August 2010

NETWORK NEUTRALITY

AT&T TRIED YOUTUBE BLOCK
[SOURCE: Fast Net News, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
[Commentary] Kris Rinne of AT&T asked Apple to "restrict its YouTube app to run only over Wi-Fi. Maybe the iPhone could feature a smaller, lower-resolution videostream or cut off YouTube videos after one minute." AT&T sells its own video packages, of course, and did not intend to limit those. That concrete evidence of AT&T's desire to throttle should be enough to put a monkey wrench in the works, but ... industry lobbyists are working on a deal with the Federal Communications Commission on network neutrality. Verizon's Ivan Seidenberg, who has been to the White House 16 times, made a major speech suggesting that the business community would throw their money and power against the Democrats in the campaign. Apparently, Seidenberg has put enormous pressure on the White House to intervene, and the rumor is that chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is telling agencies to go along.
benton.org/node/40315 | Fast Net News
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GOOGLE-VERIZON DEAL
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
Apparently, Verizon and Google reached a deal on how to handle Internet traffic, striking their own accord on policy being weighed by the Federal Communications Commission. The compromise would restrict Verizon from selectively slowing Internet content that travels over its wires, but wouldn't apply such limits to Internet use on mobile phones. Verizon and Google have been adversaries over the issue, known as network neutrality. Verizon was among cable and phone companies saying they need leeway over the delivery of Web content to protect performance of their networks. Google led content providers and advocacy groups that say restrictions are needed so communications companies don't favor their own online offerings or those of partners. [much more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/40329 | Bloomberg | Media Access Project | Free Press | Public Knowledge
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LET'S MAKE A DEAL
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] For whatever reason, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continues its misguided game of "Let's Make A Deal" with the big telecom empires. Since the end of June, FCC Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus has convened representatives from AT&T, Verizon, the National Cable Telecommunications Association, Google, Skype and the Open Internet Coalition in an effort to try to have those negotiators do what FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski apparently won't do -- make a decision about the future of broadband and the Internet in this country. As far apart as the parties are, it's increasingly unlikely that any overarching deal will be reached, although rumors are rampant that Verizon will make some type of voluntary agreement with Google to have some consumer transparency with wireless services. What the FCC (and Google) need to understand, however, is that over decades, the Bell companies have had a history of not keeping the official promises they have made, and the Commission itself has not shown any inclination to enforce them.
benton.org/node/40330 | Public Knowledge
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BROADBAND STIMULUS

MORE BIP FUNDING
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Press release]
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the funding of 126 new Recovery Act broadband infrastructure projects that will create jobs and provide rural residents in 38 states and Native American tribal areas access to improved service. In all, $1.2 billion will be invested in the 126 broadband infrastructure projects through funding made available through the Recovery Act. An additional $117 million in private investment will be leveraged, bringing the total funds invested to $1.31 billion. By leveraging Recovery Act funding authorized by Congress, USDA has been able to provide loans and grants of $2.65 billion to construct 231 broadband projects in 45 states and one territory. The remaining authorized funds will allow an additional $1 billion in loans and grants by September 30, 2010. The Recovery Act provided USDA with a total of $2.5 billion to invest in expanding broadband access to rural America.
benton.org/node/40316 | White House, The | see list of funded projects
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BTOP, BIP SCHEDULE
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Sec Tom Vilsack, Sec Gary Locke]
We are on track to get all our broadband awards out the door by the end of September. In fact, over the next 60 days, we will award the remaining roughly $4 billion dollars to help provide critical broadband services to states and communities across the country. During the week of Aug 16, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) will announce 50 more last-mile projects worth $190 million and the Department of Commerce will announce 70 grants support public computing, broadband adoption, community infrastructure, and some public safety projects totalling $1.3 billion. In early September, USDA will announce 65 projects worth $450 million while commerce reveals 50 awards worth $600 million. In late September, Commerce will announce the remainder of its awards.
benton.org/node/40327 | White House, The
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BROADBAND STIMULUS OVERSIGHT
[SOURCE: Government Accountability Office, AUTHOR: Mark Goldstein]
To extend broadband access and adoption, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) provided $7.2 billion to the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for grants or loans to a variety of program applicants. The agencies are awarding funds in two rounds and must obligate all funds by September 30, 2010. This report addresses the results of the first broadband stimulus funding round, the extent to which NTIA's and RUS's application reviews substantiated application information, the challenges facing NTIA and RUS in awarding the remaining funds, and actions taken to oversee grant and loan recipients. GAO analyzed program documentation, reviewed a judgmentally-selected sample of applications from first round award recipients, and interviewed agency officials and industry stakeholders. The Secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce should incorporate into their risk-based monitoring plans, steps to address variability in funding levels for post-award oversight beyond September 30, 2010. Both agencies took no position on GAO's recommendation and noted steps being taken to complete their respective programs. (GAO-10-823)
benton.org/node/40331 | Government Accountability Office | summary of the report
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MORE ON BROADBAND

