BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2011
See where are stories are coming from http://benton.org/headlines/map
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
21st-Century Communications for our First Responders - press release
App Flap: Free Press Takes Verizon Criticism to Hill
Key House lawmaker asks FCC to kill LightSquared network [links to web]
T-Mobile counters Verizon's LTE expansion with more dual-carrier networks
Examining Intel's conception of the radio access network [links to web]
The carrier that consumers trust most, wins
Cox Communications Considers Selling 3G Network [links to web]
Facebook Seeks Bigger Role in Software for Mobile Apps
AT&T/T-MOBILE
AT&T CEO says timeline for T-Mobile USA acquisition intact
Remember: We Love This Merger
AT&T: Please Give Us Money So We Can Support Your Merger With T-Mobile - op-ed
CEA Calls On FCC To Wrap Up AT&T-T-Mobile Review This Year
INTERNET/BROADBAND
The Tail Wagging the Dog
Comcast shows off 1 Gbps broadband [links to web]
TELECOM
The Insanity That Is The Universal Service Fund - editorial
FCC Fines Companies for Cramming - press release [links to web]
MagicJack not completing calls to rural areas, letter to FCC contends [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Oracle seeks billions in Google lawsuit
Nokia Devices Infringe IPCom Phone Patent, UK Judge Rules
Nortel Delays Auction to June 27 [links to web]
Level 3 argues to FCC that Global Crossing deal will create a stronger competitor
CONTENT
Felony Streaming Bill Passes out of Judiciary [links to web]
Cable operators to Netflix: Bring it on [links to web]
One Out of Every Six Minutes Online Is Spent Social Networking [links to web]
NPR Pushes Digital Initiative [links to web]
PRIVACY
Untangling The Incredibly Complicated, Puzzling World Of Online Privacy
Connecticut AG challenges Facebook over photo tagging feature that uses facial recognition [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
NSA allies with Internet carriers to thwart cyber attacks against defense firms
Government in cyber fight but can't keep up
Experts say security concerns about cloud computing are overstated [links to web]
Meeting the cybersecurity challenge - research [links to web]
Hacker attacks show vulnerability of cloud computing [links to web]
Firms Adjust to Hacks [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
House Panel Bumps up E-Gov Fund [links to web]
ADVERTISING
TV Spots Resist Flow of Dollars to the Web
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Google denies special deal for President Barack Obama
Both parties back Facebook's request for waiver on campaign ads
POLICYMAKERS
Fed CIO Kundra Leaving for Harvard - press release
MORE ONLINE
FCC to Crackdown on Dark Stations [links to web]
Apple iOS 5 Dominates on Twitter - research [links to web]
Sen Warner introduces transparency bill [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
WHITE HOUSE SUMMIT
[SOURCE: The White House]
With the ongoing rollout of the latest line of commercial wireless standards, there is an opportunity to develop and deploy a nationwide and interoperable wireless broadband network for our first responders. With such a network in place, public safety will be able to welcome commercial developers of smartphones, tablets, and apps to connect to and compete within a unified public safety market. And once developed appropriately, first responders will both be able to benefit from advanced wireless broadband technologies and, eventually, replace their high-cost, legacy communications infrastructure and devices. To facilitate the development and deployment of a nationwide high speed wireless network for public safety, the President’s Wireless Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative will enable public safety agencies to transition away from the traditional, fragmented world of public safety communications to a next generation system. This initiative will provide first responders with a network that offers far greater levels of interoperability and effectiveness than they possess today, ultimately saving billions of dollars by enabling public safety to benefit from the competition and innovation that major commercial enterprises already enjoy.
The benefits include:
A fully interoperable nationwide network:The nationwide network for public safety would provide interoperability for all first responders, preventing tragic failures of communication and coordination, reducing risks for first responders and the public.
