June 29, 2010 (Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2010
The Department of Commerce hosts a Forum on American Innovation in Boston today http://benton.org/node/37337
SPECTRUM
Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution
Technological Opportunities, Job Creation, and Economic Growth
Reaction to President Obama's Spectrum Plan
Also see: Benton Applauds Administration Efforts to Unleash Spectrum for Wireless Broadband Revolution
Obama's Support for Spectrum Better Do More Than His Support for Net Neutrality
NAB, MSTV: We'll Work With FCC on Reclamation
Free the Radio Spectrum
We're not ready for the mobile revolution
BROADBAND/INTERNET
US Broadband Numbers Don't Lie, Just Confuse
Forget Urban-Rural Broadband Digital Divide, What About the Rural-Rural Broadband Divide?
Maryland's broadband future
Minneapolis Delivers Free Internet Access to More Than 100 Wi-Fi Hotspots
WIRELESS
Fix the economy? There's a mobile app for that
Cellphone industry attacks San Francisco's ruling on radiation
Clash of Titans: Apple vs. Google (Mobile Advertising)
LIBRARIES
Clyburn Endorses Unified Community Anchor Network to Speed Broadband Deployment
Libraries Join Forces to Let Patrons Check Out Digital Scans of Shelved Book Collections
NEWS FROM COURT
Online piracy: As a mere host, YouTube is protected from liability
Tech groups buoyed by patent ruling
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
NAB, NCTA Tag-Team on Senate Version of DISCLOSE Act
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Cutting Waste by Reforming IT
KIDS AND MEDIA
Study reveals factors in ed-tech success
School Uses Video Games To Teach Thinking Skills
AGENDA
Department of Commerce Announces Series of Forums on American Innovation
NEWS FROM ABROAD
Google stops rerouting China's searches to Hong Kong site
Europe Pushes Google to Turn Over Wi-Fi Data
Le Monde Defies Sarkozy, Accepts Bid Led by Socialist Backer Pierre Berge
Russia clarifies media laws on journalism, online content
MORE ONLINE
US is busy thwarting cyber terrorism
FCC Launches Reform of Video Relay Service
Federal advisory panel approves HIT privacy and security recommendations
Christian groups seek disclosure of Comcast's porn revenues before proposed merger
Afghan War Tops the News, Edging out Oil Spill
Maine PUC approves FairPoint plan for Chapter 11
How to Get the Social-Media Generation Behind Your Cause
Web Caught Up In World Cup Mania
Apple IPhone 4 Parts Cost About $188
SPECTRUM
PRESIDENTIAL SPECTRUM MEMO
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: President Barack Obama]
On June 28, President Barack Obama directed executive departments, agencies, and offices, and strongly encourage that independent agencies, take the following steps:
1) The National Telecommunications and Information Administration shall -- a) collaborate with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make available a total of 500 MHz of Federal and nonfederal spectrum over the next 10 years, b) collaborate with the FCC to complete by October 1, 2010, a specific Plan and Timetable for identifying and making available 500 MHz of spectrum, c) convene the Policy and Plans Steering Group (PPSG) to advise NTIA on achieving these spectrum objectives, and d) submit, not later than 180 days after the Plan and Timetable are completed, to the National Economic Council (NEC), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) an interim report to assess progress against the Plan and Timetable developed.
2) The White House Office of Management and Budget shall incorporate into the Plan and Timetable adequate funding, incentives, and assistance to enable executive agencies or other affected entities to accomplish the actions specified.
3) The Department of Commerce shall create and implement a plan to facilitate research, development, experimentation, and testing by researchers to explore innovative spectrum-sharing technologies, including those that are secure and resilient.
4) The FCC is to collaborate with the NTIA on repurposing of nonfederal Government spectrum as appropriate and identifying the mechanisms necessary to ensure compliance with the FCC's decisions.
5) The NEC, the OMB, and the OSTP are to assess whether there has been sufficient progress in achieving the objectives of this memorandum or whether some other mechanism, such as an independent review panel, is needed to address those areas where sufficient progress is not occurring.
