BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2009
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Blue Dog Dems Hedge Bets on Net Neutrality
CWA Calls On FCC To Include Web Companies In Internet Rule
Genachowski on Broadcasting, Net Neutrality, Broadband
Chopra Reaffirms Commitment to Net Neutrality
BROADBAND
Broadband Now! So Why Don't Some Use It?
FCC Cyber Security Broadband Workshop
FCC Workshop to Focus on Broadband Access for People with Disabilities
FTTH Deployment Assessment
Massachusetts blesses 3 stimulus projects, none private
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS/JOURNALISM
Boucher Implores Media to Press Legislators to Pass Federal Shield Law
Freedom of the press ought to belong to all... not just to approved 'journalists'
Faux News
Lawmakers criticize China on Internet, human rights policies
A key to government performance
TELEVISION
The Other Side to Closed Captioning
DTV Converter Box Test Program -- Results and Lessons Learned
POLICYMAKERS
Thierer Named PFF President
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
BLUE DOG DEMS HEDGE BETS ON NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: ]
On Friday, 72 House democrats sent Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski a letter asking the FCC to reconsider a proposal to adopt Network Neutrality rules. Among the members who signed the letter include leaders of the Blue Dog coalition — a group of conservative-leaning Democrats -- and leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus. They urge the Commission to "carefully consider the full range of potential consequences of government action," and caution against a too-heavy regulatory regime. "[I]t is our strong belief that continued progress in expanding the reach and capabilities of broadband networks will require the commission to reiterate, not repudiate, its historic commitment to competition, private investment, and a restrained regulatory approach." Putting the term network neutrality in quotes in their letter, they said: "[W]e remain suspicious of conclusions based on slogans rather than substance and policies that restrict and inhibit the very innovation and growth that we all seek to achieve." Also, 44 companies including Cisco Systems, Corning and Nokia have jumped on the bandwagon to warn that new regulations could hinder investment. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn responded saying, "It's a pity that 72 members of the Blue Dog Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus are deserting one of the fundamental planks of President Obama's platform — a free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet. The people who those members of Congress represent are the most at risk from the closed, controlling Internet that the phone and cable companies want. The constituents of these members of Congress have fewest choices of providers and access to the least competition. They have the lowest Internet data speeds, they have the diminished opportunity to use the Web to its fullest potential. They are being betrayed. In parroting the misinformation put forward by the big telecom companies, The Blue Bell Caucus only condemns their constituents to inferior service and limited opportunities to succeed in an Internet-based economy." Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott said, "We want to remind members of Congress and the other lawmakers that have come out of the woodwork this week to question Net Neutrality, that the benefits of a free and open Internet to free speech, economic innovation and democratic participation are absolutely invaluable to their constituents in the digital age. Further, this is merely the beginning of a process, not the end. Their concerns are precisely the kind of issues that the FCC is prepared to debate and discuss in its rulemaking. It should move forward as planned. This is a case of special interests versus real Americans. More than 1.6 million Americans have called for an open Internet, and their numbers are growing every day. The Obama administration, FCC Chairman Genachowski, FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders have echoed the public's call with strong support for Net Neutrality. We can't afford to lose sight of the hundreds of millions of Internet users for whom Net Neutrality will protect free speech and commerce online. They are not lobbyists, and they don't have deep pockets and PACs. But they are citizens that depend on conscientious policymakers looking out for their best interest. The rulemaking next week at the FCC is a chance for all sides to weigh in on the debate, and the FCC must not allow pressure from the industry to get in the way of doing the right thing and securing an open Internet for all."
benton.org/node/28889 | BroadbandCensus.com | B&C | MediaPost | Public Knowledge | Free Press
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CWA CALLS ON FCC TO INCLUDE WEB COMPANIES IN INTERNET RULES
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
The Communications Workers of America is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to include Web companies like Google in new Internet rules, signaling increasing pressure on regulators to tread carefully in imposing the regulations. The proposed open Internet rule is slated for an FCC vote next week. The rule would prevent Internet service providers from selectively blocking or slowing certain Web content, and would require providers to disclose how they manage their networks. In a letter sent to the FCC Thursday, CWA said the rule's principles on competition and transparency should apply to all Internet participants, "including network providers, application and service providers, and content providers." AT&T and other Internet service providers are concerned that the Network Neutrality rules now circulating at the FCC will apply only to them and not firms like Google. CWA pointed out that Google employs 10 times fewer people than AT&T and invests significantly less than AT&T in broadband infrastructure. CWA has some 300,000 members that are employees of telecom firms like AT&T and Verizon as well as network manufacturers like Alcatel-Lucent. CWA Telecommunications Policy Director Debbie Goldman said the union needed to get in front of the net neutrality debate before the FCC rule becomes a hindrance to private investment.
