September 17, 2010 (Universal Service Reform Act; Competition in the Digital Marketplace)

NEWS FROM THE HILL

HEARING RECAP
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
On Sept 16, the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet held a legislative hearing on H.R. 5828, the "Universal Service Reform Act of 2010", a bill sponsored by subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA). There's a consensus in Washington that the multibillion dollar annual fund needs reform, but rather than fully overhaul the program, the bill targets the high cost fund, the method of fund collection and the inclusion of funds for the support of broadband.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said he had some concerns about costs, and just what some of the savings might be from proposed changes in the bill. He was also concerned about some of the broad waivers in the bill and their impact on the goal of deployment of broadband to "all Americans".
Addressing the former concern, Chairman Boucher asked Kathleen Grillo, senior VP of Verizon, what she estimated the savings to the fund would be from the bill's provision requiring competitive bidding for wireless carrier support. She said anywhere from $200 million to $500 million. "That is pretty substantial savings," said Boucher. He also pointed to the bill's cutting off of funds to voice-based wireline phone service in areas with competition and looking at net revenues from all supported services when determining the level of support as ways to keep costs down.
Walter McCormick, president and CEO of USTelecom, told the panel that his organization endorsed the legislation. "By addressing intercarrier compensation as well as universal service, the bill takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the financial fundamentals that will help spur private investment in broadband facilities," he said. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Verizon, and Qwest Corporation also expressed support for the bill.
Most of the criticism of the bill came from committee Republicans concerned about the lack of a cap on the fund or a way to offset potential increase, led by ranking member Cliff Stearns (R-FL). Rep Stearns cited the FCC's input that the fund could increase without a cap, and said the bill should not proceed without "strong statutory assurances" that that was going to happen.
benton.org/node/42159 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | TechDailyDose | BroadbandBreakfast.com | B&C
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COMPETITION IN THE DIGITAL MARKETPLACE
[SOURCE: House Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy]
The House Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy held a hearing Sept 16 on competition in the digital marketplace. In his opening remarks, Subcommittee Chairman Hank Johnson (D-GA) urged that the hearing not become "a forum for Google-bashing." No such luck.
Richard Feinstein, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition, explained how it protects consumers by applying well-established principles of competition to fast-changing technology markets. His testimony focused on two recent FTC matters to illustrate the agency's flexibility in investigating and bringing enforcement actions in high-tech markets. Last year, the FTC charged Intel Corporation with using unfair methods of competition dating back to 1999 to stifle competition. The agency recently reached a settlement with the company that will help restore lost competition and prevent Intel from suppressing competition in the future, while allowing the company to compete aggressively. Also last year, the FTC investigated Google's proposed acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob and ultimately decided not to oppose the transaction. The Commission initially had concerns that the loss of head-to-head competition between the two leading mobile advertising networks would harm competition. However, Apple's acquisition of the third-largest mobile ad network, Quattro, and the introduction of its own mobile advertising network, iAd, indicated that Apple would quickly become a strong player in the mobile advertising market. The investigation provided an example of how the agency addresses rapidly changing technology markets, in which there is sometimes a short track record of past competition and great uncertainty about the future path of the market.
Perennial Google critic Scott Cleland, who submitted a 40-page testimony to the committee, bemoaned what he labeled the "Google-opoly" and argued that "Google is a vastly more-serious antitrust threat than Microsoft ever was." He called for Google to be "prosecuted."
Morgan Reed, executive director of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), a lobby for software developers, expressed concern about Google's acquisition of ITA, a travel software company. The deal is under Justice Department review.
Ed Black of CCIA, an association that includes Google, refuted Cleland's point about the company burying the competition in its rankings. He said he went onto Google on Wednesday and searched for "mapping directions" and the top result was not Google. He characterized the online market for content and applications online as highly competitive. "Barriers to entry ... just aren't there," he said, noting that Facebook has surpassed Google in "time spent" domestically. In fact, the tenor of Cleland's Google concerns may be singular to him, Black suggested.
benton.org/node/42141 | House Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy | FTC | The Hill | TechDailyDose
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

NEW BTOP AWARDS
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced two American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments, totaling $6.1 million in grants, to help bridge the technological divide, improve education, and increase access to legal services in North Carolina and Washington.