6) The NTIA will provide administrative support for the interagency groups created in this memorandum.
benton.org/node/37316 | White House, The | ars technica | TechDailyDose | Broadcasting&Cable | The Hill | WashPost | FT
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TECHNOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITIES, JOB CREATION, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Lawrence Summers]
Speaking at a New America Foundation event, Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council, focused on President Barack Obama's move to dramatically increase the amount of federal and commercial spectrum available for smartphones and wireless Internet devices. Summers put the move into historical perspective: "The most important innovations are those that create possibilities that could not have previously been imagined, and with them create the industries of the future and millions of new jobs. The steam engine, electricity, the automobile these were technologies that did not just permit existing products to be produced better or more cheaply, but opened whole new economic vistas. We are in the middle of another one of those revolutions right now. The information technology revolution is redefining infrastructure. For millennia, progress in infrastructure came from the more effective movement of the commerce in goods and services. But in the digital world, we are concerned with the movements of images and ideas, bits rather than mass. We are now in the midst of the third wave of the Internet's development: mobile broadband. And we have only begun to glimpse the benefits of that revolution, exemplified by smartphones, netbooks, and the applications that run on them." And he identified the four key parts of the President's plan:
1. Identify and plan for the release of 500 MHz of spectrum.
2. Provide new tools and new incentives to free up spectrum.
3. Redeploy the spectrum to high-value uses.
4. Use the auction proceeds to promote public safety and job-creating infrastructure investment.
benton.org/node/37350 | White House, The | White House blog | White House Fact Sheet
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REACTION TO SPECTRUM PLAN
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
Reaction to President Barack Obama's directive on "Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution" came from many corners.
benton.org/node/37349 | Benton Foundation | B&C | The Hill | Public Knowledge | National Association of Broadcasters | Free Press | Benton Foundation statement
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OBAMA, SPECTRUM AND NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
President Barack Obama's memorandum in support of freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum for mobile broadband services may not mean a whole lot. The Administration also released a plan that reaffirms its commitment to more unlicensed spectrum (such as the two bands currently being used to deliver Wi-Fi ), which could be a boon for device makers as well as future wireless broadband services. The memo also dictates that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration work with federal research agencies such as DARPA and the NSF to "facilitate R&D that explores innovative spectrum-sharing technologies," which could lead to more funding for radio startups. However, when it comes to the spectrum itself, the president in his memo added his support to the efforts the Federal Communications Commission and the NTIA have already outlined with respect to reallocating and reapportioning spectrum. With 220 MHz of the 500 MHz needed currently used by agencies of the federal government, Obama's memo will smooth the process of making that available. However, it's the spectrum in use by commercial entities where the President's influence will fall short. In order to grease the wheels and ensure that broadcasters will willingly give up spectrum they're not using (or not using efficiently), the FCC needs Congress to allow it to share the proceeds of any spectrum auction with broadcasters. But will Congress really want to give up billions in proceeds from the spectrum auction in order to pay off the broadcasters? It's a thorny issue for any elected official, which is why Obama's support is nice, but may not mean much. The FCC doesn't need a memo; it needs a change in the law.
benton.org/node/37348 | GigaOm
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BROADCASTERS' LETTER TO FCC
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, executives from the National Association of Broadcasters and the Association for Maximum Service Television thanked the FCC for holding an engineering forum last week on how to reclaim spectrum for wireless broadband. They said broadcasters are willing to work with the FCC on achieving the goal of ensuring access to broadband. But the bottom line of the letter was to emphasize the value not only to broadcasters but consumers and the government of letting broadcasters build out their spectrum with new services, including mobile video. "Collectively, untold billions of dollars were invested by broadcasters, government and consumers to ensure America's leadership edge in digital and high definition television, and the fruits of those investments are just beginning to be realized," the two trade groups said.
