BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013
Today: Regulation and the IP Transition: Laying a Predicate for Growth http://benton.org/node/143929
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Twisted Pair
Free Press: AT&T Plan Would End All Oversight of Communications Networks - press release
Five Fundamentals, Values For A New Phone Network - press release
TIA Files Comments with FCC in Support of AT&T & NTCA Petitions to Facilitate TDM-to-IDP Transition - press release
ACA questions accuracy of FCC's National Broadband Map
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Justice Department asks FCC to put Sprint-Softbank on hold
Verizon pushes for spectrum ownership caps in Sprint's purchase of Clearwire
CONTENT
A martyr in the fight for free online access to research [links to web]
Report Gauges Companies’ Approach to Advertising on Social Media [links to web]
Who Owns, Controls Social Media Activity? - analysis [links to web]
PRIVACY
Smartphone Users' Privacy Betrayed By Their Gadget Sensors, Says Study [links to web]
Consumers now trust Microsoft more than Apple with their privacy [links to web]
EDUCATION
US kids need computer-science education - op-ed [links to web]
HEALTH
FCC Announces Details For January 31, 2013 Telemedicine Demonstration - press release [links to web]
2-1-1 to Eliminate Health Disparities - press release [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
CEOs Open to Cybersecurity Rules
Companies eye cybersecurity information
US government warns of hack threat to network gear [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIOS
Testing by NTIA’s ITS Paves the Way for First Responder Broadband Interoperability - press release [links to web]
Chicago Open311 Empowers Texters [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
State Promotes Open Access to Educational Materials in Arabic [links to web]
Additional Steps Needed to Address Overlap in International Broadcasting - research [links to web]
ICE Gives Thousands of Employees iPhones for Work and Play [links to web]
Unions, Hollywood open to bankrolling Obama’s advocacy arm [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
Apple’s $1 Billion Verdict Against Samsung Left Intact [links to web]
Google's YouTube in Talks to Let Video Creators Charge Viewers [links to web]
Even Facebook Must Change [links to web]
Amazon's Growing Problem [links to web]
Bezos: With e-book sales up 70% in 2012, Amazon has hit “transition” it expected [links to web]
iPhone Users Rack Up the Highest Carrier Bills [links to web]
Video ads growing at fastest rate on Web as TV-viewing habits change [links to web]
Netflix's Hastings: Online steering TV's future [links to web]
Former Top Genachowski Aide Lazarus Named Tribune General Counsel [links to web]
Silicon Valley’s most important document ever [links to web]
Netflix Raises More Money for Originals Like “House of Cards” [links to web]
Sprint’s LTE rollout goes urban with launches in Boston, Austin [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
China anger at EU telecoms demands
A New Target for Google Maps: The Streets of North Korea [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Gore defends Current sale to Al Jazeera [links to web]
Worldwide Telecommunications Industry Revenue to Reach $2.2 Trillion in 2013, says Insight Research - press release [links to web]
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
TWISTED PAIR
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Alex Byers]
Public comments on petitions by AT&T and the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association seeking to move the nation from Alexander Graham Bell’s old copper-wire telephone system to one based on the Internet poured into the Federal Communications Commission. As expected, they run the gamut from Free Press’s concern that AT&T is trying to short-circuit consumer protections, to AT&T’s own contention that it is simply seeking a smooth glide path for a change that’s already happening. “AT&T doesn’t want a discussion about a reasonable regulatory framework,” Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner. AT&T federal regulatory senior vice president Bob Quinn pushed back, writing in a blog post that the company just wants the FCC to conduct trials to see where the problems will be as the nation goes into a “final transition” away from the plain old telephone service. While Turner and Quinn are unlikely to agree on the solution, they both agree that it is time to decide just what the transition to an Internet-protocol based system means for bedrock principles like interconnection, universal service, consumer rights and emergency service. From Quinn’s perspective, the whole issue boils down to a pair of questions. “1) does the FCC have the authority to remove the legal and regulatory impediments to retire legacy technology? And 2) doesn’t it make sense to do a limited geographic trial of this transition to put in place the framework that allows us to complete this transition in the least disruptive way possible?” AT&T, needless to say, votes yea on both counts.
