September 2010

FCC appeals court ruling on indecency rules

The Federal Communications Commission fired back at a federal appeals court that said the regulatory agency's enforcement of its indecency rules was "unconstitutionally vague" and had a "chilling effect."

The FCC filed an appeal August 26 asking the three-judge panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to reconsider its July decision that tossed out the regulatory agency's enforcement policies regarding indecent programming. In its appeal, the FCC said the court overstepped its bounds. Rather than address the constitutionality of banning fleeting expletives, "it instead invalidated the agency's overall approach to indecency enforcement." The agency chastised the court for reaching this decision, "even though the Supreme Court approved the commission's contextual approach in FCC vs. Pacifica." "The three-judge panel's decision in July raised serious concerns about the commission's ability to protect children and families from indecent broadcast programming," Austin Schlick, the FCC's general counsel, said in a statement. "The commission remains committed to empowering parents and protecting children, and looks forward to the court of appeals' further consideration of our arguments."

Older Adults and Social Media

While social media use has grown dramatically across all age groups, older users have been especially enthusiastic over the past year about embracing new networking tools. Social networking use among Internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled -- from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010.

Between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking use among Internet users ages 50-64 grew by 88%--from 25% to 47%.
During the same period, use among those ages 65 and older grew 100%--from 13% to 26%.
By comparison, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13% -- from 76% to 86%.

At the same time, the use of status update services like Twitter has also grown -- particularly among those ages 50-64. One in ten Internet users ages 50 and older now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves or see updates about others.

Just 5% of users ages 50-64 had used Twitter or another status update service in 2009, and 11% now say they use these tools.
On a typical day, 6% of online adults ages 50-64make Twitter a part of their routine, up from the 1% who did so in 2009.

Enhanced Data Collection Could Help FCC Better Monitor Competition in the Wireless Industry

The Government Accountability Office discusses changes in the wireless industry since 2000, stakeholders' perceptions of regulatory policies and industry practices, and the strategies Federal Communications Commission uses to monitor competition.

The biggest changes have been consolidation among wireless carriers and increased use of wireless services by consumers. Industry consolidation has made it more difficult for small and regional carriers to be competitive. Difficulties for these carriers include securing subscribers, making network investments, and offering the latest wireless phones necessary to compete in this dynamic industry. The GAO recommends that the FCC should assess whether expanding original data collection of wireless industry inputs and outputs -- such as prices, special access rates, capital expenditures, and equipment costs -- would help the FCC better satisfy its requirement to review competitive market conditions with respect to commercial mobile services. (GAO-10-779)

The report moved Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) to call on the FCC expand its collection and review of data to monitor wireless competition and its impact on consumers. "It is time for the FCC to complete its evaluation of special access pricing. Pro-competitive policies in the special access market are essential to maximize choice, affordability, and technological innovation in the wireless market," said Rep Waxman, the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee.

Members of the Senate Commerce Committee raised concerns about rural coverage, confusing bill statements, early termination fees, restrictive contracts, and "network practices that restrict innovation, commerce and job creation."

Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, said, "Today's GAO report adds more evidence to the argument that any rules governing an open Internet should apply to the wireless sector as well as to the wired. The report paints a disturbing picture of an industry in which the top four carriers control 90 percent of the market, and industry consolidation is strangling smaller, regional carriers. The report shows the large companies continue to pile up advantages in gaining more spectrum, in exclusive deals for handsets and in locking in consumers with high termination fees. At the same time, there is the equally disturbing trend that the investments larger carriers are making in their networks are a smaller proportion of their service revenue than the expenses of smaller carriers. High special access rates imposed by the wireline affiliates of the larger carriers also hamper competition. These trends do not bode well for consumers, despite any benefits of the moment. The report shows the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should act soon on a wide range of pending pro-consumer items, ranging from handset exclusivity to text messaging, in addition to making certain any policy on an open Internet includes wireless access as well."

Cell phone bills fell 50% in last ten years

The big get bigger. A new report on the cell phone industry from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) opens with the line, "The biggest changes in the wireless industry since 2000 have been consolidation among wireless carriers and increased use of wireless services by consumers." Both parts of that sentence are significant; though only four players dominate 90 percent of the US wireless market, consumers have seen serious benefits over the last decade. Even as the industry consolidated, making it "more difficult for small and regional carriers to be competitive," prices dropped and coverage rose. It might not feel like that when you pay your wireless bill, but the GAO concludes that (when inflation is factored into the equation) 2008 prices were only half of what they had been in 1999.

