June 19, 2008 (FCC shuts out AP)
"Now we're full-blown into this digital era, and we, in general, need to upgrade the laws that ensure that there is accessibility for all the people who use these new technologies."
-- Rep Ed Markey (D-MA)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY JUNE 19, 2008
Find Headlines online at http://www.benton.org/headlines
FCC REFORM
Voted items at FCC are secret, agency says
FCC Denies AP FOIA Request
FCC Chief Keeps Korean Reporters at Arm's Length
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Access Denied
Getting Serious as 'The Big Switch' Nears
John McCain on USF
WIRELESS
Sprint asks FCC for delay in vacating spectrum
White-Spaces Debate Hits Broadway
Thirty Countries Exceed 100% Per Capita Cell Phone Usage
USA lags on cellphones' marketing potential
California cellphone law may be more costly than the $20 fine
ADVERTISING
NebuAd Wiretaps Consumers and Hijacks Web Sites
Barton Targets Google-Yahoo Partnership
LABOR
Your boss shouldn't read your text or e-mail messages without an OK
Study shatters myths on personal Net use at work
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Carriers look to next U.S. administration on Network Neutrality issue
Telco CTOs see Web traffic growth as key challenge
Newspapers Surpass Google News Traffic
No One Wants Fiber to Every Home
Internet domain name for China surpasses ".net"
POLICYMAKERS
Stearns: A la Carte, Network Neutrality Quiet
Adelstein: DTV Transition a Win-Win for Promotion
CFA to Honor Cooper
QUICKLY -- Hoyer hopeful on FISA resolution; Overcoming hype, Wi-Fi holds promise
FCC REFORM
VOTED ITEMS AT FCC ARE SECRET, AGENCY SAYS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]
When the Federal Communications Commission votes on something at a public meeting, the document they are voting on isn't necessarily for public consumption, the agency said Wednesday. Commissioners unanimously rejected an appeal by The Associated Press for a copy of a document that was approved by a 4-1 vote at a July 31 public meeting. The document was an order establishing rules that would govern the conduct of a planned auction of television airwaves that would later raise nearly $20 billion. While commissioners approved the rules in a public vote, staff requested "editorial privileges." A formal document was not released until Aug. 10. AP filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act seeking a copy of the document "as approved by the commission ... prior to editorial revisions." The agency rejected the request and AP appealed. In its appeal, the AP stated the document was "by its very nature 'post-decisional'" and that "were it not considered final, the public meeting and the vote itself would be meaningless."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/ap_on_go_ot/fcc_secrecy
FCC DENIES AP FOIA REQUEST
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
John Dunbar, an Associated Press reporter, requested from the Federal Communications Commission a copy of its Second Report and Order regarding the service rules for the 700 megahertz auction as approved by the FCC on July 31, 2007, prior to editorial revisions. The FCC is denying this request citing a deliberative process privilege FOIA Exemption. The FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau explained that the document that was before the Commission on July 31, 2007 is not the same document that was released to the public on August 10, 2007. The July 31, 2007 document was a draft generated as part of the continuing process of agency decision-making, whereas the publicly-released document reflects the Commission's final deliberations and editorial changes. The FCC has decided that when FCC Commissioners vote to adopt an item at an open meeting, their deliberations concerning the item are not at an end. Following adoption of an item, the Commissioners may continue to consider possible edits to the item until all Commissioners in the majority agree on the language of the draft to be released. Dunbar contended that not releasing the text of the rule at the meeting is detrimental to the public interest. The FCC disagrees, arguing that the final editorial process results in well thought-out decisions of a higher quality. Release of the item still in draft form followed by a final version after all post-adoption editing is complete, the FCC contends, could result in public confusion and would be contrary to the public interest.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-156A1.doc
FCC CHIEF KEEPS KOREAN REPORTERS AT ARM'S LENGTH
[SOURCE: Korea Times, AUTHOR: ]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin held a backdoor meeting with the American media during the OECD Internet Ministers Meeting, Wednesday, but refused to hold an official press conference despite continuous requests. Chairman Martin had a brief, exclusive meeting with reporters from several US news agencies at the OECD event venue the COEX exhibition center while officials from the US Embassy in Seoul blocked access to reporters.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/06/113_26108.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
ACCESS DENIED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