North Carolina Central University's School of Law will receive a nearly $2 million grant to upgrade broadband service while expanding access to its legal education programs. The project will use videoconferencing to bring low-income residents greater access to legal services and extend classes to four partner Historically Black Colleges and Universities and 22 legal assistance sites. The project also plans to hold legal writing seminars for undergraduates to better prepare them for law school and increase minority representation in the legal profession, as well as to provide legal classes geared towards middle and high school students.
The Puget Sound Center Foundation for Teaching, Learning, and Technology will receive a $4.1 million grant to expand or upgrade 39 public computer centers in Washington State. This includes partnering with the Northwest Justice Project, Washington's publicly funded legal aid program, to establish public computer centers in five rural courts, including the Kalispel tribal court, where the public can access online legal resources and other services. The project also plans enhanced training offerings for economically vulnerable populations, including courses addressing GED test preparation, digital literacy, job searches, and financial education.
benton.org/node/42132 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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TIA LOBBYING AGAINST RECLASSIFICATION
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
Board members of the Telecommunications Industry Association gathered in Washington Sept 16 to discuss their policy agenda and one of their top priorities will be persuading policymakers to develop an alternative to the Federal Communications Commission proposal that would reclassify some aspects of broadband as a telecommunications service. Reclassification of broadband is "not a good solution for our industry and for our future" TIA President Grant Seiffert said. "We're hopeful that Congress can come up with a very direct targeted solution in the next couple of weeks." TIA Chairman Shawn Osborne, president of the tech company Ulticom, said reclassification "could hinder supplier investment, innovation, and then ultimately jobs in our country." TIA represents telecom suppliers and vendors including Apple, Tyco Electronics, Qualcomm and others
benton.org/node/42139 | CongressDaily
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PIGEONS WIN AGAIN
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Trefor Davies isn't disguising the fact that the carrier pigeons—named Rory and Tref—are anything more than a rank publicity stunt. Not only that, but it's a derivative publicity stunt, having already been run once in South Africa. But that's fine, because it nicely illustrates Davies' complaints about the state of rural broadband in the UK. The idea was simple enough: Rory and Tref would be tagged with RFID chips, fitted with microSD memory cards containing several hundred megabytes of video, then released from a Yorkshire farm. The pigeons would fly about 60 miles with the memory cards, while the farm's Internet connection would be used to upload the same video to YouTube. Would the pigeons carry their data back to their loft before the farmer could upload the clip? The stunt was designed to have the pigeons win, of course, just as it was in South Africa. On his personal website, Davies said this week that he was "expecting a convincing avian victory." Davies isn't just a concerned citizen; he's also the chief technical officer of a UK ISP called Timico, and he's upset about the state of UK broadband outside of urban areas, especially when it comes to upload speeds. He told the BBC today that "the farm we are using has a connection of around 100 to 200 Kbps (kilobits per second)... The kids need to do school work and the farmer has to submit online forms but the connection is not fit for purpose." The test doesn't show much -- why not have the pigeons fly to YouTube's servers for a more accurate comparison? -- but pedantic questioning misses the point, which is clearly that slow upload speeds can easily keep people from anything like full participation in online social life and that rural users are on the wrong side of a digital divide. The pigeons won, of course.
benton.org/node/42140 | Ars Technica | BBC
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SUPPORT FOR DARK FIBER
[SOURCE: National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, AUTHOR: ]
Representatives of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors met with Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn's staff to discuss support for the FCC proposal to allow E-Rate funding to be used to lease dark fiber from any source, including municipalities. NATOA, the National Association of Counties, and the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative believe that this proposal would be in the public interest and would aid schools and libraries in obtaining the most economically efficient access to broadband that would presumably be prioritized under the revised E-Rate program. The groups asked that the FCC move forward with its proposal to make the leasing of dark fiber from any source eligible for E-Rate funding. In addition, the Commission should go further and make the leasing of lit fiber from local anchor institution networks eligible for E-Rate funding, as well. The best way to maximize the benefits of the E-Rate program and provide the most efficient use of funds is to provide schools and libraries with as many options as possible so that they can choose the broadband source that will best suit their needs and budgets.