Saving resources through a coordinated system for public safety communications: Today’s communication systems are not only outdated compared with more modern networks and devices, but they are split across thousands of Federal, State, and local jurisdictions that each pay maintenance and upkeep. The Department of Homeland Security alone spends around $1 billion on public safety communications and interoperability. A nationwide network will align today’s fragmented system, saving money while bringing capabilities into the 21st Century.
Unlocking the potential of commercial devices and infrastructure for public safety :Traditional public safety systems cost up to 10 times more than the same commercial device. A nationwide network will allow commercial developers of smartphones, tablets, and mobile networks and apps to connect a broad, unified market for public safety communications. According to the Congressional Research Service, participation by commercial carriers could drive down the cost of public safety radios from $4,000-$6,000 per unit, the price today, to $500 (or the cost of a smart phone). A 2010 FCC analysis found that leveraging available commercial systems could save considerably on capital expenditures compared with the existing, fragmented public safety communications infrastructure.
Providing better performance and cost effectiveness through innovation: Participation in a broader market, based on open standards, will also allow public safety to pick and choose the best technology from many more competing firms. This will spur competition and innovation to produce applications that improve safety and situational awareness, identification, and emergency health care.
Enhancing the public safety mission: Developing and deploying a hardened, reliable public safety broadband network will put new and important tools in the hands of first responders. For example, first responders could use smartphones or other mobile devices to capture license plate information, quickly verify fingerprints and identity, link to multiple existing databases instantly, or transmit video and data from the scenes of accidents or emergencies.
benton.org/node/78097 | White House, The | read WH report | Attorney General Holder | B&C | FCC Chairman Genachowski | Chairman Rockefeller
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APP FLAP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In letters to the leadership of the House and Senate Commerce Committees, Free Press argues that reports that Verizon Wireless and other carriers got Google to restrict access to free tethering applications in the Android Market -- those apps turn smart phones into their own free, mobile wi-fi hotspots -- means that Verizon is violating the open access requirement on its spectrum. Verizon says it was Google, not Verizon, that removed the apps. "Verizon does not block applications," the company said in a statement. "Google manages its own applications store, evaluated the applications in question, determined that they were in violation of it terms of service and removed them." Verizon may not have removed them, but they wanted them removed. A source familiar with the application take-down says that Verizon pointed Google to those apps as a violation.
benton.org/node/78163 | Broadcasting&Cable
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T-MOBILE EXPANSION
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
A day after Verizon Wireless expanded its long-term evolution (LTE) footprint to 19 new markets, T-Mobile has countered by bringing its dual-carrier high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+) upgrade to another 41 cities. That brings T-Mobile’s total footprint for the lightning fast 42 Mb/s to 97 markets compared to Verizon’s 74. Though all of the operators offer so-called 4G services, Verizon and T-Mobile’s networks stand out, not just because of the cutting edge technologies used but the enormous bandwidth they've devoted to those networks. Both are using 20 MHz of spectrum in their mobile broadband carriers compared to the 10 MHz used by Sprint for WiMAX and AT&T for HSPA+, allowing them to deliver speeds well in excess of 10 Mb/s consistently. Verizon’s next-generation LTE technology is technically the faster, though it conservatively markets its average speeds as between 5 Mb/s to 12 Mb/s. Meanwhile, T-Mobile today reported that it is recording average speeds just under 10 Mb/s and peak speeds of 27 Mb/s to the Rocket 3.0 laptop stick, its sole dual-carrier device. Neither T-Mobile nor Verizon are reporting total pops covered for their networks so it’s hard to gauge which has the larger footprint. But in general Verizon has been much more aggressive in launching in the biggest metro markets, while T-Mobile has launched in a more than a dozen major metros and focused most its expansion in mid-sized and small markets. Both carriers’ year-end coverage projections reflect though those trends. Verizon is targeting 185 million pops while T-Mobile is targeting 150 million.
benton.org/node/78157 | Connected Planet
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DO YOU TRUST YOUR WIRELESS CARRIER?
