BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2013
Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy http://benton.org/calendar/2013-10-30/
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Spying Known at Top Levels, Officials Say
Europeans Shared Spy Data With US
Lawmakers propose USA Freedom Act to curb NSA’s powers
EU to DC: Friends 'do not spy on each other'
As It Denounces US Spying, Europe Delays Privacy Protection at Home
Here’s why the NSA should have asked for court approval before tracking cellphone users - analysis
The White House on Spying - editorial [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
Request for Comments on the Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework - public notice
President Obama holds cybersecurity huddle with CEOs
Cybersecurity Bills Pass House Homeland Security Committee
Security hole found in Obamacare website [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Media consolidation decimates KOMO 4 - editorial
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Eighteenth Quarterly Status Report to Congress Regarding BTOP - research
Comcast's ‘Internet Essentials’ Passes 1 Million Mark [links to web]
New Broadband Study Gives Inaccurate Picture of Telecom Performance - press release [links to web]
NAF’s Cost of Connectivity Report fails a fact check - analysis [links to web]
Qu’ils mangent de la brioche? - analysis [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
What’s in the FCC’s 700 MHz Interoperability Order? - analysis
Samsung is pulling another Amazon on Android, but this is even bigger
Sprint brings LTE to 45 more cities, continues slow rollout in NYC [links to web]
A Stanford startup’s Wi-Fi radio advancement could maximize wireless capacity [links to web]
CEA: Only Half of 3G/4G Tablet Owners Pay for a Data Plan [links to web]
Samsung wants your TV to talk to your fridge [links to web]
Spectrum auctions: Competitive opportunity or corporate welfare? - analysis
In Smartphone Sales, the Big Get Bigger [links to web]
CONTENT
Amazon rolls out Kindle MatchBook: About 75k print books bundled with discounted ebooks
ConnecTV app relaunches with a focus on video-sharing [links to web]
PRIVACY
Rep. Terry Defends US Data Economy as 'Gold' [links to web]
Facebook still asking for government IDs [links to web]
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
Obama’s Top Tech Official: Healthcare.Gov Is A ‘Teachable Moment’
Security hole found in Obamacare website [links to web]
Sec Sebelius: Blame Contractors For Obamacare Site [links to web]
The seven deadly sins of HealthCare.gov - analysis [links to web]
House GOP Watchdog Subpoenas Leader Of The Healthcare.Gov Fix [links to web]
Microsoft offered to help fix ObamaCare site [links to web]
One Federal Website That Works - op-ed [links to web]
Tech spending hurt this year by Congress [links to web]
Boosting Innovation by Rethinking Government Procurement [links to web]
Open Data Institute goes global, with nodes opening up across US and elsewhere [links to web]
Open Data Building a Stronger Economy - press release [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Comcast Is Better Prepared in Wake of Sandy's Wrath [links to web]
COMPUTING
For the Mac, like the PC, it's all downhill from here - analysis
ACCESSIBILITY
FCC Adopts New Rules to Make Video Devices Accessible to People with Disabilities - press release
JOURNALISM
Study attempts to define journalists -- should we define acts of journalism instead?
POLICYMAKERS
FCC Chairman Wheeler and Commissioner O’Rielly are Confirmed
Sen Cruz Lifts Hold on FCC Nominee Wheeler - press release [links to web]
FCC Announces the Reauthorization of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee and Seeks Nominations - public notice [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
Google banking on Android to help Google+ compete with Facebook [links to web]
Tribune Said to Seek $4.1 Billion of Loans for TV Station Deal [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
As It Denounces US Spying, Europe Delays Privacy Protection at Home
Argentina: Court Loss for Media Group
Greeks Question Media, and New Voices Pipe Up
Privacy Expert Group Report on the Review of the 1980 OECD Privacy Guidelines - research [links to web]
Chinese Companies Scale the Great Firewall to Build Brands on Facebook, Twitter [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
SPYING KNOWN AT TOP LEVELS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Mark Landler, Michael Schmidt]
James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, said that the White House had long been aware in general terms of the National Security Agency’s overseas eavesdropping, stoutly defending the agency’s intelligence-gathering methods and suggesting possible divisions within the Obama Administration. In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Clapper said that the NSA had kept senior officials in the National Security Council informed of surveillance it was conducting in foreign countries. He did not specifically say whether President Obama was told of these spying efforts, but he appeared to challenge assertions in recent days that the White House had been in the dark about some of the agency’s practices. Clapper and the agency’s director, Gen. Keith B. Alexander, vigorously rejected suggestions that the agency was a rogue institution, trawling for information on ordinary citizens and leaders of America’s closest allies, without the knowledge of its Washington overseers.
