September 2009

FCC Diversity Committee Recommends Renewal Of Studies Examining Market-Entry Barriers To Women, Minorities

The Federal Communication Commission's Diversity Committee has recommended that the agency renew its Adarand studies examining market entry barriers to women and minorities, and to make sure that the peer-reviewed studies have sufficient funding so that the result could meet the standards of a reviewing court. The Supreme Court's Adarand decision held that "federal affirmative action programs that use racial and ethnic criteria as a basis for decisionmaking are subject to strict judicial scrutiny." The committee wants to make sure the FCC's diversity initiatives can survive that scrutiny. The committee recommended the FCC restore its designated entity program. The committee also adopted numerous recommendations for the national broadband plan, including incentives for high-speed broadband, a broadband hardware subsidy, expanding the E-rate program to include Internet literacy and training, partner with organizations that win broadband stimulus grants to help drive demand for broadband. At a speech Tuesday, FCC commissioner and former acting chairman Michael Copps praised the moves.

Rockefeller, Hutchison Introduce PSIC Bill

Sens Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) have jointly introduced a bill to extend the Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) grant program. That is the program that funds state efforts to provide interoperable equipment and training, and the legislators want to make sure they have the money to deploy projects in the works. The House Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing for Thursday (Sept. 24) on "recent developments" regarding that national interoperable network.

Neutering the 'Net

[Commentary] Here's where the real fight begins. Google has been one of the most influential Network Neutrality proponents. But Google also understands, as its chief Eric Schmidt recently put it, "It's very, very important that the telecom operators have enough capital to continue the build-outs." Google's trick will be to lobby for the optimum of Internet socialism—"tiered" pricing may be OK, in which some consumers pay extra for a bigger pipe. But usage-based pricing that would give consumers a reason to think twice before clicking on a Google-sponsored ad? It would be the end of Google's business model. And Google has allies. The greatest fear of Microsoft, Amazon, eBay and Yahoo is having to plumb their deep pockets and offer competing payments to broadband carriers to speed their bits to consumers. They much prefer spending their money to sprinkle server farms around the globe, assuring fast, reliable access for their customers in a way that no newcomer can easily replicate. What if some startup Google sought to achieve the same goal by outsourcing its data management to the telecos, say, by mounting servers in their premises to help deliver Web applications more quickly? This would be a win-win for both parties. Data that travels within a carrier's system is cheaper to deliver than data that must be handed off between two or more carriers. Would such an arrangement be a violation of net neutrality? Google would likely shriek so. But then, for all the grass-roots pose, Network Neutrality has always been a weapon in the hands of status-quo companies trying to protect themselves against technological change. First AOL, now Google: A lot of things may be new under the sun, but regulatory incentives aren't one of them.

TV Shapes Up as Web Battleground

Convergence between the television and the home computer -- a holy grail of the digital age -- has largely eluded the industry, but the living-room screen is now emerging as a key battleground for software and Internet companies. Improvements to the processors in TV sets are making it feasible to run Web applications on a TV without the need for a special set-top box, such as those offered by TiVo or Apple. While challenges remain, including technical issues and the reluctance of parts of the entertainment industry, companies are building chips and Web browsers for TVs, and others such as Yahoo Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc. are developing Web applications that can be accessed on a new generation of TV sets. "Five years ago people said they didn't want email on their phones, now everyone uses data," said Patrick Barry, a senior executive at Yahoo. "The television environment is going through the same transition."

Phone app market growing

Consumers will spend more than $4.2 billion on apps in 2013, up from $343 million this year, research firm Yankee group says, as smartphones become ubiquitous and app prices rise. The average smartphone owner "downloads about 20 apps per year," says Carl Howe, director of consumer research. "It's a bigger market than a lot of people have been thinking." Half of newspaper and magazine publishers say that smartphones will become a vital distribution channel in three years, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reports. Only 42% are as upbeat about e-book readers. Gamemakers also like sales trends for iPhones, BlackBerrys and phones based on Google's Android operating system.

China appeals WTO ruling against media restrictions

Hollywood's long-running battle to pry open the vast Chinese market suffered another setback Tuesday. China has appealed a ruling by the World Trade Organization that it broke international rules by restricting imports of movies, music and books. The ruling, issued last month, stipulates that Beijing cannot force foreign media companies to distribute their content through Chinese state-owned entities that have a monopoly over the market. That was a victory for major Hollywood studios and others who have been frustrated for years over limited access to the Chinese market. But in its appeal, China contended that the WTO panel "committed errors of law and legal interpretation in concluding that none of the measures are necessary to protect public morals." The Motion Picture Association of America, the trade group representing the six major studios, expressed disappointment. "The initial decision was a significant win for the U.S. film industry, and we are confident that the U.S. position will prevail, again, as the appeals process unfolds," MPAA Executive Vice President Greg Frazier said.

