September 2010

If TV's Far-Sighted, It Will Serve the Blind

[Commentary] If you have your sight and you've never listened to video description service for the blind, you ought to. You soon realize what a wonderful enhancement it is to TV programming for the millions of Americans with little or no sight. They can follow the plots, "see" the characters and get all the jokes.

When Congress gets back from its summer recess, it is expected to send legislation to the president directing the Federal Communications Commission to impose rules requiring broadcasters to provide a video description service.

The proposed rules are modest, initially requiring only network O&Os and affiliates in the top 25 markets to provide four hours a week of described programming. Stations in smaller markets will have to provide some level of service over 10 years. But broadcasters and the Hollywood producers that work for them shouldn't wait for the FCC and they shouldn't take their time in rolling out the service. They should embrace the service and provide descriptions on as many of their shows as they can as quickly as they can. They should go way beyond what Congress and the FCC are asking. They should do it because it elevates their status as good corporate citizens, because it underscores broadcast television as the unique and democratic medium that serves everybody and because it is the right thing to do.

Texas Launches Antitrust Probe Of Google

Google revealed Sept 3 that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is conducting an antitrust probe of the Internet firm, focusing on whether the company manipulates its search results.

The probe appears similar to one launched by the European Union, which is investigating similar claims made by Google competitors, including the British price comparison site Foundem, which filed a complaint with the EU against Google earlier this year. According to Google Deputy General Counsel Don Harrison, Abbott has asked for information about Foundem as well as SourceTool, a business-to-business search engine owned by TradeComet, and price comparison site myTriggers, which claims its business has suffered because Google reduced its ad quality ratings, Harrison said in a blog post. Google defended its search results saying they are based on providing the most relevant and useful search results and ads for users. "Given that not every Web site can be at the top of the results, or even appear on the first page of our results, it's unsurprising that some less relevant, lower quality Web sites will be unhappy with their ranking," Harrison added. He also alleged that Microsoft may have a connection to the companies that have complained that Google has engaged in anti-competitive practices. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on the allegation but in the past the company has denied any link to other firms' complaints against Google.

NIST Releases Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security

The National Institute of Standards and Technology released Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security, a three volume set of recommendations on all things relevant to securing the Smart Grid. The guidelines address a variety of topics, including: high-level security requirements, a risk assessment framework, an evaluation of privacy issues in residences and recommendations for protecting the evolving grid from attacks, malicious code, cascading errors and other threats. The cyber security guidelines took 17 months to develop and were produced by the Cyber Security Working Group of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel.

Can you hear me now? Of course; I'm on a land line

[Commentary] Why am I suddenly nostalgic for my maligned, nearly obsolete land-line telephone, and why do I so often prefer it, when I'm here at home, to my newer, cooler gadget? My smartphone isn't always smart. When it comes to an effortless, nearly foolproof, reliable, high-quality device, I have a soft spot for my land line. The reason is simple: If I'm talking to you from my land line and you're on your land line, I can actually hear you. Perfectly. If we're both on our cells, chances are good that we're in for some frustrations, even in 2010. If voice communication had been invented after e-mail and texting, we would have seen it as the grandest scientific advance since hair gel and HBO. We'd be chatting on the phone 24 hours a day. But in the weird way that the human mind works, newer is better. Texting is better than talking. Problematic connections are more desirable than reliable ones. Complaining about an indecipherable cell call brands you as someone who listens to Perry Como on vinyl. The woes of Bluetooth trump the boring predictability of a corded phone. Bluetooth is ugly and frustrating; no wonder everyone likes it. Bluetooth alone has done more to destroy civil discourse than cable news and talk radio put together. My land line and I may only have a few years left, so I intend to make the most of them. If you have a land line too, give me a call.

[Randall is the deputy editor of Playboy]

Indian Wireless Firm's Tower Deal Scrapped

Reliance Communications Ltd.'s plan to merge the telecom-tower assets of its Reliance Infratel Ltd. with telecom-infrastructure company GTL Infrastructure Ltd. was scrapped Sept 6, dealing a blow to the fund-raising and debt-reduction efforts of the Indian wireless carrier.

