in the digital age. This initiative will examine the changes underway in the media marketplace, analyze the full range of future technologies and services that will provide communities with news and information in the digital age, and, as appropriate, make policy recommendations to the FCC, other government entities, and other parties. The Commission issued a Public Notice posing preliminary questions that the FCC will consider as it prepares a report on the future of media in the digital age later in 2010. Initial topics under consideration include: the state of TV, radio, newspaper, and Internet news and information services; the effectiveness and nature of public interest obligations in a digital era; the role of public media and private sector foundations; and many others. The initiative will not include any effort to control the editorial content of any type of media. The FCC also launched a preliminary Web site that will serve as an arena for public discussion on the future of media and any public policy recommendations. At launch, the Web site includes a forum for citizens and experts to weigh in on key questions, and an area for consumers to describe the health of, or problems with, media in their communities. The public can participate in the proceeding via the traditional comment filing system, as well as the Future of Media Web site. The effort is being led by former journalist and Internet entrepreneur Steven Waldman, who recently joined the FCC as senior advisor to Chairman Genachowski, and a working group of experts from throughout the FCC. Comments are due March 8, 2010.
benton.org/node/31513 | Federal Communications Commission | Future of Media | Public Notice | Commissioner Copps | B&C
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FCC'S BAKER SAYS GOVERNMENT SHOULD STAY OUT OF JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a speech to The Media Institute in Washington on the future of journalism, FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker conceded that like many other industries, journalism is at a crossroads. But she said she disagreed that government needed to step in to fund the business. "I oppose the proposition that at the first sign of a challenge the government should step in and fix it," she said. "Our nation has flourished for over 200 years with a strong independent press as a check on government abuse. This tradition should not be discarded so easily." She said tomorrow's journalist won't be a "a man with a fedora and a typewriter," but that the core attributes should remain" objective, fact-based reporting that uncovers the truth about power and powerful interests, private and public. Among those core values are independence from government, she suggests.
benton.org/node/31512 | Broadcasting&Cable | Commissioner Baker
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SORTING OUT JOURNALISM'S NEW FUNDING PROPOSALS
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Jensen]
All fall, they came fast and furious: Another conference or report on new funding models to reinvent and save journalism. Conferences at Harvard, Yale, Aspen, and reports from the Knight Foundation and Columbia University's Journalism School, just to name a few. The consensus? There wasn't one. There are lots of ideas, but no clear picture yet of what will work. The Knight Foundation has been at the forefront of encouraging new models through grants to organizations that use digital open-source technology; are targeted at local and geographic, not virtual, communities; and allow universal access. The approach is that "Everybody should try new models," said Jose Zamora, a program associate in the foundation's journalism program. "There's no other way to find what's next than to experiment." So far, he said, crowd-funding — or soliciting direct donations for specific stories — as practiced at Spot.us seems to be doing well, as is a site called Printcasting.com, where writers and advertisers submit material to the site for readers to print out custom magazines. A Knight-funded hyperlocal aggregation site called Everyblock.com was purchased by MSNBC, he noted, which "in a way is a huge success in itself, recognition that we're doing something that's valued by the media world."
benton.org/node/31511 | TVWeek
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WHEN THE MEDIA IS THE DISASTER
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Rebecca Solnit]
[Commentary] Soon after almost every disaster the crimes begin: ruthless, selfish, indifferent to human suffering, and generating far more suffering. The perpetrators go unpunished and live to commit further crimes against humanity. They care less for human life than for property. They act without regard for consequences. I'm talking, of course, about those members of the mass media whose misrepresentation of what goes on in disaster often abets and justifies a second wave of disaster. I'm talking about the treatment of sufferers as criminals, both on the ground and in the news, and the endorsement of a shift of resources from rescue to property patrol. They still have blood on their hands from Hurricane Katrina, and they are staining themselves anew in Haiti.
benton.org/node/31517 | Huffington Post, The
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AGENDA
FCC REFORM HEADLINES AGENDA FOR FEBRUARY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the following items will be on the tentative agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 11, 2010: 1) Ex Parte Reform: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to improve the transparency and effectiveness of the FCC's decision-making process by reforming the ex parte rules. 2) Procedural Reform: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to enhance the efficiency, openness, and transparency of the Commission's proceedings by improving and modernizing certain organizational and procedural rules. 3) E-Rate: An Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to enable schools that receive funding from the E-Rate program to allow members of the general public to use the schools' Internet access during non-operating hours at no additional cost to the Universal Service Fund. This order and notice do not permit or require any changes to E-Rate applications due on February 11, 2010. 4) National Broadband Plan Status Report: Commission staff will report on the status of the National Broadband Plan, providing a framework for the national purposes portion of the Plan.
