September 2009

Why A Government Ratings System Would Be Less Than Grade AA

[Commentary] Every once in a while, the specter of universal ratings for multiple content forms -- TV, video games, mobile content, and the like -- rears up in Washington and needs to be put down. Late last week, it appeared once again, with the Federal Communications Commission starting its inquiry after delivering a report to Congress about media blocking technologies. The main objection being raised to this universal ratings system and its enforcement by law is that it would violate media companies' First Amendment rights. But this objection -- while an important one -- leaves aside another key question about universal ratings for multiple content types. Is it even possible to rate video games on the same scale as an iBeer iPhone app and a T-Pain ringtone? It also isn't clear at all what problem these universal ratings are supposed to be addressing. The Entertainment Software Association's SVP for communications and industry affairs described universal ratings as "a solution in search of a problem," and said that they would only confuse consumers.

PTC Pans FCC Report

The Parents Television Council was unimpressed with the Federal Communications Commission's report to Congress on content management tools. Reacting to the report, which was essentially a survey of existing and proposed mechanisms and a pledge to collect more information, PTC President Tim Winter said in a statement that simply "reciting questions and problems" does not cut it. "While there are indeed many unknowns, especially with regards to the Internet and new media, there are clearly documented failures surrounding the existing TV content ratings system and the V-chip, and this report fails to address them."

How State and Local Governments are Addressing Broadband Deployment and Adoption

How State and Local Governments are
Addressing Broadband Deployment and Adoption

The Internet and Civic Engagement

Contrary to the hopes of some advocates, the Internet is not changing the socio-economic character of civic engagement in America. Just as in offline civic life, the well-to-do and well-educated are more likely than those less well off to participate in online political activities such as emailing a government official, signing an online petition or making a political contribution. In part, these disparities result from differences in Internet access—those who are lower on the socio-economic ladder are less likely to go online or to have broadband access at home, making it impossible for them to engage in online political activity. Yet even within the online population there is a strong positive relationship between socio-economic status and most of the measures of Internet-based political engagement we reviewed.

Wireless Group Wants Repeal of Cell Phone Tax Law

In comments filed at the Internal Revenue Service, CTIA, the wireless industry lobbying organization, is throwing its full support behind legislation to do away with a 20-year-old law that taxes personal use of employer-provided cell phones. While waiting for Congress to act, CTIA said the IRS should "consider suspending all audit activity on the taxation of the personal use of employer-provided cell phones." "The alternatives [to legislation] proposed by the IRS are either incomplete or inadequate solutions that would continue to subject employees and employers to onerous call log requirements," CTIA President Steve Largent said. The Internal Revenue Service is collecting comments on the cell phone tax law. In June, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asked Congress to repeal it, calling it "obsolete."

$1.2 Million Grant for Nationwide Health Information Exchange Adoption and Development

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT awarded the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Foundation a one-year, $1.2 million grant to man the State-level Health Information Exchange (SL-HIE) Consensus Project. SL-HIE assists states with nationwide health information exchange (HIE) adoption and development, AHIMA said. The stimulus law has boosted the importance of HIEs in the administration's overall e-health agenda. Dr. David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health IT, recently announced the availability of $564 million state grants to bolster health information exchange. To prepare, states will need to line up resources and coordinate a variety of programs and obligations.

High-Capacity Services: Abundant, Affordable, and Evolving

Recognizing the significant policy interest in ubiquitous broadband deployment, some parties have sought to tie to the broadband policy engine their demands for government mandated price reductions in special access, a type of dedicated high-capacity service used by enterprises and communications providers. Given the importance of getting broadband policies right, policy makers evaluating action concerning highcapacity services and potential implications for broadband deployment should have an up-to-date factual record concerning competition, investment, and innovation in high-capacity services. The report claims that high-capacity services are characterized by growing demand, expanding competition, declining prices, continued investment, and ongoing innovation.

Attention broadband providers: bundles matter

[Commentary] The need for telcos to offer greater speeds via deep fiber FTTN or Fiber to the Premises-based deployments is being driven by obvious cable competition. There's been no shortage of major MSOs such as Cox, Comcast, and even Rogers launching DOCSIS 3.0 with speeds of up to 50 Mbps over their existing Hybrid Fiber Coax networks. Even though speed is important, the real value for broadband providers and their customers is what they can bundle with that connection. While the FCC and industry pundits will continue to debate the merits of broadband speeds and those who don't have it, without some value going into the house, it won't be nothing more than a dumb pipe.

Free Press: FCC Should Set Bar High for Broadband Definition

Free Press filed comments Monday with the Federal Communications Commission about how the term "broadband" should be defined in future policymaking at the agency.

Free Press offered the following recommendations:

1) The FCC should aim for a world-class, "future-proof" network. The FCC should establish an evolving "target" goal to position America as a global leader in online communications. Speeds as high as 1 gigabit per-second are being deployed in other countries, and the agency must take into account America's long-term success and global competitiveness.

2) Connections should enable high-quality two-way video communications. At a minimum, "broadband" should be defined at speeds of 5 megabits per-second symmetrical, to allow one user to access and share high-quality video content. The agency should also take into consideration that multi-user and multi-tasking homes require much higher speeds.

3) The definition must be rooted in actual delivered speeds. The agency should rely on real speeds -- not advertised speeds -- to determine what the user can really do with the connection.

4) The agency must consider all factors that impact users' experience. Artificial limits imposed by providers cripple the utility of the connection and should not be tolerated. Connections must be offered in a manner consistent with the FCC's open Internet principles and must include access to the full Internet.

5) Broadband should be viewed as critical infrastructure. Smart grids, distance learning and telehealth have transformed broadband from a consumer service to an essential infrastructure, and the FCC should focus on developing infrastructure for the long haul.

6) Mobile broadband should not be defined separately from fixed services. Whether mobile or fixed, the broadband connection should still be able to deliver the same applications and services for users.
Free Press filing
www.freepress.net/files/FreePress_Broadband_Definition_Comments.pdf

CDT: Define Broadband to Ensure Full Benefits of Basic Unrestricted Internet Access

Broadband must be defined and promoted in such a way as to ensure that its deployment will offer the full benefits of basic unrestricted Internet access, and not just narrower, purpose-built services which, although they may fulfill some specific public purposes, lack the robust access to diverse content and capacity for innovation that is the hallmark of the Internet. Failing to build networks that encompass the full features of the Internet would be counterproductive to the myriad benefits Congress articulated in enacting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The definition should also be flexible enough to allow and encourage not only improvements in transmission capacity and data throughput, but also the unimagined innovative services that a robust national general-purpose Internet infrastructure will foster.

Benton

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