April 28, 2010 (Federal Efforts to Expand Small Business Internet Access)
Conservative media have "become worryingly untethered from reality as the impetus to satisfy the demand for red meat overtakes any motivation to report accurately."
-- Julian Sanchez, Cato Institute
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010 (Good morning, Seattle)
Today's agenda includes preserving the open Internet and advertising literacy http://bit.ly/bGE9Mt
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN AND THE STIMULUS
Recap: Connecting Main Street to the World: Federal Efforts to Expand Small Business Internet Access
FCC Providing Broadband Data to NTIA Mapping Grantees
Why the D-block gets little respect
BROADBAND REGULATION AND NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Free Press: Chairman Has 'Hemmed, Hawed and Hedged' On Broadband Reclassification
NCTA Asks FCC Not to Regulate Provision of Internet Access Services
Google demands neutrality (just don't apply it to them)
Follow the Money North Carolina Moratorium Watch 2010
MORE ON BROADBAND
T-Mobile Drops 5GB Cap, Ushers in a New Mobile Broadband Future
Mobile Wi-Fi slowly, awkwardly starts to come together
CONTENT
CCIA report: Fair use generates $4.7 trillion in revenue
See also: Rep. Loffgren: Silicon Valley is 'starting to wake up'
Feds celebrate Intellectual Property Day with more IP cops
Can P2P Be Made to Pay?
In New Jersey, a Civics Lesson in the Internet Age
OWNERSHIP
Comcast-NBC Probe Lets FCC Seek Concessions for Web TV Startups
Latest protester of Comcast-NBC deal plays race card and has ex-FCC chairman on board
Attention Must Be Paid to Rupert Murdoch!
TELEVISION
Is Network TV's Model Lost?
HEALTH
HITECH privacy rule to be released next month
Promoting Use of Health IT: Why Be a Meaningful User
AHA Leaders Told Help Is Coming for EHRs, Doc Fix Payments
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Agencies issue self-evaluations for open government plans
Top 10 Satisfying E-Gov Services
Speaker asks House officials to explore Skype use
STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:
China Moves to Tighten Data Controls
Battle for 3G licences in India hots up
Japan to let cell phone operators decide whether to unlock handsets
Japan firms to standardize mobile software: report
FICORA enhances broadband subscription regulations
NZ Minister asks Commerce Commission to reconsider mobile ruling
Venezuela creates new state company for ICT development
MORE ONLINE
Where Did Aol Go Wrong?
Map details cable access channel providers across America
10 Pretty Darn Interesting Stimulus-Funded Smart Grid Projects
'Epistemic Closure'? Those Are Fighting Words
Give consumers voice on cell phone radiation
U.S. high-tech industry lost 4% of jobs in 2009
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN AND THE STIMULUS
RECAP: SENATE SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE HEARING
[SOURCE: Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, AUTHOR: ]
The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship held a hearing April 27 on Federal efforts to expand small business Internet access.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said transforming the Universal Service Fund into a broadband fund and freeing up spectrum so that mobile wireless is available everywhere are keys to getting the benefits of broadband to small businesses. He said that almost 50% of small businesses don't have access to high speed at all (at least 4 Mbps), and that those that do find too few choices, slow speeds and high prices. He also said mobile broadband would be a huge generator of economic growth. Sen Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said she wanted a timetable from the FCC and others on when high-speed would be deployed. Genachowski said the FCC was preparing to fill out the mileposts between the FCC's five and 10-year plans for broadband deployment.
American Cable Association Chairman and Wave Broadband COO Steve Friedman told the Committee that small and medium-sized telecommunications and information service providers have been "effectively excluded" from the broadband stimulus program thanks to rules that are unfair and unbalanced and a program that has been poorly run. Meanwhile, overbuilders have been given government grants to provide broadband service in competition to those operators.
