December 2009

FCC plans to turn over private data to aid broadband stimulus

The public has until December 7 to comment on plans the Federal Communications Commission announced the day before Thanksgiving to release its vast database of private telecom services to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for it to use in evaluating whether broadband stimulus proposals refer to so-called "unserved" and "underserved" areas. The FCC is considering handing over to the NTIA information in its 477 forms, which facilities-based service providers are required to submit twice a year. The forms detail each provider's voice and broadband service subscribers and availability along with the maximum speeds of each service and other information. The FCC has historically allowed companies to request the information to be kept confidential but includes that information, aggregated anonymously, in published reports. NTIA, in its request for the data, said it would keep confidential information private, adhering if necessary to the same process the FCC uses in response to public requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The FCC Sees the Future — and It's VoIP

The Federal Communications Commission is prepping for a future without the circuit-switched network that currently handles most of the landline and wireless calls in this country, and late yesterday released a public notice seeking comments on how to lay the regulatory groundwork for an all-IP communications network. The notice likens the transition to that of moving from analog cell phone service to digital or from analog TV to digital, but it has the potential to be much more disruptive.
That disruption will come from three factors, and the most obvious one will be familiar to us since we just went through the digital TV transition — how do we make sure everyone has access to an IP network as the old circuit-switched network fades away? Cutting off someone's copper landline isn't going to fly in many homes. Although the FCC is not proposing any sort of cut-off date, the writing is on the wall for the fate of copper landlines, and laggards will have to be transitioned off those lines as the costs of maintaining the circuit-switched network become too much for carriers to bear.

Congress Asked To Preempt State VoIP Regulation

In a letter to top legislators, AT&T, Google, Microsoft, Verizon and others, asked Congress to establish in law that all IP services, if they are regulated at all, should be subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction rather than subject to a "patchwork" of "legacy state telecommunications regulation" that would discourage innovation. They argue that the Federal Communications Commission has already said regulation should be on the federal level in its 2000 Vonage decision finding that VoIP is interstate and subject to the FCC's exclusive jurisdiction, signaling that it would reach the same conclusion about cable and other VoIP service.

Waxman: Future of Journalism is a Policy Issue

Speaking at the Federal Trade Commission's conference on the future of journalism, House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) noted that many thoughtful and concerned people have expressed concern that a significant and troubling trend is occurring in the media sector -- developments that threaten the very existence of something very precious to our democracy: the continued existence of a critical mass of quality journalism in this country. He said, "The Internet is replacing the public square as the place where people in cities and towns across America go every day to absorb news and information and to reflect on issues and their meaning for our lives. The atomization of content has resulted in the fragmentation of audiences, so that the commercial basis to support a critical mass of authoritative and informed news and information is melting away. And this is creating a public policy issue of profound import for our future." On the prospect of public funding for quality journalism as a means to preserve a critical mass of resources and assets devoted to public media, Chairman Waxman offered criteria for evaluating any proposal: 1) First, there needs to be a consensus within the media industry and the larger community it serves that the proposal is in the public interest. Congress can't impose a solution to this issue. It needs to emerge from a consensus-building process involving the industry and the larger public. 2) These initiatives require bipartisan support - vigorous endorsement from both sides of the aisle. 3) Those advocating for public funding need to address additional questions. They need to articulate the scope of such support, in terms of the activities to be supported and the dollars required. They need to respond to the concern that government support of journalism would lead to government control of content. And they need to explain the source of revenues.

FTC Should Consider Policy Reform to Support Public Media 2.0

[Commentary] As we've been arguing at the Center for Social Media, successful Public Media 2.0 projects must directly convene publics to learn about and tackle shared problems. This means more than just handing out yet another serving of information to a surfeited audience; it's about engaging users at every phase -- planning, funding, production, distribution, conversation, curation, and mobilization -- to make sure that all stakeholders' voices are included. This ensures different perspectives are aired, and that content is interesting, relevant and accurate. Listening to audiences is good; partnering with them to solve problems would be even better. But what other policy strategies might support a media system that makes this possible? Here are a few suggestions: 1) Amend the Public Broadcasting Act, 2) Set-up a Presidential Commission, and 3) Beware the Turbulence ahead.

Judge rejects Amazon bid to scrap Google Books pact

US District Judge Denny Chin has rejected Amazon's request that he withdraw preliminary approval of a settlement between Google and groups of authors and publishers to digitize millions of books. judge Chin said he plans to conduct a "thorough fairness analysis" of the settlement at a February 18, 2010 hearing and Amazon could argue its case then.

