BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Reps Eshoo, Waxman Push Inquiry Into Navy Yard Communications Problems
Review Committee: FirstNet is Operating Transparently [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Senators call for investigation of surveillance programs
Surveillance and the FISA court - op-ed
The Blurred Lines Between Social Media and Censorship - editorial [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
ITU Broadband Report: US Ranks 24th Globally in Internet Usage
Are you a gigabit thinker? Google Fiber and US Ignite want to know [links to web]
Network neutrality: A complex issue, then and now - op-ed
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Phone companies remain silent over legality of NSA data collection
Wireless broadband network investments will create 1.2M jobs over 5 years, report says
BlackBerry Going Private in $4.7 Billion Deal
BlackBerry Buyout Offer Raises Array of Questions - analysis [links to web]
Is DC BlackBerry's last stand? [links to web]
FDA outlines rules for medical apps on phones, tablets
FAA Moves Toward Mandatory Replacement of Certain Honeywell Displays
LightSquared Lenders Object to Independent Committee's Board Selection [links to web]
CONTENT
Don’t wait for Congress to fix fair use, says judge in Google Books case
For Small Papers, Digital now Indispensable [links to web]
What is Going on With Usage Restrictions on Media from Congress and the White House? - analysis
Debating the Changing Economics of Editorial Content
OWNERSHIP
Firms Gird for Merger Trouble
LightSquared Lenders Object to Independent Committee's Board Selection [links to web]
TELECOM
Sen. McCaskill calls for criminal charges for 'Obamaphone' cheats
LOBBYING
Tech rivals joining forces on NSA, immigration [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
FCC Seeks Nominations for Six Board Member Positions on the Universal Service Administrative Company Board of Directors - public notice
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Australia to Review Fiber Network With Rollout 50% Behind Target
Telefónica eyes Brazil deal after sealing Telecom Italia control [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
ESHOO, WAXMAN PUSH INQUIRY INTO NAVY YARD COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEMS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Looking to put a spotlight on the FirstNet emergency broadband communications network being funded by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auctions, Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), ranking member of the House Commerce Committee and Anna Eshoo (D-CA), ranking member of the Communications subcommittee, are pushing for a full inquiry into what they say were possible first responder communications failures during the Navy Yard shootings in Washington. In letters to Lawrence Strickling, who heads the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, and FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, the lawmakers said they wanted the agency heads to work with all levels of government to investigate possible first responder communications problems, with a focus on how a FirstNet interoperable network might prevent future similar breakdowns. The legislators say that press reports indicated some of the problems were known before the shooting, but not addressed. They gave Chairwoman Clyburn and Strickling until Oct 21 to provide an update on their inquiry.
benton.org/node/160783 | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
SENATORS CALL FOR INVESTIGATION OF SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Nine Senate Judiciary Committee members called on the intelligence community's inspector general to conduct "comprehensive reviews" of the government's surveillance programs. The bipartisan group wrote that recently declassified documents "appear to reveal numerous violations of law and policy." They urged Charles McCullough, the inspector general of the intelligence community, to prepare reports detailing how the National Security Agency collects information and, in particular, information on people in the United States. They also asked him to report on privacy safeguards, any abuses of power and the effectiveness of the programs. The letter was signed by Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Mike Lee (R-UT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chris Coons (D-DL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
benton.org/node/160788 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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SURVEILLANCE AND FISA
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Bruce Ackerman]
[Commentary] We are in the midst of the first serious reexamination of government spying since the 1970s. President Obama has asked a special review panel for initial recommendations by November. The normally secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, also known as the FISA court, has broken new ground by publishing a full-dress opinion upholding the collection of massive amounts of data on domestic telephone conversations. With James R. Clapper, director of national intelligence, all but conceding that there was a "good side" to Edward Snowden's leaks, we can expect significant actions by the courts and the executive. The question is whether those actions will effectively control National Security Agency abuses. The reforms currently on the table fail this test. They are steps in the right direction, but they won't get us to the right destination. If we pretend otherwise, we will be in for more rogue conduct in the future. If we settle for merely feel-good reforms, there is a clear and present danger of another big scandal whenever the next Snowden blows the whistle, further damaging Americans' confidence in their government.