LITTLE BROADBAND COMPETITION IN DC
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]
[Commentary] At first glance, the broadband market in the nation's capital appears to be pretty competitive at least as far as the Federal Communications Commission is concerned. The agency reports there are 35 providers of high-speed Internet service in the District of Columbia. But a closer look reveals what DC residents already know most folks are lucky if they have three to choose from. The Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University researched all the companies that provide broadband in the District and learned that of the 35, only eight serve residential customers. That would still be an impressive number, but of those eight, three are satellite providers, whose relatively slow speeds and high cost make them attractive only in rural areas. Two others DC Access LLC and Cavalier Telephone LLC provide service only in limited areas. That leaves three: Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and RCN Corp.
benton.org/node/40308 | Washington Post | The Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University
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FINANCING BROADBAND
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Craig Settles]
[Commentary] Few people question the need for broadband and the value it can bring to a community. However, for proponents of community broadband networks, the challenges of financing buildouts, generating revenues, and ensuring a network's long-term financial security are ones not easily resolved. So the question becomes: Who's going to pay for community broadband networks, and how? Because the method by which a community pays for its network helps to determine business models for the community network, groups interested in bringing broadband to their home towns — or even those who want to understand the alternative to private ownership of a network — should understand a few methods of financing them. More than 60 communities in the U.S. own their fiber networks outright , some for over 10 years. Many are for government-only use, while others, such as the one in Franklin County, Va., are operated through public/private partnerships. Settles looks at some of the more common financing options for a network presented in layman's terms.
benton.org/node/40318 | GigaOm
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LIFELINE COMMENTS
[SOURCE: National Hispanic Media Coalition, AUTHOR: Jessica Gonzalez, Matthew Wood, Amina Fazlullah]
The National Hispanic Media Coalition, the Media Action Grassroots Network, the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, the Benton Foundation, and Access Humboldt have filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging that reforms to the Lifeline and Link Up programs are necessary to ensure that all eligible individuals -- especially among the poor and people of color -- can obtain the opportunities that these programs provide. The commenters have already emphasized the importance of broadband in low-wealth communities and communities of color, and have recommended that the low-income programs include broadband subsidies and an update of their current outreach initiatives. They commenters note that many commenters agree with these recommendations. In addition, the groups urge that eligibility and verification processes be made as inclusive as possible and that those processes facilitate -- not inadvertently hinder -- participation in these programs by those most in need. Finally, the commenters reaffirm that current outreach efforts are insufficient and respond to those that suggest otherwise.
benton.org/node/40347 | National Hispanic Media Coalition
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FUTURE OF BROADBAND IN TASMANIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
Tasmania is leading Australia's ambitious broadband plan to wire more than 90 percent of the nation's homes with high-speed fiber optics. The first three communities in Tasmania started getting fiber-to-the-home technology last month, with data speeds starting at 100 megabits per second, or 20 times faster than typical broadband speeds today. By 2013, Tasmania plans to have the hyper-speed broadband available to nearly all its 500,000 citizens -- and the government is installing it without charging the users. The plan is for the rollout to be completed throughout Australia five to seven years. Larry Smarr, a director of California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, calls the Australian policy "one of the most interesting experiments in the world." The Australian government, according to Mr. Smarr, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, sees the "importance of broadband as part of a nation-building exercise, unlike this country."
benton.org/node/40309 | New York Times
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

