BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2012 (Happy Birthday, E)
Today: 1) Third Annual Conference on Internet Search and Innovation and 2) The Universal Music Group/EMI Merger and the Future of Online Music (see below) http://benton.org/calendar/2012-06-21/
MUSIC
UMG-EMI Merger: Deja Vu All Over Again - analysis
Universal Music and Major Publishing Group Reach Agreement Over Vevo, YouTube Royalties
Steal this album: What happens if no one pays for music?
INTERNET/BROADBAND
UN doesn't want to take over Internet, does want to help telcos profit
House Commerce Committee Advances Resolution on Internet Governance
Warner's Broadband Amendment Passes
Network Non-Discrimination and Quality of Service - research
Windstream builds advanced communications network for Richmond Public schools - press release [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
House Dems Want Verizon-SpectrumCo Hearing
Sprint in $19 million settlement on cellphone charges [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
House GOP reverses position, won’t block FCC political ad rule
Free Press, Others Seek to Join FCC in NAB Political File Suit
Pols Ramp Up Online Behavioral Targeted Ads for 2012
Enemies and Allies for ‘Friends’
OWNERSHIP
Judge probes Apple in lawsuit vs. Google
PRIVACY
US Lawmakers Call for Online, Mobile Privacy Legislation
Pols Ramp Up Online Behavioral Targeted Ads for 2012
COMPANY NEWS
Facebook Gains Two Big Advertisers' Support [links to web]
Facebook visitors decreased in May, comScore reports [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
Usdan to Replace Gottheimer on FCC Public-Private Initiatives - press release [links to web]
Indiana’s Landis Joins Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
UN doesn't want to take over Internet, does want to help telcos profit
See also: House Commerce Committee Advances Resolution on Internet Governance
Parliament should say NO to ACTA, says International Trade Committee - press release
UK Press regulation ideas published [links to web]
Apple fined for misleading iPad adverts
MUSIC
UMG-EMI MERGER
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn]
[Commentary] I will be testifying against the merger of Universal Music Group (UMG) and EMI Music. A merger between the 1st and 4th largest record companies, in our opinion, would result in a “super-major” label with a 41% market share that would be able to dictate the future of new digital music services. The combined entity could deny licenses to new services, charge them enormous licensing rates, or even take an equity stake in the service. This would be bad for consumers, who benefit from lower prices and more choice in a world with more new services and fewer middlemen. And as our friends at the Future of Music Coalition have so artfully said, these new services also benefit both independent music labels and unsigned artists. Sound familiar? Indeed, the merger looks a lot like the failed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile.
benton.org/node/126344 | Public Knowledge
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UNIVERSAL DEAL
[SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: Ed Christman]
Less than a week after the National Music Publishers Association annual meeting, when president and CEO David Israelite said the organization was chasing the major labels to pay indie music publishers for videos streamed on VEVO and YouTube, the NMPA has announced its first deal with a major, the Universal Music Group. The NMPA termed the agreement, which covers North America, a groundbreaking model licensing deal because it will allow songwriters and music publishers to share in revenue from music videos. Up until now, while YouTube and VEVO were making money on their ad-supported services, indie music publishers had not shared in that revenue because the major labels long considered videos as promotional tools and never paid for licensing the songs used in the videos. But as it became a growing revenue stream, indie publishers began to grumble that the major labels paid the major publishing companies but none of the independent music publishers.
benton.org/node/126321 | Hollywood Reporter
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WHAT HAPPENS IF NO ONE PAYS FOR MUSIC?
[SOURCE: Salon, AUTHOR: Scott Timberg]
One of the disorienting things about technological change is the way it can take people who would otherwise be on the same side and pit them against each other. Consider the fight that’s broken out this week. In this corner: A responsible and intelligent college radio DJ who loves Big Star and Yo La Tengo. In the other corner: Semi-famous indie rocker whose career playing skewed songs like “Sad Lovers Waltz” and “Teen Angst” depends on DJs and record buyers very much like his adversary. Were this the ‘80s or ‘90s, the two might have shown up mugging in a photo tacked to the radio station’s cluttered wall. But instead of being allies, Emily White, an NPR intern and general manager at American University’s WVAU, and Camper van Beethoven/Cracker singer David Lowery, are after each other.
benton.org/node/126326 | Salon
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
HOUSE COMMERCE APPROVES RESOLUTION
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
By voice vote, the House Commerce Committee advanced five measures and approved the committee’s Semi-Annual Committee Activity Report. H.Con.Res. 127 expresses the sense of Congress that the Internet should remain free from international regulation and that the United States should continue its commitment to the current “multi-stakeholder” model of governance. This concurrent resolution introduced by Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) is cosponsored by Full Committee Chairman Upton, Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), and Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and would reject international proposals, expected to be discussed at the December World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai, to treat the Internet like an old-fashioned telephone service.
