June 9, 2010 (Keeping Politics Safe for the Rich)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2010 (School's out for summer!)
Oversight of the Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws and more on today's agenda http://bit.ly/c8Bh0n
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Keeping Politics Safe for the Rich
Maryland Leads the Way in Social Media Campaign Regulations
Belo Offers Free Airtime To Candidates
Twitter hiring DC Liaison
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Clyburn Asks States for USF reform Help
Broadband Pilot Programs for Low-Income Consumers
Some clarity in war over Internet access
Stimulus winner Rural Telephone targets 100 Mb/s to the home
SPECTRUM
FCC, public safety groups at odds over control of nationwide wireless network
Tech moves away from the all-you-can-eat model
Who Controls Spectrum in the USA?
Why the iPhone 4 Made AT&T Change Its Pricing
Pulse iPad App Gets Steve Jobs's Praise in Morning...Then Booted From App Store Hours Later After NYT Complains
Closing the Digital Frontier
JOURNALISM
The Digital Pulse
Media Institute: Government Should Look to Google in Journalism Inquiry
Gulf Disaster Again Dominates the News
TELEVISION
TiVo Claims Dismissed
ADVERTISING
China's rise challenges western media
PRIVACY
Does Averting Cyberwar Mean Giving Up Web Privacy?
Google software code to be reviewed
CDT Recommends Rewrite For Boucher Privacy Bill
HEALTH
HHS Invites Comment on HIT Standards recommendations
Advocates say consumer access equals better healthcare outcomes
RESEARCH
Rep Gordon 'groveling' to get science funding passed in Senate
MORE ONLINE
Free Press wants harsher punishments for FCC lobbyists
Higher education's best mobile technology programs
Group lists top five social media risks for businesses
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
KEEPING POLITICS SAFE FOR THE RICH
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] In a burst of judicial activism, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upended the gubernatorial race in Arizona, cutting off matching funds to candidates participating in the state's public campaign finance system. Suddenly, three candidates, including Gov. Jan Brewer, can no longer receive public funds they had counted on to run against a free-spending wealthy opponent. The court's reckless order muscling into the race was terse and did not say whether there were any dissents, though it is hard to imagine there were not. An opinion explaining its reasoning will have to wait until the next term, assuming it takes the case, but by that time the state's general election will be over and its model campaign finance system substantially demolished. It seems likely that the Roberts court will use this case to continue its destruction of the laws and systems set up in recent decades to reduce the influence of big money in politics. By the time it is finished, millionaires and corporations will have regained an enormous voice in American politics, at the expense of candidates who have to raise money the old-fashioned way and, ultimately, at the expense of voters.
meanwhile, a Wall Street Journal editorial celebrates the decision that the state may no longer use campaign finance laws to "level the playing field" among political candidates. "More good news for free political speech."
benton.org/node/36700 | New York Times | Wall Street Journal
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SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN REGULATIONS
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Karen Wilkinson]
In what could take effect before a Sept. 14 primary election, Maryland is poised to be the first state to require political candidates identify their online social media sites. Approved last week by the State Board of Elections, the rules will require any social media account created by a politician or committee -- in promotion or opposition to a candidate -- to disclose the identity of the person or committee responsible for the account in the profile or prominently on the landing or home page. The rules, which still need the approval of the Maryland General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, would also require campaigns to retain records of social media communications for one year. "What the rules say is, 'Listen, when you use social media networking sites and try to communicate, your communications are treated like any other types of communications with the general public, just like you would do on a TV ad,'" said Jared DeMarinis, Maryland State Board of Elections candidacy and campaign finance director. "It brings clarity to the process, and for the general public brings a sense that they can know where to find an official communication by a candidate."
benton.org/node/36687 | Government Technology
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FREE TIME FROM BELO
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: ]
Belo Corp., which in 1996 became the first commercial television station group to provide free airtime for congressional and gubernatorial candidates, announced that it will offer the "It's Your Time" program for the eighth consecutive election cycle this fall. The company also announced election coverage plans, stating that Belo's news-producing stations will televise at least one hour of political coverage each week in the six weeks prior to the general election on Nov. 2. The company's election coverage in 2010 may include debates, issue- and ad-watch programming, and interviews with local, state and federal candidates.