[Ackerman is a professor of law and political science at Yale]
benton.org/node/160818 | Los Angeles Times
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
ITU BROADBAND REPORT: US RANKS 24TH GLOBALLY IN INTERNET USAGE
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
The US ranks 24th worldwide in the percentage of residents who use the Internet, according to the International Telecommunications Union’s 2013 State of Broadband Report. Eighty-one percent of US residents use the Internet, the ITU said. The US ranks ninth worldwide measured on mobile broadband penetration, according to the new ITU research. Just under three-quarters (74.7%) of US citizens use mobile broadband, the ITU said. Ahead of the US were several Asian and European countries and Australia. The nation with the highest percentage of people using the Internet was Iceland, where 97% of the people are Internet users. The top 10 countries all had usage rates above 88% and all but two – New Zealand and Qatar – are in Europe.
benton.org/node/160754 | telecompetitor
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NET NEUTRALITY: A COMPLEX ISSUE, THEN AND NOW
[SOURCE: American Enterprise Institute, AUTHOR: Gus Hurwitz]
[Commentary] Network Neutrality debates are fundamentally about switching – whether network switches can treat some packets differently from others. This piece looks back 100 years to the telephone interconnection debates of the early 20th century – and, in particular, to AT&T’s preference for (non-neutral) manual switchboards over (neutral) automatic switches. This history reminds us that design decisions in complex networks are rarely as simple as network neutrality proponents suggest they are – and that market forces, if given time to operate, can secure the consumer benefits that regulators aspire to promote without the appurtenant risk that regulatory intervention may stunt the market. Up until 1919, AT&T doggedly refused to adopt automatic switching technologies. This history is an interesting precursor to the modern concept of network neutrality. Network neutrality presents much the same question: how to best provide switching to different types of services. Yet today, despite the market being more competitive and subject to more scrutiny than AT&T was 100 years ago, network neutrality proponents advocate regulatory control of switching – government edicts saying what switching technologies can and cannot be used (and therefore, can or cannot be further developed). And this despite little evidence that network neutrality poses anything more than hypothetical harms. The market has worked in the past – how about we give it a chance today, before deciding to regulate it? If things don’t work out, if the net-neutrality proponents’ parade of horribles does come to pass, regulatory intervention will still be an option. Until then, we should be cautious of the impulsive regulatory instinct: too-readily opting for regulation over the market is the sort of automatic switch we should avoid. [Gus Hurwitz is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law]
benton.org/node/160752 | American Enterprise Institute
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
US PHONE COMPANIES QUIET OVER LEGALITY OF NSA DATA COLLECTION
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Ed Pilkington]
America's top telecommunications companies are refusing to say whether they accept that the bulk collection of their customers' phone records by the National Security Agency is lawful. The phone companies are continuing to guard their silence over the controversial gathering of metadata by the NSA, despite the increasingly open approach by those at the center of the bulk surveillance program. The secretive foreign intelligence surveillance (FISA) court declassified its legal reasoning for approving the NSA telephone metadata program periodically over the past six years. The Guardian asked five of the top US telecoms firms whether their lack of resistance to the collection of their phone records was indeed an implicit acceptance of its legality. The Guardian also asked how the phone companies could justify to their own customers the decision not to challenge the court orders, in stark contrast to some internet companies such as Yahoo, which have contested the legality of NSA collection of their customers' data. The phone companies were asked by the Guardian to make clear whether they felt their compliance with FISA court orders relating to NSA data collection was voluntary, or whether they felt pressured by any party into conceding without legal protest. The companies' decision not to comment on any aspect of the NSA dragnet puts them in an increasingly peculiar position. By withholding their internal views from the public, they are setting themselves apart from equivalent internet firms that are taking a more bullish stance, and are shrouding themselves in more secrecy than even the FISA court, one of the most tight-lipped institutions in the country.
benton.org/node/160762 | Guardian, The | GigaOm
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WIRELESS BROADBAND NETWORK INVESTMENTS WILL CREATE 1.2M JOBS OVER 5 YEARS, REPORT SAYS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Tammy Parker]
Private investment in US wireless broadband infrastructure promises to catalyze economic growth and employment over the next five years, according to a new report released by trade association PCIA. However, the association warned that fulfillment of that promise requires foresight from the Federal Communications Commission and local zoning authorities. The report, written by Information Age Economics, evaluates the economic and job-creation impacts generated by projected wireless infrastructure investments between $34 billion to $36 billion per year over the next five years, said PCIA. Those investments will generate as much as $1.2 trillion in cumulative economic growth, a 606 percent increase over the total amount the wireless industry will invest, according to the study. On the employment front, wireless investments will yield more than 28,000 new jobs in 2017 and more than 122,000 jobs during the next five years in the wireless infrastructure industry alone, the report said. Jonathan Adelstein, PCIA president and CEO, noted the gains predicted in the report are dependent upon future FCC policy as well as appropriate zoning rules at the local level.