benton.org/node/31510 | Federal Communications Commission
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
FCC NET NEUTRALITY WORKSHOP
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Chris Naoum]
The Federal Communications Commission in a Tuesday workshop explored consumer choice, user control of their online experience and the importance of transparency. The agency's fourth Open Internet Workshop on Consumers, Transparency and the Open Internet focused on the sixth principle of network neutrality transparency. That principle states: "subject to reasonable network management, a provider of broadband Internet access service must disclose such information concerning network management and other practices as is reasonably required for users and content, application, and service providers to enjoy the protections specified in this part." In opening remarks, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the sixth principle was most important because it provides consumers with the most information possible to make the best decisions and it also reduces government involvement in dispute by creating direct access to more publicly available information.
benton.org/node/31509 | BroadbandBreakfast.com | Chairman Genachowski
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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
FCC AND THE SMART GRID
[SOURCE: earth2tech, AUTHOR: Katie Fehrenbacher]
[Commentary] At the Cleantech Investor Summit, Federal Communications Commission Energy and Environment Director Nick Sinai said that the FCC will make specific recommendations for how to bring broadband to the smart grid through the National Broadband Plan due to the U.S. Congress on March 17. Those recommendations will include how to promote open standards and commercial networks, how to use policies to encourage utilities to provide their customers with real-time open access to energy data, and potential ways to use federal spectrum bands for utilities' smart grid deployments. Sounds like the sector of the smart grid industry with roots in the IT world (Cisco, IBM, Silver Spring Networks) just got a close ally. All of the potential recommendations Sinai discussed could help promote innovation that will enable companies and entrepreneurs to build tools and products that interconnect with, and work on top of, smart grid infrastructure. Sinai's business-friendly presentation wasn't a surprise, given his background in the investing world, most recently as a principal at Tenaya Capital (Lehman Brothers Venture Partners) and at Polaris Ventures for three years before that. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has taken a similar pro-innovation approach throughout the FCC. Sinai said that the FCC "will look at how to remove impediments and disincentives to using commercial networks." Specifically he said the FCC is "exploring ways to encourage private networks built by utilities to operate in the same band, in order to drive down costs, and to drive open, non-proprietary standards." One of the ways to do that could be working with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to look at available federal spectrum bands, said Sinai.
benton.org/node/31508 | earth2tech
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ADVOCATES FOR GREATER BROADBAND TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: Media Access Project, AUTHOR: Matthew Wood]
New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative (OTI) and the Media Access Project (MAP) met with the FCC's Broadband team to discuss the need for greater transparency in and disclosure of broadband Internet access service providers' terms of service, network management practices, and network performance measurements. They said Commission oversight should include, at minimum, creating standardized performance metrics and presentation formats that will allow end-users to compare readily and easily the quality of service offerings from competing Internet access providers. The groups say the Commission also should adopt rules mandating disclosure of both basic and detailed broadband service measurements and other information to the public, including to current subscribers who may wish to consider changing providers; potential subscribers that desire information on the speed, reliability, robustness, and price of broadband service in their immediate geographic area; and other broadband users such as application, service, and content developers. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/31507 | Media Access Project
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BROADBAND'S NEXT 100 MILLION
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
The world will reach 500 million fixed-line broadband subscribers sometime this year thanks to growth in developing countries, according to research firm Informa. What's more, through 2014 the next 100 million broadband subscribers will come from those countries as well. When it comes to wired broadband additions, China, Russia and Mexico are the new stars. The Informa report predicts that most of the wired broadband growth with come from the seven countries seeing the most growth in subscribers: China, Russia, Mexico, India, Brazil, Turkey and Argentina.
benton.org/node/31506 | GigaOm
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WIRELESS
APPLE VS NOKIA
[SOURCE: Fortune, AUTHOR: Philip Elmer-DeWitt]
Forget North and South. East and West. First World, Second World and Third. According to AdMob, the mobile advertising company acquired late last year by Google, the world is divided — at least in terms of smartphone usage — into two parts: Apple's and Nokia's. Apple's iPhone OS dominates the North American, Australian and Western European markets. Nokia's Symbian is the most popular operating system in Africa and Asia, and continues to have a significant market share in Eastern Europe and Latin America. However the numbers, as AdMob measures them, are trending in Apple's favor. Apple's share of requests in the AdMob network increased from 9% in Q4 2008 to 36% in Q4 2009 while Nokia's share declined from 33% in Q4 2008 to 18% in Q4 2009.