benton.org/node/165271 | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
EUROPE SHARED SPY DATA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Adam Entous, Siobhan Gorman]
Millions of phone records at the center of a firestorm in Europe over spying by the National Security Agency were secretly supplied to the US by European intelligence services -- not collected by the NSA, upending a furor that cast a pall over trans-Atlantic relations. The revelations suggest a greater level of European involvement in global surveillance, in conjunction at times with the NSA. The disclosures also put European leaders who loudly protested reports of the NSA's spying in a difficult spot, showing how their spy agencies aided the Americans. The phone records collected by the Europeans -- in war zones and other areas outside their borders -- were shared with the NSA as part of efforts to help protect American and allied troops and civilians, US officials said.
benton.org/node/165269 | Wall Street Journal | FT | LA Times | Christian Science Monitor
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
LAWMAKERS PROPOSE USA FREEDOM ACT TO CURB NSA’S POWERS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Dozens of lawmakers from both parties introduced legislation to rein in the National Security Agency's spying powers. The USA Freedom Act, which has 16 co-sponsors in the Senate and more than 70 in the House, would end the agency's massive phone record collection program -- one of the most controversial revelations from the leaks by Edward Snowden. The bill was authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI), the original author of the Patriot Act in 2001. In addition to ending the bulk phone record collection, the USA Freedom Act would strengthen prohibitions against targeting the communications of Americans and would require the government to more aggressively delete information accidentally collected on Americans. The bill would also require the attorney general to disclose significant court decisions related to an interpretation of law. Companies like Google, Microsoft and Facebook would be able to reveal more statistics about the information they turn over to the government.
Civil liberties groups cheered the introduction of the USA Freedom Act, saying it would help end the NSA's privacy violations. And, while the National Rifle Association, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Constitution Project and other groups have also endorsed the bill, it is expected to face fierce opposition from the NSA's supporters in Congress, led by the top lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence committees.
benton.org/node/165253 | Hill, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
EU TO DC: FRIENDS 'DO NOT SPY ON EACH OTHER'
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm, Erin Mershon]
European regulators stormed into Washington furious that the National Security Agency had spied on world leaders and determined to enact strict new privacy rules that US officials and businesses have long tried to tamp down. Seizing on reports that the US government had monitored the communications of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for years, Viviane Reding, a European Commission vice president, offered a strong rebuke: “Friends and partners do not spy on each other.” She said the NSA leaks “and the damage this has caused brought a renewed attention” to commercial privacy, and urged the White House and Congress to deliver both surveillance reforms and new, broader protections for consumers’ online data. Jan Philipp Albrecht, a European parliamentarian who has worked extensively on EU data protection, took specific aim at the Safe Harbor program, which allows US companies to certify they meet principles deemed adequate under the EU’s data protection rules. The Federal Trade Commission enforces the program. At a consumer protection conference, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said Europe’s privacy proposal had “positive” elements but still threatened the Safe Harbor agreement. Tech companies see the agreement as critical to preserving their ability to transmit data across borders at a time when both sides of the Atlantic have their own, distinct privacy regulations.
benton.org/node/165235 | Politico
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
HERE’S WHY THE NSA SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR COURT APPROVAL BEFORE TRACKING CELLPHONE USERS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
Newly declassified National Security Agency documents reveal that the agency didn't ask for court approval before collecting the location data of some cellphone users. That's a problem because location data is far more personal and revealing than other forms of "metadata" that the courts have held the government can access without court approval. An April 1, 2011 memo to a member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee from an attorney with the NSA's Office of General Counsel states that the Department of Justice advised the agency that collecting cell site location data for testing was fine under the current order. But NSA didn't ask for specific sign-off from the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court (FISC), the secret court that oversees the spy agency's programs. Instead, the memo notes that the NSA believes that Justice "orally advised" the court that the NSA was collecting location data sets for test purposes. Based on the memo’s account, it appears that the FISC did not issue a specific opinion explicitly authorizing the collection of cellphone site location data -- instead, they relied on Justice's legal interpretation of the existing metadata order, likely similar to the Verizon order revealed in June 2013. But Amie Stepanovich, the director of the Domestic Surveillance Project at the Electronic Information Privacy Center believes that bypassing FISC approval for the collection of location data is a troubling practice. "By leaving the FISC out of the decision process," she argues, "the NSA is evincing a wanton disregard for meaningful oversight and for the sensitivity of the information at issue."