benton.org/node/28888 | Dow Jones
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GENACHOWSKI ON BROADCASTING, NET NEUTRALITY, BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A Q&A with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. He says that the FCC has approached broadcasters about ways to free up more spectrum for mobile broadband. He also says he expects to launch the FCC's inquiry into kids TV rules "relatively soon." He has circulated the proposed inquiry to the other commissioners. An FCC review of its media ownership rules—broadcasters have been looking for some regulatory certainty on that issue for more than half a decade—will have a longer time line, the chairman suggests. That review won't be coming until next year, though it will be teed up with recently announced workshops starting next month. He expects a "multi-month" process of determining new network neutrality rules of the road. As he prepares to unveil his hotly debated net neutrality proposal this week, the chairman says that the "how, when and to what extent" of applying those rules to wireless broadband—he did not include "whether" as an option—remains an open and complex question. Should cable operators be concerned that the FCC's national broadband plan will wind up subsidizing competition where service is already being provided? So long as cable and telco networks are delivering "high speed, affordable broadband to all consumers in a given area," he says, the marketplace is sufficient. But if it "falls short" in any area or attribute, the FCC will propose "alternative and creative solutions" as part of its plan, he adds.
benton.org/node/28887 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CHOPRA REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: C-SPAN, AUTHOR: ]
An interview with federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra includes questions from Washington Post reporter Cecilia Kang. He reaffirmed the White House's commitment to Network Neutrality amid increased criticism from lawmakers that the rules could hurt investment in Internet networks. "At a 100,000-foot view, we are committed to the notion that there should be essentially a level playing field for entrepreneurs and big firms to ride our nation's infrastructure to compete with those applications that we think will deliver value," Chopra said in an interview on C-SPAN's Communicators program taped Friday. He cautioned that concerns now being voiced by lawmakers, high-tech companies and a major labor union come before any rules have been introduced. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has proposed the beginning of a rule-making process that will formulate new rules for how Internet service providers can manage traffic on their networks. A vote to start the months-long process is scheduled for Oct. 22.
benton.org/node/28886 | C-SPAN | WashPost
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BROADBAND
BROADBAND NOW! SO WHY DON'T SOME USE IT?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Randall Stross]
[Commentary] Access to a fast Internet connection has become more than a convenience. It's being enshrined in some countries as a legal right of all citizens. Congress is clearly irritated that the United States has not done well in the international broadband Olympics. Other countries have national plans to accelerate the diffusion of broadband; America does not. So Congress has given the Federal Communications Commission a mandate to produce a plan with specific recommendations by next February. We shouldn't get caught up, however, in a space-race panic. We've actually done surprisingly well making a broadband connection accessible to a vast majority of American households. No less than 96 percent of households either subscribe to or have access to broadband service, according to an FCC task force, which presented a status report to the commission last month. The report does not play up the fact that almost all homes have, or could have, broadband service. Nor does it highlight the actual median speed of 3 megabits a second among households that now have broadband, (which is based on data that probably understates the speeds substantially). The authors seem happily caught up in the thrill of playing an international game of catch-up. The most interesting question here is the one that the FCC can't answer: Why have 33 percent of American households that have access to broadband elected not to subscribe? The reasons "are not well understood," the report says. A survey focusing on the nonadopters is under way. We've built it, but not all have come. Some may never come. Let's not assume that their and their nation's future will be hopelessly blighted if they don't. [Randall Stross is an author based in Silicon Valley and a professor of business at San Jose State University.]