National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith testified in hopes of defending broadcast television station owners' use of spectrum for free. He denied a report that he and FCC Chairman Genachowski reached "any deal" on the issue during a meeting in Las Vegas. Smith said one piece of the spectrum plan that is "of great concern" is the spectrum fees that have been proposed in the national broadband plan. He said that a "punitive fee" could force some small broadcasters off the air. Smith said that broadcasters were a highly efficient system, while wireless was a "spectrum hog." He said that the FCC "should encourage the deployment of fixed wireless broadband services in rural areas using empty broadcast channels. If done the right way, this service has the ability to greatly increase rural penetration for hard-to-reach constituencies without taking spectrum from broadcasting."
benton.org/node/35139 | Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship | FCC Chairman Genachowski | Broadcasting&Cable - Genachowski | Broadcasting&Cable - ACA | Broadcasting&Cable - NAB | TVNewsCheck
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FCC PROVIDING ELIGIBLE ENTITIES ACCESS TO AGGREGATE FORM 477 DATA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted rules to facilitate the broadband mapping and other projects that eligible entities are undertaking under the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA) to improve available data on broadband deployment and adoption. The FCC says "we balance access to Commission collected data with important safeguards against improper disclosure." The FCC found that: 1) the broadband data that it shares with eligible entities should be aggregated to create complementary sets of data, and 2) the sensitivity of much of the data, and their potential to reveal provider-specific data even in aggregated form, warrant certain protective measures, including data-sharing firewalls, to minimize the risk of inappropriate or inadvertent disclosure of the competitively sensitive information that the BDIA directs us to share with the state grantees.
benton.org/node/35138 | Federal Communications Commission
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D-BLOCK GETS NO RESPECT
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
Public safety wants the 700 MHz D-block for its own dedicated emergency communications network (rather than share it with commercial operator), and commercial operators might just be inclined to let them have it. Ever since the FCC's initial stab at creating a public-private partnership in the 700 MHz band failed to attract any interest from operators, the FCC has tried to sweeten the deal for prospective bidders, but since the release of the National Broadband Plan was released I would argue the D-block has become less, not more attractive to operators, no matter how cheaply it can be got. The D-block was supposed to be a grand experiment, combining the need for a national emergency network with private-sector ingenuity. The idea is that an operator would build a national broadband network over the band, which it would be free to use for commercial services, but when a crisis or emergency broke out requiring the coordination of different federal, state and local first responders, all or a portion of the bandwidth would be turned over to those agencies. The FCC was far more enthusiastic about the idea than the operators, though. At auction, the D-block attracted only a single bid, which wasn't enough to meet the imposed reserve price.
benton.org/node/35137 | Connected Planet
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BROADBAND REGULATION AND NETWORK NEUTRALITY
FTC says it is creating Internet privacy framework amid growing concerns
FTC DEVELOPING NET PRIVACY FRAMEWORK
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it plans to create guidelines on Internet privacy, amid a growing cry by privacy advocates and lawmakers to protect consumers from abuse of their personal data by social networks, search engines and location tracking on cellphones. The comments came after four senators called for greater enforcement and rules at the FTC on Tuesday, with troubling business features on social networking site Facebook that they said exposed users' information to the public and to third-party advertisers trying to create profiles on those users. "We agree that social networks provide a valuable consumer service, but that they also raise privacy concerns," said Cecelia Prewett, a spokeswoman for the FTC, who declined to comment specifically on the senators' complaints about Facebook. "The FTC is examining how social networks collect and share data as part of a project to develop a comprehensive framework governing privacy going forward. Our plan is to develop a framework that social networks and others will use to guide their data collection, use and sharing practices."
benton.org/node/35124 | Washington Post
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FREE PRESS ASKS FOR FCC ACTION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Free Press is putting a full-court press on the Federal Communications Commission to try to get it to move quickly to establish its network management and network neutrality regulatory powers. Saying FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski was dodging questions about how the agency will proceed, Free Press has started a clock (almost 21 days and counting) ticking off the time since the April 6 BitTorrent decision in the DC federal appeals court. As the FCC's deadline for reply comments came and went Monday (April 26), the call mounted from many industry players for the FCC not to rush to reclassify broadband under a more regulatory regime, but instead wait for Congress to provide a clearer set of instructions. On the other side were groups like Free Press, pushing the FCC to quickly establish its authority so that it can expand and codify its network neutrality guidelines and clear up any questions about its ability to implement key elements of the national broadband plan, particularly transitioning the universal service fund from phone to broadband support. The FCC has left the Internet unprotected, says Free Press.
benton.org/node/35136 | Broadcasting&Cable | Free Press | Huffington Post
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NCTA ASKS FCC NOT TO REGULATE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
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.
benton.org/node/35135 | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOOGLE DEMANDS NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
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."
