September 2009

The Clock Keeps Ticking on Appointments

President Obama's personnel operation, which got off to a record-breaking start early this year in filling top administration jobs, has stalled a bit in recent months. In fact, it's well behind the pace set by the Bush administration in 2001 for the top 500 or so administration jobs -- and time is quickly running out to close the gap. At this point, the Obama administration would have to dramatically accelerate its pace in order to overtake the Bush appointee numbers by the end of this year. George W. Bush ended his first year in office having filled 81 percent of the top jobs, or about 400 posts, not counting judges, prosecutors, ambassadors and US marshals. In contrast, Obama has announced 312 picks for those jobs, and 239 nominees have been confirmed. And the window of opportunity is closing. While there's no fixed date for when a nomination could be acted upon by the Senate, it's a fairly safe bet that any nominations sent to the Hill after the end of next month would have little chance of being confirmed. The Senate will have to move at, for that body, breakneck speed to confirm that many nominees -- and it's got a lot of other things to do before the holidays.

Obama hails new Web rules

On Monday, President Barack Obama spoke out in support of new Network Neutrality rules proposed by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. The new rules are "an important reminder that the role of government is to provide investment that spurs innovation and common-sense ground rules to ensure that there is a level playing field for all comers who seek to contribute their innovations," President Obama said. Chairman Genachowski summarized the principles of net neutrality as "Network operators cannot prevent users from accessing the lawful Internet content, applications, and services of their choice, nor can they prohibit users from attaching non-harmful devices to the network."

Speaker Pelosi Supports Proposed New Rules on Network Neutrality

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) applauded Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and the FCC for undertaking a rulemaking process to preserve openness and competition on the Internet. Speaker Pelosi said, "With health IT and smart grid technologies, we have seen the profound role that the Internet can play in addressing national issues such as health care and climate change. The more the Internet encourages investment, innovation, and consumer choice, the more effective it will be in helping to tackle these and other challenges. I look forward to working with the FCC to preserve and promote an open, transparent, and competitive Internet for all Americans."

Chairman Rockefeller on Preserving the Open Internet

Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, issued the following statement on the Federal Communications Commission's intention to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking on net neutrality regulations: "An open Internet has been key to expanding economic, education, and healthcare opportunities to consumers and businesses, especially in rural areas, as well as facilitating political dialogue among all Americans. At times, this free market of ideas has been threatened by communications providers blocking access to lawful content and applications. Such actions harm all Internet users and undermine the innovation that has made this country strong. I applaud Chairman Genachowski's proposal as a good first step toward protecting consumers' rights and the integrity of a free and open Internet for all Americans."

Rep Markey Praises FCC's Network Neutrality Efforts

Rep Ed Markey (D-MA), co-author of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act (HR 3458), legislation that would establish national broadband policy and ensure an open and consumer-oriented Internet, praised Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's announcement of a plan to establish new rules setting forth a national net neutrality policy. "This is a significant step towards preserving the free and open nature that has enabled the Internet to become a platform for innovation, job-creation and economic growth," said Rep Markey. I hope the full Commission follows Chairman Genachowski's lead in this vital effort. Rules put forward by the Commission in this area would be a key complement to the bill that Chairman Waxman, Congresswoman Eshoo and I are advancing to codify these vital protections for consumers and innovators, and I look forward to working with the Commission and my colleagues in the weeks and months ahead. The Internet is a tool of commerce, a tool of democracy, and a tool of daily life. In the same way that our communications networks have been guided by nondiscrimination for decades, this generation's communications networks should operate in the same transparent and nondiscriminatory environment."

FCC Position May Spell the End of Unlimited Internet

[Commentary] Does Network neutrality mean the days of all-you-can-eat, flat-rate Internet access are probably over? Net neutrality regulations make sense in closed, monopolistic situations. But outside of small, rural markets, most of the US offers a high level of competitive choice.

There are at least three big problems with making net neutrality a federal mandate:

1) Bandwidth is not unlimited, especially in the wireless world: ISPs say they need the flexibility to ban or mitigate high-bandwidth uses of their network or overall service will suffer.

2) Enforcement of neutrality regulations is going to be difficult: Preferential "packet shaping" is easy to turn off and on, as network demands ebb and flow, but proving such infractions of neutrality will be complex, slow and difficult.

3) Free market more effective: The Federal Communications Commission is proposing taking a free market that works, and adding another layer of innovation-stifling regulations on top of that.

Verizon Talks the Openness Talk, Doesn't Walk the Openness Walk

[Commentary] Verizon Wireless, nearly two years after saying it would offer its network to "any apps, any device," is moving toward openness with all the haste of a 12-year-old headed to the dentist. The company said today it's certified fewer than five dozen devices for its 3G network, most of which are "specialized M2M units" — in other words, not the kind of thing you're going to pick up at Best Buy. The carrier also announced the imminent launch of Vcast Apps, an initiative designed to allow developers to distribute their wares to Verizon's customers. While the talk of openness makes for good public relations, of course, and helps satisfy the requirements set forth by the FCC when Verizon won a chunk of 700 MHz spectrum at auction last year. But today's press release makes Verizon's priorities clear: It's the network, stupid.

Authors seek delay in Google books settlement

Authors and publishers asked US District Judge Denny Chin on Tuesday to delay a hearing on whether to approve a controversial settlement that would allow Google to create a massive online digital library. The authors and publishers said the parties wanted to work with the Justice Department to resolve its concerns. They requested a November 6 status hearing in the case. Google agreed with the delay request.

EU court adviser backs Google on Net ads

An adviser to the European Union's top court backed Google in a row with luxury goods maker LVMH over Internet advertising, saying the Web search firm had not infringed trade mark rights. The case centers on whether Google has the right to sell brand names for Internet search advertising -- a money-spinner for the group. Companies such as shoe stores, for example, pay Google so their name appears alongside Internet search results for a brand of designer shoes they sell. LVMH's Louis Vuitton fashion brand and others have been fighting such advertising after makers of imitation products piggybacked on those brands in online searches to attract customers. But the European Court of Justice said Tuesday that Advocate General Poiares Maduro "considers that Google has not infringed trade mark rights by allowing advertisers to buy keywords corresponding to registered trade marks."

Cablevision, FCC Battle Over Extension Of Program Access Rules

Cablevision and the Federal Communications Commission squared off in federal court Tuesday over the agency's five-year extension of the program access rules back in 2007, with both sides getting some tough questions, though the operator's attorney seemed to get the judges a bit more exercised as they probed arguments over the presence and absence of sufficient competition. Chief Judge David Sentelle suggested Cablevision had a high hurdle in asking it to overturn the predictive judgments of the FCC in not sunsetting the program access rules, suggesting it had been years the court did something similar. Cablevision attorney Henk Brands reminded him that the court had ruled just a couple of weeks ago in the Comcast case that the FCC had not justified its retention of the 30% subscriber cap. Judge Sentelle conceded the point as 40-plus minutes of oral argument in Cablevision's challenge to the program access rule extension came to a close. Brands pointed out that in the Comcast case, the FCC had argued for not removing the cap by saying "hold on, the time is coming" just not yet. The court said that was not good enough, and the same reasoning should apply to the FCC's defense of the program access rule extension, he argued.

Benton

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