BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Why Declaring War on Fox News Could Be a Mistake for Obama
Abdicating on a cyber czar?
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
GOP Senators Criticize FCC's Net Neutrality Guidelines
Comcast, the biggest threat to free speech since Nixon
Broadband Opportunity Coalition Has Questions About Impact of Net Neutrality
FCC Chief Seeks Broad Open-Internet Rules
Smartphones weigh on mobile networks
The Coming Mobile Meltdown
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Can the Public Have a say in Broadband Stimulus Grants?
Connecting Anchor Institutions -- Linchpin to National Broadband Plan?
Natural Born Clickers
WIRELESS
Mobile-phone access will soon be universal. The next task is to do the same for the Internet
Cisco buys wireless Web firm for $2.9 billion
FCC Considers Ways to Simplify Cellphone Bills
Give Work App Lets You Do Good Anywhere
HEALTH
Health Care Ripe to Join the Technology Revolution
Support in Senate for cellphone driving ban
Analysis of cellphone studies finds tumor risk
ECONOMICS
Goodbye, Macroeconomics
Tech firms are enjoying their economic stimulus
JOURNALISM
Shrinking Newspapers Have Created $1.6 Billion News Deficit
MORE ONLINE ...
Levy Foundation Helps Archives to Go Online
Google Looks For Higher Ed Liaison
California appears poised to be first to ban power-guzzling big-screen TVs
Afghanistan Tops the Week's News
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
WHY DECLARING WAR ON FOX NEWS COULD BE A MISTAKE FOR OBAMA
[SOURCE: New York, AUTHOR: Chris Rovzar]
[Commentary] Over the weekend, White House communications director Anita Dunn announced the official beginning of the Obama administration's war with Fox News. Of course, the battle has been openly brewing for months now. Even during the campaign, Obama's team gave up on sending surrogates to the network. "It was beyond diminishing returns," Dunn told the New York Times. "It was no returns." But now the war is out in the open. "We're going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent," she told the paper. "As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don't need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave." Yesterday on CNN, she clarified: "Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party." The White House's logic seems to be that there's no point in trying to be fairly portrayed on Fox News. Even if they send administration officials to try and reason with its hosts and viewers, the way the information gets presented eliminates any net benefit. (Especially when hosts like Glenn Beck make up facts and present them as sincere truth — the Times cited a moment when even fellow Fox reporters were angered that Beck claimed Fox White House correspondent Major Garrett was "never called on" in the briefing room, when he had in fact been called on that very day.) It's also helpful to have a foil to fight against. In the continuing effort to portray tea partiers and birthers and the like as a sort of faux-patriotic lunatic fringe, the act of isolating Fox is an easy way to draw some lines in the sand.
benton.org/node/28770 | New York Magazine
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ABDICATING ON A CYBER CZAR?
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Zirin]
[Commentary] In May, President Obama completed his long-awaited "cyberspace policy review," concluding that cyberspace is a strategic asset that must be safeguarded from attack as a national security priority. So why hasn't the president appointed a new cyber czar to monitor and, if indicated, secure the electronic highway from attack? His staff said he is looking for just the right person, and that takes time. The problem is that we don't have much time. [James D. Zirin is a New York lawyer and member of the Council on Foreign Relations.]
benton.org/node/28777 | Los Angeles Times
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
GOP SENATORS CRITICIZE FCC'S NET NEUTRALITY GUIDELINES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Eighteen Republican Senators have sent Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski a letter saying a plan to launch a proceeding concerning Network Neutrality rules is partisan, unsupported by data and could adversely impact broadband speeds and deployment. They say that Chairman Genachowski's proposal to codify and expand network openness guidelines and apply them to wireless broadband appears to be "outcome driven." The charge is a direct challenge to the chairman's avowed policy of letting data drive decisions. The senators said the proposed rules, which have not been released yet, "seem to emanate from a fear that there may be some problems related to openness 'in the future," and counter that it would be burdensome and chilling to the private-sector investment they say has been driving choice and competition. In addition to the letter from the 18, Ranking Senate Commerce Committee Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) has sent a letter to Chairman Genachowski outlining her concerns including the necessity of intervention, the impact of the rules on investment, any potential unintended consequences and "fair application." She questioned if the FCC already had the authority to enforce its four Internet access principles why it is necessary to conduct a rulemaking that could create "uncertainty, which in turn will discourage or at least delay planned investment in critical infrastructure." She requested a reply by October 21; the FCC plans to vote on launching the network neutrality proceeding the next day.
