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Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies
House Committee on Homeland Security
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
10 am
Witnesses
Panel 1
Mr. Philip Reitinger, Deputy Under Secretary, National Protection and Programs Directorate, Department of Homeland Security
Mr. Greg Wilshusen, Director of Information Security Issues, Government Accountability Office
Panel 2
Mr. James Lewis, Director and Senior Fellow, Technology and Public Policy Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Ms. Phyllis Schneck, Ph.D, V.P. and Chief Technical Officer, Global Public Sector, McAfee, Inc.
Ms. Mischel Kwon, President, Mischel Kwon Associates
..
Workshop on Intercarrier Compensation
Federal Communications Commission
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
9:30 am
http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0315/DA-11-502A1...
The workshop will focus on intercarrier compensation, including phantom traffic and access stimulation, the appropriate ICC framework for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) traffic, and options for developing a recovery mechanism as part of comprehensive reform. Panelists participating in the workshop are expected to come prepared to discuss responses to reform proposals, and are welcome to bring new ideas to the table. Additional details concerning the workshop agenda and panelists will be forthcoming.
AGENDA
Note: this preliminary agenda is subject to change
9:15 a.m. Welcome and Introductory Remarks from Chairman Julius Genachowski, Commissioners and Senior Bureau Staff
Session 1: Intercarrier Compensation Arbitrage Issues and ICC Obligations for VoIP
Access Stimulation/Phantom Traffic Panel:
• Krista Tanner, Board Member, Iowa Utilities Board
• Dave Schornack, Director of Business Development, TekStar Communications
• David Erickson, Founder, FreeConferenceCall.com
• David Frankel, Founder, ZipDX
• US Telecom representative
• Melissa Newman, Vice President, Federal Relations , Qwest Communications
• Michael Romano, Senior Vice President of Policy, National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA)
Intercarrier Compensation for VoIP Panel:
• Kathleen Grillo, Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Verizon Communications Inc.
• Eric Einhorn, Vice President of Federal Government Affairs, Windstream Communications Inc.
• Julie Laine, Group Vice President, Regulatory, Time Warner Cable Inc.
• Brendan Kasper, Senior Regulatory Counsel, Vonage America
• Lisa R. Youngers, Vice President, Federal Affairs, XO Communications Inc.
• Paul Gallant, Senior Vice President / Telecom Analyst, MF Global: Washington Research Group
• Peter McGowan, General Counsel, New York State Public Service Commission
12:30 -- 1:30 p.m. Lunch break
1:30 – 3:00 pm, Session 2: Developing a Recovery Mechanism
• John Rose, President, Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telephone Companies (OPASTCO)
• Kenneth Mason, Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs, Frontier Communications Inc.
• Robert W. Quinn, Senior Vice President-Federal Regulatory and Chief Privacy Officer, AT&T Services, Corp.
• Charles McKee, Vice President, Federal and State Regulatory, Sprint Nextel Corp.
• Frank Louthan, Analyst, Raymond James
• David Bergmann, Assistant Consumers’ Counsel Chair, NASUCA Telecommunications Committee
After a seven-and-a-half hour mark-up hearing, the House Commerce Committee voted to repeal the Federal Communications Commission's Open Internet/network neutrality rules. The party line vote was 30 to 23. Democrats oppose the measure and offered a number amendments to the resolution -- amendments quickly scrapped as non-germane by the Republican majority.
House Commerce Committee Votes to Repeal Open Internet Rules Dems To Re-Offer Amendments to Net Neutrality Resolution (B&C - amendments) Process fight consumes net-neutrality debate (The Hill - process) House panel votes to repeal net neutrality (The Hill - vote) Network Neutrality-Blocking Bill Passes House E&C (B&C - vote) Statement (Public Knowledge)
Will illegal downloading drive independent filmmakers and, eventually, the entertainment industry out of business?