Facebook to form alliance with Nielsen

Facebook on Tuesday said it would form a partnership with Nielsen, the market research company, in an effort further to legitimize itself as a mainstream advertising platform. The partnership will enable Facebook to offer advertisers more information about how users are responding to ads on the largest social network in the world, with 300 million users. The companies' first joint product will be a tool called BrandLift, which will offer Facebook users the chance to respond to short polls to gauge consumer attitude and purchase intent in response to the display ads. With BrandLift, Facebook users will see surveys in the same spaces where they see advertisements. Facebook, which has faced a backlash from users over privacy concerns and the use of their content, has promised that the queries will be optional and that the frequency of surveys will be controlled.

Industry group: OK for iTunes to block Palm Pre

Apple Inc. appears to have clearance from the USB Implementers Forum to block rival Palm's Pre phone from connecting with iTunes software. The $200 Pre was launched in June as a direct competitor to the iPhone, and became the first non-Apple device that could directly connect to iTunes. It did that essentially by pretending to be an iPod or iPhone. Apple crippled that function by updating its software. To get around it, Palm used a workaround similar to the Pre's original method of connecting to iTunes: It updated the Pre's software so that when it was connected to a computer's USB port it gave out a hardware vendor code that Apple was assigned by the USB Implementers Forum, an industry standards group. ITunes would then see the Pre as an Apple device and allow users to transfer content to it. The phone does not work with the most recent version of iTunes, however. Palm complained to the group in July that Apple was improperly using its USB vendor code to block competitors. But the group disagreed in a letter sent to both companies Tuesday. The letter also warned that if Palm updates the Pre's software to include Apple's vendor code — a move Palm indicated in its complaint that it planned to make in order to restore the iTunes feature — it would violate the group's rules. The group asked Palm to clarify its intent and respond within a week about the potential violation.

Bokova to head UNESCO

A Bulgarian diplomat, Irina Bokova, was elected Tuesday night as the new director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. She defeated the Egyptian culture minister, Farouk Hosny, by a vote of 31 to 27 in a fifth and final round of voting that has been marred by intense international politics. Bokova, 57, Bulgaria's ambassador to France and Unesco, is the first woman and the first Eastern European to run the agency, which deals with culture, architectural protection, education, press freedom and many other issues. Bokova, a former foreign minister who has been Bulgaria's ambassador to France and Unesco since 2007, joined the Communist-era Foreign Ministry as the daughter of a government favorite who edited a state newspaper. But like Bulgaria, she has made the transition to a more democratic politics. Bokova is a popular member of the Socialist Party, formerly Bulgaria's Communist party, now in opposition, and she studied at elite Moscow schools. She specialized in the United States and arms control and was foreign minister from November 1996 to February 1997. She speaks English, French, Spanish and Russian. The choice of Ms. Bokova is now subject to confirmation by the 193-member general conference of Unesco, which meets next month, but that vote is now considered a formality.

Census Uses Telenovela to Reach Hispanics

It may be the first plotline on a soap opera blessed by the United States government: Perla Beltrán, a character in the popular Spanish-language soap opera "Más Sabe el Diablo" ("The Devil Knows Best"), finds a way to turn her life around -- as a recruiter for the United States Census Bureau. It represents only one element of the government's yearlong effort to garner trust among Hispanics, an ethnic group that has been historically wary of the decennial census process. In addition to the typical public service announcements and advertisements, the Census Bureau is helping to compose a remarkable story line featuring the Perla Beltrán character on the telenovela, amid the genre's usual tales of sex scandals, unspeakable illnesses and implausible villains. The coordination between the Census Bureau and the "Diablo" producers at the Telemundo network also strikes some as an unusual intrusion by the government. Although a bureau staff member met with the writer of "Diablo" and provided props for the production, the network's president, Don Browne, said it maintained "total creative independence." Many Americans are unfamiliar with telenovelas like "Diablo," and most efforts to introduce them to English-speaking audiences have flopped. But among Spanish-speaking viewers, the five-nights-a-week dramas are enormously popular, making them a prime way to encourage Hispanics to be counted next year. The message is the same one Census Bureau officials are trying to emphasize at nearly every turn: Do not be afraid to be counted.

Benton

Search