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August 2009

More FCC National Broadband Plan Staff

Dr. Carlos Kirjner has been named Senior Advisor to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Broadband. Dr. Kirjner will lend his broad international expertise in the business, economics and operations of the telecommunications industry to the Federal Communications Commission's development of a National Broadband Plan. Dr. Kirjner has worked for 15 years in high-tech and telecom strategy, operations, marketing, business development, and technology. Prior to joining the FCC he was Vice President, Business Development, for Telegent Systems, Inc., a fabless semiconductor manufacturer, where he led business development efforts. He was Director for New Business Development at Vodafone Group, PLC. Before that, he was a partner at McKinsey & Co's telecommunications and high-tech practices, where he led work for clients in wireline and wireless services, telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics manufacturers, IT services providers, and public safety agencies.

The Federal Communications Commission also named a team of senior technologists who will help lead the effort by the Federal Communications Commission to develop a National Broadband Plan.

Stagg Newman, Chief Technologist. Dr. Newman was a Principal with Pisgah Comm Consulting, providing telecommunications technical and regulatory expertise. He was Chief Technology Officer and a founder of Frontline Wireless, which was formed to bid for nationwide spectrum licenses in the 700 MHz auction. He was a senior telecommunications expert for McKinsey and Company, where he analyzed the strategic interplay of technology, business and competitive forces. Prior to that, he served as the FCC's Chief Technologist.

Byron J. Neal, Chief Engineer. Mr. Neal is an engineer and manager with over 15 years of network engineering experience in the telecom industry. He was Director of Syniverse Technologies; Vice President, Network Engineering, for Trinsic Communications; Regional Manager, Customer Engineering, for 2nd Century Communications; Network Design Manager for Intermedia Communications, and Telecommunications Engineer for Transglobal Communications.

Julius Knapp, Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC. Mr. Knapp has been with the FCC for 35 years. He became Chief of OET in 2006, having previously served as the Deputy Chief since 2002. Mr. Knapp has held a variety of management positions in OET, including Chief of the FCC Laboratory. He has been involved in facilitating the introduction of a wide variety of radio services and technologies, including advanced wireless services, mobile satellite services, 3650 MHz broadband services, and many others. He has also been instrumental in adoption of the FCC's provisions for unlicensed technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Ultra-Wideband, power line communications and TV White Space devices.

Rashmi Doshi, Chief, Laboratory Division, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC. Dr. Doshi is currently the Chief of the Laboratory Division in the Office of Engineering and Technology. He is responsible for managing the FCC?s laboratory staff in leading the evaluation of new technologies and the development of measurement procedures for RF compliance in support of the major policy initiatives at the FCC. He also manages the FCC?s Equipment Authorization program, including the oversight of the Telecommunications Certification Bodies in the US and related conformity assessment programs. Mr. Doshi has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 30 years, which included working as Executive Director for Verizon (Bell Atlantic, NYNEX) and various engineering positions at Nortel and British Telecom Research Center.
Jeff Goldthorp, Chief, Communications Systems Analysis Division, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, FCC. Mr. Goldthorp leads a technical staff in the analysis of communications systems reliability and security, including the collection and analysis of communications network outage data, establishing statistically meaningful portraits of communications network reliability, and working with industry to facilitate improvements to reliability and security.

Walter Johnston, Chief, Electromagnetic Compatibility Division, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC. Mr. Johnston is responsible for the evaluation of new technologies and services. He has served as CTO for several companies focused on data and VoIP services. He has held senior positions in Telcordia and was VP at BellAtlantic/NYNEX (Verizon) where he was responsible for the development of new broadband data services, including the company's first Internet service offering.

Ronald T. Repasi, Deputy Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC. Mr. Repasi has also served as the Satellite Engineering Branch Chief in the FCC's International Bureau, where he resolved orbit and spectrum sharing issues between competing satellite systems and managed the satellite network licensing process. Mr. Repasi previously served for several years as the Commission's Liaison to the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) and has represented the Commission as a delegate or spokesperson in various national and international committees, including two International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conferences and related Study Groups.