benton.org/node/28885 | New York Times
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CYBER SECURITY BROADBAND WORKSHOP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Jamie Barnett]
The recent Cyber Security Broadband Workshop was a fascinating discussion, featuring panelists from a diverse group of backgrounds and perspectives. We explored solutions and discussed many of the challenges that government and the private sector face in achieving cyber security as a matter of public safety and economic security. So much of our lives rely on the Internet and the need to secure our online infrastructure is critically important, so I want to highlight just a few take-aways from the workshop. The experts agree that cyber security is not a barrier to broadband deployment, but methods of prevention, detection and restoration must continually be developed. The public must have knowledge of what cyber attacks are and where they may come from and stay alert. We all must do our part. As technologies get more sophisticated, so do the threats.
benton.org/node/28884 | Federal Communications Commission
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WORKSHOP TO FOCUS ON BROADBAND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold a daylong staff workshop to further address broadband accessibility for people with disabilities as part of the development of a National Broadband Plan. The workshop will discuss accessibility and affordability barriers faced by people with disabilities, opportunities that broadband can present people with disabilities and policy recommendations to address these barriers and maximize opportunities.
benton.org/node/28883 | Federal Communications Commission
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FTTH DEPLOYMENT ASSESSMENT
[SOURCE: Fiber to the Home Council, AUTHOR: Thomas Navin]
The Fiber to the Home Council says that fiber to the home (FTTH) investment requirement estimates based on large-scale deployments and US averages place the cost to pass at ~$700 per household (HH) and cost to connect at an incremental ~$650 per subscriber HH. Investment requirements for FTTH have decreased substantially over the past few years and vary considerably depending on the topography being served. FTTH deployment investment requirements for rural areas are difficult to estimate due to variations in household distributions (clustering) within even the most sparsely populated areas. FTTH Council argues that the basis for universal broadband service should be US households not housing units. There are currently 18 million US households with FTTH availability, plus an additional 16.5 million forecasted by 2015 funded by private capital. All 34.5 million should be considered in estimates for universal availability requirements. Based on current FTTH build investment requirements (FiOS and rural providers), CSMG estimates that the average cost to pass and connect all but the 20% most expensive remaining non-FTTH households in 2015 is ~ $1,704 per HH. The incremental cost to connect will only be incurred for a subset of homes passed, reflecting FTTH service uptake levels. FTTH penetration short of 100% is recommended -- CSMG estimates 41.5% based on current benchmarks and forecasts. The cost to pass and connect the most rural areas
could be significantly higher than the cost of FTTH deployment in non-rural areas. Though future efficiencies in deployment practices and technology are expected to decrease the cost to connect each FTTH HH, these have not been factored into the estimation for investment required.
benton.org/node/28882 | Fiber-to-the-Home Council
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MASSACHUSETTS BLESSES 3 STIMULUS PROJECTS
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
The Massachusetts governor's office has endorsed three recipients to receive federal broadband stimulus funds. Though some of those efforts involve private partners, none of the three applications were filed by private companies. As part of the federal program, state governments make recommendations on favored stimulus applications. The Massachusetts governor picked proposals from the city of Boston to serve 117,000 homes there, one for a 581-mile fiber ring in Western Massachusetts planned by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (a unit of the MA Technology Collaborative that the governor created last year), and one for an open community fiber network in Cape Cod called OpenCape, formed by a group of local stakeholders that lobbied for the governor's support. Though none of those three applications were made by private companies, the private sector would participate to some degree. For example, RCN Metro Optical Networks is the primary partner in building and running OpenCape's network. And Richmond Networx (a subsidiary of Cornerstone Telephone) is seeking nearly $3.7 million to build a network management center for the Western MA fiber ring the state is proposing.
benton.org/node/28881 | TelephonyOnline
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS/JOURNALISM
BOUCHER IMPLORES MEDIA TO PRESS LEGISLATORS TO PASS FEDERAL SHIELD LAW
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) says the media need to press their legislators and try to get the ear of the president on the issue of a federal shield law that has gotten bogged down in the Senate. Speaking at a Media Institute Thursday, Chairman Boucher, a co-sponsor of the House version of the bill, said he was disappointed in the president's stand on what he indicated was a key element in the Free Flow of Information Act, which provides a limited protection to journalists from being compelled to identify their sources. The Administration has problems with a provision of the bill that allows federal judges, in cases where the government claims an exemption, to decide whether the public's interest requires disclosure of that source or whether the source should be kept confidential to promote the free flow of information to the public. "Who better to decide that than federal judges," he said, pointing out that the issue was not even debated in the House. Chairman Boucher said he "strongly believed" in that balancing test in every instance of a claimed exemption--for things like avoiding bodily harm of protecting national security.