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Michelle Maisto]
Consumers are a needy bunch who want to feel cared for, and looked after, and who trust their wireless carriers even less than their insurance companies and banks. Such are the findings of a new study commissioned by Pitney Bowes Business Insight that questioned 1,000 U.S. and 1,000 UK residents. Trust, the study found, is critical to any enduring relationship, and consumers' commitments to their mobile carriers are no exception. Which means the industry needs more than a little work. Less than half of those surveyed said they felt satisfied with the "treatment, relationship and services" they receive from their mobile carrier. Only 40 percent said they trust their mobile provider's communications, a mere 24 percent said they believe their carrier is doing a good job of overseeing customer care and only 31 percent believed that, "if they shared their problems with a service provider"(presumably a problem related to their device or wireless service) "they would receive a caring response." A spurned mobile customer, it turns out, is slow to let go of their heartbreak.
benton.org/node/78143 | Connected Planet
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FACEBOOK AND MOBILE SOFTWARE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Geoffrey Fowler, Yukari Iwatani Kane]
Facebook is angling to play a bigger role in shaping the way software gets developed for mobile devices. The social network, which has turned its popular website into a platform for developing games and other add-on programs, so far hasn't wielded the same influence on mobile gadgets like Apple's hit iPhone and iPad. But there are signs the company is trying to change that situation. Facebook executives, among other things, are encouraging developers who write Facebook apps to do so for mobile devices using a relatively new technology standard called HTML5. The company has also been using HTML5 to enhance its own mobile offerings, which are used by more than 250 million people to tap into its services. Some app developers and analysts believe Facebook's underlying motivation is to position itself as an alternative development platform for programmers that now tailor mobile apps specifically for Apple's iOS operating system or Google's Android. Technology blog TechCrunch reported that Facebook is working on a mobile platform dubbed "Project Titan" that was designed to bypass Apple by using the HTML5 technology that works with the iPhone and iPad's mobile browser, Safari.
benton.org/node/78179 | Wall Street Journal
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AT&T/T-MOBILE
AT&T CONCEDES THERE WILL BE CONCESSIONS
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Jon Kamp, Aparajita Saha-Bubn]
AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said he couldn't remember any wireless deal over the last five years where regulators didn't require "some form of divestiture" to deal with a market-concentration issue. "I anticipate we'll have some of that here, but I don't have any idea what that will look like," Stephenson said, reiterating prior remarks on the subject. AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile has drawn both vocal support and opposition from different quarters, but Stephenson said none of the opposition has been surprising, and that deal timing is on track. "The timeline we still think it's going to be a year, roughly, to get the transaction," meaning one year from the March announcement. Asked about potential staff cuts once AT&T absorbs T-Mobile, Stephenson said there would be a number of "overlap" functions between the two companies, such as finance and marketing. "We have very elegant ways of dealing with this," he said.
benton.org/node/78095 | Dow Jones | Reuters
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REMEMBER, WE LOVE THIS MERGER
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Reporters on a conference call hosted by the AT&T-backed Internet Innovation Alliance got an earful about how rural America could benefit from more access to high-speed Internet. But representatives from some of the featured groups needed a little help remembering to promote AT&T's proposed merger with T-Mobile as the best way to provide more broadband.
Leaders from diverse groups like the Alabama Rural Health Association and the Center for Business, Education and Arts in Kanab, Utah, described at length how the Internet can improve life in the backwoods of America. But at the end of at least two speeches, IIA's honorary chair, former Rep Rick Boucher had to jump in and remind the speakers to put in a plug for the controversial merger.
benton.org/node/78132 | National Journal | Connected Planet
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AT&T PAYS MERGER SUPPORTERS
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Eddie Geller]
[Commentary] Lately, there's been a great deal of press about certain civic-minded organizations taking money from AT&T and then coming out and supporting the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Groups like the NAACP and the National Education Association are being called out for possible conflicts of interest. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), in particular, is also taking heat for this and for submitting and then retracting a letter opposing network neutrality. As someone who founded an advocacy organization that's fighting for Net Neutrality, I am somewhat incensed. I'd like to think that these great organizations are taking a stance on principle and not being swayed by their donors. On the other hand, my organization, the Open Source Democracy Foundation (OSDF), is always in need of more contributions. So, now seems like the perfect time to shamelessly do some fundraising.