WHAT SPECTRUM PLAN MEANS
[SOURCE: Fast Net News, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
Imagine if five new networks with the capacity of Verizon's were built across the United States. Canadian wireless prices are dropping 10-15% because of new entrants. Xavier Niel's fourth French mobile net will bring down prices 17%, Merrill Lynch estimates. The heart of the National broadband Plan is freeing more spectrum to bring in competition, with 300 MHz expected by 2015 and 500 MHz by 2020. Letting Phil Falcone's Harbinger use satellite spectrum for terrestrial, an AWS-3 auction, and other moves already under way will bring in 100 MHz, more than enough for 3 new Verizon-sized networks. That can be huge, if new entrants can succeed in taking major market share from AT&T and Verizon. More spectrum is not guaranteed to work -- Verizon and AT&T are at 60+% market share and pulling away -- but politics excluded any of the more effective moves. Although the Federal Communications Commission has apparently lost on using the 10 MHz 'D' block and some of the plans like relocating TV stations have issues, even half of what the plan asked could be huge.
benton.org/node/40314 | Fast Net News
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RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS FIGHT FOR SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Kim McAvoy]
National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith and National Religious Broadcasters President Frank Wright met for the first time on August 3. The general topic was cooperation. If the commercial broadcasters represented by Smith are wary of the National Broadband Plan, the religious broadcasters in Wright's camp are downright hostile toward it. Like their commercial TV brethren, NRB members have spent more than $1 billion to go from analog to digital, Wright said. "We were told the future was digital. Now that we're digital, the FCC is saying it is all going to be about wireless so we need to take back some of that digital spectrum. This is just the nonsense of that central planning mindset that assumes that they know where things are going and that they want to try to structure them to get us there."
benton.org/node/40313 | TVNewsCheck
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SPECTRUM AUCTION RULES
[SOURCE: Fast Net News, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
[Commentary] There's enough spectrum in sight to double the number of state of the art US mobile networks. To facilitate that, the Federal Communications Commission should immediately change the auction rules that are a huge obstacle to competition and almost certainly reduce the amount collected. In most of the world, part of the spectrum fee is paid over time. In the US, it all has to be paid up front, three or four years before significant revenue (the network has to be built) and even more years before breakeven. With U.S. licenses going for $5B and more, that's a hell of a lot of cash to tie up without even a hint of return. That's a huge obstacle for most bidders, who would gladly pay more if the spectrum payments were more closely tied to when they have income. A new network competing with powerful Verizon and AT&T has to be considered speculative, which means their cost of borrowing the spectrum fee money for the three years of construction is very high.
benton.org/node/40312 | Fast Net News
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OWNERSHIP

CALL FOR STATES TO INVESTIGATE COMCAST-NBCU
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
The proposed merger of NBC-Universal and Comcast would create a media monopoly that poses a grave threat to consumers, according to a letter from a coalition of public interest groups and private organizations. The Coalition for Competition in Media, which includes Bloomberg, Free Press, National Organization for Women, Parents Television Council, and the Writers Guild of America wrote to the National Association of Attorneys General and five state Attorneys General August 4 asking them to scrutinize the proposed acquisition, which they say would give Comcast unprecedented control of media distribution and content in the US. The letter states the most affected markets would be those where Comcast is the dominant cable and broadband provider and would own one or more local NBC station, the local Telemundo station, and a regional sports network. Those markets include Boston; Chicago; Denver; Fresno; Hartford; Houston; Miami; Philadelphia; Tucson; Washington, D.C.; and the San Francisco Bay Area.
benton.org/node/40343 | Hill, The | CongressDaily
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MORE CONGRESSIONAL BACKING FOR COMCAST-NBCU
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Two dozen Black and Hispanic Members of Congress wrote to the Federal Communications Commission last week expressing support for the proposed merger between NBC Universal and Comcast. The letters seek to allay concerns that the proposed merger between the nation's largest broadband provider and one of the four major broadcast networks would impact the level of diversity in the media. The members, some of whom have already expressed their support for the merger, bring the total number of lawmakers openly supporting the transaction to more than 100.
benton.org/node/40341 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable | Bloomberg
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TELEVISION/RADIO

