July 2009

Growing Presence in the Courtroom: Cellphone Data as Witness

There's a surge in law enforcement's use of increasingly sophisticated cellular tracking techniques to keep tabs on suspects before they are arrested and build criminal cases against them by mapping their past movements. But cellphone tracking is raising concerns about civil liberties in a debate that pits public safety against privacy rights. Existing laws do not provide clear or uniform guidelines: Federal wiretap laws, outpaced by technological advances, do not explicitly cover the use of cellphone data to pinpoint a person's location, and local court rulings vary widely across the country. Civil libertarians do not oppose using cellphone surveillance to solve crimes or save people in emergencies, but they worry that the legal gray area is enabling it to happen without much scrutiny or discussion.

AT&T's Designs for the Wireless Market

Figuring out how to take advantage of mobile access to the Internet will be critical to AT&T's growth. In the future, AT&T plans to offer more advanced gadgets: digital cameras that link to the Net for sharing and printing photos; tools that help city agencies monitor parking meters from afar; and devices that alert businesses when they need to replace candy or soda in vending machines. "In three to four years it's not inconceivable a user may have four to five devices hooked onto a wireless plan," says mobile consultant Chetan Sharma.

BT cools on ad targeting software

Shares in Phorm fell by a quarter on Monday morning after British Telecommunications Group said it had no "immediate plans" to adopt its targeted advertising technology. BT had been expected to be the first UK broadband provider to launch Phorm's service to its customers after completing a trial of the technology - which matches online advertisements to consumers' interests - earlier this year. Phorm's technology has come under fire from privacy campaigners since it first announced agreements with BT, Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media in February 2008. The European Commission has also voiced its concerns about BT's trials of Phorm's technology in 2006 and 2007 without informing customers. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, has also said he opposes so-called behavioral targeting technology at the ISP level, which he branded "snooping". But Ed Richards, chief executive of telecoms watchdog Ofcom, Lord Carter, the communications minister, and the Information Commissioner's Office have backed Phorm's technology, provided it complies with data protection laws.

Free riding: a deeply embedded media tradition

[Commentary] A large literature of media criticism suggests that free riding on the work of others is deeply embedded in the old media's DNA. Solving the problem of media parasitism is no easy task. The technology to solve the problem at minimal cost now exists, but the incentive of media outlets and journalists to take as much credit for others' work as they can plausibly get away with persists. Like the drives for power, money, and sex, the drive for credit taking can only be reigned in and channeled in socially beneficial ways by well designed institutions. One hope to solve this incentive problem may lie with the widely expected growth of non-profit journalism.

A New Signal from the FCC

After years of dealing with a regulator many considered an autocrat and ideologue, executives in media, telecom, and technology say they are encouraged by President Barack Obama's newly confirmed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Julius Genachowski, like most FCC chiefs, is a lawyer. But there the similarities with his predecessors end. Genachowski helped media mogul Barry Diller build his e-commerce empire and worked as a venture capitalist. Those experiences arguably give him a broad view of the industries he will regulate. Genachowski is also considered fair and pragmatic. Executives believe his ascension will be a welcome change from predecessor Kevin Martin, who they say targeted certain industries and turned an obsession with what he deemed smut on TV into a moral crusade. Here, say FCC insiders, are three of Genachowski's top priorities: Broadband Deployment; Network Neutrality; and media Ownership Diversity.

Genachowski Presides Over First FCC Meeting as Chairman

New Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski presided over his first FCC meeting last week. Before presentations concerning the digital television transition and the FCC's federally-mandated national broadband plan, Commissioner Robert McDowell was sworn in to a new five-year term. The broadband plan, due to Congress by February 17, 2010, is the biggest task before the Commission. Chairman Genachowski said that the broadband plan was not about broadband but about making a difference in people's lives. The size of the task was driven home by Blair Levin, who is heading up the broadband plan effort. Levin laid out an ambitious timetable and delivery schedule. He said there would be some 20 staff workshops next month on various aspects of the plan including healthcare, e-government, education and job training. He also apologized for those used to taking August vacations but said it could not be helped. In addition to the plan, the FCC also has a regular report to Congress on broadband deployment that will be rolled into the effort, as well as broadband mapping requirements. Levin said the approach to the plan would be divided into four parts. First, assessing the current situation; second, identifying what could be done in the nearer term without a change in government policy (for example, he cited the cable industry's roll-out of Docsis 3.0); third, identifying where there are currently "demonstrable public interest harms"; fourth, identifying ways to lessen those public interest harms. He said that he didn't have the answers, but that a data-driven commission meant that they would not start with conclusions but with data, and that the data would not be accepted without being vetted.

FCC National Plan Aims for Data-Driven Approach to Broadband

Blair Levin, recently appointed to head up the national broadband strategy at the Federal Communications Commission, laid out the agency's framework for this plan due in 230 days at Thursday's open meeting. The agency's broadband plan will interact with other congressional mandates, including the Broadband Data Improvement Act, and an upcoming report on high-speed adoption, among others. The agency said it would merge the regulatory process for the regulatory process on high-speed adoption (also called the "Section 706" report after that portion of the 1996 Telecommunications Act) and the national broadband plan. Comments on the 706 report will be considered in the national broadband plan, and vice versa. This will help create ongoing institutional knowledge on broadband, Levin said, which can serve to inform ongoing policy deliberations. The plan will include input from each bureau at the FCC.

FCC Considers DTV After-Action Report

The Federal Communications Commission says the digital television transition continues to go well and it will likely issues a report on just what went right and what went wrong. There are still about two dozen stations, mostly VHFs, with reception issues that FCC engineers are working on, trying various solutions including power increases and consumer outreach about re-scanning TV's and converter boxes. But the vast majority of stations have made the transition successfully, said the FCC's Robert Ratcliffe, acting Media Bureau chief.

Broadband industry group says stimulus rules go too far

USTelecom, which represents the biggest US telephone companies Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T, says new government guidelines to spend $4 billion to expand broadband access to underserved areas across the United States may go beyond current laws. The lobbying group is still analyzing requirements to provide loans and grants to applicants that can include state and local governments as well as non- and for-profit organizations. USTelecom President Walter McCormick says the rules may lead to uncertainty and even delay President Barack Obama's plans to revive the US economy with job creation, partly, through the telecommunications industry.

Administration Signals Change for Wireless Companies

Some wireless companies may think twice about applying for some of the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funding, after Obama officials released rules last week that would effectively impose Network Neutrality restrictions on them. Under the rules, all grant winners will be required to follow the FCC's 2005 Internet Policy statement. That statement sets rules which effectively prevent broadband providers from deliberating slowing or blocking competitors' Internet traffic. Stimulus grant winners will "not favor any lawful Internet applications and content over others," according to the notice. That raises a slightly thorny issue for the wireless industry, because there's been some debate about whether the agency's Internet Policy rules actually apply to wireless phone companies. Grant recipients would also be required to "offer interconnection, where technically feasible without exceeding current or reasonably anticipated capacity limitations, on reasonable rates and terms to be negotiated with requesting parties." Administration officials allow a little wiggle room for future grant winners, saying that Internet providers could still portion off part of their network to offer "managed services" which use private network connections that offer a better quality of service. That's important because many Internet providers have been exploring the idea of offering more Internet services using such private networks. The wireless industry had hoped that administration officials would take a light touch when setting rules for the grants and loans.

Benton

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