In many ways, Web technologies and mobile devices have created new ways for blind and deaf consumers to find information and connect with friends. But as entertainment and communications tools increasingly take digital form, some people with disabilities feel left behind. Online videos are not required to have captions for those who can't hear, for example, and ticker-style emergency messages are not narrated for those who can't see. A number of efforts by various groups have tried to address some of these hurdles over the past few years. Today, Rep Ed Markey (D-MA), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, plans to introduce legislation that would restore those requirements, as well as bring other big changes to the way Internet phone and video are designed. The bill, also sponsored by Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), calls for new rules for devices that display video programming. Federal law requires all TV sets with screens larger than 13 inches to display closed captions. Under the new legislation, all gadgets from MP3 music players to cellphones would be required to show captions. Devices would also be obligated to provide video description services and read aloud emergency messages that scroll across the bottom of the screen. And they would have to be designed so that on-screen menus are usable by people with disabilities. In addition, Markey's bill would extend existing Internet phone service requirements to Skype and similar services that let users exchange voice, text or video communications over the Internet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/18/AR200806...
(requires registration)
GETTING SERIOUS AS 'THE BIG SWITCH' NEARS
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Jean Grillo]
[Commentary] Feb 17, 2009, is television's T-Day when all American television sets must transition from analog to digital delivery, whether ready or not. Most of America is ready, with recent surveys insisting 90 percent of TV homes are at least aware of what one station bills as The Big Switch. But that nagging 10 percent is causing concern as it represents five risk categories where TV is not a luxury but a lifeline: The elderly, limited income families, Hispanic households, rural families and the disabled. Public Broadcasting viewers already include all of those five risk groups, according to Kelly Chmielewski, PBS director of broadcast management. PBS researchers decided to learn more about people who rely solely on over-the-air reception. What they discovered is OTA audiences, generally speaking, despite income or locale, choose to watch TV this way, and hope to do so after next February. For the elderly, especially the elderly on a fixed income, even if they want digital television, many cannot afford to buy the set-top boxes needed and scammers have already devised schemes to bilk them in the process. Without immediate outreach to the elderly and homebound, scammers will fill the gap.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/06/19/daily.1/
JOHN MCCAIN ON USF
[SOURCE: The Independent Forum, AUTHOR: ]
[Commentary] (4.26.08) Sen John McCain: "The modern economy offers new opportunities for communities. In particular, through access to high-speed Internet services that facilitate interstate commerce, drive innovation, and promote educational achievements, there is the potential to change lives. These kinds of transformations of our way of life require the infrastructure of modern communication, and government has a role to play in assuring every community in America can develop that infrastructure. This country has a long history of ensuring that rural areas have the same access to communication technology as other places. In 1934, Congress mandated that every American, regardless of where they lived, receive basic telephone service at approximately the same rate, and established the universal service fund to provide Americans with that service. Unfortunately, in a tale that is too familiar, the program became a breeding ground for waste, corruption, and grossly inefficient spending.... I think we should establish a "People Connect Program" that rewards companies that offer high-speed Internet access services to underserved, low-income customers by allowing these companies to write off the cost of this service. The government should enlist the help of private/public partnerships to devise creative and successful solutions to the lack of access to information technology. In many places, cities and towns are working with businesses that have experience providing high-speed Internet services to share the cost of building and improving that service. Where companies are unwilling to build information infrastructure, the federal government can support towns through government-backed loans or by issuing bonds with a low interest rate. An aggressive effort to knit together all of the United States with 21st century information networks will make location less of a factor in the potential for economic success. Instead, the prime determinant will be the skills, energy, imagination, and persistence of Americans -- attributes that have traditionally been in great supply in America, and certainly exist here, where people have always prided themselves on hard work and self-reliance.
http://independent-forum.blogspot.com/2008/04/john-mccain-on-usf-and-he-...