benton.org/node/78141 | Huffington Post, The
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CEA PRESSES FOR QUICK DECISION ON MERGER
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
The Consumer Electronics Association is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to wrap up its deliberations of AT&T's proposed merger with T-Mobile USA before the end of the year, saying that dragging it out longer would create too much uncertainty for businesses that rely on the wireless services provided by the two firms. CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro said his group is not taking a position on whether the mergers should be approved, noting that both AT&T and T-Mobile are CEA members. "Rather, we urge the commission to decide the merger's fate in 2011," he wrote in a letter to the FCC. "Delay beyond this calendar year is unreasonable and puts the companies, their competitors and consumers in limbo and serves no countervailing interest."
benton.org/node/78173 | National Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
THE TAIL WAGGING THE DOG
[SOURCE: Google, AUTHOR: ]
Google filed a report at the Federal Communications Commission that compares the US's telephone network (PSTN) to Internet traffic from 1997 to 2015. In 1997, the PSTN handled 54,000 terabytes (TB) per month while US Internet traffic was just 3,300 TB. Just three years later, the gap had narrowed: 66,000 TB/month for telephone vs 28,000 TB/month for Internet. By 2005, the Internet was handling 669,000 TB/month while phone traffic had fallen back to 48,000 TB/month. Five years later, phone network traffic had again fallen back -- to 36,000 TB/month while consumer IP traffic for North America had exploded to 5,723,000 TB/month. By 2015, Google predicts, telephone traffic will be around 26,000 TB/month while North American Internet traffic will be 19,415,000 TB/month.
benton.org/node/78156 | Google
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TELECOM
USF REFORM
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] The Universal Service Fund holds so much promise to be a vehicle for good for rural America. But we can't ignore the reality that to date it has not been realizing its full potential. Those of us who believe in rural America and the promise of broadband and fiber need to make our voices heard. We must let our policymakers know that the status quo isn't good enough. That the evidence speaks for itself that USF has been underwhelming at best and a failure on many fronts. Now as we begin to debate what to do with USF next, we need to shift attention to how do we build up our nation's 21st century communications infrastructure and away from how do we continue subsidizing the 20th century. If we can't do that, then USF will continue its insanity, our tax dollars will continue to be squandered, and rural America will continue to suffer.
benton.org/node/78080 | App-Rising.com
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OWNERSHIP
ORACLE SUIT
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Brandon Bailey]
Oracle has put a multibillion-dollar price tag on its claim that Google built the popular Android software by using some of Oracle's Java code without permission, according to documents filed in San Jose federal court. Google is disputing Oracle's claims for patent and copyright infringement, but recent court filings indicate Oracle is seeking a share of Google's extensive advertising revenue in damages for the alleged violations. The case is being watched closely in the tech world because it could have broad implications for the commercial software and mobile computing industries. Oracle acquired rights to the widely used Java programming language when it bought Sun Microsystems last year. Google, meanwhile, has made its Android operating system into one of the most popular platforms for smartphones and tablets in the world. The two tech giants have been wrangling in court for months, attempting to define complex technical and financial issues before a scheduled trial date this fall. Many of their arguments have been filed under seal, on the grounds they concern proprietary business information.
benton.org/node/78176 | San Jose Mercury News
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NOKIA RULING
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Erik Larson]
Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones by volume, lost a UK court bid to invalidate a European patent that Germany’s IPCom GmbH & Co. claims is vital to the Finnish company’s handset sales. The patent, which covers technology for connecting a handset to a network, is valid and infringed by two Nokia devices, which Judge Christopher Floyd didn't identify in his ruling at the High Court in London. Mark Durrant, a spokesman for Nokia, said the company’s current devices don't infringe the patent. The company will appeal part of judgment, he said. “We are pleased that the U.K. High Court declared that Nokia’s current products do not infringe the patent,” Durrant said. “This means that we can continue selling those products, now with legal certainty.” IPCom rejected Nokia’s interpretation of the ruling, claiming the two infringing devices are still in use by the Finnish company.