benton.org/node/126335 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | The Hill | | B&C
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WARNER’S BROADBAND AMENDMENT
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Adam Mazmanian]
The Senate passed on a voice vote an amendment to the broadband section of the farm bill that changes the way broadband grants and loans are distributed by the Rural Utilities Service. The amendment sets up a competitive bidding process for broadband loans and grants, and eliminates the rolling application process that was previously in place. It requires a minimum level of grants for areas that are currently not reached by any broadband service, sets minimum broadband speeds for funded projects, encourages new entrants to the rural broadband sector and requires RUS loan recipients and grantees to map the reach of their broadband projects. Additionally, the amendment directs the Department of Agriculture to devote 1% of RUS appropriated funds to oversight and administration. The provisions were sponsored by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) with a bipartisan group of co-sponsors including Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and the ailing Mark Kirk (R-IL). Farm bill sponsor Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) backed the change.
benton.org/node/126350 | National Journal | B&C
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NON-DISCRIMINATION AND QUALITY OF SERVICE
[SOURCE: Technology Academics Policy, AUTHOR: Barbara van Schewick]
A new paper, titled Network Neutrality and Quality of Service: What a Non-Discrimination Rule Should Look Like, discusses the relationship between network neutrality, non-discrimination rules and Quality of Service in more detail. The paper:
Provides the first detailed analysis of the Federal Communications Commissions’ non-discrimination rule and of its implications for network providers’ ability to manage their networks and offer Quality of Service;
Offers the first in-depth analysis of the relationship between network neutrality and Quality of Service; and
Proposes a non-discrimination rule that policy makers should adopt around the world – a rule that the FCC adopted at least in part.
This blog post summarizes the paper’s most important findings.
benton.org/node/126323 | Technology Academics Policy
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
HOUSE VERIZON-SPECTRUMCO HEARING?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Top House Commerce Committee Democrats have renewed their call for a hearing into the Verizon-SpectrumCo wireless spectrum sale. The Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice are currently vetting Verizon's proposed $3.9 billion purchase of spectrum from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Bright House. According to a copy of the letter, ranking Commerce Committee member Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) pointed out to their respective chairs that it has been almost two months since they wrote the first time asking for a hearing on the deal and joint marketing agreements. "We believe it is important that members of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee have an opportunity to hear from key stakeholders." They have not taken a position on the deal, but said in that first letter that it was important to hear testimony and consider the policy implications of the transaction, which Verizon says will free up unused spectrum for the benefit of consumers and critics say will increase concentration and decrease competition among cable and wireless companies.
benton.org/node/126362 | Broadcasting&Cable
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
GOP REVERSES ON BLOCKING POLITICAL AD RULE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Erik Wasson]
House Republican appropriators reversed their position and will no longer try to block a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation that would require television stations to disclose political ad buyers online. A draft 2013 Financial Services bill that emerged from subcommittee blocked funding to enforce the regulation. Democrats accused the GOP of trying to hide "fat cat" political donations in an election season in which large, unlimited donations to super-PACs and other outside groups have taken center stage. Republicans backed down from the measure at a full Appropriations Committee markup. They offered instead two reporting requirements that would force the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to analyze the economic impact of the rule. Subcommittee Chairwoman Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) said the FCC database containing the disclosures will likely be set up before the 2013 bill gets enacted, likely after the election, making any attempt to defund it moot. "A funding prohibition might not make any sense under these circumstances," she said.
benton.org/node/126334 | Hill, The | B&C | AP | The Hill
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ADVOCATES SEEK ROLE IN POLITICAL AD SUIT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Free Press, Benton Foundation, Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, New America Foundation and the United Church of Christ have filed a motion in the D.C. U.S. Court of Appeals asking to join the Federal Communications Commission's side in a broadcaster suit against the FCC's online political file rules. The general thrust is that they help challenge licenses or represent the public in FCC actions on issues, including having actively participated in the rulemaking that produced the FCC's online political file requirement. In addition, they said, they would be materially harmed if the FCC rules were reversed because, they say, "the new enhanced disclosure rules substantially enrich and advance each organization's research, advocacy, outreach and public-education efforts by making the information contained in television broadcasters' public files more accessible via the Internet."
benton.org/node/126359 | Broadcasting&Cable | AdWeek
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POLITICIANS AND TARGETED ADS
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
Like a lot of things in Washington, policy doesn't always match up with practice. On the one hand, lawmakers and regulators ponder what policies should be adopted around privacy and targeted advertising. At the same time, they're busy adopting online behavioral targeted advertising strategies for political campaigns. The ability to target individual voters online, whether to raise funds or communicate with interested and prospective voters about specific issues, is hard to resist -- especially in what most predict will be a very close election. "Online, real-time targeting is a very big deal in this election," said John Aristotle Phillips, CEO of Aristotle, during a Politico panel. Panelists spoke about coming to grips with manipulating more data than ever before, both online and offline, to increase donations and engagement. "Data is the bedrock," said Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican National Committee. "There is a constant struggle to get the right message out."
