April 2010

NCTA Asks FCC Not to Regulate Provision of Internet Access Services

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has asked the Federal Communications Commission not to regulate the provision of Internet access services, period, echoing its call for "vigilant restraint."

NCTA says that classifying broadband as a Title II telecommunications service is "unsustainable" as a matter of either law or policy, that the FCC should not expand its openness principles to include transparency or nondiscrimination, saying that would be costly and counterproductive, and that any rules it does apply should be applied to wireless ISPs and application providers. That came in reply comments late Monday (April 26) on the FCC's proposed network neutrality rulemaking, just one of a parade of comments that were filed all day, including from the wireless carriers saying net neutrality rules should not apply to them, and public advocacy groups saying that the FCC should reclassify broadband for the sake of keeping a cop on the network management beat.

Google demands neutrality (just don't apply it to them)

Google doesn't care. The Federal Communications Commission wants to regulate network neutrality under Title II of the Communications Act? It wants to try again under Title I? It wants to get frisky and try Title VI? Google's down with that; just git-er-done.

In a filing April 26, the company said that its concern is net neutrality, and it supports whatever legal theory "is most sustainable legally." But let's not have any crazy talk about extending "neutrality" beyond the ISP and out to application and search providers, as some ISPs have proposed. "In fact, it is hard to imagine what 'neutral search' would even look like," says Google, since "'one man's vulgarity is another's lyric.' Google, for instance, uses complex mathematical algorithms that incorporate users' queries to generate its search results. Other search engines choose to produce search results using a measure of human judgment. This is why a search of 'President Obama' using different search engines produces different results. Which one is more 'neutral'—a Wikipedia entry, the official White House site, a pro- or anti-Obama blog, or a news site?" So bring on the neutrality... just keep it from leaking out of the tubes and flooding the Googleplex. If neutrality were applied too broadly, Google's investment in apps and services would suffer. Besides, "the FCC does not have jurisdiction over Internet content and applications."

Is Network TV's Model Lost?

There has been no shortage of lip service about recalibrating the economics of the network television business. And to be sure, the studios have felt the hot knife of financial streamlining. But while brutal layoffs have jettisoned worker-bee staffers, top talent is still commanding premium rates. The network-studio relationship still comes down to supply and demand. And the paradox is that while the broadcast networks are strapped for cash—a direct result of a fragmented marketplace— executives believe that is exactly why they need to keep spending to generate hits. "As much as we all like to talk about managing costs," says one studio head, "costs will continue to escalate because the consumer will continue to demand a higher-quality visual experience in a world of dispersed audiences." And that, aided by a healthy dose of inertia, is how a broken model perseveres. So, for all the talk of year-round development and reinventing the business, things often end up looking the same. And in 2010-11, the process is looking like business as usual.

Can P2P Be Made to Pay?

Napster, Grokster, Kazaa, Morpheus, Torrentspy, Audiogalaxy: Hollywood and the music industry have forced countless file-sharing services out of business in the last decade, and major record labels have sued tens of thousands of individual file sharers in the U.S. alone. But go to a site like The Pirate Bay and you'll find millions of users busy swapping practically every movie, TV show or song imaginable, even as music sales free-fall and DVDs follow suit. More and more, entertainment industry insiders are seeking alternatives to lawsuits and legal threats, realizing it's time to finally work with, instead of against, P2P network operators and their users. Some of these initiatives are still in stealth mode, while others are emerging to establish entirely new ways to compensate rights holders.

T-Mobile Drops 5GB Cap, Ushers in a New Mobile Broadband Future

[Commentary] T-Mobile has announced that it will pull the 5 gigabyte-per-month cap on its mobile broadband service, part of an effort to push its HSPA+ network, which can deliver data speeds of up to 21 Mbps down. So is real competition coming to the wireless industry, or is this the end of flat-rate mobile broadband? I think it's both. T-Mobile has changed its mobile data pricing plan to cut overage charges for customers of its 200 MB plan in half, and remove them entirely for customers who pay $59.99 per month (or $49.99 per month without a contract) for the 5 GB plan. The move is aimed at signing up customers in an increasingly competitive mobile broadband market. After all, Clearwire, Sprint and the cable companies are already selling WiMAX, which can deliver up to 6 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, and Verizon is prepping for the launch of its LTE service during the fourth quarter of this year. AT&T will follow with LTE in 2011.