benton.org/node/144274 | Politico | Broadcasting&Cable
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FREE PRESS WARNS ABOUT AT&T PLAN
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Press release]
Free Press filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission concerning AT&T's request for the FCC to facilitate the transition to all-IP networks. If granted under the FCC's current broadband classification framework, AT&T’s request would result in the complete removal of all regulatory oversight of our nation's critical telecommunications infrastructure. Free Press urged the FCC to first address the lingering questions about FCC authority over broadband transmission networks. This deliberation must take place before the agency even considers taking any action that would lead to the removal of all the consumer protections and competitive safeguards Congress enacted for our nation's communications markets.
benton.org/node/144273 | Free Press | read the filing
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FIVE FUNDAMENTALS FOR A NEW PHONE NETWORK
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] AT&T’s decision to upgrade its network from tradition phone technology (called “TDM”) to an all Internet protocol (IP) system has enormous implications for every aspect of our voice communication system in the country. To provide the right framework for the transition, Public Knowledge submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) our proposed “Five Fundamentals” Framework: Service to All Americans, Interconnection and Competition, Consumer Protection, Network Reliability, and Public Safety. Using this Five Fundamentals Framework, the FCC (and eventually Congress) can both facilitate the upgrade to an all IP network while simultaneously ensuring that we do not compromise on any of the fundamental principles that have made our phone system the envy of the world. This isn’t an engineering problem – it’s a policy choice. Now is the time to make the policy choices that will form the foundation of the all-IP network for the 21st Century, just as our decisions to adopt these five fundamental principles shaped the home network of the 20th Century. We must not keep old rules that no longer serve us simply because they are comforting and familiar, but we must not be so dazzled by the promise of new technology that we forget the foundational principles on which these networks must be built. The technology changes, but the social needs and goals remain the same.
benton.org/node/144272 | Public Knowledge | PK press release | read PK’s filing
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TIA SUPPORTS AT&T AND NTCA PETITIONS
[SOURCE: Telecommunications Industry Association, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leading association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of AT&T and the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association's (NTCA) petitions to facilitate the successful transition of Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) technologies to an Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure. In its comments, TIA said: "The Commission should be applauded for the foresight to ensure that the inevitable transition of legacy transmission platforms and technologies to Internet Protocol ("IP") networks occurs in an organized and orderly fashion. Facilitating this transition is one of the most significant steps the Commission can take to affirmatively help promote broadband deployment and infrastructure investment while serving the public interest." Regarding AT&T's trial proposal, TIA said: "AT&T's common sense proposal of discrete TDM-to-IP trials is a sensible approach that will encourage all parties to work collaboratively to find solutions."
benton.org/node/144271 | Telecommunications Industry Association
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NATIONAL BROADBAND MAP
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Steve Donohue]
Questioning the accuracy of the National Broadband Map, the American Cable Association told the Federal Communications Commission it shouldn't allow CenturyLink, USTelecom and other providers to use federal subsidies to build broadband networks in areas that are already served by small cable operators. ACA said several of its members, including Cable One, Armstrong Utilities, Massillon Cable TV and Nittany Media, have submitted data that shows cable broadband speeds of up to 20 Mbps are available in areas that the broadband map says are unserved.
benton.org/node/144259 | Fierce
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
JUSTICE ASKS FOR SPRINT-SOFTBANK HOLD
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
The Department of Justice apparently has security concerns about Japanese carrier Softbank’s $20.1 billion bid to take over Sprint, and is asking the Federal Communications Commission for more time to look into the deal. In a short letter sent to the FCC, Jennifer Rockoff, attorney advisor for the DOJ’s National Security Division, asked the FCC to defer any action on the deal. Though the DOJ didn’t go into detail, its review most likely centers on foreign ownership. Softbank would take a 70 percent stake in the country’s third largest mobile carrier, which would trigger automatically trigger a review from federal agencies. It’s important to note that the Justice Department’s antitrust division, which would review from a competitive standpoint, wasn’t even named in the letter.