benton.org/node/28880 | Broadcasting&Cable
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FREEDOM OF THE PRESS OUGHT TO BELONG TO ALL ... NOT JUST APPROVED 'JOURNALISTS'
[SOURCE: Online Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Robert Niles]
[Commentary] Can you do journalism and not be a "journalist"? Do people declared "journalists" get special speech and press rights that other American citizens do not enjoy? Can anyone enjoy the right to free speech and free publication, even if that individual is not a full-time professional reporter? These are some of the important legal questions that American politicians and bureaucrats must confront now that the Internet has made possible for people other than employees of major media companies to reach large and widespread audiences. There ought to be no special class of citizen called a "journalist." Anyone who does journalism, even if for just a moment in their lives, ought to enjoy the protections of the First Amendment when they choose to speak or to publish. Otherwise, we are ceding to unelected corporate employers the power to determine who gets First Amendment rights, or not. Freedom of the press belongs to all Americans, and not just to the newspaper industry - despite what the FTC and the New York Times would have you believe.
benton.org/node/28879 | Online Journalism Review
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FAUX NEWS
[SOURCE: Center for American Progress, AUTHOR: Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Zaid Jilani]
[Commentary] While the Fox News cable channel infamously maintains that it is "fair and balanced," the fact is that the network often does little more than shovel out Republican Party talking points. For example, its "news" anchors regularly parrot the "where are the jobs?" mantra of the GOP. In July, House Republicans, one after another, took to the floor to engage in political theater by repeatedly asking that question. Numerous Fox hosts, especially America's Newsroom co-host Bill Hemmer, have echoed that talking point time and time again, failing to mention that they borrowed it from the GOP. Another example of the network aligning itself directly with the Republican agenda was its endless promotion of the conservative "tea party" demonstrations. The network even went as far as to "[provide] attendance and organizing information" for the right-wing demonstrations -- hardly the behavior of an objective network. As Comedy Central's Jon Stewart recently pointed out, the network gave wall-to-wall coverage of the anti-tax, anti-government demonstrations, yet completely ignored a similarly-sized demonstration in favor of gay rights. Indeed, Fox News chief executive Bill Shine has proudly boasted that his network aims to be "the voice of opposition."
benton.org/node/28878 | Center for American Progress
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LAWMAKERS CRITICIZE CHINA ON INTERNET, HUMAN RIGHTS POLICIES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Ian Swanson]
China has come under criticism for its human rights record from a commission of lawmakers and executive branch officials. The annual report from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China expresses deep concern about continued human rights abuses and stalled reforms in China. The report, released Friday, specifically criticized China's government for harassing Chinese citizens who asked the government to investigate the causes of a 2008 earthquake in Sichuan that killed tens of thousands. It also criticizes the government for discrediting the Dalai Lama and said repression increased in the Tibetan areas of China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The report also singles out for criticism China's efforts to control the Internet; Chinese officials blocked access to domestic and foreign websites based on their religious and political content. And the report scolded the government for its requirement, which was later withdrawn, that all computers in China be sold with pre-installed censorship software. The report suggests that Congress and the administration get input from government agencies, non-government organizations and private companies on best practices and possible legislation that would ensure U.S. companies promote free expression in China. Nine senators and nine House members from both parties sit on the commission. Executive branch commission officials have not been filled by the Obama administration.
benton.org/node/28877 | Hill, The
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A KEY TO GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Aneesh Chopra, Vivek Kundra]
[Commentary] When it comes to government performance and technology, Moore's Law has been tied down by Gordian knots. For too long, habit has outpaced innovation; government has settled for not just old over new but also complacency over efficiency. President Barack Obama took office with a commitment to break those knots, relying on innovation to make government perform better for the American people. In information technology specifically, one of the most promising areas is cloud computing, which uses the power of distributed, smartly integrated computers to accomplish complex tasks efficiently. Working together — across agencies, between branches of government, and through best-practice collaborations with the private sector — we can shape a federal government that is more accountable, more collaborative, and more consistent in its delivery of services. Across the government, the challenges grow tougher each day. It is time for the government to join the 21st century and be more agile and adaptive, more responsive and responsible.