benton.org/node/42131 | National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
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DOES RECLASSIFICATION DEMAND AN NPRM?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The American Cable Association, which lobbies for small cable operators, told the Federal Communications Commission that aside from the policy problems in reclassifying broadband transmissions as a Title II common carrier service, it would be violating the law to do so, at least as presently proposed. Because the FCC is changing the classification of a service under an existing rule, and not changing the rule, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and General Counsel Austin Schlick have argued that it can be done in a declaratory ruling rather than through the rulemaking process. But ACA has argued, as its representatives did most recently in a meeting with Schlick and other FCC attorneys according to a copy of the ex parte disclosure, that Title II would impose new regulatory burdens and paperwork requirements on its small and medium-sized cable/telco operator constituency. "[T]he Commission cannot lawfully proceed directly from the NOI to a declaratory ruling that alters the status quo by imposing new regulatory and legal obligations on providers. Rather, the Commission must first issue a notice of proposed rulemaking and publish that notice in the Federal Register, two steps that the Commission has failed to take in this case." Otherwise, says ACA, the FCC would be violating the Administrative Procedures Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
benton.org/node/42164 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CYBERSECURITY STRATEGY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
More than a year after President Obama made a White House speech proclaiming the protection of computer networks a national priority, the federal government is still grappling with key questions about how to secure its computer systems as well as private networks deemed critical to U.S. security. The administration unveiled a cyberspace policy review last year, and Obama appointed a White House cyber coordinator in December to synchronize the government's efforts. But the administration is still debating whether it needs new legal authorities - to strengthen the government's ability to defend private-sector networks, for example - or whether current law allows such actions. Meanwhile, critics say officials have not adequately assuaged privacy concerns or determined the extent to which the government should regulate or collaborate with the private sector to ensure that telecommunications companies, electric utilities and other critical industries are protected against hackers. Congress, meanwhile, has crafted dozens of bills with varying prescriptions to improve the country's cyber security - including one that would place new security requirements, enforceable by the federal government, on certain elements of critical private-sector networks - but the White House has yet to weigh in with a position on any of them.
benton.org/node/42166 | Washington Post
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

LTE WILL MEAN MORE BANDWIDTH DEMAND
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
According to a new report from research firm In-Stat, mobile carriers are going to spend nearly $117 billion by 2014 (up 41 percent from 2009 spend of $83 billion) on "last mile backhaul (including line leasing, new equipment-spending, and spectrum acquisitions.)" Much of the spending is going to happen by running fiber to the base-stations, especially in the U.S., but microwave is going to see a big jump as well. In-Stat data projects that the sales of "millimeter microwave radios will grow from $159 million in 2009 to $874 million in 2014." According to wireless analyst, Chetan Sharma, during the first half of 2010, the average U.S. consumer was consuming 230 MB/month, up nearly 50 percent from the average data consumed in 2009. With nearly 31 percent of U.S. customers using smartphones, the demand for data is going to keep rising, so much so that in March 2010, data surpassed voice traffic on the mobile networks. In August, Ericsson noted that mobile data grew 10 times faster than voice, and while mobile broadband accounts for only 10 percent of total mobile subscriptions, it's growing at a rapid clip: about 225,000 terabytes per month.
benton.org/node/42137 | GigaOm
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CELL PHONE ONLY HOUSEHOLDS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Erik Sass]
Keeping pace with the changing communication habits of younger consumers, earlier this year Scarborough Research completed the first wave of its surveys of cell phone-only (CPO) households, a new regular service offered as part of its selected local market studies. This week, the company released its first findings from analysis of the CPO data, showing that CPO households tend to be younger and more diverse than landline households. As expected, CPO households are markedly younger, according to Scarborough, which found that 50% of CPO respondents fall between the ages of 18 and 34 -- over three times the proportion of this age cohort in landline surveys. CPO households also showed a larger proportion of ethnic minorities, with incidences of African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians in these households, ranging from 20% to 50% higher than landline households
benton.org/node/42134 | MediaPost
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LABOR

TECH PROBE NEARS END
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Catan, Brent Kendall]
Several of the US's largest technology companies are in advanced talks with the Justice Department to avoid a court battle over whether they colluded to hold down wages by agreeing not to poach each other's employees. The companies, which include Google, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Intuit and Walt Disney unit Pixar Animation, are in the final stages of negotiations with the government, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are still fluid, these people said, with some companies more willing to settle to avoid an antitrust case than others. If negotiations falter, both sides could be headed for a defining court battle that could help decide the legality of such arrangements throughout the U.S. economy. Still, there are powerful incentives for both sides to settle the potential civil case before it reaches that stage. The Justice Department would have to convince a court not just that such accords existed, but that workers had suffered significant harm as a result.