BTOP/BIP Applicants: Here's Your Monday Morning To-do List

[Commentary] You've been working for months (and non-stop over the past two weekends) to perfect your application for broadband stimulus funds. But you're not done yet. Here's your to-do list for this week including: gathering data on who is unserved by broadband in your application area, preparing to fight a challenge from incumbent Internet service providers, and start thinking how the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service can improve their rules for the next funding rounds.

The broadband stimulus needs to put public safety first

[Commentary] Wireless mobile mesh designs offer three critical requirements needed in successfully designing network topologies supporting wireless communications in emergencies:

1) Survivable: The proven surviving winner in past catastrophic events was IP-based low-powered wireless networks.

2) Interoperable: 802.11 has probably been the most successful wireless engineering standard to come out of the IEEE.

3) Primary Access: We have learned from past emergencies how commercial networks can crash and how spectrum bleed over can cripple access to public safety networks capacity. Pre-assigned rules and procedures can guarantee network access in emergencies. Organizations such as the National Public Safety Communication Council (NPSTC, "nip stick") have readily available network technologies including the needed rules and procedures required in emergency communication networks.

It is critical to address emergency network primary access when reviewing the upgrade and expansion of broadband infrastructures. There are multi-purpose wireless radio designs in place today supporting both public and private sector access with migration methodologies supporting future wireless services. These high quality priority networks can be affordably added to support safety applications through public/private technology and business models. Now is the time to get these wireless broadband models right while putting safety first.

[Larry Karisny is the director of the ProjectSafety Business and Technology Cluster. ProjectSafety is a technology and business non-profit focused on the deployment and future proof testing of municipal broadband wireless networks.]

Newsrooms struggle to look more like the audience

While hundreds of minority journalists are in Boston for a conference this week, industry leaders are trying to tackle a growing concern: how to preserve diversity in the nation's newsrooms. As part of the annual Asian American Journalists Association convention, which is expected to draw more than 650 journalists, labor organizers, media corporations, and representatives from US minority journalism groups plans to discuss how to maintain diversity among the press. The meeting comes at a time when the industry is struggling with revenue losses and massive job cuts because of the recession and readers' and advertisers' migration to the Web. The industry has grappled with how to make newsrooms more diverse in order to more accurately reflect the changing demographics in the United States at least since the 1940s, but industry leaders say having multicultural perspectives is even more necessary now. Minorities make up about a third of the US population and are expected to represent half by 2042, with rates for Asian and Hispanic Americans growing the fastest, according to the Census Bureau.

The Wrong Stuff

Pushing back against political misinformation has lately become a growth industry. The Obama administration is trying to counter false claims that proposed health care reforms will lead to government-sponsored euthanasia, both via appeals from the president and on a new Web site. Meanwhile, the British government, a sort of innocent bystander to the debate, is quietly setting the record straight about its own form of universal health care. And, as Michael Calderone reported in Politico, MSNBC recently devoted a lot of time to the unhinged "birther" theories about the president's provenance, in order to mock or debunk them. So will any of these efforts be successful? Not likely. Once factually inaccurate ideas take hold in people's minds, there are no reliable strategies to dislodge them -- especially from the minds of those for whom the misinformation is most ideologically convenient.

Health Care Ad Boost for Cable and Stations

The health-care reform debate is giving national cable news networks an ad boost this month. And as influential politicians head home for August recess, local markets should see a bump, too. A new coalition backing the Obama administration's health reform plan launched a $12 million campaign this week with more to come. Americans for Stable Quality Care, the group fielding the campaign, is largely backed by the pharmaceutical trade association PhRMA, which has said it will spend $150 million on ads. "The reason to be optimistic if you're a local broadcaster is the fact that town halls have shown this is moving out into the mass market phase," said Evan Tracey, president of TNS Campaign Media Analysis Group. "It's more about public opinion now, which would lead me to believe this advertising has the potential to be sustained as long as the healthcare fight goes on in Washington." Tracey doubted the windfall would be enough to replace lost auto advertising, but he speculated that the healthcare debate could end up drawing dollars from health insurance companies, which have yet to enter the fray in any major way. "Congress could reach a compromise in September or it may drag on through the year. That scenario is good for broadcasters."