benton.org/node/28876 | Hill, The
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TELEVISION
THE OTHER SIDE TO CC
[SOURCE: TV Technology, AUTHOR: Craig Johnston]
Video description and closed captioning are two sides of the same coin: descriptions providing blind and visually impaired television viewers an audio narrator's depiction of the video portion of a television program, captions providing deaf and hard of hearing viewers video text of what's spoken in the audio portion of a program. But there's a wide gulf between the presence of the two services in television programming today. By 1989, virtually the entire primetime schedule on the major broadcast networks was captioned, and today much of cable network fare and local news programs provide captions. Captions are viewed not just by those with hearing problems, but by people in sports bars, fitness clubs and other areas where a noisy environment makes it impossible to hear a program's audio. In contrast, a relative handful of programs in the multi-hundred channel universe provide video description service, among them Fox's "The Simpsons," CBS's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," an impressive portion of PBS's schedule, and some programs and movies on cable networks, particularly Nickelodeon and Turner Classic Movies. The reasons for the disparity in availability between the two services fall into the regulatory, cost, and technical categories. In the mid-1990s, the FCC began preparing timelines and requirements for both closed captions and video description. They adopted regulatory requirements for both, but while the closed caption provisions got a relatively free ride, the television and motion picture industries fought requirements for video descriptions in court in 2002, claiming the commission did not have authority to issue such requirements. The industry won and those regulations were tossed out. That legal rampart to the commission's requirements may be breached in the near future, as Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) has introduced H.R. 3101, the "Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009," which, if passed, provides the FCC the authority to issue video description requirements and instructs the commission to get after it.
benton.org/node/28875 | TVTechnology.com
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DTV CONVERTER BOX TEST PROGRAM -- RESULTS AND LESSONS LEARNED
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology has released a report on tests of digital-to-analog TV (DTV) converter boxes. The report describes methodologies, results and lessons learned in over 50,000 individual engineering tests that were performed on 136 DTV converter boxes that were submitted for certification as "coupon eligible" by various manufacturers in the period August 2007 to January 2009 and on 17 converter box samples that were purchased from retail outlets through February 2009. The tests were completed in March 2009. Most of the tests were performed for the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and served as one step in the NTIA's approval process of converter boxes under the Government's TV Converter Box Coupon Program and were intended to ensure that all of the boxes certified as coupon eligible passed NTIA's conservative performance specifications before going on the market. The report indicates that 116 of the 136 converter box models tested by the FCC Laboratory eventually passed all tests to satisfy the NTIA requirements and were offered to the public as coupon-eligible converter boxes. The report is intended to inform engineers involved in designing DTV receivers, TV broadcasters, measurement technicians, standards developers and the technical community of engineering data on the performance of the converter boxes and of functional and performance issues that might apply to other DTV receiver products as well.
benton.org/node/28874 | Federal Communications Commission
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POLICYMAKERS
THIERER NAMED PFF PRESIDENT
[SOURCE: Progress & Freedom Foundation, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Progress & Freedom Foundation announced that Adam Thierer, longtime PFF Senior Fellow and Director of PFF's Center for Digital Media Freedom, has been appointed president of the Foundation. He succeeds Ken Ferree, who will remain active as a Senior Fellow and as a member of PFF's Board of Directors. Thierer said he plans to push "forward with our vision of defending individual liberty, free markets, freedom of speech, and property rights." Thierer formally joined PFF in 2005 but has been involved with PFFs since its creation. In 1995, he was a co-author of PFF's first major book, The Telecom Revolution - An American Opportunity. He is the author or editor of seven books on, and regularly writes about content regulation and child safety, the regulation of mass media and network industries, Internet governance, intellectual property, and federalism in high-tech markets. Thierer earned his B.A. in journalism and political science at Indiana University, and his M.A. in international business management and trade theory at the University of Maryland.
benton.org/node/28873 | Progress & Freedom Foundation
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"I'm Chevy Chase... and you're not"