benton.org/node/160745 | Fierce
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BLACKBERRY GOING PRIVATE IN $4.7 BILLION DEAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Paczkowski]
BlackBerry has found a buyer for its much-diminished business. The foundering smartphone pioneer agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Fairfax Financial Holdings, which will take it private in a deal worth about $4.7 billion. Under the terms of the deal, the consortium — whose other members were not disclosed — will pay $9 per share for all outstanding shares of BlackBerry not held by Fairfax, which currently owns a 10 percent stake in the company.
benton.org/node/160774 | Wall Street Journal
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FDA OUTLINES RULES FOR MEDICAL APPS ON PHONES, TABLETS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking a look at smartphone and tablet applications that help patients monitor their health and connect with doctors remotely. The FDA released formal guidance for creators of medical apps, laying out which programs it thinks need to be regulated to protect patient safety. The apps allow doctors to check an X-ray, perform an ultrasound or help someone with diabetes easily monitor their blood sugar from a distance. But if they malfunction, those apps could recommend an unnecessary medical treatment or unsafe prescription dosage, potentially posing a threat to patients. Those devices can pose a threat if they don’t work as intended, the FDA said. To make sure the tools are up to snuff, the FDA will treat those apps like any other medical device.
benton.org/node/160786 | Hill, The
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FAA AND WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Andy Pasztor, Jack Nicas]
The Federal Aviation Administration moved toward mandatory replacement of certain older Honeywell International pilot displays installed on more than 150 Boeing 737s and 777s flown by US carriers, raising new concerns about susceptibility to interference from Wi-Fi signals. Regulators have warned that in extreme cases, Wi-Fi systems aboard commercial jets could cause essential pilot displays to blink or temporarily blank out, a previously discovered vulnerability affecting several hundred airliners world-wide. The FAA's move comes amid a proliferation of Web connectivity for airline passengers and pilots alike, and also coincides with FAA deliberations to ease current cabin restrictions on using personal electronic devices below 10,000 feet. Industry officials said the latest action wasn't prompted by those broader policy discussions, though it may end up having some impact on the agency's final decision. Both Honeywell and Boeing previously acknowledged the potential interference problem, which hasn't shown up during any flights.
benton.org/node/160810 | Wall Street Journal
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CONTENT
DON’T WAIT FOR CONGRESS TO FIX FAIR USE, SAYS JUDGE IN GOOGLE BOOKS CASE
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Jeff John Roberts]
The federal judge in the long-running case between Google and the Authors Guild made clear that no one should hold their breath waiting for Washington to decide if the search giant’s scanning of 20 million library books amounts to a “fair use” under copyright law. “Does anything get done in Congress these days?” mused US circuit judge Denny Chin, rejecting a call by authors’ lawyers to hold off on deciding the fair use question. He added that Congress has already proven incapable of solving the problem of “orphan works” books. This means that Judge Chin is likely to make an up-or-down decision soon on whether Google’s scanning was legal under “fair use” — a four-part test that looks at factors like the purpose of the copying and its effect on the original market. Judge Chin must now decide whether to bite his tongue and declare that Google’s scanning was a form of fair use — and accept what amounts to a “no harm done” theory from Google — or else say it was not fair use, in which case Google will almost certainly appeal the matter back to his colleagues.
benton.org/node/160777 | paidContent.org | paidContent.org
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WHAT IS GOING ON WITH USAGE RESTRICTIONS ON MEDIA FROM CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE?
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Michael Weinberg]
[Commentary] Believe it or not, copyright law actually has a specific section addressing the Federal Government’s ability to get a copyright. The section is pretty straightforward: the Federal Government does not get copyright on the works that it produces: “Copyright protection under this title [which pertains to copyright] is not available for any work of the United States Government.” These works do not pass go nor do they collect $200 – they automatically enter the public domain the moment they are created, freely available for anyone to do whatever they want with them. And yet strangely there are parts of the US government that do not seem to understand that. United States Government Work "licenses" still appear on White House Flickr photos. With no underlying copyright to license, that license is meaningless – although it may stop someone who has not read section 105 from making use of video in the public domain. But the licenses are not alone. They are joined by a prominent alert: “The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.” The White House is not explicitly claiming copyright on these photos (the license makes that clear), but this type of scary quasi-legal language gets awful close to flirting with a bit of light copyfraud. All of them leave the public under the false impression that they need some sort of permission in order to make use of these videos.
