1. Monthly archive
  2. June 2010

June 2010

Maryland's broadband future

[Commentary] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is now over a year old. While our economy has yet to fully emerge from recession, the media's focus has naturally shifted over the past year to other important matters, such as the health care debate and the horrendous Gulf oil spill. For Marylanders, though, the time to revisit attention on ARRA — better known as the federal stimulus bill — is now.

ARRA provided the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) $4.7 billion to support the deployment of broadband Internet service through a variety of initiatives, including broadband infrastructure. The state of Maryland and a broad consortium of key local government and private sector partners submitted the One Maryland Broadband Network application for approximately $140 million in broadband infrastructure funding, seeking to take advantage of an historic opportunity to build a broadband network that reaches the entire state. From the urban and suburban areas of the Baltimore and Washington areas to the rural communities of the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland, this plan truly represents a united vision. Leveraging decades of experience in managing networks by the various members of the consortium, the One Maryland plan would directly connect and serve 1,166 community anchors and other points of interest, including 469 elementary, middle and secondary schools, 311 public safety facilities, 255 government facilities, 68 libraries and 18 community colleges. The One Maryland Broadband Network realizes that if we do not build for tomorrow, we will live in the past.

[Ken Ulman is the Howard County executive. Also signing on to this commentary are: Gov. Martin O'Malley; Annapolis Mayor Josh Cohen; Harford County Executive David R. Craig; Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson; Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett; Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold; Maryland Broadband Cooperative President Pat Mitchell; Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; and Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith.]

Federal advisory panel approves HIT privacy and security recommendations

In a meeting held June 25, the HIT Policy Committee approved recommendations by the Privacy and Security Tiger Team that would establish health information exchange credentials and help to protect personal health information.

The 15-member panel of experts comprising the Tiger Team was formed in early June by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and was assigned the task of addressing urgent privacy and security issues. Members of the Tiger Team include HIT Policy Committee members, HIT Standards Committee members, as well as members of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. The HIT Policy Committee unanimously approved the Tiger Team's recommendations to establish digital exchange credentials that include verifying a provider's identity and allowing providers to delegate the verification process to authorized credentialing service providers. The panel also approved recommendations that would provide physicians, hospitals and the public with some reassurance that credentialing is being delegated to a trustworthy organization.

Christian groups seek disclosure of Comcast's porn revenues before proposed merger

The Parents Television Council (PTC) and a handful of Christian groups have called on Comcast to disclose the amount of revenue it brings in from pornographic and adult entertainment programming before it merges with NBC Universal (NBCU).

The groups, which include James Dobson's organization Focus on the Family, want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to consider the company's porn revenues when judging if the merger is in the public interest, they wrote in a filing last week about the merger. "Comcast is one of the most far-reaching distributors of pornography in the communities it serves, raising serious questions about whether the company meets the character and public interest obligations required," said PTC President Tim Winter.

Russia clarifies media laws on journalism, online content

The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has just reported on brand new media developments in Russia: the adoption of the Resolution of the Russian Supreme Court entitled "On Judicial Practice Related to the Statute of the Russian Federation "On the Mass Media" of Tuesday 15 June 2010. Prior to this date, the main legal text governing the media in Russia was the Statute of the Russian Federation "On the Mass Media". Russian courts did not dispose of any guidelines as to how to interpret this text. Last Tuesday's decision by the Russian Supreme Court gives the courts proper orientation when applying the Statute. The practical implications of this new text are enormous. For the first time, the Resolution lays down concrete details of journalistic privileges in gathering and reporting news and also guarantees certain degrees of freedom to the online media. For example, the guidance provided by the Resolution means that the media in Russia will henceforth enjoy greater freedom in reporting on the contents of election campaigns. The Resolution also stipulates explicitly that reporting on the private life of an individual can be condoned in legal terms if it is done in a way that is "necessary to protect the public interest."

Europe Pushes Google to Turn Over Wi-Fi Data

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.

FCC Launches Reform of Video Relay Service

In two unanimous votes the Federal Communications Commission moved to protect and ensure the sustainability of Video Relay Service, a vital service for persons with hearing or speech disabilities.

The votes will: 1) begin a fresh look at the VRS program, and 2) set out how VRS companies will be compensated during the next year while the review is underway. The action is meant to protect a program that has developed through two decades of work initiated by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

The FCC released a Notice of Inquiry asking fundamental questions about the ways that the market for VRS should be structured and how companies that provide VRS should be compensated.

The FCC also set interim levels for payments to VRS companies for the year July 2010 through June 2011. The FCC estimates that these new compensation levels, together with steps that have been taken to reduce fraud, will save the fund about $275 million over last year's estimated costs. The FCC has worked with the Department of Justice to identify companies that may have acted fraudulently, and the number of questionable charges has already dropped as a result. The savings from reduced fraud and new payment levels will benefit American ratepayers, who support the fund through charges on their telephone bills.

We're not ready for the mobile revolution

[Commentary] The mobile revolution has hit a major roadblock.

Two events got O'Brien thinking about this. The first was when Apple unveiled the new iPhone but said video chat would be available only through Wi-Fi because AT&T's wireless network was not ready for it. The second was when AT&T scrapped its unlimited wireless plans, a move that Verizon Wireless is reportedly also considering.

These are both symptoms of the same problem: We are reaching capacity on our wireless networks. The gadgets we use have caused such a dramatic surge in mobile data that it is creating a bottleneck in the infrastructure needed to carry the traffic. Even worse, this is happening as smartphone innovation has made the U.S. the world's most exciting mobile market after years of lagging. Now that innovation could be put on hold while the networks catch up. That's bad for consumers, investors and the economy. What does the solution look like? End or limit exclusive handset deals. Scrutinize acquisitions. Lower investment barriers. More spectrum.

Benton Applauds Administration Efforts to Unleash Spectrum for Wireless Broadband Revolution

On June 28, President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum with the aim of freeing for auction some 500 megahertz of spectrum that is now controlled by the federal government and private companies. The directive supports key recommendations of the National Broadband Plan that the Federal Communications Commission sent to Congress in March. The following statement can be attributed to Benton Foundation Chairman and CEO Charles Benton:

"Spectrum is the lifeblood of our economy in an increasingly competitive, always-on, always-connected world. To reach our national goal of universal, affordable broadband access and use, we must transform the National Broadband Plan into new, effective policies. Today's action by President Barack Obama is important for many reasons, but none more so than it shows the National Broadband Plan has the attention of the President and the Administration at the highest levels. Now federal policymakers, including Congress, must do their part in implementing the Plan."

The Benton Foundation is a longtime advocate for a national broadband strategy and is tracking the implementation of the National Broadband Plan at http://www.benton.org/nbp

Benton Applauds Administration Efforts to Unleash Spectrum for Wireless Broadband Revolution

Submitted by benton on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 11:59

On June 28, President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum with the aim of freeing for auction some 500 megahertz of spectrum that is now controlled by the federal government and private companies. The directive supports key recommendations of the National Broadband Plan that the Federal Communications Commission sent to Congress in March. The following statement can be attributed to Benton Foundation Chairman and CEO Charles Benton:

Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution

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.

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