How the FCC can best regulate the Internet

[Commentary] The Google-Verizon network neutrality proposal is a compromise between the desire of content providers to ensure that all content streams are treated equally and that of access providers to maintain flexibility to manage their networks.

Any action in this area will require compromise. The stakes on all sides are high. For providers, investing in additional capacity is costly, and the flexibility to shape traffic is a prized commodity; for Internet users, having equal ease of access to all content has been perceived as a basic right. The Obama administration has long been committed to the cause of net neutrality, but any government espousal of this principle needs to be carefully tailored. The Federal Communications Commission stands poised to reclassify broadband service providers as common carriers, a category that would subject them to the same sort of regulation that telephone companies are saddled with, even giving the FCC the ability to set rates. The agency's chairman says that the FCC won't use this power -- but this could change in another administration. Such a move would be a serious step backward. A better route would be legislative enactment of something like the Google-Verizon plan, with an emphasis on transparency about decisions that providers are making. Giving the FCC the authority to nudge things in the right direction will be a good first step.

As the Internet evolves, the nature of needed oversight will evolve as well. Establishing a clearly limited power to take action against anti-competitive violations, rather than encumbering this vital sector with detailed and prescriptive regulation, is the sensible approach.

See this response -- Why the FCC can't do its job on broadband access -- written by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps

Net neutrality: The sound of the Internet

[Commentary] At this point, the Internet is practically everything to everybody — research tool, room-mate finder, clearinghouse for ex-flames from high school. It's also increasingly the place where people go to be entertained, whether by so-lame-it's-funny videos or amazing new music. Al Gore didn't invent the Internet and the telecommunications and cable companies don't own it, but musicians like us use it every day to book tours, sell merchandise and communicate directly with our fans. Best yet, we don't have to ask permission to do so. Lately, there's been a lot of talk about "net neutrality," and whether it's worth preserving. We say without a doubt. Being able to make music is amazing. Being able to get that music to fans is essential. The open Internet lets artists like us keep doing what we do, and that's why we sound off in support of net neutrality.

Who writes pro-cable Internet legislation? Cable does

North Carolina's "An Act to Ensure That A Local Government That Competes with Private Companies in Providing Communication Services Has The Support Of Its Citizens" was sponsored by a prominent state lawmaker and backed by incumbent Internet service providers, including the cable lobby.

But it's not like those ISPs actually wrote the now-discarded bill, right? Well... this is what bill sponsor David Hoyle said when asked if the cable industry drew up the bill: "Yes, along with my help." When asked about criticism that he was "carrying water" for the cable companies, Hoyle replied, "I've carried more water than Gunga Din for the business community—the people who pay the taxes."

Panel: U.S. lacks legal framework to fight in cyberspace

The United States is hamstrung in defending itself in cyberspace by a lack of policies and legal framework for waging war in the new military domain, a panel of government and private-sector experts said.

The national and international laws of armed conflict that govern conventional warfare don't adequately address issues raised about fighting a war online with digital weapons against enemies who cannot be identified, panelists said. Offensive action by the military will require policy decisions and legal authorities that have not yet been made, said Herb Lin, chief scientist on the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board at the National Academies' National Research Council. Although defensive activities are well established, "the offensive side of it is not very much talked about," Lin said.

Pentagon's cybersecurity plans have a Cold War chill

[Commentary] With little fanfare, the Pentagon is putting the finishing touches on a new strategy that will treat cyberspace as a domain of potential warfare -- and apply instant "active defense" to counter attacks that, in theory, could shut down the nation's transportation and commerce.

Even though it deals with a distinctly 21st-century problem, the strategy has echoes of the Cold War: America's closest allies would be drawn into an early-warning network of collective cybersecurity; private industry would be mobilized in a kind of civil defense against attackers; and military commanders would be given authority to respond automatically to electronic invaders. In place of "massive retaliation" against attackers whose country of origin may be unclear, the strategy proposes an alternative concept of deterrence based on making America's infrastructure robust and redundant enough to survive any attack. The Department of Homeland Security would oversee this hardening of infrastructure, with help from the National Security Agency.

Health Care Broadband in America

The FCC released Omnibus Broadband Initiative Technical Paper No. 5, which describes the methodology and assumptions used in determining the health care broadband connectivity gap in the National Broadband Plan. The paper describes health care providers' needs, broadband connectivity options, gaps and barriers preventing sufficient broadband levels, and the next phase of analyses.

Benton

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