benton.org/node/126349 | AdWeek
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FOX AND FRIENDS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeremy Peters]
When it comes to sitting for interviews Mitt Romney is not usually a willing and eager subject. But there is one invitation he rarely turns down. “Fox & Friends” has had Romney as a guest 21 times in the last year. That’s almost twice a month, vastly more than the four times each he has appeared on NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America,” which draw five times the audience. Romney is hardly alone in recognizing the power of “Fox & Friends” as a high-decibel megaphone pointing directly at the Republican base. At the height of the primaries not a week went by without an appearance by one of the candidates. And when leading Republicans like Gov. Rick Scott of Florida or Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin have something to say, they do it on “Fox & Friends.” It is easy to see why. Perhaps more than any other show on the Fox News Channel, “Fox & Friends” has become a powerful platform for some of the most strident attacks on President Barack Obama. The question that hangs over Fox News as the presidential campaign moves into full swing: How far can it push its coverage of President Obama without sparking another war with the White House?
benton.org/node/126365 | New York Times
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OWNERSHIP
APPLE VS GOOGLE UPDATE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Dan Levine]
Federal Judge Richard Posner in Chicago strongly questioned Apple's request for an injunction against Google's Motorola Mobility unit at a crucial hearing in the smartphone patent wars between the two technology companies. Judge Posner said an injunction barring the sale of Motorola phones would have "catastrophic effects" on Motorola. Judge Posner also questioned the worth of many software patents, noting deep systemic problems with the US patent system. "You can't just assume that because someone has a patent, he has some deep moral right to exclude everyone else" from using the technology, Judge Posner said.
benton.org/node/126329 | Reuters
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PRIVACY
PRIVACY LEGISLATION
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
Congress doesn't need to take major steps to protect the privacy of Web and mobile users, because self-policing efforts are generally working, the CEO of TRUSTe told lawmakers. Efforts by online companies to regulate privacy practices themselves has worked "effectively," Chris Babel, TRUSTe's CEO, told members of the Internet subcommittee of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. "You've seen self regulation accelerate quite rapidly in the last few years," Babel said. Several lawmakers and other witnesses disagreed, saying Congress should enact online and mobile privacy legislation that creates baseline rules for websites and mobile app developers. Representatives of eBay and the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), a trade group representing mobile app developers, both called for a new online privacy law. Several lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, questioned self-regulatory efforts.
benton.org/node/126328 | IDG News Service | National Journal
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
UN DOESN’T WANT TO TAKE ON INTERNET
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Cyrus Farivar]
The head of the International Telecommunications Union, an agency of the United Nations, explicitly denied that the group is interested in taking over the Internet. But his remarks make clear that the body is quite interested in helping domestic telecommunications operators make boatloads of cash by controlling the flows of content to individual countries. Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said the ITU recognizes all of its member states impose various types of restrictions on freedom of speech. The list includes copyright violations, pornography, defamation and political speech, among others. “Such restrictions are permitted by article 34 of the ITU’s Constitution, which provides that Member States reserve the right to cut off, in accordance with their national law, any private telecommunications which may appear dangerous to the security of the State, or contrary to its laws, to public order or to decency,” he added. “I do not see how WCIT could set barriers to the free flow of information,” Touré concluded. In other words, countries can essentially do whatever they want online—and they already do. But he goes on to say:
“As the industry has pointed out, data volumes are increasing much faster than the infrastructure needed to carry it, and there is currently a risk of an infrastructure investment shortfall. The revised [International Telecommunications Regulations, to be discussed at the December WCIT meeting in Dubai] should therefore help to encourage broadband roll-out and investment. They should emphasize the importance of liberalization and privatization, and should recognize the role of the private sector and market-based solutions. At the same time as data volumes are increasing, unit prices are declining, so total revenues for telecommunications operators are potentially at risk. As a result, some have said that there is a need to address the current disconnect between sources of revenue and sources of costs, and to decide upon the most appropriate way to do so.”
In other words, because revenues (read: profits) are “at risk,” there needs to be a new set of international regulations that will help shore up big telcos.
benton.org/node/126358 | Ars Technica
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ACTA FAILING IN EUROPE
[SOURCE: European Parliament, AUTHOR: Press Release]
Parliament should say “No” to the Anti-Countefeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), said the International Trade Committee in a vote on June 21. Nineteen MEPs voted against ACTA, and twelve in favor, with no abstentions. "I welcome the result of today's vote. I am pleased that the committee has acknowledged the problems I have identified in my report and has followed my recommendation to reject ACTA," said David Martin (S and D, UK), after the vote results were announced.
benton.org/node/126356 | European Parliament
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APPLE FINED
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Sean Smith]
Apple has been fined after admitting it misled customers over the compatibility of its latest iPad with high-speed 4G networks in Australia. Federal Court Justice Mordecai Bromberg said that the A$2.25 million ($2.29 million) fine – only the fifth fine over A$1 million under new consumer laws – underlined the “seriousness of a company the size of Apple refusing to change its advertising.” “Apple’s admitted contraventions were not trivial,” Judge Bromberg wrote in his ruling. “Apple does not seek to deny the deliberateness of its conduct and there are no facts before me which seek to excuse or explain the conduct, other than that the conduct occurred at the behest of Apple’s parent company.” The ruling came about after Australia’s consumer and competition watchdog claimed that the US tech group broke the country’s consumer law by advertising that the new iPad can run on 4G mobile networks using a sim card, which is not the case.
benton.org/node/126353 | Financial Times
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