July 8, 2009 (Attack!)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY JULY 8, 2009
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CYBERWARFARE
Government Web Sites Targeted By Attack
THE STIMULUS
Power of Stimulus Slow to Take Hold
Isn't The Broadband Stimulus Supposed To Be About Jobs and Innovation?
POLICYMAKERS
Adelstein, Nominated to Head USDA Broadband Program, Vows to Cut Waste
Keeping A CEO-Less NAB On Course
DIGITAL CONTENT
Copyright laws threaten our online freedom
France's Competition Authority hits Orange's exclusive TV broadband deals
Online radio stations strike big deal on royalties
PRIVACY
The Threat of an Online Privacy Bill
MORE ONLINE
Google Plans a PC Operating System
Michael Jackson Again drives Media Narrative
Guide to Measuring the Information Society
GAO Enlists New Technologies to Report Its Findings
Arbitron Spurns FCC, Courts Industry
US antitrust regulators approve Nokia/Nortel deal
Analyst: Digital TV Transition Added 653,000 Subscribers to Pay TV
Aepona adds monetization to open networks
Review of the Initial Implementation of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act
Amazon Patents Detail Kindle Advertising Model
Sending GPS Devices the Way of the Tape Deck?
2nd Cubs deal for Tribune
CYBERWARFARE
GOVERNMENT WEB SITES TARGETED BY ATTACK
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Krebs, Ellen Nakashima]
A widespread and coordinated cyberattack during the past few days has targeted Web sites operated by major government agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Trade Commission. The attack involved thousands of computers around the globe infected with rogue software that told them to repeatedly attempt to access the targeted sites, a tactic aimed at driving up traffic beyond the sites' normal capacity and denying access to legitimate users, according to the researchers, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are helping with the investigation. Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that the agency was aware of ongoing attacks and that the government's Computer Emergency Response Team had issued guidance to public and private sector Web sites to stem the attacks. South Korean authorities issued a cyber security warning on Wednesday after the Web sites of government agencies and financial institutions were disabled by apparent hacker attacks, possibly linked to North Korea. South Korea's spy agency said in a statement an organization and possibly a state was behind the attacks on Tuesday in the world's most wired nation, and there were signs of "meticulous preparations" for the act.
http://benton.org/node/26356
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THE STIMULUS
POWER OF STIMULUS SLOW TO TAKE HOLD
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Lori Montgomery]
Five months after Congress approved a massive package of spending and tax cuts aimed at reviving an ailing economy, the jobless rate is still climbing and the White House is scrambling to reassure an anxious public that President Obama's prescription for economic recovery is on the right track. Yesterday, Obama took time out of his first presidential trip to Moscow to defend the $787 billion stimulus package, arguing that the measure was the right medicine at the right time. "There's nothing that we would have done differently," he told ABC News. Back in Washington, senior Democrats on Capitol Hill were nervously contemplating whether additional government stimulus spending may be needed to pull the nation out of the worst recession since the 1930s. Senior administration officials acknowledged that the effects of the stimulus package have been overshadowed by an unexpectedly sharp drop-off in employment since the measure passed in February. But they reported that only about $100 billion has so far been spent and that as increasingly large sums flow out of Washington, the program is on pace to save or create 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days.
http://benton.org/node/26358
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ISN'T THE BROADBAND STIMULUS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT JOBS AND INNOVATION?
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] The scoring criteria for the broadband stimulus grants and loans don't account for jobs created or saved. It makes it seem like the only reason they're even asking for numbers related to job creation is as inconsequential window dressing. How is it that this NOFA is completely ignoring the Recovery Act's primary purpose? Why aren't we rewarding projects that promise to create the most jobs? But there's an even more glaring omission in this NOFA: the lack of focus on innovation. Every time an Administration official talked about the stimulus it was in terms of testbed projects, and yet nothing in this NOFA supports that idea. It makes me wonder why more wasn't done to craft the NOFA to favor innovative models for deployment.