benton.org/node/42169 | Wall Street Journal
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MMTC SEEKS LABOR DATA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
With broadband dominating the media conversation these days, the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council (MMTC) wants the government to give up employment data for top Silicon Valley companies including Google, Yahoo! and Apple. In a letter to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis dated Sept. 17, MMTC asked the department to reverse its denial of a FOIA request by the San Jose Mercury News for access to information on the employment composition of the above three, plus Oracle and Applied Materials. Those companies argued that race and gender information was a trade secret, according to reporter Mike Swift, and that it would casue "commercial harm" for Labor to release it. Labor denied the FOIA request. The data for companies for which Swift did get info showed that while staffing had gone up, the percentage of African Americans and women employees and managers had decreased.
benton.org/node/42168 | Broadcasting&Cable
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MEDIA AND ELECTIONS

UNDISCLOSED DONORS
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Peter Overby]
It might be hard to believe after the political spend-a-thon for the 2008 presidential contest, but this year's elections are on track to set a record for campaign spending. In the past, new high watermarks for campaign spending followed a sort of zig-zag pattern: There was a constantly rising sum for each presidential election and a smaller, also constantly rising sum for less costly midterm elections. This year, there's no zig-zag. A big driver is the surge in independent groups. And this year may set another record, too -- in money from undisclosed donors. After the astronomical sums of cash thrown into the 2008 campaign, everyone's pumping in even more -- about 10 to 15 percent more -- according to Kip Cassino, vice president of research at the media analysis firm Borrell Associates. "Unlike a lot of industries in the United States right now, which are seeing some downturns, political spending is absolutely a growth industry," Cassino says. Fueling it, he says, is corporate money — dollars liberated by the Supreme Court when it ruled that corporations and unions can be unrestrained in their campaign spending. "The unwritten charter of these groups is to really be disruptive and try to go in there and turn a race on its head — or put a candidate on the defense. And by that nature, most of those ads that they're gonna run this fall are gonna be negative ads," said Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group
benton.org/node/42151 | National Public Radio
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CONTRIBUTOR DISCLOSURE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The majority of respondents to a Center for Competitive Politics poll on possible new political contribution disclosure rules (68%) said they favored making the heads and largest donors appear in campaign ads to take responsibility for them. That requirement was part of the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that would have boosted disclosure requirements on TV and radio ads, among other things. It passed in the House but failed in the Senate. Other poll findings, which were a mixed bag on how much disclosure there should be and who should be doing it, included that 44% said unions and nonprofits that get grants and loans should be prohibited from running political ads and that 62% either strongly or somewhat disagree that citizen's contributions to advocacy groups running political ads should have their name and address posted online. "Americans' views on disclosure are much more complex than 'reform' groups like to claim," said Center Chairman Bradley Smith.
benton.org/node/42150 | Broadcasting&Cable
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VIDEO

ANOTHER COMCAST HEARING?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
A coalition of advocacy groups and companies opposed to Comcast's proposed acquisition of NBC Universal wrote key lawmakers reiterating their objections and requesting a final hearing to allow the public to weigh in on the deal once more. The Coalition for Competition in Media, which includes Bloomberg, the Media Access Project, the National Organization for Women and the Writers Guild of America, claims the merger would limit choice for consumers and give Comcast unprecedented influence as one of the nation's largest cable providers and the owner of one of the four broadcast networks. In a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Commerce committees, the coalition argues the Comcast merger has prompted thousands of filings in opposition to the merger since the last hearing, which have added "new dimensions to the discussion." The groups also argue that any decision made by the government on this merger would likely establish precedent for similar transactions down the road.
