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On April 14, the Federal Communications Commission released Orders reorganizing the Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau and the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. The Orders were adopted in early February.

The Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau is creating a Web and Print Publishing Division which will be responsible for researching, writing, designing and developing electronic and print materials to communicate information on the policies, rulemakings, programs and plans of the FCC. Materials developed by the new division will provide consumers with significant information concerning telecommunications services and how those services are regulated, as well as information consumers need to make choices in a competitive marketplace. This Bureau "develops and administers the Commission's consumer and governmental affairs policies and initiatives to enhance the public's understanding of the Commission's work and to facilitate the Agency's relations with other governmental agencies and organizations." The Bureau's performed functions include: (i) advising and making recommendations to the Commission in matters regarding consumers and governmental affairs, including but not limited to policy development and coordination; and (ii) collaborating with, advising and assisting, the public, state, local and tribal governments, and other governmental agencies on consumer matters.

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau reorganization will convert the Emergency Response and Interoperability Center (ERIC) into a division-level office within the Bureau and will rename the Bureau's current Policy Division, Communications Systems Analysis Division, and Public Communications Outreach and Operations Division to, respectively, the Policy and Licensing Division, the Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division, and the Operations and Emergency Management Division. This Bureau "develops, recommends, and administers policy goals, objectives, rules, regulations, programs and plans for the Commission to promote effective and reliable communications for public safety, homeland security, national security, emergency management and preparedness, disaster management and related activities." The Bureau's functions include: (i) advising and making recommendations to the Commission in matters pertaining to public safety and homeland security communications; and (ii) collaborating with, advising and assisting state, local and tribal governments as well as other governmental agencies and industry groups on emergency management and disaster management issues.

Educational technology stakeholders are speaking out against federal efforts to eliminate the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program by releasing state profiles and information showing how important the program is for ed-tech implementation.

On April 13, the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET) released “Profiles in Innovation: How the Enhancing Education Through Technology Program is Improving Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools.” The profiles of 10 schools illustrate how instrumental EETT funds have been in helping to create successful educational technology programs.

“For kids in America today, technology isn't something separate from their day-to-day lives—it is their day-to-day lives,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who delivered remarks at the release of the NCTET report. “They wake up, they reach for their smart phone, and they start tweeting. They text their friends while they walk to school. They update their Facebook status on the bus.”

Sen Murray said educational technology is essential to improving students’ learning experiences in several ways:

• Technology lets educators and students customize and personalize learning.
• Ed tech gives teachers, principals, and policy makers important data and information they need to know what’s working and what must be improved.
• Ed tech has a powerful way of engaging students in the classroom.

A European Court of Justice official is finding against a verdict which said a Belgian ISP should filter out copyright-infringing content from its network.

In a case dating back to 2007, the ISP, Scarlet had been ordered to strip from its transmissions unauthorized transfers of music whose rights are held by the Belgian Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers (SABAM). But Pedro Cruz Villalón, who, as an advocate-general to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), advises the continent’s highest court, has declared: “The installation of the filtering and blocking system is a restriction on the right to respect for the privacy of communications and the right to protection of personal data, both of which are rights protected under the Charter of Fundamental Rights.” The UK government must take heed of Villalón’s advice since, out of the embers of its Digital Economy Act, it is working with British ISPs and content rightsholders to table proposals under which ISPs must block access to websites deemed to be hosting content without authorization. Villalón says: “A restriction on the rights and freedoms of Internet users ... would be permissible only if it were adopted on a national legal basis which was accessible, clear and predictable.”

Last week, bloggers focused on two subjects that have resonated in social media before. One, the recovery efforts in Japan, has been a major topic three out of the last four weeks. The other, the climate change debate, is a subject that galvanized bloggers a year ago, but has receded since.

From April 4-8, 28% of the news links on blogs were about the fallout-literally and figuratively-from the earthquake in Japan, making it the week's No. 1 subject, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Most of the news continued to be discouraging as bloggers spotlighted reports about bodies found at the nuclear power plant and high radiation levels measured nearby. And there was plenty of skepticism about whether Japanese citizens were being told the truth about the catastrophe. But a report that Japan's Red Cross had raised $1 billion, but had yet to distribute any money to victims, drew particular interest and sparked a conversation about ways to find trustworthy charities. The bloggers' continued high level of interest in the earthquake stands as something of a contrast to the mainstream media, which were fixated on Beltway budget fights and devoted only 7% of their coverage to the continuing problems in Japan last week. The second-biggest story, at 25%, was global warming.