benton.org/node/165255 | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
CYBERSECURITY
REQUEST FOR COMMENTS ON THE PRELIMINARY CYBERSECURITY FRAMEWORK
[SOURCE: National Institute of Standards and Technology, AUTHOR: Patrick Gallagher]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks comments on the preliminary version of the cybersecurity framework. This preliminary framework was developed by NIST using information collected through the Request for Information (RFI) that was published in the Federal Register on February 26, 2013, and a series of open public workshops. The preliminary framework was developed in response to NIST responsibilities directed in Executive Order 13636, ‘‘Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity.” Under this executive order, the Secretary of Commerce is tasked to direct the Director of NIST to lead the development of a framework to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure. This cybersecurity framework will consist of standards, methodologies, procedures and processes that align policy, business, and technological approaches to address cyber risks. Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time December 13, 2013.
benton.org/node/165118 | National Institute of Standards and Technology
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
OBAMA HOLDS CYBER HUDDLE WITH CEOS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
President Barack Obama huddled with the chief executives of Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America and other top companies in a renewed bid to sell businesses on voluntary improvements to their digital defenses. The meeting, held in the Situation Room, occurred as the Obama Administration continued working alongside Wall Street and the nation’s top power plants, water systems and other forms of critical infrastructure on baseline cybersecurity standards -- a program President Obama authorized through an executive order signed in February 2013 after Congress failed repeatedly to pass a law. The new White House program, however, is voluntary by nature, and its success or failure depends on businesses’ confidence in the final cybersecurity standards the administration produces. Work is far from finished, but President Obama himself certainly has become its early salesman in chief. The President specifically tasked the National Institutes of Standards and Technology with developing a so-called Cybersecurity Framework, a draft unveiled by NIST. Those standards won’t be finalized until 2014, at which point the Department of Homeland Security will turn them into a voluntary program. Already, though, President Obama is trying to make the pitch to businesses. Republicans argued that the Democrats' cybersecurity bill would have imposed burdensome regulations on critical infrastructure companies, but Democrats worry that without mandatory regulations -- or at least strong incentives -- critical computer systems will be vulnerable to attack.
benton.org/node/165233 | Politico | White House | The Hill
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
CYBERSECURITY BILLS PASS HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The House Homeland Security Committee amended and approved two cybersecurity bills aimed at 1) boosting government cybersecurity research and development in cooperation with industry and 2) ensuring there is a skilled work force to implement protections of critical infrastructure. The R&D bill would encourage the development of new infrastructure protection technologies and insure information is shared between government and the private sector. Both the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement Act of 2013 (HR 2952) and the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (HR 3107) passed on voice votes, but not without some amendments, and other amendments withdrawn on the promise that there would be further discussion and possible tweaking before a House floor vote. In the executive session marking up the bills, the R&D bill was amended to require the Department of Homeland Security to look beyond traditional terrorist cyberattacks to the broader question of the impact of natural disasters on the security of critical infrastructure.
benton.org/node/165246 | Multichannel News
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
OWNERSHIP
MEDIA CONSOLIDATION DECIMATES KOMO 4
[SOURCE: Seattle Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Seattle loses strong, local journalism every time the Federal Communications Commission fails to stop media consolidation. Corporations such as Sinclair Broadcast Group and Gannett are amassing news stations at an alarming rate, including multiple broadcast licenses in the same market -- a violation of FCC rules designed to preserve competition, localism and diverse viewpoints. The effect on Seattle viewers is eerie. Sinclair reportedly laid off nearly 20 employees after taking over Fisher Communications’ flagship station KOMO 4 in August. Another round of pink slips followed at Portland’s KATU. Decimating the soul of this city’s last locally-owned commercial TV station is a heck of an introduction. Those editors, satellite-truck operators, writers and producers are vital to keeping our community informed via the people’s airwaves, which stations are entrusted with to balance profit and public interest. Without FCC intervention, expect further consolidation, job losses and a drop in local content. Seattle will suffer.