benton.org/node/160758 | Public Knowledge
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EDITORIAL CONTENT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stuart Elliott]
As the 10th annual Advertising Week in New York began, speakers and panelists were paying a good deal of attention to what appears in between ads — aka editorial content — as well as to the ads themselves. The focus on content creation was partly related to content’s being part of a major trend on Madison Avenue known as content marketing or native advertising, which seeks to skirt consumers’ aversion to being pitched by dressing up ads to resemble articles or programs. “For most of the last 200 years, advertising has been defined in tandem with journalistic content,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and chief executive at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which is holding its MIXX Conference and Expo 2013 during the first two days of Advertising Week. As a result, he added, “the changing economics of content” ought to concern the advertising and marketing industries.
benton.org/node/160812 | New York Times
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OWNERSHIP
ANTITRUST REGULATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Vipal Monga]
US regulators are putting the kibosh on more mergers under President Barack Obama, prompting many companies to structure their deals with stronger safeguards against the risk of antitrust challenges. Companies that have ignored the trend say they have felt blindsided. Regulators have killed, litigated or demanded changes in 86% of the deals that raised antitrust concerns between the 2009 and 2012 fiscal years, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. That's more than the roughly 70% of deals they red-flagged under Republican President George W. Bush. The Obama administration opposed AT&T’s proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA in 2011; the companies ultimately withdrew the merger plan. The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission share responsibility for enforcing US antitrust laws. Both agencies have new antitrust heads this year, but experts expect them to continue the Obama administration's hard line on mergers.
benton.org/node/160814 | Wall Street Journal
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TELECOM
CHARGING LIFELINE CHEATS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) called for criminal charges to be filed against people who defrauded a federal phone subsidy program. Sen McCaskill sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, urging the agency to refer examples of fraud in its Lifeline program to the Justice Department for prosecution. "Knowingly providing false information to a government agency for profit must be investigated. If these companies are found in violation of federal law, I expect the DOJ will prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law," she wrote. She also urged the FCC to more aggressively use its own enforcement authority to fine companies abusing the program. She warned that Congress could kill the program unless the FCC institutes tough new reforms.
benton.org/node/160808 | Hill, The
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POLICYMAKERS
FCC SEEKS NOMINATIONS FOR SIX BOARD MEMBER POSITIONS ON THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau seeks nominations for the following board member positions on the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC): representative for incumbent local exchange carriers (other than Bell Operating Companies) with annual operating revenues in excess of $40 million (position currently held by D. Michael Anderson),
representative for state telecommunication regulators (position currently held by Anne C. Boyle),
representative for interexchange carriers with more than $3 billion in annual operating revenues (position currently held by Rex Knowles),
representative for information service providers (position currently held by David P. McClure),
representative for rural health care providers that are eligible to receive discounts (position currently held by Jay H. Sanders, MD),
representative for schools that are eligible to receive discounts (position currently held by Phyllis Simon).
The terms of the above board members are scheduled to expire on December 31, 2013. All nominations must be filed by October 23, 2013.
benton.org/node/160769 | Federal Communications Commission
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
AUSTRALIA’S BROADBAND PLAN UNDER REVIEW
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: David Fickling]
Australia will review its national fiber network as the rollout falls 50 percent behind targets and the new Communications Minister sought resignations from all directors of the government-backed company building the project. NBN Co.’s target for the number of buildings with fiber broadband connections by the end of June 2014 has been revised down by half, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. About 1.3 million premises would have had access to the network by that date, according to the company’s most recent corporate plan. Turnbull has previously criticized the project, estimated to cost about A$44 billion ($41 billion) by the previous government, for missed targets and cost overruns. About 33,600 homes and businesses were using the fiber network at the end of June, with 207,500 premises connected to the cables, compared to a target of more than 2 million connections in NBN Co.’s earlier 2011 corporate plan. Turnbull and Prime Minister Tony Abbott have promised to connect all households to high-speed Internet by 2016 for A$30 billion, saving money by running the fiber only as far as junction boxes as much as a kilometer from homes and covering the remaining distance using existing copper wires. The previous government’s plan would have run fiber direct to almost every home and workplace in the country.
benton.org/node/160800 | Bloomberg
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