1. Monthly archive
  2. January 2010

January 2010

Security experts call on Congress to update cyber strategies

Companies are on their own when it comes to warding off full-scale cyber attacks, security experts said this week, urging the government to update its cyber war policies.

Jim Lewis, Senior Counsel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies identified the need for an updated cyber protection and combat policy at the State of the Net Conference on Wednesday. "We have a cyber strategy, and it was out-dated 20 minutes before it was passed -- that was in 2003," Lewis said. The panel of cyber security experts debated the challenges Congress will face in enacting a coherent legal framework to respond to cyber threats. Lawmakers have called for a more aggressive defense against cyber attacks, but are still trying to figure out how to coordinate efforts across intelligence and defense agencies.

Report: Smart meters rise to 212 million in 2014

Deployments of smart electricity meters worldwide will rise from 76 million in 2009 to reach about 212 million in 2014, according to a new report from ABI Research. The report provides forecasts of the wired and wireless communications options used to connect meters as well as profiles of some of many smart meter makers. The move to smart grids and two-way meters to enable new services to the home got a $3.4 billion boost from economic stimulus grants in the U.S. this year, noted Sam Lucero, a practice director at ABI and author of the report.


A conversation with Robert McChesney, John Nichols and
a panel of leaders from journalism and policy to talk about how to foster our free press in America

Co-sponsored by Free Press, The Nation, the National Association of Black Journalists and Firedoglake.com
The National Press Club Holeman Lounge
529 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20045
February 16, 2010
7 p.m.
http://www.savethenews.org/FutureOfNewsDC

  • Robert W. McChesney, professor, University of Illinois. Co-founder of Free Press.
  • John Nichols, journalist, The Nation and the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. Co-founder of Free Press.
  • Jane Hamsher, founder and publisher of Firedoglake.com
  • Chris Hayes, Washington, DC editor of The Nation
  • Ivan Roman, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists

As newspapers continue to shutter bureaus and TV newsrooms cut staff, can new Internet news sites fill in the gaps? What about the future of public media? McChesney and Nichols will discuss how concerned citizens, journalists and policy makers can work together to support newsgathering in our changing media landscape.
Co-sponsored by Free Press, The Nation, UNITY: Journalists of Color, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Firedoglake.com.

Free and open to the public

For More Information: call 877.888.1533


Goals for a National Broadband Plan

In developing a national broadband plan the Federal Communication Commission has an unprecedented opportunity to put in place polices that can both bring essential high-speed connectivity to those with limited or no access, and serve as the foundation for long-term broadband and technological innovation that can move the U.S. ahead in the 21st century.

For this to be a forward-looking national broadband plan it is critical that the Plan focus on the underlying infrastructures necessary to spur ubiquitous high-speed broadband; create innovative new mechanisms to drive adoption; encourage robust competition; and empower consumers and policymakers with fundamental information on the actual state of broadband in the US.

The FCC should adopt the following goals:

  • achieve a rate of broadband adoption of world class networks equal to the current rate of telephone adoption by 2020,
  • substantially improve the level of competition between providers of broadband Internet access to move the country out of a stagnant duoloply by 2020,
  • establish real broadband consumer protection within 12-18 months, and
  • adopt new broadband data collection standards in 2010.

Ammori: Broadband Plan Must Address Competition, International Trade Obligations

In drafting a national broadband plan, the Federal Communications Commission should consider the United States' international trade obligations requiring our nation to open our telecommunications markets to competition.

These trade obligations would likely require the FCC to provide reasonable, cost-oriented access to telecommunications networks to ensure market access. Notably, the obligations could require the FCC to address the politically sensitive issues of special access regulation and open access policies. In the interest of international comity and respect for our international obligations, the FCC should analyze whether a national broadband plan without certain competitive policies -- notably special access and open access rules -- violates our international treaty obligations

Public Television's Role in the National Broadband Plan

Just as public television licensees have long served as local and regional hubs for the delivery of educational broadcast content, numerous licensees are seamlessly transitioning into roles as the anchors of high-speed broadband networks that conduct advanced educational content and services to and between local schools, universities, and libraries. APTS urges the Federal Communications Commission to recognize the essential role that public television stations are playing in the area of broadband deployment as well as in the development of innovative content to drive broadband adoption and advance national priorities.

Community Institutions Need Big broadband to Deliver 21st Century Services

This coalition of organizations urges the Federal Communications Commission to address the critical needs of community anchor institutions for high-capacity broadband connectivity in the National Broadband Plan. The group asks the FCC to consider:

1) Support the development of a "Unified Community Anchor Network" ("UCAN"), (a "network of networks" from which all anchor institutions who wish can receive high capacity broadband service);

2) Provide for additional funding for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband programs through Congressional appropriations;

3) Establish ongoing funding support from the Universal Service Fund administered and maintain support for the anchor institutions currently benefiting from USF; and

4) Permit anchor institutions to collaborate freely to meet their needs without interference from restrictive legislation, rules and ordinances.

Include Evaluation in the National Broadband Plan: Benton Foundation, University of Illinois

The Administration and the nation's strongest, most motivated research units must join forces to conduct -- in a new way -- research on the impact of broadband combination of partners in Washington, DC and elsewhere.