benton.org/node/36681 | TVNewsCheck
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TWITTER HIRING IN DC
[SOURCE: TechCrunch, AUTHOR: Leena Rao]
Twitter is looking for a government liaison to serve as a point person for the company in Washington (DC). The staff member will be the first DC-based employee for Twitter. It looks like the staffer will help government employees and politicians use Twitter in their everyday activities and also serve as a public policy liaison for the company. The employee will also serve as an advocate for government and political users within Twitter and courage more political engagement among citizens on the microblogging network.
benton.org/node/36673 | TechCrunch
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
CLYBURN ASKS STATES FOR USF HELP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn]
Speaking at the Mid-America Regulatory Conference in Kansas City (MO), Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn focused on the National Broadband Plan goal that every American should have affordable access to robust broadband service at home. She spoke about transforming the Universal Service Fund -- which has helped the US connect 95.6% of households with telephone service -- into a broadband fund. In order to free up current universal service money to fund a new Connect America Fund and additional Mobility Fund, the broadband plan proposes that the FCC phase out support for multiple voice providers over five years and that the Commission implement the voluntary commitments of certain wireless carriers that already have agreed to reduce their legacy support. It also proposes that current support be frozen; that the FCC consider moving rate-of-return companies to incentive regulation; and that the FCC adopt a framework for long-term intercarrier compensation reform that would create a glide path to eliminate per-minute charges over time. Intercarrier compensation revenues already are declining on their own, through market forces, and they will continue to decline as more consumers rely on IP networks. In April, the FCC began the first phase of the transition and started the process of reforming the Universal Service Fund, to connect all Americans to broadband, no matter whether they live. The FCC released a Notice of Inquiry and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, focusing on three major topics. The FCC and Commissioner Clyburn hope to receive input from State regulators on USF transition proposals.
benton.org/node/36690 | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC ROUNDTABLE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The National Broadband Plan recommended that the Federal Communications Commission facilitate pilot programs for low-income consumers that will "produce actionable information to implement the most efficient and effective long-term broadband support mechanism." This roundtable will initiate a discussion among interested parties about how to design broadband pilot programs for low-income consumers. The Wireline Competition Bureau encourages participation from a wide variety of interested parties, including representatives from, but not limited to, academia, social service agencies, consumer advocate organizations, state governmental entities, tribal governments and/or organizations, and industry. Roundtable will be held June 23 at the FCC.
benton.org/node/36689 | Federal Communications Commission
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WAR OVER INTERNET ACCESS
[SOURCE: Sacramento Bee, AUTHOR: Tyrone Brown]
[Commentary] The fight over open access to the Internet has turned into a public relations war and a political football in Congress. Last month, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced his proposal to clarify the agency's authority to oversee the likes of AT&T, Verizon and Comcast in their critical roles as providers of transport links to high-speed Internet access. His approach has strong support from fellow Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn. In 1996, at the dawn of the Internet age, Congress comprehensively rewrote the law to give the FCC discretion and flexibility to tailor its regulatory approach for a rapidly shifting communications landscape. Chairman Genachowski's proposal to restore appropriate regulatory oversight of high-speed Internet access does no more than Congress intended. [Tyrone Brown is the president of Media Access Project and a former FCC commissioner.]
benton.org/node/36675 | Sacramento Bee
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RURAL TELEPHONE
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
While some rural telcos protest proposed modifications to the Universal Service fund that would support only 4 Mb/s service to the home, one rural telco is moving ahead with plans to deploy a fiber to the home network supporting speeds up to 100 Mb/s service to sparsely populated areas of western Kansas. The deployment is made possible by $101 million in funding through the Broadband Stimulus Program, which was awarded on a 50/50 grant/loan basis to Rural Telephone, a rural ILEC that also has CLEC operations. Like some other carriers that won broadband stimulus funding, Rural Telephone has opted to use equipment with which it is already familiar. The company plans to deploy the same fiber to the home equipment from Occam Networks that underlies the company's existing FTTH infrastructure. The cost of the access equipment represents about 15% of the cost of an FTTH deployment, Occam Networks' vice president of marketing Russ Sharer told Connected Planet. A large portion of the money will go toward labor—and as Sevier explained, a significant amount of construction dollars will be spent in western Kansas. Rural Telephone plans to do some of the installation itself and was also able to identify two local construction companies that were qualified to do this type of work. In addition the company has selected three companies from outside the area to work on the project.