SURVEY ON FCC INDECENCY ENFORCEMENT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
According to a new Rasmussen poll, only slightly more people believe the Federal Communications Commission is doing a "good or excellent" job (29%) of regulating "profanity, sexual content and violence" than say it is doing a poor job (28%). Just 9% said it was doing an excellent job, with 20% saying it was doing a good job, 37% fair, and 6% weren't sure. Since the FCC does not regulate violent content, however, and all three are part of the question, those answers are tough to parse. According to the poll, violence is their number one issue, however. Asked which type of content was their biggest problem, violence got 39% of their answers, followed by sexual content, and only 9% profanity. A majority of respondents (55%) to the survey (of 1,000 adults polled July 27-28) said they thought the FCC should have the power to regulate "objectionable content" on radio and TV including violence, profanity and sexual content (34% said no, 11% weren't sure). That 55% figure is actually down eight points from the 2007 survey on the topic, according to Rasmussen. Since it did not break out broadcast, which is already regulated, from cable, which is not, it is hard to tell whether or not that is an endorsement of applying broadcast standards to cable.
benton.org/node/40337 | Broadcasting&Cable
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PROMOTING DECENCY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Robert Peters]
[Commentary] In this letter to the editor, Peters says history teaches is that in the absence of government regulation or the threat thereof, mainstream entertainment goes from bad to worse when it comes to offensive and harmful content. he concedes that newspapers have on the whole maintained standards of decency, despite the lack of government regulation. He counters saying perhaps there still is a grain of integrity that exists in most journalists that apparently does not exist in the entertainment industry. Furthermore, it is the job of the news media to keep the public informed, not to crassly "entertain." [Peters is President of Morality in Media]
benton.org/node/40345 | Wall Street Journal
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KCET'S FUTURE IN DOUBT
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
Just three years ago, LA's high-minded public television station threw in its lot with that maven of flashy, commercial TV, Fred Silverman. Some might have feared that teaming with the champion of "Charlie's Angels" and "Three's Company" would disfigure KCET. Instead, the onetime network programming guru helped craft a thoughtful roster of locally oriented programs. One show would adapt theatrical productions for the small screen, another would let politicians mix with voters, while still another would reenact heroic deeds. But KCET's bid to reinvigorate itself fell flat. The station's problem was not Silverman's ambitions -- which turned out to be middle- to highbrow -- but raising enough money to make it happen. The station did not find the underwriters. The programs died before they ever got off the wish list. Now KCET faces even bigger identity and financial challenges. Now KCET faces even bigger identity and financial challenges, The options include selling the station's historic Sunset Boulevard studios or banding together with KOCE of Orange County and other local public TV stations to save costs and coordinate programming. Or there's the nuclear option -- dropping out of the PBS network and going independent.
benton.org/node/40344 | Los Angeles Times
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SATELLITE SERVICE COMPLAINTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) shined a spotlight on consumer complaints about satellite TV service. "In the past three years, more than 53,000 customers have complained to the Better Business Bureau about satellite TV providers, with 39,000 of those complaints filed against DirecTV and 13,000 filed against Dish Network," the BBB said in a release, advising consumers to read their contracts closely before signing up. Given that DirecTV has 18 million subs and DISH 14 million, that works out to fewer than one complaint per thousand customers per year for DirecTV and one per 3,000 customers for DISH. But that still makes them "one of the most complained-about industries," said a BBB spokesperson in promoting the stats. The BBB said many of the complaints were about early termination fees (BB said the complaints were about paying more than $600 to cancel), as well as service issues, upgrades that extended contract periods, and low-cost introductory offers that either didn't come through as advertised or morphed into regular prices higher than the customer was expecting.
benton.org/node/40340 | Broadcasting&Cable
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DVR AND AGE OF TV AUDIENCES
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wayne Friedman]
New data shows that in virtually every broadcast prime-time program, added DVR playback lowers a show's median age -- except one. Ironically, that comes with "Gossip Girl" on CW. That network, which has had the highest percentage of time shifters, has many shows getting at or near 30% of its overall seven days worth of viewing coming from time shifted playback. The CW also has the lowest median age of any broadcast network.
benton.org/node/40332 | MediaPost
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