benton.org/node/37356 | Multichannel News
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FREE THE RADIO SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: ieee spectrum, AUTHOR: James Losey, Sascha Meinrath]
[Commentary] It's time to rethink the way we allocate spectrum. Today radios that can share spectrum make such protections from interference unnecessary. Just as car drivers can change lanes to avoid congestion, these "smart radios," also called "cognitive radios," are transceivers that listen to available frequencies and communicate over any channels that are currently unused. These radios not only shift frequencies but can also be programmed with the necessary protocols for use in different bands, such as for speaking the "language" of various blocks of spectrum used for Wi-Fi, television, or cellphones. This means that vast swaths of spectrum no longer need be locked into single use, or left unused, as a hedge against interference. Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission's policies still assume the use of antiquated technology, and therefore that license holders must maintain absolute control of spectrum space at all times. These regulations must be updated to reflect the technological realities of smart radios.
benton.org/node/37346 | ieee spectrum
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BROADBAND/INTERNET
US BROADBAND NUMBER CONFUSE
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Joel Rose]
Ninety-five percent of Americans do have access to broadband where they live, but when it comes to adoption or actually signing up for broadband at home, the number is much lower — closer to 63 percent. Derek Turner, research director for the public interest group Free Press, says the numbers don't lie. "For the providers to try to say that there's no problem, it's merely just a smoke screen," he says. When it comes to broadband adoption, Turner says the U.S. has fallen behind other developed countries, including such technological powerhouses as ... Estonia? "Depending on whose numbers you look at, we're a middle-of-the-pack performer," he says. "But even more alarming is the direction we're heading. We're dropping in the rankings — countries are outperforming us." The two narratives about how easy and cheap it is to get online in the U.S. are so starkly different that it's hard to believe both sides are talking about the same Internet. But John Horrigan, who studied broadband adoption at the Pew Internet & American Life Project and now at the FCC, says the Internet of these two narratives is actually one and the same. "There are a lot of different measures that float around," he says. "So people might pick a number that makes their case and not look at numbers that might suggest a somewhat different story."
benton.org/node/37347 | National Public Radio
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THE RURAL-RURAL BROADBAND DIVIDE
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Bernie Arnason]
There's been much talk about the digital divide between rural and urban America -- a divide that many argue will be exacerbated by the National Broadband Plan which sets broadband speed targets of 4 Mb/s for services supported by the new Connect America Fund (CAF), and targets of 100 Mb/s for urban areas.
But as Windstream CEO Jeff Gardner points out, a rural-rural broadband digital divide already exists, where vast differences in broadband availability exist in rural territories. "We have heard about the fear that reform might create a rural urban divide, but the National Broadband Plan has recognized that the current rules have already created a rural-rural divide," said Gardner. He is correct. Within the context of broadband, there are two rural Americas. Generally speaking, rural Americans served by small rural local telephone companies and/or co-ops tend to have very good access to broadband services (whether they actually subscribe to it is a different story). Rural Americans served by large tier one and tier two carriers like Qwest and Verizon may not be so lucky. As Gardner points out, "About two thirds of all housing units without broadband are located in the service territory of larger [companies like] Windstream, Frontier, CenturyLink, Qwest, and AT&T." It's an important distinction because our current telecom policy has basically created a broadband digital divide in rural America, never mind the urban-rural divide. As policy makers craft the next generation of broadband policy they should keep this in mind. Does the National Broadband Plan and the CAF address this issue, or exacerbate it?