benton.org/node/36684 | Connected Planet
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SPECTRUM
PUBLIC SAFETY DISPUTE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
You'd think police and firefighters would be the first to back a federal plan to give them a nationwide wireless communications network. But a dozen public safety groups have banded together against just such a proposal from the Federal Communications Commission, marking the latest twist in a nearly decade-long battle to make it easier for first responders to talk with one another during times of disaster. This week, the groups launched a $500,000 advertising campaign to persuade Congress to scrap an FCC plan to auction airwaves to a commercial wireless carrier that would help build the network. Instead, the Public Safety Alliance wants to add those airwaves to spectrum its members already control, saying that they don't want to be restrained by a commercial partner. Having more spectrum, the alliance says, would allow its members to create their own robust network through which police could send streaming video from a crime scene to medics and investigators.
benton.org/node/36697 | Washington Post
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TECH MOVES AWAY FROM ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Steven Pearlstein]
[Commentary] Now, thanks to the ingenuity of the tech and telecom industries, there are so many people demanding so many new services that networks are straining to keep up -- and the costs of adding capacity are escalating rapidly. That's why Comcast and other cable operators are demanding that they be allowed the flexibility to manage their networks to give lower priority to services that hog large amounts of bandwidth -- or, at a minimum, to charge higher rates for customers who use such services. And it is why AT&T announced last week that it was moving away from its unlimited pricing for Internet and data service on its wireless networks, in favor of the kind of "tiered" pricing that Eli might appreciate. Not surprisingly, those who have relied on cheap and plentiful network capacity to dramatically expand their businesses -- everyone from Google to iPhone application developers -- are concerned that charging people based on what they consume will slow the growth in Internet usage. As a general rule, the most sustainable pricing strategies are ones that avoid overcharging one group of customers to make it possible to offer bargain prices to others. The danger of such cross-subsidies is that a competitor could come along and pick off the overcharged, and highly profitable, customers by offering a better value. At the same time, you don't want to push that logic too far by charging every customer a different price.
benton.org/node/36696 | Washington Post
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WHY THE IPHONE 4 FORCES AT&T'S HAND
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
The fourth-generation iPhone has several new features and a new app that clearly shows why AT&T's had to end unlimited data plans for new subscribers now rather than in a year or so when it gets around to deploying its LTE network. The 720p HD camera, the front-facing camera for video chat and applications like Netflix streaming all make video that much more appealing on a mobile device, which if offered to users on an unlimited basis might cause more trouble on AT&T's network.
benton.org/node/36695 | GigaOm
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PULSE VS NEW YORK TIMES
[SOURCE: All Things Digital, AUTHOR: Kara Swisher]
Yesterday morning, the pair of Stanford University graduate students who made the hot news-reading iPad app, Pulse News Reader, were ecstatic to be mentioned first-for being among the most promising developers for the new tablet device-by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in his keynote speech at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. But by the afternoon, that flush of entrepreneurial success had turned sour, after Apple (AAPL) informed the two that Pulse was being pulled from the App Store after it received a written notice from the New York Times Company (NYT) declaring that "The New York Times Company believes your application named 'Pulse News Reader' infringes The New York Times Company's rights." In an unusual coincidence, the Times Web site was on prominent display on a huge screenshot of the iPad during Jobs's speech.
benton.org/node/36679 | AllThingsDigital | GigaOm
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THE DIGITAL FRONTIER
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Michael Hirschorn]
The era of the Web browser's dominance is coming to a close. And the Internet's founding ideology—that information wants to be free, and that attempts to constrain it are not only hopeless but immoral -- suddenly seems naive and stale in the new age of apps, smart phones, and pricing plans. What will this mean for the future of the media -- and of the Web itself?