benton.org/node/42142 | Hill, The | B&C | TechDailyDose
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VIDEO PROGRAMERS VISIT DC
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
Video programmers are in Washington Sept 16 to lobby on retransmission consent rules, which govern negotiations between broadcasters and the platforms, such as cable stations, that pay to air their content. The group of non-broadcast TV stations, which will meet with members on Thursday, said the Federal Communications Commission should launch a proceeding to examine the rules. Critics of the rules argue they too heavily favor broadcast television stations because they can pull their content at any time. TV stations go dark for viewers when that happens. The broadcasters say they deserve the muscle to negotiate a fair compensation for their work. The video programmers also sent a letter to Congress on Thursday, signed by the Outdoor Channel, Starz, Africa Channel, Retirement Living TV and the Gospel Music Channel. Si TV wrote to members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to say that the system is broken. The signatories are concerned that retransmission consent payments will not come from consumers, but from their own non-broadcast-affiliated networks.
benton.org/node/42143 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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HOLLYWOOD AND NETFLIX
[SOURCE: The Wrap, AUTHOR: Brent Lang]
Thanks to its digital strategy, Netflix is sitting on top of the world. Tectonic changes have gripped the video-rental business over the past year, giving Netflix a clear victory over its brick-and-mortar competitors. As Blockbuster and Movie Gallery are waylaid by money problems, Netflix -- by firmly embracing instant streaming -- is charting the industry's future. And by taking its place as a New Media pioneer, it could create headaches for the cable and DVD retail business. But while tensions with the studios have eased, there are many who believe Hollywood should be worried about the changes that Netflix's business represents. A number of analysts and even industry members believe its streaming business, coupled with the growth of video-on-demand services like Hulu, could represent a shot across the bow of the paid-television industry. "The more consumers find they can get more of the programing they want to watch at a reduced monthly cost, the more consumers are going to disconnect their cable and satellite," one industry executive said. "Why pay $150 if all you watch is ESPN and CNN?"
benton.org/node/42152 | Wrap, The
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VERIZON, NETFLIX AND ALLVID
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Could Internet-connected TVs become substitutes for operator-leased set-top boxes? Market forces probably will outpace any regulation on the set-top front, Verizon said in comments filed Sept 14 with the Federal Communications Commission. The telco was voicing opposition to the agency's AllVid proposal that would force pay-TV providers deliver services to customers using common technical standards. Specifically, Verizon cited Netflix's successful strategy to embed its over-the-top streaming video service into a wide array of devices as a "superb example of how content is making its way to a variety of consumer electronic devices." Compared with "technology mandates or other heavy-handed regulation," Verizon said, "[t]he Netflix approach shows one way that video distributors, content owners, and device manufacturers can work together to increase the range of choices available for consumers." No kidding. The Netflix Internet-streaming service currently is available in more than 100 different devices, including PCs, TiVos, Xbox 360s, PlayStation3s, Nintendo Wiis, Rokus, iPhones, iPads, and numerous HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players. "Smart video devices, including Internet-connected televisions, have the potential to become substitutes for leased set-top boxes," Verizon said. Verizon is the latest to weigh in against AllVid, an idea that is supported by the likes of TiVo, the Consumer Electronics Association and various consumer advocacy groups.
benton.org/node/42138 | Multichannel News
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DIGITAL CONTENT

NEWS SITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro]
News organizations are getting more scientific about studying the value of the online readers they are hooking through social media services like Twitter and Facebook, as they seek new ways to exploit the channels without cannibalizing their businesses. The efforts come as publications are reporting surging traffic from social media, as they rush to load up their sites with new tools that encourage readers to share their content among friends on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Google and others. Forty-two percent of social-networking users regularly or sometimes get their news through social-networking sites, according to a report released this week by the Pew Media Center. That is leaving some publishers with the sense that they are better off trying to reach users where they are congregating than trying to corral them on their site. News companies have been pursuing a more metrics-driven approach to disseminating their stories for years. To date, they have often focused on quantifying the impact of search traffic, studying what keywords usually land people at their sites. Now they are looking for similar patterns with social data, using it to attract new readers, better personalize their experience on the site and potentially target ads.