http://benton.org/node/26343
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POLICYMAKERS
ADELSTEIN, NOMINATED TO HEAD USDA BROADBAND PROGRAM, VOWS TO CUT WASTE
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
Jonathan Adelstein, President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service, said Tuesday that the USDA "can't afford to waste a dime of taxpayer money" in distributing its $2.5 billion to fund high-speed Internet in sparse areas. One of Adelstein's chief responsibilities as head of RUS will be to run the agency's grant and loan program to fund broadband in rural America. President Obama has made it a top priority to cover the country with high-speed Internet. Those connections will play a critical role in creating efficient technologies such as an energy "smart grid." Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said USDA probably will never again see this kind of government investment in rural broadband. Chairman Harkin urged Adelstein to work with smaller towns or community organizations that might make mistakes in loan applications. Adelstein shouldn't face difficulties getting confirmed in his new position, but he will take over a loan program rife with critics. In the past, the USDA's Internet funding program has taken years to dole out much smaller amounts of money. The USDA's prior Internet loan program recently came under fire from the USDA Inspector General for giving out loans in areas where private Internet service providers were already present.
http://benton.org/node/26344
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KEEPING A CEO-LESS NAB ON COURSE
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
A Q&A with Steve Newberry, the new joint board chairman at National Association of Broadcasters. It's now been two months since David Rehr abruptly resigned after a turbulent three years as president of the NAB and triggered a search for a successor. Newberry is now charged with holding things together at the NAB until the search yields the new man or woman. The big issues before the organization right now are the "performance tax" and the Satellite Home Viewer Act (SHVERA).
http://benton.org/node/26338
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DIGITAL CONTENT
COPYRIGHT LAWS THREATEN OUR ONLINE FREEDOM
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Christian Engström]
[Commentary] Technology opens up possibilities; copyright law shuts them down. This was never the intent. Copyright was meant to encourage culture, not restrict it. This is reason enough for reform. But the current regime has even more damaging effects. In order to uphold copyright laws, governments are beginning to restrict our right to communicate with each other in private, without being monitored. The world is at a crossroads. The Internet and new information technologies are so powerful that no matter what we do, society will change. But the direction has not been decided. Political decisions taken over the next five years are likely to set the course we take into the information society, and will affect the lives of millions for many years into the future. Will we let our fears lead us towards a dystopian Big Brother state, or will we have the courage and wisdom to choose an exciting future in a free and open society? The information revolution is happening here and now. It is up to us to decide what future we want. [Engström is the Pirate party's member of the European parliament.]
http://benton.org/node/26355
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FRANCE'S COMPETITION AUTHORITY HITS ORANGE'S EXCLUSIVE TV BROADBAND DEALS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Cyril Altmeyer]
Orange's ambition to use exclusive TV content to retain and draw customers suffered a setback on Tuesday after France's Competition Authority, the country's competition watchdog, imposed a limit of one to two years on such offers. Orange has invested heavily in premium television series, films and League 1 soccer matches but the regulator recommended that it gave access to its content to a wider pool of customers than just its own existing broadband subscribers. The watchdog said the telecoms operator, part of France Telecom, should distribute its TV content to users of other platforms after an initial period of one to two years, threatening its closed-circuit business model. France Telecom shares closed down 2.05 percent.
http://benton.org/node/26340
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ONLINE RADIO STATIONS STRIKE BIG DEAL ON ROYALTIES
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Joelle Tessler]
The future of Internet radio appears more secure after a handful of online stations reached an agreement Tuesday to head off a potentially crippling increase in copyright royalty rates. The deal is the product of two years of negotiations between webcasters and copyright holders. In March 2007, a ruling by the federal Copyright Royalty Board dramatically raised the rates that Internet radio stations must pay artists and recording labels — leading many online radio stations to warn that the new rates would put them out of business by eating up as much as 70 percent of revenue. At least one popular online radio service — Pandora Media, which derives much of its revenue from advertising — said the new agreement will help ensure its survival.
http://benton.org/node/26342
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PRIVACY
THE THREAT OF AN ONLINE PRIVACY BILL
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Jon Fine]
Advertising and media executives are worried about the threat an online privacy bill, or any similar federal regulation, could pose to their businesses. One proviso they fear would mandate that Web surfers "opt in" before companies could track their online behavior across multiple sites with what are known as third-party cookies—a cookie being the morsel of computer code that sites can affix to your PC to gather data on your habits. A better understanding of surfers' online likes and dislikes enables the deployment of better-targeted ads, which win Web companies higher ad rates. Without these ads, one wonders, what's online got? A bill hasn't been introduced yet, although high-profile congressional hearings were held in mid-June. And, obviously, one cannot describe the contours of a law that hasn't yet made it through the legislative digestive process. Still, high-profile executives expect privacy concerns will persist.
http://benton.org/node/26354
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