benton.org/node/36678 | Atlantic, The
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JOURNALISM
THE DIGITAL PULSE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Just how adaptable are humans? That is the question underlying pervasive worries about the impact of modern technology, especially the boom in the use of personal laptops and hand-held devices, like the iPad and smartphones. Are we becoming skilled multitaskers? Or are we sacrificing our attention to long-term goals for the more primitive gratification of skimming tweets and e-mail messages? Some statistics show a threefold increase in the consumption of "media" between 1996 and 2008. It's hard to be happy if that means mostly watching "Lost" on a miniature screen. But "media" in this sense means everything that flows through your desktop, laptop or smartphone. It has an addictive quality, in part because it reinforces deeply human traits — above all, a desire for social connection and mental stimulus. The electronic informational environment we live in is hardly passive. It is responsive, playful, and — yes — sometimes inane and trivial, not unlike our social discourse in the real world, including the world of families. Yet when have humans ever had more immediate access to solid information? The Web may be a whirlpool of myth and misinformation, but it has also become a global library of fact and data. How we use it to enrich our lives — including our social lives — is an ongoing experiment in adaptation.
benton.org/node/36699 | New York Times
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LOOK TO GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The "crisis" in journalism is not about audiences abandoning news organizations for "newer, shinier, digital models," but figuring out how to monetize a growing appetite for information and a continuing interest in holding government institutions and others to account. "Americans still demand that someone speak truth to power, whether that trusted voice is Walter Cronkite or Jon Stewart," says Kurt Wimmer, partner in the law firm of Covington & Burling, in a think piece for The Media Institute, a Washington First Amendment think tank whose trustees include representatives of News Corp., Time Warner, Gannett, Viacom, Verizon, Microsoft, NBC Universal and AT&T.
benton.org/node/36676 | Broadcasting&Cable | Media Institute
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TELEVISION
TIVO CLAIMS DISMISSED
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Roger Cheng]
Dish Network and Echostar scored a rare legal victory after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled that TiVo's patent claims over its "time-warp" digital video recorder technology were invalid. The ruling comes after a second re-examination of the patents by the PTO. Dish and Echostar applauded the ruling, and TiVo said it would follow up with additional arguments. The PTO's action doesn't stop a separate review of the patent-infringement case, which has leaned in TiVo's favor and could still lead to the satellite companies paying damages to the set-top box maker. But the PTO ruling could have ramifications for TiVo's case against AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. over their DVR services.
benton.org/node/36698 | Wall Street Journal
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ADVERTISING
CHINA AND WESTERN MEDIA
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson]
China will overtake Japan as the world's second-largest advertising market by 2015, according to a report which predicts that advertising spending in North America will only just recover to the peak it reached in 2007 by that time. The prediction by PwC that North America will be the slowest-growing media and entertainment market over the next five years compounds the challenge facing western media owners, which are being forced to seek new markets even as they grapple with rapid technological change in their current markets. "Twelve months ago the story was whether the recession would pick up the pace of digital transformation. It really did, and then some," said Marcel Fenez, head of the consultancy's global media and entertainment practice. PwC's annual forecast, released on Tuesday, shows that the recession hit the sector's advertising revenues hardest, and would be felt longest in the US and Canada.
benton.org/node/36693 | Financial Times
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PRIVACY
DOES CYBERSECURITY MEAN GIVING UP PRIVACY?
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Tom Gjelten]
The old challenge of providing public safety while also protecting civil liberties has found a new manifestation in the cyber age. Cybercrime and espionage are rising rapidly, and the United States and other governments are preparing for the possibility of cyberwar. At the same time, civil libertarians worry about preserving Internet freedom. Security experts focus on the "attribution problem" — the challenge of identifying and tracking down the source of a cyberattack. Under current conditions, cybercrime, cyber-espionage, and cyberattacks can be directed remotely, with the perpetrator's identity and location a secret. Privacy advocates fear the loss of anonymity for Internet users. For both sides, it's a conflict that needs to be resolved.