MD SOCIAL MEDIA RULES
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Karen Wilkinson]
Aligning its laws with the growing prominence of online social media, Maryland now requires political candidates to identify their online campaign material. "It allows them to freely use these mediums without having any sort of worry," said Maryland Candidacy and Campaign Finance Director Jared DeMarinis. "And I think that was the biggest problem beforehand -- there wasn't a clear set of rules or guidance on this issue." In time for the Sept. 14 primary, the legislation passed 11-1 by the state General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review after a hearing last month, DeMarinis said. "By doing this early for this election, it allows them to know the rules up front and engage in these areas with a good set of rules and guidelines," DeMarinis said. The rules took effect Tuesday, Aug. 3, and expand current campaign material law to include "electronic media" materials like social media sites, microblogs and online ads created by a political committee -- making them subject to "authority line" requirements.
benton.org/node/40317 | Government Technology
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HEALTH

DIGITAL MEDICAL RECORDS OVERSIGHT
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Fred Schulte, Emma Schwartz]
As the Obama administration ramps up plans to create a digital medical file for every American by 2014 -- at an anticipated cost of up to $27 billion -- technology's boosters tend to tout its potential benefits to patients and ability to slow runaway medical costs. Yet despite the high political and financial stakes, the Administration has established no national mandatory monitoring procedure for the new devices and software. That no process exists to report and track errors, pinpoint their causes and prevent them from recurring is largely the result of two decades of resistance by the technology industry. The industry argues that even with flaws, digital systems are an improvement over current paper records. Detailed government regulations announced July 13 spell out how doctors and hospitals can collect stimulus money to help defray the costs of buying digital systems. But safety and quality standards -- which Food and Drug Administration officials had suggested earlier this year could be in the offing -- weren't included. The safety debate has long pitted the FDA, with the duty to make sure medical devices are safe and effective, against the Office of National Coordinator, whose central task is to promote the technology's swift adoption. Under Dr David Blumenthal the office has campaigned tirelessly since last April to sell the medical community and the public on the wisdom of spending billions of tax dollars for digital records. Many industry groups contend that FDA regulation would "stifle innovation" and stall the national drive to wire up American medicine. That view resonates among the dozens of health information technology experts serving as consultants to Blumenthal's office and on advisory groups. Dr Blumenthal also has been skeptical of the need for regulation and argued that even if some miscues occur, digital systems are far less prone to error than paper ones.
benton.org/node/40335 | Huffington Post, The
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PATIENT CONTROL OVER HEALTH DATA
[SOURCE: GovernemntHealthIT, AUTHOR: Mary Mosquera]
The Privacy and Security Tiger Team began exploring how current technologies can help patients make decisions on consent and access to their electronic health records when more sensitive patient data is involved. The team, composed of government and private sector healthcare privacy experts, teed up questions related to how to accommodate patients who might want to exercise highly-selective levels of control over electronic versions of their personal health information or portions of that data. Although the direct exchange of patient data between providers for treatment purposes does not require patient consent beyond what is covered in existing law and fair information practices, some patients may want to exercise more choice in consultation with their providers about how their sensitive data is handled, the experts noted.
benton.org/node/40334 | GovernemntHealthIT
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EHR MATCHING FUNDS
[SOURCE: ModernHealthcare.com, AUTHOR: Matthew DoBias]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded $5.75 million in federal matching funds to six states and the District of Columbia to help Medicaid providers expand the use of electronic health records. The six states receiving the matching funds are Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and West Virginia. The funding, provided for under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is earmarked for a health information technology incentives program.
benton.org/node/40333 | ModernHealthcare.com
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PRIVACY