benton.org/node/28772 | Broadcasting&Cable | Read the letter | Washington Post | B&C -- Hutchison
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COMCAST, THE BIGGEST THREAT TO FREE SPEECH SINCE NIXON
[SOURCE: The New Republic, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Rosen]
[Commentary] You might think that a decision to block the King James Bible would violate the First Amendment, or at least raise important constitutional concerns. But, if Comcast, a private company, is blocking a particular technology, rather than discriminating against particular speakers, there's no state action and no obvious peg for a First Amendment lawsuit. That's why the Federal Communications Commission is crucial to shaping the future of free speech. Under the proposed FCC net-neutrality principles, broadband operators like Comcast can't "discriminate against particular Internet content or applications" and will have to be transparent about their network-management practices.
benton.org/node/28769 | New Republic, The
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BROADBAND OPPORTUNITY COALITION HAS QUESTIONS ABOUT IMPACT OF NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Urban League, the Asian American Justice Center, the League of United Latin American Citizens and La Raza have sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski in support of President Barack Obama's vision of an open Internet and the "equally essential goal" of closing the digital divide. But, they wrote, "If the history of civil rights in America teaches us anything," they said, "it is that facially neutral laws and regulations are not always applied neutrally to the constituencies we represent. We certainly don't want that to happen to Internet regulation too, and we're very concerned that, despite your very best intentions, some aspects of net neutrality might not turn out to be neutral as applied to our constituencies." They added, "What we were hoping is that in the early part of the proposed rulemaking process, questions will be included that will ask the public for comment on these questions that relate to the civil rights of broadband policy, which are often overlooked and it is better to catch them earlier than later."
benton.org/node/28774 | Broadcasting&Cable
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FCC CHIEF SEEKS BROAD OPEN-INTERNET RULES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is proposing that the agency apply tougher open Internet rules broadly, raising concerns of cable and phone companies and some lawmakers that the government could try to control efforts to offer products such as digital cable or premium business services. Genachowski's proposal suggests everything in the Internet pipe is covered by rules prohibiting discrimination against any legal Internet traffic, known as Network Neutrality, unless the agency says otherwise, according to FCC officials familiar with a draft circulating in the agency. Internet providers could seek exemptions for so-called premium managed services, like private corporate data networks or pay-TV services, which require guaranteed levels of data speed. Phone and cable companies worry Chairman Genachowski is trying to turn their broadband lines into "dumb pipes" of Internet data, instead of highly segmented and managed lines that allow them to offer different sorts of services -- at different prices -- to customers. "We haven't seen the rules yet, so we can't comment on specifics, but we hope the FCC shares our appreciation for the complexity and the societal importance of managed services," said Walter McCormick, president of USTelecom, the phone-industry trade group. "Obviously the more prescriptive the government's approach, the less innovation will be available for consumers."
benton.org/node/28783 | Wall Street Journal
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SMARTPHONES WEIGH ON MOBILE NETWORKS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Tarmo Virki]
A smartphone generates much less mobile data traffic than a laptop with a data card, but phones impose a load on the network which is much larger than anticipated, a study by technology firm Airvana shows. A boom in mobile data traffic -- boosted by laptops and smartphones -- is putting unprecedented stress on wireless networks around the world. Delivering the same amount of data, a smartphone typically generates eight times the network signalling load of a laptop with a data card.
benton.org/node/28784 | Reuters
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THE COMING MOBILE MELTDOWN
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Holman Jenkins Jr]
[Commentary] Jenkins suspects the "biggest political scrum in the near future won't be over classic net neutrality at all—it will be a battle over usage-based pricing, which is one of the few ways to keep excessive demand in check." Data collector AdMob reports that mobile Web page requests grew 9% from July to August -- a 180% annual growth rate. And Motorola recently went public with worries that a handful of mobile Slingbox users (a video streaming device) could wipe out cell service in a whole neighborhood. This is a mobile meltdown in the making. Freeing up spectrum and speeding cell phone tower construction are "sensible" efforts for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, "superintending a false panic about wireless net neutrality isn't." The Obama administration should at least focus on three ways to help, Jenkins concludes: Free up more spectrum, sit on its hands when mobile phone operators begin to do the merger dance, and relax about network neutrality.
benton.org/node/28782 | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
CAN THE PUBLIC HAVE A SAY IN BROADBAND STIMULUS GRANTS?