benton.org/node/165223 | Seattle Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
INTERNET/BROADBAND
LATEST BTOP REPORT
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: ]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) provides this Quarterly Report on the status of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP or Program). This Report focuses on the Program’s activities from April 1 to June 30, 2013. In 2009 and 2010, NTIA invested approximately $4 billion in 233 BTOP projects benefitting every state, as well as five territories and the District of Columbia. As of June 30, 2013, 163 projects remained in active status, and 61 projects had completed their project activities. This Quarterly Report focuses on four areas of Program implementation and project oversight:
Status and progress of broadband projects and Program expenditures. From April through June 2013, NTIA’s broadband grant recipients continued to make strong progress toward meeting or exceeding the Program’s FY13 goals in areas such as building or expanding fiber-optic networks, opening new PCCs, training to drive broadband adoption, and adding new broadband subscribers. This quarter, grant recipients deployed more than 12,200 network miles, bringing the total number of miles to more than 105,000 and exceeding the FY13 goal. This quarter, grant recipients have connected more than 3,600 community anchor institutions, which is an increase of 26 percent from last quarter and brings the total number of institutions connected to more than 17,000 across 44 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia. Through June 2013, 65 BTOP grant recipients have installed more than 44,000 new workstations, exceeding the FY13 goal, in Public Computer Centers (PCCs) across 38 states, one territory, and the District of Columbia. Grant recipients installing workstations also continue to develop and implement training programs and educational courses. During the quarter, PCCs provided 1.5 million hours of training to 350,000 users. Through June 2013, Sustainable Broadband Adoption (SBA) grant recipients have reported more than 613,000 households and 5,000 businesses subscribed to broadband services, exceeding the FY 13 goal. Many of the individuals received digital literacy training through local educational institutions. During the third quarter of FY13, grant recipients spent more than $229 million in federal grant funds. These funds were matched by grant recipient contributions of more than $55 million. Cumulatively, federal outlays for the Program totaled $3 billion through June 30, 2013, representing 80 percent of total obligated federal funds, while total grant recipient matching contributions exceeded $1.1 billion.
Supporting initiatives, including the State Broadband Initiative (SBI) mapping and capacity-building efforts. ASR Analytics has been developing reports from the visits to 15 PCC and SBA sites and began site visits for 12 infrastructure grant recipients
Monitoring, grants administration, and closeout efforts for broadband projects and the results of those efforts.
Program communications supporting outreach with and among BTOP stakeholders.
benton.org/node/165217 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
FCC’S INTEROPERABILITY ORDER
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
On October 25, the Federal Communications Commission adopted an order that aims to bring a higher level of interoperability in the lower 700 MHz spectrum band – although it could take at least two to three years for key aspects of the order to be implemented. The new order provides additional details about the lower 700 MHz interoperability commitments that AT&T made last month. Those commitments were made in response to complaints from smaller wireless carriers with A-block licenses. The FCC order attempts to address the small carrier concerns by specifying that:
AT&T will modify its network so that it can accept Band 12 devices as well as current AT&T devices by September 30, 2015.
Between September 30, 2015 and September 30, 2016, 50% of all new AT&T devices will be Band 12-capable.
Between September 30, 2016 and September 30, 2017, 75% of new AT&T devices will be Band 12-capable.
Beginning September 30, 2017, all new AT&T devices will be Band 12-capable.
The FCC rejected AT&T’s concerns about Channel 51 interference with the B- and C-blocks.
Interim and final build-out deadlines for A-block and B-block licensees are extended by two years, with construction to be completed by December 13, 2016.
There is an exception to the above for A-block licensees whose coverage areas have a certain amount of overlap with Channel 51 broadcast markets. These licensees are exempt from the interim build-out deadline but also must meet the December 13, 2016 build-out deadline. The FCC notes that broadcasters using Channel 51 are expected to either relinquish spectrum or to get a new channel assignment in the upcoming voluntary auction of TV broadcast spectrum.
benton.org/node/165215 | telecompetitor
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
SAMSUNG IS PULLING ANOTHER AMAZON ON ANDROID, BUT THIS IS EVEN BIGGER
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Tofel]
As much as Google likes and touts that Android is open, that freedom may come with the cost of some control over the platform. Amazon may have started the first truly successful “fork” of Android, but Samsung is going after the whole place setting. At this point, Samsung is taking advantage of its dominant position as the Android device leader to become the “de facto” Android phone and crush any remaining competition. Samsung has built its mobile business on Android and can now push forward with less “help” from Google. As long as Samsung remains a helpful partner in the Android ecosystem and properly licenses Google apps and services for devices, it’s not as if Google can wrest Android away from Samsung. Samsung has clearly become successful and profitable by pushing Android devices as well as adding its own add-on features and functions. “The new [Mobile] SDK … will make it possible to press a button on your phone to launch an online video stream, or even a game, on your TV. Sound familiar? That’s not really a coincidence -- but Samsung thinks that it can one-up its competition,” said GigaOm’s Janko Roettgers.
benton.org/node/165134 | GigaOm
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
SPECTRUM AUCTIONS: COMPETITIVE OPPORTUNITY OR CORPORATE WELFARE?