WIRELESS
SPRINT ASKS FCC FOR DELAY IN VACATING SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Peter Kaplan]
Sprint Nextel said on Wednesday it was asking the Federal Communications Commission to extend the deadline for it to stop using a key piece of airwaves close to the networks of public-safety agencies. The company is asking the FCC to push back a June 26 deadline for Sprint to vacate some of the 800 megahertz spectrum that it currently uses. Sprint is required to vacate the spectrum as part of a larger FCC plan to swap spectrum with public-safety agencies in the 800 megahertz band, a move aimed at minimizing interference between wireless service and public-safety users. Sprint's request, filed late on Tuesday, came shortly after the FCC granted requests from many public-safety agencies to delay relinquishing their spectrum under the swap until July 1, 2009.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1848677120080619
WHITE-SPACES DEBATE HITS BROADWAY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
They say the neon white spaces are bright on Broadway. But, according to Broadway theater owners, the lights of the "Great White Way" could be extinguished by mobile wireless devices in the "white spaces" between digital-TV channels. These owners squared off with the technology industry Wednesday over the issue of using those white spaces (opponents of the devices call them "interference zones") between DTV channels for unlicensed mobile devices like laptops and spectrum-sensing radios. In the technology-industry corner was the Wireless Innovation Alliance, which includes Google, Dell, Microsoft and Motorola. It said Wednesday that it asked the Federal Communications Commission to back a "compromise" proposal for solving interference issues with wireless microphones -- which also use the TV-spectrum band -- pointing out that a combination of beacon and spectrum-sensing technology had been proposed by Shure, one of the top wireless-mic manufacturers. The Broadway League -- which represents theater owners, producers and others -- shot back that the microphone-protection plan was a public-relations blitz intended to mask "fatal flaws" in proposals to use the white spaces for national voice- and data-transmission services.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6571307.html?rssid=193
THIRTY COUNTRIES EXCEED 100% PER CAPITA CELL PHONE USAGE
[SOURCE: Center for Media Research, AUTHOR: Jack Loechner]
According to a recent Experian study, analyzed and reported by Ellen A. Romer SVP, Strategic Planning, there are now 2.7 billion mobile phones in use. Between January 2001 and December 2010, our global society will have transformed from one where 13% carried a mobile phone, to one where 70% carry one. For comparison, there are 850 million personal computers, 1.3 billion fixed landline phones, and 1.5 billion TV sets. By the first quarter of 2006, notes the report, thirty countries had already exceeded 100% per capita cell phone usage. In that same year, there were about 241 million mobile phone users in the US (roughly 80% per capita mobile phone penetration). The U.S. market is not expected to top 100% per capita penetration until the year 2013. Included by the author is the Simmons New Media Study released in April 2008 comparing the usage of different mobile functions among consumers in the U.S. While 59% of people who have used a cell phone in the past 30 days have text messaged, and 49% have taken photos, less than 2% have shopped by mobile and less than 5% have used mobile GPS.
http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1731
USA LAGS ON CELLPHONES' MARKETING POTENTIAL
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Theresa Howard]
Despite a drumbeat about mobile phones being the new frontier in the ad world, marketers have been slow to dial it up, particularly in the USA. That's in part because creating a mobile strategy and message remain a challenge. Advertisers are working hard to master mobile, not least because its potential as a medium far outstrips the Web on PCs. Mobile tops 3 billion users worldwide, while PC use is at 1.2 billion, and each of the increasingly Web-enabled digital handsets is a personal connection to an individual. Being both direct and mass is advertising's holy grail. And mobile offers direct access to users wherever they go, including points of purchase not just when they're in front of a TV or PC screen. Important for global marketers, mobile handsets are the dominant way people access the Web in many emerging markets, as it is far cheaper, says John Gauntt, senior analyst at digital ad tracker eMarketer. With a computer, "The cost of entry to get Internet access is about $1,200 for the PC and broadband; a mobile is less than half the cost."