Absolutely, says Andrew Keen, the author of the upcoming "Digital Vertigo: An Anti-Social Manifesto" and the advisor to Arts and Labs, a coalition of entertainment and technology companies and some of their leading tech-industry partners. Not only is piracy crippling the industry as a whole, Keen contends, but it's hurting the little guy, the artists; and he's worried that without stricter laws, piracy will eventually drive away independent filmmakers because they can no longer afford to tell the important stories that help to influence our culture.
On the other side of the debate is Harold Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge, a Washington-based advocacy group that frequently opposes the entertainment industry on copyright issues. Speaking for many Internet users and online entrepreneurs, Feld argues that the entertainment industry ought to accept the new reality and adapt.
Dust-Up: How big a risk does piracy pose to the entertainment industry?
When we voted unanimously to approve the Universal Service Fund/Intercarrier Compensation Transformation Notice of Proposed Rulemaking last month, each of us made clear that we are committed to reforming the Universal Service Fund (USF) and the Intercarrier Compensation (ICC) system, and to doing so as soon as possible. We must eliminate waste and inefficiency and modernize USF and ICC to bring the benefits of broadband to all Americans. We can't afford to delay. As part of our process, today we’re announcing the first of a small number of open, public workshops to identify solutions to key issues in the USF/ICC proceeding.
This first workshop at the FCC on April 6th will focus on ICC issues. At least one of the others will be held outside of Washington, DC, and all of them will be live-streamed on the Internet and will enable online participation. More details on the workshops will be released soon. At these workshops, we’re looking forward to robust discussions with a diverse group of stakeholders. And we’re expecting participants to come prepared with responses to our reform proposals -- and/or proposals of their own -- that recognize that reform will entail compromise and shared sacrifice, as well as shared opportunity. In addition to the workshops, we of course encourage parties to file comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). As a reminder, the first comments on certain issues are due on April 1, and the last reply comments are due on May 23.
While the NPRM included many reform ideas, there may be others that merit consideration as well. We remain open to considering all ideas put forth in the workshops and comments. Once the record is complete in late May, we look forward to moving to an Order within a few months -- it’s going to be a busy spring and summer. The time is right to make reform happen, and to do so through an open, public, and participatory process.
Making Universal Service and Intercarrier Compensation Reform Happen
The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rules require licensing of non-Federal receive-only equipment operating with foreign satellite systems, including receive-only earth stations operating with non-U.S. licensed radionavigation-satellite service (RNSS) satellites. By letter of March 2, 2011, to the Chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, on behalf of the Executive Branch, outlined the criteria it will apply in considering whether to recommend waiver of the FCC rules. The letter contemplates that NTIA will submit any recommendation for waiver to the FCC, and that the FCC would then review the request for compatibility with non-Federal U.S.-licensed systems.
NTIA Info on Waivers of Part 25 Rules Concerning Licensing of Receive-Only Earth Stations Operating with Non-U.S. Radionavigation Satellites
The digital video market continues to grow as DVD sales tank, and Netflix is currently king.
According to the latest data from the NPD Group, there's a 61 percent chance that any given (legal) movie stream or download is coming from Netflix. Netflix's aggressive strategy of being on every device and set-top box is apparently working, and Amazon clearly has a long way to go if it wants to really compete on the instant streaming front. After Netflix, NPD says Comcast made up another eight percent of "digital movie units," while DirecTV, Time Warner, and Apple all shared the third-place spot with four percent each. NPD's data was collected from 10,618 US-based Internet users over the age of 13 between January and February of 2011. The firm combined all legit online movie services in order to come up with its numbers, but pointed out that customers do seem to know the difference between "electronic sell-through" (EST, also known as downloads), Internet video on demand, cable video on demand, and streaming services.
Customers apparently recognize that services like iTunes (which NPD categorizes as EST) offer the most current releases, "while Netflix streaming gets credit from customers for providing the best 'overall shopping experience' and 'value for price paid.'" Instant gratification appears to be what's pushing customers to favor digital video -- whether it's from Netflix or another source -- over DVD and Blu-ray.