Closing Date for Public Telecommunications Facilities Program

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announces the solicitation of applications for planning and construction grants for public telecommunications facilities under the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) for fiscal year (FY) 2010. There are two closing dates for the FY 2010 grant round. All television and nonbroadcast applications must be received at the PTFP office no later than 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on February 4, 2010. With the exception of applications for new FM stations filed during the February 2010 Federal Communications Commission FM Window, all radio applications also must be received at the PTFP office no later than 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on February 4, 2010. Because the FCC will accept applications for new FM facilities only during the period February 19-26, 2010, NTIA will provide sufficient time for FM applicants participating in the FM Window to file their PTFP and FCC applications. Completed PTFP applications for projects filed at the FCC during this FM Window must be received at the PTFP office no later than 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on February 26, 2010. The PTFP assists, through matching grants, in the planning and construction of public telecommunications facilities in order to: 1) extend delivery of services to as many citizens as possible by the most cost-effective means, including use of broadcast and nonbroadcast technologies; 2) increase public telecommunications services and facilities available to, operated by, and controlled by minorities and women; and 3) strengthen the capability of existing public television and radio stations to provide public telecommunications services to the public.

How Robber Barons hijacked the "Victorian Internet"

It was 1879, and investor Charles A. Sumner sat at his desk, frustration pouring onto the page through his ink pen. Sumner, business partner to the radical economist and journalist Henry George, was finishing the concluding passages of a book about what had happened to the telegraph, or the Victorian Internet, as one historian calls it. "This glorious invention was vouchsafed to mankind," he wrote, "that we might salute and converse with one another respectively stationed at remote and isolated points for a nominal sum." But instead, he continued, "A wicked monopoly has seized hold of this beneficent capacity and design, and made it tributary, by exorbitant tariffs, to a most miserly and despicable greed." It's a largely forgotten story, but one that still has relevance today. If you follow debates about broadband policy, you know that there are two perspectives perennially at war with each other. One seeks some regulation of the dominant industries and service providers of our time. The other seeks carte blanche for the private sector to do as it sees fit. Nowhere does the latter camp press this case harder than when it comes to network neutrality on the Internet, and appeals to the Founding Fathers aren't unknown.

How the FCC might stop the Comcast-NBC merger

Teeth are gnashing and swords are being drawn in response to the news that Comcast is poised to snarf down 51 percent of NBC Universal—the other 49 percent owned by General Electric. The deal would give Comcast, already the nation's biggest cable company and ISP, control over a huge swath of video content. "This is the most important media merger since Lucy married Desi," declared Andrew Schwartzman of the Media Access Project. "The merger clearly threatens to transform video markets nationwide. Although the details of the deal have not yet been announced, I am strongly concerned about the market power enjoyed by a Comcast/NBC combination. No one entity should have control over such a large audience." The ensuing debate will push net neutrality questions "to the forefront," warned Art Brodsky of Public Knowledge. "Those who want to argue that AT&T, Verizon and, yes, Comcast, should be able to play favorites and have control over the content on the Internet will have an even larger barrier to surmount as the breadth, depth and economic might of the new media giant becomes apparent." They will also have to contend with noisy public opposition to the proposed merger. "Free Press will be rallying people across the country who are tired of mega-mergers being rubber stamped," the organization promised on Tuesday. "We will make sure that this time their voices can't be ignored." If there's a ring of confidence in these declarations, it's because the Comcast/NBC deal faces a very different regulatory environment than any recent mergers, notably the Sirius/XM or AT&T/BellSouth approvals. One wonders whether either of these marriages would have gotten past a Federal Communications Commission with Democratic rather than Republican majorities—not to mention the scrutiny of the Justice Department, which will be weighing in on this latest question, too.

Center For Digital Democracy Asks That Consumer Privacy Be Addressed in Any Comcast/NBCU Review

While a combined NBCU and Comcast are expected to offer up some conditions to regulators to make the deal more palatable, Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center For Digital Democracy, isn't waiting around to see what they will be. Chester wants to make sure consumer privacy issues are addressed in any regulatory review of a deal. "As the nation's biggest 'video provider' and 'largest residential Internet service provider,' Comcast has access to detailed financial information on its TV and broadband subscribers. It also has a treasure trove of consumer data on viewing behaviors online and with TV," says Chester. "Comcast can also use its dominate position as the leading high-speed ISP and cable TV provider to extract additional consumer information from its programming partners. Regulators will need to ensure effective safeguards on network neutrality, programming access and competition, and consumer privacy-especially for "advanced advertising."

Benton

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