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20080619/cannesnews19.art.htm
CALIFORNIA CELLPHONE LAW MAY BE MORE COSTLY THAN THE $20 FINE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Ralph Vartabedian]
The threat of a $20 fine may not sway every California driver from using a hand-held cellphone when a state ban takes effect July 1, but a motorist who ignores the law and causes an accident could face huge civil judgments or even jail if fatalities result. "If you cause a fatal accident and you are running a stop sign, speeding or crossing a double line, any additional violation would add to the possibility a manslaughter charge could be filed," said W. Scott Thorpe, chief executive of the California District Attorneys Assn. "It all goes to state of mind and your recklessness." The cellphone law is moving the state into uncharted territory. Though other states have enacted such laws, prosecutors, trial lawyers and insurance companies say it is still too soon to measure the effects.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-hy-cellphones19-2008ju...
(requires registration)
ADVERTISING
NEBUAD WIRETAPS CONSUMERS AND HIJACKS WEB SITES
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Press release]
Consumers are having their Web browsing intercepted and Web sites are having their computer code altered by NebuAd, a company that provides targeted advertising for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), according to a technical investigation by Free Press and Public Knowledge. NebuAd is an online advertising company whose partnership with cable and phone companies has raised substantial privacy questions. In a new report, NebuAd and Partner ISPs: Wiretapping, Forgery and Browser Hijacking, Robert M. Topolski, the chief technical consultant for the organizations, found that NebuAd uses special equipment that monitors, intercepts and modifies the contents of Internet packets as consumers go online. Topolski, the network engineer who made public Comcasts throttling of BitTorrent applications, said in the report that NebuAd commandeers users Web browsers to load tracking cookies and collects information from users in order to place ads from ISPs. Apparently, neither the consumers nor the affected Web sites have actual knowledge of NebuAds interceptions and modifications, the report found.
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1622
* NebuAd and Partner ISPs: Wiretapping, Forgery and Browser Hijacking
http://www.freepress.net/files/NebuAd_Report.pdf
* Tech Watchdogs, Web Ad Firm Trade Blows
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2008/06/tech_watchdogs_and_web_...
BARTON TARGETS GOOGLE-YAHOO PARTNERSHIP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Rep Joe Barton (R-TX), the ranking Republican on the House Commerce Committee, wrote Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang to say he is concerned with consolidation in the online-advertising industry and how its partnership with Google could affect competition. He said he was concerned about the impact on data storage, collection and privacy and asked Yang for a bunch of information. It included: which company made the first move in forming the partnership (names and dates, please); the names and titles of executives at his company who expressed concern that the partnership would result in a "monopoly in the online-search market"; what criteria Yahoo will use to decide on what pages Google's paid advertising will appear and whether the price advertisers paid affects the placement; and an explanation of the $800 million in additional revenue Yahoo predicted from the partnership.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6571444.html?rssid=193
LABOR
YOUR BOSS SHOULDN'T READ YOUR TEXT OR E-MAIL MESSAGES WITHOUT AN OK, COURT SAYS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Maura Dolan]
A federal appeals court Wednesday sharply limited the ability of employers to obtain e-mails and text messages sent by employees on company-financed accounts. The text message portion of the ruling, issued by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, will affect all employers who contract with an outside provider for messaging, as most do. Access to e-mail would be barred if the employer contracts out its e-mail service rather than maintaining an internal server to handle it. A majority of companies keep employee e-mail on their servers, analysts said. Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook program, which has a 65% share of the corporate e-mail market, can be used either on a company's internal systems or on systems managed by vendors. Currently, about 28% of Outlook users have their e-mail handled by an outside vendor, according to research firm Radicati Group. The ruling also gives all government workers 4th Amendment protection against searches of text and e-mail communications by their bosses, lawyers said.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-me-text19-2008jun19,0,18...