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] After the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Rural Utilities Service and the states complete their initial reviews of broadband stimulus applications, why not release a list of finalists and solicit input from the public? The NTIA and RUS could collect a lot of good feedback from the public about these projects: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not only would this provide some cover for the hard decisions NTIA and RUS have to make, but it would also give the public some way to contribute and feel better informed and more involved with this process.
benton.org/node/28771 | App-Rising.com
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LINCHPIN TO NATIONAL BROADBAND STRATEGY?
[SOURCE: Fighting the Next Good Fight, AUTHOR: Craig Settles]
[Commentary] Does wiring 98,400, or 80% of all U.S. anchor institutions, that lack broadband Internet access make good business sense? Yes. It should be the core for our National Broadband Plan, as well as a central strategic objective for those applying for stimulus grants. In one fell swoop you resolve three critical issues: financially sustaining the network, fostering economic development and generating widespread broadband adoption. If your ultimate objective is to create a communitywide broadband network, then these institutions have to become anchor tenants that actually pay for network services. In many underserved rural and urban areas, low population density and/or low income make it difficult to get enough individual subscribers to pay for a network's operating expenses even when the network is built mainly on grant money. If you look at successful networks already in place, anchor tenants collectively produce most of the revenue because each one spends more per month for services (maybe $1,000, $2,000/month or more) to replace older slower communication technologies, and capitalize on new computing technologies.
benton.org/node/28768 | Fighting the Next Good Fight
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NATURAL BORN CLICKERS
[SOURCE: comScore, AUTHOR: Press release]
The number of people who click on display ads in a month has fallen from 32 percent of Internet users in July 2007 to only 16 percent in March 2009, with an even smaller core of people (representing 8 percent of the Internet user base) accounting for the vast majority (85 percent) of all clicks. The original research, conducted using July 2007 comScore data, showed that 32 percent of Internet users clicked on at least one display ad during the month. These clickers were segmented into Heavy, Moderate and Light Clicking segments based on the group of users accounting for the top 50 percent of clicks (heavy), middle 30 percent (moderate), and bottom 20 percent (light). In 2007, comScore, Starcom and Tacoda found that heavy clickers represented 6 percent of U.S. Internet users, moderate clickers accounted for 10 percent and light clickers accounted for 16 percent. By March 2009, those numbers had dropped substantially in each case, to 4 percent of Internet users for heavy clickers, 4 percent for moderate clickers and 8 percent for light clickers. The results underscore the notion that, for most display ad campaigns, the click-through is not the most appropriate metric for evaluating campaign performance. Rather, advertisers should consider evaluating campaigns based on their view-through impact. comScore has conducted more than 200 client studies demonstrating that online display ads generate significant lift in brand site visitation, trademark search, and both online and offline sales among those Internet users who were exposed to the online ad campaigns whether they clicked on the ad or not.
benton.org/node/28762 | comScore | MediaPost
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WIRELESS
MOBILE-PHONE ACCESS WILL SOON BE UNIVERSAL. THE NEXT TASK IS TO DO THE SAME FOR THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: The Economist, AUTHOR: ]
Global mobile cellular teledensity (the number of phones per 100 people) could surpass 100% within the next decade. 3G networks capable of broadband speeds will be widespread even in developing countries, and even faster 4G networks will be spreading rapidly in some places. Then what? The next task is to ensure that everyone who wants to can use mobile technology to access the Internet. Like many in the industry, he predicts that this will be done using low-cost laptops, or netbooks, connecting to the Internet via mobile networks. Mobile broadband will become a global phenomenon -- it will be the dominant form of broadband. There could be 1.4 billion mobile-broadband subscribers by 2014.
benton.org/node/28767 | Economist, The
Also see: Cisco buys wireless Web firm for $2.9 billion
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FCC CONSIDERS WAY TO SIMPLIFY CELLPHONE BILLS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mary Pilon]
If consumer advocates get their way, deconstructing that monthly cellphone bill could become a lot easier. Comments are filing in to the Federal Communications Commission's request for input on simplifying wireless bills. The deadline comes amid a thicket of consumer-focused fee news, from credit cards to overdraft fees. Consumer advocates are arguing for more transparency in billing, both when shopping around for plans and for existing mobile subscribers. Filing comment Tuesday is BillShrink.com, a site that analyzes the fine print of credit card bills and user profiles to find the cheapest cellphone plan. The average consumer overspends $300 on her cellphone plan a year, Schwark Satyavolu, BillShrink's co-founder and president, said. In the last five months, the site has found $800 million in potential savings on cellphone plans.