[SOURCE: American Enterprise Institute, AUTHOR: Babette Boliek]
[Commentary] Two recent articles discuss the state of competition in the wireless industry. The first discussed the better-than-expected revenue gains of T-Mobile USA that were based on the firm’s increase in contract subscribers -- the Holy Grail for corporate growth. The second article examines the upcoming spectrum auction and its potential impact on the mobile industry. Most interestingly, it speaks extensively of the need to use the upcoming spectrum auctions to bolster the market position of both T-Mobile and Sprint and protect these companies from their competitors (Verizon and AT&T). The juxtaposition of an article marking the competitive growth of T-Mobile against an article that sees a need to dole out government corporate welfare to T-Mobile seems rather odd, to say the least.
benton.org/node/165126 | American Enterprise Institute
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
CONTENT
AMAZON ROLLS OUT KINDLE MATCHBOOK: ABOUT 75K PRINT BOOKS BUNDLED WITH DISCOUNTED EBOOKS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Laura Hazard Owen]
Amazon officially launched Kindle MatchBook, its previously announced program that lets publishers and authors bundle print books with discounted digital editions. A little under 75,000 titles are included so far -- up from the 10,000 announced in September. Readers who bought the included titles in print will have the option to buy the Kindle version for $2.99 or less. Amazon’s release lists some of the “major publishers” making at least a few titles available for the program: “HarperCollins, Macmillan, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Amazon Publishing, Wiley, Chronicle Books, and Marvel,” along with “thousands” of titles by self-published authors. Most of the “major publishers” Amazon cites in its release are making very few titles available to the program. A notable exception is HarperCollins, which is including over 9,000 titles in the program. Just nine of those were published in the last 90 days, suggesting this is largely a play to spur ebook sales of older titles.
benton.org/node/165153 | GigaOm
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
OBAMA’S TOP TECH OFFICIAL: HEALTHCARE.GOV IS A ‘TEACHABLE MOMENT’
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Katherine McIntire Peters]
In his first public remarks in seven months, Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel told an audience dominated by information technology contractors that the debacle surrounding the Obama administration’s online health insurance exchange represents “a teachable moment for government.” He said the Administration should be applauded for its boldness in creating the health exchanges. He offered no explanation for why the Administration failed to adequately test the website, HealthCare.gov, prior to launching it Oct. 1, 2013, nor did he take questions from the audience.
benton.org/node/165146 | nextgov
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
COMPUTING
FOR THE MAC, LIKE THE PC, IT'S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Galen Gruman]
For the last five years, Mac sales have grown faster than PC sales, and even as PC sales declined in the last several years, Mac sales kept growing. They reached between 10.5 and 11.8 percent of US PC sales in 2012, depending on whether you believe IDC or Gartner. That's the highest proportion Apple's Mac has achieved for several decades and a remarkable return from its death's-door days in the late 1990s. But something flipped this time around: Apple reported that Mac profits are down 7 percent versus 2012. Mac sales slid 11.2 percent and PC sales were flat (if you believe IDC) or Mac sales dropped 2.3 percent as PC sales rose 3.5 percent (if you believe Gartner). Either way, Macs are no longer growing faster than PCs, and, in fact, PCs are now outpacing Macs. iPad sales are leveling off -- a large percentage of homes have at least one, and cheap Android tablets are filling the same demand for lower-income households and countries. Tablet sales to businesses have also flattened, notes 451 Research analyst Chris Hazelton, now that those business users that benefit from using iPads have them. Meanwhile, PC sales appear to be up mainly due to business sales, a consequence of all those PCs running Windows XP finally being converted to Windows 7, which often means getting a new PC. What we're seeing in the Windows world is what Wall Street calls a dead-cat bounce, not a revitalization of the PC market.
benton.org/node/165150 | IDG News Service | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
ACCESSIBILITY
FCC ADOPTS NEW RULES TO MAKE VIDEO DEVICES ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission today adopted rules that will enable people who are blind or visually impaired to have easier access to digital video programming on a wide range of electronic devices. The rules will also enable consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing to activate closed captioning on their devices with greater ease. The Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking implements Sections 204 and
205 of the CVAA. Its provisions include flexibility for small entities through extended compliance deadlines, outreach requirements to inform the public about the availability of accessibility options, and a procedure for complaints. The Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on a number of areas where the current record is insufficient.
benton.org/node/165219 | Federal Communications Commission
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
JOURNALISM
STUDY ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE JOURNALISTS -- SHOULD WE DEFINE ACTS OF JOURNALISM INSTEAD?