benton.org/node/37327 | telecompetitor
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WIRELESS
AN APP FOR THAT
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Christianna McCausland]
As the US struggles to recover from a recession, can today's hot technology - mobile applications or mobile apps - provide an economic boost? It's a tall order. Information technology since its start has helped expand the US economy by some $2 trillion, says the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) in Washington. Mobile apps, pieces of software for mobile devices, can be downloaded for a few dollars, or even free of charge sometimes. So it takes big sales to generate big revenue. Nevertheless, the prospects are encouraging. Globally, users made more than 7 billion software downloads from app stores last year; by 2012, they will be making nearly 50 billion, according to estimates by an independent study commissioned by GetJar, a cross-platform app store with locations in the US, Britain, and Lithuania. Entrepreneurs are busy creating apps for everything from games and news to real estate listings and recipes. Revenues from Apple's and others' primary app stores are slated to rise from $3 billion last year to $18 billion by 2014, according to Todd Day, an industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
benton.org/node/37355 | Christian Science Monitor, The
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CTIA VS SAN FRANCISCO
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a law -- the first in the nation -- requiring retailers to inform their customers how much radiation the cellphones on their shelves emit, so shoppers can figure out how close the devices come to the upper limits on radiation set by the Federal Communications Commission. The law, which goes into effect early next year, didn't mention the word, but it was all about one thing: cancer, and whether cellphones cause it. The cellphone industry answered with its own C-word -- cancel. After the vote, the CTIA wireless trade group called off its fall show, scheduled for San Francisco. Elsewhere in the country, the industry has been more successful. Earlier this year, similar laws in Maine and California were beaten back by the makers of the iPhone and Droid and the telecom giants that carry those phones on their networks.
benton.org/node/37359 | Washington Post
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LIBRARIES
CLYBURN TALKS BROADBAND WITH ALA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn]
Speaking to the American Library Association, Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn focused her remarks on National Broadband Plan recommendations directly support libraries' efforts to promote deployment and adoption of broadband. The most significant recommendation, she pointed out, is proposal to overhaul the Universal Service Fund. Internet2, National Lambda Rail, ALA, and others have called upon the federal government to create the Unified Community Anchor Network (UCAN) support and assist anchor institutions in obtaining and utilizing broadband connectivity. The National Broadband Plan endorses this recommendation. The Plan also discusses a number of useful roles that the UCAN could play in helping community institutions enhance their use of broadband. First, the UCAN could help establish federal and state coordinators and consortia of anchor institutions. These coordinators would help secure broadband connections and would also provide hands-on experience and capacity in the building and running of networks. Second, the UCAN could have a national procurement role in negotiating bulk equipment and broadband service agreements. It could then distribute this equipment and services to community institutions. Third, the UCAN could provide a platform for interconnected networks to share resources and applications and provide training opportunities.
benton.org/node/37334 | Federal Communications Commission
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OPEN LIBRARY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Geoffrey Fowler]
Libraries are expanding e-book offerings with out-of-print editions, part of a broader effort to expand borrowing privileges in the Internet Age that could challenge traditional ideas about copyright. Starting June 29, a group of libraries led by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library, are joining forces to create a one-stop website for checking out e-books, including access to more than a million scanned public domain books and a catalog of thousands of contemporary e-book titles available at many public libraries. And in a first, participants including the Boston Public Library and the Marine Biological Laboratory will also contribute scans of a few hundred older books that are still in copyright, but no longer sold commercially. That part of the project could raise eyebrows, because copyright law is unclear in the digital books arena. Google Inc., which is working on its own book scanning efforts, has been mired in a legal brouhaha with authors and publishers over its digital books project. To read the books, borrowers around the world can download and read them for free on computers or e-reading gadgets. Software renders the books inaccessible once the loan period ends. Two-thirds of American libraries offered e-book loans in 2009, according to a survey by the American Library Association. But those were mostly contemporary imprints from the last couple of years -- say, the latest Stephen King novel. The Internet Archive project, dubbed Openlibrary.org, goes a step further by opening up some access to the sorts of books that may have otherwise gathered dust on library shelves -- mainly those published in the past 90 years, but of less popular interest.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870327970457533519305488463...benton.org/node/37360 | Wall Street Journal
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NEWS FROM COURT
YOUTUBE DECISION AND PIRACY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Entertainment companies have asked the courts repeatedly for help in coping with online piracy, but the results have been decidedly mixed. Although judges have come down hard on numerous file-sharing networks and search engines that specialize in bootlegs, they've ruled in favor of several websites whose content is generated by users, even if it wasn't authorized by the copyright holders. The latest may be the most significant: Last week, a district judge in New York dismissed claims by Viacom and others that Google's YouTube had built its business by turning a blind eye to widespread copyright infringements. The ruling, which Viacom plans to appeal, reaffirmed the crucial principle that online companies should be held responsible for what they do, not what others do with their services. As Judge Louis L. Stanton explained, Congress recognized that the Internet couldn't function if broadband providers, search engines and hosting services were held liable for every unauthorized copy made on their networks. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 protected those companies from liability as long as they acted quickly to remove any infringing material identified by copyright holders. Some analysts assert that the ruling increases the burden on entertainment companies, but it really just rebuffs another effort to shift copyright holders' responsibilities onto the middlemen who have opened new distribution pathways online.