The Federal Communications Commission's role, in part, must be to demonstrate the need for broadband deployment and adoption research, research that will be invested in:

  • Identifying and collecting the right data on broadband, a
  • Sharing data using the latest approaches and mechanisms from information science, and
  • Depositing the data in a well-tailored data engine (data + analytical tools) for use by FCC staff, researchers, and various publics. This data engine will enable people to ask all kinds of questions of the same dataset.

CWA: Broadband Plan Must be Bold, Realistic

The Federal Communications Commission must put job-creating investment at the top of its agenda, and ensure that workers in the industry benefit from broadband build-out and adoption programs.

While the FCC must focus on short term achievable recommendations that ensure that all Americans have access to high-speed networks, it must also set ambitious goals and recommend policies that speed widespread deployment of world-class next-generation advanced networks. The National Broadband Plan should lay out a bold, yet realistic set of initiatives that will engage the public and private sectors to spur deployment and adoption of broadband to bring our nation up to global standards.

CWA lays out 13 priorities to help the Commission reach these goals:

  1. Safeguard Workers and Consumers in the Transition to an IP-World. As communications networks and services transition from circuit-switched to an all IP network, the Commission must update the framework to protect consumers' rights to universal, affordable, quality service and communications workers' rights to quality employment with good wages, benefits, retirement security, and training.
  2. Establish Ambitious, Yet Achievable Goals. The National Broadband Plan should set as a goal that all people of the United States shall have access to networks capable of sending and receiving video, with speeds at 10 (megabit per second) mbps downstream and 1 mbps upstream. By 2015, at least 80 percent of Americans shall have access to networks capable of 50 mbps downstream and 10 mbps upstream. The Commission should establish separate benchmarks for community anchor institutions such as schools, libraries, health care providers, and government agencies.
  3. Implement Truth-In-Billing Consumer Protections. The Commission should establish a truth-in-billing program that would require broadband operators and service providers to provide common, clear information about the products and services they offer, including actual and advertised speeds, price, fees, reliability, latency, contract terms, service limits, privacy policies, and traffic management policies.
  4. Reform the Universal Service Fund. The National Broadband Plan should recommend that the Commission immediately open a proceeding to reform the federal $7 billion annual Universal Service Fund to support broadband in high-cost rural areas.
  5. Establish Tax Incentives to Encourage Investment in Higher Speeds. The National Broadband Plan should urge Congress to establish a program of targeted, temporary tax incentives to support new high-speed broadband deployment.
  6. Support the Creation of Public-Private Partnerships and State and Local Broadband Task Forces. The National Broadband Plan should recommend that each state establish a broadband task force to promote sustainable capacity building over the long-term.
  7. Provide Universal Service Fund Subsidies to Low-Income Households. The National Broadband Plan should recommend that the Commission move forward expeditiously to implement a pilot program to provide USF subsidies to low-income households for broadband access and equipment.
  8. Make it Easier for Consumers to Access the Internet over Television. The National Broadband Plan should include specific recommendations to open the set top box market to competition and innovation.
  9. Establish a National Digital Ambassadors Outreach and Literacy Program. The National Broadband Plan should recommend a national program of digital ambassadors working in communities to promote digital literacy.
  10. Promote No Child Off-Line National Subsidized Computer Program. The National Broadband Plan should recommend a national program to provide subsidies to low-income families with children to purchase computers.
  11. Provide Tax Deduction for Employers Who Pay for Devices and Connectivity. The National Broadband Plan should recommend that Congress establish a program to provide tax deductions to employers who pay for devices and connectivity for low-income and nonadopter employees.
  12. Leverage Public Programs to Promote Broadband Solutions. The National Broadband Plan should recommend specific programs and policies that leverage broadband solutions to meet our nation's challenges in health care, education, job training, energy conservation, civic engagement, public safety and cyber security, housing, and economic development.
  13. Maintain and Grow Good Jobs. With unemployment at 10 percent, the National Broadband Plan should encourage the Commission to open an inquiry into the employment situation in the communications industry, and policies to encourage the growth of good jobs in the industry.

Middle-Mile Is Missing Link for Broadband Plan

The missing link in providing a truly robust broadband network to rural as well as urban Alaska is the middle-mile network.

As it considers recommendations to further promote broadband deployment, and in particular how to reform universal service support to do so, the Federal Communications Commission should take care not to undermine the progress being made in under-deployed tribal land areas such as Alaska, which is supported by existing universal service mechanisms. Delivering the middle-mile to the rest of Alaska will require creative solutions, but those solutions cannot be implemented to the detriment of the universal service support that currently funds network deployment and upgrades in Alaska. Universal service reforms that remove the support needed to continue and finance today's build-out would not promote broadband deployment, but rather, would undermine the availability of private financing for Alaska network investment and threaten the long-term sustainability of projects enabled with the assistance of public funding. To avoid unintended and potentially immediate consequences, the Commission should in its upcoming National Broadband Plan be careful about making proclamations about specific changes prior to developing a full record on any particular proposals - especially when addressing the needs of traditionally vulnerable areas, such as tribal lands.

© 1994-2026 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.