Amazon looks on longingly as Netflix delivers 61% of digital video
Internet data caps aren't just good at stopping congestion; they can also be useful tools for curtailing piracy.
That was one of the points made by Daniel Castro, an analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). He testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the problem of “parasite” websites, saying that usage-based billing and monthly data caps were both good ways to discourage piracy, and that the government shouldn't do anything to stand in their way. The government should allow "pricing structures and usage caps that discourage online piracy," he wrote, which comes pretty close to suggesting that heavy data use implies piracy and should be limited. While usage-based billing and data caps are often talked about in terms of their ability to curb congestion, it's rarely suggested that making Internet access more expensive is a positive move for the content industries. But Castro has a whole host of such suggestions, drawn largely verbatim from his 2009 report on the subject. Should the US government actually fund antipiracy research? Sure. Should the US government “enlist” Internet providers to block entire websites? Sure. Should copyright holders suggest to the government which sites should go on the blocklist? Sure. Should ad networks and payment processors be forced to cut ties to such sites, even if those sites are legal in the countries where they operate? Sure.
Castro's original 2009 paper goes further, suggesting that deep packet inspection (DPI) be routinely deployed by ISPs in order to scan subscriber traffic for potential copyright infringements. Sound like wiretapping? Yes, though Castro has a solution if courts do crack down on the practice: "the law should be changed."
Congress told that Internet data caps can discourage piracy Testimony (Daniel Castro)
Military units operating in Japan face bandwidth shortages and network limitations that inhibit communications and command and control, Defense sources told Nextgov. Misawa Air Base, located on the northeast tip of Honshu, warned its personnel on a blog post Friday that the Defense Switched Network, which handles voice calls, was in backup mode and had only limited capacity. The blog post added, "We have a number of connectivity issues. Internet has been up and down due to our connections through other places in Japan. For example, Yokota [Air Base] and several other locations are having issues because we all have power and connectivity issues right now." The Pentagon also took the extraordinary step of blocking access to a range of commercial websites to ensure that its networks have enough bandwidth to support mission-essential communications, Nextgov learned. This move, a military source told Nextgov, possibly indicates one or more undersea cables used by military networks were damaged by the earthquake.
Military units supporting relief operations in Japan face bandwidth shortages
States struggling to close growing budget deficits are likely to take greater aim at online sales firms that do not collect sales taxes, an official with the Direct Marketing Association said.
Legislation signed last week by Gov. Pat Quinn (D-IL) is just one of many attempts by states to deal with a loophole left by a 1992 Supreme Court decision that found companies are not required to collect sales taxes from customers in states where the firms do not have a physical presence. While the ruling applied at the time to catalog sales, online retailers like Amazon.com have used the loophole to their advantage. Since then, states have complained that they are losing billions of dollars a year in sales taxes from online transactions. At the same time, brick-and-mortar retailers argue that they are being placed at a competitive disadvantage. While states have been pushing Congress to close this loophole, they also have been taking matters into heir own hands. The Illinois bill, which is similar to a New York state law that has been challenged in court by Amazon, would require online retailers who contract with an affiliate in Illinois to collect sales taxes on customer purchases there.
"States have targeted this industry. Over the next 12 to 18 months, we will get a clearer definition of where the battle lines are drawn," George Isaacson, tax counsel for the Direct Marketing Association, said during a policy conference sponsored by the group. The DMA has challenged a Colorado law that would require online retailers and catalog companies to turn over the names and purchasing information of their customers to state revenue officials. A federal district court recently issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the law.
Meanwhile, states have found some allies in Congress. Sen Dick Durbin (D-IL) is expected to introduce a bill possibly as soon as this week aimed at giving states authority to mandate that online and catalog firms collect sales taxes from customers in states where those companies do not have a physical presence. Isaacson and other critics of such efforts say their concern with such proposals is with the burden of having to comply with the different sales tax regimes of the more than 7,500 state and local taxing jurisdictions throughout the country.
Online Merchants Likely To Remain In States' Crosshairs