benton.org/node/144270 | GigaOm | read the letter | Washington Post | WSJ
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VERIZON PUSHES SPECTRUM CAPS IN REVIEW
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
Verizon Wireless pushed the Federal Communications Commission to apply its spectrum screen to Clearwire's trove of 2.5 GHz spectrum while the agency reviews Sprint Nextel's proposed purchase of Clearwire. If the FCC does apply the screen to the deal, the agency could limit how much spectrum Sprint could ultimately acquire through its purchase of Clearwire. In a filing with the FCC, Verizon argued the FCC should evaluate Clearwire's spectrum in the same way as spectrum in other bands. Sprint has argued that Clearwire's spectrum is above 2 GHz and so the FCC's spectrum screen--which is aimed at capping the amount of spectrum a single carrier can devote to mobile broadband--should not be applied to its purchase of Clearwire. But Verizon pointed out Clearwire is already using the spectrum, dubbed BRS/EBS, for mobile broadband.
benton.org/node/144269 | Fierce
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CYBERSECURITY
CEOs OPEN TO CYBERSECURITY RULES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Siobhan Gorman]
Fortune 500 companies in a range of industries back a system of voluntary cybersecurity standards, according to a Senate survey by a strong backer of a new legislative push to protect computer networks. The findings suggest there might be a disagreement between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and many of the nearly 300 companies that responded to questions from the Senate Commerce Committee chairman. The Chamber worked aggressively last year to defeat a bill to create a voluntary-standards regime and faulted the new survey. Companies from sectors including financial services, communications, transportation and energy voiced support for voluntary standards, coordinated between the U.S. and industry. These responses come as a growing number of financial-services companies have come under assault from what Pentagon officials say are Iranian-backed hackers, prompting banks to press the federal government for action to stop the assaults. The companies responded to a letter from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who in September wrote to all Fortune 500 chief executives to ask about their handling of cybersecurity and their positions on policy proposals such as voluntary standards.
benton.org/node/144316 | Wall Street Journal
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CYBERSECURITY INFORMATION
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Paul Taylor]
Company audit committee members are concerned about the quality of information that they receive on cybersecurity and believe risk management programs need to become more “dynamic”, according to a KPMG survey. The survey, based on the results of a survey of some 1,800 audit committee members in 21 countries undertaken by KPMG’s Audit Committee Institute, asked whether they were satisfied with the quality of information they receive from their company on a range of issues. Cybersecurity came out on the bottom of the pile and respondents noted that a broader range of skills on audit committees, including IT, would be welcomed. Only 26 per cent of respondents said they were fully satisfied with information on cybersecurity. In the UK, just one in five respondents said they were satisfied, compared to satisfaction levels of more than 70 per cent on legal and regulatory compliance issues. The results echo those of other studies that have suggested many companies and their boards remain complacent about cybersecurity or lack detailed understanding of the threats they face. It could also help fuel demands that cybersecurity risk assessment should be part of the formal audit procedure or addressed specifically in company annual reports.
benton.org/node/144315 | Financial Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU’S TELECOM DEMANDS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Joshua Chaffin]
Europe’s top trade official has demanded a bigger share of the Chinese market in telecoms network equipment in an increasingly heated dispute that risks escalating into a full-blown trade war. Chinese diplomats privately complained about the EU’s demands this week with at least one EU capital, expressing frustration at what they believed were unreasonable – and possibly illegal - demands, officials and diplomats said. They claimed that Karel De Gucht, the trade commissioner, requested that EU suppliers be given a 30 per cent share of China’s telecoms market in return for dropping a highly contentious EU investigation into alleged subsidies to Chinese companies. Gucht also insisted that the Chinese companies, Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, raise the price of their exports by 29 per cent as part of the agreement, these people said. The row is expected to come to a head on Feb 1 when top Chinese meet De Gucht in Brussels.
benton.org/node/144304 | Financial Times
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