benton.org/node/36694 | National Public Radio
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GOOGLE CODE REVIEWED
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Mike Swift]
Facing intensifying scrutiny from American and foreign regulators, Google has named the prominent Internet security firm Stroz Friedberg to review the software code that triggered the collection of more than 600 gigabytes of data through unsecured Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries. Stroz Friedberg, which has offices in New York, Washington, San Francisco, London and other cities, could produce a report by the end of the week on its investigation into how the code was included in the software for Google's fleet of Street View cars, a Google representative said. James M. Aquilina, executive managing director of Stroz Friedberg, confirmed the firm had been hired but declined to comment further. Google acknowledged in its official company blog May 14 that its Street View cars, which collect geographic data for Google Map products as well as the identifying codes and locations of private Wi-Fi networks, had also reached into unsecured networks and collected snippets of data traveling through them, such as e-mail, photos, Internet searches or other private information. Google said the collection of so-called "payload data" was inadvertent and that the data had never been used in any Google products. But the disclosure has angered politicians and privacy advocates in Washington and around the world, triggering three separate requests from Congress — and now, at least two states — for a detailed explanation.
benton.org/node/36692 | San Jose Mercury News
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PRIVACY BILL
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
The Center for Democracy and Technology says a privacy bill floated by Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA) should be revised to include a broadband set of "fair information practices." "While CDT generally agrees with the draft's basic framework for notice and choice, including its opt-in and opt-out structure, we are concerned that the strong reliance on consent places the entire burden for privacy protection on consumers," the group says in written comments. Among other fair information practices, CDT recommends that privacy legislation should involve a requirement that collectors glean only what they need for particular purposes. CDT appears to be offering politicians a middle ground -- one that they might find more appealing than either scrapping the bill or requiring all companies to obtain users' explicit consent to online tracking. In addition to the recommendation that the bill incorporate fair information principles, CDT is urging the lawmakers to delegate more decisions about online privacy to the Federal Trade Commission. For instance, the group recommends that the bill include a provision granting the FTC the power to formulate the wording of notices that companies should give consumers about online tracking and targeting. CDT also is urging a "safe harbor" for companies who comply with industry-approved standards. "We believe that a carefully crafted safe harbor framework, giving industries or industry segments flexibility to develop tailored privacy solutions with FTC oversight, is the best way to accommodate differences between industries," the organization writes.
benton.org/node/36686 | MediaPost
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HEALTH
HHS INVITES PUBLIC INPUT
[SOURCE: Department of health and Human Services , AUTHOR: HIT Standards Committee]
During a April 28, 2010 meeting, the HIT (Health Information Technology) Standards Committee's recommendations focused on standards for governance, funding and infrastructure of controlled vocabularies, value sets and vocabulary subsets to be used primarily to further interoperability between providers and the systems they deploy as defined by the various stages of Meaningful Use Objectives. This Public Notice invites public comment on the recommendation at the Committee's next meeting on June 30, 2010.
benton.org/node/36674 | Department of Health and Human Services | HIT Standards Committee
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CONSUMER ACCESS EQUALS BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Increasing consumers' access to medical information is crucial to improving patient health and preventing dangerous drug interactions, a panel of health experts said June 8. Patients with access to their own records and outside sources of medical information feel empowered to challenge their doctors on the best treatment, according to speakers at a Disruptive Women in Health Care panel on "User-Generated Healthcare" in Washington. Dr. Marlene Beggelman, founder of Enhanced Medical Decisions, which creates datamining software for electronic medical records, said one of the biggest problems in healthcare is the high cost of tracking whether treatments work. "It's too expensive to do studies to monitor outcomes if you have to do it manually by reading medical files," Beggelman said. Even after research is complete and particular treatment has been proven ineffective, she said it can take over 10 years for that information to make it into doctors' offices. Julie Murchinson, managing director of Manatt Health Solutions, called the healthcare industry "quite paternalistic" and said access to medical information is an issue of patient safety. She cited statistics from the Bush administration that patients receive "appropriate care" only 55 percent of the time.
benton.org/node/36691 | Hill, The
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RESEARCH
COMPETES ACT UPDATE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) said he is lobbying Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to prioritize the America Competes Act, which would provide $85.6 billion over five years for science research and education. "I'm going to be groveling with him to get this passed," he said, describing his push to renew the funding as a "call to action" to keep the nation competitive. "It's going to be difficult but it's important that we get funding in the fall." Noting that the same funding cleared with large majorities three years ago, Gordon said the bill's challenges are indicative of Congress's hyperpartisan climate. He also said his own push to showcase the private sector's support for the bill through hearings slowed down the process. The America Competes Act has support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable.
benton.org/node/36683 | Hill, The
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