But the companies didn't say why they couldn't stitch together a deal that would have created an independent tower entity with an enterprise value of at least 500 billion rupees, or about $10.76 billion, with more than 80,000 towers. Reliance Communications said it is in talks with "strategic and financial investors" for a similar transaction aimed at reducing its $6.2 billion debt. Reliance Communications owns 95% of Reliance Infratel.

Fidel Castro, Internet junkie

[Commentary] Fidel Castro is back from the dead (his words) and has been reincarnated as an Internet junkie. Not only is he a prolific blogger on Cuba's online Granma newspaper but, it turns out, the 84-year-old greybeard consumes 200 to 300 news items a day on the Web and is fascinated by the WikiLeaks site, with its trove of 90,000 formerly secret U.S. documents on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The "resuscitated" revolutionary is smaller and shakier than he was before the intestinal illness that prompted him to hand power to his younger brother in 2006, but no less verbose. He spoke with the editor of the Mexican newspaper La Jornada for five hours, during which he raved about the profound impact of the Web. "Do you know what this means, comrade?" he asked, like some sort of Rip Van Winkle waking up in the 21st century. The Internet, he said, "has put an end to secrets.... We are seeing a high level of investigative journalism, as the New York Times calls it, that is within reach of the whole world."

The FCC's September Agenda: A Genachowski Relaunch?

[Commentary] The September 2010 Federal Communications Commission meeting agenda restore some faith in FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

The proposed orders on the agenda combined with the FCC quietly telling M2Z to give up hope of getting any spectrum for its proposed free-with-a-pay-tier broadband service, show a new willingness for Chairman Genachowski to do something he hasn't done yet but desperately needed to do: say "no" to people who will squawk loudly. At the same time, this isn't some Hollywood-esque reversal where suddenly everything is radically different and Genachowski comes out of his corner like Rocky. Chairman Genachowski has chosen his issues and opponents for this first round with care, while deferring the much tougher action on network neutrality until at least after the election. But while I may find this frustrating (and, I think, the wrong thing to do both as a matter of substance and a matter of politics), there is a huge difference between "I think you're wrong on this issue" and "you are totally mishandling the job of being an FCC Chairman."

FCC and Title II: All Options Said To Be Still On Table

Network neutrality stakeholders are split over whether the Federal Communications Commission's Title II reclassification proposal will be put on the back burner while the FCC seeks more comment on its network neutrality rulemaking proposal, but a senior FCC official suggests the burner is still hot.

Asked whether the comment requests precludes action on Title II, the official, speaking on background, said: "All options remain on the table." Those include FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's so-called "Third Way" proposal of reclassifying broadband transmissions under some Title II common carrier regulations but not applying the rest, imposing the full-blown Title II framework, and keeping broadband under the more lightly regulated Title I information services regime. Vetting those options was prompted by a federal appeals court decision that the FCC had not justified its authority to enforce its Internet openness guidelines against Comcast for blocking BitTorrent file uploads.

Council on Foreign Relations: US must take lead on securing cyberspace

The United States must take a stronger international leadership role in securing cyberspace, including holding other countries accountable for their citizens' actions online, according to a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Report author and CFR international affairs fellow Robert Knake argues the United States must push back against China, Russia and other countries that are seeking to establish tightly-controlled versions of the Internet in order to combat cybercrime, industrial espionage and cyber warfare. Knake argues the plethora of threats online makes state control of the Web seem increasingly attractive to Western nations, which is why the U.S. should champion openness, innovation and limited government intervention. "These attributes make the network flexible, so that new uses can be developed rapidly, and scalable, so that millions of new users and devices can be connected each year, expanding the free flow of ideas and the reach of international commerce," Knake writes. "Addressing problems of security in cyberspace at the expense of these attributes would not serve U.S. national interests."

Hispanic TV Homes Jump to 40% This Season

With results of the 2010 Census expected to show a significant increase in the Hispanic population, Nielsen has been busy re-aligning its demographic meter. The television measurement company estimates that 40% of U.S. television homes this season will be Hispanic households.

That's an increase of 3.07%, or nearly 400,000 Hispanic homes season-to-season. It also outpaces overall household gains season-to-season (0.87%) by more than three to one. A modest increase in African-American and Asian households is also expected this season.

Benton

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