benton.org/node/78085 | Bloomberg
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LEVEL 3 - GLOBAL CROSSING
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
Level 3 Communications told the Federal Communications Commission that its pending acquisition of Global Crossing won't cause any other carriers to raise competition or public interest issues. In an application sent to the FCC last month seeking approval for its $3 billion acquisition of Global Crossing, Level 3 argued that there's no need to scrutinize the deal or place any conditions on it to be approved. Upon completion, the newly combined company would create an even larger one service provider with network presence in 50 countries and connections to more than 70 countries. Now the FCC has to determine whether the deal will serve the public interest, convenience and necessity. Both service providers argue in the filing that the deal will serve the public interest "by offering customers an expanded suite of services--globally-delivered transport, Internet protocol-based ... data, content delivery, data center, collocation, and voice services--and more extensive geographic reach in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia with a combination of intercity and metro networks and undersea cable facilities."
benton.org/node/78091 | Fierce
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PRIVACY
ONLINE PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Austin Carr]
Think of all the ways our personal data is collected: through tablets and smartphones and apps and email clients and browsers and myriad web services. The problem has become so fraught that few pretend to have an answer for all of the issue's complexities. A recent interview with Mitchell Baker, chairwoman of the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, underscored this idea. Baker has been a crusader for user privacy, having been involved with the issue for years. "I'm smack in the middle of all of this," she says. But she will be the first to admit that not even the tech-savvy folks at Firefox have all the answers. So not only do we not know what a privacy tool might look like in the future, or whether one could even be created to control the swamp of personal data online, but by the time one could come to fruition, it's also unclear whether our greater society would even need or want it given our forever-changing views on privacy.
As for potential government regulation of online privacy, it represents yet another mystery.
benton.org/node/78146 | Fast Company
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CYBERSECURITY
NSA AND CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
The National Security Agency is working with Internet service providers to deploy a new generation of tools to scan e-mail and other digital traffic with the goal of thwarting cyberattacks against defense firms by foreign adversaries, senior defense and industry officials say. The novel program, which began last month on a voluntary, trial basis, relies on sophisticated NSA data sets to identify malicious programs slipped into the vast stream of Internet data flowing to the nation’s largest defense firms. Such attacks, including one last month against Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, are nearly constant as rival nations and terrorist groups seek access to U.S. military secrets. The prospect of a role for the NSA, the nation’s largest spy agency and a part of the Defense Department, in helping Internet service providers filter domestic Web traffic already had sparked concerns among privacy activists.
benton.org/node/78183 | Washington Post
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CYBERSECURITY REPORT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Phil Stewart, Diane Bartz, Jim Wolf, Jeff Mason]
Apparently, the Pentagon is about to roll out an expanded effort to safeguard its contractors from hackers and is building a virtual firing range in cyberspace to test new technologies. The twin efforts show how President Barack Obama's administration is racing on multiple fronts to plug the holes in U.S. cyber defenses. Notwithstanding the military's efforts, however, the overall gap appears to be widening, as adversaries and criminals move faster than government and corporations, and technologies such as mobile applications for smart phones proliferate more rapidly than policymakers can respond, officials and analysts said.
A Reuters examination of American cyber readiness produced the following findings:
Spin-offs of the malicious code dubbed "agent.btz" used to attack the military's U.S. Central Command in 2008 are still roiling U.S. networks today. People inside and outside the U.S. government strongly suspect Russia was behind the attack, which was the most significant known breach of military networks.
There are serious questions about the security of "cloud computing," even as the U.S. government prepares to embrace that technology in a big way for its cost savings.