hbenton.org/node/42167 | Wall Street Journal
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KIDS AND MEDIA

M-RATED VIDEO GAMES
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Ben Kuchera]
With groups like Common Sense Media making news by claiming the majority of parents want certain games controlled by law, it's useful to look at just how well the industry regulates itself. As there are currently no laws against selling M-rated content to minors, the rating system relies on retailer compliance to be effective. What special interest groups may not understand, however, is that everyone from the retailers to the publishers seem to understand that compliance is in everyone's best interest. Compliance with the ratings system is at an all-time high, making video game sales more tightly controlled than theater ticket, DVD, and music sales. It's not a perfect system, as some children were able to purchase the content, but according to this data, it's the most effective system in place in entertainment.
benton.org/node/42155 | Ars Technica
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ONLINE LEARNING STUDY
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Dennis Carter]
Higher education's embrace of online courses could hurt the performance of some groups of students, according to a study that contradicts the findings of a 2009 report from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) showing that online students perform as well, or better, than their peers in face-to-face settings on average. Research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) suggests that males, Hispanics, and low-performing students might fare worse in web-based classes than they do in the traditional classroom -- a problem exacerbated by the high rate of online course adoption at community colleges and "less selective institutions," where these three groups are most likely to attend. The rush to make online courses widely available and save colleges money in difficult economic times might be "inadvertently ... harming a significant portion of their student body," according to the study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and ED.
benton.org/node/42154 | eSchool News
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EXPANDING STEM CAMPAIGN
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Press release]
The White House, as part of his "Educate to Innovate" campaign to raise American students to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade, announced the launch of Change the Equation, a CEO-led effort to dramatically improve education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Change the Equation, a new 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is a response by the business community to the President's "call to action" at the National Academy of Sciences in spring 2009 for all Americans to join the cause of elevating STEM education as a national priority essential to meeting the economic challenges of this century. "Our success as a nation depends on strengthening America's role as the world's engine of discovery and innovation," said President Barack Obama. "I applaud Change the Equation for lending their resources, expertise, and their enthusiasm to the task of strengthening America's leadership in the 21st century by improving education in science, technology, engineering and math." Within a year, Change the Equation will replicate successful privately-funded programs in 100 high-need schools and communities such as efforts to allow more students to engage in robotics competitions, improve professional development for math and science teachers, increase the number of students that take and pass rigorous Advanced Placement (AP) math and science courses, increase the number of teachers who enter the profession with a STEM undergraduate degree and provide new opportunities to traditionally underrepresented students and underserved communities. Change the Equation will also create a state-by-state "scorecard" to highlight areas for state-level improvement, and help companies increase the impact of their own engagement in STEM education.
benton.org/node/42133 | White House, The | The Hill
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HEALTH

NEXT STAGES OF MEANINGFUL USE
[SOURCE: GovernemntHealthIT, AUTHOR: Mary Mosquera]
Health & Human Services Department officials are already considering measures for the second stage of meaningful use even before healthcare providers get started on tackling the 2011 first stage requirements of the incentive program. The Health IT Policy Committee wants to prepare recommendations on 2013 meaningful use criteria by next April in order to give vendors enough time to build-in the more sophisticated applications into their electronic health record systems. "Vendors need about 18 months to develop additional functionality," said Paul Tang, chairman of the meaningful use workgroup at a committee meeting Sept. 14. "We're trying to stick with the roadmap philosophy as we did for stage one to give signals to vendors and providers," said Tang, who is chief medical information officer of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
benton.org/node/42136 | GovernemntHealthIT | HealthcareITNews
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CA TELEHEALTH NETWORK
[SOURCE: Healthcare IT News, AUTHOR: Bernie Monegain]
The new California Telehealth Network, a statewide, medical-grade broadband system for improving health care access and emergency services, will receive a $9 million federal grant and additional $5 million in matching funds from some prominent California organizations. The participating organizations are: The National Coalition for Health Integration, United HealthCare, the California HealthCare Foundation and the University of California. The grant award, announced Sept. 13 by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, will fund telehealth and eHealth equipment and training for health care providers implementing broadband-based technologies designed to improve care and expand access to services. The new funding, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, follows $30 million from the Federal Communications Commission, the California Emerging Technology Fund and the California Public Utilities Commission to build and connect the network. The grant supports extensive online, in-person and community-based training in a range of technologies designed to increase the public's digital literacy. It also will help fund network operations, as well as the installation of broadband equipment -- typically consisting of videoconferencing units and special cameras to record clinical information -- to establish new telehealth programs in various communities around the state.