Constituent e-mails to House clog system

Overwhelming interest in the debate over healthcare legislation has clogged the House system that allows constituents to send e-mails to their members directly through the House website and lawmaker Web pages. And it's not only individuals filling out the "write-your-representative" form that are slowing the system. It's advocacy groups as well. House e-mail services and other Web services are unaffected by the problems.

New Worries About Children With Cellphones

About half of American children 12 years and older have cellphones, according to Christopher Collins, a senior analyst for consumer research at the Yankee Group, a research firm. And that has spawned all sorts of problems, like questions about etiquette and costly scams. Many parents keep a (somewhat) careful eye on television, computer and video game use. But they do not really take into account cellphones, since at least until recently, phones were intended, well, pretty much for calling people. But now owning a good cellphone — and many children have more sophisticated phones than their parents — is like having a computer, said Dr. Regina Milteer, a pediatrician, and member of the Academy of American Pediatrics council on communication and media. The big question she hears from parents of her patients, she said, is how to control cellphone use. Besides the old-fashioned way ("if we catch you using your cellphone in bed one more time, you'll lose it!") most cellphone companies now offer some sort of parental control for about $5 a month.

Momentum building on STEM education

As part of the Obama administration's emphasis on bringing education into the 21st century, it comes as no surprise that policy makers have trained their focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education as a way to give more students, especially girls and minorities, stronger global skills. And with this increased focus, some education experts say momentum is building for more recognition of the "T" and "E" in STEM--technology and engineering, two subjects often overlooked.

Aug 14, 2009 (BTOP/BIP Dealine Extended)

CORRECTION: Yesterday afternoon we posted an alert that NTIA and RUS extended the BTOP/BIP deadline. In that e-mail, if you click on the www.broadbandusa.gov link you get a server error. This was our error and not due to anything going on at broadbandusa.gov

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY AUGUST 14, 2009

95 degrees and 123% humidity -- but no one gets out of DC alive this month... five -- count 'em, five -- National Broadband Plan workshops next week and some health information technology policymaking thrown in to keep you honest. Also, on Thursday we should hear what's on the FCC's agenda for Aug 27.


INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Broadband stimulus gets one-week extension. Is it enough?
   Major Carriers Shun Broadband Stimulus
   Broadband Stimulus: After Deadline, Waiting Begins
   Google Collects Public's Ideas About National Broadband Plan
   Americans, this is your future -- and it relies on broadband
   The Myth of "Expensive Online Video" - $1-2 Per Gigabyte Vastly Inflates Actual Costs
   Media Miss Infrastructure Transformation in Politics

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   China Offers Reassurance on Web-Filtering Software
   China and the WTO

JOURNALISM
   On Fox News, opponents of health care reform outnumber supporters by 6-to-1 margin
   Health care showdown hits TV
   Teens like Headlines
   Twitter Troubles are the Top Topic for Tweeters

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   Trib boss Zell on way out
   TV ratings shake-up challenges Nielsen
   AT&T files complaint with FCC against Cablevision
   FCC Continues 2009 Equal Employment Opportunity Audits

TELECOM
   Wireless lockdown catches FCC's eye
   Palm Pre phone secretly used GPS to report user's location to company
   US Telephone Penetration Reaches Highest Level Ever

POLICYMAKERS
   The US Needs a Cybersecurity Czar Now
   Venture Capitalists Head to Washington

MORE ONLINE...
   Fewer workers, bigger paychecks in high tech
   Guide to Sorting Hot from Hype
   Recovery.gov Posts Excel Template for Stimulus Reporting
   FCC Moves on DTV Channel Changes
   California pays to lure filmmakers back to Hollywood