ONLINE PRIVACY
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The ease and speed with which people can share information over the Internet is perhaps the marvel of this era. The way they live and work is changing rapidly, posing new opportunities and new hazards. One area undergoing massive change is personal privacy. Fluid exchanges of information mean that more knowledge about people's lives can be shared than they realize or desire. Facebook and Google are two Web giants that have recently faced criticism for playing fast and loose with information about their users. The development of computerized data banks - such as those storing credit-card information, medical records, or store "loyalty card" buying habits - continues to erode personal privacy. Now several US lawmakers and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are raising concerns about the need to better regulate the way that websites, and the advertisers on them, place tracking data on the computers of visitors. Called "cookies," "beacons," "pixels," or just "Web bugs," these programs operate behind the scenes to record not only which pages are visited on that site but continue to track and report back on the user's subsequent visits to other sites. But before restrictive rules or legislation is considered, the online advertising industry ought to be given a chance to better regulate itself. Transparency and openness should be keystones in creating any policy on Web tracking. Websites need to prominently display simple, clear information on how users can opt out of being tracked. Sites should also explain in simple layman's language (no legal mumbo jumbo) what information they will otherwise collect, how it will be used, and with whom they will share it. If the industry refuses to broadly adopt clear, consistent, and reasonable standards of its own, Congress and federal regulators may have to step in.
benton.org/node/40349 | Christian Science Monitor, The
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EXPLOITING GPS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Justin Scheck]
Phone companies know where their customers' cellphones are, often within a radius of less than 100 feet. That tracking technology has rescued lost drivers, helped authorities find kidnap victims and let parents keep tabs on their kids. But the technology isn't always used the way the phone company intends. Global-positioning systems, called GPS, and other technologies used by phone companies have unexpectedly made it easier for abusers to track their victims. A U.S. Justice Department report last year estimated that more than 25,000 adults in the U.S. are victims of GPS stalking annually, including by cellphone. In the online world, consumers who surf the Internet unintentionally surrender all kinds of personal information to marketing firms that use invisible tracking technology to monitor online activity. A Wall Street Journal investigation of the 50 most-popular U.S. websites found that most are placing intrusive tracking technologies on the computers of visitors -- in some cases, more than 100 tracking tools at a time.
benton.org/node/40348 | Wall Street Journal
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JOURNALISM

SHIELD LAW
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] For years, members of Congress have tied themselves in knots trying to figure out how to pass a "shield law" that allows journalists to protect the identities of sources without giving anything to journalists whom those same members do not like or appreciate. Lawmakers recognize the value of protecting sources when they disclose the Pentagon Papers or details about Watergate, but they're less keen on those who reveal corporate secrets or classified documents about wars they support. Now, with a shield law poised for approval, the WikiLeaks disclosures of classified material from Afghanistan have reinforced the timidity that has delayed this legislation for too long. Journalism is fast-changing, and Congress is slow-moving. One consequence is that the more Congress attempts to define journalism, the more anachronistic Congress becomes. Rather than trying to figure out who should be protected and who should not, Congress should focus on what it is trying to accomplish — namely, to preserve for citizens of this democracy the information they need to govern themselves, information that sometimes only becomes public if those who have it can supply it anonymously.
benton.org/node/40346 | Los Angeles Times
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INTERNET GATEKEEPERS
[SOURCE: Online Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Robert Niles]
[Commentary] While the Internet's made it possible for information to flow more directly from source to consumer, in practice, much information consumed on the Internet now flows through many more intermediaries than before. Sources tweet information that then shows up on blogs, which are picked up by radio reporters, then make their way into newspapers, where readers post the stories to their Facebook pages, which prompts someone else to tweet about it... and the cycle begins again, taking slightly different paths with each circuit. On the Internet, no one has to be a gatekeeper, but everyone can be. Publishers, including online journalists, need to remember this if they're to maximize the audience for their work. All that's been lost has been the established news media's once-monopoly status as those gatekeepers. What's lost is lost. Those who've gained money and influence by assuming gatekeeper status won't easily give it up to old media competitors simply because those newspapers, magazine and TV stations want back their monopoly profits. If the gatekeepers of today are to lose their influence, they will lose it the same way that the old media gatekeepers lost theirs - because they aren't paying sufficient attention while someone else was finding a better way to reach their audiences.
benton.org/node/40310 | Online Journalism Review
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INTEL DECISION