HITECH privacy rule to be released next month

As called for under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, the Health & Human Services Department plans to release in May a proposed rule that strengthens existing privacy, security and enforcement requirements for organizations that handle patients' health information.

The rule also toughens related provisions in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as the adoption of electronic health records and health information exchange expands the number of organizations that may have access to personal data. The proposed rule focuses on the liability of business associates of healthcare providers and plans; new limitations on the sale of protected health information; and stronger individual rights to access electronic medical records and restrict the disclosure of certain information, HHS has said

Top 10 Satisfying E-Gov Services

Agency websites have adjusted well over the past year to new leadership, showing a significant increase in satisfaction between the first quarter of 2009 and 2010, according to the latest quarterly report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Satisfaction with online services reached 75.1 on the index's 100-point scale, a 2 percent year-over-year increase, which reflects President Obama's push for using new technologies to interact with the public and a longstanding commitment by federal employees to improve websites, according to the report published on April 27. Satisfaction slipped half a point during the first quarter of the new administration, likely a result of too-high expectations for the first Internet president and employees' reluctance to change sites without new instructions.

Follow the Money North Carolina Moratorium Watch 2010

[Commentary] A look at the campaign contributions to two North Carolina legislators leading the charge to ban or restrict municipal broadband projects — Sen. Daniel Clodfelter (D-Mecklenburg) and Sen. David Hoyle (D-Gaston). Sen Clodfelter took in a total of $16,000 in PAC contributions from big telecom companies and their friends while Sen Hoyle received $25,250 from companies with an active interest in the telecommunications debate in this state. When you consider more than $40,000 was spent to boost the campaign coffers of just two state legislators, it's not hard to see big money is involved statewide. It doesn't even have to arrive in the form of a PAC contribution. Clodfelter just had a $29 million Time Warner Cable headquarters building placed in Mecklenburg County. Hoyle helped procure the Apple Data Center, located 22.5 miles north of his district in Maiden, NC.

Mobile Wi-Fi slowly, awkwardly starts to come together

[Commentary] The promise of anywhere access when on the go is old hat, promised but not delivered by all sorts of providers for more than a decade. How long have you heard about Wi-Fi on airplanes, Wi-Fi hotspots wherever you travel for business, municipal Wi-Fi, and so on? Finally, that promise is starting to surface, as I was reminded in the last month when I traveled to several cities for various events. But the rough spots are still there, and wireless access is still very much a crapshoot when you're on the road. First the good news: It is easier to connect via Wi-Fi from your laptop, smartphone, or iPad. In fact, iPads are showing up in traveler circles fast. A colleague noted last week that in his cross-country flight's business-class section, there were two iPads, two iPhones, two or three BlackBerrys, a couple MacBooks, and a Windows laptop in use. Aircell, which provides in-flight Wi-Fi service, says iPads already account for 2.5 percent of devices that access its service.

Attention Must Be Paid to Rupert Murdoch!

Every couple of years, Rupert Murdoch remembers what he really wants from life. He sets aside whatever international conquest currently sits on his to-do list, and he reinflicts himself upon New York City by purchasing, repurchasing, or reinvesting in a New York media property. All Murdoch wants is for the people of Manhattan to pay homage to him, and for the last 35 years they've basically refused his every advance. He can truly win only if others lose big, and the other New York institution that must lose big for Murdoch to be happy is the New York Times. The paper torments him on two levels: He regards it as a liberal propaganda sheet (it is not), and it serves as a daily rebuke of how horribly he's failed in his campaign to be crowned king of New York.

Benton

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