benton.org/node/28773 | Wall Street Journal
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GIVE WORK APP LETS YOU DO GOOD ANYWHERE
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Two San Francisco-based startups — Samasource and CrowdFlower — today released a free iPhone application in the iTunes App Store called Give Work that lets you spend a few seconds of your time helping Kenyan refugees earn money, and in turn, improve their quality of life. An fbFund startup, Samasource is a non-profit that provides tech work for women, youth and refugees in countries such as Kenya and Pakistan. CrowdFlower, meanwhile, pairs businesses with pools of workers from such regions who can complete simple tasks that a computer can't, such as removing spam from a company blog.
benton.org/node/28763 | GigaOm
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HEALTH
HEALTH CARE RIPE TO JOIN TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Christina Kirchner]
Hospitals and health care are the last of the industrial-age institutions that have yet to go online as department stores, banks, and venues entertainment have already gone, panelists said at the Broadband Breakfast Club Tuesday morning. With the Federal Communications Commission charged with developing a National Broadband Plan by February 2010, health care is one obvious area potentially impacted by greater broadband. One of the most significant ways in which broadband is likely to impact health care is through the integration of technology into the fabric on consumers' lives, as with greater use of smart phones.
benton.org/node/28779 | BroadbandCensus.com
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SUPPORT IN SENATE FOR CELLPHONE DRIVING BAN
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Kim Geiger]
Amid calls from the Obama administration and traffic safety advocates to ban texting and talking on hand-held cellphones while driving, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) has thrown his support behind the effort -- a sign that the Senate could pass such legislation this year. The powerful chairman of the Commerce Committee has written a bill that would offer federal funds to states that enact laws against driving while texting or talking on a hand-held device. That incentive approach probably would have a better chance at passage than punitive legislation introduced in July by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) that would require states to ban texting while driving or risk losing federal highway funds. Rockefeller has scheduled a hearing on his proposal in two weeks.
benton.org/node/28780 | Los Angeles Times | Senate Hearing 10/28
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ANALYSIS OF CELLPHONE STUDIES FINDS TUMOR RISK
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Shari Roan]
The answer to the question of whether cellphones increase the risk of brain, head and neck tumors is truly a matter of whom you ask. An analysis published Tuesday of data from 23 epidemiological studies found no connection between cellphone use and the development of cancerous or benign tumors. But when eight of the studies that were conducted with the most scientific rigor were analyzed, cellphone users were shown to have a 10% to 30% increased risk of tumors compared with people who rarely or never used the phones. The risk was highest among those who had used cellphones for 10 years or more.
benton.org/node/28781 | Los Angeles Times
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ECONOMICS
GOODBYE, MACROECONOMICS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Eli Noam]
[Commentary] We are in the midst of a severe economic crisis, the second in about a decade, and the third for Latin America and Asia. It appears that information based economies are volatile. This is partly due to the fundamental price deflation in some of the core information services and products, and partly due to the much greater speed of transactions that outpace the ability of traditional institutions to cope. Information technology contributes to the volatility. But can the same technology also provide new tools for stabilization? The industrial age was the age of massification. Mass production. Mass consumption. Mass media. Mass advertising. But not any more. All around, we see customization and individualization. Macroeconomic activity by government will eventually follow, and become a sub-aggregated 'mezzo' economic policy. Economists, technologists, and policy analysts should work to develop these tools. [Noam is professor of finance and economics at Columbia University.]
benton.org/node/28786 | Financial Times
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TECH FIRMS ENJOYING ECONOMIC STIMULUS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Alana Semuels]
The nation's bellwether technology sector is kicking into gear as businesses and consumers boost their spending on computers and electronics. Shipments of semiconductors are on the rise. Some companies are hiring. Tech stocks outperformed the market all summer. And US exports to China, including technology products, have climbed 33% since January. That's good news for California, home to hundreds of companies that make the software, chips and switches that power many of today's bestselling computer and electronics devices.
benton.org/node/28785 | Los Angeles Times
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JOURNALISM
SHRINKING NEWSPAPERS HAVE CREATED $1.6 BILLION NEWS DEFICIT
[SOURCE: Poynter Institute, AUTHOR: Rick Edmonds]
Newspapers have, just in the last several years, reduced their spending on journalism by about $1.6 billion annually. The new media sector defies that kind of collective measurement. By its nature, digital launches are extraordinarily diffuse. There is room for debate over what qualifies as a news/information site. And by any definition, new media ventures are a fast moving target with the pace accelerating even in the last few months. But would take roughly 1,600 MinnPosts or Voice of San Diegos to replace the spending on journalism newspapers have cut.
benton.org/node/28765 | Poynter Institute
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