(requires registration)
STUDY SHATTERS MYTHS ON PERSONAL NET USE AT WORK
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Anick Jesdanun]
It's no secret that people sneak in some personal e-mail and Web surfing when they're supposed to be working. A new study attempts to shatter perceptions that these Web surfers are just slackers trying to avoid work. In fact, it turns out everyone does it, from senior managers to entry-level employees - and researchers figure that means management attempts to clamp down on Internet use may be missing the mark. Many legitimate reasons may be at play, speculates R. Kelly Garrett, one of the study's authors and a communications professor at Ohio State University. For instance, people may use the Web at work to help balance job and life responsibilities; with the personal matters taken care of from work, they can focus on the task at hand.
http://thefacts.com/wire.lasso?report=/dynamic/stories/T/TEC_TECHBIT_CYB...
* One in three IT staff snoops on colleagues: survey
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL1911968220080619
INTERNET/BROADBAND
CARRIERS LOOK TO NEXT US ADMINISTRATION ON NETWORK NEUTRALITY ISSUE
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Stephen Lawson]
The major US telecommunications carriers aren't sure what to expect from the next presidential administration, but at least one is hoping for a resolution of the Comcast Network Neutrality issue before President George Bush leaves office. Under Bush, the Federal Communications Commission has been weighted against government regulation in general, though it has cracked down in media decency and some other areas. The carrier officials didn't lay out many clear predictions about a shift from Republican to Democratic control, nor about a change from Bush to McCain. "I think it's in the interest of the industry for the FCC to make a judgment on the Comcast issue" in 2008, said Thomas Tauke, executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications at Verizon Communications. The impact of a change in the White House isn't clear, he said. "There's no question that Senator Obama is committed to the notion of net neutrality. To the best of my knowledge, he has not yet really defined what that means or how he would intend to implement that policy," Tauke said.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/06/18/Carriers_look_to_next_US_admin...
TELCO CTOs SEE WEB TRAFFIC GROWTH AS KEY CHALLENGE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Ritsuko Ando]
Chief technology officers of top US phone companies say dealing with growing Internet traffic is a key challenge, as they work on preventing services like video downloading from bogging down the network. They said the popularity of bandwidth-heavy services, including movie downloads and video chats, was contributing to exponential growth in online traffic. Such growth has kept alive the debate on network neutrality, pitting Internet service providers such as phone and cable companies who want to be able to charge higher fees or to control traffic on their networks against those who oppose interference.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1846217020080619
NEWSPAPERS SURPASS GOOGLE NEWS TRAFFIC
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Jennifer Saba]
Several newspaper networks surpassed Google News in netting more "unique" traffic in May, according to new data from Nielsen Online. NYTimes.com stood out with 21.3 million unique visitors -- more than Google News' 11.3 million monthly visitors. Tribune Newspapers and Gannett Newspapers, taken as groups, beat the online behemoth as well. Yahoo News was the number one current events and global news destination in May with a unique audience of 35.8 million. The Huffington Post also made the list with 4.7 million uniques edging out the Associated Press at 4.5 million. The Huffington Post's traffic increased the most out of the top 30 sites on the list, surging 255% in May 2008 compared to the same month a year ago. The AP's traffic declined the most out of the top 30 sites: year-over-year traffic fell 45% in May. The Drudge Report did not make the top 30, coming in at #39 in May. USAToday.com made the top 30 list as the tenth most visited current events site in May. Washingtonpost.com placed thirteenth followed by McClatchy Newspapers and Hearst Newspapers.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
NO ONE WANTS FIBER TO THE HOME
[SOURCE: app-rising, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
A big fan of fiber-to-the-home [FTTH for those abbreviating at home], Daily too often meets disbelief about its feasibility, doubt over its necessity, and, most troubling of all, lack of support from the very people responsible for helping achieve that goal. The feasibility camp has a point: deploying fiber is expensive, some argue too expensive for rural areas. But that's simply not true. The necessity camp is one that frustrates Daily greatly. Despite these being learned people, they've bought into the hype of a wireless world, that eventually we won't even need wires. But the main inspiration for this article is the camp that's responsible for our broadband infrastructure but that for various reasons have not yet embraced the goal of 100% fiber deployment. One faction of this camp has obvious reasons not to support it: they want to continue making money of their initial investment in a copper infrastructure. Cable companies and many telcos don't want to see fiber laid to every home because it's not likely that they're the ones who'll be laying it, so if fiber gets laid that means not only do they have to face a new competitor but that competitor will be able to offer a vastly superior network. Making matters worse is now everyone's talking about their fiber networks, which muddles the message of why we need the ultimate goal to be full fiber networks.