FTC AND INTEL SETTLE
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Trade Commission approved a settlement with Intel Corp. that resolves charges the company illegally stifled competition in the market for computer chips. Intel has agreed to provisions that will open the door to renewed competition and prevent Intel from suppressing competition in the future. The settlement goes beyond the terms applied to Intel in previous actions against the company and will help restore competition that was lost as a result of Intel's alleged past anticompetitive tactics. At the same time, the settlement will leave the company room to innovate and offer competitive pricing. The FTC settlement applies to Central Processing Units, Graphics Processing Units and chipsets and prohibits Intel from using threats, bundled prices, or other offers to exclude or hamper competition or otherwise unreasonably inhibit the sale of competitive CPUs or GPUs. The settlement also prohibits Intel from deceiving computer manufacturers about the performance of non-Intel CPUs or GPUs. The FTC settlement goes beyond those reached in previous antitrust cases against Intel in a number of ways. For example, the FTC settlement order protects competition and not any single competitor in the CPU, graphics, and chipset markets. It also addresses Intel's disclosures related to its compiler a product that plays an important role in CPU performance. The settlement order also ensures that manufacturers of complementary products such as discrete GPUs will be assured access to Intel's CPU for the next six years. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/40321 | Federal Trade Commission | CongressDaily
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WHAT FTC-INTEL MEANS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Richard Waters]
When the Federal Trade Commission announced its broad swipe against Intel last year, it served as an alarm bell to companies across the US that the consumer protection watchdog had entered a new and far more aggressive enforcement era. As it hails its settlement with the chipmaker as a big victory for consumers, it is far from clear whether the Washington regulator ends its tussle with Intel looking as robust as it hoped to appear. In Washington legal circles, the FTC's showdown with Intel was a test case. It represented the first time in decades that the commission used its legal authority to stop conduct that it believed showed "unfair methods of competition" - which is a violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. The FTC has said companies should welcome use of Section 5 in some cases because, unlike violations of traditional anti-trust law, it does not allow companies found guilty of violations in private litigation to be liable to treble damages. Anti-trust attorneys, many of whom decline to be named because of active cases before the FTC, have scoffed at the commission's use of the authority, which they claim is overly vague. They also say there is too little guidance offered by the FTC on how it plans to use the authority in the future. Privately, many doubt whether the FTC could successfully litigate a Section 5 case in court given how extensively it has been struck down in the past. By settling the Intel case, the FTC has left unanswered many of the lingering questions over how its statutory authority, which is far more expansive than traditional anti-trust authority, may be used in future cases.
benton.org/node/40351 | Financial Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

SPIES ON OUR COMPUTERS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: John Gapper]
[Commentary] The shift over the past two decades towards the use of e-mail, the Internet and other technology - by both companies and individuals - has provided a potential trove of data for security services and governments. Were it not for barriers such as privacy laws, data encryption and companies' scruples, the world would a far easier place for police and spies. That is why the battle in the Gulf between the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, is vital. If companies that store and transmit vast amounts of personal data do not provide protection against routine snooping, we can all wave goodbye to a large slice of our privacy.
benton.org/node/40350 | Financial Times
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GOOGLE ADS IN EUROPE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Leila Abboud, Kate Holton]
Google is set to allow advertisers in Europe to use rivals' trademarks when bidding for online ads in a move that will prevent big brand owners from controlling which ads appear during users' searches. The change will take effect on September 14 in most European nations. It brings Europe into line with how Google works in the United States, Britain and about 200 other countries. Google made the change in response to a European Court of Justice decision in March that ruled that it did not infringe trademark law by selling keywords to trigger ads.
benton.org/node/40339 | Reuters
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