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INTERNET/BROADBAND


BROADBAND STIMULUS GETS ONE-WEEK EXTENSION. IS IT ENOUGH?
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: ]
The flood of applications for the first round of broadband stimulus funding has apparently ground the online application process to a halt, prompting the NTIA and RUS to announce a one-week extension for applications that are in process by the original deadline date, which is August 14. Craig Settles, industry consultant with Successful.com, said the complaints about the slow response of government servers have been building for some time and this week, many applicants were starting to panic when it looked like their applications wouldn't be completed on time. He had advocated a 30-day extension back in mid-July when the volume of applicants became apparent, but that idea was rejected.
http://benton.org/node/27131
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MAJOR CARRIERS SHUN BROADBAND STIMULUS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
The Obama administration made a national priority of spreading high-speed Internet access to every American home and offered stimulus money to help companies pay for it, but the biggest network operators are staying away from the program. As the Aug. 20 deadline nears to apply for $4.7 billion in broadband grants, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are unlikely to go for the stimulus money. Their reasons are varied. All three say they are flush with cash, enough to upgrade and expand their broadband networks on their own. Some say taking money could draw unwanted scrutiny of business practices and compensation, as seen with automakers and banks that have taken government bailouts. And privately, some companies are griping about conditions attached to the money, including a Network Neutrality rule that they say would prevent them from managing traffic on their networks in the way they want. Some public advocates and analysts say the carriers never had a compelling reason to seek the grants. "They weren't going to apply," said Ben Scott, head of policy at public advocacy group Free Press. "They are using this as an opportunity to grandstand against net neutrality." Rebecca Arbogast, head of tech-policy research at Stifel Nicolaus, notes that the biggest carriers would be less inclined to deploy networks in rural areas because there is not enough demand to justify the ongoing financial investments. She said the companies should have expected stronger net-neutrality conditions because it was mandated by Congress in the stimulus act.
http://benton.org/node/27145
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BROADBAND STIMULUS: AFTER DEADLINE, WAITING BEGINS
[SOURCE: xchange, AUTHOR: Kelly Teal]
D-Day is approaching for communications companies and other entities hoping to snag some of the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funding. The question is, what comes next? The short answer: waiting. Each application must undergo evaluation; depending on how many companies and organizations apply, it's unclear how long that will take. The only fuzzy timeline by which to operate is that the government aims to announce winners some time in November. All this lag time gives service providers and other funding hopefuls the opportunity to refine their applications to reapply if denied in the first round or find new facets of a project to apply for funding in later rounds.
http://benton.org/node/27130
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GOOGLE COLLECTS PUBLIC'S IDEAS ABOUT NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Michael Calabrese, Richard Whitt]
Because the Federal Communications Commission has called for "maximum civic engagement" in developing and implementing a national broadband plan, Google and the New America Foundation decided to join together to launch online a Google Moderator page. This project is intended to provide the public with an online forum to submit and vote on various ideas to be included as part of the National Broadband Plan. The overarching goal was to help aggregate public opinion on this policy matter of critical national importance. After just two weeks, some 2,234 people submitted 592 ideas and cast 46,979 votes, reflecting input from many different stakeholders. In the coming weeks Google plans to provide pertinent analysis regarding these results.
http://benton.org/node/27129
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AMERICANS, THIS IS YOUR FUTURE -- AND IT RELIES ON BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Knight Center of Digital Excellence, AUTHOR: Doug Adams]
[Commentary] With significant support in President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, broadband stands to be vital to our nation's economic recovery and future prosperity. To fully understand why, it's important to understand not just what's in store for our nation ­ but also what's in store for us as individuals. What does this new essential infrastructure and broadband access mean to you? In each scenario that follows, the technologies needed for transformation already exist, and new ultra high speed broadband network capacity would simply enable these applications to become commonplace.
http://benton.org/node/27119
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THE MYTH OF "EXPENSIVE ONLINE VIDEO" -- $1-2 GIGABYTE VASTLY INFLATES ACTUAL COSTS
[SOURCE: StopTheCap.com, AUTHOR: Phillip Dampier]
[Commentary] Myth #1: Hulu is costing broadband providers a ton of money ­ at least $1-2 per gigabyte. Truth #1: Hulu, and other online video services like it, do generate a considerable amount of broadband traffic in the United States. But since ISPs are actively seeking a way into the online video marketplace themselves, the solution seems to be system upgrades. Myth #2: Online video is such a problem, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand adopted usage allowances to limit customers watching Hulu and other online video services "like from the BBC." Truth #2: Hulu restricts access to the majority of its content outside of the United States. If you are watching from Canada, Australia, or South Africa, you're more likely to encounter an error message telling you this content is not licensed for your area.
http://benton.org/node/27118
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MEDIA MISS INFRASTRUCTURE TRANSFORMATION IN POLITICS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Vijay Ravindran]
[Commentary] The Internet helped Democrats make a comeback in 2008. Are we missing the GOP's response? This spring there was plenty of media coverage devoted to the "tea parties," but what types of lists of participants were created by their organizers? What money was raised from people after the tea parties? Are there signs that this was the beginning of a movement of any real sophistication? The media have covered the ups and downs of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, but so far we have seen no attempts to translate her importance using the measures of power that President Obama flexed. How big is her list of staunch supporters? How much money can she raise? How many volunteers can she bring to a Lower 48 race in 2010? Can she actually influence the health-care and energy debates through more than speeches and op-eds?
http://benton.org/node/27140
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS


CHINA OFFERS REASSURANCE ON WEB-FILTERING SOFTWARE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Aaron Back]
China's industry and technology minister said the government will "absolutely not" force the mass installation of Internet-filtering software on personal computers, in Beijing's clearest climb-down to date on the software, which has aroused concerns over Internet users' freedom in China. Li Yizhong said China will continue to install the software, called Green Dam-Youth Escort, on computers at schools, in Internet cafes, and in other public places. After meeting fierce resistance from foreign computer makers and Chinese Internet users, the plan to require the software to be shipped with all computers sold in the country was delayed indefinitely in June. Li said Thursday the software was always intended to be optional and not a mandatory installation, adding that the regulations were unclear when first released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in May.
http://benton.org/node/27128
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CHINA AND THE WTO
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The World Trade Organization's ruling against China's stranglehold on the distribution of imported books, movies and songs may not unleash a torrent of new business for American entertainment industries, but it comes at exactly the right time for the world economy. It should serve as a warning to the Chinese government to restrain its growing economic nationalism, which poses a serious threat to international trade and the chances of a global recovery.
http://benton.org/node/27141
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JOURNALISM


ON FOX NEWS, OPPONENTS OF HEALTH CARE REFORM OUTNUMBER SUPPORTERS BY 6-TO-1 MARGIN
[SOURCE: Media Matters for America, AUTHOR: ]
A review of Fox News guests in segments discussing health care reform on August 10 and 11 found a substantial disparity in favor of opponents of progressive efforts to reform health care. Over the two days, Fox News hosted 63 opponents and only 10 supporters.
http://benton.org/node/27125
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HEALTH CARE SHOWDOWN HITS TV
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: John Fritze, David Jackson]
The health care battle bubbling over in town-hall-style forums across the nation this month is shifting to TV screens as groups on each side of the issue launch multimillion-dollar ad blitzes to influence the debate. Advocacy groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AARP are spending a combined $500,000 on health care ads every day, according to the non-partisan Campaign Media Analysis Group, and are reaching TV viewers in more than 20 states. The bombardment of advertising comes as President Obama and Democrats in Congress have tried to refocus the national dialogue about health care and explain their proposals after some lawmakers faced stiff criticism at town-hall-style meetings at home this month. "We've gone from a situation where everyone is cheerleading on the sidelines to where everyone is putting on the pads and getting on the field," said Evan Tracey of the Campaign Media Analysis Group. "You're really starting to see this stuff pop." All groups have invested a combined $57 million in health care ads this year, Tracey said. Overhaul supporters have outspent opponents roughly 2-to-1.
http://benton.org/node/27143
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TEENS LIKE HEADLINES AND PHOTOS -- BUT NOT 'DUMBED DOWN' NEWS
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: ]
A new study indicates that teenagers don't like their news watered-down, but rather encourages online news providers to "be bolder" with their Web sites. "[W]hat teens say they want are news sites that do news well, not dumb it down or pose as experts in teen culture," said Michael Smith, director of the Media Management Center at Northwestern University, who conducted the study. "Given that teen responses were very similar to those of adults who are light readers, we recommend creating a new type of site ­ not just for teens, but for all people who lack experience with news and have a limited amount of time to get engaged with it."
http://benton.org/node/27127
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TWITTER TROUBLES ARE TOP TOPIC FOR TWEETERS
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Tom Rosenstiel]
At approximately 9:30 a.m. EST on Thursday, August 6, the popular social networking Web site Twitter was shut down for about two hours while other sites, such as Facebook and LiveJournal, experienced glitches of their own. To many regular users of Twitter, the outage was more than an inconvenience. The varied responses of many Twitter users after the service was restored made the incident the most linked-to news subject last week. From August 3-7, more than a third (35%) of the top news-related links were to stories about the outage according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. And the story didn't even emerge until late in the week. But on Friday morning, fully 73% of top Twitter news links were to stories about the outage.
http://benton.org/node/27126
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP


TRIB BOSS ZELL ON WAY OUT
[SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times, AUTHOR: David Roeder]
Eight months after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, creditors are working on a Tribune Co reorganization plan that elbows Sam Zell aside. The creditors, including investment banks owed $8.6 billion from Zell's Tribune takeover, would stage a takeover of their own and sell off the company's newspapers and broadcast stations as they see fit. "The banks will be in charge," one insider said, adding that they are growing impatient with Zell's stewardship. The bankruptcy court on Monday granted Zell extended time, until Nov. 30, to be the first to file a reorganization plan. Creditors have to wait at least that long before filing their own plan with the court. William Brandt Jr., a corporate turnaround expert not involved in the case, said enough time has passed so that creditors and the debtor want to cut losses and save face. He said an honorable exit is especially important to Zell, who might need investment banking help for future deals.
http://benton.org/node/27138
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TV RATINGS SHAKE-UP CHALLENGES NIELSEN
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Kenneth Li]
Top US media companies and marketers have created a consortium to challenge the dominant force in TV audience measurement. Nielsen controls the measurement of US audiences through the polling of 18,000 homes, where viewer habits are measured by clicks of a special remote control. Media participants in the consortium - including networks owned by NBC Universal, Time Warner, News Corp, Viacom, CBS, Discovery and Walt Disney - expect it to be operational by September. They have pulled in Procter & Gamble and AT&T, the top and third-biggest US advertisers, and Unilever. The involvement of such big names highlights how urgently advertisers feel the need for better information to justify ads that run across multiple media platforms. Audience measurement is considered the lifeblood of the media industry. The $70 billion spent on US TV advertising each year is allocated according to viewer numbers. The explosion of online viewing has made the measuring of total audiences across all media platforms more difficult.
http://benton.org/node/27139
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AT&T FILES COMPLAINT WITH FCC AGAINST CABLEVISION
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: John Poirier]
AT&T Inc filed a complaint on Thursday with the Federal Communications Commission, alleging anti-competitive practices against Cablevision Systems Corp in a bid to gain access to high definition programing from its Madison Square Garden network. AT&T is the second telecommunications company to recently file a program access complaint against Cablevision. More than one month ago, Verizon Communications Inc filed a similar complaint with the FCC with the same goal, which is to access the lucrative New York regional sports market. That market includes games played by the New York Knicks basketball team as well as New York Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils ice hockey teams. Cablevision owns the Knicks and the Rangers. AT&T said FCC rules prohibit cable operators like Cablevision from engaging in conduct that prevents other video providers from offering a competing service to consumers.
http://benton.org/node/27132
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FCC CONTINUES 2009 EEO AUDITS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
On August 11, 2009, the Federal Communications Commission mailed the second of its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audit letters for 2009 to randomly selected radio stations. Each year, approximately five percent of all radio and television stations and of all multi-channel video programming distributors are selected for these EEO audits.
http://benton.org/node/27123
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TELECOM


