May 2010

Mrs. Clinton, Tear Down this Cyberwall

[Commentary] When a government department refuses to spend money that Congress has allocated, there's usually a telling backstory. This is doubly so when the funds are for a purpose as uncontroversial as making the Internet freer.

So why has the State Department refused to spend $45 million in appropriations since 2008 to "expand access and information in closed societies"?

The technology to circumvent national restrictions is being provided by volunteers who believe that with funding they can bring Web access to many more people, from Iran to China. There are a couple of explanations. The first is that the Global Internet Freedom Consortium was founded by Chinese-American engineers who practice Falun Gong, the spiritual movement suppressed by Beijing. Perhaps not the favorites of U.S. diplomats, but what other group has volunteers engaged enough to keep such a service going? As with the Jewish refuseniks who battled the Soviet Union, sometimes it takes a persecuted minority to stand up to a totalitarian regime.

The second explanation is a split among technologists—between those who support circumvention programs built on proprietary systems and others whose faith is on more open sources of code. A study last year by the Berkman Center at Harvard gave more points to open-source efforts, citing "a well-established contentious debate among software developers about whether secrecy about implementation details is a robust strategy for security." But whatever the theoretical objections, the proprietary systems work.

Another likely factor is realpolitik. Despite the tough speech Hillary Clinton gave in January supporting Internet freedom, it's easy to imagine bureaucrats arguing that the U.S. shouldn't undermine the censorship efforts of Tehran and Beijing.

Satellite Radio Resists FCC Airwave Proposal

The Federal Communications Commission plan to expand wireless Internet access is raising the ire of Sirius XM Radio Inc. and its fans, who are concerned the effort to end a 13-year fight may interfere with satellite-radio programming.

The FCC is proposing to make it easier for the winners of a 1997 airwaves auction to use those airwaves for mobile wireless Internet and phone use. Until now, a dispute about power levels and potential interference has meant the companies were limited in how they could use the airwaves they own. The FCC is scheduled to vote on the proposal in May as part of a broader effort to devote more airwaves for wireless Internet services. Sirius XM lawyers are fighting the plan, arguing in an April 23 filing that allowing wireless providers to use those airwaves for wireless broadband will "fail to protect satellite radio's nearly 19 million subscribers and 35 million listeners from harmful interference." Although Sirius is beamed to cars and homes from satellites, the company also uses an army of antennas around the country to boost its signal. The company is concerned those ground-based broadcast signals could be overpowered by wireless gadgets using nearby airwaves. Sirius XM's signals are essentially sandwiched between airwaves set aside for wireless data use.

School district's webcam surveillance focus of suit

As the result of a student lawsuit, Lower Merion School District has admitted theft-tracking software for the district's 2,600 student laptops activated webcams and automatically snapped photos of kids in school and at home.

Over two years, the district captured 56,000 images, including shots of students and the images on their computers. A family has filed a federal lawsuit claiming invasion of privacy. The US attorney is investigating, and the American Civil Liberties Union is supporting the suit. The school board regrets its "mistakes and misguided actions," according to a letter to parents from board president. A lawyer for the school district will present results of an investigation at a school board meeting today. The webcam activation software has been disabled. The unusual case of school-sanctioned spying — and the national and international publicity it has caused — has roiled the leafy precincts of Bryn Mawr, Gladwyne and other communities in Lower Merion Township, a well-heeled area of Philadelphia's Main Line suburbs. Families here are more accustomed to their school's academic success — its SAT scores are among the highest in the state — and deep pockets: The laptop program cost an estimated $2.6 million, less than a third of which was covered by grants.

Judging video games

[Commentary] Less than a week after the Supreme Court refused to carve out an exception from the 1st Amendment for videos depicting real violence against animals, it has agreed to consider California's argument that it should withhold constitutional protection from virtual violence against people. The justices will review a sensible decision by a federal appeals court striking down a state law punishing the sale of "violent video games" to minors. We hope a majority of the court recognizes that the principle in the two cases is the same — that even offensive speech is protected by the 1st Amendment.

Broadcasters group opposes ad-rate language in Dems' campaign finance bill

The powerful lobbying arm of TV and radio broadcasters opposes language tucked into the Senate Democrats' campaign finance bill unveiled earlier this week.