benton.org/node/35134 | Ars Technica
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FOLLOW THE MONEY IN NC
[SOURCE: StopTheCap.com, AUTHOR: Jay Ovittore]
[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.
benton.org/node/35128 | StopTheCap.com
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CONTENT
FAIR USE REPORT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
Companies that rely on fair use generate $4.7 trillion in revenue, according to a study released by the Computer & Communications Industry Association. That's about a quarter of the U.S. economic growth. The report concludes that fair use -- an exception to the copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted materials -- is crucial to new innovation. CCIA came out with the study a day after Intellectual Property Day, during which content companies, including Hollywood and music studios, said more protections against piracy are needed.
benton.org/node/35122 | Hill, The | CCIA | ars technica | B&C
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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Yesterday was World Intellectual Property Day. Though not usually thought of as a gift-giving holiday, the US did take the opportunity to give something to IP rightsholders: 35 new federal officials focused on domestic and international IP crimes. The Department of Justice has created 15 new Assistant US Attorney positions, all part of the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) program. The new attorneys will be scattered across the country. The FBI also gets 20 new Special Agents that will focus on "four geographic areas with intellectual property squads, and increase investigative capacity in other locations around the country where IP crimes are of particular concern." The four locations are LA, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, DC. Given that the FBI only has 31 existing special agents focused on IP crimes, this is a major increase in Bureau manpower.
benton.org/node/35119 | Ars Technica
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CAN P2P BE MADE TO PAY?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Janko Roettgers]
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.
benton.org/node/35132 | GigaOm
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IN NEW JERSEY, A CIVICS LESSON FOR THE INTERNET AGE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Winnie Hu]
It was a silent call to arms: an easy-to-overlook message urging New Jersey students to take a stand against the budget cuts that threaten class sizes and choices as well as after-school activities. But some 18,000 students accepted the invitation posted last month on Facebook, the social media site better known for publicizing parties and sporting events. And on Tuesday many of them — and many others — walked out of class in one of the largest grass-roots demonstrations to hit New Jersey in years. The protest disrupted classroom routines and standardized testing in some of the state's biggest and best-known school districts, offering a real-life civics lesson that unfolded on lawns, sidewalks, parking lots and football fields. The mass walkouts were inspired by Michelle Ryan Lauto, an 18-year-old aspiring actress and a college freshman, and came a week after voters rejected 58 percent of school district budgets put to a vote across the state (not all districts have a direct budget vote). "All I did was make a Facebook page," said Ms. Lauto, who graduated last year from Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan, N.J. "Anyone who has an opinion could do that and have their opinion heard. I would love to see kids in high school step up and start their own protests and change things in their own way."
benton.org/node/35145 | New York Times
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OWNERSHIP
POSSIBLE COMCAST-NBC CONDITIONS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields, Adam Satariano]
The Federal Communications Commission may demand concessions that help Web startups in order for Comcast to win approval for its purchase of NBC. The FCC may bar Comcast, the largest US cable service, from interfering with Web video startups such as Roku and Boxee or from denying them NBC shows or films. "Internet programming is just taking hold as this merger comes before the government," said Paul Gallant, a former FCC aide who is an analyst for Concept Capital's Washington Research Group. The agency "may consider declaring that Internet TV companies have program access rights" like satellite services.
benton.org/node/35120 | Bloomberg
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MORE OPPOSITION TO COMCAST-NBC
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joe Flint]
A recently formed advocacy group has some pretty harsh words for cable giant Comcast Corp. and has hired former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin as its counsel. "For decades Comcast has shut the door to African American ownership of cable channels," said Stanley E. Washington, president and chief executive of the National Coalition of African American Owned Media. He even charged Comcast investors with "supporting apartheid right here in America." The coalition is asking the FCC to require that Comcast allocate "a minimum of 25 channels to African-American owned media companies" as a condition to approving its deal to take control of NBC Universal. Asked whether Comcast's decision to invest in TV One, a black-owned cable network that debuted in January 2004 and is available in about 50 million homes, throws cold water on his charges against the cable company, Washington said Comcast forced "TV One to give up equity in order to be carried."
benton.org/node/35143 | Los Angeles Times
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MURDOCH AND NYC
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Jack Shafer]
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.org/node/35126 | Slate
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TELEVISION
IS NETWORK TV'S MODEL LOST?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Marisa Guthrie]
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.
benton.org/node/35133 | Broadcasting&Cable
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