benton.org/node/31497 | Fortune
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CONTENT
AT HULU, FREE MAY SOON TURN INTO FEE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Dawn Chmielewski, Alex Pham]
Hulu soared to popularity by offering free online viewing of popular TV shows. Now that free ride may soon end. The Internet video site is weighing plans to charge users to watch episodes of "30 Rock," "Modern Family" and "House." The move would mark a sharp change of course for the venture, which was launched nearly two years ago by a consortium of studios to distribute without charge TV shows and movies over the Internet. The site has spent months studying how to strike a balance between what people expect to watch free online and what they would be willing to pay for.
benton.org/node/31521 | Los Angeles Times
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COMCAST TO FIGHT FCC RULING ON SPORTS TELECASTS
[SOURCE: Philadelphia Inquirer, AUTHOR: Bob Fernandez]
Comcast Corp. isn't surrendering its regional sports network to DirecTV and Dish Network without a fight.
A day after the Federal Communications Commission closed the "terrestrial loophole" that keeps Comcast SportsNet off satellite TV, company executive David L. Cohen said Comcast would challenge the FCC action in an administrative process at the federal agency. DirecTV and Dish Network still must show that Comcast's exclusive right to the Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers through Comcast SportsNet has hurt them competitively, which Cohen says is not a slam dunk. Comcast also will tie the issue to DirecTV's Sunday Ticket package of out-of-market football games, Cohen said on the radio. Cohen said the federal agency should look at DirecTV's deal with the National Football League, which he called "the most valuable exclusive in sports today." DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said the comparison was misleading because "out-of-market games are not the same as home-team games," which he said were critical for local subscribers.
benton.org/node/31520 | Philadelphia Inquirer
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RIGHTS HOLDERS TO FUND 75% OF WEB CRACKDOWN
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Tim Bradshaw]
Record labels and film studios will have to bear most of the cost of tackling online piracy, the UK government said on Thursday. Stephen Timms, Treasury minister, told media executives gathered at the Oxford Media Convention that rights holders should pay 75 per cent of charges arising from the government's plans to clamp down on Internet file-sharing, as they would be the "primary beneficiaries" of the scheme, which ministers estimate will cost £500m over 10 years. Internet service providers will pay the remaining 25 per cent. Under the Digital Economy Bill being debated in the House of Lords, broadband subscribers spotted by rights holders swapping songs or films online without the consent of copyright owners will be sent letters by their ISPs. Persistent offenders could face temporary suspension of their Internet access. The music industry had argued for costs to be split evenly between ISPs and rights holders. The BPI, which represents record labels, said 75 per cent was not a "fair or proportionate allocation" for rights holders.
benton.org/node/31518 | Financial Times
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HEALTH
ONC CONTENDS WITH RIGHT BALANCE IN EHR STANDARDS
[SOURCE: GovernemntHealthIT, AUTHOR: Mary Mosquera]
Federal health information technology policymakers said yesterday they crafted a set of more flexible standards for electronic health records systems to make it easier for providers to qualify for meaningful use when the first phase of the health IT incentive program starts next year. After 2011, as providers face more challenging requirements for meaningful use of EHRs they purchase under the plan, these standards could tighten, members of the Health IT Standards Committee said in their Jan. 21 meeting. Policymakers discussed setting a path for introducing EHR technical standards over the course of the 2011-2016 incentive plan. The standards are part of the Interim Final Rule (IFR) that lays out requirements for certified EHRs physicians and hospitals must use to qualify for health IT incentives. In tuning the standards, ONC tried to strike a balance between using regulation and market forces, officials said, with enough specificity to allow for innovation on one hand and the stiff arm of rulemaking on the other.
benton.org/node/31491 | GovernemntHealthIT
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BLUMENTHAL RETHINKS NATIONAL DATA EXCHANGE
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Marianne Kolbasuk McGee]
A Q&A with National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal. The US government for six years has been developing the Nationwide Health Information Network, a network of regional health information networks to enable the secure sharing of patient data. Now NHIN is being re-envisioned. Instead of aiming to have all healthcare providers on one granddaddy of a national network, the new goal is to get more providers sharing data, even if it's just with practitioners in their immediate vicinity.
benton.org/node/31496 | InformationWeek
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HEALTH SITES
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Susannah Fox]
Eric Schmidt wants to solve health care's "platform database problem" and one critic has countered that "computers cannot practice medicine." One of Google's initiatives is to guide consumers to safe, trusted health websites. Is that such a bad thing? Google's search results can make or break a site or a business model, which is where dot-com blogs come in, but they also have the potential to make or break a consumer's access to health information, which is where e-patients.net comes in.
benton.org/node/31495 | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
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