benton.org/node/37358 | Los Angeles Times
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS
OPPOSITION TO DISCLOSE ACT
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association see eye to eye on perceived problems with the Senate version of the DISCLOSE Act. The bill is an attempt to take some of the teeth out of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which lifted a ban on direct corporate and union funding of election ads. The bill passed the House of Representatives last week without changes to broadcast and cable's lowest-unit-rate obligations. But those changes remain in the Senate version. Among them would be to extend the requirement that broadcast and cable operators provide political airtime at the lowest rate (the lowest unit charge, or LUC) to non-pre-emptible spots, which usually go for a premium, and to extend the LUC to political parties and political action committees. In their joint letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), NCTA president Kyle McSlarrow and NAB joint board chairman Steve Newberry said they are "greatly concerned" about expanding the scope of the lowest unit charge. They are also concerned about what they call "burdensome and unworkable" reporting requirements in the bill, which would require random audits of TV stations and cable networks.
benton.org/node/37342 | Multichannel News
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NEWS FROM ABROAD
GOOGLE'S HONG KONG SOLUTION
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR:]
On June 29, Google said it will stop automatically rerouting users of its China search site to its Hong Kong site after Beijing threatened the company with the loss of its Internet license. Google said regulators told the company its Internet license, which expires Wednesday, would not be renewed if that continues. "They made it clear to us that they did not think the redirect was acceptable," said a Google spokeswoman, Jessica Powell. She declined to say what reasons the government gave for its objections. Instead of automatically being switched to Hong Kong, visitors to Google.cn now see a tab that says in Chinese "We have moved to google.com.hk." Users can click on that tab to move to the Chinese-language site in Hong Kong, which is a Chinese territory but has Western-style civil liberties with no Internet filtering. There was no immediate word from Beijing about whether the measure was sufficient for Google to keep its Chinese Internet license.
benton.org/node/37353 | Los Angeles Times | Financial Times | Bloomberg
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EUROPE, GOOGLE AND WI-FI DATA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O'Brien]
Google is allowing privacy regulators in France, Germany and Spain to inspect Internet data that the company improperly collected for its street mapping service, but those reviews, so far, show no sign of resolving the inquiries into its surveillance. Google has been reluctant to forward the data, which is being kept on hard drives at its headquarters in Mountain View (CA), but has offered regulators from the countries a long-distance look via computer from Google offices in Paris, Hamburg and Madrid. In France, Google also turned over two hard drives containing log-in data, source codes for software and audit reports and other supplemental information from its French mapping activities. That has not satisfied the regulators, who are reiterating their requests that Google give them the original data collected in their countries.
benton.org/node/37321 | New York Times
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LE MONDE OWNERSHIP
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Matthew Campbell, Elliott Gotkine]
Le Monde, France's struggling newspaper of record, accepted an offer from investors including Yves Saint Laurent Group partner Pierre Berge, snubbing President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had opposed the bid. The group of investors, which also includes Internet billionaire Xavier Niel and Lazard Ltd. banker Matthieu Pigasse agreed to pay 110 million euros ($135 million) to take control of the 65-year-old Paris afternoon daily, helping it avert a capital crunch. By accepting the offer, the newspaper's staff rejected pressure from Sarkozy, who had told Le Monde Chief Executive Officer Eric Fottorino he didn't want the daily taken over by the trio. Berge backed opposition Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal in the 2007 presidential election and is close to International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a possible 2012 candidate for the Socialists.
benton.org/node/37352 | Bloomberg
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