WIRELESS LOCKDOWN CATCHES FCC'S EYE
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
Who should control wireless applications — customers, carriers or handset makers? That is the core question being considered by the Federal Communications Commission, which has asked Apple and AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive U.S. distributor, to explain why Google's free voice application, called "Google Voice," is banned from the device. The app allows consumers to use one Google-issued number for office, home and cell. It also blocks telemarketers, transcribes voice mail and offers unlimited free texting. Google, which is trying to become a major player in wireless, also was asked to explain its business practices. Comments are due Aug. 21. While Google Voice might have been the trigger, the FCC's mission is actually much loftier: making sure the mobile Web is an open, consumer-friendly environment like the Internet. What regulators don't want is for the mobile Web to follow in the footsteps of cable TV or traditional (voice) wireless, where operators tightly control the consumer experience. The Apple-AT&T-Google dustup is the first shot in what is destined to become a global war among carriers, device makers and software developers, predicts Jagdish Rebello, principal analyst with iSuppli, a market research firm. With mobile applications red hot, Apple, Google and others "are trying to muscle in on the wireless carriers" for their share of the action. The clash, he says, will result in "a dramatic shift for the global cellphone industry."
http://benton.org/node/27144
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PALM PRE PHONE SECRETLY USED GPS TO REPORT USER'S LOCATION TO COMPANY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Colker]
The Palm Pre phone knows where you are, and it's secretly giving out that information. On a daily basis, according to a software developer. Joey Hess, who lives on the East Coast and works on a Linux-based operating system, noticed something odd about his Palm Pre phone. He was checking over computer logs he created to track the phone's system and he discovered that the Pre was uploading its GPS location to Palm Inc. once a day. Almost all cellphones have GPS chips, partly so that they can be used for functions like car navigation, and more importantly so they can locate the user in case of emergency. But Hess was not having an emergency every day. And he was not being notified that his location was being transmitted to the company. Also, Palm was uploading a record of many of the applications, such as messaging, he was using.
http://benton.org/node/27142
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FCC RELEASES NEW TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERSHIP REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission released its latest report on telephone subscribership levels in the United States. The report presents subscribership statistics based on the Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau in March 2009. The report also shows subscribership levels by state, income level, race, age, household size, and employment status. Inside you will find: 1) The telephone subscribership penetration rate in the US was 95.6%, an increase of 0.4% over the rate from March 2008. This is the highest reported rate since the CPS began collecting this data in November 1983. 2) The telephone penetration rate for households in income categories below $15,000 was at or below 92.7%, while the rate for households in income categories over $40,000 was at least 97.9%. 3) Penetration rates ranged from 91.5% for households headed by a person under 25 to at least 96.5% for households headed by a person over 55. 4) The penetration rate for unemployed adults was 94.9%, while the rate for employed adults was 96.6%.
http://benton.org/node/27124
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POLICYMAKERS


THE US NEEDS A CYBERSECURITY CZAR NOW
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Stanton Sloane]
[Commentary] There's been a lot of discussion lately about the need for a national cybersecurity czar. The need for the Obama Administration to fill this role has only become more pressing after the recent resignation of Melissa Hathaway, acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security councils. Much of the public discussion over the official's role has focused on protecting the nation's infrastructure and military networks. There's been less attention paid to the theft of intellectual property—a strategic problem greatly misunderstood and significantly underestimated. Addressing these problems encompasses technology investment, policy and process change, new legislation, interagency cooperation (at all levels of government), international treaties, and a level of government and industry collaboration heretofore unseen. It will require balancing our nation's security needs with operational and fiscal realities—a complicated, but possible, mission.
http://benton.org/node/27134
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VENTURE CAPITALISTS HEAD TO WASHINGTON
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Amy Barrett]
If Sand Hill Road is home to the venture capital industry, capitol hill has become its home away from home. With legislators tackling everything from taxes to energy policy and health-care reform, the industry believes the Obama team will be more sympathetic to their concerns than previous Administrations. "This is an Administration with individuals who understand and respect technology," says Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Assn. (NVCA), the industry's primary lobbying group. "And from Obama on down, there is a view that innovation is key to getting us out of this economic situation." The NVCA spent $2 million lobbying in 2008, up from $500,000 in 2005, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit that tracks the influence of money in politics. But that doesn't count money being spent by individual firms or the companies in which they invest. NGEN Partners, a Palo Alto (Calif.) venture capital firm specializing in clean energy, encouraged two of its portfolio companies to retain D.C. lobbyist Beth Viola of Holland & Knight six months ago, says Steve Parry, a managing director at NGEN. While Viola now lobbies directly for those startups, she also provides NGEN with inside-the-Beltway intel. And Parry says other firms have recently taken similar steps. "Understanding what is being proposed is mission critical for venture investors," says Parry.
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