The U.S. electrical grid and other critical nodes are still vulnerable to cyber attack, 13 years after then-President Bill Clinton declared that protecting critical infrastructure was a national priority.
While some progress has been made in coordinating among government agencies with different missions, and across the public-private sector gap, much remains to be done.
Government officials say one of the things they fear most is a so-called "zero-day attack," exploiting a vulnerability unknown to the software developer until the strike hits.
benton.org/node/78166 | Reuters
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ADVERTISING
TV ADS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Emily Steel]
Despite the torrent of dollars marketers are pouring online, big advertisers aren't expected to cut back their television budgets anytime soon. Even as Americans watch less TV and spend more time on the Web, mobile phones and other entertainment options, marketers are investing more money than ever on television ads. New forecasts call for the $59.7 billion U.S. television-advertising market to grow steadily for the next half decade and continue to capture a dominant share of total U.S. ad spending. "Television is going to play a very prominent role well into the future," said Joel Ewanick, global chief marketing officer at auto maker General Motors Co., the second-largest advertiser in the country by spending. Advertisers are expected to boost their spending on TV by 3.3% this year, with the medium capturing a 34% share of the total U.S. ad market, according to data released Thursday by Interpublic Group of Co.'s Magnaglobal, in one of Madison Avenue's most closely watched forecasts. The ad-buying firm says that, by 2016, TV's share of the advertising market is expected to increase to 38%, or $81.3 billion.
benton.org/node/78171 | Wall Street Journal
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
NEW GOOGLE AD PROGRAM
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Byron Tau, Ben Smith]
Google denied that it gave President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign special access to a new advertising program, something a sales representative from the search and advertising giant had claimed in an email to customers. The new ad program would charge clients for every e-mail address (or other piece of user data) they collect. The program is attractive to campaigns eager for that information, so when a staffer at the National Republican Senatorial Committee saw what appeared to be an Obama ad built on this technology on the RealClearPolitics website last month, she e-mailed a Google sales rep to ask about creating a similar ad campaign for Republicans. The saleswoman, Sirene Abou-Chakra, replied by suggesting that the Obama campaign had a special deal. “This is a pre-alpha product that is being released to a select few clients,” she wrote, referring to the first stage of a product’s roll-out. “I'd be happy to get you into the beta if you’re interested.” A similar e-mail went out to at least one other Republican digital media firm, a Republican source said. “It certainly raises some red flags that the Obama campaign appears to have been given special access to a new online advertising product,” said NRSC communications director Brian Walsh.
benton.org/node/78075 | Politico
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FACEBOOK DISCLAIMER WAIVER
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Both the Republican and Democratic campaign committees have backed Facebook's request for a waiver from a requirement that the site's campaign ads contain a disclaimer stating who paid for them. In a letter to the Federal Election Commission sent in April, Facebook argued that displaying the disclaimers would be impractical due to the small size of ads on the site. The Republican National Committee, Democratic National Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Committee all wrote the FEC in support of the firm's request.
benton.org/node/78090 | Hill, The
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POLICYMAKERS
KUNDRA DEPARTURE
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Jack Lew]
Vivek Kundra, the nation’s first federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) announced that later this summer he will be leaving the post for a fellowship at Harvard University.
When he began at the White House, Kundra brought with him the promise of good ideas and a hard-charging style focused on getting things done, necessary qualities to tackle the difficult issues facing Federal IT – an aging infrastructure with rising operating costs, too many major projects failing to deliver, and increasing vulnerability to outside threats. Two and a half years after joining the Administration, Vivek has delivered on that promise. He has cracked down on wasteful IT spending, saved $3 billion in taxpayer dollars; moved the government to the cloud; strengthened the cybersecurity posture of the nation while making it more open, transparent, and participatory. His work has been replicated across the world from 16 countries that have deployed the data.gov model to tap into the ingenuity of their people to multiple countries that have deployed the IT dashboard to save money.
benton.org/node/78072 | White House, The
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