While most of the bill is devoted to forcing corporations, unions and other groups to disclose any spending on political advertising, another provision would force television broadcasters to sell advertising to political parties at the lowest rate available for the particular media market where they are purchasing the ads. Federal candidates already have the right to the lowest broadcast advertising rates available during the time they want to purchase. The new campaign finance bill would allow political parties to take advantage of the same rate guarantees as long as they spend at least $50,000 on airtime to run ads on broadcast, cable or satellite television that support or oppose a candidate. Under the law, the broadcaster would also ensure that the candidate or political entity has "reasonable access" during "non-preemptible" airtime.

FCC likely to hire outsider to oversee NBC-Comcast review

The Federal Communications Commission may soon hire an outsider to oversee its review of Comcast's bid for NBC, in part to free up the commission's resources so that it may focus primarily on its new broadband agenda.

Typically, FCC chairmen task their own staff with such reviews, though they do occasionally outsource their work. But the NBC-Comcast deal presented the commission with a new challenge: how to coordinate a merger that "goes across bureaus," requires input from more than one of the FCC's divisions and touches everything from Web video to cable television. Outside help was consequently thought of as one way to keep the commission on track, the source added. That shift would at the same time free up other FCC staff members to focus their efforts on the National Broadband Plan.

Cell phone sales up 22 percent as economy recovers

The number of cell phones sold worldwide rose 22 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, as both the economic recovery and an appetite for smartphones drove a rebound in sales, according to research firm IDC.

Research In Motion, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry smartphones, broke into the top five of the world's largest phone makers for the first time. Manufacturers shipped 295 million phones in the quarter, IDC said. Nokia kept its place as the world's largest maker of phones, followed by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. However, Motorola dropped out of the top five.

Budget proposal would cut New Jersey Network

New Jersey is getting out of the television business. In one terse sentence buried deep in the 148-page budget plan, Gov. Chris Christie signaled his intention to sever ties with the New Jersey Network, eliminating its $11 million annual state subsidy and paving the way for its independence.

The idea isn't new. In 1994, Gov. Christie Whitman called for NJN's demise when she famously remarked that "government ownership of the media went out with Pravda." Network officials proposed a similar idea two years ago but failed to get the backing of Gov. Jon Corzine or members of the Legislature. A similar plan is being floated in Virginia, where newly elected Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed cutting state funding for public television and radio by 2012. Christie's proposal raises a host of questions about the viability of NJN, one of the largest statewide public broadcasting networks in the country. Can NJN, founded in 1969, survive on its own, and would its Jersey-centric mission change if it changed from a state- to community-licensed broadcaster? And if it can't survive — or if its programming is sharply curtailed — will anyone notice?

Saving Billions Of Dollars -- And Physicians' Time -- By Streamlining Billing Practices

The system of billing third parties for health care services is complex, expensive, and inefficient. Physicians end up using nearly 12 percent of their net patient service revenue to cover the costs of excessive administrative complexity. A single transparent set of payment rules for multiple payers, a single claim form, and standard rules of submission, among other innovations, would reduce the burden on the billing offices of physician organizations. On a national scale, our hypothetical modeling of these changes would translate into $7 billion of savings annually for physician and clinical services. Four hours of professional time per physician and five hours of practice support staff time could be saved each week.

FCC chair prefers to keep framework for broadband unchanged: sources

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is leaning toward keeping the current regulatory framework for broadband services in place, after a federal court decision last month showed weaknesses in the agency's legal status over broadband service providers.

Three sources at the agency said that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski hasn't made a final decision on whether the commission would change the legal framework for broadband services a key question as the FCC attempts to create an open Internet rule and bring broadband services to all Americans. But in recent discussions, the sources said Genachowski has indicated he is less inclined to define broadband as common carrier service like regular copper wire phone services, which are clearly under the FCC's oversight. The chairman was concerned that a move to that regime, called Title II, would be overly burdensome on carriers, they said. Yet he was also concerned that the current framework would lead to constant legal challenges to the FCC's authority every time it attempted to pursue a broadband policy.

Benton

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