benton.org/node/42135 | Healthcare IT News
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ENERGY

SMART METER RESISTANCE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Joseph Galante, Mark Chediak]
PG&E, Cisco and General Electric are all betting that energy-monitoring devices will catch on in homes. Convincing consumers that they're a good thing is turning out to be a tough sell. Power companies have traditionally relied on workers walking house to house to monitor electricity use. Smart meters are designed to give utilities a real-time picture of electricity consumption, eventually allowing them to create pricing plans that will encourage conservation during peak hours. About 43 percent of U.S. homes will have the new meters by 2014, up from 14 percent at the end of last year, according to Dallas-based market researcher Parks Associates. Even with $3.4 billion in US stimulus funds behind it, the race to install smart meters is starting to lose momentum. "The meters don't benefit the consumer; they cost a lot of money, and we can't opt out," says Joshua Hart, the California- based director of Scotts Valley Neighbors Against Smart Meters.
benton.org/node/42163 | Bloomberg
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COMMUNITY MEDIA

MACARTHUR AND IMLS TEAM UP
[SOURCE: MacArthur Foundation, AUTHOR: Press release]
The MacArthur Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced plans to create 30 new youth learning labs in libraries and museums across the country. Inspired by an innovative new teen space at the Chicago Public Library called YOUmedia and innovations in science and technology centers, these labs will help young people become makers and creators of content, rather than just consumers of it. These labs will be based on new research about how young people learn today. With $4 million in funding MacArthur and IMLS will begin a planning process to launch a national competition to create 30 new learning labs across the country. As the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums, IMLS also will help to increase the capacity of museum and library staff to develop programming based on the most recent research about how young people learn today. Other partners — including the, C. S. Mott, Grable, John S. and James L. Knight, Mozilla and Pearson foundations, and the Chicago and New York Community Trusts — will provide additional resources to support the new learning labs. The competition application process, which will include a request for proposals, will be announced in 2011.
benton.org/node/42162 | MacArthur Foundation
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NEW LIBRARIES OFFER NEW WAY OF LEARNING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: James Warren]
The proliferation of libraries and their spurring of neighborhood development is a pattern repeated elsewhere despite what is generally an unsexy legacy of the Mayor Richard M. Daley years. The initiative relied on a mix of government obligation bonds, Tax Increment Financing, and land donated by various departments and private interests. It even bought out a rent-by-the-hour motel in Budlong Woods, stabilizing a middle-class area of increasing Korean flavor. This has partly disproved the powerful academic conventional wisdom of the 1990s of fragmentation and social isolation in American life. Those currents remain, but the libraries are social havens, especially for new immigrants, and a place for P.T.A.'s, block clubs and many others to meet. They provide a refuge for children — whose schools may not have a library — to do homework, assisted by teachers hired by the libraries. The 54th library of the mayor's 21-year-tenure was unveiled last week at Chicago and Ashland Avenues inside the former Goldblatt's department store. The West Town branch replaces two unsatisfying outposts, including one inside a Park District field house. By the time Mr. Daley exits in March, 59 libraries will have been completed or nearly finished. The system had 12 million visitors last year, nearly 4 million one-hour Internet sessions and 10 million circulated items in 40 languages, said Mary Dempsey, the library commissioner, who has had the job for 17 years and is one of the few remaining top talents from Mr. Daley's early years.
benton.org/node/42161 | New York Times
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September 17, 2010 (Universal Service Reform Act; Competition in the Digital Marketplace)