[SOURCE: Poynter, AUTHOR: Andrew Beaujon]
Media lawyer and University of Dayton assistant professor Jonathan Peters and Edson C. Tandoc Jr. of the Missouri School of Journalism tried to answer the question “Who is a journalist?” through a new study. They consulted three “domains” -- academic, legal, industry -- for commonalities in definitions of journalism, among them federal laws about professions, state shield laws and the criteria of journalism organizations. Here’s the definition they came up with: “A journalist is someone employed to regularly engage in gathering, processing, and disseminating news and information to serve the public interest.”
benton.org/node/165132 | Poynter
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
POLICYMAKERS
FCC CONFIRMATIONS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Edward Wyatt]
The Senate voted unanimously to confirm President Obama’s two nominations to the Federal Communications Commission, overcoming obstacles by Republican lawmakers. Tom Wheeler was confirmed as Chairman along with Michael O’Rielly as a commissioner, filling the two FCC seats that have been empty since the previous chairman and a Republican member announced their resignations in March. The vote came after Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) lifted a hold earlier in the day on the nomination of Tom Wheeler as chairman, with Sen Cruz saying he had received assurances from him that the commission would not immediately pursue changes for political advertising on television. Sen Cruz had blocked consideration of Wheeler’s nomination two weeks ago, saying he was worried that Wheeler would push the FCC to expand disclosure requirements for political advertisements on television. Sen Cruz said Wheeler had “stated that he had heard the unambiguous message” that Congress, rather than the FCC, should decide on requiring full disclosure in political advertising. The confirmations of Chairman Wheeler and Commissioner O’Rielly bring the agency back to its full strength of five commissioners -- three of them Democrats and two Republicans -- and will allow the FCC to get to work on several pressing issues that have not moved forward since the former chairman, Julius Genachowski, announced his resignation in March. Those issues include the structuring of so-called spectrum incentive auctions, in which the commission would sell licenses to mobile phone and broadband companies allowing them to use newly available bands of the public airwaves to transmit phone and data traffic.
benton.org/node/165265 | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
STORIES FROM ABROAD
EUROPE DELAYS PRIVACY PROTECTIONS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Higgins, James Kanter]
Even with Europe in an uproar over intrusive United States surveillance, its leaders are looking for ways to slow down legislation aimed at preventing violations of privacy at home. Two days after Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany telephoned President Obama to complain about the monitoring of her cellphone by the United States, she joined fellow European leaders at a summit meeting in Brussels last week in agreeing not to rush into a new data privacy law, perhaps putting it off until 2015, after elections next May for a new European Parliament. Kicking decisions into the future is a permanent feature of Europe’s cumbersome decision-making process. But Germany’s acquiescence in a British-led effort to freeze the privacy measures highlighted what appear to be contradictions between the verbal support for privacy among European leaders and their own policy decisions.
benton.org/node/165267 | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
ARGENTINA: COURT LOSS FOR MEDIA GROUP
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jonathan Gilbert]
After four years of combat between the government and Argentina’s biggest media conglomerate, the Clarín group, Supreme Court judges declared constitutional a law that forces media companies to shrink their broadcast divisions. The ruling concluded that the law “favors freedom of speech by limiting market concentration.”
benton.org/node/165257 | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
GREEK MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Rachel Donadio]
Late on a recent evening, crowds gathered at the Radio Bubble cafe in downtown Athens, drinking beer and talking politics. The cafe, in the trendy yet rough-around-the-edges Exarchia neighborhood, funds a small leftist online radio station of the same name, which broadcasts from inside. At the sidewalk tables outside, where guests smoked hand-rolled cigarettes, the conversation inevitably turned to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s unilateral decision in June to shut down the state broadcaster, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, known as ERT, overnight, turning an institution once seen as a bastion of patronage hires into a veritable martyr to press freedom. “When a war begins, they send an army to protect public TV,” said Apostolis Kaparoudakis, who was a founder of Radio Bubble in 2007. “Here they sent it to close it down.” Kaparoudakis said he had started Radio Bubble to play good music, “which is a political act,” but also as a challenge to the mainstream news media in Greece, almost all of which is owned by the country’s business elite, who often dictate the editorial line.
benton.org/node/165259 | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top