http://app-rising.com/2008/06/no_one_wants_fiber_to_the_home.html
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME FOR CHINA SURPASSES ".NET"
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Anick Jesdanun]
Registrations for Internet addresses ending in China's ".cn" have surpassed those for the global ".net," showing the continued rapid rise in Internet use in the communist nation. A study by VeriSign Inc., which runs the ".net" databases and other core directories for helping computers find Web sites and route e-mail, found that ".cn" overtook ".net" sometime in the first quarter of 2008.
http://thefacts.com/wire.lasso?report=/dynamic/stories/T/TECHBIT_CHINAS_...
POLICYMAKERS
STEARNS: A LA CARTE, NETWORK NEUTRALITY QUIET
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Rep Cliff Stearns (R-FL), the ranking Republican on the House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee, said he doesn't think there will be any congressional action on a la carte or network neutrality in this session of Congress and advised that unless it wanted to kill innovation and upset a vibrant marketplace, the Federal Communications Commission shouldn't do anything, either. [In a press release, the FCC replied that it has always been against innovation and a vibrant marketplace, so there.] National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow praised Rep Stearns for being in cable's corner on a la carte, leased access and network neutrality. "He has been a great advocate for free markets," he said.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6571266.html?rssid=193
ADELSTEIN: DTV TRANSITION A "WIN-WIN" FOR PROMOTION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Joel Topcik]
Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein called the coming digital television transition a "win-win" proposition for broadcasters looking to market themselves and reconnect with their local communities. He urged TV broadcasters to approach the February 2009 switch to digital broadcasting as an opportunity to distinguish themselves through their efforts to inform viewers about the change.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6571452.html?rssid=193
* Adelstein Urges Stations to Pull Plug, Now
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/06/18/daily.10/
CFA TO HONOR COOPER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Consumer Federation of America will bestow the Esther Pererson Consumer Service Award on CFA Research Director Mark Cooper in a June 19 ceremony. The CFA said Cooper has testified more than 100 times and helped to translate exhaustive studies and complicated issues into layman's terms. "In more than a century of consumer activism, fewer advocates have done more than Mark Cooper to advance the consumer interest," the CFA added.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6571395.html?rssid=193
QUICKLY -- Hoyer hopeful on FISA resolution; Overcoming hype, Wi-Fi holds promise
HOYER HOPEFUL ON FISA RESOLUTION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mike Soraghan]
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said Wednesday he remains hopeful that the House and Senate can finish the contentious overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) this week. The House could vote on the bill Friday. The compromise, which is being finalized behind closed doors, attempts to split the difference over the hot-button issue of whether telephone companies deserve retroactive immunity for assisting in government surveillance after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. According to people familiar with the draft, the language gives federal district courts a role in determining whether companies should be given immunity for the role they played in eavesdropping on telephone calls.
http://thehill.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74225&Itemi...
OVERCOMING HYPE, WI-FI HOLDS PROMISE
[SOURCE: Star Tribune, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Later this month Minneapolis will decide whether the network is meeting its contract requirements, and despite the first-year glitches US Internet is expected to get a passing grade from Minneapolis officials. That's the right call. Minneapolis has approached Wi-Fi with modest expectations and a sound public-private business model. Advice to existing and potential subscribers: Be patient, and keep your expectations reasonable.
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/20116349.html?page=2&c=y